The Vitalis Chronicles: Steps of Krakador (59 page)
“
I didn't mean for all of this to happen...” he started as he looked down at her Uriquim. “You feel so close. I just, there are so many things I wanted to say. So many words and feelings that never got the chance to be said or straightened out.”
He walked around the path to the right, entering the castle on his left and laying the Uriquim in an intricately carved box of crystal and polished stone. “I never meant to fail you, Alisia. I never meant to let you die. And now the only way I can see you is in some fantasy world that I create for myself in my own mind... all I want to say is how much I miss you.”
He closed the lid on the box and sighed as he lowered his head. “What I mean to say...” How could this be so hard when she wasn't even here? He stood and stared at the ceiling in the orange light of the setting sun. “What I've wanted to say this whole time is that... I loved you. How can you love someone who isn't here? Someone you've never even kissed?”
He walked back outside to the north-facing rail where once he had been so happy with her. Where once their hands had met and not been moved so quickly. He watched as the water broke on the jagged shoreline and sighed as the weight in his heart only grew with the words he had spoken.
“
What I mean to say is that I love you still.”
He closed his eyes as the dull roar of the ocean floated up to him. The rhythm of the waves continued like a song, never-ending in its mournful melody. It sounded like it was calling to him, drawing him in as if it knew his name and sent it along to him on the wind.
Ardin.
He smiled sadly. There was one way he could be with her.
“
Ardin.”
He stood up straight, eyes wide open as his heart tried to break free from his chest.
It's not possible.
“
Ardin.” Soft hands pulled him back by his arms and suddenly he felt her hugging him. “It's all right, Ardin. I'm here.”
He turned, disbelieving what he saw as she smiled and pushed back a strand of his hair from his face. “You're... is this the Plain?”
“
No, Ardin. This is me, this is real.”
And he knew in that instant that it was the truth. He had called to her. He hadn't let himself believe it, but he had been calling to her through the Uriquim and she had responded. He was certain even to what purpose she was serving as he turned and grabbed her, capturing her like a fleeting dream on the verge of waking. He held onto her, his forehead resting in her hair, and swore silently that he would never let her go.
“
Alisia...”
“
I know,” she said softly into his chest as the ocean droned on behind him. “I heard.”
He took her by the arms and kissed her then, pouring himself into the kiss like he had so often poured himself into the fight, into survival. His passion for her brought the warmth to life with a flare, and as it churned in him they began to float and turn in the blues and purples of dusk.
He didn't let her go, he wouldn't, not for the rest of time if he could help it. And as they rotated in the air they slowly disintegrated, disappearing from the feet up in a brilliant array of sparkling dust. He smiled as it happened and held her by the cheek to look at her one last time in this world.
“
I love you,” he said, and as he kissed her once more they vanished in the air.
The Uriquim, in their box atop that mountain, glowed brightly that night, one a twinkling green, and the other a steady blue. And from that day onward, Ardin was no more.
THE END
COMING SOON
ORACLE OF THE DREAD GODS
DARK HORSE
BY JAY SWANSON
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AY'S NEWSLETTER TO STAY IN THE LOOP
Thank you so much for reading the Vitalis Chronicles trilogy! This is just the launching point for a greater story as we follow the history of this world we've created together. It's yours now, and I hope you enjoy every bit of what's to come.
Please share this book with your friends, family, and complete strangers! And don't be a stranger yourself. I'd love to hear from you on my website, Facebook page, or via carrier pigeon.
Thank you so much for sharing this story with me! It would never be the same alone.
-Jay
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As usual, this is a process that could not be completed without the help of a number of people. I'll do this in the order of who touches the books first (so you know who to blame when).
To Caleb, Jefe, Jenna, Nils, Peter, Rob, Sam and Shelby, thank you for your profound mix of cheer leading and criticism. These stories would never develop and hold together as well if you didn't point at all of the gaping holes, and I would never have finished any of them if you hadn't believed so strongly in them yourselves.
To Jenna directly, you make me look so much better. Thank you for finding all of my faults and sprinkling some love on the details along the way. It's hard to decide which I like more, reading the things you spot that I need to fix or the little notes of encouragement and underlined favorites scattered throughout your edits. Then you, Ali, make me look like I actually know how to use commas (please try to enjoy this section without marking it up). I don't know what I'll do without you moving forward.
Nimit Malavia is one of my favorite artists alive today, and I was lucky to snag him for this project. Thank you for capturing one of the darkest and most crucial moments in this story with such depth and clarity. I'm looking forward to working with you more in the future. And Tom, oh man what a cool guy you are. Thank you for visiting me in Paris and taking so many photos of me. You actually managed to trick a few people into thinking I was handsome, not an easy feat. I'll see you on another continent soon.
But the majority of my thanks and admiration goes out to my parents this time. They're the most supportive and loving people in my life, and have been consistently so through the entirety of my existence. Mom and Dad, if you hadn't let me daydream, tell tall tales, and wander off into my imagination so much as a kid, I don't know where I'd be today. Thank you for always believing in me, and for supporting me through every circumstance. I really couldn't have asked for better parents. I love you very much, and am eternally grateful for you.
Finally I want to thank every person who has loved the characters and world I've laid before you, and for sharing them with the people around you. These books wouldn't truly exist unless they were shared, regardless of the medium in which they wait to be consumed. Thank you for giving me the greatest gift a creator can receive: your love and your time. I'm not being mushy. I am really, truly grateful.
Won't you join me for the next adventure?
A little about me, since you still seem to be scrolling through. I've always been a dreamer, and to answer the question I most frequently get asked: I don't know where my ideas come from. They come from daydreaming and listening to music, from wandering along without any plans and stumbling on a scene that sparks something. I do my best to write the ideas down, but sometimes they escape me.
I really love writing. When I was a kid I wanted to tell stories. That was practically the only thing I did (some might say I'm a talker). I made up tall tales and wrote down fantastical stories with my friends. I fell in love with video as a medium and made them ever since I was in the fifth grade. I just loved trying to convey how I felt to people, how the world made me feel.
I think that's why we copy what we see and hear and read and watch, why we take them and put them down on paper with our own twists and tweaks. Sometimes you have something happen to you in real life, or you see something happen in a movie and you think, “I have to share what I'm feeling right now.” That's ultimately my aim, I think. I don't want to go through this life alone, I want to share it.
This is why nothing we create is ever truly unique or new, because it is always linked to so many different shared experiences. But if we can be honest with ourselves, and how we not only feel but how we see the world, then uniqueness and beauty will be born in the midst of sharing ourselves. That's my hope. Never be afraid to share yourself with the world as you are. We're all missing out until you do.
The Vitalis Chronicles is a fantasy trilogy by Jay Swanson, and is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. All elements to the story - including any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead - are entirely fictional.
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Copyright © 2013 Jay Swanson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISBN #
978-0-9834699-4-0
eBook Edition
Cover Art by Nimit Malavia
Photography by Tom Bradley
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www.vitalischronicles.com
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Published by Jay as The Northern Range