“Zen. It is time for us to take our leave. I have a safe passage for you a little outside of town.”
The light from the priests torch cut through the midnight dark. Looking at the shadows they cast I couldn’t help but feel for them. Always around, but never close enough to actually know the companion always with them.
“Sir? What did you mean when you said shadows can live? I know it’s been two years but they are still just shadows.”
“Now is not the time Zen. We all have lessons that hopefully we never have to learn. Right now we have to get you out of town. Your father left me directions for how to get you to him.”
“You mean he’s not coming to get me?”
“Zen I told you for about the last six months and before. It was never set in stone. He is a busy man but he wanted to assure your safety. You will get to meet him sooner than you believe.”
As we started to head away from town my gut started to squirm. Meet him soon. Maybe he would tell me why he left mother. Or even why they were ever together. As my thoughts started drifting to what he might be like I noticed the torch seeming smaller. Maybe the priest was picking up the pace. No. The dark seemed just a little closer.
“Sir? Why does it seem darker now?”
“Zen we have to hurry. I can’t explain right now but we will have to run for a little. When I say, run straight until this torch seems brighter again. From there we will get you to the meet up I have set up. Ready?”
“I don’t know sir. But I guess I have to now.’
“Now Zen.”
We both took off running. I noticed the priest was running with me. I knew he was faster than I was but he wasn’t out pacing me this time. I wasn’t sure if he was doing it on purpose or if I had actually gotten faster. Maybe it was both.
The past two years after the ceremony I was schooled from a blade wielder and from the master scribe. Both always were harsh and impatient. Maybe I had actually improved or maybe the encircling dark was just spurring me to a point I had never reached.
Out of nowhere the torch flashed and everything was clear. As the torch dimmed back to the normal light it had been when the priest had arrived at the door I heard him muttering the prayer he had so many times before.
“Saints of the light. Guiders of the before. Give this flame protection. Give the light some life. May our choices bring us safety. And may the darkness shy away. Saints of the light hear my plea. Protect us from the unseen.”
“Sir? Are you deep into your prayers again? Why did the torch flash like that? Is everything okay?”
“Zen that was more than a prayer. It was the saints guiding us out of the towns limits. Tonight we have been blessed to escape the seven year curse.”
“Seven year curse?”
“Yes Zen every seven years the shadow takes a person. Normally a soul that lives in the outskirts. Sadly we make sure a sacrifice is always there for protection. It’s just a shame that the curse targeted you.”
“Why me sir?”
“I don’t know Zen. The scrolls only say that the unchosen can break the curse. Nobody knows what it means by the unchosen but the curse was around at the very beginning of the town. A deal with the founders when it was first established.”
I started wondering why the curse was put into place. What protection could it be worth losing someone every seven years. Or was it protection? Was it something else? How had this curse come to be?
Suddenly the priest stopped. I slammed right into the back of him after getting lost in the thoughts of the curse.
“We’re here. Zen sit on that rock.”
As I sat down on a flat rock I noticed that the land was barren except for a cave that seemed to burrow into the ground. It reminded me of the tales about the core worm. Said to live at the very center of the earth. Large enough that a merchant train would be swallowed in bite. Legend also said that the worm never completely leaves the ground unless a worthy tamer is around.
“Okay Zen wait here for just a moment. I will be back with the small group that will head with you.”
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The priest entered the cave and darkness washed around me. The priest had taken the torch with him. But what if that dark that swallowed the light so easily came back? Would I be able to get away from it now?
Suddenly I heard a thump at the base of the rock. I put my hand down to feel what it was. Wait what if it was that darkness? To late I felt something bite me. Then heard a sound of a creature running away. What could have bit me? It stung but it didn’t really hurt.
Light started to emerge from the cave again. Out came the priest, a man I didn’t recognize, and was that…. Yes. It was Shino. What was he doing here?
“Zen come here.”
“Zen?” Asked Shino. “Is that the kid who was supposed to be an outsider? Why do we have to guide him?”
“Quiet Shino. We are guides and trackers. We find food and help those that can’t help themselves.” Said the mysterious man. “The father asked us to guide the son of Drakon. And looking at this boy he might need more than just us.”
“But Snell…. Zen is a nothing. All he has is his mother. Wouldn’t my training be more important than taking that nothing to wherever?” Shino sounding like the seven years he was seemed to not grasp the magnitudes of the name Drakon.
I started fidgeting. “Sir did you say Drakon? Like the wandering warrior Drakon? I thought he was gone.”
