The Children of Calm

by Smith, J Michael

  The others had already taken their packs off and were running up and down the beach, laughing and giving shouts of joy. Rylek chose his footing carefully among the loose rocks till he was on the sand, and then dropped his pack next to the others’.

  “Why aren’t you all in the water yet?” he called out to them, trying to shout above the thunderous crashing of the waves against the rocks.

  “Don’t you think it’ll be frightfully cold?” Lana asked. “The last thing we all need is to get sick.”

  “Wreck it all, Lana, you really take it!” Tresten said. “Thirty minutes ago you were dying to get down here. Do you really mean to tell me you’re suddenly not going to swim in the ocean?”

  “I didn’t say that,” she replied. “I’m just looking out for our well-being. Can’t we build a fire first?

  “That’s a good idea, sis,” Rylek said. “Let’s build a campfire, and then we’ll strip off our outer-wear and swim in our under-tunics. That way we can dry ourselves off by the fire, and our clothes will be ready for us. They wouldn’t dry nearly as fast as our under-tunics will.”

  “Hooray for long underwear!” Tresten said, smiling his rarely-seen half-smile.

  “Yes - thank you, Aunt Penni,” Rylek said, as the girls laughed.

  There were many shrubs and a few small trees along the cliff’s base, so before long they had gathered enough wood and kindling for their campfire. Tresten wasted no time in starting the fire, and soon a crackling flame was licking up the kindling. Minutes afterwards their clothes were lying by the fire, and all four were standing side by side and hand in hand in their under-tunics just shy of the water’s lapping edge. It seemed a solemn moment to them, although they did not understand why.

  “Count three, Rylek, and we’ll all run in together,” Selenor finally said.

  “Okay,” Rylek said. “One…two…three!”

  The girls erupted in fits of shrieking laughter and the boys gave out loud shouts as they splashed their way into the sea. They were pleasantly surprised to find the water not nearly as cold as they were anticipating. The sun was warm and the wind was not quite as strong down here, and though the water took their breath away initially, their bodies soon adapted and they were busy frolicking and swimming for a long while.

  Several hours passed, though they seemed like mere minutes to them. But eventually their appetites caught up and they discovered they were exhausted. As the sun was slowly sinking in the west behind large gray clouds, they found themselves sitting by their campfire, eating their humble meal and drying off in the homey heat. The air had cooled significantly, and the clouds that were on the western horizon that morning had spread to the eastern horizon. After they were dry they put their clothes back on and huddled under their blankets, blocking out the wind that was now rather piercing.

  Rylek looked over at the girls and saw as they were shifting their blankets around that they were wearing the jewelry Faltir and Clarina had given them for their birthday.

  “I didn’t know this was a formal affair,” he said. “I would have put something a little cleaner and fairer-smelling on.”

  “We thought it felt appropriate somehow,” Selenor said, settling again under her blanket. “Maybe we feel a little more feminine wearing them. It’s been rather tiring and unglamorous these past few days. The girls in us want to play.”

  “Seems a little foolish and careless to me,” Tresten said, “to carry things so valuable and priceless with us on a seaside vacation.”

  “It is foolish for a man to attempt parting a woman from her jewelry,” Lana said. “And what’s the harm, really? You and Rylek brought your precious swords.”

  “Oh, come on, Lana,” Tresten said. “You can’t hope to compare the usefulness of your jewelry to our swords. You will thank us when they come in handy for something.”

  “How do you know our jewelry won’t come in handy?” Lana asked.

  “It’s futile to argue logic with girls,” Tresten muttered to Rylek.

  ***

  They fell silent for awhile, listening to the eternal roar of the sea. Gradually Rylek began to realize he heard music. It had started so softly he had assumed it was somehow related to the sounds of the ocean. He was surprised to see that Selenor had removed her miniature lyre from her pack and was softly strumming it. After several minutes she began to sing a non-lyrical melody, sad and lilting, hauntingly beautiful. Rylek believed the ocean was singing through her voice and fingers. The notes pierced his heart, and he felt as though the waves were responding in their own harmonic voice, echoing the sorrow in her aching tones. He felt lost in the song, as though he were slowly slipping away from the beach into some other time and place, ancient and long-forgotten, when suddenly the music stopped. He was brought jarringly back into the present. The waves stubbornly continued on in their harmonies.

