The Seventh Seal (The Chronicles of Daniel Stone Book 1)

by A. J. Dobbs

  The letter that Albertus had arranged to be delivered to Sarah requested a meeting in the ‘usual place’. The usual place being an oak tree planted when Michael was born within an area about three hundred feet from our current position. The tree was gnarled and twisted now, but still had a grace within its landscape, and on our approach up the slight incline the beauty of light reflecting off its spring leaves, new life, gave at least some temporary relief to our heavy thoughts. Sarah was waiting with her back to us and on hearing our approach she span around.

  She was already crying and red faced and our heavy expressions did little to free her of her anxiety. Albertus raised his hands as we approached; he let his wooden cane drop to the floor and Sarah virtually fell into his arms.

  ‘I’m so sorry… He’s gone,’ said Albertus, with head held low.

  Through her tears she spoke. ‘I know… I knew in my heart yesterday, I could feel the loss.’ Facing the truth, she pulled away and wiped her tears.

  ‘What happened to him, Albertus?’

  ‘Smee was waiting. He’d come with many men and Michael was deceived. He was fighting Smee in the most vicious battle that Thera has ever seen when one of Smee’s men sneaked around behind them; he knocked the poor Professor clean out, and well… I’m sure you don’t need all the details, Sarah. Michael was badly wounded, but we escaped to Akgrada in the Northern Ice Fields. We lost him there; he just couldn’t hold on long enough for us to get him treatment. The Professor was weakened and didn’t have the strength to help him…’

  ‘Why didn’t you go straight to Tolemak, you could have saved him there?’

  I now took up the explanation.

  ‘We didn’t have enough time; there was four of us and with the Professor unconscious my seal could not draw sufficient energy to take us all back to Tolemak. I took us as far as I could… we just didn’t have enough time…’

  I now dropped my head as I spoke. ‘I’m so sorry… I’ve blamed myself since—’

  Albertus interrupted. ‘Come now, Elias, you did the right thing; we had to get away from Smee. Sarah, we just didn’t know how badly Michael was wounded.’

  ‘Can I see him, Albertus?’

  ‘Yes, of course…’ Albertus paused, reluctant to say what he had to say next. ‘We also have much to discuss… I know this is not a good time, but… there is Daniel to think about, his safety and future.’

  Sarah’s mood changed and I could see anger starting to well up.

  ‘I’ve just lost my husband and now you want my son. Do you not have any sensitivity in you? He’s ten years old, for god’s sake. What do you want him to do, go slashing and crashing around the place with his drows in the name of Tolemak?’

  Albertus hung his head low like a scolded schoolboy. ‘Sarah, I didn’t mean now, of course, not now, but there are things you need to know. Daniel, whether you like it or not, is the son of the last Seventh Seal Keeper, he is the rightful heir; there are people like Smee who know that… he could be considered an easy… target.’

  She screamed at him. ‘Target! He’s a boy, Albertus, who thinks his father is a geologist and who goes to school every day, happy in ignorance; please don’t refer to him as a target.’

  ‘I’m sorry; I’m clearly not very good at this, am I?’

  Sarah calmed a little. ‘This is all just too much to take in in one go; from having everything it seems I could lose them both.’

  ‘I understand, I really do, but there is something else you need to know… Michael threw the Seventh Seal away.’

  ‘He did what? Where? Why?’

  ‘When he knew he was passing, he decided he didn’t want Daniel to follow his fate; he threw the seal into Lake Akgrada. Sarah, only a Keeper can retrieve it, only Daniel… or…’ Albertus paused before continuing.

  ‘It’s the Seventh Seal, you see, the master seal, no ordinary Keeper can find it; it will stay hidden until a rightful owner by descent finds it.’

  Albertus’ pause, however, did not go unnoticed.

  ‘Hold on, you said Daniel was the rightful heir; now you’re saying there is someone else… who’s the ‘or’, Albertus?’

  Albertus looked ashen. ‘Smee.’

