The Return of the Fifth Stone

by Vincent Todarello

  “What did he say to you in his message?”

  “He sends you his love and vows to be reunited with you again in time.”

  “What about my mother?” I pressed him.

  “They moved her holding cell." Patreus' answer came with some hesitation. "Your father’s too. It has become increasingly difficult to make contact with them. They are heavily guarded and our spies can only gain access to so much. I do not know where your mother is at the moment.”

  I was uplifted at hearing the news of my father. Any feelings of despair evaporated in those moments. “Thank you,” I said.

  Patreus smiled at me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Goodnight.”

  “Do you mind if I stay up for a bit in the study?” I asked.

  “Do as you please, Valdren. This is your home now. The study is your room, and you will be an adult in my eyes, a peer. In time, perhaps, even more,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “That is a subject for my teachings and your training,” he replied.

  “When will we begin?”

  “Just as soon as it is safe for you here.”

  “Thank you again, Patreus. Thank you for taking me in.”

  “It is my duty, Valdren,” he humbly replied. “There is no need for thanks, and I am honored to have you. I only ask that you mind the windows and be aware of Hadut’s presence,” he warned.

  Patreus retired to his room and I to mine. I looked down at the book he had given me and thought about how my father had given me the journal last cycle. I wondered if it was ruined in the fire.

  I spent some time looking through the books that lined the walls in the study. Many of them were log books, keeping records of Patreus’ crop production and sales. Then I leafed through some loose parchment on the shelves and found several maps. They seemed to be drawn in duplicate, with one map depicting the current topography and the other showing the lands of old.

  There was a rough current drawing of Alapis, the floating continent, and a more detailed older drawing. Seeing them side by side illustrated how a large portion was sheared off from the earthquake that Patreus and Felgor spoke of. Maps of Aqos looked very different and seemed to show the sea floor in various areas from coordinates along Ahaareta’s coastlines. The seas were vast in comparison to Ahaareta. There were maps of Uhaaretu as well. The more recent map showed lava pools and darkened areas in many places, while the old map looked much like the maps of Ahaareta, with rivers, forests, and everything else one would find above ground. Uhaaretu had undergone the most drastic changes after the Firestone was taken.

  The Ahaareta maps showed the Great Divide on the current version and a fertile valley on the other. When I saw a mark representing Sanji, the city north of our farms, it was far to the south in relation to the map as a whole. Our farms were surrounded by woods, isolated from much of the realm. It was such a small area. A large portion of the land looked desolate to the north of the Great Divide, which seemed to cut the Tillian River flow from entering the valley. The south seemed to be in the only fertile area, although there was a wooded land far to the northwest called Hem’l Canopy, which sat along a sea cliff that stretched eastward, near markings for the Junction of the Four Realms and the Gates of Uhaaretu.

  I became excited in studying the maps; I wished to explore the world. There was so much I had not seen.

  CHAPTER 4

  I awoke the next morning just before midday. Deius and Peitus were working out in the field, and Lunaris and Fiama were collecting herbs and picking ripe fruit and vegetables from their vines. Patreus had gone to Sanji to sell some crops.

  Lunaris and Fiama returned to the cabin and began to clean the food they gathered, rinsing them in a wooden bucket of water they fetched earlier from Kypher Creek, south of the farm. I joined them in the kitchen. There were buckleberries, tambo root tubers, escali shoot leaves and pearapples. I snagged a buckleberry that Lunaris rinsed and popped it into my mouth.

  “These are perfectly ripened!” I exclaimed with a full mouth.

  “Sweet?” Lunaris asked.

  “Yes. Delicious.” I felt useless and somewhat burdensome. “May I help?” I offered.

  “Yes please.” Lunaris laughed. “We certainly could use an extra pair of hands.”

  “Oh good then,” Fiama responded. “I’ll go gather some more.”

