SWNOVELS Chapter Twelfth Chant
Accepting Reality, Facing Towards Present
Callyps have been sitting motionlessly for two days and two nights, thinking about the prophecy of the future I have foreseen.
At dawn of the third day he stood up looking at fading stars on the morning sky which began to lighten.
“Dad. He moved.”
I was fast asleep as it was me who mostly watched after Callyps in his almost catatonic state for the past two days.
“Dad! Come on!”, Ehvi grabbed my leg and started to drag my body from the fir-tree I fell asleep under, across the large meadow to where Callyps was.About ten meters later my head hit some rock sticking out from the surface of the grassy ground and made me wake up instantaneously with terrible headache.
“Ouch! I’m awake, I’m awake. Stop dragging me.”, I looked up to where Callyps was sitting till recently. “Oh, so he finally decided.”
“Decided on what, dad?”, Ehvi let go of my leg and helped me stand as I reached out my hand to her from cold, dewed ground.
“You’ll see.”
Callyps started gyrating slowly, still looking above his head.
“Ey! Apo. Can you hear me? What’re you going to do then? Option A, B or C?”, I stood right before him and he lowered his eyes at me. They were empty. Empty of emotion.
“No. There is more. One more option that I can choose. And there’s only one thing you can do to stop me.”
“You don’t mean…”
Callyps turned around. He slowly walked towards his sword, which was still driven into the ground a few meters away. He grabbed the shining black blade with one hand and with the other one the handle near the guard. With a single, sharp pull he drove it out, pointed it at his chest and without a second of haste he stabbed himself with one confident strike.
Dark, navy blood spurted out of his mouth second later and the sword started to melt.
“Callyps! What the hell are you…”, I ran to him but he stopped me after few steps with his open palm reached out to me.
“This is… my choice… my fate…”, with troubles to even breath he forced himself to look up at the last star on the sky. The melting sword was slowly being sucked inside his body, paralyzing him and ensuring his imminent death.
Callyps, whose strength was slowly being taken away from him, dropped on his knees before me. Mighty and proud young Emperor waiting for his last breath. This is the time he told me about.
“No. This choice changes nothing. It was foreseen long ago.”
“Ha… ha… ha… Then why did you let me do that?”
“Some lessons can be learned only when the mind is ready for them.”
Ehvi took a couple of steps back. I looked at her and I saw it. I saw confusion and fear written all over her face. But she also tried very hard not to show it.
She is getting stronger, I thought, She’s just like her mother and grandfather.
“Alright, Ehvi, honey, go back to the caves. Wake up your mother and wait for me inside. I will be right there, let me just say farewell to our guest here.”
It took her few seconds but Ehvi looked at me, nodded her head and ran deep into the nearby forest separating this meadow we were at from the chain of underground caves we decided to hide in for a little while. Once she passed the center of the dark woods I looked at dying Callyps.
“There is one thing, Apo, that I haven’t told you about yet. You see, I knew what objective you had in coming to our Galaxy before you even crossed the Passage. General Yakufe also knew that from the start. As you know the time flow in Milky Way is different than in your Galaxy. Therefore we learned in time to look at things from different angles, different perspectives. You are still unable to see the bigger picture, even though I just gave you all the puzzle pieces you need.”
I grabbed the sword melting into Callyps’ chest and the metal started to cover my left hand. I kneeled before him, but he couldn’t even move his head to look at me anymore, paralyzed by the metal surging through his veins. I tried to look and sound as serious and gentle at the same time as it was possible.
“There is a way, very dangerous to both of us, to bring back to you your lost sister, Raida Callyps. It is because she’s neither lost nor dead to begin with. To help you see the bigger picture I must take you back twenty nine years ago. I was still at the Academy back then, but my skills were already being recognized and I joined the Lower Guard Troops. One day General Yakufe asked our superiors for the best five of our squad. Naturally, I was one of them. We flew to a distant system, very much like this one, called Zirioos. There we met General’s brother and a tall woman, taller than any of us, covered with silver-crimson cape and hood. She said she and her crew came from different Galaxy and they can’t return home for unknown reason. The Passage couldn’t be open from this site and apparently something happened on the other. She sought help however back then there was nothing we could do. Not yet. Over ten years later, couple of years before you used the Passage, the seven of us met with her once again. Yakufe tracked down her and fifteen of her crew members that were still alive, hiding in the lost system, where already unstable sun could implode at any time. We went there to share with Raida what General and his brother have found in Great Milky Library. They learned that there exists a chant, very powerful and difficult to master, the one I told you about, that allows user to temporarily disrupt reality and create artificial passage between the galaxies, parallel to the Galaxy Passage used by Technomians. But the price was too big for her. She couldn’t accept that only single person per Galaxian Year can safely pass through the artificial passage casted by one user. And there wasn’t anyone else but General Yakufe strong enough to even learn that chant, not to mention safely guide someone through it.”
