Trials

by Pedro Urvi

  Her embarrassment touched Komir, and her beauty, which had captivated him since he had first set eyes on her, took on such a touch of warm vulnerability that he felt totally defenseless, with a pang in his heart and hardly able to breathe, as if he had been pierced by the cold steel of an enchanted sword. A feeling of extreme anxiety engulfed him, followed by one of absolute wellbeing. He tried to hide what he was feeling so strongly, picked up the belt where his Norriel sword hung and buckled it round his waist with the sword to one side. He finished dressing without another word, letting silence fill the two paces that separated them.

  Aliana went to the edge of the pond and remained there watching the still surface, a light breeze stirring her golden hair. Komir watched her, wondering at the beauty of the scene: Aliana standing by the silvery pool like a goddess descended from the moon. There was such a fairness and serenity about her that his heart was overwhelmed.

  “It seems our destinies cross…” said Aliana thoughtfully, still gazing at the water.

  Her voice broke the spell, and Komir looked at the medallion hanging around her neck.

  “I don’t know if they cross, but I’m sure they point in the same direction,” he said in a deeper voice than usual.

  “I’ve thought a lot about our encounters through the medallions,” Aliana went on, “about the bonds which have been formed between these magical Ilenian jewels, and between us, their bearers. I’m sure there’s a powerful reason why we’re in possession of these strange artifacts. More than that, I’m convinced that it’s not by chance that we, two medallion bearers, have met today in these woods.”

  “Yes, I believe that too. For some reason I can’t quite understand, these medallions seem to communicate with each other, as if they had their own life… as if they possessed intelligence of their own… Just thinking about it makes me shiver. I don’t know, Aliana, somehow these medallions seem predestined to meet,” said Komir, a little crossly.

  “The medallions or their bearers?” Aliana wanted to know.

  “I don’t know… both?”

  “Yes, probably both,” said Aliana.

  “Then… do you believe we were fated to discover the medallions and meet in this place?”

  “I’m not sure about us, but I do believe the medallions were. There’s a very powerful magic intervening here, Ilenian magic. We can’t even begin to imagine how powerful. All I know is that it’s an ancient magic which is guiding the medallions for some purpose, one that I guess will be of great importance.”

  “And what about us?”

  “I think we’re the vessels chosen to carry the medallions in their journey to their goal,” Aliana said thoughtfully. “Whether we were destined to be the bearers or it’s chance that has chosen us I can’t be sure, but I’m inclined to believe that we’ve been chosen for some reason that for the moment we can’t understand.”

  “This isn’t by chance…”

  “Why do you say that? What else do you know?”

  “At least in my case, I seem to have been chosen… I don’t know if your situation or that of the red-skinned girl, the one who bears the blue medallion, are the same. I find it hard to explain, but my destiny seems to be linked to this ethereal medallion, although I don’t know why,” He took the Ilenian jewel out of his jerkin to show it to Aliana. “I left my homeland in search of justice… What I’m about to tell you doesn’t come easily for me… but I think it might help you understand why I believe this. You see, our farm, up in the Norriel highlands was attacked by foreign warriors, without any reason. They came by night, and they were a kind we’d never seen before: strange men with slanting eyes, wearing white tiger pelts. I survived by the grace of the three goddesses, but my parents… my parents… were murdered in that treacherous attack… That’s why I decided to set out to find those responsible for my parents’ death, to make them pay with their blood and see justice done. That attack, I now see more and more clearly, was aimed to end my life. Unfortunately, it ended the life of those dearest to me.”

  “I’m so sorry, Komir… what happened to you is terrible… absolutely awful.”

  “Nothing can be done now, but I’ll find out who gave the order even if it’s the last thing I do! You can be sure of that.”

  “I see… I understand your pain, your rage… It’s only human… If they wanted you dead, did you manage to find out why?”

  “No, I haven’t yet. But I know they wanted to kill me, and I must go on until I find whoever gave the order.”

