by Ryan Sova
Upon reaching Cragword, their march did not end. Atonick did not want the prisoner to be kept near any people. Therefore, the march was continued on through the town and over the bridge that spanned the Celsprine Lake. Once the prisoner cart was safely on the far side of the bridge, Captain Ollendar assigned prisoner guard duty for the night, then dismissed the formation to enjoy the town. The plan was to stay in Cragword for at least two to three full days so that both the men and the animals could recuperate from their long journey before setting out again on another march for the next town on their list, which was Avelar.
Fargh was in a particularly grumpy mood tonight. He had been selected as one of the five soldiers on guard duty and as such, would not be getting a wink of sleep. Eliak had offered to bring him some food from one of the inns, but Fargh told him that it would not be necessary. He explained to Eliak that his comrades would be bringing all of the guards some food from the town and that no one will be going hungry.
“You and Nephal should go enjoy yourselves tonight. Better to let me sulk in peace than have me bring down your spirits too,” Fargh said just before they parted.
Nephal and Eliak both made their way to the town. Neither of them were in the mood that night to go exploring. They were both worn out from their long journey from Homestead, so they found their way to the nearest inn, ordered a warm meal, and rented their rooms for the night. After their meals were served, they both ate their food in near silence then wasted no time in retiring to their rooms.
On the way to his room, Nephal spotted Atonick across the hallway checking into his room for the night. They both waved and wished each other a good night before retiring to their separate rooms.
Upon entering his room, Nephal set his bags from the trip on the floor and crawled into bed for the night. While lying in bed, his thoughts turned back to his wife Debra. I wonder what her day was like today, he asked himself? How is she coping with my departure? Is she crying herself to sleep right now? How are the new farm hands? Are they taking good care of her and are they managing the farm for us in my absence? How is my baby doing? Is he or she still healthy?
Nephal laid awake in bed asking himself these questions. He had only been gone for a day and he already missed his wife terribly. After several minutes of quiet reflection, he finally fell asleep for the night.
Nephal woke up just as the sun started rising. All of the years of working on the farm had trained his body to rise at the first light of day. He immediately put on a new set of clothes and made his way to Atonick’s room. Some of the things Nephal heard from Atonick and Captain Ollendar yesterday during their long march had left some questions with him. Nephal saw this moment as the perfect opportunity to be able to ask Atonick these questions in private. Nephal knocked on Atonick’s door and, after a few minutes, he heard the door unlock and creak open.
“What is it Nephal,” Atonick said through the door opening.
Atonick was still very sleepy as he answered the door and had clearly just been awoken from a deep sleep. He wore a long blue robe that was loosely draped over his body. The top of the robe was open and exposed his bare chest. He appeared to be completely naked underneath this robe.
Nephal answered, “I am sorry to have awoken you. I just had some questions that I wanted to ask you in private, if you don’t mind.”
“You’re fine Nephal. I needed to get up anyway. Why don’t you come on in,” Atonick said as he opened the door completely to Nephal and stepped aside, inviting him in.
Once Nephal had entered the room, Atonick closed the door behind him. “So what can I do for you?” Atonick asked.
“You assured me yesterday during the march that once the great wall in the Borderlands is finished we should all be safe, that my family who only live about two-hundred miles away from the Borderlands should be safe,” Nephal said.
“You're right, I said that,” Atonick answered.
Nephal paused a moment, gathering his thoughts then continued, “When I first met Eliak’s brother Fargh, he told me that the bulk of the forces you have out there are completely absorbed in helping the builders construct this wall with only a small percentage each day that are actually employed in patrolling our borders. This was a fact that was confirmed to me yesterday when I asked Captain Ollendar that same very question. Fargh also told me that we are not even sending out any scouts. So if an enemy actually does attack us, they will catch our entire army completely off guard. This suggests to me that we are not building this wall out of the fear of attack from an enemy nation, but we are building it for some other reason. Perhaps it even has something to do with the prisoner we have now in our custody.”
Atonick smiled and then answered, “You are very observant and intelligent Nephal, and you are completely right. But I can't say more to you than this. What we are discussing right now are military secrets and I can't divulge them to you further without permission from the king.”
Nephal responded, “I understand, but perhaps there is something that you can answer for me. Let's just assume for a moment that the reason that we are building this wall is because of people like our strange prisoner. How then are we going to keep them out with this wall? I know that we have the Gallatin Mountains that cover our northern borders and the Blackrock Mountains that cover our eastern borders, and I know that these mountains are impassable for any army to cross. But for one person or even a small group of people with the right skills and equipment, crossing the mountains is not an impossible task. There is no way that you are going to be able to effectively patrol thousands of miles of mountain lands to the north and thousands of miles of mountain lands to the east even if you employ every man woman and child in the kingdom.”
Atonick answered, “Yes you are right, and what you are describing is a problem the kingdom has faced for centuries. Even centuries before the idea was conceived to build this wall, we have faced problems with spys from foreign lands who would scale the mountains and sneak into our kingdom undetected, but you need not worry about that problem anymore. Over the last ten years, we have been working on creating an army of scouts that can patrol all of our mountain ranges as well as all of our shorelines.”
