by James Dale
“My secret?” Jack said so softly Graith was forced to lean close to him. “Is one Yh’Gar kept from you. He may have let you borrow the Bloodstone, but he didn’t tell you everything out of fear. Yh’Adan has no such fear. My secret is….I am, Sunheart.”
The revelation came too late for Graith. It had been too late the moment Jack had resigned himself as a sacrifice to save everyone else. It had been too late the moment Jack realized he loved Annaywn Ellgereth more than he loved life. There were a string of “too late” stretching all the way back to the Temple of the Door and the moment Urioch’s head exploded from a .338 caliber bullet and the demon failed his mission. Too late, Graith shouted, “Kill him!” to Kiathan Ellgaer.
It was too late for that as well.
The power of Sunheart didn’t rush to fill Jack Braedan. He no longer wielded its power. He was the power of creation itself. He was Sunheart. The chains holding him to the stone cross melted with a hiss. The cross disintegrated into dust. Even as the traitor duke drew his sword, Jack launched him across the temple with a thought. Kiathan Ellgaer died screaming in the fires of the Sa’tan, his black soul already on its way to Ul’gogrond to join his chained master for eternity.
Graith screamed in rage and sought to fill himself with the Bloodstone’s power. It was the final too late for the fallen Lord. Jack reached out his hand and seized the red stone from around the dark-King’s neck. Sunheart and Bloodstone, were twin talismans created by the Word of Yh, the Light and the Darkness of Creation, but the stone once carried by Yh’Adan had always been the greatest of the pair. Light chases away darkness. Darkness is only the absence of light. As he gazed at the Bloodstone pulsing in his hand, thoughts began to fill his mind.
You are Sunheart. And you can be Bloodstone was well.
You are the power that had called the heavens into existence.
We can burn the world to ash and make it anew in our own image.
We could be YH on earthe.
All will worship us and tremble at our might.
“We? Us?”
“Yes! Claim both powers! We can ascend to Heaven! We will be the Creator!”
“I…am Sunheart,” Braedan said quietly. “But I am a husband and father as well. My family will live in a world without the Bloodstone. And without Sunheart.”
Fire erupted from the Bloodstone as he forced all the power within him into Yh’Gar’s stone. The skin of his hands began to split and burn as the Bloodstone fought back, but white fire soon overpowered it. The forces of creation whirled around him in a maelstrom of cataclysmic destruction. Graith son of Halbar, dark-King and fallen Lord, was consumed by white fire that burned his body and soul to dust. Soon only white fire remained as the foundation of Aghash Thugar burst into flames and the tower began to crumble. One final thought entered Jack’s mind as white fire consumed him and the Bloodstone detonated with the force of an imploding sun. “I love you Anna.”
It was finished.
***
“Mister Braedan. Are you awake?” a voice said softly.
Jack slowly opened his eyes. A room came into focus. It was all tile and chrome and crappy generic artwork. A hospital room? There was a cheap flat screen TV on the wall. The sound was off but he immediately recognized a smiling Drew Carey prompting someone to “spin the wheel” on The Price is Right.
“How are you feeling?” The voice was a doctor. He was in his early thirties perhaps. Bright eyes. Smiling face.
“Where am I?” Braedan asked.
“Let’s start with what you remember, Jack.” The doctor said, taking a seat by his bed.
Jack looked at his hands. Something wasn’t quite right but he couldn’t put his finger on it. There was something he needed to do. Something he had done?
“Take your time,” the doctor told him.
Jack tried to focus. Everything was a fog. Ever so slowly, memories started coming back to him. He remembered…pain? He remembered searing pain and watching his skin on his hands crisp and peel. He remembered a woman’s smiling face. Anna? As if that memory were a catalyst, it all came crashing back. Everything from the moment he awoke from his nightmare to the last instant before a blinding flash ended his life. “Where am I?” he asked again, looking around the room.
“Where do you want to be?” the doctor asked, smiling.
