The Children of Calm (13 page)

Caenar handed the Oathbinder to Faltir. Faltir held it in the same way as Caenar had and made his oath: “I swear that the words that pass between us here in this room tonight shall not be repeated to any other person.” Rylek saw his mom appear in the crystal, and then he and his sister. When they were gone, Faltir handed it to Rylek.

Rylek grasped the corners tightly and suddenly wondered what would show in the crystal. “I swear that nothing we discuss here tonight will leave the confidence of the three of us,” he said. He felt a tingling sensation run up his spine and the back of his head. Then he watched as Selenor appeared in the crystal. Faltir made a little noise in his throat and Rylek felt embarrassed. But as his face was reddening, Selenor was gone and the crystal returned to being clear. He handed the Oathbinder to Caenar, glad to be rid of its touch.

Caenar looked at him earnestly. “My son,” he said, “Selenor’s life depends on your discretion.”

Faltir placed his hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “There is nothing to fear, Rylek,” he said. “I know you will not break your oath. So of course you should know Selenor will be completely safe.”

“Yes, yes, of course she will be,” Caenar said as he walked around to the back of the desk. “Now, both of you pull up the chairs to the desk. We have much to discuss, and the night is already quickly slipping away.

“Rylek, do you remember the other day when I told you there are certain things only you are privileged to know?”

“Yes sir, of course I remember,” Rylek said, doing his best to silence the growing buzzing in his mind.

Caenar nodded. “What your father and I have to discuss with you is most certainly for privileged ears only. And as you will soon see, the fate of all Calabranda, and possibly Mira, is hanging most delicately on what we are about to tell you, and how you choose to act upon it. I expect you shall not at all be happy with what you hear. But such is Truth at times.

“Your father and I are apparently all who remain as protectors of this Truth here in our beloved Calm. Those who had previously joined us in our ambitious pursuit have either passed on into eternity or have inexplicably left us.” He glanced quickly at Faltir before he continued. “These days are dire; not much time remains before the wheels of prophecy carry us into our appointed fates. And so, my son, I welcome you as the newest and final member of our order: The Whispered Wheel.” He then opened the little jar labeled with Retessa’s name and dropped the two beads in his hand. “This will not hurt,” Caenar said. “But it may feel a little unusual.”

Involuntarily the dread in Rylek’s stomach turned into an unexplainable tumultuous horror. He listened and watched as Caenar and his father began to re-spin history, and a mixed burden of confusion, anger, sorrow, and shame settled crushingly on his shoulders.

The Finding

Chapter Seven:

The Sea and All It Contains

The room was ominously dark
. Two torches burned pathetically by what appeared to be an open doorway. In the dim light the walls looked to be roughly carved out of rock, a dull charcoal black that somehow swallowed what little light the torches shone. Above the doorway there glowed in a sickly green-yellow a figure consisting of several long and thin triangles. Nine shadowy figures stood in the room: four against a wall, four by the doorway, and one in the middle of the floor.

Rylek looked behind his back and could see nothing. It was as though what light existed were being sucked directly from his eyes and absorbed into a pit of devouring blackness. Rather than see it, he could sense by the feel and sound of the air that it was a large chasm. From its unknowable depths came a great thunderous whistle, and he was surprised to find he had to fight the temptation to throw himself into it.

Turning back around, he became aware of the sour smells of sulfur, dampness, and moldy rock. Two of the shadowy figures against the wall began hissing, and a pale yellow vapor rose out of them; the third and fourth stood silently, seemingly stooping. Two of the figures by the doorway swayed separately in the torch light, and from within Rylek thought he could faintly see ghastly feminine faces beckoning to him with hollow black eyes. The other two by the door were tall and stood behind the swaying figures. The ninth figure approached him slowly and menacingly; suddenly a blue firebrand appeared by its side, momentarily blinding him. By the time his eyes had adjusted, the shadow was upon him, firebrand lifted high into the air. He cowered, covering his head with his arms.

“How could I have possibly told you?” he found himself pleading with the shadow. “What words could I have found?”

The firebrand responded by leaping higher into the air, laying parallel to the ground, and emitting a piercing cry that drove him to cover his ears in pain. Blue electrical currents pulsated from the blade, illuminating the room with an evil light that did not brighten things but somehow made them darker; yet it still managed to burn his eyes. He naturally found himself stepping backwards towards the chasm of nothing, where a voice seemed to be calling to him:

Return! Return to the womb!

