“Max,” William said. “Tell Richard that…”
“I will,” Max nodded. “He knows your love for him, but I will tell him again.”
“Thank you.” William paused. “Max,” he began. “Wear the ring that Victoria carries so that I can see your location on the map. I will know that you safely returned to Brymar with the others.”
Max nodded. “I will,” he said.
“And…tell father that I’m sorry,” William added. “Tell him that I’m proud to call him my father, that I don’t do this in spite of him.”
Max nodded again.
Orthol and Gringal stared in disbelief. “We should come with you,” Orthol spoke up, his large battle axe proudly hanging from his belt.
“No,” Max said as he held up his hand. He looked to his brother. “This is something that William must do for himself, and you are Richard’s personal guards.” He paused before looking into William’s eyes. “And William,” he started, “I believe you will be a great leader one day, and I know the people of Skee will agree.” He smiled. “As Rachel left to save them, she told me that she carries the same pride for you as a sister would for a brother. She said that for once, she was glad that you didn’t listen to orders, that you followed your conscience instead.” He shook his head. “And I am equally proud of you.”
William smiled.
“Take care, brother,” Max said. “Come back to us safely.”
“I will, Max, you have my word,” William promised and he turned to walk away with Elizabeth.
The two of them led their horses past Orthol and Gringal, and William glanced back at Max while he jumped onto Windrunner’s back. He gave a shallow wave, and Max raised a hand in return. After taking the right towards the East, William looked over his shoulder to see his brother watching him until falling out of sight behind the patch of trees surrounding the camp.
William’s chest hurt. He felt numb.
Elizabeth didn’t talk. She could see the numbness in his eyes, the pain he carried in his heart. The two of them just rode down the road with only the silver moonlight illuminating their way, the sounds of the wild all around them, and the chilly night air sucking the heat from their bodies.
They were on their own now. Soon, everyone in the camp would awaken and notice his absence. Soon, his entire family would feel the bitter disappointment, the betrayal, of his departure. Soon, they would come to terms that William had left them in order to find answers, to discover his origin, and to return the stone to its rightful place so that everyone else could wake to see another day. He’d left for everyone’s sake, not just his own.
Surely they’d understand.
*************************************************************
Adriana shifted in her sleep.
A sharp ringing filled her ears, yet she remained unconscious, as if between states of sleep and wakefulness. She could see blues around her and a forest, much like the Artelian Forest but without the orange sap, with looming trees hovering high above her. Far away from where she stood, she could see another figure but not a face. Her body no longer moved, fixated in the single spot in the middle of this forest. She felt like she must be dreaming, yet she could hear her thoughts and feel her heartbeat soaring.
No, it couldn’t be a dream.
The same revolting stench of the forest fluctuated around her as did the figure in front of her. With one blink of an eye, the person appeared directly in front of her paralyzed body, its pure white eyes a blinding gaze beneath a bright orange hood. Adriana tried to scream but couldn’t, her body unresponsive. A long orange cloak covered the person from head to toe and a strange black haze covered the rest of its face, only the burning white eyes visible. She saw a symbol on its robe’s front, that of two intersecting half-circles with a smaller full circle at the centre, but she didn’t recognise it. She stood frozen in front of the person, helpless and afraid, every muscle of her body tensed.
“You finally sleep,” the booming male voice hissed.
She couldn’t respond.
“I can communicate with you more effectively while you slumber.”
“Who…” She couldn’t manage to say anything more. “Who…”
“A Sage of Arborough,” the figure responded. “Give it time, Adriana, your voice will soon return here.”
Adriana’s wide blue eyes alternated between the figure and her surroundings. “Where…is…this?”
“The Artelian Forest, you do not recognise it?”
“But…I am with the others.”
The sage nodded. “Yes, your body is somewhere close to Noteral, but your mind is back in this forest.”
She could feel her voice strengthening. “What do you want?” she muttered.
“Your help, of course,” the sage answered. “You’re the first worthy person to make contact with the sages, the first to be exposed to the noxious gas in the forest and survive.”
“What do you ask of me?”
“Only information, nothing more,” the voice answered, though Adriana saw no movement in the black void where, assumingly, its face would be.
“Why does my head hurt so much?”
“Making the connection is no painless task. It should pass in time.”
Adriana could feel her chest tightening as she started to panic. “What connection? Why me?”
“Because you are worthy,” the sage repeated, his figure fluctuating slightly in front of her.
“Who was the woman I saw, the one who haunted my thoughts?”
“The leader of our order; we serve her, and she protects this realm.” He paused. “Do you know anything of the Sages of Arborough?”
“Elizabeth told me…”
“Ah, yes, one of the last Altoarans. I’m sure she’d heard of our order.”
“Yes. And that you are traitors.”
“False information,” the sage added. “She believes us to be evil and reclusive, but knows nothing of the truth. Were it not for our actions, this realm would’ve fallen centuries ago alongside the Woodland Kingdom.”
Adriana didn’t respond.