  “So, Lana, what do you think of the sea now?” Selenor asked. “Is it as romantic as you believed it to be?”

  “Oh yes, and more so,” Lana said. “It’s so wild and untamed, full of passion and mystery, timelessness and restlessness. I feel like the waves are trying to relate the history of the world to me - the ebb and flow of time - countless events that have taken place that we have no knowledge of whatsoever.”

  Rylek looked at her. “Wow, listen to you,” he said. “It really does have you thinking, doesn’t it?”

  “I don’t know,” Lana said. “But it all seems vaguely familiar to me in some way. I really have no idea how to explain it.”

  “To me, it feels more like the sea is slowly beckoning me to forget,” Rylek said, “as if the waves are gradually and softly chipping away at my memories. Maybe that’s why you feel like the waves can tell you the histories of the world. They’ve been stealing memories away from people for generations and absorbing them into their own consciousness.”

  “Which of your memories are you in danger of losing?” Selenor asked.

  Rylek thought of all he had been told merely days ago by his father and Caenar. The time he had spent playing in the ocean had been the longest he had gone without the knowledge buzzing in the back of his mind. Now everything came flooding back, much to his dismay.

  “I don’t know about anything specifically - just memories in general,” he said. “Besides, I wouldn’t remember them if they were taken away, right? If I stayed here long enough, maybe my mind would be a clean slate.”

  “Well, we can’t have that,” Tresten said as he stood. “Especially since we are going to the University soon. You are going to need to retain everything we have learned from your father and Celek.” He removed Silran from its sheath. “It has been too long since we practiced. Come on, before we get too rusty.”

  Rylek shook his head in disbelief. “Tresten, it’s dark and I’m exhausted. It can wait till the morning.”

  “I will go easy on you, I promise,” Tresten said, smiling. “And we can use the practice sleeves so we don’t hurt ourselves or the blades.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Please, Rylek?” Selenor asked. “I really do enjoy watching you two. It’ll be a nice way to cap off the night.”

  Lana stayed quiet but gave Rylek a knowing smile.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. He found it nearly impossible to say no to Selenor. His head told him that was most certainly a dangerous thing. “But not for very long. I’ve been enjoying sitting around talking, and I still want to do some more of that before we all go to sleep.” He stood up and walked over to his pack, removed Faldrahil from its sheath and slipped the practice sleeve over its blade. “We shouldn’t do it too near the fire. I’d hate for one of us to fall into it.”

  “How about over there?” Tresten asked. He pointed to the cliff on the side of the peninsula, which was only about fifteen yards away. Several trees and bushes ran alongside it. “I think the fire will be close enough to give us light but far enough away to not pose as any real threat.”

  Rylek agreed to this, and they walked over to the cliff sid
e. The girls sat in front of the campfire to watch. Soon the boys were circling each other, holding their blades out. Rylek made the first move, which Tresten parried. Next their blades, feet, and bodies were moving together as though choreographed.

  “It rather is like an exciting dance, isn’t it?” Lana asked Selenor.

  “Yes – and a dangerous game,” Selenor replied.

  “Oh, do be careful!” Lana called out to the boys.

  As they were clashing and clanging their blades together, Rylek had to confess it felt good to be moving like this again. His hands had missed the feel of the sword, and his arms and shoulders were glad for the balance of added metallic weight. They were still slowly circling each other, and gradually getting closer to the cliff wall. After a few minutes, Rylek found his back to the cliff. With the campfire now in his eyes, the girls and Tresten were nothing but dark shadows to him, silhouettes seemingly from a nether-world. “It’s hard to see…” he started to say, but then several things happened at once. Tresten made a sudden lunge, but his foot slipped on some loose gravel. Trying to keep his balance, he instinctively held his arm up, palm out, bracing for possible impact. His momentum carried him into Rylek, who was pushed backwards through some light shrubbery and into what should have been the cliff wall. Instead, he kept falling, and was soon engulfed in total blackness as he realized there must have been a small cave in the side of the cliff. Suddenly he was struck with the sensation of déjà vu; but before he could think upon it, his head smacked against the ground and he knew no more.

