The Year of the Lumin

by Andrew Ryan Henke

  Finally, Steven sighed, looked at the ceiling and said, “It is done. I feel... not alive.”

  “Thank you.” Noir lowered his voice so the others nearby could not hear. “Now, I know all that is happening is important, but we have to discuss how we are going to get home. I don’t have any clues, and there might be something in this library on the topic.”

  Steven looked down the row of books at Asiada who was busy reading a widely-bound book. He said, “Yeah, I looked a while ago but there is nothing. The only things that even mentioned the cave are in a book about the prophecies of the Lumin. And it didn't have anything in it about the orb you say you saw. It only says that the cave was found in ancient times and that the Lumin shrine was built around it.”

  Noir’s heart sank. He had hoped there would be something on the topic in this vast library. “Did you check every book? Every single one?”

  Steven responded haltingly, “Well… no. Not every one. Not ones that are entirely unrelated. But every book in here has been read by at least one of us, so I probably would have picked up on the knowledge through the sye circle.”

  “There’s something else that I need to ask you about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I have another friend back at the inn where we were staying. Could we send some sort of message to him to ask him to come here? Though I doubt he’d come.”

  “Why?”

  Noir absentmindedly ran his finger down the bindings of one of the books. “He’s a wanted man of the kingdom. Like, really wanted. Would the people here want to turn him in?”

  “Well, if you know him to not be harmful, there’d be no reason for him to avoid coming here. We don’t care much for the affairs of the kingdom. Actually, we usually stay out of it if at all possible.”

  “Well, they might care this time. He’s General Grandel.”

  Steven raised his eyebrows with surprise. “Grandel the Merciless? Yes, he is a rather infamous one. But again, it shouldn’t be a problem, especially with you inviting him on your word. We can send a messenger at once if you’d like.”

  “Thank you.” Noir had missed talking to his uncle. He felt the sudden urge to give him a hug, so he did.

  “Whoa there, kiddo.” Steven returned the hug and smiled for a long moment. “You’re getting too tall for this.” Noir pulled away. “You’re almost as tall as me now, aren’t you? None of that,” he motioned toward Asiada, “in front of a pretty girl like her. Right?”