I smiled, more and more of the melted black metal stuck to my left forearm, looking for a way to melt into my veins.
“Do you know what she told us? I’m not like my father, I can’t abandon my crew, my real family, If we can’t all go back, we will wait. Until one of you create a chant to send us all home. In order to boost up a chant this powerful even more one must be able to enter the Sacred Form. Officially, that form still has no name, even though some Generals were able to use it generations ago. And only the one who is stronger than Generals can do it.”
Callyps still immobilized forced himself to look into my eyes, trying to picture what form would that be.
“I used that form to exterminate your fleet and to seal away all of your four Raiders. Yakufe was willing to sacrifice his own lifespan to do that, however his plans were interrupted as you challenged us right after we left our previous system. That curse he casted on you, I know all about it. I know its purpose, its meaning. That’s also why he tried to make you believe time passed for you slower than it actually did. That’s why he kept an eye on you. He saw hatred and anger in your eyes, unlike in your sister’s. He tried to give you time, but once you learned how to control it, you lost the ability to see its true nature. He couldn’t let that angry boy who you were fifteen years ago face his kind and caring sister. But you failed him, and her. But that mark on your eye will never disappear, and it will prevent you from dying too. That’s right, your efforts just jumped off the cliff. Until the cure is fulfilled you can’t die, as the curse itself is the key to open multiple artificial passages at once.”
I started to pull out the sword out of Apo’s chest, but single strings of half melted metal were still connected to the melted parts mixed up with his blood.
“That’s why you can’t die yet.”
Sword melting in my hand covered almost whole my left arm and started to engulf my shoulder, back and neck. With one strong pull I drove the remaining parts of the sword out of Apo’s body, threw away the sword which after losing contact with Callyps’ body started to harden very fast, and sat cross-legged next to him.
Cloudless sky welcomed the sunrise with the disappearance of the last star. Beams of warm sunlight reached us from above vast hills on the east. New day has come.
I started inhaling chilly air and Callyps started to regain a little bit of control over his own body.
“Why?”, he asked, spitting his much more darker due to melted metal blood again.
“Simple. I know exactly where your sister is, how to send you home and get rid of the curse. But I won’t help you until you help yourself.”
I closed my eyes. For about half an hour we were just sitting and kneeling in the middle of empty meadow doing absolutely nothing but thinking.
“Do you start to see the bigger picture now, Apo? You are both from different Galaxy with different time flow, so you don’t age here like we do. Why do you think Ken still looks like a teenager even after fifteen years here? And how old do you think he really is?”
After ten more minutes Ehvi peeked from behind the nearest tree. She had her sleeping brother wrapped on her back.
“What is it, Ehvi? Why aren’t you waiting in the caves?”
“Mom sent me.”, Ehvi came out from the forest and started walking towards us. “She said: If he has time to play with Apo he could at least let the rest of us use the night to the fullest. I’ve been waking up every hour because of your brother’s crying. Next time I’m dealing with the guests and he’s dealing with the kids. Go tell him that right now. Then she sent Ken for something up in the mountains and kicked us out of the caves.”
“Well, you heard that, Apo? At least you don’t have to deal with this kind of problems.”
I stood up and brushed out my clothes from dust and dew. Callyps laid on his back and fell asleep.
“It was eventful night. We’ll let him rest for a bit.”, I placed my right hand on his wounded chest and snapped my fingers of the left. “Now he won’t wake up for a couple of hours, and if he gets lucky he might even have a nice dream.”
(end of part 1)
part 2
The sun was rising. First direct rays of warm light hit his face as he was sitting on the edge of the cliff with the empty piece of paper in his hands.
“What are you doing here so early in the morning?”
The reddish-orange haired woman sat right next to him.
“I was just thinking about what father told me once before. Great General Dhamm, what a man.”
The caped young man looked at the unrolled parchment in his hands.
“Sometimes I wonder how he would deal with this new world. What would he do in our stead.”
“You know you can always ask him, right?”
“It’s not the same. I wish I knew him for a little while longer. Talking to ghosts seems somehow fake to me. It just doesn’t feel the same.”
“I wish you had a chance to meet mother though. She was strong, and kind, and…”
“Very beautiful. Yes, you always say that.”
They both smiled at the exact same moment and looked at one another. The cliff edge seemed cold due to rocky ground and chilly breeze from the ocean, but they enjoyed it like a nice dawn in summer.
The woman, in her late thirties, stood up abruptly, turned around and ran with a speed precluding anyone from even seeing her move, leaving only small dust clouds behind her.
