Copyright © 2013 Jenna Newell Hiott
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ISBN: 1490554351
ISBN-13: 9781490554358
With all the Passion, Love and Joy of the Universe, I dedicate this book to My Soul: you finally had your way with me.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
PART ONE: The Feast of Sevens
CHAPTER ONE: Gemynd
CHAPTER TWO: Soman
CHAPTER THREE: Numa
PART TWO: The Time of Isolation Ten years later
CHAPTER FOUR: Soman
CHAPTER FIVE: Gemynd
CHAPTER SIX: Numa
PART THREE: Training
CHAPTER SEVEN: Gemynd
CHAPTER EIGHT: Soman
CHAPTER NINE: Numa
PART FOUR: Home Three years later
CHAPTER TEN: Gemynd
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Gemynd
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
as written in The Book of Life
for the Land of Todor and all its Inhabitants,
Given to them by their Creators, the Deis
I. ANYTHING THAT CAN MOVE HAS LIFE.
II. IT IS THE BREATH OF THE DEIS THAT ANIMATES ALL LIFE AND THIS LIFEFORCE IS CALLED JOY.
III. EVERY LIFE IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE DEIS.
IV. ALL EXPRESSIONS OF THE DEIS ARE SACRED AND EQUAL.
V. THE DEIS GIFTED ALL OF LIFE WITH THE POWER OF CHOICE.
VI. SUFFERING IS NOT NECESSARY AND IS A RESULT OF CHOICE.
VII. MAKING ANY CHOICE THAT DISRUPTS THE ONENESS OF LIFE BRINGS SUFFERING.
VIII. TO EXERT POWER OVER ANOTHER OR TO TAKE POWER FROM ANOTHER OR TO GIVE UP YOUR OWN POWER IS TO MAKE A CHOICE THAT DISRUPTS THE ONENESS OF LIFE.
IX. TO INTERFERE WITH ANOTHER’S PURPOSE IS TO MAKE A CHOICE THAT DISRUPTS THE ONENESS OF LIFE.
X. MAKING ANY CHOICE THAT SUSTAINS THE ONENESS OF LIFE BRINGS JOY.
All was void around them. The three Deis moved as one, spoke as one, though they kept silent in the absence of time and space. They came to the haigh, and its illumination danced across their features.
There was Gionus, made of flesh and earth; sinew and strength. The color of blood, he ruled over all that had form. And Menros, sharp and cutting, the harnessed power of lightning, ruled over the energy of thoughts and beliefs. Their sister, Chaktus, formless and unrivaled in her golden beauty, ruled over the Lifeforce of all their Creation. Together they were the Viyii and nothing existed that was not created by them.
At the haigh, the Viyii divided into three separate entities and each peered over the edge wishing to bask in the glow of their Creation. Chaktus shimmered, startled at what she saw there.
“Something is wrong,” they said. “Where is the music?”
Gionus and Menros looked again.
Where there had once been music and dancing, there was now only sickness and pain. Where there had been laughter, now only the cries of grief could be heard. Gone were the smiles of playful abandon and all that remained was toil and fear. Suffering had replaced all Joy.
“It is ruined,” they said as Menros looked away. “It has rotted like an apple left too long in the sun. Let us destroy it and rid the Viyii of this suffering.”
Gionus nodded his agreement. “I agree, my brother,” the three voices said in unison. “Let us put an end to it.”
Chaktus flowed around her brothers, letting the light of the haigh catch her golden hues. “There is always hope, my brothers. Surely some Joy remains. Let us look again.”
The Deis once again peered into the haigh. They looked over their entire creation, finding only suffering upon suffering, until, at last, they found a tiny speck that spoke of hope.
“I hear laughter in that village there,” they said. “And music.”
“I see dancing and people at play.”
“It is worth saving, my brothers. Let us not destroy our Creation today.”
“But such a tiny piece with hope,” they said as Menros looked up from the haigh. “Surely it would be better to destroy it all and start again with an entire Creation filled with Joy.”