  “Men wearing white tiger pelts and with slanting eyes, you say?” Aliana said, intrigue in her voice.

  “Yes, that’s right. Nobody has been able to tell me where they’re from.”

  “That’s not surprising. I don’t remember any race in Tremia with slanting eyes, or at least not in the Tremia we know. On the other hand, Tremia is a huge continent and there’s a lot of wild, hostile territory, that’s still unexplored.”

  “My knowledge of Tremia is very limited. Never before this quest had I ever left my own Norriel lands…” Komir admitted, slightly ashamed.

  Aliana remained thoughtful, looking closely at her medallion. Then she looked up and inspected Komir’s.

  “There’s something I don’t understand, Komir. How can these appalling events, I mean the attack on your household and the murder of your parents, be connected to the Ilenian medallions? And why do you believe you’ve been chosen to bear this one?”

  Komir stood close to Aliana and touched the medallion of Earth which hung around her neck.

  “I’ll try to explain it to you so that it makes sense and doesn’t sound as if I’ve lost my mind completely. At first I didn’t think of a connection. My destiny is to find whoever is searching to kill me and caused my parents’ death. I’m absolutely sure of that. But then, Amtoko warned me of something else…”

  “Amtoko?” interrupted Aliana.

  “Sorry. Amtoko is our tribe’s spiritual guide. We are the Bikia, of the Norriel of the highlands. She is… a witch. The Silver Witch, they call her.”

  “I know of the Norriel. The fame of your people goes ahead of you,” said Aliana with the ghost of a smile.

  “Good. Amtoko warned me that my destiny, the path I had decided to follow, was linked to one of much greater importance. If I chose to reject this destiny it would mean the end of our tribe, and the whole continent of Tremia would be plunged into pain and suffering the like of which it had never known before. I know it sounds exaggerated, and I have no proof of this, but that old Silver Witch is rarely mistaken in her judgments and predictions… I told her I didn’t want that weight on my shoulders, that my goal was to find my family’s murderers, not to save the world. But she warned me that if I chose not to follow that path, the threads of fate showed her a dreadful end for the Norriel. She spoke of a coming evil of such proportions that all Tremia would suffer. Thousands of people would die, and a bloody tide would sweep across the continent leaving death, destruction and pain in its wake. A devastating darkness would reign for a hundred years. This she convinced me of. This is the terrible destiny I must prevent in some way, even though I have no idea how. It’s the fate I must fight tirelessly against.”

  “But this is a terrible story, Komir,” said Aliana with concern. She gave Komir such a tender look of sympathy that the pain was wiped from the Norriel’s heart. “Can’t you refuse this fate your witch has burdened you with?”

  “She hasn’t burdened me with it… it’s all-powerful Destiny, according to her, which has chosen me. She told me my future is marked and overwhelmingly important if I decide to follow the threads of the tapestry.”

  “And if you refuse?”

  “Amtoko assured me that my search for justice is a part of the great design. If I want my revenge, I must play my part.”

  “I see… you do carry a great burden. Are you sure that your Silver Witch isn’t mistaken?”

  “More so every day, unfortunately… She is the one who has guided me here, the one who pre
dicted we would meet. This means that my parents’ death is related to us somehow, and to that dreadful fate the Silver Witch has foreseen with her Gift. And yet, she didn’t talk about the medallions. Perhaps her visions don’t reach far enough to see them, or perhaps it’s because of the Ilenian magic itself, I don’t know… But I begin to see that my fate, whatever it is, is linked with this medallion, with the Ilenians…”

  Aliana looked into his eyes, trying to see what was hidden behind them. Komir shrank from the Healer’s scrutiny.

  “I think I see what you’re trying to say, and it’s deeply serious,” Aliana said without taking her eyes off Komir’s. “You’ve been chosen to prevent an awful fate. Your path, the search for revenge: it all leads to that terrible destiny, whether you like it or not. If that’s the case and your Witch is right, then the medallions must be a part of that fate you have to prevent. It can’t be a coincidence that you have found an Ilenian medallion. There has to be a connection between you, that destiny and the medallions…”

  “Yes, that’s what I believe too… although I can’t imagine what it might be…”

  Aliana raised her hands to her face.

