by T. D. Steitz
The man whispered into her ear. “Don’t forget, Jacosa. I love you, and I’m right here.”
Jacosa sat up as a deep breath filled her lungs. The air around her was light and sweet as she rushed out of the tent. She ran past the protesting Forest Clan guards, through the dark, quiet village, and straight up the stone steps to Chief Hatha’s hall. Jacosa burst into the room. Two guards aimed spears at her. Chief Hatha and Caine lifted their heads from the maps and letters in front of them and turned to face her. “Chief Hatha!” She shouted. “There is something I need to show you!”
Chief Hatha strode forward. His guards did not lower their weapons. “Even my people don’t enter my hall at their leisure.”
“Please, you must hear what I have to say,” Jacosa insisted.
Hatha nodded slowly. The guards lowered their weapons and allowed her to approach.
“What you need to see is in the ancient temple.”
Hatha’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know of the temple?”
“You’ll see,” Jacosa replied.
Caine lifted a burning torch from a nearby pillar and led Jacosa and Chief Hatha down a narrow, stone staircase winding down from the back of Hatha’s hall, deep underground.
Jacosa thought about the man from her dream. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
They reached a wide stone floor, and Caine dipped his torch into an oil basin. The cauldron lit up and flames rushed along connected trenches until the entire stone chamber was lit. The fire revealed tall, stone statues of the sun, moon, and creatures Jacosa didn’t recognize. Decades of dust and cobwebs covered them.
Chief Hatha walked slowly around the room, admiring the ancient carvings. “The ancient temple…” He turned to Jacosa. “Why have you brought us here?”
Jacosa cleared her throat. “Someone told me to. I’m not sure what he has planned, but he wants you two here.”
The three stood in silence.
Chief Hatha glared at Jacosa. Then, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble. “What are you doing?!” He shouted. “I order you to stop!”
“It’s not me,” Jacosa replied. “He’s here!”
The tremble became a quake. The stone floor shook, and great cracks split it to pieces.
“Stop!” Hatha shouted as he fell to his knees. “Please, stop!”
The ground shook even more violently, and the statues around the chamber crumbled. The quake stopped and all the flames around them disappeared. The chamber went dark. A flame appeared in front of them and grew until a massive ball of swirling fire filled the space.
A voice echoed from the flames. “Hatha!” The voice boomed. “Do not be so quick to dismiss what you have not seen! I sent Jacosa to you so that you would not give in to fear!”
Hatha and Caine stood frozen with awe across their faces.
Slowly, the roaring firestorm receded into one warm, flickering flame, and a gentle voice drifted from the light. “Hatha, Caine, like so many others, you have forgotten the promise I made. I will not abandon you. I will set you free.”
Caine stepped forward. “Who are you?”
“I am the one who has come to fight for you. You are not alone. I want you to ride to the Key Village, and when you get there, wait for me. I will show you what to do next.”
The small flame flickered out. The flames lighting the room returned. Jacosa, Caine, and Chief Hatha stared at each other in shocked silence.
Finally, Chief Hatha broke the silence. “Jacosa,” he said, “I am sorry I doubted you.” He turned to Caine. “Send word to all hunters. We ride for the Key Village.”
Caine nodded and disappeared up the stone staircase.
Sakina stirred in her tent.
“Get up!” Jacosa shouted from the open tent flap. “We’re going to the Key Village!”
Sakina and Amani jumped to their feet. The thunder of horses and riders pouring from the Tusk Clan Village echoed through the ground as Caine spread the word. Jacosa, Sakina, Amani, and the Forest Clan soldiers joined the waves of riders gathering for battle.
“What changed their minds?!” Sakina shouted to Jacosa over the thunder.
“It was the voice!” Jacosa shouted back.
Sakina smiled wide.
They reigned their mounts to stop among the growing force outside the village. Palpable anticipation arose from the makeshift army. Chief Hatha rode through the force bearing an ivory spear. His guard followed. The hunters hailed him as he passed.
