by T. D. Steitz
As he laid there, staring at the night sky, Alistair thought about Jacosa. He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered if she was gazing at the same stars. What was it about her? Why did thoughts of her both strengthen and disarm him? With those questions in his mind and peace in his heart, Alistair drifted to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Three
You are Mine
Alistair opened his eyes. The morning mist clung to his beard as he slowly rose and went for his daily walk. Matana watched him leave but did not follow. He did this part of his day alone. Alistair strolled through the beautiful meadow in the Mountain’s Refuge. Construction had begun in one of the smaller peaks of the Refuge. When it was finished, it would house the Refuge’s newest members in quaint, cozy homes nestled in the stone. Besides the scattered sounds of a few early risers beginning the day, and his soft footfalls, it was quiet. Alistair stopped at his usual spot; a small ledge jutting out of a nearby peak. He sat down with his legs crossed, and his staff laying across his lap. He smiled and breathed deep, enjoying the stunning view below him. He closed his eyes, listened to the trees rustling around him, and felt the cool morning breeze on his skin. He allowed himself to enter the moment and Ardent’s presence.
Alistair whispered from the depths of his soul. “Ardent, you are… everything. Everything is yours. Thank you for providing this place. It is a wonderful gift.” Alistair sighed, struggling to put into words what he felt in his heart. “What you have built here is amazing, but it’s not enough. Calamity is still out there. Darkness still spreads. The world is still not right. I’m afraid, Ardent. I’m afraid that even this place will not survive the disease. We need you. You said you would come back. When? We need you now. War is coming, and we cannot fight it alone. Please, come back. Save us.” Alistair’s voice drifted away. Silence.
The air around Alistair started to blur and sway like a dream. The air rushed past him, and in the blink of an eye, he traveled across Terrene to a cliff overlooking the sea. Waves crashed violently below him, and salty mist sprayed his face. “Why did you bring me here?” Alistair wondered. He looked out across the waves, and on the distant horizon, he saw land.
“That’s right. There’s more.”
Alistair’s eyes filled with tears at the sound of the voice. He didn’t turn. He wanted to see her, but he wasn’t sure his heart could take it. In the corner of his eye, he could see her white dress, and her black hair flowing in the salty breeze. A single tear ran down his face as he felt her hand close around his own. “Hi, mom.”
Layla sat gracefully, watching the violent ocean with peace in her eyes. She turned and smiled at her son. “Oh, Alistair, look at you.” Layla raised her hand to Alistair’s cheek and brushed away the tear. “I am so proud of you.”
Alistair smiled through the sadness welling up inside him. “I miss you so much,” he whispered.
“I can only imagine how hard this has been for you,” she replied. “But don’t lose hope. Everything will be right one day. You do not need to be sad for me. I am living in the joy of Ardent’s fire, and it is beyond words. Be sad for the people living without it.”
Alistair sighed deeply. He and his mother sat in silence for a long time. Waves of sadness, joy, hope, and despair swirled together and created a raging storm in Alistair’s heart. The sea writhed and foamed along with it.
Then slowly, the waves calmed, and the sky cleared. Alistair shielded his eyes against sharp sunlight slicing through the dreary gray. His heart calmed along with the waves.
“Alistair, look,” Layla said, pointing out beyond the waves.
A dove floated towards them from across the water. The vision was surreal. The dove’s wings, the waves, and Alistair’s steady breaths rose and fell in unison. At that moment, something reached out and touched Alistair’s soul. It was a peace that he knew well, and yet every time he felt it, it was new.
The dove came to rest on Alistair’s shoulder. Ardent’s fire burned hot within him. His strength and hope returned.
“Alistair be still,” Ardent’s voice echoed from within him. “I see the storm within you. Let it be quiet. Let it be still.”
Alistair closed his eyes and reveled in the peace Ardent commanded.
“Why do you despair?” Ardent asked. “Don’t you know who you are?”
“At times, I think I do. Other times I realize I have no idea,” Alistair replied. “Is that what it is to be a Marked One?”
“The Mark is more than power,” Ardent whispered. “It is my claim on the world, and you, Alistair. You are mine.”
Alistair lifted his eyes to the clear sky and let the hope found in Ardent’s words fill him. “I am yours,” he whispered. Even if everything else remained a mystery, knowing that was enough.
“You were right when you said that the Mountain’s Refuge was not enough. It’s just the beginning; a taste of the freedom I have planned. When I am finished, Calamity and all his fear, all his darkness, will be wiped from my world forever.”
Alistair’s heart swelled at Ardent’s words.
“It is time for me to return and save Terrene.”
Alistair’s mind raced with images of Ardent’s appearance from a blazing firestorm, Calamity on his knees at his feet, and the forces of darkness fleeing desperately into the vanishing shadows.
“Watch for me, Alistair. I will be there soon.”
The dove flew back across the water and disappeared beyond the horizon, but the peace it brought remained. Alistair looked back at his mother. The reality that he would have to say goodbye again settled over him.
Layla looked at him with the loving understanding of a mother. “Alistair,” she said softly. “It’s time for me to go.”
