The Elder's Path

by J. D. Caldwell

  “I must, I must,” she whispered to herself, gritting her teeth. Lyn spun around and proceeded to march determinedly towards the sound. No more creeping, no more slinking. This was going to end, one way or another.

  In the back of her mind she heard Nana’s voice, coming to her from a memory. “You cannot be slave to your fears,” she had said, “They will seek to influence you your whole life. If you deny they are there, you allow them control over you. Face them, acknowledge them, but do not become them.”

  With clenched fists, Lyn put her head down and pushed forth, coming in to a darkened chamber large enough to live in. There were no cracks or holes here, only pitch black. Were it not for her torch, she would have been blind. Though it didn't seem to make much difference; she saw nothing but blackness in the whole of the place. The chamber was the termination of the tunnel as far as she could tell, the sound had to be coming from somewhere within. The low sound came again, and this time Lyn felt its proximity. It was close. It was in the chamber with her.

  She cast about with her torch, seeking the source of the rumble. Frustrated, she stomped her foot. The vibration came again, this time much louder than before, and at the edge of her vision Lyn caught movement. She looked on, frozen in place, as a dark shape arose before her. Ice crystals fell from it and shattered on the floor, echoing into the tunnel beyond. A growl came from the massive shadow and Lyn found herself unable to even cower in response. Three glowing red eyes opened and turned to look at her. A great mouth formed beneath them, full of teeth as long as her fingers. As the shadow took a solid shape, she saw it was a giant wolf standing as tall as she.

  Despite her fear, Lyn’s instincts kicked in and she stood her ground; she knew that running from a predator would only cause it to chase her, and she knew she had nowhere to go. The great maw opened and for a moment she was certain the beast was about to lunge forward and swallow her. But to her surprise, the wolf spoke, albeit in a language she was unfamiliar with. It was guttural and low, making it difficult to decipher. She listened close, but she could make out no words she knew. The great wolf waited, clearly expecting a response.

  “I, I don’t understand...who are you?” The black beast did not move or respond, but simply looked at her.

  After a moment, the mouth opened again and said, “What age have I awoken to?”

  Lyn took a step back from the voice of the creature; his words carried with them some strange power. When he spoke, she could feel it as much as hear it.

  “The 700th age of Arc, in the Northern Province,” Lyn responded, unsure as to who or what this creature was. She found herself looking to his third eye, placed in between and slightly above the other two. She had never seen, nor heard, of something so strange. The fact that he was also gigantic, spoke, and was holed up in a cave for long enough to not know when or where he was also understandably contributed to her confusion. “My name is Lyn,” she continued, hoping to prompt more out of the creature and determine whether he was friend or foe. “I am a World-Walker, on my journey. Wha-...who are you?”

  The black wolf stood on all fours and shook himself, more ice crystals leaving his coat and cluttering to the floor. Sitting back on his haunches, he looked once more to her, and Lyn felt small under his gaze. “In your tongue I am called Marcho, the Voidwolf. I am unfamiliar with the place Arc. Where is this located in relation to Velheleon?”

  Gooseflesh rose on Lyn’s arm as Marcho spoke, but she found herself responding with a steady voice. “Velheleon, that is ancient history. 700 year old history, in fact. Arc was formed after the collapse of Velheleon, and we are in the 10th month of the 700th year.” Lyn’s brow furrowed in confusion. It was impossible for a creature to survive at least 700 years, wasn’t it? Her own Sage Tree was from the ages before Arc, but it was a tree, not a giant three-eyed wolf. “Am I to assume you have been here for all that time?” she asked, realizing she was prodding but unwilling to stand like a simpleton playing ‘yes and no’ with this stranger.

  Marcho’s great jaw opened and closed a few times, and then he spoke again with an abrupt “Yes.”

  Blinking, Lyn processed that information for a moment, and then decided to ask the obvious but potentially rude question. “Marcho, what are you, exactly?”

  “A demon,” he answered shortly. He sat perfectly still, almost expectantly. He wasn’t exactly answering her questions, but he didn’t seem averse to being questioned, nor overtly hostile.

