by Luna Lais
"Yes, I live" the man's voice was so light Airian had barely heard it. He could not mistake the glare the man's eyes gave Descartes and then him. Airian had paused just outside the opening, but entered further as he was beckoned by Descartes' hand.
"Airian, this is the Acumen whose vision you are fulfilling. Since he lives I know for certain that you are the one meant by the Sun to fulfill this task." Descartes moved to the center of the room with purposeful strides.
"So you remember your name?" Descartes asked looking back to Airian.
"Yes father, it was Makren." Airian said still somewhat shamed by the fact.
"Good" Descartes said, "Do you remember your parents as well?"
"No father, not anything of them. I do still remember the name of the man who I believe was my guardian before you saved me. He is no longer living and I never had any feelings for the man." Airian did not share his other memories from that time. Descartes was not worthy of those memories.
"That is good Airian. Once I send you through the mountains I do not want you to become distracted from your mission. It is good you have lost your memories of your family. They would only try to turn you from the light if you sought them out." Descartes explained. "That was a life without the Sun and those you knew abominations to all we believe holy. There may come a time when they embrace the Sun, but for now they are the enemy." Descartes watched for a reaction from Airian at his words.
"I will not fail you father. Your trust in me is well founded" Airian said whole heartily as he knelt before Descartes once more.
"Rise my child; I have no doubt of your abilities. I only wished to warn you of some of the perils you might face." Airian stood as he was ordered.
"After declaring the intent of the Sun to rule the world to the leaders beyond the mountains, it has been revealed that you will find the Pretender during the final battle. You will be the only one who can reveal the Pretender to the Destroyer. I do not have details to tell you how this will be accomplished so you might prepare. I can only tell you that you will lose your life in doing so. Your sacrifice will guarantee victory for the Destroyer." Descartes overcome with emotion placed his hand on Arian's shoulder. "Protect yourself Airian. If you fail in your mission all hope is lost to us. Once on the other side of the mountain use your name of that land, it will arouse less suspicion." Airian nodded in understanding. His name was from an ancient language known only to those in the Realm of the Sun. If he were to use this name it might be discovered who he was. "I am proud of you my child. You have worked hard and withstood much to earn this. My Acumen also told me a great statue shall be raised in your honor for the sacrifice you will make in service of the Destroyer." Descartes smiled at him. "Go now Makren and meet your destiny."
Airian gave a slight bow "Yes, father," he said before turning to leave the room.
Back in his room Makren was smiling as he readied his packs for his journey, not for the honor Descartes had bestowed upon him. He was going home. It had been ten years since that day he was taken from the home of the family that was fostering him. Makren had seen that family slaughtered in front him. He still remembered the look in their eyes as Descartes men stole their lives. He had been young at the time, but he also remembered thinking that his father and his men would come to save him from the same fate at any moment. He held on to that belief during the relentlessly harsh journey through the mountains. While fall was just gripping the land, in the mountains winter had already arrived. It still pained him that after all these years no attempt was ever made to save him. He was the son of the king after all. Makren shook his head reminding himself that more than likely his family thought he died that day just as his uncle's family, whom he had been staying with.
With the hope of seeing his family again he quickened his pace at gathering his supplies for his journey. The trip through the mountains would be quicker than before. It was early summer and not even the highest peak would have snow. As he packed his memories drifted to the hundreds of boys he had seen die trying to make it to this moment. A few times he had been on the brink of death, but fate had interceded and he had survived. He liked to believe it was his bond to his sister that had saved him. Her face was the one he most wanted to see again. Three weeks at the most, he thought, and then he would reach Calandoria. He absently rubbed the medallion he kept hidden beneath his plain white shirt. Often he had to leave it behind in his room, but on days like to day when he was allowed to wear the loose shirt white pants he would risk wearing it. It was his only tangible connection to the life he had once had. At last he would see them again, embrace them. Descartes and his mission were damned. He was free now and no prophecy would change that. He would not be a pawn in the Destroyer's plans to rule the world. Makren was going home to Rorgrim and his family. As he was packing one of his knives he paused and held up the knife to his neck. In a single slash he cut his long hair off just above the first gold band. He did not cut the braids that hung loose over his shoulder, although he desperately wanted to. The price he had paid for them was too dear. He flung the hair onto his bed before placing the knife into his pack and heading out the door.
Chapter 3
"Come on Nog just a few more Moran and we are bound to find a town or at least a farmhouse." Darien pleaded with his horse to quicken its pace. When the white war horse only snorted he ran his hands through his black hair and uttered an oath loud enough for the animal to hear. He had been traveling south for three days with sparse few supplies and had not crossed a single stream or river to fill his water bags in all that time. The early summer heat was unbearable even though he only wore a simple linen shirt loosely tied at his neck and soft leather pants which tucked into his worn leather traveling boots. He had to constantly wipe his forehead with his sleeve to keep sweat from rolling into his gray eyes. Darien was furious at himself. Four years earlier, shortly before the death of his father, he had asked the temple priest for guidance in seeking his destiny. The God of the Moon's Soul had sent south, to Pearoandorn.