  Noir gave a fake gagging motion then punched his uncle playfully in the shoulder.

  ~~~

  Ratt walked along with the two blue-robed Syeters. The one that Jotunar had named Syeter Taleen was a middle-aged man with a soft face. The other was named Syeter Eyscali. She was a pretty woman who Ratt guessed was in her early twenties.

  They had not passed any Azurite Knights as they walked through the marble halls. Ratt watched Eyscali walk in front of him. His mind wandered back to the process he was about to start. He felt uneasy about being involved in anything relating to vigors, enchants, and chakra.

  The two finally stopped in front of a door and motioned him forward. Syeter Taleen said, “This is Master Godo’s workshop. You should stay with him for now.”

  They started to leave and Ratt felt nervous about going in. He said, “Wait.” The two stopped and turned to look at him. Ratt made his best attempt to turn on his charm and said to Eyscali, “Come on, why don’t you stay with me?”

  Syeter Eyscali gave Ratt the most flat, emotionless expression he had ever seen. She knowingly said, “Kid, please.” Then they both walked off.

  Ratt watched them go and thought, “It was worth a try.” He turned and looked at the carved wooden door and a bitter wave of dread washed over him. Dread fought with excitement as he thought about what he could do with the armor. What he knew he would do with the armor. He could turn away right then and disappear. No one would ever hear his name again. Or he could go into that door like Noir, Steven, and Jotunar seemed to want him to. The thought of what he could do with that power came to him again. “It's not my fault if it comes to that. I was led here.” He frowned, took a couple steps forward, and knocked on the door.

  The sound was immediately answered by a metallic crash. A man’s voice from inside yelled something that Ratt did not understand. Then after a few moments, the door swung quickly open. Ratt was facing one of the oddest looking people he had ever seen. This man was surprisingly short and round. He had a grey beard that stuck out at odd angles past the sides of his face. He wore an odd style of dirty overalls over a sweat-stained brown shirt. His eyes were hidden by a pair of circular black goggles.

  Behind him were numerous shelves along the walls containing hundreds of different sizes of glow spheres. On another wall were racks of oddly shaped metal devices. On many tables were all different sizes of colanders and alembics used for purifying and manipulating materials.

  The man’s brow wrinkled down on top of his goggles as he looked at the dark-skinned young man in his door. He spoke with a gruff voice and an accent, “Who’re you?”

  “Uh, my name’s Ratt. Those Syeter people wanted you to make me some enchant armor.”

  The man looked Ratt up and down then said, “A bit young for an Azurite Knight, eh?”

  Ratt responded more harshly than he had intended, “No, not one of those knights.”

  The man raised his brow in surprise and quickly said, “Well, okay then. Not an Azurite Knight. Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter. Still th’same process.” He held out his hand for a shake and Ratt took it. “The name’s Godo. Master enchanter, so they say.”

  Ratt recognized his accent as southern Tierian. He shook Godo’s hand and said, “What part of Tier are you from? Inteal? Bille’say?”

  “Close. Alister.” Godo smiled and his beard curved to reveal a toothy grin. “Come on in, Ratt. It’s rare I get to see another Tierian, ‘specially with how prudish these Chirons are about 'em.”

  Ratt walked into the workshop which he now saw was as cluttered on the floor as it was on the walls and tables. “Isn't often I get ta make a suit of enchant armor. It’s the most rewarding enchant ta make. Usually I just make trinkets and glow spheres for th’ tower ta sell.”

  Ratt picked up a small metal enchant off of a table and turned it over in his hand. “Why do you do that for them?”

  “Well, it's kinda complicated. But long story short, Tier banished me because I stopped making din slave enchants for ‘em. Evil blasted things. The Syeters here took me in an give me a place ta live an work. In return, my enchants they sell pay for lots of their other expenses.”

  “Sounds like a good deal. But if you don't like the din slave enchants, why do you make the slave collars here?” Ratt replaced the metal enchant.

  Godo turned and squared off with the younger man. “S' not me, m' friend. Someone else makes those things.”

  A few moments passed with Godo seemingly deep in thought. Then he blinked and looked at Ratt as if suddenly realizing where he was. “Bah, that's for another day. So, enchant armor, eh? Well, first things first.” Godo walked to a marble counter and brushed aside some trinkets revealing an odd-looking enchant attached to the counter. It reminded him of an ornate oil lamp, although the top looked like a crystal instead of a glass casing. “This is an enchant that will tell us how much chakra you have. That way we’ll know how powerful ta enchant yer armor. Too much power an it will drain ya making it useless. Too little, an it’s not utilizing yer full potential.”

  Ratt walked up to the odd enchant and looked at it more closely. “This won’t hurt, will it?”

  “Oh, no, no. Ya may feel a bit drained afterwards, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Just put yer hands on the base and it will do the rest.”

  Ratt lifted his hands up, but hesitated putting his hands on the object. Godo said, “Don't worry. Th’ way it works is th’ brighter it glows, th’ more chakra ya have. Just let it drain yer chakra until ya start feeling tired. That u
sually gives me a good enough guesti-mination.”

  Ratt ignored the made-up word and placed each hand on the base of the enchant. He felt it slowly start to drain his chakra as the crystal began to light up. Sluggishly, it grew brighter and brighter until Ratt and Godo both were squinting.

  While averting his eyes, Ratt said, “How long is this going to take?”

  Godo had dropped his dark goggles down over his eyes. “What? Aren’t ya feeling drained yet?”

  The crystal continued to brighten, drowning out the light from all the other glow spheres in the room. Ratt said honestly, “No, not really.”

  Godo laughed playfully and said, “You might very well be as strong as Captain Osarik.”

  The enchant continued to drain Ratt’s chakra and he started to feel its effects. His arms felt slightly tingly and he felt a bit lightheaded. The light had grown so bright that he now had to close his eyes and turn away. Light emanated from the enchant so brightly that it began to hurt Ratt’s eyes even through his eyelids.

  Godo said in a hushed voice, “Amazing.”

  The crystal grew brighter still and started to release a slight buzzing sound. Ratt felt his arms going numb. He felt his energy flowing out of him and his legs getting weak, but still he held on.

  His last bit of effort was enough. The crystal at the top of the enchant let out a loud, grating creak and the light quickly faded from the room. Ratt let his body relax and he sat involuntarily on the ground.

  Godo clapped once loudly and proclaimed, “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.” He walked forward and traced a finger along a long fissure going down the crystal’s center. “Of all the hundreds of people that I have tested over the years, never has anyone exceeded the crystal’s threshold. Enchants are supposed to be indestructible!”

  Ratt was unsure why he felt dread at the news. He wanted to be able to stay with Noir and continue to help, but he knew what he would do with this armor if it was completed. Fafnir had known about this all along. He wondered if she'd guessed about what he'd do with this power, though.

  Ratt slowly pushed himself onto his weary legs and stood. He felt a bit light-headed, but figured he would be alright. Godo was already on his way to the back of his workshop toward another room. He motioned to Ratt and said, “Come on. Come on. We gotta start on yer armor right away.”

  Ratt shook out his arms and begrudgingly followed.

