Chronicles of Galadria I_The Other World

by David Gay-Perret

  He reflected on everything up to that point, and he realized that authors hadn’t overstated anything; he had always wondered if everything that the heroes in adventure books did – all the strange situations they found themselves confronted with, all that they managed to emerge victorious through, for continuing their route – if all of that was possible. But with everything they’d experienced now, he no longer had any doubt.

  However, luck also played a large role in all of those stories: having the right person show up at the right time, finding a single key in a great swamp by walking across it... In their story, however, he didn’t see where luck played any role in anything. Perhaps the fact that they’d run into the horsemen of Rackk in the plain? Not really, though, since they’d been looking for them. That meeting had little to do with luck. No, he didn’t see any evidence of luck helping them up to this point. That being said, they probably had plenty of time to wait for it, as their journey had only just begun.

  It was as he was thinking about these things that Jeremy interrupted and suggested that they continue on their way, which they immediately did.

  The young people continued traveling until night fell. Having kept up the rhythm that they’d agree on, they should have plenty of time to sleep and have their three meals a day, without having to hurry. This plan seemed appropriate, since they had yet to determine a scale for the distances on the map, and they didn’t know how long their travels would take. When they stopped, it was already pitch-black and so they started to build up a camp around a campfire.

  However, the adolescents had never camped much, and they discovered then that finding branches for a fire was not easy in the dark of night! Happily, they found a small stand of trees nearby that helped considerably with their hunt. Jeremy pulled out the flint that the militia had given them while the other three arranged the fuel for the fire. The four companions had no intention of remaining on the alert all night, so they contented themselves with using a variety of bits of dry wood that would catch quickly, but wouldn’t burn for very long. Jeremy energetically dashed one of the stones against the blade of his sword, and it wasn’t long before he had a spark. The wood caught quickly.

  Each of them installed themselves on a rock or on the trunk of a tree that lay nearby, and they ate a bit of the meat that they had bought. They tried to cook it in the fire, and quickly realized how much the timer of their oven saved them from having food that was raw or turned to charcoal. Then, once they’d finished eating, their conversation became to ramble more and more, until it finally ceased altogether. And so, around this first campfire, in the middle of nowhere, under a vast, starry sky, watched over by a magnificent moon, and cradled by a soft breeze, this tiny community, with its surprising origins and its still-undefined purpose, slept, alone but happy.

  Glaide opened his eyes. Something had woken him. It was the middle of the night, and though it was a bit cooler than it had been earlier, it remained bearable. The cold wasn’t the problem. “Something is wrong,” he thought to himself. “We’re not alone.” It was then that the two girls woke with a jump. They looked nervous. Glaide drew closer to them.

  “You can’t sleep?” he asked them with a voice that he hoped was calm.

  “Neither can you, as far as I can tell,” Gwenn murmured.

  “I have a bad feeling that someone is watching us,” Emily said.

  “I’m going to wake Jeremy. You two try to get the fire going again.”

  The two girls collected the flint and set to work. It wasn’t long before Jeremy joined the group of insomniacs.

  “What’s going on here?” he demanded, his words slurred from the effects of sleep. “Can someone tell me why I was woken up?”

  A spark came, and the branches caught fire again. But before the light could illuminate the group, a violent gust blew it out. The gust was cold, chilling the companions to the bone.

  “That’s not normal,” murmured Jeremy, suddenly very much awake. Then, from out of nowhere, they heard a voice, grave and deep.

  “And so, it’s you...”

  Emily shrieked in surprise.

  “What? Who are you? Where are you?” cried Gwenn, which brought out a great burst of laughter.

  “Who am I? Come on, young girl. Have you really not figured it out?”

  “No,” said Glaide with a sharp intake of breath. “It’s not possible...”

  “Well, and who do we have here, then?” wondered the voice. “I thought you were dead. I sent an army to kill you. So then, my orks missed you? That is vexing...”