  Lyn decided to press forward with her questions and see where she got. After all, it wasn’t every day that one ran in to a 700 plus year old demon. “A demon...But how? That kind of sorcery is, well, a myth.”

  With the same stoicism, Marcho replied, “I assure you, it is not.”

  Lyn frowned, unsure as to what to ask next. “If that is true, what are you doing in Arc? And why did you think you were in Velheleon?”

  “At the time of my arrival, this place was known as Velheleon. It is only logical, upon hearing it is no longer, to assume that I was elsewhere. I now know better.”

  “Alright then, let me rephrase. Why were you here in the first place?”

  “To carry out my summoner’s orders.”

  While Lyn understood that the demon was not intentionally dodging questions, she twitched at his response; she was beginning to be irritated at having to phrase her questions so specifically. “I deserved that. More to the point, what were your orders?”

  “To locate and eliminate the demon Umbra. To return it to the Void at expense of all else, to stay until this is completed, at any cost.”

  “The demon Umbra? There are no demons out in the world, at least not that I know of. Why would you still be here?”

  “I am unable to return to the Astral Plane. Therefore, Umbra is still at large in this world and must be sought.” He seemed to hesitate at this, and to Lyn’s surprise continued, “I was unable to achieve my objective in the old world. I sought this place of refuge to wait for Umbra to move to a new host, to make a mistake that would lead me to it. It appears I was sealed away longer than I had thought.” He looked sidelong at the young girl. “It is curious that I should awaken now. Perhaps I should be asking you the questions.”

  Lyn, taken aback, did not respond. “In what manner did you find me?” he asked with no accusation in his voice. Lyn proceeded to explain her presence in his cave, and why she was there. There hadn’t seemed to be any strange or extenuating circumstance to her, just chance. Marcho did not seem to agree. “The universe works much more efficiently than in simple chance, young one,” he replied, “coincidence is rare at best. I feel a resonance within you. My fate is tied to yours, somehow.”

  Lyn had a difficult time understanding what he meant at first, then with a panicked wave of her hands she said, “No, no no, you can’t come with me! I’m supposed to be visiting all the provinces and the people there! Learning, teaching! I can’t have a giant demon beast with me! Can you imagine how people would react? I’d be the first Druid to cause utter discord and chaos!” The two sat in silence for a time, Lyn panting from her outburst.

  After a moment of embarrassing silence while Lyn recovered, Marcho spoke again. “It has been centuries, and the world has been made anew. From your reactions, I determine that the culture of the old world has been destroyed along with it, and the world has reverted to a less developed state. It is impossible that my master is still present; I would have been awakened much sooner if that were the case.” He paused for a moment. Unsure of what to say, and puzzled by what he meant by ‘less developed state’, Lyn kept her silence. “I must complete my orders without his assistance, or risk never returning to the Astral Plane.”

  “What happens if you don’t find Umbra?” Lyn ventured quietly.

  “I will continue existing in this plane until my power runs out. If I do not succeed before such time, I will cease to exist entirely.” The ebon wolf said this so matter-of-factly, Lyn wondered if he even cared that he faced his extinction. Or if he had the ability to ca
re at all.

  “Returning to your plane after all this time, won’t things be different?”

  “Time has always been something those of your world have misunderstood. It is not linear; it is much more fluid and convoluted. You think of time as a straight line, with past behind you and future ahead. But the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In short, no, things will not be so different.”

  Lyn couldn’t wrap her mind around such a strange concept; she was having trouble enough understanding the idea that this being was from an entirely different realm of existence. How had he come about being here? He had mentioned a summoner. Could it be that one of the people of the old world had been dabbling in dark magic? She knew the old world was a place of great mystery and arcane forces, but to summon such a beast, and one that could last through the ages at that...such a show of force was beyond Lyn’s comprehension. Magic had died out in Arc long ago, during the reformation into the new age. It had been 700 years since magic had been a part of life in any real capacity, let alone such a physical manifestation as the great wolf before her.

  Marcho interrupted her train of thought, making her jump. “What is your purpose, Lyn World-Walker? What does your journey entail?”

