The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1)

by James Coy-Dibley

  “We should pick a spot on the outskirts of the camp to sleep,” she said. “But what about Lilia, the girl trusts only you?”

  “She will be safe in Brymar. Max and Victoria will make sure of it.” William paused. “What if Thrix comes after us? I suspect being hunted by an Eternal would likely not end in our favour.”

  “He won’t know the stone is missing,” she brushed off, “so why would he pursue us?”

  “But how can you be so sure he won’t notice the stone’s absence?” he pressed. “Thrix seems fixated on it.”

  “Because Victoria will tell him that she has it and will show him the small leather bag to prove it.” She paused, thinking fondly of her friend. “I know Victoria will agree to do this.”

  William sighed heavily. “It doesn’t feel right to do this. But I need the truth, and Thrix will not reveal it.”

  “You harbour anger, William. You want answers and know that Durk’helm is the only place you’ll find them. Aroden seemingly knows nothing, and yes, Thrix refuses to answer any questions. Fate plays your hand; your decision will be understood.”

  “I know Max and Aroden will understand, but I worry about Richard. I fear he’ll feel betrayed by my leaving.”

  “Not when he hears the truth,” she said.

  “No, I cannot tell him,” he asserted. “I will not. I must find my answers before he knows.”

  Elizabeth nodded.

  “How do we carry the stone if not in the bag?” William asked.

  She looked around and spotted a small fabrics shop with weaved wares scattered on wooden displays just outside the door and other fabrics visible through the doorway. “I’ll be back,” she said before jumping off her horse and handing him the reins. “I’m sure they’ll have something in there.”

  “Do you have coin?”

  “A bit,” she nodded before leaving.

  He watched as she passed across the markets and disappeared inside the small shop. Something intrigued him about her. Perhaps it was her determination or tenacity, but he gave a shallow smile as he thought about it. Of all the people here, she’d seen the worst in the past couple of days. He shuddered just thinking about the scene described to him in the dark palace with her father. It’d only been a couple of days since it happened, and yet she still fought forward; were he her age when his mother died, he wondered if he could do the same.

  She quickly emerged with another small, black bag with silver linings along the top and flashed it in front of him. Her long blue dress and stunning, long brown hair hardly blended in with the rest of the towns inhabitants, not to mention her striking, light green eyes, traits unfamiliar to anyone around here. While briskly walking towards the horses, William watched her, as did many other villagers around them. It was as though he had not seen the true beauty of her before.

  After hopping back onto her large white horse, she opened the small bag, loosening the silver silk along the top, and peered inside to judge its suitability before closing it again.

  “This will work,” she said while looking around her and making eye contact with several of the Arraci, who curiously watched from within the crowds. “I’ll move the stone later tonight when fewer eyes are upon us.”

  “And do you even know the way to Durk’helm?” William thought aloud as he realised they had no plan. “That’s something we’re going to need to know.”

  “I briefly looked at the map,” she replied. “We follow a single road east across the Brutean Kingdom, quite close to the Raldari Province. I’m confident that I can take us to the ancient library, but I asked Victoria to retrieve the map as we left the camp.”

  “What if Thrix asks her to see the stone inside the bag?”

  “I can deal with that,” she answered, “with magic.”

  Brian emerged from the small bakery and took the reins of his horse, abruptly silencing their conversation. “It’ll take a while for the bread to be prepared. I told the baker the number of loaves and he just stared at me. I don’t think he believed me until I showed him the coins,” he said in amusement. “We should collect the water in the meantime while the bread bakes.”

  “Yes, of course,” William said, glancing at Elizabeth. “We’ll follow you.”

  Brian jumped onto his horse again and led them towards the town’s large well. “You know what I don’t like about all of this the most?” he said but didn’t leave enough of a pause for them to respond. “Not knowing who we fight. We have no idea who’s attacking us or where they come from. How do we fight something like that?”

  “We simply fight to survive,” Elizabeth answered, cutting off William’s response. “That’s all we can do against an enemy like this.”

  Brian shook his head. “We knew our enemies before, knew what to expect from them and understood their reasons and strategies. These creatures blindly attack us for a stone we know nothing about.”

  “We know only that the Fortari fight to retrieve the stone for a higher purpose,” Elizabeth said.

  Her answer offered no comfort. “The lack of information unsettles me,” Brian finished.

  William nodded. “My nerves are anything but calm right now,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing is normal about any of this.”

  Brian put a hand on William’s shoulder for comfort. “Brymar will be a relief, a chance for us to regroup and figure out our next moves.”

  Neither of them responded.

  Brian yawned. “And sleep,” he added. “I think another day of sleeplessness might just about kill me.”

  After seeing neither planned on saying anything, he stopped trying to strike a conversation. The crowds grudgingly opened to make way for the horses; had they known who passed, they might’ve reacted differently. A few others rode horses through the town with wealthier riders, the crowds angrily protesting if one of the horses defecated alongside the street, especially the shop owners who had to clean it up. Occasionally they received a whiff of it, souring the smells of savoury foods and drinks. William could feel his stomach hurting and his mouth parched. They stopped beside the towns’ well, where a small line of people waited for the water, all holding varying sizes of buckets and pouches to take with them.

