Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles

by Aaron Lee Yeager

  “’Companion?’” Teak scoffed.

  Alder nodded. “This is not a word for a thing; it is a word for a person. Milia’s companion.”

  “Milia’s companion?” Albashire repeated, growing interested.

  “No, that cannot be correct,” Teak choked out, trying to control her voice. “Look there, the second vowel has a breve above it. Diacritics only appear when describing objects, never people.”

  “What are diacritics?” Albashire asked.

  All the women turned to him harshly. Only the Queen remained dispassionate.

  “What?” he asked stupidly.

  The Queen leaned in towards him. “The little squiggly marks above letters.”

  “Ohhhhhh.”

  “How is it possible for an author to be ignorant of such things?” Alder wondered.

  Albashire backed away in embarrassment. “Hey, I let my editors handle all that stuff.”

  Archivist Teak turned back to Athel. “My Queen, this man is clearly wasting your time. I feel I must restate my objections to his presence here.”

  “Your objections are noted.”

  The Queen turned back to her husband. “I’m afraid I must concur with the Archivist, husband. The presence of the breve makes it impossible for the word to be read ‘companion’ as you assert.”

  “That would be correct, of course. If it was really a breve.”

  Teak narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “Please, hold your breath and look at it straight on.”

  At Alder’s insistence, the women held out their hands, causing the amber to slowly grow, raising the pedestal. Alder got a little light-headed and had to drop to his knees to maintain his balance. As the paper reached eye-level, they could see the breve was not ink, but a piece of dirt, clearly rising up above the paper.

  The Queen’s eyes widened a little. “It is a smudge?”

  “Impossible,” Teak whispered.

  Alder stood up triumphantly. “Yes, it is a smudge. The phrase correctly reads, ‘and when they were all seated, Milia stood, taking in hand her companion.’”

  Archivist Teak lowered the pedestal back down. “There is no way we could have missed that. You must have altered the scroll.”

  Alder straightened himself. “Begging your pardon, but I would never do such a thing.”

  “You did! You must have. There is no way a man could notice something a woman could miss.”

  “If my husband placed the smudge there, then why was the word always translated as ‘staff’ in the past?” Queen Forsythia asked coolly.

  Teak stepped backwards. “I…I…”

  Albashire tapped on his chin. “But, what does that mean, then? ‘Milia’s companion.’ Is it like a title perhaps?”

  “Who would be a companion to Milia?” Queen Forsythia wondered aloud.

  Alder shook his head. “There’s no way it could be a title. Look at the first letter. Titles have a tilde before the first letter. This is a description.”

  “A friend, perhaps? Someone close to Milia?” Captain Tallia surmised.

  “When have you ever heard of a God being that close to a mortal? Mortals are children to the Gods, servants, never equals. This can only refer to another god.”

  Teak stepped forwards. “This is blasphemy. We should not be speaking of such things.”

  Albashire’s eyes went wide. “Another god, that’s it!”

  “There is only one god in Wysteria. Stop speaking. You will bring upon us the wrath of Milia!”

  Albashire reached into his pocket excitedly and checked something as he looked around.

  “I’m afraid I must agree with the other Matrons, Alder,” Queen Forsythia said. “This speculation is clearly dangerous.”

  “But this is not speculation,” Alder said steadily. “This is what our scriptures say. We must face them without looking away.”

  “We should involve the High Priestess in this,” Teak counseled. “She speaks for Milia on such matters.”

  Forgetting himself, Albashire pointed up at the ceiling. “There should be one more door in this room.”

  Everyone quieted down and looked at him.

  “Haven’t you caused enough damage already?” Captain Tallia warned. “Are you trying to get yourself executed?”

  “I’m telling you there is another door in here.”

  “How can you know that?” Alder asked.

  Teak threw up her hands. “This sanctuary has been in use for thousands of years. If there were another door, we would know about it.”

  “Not if it was hidden,” Albashire said.

  “I’ve heard enough of this,” Captain Tallia hollered, drawing her saber. Two of the guards grabbed the wiry man and began binding his wrists.

  “Wait.”

  The guards paused at the Queen’s command. Carefully she leaned forward on her staff. “I would like to hear your reasoning.”

  Albashire thanked the Queen as his bonds were released. “Queen Forsythia. Back on Taldives, the heart of the Temple of Spirit has doorways that line up to the cardinal points, to make it easier for Estus to manifest himself to his servants. I believe that this place follows a similar pattern. Look back there, the entrance points exactly true south from here, towards the Dragon Isles where the gods first came into our world, and the entrance to Milia’s sanctum points north-northwest towards Illium, the constellation of Milia herself.”

  Archivist Teak clenched her fist. “How can you possibly know that? We are deep underground.”

  “Perhaps his people can sense the ley lines of the land,” Alder theorized.

  Albashire blinked. “What? No.” He held up his hand and uncurled his fingers, revealing his pocket compass.

  “Oh.”

  Albashire pointed up at the ceiling. “Haven’t any of you ever wondered why there are seventy-nine holy constellations, but only seventy-eight gods?”

