Book One: Fate
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Chapter Twelve: Legacy Revealed
It was possible to experience something which seemed so like a dream, yet at the same time as real as can be. He could touch things, feel things, and smelt things while at the same time see them in a state of such wonder and magical appearance that they could only be possible in a near hallucinogenic state. Objects of such beauty that surely only the imagination could think up litter the streets, all colors of the rainbow. They danced in and out of focus with the bustling sound of a populous ringing in sensitive ears all the while.
Maybe it was not really possible, but it seemed like that right there. A thousand different sounds, smells, and colors all at once made Tylor light headed and dazed. His heart beat faster every step the horse took towards the gates to the capital city. They were already pulled open and would stay like that, unless a state of emergency was announced (Leon had explained). The sturdy battlements raised high into the sky, like they got bigger and bigger trying to touch the clouds themselves. The size of the first set of gates alone was enough to dwarf some full sized buildings on their back water island.
He made special note that it was only the first set of gates they were passing, as the gigantic stone structures were just the first set of what appeared to be three pairings. Within the first set and between the second was a heavily trodden on mud ridden area stretching no farther than twenty meters in length and fifteen in width. On the opposite wall was a variety of wooden structures, sheds, and stables. Inside each stable were a selection of horses and some live stock were kept inside the smaller buildings.
Passing through the second gates opened into another area. It was similar to the first, but slightly bigger than the last measured between opposite walls. This was also paved with stone, not fresh mud, and had more people walking around within it. The people passed them uncaring; it must have been an everyday thing for a horse pulled cart laden with passengers to continue deeper within the city. The people were walking too and fro between areas going in and out of Tentra.
It was from the third set of colossal gates that the true interior of the city came into full, close up, view. The last sets of gates were like flood gates opening to allow a huge stream of water to flow out which hit them directly in the face. The smells were strong, but not in a bad or overly pungent way. Tylor was sure he could smell a mixture of smoke and cooking of some manner of foods. They were coming from all directions, all streets and alleyways, all roofs and gratings in the floor. It was a million things to identify all at once, and it was impossible.
He had noticed the smells first because the scale of things his eyes saw after passing the last gates were too much for him. They were held shut as he breathed deeply, trying to calm himself and take in all that was around him. The short time he had them open when the cart ventured out into the main city streets they viewed a bustling metropolis of people of many different races. They were running, walking, strolling, from all angles, talking amongst themselves, to friends, to their children that they kept close to their sides. In the less busy locations the group had been to individual conversations could still have been picked out, but there it was near impossible, there was simply too much noise. It made him wonder how anyone ever slept in a place of such scale and volume.
“Tylor,” Leon called, “it’ll be quite loud until we travel the distance of the main road through Merchant's Square directly to the castle in the center of the city. You’ll get used to the sounds. You should enjoy the sights until we get there.”
The cart was not trotting along that fast, but everything still felt blurred. The architecture of each building seemed to change randomly from basic and gray stone one second to elegant rose colored wood paneling the next. Most buildings were stone, but the occasional beautifully designed wooden pub or shop split up the daunting amounts of gray stone. There was a lot of sign posts as well, dotted on most corners with as many as eight other arrows pointing off down other streets with names scribbled on them in a variety of languages. The direction they were headed in pointed them to somewhere known as Merchant's Square, as Leon had mentioned.
The Demon Hunter had also explained that they were going straight to the castle, but the sign posts had not confirmed that yet. Most of the arrows pointing straight ahead in the direction they were going only said Merchant's Square on them. A castle of any kind was not in view yet even though the street they were currently on stretched quite far into the distance. It was because of all the buildings around them, it blocked the view at the height they were currently at.
The rhythm of the horse’s steps on the cobbled road changed to a slower beat as the cart turned a small corner out into Merchant's Square. This appeared to be a gigantic circular area, possibly located near the center of the cities first district. It was full of stalls with foods and accessories on them with people shouting out their latest buys and the price of new stock. These stalls spread right around the parameter of the square, breaking when another street entrance appeared. The cart circled around, heading to the opening on the opposite side of where they had arrived.
