by Noah Layton
On the other hand… I had to inform a father that his son was dead.
We approached the southern gates together. The moment the guards laid eyes on us the gates began to open, and we all stepped onto the sun-elf territory. As a group we ventured to the tree at the centre of the land, approaching the area of buildings and houses that surrounded it, moving past saluting sun-elves and thankful glances, until we reached the treehouse.
Artrix was already waiting for us on the steps. He moved faster than usual, scanning our group until he set eyes on his daughter.
Shit, shit, shit.
Any second Mariana would ask where her brother was. I was going to need to tell them what had happened, to reveal that I had been lying by omission to her ever since I had saved her.
They rushed towards each other and embraced, placing a hand on the back of each other’s heads and placing their foreheads together. They forgave the usual stoic demeanour that I had known them for and held themselves there for several moments before pulling away from each other, their hands clasped on each other’s forearms.
They looked into each other’s eyes deeply, and a sullen change overtook Artrix’s face.
Mariana didn’t say anything, but after scanning Mariana’s face he asked a single question.
‘Is that so?’
‘Yes, father,’ she said quietly.
‘How…?’
Mariana turned to me, and then so did Artrix, and suddenly I realized that they both knew what I already knew.
‘Did you think that my father was the only one who can read the faces of his companions?’ Mariana asked.
Her father may have been able to read minds, but Mariana was so much more dangerous than I could have imagined.
She knew how to hide that fact.
***
‘He fell while giving us time to escape. If it wasn’t for him we would all be dead, and Santana and Mariana would have been lost to the hands of the wood-elves. It was the death of a warrior. The death of a hero.’
A few minutes later we were seated in Artrix’s treehouse home, drinking a bittersweet tea and eating seasoned bowls of vegetables. My wives were seated with me in the large space, their wounds tended to and their bodies changed into decadent silk gowns as we took some rest in this safer place.
I had no idea how Artrix would respond at the prospect of the death of his son. So far the only expression of emotion he had displayed to me was the slight drop in his face.
It was the kind of thing that would make a father crumble to pieces. At any moment I expected Artrix to collapse into a crying mess. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what was going on in his mind.
I had told my story, and now all that I could do was wait for the man to respond.
Silence followed. Seconds dragged on like hours as I scanned his face, but he showed nothing in response, until finally-
‘The tale of his heroism shall be known to our people for all time, just as it was with those of our ancestors. Do you know the worst fate that a being in this world can undergo, Master Jack?’
‘I have a few in mind,’ I replied. ‘But I couldn’t settle on one.’
‘Why so?’
‘Because it’d be subjective. It depends on what you value most.’
‘And what do you value most?’
‘My wives, my people, and my tribe. The worst fate that I could suffer would be losing them.’
‘To the living man that is a terrible fate to be handed. There is one worse, though, that besets all eventually – the end of all things, when a man is forgotten by all and lost to the earth forever. My son may be gone, but his memory will endure, just as the memory of all of our fallen people will. They lived and fought, and their sacrifice shall not be forgotten.’
I nodded in agreement and picked up my cup of tea.
‘There is a ritual of respect among my people,’ I said. ‘That at the end of any great victory or when paying respect to a fallen companion, we press our cups together and drink, just as I showed you at the celebrations.’
‘I am not one for the customs of those beyond our walls, but were it not for you, I would have no sons or daughters to speak of. For this, I shall make an exception.’
We pushed our cups together and drank, and in the treehouse Artrix and Mariana shared stories of Ralos. I had only known the man for a day, but by the end of their tales I felt like I had known him my entire life.
Most father’s would be crushed by the death of a son, but not in this case. It was the death of a fighter, one who had sacrificed himself to save another.
His father couldn’t have been more proud.
At the end of our meal together Artrix offered a wagon and a horse to get us back to our land, which we accepted. While my wives prepared it and checked their things, I met with Mariana and Artrix in the shade of the tree.
‘We sun-elves aim to be clear above all things, Master Jack,’ Artrix started. ‘You know I am not long for this world, and now that Ralos is gone, it is Mariana’s task to lead our people.’ He turned to his daughter and pointed at me. ‘In this man you have an ally. Not simply in battle, but in the running of the tribe. His heart is pure.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ I said.
‘Believe me,’ he interrupted. ‘For I have seen the history of this land.’
‘What do you mean, father?’
‘My daughter,’ he smiled. ‘I have told you everything about this land that I know. But there is only one secret that I have kept from you, and it is now time that you saw it for yourself.’
Artrix opened his inventory and retrieved an object which landed in his hand.
It was a large, old key that Mariana took with care.
‘I do not need to tell you where this leads, but now that you are to become the next tribe master of our people, it is time for you to see for yourself… And I advise that you take Master Jack here with you.’