  Chapter Eight:

  What Lies Hidden Beneath

  Rylek opened his eyes and found he was looking up into a deeply rich blue sky, dotted here and there with a few large white billowy clouds. He kept his body as still as possible but moved his eyes all around as he took in his surroundings: he was lying on his back but could see little else. Knowing he could not remain there forever, he decided to sit up. Much to his surprise he saw he was in a small sloping field of short-cropped dark green grass. To his left and up the slope, several trees stood erect, branches swaying in the breeze. The air was lightly scented with a mixture of sweet and earthy smells, which led his eyes to his right. There, down the slope, sat a large pond, whose shores were lined with many different varieties of wildflowers.

  He suddenly felt very thirsty and decided to walk down to the pond. Its surface was still, its water perfectly clear, and as Rylek dipped his hand in he found it to be deliciously cool. Long he drank from it in slow measure. When he had his fill, he turned to look over his shoulder and gasped: rising from the horizon to meet some nearly impossible point in the sky was a pinnacle, a cylindrical tower of sorts. Naturally his curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself climbing back up the slope towards it.

  At the top he commanded a wide view of the land, and what he saw there took his breath away. He found that he was on a rim of an enormous bowl in the earth, as though a massive crater had been carved cleanly out of it. The sense of scale made him dizzy as he realized the other side was easily many hours - possibly even a couple days - away if he wanted to walk to it. The space between was filled with lush gardens, ponds, waterways, open fields, forests, and light - everything seemed to radiate light. And there at the bottom of the bowl was the base of the massive tower. Its supports ran down its trunk, and then turned out at right angles away from the tower, where they ran parallel to level ground throughout the bowl’s valley like the spokes of a wheel. They continued on perfectly straight, with no incline or decline, till they seamlessly met the rim of the bowl. One of the support spokes started not far from him, and after examining it he discovered that they served a second function of footbridge over the waters and fields. The tower itself alternated in some unknowable design between colors of polished onyx and emerald, while its supports were of an alabaster color. The horizontal parts of the supports were lined with trees like avenues. Though it was hard to be sure, Rylek thought the tower had places where some form of plant life grew out of it, and swore he even saw a couple of waterfalls on its side. He decided he needed to explore further.

  He approached the closest support and began to walk over it. There were stone railings on the sides to encourage his safety, though the trees themselves could have served this purpose alone. The walkway looked and felt like stone, though it appeared to be more carved out of the earth than pieced together. But before he had thought much on this, he found himself wondering how long it would take to actually reach the tower. He was pleasantly surprised then when he was suddenly at the base of the tower, with a large imposing archway greeting him at the entrance.

  Before walking in, he saw the tower was covered with hundreds of un-glassed windows from which hung many flowering vines. Looking inside he was again astonished that it was as light there as it was outside the tower. There were no furnishings to be found anywhere, but as he ventured inside he saw a bundle sitting in the middle of the floor. As he approached, it started wriggling and writhing, singing like a chorus of infant voices. Sure enough, swaddled in coarse blankets were two newborns. Rylek watched them for a few moments.

  “These children will be safe here,” he found himself saying out loud. “Please permit me to stay and raise them until they are fit to take care of themselves.”

  “Rylek!” shouted a voice from nowhere.

  “I know and understand the punishment I have endured and continue to endure,” he continued undeterred, “but you must understand the value of these children’s lives. They are all that remain of the royal line of the Aenosh, blessed and cursed as it is. It is my sworn duty to…”

  “Rylek! Oh, please…”

  “…protect these mortals from themselves. They are the beloved of Daar, the Almighty One…”

  “RYLEK!”

