The Burden of the Protector (12 page)

There wasn’t much left. Moss and grass covered the site. Yet it was easy to see that the home had been burned down. The soil held a significant amount of ash, jumbled with remnants of objects and furniture. This place was different from what they had discovered so far. The village had been abandoned. This was destruction.

She took a few steps, careful where she put her feet. She believed she was now standing in the middle of the ruins. There was unrest in the earth and the air. The disturbance caressed her skin and her thoughts. But she would not be able to see more. This was not her world and it didn’t trust her yet. Still, it was undeniable that something sinister had happened here.

In front of her were remnants of what could have once been a bed. She stepped forward, knelt down. There, just beside it, was something different. She parted the moss and discovered bones.

The poor soul had burned with the building, possibly still alive. The placement of the skeleton suggested the person had been crawling, maybe supplicating. She could almost feel the despair and the panic. She was certainly horrified herself.

She looked around and found more telling signs. One piece was from the door, another from a window. Planks suggested both had been barred from the outside.

She continued to explore, moved pieces around, used a shovel to dig. Then she found letters carved in a plank, and shivers ran down her back.

Dàr.

The name had been laboriously etched in the surface with a blunt piece, maybe a dull knife.

She could not believe it.

They had found him.

*

There were only five of them left, five who had survived the crossing. They stood around, shaken by the story the ruins told. Their leader knelt beside her.

“What an awful end,” he murmured. Then he looked around and included everyone. “He was a friend of Vìr, and so he is a friend of ours. Let’s give him a proper burial.”

Solemnly, in complete silence, the group started preparing a pyre and amassing the bones. Hope had been fleeting during the crossing. The intention had been to find Dàr’s family and, through them, learn of the later years of his life.

Once the preparations were completed, the group gave a brief ceremony, during which they burned the bones.

*

The next morning, they were ready to leave. Nothing more was to be found here. Their leader had put Dàr’s ashes in a flask, to be dispersed in the winds over the chasm of Saril. Now that they had found the village, they would be able to orient themselves.

She came back to the small house, alone. Here she had for the first time felt a weak connection with this new realm. She wanted to try once more. She made her way to the centre of the ruins. There she knelt and closed her eyes. She reached out.

Only coldness and nothingness answered her call. She opened her eyes and looked toward the gigantic mountains in the east. The Eternal, they were known in Tyronia. Here, Vìr had said the peaks were called Ul Darak.

She yearned for her world, for its comforting and continual connection. This world deserved a chance, but it seemed the link would not happen today.

She stood and was about to rejoin the others when something caught her attention. It was a surprise they had not noticed it the previous day. She took a step and knelt down again. With a finger, she brushed aside the silver hair falling in front of her face.

Yes, there it was, an unnaturally long and curved piece of wood. Broken. It stuck out and had probably been revealed as they moved pieces of the bed. And there was more.

“Arth!” she called. He was never far from her. “You’ll want to see this,” she added.

As expected, her leader appeared between the trees and came toward her, his steps rapid. He stopped and looked at the discovery. It could have been mistaken for an old branch.

“A bow,” he noted.

She nodded.

“Very old.”

“Vìr told us about it,” she said. He nodded in turn. “Look inside.”

He bent forward and inspected where she was pointing. He gasped. Quickly now, he started pulling something from the hollow shaft. The others had heard her call and formed a close circle around them.

Their leader showed what had been hidden. Very old pieces of paper, rolled up. Preserved.

With great care, he unrolled the scrolls and started reading. He didn’t go farther than a few words before nodding.

“This is it,” he said.

Addendum

Afire 5, year 3001, Dàr is 60.

If you are reading this, it is because my ruse worked.

*

When I met with my son, I told him about the manuscript I had written, a warning for a later generation. If you are reading this, it is because he took it to mean there was only one copy of the manuscript and that after finding the papers under the floor, the knights didn’t return later to look for more.

The copy they found was shortened. It didn’t mention the object I had discovered or the nature of Vìr and Maéva’s research.

I made two additional copies. One, abbreviated, left a while ago with Sia, a few days before she was found dead. It is my hope that she had time to hide it or pass it on before her tragic end.

And the second, the one you are now reading and know the hiding place of, is the longest and complete copy.

It is late, but I believe I now understand Naéd’s words to me and the message he tried to pass in that strange and brief encounter we had. I never saw him again after we helped Vìr and Maéva escape. I wasn’t there and couldn’t help him as he died atrociously in the caves north of Ta’Énia. This thought is a hard one, even now. Maybe I should have tried to help, even as Faron grew in Eriéla’s womb.

I also believe that Vìr and Maéva were true to their word and never once mentioned what I had found to anyone, not even to Naéd.

Naéd said he was part of the A’ra and he was one of the last true scholars. It is a strange thing that I never clued in to this particularity until so many years later. What is the A’ra if not a separate entity from the Sy’Iss? This discovery gives me hope. I know that if Naéd was of the A’ra, so were Maéva and Vìr. There is a schism in the League, and although those of the Sy’Iss appear to be the masters, there is hope in those who would still look into the truth. I ask of you, whoever you are, take this manuscript and deliver it to the A’ra.

Of Vìr and Maéva, I never heard word again. Sadly. I know where they went. There was always just one destination for them.

