The Awakening

by Gary Alan Wassner

  “One can never be too cautious,” he said to the group, winking subtly at Filaree and Robyn.

  Together, the three walked solemnly, side by side down the broad hallway behind Treestar. The castle was a massive labyrinth of hallways connecting the many and varied towers. Each tower contained chambers, common rooms, meeting halls, kitchens, studies and workrooms. The only areas that were off limits to the people of Seramour were the private chambers of the King and Queen, the quarters of the other family members, Elsinestra’s library and the Chamber of the Stars. Otherwise, the citizens were free to roam around as they pleased, congregating and meeting wherever it suited them, though they could not remain overnight, unless this sojourn was prearranged with the guards.

  Today though, no one walked the halls but Treestar and his companions. He led them around a corner and toward a backlit opening. As they emerged from the shelter of the archway into the open air, Treestar could not help but notice as each of the three others gazed upward into the gloomy sky. He watched as their eyes were inevitably drawn southward and he sighed a weary sigh. The sky was darker now than before, though the day was hardly begun, and it was not foul weather that clouded the air.

  They stepped onto the polished wood of one of the sky bridges that connected the foremost tower with the one behind it. From their vantage point high above Seramour, they could see in all directions, except where the towers themselves obstructed their vision. The city was vast and it lay spread out beneath them like a map on a table. They could see the people beginning their morning chores, leaving their homes and walking to work, and they watched as the children left for school and as the soldiers began their daily exercises. Everything below them seemed normal and regular, yet they all knew that this day was anything but average. In fact, it perhaps was the most important single day of all of their lives. They were on their way to revive the heir of Gwendolen, the boy upon whose shoulders lay the hope of the world. With their guidance and schooling, he was the one who was destined to find the Gem and thereby roll back the venomous veil of darkness that was slowly spreading across the land.

  Treestar allowed them all to stand, exposed as they were for a few moments, realizing that they were all experiencing the same feelings and thinking the same thoughts. This bridge felt like a cord of hope tying them to the boy, and they walked across it slowly, with great care and respect. Robyn grasped Filaree’s hand and she likewise took hold of Cairn’s. The ring pulsed and throbbed upon its chain around her neck and she could feel it through her skin. She was certain that both Cairn and Robyn felt it too, and she looked at each one of them with a questioning expression upon her beautiful face. They both nodded without speaking a word, acknowledging what she already instinctively knew, and they grasped her hands even harder.

  Treestar turned fully around so that he was facing them, with his back now facing the doorway that they were heading for. He could feel the intensity in the air itself just by looking at them, and he was instantly certain that this moment was the right moment for the awakening.

  “So much depends upon you three,” he spoke. “I need not tell you what troubles come our way even as we stand here,” he continued as he waved his hand at the skies above. “You have not yet seen the heir. He has been here now since my son, Elion, discovered him outside the gates of Pardatha. The boy is extraordinary. That was clear from the moment he entered Seramour. You feel his power just by being in his presence…” Treestar said with his eyes half closed, “…as I do now,” he continued. “Nothing will be the same for any of us once you return him to this world. The fabric weaves of its own will. All of these forces have been aligned here and now, this very morning, and although we feel that we have some control over what we do, there is so much that we cannot know. I pray that you will remain true to the path, and guide Davmiran with wisdom and with temperance. He will require all that you can provide him with in the days ahead. The storm is just beginning to take shape all around us, though it has been developing for tiels. With your guidance and the boy’s strength, may we all find what we quest for in these turbulent times,” he concluded.

  Treestar placed his strong hands upon those of his friends, one grasping Cairn’s and Filaree’s, and the other grasping Filaree’s and Robyn’s. Upon the contact, he lifted his head abruptly, recognizing the ring’s presence as its power coursed through his body as well. He smiled the first truly confident smile he could remember since the moment Davmiran first entered the Heights, and the others could not help but follow his lead. Standing high over Seramour upon the tallest of the sky bridges, connecting the past to the future, what was with what will be, Treestar, Filaree, Robyn and Cairn felt the weave virtually forming around them, incorporating them into the pattern and urging them expectantly ahead.

