Triad of the Elders

by Lan Dang

Chapter 10: Guilden Kingdom

  Eric stood there panting, breathless from his own physical exertion as well as the sight in front of him. It looked like a hallucination at first but he pinched himself just to make sure it was real.

  “Ow! That hurts.”

  He rubbed his eyes and sighed, taking in the spectacular image in front of him.

  He muttered, “I guess it’s real after all. It’s beautiful.”

  The Guilden Kingdom was huge, it seemed to stretch for miles and the stone wall that served to protect its borders was perfectly built. Each stone that was used was chosen to fit perfectly in the mosaic arrangement much like puzzle pieces. The stones were smooth and came in all shapes and sizes, some small as a marble and some large as a television. But they were all the same light grey color, beautiful and glossy as if they had been polished multiple times. The dome-shaped barrier around this stone wall was translucent, like a crystal, producing a blurry image of what was behind it.

  Eric peered around but there was no one. The land was rather flat with occasional slopes but none that could be as steep as the hill he had just climbed. He was exhausted but he mustered enough energy to go down the hill which was easier and faster than the uphill climb. When he was at the bottom of the hill, his pace quickened and he arrived at the translucent barrier in a short period of time. He was excited and optimistic that there would be food and shelter behind this wall. But he stopped in front of the barrier, afraid to go any further. He stood there, pondering what to do next. He debated whether he should walk around the barrier until he could see someone coming outside to let him in or just walk through the barrier and hope it would not harm him. It did look relatively harmless but looks could be deceiving.

  Before he could make a decision, the necklace shot up out of his shirt and started to pull him through the barrier. It was like a strong magnet pushing him along and moving him towards it. Try as he might, he could not resist the force. Panic overcame him as he was dragged closer and closer towards the barrier. In a desperate attempt to pull back, he automatically held up both his hands in protest and tried to plant his feel firmly on the ground but to no avail. His shoes left deep imprints on the ground as the force pulled him through.

  As he went through the barrier, he felt a cool wet touch on his skin as if he was going through a very fine mist. He was both scared yet intrigued by what was happening to him. The necklace continued to drag him forward but now, he was no longer resisting it. He allowed it to pull him completely through and when they had both safely arrived inside, it continued to drag him to the entrance of the Guilden Kingdom. Now that he passed the translucent barrier, he could clearly see the large stone wall. It stood impressively in front of him in its glorious beauty, a product that seemed to have taken decades to build.

  The necklace continued to lead him forward, no longer dragging him as he walked rapidly to keep up with it. The entrance to the kingdom was the only part where the stone wall ended and silver double doors loomed in its place. The double doors did not look as if they had been opened in a while for the hinges were covered with dust.

  He muttered to himself, “I guess they don’t have many visitors. I wonder how they would feel after seeing me.”

  There were no handles or knobs or keyholes to open the door. It was completely devoid of anything he had seen at home. Luckily, the necklace seemed to know exactly how to open the door as it headed to the very center of the double doors and the scepter pierced through the strong silver door. It made a sharp screeching sound and the double doors seemed to come alive as it slowly started to open by itself. He watched as the scepter turned a full 360° turn causing the double doors to slowly open. The hinges, rusty from lack of use, made an awful scraping sound that hurt his ears.

  When it completed the turn, the necklace returned to the safety of his shirt, tucked carefully underneath. When the double doors had opened enough for him to go through, he took a deep breath and went inside. He felt a hand grab his shirt and push him roughly through. Another person immediately went to close the double doors as he heard a slamming sound behind him. When Eric was inside, he saw the face of the guard that had grabbed his shirt. He was wearing an eye patch on his right eye and his face was disfigured. There was a huge scar that had gashed the right side of his face and it looked to have been caused by a sharp knife. As he smiled, Eric noticed that he was also missing most of his teeth. He gulped nervously as he waited for what would happen next.

  The guard, tall and heavy set, stared down at him and asked in a thunderous voice, “Who are you? How did you get through the force field and open the door?”

  It took Eric awhile to realize that the language he had spoken sounded very wispy and exotic in comparison to what he was used to. He recalled the conversation he had with Janet and thanked her for the useful information. He didn’t even have to make an effort to understand what the guard had just said to him. However, he had other problems on his mind than the language barrier to overcome.

  Before he could respond to the guard’s question, there was a crowd of armed guards surrounding him and beyond that, a crowd of curious onlookers were gathering around him, forming a circle. They looked at him with different kinds of emotions. Some looked at him with interest, disgust, shock and others just stared at him with boredom and amusement. They all immediately dispersed as they heard a sharp whistle, except for some loyal guards, who stood next to the disfigured guard. The guard still had a firm grip on his shirt.

