A Prince of Aelon

by Michael E. Villanueva

  “In the meanwhile I’ll go gather more wood, seems like it’s chillier this afternoon than yesterday.”

  Emilia turned to leave then Marcus said, “Oh, do you mind?” gesturing towards the wood pile.

  “Oh, but of course,” replied Emilia. Pointing her finger towards the pile of wood, a small blaze started on the kindling.

  “Thank you,” said Marcus nonchalantly, for he was trying as hard as he could to contain the fact that he was still amazed with Emilia’s power.

  A few days later the threesome found themselves atop a barren, rocky plateau. They had been riding all morning headed for the tiny hamlet of Tanvar to replenish their supplies.

  “So the fates told you that we should head here?” asked Marcus.

  “Somewhere in this general direction. Curious thing about the fates, you only know you were on the right track after the fact.”

  “Hmm. Moment of realization. What if that does not occur?”

  “There is always a moment of realization. It is just a question of intervals.”

  “What I meant was how do you know in case you got it wrong? That the fates did not really mean for you to do this or go there?”

  “I know what you mean. Recall your own life, Marcus. Is it not true that you attained bursts of exhilaration only during the times when you meet or exceed your expectations? And during the times when events do not seem to favor you, is not the degree of your disappointment personal?

  You brood until you decide it is time to go on, then you pick yourself up and go on with your responsibilities.”

  “Yes, of course. When one fails, the feeling is that of being solitary. While in triumph it is as though the whole world celebrates with you.”

  “So there are your moments of realization from both sides, during successes and failures. However, I like to think of the triumphant moments as the fates indicating that you had done well. While if you did not, they leave you be to your private realization. Think of it as though they already know you feel bad and that it would be rude and unhelpful of them to chastise and make you feel worse.”

  “But at times people do feel worse, others to the point of madness.”

  Emilia sighed then said, “That too is a personal choice, wouldn’t you say? The degree to which you allow yourself to brood? I have learned and seen enough to know that the fates also do not dictate, nor do they meddle with human will. At most they offer gentle suggestions – if strongly urged to do so.”

  “That seems to be somewhat of a letdown. I mean, all-knowing deities allowing mindlessness to reign when it does not have to. It does not make sense.”

  “Marcus, consider this. What you deem as senseless might actually be respect.”

  “Respect? How?”

  “Is it so unfathomable that the fates respect people enough to honor our choices, even the foolish ones, so that eventually we might follow their example?”

  “What example? Of allowing people to make mistakes even though they should know better?”

  “Mistakes are the consequences of one’s freedom to choose…which results from respect.”

  “Again we are back to respect. I am sorry, I just do not see what you mean.”

  “Marcus, assume that what you perceive as senselessness is actually respect. Respect for your choices, respect for your being and the uniqueness of who you are. You do not enjoy being told what to do or be dictated upon do you?”

  “I dare say not.”

  “And so the fates do not. Now, imagine if every human being followed that example and respected everyone else? Did not impose their beliefs, did not pilfer from others and there would be no reason to do so because others out of respect, should they see someone in need, would willingly share.”

  “What about greed, jealousy, and malice?”

  “If there is respect among and for all, do you think there would be greed, jealousy or malice?”

  “Therefore, as long as there is greed and selfishness…there is no respect?”

  “Would you prefer the fates to stoop down to human machinations of imposing, dictating and commanding?”

  “But compared to the fates, are we not like children? And should children not be guided as well as corrected?”

  “Children are meant to grow-up and mature, are they not? Acquire knowledge; arrive at wisdom to guide their decisions. Parenting is invaluable but it has its time limit so All things have to be done properly within that time, after which the child becomes an individual. Someone whose decisions, he or she, insists should be respected.”

  “However, not everyone can make wise decisions.”

  “Who is to say what is wise? The wisdom of today may very well be the foolishness of the future, and the opposite as well. Besides, you recently made a decision to leave your home and everything you knew. To go off into the wilderness without even so much as a plan or destination, how wise was that?” Emilia smiled as she turned to Marcus.

  “Well, I must admit, when you present it that way, it does not seem to be the wisest of things to do.”

  “Yet the fates have respected your decision for here we are, senseless perhaps, but wrong, that is yet to be determined.”

  There was silence as the three of them traversed the rock and sand covered ridge. To lighten the moment Marcus spoke on what he knew was a safe but trivial topic.

  “I believe it is good that we have left the valley, there was more moisture this morning than yesterday, the weather seems to already be turning.”

  “Yes, I noticed there was fairly more moisture than yesterday. The chill awoke me before dawn and I had to rekindle the fire.”

  And so went their conversation as they wound their way down the mountain to the small town of Tanvar which, though distant, was already visible from where they were.

  It was dusk by the time they were within the boundaries of Tanvar, so they headed straight to the merchants to see what was available as well as make arrangements for the evening.

  There were no inns but the merchant offered a small spare room as well as directed them to a stable where Titan might be housed for the night.