“How?” Nephal asked, completely bewildered by Atonick’s statement.
Atonick answered, “Our army is not an army of men, it is an army of birds, specifically eagles. We have stations that cover our nation's borders on all sides and we use them to constantly patrol our borders. Through the use of magic, we have accelerated their growth rate and now their numbers range over a billion strong. Trust me when I tell you, NOTHING is going to enter our lands without us knowing about it.”
Nephal thought about Atonick’s answer for a moment and then asked, “How can you get information from a bird? Can you sorcerors speak with them somehow?”
Atonick answered, “Yes, we can. But not only that, we can control them too.”
“Speaking of magic, I have a couple of questions. Our nation has two vast and virtually impassable mountain ranges. The Gallatin Mountains to the north and the Blackrock Mountains to the east. These mountain ranges just happen to span our entire border on the north, blocking land access to our former enemy the Yessitic Empire. They also just happen to span our entire border on the east, blocking land access to our former enemy the Vestillian Empire. There is only a small gap between these two mountain ranges that is about two hundred miles wide and we refer to this gap as the Borderlands. So please forgive me for being skeptical, but that just sounds a little bit too convenient,” Nephal asked.
Atonick answered, “The mountains are not natural. The Council of the Magi formed these mountains several centuries ago.”
Nephal continued, “So if you can create mountains and control an army of birds, why then do you need soldiers and builders to make this wall?”
Atonick answered, “Because forming mountains and controlling birds takes energy, concentration, and time. Something as massive as the mountain ranges that you are referring to took vas
t amounts of energy and left the sorcerors who performed this magic bedridden for days after each set of mountains that they formed. This is why it took the entire Council of the Magi several decades to complete these mountain ranges and the only reason that they were able to complete the task this fast is because nature had already started the job for them. These mountain ranges already naturally existed beforehand, but on a much smaller scale, the council just expanded on what was already there. We don’t use our magic on this wall because it is more important that we conserve our energy until we actually need it. As you pointed out Nephal, the army of soldiers is not prepared for an attack. But we have another army at the Borderlands, an army of sorcerers, and I can assure you that they are prepared for the dangers that we might face out there.”
“So how long would it take for the sorcerers to build this wall with magic?” Nephal asked.
Atonick answered, “Actually, longer than you would think. When you look at a mountain, you marvel at the size and majesty of it. But when you think of the fact that all it takes to make one is to push a large column of rock through the Earth’s crust, it’s actually a pretty simple task. The only thing that is hard about making one is in creating the force necessary to move the rock. The problem we face in the Borderlands is that king Noah doesn't want an impassable rock formation, he wants a wall with a gate that can let people in and out at our own discretion. Such a task can’t be done with magic alone so we would still need the builders and soldiers anyway. Sure, we could help speed it along slightly using our magic, but in reality, even with our help the job would still take almost as long.”
Nephal responded, “Thank you Atonick. What you say really makes sense and explains a lot.”
Atonick answered, “You're welcome. When we get to Bragsdale, hopefully, I will be able to share everything with you. But for now, you will have to trust me that we are doing everything we can to keep your family and all the people of the kingdom safe.”
Nephal responded, “Well, I am not going to take any more of your time. I appreciate you taking this time to set my mind at ease.”
Nephal started to turn and exit the room when something caught his eye. It was a globe of Earth that had been set on top of an end table by Atonick’s bed. Nephal walked over to the globe and examined it.
As Nephal approached the globe Atonick commented, “You probably haven't seen one of those before have you. Very fascinating thing, to see what our world looks like.”
Nephal started closely examining the globe and then answered, “No you're right, I haven't ever seen one before, but somehow it looks very familiar.”
Nephal could not shake the feeling that he had seen this type of image before, but could not remember where. He had no doubt that he had never seen a globe before today, but still, he could not shake this strange overwhelming feeling. As he continued to examine the globe, something was wrong. Finally, after putting a great deal of thought into it, he turned to address Atonick.
Nephal was very unsure of himself as he spoke, “I don’t understand how I know this, but this is not what Earth is supposed to look like.”
CHAPTER 7
Garry was angry. He had now been laying in his bed brooding over this latest dream for several minutes now. Just when everything was starting to finally make sense. My dreams have to come and prove to me that it’s all just stupid nonsense, he thought to himself angrily.
Garry continued brooding in his mind. This is where I draw the line. I was almost ready to accept Sorcerors, strange creepy people, and some ancient world as fact, but not now. Not if this crazy shit is going to be happening on some foreign world. There is no way that something this crazy and fucked up could possibly be real!!!
Garry started going about the tasks of the day. He would start his day by preparing himself breakfast. As he entered the kitchen, he was greeted again by the case file for the two drowning victims from last week. Why can't I dream about something simple like this, he wondered? Garry didn’t necessarily enjoy dreams like this, but at least they make sense.
