“You will have the answers to your questions when all of this comes to a close, when you face Baras. But until then, you’ll just have to set goals to follow.”
“But to what end? Where should my goals take me?”
“Look. Do you see this fire? Think of those flames as so many orks, goblins, and other creatures that we have to face. The branches and the logs making up the fire could be seen as the demons: strong, intelligent, loyal, but thankfully, not so numerous.” Glaide wasn't sure where his master was going with this, so he let him continue, “Now, look at the fire as a whole. That represents Baras. Do you want to know where your goals should lead? Do you want to know what you must do to be the Destroyer? This is what we’re sure of.” The man reached down and picked up a great handful of dirt. Suddenly, he threw it on the flames, instantly burying the flames, the logs, and the fire itself. Darkness took over the area around them.
For the young man, the meaning of the illustration was clear. He simply needed to work toward a final goal of vanquishing Baras. He knew many things would happen on the way, and that those things had in fact already begun. He simply had to think back on Ayrokkan proposing an alliance, or remember Rackk, to be convinced. Things were going somewhere. He couldn’t foresee what impact his future actions would have, but he was determined to see this to its end. He thought about the Book of Eternal Twilight, that strange work that predicted the future. What the adolescent had read there remained confusing, but he knew that the incredible artifact had intrigued the guardian enough for him to look for Glaide and his friends, going all the way to their world to find them. For the umpteenth time, Glaide thought to himself that the old man had died too soon. Would they ever know if he had been able to decipher the strange words in the book in their entirety? Had he known what the end of this adventure would be? As if he had read his mind, Kezthrem spoke then.
“Even if the future is predetermined, if some events have been predicted, it is up to you to write what is to come before them, and what will take place after them. The guardian thought he’d found a solution to all of the evil afflicting Galadria by bringing you and your friends here. However, even if a victory awaits us at the end of the road, which we can’t know for sure, we still have to get there. It’s possible the book predicted the defeat of Baras, but you know now that that on its own would not be enough. We won’t have truly won until the world looks like it did five hundred years ago, and it’s possible that you will be able to bring an end to half a millennia of decay.”
The man stopped for a moment, letting those words sink in. Then, he added, “But that one end is not the only thing that counts—not when the survival of an entire world is at risk—because there are many roads that could lead to the same end. Everything that leads to that success or failure is also important, because the small things are what we actually act upon. Glaide, never forget this: some stories are ours to write, because sometimes it is up to us to decide what our future will be.”
With that, Kezthrem got up and wandered off under the cover of the night sky. Glaide knew that he liked to walk about for a bit during the night, so he didn’t move to follow him. Instead, he lay down on the ground, his head resting on his pack, wrapped up in his cape.
His master’s last phrase echoed in his head. “Some stories are ours to write...” That meant so many things. He’d need to build his future, choose his destiny, and invest both himself and everything he had on hand to reach his goals. The boy eventually fell asleep without even realizing it.
Chapter 29
WHEN Glaide got up, the sun was already high in the sky. Kezthrem had already carefully strapped most of their things onto the horses. The young man took a moment to stretch and yawn. His master, seeing him awake, came closer to speak to the young man.
“We’ll leave in an hour at the most—enough time to eat a hearty meal. It will be our only one for the day.” Glaide nodded, then took the time to attach his own pack to his saddle. He checked to make sure it wouldn’t hinder the animal’s movements, and that he would still be able to sit comfortably with it there, then, satisfied, he returned to the remains of the fire.
His master had already brought out an assortment of food: fruit, cold cuts, ham, bread, and many other things. The adolescent wasn’t usually hungry when he got up, but he knew if he didn’t eat, his stomach would torture him the whole day. So, he forced himself to eat an apple, some bread, and a bit of cheese. That woke his appetite, and he soon set about devouring everything else within reach. He wondered if his nerves were the source of this sudden voracity.
