The Year of the Lumin

by Andrew Ryan Henke

  “See those larger tents? That’s where the recruiters will be.”

  “Thank goodness. My back feels like it did after a long training session back with Fafnir.”

  Noir added with a wry look at Asiada, “And we haven’t sold one of these things yet like you said we would.”

  “It’s only been half an hour! And of course we’re not going to sell any just walking around with them in trunks.”

  Noir shook his head. “Whatever, let’s just get there.”

  They hefted the heavy trunks for the last leg of their walk and made their way to the larger tents. As they approached, a group of armor-clad men stopped them. “Luxin. What business do you have here?” Noir was glad he had put on his armor before they left the merchant's tent.

  “We are going to help the Chiron forces if they will let us enlist.”

  The men looked at each other before a different one responded, “I’ll take them to the bookkeeper.” He motioned for them to follow. “Come on.”

  The guard led the three between tent poles and horse pens to a small tent off to the side of the main ones. He went to the opening and said, “There is a Luxin here who wants to sign up,” then he stood aside and motioned the three in. Noir, Ratt, and Asiada filed into the small tent. Inside sat a man behind a crude wooden desk. He had stacks of papers with tally marks in scrawled handwriting. One slave sat on the floor behind him.

  “A Luxin. Come in. The Chiron army is always in need of more Luxins. What is your name, young Luxin?”

  As the three set down their things, Noir said, “I am Luxin Noir, and these two are with me. I would like to enlist if it is possible.”

  “Ah, Luxin Noir. We have been expecting you.”

  All three looked at each other in surprise. The man answered their confused looks. “Osarik, the one who speaks for the former Azurite Knights, said you would be coming. We already have your paperwork filled out for you two.” He pointed at Noir and Ratt. Then he motioned to Asiada. “But we did not hear about a girl being with you, and I see no slave collar.”

  “I am no slave,” Asiada angrily responded.

  Noir quickly put his hand in front of her. “Ignore her. She is with me and will not hold anyone back. She comes or I do not.”

  The man gave a doubtful look and said, “Well that’s fine, but she doesn’t look very battle-hearty. She won’t get any pay.”

  “Tali doesn’t matter to us,” Noir responded.

  Ratt and Asiada said at the exact same moment, “It doesn’t?”

  Frustrated, Noir turned and said, “No, it doesn’t.”

  The recruitment man said, “Well, either way I already have the contracts drawn up. You might as well take it. He motioned to Ratt, “It’s six tali daily for your retainer, and 150 tali per day for you, Luxin Noir.”

  Noir could tell Ratt was about to dispute the prices so he quickly spoke first. “That is fine. Where do we sign?” Ratt gave him a dirty look.

  The man fumbled through a stack of papers and pulled two out. “Right here.” He placed the papers on the desk and motioned Ratt and Noir over. He handed them a quill pen that he pulled from an ink well.

  As the two of them signed, the man motioned to the three trunks and two cloth bags. “You will have to get rid of the trunks, though. We have no more room on any wagons for all of that. Get rid of it and only keep essentials.”

  Ratt and Noir looked at Asiada each with a slight smile. She responded, “Oh, no, no, no. We need this stuff.”

  The Chiron man responded, “Well, you are going to have to carry them then.”

  Ratt said, “What? Oh, no we aren’t.” He turned to Asiada and repeated, “No, we aren’t.”

  Asiada started angrily, “Look I....”

  Noir cut her off. “Stop. We’ll settle this later. Let’s just get this done and get out of here.”

  The man looked at them from beneath a furrowed brow. “The army is leaving very shortly, as soon as the general gives the word. I would go find your friend Osarik and have him show you the ropes. He signed up a few days ago and should be fairly acquainted with procedures.”

  Noir ignored the man calling Osarik a friend and handed him back the signed papers. “Thank you, sir.”

  “If you hurry, you can get Chiron armor from the local smithy before we leave.”

  Noir responded, “No, my Luxin armor will suffice, and Ratt has armor already.” Ratt was looking at the floor.