Stalls content varied with each trot. The first had food, which looked baked rather cooked, things like bread and some other strange foods that he did not recognize. The second seemed to be a trinket stall owned by a strange looking woman who must have been a Lis or Siran, judging by the strange marks on her face. Tylor looked away sheepishly when she caught his gaze. The next stall had wooden bars spread, out across its top and dangled from them a variety of different shirts and dresses. The owner of this stall was shouting at the top of their lungs about some kind of special offer on imported silks. The stall after that was full of what could only have been magical spheres. It was a large array of different colors, but the amber ones looked similar to the ones Tylor had seen close up. They were standard products on the main land, but he had not been expecting to see so many in the one place.
With a loud wheeze, the horse pulling the cart jerked backwards and stopped suddenly at the drivers command. The driver proceeded to shout some indistinguishable words at someone in front of the cart. Leon sat up and looked over the top of the cart. Calling to someone, he waved his hand to the left. Peering round the left side of the cart, Tylor noticed a small red faced person stomp off to the center of the square. Although with an adult complexion and clearly not a child, the person was very short and stumpy. Turning back to Leon to ask something, the Hunter was already watching Tylor examine the short person.
“He is a Dau.” Leon explained, “A mountain people from the northern crags, not many of them come here anymore mostly because cart drivers never see them when they are crossing the street. They are expert weapon smiths, despite their peaceful nature and are master merchants all over the kingdom.”
Though feeling a bit guilty afterwards, Tylor laughed. Looking back to the small person, he saw that they had taken a seat near a marble statue which was spouting water out of it into a lower container, wiping his brow and talking to himself. He looked similar to a normal man and only really differed in height. It was another race to add to growing list of names and characteristics that he had to remember so he did not offend anyone by accident. He felt stupid after thinking that the Dau was just a tribe name during Karen’s tale about her past. Tylor hoped there would not be many more or any which he would unwittingly insult by being shocked by their appearance.
Annoyed at his own thoughts, he looked to his companions to see how they were reacting. Leon had sat back down, with his back facing him. It looked as though he was directing the driver to continue on his way to the castle. Joel was moving from a front sitting position to kneel at the side every few seconds, not wanting to miss anything going on around them. He was gasping every so often, making comments about things he had noticed, and strange things he wanted to know about, but most of that was drummed out by the horses clatter and the noise of the people walking alongside. Karen had been sitting silent, facing the same direction as Tylor, but with her back against the opposite side of the cart.
She noticed him looking at her and stared back at him. For a few seconds neither said anything, nor did either of them break the gaze. Finally Tylor sighed and looked away.
“It’s been… fun,” Karen suddenly spoke out. “Goodbye, Tylor.”
With that, Karen suddenly stood up and jumped out the back of the cart, grasping her back pack in the processes. Tylor stood up and called back after her, but the movement of the cart forced him to lower himself, else he would fall off it. Turning to Leon he shouted that they had to stop and go find her.
“Find her? It’s a needle in a haystack, Tylor. Besides, she is already gone.” Leon stated, nodding forwards.
Looking back, Tylor could not see her, just people walking to and fro. It was that easy to vanish. There were simply too many people to determine which way she had gone and no one seemed to care.
Damn it, what are you doing Karen? He cursed. Why did you run off now? She and I are connected somehow and I thought she was trying everything in her power to stay with us, so why just run off unexplained?
Joel nudged up next to Tylor, looking back at all the people as well, scanning them with his eyes in an effort to help him try and spot Karen.
“Guess she got tired of us,” he said bitterly.
Knocking past someone, Karen did not stop to care. Passing left and then right and then left again into an alley, she stopped and leaned back against the wall. Slightly uncomfortable and stiff from sitting for so long, she stretched and then adjusting the pack on her back. Turning, she walked the length of the alley which opened into another street, which was less busy than Merchant's Square. Looking around, she crossed over to the opposite side and into another side street.
Stopping again, in another alley, she looked up to the sky and sighed. The sun was beginning to set; the dim orange color was spreading above tainting the clouds. Tylor would reach the castle soon then he would go to the Grand Registry with Leon before retiring for the night. Leon would probably then give them a room for the evening and then, in the morning, Tylor would go meet with his mother.
