by Kurtis Smith
Before Egan could continue Davin butted in. “Do you mean to come with us, then?”
“Yes, my young friend, at least for a little while. Strange events are taking place as of late and wish to be around to see them play out.” Liam smiled slyly at Davin. “Is this acceptable with you?” he asked.
“I don’t really feel that it’s my place alone to say,” Davin answered. When the other two didn’t say anything Davin relented. “Your company is appreciated, for my part.”
“Thank you, my boy.” He reached out and put an arm on Davin shoulder.
Davin nodded and then changed the subject. “You said you had ideas. What are they?”
“One idea was that we go to the Capital and try to gain audience with the King, find out if he’s really the threat. There are as many possible risks as there are rewards for this course. Not the least of which is ours and your godfather’s lives. Honestly, this is more of a last resort.”
Davin cursed to himself. He knew that it would be difficult and he was willing to risk a lot to rescue Roland, but not his or Roland’s life if they failed.
“Do you think that we at least couldn’t get into the prison unnoticed, rescue Roland, and leave before anyone noticed what happened?” Davin realized he wouldn’t have a shot at Deverell any time soon, but he could quell his need for vengeance if they got to Roland.
Egan shook his head. “I know what fills your thoughts and fuels your desire for taking action, Davin. Roland is important to you and First Captain Deverell causes you much anger, but you need to listen to me. The king has City Guards, Grand Soldiers, and privately hired Watchers stationed all over the Capital. We wouldn’t be able to get a prisoner out unnoticed.”
Davin hesitated a moment and then accepted Egan’s words. “What is another option?”
Liam answered this time. “There was another Scholar that lived in the Greenlands. I don’t if he’s still there. He studied Ancient lore with me for some time as well. We might go seek him out and see if he has discovered anything we haven’t, especially about this parchment you brought me.”
“Have you found nothing yet?” Davin asked.
“Unfortunately, no. There are so many documents of the Ancients we have recovered over the years.”
Egan took a turn again. “Or we simply go looking for more of our kin. King O’Hara seems to be obsessed with finding us and anyone else of our kin. Until we know his motives we should try and beat him to it. The unfortunate part is we have no leads, here or in any foreign land.”
Liam glanced at Egan. “Will you join me, my friend? I believe we have some work to do, post haste.”
Egan smiled. “Just like the old days. Shall we drink until we are sick and sleep most the day tomorrow, too?”
Liam chuckled as he passed by his old friend. “If that is your wish, my friend. I am afraid I may have to pass this time. However, I will say nothing of your level of intoxication this night.”
Egan stared to follow Liam out of the fencing hall. “Well it’s no fun by yourself.”
***
For the afternoon Davin practiced Driocht by himself. It didn’t really bother him that he was alone. After all, he enjoyed the solitude he used to have at home in Lemirre. A longing pain for home and normalcy crept into his being, but he pushed it aside. He had to concentrate.
After passing the vision of grasping the dark matter in his hand, he thought about how he felt the other morning in the market. A flood of anger and frustration filled his thoughts. Immediately he began shaking as he struggled to keep his emotions at bay. He lost his focus just as he had yesterday. He couldn’t harness it the way Liam had told him to.
Trying several times in a row caused the same result to occur. There was no way to keep his emotions from boiling over into his concentration.
It had barely been an hour but he decided to take a break. He lay down on the floor and stretched out, staring at the ceiling. Clearing his mind of his task, he thought of home some more. The longing came back. And before he realized what was happening, he was daydreaming about his parents.
They could have been anywhere if they were still alive. Davin wondered if they had the same powers and if they had been trained like he had. An overwhelming sense of love and heartache flared up.
An idea came to his mind and he sat up. Picking up the orange-red tinted orb, he envisioned himself, as always, reaching into it. Then he drew on the emotions of the market. Anger and frustration were brought up again. This time, though, he let images of his parents and Roland in. Love and admiration joined the other emotions and created a balance. Each one held another at bay just enough so he could still concentrate. He took the opportunity to push himself mentally at the orb. He broke through! A flame on his finger ignited.
Davin kept the flame alight for several minutes. It didn’t go out until he told it to. He couldn’t make it any bigger, but by the end of the afternoon; he could bring it out on command.
Feeling proud of his accomplishment, he left the fencing hall to go wash up.
When he came to dinner he was not surprised to find it was just him and Radash. He informed Radash about what Liam and Egan were doing.
“Did they mention to you when they might be completed with their task?” Radash asked.
Davin shrugged. “Not to me. I didn’t realize it would take this long. I’m not sure what they think I found.”
Davin was content to leave their conversation there. He started into a sip of hot soup when Radash spoke again.
“How does your training go? Will we be leaving soon?” Radash asked. Davin looked at him, unsure of his motives for asking.
“Why are you so curious?”
Radash looked around warily as if afraid of being heard. “I am feeling uneasy in this city now. Eventually, we will be found here,” he explained. “Why are we lingering so long?”
Davin took a quick bite of meat on his plate and then rebutted. “No one is keeping you here. You could just leave.”
