Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Goodbye, Daire

Today was the day. I had to bid farewell to everything in Daire; everything I’d known for so long. I greeted Mama Rosanna, not knowing whether I would ever see her again. She sighed, “I heard this morning from Queen Draco’s messenger. I wished that you would not go, but I knew in my heart that you had to go. I know that the true one made you for a reason and I hope that you will fulfill that.” She handed me a stone engraved with the rune ᚣ, meaning mother.

“I will treasure this for my life. I held it up in the midday light and stared in awe”

She replied, “I had Nettle engrave it for a copper. I wanted you to have a speck of kindness in a world of hate to share with others, like a puddle that ripples of happiness.” I was overjoyed and hugged Mama tighter than ever. I couldn’t explain the feeling, the love of her overwhelmed all my worries for one second, and that second felt longer than 10 long minutes. I wished that I could be with her forever, but my time had come. Queen Draco had six mottled horses outside the farm. I darted to the fellowship and took one look at Daire, not knowing whether that would be my last. I said my farewells and clambered onto my horse. I sometimes rode Sophie on the farm when I helped Mama out with the seeding, but this hardly compared to riding with the fellowship. Our first point was the stragglers. They were a small group established when King Ethyl II’s daughter fled. They were very poor, so they built their capital from just a small inn, the straggler’s inn in fact. They were led by a duke and duchess from other groups, one from us and one from the Arcoils of Clodwydar. Lingonberry trotted awkwardly next to me and had a smile on his face; like he always does. In front of me was the queen, glistening majestically with ornate armour. I questioned why she would bring such obvious armour. You could see them shine from a mile away. I digressed as I felt the bitter wind on my face.

“So you managed to convince the queen to go. I must say, I’m impressed.” Darius whispered, though it felt like he was communicating via my eye. Dair’aul and Fraest were behind me and Argate was at the back. I turned and smiled at Dair’aul, thus causing my horse to jerk and almost toss me off.

Fraest chuckled, “First time eh? I remember when I first rode a horse. I like horses because they are like men: gentle if you respect them.”

I blushed awkwardly, “I rode the horses on the farm, but none like this.”

The scene around me changed. The huts in the town changed to verdant trees and shrubbery. We would reach the straggler’s inn in one and a half days, so we would need to set up camp in a forest clearing in a few hours. I sensed the book in my satchel, pulsating as we trotted on. I felt an obligation to see the gem again, like it was pulling me towards it. I ignored it and asked Queen Draco, “Who is the duke and duchess?”

“Currently, it is duchess Floigu and duke Ashake’æ. The duke Ashake’æ is also my cousin, son of Sadnid of Ayelthru.” she replied. I stayed silent for a while. It seemed that time passed much slower on the road, giving me the false suggestion that we were going faster. Suddenly, as if to end the silence, Argate noticed a figure, due to his skillful vision, in a shadowy cloak. We ducked into the side, not wanting to be caught on the narrow path. The figure had pitch black clothing that obscured their face and an ash coloured horse. I held my breath as I felt a low hum from Dair’aul. He seemed to be focusing deeply on the black shadower. I somehow felt Dair’aul’s telepathy radiating towards the book. The rider stopped as we all stood deathly still. He moved onward a few seconds later and I couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. The person looked like he could be a black heart spy, but we couldn’t be sure, atleast not before we heard Dair’aul whispher, cautious of the chance that the man could still hear us, “He spoke of a threat beyond their borders, which the king wouldn’t take seriously. The Arqê mountain range that is owned by the black hearts is full of monsters.” I shuddered at the thought of them.

Every so often, the village would host a story night, where the elder storyteller would tell plenty of stories in the storytree. It had woven blankets aplenty and at some point, the elder would tell us all to go to bed. He would then tell a relaxing tale to put us to sleep then tell the rest of the adults some more stories. One time I awoke and listened to the tale that the elder was telling. I both wanted to hear it and didn’t at the same time. Somehow the elder had a magic to bind words and refine them, make the feelings stick like honey on bread. He had such a way with words that made tales of monsters and goblin abominations feel more scary. In the same way, most stories of his had an ending where the monster was slain; a happy ending that filled your heart with relief. One such tale was the stone giants’ war. Four stone giants who resented both living beings and other giants fought and quarreled. Their cold stone hearts were powered by only the stark hatred possessed by their creator, Vaisail. The ancient elvish kingdom, crysthures ( now cyrthsae and uresha ) had a great emperor. He set a bountiful reward for whoever slain these giants. Most people in their right mind would not, but a local thane decided to do just that. He swung his gilded gold sword but the sword and the thane instantly shattered into a million pieces. Soon after, four more people attempted the challenge: a knight, a lord, an archer, a sorceress and a duke. They all succumbed to the attractive money prize and were similarly slain on the spot. Finally, a librarian volunteered, not to get money but to rid the kingdom from evil so the presence of the true one could continue. He slept the night before and saw a great message from Svaìlink, the æthyln and then the true one himself. He told him simply to stand completely still and hope, hope harder than ever. And he did just that the following day, he marched to the plains. Each giant threw rocks and aimed to punch him but miraculously missed. He kept this up for a while till sunrise, where each giant turned to stone, for their hatred of elves was more than their common sense. They slowly crumbled and formed the Arqê mountain range. Since then, that story stuck to me like sap to a tree. I loved the tale. Whether it is true or not, something abount fiction is very real. Even though they aren’t true, they can influence you more than anything real.

We marched onward, shaken by the sight of the man. I noticed the sun slowly slipping down and the sky growing red. We would have to find some sort of clearing to set camp. The queen gave a signal to speed up. We needed to find a clearing of some sort quickly, as travelling in the night would make us a weak target. I spotted a clearing a quarter of a mile away.“There’s a spot!” I exclaimed. We darted to the location - it was a small area near a cliff, which led down to more forest. The wareful woods had already made me feel greatly fatigued, so it felt good to sit down and rest. Lingonberry gently breathed in a certain manner on the heart. The twigs started smoking lightly, so he took a stick and poked at the hearth until the largest twig split open, revealing a softer wood. He picked this up and swiftly poured it on the hearth so as not to burn himself. He breathed some more until a spark came, which he blew on to increase it into a flame. I clapped happily with the last of my energy. Queen Draco announced, “We can do half-hourly night guards. I’ll guard first.”

“So how did you become a silvertongue?” I asked Argate, knowing of his elf mother.

He replied, “My mother was an uresha elf and my father was part of the bluejay controlled area. Love between an elf and man was strictly forbidden, especially under the tyrannical rule of the bluejay emperor, Strueth the warrior. He was truly brutal to any erelwith ( Half man ) and ordered my father and me both executed by the axe. We fled to the silvertongues but my father was weak and insisted on me leaving him behind. I managed to come here with the powerful elvish gift of far-sight and the man gift of nature and became quite skillful.”

I lay down by the campfire and felt my eyelids trying to force themselves closed. I decided to stay up, as my night watch was happening in 15 minutes. Lingonberry was like me, trying to keep up, so I walked over to him and laughed, “Are you tired too?” As I said this, I fekt the burning weight of the scar pulling me down, so I walked to Draco, who was gazing troubled at the star-filled sky. She asked me in an almost confrontive way, “Have you seen a green gem?” I felt compelled to say no, clutching the jewel deep in my palm. I cautiously questioned, “Why do you ask?”

She quickly replied, “I..I just wanted to see if you saw the jewel on the floor. I don’t want anyone to see us..”

I felt too tired to object and so she smiled, “I can cover your first night watch!”

My vision blurred as I dropped down to sleep.