Disposable Hero Ch. 04 Pt. 02 - The Truth

Afron turned to Zilvra who was going to chase after him and said, "Leave him young one, we must talk. I am not long for this realm and will be one of the first in the renewal. You have heard of the renewal as we all have, you will be part of the vanguard to our new home and the return of the wild elves to their home."

Zilvra had heard that it was for told before the Drow were exiled into the Foreverdark that one day they and all of this world would leave for a new home. Unbeknownst to Zilvra and only a few elves knew the truth of the elven retreat. Those elves would be the first wave to enter the new world which sages and oracles have been seeing for the past 1500 years.

Zilvra asked, "You said the return of the wild elves. You mean they are not from Alirota, but his home?"

She had heard that they were nothing like the high or wood elves and hated all of the elven races worse than the Drow did.

The sage nodded and said, "Them, Mountain dwarves, and the Horsemen of the Ride are from Earth and they all came here after the last conjunction and they will only deal with each other. They trust no other."

Zilvra sat lost in thought at what she had just heard trying to understand something so unbelievable.

Zilvra asked, "If they don't trust anybody how will they know to come?"

She countered, "To go to Henri's land you must use the gate that the Mountain Dwarves guard to the death, they will know him for it was they who told us about the guardian."

Zilvra remembered her teachings about the Mountain Dwarves and said, "That citadel is not something to mess with, even we know better than to cross those dwarves, they fight like their goddesses have driven them to madness. They are said to have problems with sanity and live to fight and die. It is said that dragons fear each one of these tribes and you want us to go there."

Afron liked Zilvra and said, "Young One they have been waiting 5000 years for him and they will welcome him, it is said that a wild elf made a magical sculpture of the guardian and when he comes it will resemble him, it sits at the entrance to the holiest of holies. That is what the Great Creator has told me, that is how you will get to his home and if the dark maiden is correct then you will find what you truly desire. Take his sword to him, he is waiting in the pasture near your horse."

Zilvra thought for a moment, not liking the choices before her and least of being told what to do by this sunkissed and said mustering all venom she could, "Why don't you take the sword to him yourself, you are the one who has angered him, not me and what is this about my horse? I have no horse but the one we rode here."

She got up to leave and Afron grabbed her, Zilvra acting on instinct turned to strike her when she saw, Afron was worried that they would leave and that they would all be left here to die and said pleadingly, "I cannot touch his sword only those who he trusts and are part of his company may touch it. If you walk away from this you doom all of us to death. This is the only way and if you take his sword you will bear the mark more than you do now, your fate will be tied to him even more because you will be one of the chosen, or should I say that it will unlock more of his powers in you, than he already has."

Zilvra thought about smacking the woman and leaving when the thought of this realm gone, even in Drow society a sage was never to be taken lightly, she wondered if she would ever be free of this damn human. She dropped her head and looked at the sage and saw not only fear but hope, she cursed her luck and wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of Henri for bringing her here.

Zilvra knew that this woman wouldn't lie about things like that, reaching for the sword she said, "I have no desire to help you, I have no love for the goddesses toying with my life either. However, I have no desire to die either and as for his words I agree with him, but I can see how important this is to you and I guess we don't have a choice now do we. Tell me when will we be free of this curse? that was placed on him and now spreads to me."

Afron knew the meteorite heading to Alirota would hit in two years and begin 150 years of fire that would reshape the planet.

Afron said, "You do, you can walk out and leave and you will die with the rest of us or you can take the greatest adventure of your life and find the one who will be for you and will love you, as you are. This is no curse, child it is a blessing, even Lloth has foolishly picked a champion for him."

Zilvra froze upon hearing this, she would never know that she could have gone with Henri through the gate and just refused to open it. She knew that Dirzune was Lloth's champion and this made her dangerous, well even more dangerous than normal. This sage was very clever and the thought that she would call Lloth foolish was unwise and that was an understatement.

She hated how her mother was trying to get one of the larger houses to send a son with a magical background for her. She thought the consorts were not men, no Drow male had the right character to be little more than stress relief no matter how good they looked.

That is why she loved being a scout she would need no man and could choose for herself, but now she was being forced all over again to do anything else but what she wanted.

She looked at Afron sternly and asked, "How will I know this mystery man? The one who is meant for me? What will my mark or marks do for me? Why do you call her a fool? Lloth is many things but a fool is not one."

Afron smiled and said, "By his touch that is how you will feel a great pull when he touches you.

Your mark will allow you to speak with Henri without words or even your silent speak, you can even share each other's strengths, for example you would be able to walk around in the sun without the pain that comes from a life in the Foreverdark and she will be able to see at night as you do. After some time you will see what he can, and know if he is alive or not, it is not unreasonable to say that you could be able to use magic as well.

As for Lloth, she does not understand that when one bears his mark they are cut off from their god or goddess and receive power from him and even a boost to their spells. How many of your kind would stay loyal to her when even greater power is present?"

Zilvra looked at her in disgust, she was right many would chase that greater power but she just didn't like admitting she was right, wanting to get off the topic of Lloth she asked, "What do you mean by his touch? Will I find him here or there? Because it sounds like this mystery man is human and why would I want one of them?"