Now that was an odd question. Like something one of the witch doctors at Walter Reed would ask perhaps? Had…had it all been a drug induced hallucination? Had something they’d given him to chace away his nightmares fractured his mind in another way? Aralon? Tarsus and Dorad? Anna? All of it? Had it been some sort of dream? Thinking that his wife was merely just a figment of his imagination was too much to bear! If none of that had been real, and he was still trapped in a DoD hospital…he would kill himself.
“Don’t worry,” the doctor said quietly, seeing the look on his face. “I don’t work for the Department of Defense. I guess you could say I am…self-employed?”
Jack looked at the doctor curiously. “Who are you?”
“Someone with the power to give you a choice,” the doctor smiled, patting his arm reassuringly. He rose and walked to a wide picture window. When he opened the drapes, Jack could see it was a bright sunny day outside. There were trees and a flower garden, and in the distance an open field. A young boy was playing fetch with a large dog. Dog? They were some distance off but it kind of reminded him of…
”I also happen to run this place,” the doctor said, turning back to face him. “You can stay here if you want? It’s peaceful. You could rest here for as long as you like. How does that sound? Lay down your burden and rest? You’ve earned it Jack Braedan.”
“Yh’Adan?” Jack said, with sudden intuition.
“I have many names,” the doctor smiled. “You can call me that if you like.”
“I’m dead then,” Jack sighed. It hadn’t been a dream or delusion after all. He had crushed the Bloodstone with the force of creation and incinerated himself in the process.
“Well…that’s not entirely true,” the Son of Yh smiled. “There are rules to such things, but I’ve been known to…bend them a bit on special occasions?”
“I want to go back,” Jack replied instantly.
“Just like that?” the doctor…Yh’Adan laughed. He had a deep, rich laugh. The kind that made you want to join in even if you didn’t know the punchline. “I haven’t even shown you around. It’s very nice here, if I say so myself.”
“I want to go back,” Jack repeated, sitting up in bed.
“I can do that,” Yh’Adan nodded. “If you wish. I owe you one. Very few people who have ever lived would have had the strength to make the same choice. Very few indeed, it pains me to say. Most would have been tempted to try their hand at playing god. It’s not as easy as the books make it out to be by the way,” Yh’Adan signed. “Going back won’t be easy either. Right now you are buried under tons of stone. You’re friends are looking for you, but they aren’t hopeful. Then there’s your…body. Your…sacrifice did a bit of damage I’m afraid. Couldn’t be avoided considering the power you unleashed.”
“So that’s my choice?” asked Braedan. “Stay here and play a harp for eternity? Or go back and be what? A paraplegic recovering from third degree burns?”
“I am more of a mandolin fan,” Yh’Adan smiled. “Can you play the mandolin? You could learn? You’ll have plenty of time.”
“My body? If I go back,” Jack insisted.
“I can fix you up,” Yh’Adan smiled. “Physically. It’s the least I can do. But there are rules to the universe even I can’t bend. Though I had a hand in making most of them. Then my Adversary decided to break the rules. It didn’t leave with much choice. Not if I wanted to maintain the balance? It will be hard, dealing with the loss of Sunheart. It was never meant for mankind to have such power. To hold such power, then to be just a man again? No. It won’t be easy at all.”
“Anna will be there,” Jack replied. “Won’t she? She’s…”
“Annawyn is fine,” Yh’Adan assured him. “Heartbroken for now. And she’ll be rather upset with you if you go back. She put on a fierce some display when you left her behind. ‘Vengeance is mine,’ as the saying goes, but if I need to outsource again, I will be keeping her in mind. Are you ready to deal with that? Making it up to her for the rest of your life?”
“I think I can handle it,” Braedan nodded.
“Are you sure?” Yh’Adan grinned. “It won’t be as easy as you imagine. Red heads. I almost wish I had talked Dad out of making those creatures. Ah, well. What’s done is done. Maybe next time? Well, if you are set on going back, I have other guests to welcome.”
“Who?” asked Jack sadly.
“I could tell you, but you are not going to remember your…visit here. Or our talk,” Yh’Adan informed him. “That is…if you are set on returning?”
“I am,” Braedan nodded.
“Very well,” Yh’Adan shrugged. “I have asked three times. Three times you have chosen to return. I will give Long Tooth your best.”