When he was finally full, Kezthrem gathered the remaining food into a sack, which he attached with the others, and then, with his disciple copying his movements, he climbed into the saddle. With one movement, the two animals began to walk, while Glaide did everything he could to remain calm. “If we start to gallop and my horse becomes frightened, he could take me anywhere... Or worse, if we’re followed and I fall, I’ll be hacked to pieces.” He shook his head, trying to shake those catastrophic scenarios out of his head.
“Stay vigilant,” demanded Kezthrem calmly. “We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled, looking for clues to our whereabouts in relation to Zakorth and our enemies.” With that, he, began to carefully scrutinize their surroundings. The young man, fearing he the clues of a hostile presence, that he might see, took a few moments to convince himself that it would be better to detect hostile creatures as soon as possible, to try to avoid them. Then, finally, he, too, began carefully scanning the grasses around them for any traces of attackers, and the horizon for any movement.
After several hours of riding in silence, the adolescent's vigilance was waning. It was already late in the afternoon, and the older man had yet to order him to take off at a gallop. The plains around them remained hopelessly empty. Glaide began to wonder if Kezthrem had miscalculated, and if the village were perhaps farther than they’d thought. In that case, they might have to stop for the night in the area. However, the young man soon discovered his master hadn’t made a mistake at all, because suddenly, he pointed at something off to the right. The boy followed the finger with his eyes, and he felt his heart accelerate a bit as, in the distance, he made out a dark point on the horizon.
“Zakorth,” he murmured. Instantly, his senses awoke. He knew that at any moment, Kezthrem would give the order to accelerate. Glaide looked about him constantly, his mind working double time. He expected at any moment to make out the inevitable presence of the creatures, but he saw no one. Then, he spotted a mass of rocks directly ahead. It had been a while since he'd noticed it, and he hadn't seen any obvious threat, but suddenly he saw the hill in a different light, and almost as if he could read his thoughts, Kezthrem spoke, giving the same thoughts a voice.
“It’s strange that we haven’t been attacked up until now. They’ve got to be aware of our presence by now.”
“An ambush, then,” replied the young man with a sigh.
“We won’t have to wait long to find out! Let’s go.” With that, the man spurred his horse on, the adolescent’s horse immediately matching his fellow’s pace. The young man gripped his horse’s mane in a panic. Within a few moments, he had forgotten everything around him, his concentration purely fixed on the hair in his hands.
Faster than he expected, he found his rhythm and allowed himself to look up. The rocks had drawn incredibly close during that lapse in time, and for a moment the young man was afraid that his master would continue riding directly toward it. He needn't have feared, however. With a quick movement, his master turned his animal to the left, so that they would pass around the obstacle. He and his disciple were far enough away to be out of the reach of even any projectiles. Glaide’s horse obediently followed the trail Kezthrem’s horse made. Glaide mentally thanked him for that, and begged the animal to continue. If he didn’t have to do anything but hang on, he’d be okay. As they came closer to passing the hill, the boy tried to distinguish any silhouettes or movements that would betray a pres
ence, but he saw absolutely nothing. For a moment, he wondered if it had been a false alert, or worse, a bigger trap than they expected. The second option seemed unlikely, however, since there was nothing for miles around but plains, which would make it easy to see any creatures out there.
His train of thought was broken by a cry of rage from his back. In front of him, he saw his master glance behind them, then pressure his horse to go even faster. “In the end, I guess we were right,” thought the boy with a grimace. Carefully, he, too, tried to glance over his shoulder, though he kept such a firm grip on the horse’s mane at the same time that his knuckles began to turn white. He spotted the aggressors quickly: a band of orks who’d just realized their prey had taken to flight.
“Whew,” he thought in relief. “A group like that won’t manage to catch up to us.” Or at any rate, he was sure Kezthrem wouldn’t choose to stop to let them catch up. Glaide knew that with the two of them, it would be no great difficulty to destroy the monsters, but he also remembered their first journey through the area around Zakorth, when he’d demanded they stop to kill the creatures that had passed by, and his master had obstinately refused until a troll and some orks had blocked their path. The young man knew that here, even if the enemy appeared weak or few in number, their reinforcements were also never far away.
