by David Ekrut
Though his face gave no hint of emotion, Bain knew Zeth only played at being a faithful hound. Submission to anyone was in direct opposition to his nature. He was a predator, and he liked submitting to anyone as much as a fox would to a wolf. Bain imagined Zeth’s temperament had come from his barbarian father.
“Rise. I have the most important of tasks for you.”
Bain let silence hang in the air like a wyvern on the prowl. The beast was a descendant of the mightier dragon. Though smaller and weaker than its kin, its poisonous strike could fell any living creature, even the mighty dragon.
He waited until the discomfort of the silence made sweat bead on Zeth’s forehead. Bain could only imagine what Zeth was thinking under his cold stare. After such a failure, he likely imagined a very grim fate for himself, indeed.
He articulated each word like a whip. “You. Will. Find. My. Son.”
“Yes, my king.” Zeth’s voice shook. Bain was not sure if it was from fear, confusion, or excitement. Perhaps all three.
Bain took a step closer to Zeth. “There is nothing more important than this. If he is harmed in any way, you will be harmed doubly. If he is killed, you will beg for death before your days are finished. But death will not come. Only pain. You will not fail me again. If possible, bring Athina back to me alive as well. But more importantly, you will bring Elwin to me.”
Bain pulled a small object from the folds of his cloak. “I am not disillusioned. I know that it will take some time, but you will find him. And when you do, you will use this on whomever aided in his concealment. I will make an example of those who stand against me.”
Bain held the device out to Zeth atop his palm. An aura of power emanated from the metallic object. To the ungifted eye it was just a hollow box that appeared to have no way of opening. In truth, this was one of a handful of its kind left in the world. Once touched with the Death Element, it was capable of the most amazing of feats.
Zeth’s eyes widened with exasperated euphoria. “A soulkey?”
Zeth attempted to mask his elation as he took the soulkey, but did as well as a street urchin would had a rich merchant given him a fortune. The exultation was clear in his voice. “I will not fail you my lord.”
“No. You will not.” He turned his back to Zeth. “Now, leave me.”
Zeth bowed and saluted fist to heart, then turned on his heel. His life force disappeared with haste as Zeth made his way toward the castle.
Athina had gone west. There was no reason to discuss such details with Zeth. Everyone living in the castle, even the scullery maids, knew which way she had fled. Being gifted in the Elemental power of Air, she had flown, thus there were no tracks to follow. But many had seen her flying west.
The guards had not been given orders to restrict her to the castle. That was Zeth’s task alone. Had he made such an order, word would have gotten back to Athina within an hour. And at the time, he had not been certain whether or not she could be swayed back to him.
She would be found.
Bain felt another spark of life near, bringing him from his reverie. The life had an exuberance like none other. It held mirth and joy that overpowered ambition. He glanced in the direction of the life’s source but could not see her. She was under a veil, then. A veil was created by the Element of Air. It would bend light in such a way to make a person unseen. A very useful talent.
Bain need not lay eyes upon his wife to know this was her life force that neared him. In a patch of thorns, she was a rose. Her forgiving grace was an enemy to logic. The mere thought of her walking up the beach clouded his thoughts with emotion. She was alone. She did not carry the small life in her arms. He forced his hands to remain unclenched and turned his back on the approaching form.
She stopped several paces behind him.
He peered to the ocean for a moment before asking, “Where is my son?”
“Safe.” He could feel the smile in her voice.
The sound was infuriating, but he forced his emotions under control. He would not allow her to use emotions against him. Not this time. He would need reason to find his son. She had only been gone for two months, so he hadn’t left the continent. It would have taken the better part of a year to reach the Island Nations or the Blood Isle and return. But where? He needed some clue.
“Surely you would not be fool enough to hide him with the Chai Tu Naruo? I have agents amongst the Children of Nature, as well as Alcoa.”
“No, my heart, he is not amongst the Chai Tu Naruo. You will not find him.”
He felt his jaw twitch and forced his muscles to relax. He turned to face her. Her long hair hung about her shoulders like he preferred it, and she wore a white dress that clung to her bosom but was loose around her legs. Her wide eyes looked into his, searching.
“Do not call me that,” he said. “You have wounded me more deeply than any sword ever could.”
She took a few steps toward him, and he raised a hand in warning.
Her smile did not fade, but she stopped walking. “Though I wish there could have been another way, you will ever be my heart, my love.”
He knew that she meant every word, and he needed to know. “When did you stop believing in me?”
Her lips tightened and her eyes shown with pity. “When you decided there was no price too high for victory.”
“I will remake the world,” Bain said. “There will be more sacrifices to be made, and I will do what I must. I regret nothing.”
“Do you remember why you began this?” she asked, gesturing to the castle. “I thought that it was to save the world from the Awakening. I thought we were saving gifted children from the Guardians of Life. But it was vengeance all along.”
“This is more than vengeance.” His voice was harsher than he had intended. He took a breath and forced away his emotions. “I will make a stronger world than Alcoa and his fool order. That world will not fear the Awakening. It will embrace it.”
She shook her head. “How will a world in turmoil be better suited to face the dragonkin? How can you believe that a war will make the world stronger?”