  “Hey, who are you?” Jeremy shot out. “If you want to talk, show yourself! I have plenty of good arguments,” he said, taking out his sword meaningfully.

  “The comfort you take from that weapon is futile, young man. You’re here in my world, and you’re nothing.”

  The young people said nothing, all at once surprised and afraid. Glaide took it upon himself to wake everyone from the torpor that had them frozen in place. He announced what everyone knew, but no one dared to say.

  “You’re Baras, then.”

  “Mmm... And you’re Glaide.”

  “Why?” exclaimed the adolescent. “Why attack us in this way? Why destroy Rackk? The Guardian warned us that you would be our enemy, but we don’t even know you! Why have you set yourself against us?”

  “Because, you are the Destroyer,” roared the voice.

  The four friends were paralyzed with fear. They could understand nothing of what the god was saying, but one thing was certain: in the end, talking wasn’t going to be an option. At some point, they would have to fight him. Baras continued, after regaining his calm.

  “The Destroyer, or at least, the future Destroyer. You are courageous, Glaide, but you are weak. I admire the way in which you’ve accepted your new life, and I can see that you draw great strength from what has happened to you, from the fact that you now live on Galadria. This world pleases you, it’s undeniable. And that is your one advantage. Though it is certainly not an insignificant one, in the end, you will grow weary and it will disappear. You have no hearth to rest before; no world can be your home. You know this. You are doomed to be a wanderer.”

  “It’s not true!” cried Glaide. He had begun to sweat, and his heart was beating rapidly. The words of someone that he would henceforth call his enemy had shaken him. The young man knew that this was what Baras had intended, but he couldn’t stop himself from worrying. Yes, perhaps one day he would weary of his new life. But what would become of him then? If he no longer had any goal to reach, any dream to accomplish? Was Galadria really the world he wanted to live in? Or was it simply a substitute to his own, another world that he would also leave? Was it possible for him to feel at home anywhere? Could he ever be happy to stop dreaming of other horizons? “No,” he thought. “No. It doesn’t matter what he says. I shouldn’t listen. We must flee, and quickly.”

  “Right, so is this what you wanted? To interrupt our sleep? Because you’ve managed that,” Jeremy declared ironically. He wanted to cut through the tension, and he did so with brilliant panache.

  “So, my friend,” thought Glaide. “You’re certainly not lacking in resources. It’s a good thing you are here!”

  “That’s true,” Gwenn added, with a trembling voice. “We’ve already got plenty of problems. We’ve done nothing to you; we’re not trying to do you any harm.”

  “You all have a strength that came to you from your world,” the voice, calm and glacial, announced. “You have yet to truly believe in magic, and you have yet to grasp the extent of what has happened to you. But if you want to help those of this world, sooner or later you will have to accept the life you’re now living, and to realize that this isn’t a dream. And I will be there... and that day, you will taste the fear that envelopes the inhabitants of this world.

  “But please, let me present you with some of the monsters that are obedient to me. Consider that a welcome gift, if you somehow survive. Go, my loyal black orks of the mountains of Fyth
!”

  Glaide trembled as his enemy pronounced that name. Were those the same mountains that they had seen days before? But they were already far behind them. The silence returned.

  “It seems like we came through that just fine,” declared Jeremy. Then, he turned to his friend, whose worried face concerned him. “Hey, Glaide, don’t listen to what he said. He’s our enemy! Do you really believe that you’re going to get tired of Galadria?”

  Glaide lifted his head and smiled. “No, no, of course not. You’re right.”

  “Ah, that’s better.”

  “Hey, didn’t Baras say something about black orks?” interrupted Emily. “What was he talking about? They’re supposed to attack us?” As if in response to her question, a sound came to them, erupting from nowhere; almost a dozen orks fell upon them.

  “And there it is,” groaned Glaide.

  “Ten! Is that all he can do?” asked Jeremy joyfully as he drew his weapon.