  ~~~

  Grandel sat in the wooden chair that had been supplied with their room at the inn. When he arrived, the innkeeper had told him the very lengthy tale of what had happened the previous day. The man frequently strayed from the topic to worried comments about his daughter. He also made sure to extract that night’s fee from Grandel before he went upstairs.

  Grandel pondered over what he should do. He worried about what had befallen Ratt and how Noir’s rescue attempt. A part of him felt like he should go check on the two and help them if need be. However, he saw no possible way that he could help. If he tried to get into the tower, he would be stopped by the far-superior Azurite Knights. He also could not risk being recognized and caught.

  He had successfully led them through hardship to Chiron, despite the confrontation with Kit. Perhaps going with them had brought the others more trouble than if he had stayed behind.

  He somehow knew his time with Noir had ended for now. The two boys were on their own. He would return to his people and attempt to help the resistance as much as he could.

  Grandel laughed out loud when he caught himself. “Resistance. Heh. I sound like her.” His thoughts drifted to Kahmi and he stared at the small box sitting on the nightstand across the room. After the initial critical wound that her passing had dealt him, he began to feel better. She had been sick for many years and was suffering by the end. Plus, he had been able to see her before she passed. She was a blessing to this world and he would carry on her dream without sorrow. That was what she would have wanted. But all the sadness, loss, and troubles that had befallen Grandel recently was hard for him to take. A part of him wanted to shut down and not try anymore, but Kahmi would have been disappointed in him if he did that.

  He continued to stare at the small box he had carried unopened for so many years. He knew it was time, but the actual act was so hard to carry out. Opening it meant admitting to himself that she was truly gone. Could he go on without her? Did he have the willpower?

  Grandel stood from his chair and walked to the nightstand. He carefully placed his hand on the box and walked back to the chair. He turned the box over in his fingers as he had thousands of times before.

  He gathered up his will and pulled on one of the small time-worn ropes that held it tightly closed. With some effort, it pulled free and he took off the ropes. Years of being on the man’s person had indented the rope into the box’s corners. He tossed it aside and placed his hands on the top and bottom of the box.

  He looked up past the ceiling and said out loud, “Kahmi, you will always be loved.”

  With resolute sadness, Grandel pulled open the box. As the lid separated from the bottom, it released a crack and hiss. Frigidly cold mist poured out of the box. Grandel thought that it must have been enchanted with ice by a din mage. He had heard of things being held in a sort of stasis in this manner. This could also explain why the box had always remained in perfect condition even though he had bumped and damaged it many times. Enchanted materials were nearly indestructible.