  A cloaked figure walked gracefully but rapidly through the crowd and stood boldly in front of Eric. Most of his face was hidden by the dark crimson cloak as he stared down at him. It made him feel suddenly so self-conscious. He realized that his clothing was odd as he heard whispers from the crowd of spectators that he must be one of the ‘visitors.’ Maybe that was the reason why he was being stared at with such curiosity. He noticed that they all seemed to wear the same type of medieval clothing. The males wore a tan tunic that was tucked under brown trousers while the females wore off-white long dresses with flowing sleeves. Most had on shoes but the children ran around barefoot. He realized how odd his own appearance must be in contrast to the people here.

  The cloaked figure looked at the guard and said in a polite but firm voice, “I come with a message from the Elders. They wish to speak to this boy. He must be brought forward immediately.”

  There was a slight pause as he continued, even more firmly.

  “These are direct orders from the Elders.”

  At the mention of the word ‘Elder,’ the guard lowered his eyes and reluctantly released his grip on his shirt. He nodded his head in obedience as he took a step away from Eric. Eric breathed a sigh of relief and started to relax. The guard, however, continued to watch him with his one good eye, rather suspiciously. Eric was led through the crowd of people who had gathered at a distance, out of respect for the cloaked figure. He dared not look any of these people in the eye. He was trembling with fear as he followed the cloaked figure, afraid of what would happen to him. They didn’t seem the least bit friendly, not even the cloaked figure, who had saved his life. The cloaked figure continued to walk straight ahead. His footsteps were soft, gentle, and graceful almost as if he was gliding on ice in stark contrast to Eric’s own shuffling footsteps, tired with fatigue and barely able to lift his body weight.

  The cloaked figure finally stopped before a grand castle. Eric gasped in awe. It looked like the castles in the medieval times when there were knights and kings and dragons. The only difference was that there was no moat or drawbridge and the castle was made of the same light grey stones as the wall outside. It was very glossy and beautiful to look at. The entire castle was built on land that was purposefully raised several feet above the rest of the ground. There were stone steps that led into the castle. Before he had time to admire it any further, the cloaked figure was already waiting inside the door of one of the towers and
he immediately ran to keep up. He was led through a winding staircase and down a hallway, past many silver doors, until the cloaked figure finally stopped in front of one of the doors. The silver door had no knobs and the cloaked figure opened the door by sliding it sideways.

  Eric followed and was greeted by two cloaked figures sitting on red velvet chairs. The third chair in the middle was empty and he had a feeling that he knew why. The cloaked figure nodded his head to both of the Elders and retreated, closing the silver door behind him. Judging by his dream, he knew that the two cloaked figures in front of him were the Elders. He could not see their faces, for the cloak hid much of it, and the room was dimly lit by a chandelier hanging overhead. He dared not walk closer. He stood near the safety of the door, staring at the closed room which had no windows and no other exit. The stone walls were bare; there were no decorations. There was only a grey matching carpet that led up the steps to the where the Elders sat. The Elders were facing the door and watching him with a great amount of curiosity.

  One of the Elders, sitting on the right chair, rose and said, “We have been waiting for you, Zephler.”

  He smiled pleasantly as he sat back in his seat.

  “Please come closer so that we may take a look at you.”

  He hesitated. His instinct was that of survival and he wanted to run back out the door and out of this nice but dangerous castle. But he had a feeling he would be caught eventually. There was no way he could escape. He took a courageous breath and stepped forward, walking into the center of the room and directly underneath the chandelier.

  The Elder said in a polite, quiet voice.

  “You look very much like your father with traces of your mother as well. You should be proud to be their son. It is just unfortunate that they could not be here with us.”

  The Elder, sitting on the left chair, nodded his head in agreement.

  Eric was inclined to remain silent but he was overcome with curiosity himself and he had a feeling that they would have killed him already if they had wanted to.

  “Do you know my parents?”

  Both the Elders nodded their heads.

  “Then you must know how they died. How did they die? Please tell me.” Eric had to know if his parents were murdered and by whom.

  The Elder looked sad as he gravely said, “I’m sorry, Zephler. We cannot tell you the details yet. All I can say is that they both died tragically and sacrificed their lives for the people of the Guilden Kingdom. They died a heroes’ death and are remembered as such.”