The sage replied, "Many humans on his planet tend to touch a lot from that shaking hand to a touch of the shoulder, even our kind is starting to do the same.

Henri is deathly afraid of such things they bring people closer and he has watched many may be too many people die. Even his adopted son's mother died while giving birth, he doesn't want that closeness, or he thinks they will die because of it.

If he does touch he is clearly concerned about something or somebody. He is a human that is true when love strikes it is blind to a great many things like the color of skin or even the same species."

Zilvra took it all in and thought about how many times she had seen him smile, let alone touch another person out of friendship and it dawned on her that he doesn't like to touch or be touched for that fact.

She thought, 'He is a lot like a Drow in some ways.'

As she reached for his Katana Afron said, "Remember if you take that sword you will be marked as part of his company or should I call you his sister."

Zilvra grabbed the katana with her left hand and felt a tingle travel up her left arm and a burn follow shortly afterward.

She asked, "What do you mean sister?"

She knew he had a sister and she knew she looked nothing like his sister.

She answered sounding totally nonchalant, "He will tell you all about it, just ask him about soldiers and blood. Oh, when you leave the tent turn right and walk down to the clearing."

Zilvra walked out of the tent and saw a woman sitting and staring at her with utter hatred in her eyes and turned right walking in the direction that she had been told. After about 10 minutes she saw Henri looking at the horses running in the prairie, she noticed he didn't have his ring on.

He said, "J'ai oublié comment elles sont belles."

She knew he was talking to himself mostly and said, "It sounded nice whatever it was."

Zilvra thought, 'I'll never understand him if he doesn't put that damn ring on.'

Henri looked down at the ring and thought about putting it on and heard something behind him, he turned and saw her standing there with the sword in her hand.

He slipped the ring on and asked, "What did you say?"

She countered, "You first when I came out here, you said something, what was it?"

He said, "I forgot how beautiful they are, now it is your turn."

Zilvra told him that what he said sounded nice and that she liked his language.

Henri saw the sword in her hand and said, "I know you have seen parts of Yuuya and Kirara life but did you know that Yuuya is 3 and Kirara is 14 now. I was going to stop being a soldier once Japan was free and raise them and now I am here and don't know if they are safe or even alive. I'm no hero and I don't want to be, why does everybody keep looking to me like that? I'm just trying to stay alive, and to get home."

She didn't like the thought of others messing with her life let alone a goddess, but she knew the sage wasn't lying when she said the world would end and she had no intentions of being there when it did.

She putting her wisdom of 186 years on display and said, "They ask you because you are that man the one who holds the world on his shoulders and never complains about it to others. I know that no Drow would ever take such a role without a huge reward and even then it still might not get done. We need you the sage says this world will be ending soon and without that gate open the people here will all die. As much as I would like to tell them all no, I have grown attached to my life and would like to live it a lot longer and I'm certain you want to get home so what choice do we really have."

Henri took the sword from her and looked at with a disturbing glare then looked at the tree next to him, she saw him turn the blade flat holding it like a baseball bat and look at the tree as he reached back ready to strike the tree with the flat of the blade.

She screamed, "Don't you'll kill us both doing that."

Henri stopped just shy of hitting the tree and looked at her like she was an idiot.

He said, "What it is just a sword, I know it is very dishonorable to break a Katana but it won't kill us."

Zilvra answered back, "If you break a magical weapon like that it will explode and kill us. You'll have to trust me on this I know a lot more about such things than you do. I am tired of them as well and I can't believe I am being the voice of reason here but can you take the risk that they are telling the truth and put Yuuya and Kirara in danger let alone your brother and sister, I know they are important to you."

Henri was about to ignore but could see in her eyes that she believed what she said, damn her and her logic, he had to admit it she was right he couldn't take that chance they had been through enough. He sheathed the sword and went back to watching the horses, they were truly beautiful. He noticed these horses seemed smaller than the horse they rode here.

He asked wanting to know, "Is it just me or are these horses smaller?"

Zilvra looked closely not sure exactly until they came closer and she could see that they were. As she was about to answer she was interrupted by a childlike voice behind her saying, "They are smaller, those are elven horses, since we aren't at big as you humans we breed a smaller horse that is half as strong as a humans horse, can run longer and a little smarter as well."

As they both turned to see the sage's apprentice speaking to them.

Walking closer he asked, "What would your name be?"

She replied, "I am called Taninianna and I will be the sage soon. Afron is nearing her end and awaits renewal on Earth if that is truly what you are going to do."

Henri did not want to hear about all of this again and started to walk away as Taninianna said to Zilvra, "I can call them here."

She pointed out to the horses and continued speaking, "One of them is for you drowess, let us see which one it will be."

The young sage began to whistle loudly and the horses turned and came towards her. Henri turned and watched as the horses came close to the little girl and she held out some kind of fruit for the horses, much like you would an apple for a horse on earth. As they got closer Zilvra wanted to see if the felt the same as the draft horse she had ridden here, when she raised her right hand towards the horses they all stopped and walked backward. Henri knew horses didn't like going backward at all, something was wrong, very wrong.