Radash pulled his head back in shock, obviously not expecting the bluntness of Davin’s response.
“I would,” he answered slowly, “but I feel that my best chance of not getting captured again is to reside with my present company.”
Davin sat silently eating his dinner for a while after that. He couldn’t blame Radash for that answer considering he had made the same decision himself.
After a minute of silence, Radash asked the looming question that Davin knew would eventually come.
“Why do you carry a grudge against me? I have done nothing but add an extra number to your traveling party.”
“And manage to get yourself captured by the army, which put us in even more danger than we should have been.”
Radash’ body sagged. “That…was not my fault. I did nothing to cause them to arrest me.”
Davin watched him with narrowed eyes. “And that leads me to my other point. You may continue to say otherwise, but I feel you are still keeping some truth from us. It may be insignificant or it may not be. Either way, I don’t know how you can expect us to trust you while you deceive us.”
Radash turned away, looking sad. “One day you may trust me. I will be glad for that day.” He finished his dinner in silence and excused himself to the library.
Davin sat alone at the table for a long time deciding if he should give Radash a break. Before he knew, an hour had passed by and he was about to join Radash in the library when Liam and Egan entered the room quickly and came to a halt in front of him.
Davin perked up. “What is it?”
They both sat at the table before speaking. Egan held up the piece of parchment and put it on the table.
“We went through Liam’s old documents,” Egan started, “and discovered the origin of this map. There is little we could find in it, but if we understand correctly, this is at the very least a copy of a piece of the Scroll That Was Broken. Otherwise known as the Lost Driocht Scroll.”
“The what?”
“From
the journals we read in the documents, the Scroll was created by the Ancients themselves, as a way to keep track of their entire race. This map could pinpoint the location of any living Ancient in existence. When the War started between them, the Purists noted in journals that they destroyed the map for their own safety. Pieces of it were spread across the land, never to be found again.”
Davin pointed at the map. “This is an actual piece of that scroll?” he exclaimed.
“No,” Egan answered, “like I said, this is a copy, but it means that the King has the actual piece in his possession, found by accident I’m sure. He must have had the Acadeem’s artists at the capital recreate it hundreds of times over, then distribute it among the ranks of his soldiers.”
Liam spoke excitedly now. “It confirms our ideas about King O’Hara’s plan. He is looking for Descendants for one reason or another, and with”-
-“a completed Driocht Scroll he will be able to actually complete his task. He will know where we and any others are,” Davin finished Liam’s thought.
Egan replied quickly. “Precisely. His campaign to clean up criminals was a cover for what I thought was a search for our kin. I was wrong. He hasn’t gotten that far yet. He hopes to find the other pieces of the Scroll first. It was an accident that the army ran into me in Daust and you in Lemirre.” He grunted in weak amusement. “That’s some luck they have.”
Davin thought about it. It made complete sense. “Is there any document that says where the other pieces are hidden?” Davin inquired hopefully.
Liam shook his head. “If anyone would know, it would be the Scholar I studied with in the Greenlands. He dealt more with the legend of the Scroll and took most of the research on it. I did not care at the time. Neither of us believed it existed, but he was still intrigued by it. I felt it more foolish nonsense.” He snorted and smiled at the other two as he sat back in his chair.
“Who is the fool now?” Egan asked.
Another thought was on Davin’s mind however. “How does the King know of its magic if only a few people have ever heard of it?”
“That answer still remains a mystery and probably will continue to evade us for some time,” Liam responded. He continued. “Our path is clearer now though. We should go seek the council this Scholar in the Greenlands. He may have more to tell us. We have decided to leave in the morning.”
Davin was taken aback by his last statement. He had expected them to stay a few more days at least. But he figured it was for the best for them to move out. He could practice his Driocht and sword fighting on the road now.
It seemed now that it would be even longer before he would have his old life back. The course he was on was a long and winding one and he didn’t even know if he would live to see the end of it. It all felt out of his hands. But there was no other way.
Davin left to go spend the rest of the evening in the library. Egan and Liam stayed in the dining room talking.
***
“Do you think this Scholar of yours will have any answers for us?” Egan asked after he and Liam were alone.
“I certainly hope so, my friend. If he does not then no one does. O’Hara will not rest until he has found his prize, and neither should we.”
Egan looked grim, scrunching his face in concentration. “This new found obsession within our King has me worried. I don’t feel he intends good things for my kin, if he even finds any.”
Liam put a hand on his shoulder. “I do not think it will come to that, my old friend. A thought has been growing in my mind recently. Something is certainly amiss with O’Hara, certainly, though it is not as it seems. It is almost as if he is being pushed into action in some way.”
“Indeed,” Egan agreed. “But how could someone or something hold so much influence over a King that he would go as far as he has?”
Liam grabbed Egan’s shoulder, trying to reassure him a little. “We do have time on our side. As long as we keep you and Davin out of his mind, O’Hara will continue to focus on completing the Scroll. You lived with some of your kind and you cannot even tell where they might be, or if they are still alive.”
