Viktor

by Francesco Leo

  Viktor caught the subtle sadness in his words; he decided not to answer and to meditate on what he had heard.

  At that moment, someone peeked into the office; a short, slender figure that Viktor didn’t remember seeing among the members of the Star.

  “Jef, what’s the matter?” Galaeth asked.

  “Information from the Elders of the monastery: the chosen one’s brother is heading there with a girl.”

  “Gabriel and Selene!” exclaimed Viktor overwhelmed by sudden enthusiasm.

  Galaeth nodded then turned back to Jef.

  “They will have considered the idea of learning more from the Elders. What better place than there to get to know something?”

  “They were seen with a divinatory spell while they were ascending the border mountains and they immediately let us know their positions.”

  “Good,” the Master concluded with a nod, while Jef was leaving the study.

  “Are they heading for the monastery of the Elders? If I’m not mistaken, we have acquired the greatest knowledge of history from them.”

  “That’s right: a good idea to learn more about you.”

  “What will happen when they get there?”

  “The Elders can give them answers.”

  “So they’re in contact with the Organization of the Star?”

  “The Elders have concealed our existence to the world since the days of the War of Oblivion. I think that for your brother and your friend, however, they will make an exception.”

  “Why?”

  “They deserve to know that you are safe and that you will see them again, but the motive is another and it is very simple: they know that they are fundamental to you and that in any case you wouldn’t hide the truth from them. They will do nothing but tell them what you would otherwise have told them yourself.”

  The boy didn’t speak for a while, before going into the details of the brief conversation that had taken place between the Master and Jef.

  “What’s a divinatory spell?”

  “Magic. It let’s you see what other people are doing in a precise moment. Usually the divine part must consent to the contact of the magician who exercises the spell, but among us there are those who succeed anyway. These, however, are special cases and we’ll talk about it when you start practicing arcane arts. In any case, for today we have finished: go and have a wash and a rest.”

  As the boy was about to leave, the Master added, “Don’t play with Siride too much.”

  “Siride?”

  “The name of what is now your sword.” Viktor smiled and headed for his room. “Siride ... I like it.”

  ABOVE THE WORLD

  T he path that skirted the mountains was slippery and with a slope, that in many places increased dramatically, weakening the two travellers even more, silent and lost in their thoughts.

  From time to time, the road went around the mountain with wide hairpin bends; other times, however, when the boys began to think that they were nearing their destination, the path was going downhill and then rising, almost as if it was mocking the travellers’ illusions.

  The soles of their feet seemed to rant with every step they took.

  Occasionally flocks of large birds erased the sight of the sun for a few moments, at other times the silence was broken by the breach that came off the rocky wall that skirted the path, rolling on the ground.

  The two young people could get lost in the beauty of the landscape below them that, depending on the slope of the mountain they were on, ranged from green expanses to rocky peaks that seemed to continue on the horizon, without an end.

  When the temperature started to go down and some areas showed the first signs of freezing, they decided to stop.

  When they sat on the path, Selene exhaled deeply, resting her saddlebag on the stony, damp ground.

  “I don’t think there’s still a long way to go, it’s getting cold,” she told Gabriel.

  “I don’t think so either ...” the boy replied, observing some flashes of horizon where the sea could be seen. They had come so far to see it, far away and still like a slab. And it was beautiful.

  The two remained contemplating the landscape below them for a while. “I’ve never seen the sea before,” said the girl.

  “Neither have I ... and however little we can see, it is fantastic. Do you believe the stories about what’s beyond the sea too?” asked Gabriel.

  “Having no way of proving the contrary, I don’t deny any hypothesis.”

  A cold gust of wind ruffled the girl’s blonde hair, lost in scrutinizing the line where the sea and sky seemed to merge.

  Gabriel put his elbows on his knees drawn to his chest, keeping his arms folded.

  “During the trip to Beleth, Viktor told me that he dreamed of a story he had read at my house shortly before he left, but that he ignored before: he could not explain how it was possible to dream of something that one is unaware of,” Selene explained.

  “Well, quite unusual. Why are you thinking this? “

  Selene let herself be lulled for a while in the arms of her reflections and the rays of the sun that warmed her.

  “I don’t know, it just went through my head ... I have the distinct feeling that his dream means something, maybe it will help us understand the situation.”

  The boy smiled, rubbing his left calf.

  “I’m afraid that, having nothing else to think about, you’re letting everything that’s on your mind manipulate you.”

  Selene hid behind a grimace, nodding. “Maybe you’re right... Well, we just have to reach the summit!” she exclaimed as she got up.

  “We’d better go: I would swear I felt a snow flake fall on my ear,” replied Gabriel, too, pulling himself up and loading his knapsack.

  When the two arrived near the summit, white clouds had thickened above them and the snow began to fall lightly.

  At that altitude the sun was completely obscured by the clouds that hung suspended above the ground. The unusual scenery of snow was a good distraction from the distance that still separated them from the monastery.

