Viktor

by Francesco Leo

  “I will do my best. After all, I just have to face a god,” Viktor said.

  “What happened to Zergh is the same thing that happens to humans with too much authority. Power is identical to wine: the more you drink the more you want, but only a few can bear it. The god of darkness has been defeated by the same force he used to subdue the races, blinded by his sense of hegemonic superiority. If a god has committed a human error, why should he not perish as well? Who knows, one day maybe we’ll find a way to stop all this and destroy Zergh once and for all.”

  Viktor smiled and approached the door, but on the verge of leaving, he realized that he still had a question to ask. Galaeth anticipated it.

  “We’ll make sure your father knows you’re not in danger. At least until the training ends. You will explain the matter yourself when you complete your training.”

  The chosen one made a sign of thanks and left the office while the magic wall closed behind him; he continued along the corridor he had gone down with Kanda.

  As he made his way to his room, he thought of Selene, First, Gabriel, Trust, and Lezhen once more; he wanted to find a distraction: remembering people who he wanted at his side would have made him sad.

  He returned to the speech he had had with Galaeth about the unknown bond he seemed to have with Xemnath and the force that kept other people from scanning his memories of the dream: Xemnath wanted to communicate something, but what?

  He hoped to find some answers in the worn out black diary in his room.

  He was still awake and attentive, although he seemed to have been awake for a long time.

  He mulled over what had happened during the great War of Oblivion, when the deities fought an exhausting battle in an attempt to bring their fellow men back to reason.

  Lost lives, destroyed villages, stormy skies and angry seas: the planet fought alongside the seven and suffered from their pains.

  What was now assigned to him was a heavy burden. That he used Arald and defeated darkness for another hundred, two hundred, or three hundred years, he didn’t care: he would do what he could to prevent a new wave of pain and suffering. If there was still hope, that was him. He closed the bedroom door and took out the little pocket key of the casket; he opened it and put his hands on the diary, sat on the bed cross-legged after taking off his boots.

  At that point, he inhaled and exhaled deeply, before flipping through the first page.

  THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

  G abriel watched Selene put the book of the ancient creatures inside the saddlebag, which she would bring with her to the monastery.

  “I think they already have it,” the young man grimaced.

  “I think so too, but better safe than sorry ... and then we’ll avoid wasting more time looking for it. How did First take the idea of leaving? “

  “I persuaded him easily. Despite being worried about the hike up the mountain, he really hopes to discover anything that can make him understand what is happening. As far as the field is concerned ... well, it won’t be a problem: for years he has done everything by himself, fancy if he wouldn’t do it in a similar situation. Let’s just hope that the Elders will allow us to stay. “

  “I don’t think they will mind, as I told you yesterday,” Selene pointed out, convinced that everything would go well.

  “I hope so, otherwise we’ll just have taken a couple of useful arms off my father,” the other said ironically.

  “Did you pack your bags instead of staying here wasting time?” Selene teased.

  “Of course, you aren’t confusing me with my raffish brother, are you? Look where that led.”

  “Well, he didn’t choose for all this to happen.”

  When Selene was ready, the two came out of the house and headed for Gabriel’s, where First was waiting for them.

  The afternoon sun illuminated the whole village and many people strolled through the square of Lezhen, busy chatting about this and that; some smiling children were chasing each other, pervaded by the childish carelessness that Selene remembered with regret and nostalgia.

  The air was fresh, clean and impregnated with the scents of grass and flowers from the meadows.

  At home, while Selene waited with First in the kitchen, Gabriel got his luggage from his room.

  Selene noticed that her friend had taken a bow and a pair of arrows, grouped in a wooden quiver: he would use his pastime to hunt and get food during the trip.

  “Gabriel has been practicing archery since he was very young, and even if he hasn’t had much free time for training, he is still a good shooter,” said First.

  The farewells didn’t last long, and once they had all they needed, the two travellers left.

  The duo was swallowed up underneath the foliage of the grove trees around the fields, towards the mountains on the edge of Mirthya.

  The rustle of grass accompanied the footsteps of the two young people, who didn’t say a word for a long time, dwelling on the events of the last days.

  “Are you okay?” Gabriel asked, breaking the hegemony of silence.

  Selene frowned at him before replying: “Why, shouldn’t I be?”

  “I don’t know, I agreed to leave ignoring the fact that you have just returned from a trip that was not really the best and I was wondering if maybe ...”

  “Gabriel, I took the initiative to go to the Elders,” she interrupted him. “Besides, you know that even if I had been at the height of exhaustion, I would have left all the same if it could help to find out where your brother is. Worry less!” concluded Selene, giving him a loving smile. Gabriel returned the smile, encouraged that the girl would help him in his search for his brother.

  Making their way under the trees, they came to the foot of a narrow road that went up; the light of the sun weakened and the two began to feel tired. Before it got too dark, Gabriel proposed to look for something to eat for the evening. They hid behind a bush waiting for any prey to be within the hunter’s range.

  The area seemed deserted.