That was how things were supposed to go, but things, for her, rarely went according to plan. Tai was close, she could feel it. She had felt it all the way to the capital, like he was watching from some distance away, following them intently. Tai could not interfere with the plan, not yet, not until Tylor had learned as much as he could from his mother. After that it was fine, she could intervene again and fill in any necessary gaps. Tai could only sense Tylor in close proximity because of Zan’s blood in him, but Tai could sense her from much further away because of the growing Aura within her. That meant staying close to Tylor at that moment was too dangerous. Without the ability to hide her Aura fully within herself Tai could always find her and sooner or later he was going to strike. If she was not near Tylor when he went to see his mother that would mean Tai hopefully would not find him and interfere with the meeting. It meant sleeping rough again for a while, but that had become like second nature.
Laughing to herself for a second, she imagined what her former companions had to be saying about her at that moment. Things like “Glad she’s gone” sprung to mind. Unfortunately for them, it was purely temporary. She still had a mission to achieve and Tylor, whether he liked it or not, was part of that.
Maybe they don’t hate me. I’ve not been that bad, surely? I’ve just been doing what I’ve been told, what other choice do I have?
Gritting her teeth, Karen struck out at the wall in front of her. As her knuckle hit the brick it grumbled around her hand as cracks spread from the point of contact and small bits of stone toppled to the floor below. Calming herself, she turned and started walking down the alley, out into the streets again.
The castle of Tentra, the symbol of the kingdom’s power, located in the center of the city, was truly stunning to behold. This was the real epicenter of Tentra, not Merchants Square as Tylor had previously believed. It was a huge structure with four large towers surrounding it. Within its center was a large and thick central structure and on top of the increasingly thinner floors until a huge beautifully made peak, which resembled a church, signified the top of the main building. There were flowers dangled from windows, wooden balconies lined the walls, and slated roofs atop the watch towers. The occasional knight had been noticed wandering Tentra’s streets, but within the castle grounds there were hundreds. It was not just the knights similar to those seen elsewhere around the city that were in full plate armor, but archers with quivers and trainee’s marching around in what Leon explained to be the barracks area.
The cart, and their tour of the city, came to a stop at a special area set aside for carts just within the castle gates. Leon dismounted and asked the others to do the same and not to forget any belongings. Two knights spoke with Leon while the boys got their things and thanked the driver. Leon left the knights and joined them after only a short time.
“Tylor, I will take you to the Grand Registry to find your mother's location in due course, but first I ask that you wait in my dwelling until I give my report to Xeno.”
Tylor nodded and Joel agreed. They walked with Leon across the courtyard to a reasonably large building on the eastern side, opposite the main barracks area. On the outside it seemed to be slightly better furnished than the other barracks and there did not appear to be any other buildings like it. Next to it were some large wooden shacks and another stone building with a chimney bellowing thick smoke of it perched on top.
Walking across the wooden floor, Leon directed them to some seats sitting in the main area of the first room. This room was large, had an unlit fire and chairs to the right, and a variety of tables and storage cupboards on the opposite side. There were a large number of doors spreading down a corridor and there was a small upper level as well that could just be seen from the main room, a balcony above them confirmed this. Asking what the place was, Leon stated that it was his home. Tylor was quite shocked, not just because Leon had his own home within the castle walls, but that it seemed so humble and not like the image he had created in his mind after watching the Hunter fight.
“It’s not uncommon for people to stay within the castle walls. Knights, servants and so forth do also. I share this place with Xeno. Though I must admit that with being sent all over the kingdom on Demon Hunter missions, I rarely spend time here.”
Perhaps it was Xeno that preferred the humble home image rather than a warrior’s home; he could not be sure having never met the person. Home to them was probably nothing special anyway, somewhere to rest and sleep, nothing more. Taking up a seat next to the unlit fire, Tylor sighed and allowed himself to relax. Joel watched and then copied with a seat across from him.
“I will return shortly,” Leon said, closing the door behind him and leaving them alone.
Joel looked from left to right and whistled. Moaning that it was a little dark in the room, he stood up and paced around, looking for a lamp or something to light. Tylor turned and suggested he light the fire with a sphere.
“Well I would, if Karen hadn’t run off with them, remember?” he said with a sarcastic tone. “Oh hey wait, there’s some sitting on the table over here.”
Joel returned to Tylor grasping an amber sphere in his hand. Pointing it at the fire, he instructed the command to activate it. The wood before them suddenly became a blazing fire, it startled both of them. His young friend’s hand was actually pushed back by the strength of the spheres activation. The power of the sphere seemed a lot stronger than the ones Karen had shown them and if he had not been as close as he was to the fire could have set the entire front room alight.
