The Portals of Tartae- the Land With the Two Moons

by Marcia Soligo

  “And, being very direct, he is probably gathering a legion of followers. Followers who believe that the Portals are power, and this power should be shared or conquered by those who are capable enough. People have started to witness troll attacks, which haven’t happened in years. We have been hearing the name Edmund Lars more often than we would like, and we have reason to believe that he has been collecting admirers.” Alavro rose, looking genuinely worried.

  Olivia and Trevor’s faces had no color whatsoever. It was hard to process all this information, which could easily be the crazy ramblings of two senile people whom they didn’t actually know. But at the same time, they were there. They were in a place with two gigantic moons in the sky.

  “And how can you send us back if the Clan doesn’t have one of the Portal Keys anymore? Is that possible at all?” asked Olivia.

  “If there was a way for Edmund Lars to bring you two here with just one Key, then there is a way for us to open the Portals even if we are missing one Key. It may seem hard now, due to all that you have heard, but don’t underestimate us. We are here to protect the Portals and to protect you two. And if you decide not to stay in Tartae, we will do our best to send you back to Leve. It will be challenging, but we have faced worse circumstances,” answered Cordella, looking deeply into Olivia’s eyes.

  “How do we know we can trust you?” asked Trevor. “How do we know this is the truth and that’s what we should believe?”

  “You must feel this in your hearts. We can’t force you to follow us, and we only want what’s best for you,” Cordella answered with a kind voice, but there was also sadness there. Olivia and Trevor were silent for a moment, thinking about all they had just heard.

  “So, he has one Portal Key and a book of improvisations, and he was able to bring us here when he wanted?” insisted Trevor with a weird and scared look on his face. The story only seemed to get worse and worse.

  “Yes. And we think that he wants the original Book and will try to steal it soon. That’s why we are going to reclaim it at the Strage Castle.”

  “I have one more question,” continued Olivia. “If we don’t remember anything, how can we destroy the Portals?”

  “Olivia, I believe that deep down you didn’t forget the Portals. The Portals will still accept you. They will recognize you and all your efforts. But also, that’s why you two should use this time to prepare and learn as much as you can.”

  With that, Cordella ended the conversation. She got up quickly, telling the others she was going to sleep. Alavro stopped for a moment and observed the moons. Trevor walked closer to him, full of questions, but only got two pats on his back from an Alavro who got away faster than a shooting star.

  In the end, there were only two teenagers with a thousand questions stuck in their throats. They walked in silence to the tents until Trevor asked the dreaded question:

  “So, should we stay?”

  “Do you believe them?” asked Olivia, almost whispering.

  “Yes, I do. You?”

  “I believe them. But even so, I think going home could be our best option. With that said, I don’t think we should run away from this. I believe that it’s just a matter of time until this Edmund Lars uses the Portals to go to our world too, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I do. I don’t like to think about this. I’m afraid of what could happen.”

  “Me too. I think our decision is made.”

  Olivia said this looking forward, her head spinning. She wished Trevor good night and got inside the tent that she was sharing with Cordella, who was either already sound asleep or just pretending to be.

  Olivia tried to sleep but had no success. Her thoughts flew around like wild birds. She kept pondering how nothing she had heard that night made sense or rang any bells. A paralyzing fear, almost as bad as when her parents died, took over her body. Finally, she fell into a very light sleep, disturbed. In a way, she was like a child bearing plastic guns in a war against a cruel and brutally real monster that was ready to strike her at any time.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Forest of Lis

  The next morning, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Olivia woke to noises and voices coming from outside her tent: conversations and fire crackling. It looked like Cordella had woken a long time ago, and only Olivia’s things remained. Everyone was getting ready to leave for Strage.

  The day was scorching, and it was even worse inside her tent. Olivia organized her things and every chore she completed, every piece of clothing she folded was a step further into the unknown. Everybody else was already gathered around the fire eating breakfast when she finally left the tent. She soon found Trevor’s eyes and looked there for confirmation. They would stay in Tartae; they would destroy the Portals.

  “Good morning, Olivia! I hope you had a good night’s sleep,” said Alavro.

  “I hope you did. We almost lost the day waiting for you!” said Kirk, looking at Olivia with disapproval.

  “I’m sorry, but I took a long time to fall asleep, and I think I was trying to compensate for it.” Olivia looked at Trevor and continued, “Cordella, Alavro, we need to talk to you.”

  The energy changed quickly. The air became heavy, as if the expectation were a big elephant standing there, right in the middle of the group.

  “Trevor and I talked yesterday, and there’s not much to say except that we will be staying in Tartae and we will help you destroy the Portals. We will help as best we can.” Olivia said the words in haste while holding Trevor’s hand. Alavro and Cordella got up promptly, bearing proud smiles, and proceeded to hug Olivia and Trevor.

  “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Kirk was already getting up, and his voice was so filled with excitement that he was almost yelling.