  “This will delay us,” Brian complained after hopping off his horse again. “At least Noteral still has water to be collected from the well. I suppose now’s the time most of the townspeople collect it.”

  “We can wait for the bread to be ready,” William suggested, wanting to be alone with Elizabeth again. “There’s no point in all three of us being here.”

  “I’d rather you stay within view.”

  “We’ll still be in the town,” he assured, “just around the corner. And you know there will be plenty of other Arraci watching us.”

  Brian nodded. “It’s your choice, of course.”

  “Yes,” William said, though he could see Brian’s disapproval. Granted, it was his choice, but it still made him uncomfortable to go against Brian’s wishes. He tried to put on a confident face, and the two of them turned their horses around. “We’ll meet you just outside the bakery then.”

  “Be watchful,” Brian cautioned.

  William nodded and rode away. He waited for them to be out of ear reach before talking again. “I couldn’t keep listening to him talk about Brymar,” he said.

  “You miss it,” Elizabeth responded. “Of course you do. It’s your home.”

  “Yes, my home,” William repeated.

  Elizabeth stared into his eyes. “The decision to come with me needs to be yours and yours alone,” she said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  He paused to think but confidently answered, “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve come to terms with this decision and made up my mind.”

  They continued to ride in silence and the two of them returned to just outside the shop. As Elizabeth shifted on her horse, William noticed her sword gleaming in the firelight and admired it. His eyes accidently shifted to her thigh, which he admired, too, through the blue dress. Their eye
s met and he quickly looked away, his cheeks turning a bright red and sweat forming on his forehead. He could feel her staring at him still and took some time before looking back at her, pretending to be analysing a nearby building or a group of people in the hopes the redness would soon disappear. He gave a smile and pointed towards her sword.

  “It’s a beautiful sword,” he said, his voice cracking at first. “Where is it from?”

  Elizabeth ignored his question at first. He could see her slowly shake her head. “My father gave it to me.”

  William nodded but said nothing, his cheeks still slightly red.

  “He trained me to use it,” she continued. “He told me I’d need to use it one day.” She motioned to another sword strapped to her horse, one with a gold handle instead of the silver one she carried. “It was my fathers,” she said while staring at it before changing her focus to the wooden bow on her back. “He taught me to shoot an arrow, too.”

  “He must’ve been a good trainer,” William said. “You’re impressive with both weapons.” He saw her give a shallow smile. “Is the sword steel?”

  “No. It’s a weapon made by my people using Iskarite from the mines.”

  “I’m not familiar with the material.”

  “You can’t find it anymore,” she said. “It came from beneath the Artelian Forest. It’s much stronger than steel but quite heavy.”

  “I see,” William said, diverting his attention again. “And your bow came from where? I noticed the intricate carvings along it.”

  “It was my mother’s bow,” Elizabeth replied. “She originally used it for hunting, but my father passed it on to me.”

  “Why are your arrows white?”

  “I combine my magic with them,” she said but saw William’s inquisitive expression. “It’s also known as enchanting. I increase my arrows’ speed and turn them white so I can see them.” She withdrew an arrow from the quill on her back and her eyes lit a bright green for a brief moment. She held out the dark wooden arrow, the feathers a light grey. “See,” she said. “It’s a regular arrow that I enchant.” Her eyes glowed again and the arrow returned to its white colour.

  “That’s another impressive talent,” he said. “Can you do that to anything?”

  She nodded but then shrugged, returning the arrow to her quiver. “It depends on what the enchantment is. Some items cannot contain the power of augmentation while others can. And my abilities have their limits as my father still had much to teach me.”

  “I have much to learn, too,” William said and she smiled at him. “I’ve never even heard of enchanting before. I didn’t know it was possible.”

  “There’s always more to learn, even for me,” she said. “My father taught me everything I know, but even he didn’t know everything.”

  “The twins and Max taught me how to fight. My family taught me how to love, and Aroden showed me how to lead.”

  “You are next in line for the throne,” Elizabeth said. “You will assume the responsibilities of a leader one day.”

  William shrugged. “I don’t know if I will now.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m not full blood,” he muttered, looking at the bakery again. “Only Richard is full blood. Only he has the full birth right to lead.”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen. The throne’s still your birth right, granted to you by the royal bloodline you descend from.”

  “I’m not sure if I want it,” he said. “I’ve never led before; I don’t know what it means to be a king.” He sighed and wryly smiled to himself. “I prefer to study architecture and read books.”

  “Take a look back in history,” Elizabeth countered. “I think history could’ve used a few more leaders that read books.”

  William shrugged again. “Everything seems so uncertain at this point.”

  “Not everything,” she said. “We know what must be done and where to go, and we know our reasons behind it. Not everything is tainted with uncertainty.”

  He nodded, though she could see he wasn’t satisfied. He tried to change the subject. “So could you enchant my arrows, too?”

  “I could.”

  “And what would you put on a sword?”

  She shrugged. “I augment mine with lightness, which means they don’t tire me from using them.”

  “You change their weight?”