“It must be a stronger type or something… that was close,” Joel said and grinned while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.
Quietly, he returned the powerful sphere back to where he found it on the opposite side of the room and then sat back down with Tylor, looking at the large fire before them.
Leon returned some time later, it had to have been at least an hour. The two had not ventured from the seats in front of the fire, as they did not want to intrude anywhere Leon might not want them wandering. Bringing another seat next to them, he pulled it to the side of Tylor and sat down in it, resting his staff on the ground next to them.
“I am sorry it took so long, it seems that this Tai person has struck again,” Leon said and paused, making sure he had their attention before explaining to the boys what happened.
It seemed that shortly after they had left Wex a number of knights had been brutally murdered by a man dressed in black who vanished shortly afterwards. The survivors explained that he was able to cast magic and move at unimaginable speeds and killed the knights with ease. He had a conversation with the last survivor, who was then summarily blown away as well. A trader took the fastest horse left in the checkpoint and reached the capital shortly after their cart was within the city walls. Continuing, Leon explained that he did not mention the name Tai to anyone, but did make it clear to Xeno that he had suspicions about who did it. Tylor apologized to Leon, who instantly questioned why.
“You aren’t responsible for this man’s actions, Tylor. Needless to say it appears that he killed them after getting whatever information he wanted from the knights, information about you most likely.”
Breathing deeply, Tylor felt very uneasy. Had more people died because of him? He had not spoken with any of the knights during their short stay in Wex, so what could Tai have hoped to have learned from talking to them? It was very strange.
“Never mind, this can wait. I will take you to the Grand Registry tomorrow to find out where your mother dwells, Tylor. I left a request with them before I left the castle, but it will take time for them to find the details I asked for. For now, let us rest. I will prepare a spare room for you both to stay in for the night.”
The Demon Hunter stood up and walked off down a corridor in the middle of the wall opposite the main entrance. Tylor and Joel exchanged glances. Joel asked him what he thought Tai was doing, but Tylor had no answer for his friend as he was just as confused. The knights would not know anything about them or Karen. Maybe he just wanted to know that they were going to the capital, but would that not have been obvious because of the direction they had gone off in? Tai certainly enjoyed killing and did to the extreme when he had the chance, but it seemed odd for him to go kill a number of knights instead of following after them.
This event had no doubt strengthened Leon’s interest in Tai and his so called magic powers. Those powers had killed his father and given Tai unimaginable strength, what hope could Leon possibly have against him? He did not want Leon to die at Tai’s hands. He did not want another life on his conscience.
There he was, being selfish again; it was his feelings and not anyone else’s. He cringed to himself. He was becoming very bitter about a lot of things; his actions, people, and it was not nice. At least they had some time to relax and tomorrow he would finally meet his mother. Getting to see her after all this time of planning the trip would at least be good.
Would it not? She will be happy to see me… I wonder what she will say when I tell her about my father. What version do I tell her anyway, killed in a storm or murdered?
He sighed loudly again.
While the boys waited for Leon to return, a tall bulky man entered the house wearing shining silver armor with a tainted red shoulder and cape draped around his back concealing a large broadsword. It was so large that its hilt extruded out over his left shoulder behind the large red shoulder pad. His face was tired and old; he had bags under his eyes and a gruff looking thick white beard. He leered at the boys and walked towards them slowly, his heavy armor clanking with each step.
“You are the two that Leon spoke of? You killed the bandits that were causing my knights in Cattra so much trouble?” he laughed heartily to himself. “Greetings, my name is Xeno, Commander of the knights of Atra and defender of the royal family.”
He bowed to them. The boys did not know quite how to react, so they opted for simply greeting him and explaining that Leon was preparing a room. Xeno made a comment about something that Leon had said to him about the island that they were from; apparently he had visited once many years ago during the original excursion to colonize it. Pulling up a large wide chair with considerable ease, Xeno removed his broadsword (which was in its scabbard and attached round him by a thick leather strap across his breastplate). Noticing Leon’s staff on the floor, he laid the tremendous weapon down next to it and made a relaxed sound.
