The Sword of Truth tgc-1

by Brian D. Anderson

  “When Gewey and I met Felsafell and stayed in his house, he woke me in the middle of the night and told me a different story,” Dina said. “He said that as a child of two worlds, I would have to sacrifice myself to make the world whole again. Of course, he said it in his odd little way-but there was no mistaking the intent.”

  “Mind his words,” Kaylia advised. “They do not always mean what they seem to. As I told Gewey-” she paused, wincing slightly upon saying his name, “he is dangerous, and you risk great peril if you take his words at face value. You may yet have the life you want.”

  Dina smiled. “Thank you, Kaylia. I hope we all get the life that we want.”

  When Ertik returned, he escorted them down the hall and showed them each their rooms. The rooms were plainly furnished with a bed, a small table, and a chair. A washbasin with hot water sat in one corner of the room, and their belongings had been placed in another.

  “Once you’ve rested and washed, you may wander freely-with the exception of the healing chamber,” Ertik told them. “If you need me, I’ll be in the den, awaiting word of Gewey.”

  “I think we’ll all be joining you shortly,” Lee informed him. Dina and Kaylia nodded in agreement.

  Lee was the first to return to the den. Ertik was sitting in a chair by the fire, thumbing through a leather bound book, humming to himself. When he saw Lee, he sat the book on the arm of the chair and gestured for Lee to sit across from him.

  “You look…cleaner,” Ertik noted. “Though I’d wager you must be exhausted.”

  “My kind doesn’t tire very easily,” Lee replied.

  “Yes, I forgot,” Ertik said thoughtfully. “It must be quite a burden.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Such strength and power breeds jealousy. Hiding who one is all the time can’t be easy.”

  “It can be tiresome,” Lee admitted. “But I have Millet. He’s been with me a long time, and he shares my secret. It makes it easier to have someone like him with me.”

  “He sounds like a good friend. Where is he now?”

  “On his way to Hazrah to take my wife and child out of the city,” Lee answered. “With the Dark Knight on the move, I couldn’t risk leaving them so close to his borders.”

  “Hazrah?” Ertik repeated, suddenly looking troubled. “How long ago did he leave?”

  “More than a week now. He should be there in about two more weeks. Why? Do you know something?”

  “I got word that Angraal now has dominion in Hazrah. Whether the city was sacked or they surrendered, I don’t know-but your friend is walking straight into the heart of the Dark Knight’s power.”

  Lee closed his eyes tight, trying to still his mind. “Can you send word to Hazrah?” asked Lee. His voice was unsteady. “Do you have a messenger flock that travels there?”

  “I’m sorry,” Ertik replied regretfully, “your friend will arrive well ahead of any message I could send. Still, I will try.”

  “Thank you. I need to have Lady Nal’Thain and her son evacuated from Hazrah, and taken to the city of Dantory. It’s a small oasis in the eastern desert. Tell them to mention Millet if she questions the truth of the message. I will pay anything it costs, ten times over, if they are brought safely there.”

  “Payment is not necessary,” Ertik assured him. “I will send the message now. There are no messenger flocks between here and there, so the message will have to be carried much of the way by members of the order. Still, I shall see to it at once.” Ertik got up and hurried away.

  Lee sat there, holding his head in his hands, as Kaylia and Dina entered.

  “What’s wrong?” Kaylia asked as she took a seat next to Lee. Dina followed close behind.

  Lee told them what Ertik had said.

  “Millet will get them out,” Dina said, confident. “I know he will.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he replied.

  “Millet is wise and capable,” Kaylia added. “Much more than any other human I’ve met thus far. If there is an army guarding their door, he will find a way to get past them.”

  “You’re right, of course,” he agreed. “It’s just the feeling of helplessness I can’t stand.”

  “Believe me, I understand,” said Kaylia. Lee looked at her and nodded knowingly.

  After an hour, Ertik returned. “I sent your message. I also sent word to Dantory to be on the lookout for them.”

  “I’m in your debt,” Lee said graciously.