His booming voice echoed through the group. “Hunters, a task has been appointed to us from the highest authority; a powerful force that has chosen us to do its will! We ride for the Key Village! We will rid it of the Fallen army that waits there. Sakina, come forward!”
Sakina rode out to the Chief.
“This is Sakina,” Chief Hatha shouted, “your Yetta!”
Sakina felt hundreds of eyes on her.
“She is the one that will reunite our people and lead us into a bright future! So, find your courage! It is time for the Tusk Clan to take its place in history!” Hatha raised his spear, and a mighty shout arose from the army of hunters. Chief Hatha snapped his reigns, and the air exploded with hooves thundering to the Key Village.
The army rode for three days and nights with minimal rest. The hunters were well accustomed to such a journey. Whenever they made camp, Pallaton and the other Forest Clan soldiers taught them how to use their hunting skills in battle. When they reached the Key Village, the army was as prepared as they could be for the coming fight.
The air was hot and still as the rising sun blurred the Key Village ruins on the horizon. The army sat on their mounts in silence.
“Caine, take your men right, and into the village,” Chief Hatha ordered.
Caine obeyed. A portion of the men broke away and followed him.
“You,” Chief Hatha pointed at Pallaton. “Lead a group of men around to the left side of the village.”
“Yes, sir,” Pallaton replied. A portion of the hunters followed him.
The four remaining Forest Clan soldiers stayed behind, dutifully guarding Sakina and Amani.
“The rest of you will ride with me!” Chief Hatha shouted.
Jacosa and the remaining hunters lined up behind him. Hatha’s horse charged forward and thundering hooves descended on the Key Village from three sides. The battle had begun.
Chapter Fourteen
The Marked One
Alistair’s shoulder muscles tightened and sweat rolled down his face. Large buckets of water swung back and forth from the yoke across his back. Dirt slid down the slope behind him as he struggled up the steep hill from the fresh-water spring and back to the small cave that had been his home for the past six months. The mountains unnerved him. Though they were teeming with life, they possessed an eerie quiet. The deep silence trapped Alistair in his head. He was alone with his thoughts, and they offered him nothing but pain and despair. His people, his friends, had trusted him with their lives, and he led them to meaningless deaths. Alistair had not yet found a way to live with himself, and he had no hope of that changing. So, he filled his days with mindless chores to numb the pain. Alistair reached the peak of the hill and entered the small cave where Osmin waited.
Alistair laid the heavy water buckets on the floor.
Osmin sat in the back of the cave, eyes closed, breathing deeply in front of a massive, white flame. His hood rested flat against his back, exposing his bald head to the warmth. His ram’s horn hung from a crag of rock by the cave opening, and his staff lay across his lap. The white fire swirled and twisted but made no sound.
“Thank you, Alistair,” Osmin said without turning or opening his eyes. “I will be there in a moment.”
Alistair left him to his meditations.
Interactions like these were all Alistair and Osmin ever had. Osmin spent his days sitting before the white fire, mumbling to himself, never paying much attention to anything else.
Alistair didn’t mind. He had no desire to tal
k despite his many questions. Why had Osmin brought him here? What were the strange markings on the cave walls? What was the white flame?
Osmin walked over to Alistair, knelt beside the buckets of cool water, and drank.
Alistair broke the silence. “Osmin, thank you for saving my life.” The words came out awkwardly. He’d never said them. The truth was, Alistair wasn’t sure he was thankful to be alive, but he felt like the words needed to be said.
Osmin looked up at Alistair and wiped his sleeve across his mouth. “You’re welcome.”
More silence.
Alistair started again. “I was wondering why. Why did you save me?”
Osmin paused for a moment. “I don’t know. Ardent sent me. You should ask him.”
Alistair’s eyes narrowed. “Ardent sent you…”
Osmin looked at Alistair kindly. His obvious skepticism didn’t offend him. “You don’t know him, do you?”
“Who, Ardent?” Alistair scoffed. “No… No, I don’t, and neither does anyone.”
