Excerpt From The Mad Scholar's Wall—
As we approached the city and its surrounding fields — our elven followers trailing behind us for miles — the gates were flung open, and the people cheered poured out.
Like a school of fish swarming a scrap of venison thrown into a river, they enveloped us.
The young women rushed up to us, holding our heads between their hands, and kissed us. The older men dashed up to us weary legionaries and clasped our arms or enveloped us in hugs.
Back slaps were everywhere, and after years of travel and fighting, of seeing the destruction of a proud people, my face had broken out into a grin so wide I couldn't contain it.
It was like the mood, every single one, was infectious.
That is my only excuse as to why it took so long for me to notice the jeers and calls of derision behind me.
The mob of Olimpia had moved past simply cheering for our glorious conquest and on to beating the elves.
They called them betrayers. Oathbreakers.
They cursed the elves for killing their families. Their siblings, friends, spouses, and parents.
The elves did not fight back, as if all fight was beaten out of them long ago. Like they deserved it.
Within moments, the celebration of our triumphant return had shifted to the collective defilement of the elves.
Even I, filled with a suddenly all-consuming rage, found myself standing above a half-dead elf, crimson-stained fist raised to strike her again. To my shame, I spat on her in disgust, then turned to join the party.
As everyone knew, the 1st legion had marched into the elven Great Forest and raised all their cities to the ground. All as a retaliation, of course, because the elves had attacked our great city, Olimpia, out of greed for what we had accomplished.
Their feeble armies marched and then broke against the Gauntlet and her sister forts, and we counter-attacked, shattering their meager defenses.
Or so I, and everyone else, suddenly believed. The Great Betrayal as it became known, and how we rose up to defeat our oppressors.
A belief that would not leave me for years.
When my scattered memories finally reformed, I tried to tell people the truth. To show them the great mental casting that affected our people, including the elves.
But even those who marched with me could not remember the truth for long. Their eyes flashed with recognition and horror at my words, and they opened their mouths to speak, only for their faces to fall flat and their eyes to glaze over again the next moment.
Their memories might be suppressed, but their unwarranted persecution against the elves nearly stopped.
So I confronted everyone I could with my mad story and embraced my title as the Mad Scholar.
I told them how the elves offered this world to us on a silver platter and what that gift would cost us. Of what our duty was.
No matter how much I said or wrote, my words were forgotten, and my writings were lost.
Stone lasts for ages, though. So I etched my — our — story into this wall.
Generations will come and read what I have engraved. Even if they don't remember or think they don't believe what I have to say, they will be compelled to act.
And hopefully, given enough time, we will pardon the elves of the sins their ancestors didn't commit and, perhaps, remember the ones they did. Because while we can't remember the echoes of past events, it doesn't mean no one does.
**********
A knight moved to intercept me as I approached Legatus. Before the knight was within arms reach of me, I could feel a mental probe knocking on my mind.
The force of the tendril made me flinch, "Ahh!" I screamed in pain, hands rising to my head. "Uhh, sorry…" I got out after a moment of heavy breathing and the tendril pulling back from my mental shield. "I have a great deal of mental strain… and damage. Pretty sure I should be in a haze." I gave the knight my best smile, but it felt off.
I couldn't see past the full-face helm the knight was wearing, but his eyes were visible. I saw the suspicious squint disappear, and what might have been a flicker of concern passed behind the eyes. It was only there for an instant before the concern also vanished, replaced by resolve.
The knight visibly looked me up and down, the joint between helm and armor creaking, as he took in my dirt and blood-stained tunic and pants, handing rather stiffly, thanks to all the grime caked into them, on my body.
A moment later, a far more gentle tendril poked at my mind as a soft feminine voice said, "I'm sorry, but I need you to open your mind." Oh, guess he was she. Whoops. For some reason, I found my mistake hilarious and started snickering to myself.
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Pulling back my shield, I felt her suddenly hesitant presence, like a person watching me from the other side of a window. Instead of glass, that window was made from my mind, and her presence alone caused pressure on my mind.
"Answer the questions in order," the knight sent, "Are you human? Do you mean harm to the Legatus or any other member of the legion?"
"No, no, and… no?" I asked more than I said, wondering if I was supposed to answer twice for the last question.
A tension left the bodies of the knights surrounding me, a tension that I hadn't even noticed until it was gone. I really need some rest if that slipped past me. I thought, holding back a jaw-cracking yawn by straining my neck.
I didn't think yawning in the face of your commander was punishable, but I didn't really want to find out at the end of a whip. It would be fine if I was standing in the crowd watching… Maybe I can get someone from the ex-prisons to do it. Hella would be great, but I don't think the legion made her with the ability to yawn. Wonder if it wa—
“—is the message, Scout Green." I blinked, seeing that the Legatus had moved in front of me. More than that, we were off to the side of the gate to the Middle Fort, and the legionaries were marching past us, trying to look as disciplined as possible for the leader of the 15th Legion.