He looked away. “I wish you didn’t have to. Why did you ever have to go in the first place?”
Layla turned Alistair’s face gently towards her own. “It’s alright not to understand. It’s alright to be angry. The world is broken. This vision of me is painful for you because you live in a world where all good things end. It will not always be that way; not in Ardent’s world. Watch for him. He is coming. Find courage and strength in that hope.” Layla started to disappear.
Alistair squeezed her hand, hoping if he held on, she would stay.
She squeezed his hand back as her voice drifted across the breeze. “Alistair… remember who you are. Remember who he is.”
Alistair closed his eyes tight. The warm sun hit his face, and he smelled sweet mountain air. He had returned to the Mountain’s Refuge.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Alistair whispered to the morning air. “I can’t imagine a Terrene that is truly free. I don’t see how you can do it. But, that’s who you are. You are the one who brings hope when it’s hopeless. You are the one who brings light to the darkest places. I trust you. I trust that you can do this. But please, hurry.”
Alistair opened his eyes and smiled. The meadow was teeming with life; full of joyful people, working, and laughing together. Wybert and Rael sat together, talking in the shade.
Then he saw Jacosa. She was more radiant than the morning sun over mountain peaks. She walked through the meadow with graceful strength, exchanging smiles and greetings with everyone she saw. There was nothing extraordinary about what she was doing, but Alistair found that he couldn’t look away. She was beautiful, and enchanting, and captivating. “What is it about her?” He wondered.
He sat in that place for hours longer; thinking about what Ardent had said. It was time. He was coming back, and Alistair would be ready when he did. He stood, picked up his staff, and walked back down the mountainside. Then, Alistair took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.
Name Index:
Ahian - Brother/Brotherly: Young Forest Clan soldier, loyal friend to Alistair, and twin brother to Anujah
Anujah - Sister: Young Forest Clan soldier, loyal friend to Alistair, and twin sister to Ahian
Alistair - Defender of mankind: The Marked One
Alvah - Evil/iniqu
ity: Fallen Commander, and servant of Calamity, known as The Breaker, Mallory’s father
Amani - Peace: Advisor to Wymond, and Forest Clan Ambassador to the Southern Villages
Ardent - Intense feeling, passion, fervent: Creator, Lord of light, and Legendary hope of Terrene
Bahari - Sea Man: Leader of the Coastal Village
Buddy - Friend: Wolf, and Wybert’s sentry
Caine - Spear Hunter: Lead Hunter of the Tusk Clan, and childhood friend of Sakina
Calamity - A great misfortune or disaster: Lord of Darkness and Death, enemy of Ardent
Conall - Strong in battle: Captain of the Forest Clan, and advisor to Wymond
Dalibor - Distance/fight: Alistair’s Father and Friend of Wymond
Daskal - derived from words meaning teacher: Marked One encountered by Tancred’s Father as told in his tale to Alistair.
Elthia - Healer: Forest Clan Healer
Flyta - Something which is fast and rapid: Horse given to Amani by the Tusk Clan
Gerou - Elder, Old, Spear: Coastal Village Elder and Friend of Jacosa and Sakina
Harlequin - Multi-colored: The name Alistair reads in the ancient graveyard ruins.
Hatha - Arm, Hand, Elephant’s trunk: Chief of the Tusk Clan
Huntress - Hunter: Wolf, and Wymond’s sentry
Jacosa - Full of joy: Saved by Ardent, Friend of Sakina, and Southern Ambassador to the Forest Clan
Kendric - Jehovah has remembered: Author of the book entitled Long Live the King
Layla - Guardian angel: Alistair’s Mother
Malum - Evil, destruction, calamity: Calamity’s fortress in the Shadow Lands
Mallory - Unfortunate, ill-fated: Fallen soldier, and Daughter of Alvah the Breaker
Matana - Gift: Bear, Alistair’s companion/sentry
Medeo - male form of Medea - cunning: Advisor of Wymond, Servant of Calamity
Osana - Health: Fox, Elthia’s sentry
Osmin - God’s Servant: Marked One that saves Alistair.
Pallaton - Warrior: Forest Clan soldier accompanying Captain Conall and Amani to the Southern Villages
Rael - Someone who is innocent as a lamb: Slave boy that Wybert befriends.
Right Hand (the) - Calamity’s most powerful servant
Ruby - Red: Sakina’s childhood horse kept for her by the Tusk Clan.
Sakina - Friend: Friend of Jacosa, Yetta of the Southern Villages
Serilda - Armed Warrior Woman: Young Forest Clan soldier, and loyal friend of Alistair
Sitara - Star: Horse given to Jacosa by the Tusk Clan
Stellan - Calm, Peace, At Rest: Leader of the Rocky Plains Village
Tancred - Thought and counsel: Storyteller, Old friend of Alistair, and Leader of the Mountain’s Refuge
Terrene - The Earth, Land or Region: The World
Wybert - Battle/bright: Best friend of Alistair, Forest Clan soldier, and Wymond’s son
Wymond - Battle/protector: Leader of the Forest Clan and Wybert’s father
Yetta - Home leader: The name for the leader(s) of the Southern Villages