  Fiama emptied the baskets onto the table and went back outside. Lunaris rinsed the buckleberries and placed them on a large clay tray to dry. I took to scrubbing the dirt from the tambos. Tambo root tubers grow underground, where hardened dirt splotches form on their outer skin. The blemishes need to be scrubbed off before cooking and eating, otherwise you could bite down on some sand and break a tooth. I was having trouble removing the blotches and Lunaris noticed.

  “Here, use this,” she said.

  She smiled and handed me a tool with wood on one side and toughened bristles woven through it on the other side; a crude brush of sorts. I began scrubbing the tubers and noticed a great difference in efficiency.

  “Well look at that!” I exclaimed.

  Lunaris giggled. “I guess you didn’t do much work around the kitchen with your mother at your cabin.”

  “No,” I said with lingering thoughts of my parents.

  “I’m sorry Valdren, I...”

  “No need.” I interrupted. “It’s alright.” I reassured her that there was no offense in bringing up my parents.

  Lunaris finished rinsing the buckleberries and began to join me in scrubbing the tubers with her own brush. We both reached for the same tambo and her hands grasped the top of mine; tightly at first, but then her grip softened. She slowly ran her fingers across my hand and picked up another.

  “Your skin. It feels tougher than usual.”

  “Yes. I don’t know what it is. It was itchy for days and now it is thicker, a little darker too, eh?” I replied. She noticed, taking a closer look at my roughened skin.

  For several days out under the barn my skin had itched. I thought it was just the dirt, but it had peeled and flaked a bit, and then, underneath, there was stronger, darker skin. I had nearly forgotten that it happened. At the time it was of no significance, but after learning about my background, I thought it was something of importance.

  “I know this must be difficult for you, living here with your parents gone and everything.” Lunaris looked softly into my eyes with concern. I nodded and listened on. “But I want you to know that you are welcome here and I’ll…” She paused and corrected herself. “...We’ll do anything to make you feel comfortable and at home.”

  “Thank you. It is much appreciated,” I replied.

  “Thank you,” she insisted, “for helping.”

  “You’re quite welcome. It’s the least I can do.”

  We dried all the scrubbed tambo roots with a cloth and placed them into a large clay bowl.

  “I’m going back outside to help my mother,” she said, with a half smile bending her lips as she looked back over her shoulder and walked toward the door. “Feel free to eat some fruit.” I snagged a pearapple and chomped away.

  That was the routine for the next several days around the cabin. Sometimes Peitus would go to town with Patreus, and other days Patreus would stay on the farm and work in the field or train Peitus with Deius looking on, eagerly watching his advanced training.

  Naturally, I didn’t spend much time with Deius and Peitus, since they were outdoors for most of the day and I was to remain inside. Lunaris and I became close, and I grew fond of her. Fiama was trying to teach her the womanly ways, just as my father was teaching me about manhood before he was arrested. At night we all listened to more stories of the ancients and various battles. Then one night Patreus came home with news that he shared during supper.

  “Well, Valdren, Hadut has abandoned his scouting post; his camp is empty. It is now safe for you here,” he announced.

  “Finally! Now can I begin my training?” Deius whined.

  “Y
es, Deius, now I can teach you, both.” Patreus fixed his eyes upon me.

  Deius was frustrated, anxious to learn the skills Patreus had been teaching Peitus for the past two cycles, namely, hand to hand combat and sword fighting. Patreus was waiting for Hadut to leave so that he could train Deius and me simultaneously, without fear of being seen.

  “Can I learn too?” asked Lunaris.

  “If it’s okay with your mother,” Patreus deferred after a pause.

  Lunaris looked to Fiama for her answer. “Sure, I don’t mind,” she said, "just remember your lady courtesies."

  “Good! Now’s my chance to beat up on you two brats,” Lunaris joked and Fiama rolled her eyes with a smile. It seemed Lunaris had not shaken her tom-boy bug.

  “A healthy chance of that!” Deius said sarcastically.

  “Watch it Deius, I’ve been teaching her in secret you know,” Peitus teased. “She can whip your skinny little hide any day!” Peitus and Lunaris laughed heartily.