  Elsinestra sat beside the large bed, gently cradling Davmiran’s hand atop her own palm. She had carefully cleansed him and dressed him in one of Elion’s own tunics. His blonde hair was pulled back behind his still head, and was spread out softly upon the small pillow beneath it. His nails were clipped and filed. He looked so peaceful, so angelic.

  His breath was calm and steady as usual, as he was unaware of anything that went on around him, despite the fact that his eyes were almost always partially opened. In the evenings before she retired, Elsinestra had begun to tenderly close the lids of those beautiful eyes. She knew that it was merely a gesture of love and nothing further, though it made her feel better. Dav reacted no differently whether they were opened or shut, but she slept restlessly until she began this exercise, thinking of him alone in his bed, staring blankly in the dark.

  “They approach, your Highness,” the maiden behind her said. She was looking out the high windows of the tower onto the bridge below. “King Treestar leads them,” she narrated. “Robyn dar Tamarand, Filaree Par D’Avalain and Cairn of Thermaye, as you said.”

  Elsinestra was not surprised. It could have been no others who would be accompanying her husband at this moment. They were the ones who held Dav’s destiny in their hands. She faltered for a moment, and a wave of doubt and suspicion washed over her suddenly.

  Could they be the wrong ones? Doubt grasped her. What if we are incorrect, and they cannot revive him? What if they harm him? I am just being a possessive, old woman, she chided herself.

  The suspicion abated as quickly as it overtook her.

  No, they are the ones. The moment I met them, I knew it.

  “When they knock upon the door, give me a moment, will you dear?” she asked, though the maiden never thought for a second to deny her request.

  “As you wish, your Highness,” she replied, curtseying.

  “I will accompany them to the Chamber of the Stars, yet I wish one final moment with the boy before we leave here.”

  “Do you want me to stand outside the door and await their arrival?” she asked sweetly.

  “That would be nice, Prescia. Thank you.”

  The maiden curtseyed again and slipped silently out the heavy, wooden door, closing it behind her soundlessly.

  Elsinestra stared at the carved wood for a moment, as if anticipating the coming event, and then she turned her gaze upon Davmiran. He was so beautiful, so calm, so innocent. In the distance, she could hear a faint rumble of thunder and it made her shudder. The feeling of encroachment would not dissipate, and only when she looked into the boy’s marvelous eyes, did the serenity return to her soul.

  Holding his hand still between her own, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

  “You are like a son to me, Dav. I feel as if I had borne you myself. It saddens me that I could not help to revive you, but alas, such are the ways of the weave,” she spoke aloud, as if he could hear. “You have no mother and no father. All that you once knew is gone from both your memory and from this world. Though it pains me to say it, everything is before you. You are truly the future, my darling Dav. The quest will begin at the moment of your reawakening,” she said with conviction. “The world needs you so badly,” she whispe
red, bowing her head. “May the Gem of Eternity draw you like a beacon in a storm.”

  Elsinestra rose from the bed, lifted both of his hands and laid them across his abdomen. She smoothed the loose strands of hair on his brow and kissed him once more upon the forehead. Carefully, she adjusted his tunic and straightened the covers around his prone body. His half opened eyes stared motionlessly ahead

  Silently, she walked to the door, opened it just a crack and summoned Prescia, who stood only a few feet away.

  “Fetch Adain. It is time now for him to carry the boy for me to the Chamber of the Stars as planned.”

  “As you wish, Your Highness,” the maiden said, bowing quickly and scurrying away down the broad hallway.

  In moments, she returned with a young guard, muscular and handsome. Elsinestra stood at the open door waiting.

  “Come, we must take him. We should arrive before they do,” she said, leading the soldier to Davmiran’s bedside.