He had journeyed south from western Calandoria into Pearoandorn to fight with his friend Maeorus who was now the king of that land. It was Darien and the men he lead that had won him the crown. He had spent two years in countless battles and the pace of the war had caused him to break a promise he had made to his bother, King of Calandoria, to return home once a year. By the end of the second year of the war all those who opposed Maeorus as King of Pearoandorn had been crushed and he was finally ready to return to his own country and his family.
He had accomplished his goal to find himself in Pearoandorn with Maeorus. War had taught him a valuable lesson. Life was a fragile gift to be savored. He had learned to enjoy what he had while he had it and not dwell on it after it was gone. He had also learned that death came to everyone and no one could pick when or how. Learning to accept that had been the hardest lesson of all and only made him yearn to see his family all the more. He had left childishly at being denied marriage to a woman he fancied himself in love with. Both his father and hers had denied their union. Instead Geena was giving to Lord Ashbourne of Pearoandorn. The same man who fought Maeorus for the crown; the man Darien had defeated.
Less than fifty Moran from the borders of Calandoria at the end of his second year from home, Darien had been met on the road by his brother's men. The Calandorian soldiers were searching for a band of men who resembled those reported to have killed of his youngest brother. His brother, Makren had died in a raid twelve years earlier in western Calandoria. There had been witnesses who had seen the raiders in the area that day, but none of the raiders had ever been caught. The soldiers explained to Darien that the raiders had reappeared a few months earlier and were now killing any female Acumen they could find. The King of Hokaren had requested Calandoria's aid in finding the raiders. The raiders had already killed several Acumens in Calandoria before heading south into Hokaren. Since Jimreth already had men searching in Calandoria for them he readily agreed to Hokaren's request. Motivated at the thought
of finally having justice for his brother's death Darien quickly joined the men in their search. If he had only known what a fruitless chase it was to be. For well over a year he and the men had followed the trail of dead girls born with the curse of the Acumen.
An Acumen delivers the prophecies of the Gods to man. It is an Acumen responsibility to see that the prophecy they speak is fulfilled. As punishment from the gods the instance a prophecy delivered by Acumen becomes impossible to be realized the Acumen will die instantly. It is not a pleasant life for those born as Acumen. It is also not a life one has a choice in. The curse of Acumen is something that a person is born with. They have no choice other than death to accept their fate and do as the Gods ask them. Darien had been taught that the Gods being merciful will release an Acumen that has proven their worth. At sometime during an Acumen's life the opportunity will be given in the form of a pinnacle prophecy.
If the Acumen can fulfill this prophecy the Gods will reward them two fold, first with a soul mate and secondly the prophecies will also never plague them again. They are giving the ability to live a normal life. The gift of a pinnacle prophecy is also cursed two fold. To receive such a vision is said to be excruciatingly painful and once revealed almost impossible to see fulfilled. The prophecy will always affect the fate of the known world. For that reason few Acumen have ever been able to accomplish the task. For those who do manage to fulfill the prophecy they are required to accept the reward of their soul mate. From the time the Acumen receives the vision they are granted one year to join with their soul mate. Death is the punishment for not only failing to fulfill the prophecy, but also for failing to accept the gift of a soul mate.
There is more to add to the suffering of Acumens. They are denied the pleasure of the flesh with anyone except their soul mate. To lie with anyone not deemed by the Gods to be their soul mate will also cause death to the Acumen. For these reasons it is not uncommon for Acumens to take their own lives rather than live with their burdens. Darien personally had never heard of an Acumen living past twenty. It was a true curse to be Acumen and Darien had always been thankful that the Gods had gifted none in his family with this gift.
The gift of Acumen is extremely rare, but will afflict any gender. Darien had only met a few in his lifetime. Having been both at court in Calandoria and Pearoandorn and having met so few, he wondered how the raiders so easily found the Acumen. It struck Darien odd that only the female Acumen were targeted. Targeting only the females seemed to give the killings some unseen purpose. While following the raiders path of death he found the bodies and witnesses to the savagery, but never any sign of the raiders.
All of the deaths had been the same. The girl's heads were cut off and eyes cut out. Then the bodies were quartered. The killers would place the decapitated head of the girls on pikes that had been driven into the ground. The eyeless heads always faced north. The deaths seemed ritualistic to Darien and having been educated by temple priest he concluded that it was likely that an Acumen's vision was behind the deaths. He could not imagine the reason, but he seldom found any reason to the Gods will. Eighteen months after the murders began, they suddenly ceased. It was believed that no Acumen female between the ages of seven and twenty-five had survived in any of the kingdoms.