“Oh dear child just like Shino is being selfish you are lost. You look just like Drakon. The silver hair and miss matched eyes. Even the broken looking nose.” Snell seemed to have a raspy laugh behind his words. The look that he constantly shot from the corner of his eyes was almost sorrowful. I felt a wave of pity every time I caught it.
“Sir do I have to go with these two? I know they are safe travel companions, but can’t you and I go? I feel kind of like….” I couldn’t seem to place the words. Unwanted wasn’t right but neither was an outsider. The air just said I shouldn’t be in the same group. That I didn’t deserve the abilities they could provide.
“Zen my child. Snell can give you a general idea of your father from his travels with him. And you and Shino can both learn some important things on a trip like this. Drakon is hard to find for the best of trackers. And Shino you begged for sir Snell, no matter how humble he is, to be your trainer. This is valuable for the both of you.” The priest was handing Snell a small bag. It looked like the coin sack that my mother always used, but this one seemed to twitch a little each time the light hit it.
“Priest Albert you bring a bag like this now? Where was this bag when we were being chase out of Quitar for your gambling debts?” Snell’s raspy laugh made the priests face seem that much more disgruntled.
“We promised never to talk about that again Snell. It was a lifetime before I was ever a priest. Now I am where destiny lead me. I should have never left priesthood for those foolish ideals we once had. Drakon is the only one who had any chance of bringing those to life. We were fools then.”
“Well Albert you know as well as I do that the bards still sing about the ex-priest the gambling thief. Hah. You are still famous in Quitar to this day.” Snell let out a laugh so rough that it made his grizzly appearance almost seem normal. “Albert I should really get these kids going. We still have to meet up with Zoran. They have the test of mine to gain their true job. Tracker or guide. But maybe Zoran won’t disappoint. If they hold true they will be both. But have to meet them at sunrise. So we got to hit the road now.”
“Just be careful Snell. You know the tragedies going on. We are the third city to loose our sacrifice. Two more and the seals will break.” The priest was visibly shaken releasing this news. It’s almost seemed like it wasn’t supposed to even be said.
“Sir?” I asked. “Should I have really been taken by the dark?”
“Yes Zen. But I think your father has a larger plan for you. I will trust his sight. A sight you might just have yourself one day.” The priest seemed to have calmed some but still had a pale shadow over his face. Almost as if someone was making his actions for him, or he was on auto trying not to deal with reality. Whichever it made him seem like a different man than he always seemed back in town.
“Zen!” Snell called in his harsh voice. “Get over here. I have a friend for you to meet. She says she’s met you already.”
I trudged over to Snell slowly. Confused cause I only saw the four of us. Well three cause the priest was disappearing with his torch quite quickly back towards the town I just left. Would I ever see the town of scribes ever again? I never even truly got to explore it. Now that I was an outcast by parental lineage I was no longer one by name. Would I ever return?
“Zen. Look at her. This is my baby.” In Snell’s hand sat a three legged creature. The back left leg was missing half. “This is a draco volan. She is a baby dragon almost. She doesn’t glide so well since she lost her leg.”
The little lizard is his hand was about eight inches long with wings that were attached at the side. Cute in a lizard kind of cute way.
“Sir what is her name.” I asked almost mesmerized.
“First off Zen. Call me Snell and call your companion over there Shino. This is a first name situation. And second, this beauty is named Baby. She is my baby in heart and name. You should see the guy that took her leg.” Snell chuckled to himself. “Well you kind of can’t now. He six feet deep” at this Snell had almost a bark of a laugh.
“Snell you told me you didn’t hurt that guys to badly.” Shino looked almost shocked. Then he started to chuckle.
“It wasn’t to bad Shino. Hah. It was just one hit. That’s all I need if you hurt Baby. She only bites if she likes you. Why do you think I agreed to teach you all I know Shino? She has also bit young Zen here. You know how powerful her bond is. I protect her and she protects us. A part of the family .” Snell almost had a purr talking about Baby.
“Snell you are always interesting.” Shino seemed genuinely interested. “You did promise to teach me how to tame animals Snell. When will I learn?”
“I have a surprise for you Shino. You and young Zen here will both learn how on this trip. It will be beneficial for the both of you.”
“Me too sir? But I though only trackers could learn how to tame animals?”
Smack! I hit the ground.
“I told you first names Zen. You will have to learn just like Shino. And no not just trackers. Anyone can, and they call those tamers. Now come. We have a long walk to get to where we need to go by dawn. Baby will tell us if there is trouble.”