  They left the campsite soon after that. According to Bran, the journey to Strage Castle would take them three days, if they had no interruptions along the way. Bran didn’t like Strage Castle. This much was clear. His face would twitch visibly when he talked about the place, but he did his best to hide his emotions and Olivia went along with it, pretending not to notice. She was actually pretending even to herself. She had no intention of freaking out before it was completely unavoidable. She would rather just wait and see.

  It didn’t take long until Alavro broke into a tale. Before Olivia and Trevor asked, he told them about Strage’s history, and he did it like a bard. Enunciating and almost singing every word.

  Strage Castle was the Book of the Portals’ home, and it was once home of Edmund Lars. A beautiful mansion surrounded by well-kept gardens that belonged to Lars’ parents. Time had passed, and Lars’ parents grew old and went away to travel and live by the ocean, giving Lars enough space to be his true self. And that alone made the place change and adapt itself to its new reality. Strage Castle became a reflection of Edmund Lars’ evil intentions, and one could feel it in every room, in each piece of furniture, in all the employees.

  Lars was able to bring some of Strage’s employees into his madness. They now worked for him, disregarding all ethics. They were the first ones to join him in his pursuit of the Portals, and they only followed the laws created by Lars. The ones who didn’t want to take part in this or tried to warn his parents were used as experiments and eventually killed. The way Lars treated everyone who didn’t agree with him was reason enough for the Guardians to believe that he would commit the most monstrous atrocities against those who stood in his way. And they could also foresee how some people would easily break.

  The castle became a place for experiments and a trap for those who wandered carelessly in its surroundings, and it was this way for some time. Edmund Lars managed to keep it all very secret, to silently kill and discreetly do his hateful acts. Finally, Lars decided to leave Strage and brought with him his most loyal employees. He left behind a place that was only a shadow of what it was before. A faded fragment of what Lars’ life used to be and an old house, deteriorating due to the effects of time.

  Shor
tly after the Arbres were attacked, the Guardians went to Strage to look for Lars. When they got there, there was no sign of him. He left behind only an insolent note that talked about power, death, and destiny, and it didn’t surprise most of the Guardians.

  As a way of honoring Alcion and Maleuca Lars–and because it would probably be the last place where Edmund would look–the Clan decided to hide the Book of the Portals in Strage Castle. They guarded the place with multiple layers of protection spells and made sure that the mansion was always empty.

  All of Tartae’s newspapers talked about the attacks against the Arbres and the Grondes when they happened. Both of those families were well known in Tartae, so, it was expected that their sad stories would make the front pages. And it’s important to say that everyone knew about the history of the Portals, and everyone knew that those families were part of the Clan. But the newspapers reported what they knew, and that was not the whole story. The Clan decided that–at that moment–it would be best not to release all the details about what happened to the Arbres and the Grondes. So the public had no idea that the two families were assassinated by Edmund Lars. After a great deal of consideration, the Clan concluded that if Tartae’s people knew all the details, this would be the glory for Edmund Lars. It would do his job of spreading despair, and it would also spread the word about his intentions, which could awaken a group of followers. People would be tempted to help him with his pursuit. Lars was still a silent threat, and the Clan hoped to keep it this way, at least for a while longer.

  However, even with the Clan’s best efforts, there were already rumors of people joining Greedy Factions, as they were called. People were disappearing, and dark magic manuals detailing how to use the Portals’ energy were being distributed in the darkest corners of Tartae’s cities.

  The energy was heavy all around Tartae. Some people were already considering hiding, some were avoiding the main roads, and some were even protecting themselves with spells around their homes or powerful locks on their doors. People felt something slowly shifting. They could feel the Portals behaving erratically. And even though a lot of them didn’t have deep knowledge about the Portals, they knew enough to be scared. There was not one living soul in Tartae that had not grown up listening to disturbing stories about the old times and the bloody wars.

  Every little piece of information Olivia and Trevor learned about Tartae was dark and sad. They were now galloping through a path filled with grass and wild yellow flowers. It was a very green plain, with just a few trees and no houses at sight. This was an alternative road, far away from the main one used by Tartae’s merchants and travelers in not-so-alarming times.

  “Do you study about the Portals at school? Like, everyone at Tartae has to learn about that?” Trevor asked, intrigued by how it would be to learn all of this as part of some kind of lesson. As if it was something ordinary.

  “Every person who is born in Tartae studies the history of the Portals at some point in their lives,” said Alavro, keeping his tone calm. “Of course, you can hardly say that what people study at school about the First War is what actually happened. In most of the books, you would be able to find stories that are more flourished and less cruel than the reality. In these stories, they kindly ignore the part some important members of society played in the pursuit of power, in an effort to keep their names clean and their family legacy intact. Nevertheless, for those who truly desire to unveil most of the mysteries enveloping the Portals’ history, it is possible to find documents and even books lost inside some of Tartae’s libraries that have pretty accurate facts and much deeper knowledge on the subject. In those, you can find more details about the first bloody war generated by the Portals. One would only have to dig a little deeper to find the truth.”