  “Incredibly interesting, and at the same time very frightening.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry…” said Komir, looking away.

  “You’re sorry?”

  “I am. Because if what we believe is true, that means that you’re embroiled in this mess too.”

  Aliana looked at Komir again thoughtfully. Her face had lost its usual serenity. There was a growing concern there, which brought deepening shadows to it.

  “I need to go over all these things you’ve shared with me, Komir, and meditate on them. It’s a lot of information, and so serious it makes my soul shrink.”

  Komir nodded in silence.

  A mottled fawn came to the pond from the other side and began to drink, not suspecting their presence. They both watched it with surprise, and for a moment the weight of their decisions and the burden of having to face an apocalyptic fate lifted from Komir’s tired shoulders. Aliana looked into his eyes and smiled. The sun made her hair shine like gold and for an instant Komir lost himself in the beauty of her face and the quiet of her blue eyes.

  In that moment, Komir understood that his heart was no longer his own, it had been stolen.

  Some noise inside the thicket made the fawn scamper away with the grace and stealth only those animals are capable of. Komir put his hand on the pommel of his sword and tensed. Aliana, also wary, nocked her bow. The bushes parted to reveal a huge boar. Komir, startled, was about to bare his sword when he noticed something was not right. The boar was being carried above the huge shoulders of…

  Hartz coming out of the bushes.

  “Look, guys! See what I caught!” he said with his booming voice and contagious smile.

  “Hartz!” Komir relaxed as he returned his friend’s smile.

  The giant came up to them and nonchalantly dropped the boar on the ground.

  He offered his bloodied hand to Aliana, “Hi, I’m Hartz,” he said.

  Aliana looked at him and made a small curtsey: “Pleased to meet you, Hartz. I’m Aliana, a Healer from the Temple of Tirsar.”

  “The pleasure is mine, I’m a Bikia, of the Norriel,” replied Hartz proudly.

  Aliana smiled at the big man.

  Hartz pointed at the boar and addressed Aliana with a grin: “Ugly, isn’t it?”

  “It’s absolutely disgusting,” she replied catching his humor

  “Who is? The boar or Hartz?” said a woman’s voice behind them.

  They all turned to see Kayti in her white armor coming out from the woods, smiling mischievously.

  “What are you doing here?” Komir demanded.

  The redhead reached the small group. Looking at Aliana, she said: “The wounded man, Kendas, is awake. It’ll be better if we go back to the cave and the Healer tends to him. And I didn’t want to miss this little gathering, either. Any news?”

  Komir bit his lip but did not say anything. Aliana slung the bow onto her back again.

  “Komir and I have been exchanging points of view… and experiences…” she said.

  Kayti looked at them.

  But neither said anything else.

  “Well, now that you’ve exchanged ideas, we should eat something,” said Hartz as he rubbed his stomach. “Afterwards, when we’ve had our fill, we can decide what to do. Or do you already know where we should head, Komir?”

  “Hmm… that’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about it yet… The thing is I don’t really know…” Komir held the medallion in his hand and stared at it, allowing his thoughts to drift. What should his course be? Amtoko had guided him to Aliana, but now that they had met, what was the next step? “I’m totally lost, that’s the truth of it. I’ve no idea where to go, what to do, what direction to head in…”

  Suddenly a sweet feeling ran through his body. Komir recognized it at once. He experienced once more the ether coming from the medallion: he could almost taste the Ilenian magic. He closed his eyes to concentrate and looked into himself until he found his magical energy, something that still startled him and filled him with a strange sour-sweet joy. It was centered in his chest, resting peacefully like the waters of the pond beside them. He could clearly feel it inside him, and it made him wonder at its implications. I possess the Gift. I am able to see the source of magic inside me, and it’s simply awesome. And what’s even more amazing is that I can work magic, with the aid of the medallion of course, but I can conjure up a spell. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. Who would have thought in my village of Orrio, in Norriel lands only a few months ago? But just like then, I still don’t know what to do or where to go… Which way should I follow?

