The Sunblade Chronicles Ch. 02

A million questions raced through his mind, and he tried to file away as many as he could for later. Was he really what she said? It could be a mistake, couldn't it? No. His heart was telling him it was true. He thought maybe he'd always known it, too. He'd always been different, it was just recently that the differences had become more dramatic.

Aran didn't know where she was taking him, but it was much further into the Emerin than he had ever been with Jered. Surprisingly, the oaks and elms and pines and firs grew less densely populated the further southwest they went. It was still a proper forest, it just became a little more spacious.

Elaina stopped dead beside a thick-trunked elm, putting a hand out to halt Aran alongside her. She was listening again, judging by the tilted angle of her cowl. Aran waited.

"The forest has been... restless lately," she explained softly. "But we are almost within the ward. Come."

Aran followed for maybe another mile or so, until he passed through something that send a light tingle through him, almost like stepping through an invisible waterfall, but the tingle passed through his body rather than over it. He looked back, to see what he'd walked through, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Elaina suddenly seemed more relaxed. She pulled her cowl back and smiled at Aran before moving on. "You may speak now, if you wish," she said kindly.

Aran walked beside her, wondering which question he should ask first. "You know my mother?"

"Yes," Elaina replied, placing her hand on a fallen log and vaulting it smoothly. Aran did the same, though somewhat less gracefully. "I stayed close to her throughout your youth, for her protection, and for yours."

"So, I'm in danger, then?" He asked slowly. "Because of this power?"

"Yes," Elaina said softly. "And also because of who you are."

"And who am I?"

"That," she said, "Will be answered in due time. There are things you must know first."

"What things?"

"Things like history," Elaina replied. "You must learn what really happened to the Order of Aros, not the false past written and taught by the Heralds of Dawn."

"I never liked the Heralds," Aran admitted. "Though I kept my opinions to myself, for the most part."

"You were wise to do so. There are some others out there who do not align with the Heralds' teachings, but there are many more that do. Too many." She paused for a moment, as if considering what to say. "You were fortunate, growing up in Korrin. In the cities and towns in the west, the Heralds have full sway over law and order, and over life and death. That is why your mother brought you to Korrin; to be as far from Herald eyes as possible and still be in Human territory."

"Wait, Human territory?" Aran queried. "That implies that there are other, non-Human regions?"

Elaina cocked a quizzical eyebrow at him, plain even in the shadowed moonlight. "Your mother never taught you, did she?"

"Taught me what?"

She chuckled and mumbled something under her breath that sounded like: "Mari, you certainly took your vows seriously." To Aran, she simply said: "You'll see."

Aran was working on more questions when they came up on a vine-covered stone wall, eight feet high and running east and west into the forest. Aran couldn't be sure, but he thought it curved slightly south.

Turning to him, Elaina grinned. "Your first task is to get over the wall before me!"

Aran puffed his chest out confidently. "I'm the best climber in my village, you know."

"Then show me!" Elaina challenged. "I'll even give you a five-count start!"

Aran laughed. "Alright, you're on!" He tangled his fingers in the vines and found them strong enough to hold his weight. He was almost to the top of the wall when he sensed something passing over his head, and he looked up in amazement as Elaina back-flipped through the air a good three feet above, disappearing out of sight as she cleared the wall.

When he could see over the top, he looked down at her, standing on the grassy ground on the other side. She was watching him scramble over the top with all the grace of a bull on ice.

"How did you do that?" He asked when his boots were back on the ground.

"Same way you got yourself out of that tree," she answered. "Except I know what I'm doing."

"Fair enough," Aran muttered, dusting himself off. There would be green stains on his hands and knees, and more on his shirt, he was sure. Good Sunday clothes ruined.

The moon was dropping quickly, and it was just above the trees in the west as Elaina led him up a gradual incline. Aran could see now that the stone wall appeared to surround a massive area, mostly cleared of trees and covered in lush grass. In the distance, maybe two hundred yards away, he could just make out what looked like a large hill, or a small mountain.