  “Not at all,” Ertik replied. “You have done us quite a service.”

  ”There’s something else you should know,” Lee said. “I believe I have the Book of Souls in my possession.”

  Ertik froze. “Where is it?”

  “In my room. I was hoping someone here would know what to do with it.”

  “Are you sure that’s what it is?” he asked.

  “Not completely,” Lee answered. “But from what we’ve learned, we’re as certain as we can be.”

  Ertik clapped his hands. “That is news. We must tell the High Lady when she is finished with your friend. She will be overjoyed.”

  “If she can heal Gewey, she can have it,” said Lee.

  "It will be some time before we know if he will heal," said a voice from the doorway. It was Wileminia. They all stood up.

  “What’s happening?” Kaylia asked anxiously. “Will he live?”

  Wileminia sighed heavily. “He has been struck by the power of the Sword of Truth. If it had been the Sword itself, it would have destroyed him; thankfully, it was not. We have removed the energy that prevented his body from healing, but it has left him near death. He may not recover.”

  “He’s a God,” Kaylia cried. “He will not die.”

  Wileminia stared at Kaylia for a moment. “God or no, he is in mortal form. But he is strong-stronger than any I’ve seen. Now that the bite of the Sword’s power has been removed, his body may heal on its own. But I’m more concerned with his spirit.”

  “What do you mean?” Lee asked.

  “His spirit wanders,” she answered. “And it has not found its way back.”

  “Can’t you help him?” Kaylia asked desperately.

  “We are trying,” Wileminia assured her. “But if he’s a God as you say, it explains our inability to reach him. His spirit would be different from our own, and we have no way to call out to him. Even if we did, we wouldn’t know how to guide him back. The places he goes, we have never been.”

  “I can find him,” Kaylia said firmly.

  “I know you think that,” she said softly. “And I know as an elf you have tremendous strength of spirit; it’s a wonderful trait of your kind. But he is not an elf. It seems his spirit travels in realms where mortals cannot go.”

  “My spirit is bound to his,” she contended. “Even now I feel him. If he needs a guide, then I am the only one.”

  “She speaks the truth,” Lee affirmed. “They were bound together by words in the ancient language. I have no doubt she is his only hope.”

  Wileminia thought for a moment. “Come with me, then. I will take you to him. You may sit next to him and reach out as you can.”

  Kaylia nodded and followed her to the healing chamber.

  Ertik stretched his arms and yawned. “I need rest,” he said reluctantly. “I hate sleeping before nightfall, but I think tonight I’ll manage to sleep until dawn.” He slowly rose, grunting with each movement, and walked out.

  As Ertik made his exit, a young girl entered. “Lord Starfinder?” she asked. “The High Lady would like to speak with you before you retire.”

  Lee looked to Dina.

  “I’ll be fine,” Dina told him. “I think I’ll walk around for a bit and maybe get something to eat.”

  Lee nodded and followed the young girl out of the room and down the hallway. Lee was amazed by the sheer size of the place. He remembered Ertik saying there were about a hundred people here, but from the look of it, five times that number could live comfortably. They passed at least t
hree dining halls and several libraries as they walked, in addition to recreation and training areas. Most of the walls were bare, aside from several elaborate tapestries and etchings near the libraries.

  At the end of a long hall, the girl stopped in front of a plain wooden door. “Please go right in. She’s waiting.”

  Lee thanked the girl and opened the door. Inside he saw a small study with a nicely carved wooden desk with papers scattered about it. There were a few shelves and cabinets along the wall, and brass lanterns hung in the corners; all in all, there was almost nothing to indicate that this was the office of a leader of one of the most ancient orders in existence.

  The chair at the desk was facing away from the door, but Lee could tell someone was there.

  “High Lady,” Lee said. “You asked to speak to me.” There was a long pause.

  “I’ve wondered what I would say to you when the time came,” said the High Lady, still facing the wall. Her voice sounded strangely familiar. “Now that you’re here…I just don’t know.”