  “Wait,” exclaimed his companion. Glaide, too, had drawn his sword, but looked apprehensive. “He spoke of black orks. Normally, as far as I’ve seen in what I’ve read, they’re stronger than your standard orks. Look – they wear armour worthy of the name. Their skin is a darker green, and they look more intelligent. Besides which, they’re bigger, and look stronger.”

  “Ah, the benefits of eating well,” joked Jeremy.

  “Quit talking rubbish,” Glaide snapped, irritated. “They’re really dangerous!”

  “What are you saying? We already know orks well. And plus, we’ve been training. Believe me, they won’t be any great problem.”

  The maggs had drawn themselves away, and were already attempting to focus their healing powers.

  “Good, let’s get this fight started and kill them off, so we can get on with the night!” declared Jeremy.

  “I see nothing else we can do. But be careful,” Glaide advised, as he felt the customary excitement of battle grab ahold of him, bit by bit. And so, the two boys launched themselves into it.

  Rather than quickly placing two mortal blows, as they now expected, they found themselves striking against the weapons of their enemies. More than just astonished, they pulled back. Their adversaries charged towards them now with great cries, and in moments the roles were reversed. When the monsters were upon them, they distributed a series of precise strikes that the boys parried only at the last moment. The little knowledge of the technique of Iretane that they had learned seemed to have been just enough, and Glaide, who had been wondering earlier whether luck had played any part in their adventure, considered that proof that lady luck had not abandoned them.

  The attacks rained down on them, precise and deadly. Glaide whirled his sword around to escape his adversary. He succeeded and was able to move back for a moment, just long enough to see the scene in its entirety. The orks were attacking one by one, toying with them. “As I thought, these black orks are much more formidable,” he thought. “We can’t kill them all; we need to make a retreat.” He dodged a strike and made a counter attack, but without succeeding in striking anything more than the blade of his opponent. The ork gave him a blow to the stomach that nearly made him fall, but he pulled himself together and ran towards Jeremy.

  He reached him just in time to prevent an ork from striking him with a particularly vicious blow to the back. The two got back up and raced far from their enemies, but also far from their maggs. The orks followed them, so the girls had no need to fear. Glaide quickly explained to his friend his idea to flee. His friend was reluctant, but recognized that they really had no chance. They made an about face, turning back. The orks, though much stronger, were in the end just as stupid as the other orks, and as they saw the boys run past them, they froze in place, stupefied.

  The boys had nearly made it when Jeremy tripped. One of the girls gave out a cry, and at the same time, one of the enemies saw the young man on the ground, and made for him. Glaide stopped and helped his friend up, but orks run fast, and the first was upon them almost immediately. His sword came up and struck at Jeremy with great force. The teens had sheathed their swords, and they weren’t fast enough to block the attack. It would clearly hit its mark.

  There was a clash of metal accompanied by a blinding flash of light, and the ork found himself thrown several feet away. Dumbfounded, Glaide noticed that a wall of blue light now protected Jeremy.

  “Where did that come from?” murmured the young man. As one man, the two boys turned in the direction of their maggs. Gwenn appeared to be in a trance, her hair lifted by a wind that no one else could feel, her fingers stretched in the direction of her protector. Her eyes were rolled up into her head, and a strange blue light surrounded her like a thick fog.

  The light disappeared, and the two boys saw the young woman falter. She would certainly have fallen if Emily hadn’t gently caught hold of her and lowered her to the ground. The protection failed, and the protectors would not have another chance like that one. Their enemies were again befuddled by what had happened: it was time for them to part ways. Glaide and Jeremy dashed together in the direction of the young women.

  The orks, seeing their prey escaping, ran as well. They were hardened warriors who probably feared little, but white magic happened to be one of those rare fears. Seeing this demonstration of power, their determination was somewhat rattled, and their motivation to kill the four young people was weakened enough to slow the pace of their running. The two boys reached their maggs. They were little surprised to find Gwenn still unconscious. Jeremy quickly lifted her onto his back in such a way that she wouldn’t impede his running and – followed by Emily and Glaide – he launched himself in the opposite direction as their assailants, who had still not succeeded in overcoming their fear.

