Saving Olympus- the Dark Army

by R D Wolfe

  Darien told Chorrun everything he could about his life at The Academy, his training, being orphaned, finally ending with the match with Lia that he was supposed to have in earlier that day, followed by his transition. Chorrun asked a few clarifying questions during Darien’s story, clearly curious about Darien’s life at The Academy, but listened carefully in silence for most of the account. When Darien was finished, Chorrun paused, looking towards the now dark window for several moments. He then rose gracefully to his feet; the night having softly enveloped the home.

  “I had hoped your story would give us more answers, but instead it raises more questions. It’s growing late, and you need to rest. I need some time to think about your story in light of the history and consider what it all might mean.”

  Quieting Darien’s half-hearted protestations, Chorrun ushered him back into the room he had awoken in. Darien, not wanting to be rude, quickly withdrew his objections and followed, finding his way to the bed. Realizing that he was utterly spent, thanks to the excitement of the day, he fell into it. His body and mind both exhausted, Darien quickly fell asleep, unsure of what lay ahead of him the next day in this strange world.

  Chapter 4: The Dream

  Darien’s eyes shot open. Birds chirped and chattered just outside his window, as warm sunlight brightened the room. Looking around, he tried to figure out where he was for a moment, before a realization struck him.

  I’m still here.

  A wave of some unknown emotion sat in the bottom of his stomach. What was he feeling? Homesick? Darien had heard other students talk about the feeling during their first few months at The Academy every year, but he had never left before, save for his trips into the woods around the school. Sighing, he threw himself back on the bed. He wanted to go home. He didn’t want to be a savior for some fantasy world.

  Darien rose out of bed, stretched, and entered the main room of the dwelling. Chorrun was there, speaking with another centaur who glanced at him before quickly walking out the front door.

  “Ah, good morning, Darien” Chorrun looked up as he approached. “I trust you slept well?”

  Darien shrugged, non-committal.

  “I don’t wish to leave you alone so soon, but there is something that requires my urgent attention,” Chorrun nodded with a sympathetic smile before continuing. “A girl has fallen ill, and I need to attend to her. I had hoped to give you a tour of Taitron, but if you’re feeling up to it, I suggest you head out on your own and explore. However, I have to ask that you don’t let anyone know that you are unsure about your purpose here. Others may find it…unsettling. Until we find more answers, you’d do best to keep it to yourself.”

  “I can do that,” Darien nodded.

  “I’ve left some food for you on the table. Once you’ve had your fill, please enjoy our quiet home.”

  With that, Chorrun left, and Darien began to eat. Once sated, he returned to his room and noticed his sword—the real one, not his sparring sword—was hanging on a hook just inside the doorway. That explained where it had gone—it went through the transition before him. Pausing to consider, he decided to strap it on. If centaurs existed here, who knew what else he might find? Splashing his face with some water he found in a small basin in the corner of the room, he stepped out the oversized door onto the cobbled streets he had panicked on the day prior.

  Darien began to wander the village, trying hard not to stare at the different centaurs passing by and bowing their heads in his direction. He followed the cobbled path, which turned into gravel off the main road, looking at shops and glancing into what appeared to be homes by the nature of the furnishings inside. He walked for about an hour based on what sun he could see through the canopy of the trees, getting lost in the natural scenery around him as the buildings faded away. Eventually, he decided to turn back, to see if Chorrun had finished whatever work he was needed for.

  After a few minutes of walking, he realized he had gotten himself lost. The trail was still clear though, and he figured if he kept walking, he would run into another centaur who could show him the way back through the many forks and curves that ran through the forest. There were no buildings in sight of where he was now, just trees and gravel, which crunched rhythmically under his boots. Birds made their strange calls out of his sight, giving him a peaceful feeling, as if nothing here was ever going to harm him.

  He then heard voices, speaking in the same accent Chorrun had. Darien hurried forward before stumbling onto one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. It was a meadow with tall grasses, flowers, and colorful insects flitting from here to there. He could see a lake and on the far end was what looked like the area where he had arrived after the transition, though his memory of the experience was still spotty. He stepped forward, feeling the warm sun on his face as he looked across the lake, thinking about what had happened to him.

  As he stood by the lake, a heavy thud hit his back, knocking him forward a few steps. Catching his balance, he turned to see what had hit him, his eyes falling on a ball. Darien look around and saw in the distance a centaur, younger than the others he had seen, shorter, and with a younger face.

  “This yours?” Darien called out.

  The centaur didn’t say anything but stood there, silently staring at him. Darien picked up the ball, about the size of a cantaloupe, made of rough material he couldn’t identify. He threw it hard towards the centaur who reached out his hands and caught it. Smiling, Darien began walking towards him, at least, it appeared to be a “him,” until he was able to speak without having to shout. As he reached the top of the hill, he saw it wasn’t just one, but a group of ten centaurs, all appearing to be teenagers.

  “You guys playing a game?” Darien asked, trying to sound friendly. The boy, clearly male in his features, nodded. “I’m Darien, what’s your name?”