  ***

  A flood of sound swirled in his ears as Rylek’s eyes shot open. Or rather he thought he had opened them, but there was no difference if they remained opened or closed. Instantly he panicked, afraid he had lost his vision. Then it dawned on him that it could have been pitch black wherever he was. Suddenly he noticed the throbbing pain in the back of his head, and that he was lying on his back on a pebbly and sandy ground. The air was warm and stifled, and he could sense he was in an enclosed space.

  How did I get here? What happened on the beach? he found himself asking.

  He slid a hand behind his head and found it was wet and sticky. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to sit up. His body felt stiff and sore, as though he had been lying there for quite awhile. Immediately a wave of nausea hit him, and he put his head between his knees, breathing in slowly, deeply, and then exhaling.

  “Rylek, is that you? Are you okay?” came a frantic voice above him.

  He looked up and saw a spot that was not as dark as everything else – more a dark coal gray than black. Well, I guess I’m not blind, he thought to himself.

  “Rylek! Oh, please, please…” the voice pleaded again.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” he answered slowly.

  “Rylek! Thank The One!” Lana exclaimed through obvious tears. “We’ve been so scared…” Her voice suddenly sounded quieter and muffled as she continued. “Selenor! He’s talking! Hurry!”

  “What happened? Where am I?” he asked.

  “You don’t remember?” Lana said, apparently turning her head back towards him. “That’s not important right now. We have to figure out how to get you out.”

  “Rylek, I was so afraid you were…” Selenor’s voice started but then abruptly stopped. She sniffed. “Well,” she said after a moment’s pause, “I’m just so glad you’re alright now. Have you broken anything?”

  “I don’t think so. The back of my head is bleeding though.”

  “How far down are you?” Lana asked.

  “I’m not sure. Let me stand up and see.” Slowly he forced himself up, willing away any further bouts of nausea, and then reached out with his hands in front of him. After taking a couple of steps they touched solid rock. T
hen he reached towards the gray spot from which the girls’ voices were coming. “It looks to be maybe four or five yards. It’s hard to be sure when I have no point of reference. And I’m pretty lightheaded. Where’s Tresten?”

  “He’s been trying to find another way in,” Lana said. “He should be returning shortly to tell us what he’s found.”

  “Or hasn’t found,” Selenor softly said.

  “How long have I been down here?” Rylek asked.

  “Can’t say for sure. Probably two or three minutes, though it’s felt like an eternity,” Lana said. “Rylek, you can’t imagine the panic we’ve been in.”

  “Well, there’s no reason to panic anymore. I’m alright, just shaken up a bit.”

  “I wish there were some way we could get some light down to you so you could look for a way out,” Selenor said.

  At that moment Rylek remembered the gift Caenar had secretly given him for his birthday. Afraid to hope too much, he dug his hand into a pocket to discover that the starpod torch was indeed still there. After taking it out of his pocket, he squeezed it between his fingers. A warm yellow light instantly flooded the space, and he was able to see he was in what appeared to be a cave.

  “Whoa, what is that? Where did you get it?” Lana asked.

  Rylek held up the torch, squinting from its light. “It’s something Elder Caenar gave me before we left. He thought it might prove useful.”

  “It looks like it has,” Selenor said. “So what do we do now?”

  “Before we do anything for certain we need to wait for Tresten to get back,” Rylek said. “There’s no sense in making out a plan if he’s already found another way for me to get out of here. Meanwhile, I’m going to look around and see what I can find.”

  The girls agreed this was a good idea, so Rylek began to walk around and examine his environment. It was not an extraordinarily large cave since the starpod torch’s light was enough to reflect off all the walls. All of the ground sloped down towards the sea, and there at the bottom was a shallow pool of salt water. Oddly enough the walls and ceiling were smooth, as though they had been worked by hand. By holding the torch up close to the walls, Rylek noticed small and thin etchings that looked to be some form of writing, though it used unfamiliar characters. What had been the gray area where Selenor’s and Lana’s voices could be heard was a window outside to what Rylek realized must have been the beach. The girls’ faces looked exhausted and worried in the light.