  “You are referring to I’iers,” Alder realized. “The faceless constellation.”

  “Yes.” Albashire checked his compass again, giddy as a schoolboy. He found I’iers above and followed it to a place on the wall. The rest of them followed him hesitantly.

  “I must say, you are very animated about this,” Queen Forsythia noted.

  “Are you kidding? The faceless constellation is the greatest mystery of our time. Why do you think I became a writer in the first place?”

  “I believe you said it was to make money,” Captain Tallia quipped.

  Albashire came to a featureless place on the wall, about twenty feet to the right of Milia’s door.

  “This is the spot. This lines up with the faceless constellation. It should be here.”

  They all looked at the flat spot he had indicated. The Queen doubtfully stepped forward and placed her hand on the wall, but nothing happened.

  “This is a waste of time,” Teak complained. “Matrons must have stood there thousands of times over the years. If there were a door, it would have been revealed by now.”

  Albashire was undaunted. “Well, you said Milia’s door only reveals itself to women. Maybe this one only reveals itself to men.”

  “Preposterous,” Teak scoffed. “Men have no place here. You shouldn’t even be in here.”

  “He is here on my invitation,” Queen Forsythia said, gently rebuking her. “And I said it only allows women to pass,” she corrected. “It is Wysterian magic that reveals the door.”

  Albashire scratched the back of his neck. “Well, maybe men’s magic reveals this door.”

  The women snickered. Only Athel remained silent.

  “Men don’t have magic, they are rootless,” Teak spat.

  Captain Tallia bristled at the obvious dig taken towards her. She turned to Teak, her hand on her hilt, but a gentle glance from the Queen calmed her.

  “You
r men really don’t have any magic at all?” Albashire sniffed.

  “No, we don’t,” Alder sad sadly, lowering his eyes. “It is because we don’t have souls.”

  Albashire was shocked. “I’ve never heard of a people anywhere on Aetria who had no magic at all. Even the Diades can create magical aromas. It’s not terribly useful, but at least they can do it.”

  Captain Tallia took her hand off her weapon. “We know, a bunch of them are stinking up the southern peninsula as we speak.”

  Queen Forsythia placed a gentle hand on Alder’s shoulder. “I would remind you husband, that while the doctrine of men lacking souls is the traditional explanation of the church, it is not actually contained anywhere in the scriptures.”

  Alder glanced up gratefully. “Yes, you are right.”

  “Of course they are soulless,” Teak sneered. “What other explanation could there be? A magical connection to a god is the very definition of a soul. If men had souls, they would be able to use magic.”

  “But there is one,” Alder spoke up. “One male on Wysteria who does have magic.”

  They all turned to Alder as he held the sleeping baby in his arms.

  “So the rumors are true,” Teak said, stepping back, raising her hands as if to protect herself. “How could you bring such a thing here?”

  The Queen closed her eyes. “I had hoped to keep that knowledge contained until the Spirit Weaver arrived.”

  “I know, I’m sorry,” Alder apologized. “But, I truly think Mister Albashire may be onto something here.”

  “Why are we even listening to these men?” Teak snarled. “Let us be rid of them.”

  “The dragons said the men of Wysteria had been severed from their god,” Alder pleaded. “What if this is him?”

  “Such blasphemy,” Teak spat.

  “My Queen, we really should be getting back to court. People are waiting for you,” Captain Tallia cautioned.

  The Queen hesitated. “I suppose this is my fault for encouraging my house-husband to speak his mind.”

  The other women chuckled knowingly.

  “Like I told you, my Queen, you have to keep them under your thumb. They’re happier that way anyway.”

  “Please, your majesty, at least try,” Albashire requested. “Daians wouldn’t give up so easily.”

  Queen Athel raised an eyebrow, indicating that she didn’t approve of having her fandom used against her. Slowly she took a breath. “You may try, Alder. When nothing happens then we can return to court.”

  Alder bowed thankfully. Slowly he approached the spot on the wall, the baby in his arms. As he drew near, the amber began glowing brighter and brighter. As he stood before it, the whole room began to resonate and buzz with energy.

  The women looked on in astonishment as the featureless wall reshaped itself into an archway. It was different that Milia’s, more angular, with different scriptures etched into its surface.

  “Impossible,” Teak whispered.

  Even the Queen was unable to hide her astonishment.

  Albashire was elated. “Ha! I knew it!”

  “What…what is this?” Captain Tallia asked, shielding her eyes.

  Alder reached up and traced his fingers over the etched symbols. “I’m not sure. These scriptures…I’ve never seen them before. They are passages from books I’ve never heard of.”

  “No one has.”

  “This is devilry,” Teak whispered. “Somehow these men have defiled this place, erected this abomination alongside Milia’s doorway. It must be destroyed.”

  Captain Tallia drew her sword. “I agree.”

  As Archivist Teak stepped forward, her staff raised to strike, the archway rippled with energy and she was thrown back, knocking over three of the royal guards.

  “Guess women can’t enter this one,” Albashire noted.

  Teak bunched her fists as she was helped up. “No, that cannot be! There is no place restricted to the daughters of the forest!”