  At the top of the mountain the narrow path ended opening up to the rocky prairies, which dominated the highest point of the mountain ranges.

  Rare patches of grass grew and they were partially covered by snow that had also made the bare soil slippery. Although the two travellers expected to reach their destination at dusk, they could not see the monastery due to poor visibility; more than once they were forced to hold hands so as not to get lost.

  During the journey, they were often obliged to steady their legs to avoid being dragged away by strong drafts; so, when the wind seemed to increase in intensity, they chose to stop a little longer with the hope that it would calm down.

  They wrapped themselves in the sheet they had used the night before, hoping to warm up a little.

  “Let’s stay here, we cannot continue in this storm!” Gabriel cried, trying to drown out the howling wind.

  “How much time will we waste?” asked Selene, annoyed.

  “At least until the wind subsides. Continuing in these conditions will disorient us, listen to me.”

  The darkened sky didn’t allow them to perceive the passing of the day. Gabriel and Selene believed they had been still for a few hours when they decided to eat something.

  They consumed a cold meal based on vegetables, cheese and bread: it was not one of the best meals, but it was enough to fill their stomach a bit.

  “I don’t think it will stop soon,” Selene said with resignation.

  “Neither do I, but sooner or later it will diminish,” Gabriel answered.

  “Do you really know this or are you saying it to convince yourself that everything will be all right?”

  “Well, let’s say I convinced myself I knew it.”

  Selene raised her eyebrows and twisted her mouth in a grimace while Gabriel hinted at a smile.

  “I’m glad you still have the strength to smile!” exclaimed Selene.

  “It�
��s one of the few things I’ll continue to do: tackling life with a smile helps a lot.”

  “And what exactly is one of the things you will not keep doing?” Gabriel looked at her for a moment before answering: “Other trips with you,” he chuckled.

  “I have not complained about anything during the whole journey!”

  “Then I must have imagined the voices that convey so much pessimism about the situation!”

  “I only hoped the storm would calm down!” she said fervently.

  “I was just joking, don’t get so angry!” he calmed her.

  Gabriel was satisfied with the brief exchange that had helped both of them break the atmosphere of unease and exhaustion that had fallen on them.

  Time passed, but the storm didn’t decide to calm down; the two tightened the sheet around them and tried to keep close to each other to contain the warmth of their bodies.

  “In any case, it does not seem to me that my pessimism was groundless,” Selene said.

  Gabriel smiled again.

  A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP

  T he walls of cold stone that lined the tunnels under the rock reflected the glare of the torches fixed to the walls.

  Amir was striding toward the training camp where Viktor was waiting.

  She glanced fleetingly at the wall behind which Galaeth’s office was hiding, then went on to the left and headed for the hallway, where the large doorway guarded the training area.

  Every now and then, between a step and another, her eyes glistened bothered by the torchlight, and a tear ran down her face, stopping on her cheekbone. She recalled the afternoon of the day before, when she had argued with Galaeth and had been told she would be Viktor’s magic teacher.

  She had refused and tried to oppose to her Master’s choice, but he was adamant.

  “Despite the conversation of the other day, did you mention me as his instructor? I don’t understand if you’re doing it on purpose or ...” she had started.

  “Yes, I did it on purpose. I believe that your opinions about the boy are wrong and I don’t think he’s the wrong person, as you think. Questioning the choice of the Star means to doubt about the decisions of the deities that you have served for a long time. We cannot allow ourselves to feel dislike for the other members of the Star, especially if it is the one who should help us rearrange the situation and allow Mirthya to return to a period of calm.”

  “I cannot change my opinion about someone just because it’s convenient to others,” she replied, annoyed by her Master’s response.

  “The point, Amir, is that you don’t yet have an opinion of Viktor, but you have only been influenced by his resemblance to your brother: the resentment you feel for him should not interfere with other people.”

  The girl had not replied, but had merely bowed her head in assent: Galaeth was right, but admitting that she had made a mistake had always been difficult. She decided to accept and show the boy the rudiments of magic.

  She found him in the centre of the training camp, gazing at the sky. Viktor turned around when he realized he wasn’t alone anymore and greeted the girl. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Even if I had not been instructed to teach you magic, I certainly wouldn’t need your permission to come here.”

  “Did you swallow acid?” the boy pricked.

  Amir ignored the young man’s irony and beckoned him to withdraw.

  “Magic,” she began, “is the visual transposition of one’s will through inner energy, commonly called mana or essence. The quantity of mystical energy within each individual never varies, cannot be increased, but only managed at best. Knowing how to handle this force can make the difference between life and death; it can allow you to create or destroy. There are two types of magic: white and black, which in turn are divided into other categories. Substantially the first type allows to alter one’s physical state and cure wounds; the second is the most extensive arcane branch of the arts and includes spells that act on the environment and life forms in general, altering or destroying them. So far so clear?”

  “I knew about the distinction between black and white magic.”