  ‘Smee, how on Earth could that evil swine be a rightful descendant?’ she demanded.

  Albertus paused again, reluctant to deliver more blows, but like a fighter in a boxing ring he was forced to by circumstance. ‘Smee is Michael’s brother, Sarah.’

  ‘Oh my god, could this get any worse?’

  ‘He’s not in the sense you understand it here on Earth, but on Thera we are all – how do I best put it – we are recycled from the earliest matter. Smee and Michael are connected by the same matter; although Michael never knew it, Smee does. Michael went into battle clear in the thought that even if Smee killed him he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the power of the seal.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell him? You could have saved him.’

  ‘We couldn’t, believe me, if there had been any way to do things differently we would have. You know that if we had told him, he would have still gone on his own but would have been at a further disadvantage; he wouldn’t have killed his own brother.’

  Sarah burst into tears again and flopped down on the ground.

  ‘You should have protected him…’

  ‘We tried. He was stubborn, you know that. We did all we could, but the Professor was knocked out and when Elias and I arrived… it was too late.’ There was silence as each contemplated the next steps.

  Sarah spoke first. ‘What happens now? Where is Smee?’

  ‘Smee was caught and is in Arahas prison; we don’t need to tell Daniel the truth yet, he’s a young boy, I understand that, let him have his childhood. Smee is securely locked up and so poses no threat, but there will be a time when Daniel must face his destiny. We have to ensure that balance is maintained.’

  ‘So what you’re telling me is you don’t want to take him now, but you will in the future… what do I tell him now, Albertus?’

  ‘His father was killed doing his job, doing what he loved doing; tell him it was an earthquake… just be his mother, Sarah. Share your grief and support each other. All things will unfold as they should, no matter how painful they may seem now… where is Daniel?’

  ‘Doing what ten year olds do, playing with his friends… god, his whole life is about to fall apart.’

  Albertus picked up his cane and with a solemn voice asked, ‘Let’s go and see Michael. He’s at rest in Tolemak before we return him to the stars.’

  Sarah looked at him and with a soft smile through tear-soaked eyes said, ‘Yes, I would like that very much.’

  Earth, August 2012

  It had been five years since Sarah had met with Albertus and me under that oak tree and Daniel had grown into a young man. The years between his father’s death and now had been difficult, but as Albertus rightly knew, the bonds of love between mother and son were stronger than the grief that enveloped them and they slowly but surely, day by day, lifted the darkness from their lives and were able to move forward.

  Daniel was like a reflection of his father; I often called in to Gadeiriol to check on them both and was proud to see that he had all the values of his father: his sense of right and wrong, his strength to stand up and defend others. He was a boy becoming a man that any mother would be rightly proud of.

  It had been a difficult journey for Daniel, and I had borne witness to this; grief is not meant for the young. There is an old poem on Thera that goes…

  ~

  ‘Death is life’s natural end,

  but don’t wait around for life’s rules it bends,

  whilst all that is is meant to be,

  live life, young souls,

  before it’s time to leave.’

  ~

  We are taught this from a young age; it is the essence of our understanding of the balance of life and in a way this prepares us better for what is to come. As I watched his grief from afar, I wished I co
uld have told him that poem, told him that everything would be alright, but of course, we all have our ways of dealing with loss and Daniel had to find his.

  I watched him go from denial to anger and then just sadness. I don’t think he got to acceptance; I have pondered often if we ever do. I think we just learn to live with the scars that are left and become accustomed to the sorrow; eventually we smile, but I don’t believe we ever totally accept. That’s the oddity of grief. In the end despite all the hurt, the mind just wants peace so you can smile through all the pain and take strength from the good memories. I’ve always admired that trait within Earthiens and Arthiens; Therans are a little more practical about death, cold, some might say. I’ve learned much from them over the years and perhaps I am more like them than I realise…

  *

  It was a warm August day when he and I met for the first time; it was an accident… oh look at me again, Albertus would laugh at my storytelling; there are no accidents of course, only balance.

