“A fire under the dark sky, a miracle of ingenuity and a sin against the beauty of the night. For the darkness in our hearts cuts and bleeds, but nature shows beauty and elegance.”
The hooded figure rambled, stretched down on grass, looking at the starry sky.
“The night is safe. You can hide. You can create. No eye can discern your doing, whether good or bad. It is not a friend but a blanket with no end. How I love it! It enthralls me!”
And just as mesmerizing, silence. So unsophisticated yet so noble that the peace of the night matches the one in my heart. How I wish it would consume me.
*
Hakon and Silv brought their luggage a few paces from the teens’ camp. Because of this they had to wait until tomorrow for them two to leave. Silv seemed quite cheerful, though as Alberto put it:
“He’s trying to soften us. He likely doesn't think too highly of us.”
Nevertheless, they had to put up with them for now. Even though Efar did say they weren’t a threat they still were strangers.
Well, only Alberto was slightly on edge, as Efar was pestering Hakon to show him how to use that battle axe. Hakon eventually gave in and showed him some basic moves.
“It’s nothing too fancy, boy, but it’s efficient. Here, you can even use it against shields.”
Zara on the other hand kept asking Silv about all sorts of things. Alberto perched his ears at every answer as curiosity got the better of him.
“Our town is far north where snow falls almost all year. We are really close to a great sea that in particularly rough years can freeze. There were people who walked on it to look for new lands, but we never heard from them. Gods have mercy on them if all they found was more sea.”
That made Alberto think more about the world. Where he came from was so far east that he doubted anyone even heard of those lands. The world is even bigger than he was taught.
All in all, it was a pleasant atmosphere.
When it was their turn to speak, Efar showed them the bounty of the forest including useful plants for all kinds of illnesses and injuries. Hakon was the most curious as a warrior was as good as his body. He even asked if there was a remedy for a sore throat to which Efar rumagged in his backpack and gave him a few plants tied together.
“Make tea out of these. They pair nicely with fir buds.”
Hakon’s eyes sparkled for a moment, glad to finally find something for his problem.
The night settled in and with it Silv, Alberto and Zara went to sleep. Hakon and Efar would keep talking in whispers as they took care of their fires.
*
Early in the next day Hakon and Silv departed leaving the three teens alone. Now they could finally sink their teeth in these ruins. Alberto hid their belongings in a similar manner as before and with their weapons in hands they started looking around.
Efar and Zara would look for recent signs of human presence but there was nobody here in the last few weeks at least.
Alberto would look, mostly, at old murals that were barely seen though he would just as often not record anything. These murals seemed to record some religious scenes related to either the sun or the weather in general.
Efar seemed mesmerized by the latter. He would look at the men or women in white clothing. They looked towards something, or someone, from where the power of changing the weather came.
“Alberto, try to memorize these, they seem important.”
“It’s just some odd lost cult of theirs, we need to find more practical information.”
“Still we might need it. Oddly enough they remind me of your teacher.”
Alberto’s attention made a full rotation and now he was curious.
“What makes you think that?” he said while looking at the mural.
“The way they look and move, I guess? Also, didn’t he change the course of an oncoming storm a few years back? Or so I heard from Fox once.”
Zara, who was more interested in the sun parts of the murals listened to them for a while before she chimed in.
“Efar is right, we oughta try, at the very least, record the more detailed parts. Gods know what we’ll discover later.”
Alberto did as Zara advised and recorded the parts he deemed most important. A few hours have passed by and all of the ruins were explored. They also discovered some signs of struggling in the form of cracked stone as if a great force was exerted on it. They didn’t know whether a man or a beast did it.
“Let’s look for underground rooms. Maybe they were better at making basements.”
Efar came in great help there as he could notice slight shifts in wind and temperature. It didn’t take them long before they found a few trap doors. They tried each and every one of them, only to find normal basements. There were some rats here and there, but nothing too special.
As the day went by they checked pretty much all of them with only one remaining. Despite this not being a tough job, the repetitiveness sapped at their minds. They now stood before the last trapdoor. It didn’t look particularly unique nor did it smell any weirder than the others. In fact, the lack of a smell alerted Efar.