As they got closer, Aran saw it was no mountain, but a building! Three stories high, the square, white stone structure was wide enough to appear squat. It was almost like a small imitation of a castle, without the parapets and buttresses and whatnot. Arched glass windows looked out onto the lawn on every level. A soft light emanated from two of them, up on the top floor.

Two huge stone cisterns as tall as the building and almost as wide sat at the eastern end, and strange tubes ran from them to the roof. On the western end was a stable big enough for ten horses, though there looked to be only one present.

"Welcome to my home," Elaina said with a smile as they crossed an expansive circular yard of packed earth. "This is the training ground." She gestured to the area around them. "That," she pointed at the building with a measure of pride. "Is the Emerin Chapel. We're going in the back way, tonight. I'll show you the front tomorrow."

Aran just stared, knowing he looked like a country bumpkin, but not caring. "Wait till I tell Jered about this," he murmured as Elaina reached an arched door in the centre of the wall. It was made of a strange dark wood Aran didn't recognise. There were two crystals set in sconces on either side of the door. They gave off a warm, homely light.

In this light, Aran finally got a good look at her eyes. They weren't green. They were pure, brilliant emeralds.

"What are they?" Aran asked, pointing at the crystals. One of them started to flicker fitfully.

"Sunstones," Elaina answered. She reached out and touched the flickering crystal with a fingertip, and the light steadied and grew brighter. "They don't stay charged forever. You have to refill them every so often, or they go out. They absorb the power of the vala, and hold it for a time."

Aran stared at the shining sunstone, captivated. He thought he could feel as well as see it, like if he closed his eyes and spun around, he could still point right at it.

Elaina pushed the door open to reveal a long, wide hallway. It was designed like nothing Aran had ever seen. The floor was the same white stone, as were the walls and ceilings. A plush carpet runner ran the length of the hall, and the walls were paneled from the floor halfway to the ceiling with that same dark wood as the door.

More sunstones shone on the walls, illuminating doors and archways leading to various rooms. Aran followed Elaina inside, his stomach fluttering nervously. What was this place?

Elaina shucked her cloak and hung it on a peg by the door, then indicated for Aran to do the same. He hardly even noticed her curvaceous form as she led him down the hall; he was too distracted by this alien building.

"There are many rooms in this Chapel," she said as she walked. "I will show you the rest in due time. For tonight, I will take you to the bath, and then your quarters." She turned left through an archway, and Aran's jaw dropped.

A fifty-foot square was this chamber, with a ten-foot wide fireplace on both the north and south walls. Set into the floor was an enormous bathing pool. It took up most of the room, and had to be forty feet on a side, and five feet deep! It was currently empty, and Aran could see what looked like stone valves on the opposite side from where he stood. Beneath the valves were two circular holes in the stone, near the rim of the bath.

"The fireplaces heat metal pipes built into the walls," Elaina explained. "So the water comes out hot, as long as you've lit the fires."

"That's amazing," Aran said in wonder.

"It was the Dwarves that discovered it," Elaina said offhandedly. "Pipes and pressures and things I'll never understand. Clever ones, they are."

"Dwarves?!" Aran blurted. "Dwarves are real?"

Elaina shook her head, amused. Her short hair swung behind her ears, and her emerald eyes twinkled. "Oh, Aran. We have such work to do, you and I. Come on, I'll show you to the kitchen, then your rooms."

She walked back down the hall, and Aran frowned at her retreating back. There was a sense of permanence in the way she was conducting her tour, as if it was already decided that he would be staying here. He followed because he wanted answers, not because he liked the sway of her hips. Certainly not.

The kitchen was at the other end of the hall and to the right, through another arched opening. It was massive, with huge benches for preparing food, two enormous ovens and a ten-foot fireplace with fixtures for roasting meat.

Aran was fond of food -- he had a reputation for it, at home -- and he looked around in amazement. Cured meats hung from hooks at one end next to healthy bushels of herbs and spices growing in a wide windowsill.

"The Chapels were built for more than just one or two people," Elaina told him. He turned back to see her leaning against the archway, her arms crossed under her breasts. Aran tried to keep his eyes on her face, but Gods, those things were big! The indents of her nipples poking through the filmy shirt did not help, either.