  “We’ll see about that soon enough,” Deius retorted, as he playfully flicked Lunaris’ ear, causing her to wince.

  It certainly was good news. I was safe. I had been longing to go outdoors and breathe in the fresh air. The season was mild and the weather was too nice to be indoors all day long.

  #

  I slipped silently into the cool night through the cabin window. Wrapped in a dark cloak I imagined I was Felgor and mimicked his movements, gliding from tree to shrub. At this point, caution had become a way of life and habit of which I would likely not be rid. It was not a bad thing, I thought, to be cautious, especially since my very existence was to be kept secret from seemingly everyone that I did not already know. Besides, I longed to practice moving with stealth, as Felgor had, even if it was safe for me to wander about the farms.

  I moved quietly in the shadows, close to the tree line but away from the dried leaves that covered the ground and would make a noisy crunch underfoot. I made short, swift and smooth movements between stacks of hay straw and lines of buckleberry bushes until I reached my parents’ farm. My vision adjusted and I could see their cabin in ruins. I approached it with sadness, no longer trying to conceal myself in stealth.

  The flooring was brittle and weak but the fire had not burned through to reveal my tunnels. I tip-toed around debris, broken furniture, burned walls and stale ash. Tears welled up in my eyes at seeing the ruin of my parents’ labors up close. I entered their bedroom, where I sat for some time, mulling over memories and times I spent with them. They were like still images in my head, painted portraits with sounds, laughter, and feelings remembered from the specific moment. The time my mother came home late in the night, surprising my father and me with gifts from Sanji. The time my father taught me to play stones, a simple, yet mind bending strategy game. We played game after game, long into the night.

  Nothing was salvageable in their room, so I moved slowly into mine. The bedding was reduced to ash and cinders, all awash and weathered away from a cycle of being exposed to the elements. I cleared some debris near the floorboard where I kept my journal. I lifted the plank and there it was; right where I left it, only more weathered than when I saw it last. I skimmed the pages in the light of the moons. There were only two entries; the letter to my father, written before I knew he was arrested, and a sketch of the calming figure from my dream the night I learned my father was arrested.

  As I reflected back on the events recorded in my journal, I thought more about the dream I had. The winged figure was so clear in my head, unlike the way other things seemed in dreams. And her voice; it was like I really experienced the sound and did not just dream it. I recalled it as if it happened recently and not an entire cycle past. The calming effect was real as well, not just the result of me putting the anguish aside. I had truly perceived and contacted this being, whatever she was, on some level.

  The drawing was incomplete. With the memory of her still as clear as daylight in my mind, I completed the sketch upon returning to Patreus’ study. The being occupied my mind for the rest of the night. I was somehow re-experiencing the event with more clarity. I felt compelled, directed even, by this mysterious being, to explore her further. So the next day I approached Patreus with my journal.

  “What do you have there, Valdren?” he inquired.

  “It’s a journal my father gave me last cycle. I recovered it from the remains of my cabin,” I explained.

  “Seems to be in decent shape, considering,” he observed.

  “Yes.” My brow wrinkled in thought and concern washed over my face.

  “What is it, my boy?” He noticed my weariness.

  “After my father was arrested, I had a dream, though it feels more like I was visited.”

  “Visited?” He pondered the idea as he packed and lit a pipe full of hay leaf tobacco.

  “Yes. A figure appeared to me and soothed my worries about my father. It was as if it spoke to me, but I heard no words, only a soothing musical sound,” I explained.

  “You say you dreamed this?” We sat down, Patreus drawn in by my story.

  “Yes, well, it’s quite difficult to explain. It felt like I really encountered her, but in a dream.”

  “Her? It was a woman?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “It sounds as if you were visited astrally,” he said plainly.

  “Astrally?” I asked.

  “Remotely, on a different level of consciousness. Some of the Lapisians are said to possess this ability, almost telepathic, in a sense. Perhaps you do have some of your mother’s Lapisian traits,” he explained. “Could the figure have been your mother?”