  Lyn hesitated for a moment, but in fairness Marcho had been honest and answered all of her questions so far. It would be rude not to reciprocate, and besides, this was a highly unique experience. If he had meant her direct harm, he’d have done it already. With a deep breath, Lyn told Marcho about her people, and what it meant to be a World-Walker.

  Despite herself, Lyn found that she enjoyed speaking with the strange creature. For being so out of place and time, Marcho seemed to understand very well and asked relevant questions. Lyn found herself telling him about much more of herself than she had intended, and by the time she was done she found it to be much later. She was tired, and hungry. Even though she had spent hours with him and had come to no harm, Lyn was uneasy about going back to her camp and being able to sleep. She seemed to have little choice, however, so with a farewell and a promise to return on the morrow, Lyn returned to her camp with the help of Alir’s guiding cries.

  Her rest was tormented by tossing, turning, and bad dreams. Not all nights could be easy comfortable ones, and she had been under quite a bit of stress with the fall and the storm. Not to mention the huge demon in the next tunnel. When she came blearily awake, she couldn’t remember where she was for a moment. She looked about, disoriented, nearly experiencing a heart attack when she saw Marcho standing nearby just outside of the light from the cave entrance. His dark form made it difficult to distinguish him from the darkness, but his glowing red eyes certainly stood out. Alir seemed to notice him at the same time and let out a distressed exclamation.

  Upset, Lyn turned to him and snapped, “What are you thinking? What are you doing out here?”

  The giant wolf looked idly over to the girl and her bird, and seemed to dismiss them, sniffing the air with fervor. After a moment he said, “It has been some time since I have tasted the outside world. My space was sealed by more than this snow, girl. Somehow you broke through my barrier to find me.” He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, his breath coming in a great cloud in the cold air. “Yet another curious occurrence. Especially for one not versed in the arcane, as you claim.”

  Lyn huffed at his implied accusation and said haughtily, “It’s not just me, demon; magic has been gone from the world for as long as anyone can remember. There aren’t even documents from the old age that would give us any information. Just legends and rumors. Word of mouth, you know?” No response was forthcoming from the demon, but he seemed to have heard her.

  Alir shifted uncomfortably, his head twitching to and fro as he took in his surroundings. Lyn could only imagine what he was thinking, but she felt similarly; the sudden appearance of the creature unnerved her, and she was not completely convinced yet that she was safe. If nothing else, it felt strange to have him here, in her camp, instead of back in recesses of the cave. She wondered if she could possibly convince him to return to his cavern, and then take Alir and go. A unique and unheard of experience it may be, but she had her fill of the black wolf and was ready to continue on to the more mundane problems of her journey. The weather, for example, which seemed now to be letting up somewhat. Perfect timing, Lyn thought.

  “Your thoughts betray you, World-Walker,” Marcho said without emotion. “I believe I mentioned it before; my quest is tied to you. I must see it through, or I shall never return to my world.”

  “Why did you come here in the first place, if you were so concerned about not being able to go back?”

  The wolf looked at her with what Lyn suspected was minor amusement, and said, “I was called for a purpose. I knew the risks, but it had to be done, and I am loyal to my vows. This is how those in my world operate; they are called to a task, and they put themselves to it willingly. Even if it is dangerous. You are not unfamiliar with this concept yourself, from the story you have told.”

  Lyn opened her mouth, and promptly shut it again. He was right! Strange though his appearance and mission may be, they weren’t entirely dissimilar; both had been called from their homes to complete a purpose, and were giving all they had to do it. Both were on unfamiliar ground, with unfamiliar people. Both feared they would not return home again.

  What a strange thing, Lyn thought, to come from such different worlds, such different pasts and end up in such similar circumstance. A rare lesson indeed, to be put in such drastic perspective. With such thoughts in her head, how could she deny Marcho? Shaking her head slowly, she asked, “Alright, what do I need to do?”