  They rapidly and easily distanced themselves from the creatures, though Glaide couldn’t help but think that if the monsters had really wanted to, they could easily have killed all four of them. “Baras is playing with us,” he thought. “He wants to make us fear him.”

  As they ran, the two boys realized that they hadn’t been there for long, and they’d lost all notions of time; all of the adventures that they’d lived through already accounted for as much action as one could expect in an entire lifetime in their own world! But that didn’t matter much at the moment. They were content to simply live their days, one after another, trying to stay alive so they could continue. Setting goals and following them. And at that moment, their goal was to save their lives.

  Chapter 10

  BARAS had awakened them a little before dawn, and the sun was beginning to rise when they stopped. Jeremy lowered the young woman to the ground, concerned that she had not yet regained consciousness. They had run for several minutes, then continued at a walking pace for several more, but she still hadn’t awakened. However, the young people didn’t worry themselves too much: it seemed that the girls had the habit of fainting when they used magic. Jeremy drew close all the same to check her pulse, then nearly fell over as she got up suddenly. She then burst into laughter at the frightened face of her companion. “I frightened you! Admit it!”

  “What on earth?” exclaimed the adolescent. “A moment ago you were in a coma, and now, suddenly, as if by magic, you’re up!”

  “Actually, I came to a while ago, and I noticed that you were running. Why bother letting you know? I seemed to be in perfectly good hands, and besides, on foot I would have slowed you down.”

  “But we were worried, and plus you’re heavy, and then...” While Jeremy enumerated the many problems, Glaide moved a bit away to sit underneath a tree. He smiled as he watched his three friends argue good-naturedly. The fresh dew dampened his pants, but he paid no attention, and turned towards the sun as it rose in the distance. At the same time, he felt submerged in a vague melancholy that was as sudden as it was incomprehensible. Little by little, his thoughts turned towards what was to come.

  They were evidently far from being real warriors. These “black orks” had been strong despite their small numbe
r. For that matter, even normal orks were not so easy to fight. The two protectors were not ready, and they already carried such a heavy weight on their shoulders. Up to that point, Glaide had kind of forgotten about their mission; he had had to consecrate his time and effort on more urgent problems, like knowing where to go, and deciding what to do. Baras, however, had designated him as the “future Destroyer”, and to all appearances had tried to get rid of him.

  The young man was certain that the army that the god had mentioned was the one that had ravaged Rackk. So then, their conversation with the general had not been pointless: there did indeed seem to be a price on the young man’s head. “But why?” he asked. “I’m to be a destroyer? ‘A’, or is it ‘the’? The Guardian never spoke of any of this, and neither did Drekhor or Uziere. Perhaps Baras was mistaken; it’s true that we have come from another world, but apart from that, we’re just simple maggs and protectors. Unless ‘Destroyer’ just means a protector from another world? But in that case, why wouldn’t Jeremy be one, too?” He meditated on the question for a while.

  “But in any case,” he concluded finally, “We’re now certain that this god is our enemy, and this whole thing about a destroyer seems to be a good thing, since it annoys our enemy to no end.” However, the young man remained uneasy. It was never good to be hunted, especially if it might cause the deaths of those close to you. He then remembered a comment from Drekhor; a comment that he had made during their meeting, and which perfectly summed up the situation: “And honestly, you’re not strong enough to do anything against that.” What that truly meant, was that Glaide was a danger to his group.

  A terribly disagreeable idea came to him that he couldn’t chase away, as it came from a place of reason, and insinuated itself in his mind: the Guardian had said that a protector should never leave his magg except with the goal of protecting her. The orks, so numerous, wanted him personally, and so he put the whole group in danger. “...Not strong enough to do anything against that...” The words of the general haunted his thoughts. “Rackk, destroyed because of me.” He felt the weight of guilt on his shoulders. The decision was made for him: if the orks continued to flock after him, the only solution would be... “to leave,” he said with a barely audible sigh.