He looked into her pleading eyes. She had given him that look many times. They would win him over no longer.
“What would you have me do? Let Alcoa snuff out the spark of power from those gifted?”
“Alcoa made a poor decision in sending us to battle the vampires, but we all survived. And he is not the Guardians of Life. The Guardians have overreached their place for far too long, but that is why we found those gifted and brought them here. To save them from being put to the Inquisition. Not to build an army to seek your vengeance.”
“How can you not see what is so obvious?” he said. “Alcoa has the power to oppose them with the Sacred Order, yet he does nothing! The world will fall if there is not a change. And I will bring that change.”
“At the cost of your soul?” she asked breathlessly.
“What does that even mean? Do you even know?” Despite the anger building in him, he forced a laugh. It sounded weak, even to his own ears. “You serve the Lifebringer, but where is he? I do not see him raising a hand for anyone. He has left this world to ruin, and you give him your soul without question. It is foolish to serve Life at the cost of living.”
“I do not feel the taint on you, but …,” He could see the light of realization, shining in her eyes. “You are bound, aren’t you?”
He had the lie prepared before her lips formed the question. Just enough truth to be believed.
“The night I returned here from Alcoa, I had learned of your betrayal. You turned my own brother against me. That night the Seeker of Souls came to me. He offered me power, and I accepted. It was foolish of me to have resisted him in the first place, after he had already given me so much without my loyalty. I no longer fear the Awakening any more than a snake fears its own bite.”
He pulled the pendant from his neck. Amongs
t other things, it had the ability to mask the power of the Death Element. Away from his chest, the effects of its power faded, allowing her to sense that he was bound.
The pity returned to her eyes, and she stared at him in silence. Saying nothing, she gave a slight shake of her head. He had wanted her to feel pain. Blame herself. Instead she felt pity for him. She might as well have slapped him or spat in his face. Instead of pushing the anger away, he embraced it.
Bain opened his essence to Earth and Air, readying to tame its power to trap her. The power of the Elements flooded into him, but before he could act, she had already tamed power in a weave foreign to him. Spirit energy without form flowed from her, and he felt the fabric of reality tear between them.
A thin, rectangular sheet of light appeared in front of her. Its blinding brightness forced him to shield his eyes. Her image was there for only a moment, as if he looked upon her through the clearest of water, and then she and the light were gone.
Her voice echoed, even after the image of her face had vanished. “Goodbye, my love.”
Like snuffing out a candle, her life force was no more. He stared in disbelief for many moments. Slowly, he realized what she had done.
“But that is impossible.”
The shadow realm was where an elementalist drew his powers. To enter there in the flesh meant to give up one’s life force here in the world that was. She burnt up her essence in one final act, a Spending. He couldn’t know the intentions behind her Spending. He only knew one thing.
“She’s … gone.”
Forgetting the anger he had felt only moments before, he sat on the shore. He was vaguely aware of the sun descending in the western sky.
This time she was gone. Truly gone.
The night was long, but he did not stir from the beach.
Chapter 3
Elwin Escari
The sun continuously rises and sets, carrying with it the shadows of the ages. History that is known shines on us like truth given to all. But the unknown history of the ages is like the darkness on the edges of the setting sun. With the passing of time, its elusive nature lays to rest our sense of truth. As the sun brings a waking light upon the land in the morning, inevitably darkness too must fall across the land.
Time blows by for a youth like a single leaf in the wind fluttering about in the direction nature takes him. The seasons come and they go. As one leaf falls, another one rises. The Lady Nature gives rays of sunshine to her creatures as well as storms. Trees that flourish in the spring and summer lose their way to the fall and winter.
The cyclical nature of life turns its great cycle, and a child grows from a baby to a toddler. The unending winds of change blow, turning the leaf through fourteen years, until the toddler becomes a youth.
While history casts its shadow, morning has come again, and like all mornings the mysteries of the past come with it.
Elwin Escari’s blond hair bounced about his shoulders, as he swung down from the lowest branch of the large, redwood tree. The short sleeve of his green tunic snagged as he dropped into the dirt road beside the tree. He stopped to inspect the tiny tear.
“Phew,” he said to himself, “it’s not that bad. Mother will probably never notice.”
The anticipation of climbing that particular tree was the reason for wearing the brown trousers. Dirt was harder to see on brown. After they were wiped to his satisfaction, he checked the coin purse at his belt loop that his father had given him. None of the coins were missing. Satisfied that he was presentable, he walked up the dirt road in the direction of the town.
The sun hit its zenith by the time Elwin reached the first building at the edge of town. The summer’s cool, northern breeze brought apple-scented candles to Elwin, and he breathed in deeply. He could see Danna placing the new candles in the window of her small shop. It, like the rest of the buildings in Benedict, had been constructed of the strong redwoods from the Carotid Forest to the north, which Elwin could see at the edge of the horizon.
Danna’s dark hair was pulled back and tied up. A smudge of red wax had dried to each cheek, just below her eyes. Elwin noticed that her apron was covered in waxes of various colors, but her linen dress remained spotless. Danna smiled and waved as he passed.
He waved back and continued into town.