“That was him!” Jack grinned.
“He’s quite the rascal,” the Son of Yh laughed. “But I am glad Father let us get a puppy. So. Going back despite my warning? Very well then. You’ve earned some rest, but if you want to go back, let’s get you checked out. If you stay past 10am I’ll have to charge you for another full day.”
“No three days and nights then?” Braedan asked.
“Best to leave such pompous displays to the professionals,” Yh’Adan winked. “Just lay back and I’ll handle everything. No paperwork. No bills from the VA. When your time comes around again, Long Tooth will be waiting for you.”
Jack lay back and closed his eyes and…
***
Jack leaned against the railing, looking out over a courtyard alive with activity. A colorful food pavilion had been erected in its center taking up the eastern wall of the great keep. A competing variety of delicious smells drifted up from the pavilion, roasting meats, fresh bread, cakes and pies. Off to the left was a sturdy table holding a tapped barrel of Surcca Valley Red, with a smiling attendant handing out generous cups to all who stopped by. Just below him, a stage had been constructed where an Ailfar bard entertained dozens of entranced listeners, his rich, clear voice accompanied by deft fingers picking out a complicated tune on his lute. The ballad was called A Dream of Spring. Faelin had played it the night before in a private audience, seeking his approval to include it at today’s celebration. It was a melancholy tune that had moved Anna to tears. She like it though so Jack granted his permission.
There was not much he refused her.
It had been ten years since the fall of Agash Thugar. A life-time ago it seemed sometimes, but hearing ballads like A Dream of Spring made it seem only yesterday. He had been more dead than alive when Maelcain pulled his battered body from the rubble of the collapsed tower. His survival had been a close thing, taking the combined skill of Lord Farra, Lady Ara’fael and the Lady Cil’lena. When he’d been stable enough to move, the twins had taken him to Brythond, traveling the entire distance in three days using the Stream of Time.
The following months of his difficult recovery were a blur. The destruction of Sunheart and the Bloodstone had done almost as much damage to his mind as his body. There were…gaps in his memory of the events of those final days of the Third War of the Stones. Significant moments, days, even entire weeks were simply missing. He remembered Cloud Shadow and Little Star, but not cleansing the Bergaweld or healing Bkormar. He recalled bathing in Queen Aydera’s porcelain tub and drinking Meade with King Rho’dail’s sons, but not burning Strymag Souleater to ash. His last clear memory was killing Galen Severa and releasing Sham’ael. He recalled entering the Iron Tower and heading into the darkness but after that, he remembered nothing of the final moments of Graith, Son of Halbar or how the dark-King had been defeated. It was if parts of his mind had been seared clean by the conflagration which had consumed the fallen Lord and his Bloodstone.
The damage done to his mind and the injuries inflicted on his body, paled in comparison to his heartbreak when he learned Theros had fallen. King Theros Th’nar, the Dragonslayer, taken down by a stray grim’Hiru arrow. It was one of those tragic, happenstances of battle. Theros wasn’t the only person to not make it back from Grethor. Duke Morgan had also not survived the day. Nor had Mullah ad’Jhen. The list was a long and painful one. Cyran d’Abba. Adrel d’Kenna. Along with thousands he could never hope to name. Only the unwavering love of Anna and a daily draught of healing potion brewed from Avhendailia leaves by the Lady Cil’lena kept him from descending into a pit of black depression.
It was the birth of his son the following spring that finally began to lift him from the depths. Bright green eyes and hair the color of fire like his mother, John Ellgenn Braedan was a chubby, smiling antidote that no loss or pain could withstand. The birth of the future High King also seemed to signal the rebirth of normalcy in all of Aralon. Weddings and the strengthening of old bonds and the beginnings of new ones soon occupied his mind. Dorad married Ailicia An’Mera in Dorshev in a ceremony no less grand than his own with Anna had been. Their union would produce a future heir to the Ivory Throne less than a year later. Jack An’Mera Ellgereth. There were hundreds of Jacks and Anna’s born that year. It was all going to be very confusing in the future.