  Lee was both puzzled and troubled by the High Lady’s words. Trying not to let his confusion show in his voice, he said, “I would like to thank you for what you are doing for Gewey, and for the rest of us. I am deeply grateful.”

  “Are you?” she asked. “I wouldn’t be so quick to give me your gratitude.”

  The High Lady then stood and faced Lee. He staggered back in shock. She was older and grayed, but there was no mistaking her.

  “You…” he whispered. “How are you here? I spent years looking for you, and you were here the whole time?”

  “Not the whole time, son,” she said, smiling sadly. “But most of it, yes.”

  “But why?” Lee asked, trying to slow his racing mind. “Why now? Surely you could have let me know where you were before now.”

  “Please sit,” she said. “I swear I’ll tell you everything. I will hold nothing back.”

  Slowly, Lee pulled up a chair and sat down, unable to take his eyes off his mother’s face.

  Chapter 32

  “I know you must have a million questions,” Selena began. “But please wait until I tell you my story. Otherwise, I don’t know if I can get through this.”

  Lee slowly nodded and sat down.

  “When I was a young girl, before I met your father, my parents sent me to Althetas to study at the Temple of Saraf. My father was a blacksmith and did well enough to be able to support my studies at the temple. They hoped I would become a priestess someday, and I probably would have if not for your father.”

  “I’m warning you now,” Lee interrupted. “I’ll not hear you speak ill of my father.”

  “Why would I speak ill of him?” she asked. “I loved him…I still love him.”

  Her voice trailed off for a moment, then she regained her composure. “I met him in Althetas during my studies at the temple. I was in the market square the first time I saw him. He had come to the city to meet with the Fisherman’s Guild. Your grandfather had died a few months before. Your father had taken ownership of his boat, and was supporting both himself and your grandmother.

  “I had just bought some spices and herbs, when a young rogue snatched my purse right off my belt. It was all the money I had. My father was not rich, so the money he sent me each month had to last; without it, I had no way to feed myself and would have had to return home. I chased after the thief, but he was too fast. Then, out of nowhere, your father tackled him and took back my money. He looked so handsome and dashing, I think I must have fallen in love with him right then and there.”

  Lee grumbled with disbelief.

  “I know you think I might have felt differently,” she said. “But you only see things from a child’s perspective. I know you are a man now, but your memories are that of a child. I did love him. I was only fourteen at the time, but still I knew what I felt. He gave me my purse and offered to buy me a sweet apple.” She started laughing.

  “I was so angry at that. A sweet apple? I wanted a candlelit dinner or a moonlight walk, and here he was buying me a bloody sweet apple as if I were a child. However, he was twenty at the time, and to him I was a child. He walked me back to the temple holding my hand. I was so excited; this handsome hero was holding my hand. We talked the whole way there, and I made him promise to write me, which he did of course. I didn’t see him again for a year.

  “But just as he’d promised, he wrote me once a month. As soon as the letters arrived, I’d eagerly run back to my room at the temple to read them. He wrote mostly of his life in the fishing village and the goings on of his day-to-day life, but to me, each letter might as well have been a love sonnet. I wrote him back, careful not to be too forward and scare him away. Even then, I knew he was the man I would marry.

  “The next year he came to Althetas to again meet with the Fisherman’s Guild. You could have told me the Gods themselves were coming and I would not have been more thrilled; I must have spent three hours getting ready, determined to look perfect for the man I loved. We met in the same square where my purse had been snatched. This time, I was determined not to get a sweet apple.

  He was as kind and thoughtful as I’d dreamed he’d be. He took me to lunch, and we walked all over the city. At the time, it was the best day of my life. I nearly cried when it was over. I made your father promise to show me his village when I was old enough to travel on my own. He confessed to me later that it made him nervous to think of me realizing how poor he really was.

  “I wept for three days when he left.

  “A few months later, I was chosen to accompany the High Priestess as one of her attendants to Manisalia, to see the Oracle. I had never traveled so far, and the thought of it frightened me. The trip was long and hard, but as it turned out, I had a grand time. The High Priestess was young, cheerful, and played games with us at night. She even told us old tales of the world before the Great War. I felt lucky to have been chosen.