The little sage said, "Close your eyes and open your mind the mark on your chest will bring your horse to you."

Zilvra was doubtful at first but when she thought of all the things she had seen Henri do with his marks, she did as the little sage said and closed her eyes and tried to open her mind. In her mind she saw a horse as black as midnight, her wonderful hearing detected the sound of something coming slowly towards her. Henri saw a black Philly that had been running next to the lead mare walk slowly towards Zilvra as it got to within arms reach it nudged her with its nose.

He asked Taninianna, "What is going on?"

Henri had never heard of any horses being so friendly towards anybody let alone wild horses.

Taninianna explained, "She has accepted her role in saving all of us when she brought you that sword. Your mark has expanded her powers and now she will go to Earth with you. That horse is bonding with her and will go with all of you."

She spoke as if things had been decided already, it was highly annoying and made him feel like he wasn't in control of things.

Henri wasn't thrilled with the news and asked, "What do you mean my mark has expanded her powers, I know she can read minds and that is about it? And what's this about them going with me? Finally, I told the old woman in there I didn't want anything to do with this. I just want to get back, you and every last person here can go fuck themselves for all I care."

He wasn't in the mood for the, you're our hero line. Henri knew the truth and he wasn't buying it, he was no disposable hero for people to put medals on and talk about, he had heard from his fellow Marines who went home and were forgotten after risking their lives for their nation.

The young sage looked at him and said flatly, "Then you damn us all to death. Both Afron and myself have had a vision of the fire falling from the sky that burns everything."

Henri racked his brain trying to think of what it could be and asked, "Can you describe exactly what you saw?"

He had a bad feeling about what he was about to hear.

She said, "I saw fire come from the sky and hit a great forest when the fire hit the forest I was thrown to the ground by a strong wind that tore trees from the ground close to the fire. I saw smaller fire hit other places and they were no more. The fire caused the sun to hide behind black clouds and all that the fire didn't burn was frozen when the smoke hid the sun behind it. That is what I saw."

Henri was thinking, 'It might be something, like what killed the dinosaurs.'

Either way, he was stuck trying to save these people and asked, "How long until this happens? How many seasons? What will happen to my people when you arrive I mean we are not going to just give you our planet."

The young sage smiled as she knew he would do what had to be done and answered, "Almost eight in the eighth season this will happen. Not all of us will come only about a million or so of all races, the rest will be renewed on Earth, we will make a new Earth a bigger Earth for all of us to live on."

Henri hung his head and wondered who he had pissed off to have the weight of two worlds on his shoulders and when this crap would finally end, it was getting old quick.

Henri walked back to the house that the old sage was in Zilvra came up next to him followed by her horse.

She asked, "Henri, the old sage said I would be your sister in blood and told me you would explain what that means."

He smiled remembering the speech from Shakespeare's, Henry V, he had to thank dad for the classical education and said, "From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Zilvra said, "That sounds beautiful, that is why my people liked having a couple of humans around sometimes they are able to surprise us, not often and it is interesting to see how you can create such beautiful things in your short lives."

They got closer to the house they saw the elf still sitting outside looking at them, well looking at Henri and glaring daggers at Zilvra.

Henri said thoroughly annoyed, "Stand up and tell me who you are and how you can help me?"

She said, "My name is Zyvin Teasen'neldth, Researcher from the tree of knowledge a mage of no small power and for most authority on Renewal. I am to teach you about how to conjure I am told that you shape it I will give you what it should look like when it is done. I can answer any questions about Renewal and I will document our journey so that future generations will know of our deeds."

She spoke plainly and without emotion, she sounded more like a professor than emotionless, as if teaching Henri was a chore.

He looked at Zilvra, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm Henri and this is Zilvra if you are going to be joining us then you had better get in here and learn about what is going on unless you already know that is."

Henri wasn't thrilled about the thought of having to keep these two alive let alone the others, he didn't have the best of track records keeping people alive. He went to enter and saw Zilvra trying to get her horse not to follow.

He walked over and in a very stern tone said "Stay" and reached for his sword.

The horse stopped and Zilvra saw where his hand was she jabbed him in the ribs and said: "You wouldn't."

He just smiled saying, "I guess we will never know, now will we."

Inside we found Afron talking to Zyvin and pointed to the floor again.

Afron said, "Please sit now that you have accepted what you must do we can continue. You will meet the others after you have arrived at the Drow surface city. From there you will go Arawa and from there you go into the mountains to Winterspire the Citadel of the mountain dwarves. They will send you back and when you have opened the gate we all can leave."

Henri hung his head at the futility of it all and just nodded saying, "What do I have to do to make Zyvin part of the group? Any ritual or something like that? I usually don't trust people right off, but I don't have any choice do I?" He added the last part with as much venom as he could muster.

Afron said, "The only things she has to do is hold your sword and receive your mark. You trusted the young one here and you trusted your brothers-in-arms she would be the same. If you want she can swear the same thing you did with your brothers. The angel will bind all of those who swear loyalty to you."

His jaw dropped as he said, "Shut the fuck up! Did you just say an angel will bind them?" She just nodded as he continued now completely lost, "Are you telling me that an angel is watching over me?"