  “Well then, be off and take those trunks. I have much to do before we leave.”

  They each grabbed their trunk, walked out of the tent, and looked at the area around them. Men were packing up supplies all around them. Asiada sighed and said, “Okay, I'm not going to carry this heavy chest the entire way.”

  “What?” Ratt asked incredulously.

  “I'm going to go find someone to carry my chest for me.”

  Noir responded, “Didn't you just hear the man? There's no room.”

  Asiada flipped her hair and gave a mischievous smile. “It's called charisma, boys. Where there's a cute girl and a bunch of armor-clad buffoons, there's a way.”

  As Asiada walked away with her chest, Ratt grumbled to himself, “Good riddance. That girl gets on my last nerve sometimes.”

  Noir responded, “I am so sick of these stupid chests of junk.” He sighed. “At least we made it here before the army left.”

  The two lifted their chests and walked toward the groups of preparing men. As they walked through the ranks of soldiers, Noir noticed that most of the men wore the same Chiron armor, but there were patches of men in other various kinds of armor. He decided that they must have hired a large amount of mercenaries as well.

  He saw no other Luxins among the group. Most of the men who caught Noir's eyes looked at him with surprised looks. He assumed it was because of how young he was for a Luxin, but he overheard a few men talking behind them as they passed. One said, “There's one Luxin who isn't so full of himself that he walks among us normal men.”

  Noir noticed one soldier in mostly normal clothing coming toward them. Ratt had already noticed who it was and had dropped his chest in the dirt and put one hand on the heft of his axe.

  “Ratt,” Osarik called out. “You have nothing to fear of me. As long as you stand by Noir's side, I will not harm you.” Ratt's posture did not ease as the man stopped and gave a short bow. He was holding a book at his side and had a heavy-looking sack on his back. “I apologize for our past encounter, sir Ratt. We take matters concerning the welfare of the world very seriously.” Ratt’s stern and defensive posture did not ease, but Osarik ignored it and spoke to Noir. “I'm glad you made the decision to come. This battle will surely be one of the first trials for the Lumin and a chance for the world to see you.”

  Noir looked around him and said, “Please stop it with the Lumin stuff. I am not the Lumin, and I certainly don’t want everyone hearing you say that I am.”

  “You are on the path you cannot change.” He waved his hand in the air to dismiss the topic and said, “We have much to discuss about that later, but,” Osarik motioned to the two trunks they had been carrying, “why did you bring so much?”

  Noir responded, “The girl we're with bought a bunch of junk and now she's making us carry it. Why we actually are, I have no idea.”

  Osarik motioned to two men sitting nearby. “We can take care of these for you. We have horses and a cart we could fit them in.” The two men walked forward and took the burdensome chests.

  As they walked off with them Ratt said, “Good riddance. Now don't lose them. I don't want to hear Asiada whine if they disappear.”

  Noir said coldly, “So Osarik, you had contracts already drawn up for us? How much ahead of me have you planned my footsteps?”

  Osarik replied, “One would assume you would not turn your back on your friends in Talik. But if your loyalties lie with this group's enemies, what are you planning on doing when the time comes?”

  Noir shook his head. He had been ignoring that nag
ging concern from his subconscious for the past couple days. “Honestly, I'm not sure. I just know that I need to be there. I don't have any issues with Tier or Chiron. I just know I need to protect Talik.”

  Noir noticed eyes watching and listening nearby and was suddenly aware of what he had been saying. He tried to get a look at those listening with his peripheral vision. Osarik must have noticed because he said, “Do not worry about them. They are my men. They know all about you.”

  Ratt asked, “They let all of your men join? Why aren't they wearing their Azurite Knight armor?”

  “The other soldiers know we are among them so they will not be surprised when the time for battle comes. But we felt it better to not attract too much attention since we will be near you for most of the time.”

  Noir asked, “Near me? Why?”

  “We are here to protect and serve you, Lumin,” Osarik bowed. “My men will watch and protect you at all times.”