‘You really intend for me to become the next master, father?’
‘This place is filled with headstrong guards who would fight to the death for the position, but the role of tribe master must always remain within our bloodline. But that is not the real reason – you are the most suitable. Your abilities, your leadership qualities, your will to fight.
‘But… You really wish for Master Jack to see?’
Artrix looked to me, then back to Mariana.
‘He must. Go.’
It still hadn’t occurred to me what they were talking about, until Mariana nodded to me and we set off across the land toward the underground tomb that Artrix had shown me during my tour of the place, and which Mariana had taken over.
‘Wait… He’s not really letting us see inside the final room, is he?’
‘Believe me, I am as excited as you are. I have been waiting my entire life to look within that room.’
We reached the entrance to the tomb and the guards stepped aside like clockwork. Together we descended the steps to the corridor beneath, where the long row of blue statues stood.
‘So what do you-’
I had hardly made it halfway through my sentence when Mariana turned and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me hard and whimpering.
It threw me completely off-guard, and all I could do in response was wrap my arms around her to keep her steady.
‘Are you okay?’
As fast as she had lost her composure, she regained it. Mariana ceased her shaking, took a few quick, deep breaths and stood up straight, shaking her head a little in the process.
‘I am sorry,’ she said firmly, as if he genuinely meant it. ‘That is not the kind of behaviour that should be expected from a sun-elf, especially not a newly-minted tribe master in the presence of another master.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ I said. ‘You’re talking to a guy who once got so angry he butchered an entire tribe on his own.’
‘An entire tribe?’
‘Well, technically there were only seven of them and two ran off, and I had just fo
und out that they were keeping the family of one of my wives as slaves.’
‘That makes much more sense. You really will go to the ends of the world to defend your people, won’t you?’
‘In this world I’m nothing without them. Of course I would.’
‘Is that the only reason that you came to rescue me? Because your wife happened to be with me?’
‘That’s beside the point, and you know it. My tribe comes first, above all else. If you had to choose between rescuing your own tribe or saving somebody else’s, which would you choose?’
Mariana paused, then smirked.
‘Yes, I suppose you are right. I apologise for my outburst, it is just… As a sun-elf we are not supposed to let our emotions get the better of us. My father claims not to be old-fashioned, but he is committed to that notion. Perhaps I cannot show my emotions in front of other tribe masters, but you and I have been through more together in such a short space of time than most other tribe masters endure together in a lifetime.’
At the end of a movie this might have been the moment where the two leads kissed, but as we stood in the firelight of the underground passage, looking into each other’s eyes, all I saw was a friend. I just didn’t feel that way about her, and neither did she about me.
I offered a hand out, which she shook.
‘Even if the wood-elves are gone, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t worse things out there that could threaten our people. We are much stronger together than we are divided.’
‘I agree. My father’s way of thinking was part of the old world. We cannot afford to close ourselves off from what happens beyond our borders. If we do, history will simply repeat itself when the army of the world comes knocking at our door. No matter how well-defended we are, they will break down our walls and kill us all.’
‘We’re safer together,’ I nodded. ‘I’ve been weary of every other tribe that I’ve come into contact with, but now things are different.’
‘You have our support, Master Jack.’
‘And you ours,’ I replied. ‘Master Mariana.’
She smiled. ‘Good gods, do not let my father hear you say that.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’
‘Good. Now let us see the secret of my people.’
We journeyed down the corridor, each of us holding a torch. Mariana unlocked the first door, and we descended the steps to the next door.
It seemed an age since I had last been down here.
A lot had happened since then.
The final door seemed bigger somehow. Mariana had been leading us there quickly until now, but as I closed the door behind us and we looked towards it together, she stayed where she was.
‘Are you doing the honours?’ I asked.
‘Just… Give me a moment,’ she replied, staring ahead at the door. ‘I have been waiting for this moment my entire life. Now it is here… I feel that whatever lies within will be a disappointment.’
‘You said it was a prediction, didn’t you?’
‘A telling of things to come by the Oracle.’
‘Then let’s find out what this truth is.’
Mariana placed the key into the lock and turned it slowly. The last part of the cycle required a wrenching push, but eventually it gave.
She placed a hand on the handle and turned it, paused once more, and pulled it open.
An explosion of dust filled the air, shrouding us. We both stepped back, coughing violently and waving our hands before us until it began to settle.
I raised my torch and pointed it into the darkness. Mariana peered in but the light seemed to cast itself on nothing.
Mariana led us inside while holding her hand over her mouth. I pulled up my shirt to cover my mouth and followed her.
Searching the walls either side of the door, I found the ledged panel and lit it.
The fire snaked around the room as it had done with the other levels. The room we were standing in was much smaller than the others, perhaps only five by five yards.