Osmin laughed, but it wasn’t a mean-spirited or mocking laugh. “You believe that, don't you? When you’re ready, I will help you see the truth.”
Alistair got angry. “Is that why you brought me here?! To convince me of fairy tales?! You are wasting your time old man! I won’t become a washed-up hermit like you, no matter how long you keep me here.”
Osmin stood and stared down at Alistair. He suddenly looked very powerful, maybe even dangerous. “You are not a prisoner here, Alistair. Leave if you want. I will not stop you. I don’t know why I was sent to save you. I don’t understand why you were chosen. All I’ve seen is an ungrateful, arrogant boy who knows nothing of the world.”
Alistair shrank away from Osmin’s words.
“Are you so foolish that even after everything you have seen, you can’t imagine a power beyond you? I know Ardent and his power; the power that saved you from Calamity.” Osmin’s voice softened. He stretched out his hand and laid it gently on Alistair’s shoulder. “If you want to go, you can. But, if you want to finally be a part of something bigger than yourself, stay, and I will show you something that will change your life forever.” Osmin stood and walked back towards the great white flame burning in the depths of the cave. “One more thing,” he said over his shoulder, “I am no hermit. What you’re seeing is exile.”
Alistair didn’t know what to say. He was angry and ashamed. Osmin’s words cut deep, but as hard as he tried, he could not deny that they were true.
Alistair wandered out of the cave and stumbled for hours through the mountains’ suffocating silence. The numbness within him was devastating. He had stuffed the rage and pain of a lifetime deep into his soul, and now inescapable shame joined it. Alistair tried desperately to recall the faces of the men and women he had led to slaughter, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t bothered to commit them to memory. It was more than he could bear. He stumbled through the swarming memories of Forest Clan bodies. He staggered past Serilda’s face, Ahian’s, Anujah’s, and Wybert’s. Alistair’s eyes filled with tears. It was difficult to breathe. He stopped. He didn’t know how he’d gotten there, but Alistair found himself standing at the edge of a cliff.
Tears slid off the tip of Alistair’s nose and disappeared into the darkness as he stared into the deep pit below him. Not even the sun could reach its depths. Alistair felt he could relate. There was darkness within him that no light could ever touch.
It would be so easy, Alistair thought. It would only take one more step to finally end the storm inside him. He leaned forward and listened to pebbles cascading down the cliffside. He prepared himself to take that step by examining his life. His mother, his father, Ahian, Anujah, Serilda, Wymond; there wasn’t a single person he had ever cared about that was better off because of him. Everything he touched died. Everyone he loved suffered. Alistair knew, deep within him, that the only good he had left to offer the world, was to leave it. He raised his foot, took a deep breath, and slowly stretched it out. Alistair squeezed the last tears out of his eyes as he clenched them shut and started to step forward.
“Alistair! Stop!”
Alistair froze mid-step and spun around. No one was there. He searched for the source of the voice but found nothing. He began to wonder if he had heard a voice at all. Maybe he felt the voice inside him, or maybe both. Either way, the voice was real.
“Who's there?!” Alistair demanded into the space around him. “Show yourself!”
The voice returned, booming within and around him. “Your life is not yours to take! I am not finished with you!”
“Who are you?!” Alistair screamed back.
“Who am I?! Do you want to know me?! Then step into the fire!”
The voice disappeared.
Silence descended on Alistair again. His heart pounded in his chest and his head spun. It wasn’t real, Alistair decided. Osmin did this. It was a trick like his glowing eyes. He turned and ran back to the cave. He needed answers.
Dark clouds rolled across the skies as Alistair ran. The thunder and pouring rain reflected the storm inside him. Alistair had nothing to lose by going back. He knew he could always return to the cliff.
Alistair reached the cave. He stormed in and confronted Osmin. “How did you do that?!”
Osmin turned, with a confused look on his face. “Do what?”
“The voice!” Alistair shouted. “I know it was you!”
Osmin smiled. “You heard the voice of Ardent.”
Alistair glared at Osmin with fury in his eyes. “Enough! It’s time for you to tell me the truth; about you, your powers, this place, everything!”