  “I appreciate the support... I think. But can you just keep them away? I don't want to stand out more than I already do.”

  “As you wish, Lumin, but we will do what it takes to protect you when the need arises.”

  Noir drew his lips tight and shook his head. “And please stop calling me that. I am not the Lumin. I don't even know what the Lumin is, really.”

  “And that is why I have brought you this.” Osarik held out the book that he had been holding. “This is the Lumin Prophecies. I assume you have never actually seen a copy of it before, which is more proof of my theories about the Syeters. There are a hundred copies of this book in the Azurite Tower alone, and yet somehow you have never seen it before.”

  Noir took the book from Osarik's outstretched hand with wonder. What he said was surprisingly true. He had not seen it before. It was a fairly thin book with soft leather binding. On the front was an emblem etched in reflective silver ink. It glowed almost blindingly white in the bright sunlight. The symbol was the same as what Grandel had carved from sticks for Borm's grave months earlier. It was a tall slender shape with two wings coming from the top. The tips of the wings were sharp as though they had multiple spikes from the ends instead of feathers.

  “We have six days ride to Talik's location, so you can study it on the way. The actual Lumin Prophecies is a mere three pages long, though it is translated from the old tongue in various different ways. The first, the Chrion Truth version, is the most well known of the translations. The rest of the book is a history of scholars interpreting the words and translating it to mean different things.”

  Noir could not help but open the book and read the first paragraph.

  The Lumin Prophecies: Chiron Truth translation

  The Lumin is born of the light, lives through the light, dines of the light, and will die disjunct from the light. He is neither creator, nor destroyer yet everything is and will be created and destroyed from him.

  As Noir read, he poured over every word trying to interpret it. He was distracted by a series of trumpet bursts. Osarik said, “Ah, it is time. That is the call to march. We have only a few minutes until we need to be on our way.”

  Chapter 44

  On the path

  Kings and lords will fear yet praise him. Like a lion, he has power to take all desired, though the lion only takes what is needed. Like the behemoths of the deep oceans, he waits in darkness; yet despite desires, time forces him to surface to the light or drown.

  Noir focused intently on the words written on the pages of The Lumin Prophecies. He had already read the entirety of the manuscript many times and they were only on their second day of travel. They were approaching Hess`erabi and would be past it after day's end. They would not stop for supplies but press onward toward Kuli and then the Garrison Mountains to Talik's location.

  Noir rode on the back of one of the horse-drawn wagons that the Azurite Knights had brought. Since space on the cart was limited, he and Ratt had been taking turns riding and walking. Asiada walked with them at times as well, but often she could be seen walking amongst the soldiers, batting her eyelashes and laughing ridiculously.

  Noir talked to Ratt over the brim of the leather-bound book. “Osarik is certainly right about the Lumin being male. Very few of these historians argue for it being a female.”

  Ratt responded half-heartedly, “I dunno.”

  Noir continued, “And what do you make of this line? 'Yet despite desires, time forces him to surface to the light or drown.' What could that mean?” He flipped a few pages forward to a section dedicated on that line in the text. “This historian says the Lumin needs the sun to survive like a whale needs air. It says the whale needs water and yet it can drown in it.”

  Noir shook his head and looked at Ratt walking behind him. “Ugh, I feel like I'm studying for the SAT.”

  “The essay what?”

  Noir smiled at his otherworldly comment. “Nevermind. It's a hard test that everyone has to take where I'm from.”

  Ratt was looking off over the heads of other soldiers walking nearby as he said, “You know what I've been wondering?”

  “What's that?” Noir responded while still looking at the book.

  “We still don't know how Chiron and Tier found out about Talik's location.” Noir looked up at him. “It's strange that both kingdoms found out at the same time.” He paused and looked at Noir. “What could that mean?”

  Noir answered, “I don't know. That's a good point, though. Perhaps since Elrid is new to leading Talik, he messed up and somehow leaked where they were.”