At first it seemed like there was nothing residing in it apart from the two of us, until the fire formed a glimmering frame around a square feature opposite the door.
Mariana and I glanced at each other and edged forwards to examine the item. It was a large stone slab that had been placed vertically, displayed before us like an artist’s canvas. It rose to my height, stretching two yards horizontally to form a roughly square shape, although its rough edges made it look as if it had been chiselled from a much bigger wall somewhere.
‘What is this…?’ Mariana asked examining the slab in the firelight. ‘There are markings… And pictures.’
Side by side, we cast our eyes over the slab.
It was like a mural composed by an ancient Egyptian, divided into unequal sections – more like the page of a comic book than anything.
At the top were three groups of figures organised into equal thirds of a circle. At the lead of each group was a larger figure wielding a sword.
‘This is the Great War…’ Mariana said, stretching out a hand and touching the stone with quivering fingers. ‘Three armies. The Ogrog Nation. M’Kalla. And the Rorians.’
We looked lower. I felt as if I was looking at something that we weren’t supposed to be seeing.
The next images were of scattered bodies. Hundreds of them. They were all bathed in a sea of blood, surrounded by arrows and swords, and the occasional burning building.
‘The war…’
Further down.
Trees and fields of green grass, and flowers sprouting among them.
‘The rebirth of the land. And… What is this?’
Mariana had caught sight of it first. It was grey and jagged, out of keeping compared to the style of the rest of the mural, but somehow still integrated into the rest of it.
My eyes focused, and I struggled to believe what I was seeing for a moment.
It was a jet. My jet. The one that I had been flying when I had first arrived in Agraria.
‘What is this?’
I didn’t respond.
‘I’m not sure.’
We looked to the bottom of the slab.
A lone man stood by a tree in a field, looking into its reaches.
He was wearing my flight suit, and he was holding a small metal tool in his hand that looked like…
It looked like a gun.
No… It was a gun.
Because he was me.
We looked to the base of the slab. It had been cut off from that point on, as if it had been struck by a hammer or a pick axe, but I could see the heads of a multitude of people sticking up, their bodies and whatever else that was stood among them long gone.
‘He… He looks like you, Jack.’
‘I think that’s because it is me.’
‘How… How could this be? A thousand years ago she creates something like this… She tells of your coming to Agraria.’
‘She’s an oracle,’ I replied simply. ‘I just… I don’t understand how she could have known about…’
‘You already said it. She’s an oracle. But why would she tell of your coming? Why you?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘And what about this section at the bottom? What part has been cut away?’
‘That’s a damn good question.’
The story of my arrival in Agraria had been written a thousand years ago. This long-dead oracle had known about it. She had had a vision, or whatever I was supposed to call it.
‘Well…’ Mariana continued. ‘If she felt the need to place her vision down onto rock like this, it must have been important.’ Mariana looked up at me. ‘Now I understand why my father was so desperate to form an alliance with you.’
‘And you?’ I asked. ‘This doesn’t change anything between us, does it?’
‘No… Not yet, anyway. Unless I happen to stumble upon this missing section one day at a market and see it depicting you and your tribe slaughtering mine.’
‘After all the trouble I went throu
gh to get you back? Not likely. Come on, let’s get out of here.’
Together we began the journey back to the surface, locking doors behind us.
‘There’s something I wanted to ask, too,’ I said. ‘If it isn’t too much trouble.’
‘Of course.’
‘As a tribe master we often take more than wife. I have, your father has… Does that mean you’ll be taking more than one husband?’
‘I have not thought about such a thing yet. Maybe the next time we meet you will have your answer.’
‘See, that’s why it would never work between us.’
‘Always the master, never the one who submits, hmm?’
‘You’ve got one thing right about me.’
Chapter Sixteen
With our wagon loaded and our group ready to return home to my tribal land, I met with Artrix one last time by the tree at the centre of the land.
‘That is me, isn’t it?’ I asked him. ‘Upon the slab, down in the tomb?’
‘I was not sure upon meeting you, but after the bravery that you have displayed I have little doubt.’
‘And what does it mean?’
‘We cannot be sure, neither you nor I. The final piece of the prophecy is missing. Long have my people searched for it, but to no avail.’
‘And it’s out there somewhere.’
‘In all likelihood. Somebody holds the future upon that removed piece.’
‘But why me?’
‘Because you bear some great significance on the future of this land. What it is I do not know, but that prophecy is one of only a handful left in Agraria made by the Oracle. They are incredibly rare, and it is our duty to protect this one, just as we must try to protect this world.’
‘That might be easier said than done right now,’ I replied. ‘I’m guessing that Mariana may have mentioned what caused the destruction of the wood-elves’ tribal land.’
‘Not the Infernal Fire Explosives that I sent on the journey with you, but a demi-god.’
‘… Right. You know about both of those things?’