  “Torin. Are you… are you one of the Four? I’ve never seen your kind here.” The centaur’s voice was younger than Chorrun’s and his coat was a solid brown, the color of wet earth.

  “I guess I am,” Darien shrugged. He looked past Torin to the group, waiting for their friend to bring the ball back to continue their game. “What are you guys playing?”

  “It’s called hooper,” Torin turned halfway around so he could see his friends. “Ever seen it?”

  “Nope,” Darien shook his head. “How does it work?”

  “Well, you have two hoops at either end of the field. The goal of the game is to get the ball,” Torin held up the sphere, “into the hoop without ever letting it touch the ground.”

  “So, like basketball?” Darien asked.

  Torin looked confused.

  “Never mind,” Darien said, realizing his mistake. “That doesn’t sound so hard. You just carry it over past the other team, right?”

  “That’s where it gets a little harder,” Torin smiled. “You can’t use your hands at all. You have to kick it, and keep it in the air using your legs, or head, anything really but your hands.”

  “That’s gotta be impossible.” Darien stared in disbelief. “No one could do that and be able to move a ball down the field.”

  “Not with only two legs,” Torin grinned.

  Darien laughed. “Well, can I watch you guys play? I don’t think I would be any good at this with those kinds of rules.”

  “Sure you can,” Torin said. “Just be careful to stay off the field. It can get pretty rough if you get in someone’s way.”

  Darien sat on a hill about thirty feet away from the lines of flattened grass he took to be the field. Torin approached the nine other centaurs, who were a wide array of colors, and spoke to them for about twenty seconds clearly referencing Darien in their conversation.

  After a few glances from some of the others, the group spread out across the field. Torin wasn’t kidding when he said it was a rough game. With four legs on each player, it made for a dangerous field when they would attempt to knock each other out of the way and take possession of the ball for their team, kicking the whole w
hile.

  The game was fun to watch. Fast paced and rough, it felt to Darien like a mix of basketball, soccer, and football, at least from how Philip had described those sports to him. At one point, Darien found himself looking around to comment on the match with his friend, before realizing he wasn’t there, and he understood for the first time just how much Philip’s companionship had meant to him. Darien tried to distract himself with the game, losing track of time until the group began to break up and Torin came back over towards him.

  “Over already?” Darien asked, disappointed to see it all end.

  “We’d already been playing for a while before you got here. Besides, it’s probably time to eat mid-day meal.” Torin said, wiping away beads of sweat from his forehead.

  “That reminds me, I need to get back to the village. Can you help me get back?” Darien looked up at the sun, he had been watching them play for almost two hours if his guess was correct.

  Torin nodded and began walking next Darien as they made their way through the forest in the general direction that Darien had initially come from. As they walked, Darien appreciated the natural surroundings again. The more Darien looked, the more he realized that paths they walked on was less had been almost grown through the trees. The centaurs had created their roads to flow with nature, almost to the point of being absorbed into it, rather than imposing onto it.

  Appreciating the silence for several minutes as they walked, Darien began to become more conscious of the fact that a mythical creature was walking directly beside him. The weight of his situation brought him down again, and he began to feel unsettled as he thought of his friends, his home, and what being in Olympus might mean for all of them.

  “Are you okay?” Concern was obvious in Torin’s voice.

  Darien nodded quickly, turning his face away from Torin and, being mindful of what Chorrun had told him, said simply, “I’m fine. Just dealing with being here and away from home is all.”

  Technically true

  Torin seemed to accept the answer without comment and they returned to walking in silence. Darien worked on composing himself before lifting his head again.

  “How old are you, Torin?” he asked.

  “I’m fifteen. I’ll be sixteen in a week, and then I undergo the rights to become a man and can build my home.”

  Another thought crossed Darien’s mind.

  “How many days are there in a year on Olympus?”

  Torin looked puzzled before seeming to realize he was talking with someone who wasn’t from his world.

  “There are about 372 days in our year, though there are some years we add a day or take one out. I’m not really sure how it works.” Torin paused for a moment. “How many days are there in your year?”

  “We’ve got 365, but sometimes we add a day too, so we’ve got something in common there, I guess.”

  Torin nodded, smiling with repressed excitement. “Can I ask what your world is like? I’ve always wanted to travel to the other worlds since I first heard Chorrun tell us about them around the fires. They seem like amazing places.”

  Darien couldn’t help but laugh, here he was standing next to a centaur, a centaur of all things, who was telling him that Earth sounded magical. It was too much, and Darien had to stop walking to catch his breath from laughter.

  “What did I say?” Torin looked confused.

  “Nothing, nothing.” Darien shook his head waving away Torin’s question. “It would take too long to explain. The short answer is, there isn’t anything so amazing back home, really. Though we do seem to have things you don’t.”

  “Like what?” Torin asked, his curiosity and eagerness to learn about another world evident.

  “Well, we have things like big buildings, lights, and screens.”

  “We have lights here,” Torin protested.

  “Not lights like these,” Darien shook his head. “At least not from what I’ve seen, maybe it’s different other places but not in Taitron.”