"Which is why the kitchen and the bath is so large," she continued. "You'll be spending much time in here, though. Using the vala tends to make one hungry."

She must have seen something in Aran's face, for she asked: "I'm guessing you eat a lot more lately than you used to, ey?"

Aran nodded reluctantly. "I thought it was just a growth spurt."

"In a way, it was," Elaina said. "Your vala is awakening and it is fortifying your body, making it strong, durable, among other things. This takes its toll on the body's resources, and food is a good way to replenish yourself. The vala will only carry you for so long on its own."

"Are you sure about all this?" Aran asked. "Me, I mean? This vala you keep talking about?" Aran found himself trusting Elaina more and more every minute. There was just something about her that seemed... genuine. Honest.

Elaina looked at him seriously for a moment before uncrossing her arms and walking towards him. He wished her hips didn't move like that. It set her breasts swinging back and forth beneath her tight blouse in a most distracting manner. She locked a green-eyed gaze on him. "I would bet my life on it, Aran Sunblade," she said quietly. "But you can always look in your heart to find the truth."

Aran finally admitted defeat. He could no longer deny what he'd been feeling so strongly since he'd first lain eyes on Elaina. He felt his shoulders slump. "So, I'm an arohim," he uttered glumly. "One of the most hated creatures in the entire world."

Gods, what would Jillia think of him, now? And Jered? His mother... she must have known all along. How hard it must have been for her, protecting him all these years, looking over her shoulder...

His chin was down, but Elaina lifted it with a finger. Heavens, but she was a vision to behold. Her eyes carried compassion, empathy. "In some parts of the world, yes. The parts you know about, anyway. In other places, we are not so hated. In fact, we are respected."

Aran frowned slightly. "Then why aren't you somewhere else, Elaina? Somewhere you won't be chased away or killed if the Heralds find you?"

Elaina smiled, and Aran's heart skipped a beat. He thought he might die of heart failure if he stayed around her much longer. "Because I was watching over you," she whispered. She was close, now, her nose less than a foot from his. A crazy urge to kiss her washed over him, but she stepped away before it could manifest into action.

A wave of melancholy hit Aran as he realised something. "I can't go back home, can I?" It wasn't really a question.

Elaina shook her head. "Not for a while. Maybe not ever. Not without risking yourself, and me, and much, much more."

Aran felt deflated. His mother, Jered, Jillia. He may not ever see them again.

"Alright, that's enough misery," Elaina said gently. "Come on, Sunblade. I'll show you where you can put your head down."

Aran followed, his mood so sour that he didn't even watch her bottom as she walked. They went to the end of the hallway and through another arch that opened into a spacious library, complete with several comfortable armchairs and lounges, yet another huge fireplace and shelves upon shelves of books.

The sunstones in this room were dim, but they flared to life as Elaina entered. Aran supposed they must pick up her power from a distance. Next to the library was the main entrance to the Chapel, a spacious area with a chandelier of sunstones hanging from the high ceiling between twin staircases that curved away from each other before bending back to the landing on the second level.

The chandelier came alive as Elaina passed beneath it, and Aran felt another pull inside him. He only noticed with half a mind, though; he was still thinking about home.

The stairs were opposite the massive arched double doors that were obviously the main entrance to the Chapel. Elaina took the closest stairs to the library and ascended, shooting him a comforting look over her shoulder, as if she could sense his thoughts. Maybe she could. If she could flip over an eight-foot wall, what else could she do?

The second floor was decorated identically to the first. The stairs landed at a long hallway lined with a dozen doors before curving up again to the third floor. More sunstones began to glow as Elaina led him down the hall and stopped at the first door on the right.

"I prepared this room for you," she said. "They're all the same, on this floor. My quarters are upstairs."

"So many," Aran remarked as he peered each way down the hall. "There must be two dozen doors."

"Once, this Chapel was brimming with arohim." There was regret in her voice. "Now, it is just us."

She pushed the door open and stepped in. Aran followed her into a modest room with a good bed beneath an arched window on the opposite wall from the door. A sturdy wardrobe sat next to the door, and there was a comfortable-looking armchair against the wall next to the bed.