I try to be optimistic and imagine them finding a way to and through the deep tunnels under Ul Darak. But such images just won’t come. When I look upon the mountains of the Borders, I can’t envision anything other than a sad end for the two of them. I hope they at least met their end together, hand in hand, as they belonged.

Of my visions of the strange object and those creatures I have felt spying on me, I have conceded some time ago that I will never know what they are or who they are, or whether they are real or just figments of my imagination. Some days, I think I have been blessed to witness something no one else has. Other days, I feel cursed. And at other times, I think I have lost my mind and all of this is the result of my heresy.

I cannot decide, am now too old, too weak to be able to figure things out. This I had wanted to leave to others. To you.

*

My bed beckons. My feeble legs and arms are shaking from exhaustion.

As I end this memoir, my thoughts now return to Vìr and Maéva. I have a few words for them.

Vìr, you continued to call me friend, all the way to the end. You would have stayed with me, by me, through anything.

I now know this. I wish I had been as good a friend to you as you have been to me.

I hope this journal will make up for some of my mistakes. I dedicate it to you, to the both of you.

Please, accept my sincere apologies, Maéva.

And especially you, Vìr. My friend.

- The End -

About Ta’Énia

Organizations

Knight soldiers
: Warriors and defenders of Jarum, as well as law enforcers, taking orders from the emperor of Jarum, in Attas. The small contingent allocated to Ta’Énia is divided between its loyalty to Attas and to the Sy’Iss.

Knight protectors
: A specialized group of knights guarding the Borders of Ul Darak, operating out of Ta’Énia, and taking direction from the Sy’Iss because of its knowledge of the Borders.

League of Sy’Iss
: A group of researchers and scholars, looking to understand the Borders and its dangers. It was sent to investigate Ul Darak after the sudden disappearance of a large group of researchers. The League established the village of Ta’Énia and asked for a regiment of knights to be permanently deployed to the region to offer protection. Also known as the League of A’ra or simply the League.

Locations

Attas
: Capital city of Jarum.

Dalathras
: A realm in the west, arid, mostly desert.

Darani Lowlands
: The region located around Ta’Énia, comprised mainly of low hills.

Fara
: A very high mountain of dark rock, located on the Farana Plateau.

Farana Plateau
: A large plateau, located in the Yurita Highlands, which has an especially good view of the northern part of the highlands and Ul Darak.

Jarum
: The realm located southwest of the Borders.

Nol’Tor
: Mountainous region located on the westernmost border of Toria. It was ravaged by war and is now in ruins.

Saril bridge
: A gigantic bridge that spans the Saril chasm, surrounded by slim rounded pillars and mountains. Part of the bridge has fallen and has been replaced by a suspended bridge. The bridge is the only link between the village of Ta’Énia and the Saril ridge leading into the Yurita Highlands.

Saril chasm
: A deep ravine between Ta’Énia and the highlands of Yurita.

Ta’Énia
: Small village closest to the Borders and headquarters to the League. Also used as the name of the province where it is located.

Toria
: A far realm of the west.

Ul Darak
: Also known as the Borders. High and unstable mountains of the east. Believed to be the end of the world.

Vi’Alana
: The closest city to Ta’Énia, located a week away.

Yil Isles
: A series of small tropical islands located in the southern sea of Jarum.

Yurita Highlands
: The region between Ta’Énia and the Borders, comprised of high hills and low mountains.

Za’Ina
: A village located close to the ocean of Ol Darania.

Personas

Dàr
: A loyal and dedicated knight protector of Ta’Énia.

Eriéla
: Dàr’s companion and a knight protector.

Faron
: Dàr’s oldest son.

Garòn
: A knight protector, colleague of Dàr.

Iirus
: An elder master of the Sy’Iss, blind in his left eye.

Lanì
: Dàr’s mother.

Maéva
: A respected scholar and prominent member of the League.

Maranàr
: Dàr’s father.

Naéd
: A scholar and friend of Maéva.

Sia
: Dàr’s cousin and a young knight soldier of Vi’Alana, allocated to Ta’Énia.

Vìr
: An outsider to Ta’Énia, endorsed by Maéva.

Acknowledgments

The road to completing my first self-published story has been long and would not have been possible without the help and the support from many individuals. I’d like to take the time to thank them one by one.

First, I would like to thank Gaetan Clement, my good friend and my biggest fan. I don’t know how he does it, but he reads everything I write (multiple times, over and over) and always comes back with helpful feedback. His continual encouragement and enthusiasm with my stories are priceless.

Thank you to Sylvie Danielle Paulin who read the story in its early days and provided her usual honest and useful input. I’d also like to mention René Frenette, Nicolas Blouin and Joey Keen, who took the time to read some of my writing and told me it was worth writing some more.

A special thank you to Vanessa Ricci-Thode, who had the patience to answer the many questions of a starting writer about writing, editing, self-publishing and everything in between.

It was also a great pleasure to work with Tom Edwards in creating my first cover. I am amazed at the ease with which he took my ideas and transformed them into art. His vision was far better than what I had in mind.

I would also like to mention Terry Armstrong, who provided many useful tips about self-publishing in his E-Publishing and Marketing workshop. I am also grateful to Corey Redekop, for his workshop on writing and taking the time to read some of my short stories. It was two years ago, but he provided the encouragement I needed at that time to continue trying.