  As he approached the boy, the guard hesitated for a moment and gasped.

  “He is not what I expected,” Adain said quietly, as if trying not to disturb his sleep.

  “Yes, I can imagine. He strikes us all differently,” she replied, seeing the surprise in the young soldier’s face.

  He carefully bent over, slipped one arm under his head and the other beneath his knees. Lifting him easily, he backed away from the bed and turned to follow Elsinestra, all the while staring deeply into the deep blue, half-opened eyes of the heir. They walked in a procession down the hall to the end with the Queen in the lead. Elsinestra bid farewell to Prescia when they reached the bottom tread of the steps that wound upward to the tower room. She graciously curtsied, turned and began to walk away. As soon as she was gone, they ascended the serpentine stairway cautiously, Adain having to bow his head so as not to hit it upon the spiraling treads above him.

  Although Davmiran was not a light burden, Adain did not seem to fatigue, nor to object to carrying him up this steep incline. He required his eyes to focus upon the steps before him in order to navigate the narrow passage without tumbling upon his head, yet he was drawn to the boy continuously, and he found himself shifting his vision from the treacherous ascent to Dav’s countenance over and over again.

  When they reached the final step, their climb was halted by a solid door of Noban upon which no hardware was evident. The portal was heavily carved and light in color, as a beautiful piece of Noban should be. Elsinestra scrutinized it closely for a moment before turning to the young soldier.

  “Let me release the seals so that we can ascend to the chamber above,” she said to Adain who stood, eyes wide behind her.

  She ran her right hand over the frame from bottom to top, etching the joint with the tip of her index finger, standing high upon her toes in order to reach the crown and then practically kneeling upon the wooden floor in order to complete the circuit. When she finished where she had begun, she spoke three simple, elfin words in the ancient tongue.

  “Ealten thea aretean,” she repeated two times.

  The juncture of door and frame began to glow subtly with a greenish light. Elsinestra pushed upon the panel in the very center and the entire door eased backward with a whooshing sound. Warm air escaped through the openings all around, wafting over her face and Adain’s as well. She placed both her hands upon the edge of the door on the right side and slid it easily in the other direction. Adain was certain that there was nothing holding the wood up any longer, now that it was detached from the frame itself, yet it moved silently to the side, upon the very air itself.

  The Queen motioned to the guard to enter behind her. She stepped over the portal, and immediately disappeared into the darkness. Adain followed right behind her with Davmiran cradled in his arms.

  He suddenly could see nothing at all. Total blackness surrounded him, as if he had stepped into the void itself, yet he was not frightened. Elsinestra’s guidance comforted him as did the boy’s presence. He walked a pace or two further into the chamber.

  “Stand where you are Adain, whilst I kindle the lamps,” he heard the Queen’s voice from somewhere across the room.

  Barely a moment later, the room was illuminated by a glowing orb of light that was seemingly suspended in the air in the very center of the vast chamber. Its glow spread out quickly in all directions, and Adain was mesmerized by what he soon saw. The room was octagonal in shape with the walls rising at least fifteen feet. He could not see the ceiling, as it was still obscured by darkness. The dangling light brightened only that which lay below it.

  “Come. Enter the chamber,” Elsinestra beckoned.

  Adain stepped foot upon the thickly carpeted floor and it felt as if he had walked upon the softest blanket of thick grass he could imagine. As he walked slowly to the center of the room, the Queen stepped toward him and pointed toward a table that stood alone in the middle of the floor. It was swathed in woven cloths of many colors that hung nearly to the floor, and at what was its head, lay a small, white pillow embroidered in golden thread with the crests of the royal house of Seramour.

  It was impossible to see outside, and no light entered the chamber from without. The soldier followed his Queen’s instructions, and gently laid Davmiran’s limp body upon the palette before backing away. He still could not take his eyes off of the unconscious boy, though his curiosity about the room itself was growing steadily.