It wasn't as big as the rooms downstairs, but it was still much more than he was used to.

Elaina swayed over to the chair and sat, eyeing him intently. "I can feel your pain, Aran," she said gently. "It is not easy. Believe me, I know."

"How long will I have to be here?" He asked, resigning himself to the fact that he probably couldn't leave.

"Until your training is complete," Elaina replied simply, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back. She clasped her hands over her midriff. "Once you begin this journey, there will be no stopping."

"What if I don't want it?" He asked stubbornly, discovering a few shreds of resistance. "The power, I mean. Can you take it away?"

Elaina shook her head. "I do not possess that power, and even if I did, I would not use it to that end. You are too important, Aran." She studied him for a moment. "Tell me something. You have touched your vala dozens of times, by now. You know how it feels to have it coursing through you, lending you strength, power to protect yourself and those you love. Would you actually want to give that away?"

Aran met her gaze evenly. "What is the point of having the power to protect those I love if I can never see them again?"

"I said you may not see them again," Elaina countered. "Nothing is certain. Once your training is done, however, I cannot stop you doing what you wish. If you want to return home, you may." She held up a finger. "But! Return with only partial control over that very considerable power sleeping inside you, and you will bring the Heralds down on you and everyone in Korrin faster than you can blink."

"Remember," Elaina added warningly. "Heralds hunt and kill arohim. It is their major purpose, and I am sad to say they have become very good at it over the last thousand years. What do you think they were doing in your village tonight? You think they came to read the Sunday Tenets? Bah! That is just a ruse. Always has been.

"Word travels, and your sudden attention from the women in the village combined with you knocking down the biggest man for miles around when you've never been in a fight before? Well, those things are what the Heralds look for."

Aran saw the sense in what she said. He moved to sit on the bed, unslinging his satchel and dropping it on the ground. It thudded heavily. What had his mother put in it? He would inspect it later.

Wait. If the Heralds suspected Aran, then they would surely target his mother! When he asked Elaina, though, she seemed nonplussed.

"Your mother is a clever woman," Elaina said confidently. "She has lived under Herald noses for years, and she knows how to navigate them."

"Won't they interrogate her, or the others?" Aran asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"They won't need to. Your mother will tell them that you were acting strangely and raced off to the Emerin forest in the night on your own. She will also encourage the other villagers to tell the truth about you, so they won't be harmed unnecessarily."

That was good to know, but that created another problem. "Won't they come here looking for me?" Aran asked, confused. "Aren't we supposed be here secretly?"

Elaina chuckled. "They won't come into the Emerin, not without a full legion behind them, maybe more, and Mari Sunblade knows that well. It would break an unwritten agreement between the Heralds and the Eryn'elda."

"So there really are Elves in the Emerin," Aran muttered, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Astounding." It sounded as if Elaina and his mother really knew what they were about. "What's the agreement?"

"That no Elves enter Human lands, and no Humans enter Elvish lands," Elaina answered. "It has worked well enough, I suppose, over the years. They have the occasional scuffle, but both sides understand the cost of war."

Aran exhaled, blowing his cheeks out as he stared at the floor in front of him. His mind was beginning to spin from all this new knowledge. His world had changed. Something about what Elaina said didn't add up, though. "Elaina, why didn't mother just bring me here when I was born? Or give birth to me here? Surely it would have been safer?"

Elaina smiled. "You have a keen mind. I strongly advised that very thing to your mother, but she refused. She said she wanted her son to have a childhood, and friends. She believed it would be for the benefit of everyone if you grew up right, and that it was worth the risk. I didn't see it her way, at first, but as I watched you grow, I came around."

Aran felt a wave of gratitude for his mother. Thanks, Ma. For everything. I'll find a way to make it all up to you, I promise.

"So, what now?" He asked, looking back to Elaina.

"Now, we make the pact," she said seriously. "You will become a Paladin, and this is no small thing."

Aran found himself holding the medallion beneath his shirt, squeezing the heavy symbol through the material. From what he'd just learned, his life up until now had been heading toward this moment.