  The storm let up later that day, but Lyn insisted on waiting until the following morning to set out. After all, it wouldn’t do to get caught at night with no shelter, and Lyn did not know how far they had to go out this point. Hopefully Marcho and his nose could provide them some additional direction in the low visibility. And so it was that Lyn found herself traveling through the mountain snow with a nervous hawk and a giant demon wolf.

  “What a life,” Lyn breathed to herself. Marcho glanced over at her, but said nothing.

  The wind was low that day, so Lyn and Marcho got a chance to have more back and forth. Lyn learned that he was very, very old by her standards. In fact, as Marcho told it, he had visited this world before Velheleon had even existed. The idea that the world had changed so much startled Lyn. It made her wonder if her people and culture would simply be wiped away by history and time, only to be replaced by a whole new people who knew nothing of those that came before them. How transient life seemed by Marcho’s telling. If nothing else, it certainly made Lyn appreciate being alive and having a chance to experience life as she understood it. But that appreciation was colored by sadness that she would never see what came before or after her. What grand things the world would produce as it went on without her.

  Marcho seemed to pick up on her thoughts, and said “Such is the nature of the mortal plane. That is one aspect of which I find myself jealously curious.”

  Lyn made a face and looked over to him incredulously. “Jealous, why would you possibly be jealous of that fear? The fear that you will simply cease to exist and no one will ever know that you lived at all? That the world will just keep turning without you and that you had no effect on it at all?”

  “It is that desperation and fear which drives mortals, particularly humans it seems, to such great lengths and passions. Even in such a short time as your lifespan, you humans seem to live full of such wonder for the world in which you exist. Human life is so rarely passive. There is beauty in its violence and uncertainty. The Astral Plane is rather boring, for the most part. Entire human lifetimes can pass without a single event in my world. To be alive, but stagnant, that is not living. To wait in seemingly endless space and time for a chance at an experience, that is not peace.”

  Lyn and Marcho were silent for a time, while Lyn processed his response. “I think,” She finally said, “I think I can u
nderstand that, too. My whole life has felt like waiting for something more. I always had this voice inside me that whispered about a different life. Then I am selected for this journey and I see the world is so much bigger than I had thought. Going back now seems almost...” Her sentence drifted into silence as she came to a terrible truth within herself; she didn’t want to go back.

  Chapter 7

  8th day, 10th lunar cycle, 700th age of Arc

  “I will admit, I was uneasy at best about traveling with a demon. I was literally walking side by side with a monster that is told of only in childhood stories and campfire tales. The really crazy part? At night he curled up and let me sleep against him for shelter. Effective though it was, it was also incredibly unnerving; he was just sitting there, awake the whole time. Not blinking, not speaking, just...sitting. I guess a few hundred years of nap time will do that do you. For all of that, he provided an excellent guide. The visibility was so low that even Alir couldn’t help much, but Marcho seemed to know exactly where we should go. When I asked how he knew, he simply said he ‘could sense it’. Creepy. At first I doubted, but now I’m sitting in an actual inn after a warm, heavenly bath and some thankfully hot food, laying on a real bed. Looks like he was right! Luckily for all three of us, Marcho has a penchant for staying out of sight, and vanished just outside the city limits. I don’t know where he’s gone but I have a feeling he is close by. I’m sure I’ll see him again, and while part of me has enjoyed his company, I certainly want no part of his hunt. One demon in a life time is quite enough, thank you.

  On the other side of things, I am pleasantly surprised at the character of the people here. Strangely enough, the harsh weather and seclusion hasn’t made these people unfriendly; in fact they are much more hospitable and good-natured than the people I met down in the city. This is strange to me. Not that I find my own people inhospitable but it simply seemed to me that those places that were more accustomed to travelers and strangers would be more accommodating towards them. This place has proven that thought false. I am in a city, if you can call it that, called Brightpeak. Interestingly this feels much more like home than I would have thought; it has a very open design to it. No wall around the city, no gates. Just a community of individuals living and making their way. Moreover, it is absolutely beautiful up here now that I’m finally past the storm belt. I can finally see blue sky above me, and the air is clear and wonderful. Still no looking out on the rest of the world below, but having the open sky above us has done wonders for Alir and I. I think we’ll stay awhile...”