I shall grant you sweet repose

Return to that from which you came:

The dark sweet bosom of eternal slumber

Suddenly one of the currents struck Rylek directly in the chest, and he was thrown backwards into the chasm. For a brief moment, mid-flight through the air, he thought it odd that the blue current had caused him no physical pain. As he fell, the whistling sound embraced him like a thin cold blanket; the rushing air was a cushioning pillow. His head felt light and his stomach was sick as the earth pulled him faster and faster to his end. The feeling of sudden inevitability induced in him a wild panic. As if knowing his thoughts, the bodiless voice sounded again most calmly and soothingly, enveloping him from all around as he sped faster and faster:

Close your eyes, my child

Sleep in my arms now and always

Surrendering to his fate, he obeyed the voice and closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. Serenity was only a moment away…

***

With a start, Rylek sat up. His heart was racing, his breathing was labored, and he found himself layered with a cold sweat. The blood rushed to his head as he looked quickly around to get his bearings. A smoldering campfire smoked directly in front of him. Beside him three people were sleeping covered in blankets. Recognition finally dawned on him as his memory kindled itself in his mind. He was a day’s journey north of Calm, alongside Tresten, Selenor, and Lana. They had set out early that morning, amid much pomp from Elder Caenar and the rest of the village, and camped here in an open field just outside a mountain forest. The light of Nevarra shone brightly above, washing everything into a plethora of grays and blacks. All was quiet and still, save the pounding of his heart in his ears. He closed his eyes and forced himself to focus on breathing, hoping he could calm himself.

After a couple of minutes he stood up and left the circle of camp. Careful not to wake the others, he ventured off a bit and smelled a pleasing floral aroma. Following his nose, he found a bed of moonkisses on the border of the forest. The large white tubular flowers were blooming in their nightly ritual. Their scent seemed to clear and settle his mind, and the remaining fragments of fear and panic from his nightmare were erased. Then his ears heard running water, and a short walk into the forest led him to a small swift-flowing stream. He stooped down and splashed its water on his face, then took several long drinks from his hands. The fragrance of the moonkisses was still upon the air, and Rylek allowed this serenity to settle upon him. The remnants of the horrifying dream had been completely removed from his mind.

As he made himself comfortable by the streambed, his thoughts wandered back to the events of the morning. They seemed to be a bit of a blur – so much had happened in such a short space of time that he found it difficult to piece things together. Caenar had, of course, given a lengthy grandiose speech. Rylek honestly could not remember much of it. He had been too distracted with the excitement of going on this adventure. But a couple of lines in particular stuck in his head:
In discovering The Outside,
Caenar had said
, each shall discover the others and himself. In finding the sea, they shall find themselves wholly committed to each other and to our blessed village.
Rylek admitted to himself he could not understand how this ideology fit together with all that his father and Caenar had told him on that life-shattering night. His farewell embrace with his father had been awkward at best. He did not want to believe his mother knew what he now knew, so he embraced her wholeheartedly. Secretly he envied the ignorance of his sister as she was hugged goodbye, and of Selenor and Tresten as Penephoni had squeezed them with tears in her eyes. All he had wanted was to leave Calm as quickly as possible.

Now he was alone with his thoughts. The stream burbled calmly and cheerfully in front of him. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, allowing the fragrance of the moonkisses to wash over his mind. Slowly his muscles relaxed after having tensed again as he was thinking upon these things. Above the canopy of trees the stars shone brightly and crisply. All was peaceful around him, and he allowed it to pervade his being.

Some time later, satisfyingly refreshed and feeling drowsy again, he walked back to the camp and lay down under his blankets. Selenor’s face was turned towards his, her lips slightly parted as she slept. Nevarra’s light shone softly upon her hair, giving it a most luminous quality that teased Rylek. His fingers ached to run through her hair, to tenderly caress the side of her head. His heart warmed and his head felt giddy as he watched her breathe slowly and steadily. All was well and as it should have been.

It was not long before he too was sound asleep, dreaming of much happier scenes. The memory of the nightmare that had awoken him would not return for quite some time.

***

The morning dawned clear and brisk. After a short breakfast supplied from their packs, they set off again, ever to the north. Their way was aided by an old map Caenar had loaned them. Apparently there were no towns or villages between Calm and the coast; therefore there were no true roads or paths. Once they had left the northern rim of Calm Valley, they had to rely on place markers that were either etched on the map or told to them by Caenar. So they were constantly on the lookout for certain streams, waterfalls, large boulders, solitary trees, and things of the sort. Thankfully Caenar had been very thorough with his directions. Rylek suspected he was familiar on a personal level with the trip to the sea.