Darien, no longer able to find any trace of the killers turned Nog north towards home. When he began his journey home again he had been at the Southern most tip of Hokaren on the Sea of Airian. It would take several months to journey the length of Hokaren to his own country Calandoria. Darien closed his eyes trying to remember what they had looked like on the day he left. Rachel had only been 15 at the time. She would be a full grown woman now. Lissandra at nineteen had already been accepted to enter the Order of Colondones, a blessing given her beauty. The Art of the Moon was the only thing saving her from marriage.
Darien had been close this time; he was only a week's ride from home when he met a young boy traveling on the road. If he had known that the ten-year-old boy before him was Acumen he would have ignored his hail and kept riding. Darien sighed rolling his gray eyes skyward; he was lying to himself. To ignore the boy would have given the child instant death, since Darien was part of the boys vision. Darien after hearing the boy's prophecy felt it was of such little consequence to fulfill and save the boys life he couldn't refuse.
"Sir, are you the second son of Raven?" the boy had asked. The boy had been dressed in rags and barefoot. Darien remembered thinking that the boy must have never washed his face before, it was so smudged with dirt.
"Yes" Darien had said, "Did my brother send you to meet me?" Darien knew Jimreth would not send a boy with news, but the boy look so scared of him he could barley speak. Darien only asked to prompt the boy to go on.
"No my lord" the boy held his head down sorry for what he had to tell him. "I am Acumen and only this morning the Gods gifted me with a vision for you."
The boy seemed so small to Darien. It was not right for the Gods to use the boy this way.
"And what would the Gods have me do in order to spare your life" Darien sounded more angry than he meant. All he had wanted to do was go home.
"The second son of Raven is required to travel south for two days then southeast. If by noon on the fourth day a wise man is not spared from death by your blade the Moon will never meet the Sun and the Pretender will reign forever." The boy looked at Darien to see if he words made any sense. There was more to the prophecy, but the Gods only allowed Acumens to say the words branded in their minds. They could not reveal the vision they saw.
"So in order to save your life I need to turn and travel south for two days then southeast." Darien waited for the boy to nod before continuing. "At sometime on the third or fourth day I will have an opportunity to save a wise man's life. Tell me does prophecy require me to stay with the man until the Moon meets the Sun or can I continue my journey after he is saved?" Darien asked the question knowing the answer he was given wouldn't change anything. He had already turned Nog to face south. If he could prevent the boy's death he would.
The boy looked puzzled by the question for a moment before replying. "Sir you may continue your journey once you save the man. Regardless of where you are when the Moon meets the Sun it will still happen."
"Then rest easy dear boy and I will fulfill this prophecy for you." Darien smiled at the child, "What is your name?" he asked.
"Horace, Sir." The boy smiled up at him.
"Well Horace you have delayed my journey only by eight days at the most and since it began almost four years since it began I can honestly say that eight days will not make much of a difference." Darien gently kicked his horse and began his journey south.
"Sir" Horace said running after the horse.
"Yes" Darien said stopping Nog abruptly and turning his head towards the boy. He could see tears in his eyes as he approached. "What is it Horace?" Darien said concerned at the sudden change in the boy's mood.
"This is my pinnacle" the boy wiped his eyes and looked up at Darien. "Thank you for your sacrifice and know that what comes is by the will of the Gods and the way they have chosen is easier on you than the alternative, if it does not seem so now." The boy turned and began walking up the road in the direction from which he came. Darien thought to himself for a moment. Regardless of his actions the boy was to die within a year if this truly was a pinnacle. What hope would he have of finding a soul mate? Darien shook his head, he could not remember a time the Gods had been merciful. To him their will always seemed overly cruel.
Darien knew the direction he was given would take him to the sparsely populated plains of Hokaren. There were only a few towns in that part of the kingdom and none close to where Darien was being sent. In three or four day's time he would be in the middle of no where. How could this possibly be a Pinnacle Prophecy meant to affect the whole world? Surely this boy would find himself with another prophecy as soon as Darien saved the wise man. "However, if it is a pinnacle prophecy Nog, this man must be important to the world. What I d
o not understand is if he is truly an important man why is he in the middle of no where." Nog made a snorting noise and continued forward at a steady pace. Nog was the greatest war horse Darien had ever seen, but he had never been a good conversationalist.
Darien continued to think about the prophecy. The Moon and Sun meeting must mean an eclipse, but the next eclipse of the Moon would not take place for at least another year according to the Order of Colondones, who studied such things. He had no idea when an eclipse of the Sun would come. The Colondones had no knowledge of the Sun, it was forbidden to study such things.
Darien could not imagine who the Pretender was. It was possible that the Pretender was an individual Darien would not want ruling anything. "I hate prophecy Nog. If I do not follow its dictates then a young boy will die and something disastrous enough to prevent an eclipse will happen. If I do see it through the Pretender's reign will end or never be. What if the Pretender is the greatest man ever to rule or the worst?" Nog merely snorted again.