The young lad in his twenties continued staring at the steadily ascending away from the horizon red sun. Above the mountain peak on the west was still partially visible moon and a few barely noticeable stars.
Father. This new world has a lot to offer, you were not mistaken in that. However was your decision correct one? Was locking up Callyps in this other dimension a wise choice? Was mother right to give up her soul to us too? Wasn’t there anything else, better, that we could do? Sometimes I feel like this could’ve happen differently if I was older or if I wasn’t there at all.
Lost in his own thoughts, unanswered questions and unspoken speculations the young man didn’t notice a change of the scenery. The clouds were gathering slowly in the south, the breeze stopped almost completely and the parchment in his hand unveiled its hidden message.
“Ken! Ken!”, the scream was hearable in the entire city but the man named Ken was nowhere to be found.
“Master Ken! Where are you?! Master Ken!”, even children started looking for the oldest person in whole Northern Continent.
Kenul Oial, Master of the Cristal Order, wise Technomian Mage, the last eye-witness of the beginnings of the Afou Taimu age, master of no elements, creator of the Tools of Elema.
Man with many names, known throughout the world as the Great Advisor.
“Ken! Master! Are you still in the city?! Ken!”
The screams continued until the sunset. The old, gray haired man with wizened olive skin was sound asleep, sitting under an oak tree near the Main Gate.
A young boy found him soon after dark when the search was postponed. Ken woke up in an instant mumbling something about the Galaxial Passage and the way to return time to where it belongs. But after few seconds his consciousness took over and he looked at confused boy who woke him up.
“Oh. Hello, dear lad. Your name is Mikka, right? Son of Mallia the huntress. What are you doing outside the town so late?”
“Everyone was looking for you, Master. For an entire afternoon. Didn’t you hear us?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear. I’m much, much older than I look, and it looks like time is finally starting to catch up with me.”
Mikka helped old master to stand up and gave him the staff lying on the tree branch above the place Ken was sleeping at.
“Thank you, Mikka. I think it’s time to go back for some dinner and tell you all kids about the truths of this and other worlds.”
“Will you tell us about the Great Conqueror again? Or about the Forgotten Ages? Me and my friends love those stories.”
“Of course, whatever satisfy you, young ones. Now, let’s hurry. I feel like I overslept a few meals. Hahaha.”
Later that night, when everyone fell asleep and the city was covered in darkness and silence, Ken opened the passage leading underground, hidden under his house.
He pressed a rectangular shaped button near the ceiling and deep below, where the steep stairs were leading to, intense blue light appeared.
Step by step, one stair at the time, Ken took his time to get to the bottom of the passage. Vast room was well lit and dozens of shelves were filled with books, piles of papers and dusted tools unused for centuries.
Ken walked slowly towards long, curved table in the center of the room. He took one piece of yellowed paper, with one of the corners slightly burned. It was long scroll, unrolled at the top. The content was written in Technomian, by hand.
Kahilja Gruhania. Forgotten Beginning. Unknown to still primitive human race story of the starting points of the end of their Galaxy.
Ken unrolled the bottom. While reading the last paragraph he sat on the top of the desk and sighed.
“How long will you make me keep this hidden? Isn’t this past millennium enough yet? Aren’t they ready to know the truth yet? They learned so many things by themselves already, can’t I just pass this task to someone else now and join you guys on the other side?”
Only silence answered his questions. He just kept staring at the letters for a bit.
“Aren’t you satisfied yet? Meg? Akh? Ehvi? I know you can hear me, I know you are still here, guarding the truth until the right time comes. I’m old, and tired. I wish I didn’t agree to this stupid idea of yours, General. I wish it has turned out differently.”
But wishes are nothing more than wishes, Ken.
A whisper reached his ears. Soft, gentle voice of a long lost friend appeared from nothingness.
You did well. You kept your promise. The time has come to take the truth to the next generation. A millennium has passed not without a reason. Millennium full of suffering, loneliness, apathy and emotionless observations. The DNA has been accepted, now the heirs will come. Weak in bodies, but strong in hearts and souls.
As he lost himself in the voice of a friend deeply echoing in his mind, the night passed faster than any other night before.
“Where… Where do I go then?”
Only you know where to go. Only you know where to look. You are the knowledge and you are the wisdom. Believe in your soul and your heritage. You are the last pure blooded Technomian in the Milky Way. No one but you can send the truth to the right person. Now go, your time is near. Your soul will join us soon. Go, my friend.
He stood up. He took couple of books and unused tools from shelves around him, put them all in a bag, and with a smile on his face, determination in his eyes, scrolled parchment in one hand and old wooden staff in the other, he climbed back up to the place he called home for the last 20 years.