  I had been using the oak tree as my point of entry into Earth ever since Michael had died. I guess some sentimentality was at play, but it was always comforting to see the tree, Michael’s tree. However, this day, just after I arrived, Daniel came walking up, so I thought I would speak first to break the ice.

  ‘Good morning, young man, what brings you up here on such a fine day? Shouldn’t you be off playing with friends?’

  ‘Good morning to you… and if it’s any of your business, I like coming up here; I come up here to think.’

  ‘Well thinking is good, builds a strong mind… my name is Elias, I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.’

  ‘You have a funny way of talking, what century did you climb out of? I’m Daniel.’

  It’s always so difficult to talk to young people these days, especially when they are so direct. ‘I’m sorry, young man, I didn’t—’

  ‘Oh, don’t sweat it; I’m sorry, that was rude of me, just one of those days.’

  Daniel turned and looked at the tree. ‘This was my father’s tree.’

  ‘Well now, isn’t that something, it’s a very fine tree too. Where is your father?’

  ‘Oh, he died five years ago, some freak accident. He was a geologist, got himself killed in an earthquake of all things.’

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to pry…’

  ‘It’s okay; I come up here to think about him. I seem closer to him somehow up here. Weird, huh?’

  ‘No, not at all, there are many things in this world that are, umm, weird, as you say.’

  ‘I guess so. What are you doing here? You don’t live in the village?’

  ‘Oh no, I’m just passing through. I used to live here a long time ago. I was in the area so thought I would drop by on the old place and see how it has changed. I used to like visiting this tree too…’

  ‘Did you know my father then?’ said Daniel, with optimism.

  ‘What was his name?’

  ‘Michael, Michael Stone.’

  ‘Well, goodness me, you are Michael’s boy. Yes, of course I knew him. The last time I saw you, you were a small baby in a pram being wheeled by your parents down the high street, how time flies…’

  Daniel’s whole body language now changed and there was a look of excitement on his face.

  ‘Elias… do you mind if I call you Elias?’

  ‘No, not at all.’

  ‘Do you want to come back to the house? I’m sure Mum would love to see you again.’

  Oh dear, I suddenly thought. This was not what should have been happening; I had put myself into the most awkward of situations.

  ‘Well I don’t know, she probably wouldn’t remember me and I didn’t know your parents well, they were—’

  ‘Oh please, I never see anyone that knew Dad; it would be nice to get some new stories about him. My memories are few; he was away a lot, you see.’

  I could see that Daniel loved his father dearly and despite my better judgement and the orders of Albertus to stay away, I agreed.

  We headed back down the field to the road and into the village and headed to his cottage. Sarah was in the garden and she did well to hide the shock, anger and goodness knows what else was going on when she saw me walking up the path with Daniel.

  ‘Hi, Mum, you’ll never guess who I met at Dad’s tree, Elias… Elias, urggh, sorry, what’s your last name?’

  ‘Watson.’

  ‘Yeah, Elias Watson, do you remember him? He used to live in the village a long time ago.’

  Sarah had used her time wisely, burying her head down amongst the plants to gain her composure before looking up.

  ‘Mr Watson, it has been a long time, how are you?’

  ‘I’m fine, Mrs Stone, I was sorry to hear about your husband.’

  ‘Yes, well, we’ve moved on now, haven’t we, Daniel? The past is the past. What can we do for you, Mr Watson?’

  ‘Mum,’ Daniel pleaded through gritted teeth, like a trainee ventriloquist. ‘I asked him here to talk… to talk about Dad,’ he said, trying to conceal his embarrassment at his mother’s actions.

  Daniel smiled at Elias in an effort to dispel the emotional chill in the air.

  Sarah could see this was important to Daniel and her frown lines relaxed a little as she stood up from her gardening and rubbed her hands together to remove the loose dirt. I took my moment to speak.

  ‘Please call me Elias.’

  ‘I’m Sarah.’

  ‘Yes, I remember you well, Sarah,’ I added awkwardly.