Shortly after, Leon returned, breaking the silence that had presented itself between them all. Introducing them to Xeno, he nodded to them both. Leon explained that he stayed with Xeno in the abode ever since he left the church to work for the King of Atra full time. Joel let out an accidental yawn. Putting his hand over his mouth, he apologized in a mumble.
“The kids need their bed, Leon,” Xeno said and laughed to himself.
Asking Tylor and Joel to walk with him, Leon led them down the main corridor of the house to the door at the bottom left of the hall. Inside was a reasonably large room with two single beds separated by a small wooden table with a lamp on it. Joel tossed his back pack onto the one nearest the window on the east wall and sat at its base, examining the rest of the room. It was pretty basic, there was a stool in the corner and that was about it. Tylor laid his things on the other bed and thanked Leon for his generosity.
“I owe you for your assistance in finding those bandits. I’ll fetch some food and drink from the pantry. Oh, there was a reward put out for someone to slay the so called Beast of Wex. I am paid for my services directly by the kingdom, so I have no use for this bounty. However, I collected it on your behalf...here,” he explained, tossing Tylor a large leather pouch filled with coins.
Peering into it, he was quite shocked at how much was there. Stuttering and saying that he could not accept that much, he was surprised to see that Leon had already walked out the door and down the corridor to wherever the pantry was in the house. Joel leaped up on his bed then over to Tylor’s. Leaning on his shoulder, he looked over him, into the pouch. He gasped and asked to count it. Handing the pouch to his young friend, Tylor lay back on the bed and looked at the ceiling.
“I can’t believe how much is here!” Joel exclaimed. “I’ve never seen so much, ever! What are we going to buy?” he asked, now with a large grin.
Five minutes later, Leon returned carrying a large round plate, on it was some buttered bread, fruit, a jug of water, and two goblets. Telling them to get a good night sleep, he left them, closing the door firmly behind him. Joel picked up a bit of bread and tore a piece off with his mouth. While chewing, he offered Tylor a bit. Accepting the food, he bit into it slowly.
“It’s nice,” Joel insisted, “and look at these fruits, never seen these before, they’re purple! I wonder where they got them from, the farmers back home would love to see these. Come on Tylor, don’t you like them?”
“It’s not that,” Tylor stated. “I just don’t feel we deserve this special treatment, or this money. We were attacked, that’s hardly worthy of a reward meant for slaying a monster that didn’t even exist.”
His young friend encouraged him to count his blessings. It was probably best to do that after all the bad things that had been happening to them. Leon was offering the money out of kindness, so why not accept? It would only be for the night anyway. Once he met his mother other arrangements would be made.
Early evening turned to late night and Joel was in the mood to talk. He had done so in fact; ever since they had finished eating and got into their separate beds. He seemed to be back to how he was before they had met Karen. When they met her he seemed to hide his talkative self. Maybe that was just because of everything else that was going on or maybe it was because of her. Either way, it was nice to see him happy again. So far they had spoken about the money Leon had given them, Xeno’s great sword, the capital city, the castle, and the other races they had met so far. General conversation at some point had to change to more important matters; Joel asked if he had decided what to do about the dreams and Tai.
“I’ll see what my mother has to say about whatever this legacy is my father was part of. As for Tai, I did promise Karen I would help her and he will keep coming after us…” he trailed off, thinking about her.
His young friend agreed that Tai would probably keep chasing them until something was done to stop him, but he did not think that they needed Karen to do that. He added that she was too afraid of him. Joel went on to say that he was glad to see the back of her. He sighed after saying it and sounded like he had been waiting to vent frustration about her for some time. Tylor insisted she was not that bad and reminded him of the obvious crush he had for her when they first met back at Old Man Coppers.
“Oh please! She had an attitude problem and you know it. How is she not that bad… oh, but then, I never saw her naked…”
“Joel, shut up.”
The kid lay giggling to himself for quite some time, mocking Tylor, and it made him blush, but his young friend’s contagious laughter eventually got him going as well. After some time, they both relaxed and lay in silence. Though they joked, Joel had made it clear that he did not like Karen for whatever reason. She had seemed to be cold towards him as well, seemingly for no good reason. She was gone now, so what did it matter? She just got up and left even though he thought she would try to stay with them longer. Perhaps she got sick of the tension between them all, or given up on him completely. He had been very cold towards her. There was no way to be sure without asking her, but Tentra was far too big, he stood no chance of finding her again. Even asking at the Grand Registry would be pointless as she probably had no fixed abode after traveling for so long.