  “I didn’t ask you if you already knew anything about it.”

  Viktor began to nurture a feeling of dislike towards the girl and, at the same time, curiosity: he didn’t know why she behaved like this with him.

  The explanation continued and he learned two types of spells: passive and active. He repeated in his mind the way they worked: in the first case it referred to long-lasting spells, fed by mana, which was dried up more or less slowly according to the ability of the mana. In the second, the effect of the spell was instantaneous and involved a sudden decrease in one’s essence.

  As Amir continued explaining, he was lost in Selene’s memories and her white magic.

  His mind then flew to Galaeth: “Did he know that Amir considered me so unpleasant? Will he have made us stay together to try and heal a relationship that I didn’t know was so difficult? But how could a relationship that has never existed be broken? I barely know her.”

  “Viktor, are you listening to me?” Amir interrupted.

  “Sure ... you were talking about the usefulness of black magic,” the boy said, shaken.

  “I talked about it more than five minutes ago.”

  “Ah, so ...”

  “So you didn’t listen to me for more than five minutes. Look, if you think I’m trying to teach you these things just to waste time, you are wrong; if I’m doing it is because I have to, because you are who the star has chosen and the one who should save all of us: me too. The fact that it is up to you to save the destiny of existence is so ironic that I wonder if all this is not a trick of nature or a nightmare from which I am trying in vain to wake up.”

  So saying she left, her eyes filled with tears of rage.

  When Viktor saw her disappear, he plunged into total solitude.

  He lay down on the ground with his eyes lost in his thoughts, which flowed into a deeply rooted pessimism regarding his task.

  Amir’s inexplicable dislike had baffled him. He would have liked to know how to behave, how to go on and, above all, how to have the will to do it.

  Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes he recognized a strip of a tunic lighter than the others: Galaeth stood beside him.

  “Amir is right, I’m not up to the task: I cannot be who you’re looking for,” Viktor admitted as he lifted off the ground and headed for the inside of the Den.

  The Master stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “Words can fill many gaps, but also dig out new ones. Right now you’re only distraught by what Amir said: I watched the lesson, I wanted to see how you’d behave.”

  “You will have seen that I didn’t do anything, then. I just got distracted: the truth is that she caught the moment to make me notice how little she believes in me, and she’s right. I already had doubts about it, and you knew about it. Now I’m sure that saving the world cannot be the right fate for a farmer’s son.”

  Galaeth yanked at him with both hands.

  “It is the destiny that the gods have entrusted to you! If you have been chosen ...”

  “If I have been chosen, it was by mistake.”

  “Are you accusing the deities of having made a mistake?”

  “Exactly. As they did by giving too much power to Zergh, a power that has turned against everything and everyone. Even against them. And now the world is forced to pay for their mistake, so who tells you that they cannot have made another mistake?”

  “Your potential: within you there is what is necessary to turn you into a warrior. We will make up for the deities’ mistake.”

  “They must learn how to solve problems alone,” the boy cut short, freeing himself from the Master’s grip and leaving the area.

  Galaeth remained alone and thoughtful in the middle of the training area, while the sky began to cloud. Several minutes passed before he decided to go in too.

  ******

&
nbsp; The latch in Viktor’s room closed with a sharp noise and the boy abandoned himself on his bed. He knew that he didn’t want to deal with everything he was experiencing and he got ready to pack the saddlebags to go back to Lezhen. He had Siride with him and he could try to hunt to survive and find sources of water to restore his stocks.

  Some of his clothes had remained in the trunk of the room at the inn in Beleth, so the ones he wore had to do.

  He opened the trunk, picked up Xemnath’s diary and slipped it into one of his bags.

  While he was finishing his preparations, he heard a knock on his door.

  When he entered, Jef said, “Galaeth says that, if you want, we can take you not far from Lezhen with magic: a journey in your conditions through wild lands is unthinkable.”

  Viktor paused to think, then consented. “If you could I’d be very grateful,” he took a knapsack to tighten the knots applied under the passing strings.

  “When you’re ready, you’ll find me out here.”

  “Thanks.”

  The door closed and Viktor sat on the bed with his elbows on his knees and his hands hugging his head.

  “Whatever she had experienced and that has made her so, isn’t certainly my fault… All the people in here have had a difficult time, me too, but we certainly don’t treat the others like rags, wallowing with the excuse of a difficult past,” he told himself, thinking back to the red-haired girl. He thought he had had an exaggerated reaction, but only for a moment. Then he understood: the truth is that he was looking for a motive to escape from that situation.

  He decided to be left on the road to the monastery of the Elders, where he would have re-embraced his brother and his friend.

  His father First would have someone to give him a hand again to keep the family going and they would forget the whole story.

  He would have forgotten the old legends, the wild monsters and the unknown strangers.

  This time, everything would be set right.

  THE MONASTERY OF THE ELDERS

  T he sky was very dark, even though it was only early afternoon.