“Philosophers have spent countless hours contemplating our place in time. If a person only expects to live 70 or 80 years, will the knowledge of his impending death drive him to do more than a person who knows they’ll live for hundreds or even thousands of years? Is a person’s drive to make a lasting impression on the world inversely affected by his mortality? The question may never be answered but does the answer really matter? Isn’t just asking the question more important than finding the answer?”
Hirthron had no problem letting Xecran go camping with his sons. In the two days his sons were in the city, Xecran had finished several days’ worth of work. Even if he hadn’t, it was good to see that Xecran was willing to take a break from his studies. He deserved it.
Hirthron and his wife stood there, looking at the three of them, packed and ready to begin their travel. He normally didn’t bid his sons farewell on their trips to the countryside, but this seemed like a special occasion. Xecran hadn’t joined them in years, and they were to be gone longer than usual. Kamilis said it might be a few weeks before he’s done doing his survey.
Klavis had his framed hiking pack strapped to his back. His bedroll, dried foods, a cooking pot, and extra clothes were attached. His unslung bow was strapped to the pack’s side. On his right hip was a gold hilted short sword he usually took camping, but he also carried a sheathed full-bladed longsword on his left side
Their grandfather had given Kamilis his staff before he had passed, having seen the path Kamilis was on. Klavis didn’t inherit their family’s sword until after their grandfather’s passing. He’d left it to him in his will. Sword play was one of the few activities Klavis still enjoyed, and his grandfather must have known that. No one would ever say Klavis was dedicated to the pursuit of the martial sciences, but he did enjoy it and it had been a constant hobby of his throughout the years.
He spent hours last night going back and forth whether he really wanted to take the sword with him. It was a relic of his family; while it was given to him, it wasn’t really his, much like the staff Kamilis carried, it belonged to his ancestors and all those who would come after him. In the end he decided he’d put way too much thought into it. If Kamilis was bringing the staff, he would bring the sword.
Klavis glared at his brother. Compared to Kamilis Klavis looked like a pack animal.
Kamilis had stood there with his staff in one hand. A short sword strapped to his side, and the pack from the Magi’s Guild on his back. He looked like he was just going for a short jaunt.
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“I don’t see why I couldn’t put my gear in your Cheating Bag of No Work.”
Kamilis grinned. “It’s not endless storage you know; it can get full too. If we put your stuff in there then Xecran would want to put all of his stuff in there and what if his stuff wouldn’t fit? It wouldn’t be fair for you to be free of your load and then make him carry all his stuff.”
Xecran threw up his hands. “Oh, no, don’t drag me into it. I’m fine caring my stuff.”
Xecran carried the same style pack as Klavis, but he didn’t have any cooking pots to carry. The short sword on his hip looked more utilitarian than his cousins, something styled more for the rough work of cutting animals, bushes and brambles. And like Klavis Xecran carried a bow unstrung on his pack but that’s where the similarity stopped.
The bow looked more like it was made from a deep chestnut brown, nearly black, metal, not from the wood it was actually made from. It would have been perfectly smooth, if not for the nearly unnoticeable engravings of arcane runes that one felt as they drew their fingers across the surface. It was also always curiously warm to the touch. Klavis and Kamilis were not the only family members that their grandfather gifted with relics of their lineage.
Unlike Kamilis and Klavis, Xecran never treated his gift with reverence. He perfectly understood what the bow represented, but he still used it for the most mundane activities, even when he was just practicing. He was unlike Kamilis and Klavis who reserved their gifts for special occasions.
Xecran always said, “Why put it on a shelf to admire. It was made to be used, not collect dust. Nothing I could do would damage the bow. It’s not made of glass. I honor our ancestors more by keeping it with me and using it as it was intended.”
It always made perfect sense when they heard Xecran explain it, but they could never bring themselves to adopt the same view.
It had not escaped Hirthron’s notice that his sons were carrying the relics of their ancestors. Xecran used his all the time, having it with him was no different than any other day, but his sons, they rarely carried their relics. It was a curiosity, but one that he did not bring up to them. They were theirs to do with as they pleased. He knew his sons, even Klavis, would keep their ancestors in mind and not do anything to destroy their legacy. He wasn’t even sure there was a way to damage the relics.
Klavis interrupted Hirthron’s thoughts as he said “Well, if Kam isn’t going to share his bottomless bag, we might as well get going.” Klavis turned to his parents and waved “See you in a few weeks.”
Kamilis and Xecran also turned to Hirthron and his wife, waving their farewells. It was a quick goodbye. The three of them set off at a leisurely pace.
Hirthron smiled and waved, but as he watched them walking away his smile faded. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but deep within him there was a sense of foreboding, that had been nagging at the back of his mind for weeks, months even. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly when it began. He was fairly certain it had something to do with his use of the Earth State. There was so much he didn’t understand about it. The flood of information that attacks you when you enter the Earth State is immense and trying to sort through it is very difficult. Despite the centuries of practice, he feared he wasn’t close to mastering it.
He looked once more at his sons who were walking off into the distance, His eyes fell upon their relics once more and for no reason he could find, a wave of sadness washed over him and he spoke quietly under his breath, “Stay safe, my sons”