Osmin gazed at Alistair with soft eyes. “Alistair, the truth is as I have said. Ardent is the answer to everything. He is the one who has plans for you, not me.”
“I don’t want anything to do with him!” Alistair screamed. All the anger he harbored towards Ardent exploded out of him. “What has he ever done for me?!” Alistair advanced on Osmin, demanding an explanation. “Wybert believed as you do but did Ardent help him?! No! He’s either dead or Alvah’s prisoner! Ahian, he believed too, but he’s not here! My mo…” Alistair’s voice broke, and tears streamed from his eyes. “My mother… She never once doubted Ardent. She believed all the lies! She believed that he was good, that he loved her. She trusted him! So, why Osmin?! Why didn’t he save her?! I’ll never see her again! I’ll never hear her voice… She’s not here to tell me that everything will be alright. She’s not here to give me hope… So, tell me why Osmin! Why should I believe in him?!” Sorrow filled Alistair’s heart and he wept bitterly.
“I am so sorry, Alistair,” Osmin whispered. “I know the grief inside you. I know what it’s like to have love ripped out of your heart. I too have lost people who did not deserve to die, my brothers and sisters. We were the Marked Ones; handpicked by Ardent to wield his light. The Marked Ones resisted Calamity after Ardent was forced to leave Terrene, but he destroyed them in the end. Their light was all but extinguished when I received my mark. I wasted many years alone in this cave, hating Ardent for letting it happen, but he never gave up on me and he has not given up on you, Alistair. He mourned with me. He healed my hate and gave me hope again. I don’t know why things happen the way they do, but I know that Ardent is the Lord of all things, and he is good.” Osmin wrapped his arms around Alistair and held him tight as he cried into his chest. “Alistair, what did Ardent say to you?”
Alistair cleared his throat. “He told me he wasn’t done with me. He said if I wanted to know him, I had to step into the fire.”
Osmin glanced over his shoulder at the swirling, white flame behind him. “Then when you’re ready, I think that is what you should do.” Osmin let go of Alistair, strapped his horn over his shoulder, lifted his staff, and walked out of the cave.
Alistair laid still on the cave’s stone floor. The tears still flowing from his eyes wet the rock beneath him. He felt utterly lost. He stared at the cave ceiling, wondering at the foreign markings etched th
ere. Alistair thought about his mother and the way she used to kiss him goodnight after telling him the Legend of Ardent. He remembered the excitement and belief that filled his little heart when he heard the tale. He remembered the way she would pluck her harp and sing while Alistair sat with his father in front of the fireplace. He could still hear the words she would sing. His lips parted, and he sang her song.
Do you recall that cloud of gold?
The warmth of fire, our lives to hold.
Hear my song, evoke the words he spoke.
The words did not come easily, but Alistair felt he had to sing through the sadness welling in his chest.
Arise, and remember.
Arise, and let the horns sound again.
He stood slowly and walked out of the cave. He gazed up at the sky, and let the rain pour over his face as he sang louder.
We knew that day, the most loving hour.
Saw in his face, the truest power.
Still away we turned, and now our sorrows burn.
Arise, and remember.
Arise, and let the horns sound again.
The storm grew louder. The harsh rain stung Alistair’s face. The thunder had grown so loud that he couldn't hear his voice. He began to scream his mother's song at the top of his lungs. His screams and the resounding thunderstorm filled the air. The words of his mother’s song resonated like they never had before.
He beat darkness once, and he will again.
He’ll bring back the light, and our hope, with him.
So, let freedom ring, when we once more see our King.
Arise, and remember.
Arise, and let the horns sound again.
Arise, and remember.
Arise, and let the horns sound again.
Arise
The song died away. Alistair stood with his arms wide and welcomed the cleansing rain that drenched him. Alistair returned to the cave and the familiar sight of the strange symbols, but this time, they were different. They began to glow and rearrange themselves. Alistair smiled. He could read them. They were promises from Ardent to the world. Alistair spun around, eagerly reading the walls around him.