“No doubt Elizabeth told you the orange sap came from the Arborough, but her reasoning is likely mistaken. The Arborough introduced the sap to create a physical barrier between the invaders and the rest of this world; the Shroud of Alikon was summoned not to keep the world out of the Artelian Forest but, rather, to keep the invaders from leaving it. Adriana, the Sages are no enemy of yours.”
“Then why do you hurt me?” she countered. “Why do you torment me with hallucinations and distort my vision?”
“Your vision aided you in Orwell as you defended the home,” it shot back. “Enabled you to save your brother from being struck by an arrow as you pushed him out of harm’s way, and you wouldn’t have seen the flanking attackers in the caverns were it not for that vision. Do you not see, Adriana, we’ve been helping you all along.”
“I do not believe it,” she yelled back. “I saw what this sap did to the wolves in the forest, how it controlled them and the pain they endured by your hand…”
“The wolves saved you that day, Adriana…”
“They attacked us!”
“And then protected you,” the sage corrected. “Don’t you see? After proving your worth, the Sages ensured the wolves prevented the real enemy from emerging from the bowels of the forest.” The sage paused. “It saved Elizabeth and Richard, too. The wolves hindered more enemies from advancing, weakened the Fortari, and provided the others the chance to escape safely with the stone.”
Adriana thought to herself and recalled the howls from within the forest and all of the times that the vision had proved useful. The wolves appeared around her now, surrounding the sage in front of her. They stared with lightening blue eyes and bulging orange veins, standing beside their master.
“We protected you,” the sage repeated.
“We,” she repeated, “how many of you are there?”
The figure raised his arms slightly,
and another six figures appeared among the wolves, all bearing the same orange robes and fiery white eyes. “You see but a few of our most adept members.”
Adriana didn’t respond at first. She looked around her again, the hazy forest surrounding them, and made eye contact again with the first sage that had appeared. “What information do you seek?”
“The treaties of old,” the sage started, “do they still exist?”
“I don’t know,” Adriana shrugged. “The Brutean Kingdom is still at war with the Navarine Kingdom. The Raldari Province despises us, the Vorshkir Kingdom abandoned our world, and the Sumnersen Plains are in turmoil.”
The sage remained silent.
“Why? What festers in this forest?”
“Armies,” the sage answered. “The Shroud of Alikon cannot hold them in the forest for much longer. A new enemy has emerged, one more powerful than the Fortari. We fear this realm will perish unless united.”
“How can I unite it?”
“Not you,” the sage said, “William.”
Adriana’s brow lowered. “I don’t understand.”
“Only he can unite it with the stone, wield the power within it. The stone will align only for him, the silver streaks forming the crest of Elitheria.” The forest started to fluctuate around them. “You must tell him of this.”
The ground started to shake beneath her. “What’s happening?”
“Your brother awakens you,” the sage said as Brian’s mumbling voice entered around them. The other six sages and wolves disappeared, the last one starting to fade in front of her as the touch of Brian’s hand became firmer on her sleeping body. “You must tell William of his purpose.”
Her eyes opened.
Chapter XXX
The moons hovered directly above.
A couple of hours had passed since Brian woke Adriana up; he seemed understandably anxious to sleep as his shift ended and hers started, though hers now approached its end, too. He currently slept while Adriana pensively sat beside him on the ground.
She thought of her dream or…connection to the sage and questioned whether it was real. It certainly felt real, as her head remained foggy even after waking up. Perhaps it was time to speak to the others about her visions; telling Max, at least, wouldn’t cause problems, and William should know that the sages spoke specifically about him. She stood up and stretched her legs, yawning and desperately trying to fend off the sleepiness to no avail.
She kicked her brother gently on the leg. “Wake up,” she said while looking to the two moons directly above. Her brother didn’t move at first, so she kicked him again, this time much harder. “Brian, wake up,” she said louder.
“What is it?” he mumbled, his eyes still shut.
“It’s time to go,” she said. “The moons…”
“Fine,” Brian angrily mumbled to himself, and his eyes popped open. He listened to the quiet snoring around him. “I hate waking up,” he complained.
“And you think I like it?” she shot back at him. “You always complain when you wake up.”
“So do you,” he argued while stand up and stretching. He looked around him and shook his head. “I suppose we wake up the rest of the Arraci first and allow Aroden and the others to sleep as long as possible.”
“Yes,” Adriana said. “I’ll bring the Watchers back from the front of the camp. Orthol and Gringal wanted to take the entire night shift and refused to change with another Arracian.”
“I’m not surprised since they’re the only Watchers we have with us,” Brian shrugged. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Alright, then, I’ll start waking people up. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see my face.”
“I doubt it,” she grinned back.
Adriana made her way towards the front of the small camp, weaving through the sleeping people and horses. The fatigue blurred her vision as she tried to fight the grogginess. It wasn’t the first time the Arraci had endured times of exhaustion, but it never made it any easier. She saw the two Arracian Watchers standing on either side of the road ahead. They stared at her as she approached them, Gringal quickly diverting his gaze to the ground while Orthol couldn’t look away.
“I’m sure the two of you will be sleeping on your horses while we ride,” she said with a smile as she reached them.