  Eric pressed on. “Please tell me. I have to know. I must avenge their deaths.”

  The Elder, sitting on the left chair, responded apologetically.

  “We are terribly sorry but that information is not ours to disclose.” There was a slight pause as he continued, “We are pleasantly surprised at your arrival but also baffled under the circumstances that you had arrived. How did you get here without any help and how did you manage to find this place?”

  Eric decided to lie. He didn’t want to tell them the truth about his necklace for fear they would confiscate it and try to harness its powers. He shrugged.

  “I’m not sure. One moment, I was asleep on my bed and the next moment, I woke up here. I just wandered around until I found this place.”

  Both Elders looked at him, not sure whether to believe what they had just heard. “But how did you get past the force field we set up? Or open the doors to the kingdom?”

  He had to come up with a good lie that was also believable. He remembered Janet and how she said that he had strong powers as a member of the royal family. Surely, the Elders must not know the extent of his powers. He decided to take a gamble.

  “You know my real name is Zephler. Then you must know I am of royal blood. That would explain how I was able to bypass the force field and the open the double doors.”

  The Elder, sitting on the right chair, turned his head to face the Elder, sitting on the left chair, who also turned his head at the same time. They both seemed to be speaking to each other but it was low and unintelligible. They spoke for a brief moment and then turned to face Eric.

  One of the Elders said, “You are more far informed than we expected and as for your powers, it is beyond our expectations. We are deeply impressed. If you know your real identity, then you must know who we are.”

  Eric looked him straight in the eye and said, “Indeed I do. You three make up the Triad of the Elders.” He said this boldly and with confidence. The Elders showed little emotion but it seemed that they had underestimated him.

  One of the Elder’s eyebrow arched up as he repeated. “Three.” He sighed. “So you are aware of our missing friend.” He glanced over at the empty chair.

  “Ah, but this empty chair may have given his absence away. We have kept out of the public eye since his disappearance and secretly searched for him but to no avail. Such is life. We must all make sacrifices, just like your parents did.”

  He wasn’t sure if this was said with a malicious intent but he dismissed it. He took a step forward and asked, “Why did you send for me earlier? What is it that you want from me?”

  Both the Elders smiled. One of them replied, “We were curious and wanted to meet you. We were not expecting any visitors today and it was odd that you came when you did. Either way, we wanted to train you.”

  He asked, suspiciously, “Train me? For what, may I ask?” He didn’t trust anybody here, including the two Elders before him.

  His smile widened. “We are training you to become the future king, of course. The Guilden Kingdom is yours to inherit on your fifteenth birthday. It is rightfully yours since you are the last of the royal family.”

  He felt his heart beat erratically and wondered if the Elders could hear his rapid heartbeats. “But I can’t possibly be the king. I don’t even know anything about these people or this planet for that matter. Plus, I don’t even have the ideal characteristics to become a king. Trust me, I’m selfish, spoiled, lazy, ignorant, and as my friends would describe me, ‘a complete idiot.’ I mean I’m not fit to be a king. I just want to go back home, back to my friends and family where I belong.” His voice rose slightly, filled with anger and fear.

  The Elder remained calm as he simply looked at Eric and replied, “I would suggest you control your emotions and lower your voice. There are guards outside who are more than willing to take your life, no questions asked. You, yourself, saw how the guard was looking at you when you opened the main entrance earlier. There was fear and bloodlust in his eyes. He would not have hesitated to take your life then and there, had it not been for our intervention. All in all, we did save your life and we think that at the very least, we deserve to be treated with respect and courtesy.” He glanced at his companion who nodded his head in agreement.

  Eric lowered his eyes and said quietly, “I apologize for my behavior before. It is just that this is not my home. I don’t belong here. I’m not the king you seek.” He didn’t know why but his voice sounded whiny and childlike as he pleaded to return home. It made him blush in embarrassment and humiliation.

  The Elder looked at the chandelier for a long time before answering. His voice was quiet, more quiet than usual, as he spoke. “Your apology is accepted. I understand that you have concerns about your plight but I am afraid that it is not possible for you to return home.”

  Eric looked questioningly at him. “What do you mean ‘not possible’?”

  He slowly said, “It’s in your blood, I am afraid. You cannot deny that. You must have noticed odd events happening back home that have to do with your identity. It may not be safe for you to return home. Besides, do you honestly think you can just leave and go back home now? Will they allow you to leave?” He pointed in the direction of the guards and the crowd of people outside.