  Elsinestra immediately adjusted the cushion beneath Dav’s head, straightened his hair and clothing and folded his beautifully sculpted hands atop his chest. She then walked to one of the walls and pushed upon a lever of sorts that rose from the floor. Shortly, Adain heard a clicking sound, and one by one, starting from the very center of the ceiling and moving around the chamber in ever growing circles, panels began to drop down, revealing the morning sky. When the noise finally stopped and the final panel disappeared somewhere into the frame of the walls, the chamber was fully exposed to the outside, leaving a wall of perhaps five feet in height all around. The light remained nonetheless, suspended above the boy, and it shone down upon him like a spotlight.

  Adain looked around and he could practically see all of Seramour. They were so high above the city, that everything below appeared miniature and obscure, yet the brightly colored roofs and wide highways stood out markedly against the greens and browns. Despite the fact that the sky was clouded and still, the air circulated through the chamber, bringing with it the wonderful fragrance of the Nobans.

  “Were it evening, you would feel as if you were in the heavens themselves,” Elsinestra commented, noticing Adain’s awestruck countenance.

  “Aye, your Highness, I can imagine how beautiful it must be,” he replied, looking all around.

  “The others should arrive soon,” she said, quickly focusing upon the reason for their presence here. “They may need your assistance, or they may not. It will be up to them. As my sister’s son, you are the closest to the throne in the absence of my own children,” she said, hesitating slightly on the last words. “It was fitting that you be present here.”

  “I am honored to be a part of the awakening,” he responded humbly, bowing his head in the Queen’s direction.

  “As am I, dearest Adain,” she said with a surge of emotion. “As would your mother be, if she were still alive,” she concluded respectfully. “Your father is so proud, he can barely keep the news to himself,” she chuckled.

  Adain blushed at Elsinestra’s words. He then moved to the head of the platform upon which Davmiran lay, and assumed a protective stance, awaiting the advent of the others. The Queen walked to the door and stood there silently for a few seconds without moving a muscle.

  “The great moment is finally upon us,” she said quietly, as if to herself. “Why is it I am so troubled?”

  “It is the lack of sunshine, I am sure, Aunt. It has disturbed us all. Nary an elf in all of Seramour has been able to feel cheerful with the sky as bleak and dispiriting as it has been,” he replied, though uncertain if the Queen’s
comment was meant for his ears or not.

  “I am sorry, Adain. I did not realize that I spoke aloud,” she said, turning to the young soldier with a dreamlike look upon her previously disquieted countenance. “It has been a difficult few days. The preparations for war have been painstaking and tedious. My dear husband has not rested for a moment whilst the people mobilize. They are as readied as they have ever been. Still, he remains so tense and so terribly uneasy, though he will not admit it, even to me. I see it in his eyes. After all these tiels, he cannot hide anything from my meddlesome vision,” she said lovingly. “But the clocks will start ticking afresh very shortly,” Elsinestra continued in a more joyful tone. “Nothing can prevent it now,” the Queen declared, as if the words themselves might help to make it so. “When darkness reaches out to light, and clashes brightly in the night…” she began to recite.

  “Then what was one will become two, and the quest for the Gem will begin anew,” Adain completed the verse from the Tomes.

  “The quest for the Gem will begin anew,” she repeated in a whisper, as the sound of footsteps thumping upon the steps below reached their expectant ears.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Esta dismounted and dropped the reins, allowing her horse to graze on her own. She was standing behind a cluster of tall trees with Marne at her side. Marne’s horse was already greedily chewing upon the tall grass that abounded underfoot.

  “We need only cross through this line of trees and we will be upon our meeting point,” the maiden said. “After the horses have had a moment to satisfy themselves, we should remount and make our rendezvous.”

  Marne twirled around and looked into the woods behind her. She was certain she saw something move a short distance back. The animals had been few since they entered the forest, but she had this terrible feeling that something or someone was following them.