The hidden passage closed. He pulled out the button he used earlier and put it in his bag.
This is a new day. Not only for you, but for the entire world. Everything that happened for the last thousand years – happened to lead you to this day.
With this last sentence in his head he vigorously left the small house and before leaving the city he visited the chief.
“My time has come, child. I must go and fulfill what I was meant to do. But fear not, you have my teachings with you and you will be fine. Remember that night is just as important as day, fearing one or the other is not going to stop them from happening. Embrace the difficulties and your city will live on.”
“Thank you, Master, for everything you did. If you ever visit these parts again – you will always find here shelter.”
Everyone gathered as Ken was walking out of the city through the Main Gate.
In the northern region of the Western Continent was a small village covered by snow. A man and a woman covered by dirtied white fur was keeping the big fire burning on the outskirts of the village.
The noon of the shortest day of the year was nearing, and the hunters were gone for a whole week now. Only children and elderly were still in the village.
From afar a single silhouette was closing in on the two guards of the fire.
None of them noticed a man approaching the village until he showed up behind them and asked for warmed water.
“I am Kenul Ouil. I wish to see with The Guardian Spirit. Where can I find him?”
None of them replied, only looked at one another and then continued adding dried wood to the fire.
“Do they not understand the speech? Know they not how to speak yet?”
“They knew, stranger. But they are mutes now.”
A tall, well built man with a long beard and a pike in his hand startled Ken by grabbing his shoulder.
“Who are you old man, and what do you want with the Great Spirit?”
“I am Kenul Ouil. The Spirit is expecting me. I have a message and a gift to deliver to him.”
“Tell me the message and hand over the gift to me, I will send them to the Great Spirit personally.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that, boy. The message is encrypted, and the gift is very precious. Only the Spirit can…”
“Let him in, Krake. The Great Guardian Spirit is waiting.”
An old, small woman came from the village and poked the one called Krake with her cane. The rest of the hunters dragged their prays closer to the fire and started to prepare them for evening dinner.
“I’m sorry, mother. I did not know the Great Spirit was expecting anyone.”
The village was completely covered by snow, only some wooden pales and straw on the roofs were visible at the right angle.
The hut of the Spirit was at the center of the village. It was the smallest building around, with no doors and strings of hair with small animal bones entwined in them covering the entrance and windows.
The inside was very dark, only small fire inside gave any light, enough to see the contours of the objects but no details whatsoever. Surprisingly though it was incredibly warm inside. Ken took down the bag from his shoulder, took off the fur coat and stood with a help of his body-long staff.
“Sit, Kenul Ouil of Technoma, the one called Great Advisor in many parts of the planet.”
“Therra is vast, I doubt I’m remembered in that many places, my child.” Ken smiled as he sat on his coat placed near the fire.
“I am the Spirit. Glo’Od. I was waiting for you for a long time, messenger.”
The voice of the Spirit was low and harsh, but it was not clear whether it was male of female voice. The Spirit itself was a small figure, uncovered with any additional fur, only wearing piece of clothing on the torso and long, leather pants.
“The truth, Glo’Od. The truth about the past and the future.”
“Future is unknown and it can be rewritten many times over. You should know that, Master of the Crystal Order.”
“You seem to know a lot, considering where you live.”
“Where I live has nothing to do with what I know and what I can do. You should know that too, no-element master.”
Ken took out the scrolled parchment from his bag and put it above the fire so that the Spirit could see what it was.
“I don’t need light to see, Creator, my sight was taken from me before I was born.” Glo’Od reached out for the scroll and small hand disappeared in darkness right before my eyes. “I see. So that is inevitable. I believe what your message says is not what the truth is, though. From what I can tell – you weren’t the one who wrote it, am I right? You only encrypted it to language unknown by inhabitants of Therra.”
“That is correct. The writing I just gave you was done by the inspirited by soul of his father last of the pure Ellementalls, and a friend of mine.”
“Were you the one to decipher the numbers?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Were you the one to give those numbers?”
“No. That was my parents last message.”
The spirit threw the scroll into the fire. The paper inflamed in a second and the green smoke filled the hut.
“The truth you were bound to protect is now in my hands. I hereby bound my soul to it, so that it won’t be revealed to anyone but the worthy heir. You can rest in peace now, Kenul, the last witness. The Apo Callyps will be sent home before the end and I promise you – your millennial sacrifice will not be in vain. You will be remembered.”
Ken stood up. He was very tired. The cold stopped bothering him long ago. It took him decades to travel around the world to find the one called ‘Spirit’. But now he could finally let go.
He sat at the rock next to the Spirit’s hut. He fell asleep.