Tarsus and Princess Maerinna An’Kaera were united in a Dorihil that spring as well. With a promise from the pair insisted upon by Braedan that no male heir to Amar would be named Jack. Arrinor and Elua were wed on the shores of Aeralnen Widewater, witnessed by hundreds of Ailfar and countless daut’a and Aerfel’Meria. He returned to Ail’ithirain with his pale bride and a promise to Daid’ia Seafather from Cilidon and Adyera that someday one of their children would return to the sea to rule beneath the waves.
A’randrial wed Princess Jaelinna ad’Jhen in Kadda’Temar that fall uniting houses from East and West for the first time in almost a thousand years. Jack, Anna and little John Bra’Adan wintered in Kadin as the guest of Manar ad’Jhen, Great Khan of Kadin. Eaudreuil provided Hamman Khan with a colt during their stay. The birth of Irae’dreuil, the first Val’anna born on that side of the River Whesguard, was greeted by the Kadinar with as much celebration as the birth of a Great Prince.
Despite all the happiness and rebirth that surrounded him, Jack often fell back into long fits of depression. No healer’s touch or herbal brew could seem to dispel the absence of Sunheart and the heartbreak he still suffered. Anna decided her husband and child was more important than any throne or that there was no higher duty than caring for the savior of Aralon. They returned to Dorshev that summer and before the council she abdicated her throne, naming Dorad King of Doridan. She handed over Siegebreaker, and when the Highsword accepted him, the council had little choice but to confirm him king. They returned Thonbor, passing through Immer where Jack re-affirmed the stewardship of the kingdoms to Daenel d’Lacheland.
“Do as you and the Stewards have always done, Daenel,” Jack had informed him. “One day, if I am able I will return. Or John will. And if the west wills it, it will once again have a High King.”
They had been in Thonbor since that day, living as Duke and Duchess on the frontier of Brydium, surrounded by the grandeur of the mountains, Golden Lions, Horsemaidens and the Hammer. In the summer of the fourth year since the fall of the Iron Tower, Maeri Ailanna Braedan was born. When Thonicil and Thessa visited them the following spring, little Prince Jack, though barely five, proclaimed himself Maeri’s champion and vowed she would one day be queen of Brydium.
Ten years. Sometimes it seemed like only yesterday.
Jack felt arm’s slip lovingly around his waist. “Have you seen John?” he asked, enfolding his wife’s hands in his own as he continued to survey the crowd below in the courtyard. “It’s his name day celebration and he’s nowhere to be found.”
“Cassy took him and Prince Jack riding about an hour ago,” Anna replied, re
sting her head on his shoulder. “I thought you knew?”
“You let them ride off with Cassy alone?” he asked, turning to look at his wife with a disbelieving raise of his eyebrow.
“Lady Einnael is with them,” she grinned.
“When is she going to drop this bickering charade and make an honest man of him?” Jack wondered. “I should just order them to marry and put an end to this farce. It’s gone on for far too long.”
“I thought your match making days were behind you?” Anna smiled, patting his cheek.
“Perhaps I should start involving myself more in my duchy?” Jack grinned. “Not that you aren’t doing a smashing job my love.”
“Why don’t you start by going down to meet our guests,” Anna countered, as a riders came through the front gate and into the courtyard. Cassy and Einnael were leading John and Prince Jack. Behind them…behind them rode Tarsus and Maerinna, Thonicil and Thessa and…Dorad and Ally!
“I didn’t know they were all coming,” he laughed. “I thought only Thonicil and Thessa were coming to pick up Jack?”
The prince had wintered with them, and John was going off to spend the summer in Brythond with his royal god parents. “It isn’t every day the future High King turns ten years old.” Anna countered. “Come, let’s go greet our guests.”
“First,” Jack said, pulling his wife to him. “I’d like a kiss.”
“In front of everyone?” Anna gasped in mock dismay, feigning to push him away.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Jack laughed. “Or the last today if I have my way.”
“Someone is in a good mood,” his wife replied, sliding into his arms to hug him fiercely.
“Why shouldn’t I be,” he asked, kissing the top her head. “The sun is out. I have a lovely family, and all my friends have just arrived to visit.”