“They left,” Orthol muttered straight away.
“What are you talking about?” Adriana asked, her expression darkening.
“William and Elizabeth, they left the camp,” he repeated.
She paused to fathom their words. “They left?” she exclaimed back, her loud voice even helping Brian wake some of the others. “When? And where did they go?” she angrily asked, her fists clenched.
“To Durk’helm,” Orthol answered.
“How could you…”
“I let him,” Max said from behind her. He approached her quickly, seeing the fear in her eyes, the worry and horror. “He had to find his answers. I saw him leave.”
“Max,” she muttered quietly. “How could you let him leave?”
“Because I understood his reasons, I know why he had to leave.”
“But without the Arraci or any of us? Or even saying goodbye?”
“He wouldn’t have been allowed to leave otherwise,” Max asserted. “You know it’s true.”
“Well, of course it is,” she muttered.
“If I could find my blood parents, I would’ve felt the same urge,” Max said under his breath. “I had to let him leave.”
Adriana stood silently thinking to herself. Max moved closer, but she stepped away. “I must tell Aroden,” she said. “I can’t imagine how he’ll take this.”
“Let me,” Max said, putting a hand on her shoulder to relax her fists. “I’ll tell my father so that you don’t have to.”
She gave him a worried glance. “I should go after him.”
Max shook his head. “No. He’s far away from here by now. You’d be travelling blindly into areas you don’t know.”
“Well, how do they know the way?”
“They have the map, Adriana. Both of them are very capable.”
She sighed, looking at the others around the camp, several of them stirring and staring at the two of them, clearly sensing a further crisis. She considered bringing up her vision but chose to wait; what point was there now? The two of them were gone – Elizabeth, the only one that understood what was happening to her – and Max already had enough to worry about. No doubt she’d hear Aroden yelling the moment Max told him what had happened.
“I must wake up the rest,” Adriana said.
“And I will find my father.”
He could see her shaking. Had he made the right decision? Max pondered to himself as she walked back to the camp sight. He turned to face Orthol and Gringal, who both stared back. “I understand his reasons,” Max repeated, “though I don’t like that he left.”
“I think we should’ve gone with him,” Gringal spoke up. “Given him extra support; he should always have the Arraci around him.”
“The two of you are Richard’s personal guard,” Max repeated.
“Times called for us to be William’s,” Orthol said as he fidgeted with his large battle axe. “And we would’ve answered the call.”
Max shook his head. “The deed is done,” he asserted. “And Elizabeth has more than proved to us that she’s perfectly capable with a sword and bow.”
Their eyebrows raised and they nodded. “Yes,” Orthol muttered. “I’d argue her abilities would make her an easy candidate for the Order.”
“I thought her arrows travelled faster than ours,” Gringal spoke up. “I don’t know if that’s true, but it sure seemed like it.”
“I’m going to find my father,” Max interrupted, turning to face the camp. “He’s going to be furious.” They both stopped talking, but Max ignored their uneasy pause. “We leave soon, and then the two of you can sleep on your horses.”
“We’re wide awake,” Orthol said. “We can sleep in Brymar.”
/>
“If you wish,” he said while walking away.
Adriana and Brian quickly woke everyone up. The Arraci didn’t complain about waking, most of them quickly jumping to their feet with wide eyes, their Arracian training preparing them for much worse than four hours of sleep in two days. Zed, on the other hand, practically shouted at Brian for waking him up, and Richard whined until finally giving in to Adriana’s gentle pats on his shoulder. Aroden, however, continued to sleep even with the noise around him.
He’d picked a spot on the outskirts at the back of the camp, using a coat to lie on and a sheet of cloth as a cover. Max looked fondly at the man who had given him a purpose and a home. He hated that he should have to announce such sadness to him. Max knelt beside him, sensing that Adriana watched him as he patted his father’s shoulder. After calling his name, he slowly rose, his eyes popping open and his shoulders tensing. He looked up at his son before rubbing his eyes with dirty hands.
“It’s time, father,” Max said quietly.
Aroden shifted on the ground. “This dirt doesn’t provide a good bed,” he muttered with a faint smile. “I think I’m more tired after the sleep.”
“It’s no place for a king to sleep,” Max commented.
Aroden swatted the air as insects searched for the horses nearby. “It’s no place for anyone to sleep,” he countered.
Max nodded.
“Is everyone ready to leave?” He stood up, stretching his back and cringing as it popped. “I see the moons are directly above us.”
“Almost,” he answered. “The Arraci gather the supplies and are passing out the bread and water.” He paused, putting a hand on Aroden’s shoulder to prepare him for the news. “Father, William left with Elizabeth to Durk’helm during the night. They travel there now.”
Aroden’s face paled, the anger and hurt swelling behind his eyes. He stared into Max’s eyes and slowly shook his head. But then the anger seemed to dissipate, his shoulders loosened, and his gaze dropped to the ground, a sadness upon him. He shook his head again before looking up, glancing at Adriana’s worried expression in the background before focusing on Max’s dampened one.
The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1) Page 35