  The Queen tried as best she could to collect her thoughts. “I’m…not sure what to make of this. I did not expect him to actually find something. I was just humoring Alder to be polite.” She looked up. “But, one thing I do know. There is no magic in the world so potent that it could modify the royal tree without her consent. Not even another god could do it without killing her in the process.”

  “Then why is it here?”

  Queen Athel’s eyes trembled. “There is only one possibility I can think of. It has always been here.”

  She looked over the glowing scriptures. “How could I have not known about this…?”

  “Your mother never told you anything?” Albashire asked. “No royal secrets, hidden from everyone but the Queen herself?”

  Athel gave him a scolding look before catching herself. “That may be how it works on your island, but not here.”

  For several moments, they all stood and stared, unsure of what to do, or what to make of it.

  “So, what is inside?” Albashire wondered, breaking the silence.

  Alder turned to his wife. “My Queen, allow me to take Ash inside and see.”

  A moment of concern passed through her eyes.

  “It is all right, you said yourself, this is a sanctuary. Nothing can hurt us here.”

  “No, we must leave,” Teak cautioned, backing away. “Let us allow this door to close and never speak of it again. We will forbid the child from ever returning.”

  Queen Athel hesitated as she looked at her husband. “Can we really know it will be safe?”

  Alder thought on it. “No, we cannot. But I believe behind that door are the answers to everything I have been seeking. Please, I beg of you, allow me to pass.”

  The earnestness in his eyes took Athel back a bit. It was rare for him to ask anything of her, especially so earnestly. Every motherly instinct she possessed wanted to say no, but there was something in his eyes that she could not deny.

  Queen Athel reached out and touched her baby’s perfect little head. “You keep him safe, okay?”

  Alder bowed formally. “I swear it will be done, by the Matriarch of my house.”

  Athel tried to hold back her fears. “You’d better. That is my mother you are talking about.”

  Alder smiled and stepped forward. The royal guards formed up around the Queen. It seemed strange for them to be protecting her in such a holy place, but after what they had just seen, they couldn’t be confident of anything anymore.

  Alder and Ash stepped up to the archway. Its surface rippled like a pond. Closing his eyes, Alder stepped through, passing through the amber stone as if it were nothing more than a thin layer of liquid. It pooled around him, clinging tightly to every surface, betraying any attempt by the others to peek within. Then he and the baby were gone, the wall thickening behind them.

  “Are you all right?” Athel called out, unable to hold her tongue.

  “Yes, we are both perfectly fine,” Alder’s voice came back muffled.

  “What do you see?”

  “We are in a vaulted chamber, vine and leaf patterns carved into the walls. It is impeccably clean. I cannot find dust or dirt on any surface.”

  The Queen closed her eyes. “We do not need to know about the cleanliness of the chamber. Is there anything in there with you?”

  “Yes, there is an altar of polished crystal, and a vessel of clear water.”

  Captain Tallia leaned in to Archivist Teak. “Like Milia’s mirror,” she whispered.

  “Be silent! We must not speak of the inner sanctum before the foreigner.”

  The women glanced back at him menacingly.

  “I tell you what,” Albashire said as he backed off. “I’ll go stand way over there so I don’t overhear anything that will land me in a dungeon.”

  “That is probably wise,” Queen Forsythia counseled.
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  Once he was out of earshot, the women whispered to one another.

  “Could it be an Oath Altar to Milia?” The Queen wondered.

  “It couldn’t be. The scriptures specifically state there can be but one altar where a woman’s heart can be tested,” Teak stated.

  “Well, if it’s not an altar to Milia, then what is it?”

  “Alder, what shape is it?” Queen Forsythia called out through the wall.

  “Squared, with a curled fern head decoration at each cardinal point,” Alder called back. The filigree work is flawless. There are no tool marks, even up close. Every surface in here is warm to the touch.”

  “You really shouldn’t be touching anything in there.”

  “Sorry.”

  “That sounds exactly like Milia’s mirror,” Captain Tallia whispered. “Could it have been moved to this new room somehow?”

  “If it has we must retrieve it,” Teak asserted. “It is one of our most holy oracles.”

  Archivist Teak stepped forward, but was again forcefully thrown back into the guards. Her feet shot up awkwardly into the air as she rolled onto her plump back.

  Captain Tallia chuckled. “I could watch her do that all day.”

  “Don’t just stand there, help me!” Teak barked, stretching out her arm. Captain Tallia reluctantly grabbed her with her remaining hand and helped the aging woman to her feet.

  Albashire covered his mouth to hide a chortle.

  From inside, the sound of a baby crying could be heard.

  “Oh no,” Alder said, his voice muffled.

  The Queen’s eyes went wide. “What? What is it? Is the baby all right?”

  “Not exactly.”

  The Queen moved to rush towards the sealed archway, but her guards held her back. “Do not frighten a mother. What is wrong with my baby?”

  “He needs a change.”

  Athel froze. “What?”

  “His diaper is soiled.”

  Athel exhaled sharply.

  “So change him,” Captain Tallia snapped.