When did this happen? I thought while grimacing slightly. This… isn't good. I felt a flare of pain through my eyes as they focused on the Legatus. He was older, as his air was more gray than not, and the lines on his face were like looking at a patch of cracked mud left to dry in the sun. However old he might look, I could see his eyes burning with intensity and a sharp intellect.
Slamming my fist to my chest, trying my best to radiate military discipline, I said, "Sir, as the legion should be aware, I came into contact with a female beastkin out on patrol of the southern bank of the Rush and southern portion of the Northern Forest." I felt a slight pressure on my ears as he nodded, showing he was aware and gestured for me to continue. "After we escaped," I slowed for another moment, waiting for him to give a motion that he was aware of the events, "and I ended up in the Northern Fort, I came into contact with that same beastkin. She is the current leader of the Red Tail Faction of the People."
"The People?" He asked in a gruff voice.
"It's what this… breed? Of beastkin call themselves." I said with a shrug of indifference, "They are far from their savage cousins. While I can't say that all of them are intelligent, I haven't seen a single one that was mindless. I even overheard them talking about their cities and towns."
"This is an invasion them." Stated the Legatus.
"Umm, no, sir. Well, not really?" I said, cringing as I corrected him, causing him to frown. Rushing forward, I continued, "The beastkin are attacking us because their territories in the mountains are being invaded. They existed as a secret society, reading us when they needed skilled labor, food, materials, or bodies for centuries. They knew we were unaware of them, so sending a delegation would be meaningless in the timeline they had. So they chose to attack. They get a foothold we can't push them out of, show us their power and skills, and get the upper hand in negotiations."
The Legatus's eyes hardened before glazing over as he looked into the distance and mentally spoke to someone. "They made a mistake. The senators will never let this go… I could see them fully mobilizing the Legion to drive them out." I could see he was saying this more to himself, but I knew the answer."
"Umm, sir," I said, getting his annoyed attention. Again. "They said that won't happen because we are already being invaded." His eyes snapped onto me, and I felt my skin prickle at the intensity.
"Explain," He commanded in a cold tone.
“The… Ahh, Letairry — the dark elf force the beastkin are fighting — are masters of subterfuge. Their spies are already within our borders, as they look basically the same as… me. Just with… dark purple skin. They have a whole empire on the other side of the Broken Peaks," I said, waving at the mountain home of the beastkin off in the distance. “Kan— Umm, the Head Chieftain said, they saw multiple armies marching into the far side of the mountains…"
The Legatus's face had turned grim, but he did not say anything as he just watched me. He could tell I had more to say, and I hadn't even spoken the ridiculous part yet. "And apparently… the dark elves can control," I really didn't want to say it. As if saying it would make it true. I took a breath and forced myself to speak, "the savage beastkin. Not these ones, but all the others."
"What?" He choked out, his face draining of blood.
"It's why they ran. Relocated their entire people. They know they can't beat what's coming as they are. The Red Tail faction wants to cooperate with us, while the Crescent Moon wants to conquer us."
"Do they have proof of their claims?" He asked.
"She said the only reason we aren't fighting off waves of the Lost — what they call the savage beastkin — was that most of their army was acting as a rear guard for the non-combatants. She said we should soon receive news of all of our northern fortresses being beset by endless beastkin." I took a breath to steady myself before whispering, "like the hoards of hundreds of thousands our legends speak of… It's why she needed to capture the fort while the other faction failed, to gain everyone's recognition."
From how his eye twitched, I knew he heard me.
“Ahh…" I gasped as a fist clasped my mind, shattering my shield, and squeezed.
"Do you speak only what was told to you, without embellishment or trickery?" The Legatus commanded me to answer.
"Yes." I hissed through clenched teeth, my mind in turmoil.
"So you are telling me a beastwave of old is coming, followed by an army of Reavers, who may already have spies in our midsts. And all of this information was given by a beastkin nation, which has existed within the broken peaks for… centuries? As far as you know."
"Yes." As soon as I answered, the grip around my mind was released, and I fell to the ground panting.
"Do you have any more to report?" He asked, a hint of regret in his voice."
I bobbed my head while it was hanging low between my arms planted on the ground. Gathering my strength, I flopped back, so my head was angled up, my butt was on my heels, and my arms hanging limply at my sides before I spoke. "They are returning the legionaries captured in battle as a sign of good faith and willingness to negotiate. Any three-man group approaching the Northern Fort will be invited in, but should we send scouts over the rivers, they will be dealt with."
My commander looked at me for a few more seconds with his hard eyes before he nodded. Thank you for your report, Scout Green. You should be comm…"
His words trailed off as my attention was caught by something up in the sky. I didn't even really care what he had to say, either. Two clouds were passing each other.
From my angle, it looked like… a massive tree?
Tree? I thought in confusion. There was something… about a… tree.
"Argh!" I screamed as a mental block in my mind broke. I had never known it was there, never even suspected. It was like an ancient brick dam broke all at once, spilling what had long been crammed behind into my mind.
Of the memories and bubbling disjointed feelings, a single voice rose to the top. "The mantel must be taken up," Whispered the motherly voice of the Worldtree across my thoughts before I passed out.