Once he cracked it open ever so slightly he bent on his knees and clutched his chest. He was breathing heavily but he managed to yell in a raspy voice.
“Zara!”
At a moment's notice Zara put her palms on Efar’s back and a strong fire erupted. Efar’s skin and clothes weren’t damaged, instead, his breath calmed down. Alberto, rightfully horrified, looked at Efar and then back.
His thoughts were in great turmoil. Who knows what lies ahead? A monster? An even worse curse?
‘I have to know!’ thought Alberto, ‘I need to see it!’
However his thoughts subsided once he realized that he was about to open the trapdoor completely without his friends.
‘No. Together. Together we are better, isn’t that what Zara kept saying before? I’ll wait until Efar is good to go.’
Zara’s diagnosis wasn’t great, a rarity for them and a testament to the dangers that lie ahead.
“You’re afflicted with a weak constitution, worse than what you dealt with. The past people were merciless.”
She kept her palms on Efar’s back for a bit more and then stood up.
“I can’t fully heal you, but I eased the burden on your soul.”
Alberto couldn’t believe his ears. He had to wait even more? He wanted to go now!
Even so, he would likely endanger them. Besides, he already had enough research material that he could go back and be considered a success.
‘I guess there is a long way for me to get rid of this selfishness. Curse those court politics…’
“Alb, send a message to Seon. He needs to be here,” instructed Zara.
“Sure.”
Seon was Zara’s master. If there is anyone who could deal with this then it would be one of the candidates for the Grandmaster position in the Monk Villages.
They both helped Efar walk back to their camp since even walking would become tiresome after some time.
“I am impressed with how well you hold together, I think most people would fall flat on their nose after a few dozens of steps,” added Zara.
“Lucky will be my future woman…” said Efar between teeth, half-tired.
That made Alberto spit-laugh and Zara slightly redden. If anything, his usual demeanor wasn’t affected.
*
Back in town a simple man was tending to his garden. It has been some time since spring came and he wanted to see what he could grow.
“Some onions wouldn’t be that bad. Ah, but where will I find the seeds?”
He was still getting used to this unusual town life. He came from the villages deep in the mountains to help this town grow one step at a time. His fellow monks sneered at this offer at first, but he saw Zara and her endless potential. Likewise, her so-called “brothers” were nothing short of prodigies. Efar had an incredible physique which allowed him to punch above his weight category and Alberto held so many secrets despite his weaknesses.
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Each one covered a weakness the other had, they were almost perfect. It would do, however, if they had a proper tactician and maybe someone more pious. As it stood, all three of them either didn’t believe in a god or were half-hearted in their praises.
‘There is more, I think. There is a certain rarity to such people appearing at all. Three of them at the same time seems…interesting…’
As he was burrowing some seeds words appeared on the dirt he was about to touch. They formed slowly so before he read them Seon planted those seeds somewhere else. When he came back to look the words were as follows:
‘Ruins. East. Strong curse.’
Seon wrote back and then cleaned his hands with a random cloth.
‘One day.’
With those words he went to the ruins with nothing on him except for the clothes.
*
Alberto received the answer in the dirt by the campfire. Seon will be here tomorrow, then.
Efar went to sleep and woke back up several times, a testament to his tenacity. Zara was inspecting the place, analyzing the contents of this unusual curse.
To keep his mind entertained Alberto kept the words Zara told them about the soul and how it works back when they first began their training.
‘One needs to be honest to himself before even attempting to tap into the endless power of the soul. It is not an exaggeration. Our souls have no limit. We can grow as much as we want.’
The words that Alberto found interesting were the first ones. To be honest to himself. If that is the first step, then what kind of man could have created such spells?
Magic is manipulation of nature, but the Soul Path shows what you truly are. Curses are considered much too complex for mere mortals so they are created by using parts of the soul as blueprints. The only drawback is that you’d have to be in tune with yourself.
“Humans are so terrifying…” he whispered, lost in thoughts.