  “No. It was not my mother.” I opened my journal and showed him the drawing of the figure that visited me. “This is a sketch of the figure I encountered.”

  Patreus studied it for a moment. “By the king, I think, I could be wrong, but this is remarkably similar to the ancient depictions of Hemela!” he exclaimed.

  “Hemela. Is that a Divinae?” I asked, recalling all the names Felgor, Patreus and I spoke about.

  “Yes, Valdren. Hemela of the Air; the guardian of the Airstone of Alapis! Describe your encounter to me again, with as much detail as you can.”

  As I described the vision to Patreus, his eyes widened with excitement and a distant, glossy focus washed over him. He seemed to look through me as he puffed away furiously on his pipe, billowing clouds of thick, sweet smelling smoke into the air all around us. The scent tickled my nose of clovecherries.

  “She glowed with a bright white radiance that was nearly colorless, but her form was still visible and seemed tangible. She had white feathered wings, adorned with elegant gray patterns along the edges and downward from their joints, just like the picture,” I explained.

  “Go on,” he pressed, interested to hear more.

  “She was tall and slender, and her countenance was elegant, like that of my mother. Lapisian I presume. Her voice was harmonic; it sounded like there was more than just one voice, and it was soothing. It was not words, but, rather, music. It was a real sound and not a dreamed sound. Perhaps it could even be reproduced on the harp strings and drone flutes by minstrels with the musical gift,” I finished.

  “Remarkable,” he commented in amazement, as a wide ring of smoke floated upward from the bowl of his pipe. “We must journey north as soon as possible.” He quickly stood up, waving his hands to clear away the thick fog that hung in the air. “To the temple at Al’Adnim. There I can verify this with the ancient documents and confer with the scholars. This may be of significance to the prophecy,” he said, as he tapped the smoldering remains of his hay leaf out into a small clay tray.

  “What prophecy?” I asked.

  “The return of the four Divinae. The Unity. You, Valdren. Your prophecy!”

  My face was frozen with puzzlement. All of my questions were answered by statements that created more questions.

  Patreus moaned and slumped his shoulders as he looked upon me. “What they say is true. One unders
tands nothing until he knows everything,” he uttered to himself, as if quoting some wise and ancient philosopher. “I will explain, Valdren. I know you must be frustrated, but first we must gather the others and make preparations for a long journey. We must make haste!”

  #

  Patreus gathered us all into the sitting room. “We must prepare for a long journey to the north,” he started.

  “But what about our training?” Deius complained.

  “I will train you along the way. It will take many days to reach the temple at Al’Adnim. Normally I would make this journey alone or with only Valdren, but since Di’Veridae is nearly upon us, I thought this would be a good trip for all of us to embark on, as Di’Veridae brings with it a large festival at the grounds of Al’Adnim, beneath the Hem’l Canopy. A wondrous day it will be indeed. And you’ll learn much of what I have to teach you,” Patreus explained with joy.

  “What is Di’Veridae?” Lunaris asked.

  “It is a celebration. A holiday for the pure,” Peitus added.

  “I will explain more along the way, but now we have much to do and little time to do it,” Patreus urged.

  “Why must we go?” asked Deius.

  “Valdren had a vision of Hemela of the Air in a dream. I need to verify it with the scholars at Al’Adnim and document it in the records, and, as I said, the festival of Di’Veridae draws near, which I will explain in more detail along the way.”

  “Great. We’re chasing a silly dream that Valdren had,” whined Deius.

  “Shut it, you nitwit!” Peitus snapped, giving Deius a healthy shove.

  “Deius. ‘He doesn’t complain or cry, he doesn’t beg or lie.’” Patreus uttered the line my father had often used. “Don’t question my judgment here,” he continued, “I forgive you because you do not know why this is of such great importance, but I urge you to put whatever desires you have aside for the time being, understood?”

  Deius reluctantly obeyed. “Yes father.”

  “Now, gather food and water rations for our travels, and ready the boat. We must hurry if we are to leave before nightfall,” Patreus directed.