  After housing Titan and having a simple dinner Marcus and Emilia continued their conversation which revolved around the fates and Emilia’s exploits, as they settled down in the merchant’s spare room.

  “Ah, a real bed!” said Marcus. “It feels as though it had been ages since I last lay in one.”

  “I will not argue with that notion. Although I enjoy my travels I do miss the comfort of a true divan for the night.”

  “So what shall we do tomorrow?” Marcus asked sleepily as he settled himself into the bed.

  “I suppose we could linger about town for awhile, perhaps some rest shall enable your inherent powers the chance to…” Emilia stopped, startled by Marcus’ snore. She smiled and uttered, “Yes, I too could use a bit of rest.”

  At that she lay down in her own bed which faced away from the window that had been left open. The storeowner advised this because of the heat which now prevailed over the lands. But even if Emilia had been facing the open window, she would not have noticed the tiny drops of rain that began to fall.

  The next morning Marcus was awakened by the chill in the air. He immediately pulled the beddings towards him as he contemplated what to do next.

  He surveyed the room and realized Emilia was not there. Her satchel was left open allowing him to see that her heavy coat was also missing.

  After a few more moments Marcus rose and rummaged through his things for his warm coat to put on and stepped out of the room.

  Marcus found the shop owner eyeing his stocks. The white bearded man then turned to him and said.

  “Good morning. I hope you slept well in spite of the sudden nippiness, quite unexpected, quite surprising.”

  “Yes indeed, more so since we had all our windows open in anticipation of a warm humid night. Any thoughts as to what brought this about?”

  “None, just that sometime around late evening it rained and cont
inued until…about an hour before you came out. I was still up and about reviewing my inventory when I noticed the downpour. I went to my window to close it but to my surprise the streets were fully drenched by then. I suppose it had been drizzling for quite some time before it rained stronger, quite odd.”

  “I see. Any thoughts as to where my companion might have gone to?”

  “This morning she was up almost the same time I was. Gone to the stables to attend to the stallion, she said.”

  “Much obliged.” Marcus said, as he marched out of the store and headed towards the stable.

  When he arrived, he saw Titan blanketed and his mane being brushed dry by Emilia.

  “What insane weather,” complained Emilia “We were expecting a warm night so I left Titan bare, then the contrary happens.”

  “Yes, the merchant did say it was odd.”

  “In all my years of travel I had not experienced weather turn quite as unexpectedly as this.”

  “Well…being from Aelon we have learned to prepare for extreme conditions, although unseasonal occurrences are few and far between.”

  “It seems that the worse has passed, however. We best gather our things and be on our way. A recurrence of those rains could leave us stranded, and a town is no place to go about your training.”

  “Why is that?”

  “For one, too many distractions. You are already having a difficult time in the solitude of the forest, more so in a village. Another that is your inherent power may reveal itself too mightily – although in your case that may seem doubtful – but it is known to happen.”

  “Did it happen to you?”

  “A ring of fire did emanate. More startling than frightful, but it could have burned down a cottage had we been near one. That taught me one should never do any tutoring of magic within close proximity of others.”

  Marcus nodded in silent agreement. Thus, after seeing to the needs of Titan they returned to the merchants store to gather supplies and their belongings for their trek towards the wilderness.

  Sometime after noon Emilia determined that they were far enough from Tanvar or any other known settlements. They dismounted and as they were preparing to start Marcus asked,

  “Did you notice something about the day?”

  “Nothing, except that it’s terribly hot.”

  “Yes, and not a cloud in the sky. You would think that after such a downpour as last evening’s there would be some trace of its occurrence.”

  “Well, the merchant did say it was an odd event. Get that out of your mind now and let us begin.”

  “Very well then, I am now concentrating.”

  After half-an-hour Emilia asked, “Are you thinking of something Marcus?”

  “No, nothing. You told me at the start that I should not think of a particular power.”

  “But your brows are furled…what’s running through your mind right now?”

  “As I told you, nothing…except…”

  “Except what?”

  “Well, to keep my thoughts from wandering I continuously say to myself, elemental force, elemental force…”

  “You have been doing that since the start?”

  “To summon my elemental force! I do that so the singular purpose of my mind would be to call forth my elemental power!” replied Marcus defensively.

  “Marcus, it is not supposed to be hard, don’t think elemental force because doing so simply preoccupies your mind with those two words. Just let go and be open to anything that will come out. That will usually be your elemental power.”

  “Very well, here goes…”

  After just a few minutes, Emilia said, “Marcus, you’re doing it wrong.”

  “Really? How can you tell?” he asked sarcastically.

  “First of all, you’re not relaxed. You need to be at ease for whatever power you have to flow.”

  In frustration, Marcus replied, “Fine, I’m relaxing now.” Soon after, he added, “…calming down now…” and still a bit later said, “Getting (yawn) sleepy now…”

  And just as he was about to doze off, a speck of water hit Emilia on the cheek. Then more and more specks came. Soon it started to drizzle, and then it was raining.

  Before Emilia could react they found themselves in a heavy downpour. Titan was not amused.