A day passed quickly enough. Zara was dead tired and didn’t even complain, just fell flat and went to sleep. That left Alberto as the only one to protect them.
The fire crackled, occasionally a breeze of wind blew over it, losing its shape, but it came back to how it was.
‘How often has this happened so far? They always show their backs to me, trusting me.’
The grasshoppers were singing, taking the birds’ place. Surrounded by ruins and with a clear sky Alberto almost felt the sadness of the people of the past.
How many children laughed here? How many heartbreaks took place? How many dances and songs were played around a tall fire?
‘Though we rarely call each other as such, you are brother and sister of mine. I will never let you down.’
*
The next morning Seon arrived at their campsite.
“I see you all barely woke up. Efar is sleeping though? I rarely see him like that.”
“Master, he was the one cursed.”
Seon raised an eyebrow and stepped slowly to the sleeping beauty. A very drooly beauty…
“This will take but a moment.”
Efar must have heard him because he twitched for a moment. Seon put his palm on Efar’s head and chanted what seemed like an entire poem in a few seconds. Zara and Alberto, despite hearing him, couldn't pinpoint the words.
And just like that, as Seon said, the curse was lifted. Efar slowly opened his eyes to see everybody gathered. It took him a moment to recognize Seon and once he did he also realized the gravity of the situation.
“I…am embarrassed…”
Seon sighed.
“Be more careful next time. This world is, seemingly, more dangerous than we could fathom.”
Just like that Seon came to stay with the young team and explore these ruins. He looked a bit around and took in the sight. As someone close to the peak of mortal ascension he could feel the long-forgotten sentiments of the people who once lived here.
He felt sadness and sorrow mostly, something he was so used to since living in town. There were some new powerful sentiments too.
Like betrayal.
‘Not even the baron’s mansion had these emotions. What exactly happened here?’
With his curiosity stronger than ever he went together with the teens to see what they discovered. Once he arrived at the scene he was almost overwhelmed by the strong sense of hatred and betrayal.
‘This is an unfortunate tomb. How rotten.’
He stopped Efar from stepping in first with a gentle move.
“We should take pieces of clothes and cover our mouths and noses. It’s been a while, but gods know what diseases might be left here.”
He had never been this cautious, for rare was that a sickness ever won over him. But even so, he was slightly afraid, something he had forgotten for years.
They all did as he instructed. Only then did they descend, this time, he went ahead first, holding a bracelet in his palm as he intoned a slow prayer.
“In the name of the Messengers, who have created the four corners of the world and let them in the care of their angels. Guide our hands and eyes to see the truth…”
As Seon kept saying the prayer he slowly descended on the stairs. There was a slight gust of wind that came from further down. Was it a sign?
The cold sounds of their steps reverberated unnaturally. Efar found an old oil lamp on a stair step and gave it to Zara. She took a small rope from one of her pockets and put it inside the lamp then she breathed a tongue of fire into it. The lamp slowly made light way more than it should thanks to her.
Eventually they could see the end. And just there, hugging the steps, was a skeleton. The first sign of some sort of struggle. None of them were fazed by this sight. Seon stopped praying just in time and took the skeleton slowly and put it aside.
“I wonder what happened here…”
Zara’s soft voice stood in stark contrast to the dark, now dreary, atmosphere.
“Do you think it was a famine? Or a drought?” said Alberto, trying to rationalize all of it.
“Unlikely”, whispered Seon, “they were chased.”
Now that they came down they were looking around, trying to see what happened. Zara would stay with Seon while Alberto and Efar would look around. Alberto made a small sphere of light but its light was weaker than Zara’s.
“Sorry, as long as I have to memorize most of what’s here we’ll have to make do.”
Efar nodded. Despite his enhanced sight he was still a bit weakened from the curse and his eyes had trouble differentiating some shapes.
‘There sure are a lot of skeletons. Did the entire village come here?’
Just like the ruins up there the walls in this room had carvings. They were better preserved which helped them put together a sort of story.
That story was, honestly, depressive.