  “So, everybody in Tartae knows who you are? They all know that you’re part of the Clan and that you’re probably up to something?” continued Trevor.

  “Yes and no. That’s one of the reasons we are being careful. That’s why we’re always choosing hidden paths and the roads less traveled. If we can avoid people seeing us, it’s best. Having said that, people don’t usually pay that much attention to what we’re doing, mainly because they know that now, the Clan doesn’t do much. As Cordella said before, until a while ago we were just talking and celebrating the Portals. And that’s pretty much all that the others have been doing, I must say.” Alavro found Cordella’s judging gaze.

  “It’s not kind to talk about the others this way, Alavro,” warned Cordella, raising her dark eyebrows.

  “Oh, well. I guess some of them are quite old. That’s a fact. There’s not much else they can do than just talk, and eat, and talk, and eat. And drink tea. Oh, the tea is a must!” He laughed hard, and the others followed him. Apparently, he had spoken the kind of truth that made everybody a little uncomfortable because it was quite harsh but utterly undeniable.

  Once again, the group stopped to rest. The sun was now setting, and Alavro seemed to know all of the calculations even without checking his pocket watch. They set the camp on a more protected space, under some old, tall cedar trees with very large trunks.

  According to Cordella, this was an isolated place, and they would be staying there for more than one night so they could train some of their forgotten abilities. Kirk was particularly interested in a little more action; all the lull was visibly bothering the boy. He looked bored and restless most of the time. At dinner that day, they only heard Kirk’s voice. He would plan their training, talk about war techniques and challenge Bran on whom was the best trainer.

  When the first ray of sun shone, Olivia and Trevor were ready to train. The breakfast was heavy so they could have enough strength to bear arms and fight. But some of the food was hard for Olivia to eat. It seemed just unbearable to eat a bowl of yams and mushroom soup so early in the morning. Her picky stomach was used to much lighter fare at this time of the day. Kirk insisted that she eat everything, and after she completed what looked like a test, her stomach was not as upset as she expected.

  Kirk and Bran had already prepared everything for the training session: targets, hay dummies, and arrows, and it was all set carefully in a clearing between the tall trees. The training site was improvised with what they could find in the woods.

  “Trevor, here is your bow and your arrows,” said Kirk, who was extremely excited while handing Trevor his weapons. “Do you remember how to handle it?”

  Trevor shook his head, but his body seemed to say otherwise. As Kirk taught him the correct posture and movements, Trevor repeated all of it almost instinctively. His body appeared to know and expect each movement, making everything look natural. Olivia was impressed. It was amazing how easy Trevor made everything look.

  “His body remembers, see?” noted Bran, getting closer to her with two swords in his hands. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m not feeling anything yet…” answered Olivia, still observing Trevor’s movements. The boy was now learning how to handle the arrows. He took the arrows out of the compartment on his back and put them on the bow while moving around the field.

  “And you don’t remember anything? Anything at all?”

  Olivia looked away from Trevor’s training for the first time and stared at Bran. There was a sparkle in his eyes, some sort of expectation, she could tell. But she only shook her head lightly.

  “Maybe some time I’ll say that I remember just to give you some good news…” Olivia gave him a discreet smile, hoping to keep seeing that light in his eyes. But it faded quickly. He gave her one of the swords he was holding and said:

  “Here. She might feel heavy at first, but you will get used to her.”

  Olivia grabbed the sword with one hand and it was heavy in weight and energy. This thrill went up her arm and throughout her whole body. It wasn’t bad; it seemed that the weapon completed her arm in some way, she was eager to start her training.

  “Feels good, right?” said Bran smiling.

  Olivia only smiled back in respon
se and they began training. Bran taught her techniques and exercises to improve her strength and concentration. He would teach something and then challenge her, pointing out what she could do next, her best and worst moves. He was an incredible teacher. He knew how to give her a certain amount of motivation to keep her going further. He would stress the importance of balance and agility, and he would say that when in a fight, she needed to be in a meditative state, almost. She needed to be all there. All at that moment. Her mind could not be wandering or even thinking about the end of the fight. She needed to be grounded. That’s the only way her sword will also be there. The only way to win.

  From time to time, Alavro would show up to check on their training. He would watch them from afar with his hands on his waist and would laugh when someone fell over in the dirt. But for the most part, he would stay on the camping site, talking to Cordella. In the few breaks Olivia had, she heard Cordella and Alavro having avid discussions about something, but she could barely understand what they were saying at that distance. Around them, there were numerous maps and papers. Her training was amazing, but Olivia also wanted to be there with them, learning all there was to learn about the Portals, about Tartae.

  Her divagations were always soon interrupted by Bran yelling or coming at her. He would say that he was only preparing her for the battlefield, which was full of screams and scares. Olivia would quickly return her attention to the training, forgetting about all the conversations Cordella and Alavro might be having. And all about what she could be learning.