Egan’s voice grew strong. “I only wish I had memory of the last twenty years. It is becoming more of an inconvenience as time goes on.” He paused, strengthening his tone. “I will say this. If they are alive, I will not rest until they are found, scroll or no scroll.” He turned and looked at Liam. “I am glad you are coming with us.”
Liam nodded and they smiled at one another, each sharing the appreciation for the other’s friendship.
When the moment was over, Egan spoke again. “I can’t forget about my young trainee either. He is coming along at a much quicker than rate than I ever expected, but still…” He paused and stared ahead, letting his eyes glaze over. “I told him that all of his skills would be tested before we knew the truth of the King’s madness. At the time, I didn’t fully believe, but now our plans are much more complicated.”
“Davin is strong, though a bit bullheaded. You are a great fighter and Driocht wielder. I think we have a chance to stop O’Hara’s plans with a little help. Do not be so doubtful, my friend.”
Egan looked desperately at Liam. “What help? No one will rise. Deverell is a ruthless army commander. They will not rest until their task is done. There is some sort of power that is equal to ours. Gradis had it and I fear we have not seen the last of it.”
Liam caught on. “You feel that no matter what we do there is no way to succeed in stopping them.”
“Yes.”
Liam frowned, not caring for Egan’s solemn mood. But he also was not confident enough about the path ahead to attempt a rebuke. “Do you wish to tell Davin of this inevitable future?”
Egan shook his head. “No, he must believe we will still succeed.”
Chapter 13 A Hasty Departure
When Davin came back down from the library late that night, he drowsily passed by Egan and Liam. A thought of something he hadn’t told them yet occurred to him. Davin spun around drowsily. He saw that the other two gentlemen were in mid-conversation.
“I was able to commanded Driocht again today,” he told them. “It came forth when I willed it to.”
Liam stopped what he was saying and they glanced at Davin. It looked as if they were impressed by what he had said, but shocked at the sudden outburst. And Egan still looked troubled.
“This is good news. I can say nothing but that you have excelled well beyond what we expected. This only confirms what I told Liam earlier about your skills.” After he spoke his face became weary. He suddenly looked very tired.
“Are you alright?” Davin asked before he could stop himself. Egan pulled himself upright at the question, trying to return a look of contentment. He failed.
“I am fine.” He changed the subject quickly. “I believe its time to retire for the evening. You should not linger up for too much longer either, Davin.” He stood up and began to leave.
Liam said, “Did you follow my advice?” Egan stopped for a moment and looked to Liam, but then continued out of the room.
“Yes,” was all Davin said before another thought came to mind. “I have to admit, I am a little confused. I was made to believe that there was a lot of instruction I required from you, but you left me to figure it out by myself most of the time.”
Liam nodded. “From what I have learned over the years, it was how the training was handled with others of your kin. They were encouraged to discover Driocht themselves before their instructors fully took over. Unfortunately, that rarely happened, if at all. Few ever succeeded by themselves. The fact that you succeeded where so many others failed makes you a very gifted learner, young Davin.”
“I find it amazing that you have never trained another Descendant. You seem to know very well what you are doing.”
Liam chuckled to himself. “Thank you for saying such. You do not realize how much that actually means.” The smile fell from his face but he remained pleasant. “I have never had another student, no, but I h
ave spent most of my life studying the source material. It is a part of me, I should say.”
“Doesn’t your inability to actually use the Driocht prevent you from a more complete knowledge of its use?”
Liam shook his head. “The theory that you have to learn is the same. Just because I cannot connect with the dark matter does not mean I understand the process any less. It did take me many years to understand the complexity of Driocht, but my knowledge now is as complete as any true Ancient’s would have been.”
***
Several hours later Davin was roused from his slumber from what seemed like a loud crash. Unsure of if it had come from his dreams or somewhere in the house, he got up to investigate.
Stepping out of his room, he was blanketed by heavy darkness. The house was very quiet. It was still the middle of the night from what he gathered. He waited by his bedroom door while his eyes adjusted. Moonlight came through a large window to his left but it wasn’t much to see by.
When he could see well enough to not run into anything big, he strolled into the living room area. Nothing seemed to be amiss. He continued back through the dining room and around to the kitchen, careful to take it slow in the darkness. Still nothing seemed out of place.
He decided to light a candle and carry it with him. The soft glow gave enough brightness to at least see around him a few feet. He held it out as far as he could to increase his range of sight and stretched out with his power. The house was still big enough to be eerie in its stillness though, no matter how well he could see.
It took him several minutes to survey the areas and rooms surrounding the dining and living room. He was about to head back to sleep when he realized Radash’s door was wide open and he wasn’t in his room.
Deciding to continue, even though he felt weary with sleepiness, he headed for the hallway to the gymnasium.
As he entered the corridor and passed Liam’s office, his feet hit something hard on the ground. He tripped and dropped the candle. It went out. Recovering from his fall, he tried to see what it was he had tripped over. He felt around in the dark and realized it was a person’s body. After grabbing the candle and lighting it again, he turned the body over. It looked like the house attendant. Why was he lying on the floor?