  At that moment the great jewel in the medallion gave out an intense, clear beam of light which blinded them all. Komir, bewildered by the unexpectedness of it, took a step back and grasped the medallion in both hands.

  “What the hell…?” cried Hartz with his forearm covering his eyes.

  “I don’t know what’s happening…” said Komir in an attempt at apology.

  “A very intense activation of magical power,” said Aliana, looking away to one side.

  “The blinding light ceased. They all opened their eyes again, trying to puzzle out the meaning of the event.

  As they did so a new beam of light, this time brown but equally strong, burst from Aliana’s medallion. They all covered their eyes protesting from the blinding light. The beam vanished after a few seconds.

  Nobody dared to look. The four waited a long moment before opening their eyes again.

  “What on earth is going on with your medallions?” demanded Hartz, upset by the magic.

  “I think Komir activated them somehow,” said Aliana.

  And at that moment, both medallions burst into light simultaneously. They all covered their faces, but this time the light was less blinding. The four looked again carefully and saw a sphere floating between the two medallions, held by the two beams of light. One from Komir’s, the other from Aliana’s.

  “What the hell is going on?” asked Hartz.

  “I’ve no idea, big guy,” replied Komir. “These medallions have a will of their own.”

  “I’d say an intelligence of their own,” Kayti pointed out.

  “That sphere has been summoned by the medallions. It must have some purpose,” said Aliana.

  As if it were following the Healer’s reasoning, the sphere began to swirl in the spot it occupied, hanging between Aliana and Komir. They watched the rotation of this other-worldly object, utterly spellbound. After a long moment, it stopped. Komir was beginning to form a question when suddenly the sphere projected an image, a landscape hung suspended above it in midair. Komir was speechless. It looked as if an extremely realistic painting had been summoned before them like a dream. They all stared at it in astonishment. What they saw was a beautiful scene: the mouth of an immense river of calm blue waters.
The image changed suddenly and seemed to move down-river, as if an eagle were flying over it and showing them what its keen perception saw. The beauty of the land as seen from high above was spectacular.

  “What… what’s that image?” muttered Komir.

  “Ilenian magic! That’s what it is, and I don’t like it one bit!” complained Hartz.

  “Don’t be a moron, Hartz. Can’t you see the medallions want to show us something?” said Kayti.

  “It’s the great river Nerfir,” said Aliana. “We crossed it some while back after fleeing the Usik forests. Kendas told me the Nerfir is one of the greatest rivers in Tremia, and flows from the southern side of the Mountains of the Half Moon into Nocean territory. It runs through the lands of the Empire of the Sun, bathing its barren lands far as the great deep deserts in the South.”

  The image continued its course down the immense river valley which now crossed the Nocean deserts, showing them small fishing and trading communities.

  “It’s a beastly river,” exclaimed Hartz, who was not missing a detail.

  “You are beastly yourself…” said Kayti. Hartz turned round to face her with an unfriendly look, but she winked at him and smiled peevishly and the big Norriel was totally defenseless.

  The bird’s-eye vision continued over the landscape at a growing speed. Much further south, they saw the first Nocean cities beside the river, surrounded by the deserts. The image hovered above the third of the big cities along the water, then moved east, traveling into a desert of white sands and dunes the color of the sun. The image blinked three times and vanished. Next, the sphere and the beams of light from the medallions vanished as well.

  The four exchanged looks, not knowing what to make of that strange experience.

  Aliana stared at her medallion and looked up at the sky, at the light which filtered through the tops of the trees.

  “The medallions have shown us a course to follow…”

  “Are you sure, Healer? What we’ve been shown is Nocean territory, enemy territory,” said Kayti. The serious look on her face showed her concern.