At first there were humans with a tall tree behind them. Mankind came from the earth and mud and were eating from the fruits and leaves of this tree. Whatever the tree was, it meant a lot as some of the people were worshipping it.
Then, on both sides of the humans two other beings came to be: the loyal dog and the fierce flying serpents whom Seon called dragons. A crack was formed between mankind and the dragons which could mean some sort of rift formed in their relationship.
And then there was war. During this war mankind had grand heroes, signified by better-looking weapons or armors, whose names will be forever forgotten, as well as strange visitors. Some were drawn stockier than humans, others tall and lean. There were only a few but they were noticeable. They appeared at critical moments and they taught humans strange arts in magic.
Alberto was unsure what to make of this. It is a truth that before the past decades there was no written record of who and what happened. This is one of the few leads they have about the past of these lands. The only problem is that it’s more akin to a foundational myth of a weird religion.
Seon on the other hand didn’t seem surprised. Did he know about this? Or was he simply seeing it as a pagan belief and completely disregarded all of it? Alberto wasn’t sure.
When they met in the middle of the wall Zara was also perplexed but before she could ask anything Alberto’s light was completely extinguished.
“Huh?”
Zara’s light was fine, if anything, it seemed to be stronger.
“Stand behind me kids. It is an order.”
Seon’s orders resonated within them and they did as he instructed. Alberto was saying something under his breath but mostly kept to himself.
The room was colder and darker than it should, a cloud of uneasiness. Seon looked up at a corner as if something was there.
“Show yourself.”
His voice once again felt powerful, commanding. As soon as he said that a dark mist materialized from that corner. It seemed heavy, as if a metal was made into a gas. Seon stepped forth with no expression other than a faint sliver of hatred.
“What have I done to you, son of light?”
There was a voice that scratched one’s mind in the most unpleasant way. Each word almost felt like a separate headache.
“Answer me, son of light!”
But Seon did not speak. It wasn’t worth even one’s breath.
Seon’s chest seemed to glow ever so slightly and his fists trembled, waiting to hit.
The mist tried to move but Seon was faster and stood in its way. He hit the mist and an iron-like sound resounded. Efar could not make it if it was from the cloud or from the fist.
Seon did not wait for that being to recuperate and grappled the cloud as if it was a log of wood. Interestingly enough there was no sound of pain from neither of them though it was clear that Seon had the advantage.
After a beating that was more akin to a brawl than a proper fight the cloud was reduced to a mere puff of smoke. Seon’s hand glowed slightly and caught the puff as if it was an ugly snake.
“It’s alright now, you can come closer you three.”
Efar and Alberto didn’t know what to make of this, but they were also curious. Zara seemed a bit more familiar and approached first.
“Is this a demon?”
“Yes. A particularly nasty one, too. Had I been unprepared he would have cast a curse on me, as it did on Efar.”
Efar’s eyes darted to the puff of smoke.
‘That thing cursed me?’
Alberto on the other hand perched his ears at that word.
“A demon? Do demons actually exist?”
“Yes and this is proof. I believe Decen didn’t tell you anything, as he should have.”
Alberto and Efar looked incredulously at him.
Seon took a small bottle from his belt and put the demon there. Once inside the glass turned black.
“What we, as in, our circle, deals with, are the demons. Even knowing about their existence is dangerous as they exist everywhere and they are quick to create ‘accidents’.”
“Also, as master Seon showed, you need proper training to deal with them. Mere strength and magic hardly, if ever, counter them.”
At such a challenge, both Efar and Alberto asked how to deal with such an enemy in spite of their weakness. Seon explained succintly.
“Never speak to them. Never listen to them. These are the best ways to undermine their plot even if your soul is not trained. One other good way to make them go out of your way, at least temporary, is to pray to the Messengers. That is all you need to know for now.”
They knew of this religion of the Messengers as the monks’ belief but it was so powerful?
Now that the danger was out of their way they had to go back and report these strange happenings.
All of them realized that the world is such a strange and sometimes scary place, but instead of fear they felt determined to go further than others.