  Gabriel kept his senses vigilant for a long time. When a noise of leaves broke the quiet, Selene, frightened, held back an imprecation, afraid; Gabriel gripped his right hand more tightly around the bow.

  From behind a trunk, a rabbit leaped, concentrated on contracting and recoiling its nose frantically in search of an odour.

  “This is the moment,” Gabriel said to himself.

  He drew a goose-feathered arrow, quickly and silently, and nudged it into the arch, stretching the rope to its maximum tension.

  It took only a couple of seconds to aim, less than five to complete the whole operation: he shot the arrow, which traced a clean linear trajectory at an imperceptible speed.

  A dull blow and a subsequent moan from the prey put an end to the homicidal action of the arrow.

  Gabriel and Selene came out of hiding; the boy approached the rabbit, still in spasms of pain.

  Selene stared at the scene, as she had never witnessed such a gruesome spectacle: taking life away from someone, whether it was a rabbit or a human.

  “It’s done!” Gabriel said, satisfied with his impeccable target shooting.

  Selene smiled at him, avoiding comments.

  The boy took the arrow out from the small lifeless body and rubbed the tip on the grass, trying to clean it from the blood.

  He set the arrow in the quiver and put the bow back on his shoulder as he lifted the carcass by its hind legs and tied it to his knapsack with a string.

  “Come on, you won’t hate me for this! We need something to eat, don’t we? We agreed from the start!” he exclaimed when he noticed his friend’s expression.

  “Yes, but I never imagined it was such a horrible sight.”

  When Selene decided to get back on their journey, the setting was immersed in the light blue of twilight and the path seemed to have disappeared. For all the rest of the way, the girl never laid her gaze under Gabriel’s chest, for fear of seeing the rabbit.

  As soon as the two young people had arrived near
a road that climbed the side of the mountain, they decided to stop on a little turf just off the main path: they would reach the top the following day.

  “We should light a fire,” Gabriel said after he had taken off the bow, quiver, and saddlebags, spreading a sheet on the ground that would protect them from the dirt and wet ground.

  “I’ll look for the wood for the fire while you skin that thing,” said the girl, pointing at the rabbit with a gesture of disgust.

  As Selene left, Gabriel sat down and began to skin the animal with a large knife he had pulled out of his boot.

  As the young man continued his work, he heard a dull rumble come from a dark spot in the trees; he catapulted toward the bow and quiver, dipping in an arrow. Gabriel remained alert for a few seconds, but he neither saw nor heard anything.

  “Perhaps it was a branch that has fallen or a simple wild animal. I was scared for nothing.”

  Selene returned after a few moments at a rapid pace, carrying a bundle of twigs.

  “What happened? I heard some confusion in this direction,” she asked, frightened.

  “Nothing, a noise made me jump and I fell on the arch. I think it was only a wild animal, I got a good fright.”

  “And I worried! Take them, they’re for the fire; I haven’t found any more dry ones!” exclaimed Selene, letting the twigs fall at her friend’s side.

  “To feed the fire we could use that larger chunk,” the girl continued, pointing to a very large one a few steps away from them.

  Gabriel rose from the ground, approached the chunk, and rolled it.

  The girl took a couple of flints from her saddlebag and tried to light the fire, hoping to do it before twilight gave way to the night.

  The two sighed with relief when they managed to stabilize the flames and light up a portion of the ground.

  When he had finished skinning the rabbit, the scene of the imposing mountain before him captured Gabriel: there were many rumours surrounding it. Many believed that beyond the Sea of the Ghosts, beyond the mountains, there was the kingdom of Valhalla, where the souls of the heroes came after death to feast with the gods.

  Back with his feet on the ground, he slipped two branches in the bonfire, to support another stick that kept the weight of the rabbit on the embers.

  It took Selene awhile to get used to the sight of the animal pierced by the branch and on the flames, but hunger gave her a reason to endure that atrocity.

  ******

  First had just put the semi-empty bottle of liquor in the cupboard. He had let himself go to the carelessness of alcohol and long talks with Trust, who had kept him company until late at night.

  The two had discussed Viktor and the departure of Gabriel and Selene for the monastery of the Elders, but later they had set aside serious speeches to distract themselves.

  First had talked to Trust about the harvest and the latter continued discussing some of the forging techniques he intended to adopt and how he had invested the money from winning the Big Talents contest.

  Since returning to Lezhen, he had hung the rod on a wall opposite the entrance and the money from the winnings settled in a corner of the cellar, with the intention of dividing it with First as a sign of gratitude for Viktor’s help. Although there was quite enough money, the two were worried about the last events, though they were trying to hide it behind the glasses of liquor and the laughter caused by too much booze.

  When even the last lights in the village windows went out, the blacksmith decided to go home, but something forced him to hold back.

  The two noticed a letter at the foot of the front door.

  Intrigued, they broke the red seal that sealed the envelope and extracted its contents.

  First could not read, but Trust was able to interpret the message.