  “Yes. Iskarite is a very heavy metal, but it’s also very strong and malleable. This is why only Altoarans can wield weapons made of Iskarite, because we can enchant them to be lighter.”

  “I’m impressed once again,” he said. “It seems you can do a great many things.”

  She nodded.

  William thought to himself and remembered what Victoria had said earlier. “Victoria mentioned that my ancestors wielded magic, too, the power of knowledge. Do you know anything about that?”

  “No,” she said. “That was the first time I’d heard about it, too.”

  “Come to think about it, I truly know nothing about magic at all.”

  She shrugged. “I’m sure there are books in Durk’helm about it. After all, that’s the place where civilization supposedly began.”

  “It is?”

  “That’s one of the postulates,” Elizabeth shrugged. “I suppose the person that would know the true answer would be Thrix since he’s an Eternal.”

  “He wouldn’t answer anything,” William scoffed angrily. “His oath prevents it.”

  Elizabeth nodded, regretting bringing up the subject.

  William exhaled sharply and paused, sensing his frustration building again. “Well, perhaps Tolin will give me my answers, then.”

  “Hopefully,” she quietly repeated.

  William peered towards the bakery. The strong smell of fresh bread saturated the cool evening air. The scatter of people around them helped distract his thoughts. They all walked around so carefreely, so free in general, unrestricted from the responsibilities and worry, untroubled by the burdens of the stone and exile. Watching them reminded him of those days, back when he lived in the capital and could walk the streets of Criton’s markets with nothing but smiling, excited faces and simply buy an apple. No swords, no concealed identity, and no fear for safety. The quietness of the past few years in Brymar almost approached that bliss, but the events in Orwell had quickly devastated that peace.

  “Look at them,” he thought aloud.

  “Who?”

  “Everyone around us,” he said. “They have no idea what’s going on.”

  Elizabeth stayed quiet.

  “They have no idea that the North was ravaged by an invading army from another realm, that their demise might come in the middle of the night. They live in blissful ignorance right now.”

  She moved her horse right next to William’s and stared into his eyes. “Thinking like that will cripple you,” she said. “You must think about the collective whole rather than the individual. That’s the burden leaders must carry.”

  He shook his head and fell silent. They waited outside the bakery for Brian to return and watched as the townspeople passed in and out. They came in all varieties; tall, short, thin, large, old, young, the list of differences could go on. They’d bring their children with them and their pets, mainly dogs, but even the occasional goat wandered the streets. The town appeared so functional and calm. People wore smiles across their faces and chattered so loudly that William could barely hear his own thoughts. This place was a good place, one with happy, carefree people raising many children to adulthood, providing for them and making a home.

  A few of the Arraci would make themselves visible every now and then before moving along with the crowds. It seemed that quite a few of them joined for this trip to the town, leaving only a handful back with the others. They clearly risked nothing at this point, understandable given the current circumstance. Brian finally appeared from around the corner with two large, soft pouches hanging on either side of his horse, the water bouncing on the two sides with each stride. He quickly saw t
hem and trotted over, stopping beside William and joining him in staring at the bakery.

  “I suspect the bread will be ready soon,” he said. “I’m starving.”

  “Me too,” William answered. He stared down at the two water sacs. “Will that be enough for everyone and the horses?”

  “Four of the other Arraci did the same,” Brian answered. “I wanted for there to be ten of us, but the townspeople looked ready to start a revolt if we filled another.”

  “Why not proclaim it’s for the royal family,” William said. “It’s not like our identity is hidden anymore. Word will travel quickly.”

  Brian shrugged, “might as well remain discreet as long as possible.”

  William conceded a nod.

  “I’m going to go inside,” Brian said, handing William the reins again. “Surely the baker is finished with the bread by now.”

  They watched him enter the doorway. Elizabeth looked into William’s eyes. “What you did for the people of Skee was very noble of you.”

  William thought of Rachel. She had no idea of the revelations discovered today.

  “My father used to tell me,” Elizabeth continued, an expression of sorrow passing across her face, “that the true measure of a leader is what he or she does for their people.” She looked into his eyes again. “You are a good man, William.” Elizabeth could see he considered her words. She focused again on their trip to Durk’helm. “We’ll speak with Victoria as soon as we return to the camp. We’ll need that map before we go. Hopefully she managed to…”

  Brian emerged again and grinned while holding a loaf of bread with a bite taken off the top. “It’s ready,” he mumbled through his teeth as he walked up to his horse, leading it closer to the doorway. “And it’s perfect. I’m definitely going to need your help. It’s a lot of bread, and my horse won’t be able to carry it all.”

  “Of course,” William said, hopping off his horse and approaching the doorway; Elizabeth did the same. He opened one of the bags on Windrunner’s side and extended his hand. “Hand a few of them to me, and I can put them in here.”

  Brian went back into the shop and emerged again with at least ten loaves. Between the three of them, they managed to load up thirty or so loaves until the bags couldn’t fit anymore. William even broke a sweat doing it, which quickly turned into a cold layer over his forehead when combined with the brisk night air. He wiped it away with his long-sleeve white shirt before closing up his bag, Elizabeth doing the same, and both of them mounted their horses.