  “When we got to Manisalia, I waited outside the pavilion with the rest of the attendants while the High Priestess went inside. She was only inside a few minutes when she came out and told me that the Oracle wanted to see me. I was terrified.

  “When I went inside, she was sitting on a pillow, tossing nuts in the air and catching them in her mouth-not really what I expected, to say the least.”

  Lee chuckled in spite of himself. “No puppy?” he asked. “She played tug-o-war with a puppy when I went to see her.”

  His mother smiled. “No puppy. Still, as you know, she is not what one expects when you think of the Great Oracle of Manisalia. She asked me to sit and offered me some water.

  “She told me she’d been expecting me, and that she ‘regretted having to give such ominous news to a child.’ I hated being called a child, but I was too nervous to say anything in return. She reached over and took my hands. She told me she could see I was in love, and I turned so red I probably glowed. But then, she told me that I mustn’t marry-that if I did, it would end in tragedy.

  “I jerked my hands away and stood up. Her words scared me, and my fear became anger. I told her that your father didn’t want to marry me, and if he did, I would wed him in an instant, no matter what she said.

  “She looked at me with a sympathetic smile. She told me that your father loved me even then, and was waiting for me to come of age. But she warned again that I mustn’t marry him; if I did, he would die, and I would hate myself for the rest of my life.

  “I sat back down, but I did not hold her hands. Hesitantly, I asked her how he would die.

  “She admitted that she didn’t know, but told me that I was part of an important destiny, that my child-a child not fathered by the man I loved-would help save the world.

  “I laughed so hard that I almost fell over. I’d bear a child with the man I loved and no other, and I told her as much.

  “She insisted that I would have a child, and that one day I would have to let him go. She told me that he would one day be called to serve a northern lord, and that I should not
interfere with this.” Selena paused, her eyes guilty and troubled. “And once he was gone, she said I was not to contact him again. She said my son would find me one day when there was a great upheaval in the world, but I could not allow him to find me before then or he would surely die.

  “The Oracle could tell I didn’t believe her. ‘It seems you will marry your handsome fisherman anyway,’ she said. ‘But upon his death, remember my words.’ I left angrier than I had ever been in my life.”

  “I take it you ignored her,” Lee said.

  “To my everlasting regret,” Selena replied. “Your father and I kept writing one another, and each year he made sure to attend the annual fisherman’s meeting in Althetas. When I came of age and was old enough to leave the temple, we married. My family was furious. They wanted me to continue my education and become a novice, but I refused. As a result, my family ostracized me. I never saw any of them again.

  “Your father always regretted that I had to sacrifice so much for him, but as long as we were together I didn’t care. For a time, we were very happy. I had all but forgotten what the Oracle had told me. Fishing was good in those days, and though we didn’t have much, we had enough to get by.

  “Then, in a flash, it all changed. I was walking along the shore, collecting shells for a basket I was making as a present for one of our neighbors. I heard a clap of thunder over the water, and I looked to see the ocean boiling. Steam rose and became a hot mist. It was then that I saw him, walking across the waves towards me and smiling. It was Saraf, the God of the Sea. Somehow, I knew who he was instantly, and he was the most beautiful thing I had ever beheld. I nearly fainted at the sight of him.”

  “What did he look like?” Lee asked.

  “It’s impossible to describe,” she answered. “Not like a man, but not unlike one, either. Even now, all I can remember is the sheer beauty of his presence. He took me in his arms and loved me. I could not help myself. It was as if a spell was cast over me. Once in Saraf’s embrace, I didn’t care about anything else-not even your father.

  “He left me on the shore, and I watched as he faded into the ocean. It wasn’t until he had gone that the realization of what had happened set in. I was wracked with guilt and self-hatred. I had betrayed the man I loved, and I could not live with it. I knew I had to tell him, but I was afraid he wouldn’t believe me. I sat on the beach and cried for hours.