“Joy can spread, my brother,” they replied. “Let us give this Creation that chance.”
Both Menros and Chaktus turned to Gionus to settle the dispute.
“I agree with my sister,” they said. “There is hope yet for this Creation. But let us intervene and force the spread of Joy.”
“How are we to do that, my brother? We cannot force the will of our Creation.”
The three Deis remained silent for some time as they pondered how to aid the spread of Joy in their Creation. Finally they said, “We cannot force the will of our Creation, but can we not add to it?”
“We can add to it, my sister,” they replied.
“Then let us add to it. Each one of us add one member to Creation. And each of these three members be tasked with spreading Joy and saving Creation.”
Gionus reached his mighty hand into his chest and pulled forth a male child, placing him gently in the hopeful village within the haigh. “I give Creation Soman. May he use his strengths to end suffering.”
Menros formed a spark between his massive hands and placed it in the haigh next to Soman. “And I give Gemynd. May he use his mind to spread Joy across all of Creation.”
Chaktus kissed a tiny whirlwind of gold dust into the haigh. “I give creation Numa. May her gifts provide what is needed to save Creation.”
Gemynd
At last, Gemynd heard his mother’s faint humming as she dressed on the other side of the divider. Sunlight was just now starting to come through the window slits in the walls, but Gemynd had already been awake for hours, flopping and twisting around on his bedsack. Not able to wait a second longer, he burst from his bed shouting, “It’s today! It’s today!”
He ran full speed around the divider where his mother met him with a smile. “Joyous day, Gemynd,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Joyous day, Mama,” Gemynd replied and flung himself into her arms. “It’s today, Mama!”
“What’s today?” his mother asked, though Gemynd could tell she was only pretending to be confused.
“The Feast of Sevens!” he beamed and giggled with delight.
“It is?” his mother gasped, but, again, Gemynd knew she wasn’t really surprised. Still, he liked the game and nodded with vigor. “And what is so special about the Feast of Sevens?”
“It is the day that all the seven-year-olds are given the secrets of the village. And then there is a feast with laughing and dancing,” Gemynd recited the description he’d been told time and again. He wasn’t sure what the secrets would be and he didn’t know if he was hungry enough to eat an entire feast, but he did know that he was a seven-year-old and today was his special day.
“Oh my, that does sound exciting!” his mother said as she stood up, setting Gemynd on the floor. “Why don’t you get dressed and we’ll eat some breakfast to start off this special day.”
Gemynd ran back around the divider that separated his side of the sleeping house from his mother’s. He pulled his nightdress over his head and tossed it on his bedsack. Then he studied himself in the piece of polished tin that hung on the wall. He always thought he looked rather pointy. His nose was pointy, his elbows were pointy and even his ears seemed pointy. He wondered, now that he was seven, if he might start to look something like his mother with her copper hair and big, round eyes. But he seemed to look less like her now than ever before. His
dark hair was practically black as were his small eyes framed by pointy, black eyebrows. Gemynd frowned and stuck his tongue out at himself before he turned to fetch his day tunic and breeches.
“Come sit with me for a moment before we go to the Eating House, Gemynd. I have something to show you,” his mother said as she came across the divider, paused at the piece of polished tin, then sat down on his bedsack.
“You do?” Gemynd asked and his eyes widened when he saw that she held a leather bundle in her lap. He pointed at it and asked, “Is that it? What is in there?”
“I will show you,” his mother said. “But first I must tell you a story.”
Gemynd leaned his head over to one side and narrowed his eyes. Was his mother trying to trick him? She’d never given him anything before and she usually preferred to withhold information. Gemynd always asked her questions, and she always answered with the same response: “You’ll know when it is time for you to know.” And now, here she was, wanting to tell him a story.
“Is it time for me to know?” Gemynd asked, coming to the only conclusion that made sense to him.