  ‘Would you like some tea?’ she said cordially.

  We made our way up the garden path between beautifully tended lawns and flowerbeds; nature was flourishing here under her love and guidance. Her modest home was a traditional Welsh cottage, with thick stone walls and a sturdy slate roof. It was very similar to our homes in Thera except that the modern conveniences of Earth, such as electricity, made making a cup of tea quite a different experience; electric kettles and tea bags, fridges and milk bottles, but it tasted much the same.

  ‘What brings you back to Gadeiriol, Elias?’

  ‘Oh, I was down this way on business, so thought I’d stop by. I always liked it here.’

  Daniel was not much for the small talk and dived straight in.

  ‘Elias, tell me about my Dad.’

  We spent the afternoon chatting and laughing as the happy stories came back into mind, but I could see Sarah was uncomfortable.

  ‘Well I’ve had a truly wonderful afternoon with you both and totally unexpected, but I must be on my way.’

  ‘But where are you staying, Elias?’

  ‘Oh, my car is in the village, Daniel; I’m heading back to London tonight.’ Daniel’s face dropped a little at the news.

  ‘But I’m sure I’ll be back soon,’ I added weakly and lacking the sincerity that he deserved from me.

  ‘Elias, it was lovely to see you, let me see you out…’

  Sarah walked, or rather marched, me out of the door and down the garden to the road. She was stern now.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I didn’t mean to meet him. I’ve been checking in on you periodically just to ensure you were safe.’

  ‘Why wouldn’t we be? What’s changed? Has Smee escaped?’ Sarah shot the words at me like lightning bolts.

  ‘No, nothing like that…’

  ‘What then, checking on your future asset are you?’

  ‘Sarah, please there’s no need—’

  ‘No need to be emotional, you mean; well you’ve not brought up a child on your own and now I have, you want to take him.’

  ‘We don’t want to take him, that’s not fair; we cared for Michael as we care for you, but you also knew what Michael was. I can’t change that and nor can you.’

  ‘Get out of here, Elias and don’t ever come back. Michael didn’t want Daniel involved and you should respect his wishes. Leave him alone and let him have a normal life; he’s a good boy and can be a great man if you leave him be.�
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  ‘Sarah, please, I only want to help.’

  ‘I’m sure you do, just like you helped Michael.’

  She turned, trying to hold back tears and walked back up to the house. I headed back to the tree and pressed my seal to return to Tolemak.

  Thera, August 2012

  Tolemak: the centre of Theran control and order and where the regulus can be tapped at source, providing all of the power we could ever need. Its history goes back to the very beginning of everything.

  Tolemak is built on and around the source of the regulus on Thera. It’s like a well point; it’s just that we harness energy not water. In its early history Tolemak was nothing more than huts and settlements. These, over the centuries gradually being replaced by more permanent structures until the final building, the one we have today: a strong fortress of stone, spanning several hectares of land and home to a small village of people. It is designed around two main concentric ring walls made of solid Theran granite, which sparkles from the mineral mica, and a spiral inner wall that leads to the heart of the castle. Within the spaces are the houses, workshops, stables and food stores.

  At the centre is the Council of Keepers’ chamber, a tower that rises up twice the height of the main walls and looks out over all of Thera. In the lower levels of the tower is the regulus. It’s hard to describe its beauty; the colour and shape of raw energy that carries the thoughts and essence of all of us are not done justice by our primitive senses, but that is no use to you. I am here to tell this tale so please take a moment to imagine the most beautiful snowflake, intricate and delicate, refined in its design but complex in its structure, the epitome of pureness. Now let light dance in and around it, refracting into the colours of the rainbow and more, a dancing firework display; multiply that snowflake now a million times and you will get some way to the visual spectacle of the regulus. Above the regulus was the Professor’s workshop where he pondered and wrote and did goodness knows what, and it was there that I was heading. I knew the conversation with Albertus would be a difficult one; I should not have met them so I decided to see the Professor and get some advice first.