  Eric thought about what he was told. He knew there was truth to what the Elder had just informed him
. “What if I want to secretly leave now? What if we kept my identity a mystery and I never reclaim the throne?”

  The Elder, sitting on the left chair, spoke firmly. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. It was fate that brought you here to reclaim what is rightfully yours. So you see, it is already your destiny and I don’t believe that could be disputed.”

  The Elder, sitting on the right chair, continued. “We are not the rightful rulers of the Guilden Kingdom. We are mere substitutes if you will, waiting for you to return, so that we may leave. I hope you do understand what a difficult position you put us in by requesting that you be able to return back home. Home should be your birthplace, not the home with which you were raised. You may be able to blend in and connect with the humans on your planet, but you can never entirely assimilate as their own.”

  He looked at his companion and both nodded their heads in unison.

  Eric felt completely at a loss for words. It felt so unfair to him that the decision was being made based on their own selfish desire to leave whereas his desire to return home was ignored. He had the feeling that the Elders were tired of being substitutes and wanted to quickly train him to become the king so that they could leave on his fifteenth birthday when he reclaimed his throne.

  The Elder glanced at him and said, “However, we will keep your identity a secret for now, for your own protection. We are afraid the people who captured our brother may capture you as well if they know who you are. But don’t worry, we will keep you safe until the day you reclaim the throne.” He added. “You look tired. You should get some rest before dinner which will promptly start at sunset. It was nice meeting you finally, Zephler.”

  As soon as these words were uttered, the door opened behind him and the same cloaked figure, as before, escorted him to his own private quarters. He bowed awkwardly to both of the Elders, before following the cloaked figure up another flight of stairs and another dark hallway, dimly lit by torched candle lights near every door. He turned and stopped in front of another silver door and slid it open.

  For the first time, he spoke. “This room has been specially made for you. Your clothes are on the bed and I suggest you freshen up before dinner.”

  He looked up and down with distaste as Eric’s fashion statement and not to mention, the distinct odor that must be emanating from not bathing for several days. The cloaked figure quickly departed.

  Eric stepped inside his room with curiosity. It was small but quaint. There were two windows facing outside and a rather large bedroom in the middle of the room. The floor had a dark velvet carpet and the curtains were a glossy black color. The bed had white silk sheets and a warm, cozy brown fur comforter. It looked to be made from some furry animal that Eric had never seen before but the texture was very soft. The room was rather empty, devoid of the typical furniture he was used to seeing back home. There was a small round table in front of the windows and two wooden chairs.

  He noticed a small silver door on the side of the wall opposite the bed. As he slid it open, he saw a small room with a silver tub in the middle. There was no sink or even a toilet. He was quite sure this was the bathroom if it could be even called that.

  Eric groaned out load. “There’s no running water at all. How can I live like this?”

  He was already beginning to miss home. He longed for the simple pleasures he had taken for granted back home and this place seemed very primitive to him. The silver tub was already filled with warm water and he could smell the bath salts placed inside. It was very inviting especially after the arduous journey he had just endured.

  He looked at his own reflection in the tub and noticed his dirty, torn clothes, covered in dirt from sleeping on the ground and ripped from falling up and down the hill. There was sweat on his face and his hair was disheveled. He sighed and started to shed his clothes. He stepped into the tub, one foot at a time, testing the temperature of the water. Oddly enough, it was nice and warm to the touch. He sank into the tub, feeling the cool touch of the silver surface. He sighed and closed his eyes as he sank his entire face into the water. He held his breath underwater for a second and then brought his face back up for air, his hair entirely wet. He soaked in the tub for a long time, relaxing his tired body. It felt so nice to be in the warm tub. He eventually stepped outside, dripping wet onto the velvet carpet and saw a dark crimson cloak hooked on the side of the wall. He put on the cloak and walked outside into the bedroom.

  He went over to where the clothes laid on the bed. They looked like plain peasant clothes to him, a tunic and knee trouser. It fit snugly on him and he topped the outfit with the dark crimson cloak. The cloak was soft and warm. Eric felt a wave of homesickness as he looked around his new room. For although everything was nice, new, and luxurious, it was still not his room and this was not his home or his world for that matter. It was as if he had stepped foot into someone else’s life and inherited everything that person owned.

  Eric looked around, disappointed by the lack of entertainment. “Too bad they don’t have a television set here.”

  His hand itched to touch the remote control but he settled himself down by sitting on the bed. He felt tired and decided to lie down on the silk sheets. His eyes closed and he took deep breaths to calm his fears.