  Emilia shouted, “Marcus, are you doing this?!”

  “I don’t know. Do you think this is my power?” yelled Marcus excitedly.

  “If it is, then stop it! We better head for cover under that tree…”

  “Ha-Ha! You’re fire, I’m water. Try to burn me and I shall put you out!” replied Marcus gleefully as he trailed after Emilia with Titan bringing up the rear.

  The candles were now flickering all over the quiet little town of Tanvar. The merchant was lazily documenting the days’ transactions while wiping the sweat off his forehead for the weather was once again hot and humid.

  There was an unexpected knock at his shop door, which he ignored as he inked down the number of wheat sacks he had left. Another more vigorous rap followed.

  “Alright I’m coming!” said the merchant in irritation. He stood up, wiped the sweat from his neck and thumped his way to the door.

  “What do you want at this late hour…” yelled the merchant as he opened the door and was immediately taken aback when he saw Emilia shivering and drenched from head to foot. Behind her in the moonlight stood Marcus and Titan, looking no less soaked.

  The merchant had no notion that while he and Tanvar baked in the day’s heat, twenty leagues or so away Emilia, Marcus, and Titan were on the verge of being drowned where they stood.

  Earlier that day, the trio that had been hiding beneath the thick trees realized that this was a futile exercise, because the leaves could only contain the rain for so long until they were overwhelmed and drenched even more.

  For nearly two hours they scampered around the forest looking for a cave or any other more reliable shelter but found none.

  “We have to find cover until this passes,” yelled Marcus over the torrent.

  “There is no cover, and if last night was any indication, this will take hours more to run its course. Can’t you stop it?”

  “I’ve been trying, but I just cannot make it heed!”

  “Then our best chance is to head back to Tanvar.”

  “That’s three hours from here!”

  “We have no choice!”

  At that they mounted Titan who instinctively knew what to do as he sped off trying to run away from the rain which seemed to follow them.

  As Titan rushed through the empty country road there were instances when he would gain distance from the rain and be relieved of the showers, but within minutes the clouds would form from behind him and they were soaked once again.

  Darkness had fallen and the clouds that kept recurring made the quick-paced evening journey even more ominous.

  Not until they were an hour away from Tanvar did the rain begin to weaken and eventually stop, allowing Titan to slow down to a weary trot as they headed towards town. By then they caught sight of the flickering lights of Tanvar’s houses.

  Three drenched and shivering figures slowly moved through the dark, deserted, dry street of the town towards a store. Thankfully a light was still visible from within.

  Emilia, tired, agitated and cold had knocked on the door. There was no response, so in frustration she banged with all that was left of her strength.

  She heard a voice followed by approaching footsteps. The door swung open to reveal a familiar figure whose words she did not quite understand because of her state, so as courteously as she could, she replied.

  “We…we would a-a-appreciate the s-s-same ac-accommodations as the previous evening please (sniff) and may I suggest you not leave your windows fully open tonight.”

  “Ah-Choo!!!” Marcus’ loud sneeze caught the attention of both Emilia and the merchant, who turned just in time to see Titan shaking off the water from his mane unto the incognito heir-apparent of A
elon.

  Chapter 8 Wisdom

  The following day Marcus and Emilia – with blankets over themselves – were having some hot broth for breakfast. The merchant walked into the kitchen and his grin could not hide his thoughts so he decided to say them aloud.

  “Broth and blankets on such a hot day, what a sight. Your horse seems to be doing a wee bit better than the two of you but might I suggest you not be too quick as to ride-off into the great unknown. Or your next return might be trailing a plague or some monstrous creature,” jested the merchant.

  “Do not worry, I do believe we shall be staying put for a while,” said Marcus, Emilia did not protest.

  By late afternoon Emilia was atop a nearby knoll overlooking Tanvar. The scenery was quiet and beautiful as she looked upon the plains in the middle of which the town was situated, then to the shadows of the distant barren rocky mountain range which she and Marcus traversed not too long ago.

  She turned her view to the other side to survey the barely visible treetops of the distant forest where Marcus’ power made itself all too apparent. Then the road which led from there back to Tanvar, the road that only the previous day they journeyed and by nightfall, were scurrying back from, chased by incessant rain clouds.

  Emilia wondered if someone had been stationed where she now sat all of yesterday, how would they have appeared? That person in the early morn would have witnessed confident, self-assured riders advancing to new exploits. But by evening, these same beings were damp to their bones, being pursued haplessly by storm clouds as they retreated to the relative safety of the small, lazy village that remained totally oblivious to their afternoons’ misadventure.

  “So, this is where you’ve run-off to.”

  Emilia, a bit surprised, turned to see Marcus strolling down towards her from the top of the hill.

  “Yes. However did you find me? Don’t tell me you now have tracking abilities as well.”

  “I asked around, it’s a small village, everyone knows where everyone is or headed to,” said Marcus as he sat himself down beside Emilia.

  “At first I assumed you were attending Titan,” Marcus continued. “By midday I decided to bring lunch to the stables and to my surprise you weren’t there.”