After eating his breakfast, Garry started contemplating whether or not he was ready to tell Detective Grant what he knew. As he thought about it, it suddenly became very clear as to what he should say. Garry wasted no time. He picked up the phone and dialed Detective Grant’s number.
Detective Grant’s voice came over the phone. “Good morning Garry. I was wondering when we were going to be hearing from you. Have you learned anything yet?”
Garry answered, “I am sorry Detective Grant. I have not had any dreams about the case and I probably won't either anytime in the future. My dreams aren’t about anything important anymore.”
Detective Grant responded, “I was wondering if you were going to say that. So, how has life on the farm been lately.”
Garry answered, “My dreams have been getting pretty crazy lately and I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Detective Grant responded, “That’s okay Garry. If you don’t want to talk about it, I am not going to pressure you.”
Garry continued, “Sometimes, I just wish that I could go back to the dreams that I used to get, the dreams that actually meant something and could help people.”
Detective Grant responded, “Don’t say that Garry. You don’t want that, really you don’t. Those dreams were a never-ending nightmare for you and I could see the toll they took on you. Hell, we could all see it. But you made the best of it Garry and you managed to save countless lives and helped us take a lot of bad people off the streets. You should be proud of yourself! You did more than most detectives can do in their entire career. Think about that for a moment! So now, it is finally time for you to retire. Don’t you see that? Your dreams are gone now Garry, hopefully for good. Don’t wish them back. You owe it to yourself to finally start enjoying life.”
Garry had a thousand things going through his head that were in response to this, but none of them were things that he was willing to share with Detective Grant.
Garry instead gave a quick and polite response of, “You are probably right. Thank you for the advice.”
Detective Grant continued, “Now let me give you another piece of advice Garry. Stop trying to make sense of your dreams. You are having normal dreams now. You hear me, NORMAL DREAMS! Dreams are not supposed to make sense. Dreams are strange, confusing, and most importantly, THEY'RE NOT REAL! So stop worrying about them and enjoy not having to face murderers, rapists, and psychopaths every night in your dreams.”
Garry responded, “You have a point, Detective Grant. Thanks again.”
“Anytime Garry. Goodbye.” And with that, the phone hung up.
After his phone call, Garry tried to go about his day. As today was Sunday, a day prior to the beginning of his work week, Garry was going to have to find some way to occupy his time for the rest of the day. He tried things ranging from watching TV, doing things on his computer, looking at his childhood pictures, and he even considered buying a ticket for a showing this afternoon at the Virginia Stage Company @ The Wells Theater.
As the day progressed though, Garry’s mind kept on going back to the strange Earth that was portrayed in the globe from his dream last night. As Garry was studying this image in his head, a sudden realization came to him.
“No, it can’t be,” Garry said out loud.
Garry wanted to dismiss this new theory that he had just concocted and go back to believing that these dreams were all just some stupid nonsense, but his curiosity had now been sparked and he just had to know if this new theory could possibly be true. Garry turned on his computer, waited for it to boot up, and then double-clicked on the Google Chrome icon. On the search bar, he typed: Were the landmasses of the Earth ever connected?
The first result that appeared was labeled: Pangaea – Earthologist. Garry read the passage just below this title without clicking the link.
This passage stated; From as early as 335 million years ago until 175 million years ago, all of the continents on Earth wer
e merged together into one giant supercontinent named Pangaea.
Author note:
For legal purposes, the websites depicted in this segment have been fictionalized.
As Garry started reading this passage, his curiosity grew ten-fold. 175 to 335 million years ago. Could I possibly be dreaming about something this ancient, Garry wondered. Although Garry was certainly curious, he had still not been fully convinced that this supercontinent was what he had witnessed on a world globe in his dream last night. As Garry had been studying this image over and over in his head all morning, he had started to notice that all of today’s continents might actually fit into this giant land mass, as if they were all part of a giant puzzle.
What Garry had viewed on his computer thus far was not enough proof yet, though. Garry needed to know more. He needed to know if this image from his dreams could actually be real. He looked at the next result which was labeled: Facts about Pangaea – Geography of the Past. This link looks promising, Garry thought. He clicked on this link and waited for a second or two for the web page to load. When it loaded, Garry could not believe his eyes. This is it! This is exactly the same as what I saw last night, Garry said to himself as he marveled in wonder!
All of Garry’s former plans for the day were quickly dismissed. He had something far more interesting now to devote his time to. Garry spent hours learning everything that he could about this supercontinent named Pangaea. In the course of Garry’s research, he learned a great deal that he found very fascinating. Apparently, there is a lot of geological evidence that suggests that the former union of the world continents actually occurred. This ranged from today's continents all fitting together perfectly, coal deposits from Pennsylvania that just happen to match up with many of the European countries, and fossil evidence. Upon learning all of this, Garry reflected, This means that I am actually dreaming about a real person, someone who lived on this Earth about 250 million years ago.