After a few minutes, the monsters disappeared from sight, but Kezthrem continued to gallop nonetheless. The adolescent relaxed a bit, which helped with the cramps that were building up in his arms and legs. He looked around them and noticed that the sun was still quite high in the sky. The man had expected their travels to take a day, and Glaide knew that if they didn’t pass out of Zakorth’s territory before nightfall, then his master would simply continue to advance.
Time passed without the boy taking much notice. He was far too busy trying not to fall to pay much attention to anything else. From time to time, the two riders slowed to let the horses recover, then took off again after. Soon, though, Kezthrem’s horse slowed yet again, but this time without the man showing any sign that he was going to speed up again, as he had been. The young man’s horse followed suit, and he was finally able to let go of his horse’s mane and relax his aching fingers. Stopping was still out of the question, but at least he could recover from the worst part of their ride.
“We’ve been riding hard for about an hour,” the man declared.
“An hour!” exclaimed Glaide, shocked. “I didn’t think it was more than fifteen minutes!”
“Well, that’s only the beginning, unfortunately. To make it out of this, we’ll have to ride like that at least twice more.” The boy sighed a deep sigh from the very depths of his soul.
“Where are we now, relative to the village?”
“Due south. Earlier, we were more to the east of it. We’ll continue to head south. That’s the best way to put distance between us and that cursed place.”
“But if we continue too far in that direction, won’t we reach the plains above the Forest of the Worlds?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll head west before that.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster, then, to head more to the southwest, starting straight away?” demanded the boy.
“Sure, but we’d also spend more time close to Zakorth, and that is out of the question. Heading south like we are, it will take us longer to reach out destination, but we’ll also be able travel more slowly, and with less worry.” Glaide nodded then, and silence fell on the two. He couldn’t use the time to think like he usually did during long journeys like this, though. The ambush that they’d just escaped, and the idea that they would soon have to gallop again, weighed too much on his mind! He couldn’t stop silently thanking his horse for rescuing him, and he hoped he’d be able to hold up for the hours to come. The young man decided to walk beside his horse for a little while, to stretch his legs and to give his mount a bit more rest. The terrain here was very open, and he knew he’d have time to mount again if need be. As he walked, he checked his horse over, making sure he wasn’t injured or too tired, but he seemed fine, and Glaide gently massaged the creature's neck in thanks.
After half an hour like that, Kezthrem announced that they should gallop again. He didn’t fear any enemies in particular, but the sun was continuing on its way, and if the two didn’t hurry some, they’d have to continue through the night. With a resigned sigh, the adolescent crawled back into the saddle and gripped his horse's mane. Then, his master’s horse bounded forward, and again they were flying through the plains. This time, things seemed to go better. Though still bent over his horse's neck and incapable of holding the reins instead of the mane, Glaide was at least able to take advantage of the view a bit more.
The speed, the movements of the beast, and the sound of his cape whipping in the wind brought back innumerable memories from the past months, such as the ride that had carried him to Rackk. He remembered watching the sun sink toward the horizon, reflecting off of the armor of the men accompanying him and his friends. He’d let his eyes wander, and had marveled at the beauty of the countryside around him—of the countryside of this new world called Galadria. At the time, the four had just buried the guardian, but that had been unable to tarnish his joy.
“Would it have been the same today?” he wondered. In his memory, the moment had seemed magical. The image of that ride, the village, and his friends played about in his mind, and he couldn’t bring order to his thoughts. He let the images of familiar, smiling faces pass before his mind’s eye, and he smiled in turn. His training, or at least the part that Kezthrem could teach him for the time being, was coming to a close, and now that he thought about it, he realized he was growing impatient for its end. He wanted to leave for a new adventure, to find his friends again, and to live like he had when he’d arrived eight months earlier, but this time without the questions about his future.