As they walked along the rolling hillside leading to another pass through the mountains, Rylek found himself thinking back upon the last several days. It had been just over a week since New Year, and ever since that unexpected night with his father and Caenar he felt very shy and ashamed around everybody. It proved difficult for him to look anyone in the eye. He did his best to hide it from the others, but he felt naked to them and was surprised no one mentioned anything. Perhaps he was better at fooling people than he had previously thought.

He had looked for ways to occupy his remaining time in Calm with busy work to keep his mind from wandering too much. But despite all his efforts, he was unable to shake the memory of the so-called privileged information from overwhelming his thoughts. The world seemed greyer and duller for what he knew - the unnamable luster was tarnished. On one hand The Finding seemed like a great diversion to get him away from Calm in order to sort things through and know how to act upon his new knowledge. But on the other hand, he was not alone and therefore had to spend time feigning interest in what seemed to him trivial things that interested the others. Often the girls would stop to admire a field of wild flowers or butterflies flitting about; likewise Tresten would want Rylek to observe a high-flying hawk or the peculiar shapes of billowy clouds. Rylek wondered how long it would be before these things seemed naturally fulfilling again.

Dark clouds had moved in by mid-afternoon, bringing a light but steady mist. The four found an outcropping that offered them shelter, and they huddled close to stay dry. Lana and Selenor were so giddy over their journey that nothing seemed to dampen their spirits. They talked and laughed together about the prospects of finding the sea, and what expectations they had of it.

“I imagine it must be the most romantic place in all the world at night,” Lana said. “So isolated and lonely, with moonlight reflecting off the water - nothing but stars stretching from horizon to horizon - the sound of the waves breaking on the beach - I cannot wait to get there!”

Tresten scoffed. “Why do girls always have to make things so airy and frilly and…well, so girly? Can’t things be appreciated for the sake of their own merits alone rather than overloading them with whimsical fancy? You need to be like us guys. Rylek and I certainly don’t waste our time dreaming up empty notions…”

“Don’t get me involved in this,” Rylek interrupted.

“Lana, you don’t even have a boyfriend,” Tresten continued, “so how in the world do you plan on finding out whether the sea is so romantic or not?”

“I don’t need one to know whether something is romantic,” she said. “It doesn’t take any kind of intelligence to know when the setting is right.” She then batted her eyelashes at him. “But you know, Tresten, I was thinking that maybe you would like to help me figure it out,” she said in a low husky voice.

Selenor erupted into a fit of giggles. Rylek cracked a smile and shook his head. Tresten almost rolled his eyes, but then thought better of it and looked at Lana.

“Well,” he said, “they do call this The Finding. Maybe we should do some of our own finding, just like Caenar said: we can discover each other.” He drew himself closer to her, then put his arms around her.

Selenor’s jaw dropped as she continued laughing.

“They do say the rain is awfully romantic,” he continued in a soft deep voice. “We can find out right now. Why don’t we keep each other warm and dry for awhile?”

Rylek lost his control and began to laugh. Apparently Lana was through with the charade as she pushed Tresten away. Tresten smiled, knowing he had gotten the better of her little joke. Selenor still seemed to be in shock. As he stopped laughing, Rylek fought down the burning desire to have the courage to do the same to Selenor. He knew Lana and Tresten were just playing, but he did not think he could conceal his true feelings for Selenor if he dared to put his arms around her and talk about “being romantic” with her. He sighed and grew quiet.

Lana misinterpreted the sigh and turned on him. “What are you so satisfied about?” she asked, obviously annoyed she had been beaten at her own game.

Rylek smiled and faked an answer. “No, I’m…it was just funny. And I think I like the idea of the two of you being together – kind of like really solidifying the bond between our families.”

“Oh, for Mira’s sake!” Tresten said. “Don’t talk like that; it’s just disturbing.”

“Disturbing for my sake, buddy, not yours!” Lana said. “You’d be lucky to get me.”

“Thanks a lot, Lana,” Tresten said. “But I believe I shall pass on the idea of ‘getting’ you.”

“I’d like to see you do better.”

“So would I,” he sneered back. “In fact, I would wager we will see that happen when we are in Maeon.”

“I said
better
than me, not more
desperate
than me.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Okay,” Rylek interrupted. “This is turning ugly. You both need to stop.”

“I will stop when I’m asleep,” Tresten murmured.

“You’ll keep blabbering even when you’re asleep!” Lana said. “Once you get going you never stop.”

“At least I don’t snore like Rylek.”

“Wait, what?” Rylek asked.

“You snore. Constantly. Loudly. Seemingly tirelessly,” Tresten said, shaking his head.