His mother rolled her eyes but smiled at him. “It is time for you to know this story,” she replied. “Because this is a story that the Keepers will probably not tell you during the parade today.”
Now fully intrigued, Gemynd joined his mother on the bedsack, but he was unable to move his gaze from the bundle in her lap. What could it be? What sort of thing would need to be wrapped in leather that way? Gemynd mentally went through a list of every object he could think of and none of them seemed to be the right size or shape to fit the bundle.
“Listen to me now,” his mother said sternly and Gemynd reluctantly looked up at her face. “You are a very smart boy. But there are many things you do not know. Things about Aerie and things about the people here.”
Gemynd shrugged. “I probably know more than you think I do,” he said, feeling sure of himself. “I pay attention to everything.”
“I know you do,” his mother replied. “But you cannot let that head of yours outgrow your own wisdom. If you are to one day become the man you were meant to be, you must live by the creed that there is always more to know. Promise me you’ll do that, son.”
Her eyes held a silent pleading that Gemynd had never seen before and he felt he had no choice but to comply. “I promise, mother,” he said. “There is always more to know.”
“Good. Now I am going to tell you the story of how Aerie came to be on a clifftop.”
Gemynd pulled his eyebrows together. “Aerie wasn’t always where it is now?” he asked, astonished.
“Let me tell the story,” his mother said and squeezed his hand. “No more interruptions.”
Gemynd made a gesture of pinching his lips together with his fingers to show that he would do his best to keep silent.
“Most years the Feast of Sevens is held in Autumn, at harvest time, and celebrates all the children who become sevens that year,” she began and Gemynd shifted around on the bedsack. He already knew about the Feast of Sevens. When was she going to talk about Aerie moving to the top of the cliff? “But this year is a very, very special Feast of Sevens. Do you know why?”
Gemynd nodded. “Because there are only three of us becoming sevens this year,” he said, repeating what he’d heard a thousand times. “Me and Numa and Soman were the only three babies born that whole year. This is the only time in all of history that there will ever be only three sevens in Aerie.”
“And do you know why we are celebrating it now, in the Spring, rather than at harvest like usual?”
“Because we were born in the Spring,” Gemynd answered hastily. “What’s the part about the cliff?”
“You must practice patience,” his mother said. “Yes, you were born in the Spring. All three of you were born on the very same night. It was this night seven years ago. Have you learned anything else about that night in discipleship?”
Gemynd closed his eyes and quickly ran through the lessons he’d been taught in discipleship and not once did the Keepers mention the night he was born. “No,” he answered. “We’ve only been taught that three of us were born on the same night in the Spring.”
Gemynd’s mother smiled at him with just half of her mouth, making her look like she had a wicked secret to share so he scooted even closer to her. “Seven years ago, Aerie was exactly as it is now except that it was at the top of a hill rather than a cliff,” she said. “The rock wall was still our eastern boundary, but the rest of our village was bordered by a lovely, grass-covered hillside that sloped gently down to the valley below. And there was a road that led right up to the center of Aerie. A road wide enough for two horses and a cart.”
“There were no ladders?” Gemynd asked, trying to imagine his home being so different.
His mother shook her head. “No ladders,” she replied. “And no protection. Anyone could enter Aerie at any time.”
Gemynd scrunched his eyebrows together. “Outsiders could just walk up the road into Aerie whenever they wanted?”
“That’s right,” his mother answered. “Now, seven years ago we were preparing for a feast. It wasn’t the Feast of Sevens, of course, but the annual Beautane Feast. None of us knew then that by the end of the night, Aerie would be forever changed and there would be three new babies among us. I was at the Eating House, helping with food preparations when I suddenly heard a bell ring and then another and another until I realized all five bells of Aerie rang at once.”
“All five bells?” Gemynd asked, wondering what that would sound like. He’d only ever heard two ring before and that was just to mark the time of thanksgiving. “What did that mean?”
“It meant that we were all to gather at once at the Meeting House for there was a crisis at hand,” she explained. “Do you know what a crisis is?”