“Do you think they still talk about us back in Samilo, Tylor?” Joel asked suddenly, breaking the silence. “I wonder how much they’ve rebuilt…its not been that long, but still…”
Tylor decided it was time to tell Joel about the letter he sent to Samantha explaining that they were leaving for the main land and did not know when they would get back. Joel huffed to himself and said he should have been told sooner, but quickly forgave him. It was true that they had been gone for only a few weeks and the reconstruction would mostly likely take a long time to make any edge way considering how much destruction had been done. They would have to clear all the rubble first, and dispose of the corpses in a respectful manner, before even considering rebuilding from the ground up.
“We will go back and see for ourselves someday,” Tylor said quietly.
Morning had arrived too slowly for Tylor’s liking. Everything seemed to be taking forever; getting washed up, having a breakfast, and preparing for the trip back into the city. He was like a child with too much energy. Leon had visited the Grand Registry in the early hours to speed things up and had received the address of the only Sabre in the city; Rei Sabre of Durum Street in the east district. Tylor asked that Joel stay behind until he had time to talk to his mother, hesitantly his young friend agreed and remained in the room Leon had given them.
Closing the house door behind him, Tylor took small steps across the courtyard towards the stables near the castle gates. Leon sat atop a cart and beckoned him to hop on. Yawning accidentally, he pulled himself up onto it and sat opposite the Hunter.
“It’s not that far and the eastern housing district is small so finding the house should not be a problem. I will drop you off and return in six hours, be outside at that time,” Leon said.
He agreed and yawned again. Joel had kept them up talking far too late the night before, but it was not as if he could get to sleep easily anyway, not with the anticipation of meeting his mother looming.
It was a cold morning, very brisk. Tylor watched his breath appear as small streams of white mist in front of his mouth with each exhale. The streets were a lot less busy than the afternoon of the day before. Very few people were out and about and only a few stalls were open so early. It seemed the people of the city did sleep. He hoped it was not too early; it would be quite embarrassing for them to wake his mother up and make her answer the door.
The horse’s hooves clunked along cobbled street after street, heading to the eastern side of Tentra which seemed to be predominantly a housing district with no large shops and just occasional stalls. The trip took less time than Tylor thought, it seemed like only a few minutes had past before Leon announced that they had reach their destination.
Moving up next to Tylor, Leon pointed to a medium sized two story house in between two other houses with matching paint work and wooden front balconies below the first floor windows. It was quaint looking and was strangely similar to his home back on Samilo. Slowly, Tylor jumped off the cart and took a few small steps towards the house. Leon called to him, reminding him of the time he had before he would meet him on the corner. Tylor turned and nodded at him, watching as the cart pulled away and disappeared round the corner at the base of the street.
Getting to the front door felt like it took longer than the actual trip to get to the street. However, now he was here, facing the door to the house his mother had lived in for the last few years since she left the island when he was a child. Hesitating slightly, Tylor rapped his knuckle on the door, listening intently for signs of life from within.
The door creaked open and from behind it a woman peered around. She wore a long purple dress which draped over her whole figure. Her long flowing brown hair reached down below her shoulders. She looked at him with a questioning look and asked who he was and what he wanted. Tylor stared at her face. He felt he should feel something, remember something, but the memories of his mother were from to long ago that everything was surrounded in a haze. The brown haired woman before him triggered nothing, nor did her soft blue eyes, or thin eye brows.
“I… that is, I… are you…Rei Sabre?” he stuttered, gulping hard.
The woman nodded slowly and asked again who he was and what he wanted. She did not know him, did not recognize his face, but then Tylor did not look the same as when he was a child, especially not now wearing body armor and a gauntlet.
“I’m… mother, it’s me, Tylor,” he gulped and watched as her expression changed to one of complete shock.
Opening the door fully, she walked out onto the front porch with Tylor and placed her hands round the sides of his face. She forced him to look straight into her eyes; she gazed at him for some time before beginning to cry.
“Tylor,” she sobbed. “Dear god, it is you. That look, I remember it since the day I left. I can’t believe you’re here. I wondered why I didn’t receive another letter last week…”
She paused and pulled away from him, still looking at his face. Looking past him and out into the street she looked from left and right before turning back to him with teary eyes. She looked at the ground between them.