  Grandel suddenly felt the presence of another’s mind in his own. He had felt Syeters probe and manipulate his mind before, but this was different. The presence was calm and wordless, unlike the worried, frantic mind of a human. However, it seemed scared. There were no words in the presence, just feelings and emotions.

  As the cold mist cleared, Grandel looked into the box. He saw a sight that he had never in the least expected. A fist-sized egg rested inside. It was moving very slightly and Grandel watched as the first crack appeared down the side of the egg. Though icy mist had just poured from the box, it now felt pleasantly warm in his hand.

  Wracked with confusion at the hatching creature, Grandel studied the insides of the box and lid he had just opened. On the inside of the lid was a short message written in Kahmi’s flowing script. He read it as the crack lengthened.

  My dearest Grandel,

  If you held your promise, then I am now gone. This creature signifies my undying love and devotion to you. May she be a constant companion to you when I could not. My love, my hawk, may you live life in joy and not sorrow.

  Love, Kahmi

  Grandel watched as a beak pierced through the crack and pushed out a hunk of the shell. Simple, primal feelings of frustration and haste came through the link between him and the animal. Grandel understood what Kahmi had done. She could not be with him past her death, but she could replace this loss with another. The animal sye connection was a thing of legends. She must have spent her entire fortune convincing and paying a Syeter to do it.

  As it broke free, Grandel helped the hatchling hawk with its emergence. He pulled away pieces of shell and widened the hole with his thumbs. Grandel looked upon what he knew would be a companion for many years to come, if not for the rest of his life.

  Chapter 35

  Trial of grievance

  Asiada had gone from the Azurite Tower that night to go back to her father’s inn to retrieve Noir and Ratt’s things. She was also supposed to relay the message to Grandel that they could ensure his safety if he came to them.

  Noir searched through the library long into the night for anything regarding the Lumin shrine or the Lumin in general. Steven had showed him the few books that he had found, but Noir wanted to read absolutely everything available. If he did not find anything on the Lumin cave or the orb which had started this whole thing, he had no other leads for information. He had to search through everything.

  Noir and Ratt stayed the night in the Azurite Tower. Steven had rooms found and converted for each to stay in. They were small but comfortable enough. />
  Noir spent the next morning continuing his search through the rows of books. He found that a lot of the time, the Syeters were fairly unhelpful, Steven included. Any time Noir asked something of them, they seemed annoyed to be pulled away from their thoughts. Noir made sure to wear his Luxin armor and cloak around the Syeters. It somehow made him feel more confident.

  Early in the afternoon, Noir asked Ratt to help him scan the books since he was up from the enchanter’s workshop. Ratt brought books that he thought looked like they could possibly be related to the Lumin or the Lumin shrine and set them in a pile in front of Noir.

  After Ratt set down the large book he was carrying, he asked, “So why exactly are you looking for stuff related to the Lumin shrine?”

  Noir realized that he had never actually told Ratt about how he, Steven, and Aimee had ended up in this world. He felt bad for never having told him. With all that was happening now, he felt confident that Ratt would believe and understand the story.

  “Well, what I’m looking for has to do with how we got here.”

  Ratt sat down next to the small tower of books and said, “Well, I know they said you’re from a different world, but really a different world? Is that even possible?”

  “Yeah. I think so at least. As far as we know, our world could actually be the same as this one, just in the future or the past. I don’t know though because nothing in our history says anything about vigors or anything about the places here. Although, it's odd. Legends of dragons do seem to be in my world in lots of different cultures.”

  Ratt said, “Well, maybe you’re just from the really distant future or something. Heh.”

  “I really have no idea.” Noir held up a book and pointed to a rough sketch of the Lumin shrine that the author had done. “The shrine seems to be the only link between our worlds. Ignoring the surroundings outside, the cave behind the shrine here is almost identical to the one back home except for one key thing.”