Soon, images of Ayrokkan came to mind, with his incredible size, blood-red scales, and that strange voice, deep and gravelly, both human and bestial at the same time. “To think, I know a dragon,” thought Glaide. Memories of their conversations, their journey through the air, and everything the creature had showed him beyond the western limits of the Known Lands still visited him in his dreams. He hadn’t forgotten the proposition that had been made to him, either: if he proved himself worthy by his actions and his day-to-day decisions, he would be given control over the strength of the dragons. All of that seemed so far away now. After all, he’d been with his master for more than five months! Still, he often asked himself what those creatures thought of everything he’d done up until then. He often wondered how they could observe him without him noticing. But Ayrokkan had said he would find him and inform him of their decision when the time came, and so he had to believe they hadn’t made up their minds yet.
Kezthrem’s horse slowed to a stop suddenly. At first Glaide thought there was a problem, but when he looked around, everything appeared calm.
“We’ve been traveling quickly for an hour now. The horses should have a short break. How are you faring?” Again, the young man was astonished by how quickly the time had passed. He realized that he had become more relaxed on a galloping horse than he usually was at a walk, or even than when he walked beside the creature! He hadn’t actually noticed it happen. He’d been concentrating on how to stay on the horse, but that hadn’t prevented him from being lulled into a calm by his favorite memories! Before replying, he checked to make sure his horse was okay.
“Don’t worry about me, master. We can continue on like that as soon as you like, so that we pass more quickly out of Zakorth’s area of influence.” Kezthrem nodded, then spurred his mount on again a bit, letting him slowly build up speed, preparing to accelerate even more soon. “Another hour, and it’ll be over,” thought the adolescent with joy as his mount began to move quickly again. He let himself be carried away. His legs were still tense, and his fingers still tightly wrapped up in the mane, but his cramps seemed to have disappeared entirely. He silently thanked the heavens th
at their journey had passed without any difficulties besides the group of orks that they’d managed to lose in mere minutes. He held back his optimism, though, because he could see a forest on the edge of his field of vision. Kezthrem was careful not to draw too close, because like his disciple, he was well aware of the innumerable dangers a forest could hold.
From a distance, the young man tried to make out any movements at the treeline, but everything appeared calm. That being said, however, he didn’t care to risk getting closer just to be sure. The two travelers continued on like that, moving quickly but carefully, and soon another hour had passed. The adolescent lifted his head to tell Kezthrem the good news, but his words caught in his throat as his gaze fell on the horizon: a column of black smoke rose up from behind some woods.
Chapter 30
“A fire?” Glaide thought to himself. “From an accident, or from pillaging?” He didn’t like the second option and everything it would mean, but he could see his master already heading toward the source of the blaze. The sun was beginning to set, and the idea of meeting their enemies this late in the day, and after it had been calm for so long, seemed rather demoralizing. Glaide lost his train of thought then, because he saw something that made his blood freeze in his veins. At the sight, Kezthrem, too, had stopped his horse, and though his sword remained in its sheath, he’d made it appear. The young man imitated him, and the familiar weight of the steel reassured him despite the nightmarish vision before his eyes.
The black smoke that they’d seen from a distance had led them to a village abutting a forest. Before him, he saw nothing but ruins, still smoking, filling the air with a nauseating odor—a mixture of burnt wood and flesh. From the column of black smoke rising into the sky, and though no open flames remained, it was obvious that the fire was recent. Practically nothing remained of the city wall, and they couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be protecting, because the smoke was so thick. On the ground in front of them, nothing remained but blackened earth, with no trace of plants of any kind. The silence surrounding them weighed on them heavily. For a moment, the adolescent felt himself projected back to Rackk at the time of its destruction. This was nothing like the peaceful ruins he had discovered two months afterwards.
Chronicles of Galadria III - Lessons Page 21