“Where’s your father?” she asked, but didn’t give him time to answer. “It has happened, hasn’t it? Dear god, he’s dead, isn’t he?”
Startled, Tylor did not know what to say to her. He simply nodded and felt himself getting teary eyed as well. She embraced him again. Pulling his head over her shoulder, she patted his back. They stood in the cold for a long time simply staying in each others arms, before eventually she retreated to the door.
“There is much I have to tell you, son. Please, come inside.”
His mother was not the same as he remembered her. In her letters she had seemed to have never changed, in the way she spoke to him, or in the things she would ask. She was always concerned about his schooling and how life was treating him in general. He had never really noticed, but in thinking back he could never remember her asking about how his father was doing, not once. Tylor did not know why his mother left them, he was too young to remember, but he had never really thought about the possibilities in detail. As he sat at a small wooden oak table in the middle of a humble kitchen of his mother’s home listening to her talk about him, he realized that she had been sorely unhappy. Asking why living with Zan had been so hard, she replied that she first had to explain the reasons why they ended up living in Samilo. Sitting attentively, Tylor listened.
Rei met Zan Sabre many years ago in Tentra. This was where Rei had spent her whole life, where her family had also lived for generations. She worked in a bar owned by her father’s friend most nights and during the day did deliveries for her mother all around the city. She first met Zan when she was twenty. He had come to Tentra on business and had spent the last few nights coming to the bar to drink. He seemed a very composed and calm person, never raising his voice or joining in with the drunken rabbles that sometimes started. She had began talking to him on a regular basis. Soon their relationship grew beyond simply talking to one another. Zan spent a month in Tentra, most of it with her. He would then disappear for months on end, returning after the summer to spend more time with her, never wanting to speak of where he went or what he had been doing.
One night, a year after they had met, they expressed their love for each other. She was ecstatic that her love did not go unrequited, but Zan seemed concerned. He told her that he had a past that he would rather forget and it was something that he had tried to get away from for many years, but always seemed to find him again. Zan told her to listen to his tale before she offered him her love, as it would most likely make her afraid of him. It was on that night the Zan told her about the Destined.
Even after hearing what he had to say, she would not give in and continued to see Zan. A year later they were wed and moved out to Samilo to live at Zan’s request. It was the only way to get away from his past, he had said. It was the only way they could live safely. Out there, on an island that had not been colonized for very long, they would disappear.
“Mo…Mother, what are the Destined?” Tylor stuttered.
She gave him a weak smile, but seemed too lost in thought to produce a direct answer. Putting her hand on top of his, she asked for a moment as the wording of what needed to be said without sounding bitter would be hard. Tylor was very confused and awaited an answer.
“This woman, the one commanding you to go places, to find out things, she created the Destined and the legacy attached to it. I don’t know if she’s a god or some powerful type of mage, Zan had never really made it clear. She empowered certain people with something like… a seed, this seed unlocks power in them. Whatever she is, she is not omnipotent for her powers are not endless. She could only grant this power on a select few, but as long as the select few keep their bloodline alive, the Destined’s power would carry from generation to generation, father to son.”
Tylor had many questions, but his mother carried on speaking what sounded like a rehearsed speech. She tried to explain lots of things and sometimes mixed up the details. It was as if the speech was not hers and was only spoken to her the once. She was trying her best to remember everything.
“The purpose of the Destined is to kill the Sect, they are assassins, and help the world fight back against a darkness spreading from the western lands that is trying to swallow the land. The Sect are high ranking elites of the dark forces who are highly skilled and their main task in life changed from covert intelligence gathering and assassination to exterminating Destined bloodlines shortly after the dark forces learned of their existence. It was these people that Zan feared would hunt him down and why he traveled so much. It was why we hid on Samilo; it was practically unknown back then. Zan did not think any of them would be able to track him down there so he was safe from the Sect’s reach.”
“What happened? Was it something to do with this legacy that made you leave?”
She sighed hard before continuing.