Gemynd shook his head. “We never learned that word.”
“You live in a time of pure Joy,” his mother replied. “And I hope you never have to experience a crisis in your lifetime.”
“But what is it?” Gemynd asked.
“A crisis is when the people must gather together to respond quickly to a danger of some sort,” his mother explained.
Gemynd felt his eyes widen. “There was a danger?”
“Yes, a terrible danger,” his mother said. “When we gathered at the Meeting House, the Keepers told us that a large group of bandits had gathered together from beyond the capital city, Tolnick, and were coming to Aerie to rob us of our wealth and destroy all our Joy.”
Gemynd gasped. “Bandits?” he asked, his heart beating fast in his chest. “Were you frightened, Mother?”
“Very frightened,” she answered. “But I had little time to think about it, for my birthing pains began right there at the Meeting House. Your father carried me back here to our sleeping house and then paced the room like a wildcat. He truly did not know what to do. The bandits were on their way to destroy us, but I could not run nor fight nor even hide. Our child was coming into the world. I could hear chaos outside of the sleeping house as Aerites ran every which way, shouting and crying. Some fled Aerie altogether to take refuge in other villages, while others tried to find sufficient places to hide. As my body was gripped in the most severe pain I’d ever known, it felt as though the entire world had gone to panic.”
“Is this story true?” Gemynd asked, pressing his hands against his cheeks.
“Yes, every word,” his mother answered. “After what felt like hours, but was surely a few moments, your father came to me on the bedsack. He squeezed my hand and kissed my forehead then told me he loved me. After that he walked from the sleeping house and I was filled with terror. I thought that, in my moment of greatest need, he’d chosen to flee.”
Gemynd saw his mother’s eyes begin to water as she told the story and he suddenly felt very protective of her. “I would never have left you,” he said quietly.
His mother smiled at him and put her arm around him. “I know you wouldn’t,”
she said. “But, as it turned out, your father didn’t either. At least not at that moment. What I didn’t know then was that he was on his way to save all of Aerie.”
“Father saved Aerie?” Gemynd asked with wonder. He knew very little about his father. No one ever spoke of him; only his mother from time to time. Despite his questioning, all that Gemynd had been told was that his father had chosen to leave Aerie seven years ago. No one would ever tell him why he left nor where he had gone.
“The most peculiar thing happened,” his mother continued. “I was in the grip of a strong pain when suddenly the earth began to rumble. Quietly at first, but then it grew louder and the whole world seemed to shake as though it were being passed through a sifter. Dirt crumbled from the walls around me and dust filled the air in a brown cloud. I had no way of knowing what was happening for I was all alone in the sleeping house, unable to move and hardly able to see or breathe through all the dust. I called out for help and that’s when I realized that Aerie had gone silent. The shouts and cries from before had stopped. There was no more running. Everything was still.”
“What happened, Mama?” Gemynd demanded, pulling on her sleeve.
“Your father caused the hillsides surrounding Aerie to crumble and vanish. All that remained was the vertical cliff faces that you know today. There was no way for the bandits to reach Aerie. Our village was safe,” his mother said and then smiled proudly. “And your father was proclaimed the hero of the village.”
“The hero of the village?” Gemynd asked, thinking that he couldn’t wait to tell Numa and Soman that his father was a genuine hero. “But how did he do it? How did he crumble the hillsides?”
“No one knows for sure,” his mother replied and Gemynd felt his heart sink. Another question that would go unanswered. “I believe he was the smartest man who ever lived and only he knew how he did it. What mattered most was that he saved Aerie. And because he was proclaimed the hero of the village, the Keepers gave him this.”
Gemynd’s mother lifted the leather bundle from her lap and carefully unwrapped it. Even before she had it fully opened, Gemynd could see many beautiful colors shining from it. It sparkled with red and blue and green and white.
Revelation: The Todor Trilogy, Book One Page 1