The rich smells from Warne’s Apothecary on Elwin’s right and pungent odors from Jansen’s Brewery on his left provided a stark contrast to the sweet-scented candles just moments before.
Several more paces brought him to the cobblestones of the town square in front of his Poppe’s inn. Many of the townspeople had set up some wares for travelers arriving early for the festival.
A burly man wearing a sleeveless tunic beneath a blacksmith’s apron gave Elwin a toothy grin. His massive arms sorted the weapons and armor on the wooden table in front of him.
Elwin returned the man’s grin. “Hi Faron.”
Faron had a full head of silver hair, which he kept short. Blue eyes nestled against his strong nose reminded Elwin of a hawk. He and Faron were the only people in town that had blue eyes. Everyone else had blends of green, brown and black colored eyes. But, unlike Elwin, Faron wasn’t from around here. He had grown up somewhere across the Tranquil Sea.
Faron’s voice had a deep tone and the touch of an accent. “Your dad let you off that tight leash he’s had you on, I see. Last I heard, Feffer had gotten you into some trouble for hiding stinkweed under the bar at the inn.”
“It was all Feffer,” Elwin said. “I just happened to be there. But, I am just going to Madrowl’s Wares to get some leather strapping for the plow. Father says it’ll go out any day. He had wanted to get the beans planted before the Summer Solstice Festival, but it’s unlikely now.”
Faron reached across the table and ruffled Elwin’s hair. “I could cut that for you if you want.”
Elwin backed away, eying the sharp weapon Faron reached for. “I’m okay Faron. Thanks.”
“Best be on your way then lad.” Faron winked at him.
“I’ll see you at the festival tomorrow?” Elwin asked.
Faron nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Elwin turned from the table and crossed the street, waving to Jadron the furrier and Bryne the carpenter, who had tables and tents being set up for their wares as well.
Willem Madrowl’s Wares sat across the street from his Poppe’s inn to the left of town square. Its shape made Elwin think of a large, wooden box two stories high. The small awning over the door extended the side of the building.
A few paces brought Elwin to the base of the wooden stairs, and two big steps brought him to the top. A bell dinged above his head as he entered. There always seemed to be an ever-present layer of dust in the front room. He covered his mouth and coughed.
The front room consisted of a counter that rested in front of a double door, which Elwin hadn’t ever seen stay open for long. Willem Madrowl stood behind the counter, scrawling on a leather-bound book. He closed the heavy tome as Elwin peeked at it.
Willem scratched his red-grey hair. “Oh. Hi there, Elwin. By yourself today, eh?”
“Yes sir, I have come to your shop today to purchase leather strapping, cut for a plow.”
“Well okay, my fine sir,” he said with a smile. “That will be twenty-seven copper pieces.” He opened the leather book, dipped his quill in ink and began to scrawl on the next line.
Elwin tried not to be nosy but couldn’t help himself. He watched Willem write down Elwin’s purchase. When Willem finished he said, “You can read then can you?”
Elwin’s cheeks flushed. “Oh sorry, I wasn’t trying to. Yes my mother taught me to read and write. Reading is my favorite pastime.”
“Other than ledgers,” Willem said, “what do you like to read?”
Elwin smiled. “I have a book that I got last Festival that talks about the history of wizar
ds. But they are called elementalists, not wizards. I just call them wizards because that’s what my Poppe calls them in his stories. They can do the most amazing things. I am going to be one someday.”
Elwin pulled his purse out and began to count out the copper, placing each piece on the counter.
“A el-a … wizard, eh? Well wouldn’t that be something? I saw the king’s wizard, Jasmine Lifesong, a few years back. She was really a looker.” Willem rubbed his chin. “You’ve been a good influence on Feffer. He sounds just like you, always talking about grand adventures and such. He has the great aspirations to become an elite guard to the mighty King Justice, may the Lifebringer bless him always. He might just do it, if I could keep him from influencing you.”
“… Twenty-six, twenty-seven. All there,” Elwin said. “Feffer, yeah. He wants to be a member of the White Hand. I don’t know why. Elementalists are better. Where is he?”
Willem’s nostrils flared. “Aye. Well. He’s been in a heap of trouble the past couple of days. I don’t know what I am going to do with him. Aside from the stinkweed stunt, he stole another one of your Momme’s peach pies. I’ve a good mind to keep him from the Summer Solstice Festival.” He paused. “Let me get that strapping for ya.”
Willem pulled a cord hanging by the doors and began writing on some paper in front of him. A few moments later Wilton Madrowl, Willem’s oldest, came out the doors. His auburn hair encased high cheek bones and a square face. He stood a hand or so taller than Willem. The girls of the town always giggled when they talked to him. Elwin could never figure out why. He wasn’t even funny.
Wilton took the scrawling without a word and returned to the warehouse through the double doors. Elwin leaned over to peek inside the doors while they were opened. It closed before he could get a good look, but he did manage to see large racks with clothes on wooden shelves at the far wall.
Several moments later Wilton returned and handed Elwin the strapping with a smirk. He ruffled Elwin’s head before returning through the doors. Elwin smoothed his hair. Why did everyone do that? He wasn’t a kid anymore.