  Darien began to expound on his own world. Realizing that to an outsider who had never seen the benefits of modern technology that he enjoyed, the idea of capturing an image into a computer, and having the ability to replay that same image at various speeds would really seem like magic, not to mention the computer itself. They talked about lights, screens, computers, and a number of other topics until the village came back into view. By this time the sun was beginning to descend through the sky and sink into the tall trees which surrounded the village.

  As they talked, he found himself growing fond of the young centaur. Darien also began noticing small things about the village and the buildings he had missed before. The village, like the roads they had just come in on, almost melded with the forest. It was as if the forest had instructed the trees to grow into homes, paths, roads, and shops for the residents to enjoy and use. Darien couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the entire village seemed to be completely natural, neither forcing itself onto the forest, nor living within it.

  As they walked, Darien began to recognize some of the streets they were walking down, before spotting the building where he and Chorrun had been. Saying his goodbyes to Torin, Darien headed in the direction of the elder centaur’s dwelling. Pushing aside the curtain, he felt the cooler air of the interior and breathed a sigh of relief. An incredible hunger struck him as he realized he hadn’t eaten since that morning. Going into what he now considered to be his room, Darien looked around hopefully and found what his stomach wanted. Another plate of the odd fruit, cheese, and bread had been left for him, and a silver pitcher of water sat next to it, along with a carved wooden cup.

  Darien sat on the rough bed and ate in silence, wishing for something more substantive than fruit and cheese. Once he was satisfied, he lay back on the bed, feeling exhausted from the strangeness of the world. He closed his eyes, intending to only to relax for a few moments before rising to go and find Chorrun. Before he realized it, he was lost in a fitful sleep, wrestling with the images his mind produced on the lids of his closed eyes.

  A whirl of noise surrounded him as he looked around. In front of him was a face. Hauntingly familiar, the face belonged to a body holding a sword, gesturing towards the edge of a cliff. Darien looked in his hand at his own sword, it was bloody and stained with the gore of battle, held ready between him and his opponent. There he saw a creature, beastly in manner and appearance, though still retaining some vestiges of what might have been human. The beast held Kara by the neck over an abyss, and below her, tongues of flame twisted and twirled, licking at the air, hoping to get a taste of their next meal. Without a word, the familiar face motioned to the creature, and Kara’s body flew into empty space, her scream reaching Darien’s ears as she cried his name.

  Darien! Darien! Darien…

  Chapter 5: The Departure

  “Darien!” Chorrun cried, shaking him awake.

  Darien stared into Chorrun’s face, now lined with concern.

  “I’m sorry, but you were screaming in your sleep.”

  Darien stared at Chorrun, horror-struck by what he had seen, and slowly recovering as the nightmare faded into memory. Chorrun stepped back, remaining silent as Darien swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

  “I’m sorry… I just had a bad dream.”

  “Do you need anything?” Chorrun stared at Darien, clearly unconvinced.

  “No thanks,” Darien shook his head, taking a few deep breaths. “I should be fine in a second. It was just a really… I saw—” Darien refused to allow himself to revisit the images.

  “You were screaming quite loudly. Are you sure I can’t get you some water? Maybe I could make a tonic to calm your nerves?”

  “No, it was just a nightmare.” Darien wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or Chorrun. The dream had seemed so real, more so than any other he could remember.

  “What time is it?” Darien asked, seeing what appeared to be the sunset outside.

  Chorrun hesitated before grudgingly accepting the
change in subject, still obviously concerned.

  “It is just after sunrise.”

  “I slept all day?”

  “I can’t be certain. I got in late last night; the young girl was very ill, and it took most of the day to get the fever to break, but she should recover. I noticed you were sleeping and didn’t want to disturb you. That is, until I heard you screaming a few moments ago.”

  “Sorry I woke you up with that.” Darien felt his cheeks flush.

  “Please, don’t be,” Chorrun waved the apology away. “I have a lot of preparations to make before our departure. It’s good that I’m up early.”

  “When are we leaving, anyway?” Darien asked, anxious to return to his friends.

  “As soon as everything is prepared. Perhaps an hour, maybe two, if you’re ready?”

  Darien indicated that he was, and after Chorrun left his room, he rose, stretched, and made his way towards the door. He noticed some clothing hanging from a hook next to the curtain that separated his room from the one beyond. It looked like it had been left there for him and, eager for some clean clothes, he quickly disrobed and put these new clothes on. They fit comfortably. He tied his sword belt around his waist to hold everything in place, taking a few tentative steps to test how everything felt. It would take some getting used to, but it would do.

  Darien made his way outside and looked toward the sky, taking several deep breaths. The village around him was just beginning to show signs of life. The sun wasn’t yet visible from beyond the tree line, but still painted the sky above with streaks of pink and orange. He felt good, better than he had since coming to Olympus, but he remained restless. He wanted to move. Looking around through the side streets and alleys close by, he found a small clearing. He pulled his sword from the belt, held it ready in front of him, preparing to go through his forms. Once his body was ready, he cleared his mind and initiated the flow.