“Zan did not tell me that the Destined’s power carries on from father to son until you had been conceived. Nor did he tell me that you would have to take over where he had stopped should anything ever happen to him. I hated him for that. More so I hated myself, for you didn’t deserve to have this forced on you, Tylor. I felt to blame. You deserved a choice. And yet here we are. You are going through exactly what he did in his youth. He fought all his life, did you know that? It was his duty to give up a happy life to fight constantly, which is why eventually after meeting me he chose to run away from all that.”
She stood up from the table and walked a few steps away from Tylor, turning her back to him and weeping into a cloth.
“I hate that woman,” she cursed bitterly. “She is the one who forces this on you, barking orders, destroying lives. What right does she have to decide? But, it’s for ‘the good of us all’, so I guess the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few in her eyes. Well, I have only one son and I don’t want to lose you, Tylor. My advice to you is to ignore that voice, forget you ever heard about the Destined. Leave this place, go back home, and never speak of this to anyone.”
Tylor stood up and took a step towards her. Gently calling to her, she turned around and looked at him.
“…I can’t just run away, mother. The person who killed dad, he is after me now. If I have this power, I need it to defend myself, how do I… well, how do I use it?”
Shaking her head, she said that she did not know. Zan had never gone into much detail about it. He did, however, mention Katerano churches, saying that they were shelters for Destined where they could train and learn. If he was set on unlocking the power carried over to him, then he should find one of them, as they would know much more than her.
Nodding and thanking her for the information, Tylor hugged his mother. He had missed her so much and he was glad to have the time with her. She started to say something to him, whispering something in his ear, but suddenly she stopped. A soft spring like noise came from behind her and soon after her body went limp, bending backwards, arching her back in his arms. Pulling her forwards her body slumped towards him, revealing an arrow stabbed directly through the center of her back. Her body fell back again. Tylor looked up into the corner of the room. There, in the shadows, Tai stood with a crossbow in hand, pointing it in their direction. Tylor dropped to his knees, still cradling his mother’s body in his hands, trying to support her fully. Blood oozed from the wound, dropping over his hands and gauntlet. Droplets ran downwards towards the wooden floor below staining his boots and knees. Tai walked forwards, out of the darkness.
“Why…why …why her!” Tylor shouted.
Tai spread his arms out to his sides, dropping the crossbow in the process, and spun on the spot laughing at him.
“…To see the look on your face,” he said darkly.
Tylor could feel the anger swelling up inside of him. Laying the body onto the hardwood floor gently, he brushed his hands over her dead eyes, closing them. Kissing her forehead he stood up and took up an aggressive stance.
“No, no,” Tai said, waving his finger at him. “I am not ready to kill you, yet. I am here to be your tutor. The information given to you by this worm was very inadequate; allow me to fill in the blanks.”
Seeing red, Tylor charged at him, but Tai’s palm placed firmly out in front of him caused him to be knocked back the length of the room, straight across the laid kitchen table, until his body came to a halt and smacked into a wooden cabinet. He toppled forwards as the cabinet fell sideways, narrowly missing him. Before he could even move, Tai was already in front of him, grabbing him by the throat. He picked him up and knocked him up against the nearest wall, raising his feet so far from the floor that the tensed and dangled helplessly.
“You, boy, need to respect your elders. Here I am trying to give you information and you attack me with a very futile, weak, attempt. The only useful things that worm told you was to run away and to fear me. I do like hunting my prey, so I suggest you listen to her.”
Frantically, Tylor grasped at the hand around his neck and kicked as violently as he could with his legs, but Tai’s grip would not lessen. Tai suddenly looked left, towards the door of the house, cursing to himself. He then looked up to the roof. Looking back at Tylor, his black eyes met with blue ones staring straight back.
“It appears that I caused too much of a ruckus and the guards have been made aware. Sadly, this will have to be cut short, but like I said before; I am not ready to kill you yet. I want you to suffer some more. You will grow to hate me every day you are alive and it will keep getting worse until you beg me to kill you.”
Turning, Tai tossed Tylor across the room as if he was a child’s toy. He fell into a heap gasping for air at the far side of the kitchen on top of a chair which collapsed under the pressure. Tai walked over to him and stood above him. Kicking him gently to twist his body over to face upwards, the Sect knelt down beside him. Slowly, Tai reached up to his face mask and began pulling the re-enforced tight fabric up, revealing his face. Tylor began gasping heavily for air, the room was spinning and he felt light headed.
Then the darkness greeted him, as he fell into unconsciousness.
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