  “We apologize for the inconvenience of your son, but he has to stay with us due to a major force. It’s sufficient to say that your eldest son is in perfect health and that, because of urgent matters not explicable at the moment, he will stay with us for a few months.

  For this, please be patient until we tell you the reasons that led to your child’s long stay in our lodgings and continue to behave as if nothing has happened.

  My best regards.

  Anonymous.”

  Trust became silent after the last part of the letter.

  “Whatever is happening, we know that Viktor is safe,” said First, as if he had acquired lucidity again, after so much liquor. “At this point we just have to wait for these months they talk about to go by and maybe we will understand something more. I saw those people, they didn’t seem bad, they helped us when we were in trouble,” Trust replied, without looking away from the letter.

  When the two came to the conclusion that only waiting would resolve that mystery, the blacksmith went home and First went to bed.

  “I’ll have to wait months,” he thought with his eyes on the ceiling. “The price for freedom is high, if freedom can be spoken of at the end of this time.”

  After the death of his wife, First had only his children left and now, at the thought that they were so far from home, he felt alone.

  He would do everything to regain freedom.

  THE WHISPERING OF THE STARS

  S elene managed to finish eating, though hampered by the memory of the bloody death of the rabbit.

  After poking the fire and drinking some water, she and Gabriel lay down on the sheet.

  They had never seen the night sky lying on the grass so far from home and that show was enchanting them.

  The roof of the world was a dark blue carpet dotted with diamonds; Gabriel noticed the constellations that looked like the shapes of a centaur armed with bow and arrow and a leaf enveloped by two tree branches.

  “That’s the same as the pendant that Viktor gave me for my birthday,” Selene raised her finger, pointing to the last constellation Gabriel had seen.

  “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “I couldn’t miss this show.”

  “What are you going to say to the Elders at the monastery?” her friend asked.

  “Just how things are: I’m going to report that Viktor was kidnapped by unknown men, and our intentions to understand more about this whole story.”

  “I hope they will help us.”

  “I hope so too,” Selene replied, without taking her eyes off the sky.

  “How many do you think there are?” he pointed to the stars.

  “Millions ... billions ... I haven’t the faintest idea. Perhaps they are infinite in an infinite space, if it is. Who knows, maybe there are even more majestic stars invisible to the human eye: it would be nice to know,” commented Gabriel.

  Selene nodded at hearing the same answer she would give herself. “There is no greater mystery than immensity, it seems,” said the girl.

  After a few moments of silence, Gabriel said, “Well, in the end you ate the rabbit!”

  Selene wrinkled her nose disgusted at the thought of the poor animal. “As you said, we had to get something in our stomach.”

  Gabriel smiled. “If Viktor had been with us, he would have made you eat all of it, calling you a spoiled brat!”

  “I’m not spoiled, but let’s say that witnessing the killing of animals is not one of my favourite pastimes!” she chuckled loudly.

  Gabriel had not heard her laughing like that for a long time, especially in a situation like that. It pleased him. He was glad Selene laughed like that, it was a way to get distracted and keep believing in tomorrow, believing that one day, he, Viktor and Selene would have more time to be together. As once.

  “Gabriel ...” the girl interrupted, “what is it like to have a brother?”

  Selene’s question, formulated in such an unusual, intimidated tone of voice, confused the boy.

  “Well ... let’s say that having Viktor at my side helps me a lot. A brother is a bit like a cane for an old man,” he explained ironically.

  Selene remained silent, then sighed. “After the loss of my paren
ts, if I hadn’t had Viktor, I would have been alone. Who knows at this hour what life I would have led and what I would have dealt with ... I probably would have sunk into a vortex of depression that would have consumed me until I died. You can say that my thoughts are exaggerated, but I cannot deny how much your brother helped me. When everything happened we were small, but I remember the same way of being next to me that he shows now,” she confided.

  Gabriel had never imagined that the girl had that strong gratitude towards his brother nor did he expect that that night, she could have made a similar speech.

  “Now you have someone to rely on. Now you have Viktor, me and people who love you: that’s what matters,” he replied, trying to put an end to that introspective speech.

  The boy could not step into his friend’s shoes and the only thought of being able to live a life without both parents and isolated from the world terrorized him.

  “I’m glad you’re at my side,” she concluded, turning on her side with her back to her partner.

  The young man looked at her, then returned to observe the nocturnal stars. A word said in the wrong way could ruin her mood.

  After several unsuccessful attempts to sleep, Gabriel reinvigorated the dying flames with the last remaining wood. He sat in front of the bonfire and warmed up by the heat that melted the cold, pungent air of the night.

  He wrapped his arms around his knees pulling them to his chest, thinking of how the journey to the top of the mountain would continue the next day.

  “Can’t you sleep?” Selene asked.

  “Nope,” the other said, his gaze lost on the burning surface of a gnarled chunk.

  “I can’t either, too much on my mind. Viktor, the reaction of the Elders when they hear our story ...”

  “Well, you said yourself to be calm and behave naturally. People as educated as the Elders will not think our story is false, since they have written and published the books with the most absurd legends of the whole continent.”