  Ratt adjusted the harness holding his axe on his back. “I doubt that. Elrid knows what he's doing. Plus, Grandel should be back there by now. He wouldn't have let that happen.”

  “We should ask around. Someone probably knows. Where's Osarik?”

  Ratt picked up his walking pace to the side of the cart as if avoiding something. “I don't know, but there's your girlfriend. I'm out.”

  Noir stretched up to try to see over the side of the cart to see what Ratt was up to. “What are you talking about? I certainly don't have a girlfriend.”

  “Darn right you don't,” Asiada's voice surprised Noir. She walked up from the opposite side of the cart. “No one would ever like a lanky dork like you.” She looked around. “Who were you talking to? Where's Ratt?”

  Noir looked in the direction that he had gone and saw only plodding soldiers. “Well he was just here.”

  “It doesn't matter. I'll give it to him later.”

  Noir looked at her oddly. “Give him what?”

  Asiada haphazardly held out one of the hero orbs to Noir. The small snow-like particles danced around inside and it glowed faintly yellow to Noir's lux-seeing eyes. “This is the only one that won't sell.”

  Noir jumped out of the low wagon and walked next to Asiada. He took the hero orb and looked at it closer. Once he realized which one it was, he laughed. “You know he's going to smash this thing when he sees you gave him the Grandel one.”

  “Probably, but I still wanted to give him a little something for what I did to him with the soup. He can try to sell it if he wants because I certainly can't.”

  Noir put the orb in the back of the cart in front of him. “You're selling them? How many have you sold?”

  “All from my trunk. Ratt should really get on selling his.”

  Noir nodded his head, “All of them. Nice job. How did you do it so fast?”

  Asiada smiled coyly and said, “Lots of ways. If the guy looks like a family man, I say it could be a souvenir for his kids for when he returns. If not, I just turn on the charm. Like I said, all it takes is a little charisma. You could use some, Mister Bland.”

  Noir rolled his eyes and sighed. “Thanks. That's two insults in less than a minute.”

  Asiada sighed playfully. “I do what I can.” She gave a broad smile and knuckled Noir in his arm. “I know you can take it. Your cousin is the Lumin after all. Would that make you, what... a Luminite?”

  Noir didn’t laugh at her odd joke. “Sure, I
guess.” Jotunar and the Syeters had told him Aimee was the Lumin, but now Noir was beginning to question everything they said.

  “Oh, come on. Don't be so drab, Noir.”

  Noir looked sidelong at Asiada under a furrowed brow. “You do know where we're going, right?” He didn't let her answer. “A battle. We're heading to war. I don't think you have any idea what place you are going to play in this, do you? You could die, Asiada.”

  She nodded in acceptance but still turned it around. “Well I guess I will just have to stay near you so you can protect me, won't I?” She still managed a wily smile.

  Noir sighed. “I don't get you.”

  “I'm a girl; you're not supposed to.” Asiada paused for a long moment then jumped up onto the kart next to Noir. It was too tight for two people and she was almost sitting in his lap. Noir started to complain, but Asiada's eyes looked blankly through everything as if she was thinking deeply. Finally she said, “So you promised me something about a month ago to tell me about this other world that you come from.”

  Noir had forgotten about that. “You're right, I did. Okay, but why are you so interested in it? You keep bringing it up.”

  Asiada looked down. “I just want to hear about it, okay?”

  Noir sighed. Still no sign of Ratt so he had nothing else to do. “Well, what do you want to know?”

  “Anything and everything.”

  “You're not going to understand anything that I talk about.”

  “Just try, please.”

  Noir started with his family. He talked about his mom, dad, cousin, everyone. Then he went on to school. Noir mentioned riding the bus to and from school and Asiada stopped him. She asked about the bus, so Noir went on to talk about cars and how they worked. She said nothing, so he continued on to what his home life was like. He talked about fishing with his uncle, visiting him and his family each spring, and anything else that came to mind. However, he felt like he was not saying what she wanted him to say.