In
the year of 876 on the island of Arazov, a young boy lay awake in bed, eagerly
awaiting the next day. In a matter of
hours, he would be sixteen years old and would be celebrating his ‘coming of
age’ with the rest of his family. The
land he resided on considered a boy at the age of sixteen to be a man, and
treated him like one as well. These
terms varied depending on what island one lived on, he remembered. In some places, the respected age was as
young as thirteen. He thought he would
enjoy it if it were so where he lived, but then the day wouldn’t be as
exhilarating as it was when one waited. It
seemed as though he had been fifteen for far too long; but then again, his
name, Elrain, did mean ‘Eternity’.
He
didn’t know why he had been named that; actually, he didn’t know much about his
past at all. His father, Faldertren, had
been forced to leave thirteen years ago to travel to the dark lands of
Wragátha. Suldscar waited for him there,
and placed him in his army to rob Auriate, the being that resided in the lake
and held the islands together, of her ascendency.
Suldscar
was a wicked character who could take the form of a human or a large creature
that represented a crossbreed between a scorpion and a dragon. He had been craving power for as long as
anyone could remember. Always taking
every opportunity he could to rise higher in both ability and recognition, he
was relentless. Most people thought he
wanted it to make his own life easier, but they were wrong.
To
understand his motives, one would first need to grasp the story behind the land
that many people would someday learn to call home. It all started long before time was measured…
…in the middle of the Ovkean Sea, there
was a vast island called Kedestan. There
were two beings, essences of the island itself; they resided under the names of
Suldscar and Auriate. Auriate was wise
and noble at heart, and most life on the island seemed to enjoy her
presence. They made her queen of the
earth where they planted their feet and roots, and vowed to respect and obey
her for the rest of their lives.
Suldscar seemed to be the same, but he often let his rage get control of
himself. Because of this, Auriate cast
him away to the north side of the island.
He was taken aback by this notion, and looked for support amongst the
followers of his instigator, but few aided him.
Forced to go, he allowed his hateful emotions to churn inside him,
formulating a plot to reclaim the island as his own.
As the years went by, Suldscar
managed to pull together more followers.
He would lure them into mental traps, giving them the desire to join his
side. Some of the life on the south side
began to wonder what to believe, as Auriate wasn’t able to support every need
of the growing population. Time was
slipping away, and so were believers.
Finally, not long before the first
year – as people would come to know it – came into existence, Suldscar brought
forth his army and clashed against the righteous. The battle lasted seven days, and for each
day it continued, one island was torn away from the main land. When the battle ended, both sides had
suffered greatly, but Auriate had won, and though the land and populations were
divided, their loyalties remained the same.
It was after this that Suldscar was
determined to destroy Auriate and win the islands to prove that he could be
just as good to the inhabitants, hoping to earn their respect.
It
was because of this desire that Elrain’s father was recruited. However, Falder would not let his faith slip
away easily, so he escaped. The last
anyone ever heard was that he was somewhere in Mt. Vyxen, Suldscar’s volcano.
Elrain
didn’t have very many memories of his father, which seemed depressing, though
he tried not to think about it too much.
He figured that he was probably dead, else someone would have found him
after such a long time.
But
not wanting to darken what was already the longest night of his life, he replaced
these theories with thoughts of the coming day instead. They filled him with excitement and joy;
readiness and anxiety. They filled him
with something great; something real.
* *
* * *
* * *
* *
The small hut was filled with so many people Elrain
thought it might collapse at any given moment.
They were all talking and enjoying themselves, stopping to congratulate
Elrain occasionally. His brother was
there, so were his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents – the only person
missing was his mother.
She
had seemed like a good person to most, not to mention a good mother when she
was there. She would sometimes just
disappear, though, and no one would know where she was. When she came back she wouldn’t answer any
questions, either.
But this is different! Elrain
thought. It was a celebration, a big
day, and she wasn’t there to see it all.
It didn’t make any sense; but then again, it never did.
“Why
the solemn face, Elrain?” His brother, Dalin, was always asking him questions
nearly to the point of insanity. What
made it worse is that they were always personal questions.
Hesitating
briefly, Elrain decided he would tell him anyway. “Our mother’s gone – again.”
“And
that bothers you?” Dalin seemed somewhat surprised. “She’s gone all the time. Why is this any different?”
“But
I’m turning sixteen today! You’d think
she’d be here for that!”
“I
guess you’re right. But it must be
important whatever she’s doing, because she’s been leaving us like this ever
since you were three.”
“Either
that or she just doesn’t care about us.” Elrain hoped that wasn’t true, but it
wouldn’t come as a shock if that were the case.
“I’m
sure she does. She probably just –,”
“If
we mattered to her she would tell us where she was going! Why is it such a secret? I don’t know about you, but it makes me
suspicious.”
“Well,
she’s been absent like this for the past thirteen years, and that’s how long
our father’s been missing. Do you
think…?”
“How
could she be visiting him and not telling us?!” Elrain was getting more and
more frustrated. “We’re his sons, so we
should be able to see him too!”
“She
couldn’t be doing that anyway,” Dalin concluded. “It would take her weeks, maybe even months,
to get to Wragátha on foot.”
“You’re
right.” Elrain heaved a great sigh and sat down in an empty chair. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would she leave, and where would she go?”
“Maybe
we should keep a close eye on her and follow her next time she leaves?”
“That
sounds interesting; and dangerous.” Shara, their fifteen year-old cousin, had
been standing behind them for the past several minutes listening to their
thoughts.
“Go
away,” Dalin moaned. “This is none of
your business.”
“If
you’re talking about Falder, it’s completely my business. He’s my uncle, and I’m his niece. If you have a right to talk about him, so do
I.”
“Fine. But what can we do about it?” Elrain was
beginning to see where their conversation was going.
“Maybe
we could look for him?” Shara suggested.
“That’s
even more dangerous,” Dalin
said. “I like my first idea better.”
“You
never know,” Elrain was seriously thinking about Shara’s words. Of course, he had thought about looking for
his father before, but now he believed he was much more capable of going on
such a long and perilous journey.
“You
can’t be serious, Elrain,” Dalin was staring at him, seeming to read his
mind. “You’ve just turned sixteen. So you’re a man by everyone’s standards. That doesn’t mean you can do everything.”
Elrain
was on the verge of arguing against this, but he stopped and realized Dalin was
right. He couldn’t do everything yet,
and it would be better if he came to grips with that before he went on a
life-threatening quest to find his father.
The more he thought about it, the sillier it sounded.
“So did I finally get through to you?” Dalin was staring
down at him with a slight smug smile on his face.
“Yeah; I guess you did.” Elrain responded, defeated.
“Well, you might as well make the best of this day while
it lasts,” Shara said. “It only comes
once in a lifetime.”
The two brothers agreed, and they got up and joined the
rest of the people in celebration.
