“Master Jai, what’s the nature of this? Why have you brought my son here?” Garen Storm rubbed his shoulder.
The door slammed shut behind them and a soldier bolted the door. Talis felt trapped, deep in this underground maze. He noticed four champions standing uneasily in each corner of the room, gazing at him as if taking in a new threat.
“Your son holds something in his hands, something he claims only the Elders can see.”
“What is that…a map case?” Elder Vellar Lei, Mara’s father, leaned forward, his beady, sunken eyes staring at the map. His wrinkled lips moved as if chewing on his own tongue.
Talis cleared his parched throat, and withered from all the intense stares.
“Speak up, boy.” His father scowled.
“Last night we were attacked-”
“What’s inside the map case?” Elder Vellar boomed, “we don’t have time for stories.”
“Let the boy talk.” Master Viridian stood. “I sense something powerful in his hands.”
“As I was saying, last night…on the temple walls, we were attacked. M-” Talis stopped himself from saying Mara’s name. “Attacked by sorcerers, one came directly at me, chasing us to the Crypts.”
“The Crypts? Whatever for?” Elder Vellar said.
“For the last time, let him speak!”
Talis glanced nervously around. “Trapped we were…in the Crypts…two sorcerers. One tried to take me through a portal. I thought I was doomed. Mara”-Talis coughed, latching eyes with Elder Vellar’s cold stare-“she prayed to the Goddess Nestria…and the Goddess heard her cry. A fallen champion, Master Baribariso, rose to slay the sorcerer.”
“ The Legendary Master Baribariso who rests in the Crypts?” Master Holoron said, his head shaking.
“No longer. He slumbers in the Crypts no more. He is gone to the Immortals…” Talis stared at Holoron, and flicked his hand towards the sky. “Here, I hold his gift…before the champion left, he gave me this, saying the Goddess Nestria hid this for a time like this, a time where the world needs the power of the Goddess Nacrea.”
“The Surineda Map!” Holoron said, rising to his feet. “Is it true?”
Talis nodded and sighed. He held out the map case and twisted open the latch. The Elders gasped as Talis unrolled the map, and displayed it to them all. In that instant, the candles were extinguished and the map shone in the darkness. He experienced a wave of dizziness as the map blazed, flickering fragments of the Goddess’s face, an island forgotten by time, forgotten by civilization, a wrinkled face veiled by smoldering fumes, a broken city nestled in a graveyard.
A snapped finger, flame returned to the candles, a deathly pallor on the Elder’s faces. They had seen it too. The vision.
“Behold!” Master Viridian said, “the Surineda Map. Spoken of in legend, and here before us now. Given by the Goddess for the time when needed most.”
“I saw the Goddess Nacrea!” shouted an Elder.
“An island.”
“The city covered in ash, the temple shattered and in ruins-”
“No the temple stands! I saw it!” shouted another. “You saw the old temple. I saw the true one, in a grove, hidden away. The doorway to it…unseen.”
Master Viridian raised his arms, standing. “Now, now, quiet now. We all saw different visions, that is clear enough. For each the Goddess Nestria chose to reveal a different vision. What is certain is the map is true. We must obey its commands.” He stared at Talis, as if expecting him to continue.
“The champion of Naru, Master Baribariso, told me I must leave Naru and follow the map.”
“You? You are but a boy. Why would the Goddess choose you?” Master Vellar scoffed.
“He’s my boy! Refrain from insulting him.” Garen Storm rose to his feet, towering over Master Vellar. “The gods have spoken to us. If we listen and obey we’ll live and thrive and survive this abominable war with the Jiserians. If we deny them-as a fool would-we deny ourselves. Well, Elders? What say you?”
Regent Balmarr Merillia, King of Naru, shadow Elder at the table, stood finally, raising a white-gloved hand. “We’ll assemble a force, a force greater than anyone has ever seen, and task this force with delivering this boy to the destination the map leads. We’ll spare no gold, charge the best in our land with success, swordsmen, pikemen, rangers-be a foe to our enemies and those that dare stand in the way. We will succeed! The gods have spoken. They stand on our side.”
Master Vellar snorted. “Have you forgotten about the Jiserians, Regent Merillia? Send this force out to the ends of the earth, while they ravage our homeland?”
“We can spare a party of swordsmen to protect the expedition,” said Garen Storm. “From each of the Royal Houses.” He glanced shrewdly around the table.
“Then it’s settled,” Regent Merillia said, and faced Talis. “Leave us now-to settle the details. Time is of utmost importance. I say the party must leave before daybreak tomorrow.”
The other Elders voiced “ayes” in agreement. Talis bowed, and shuffled out of the chambers. Leave Naru tomorrow? Leave his home and family, perhaps never returning…tomorrow?
10. THE FIRE SWORD
After Talis left the Elder’s chambers, he searched around the city for Mara but couldn’t find her anywhere. He finally gave up and returned home at twilight. His house was dark and warm, shadows dancing on the walls. Mother sat by the fire, knitting a wool scarf, and Father glanced at Talis and sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
“Where have you been? Looking for that Lei girl?”
“It was her prayer that summoned the champion. The Goddess Nestria heard her.”
“Well her father has her locked up good now. You saw his face when you mentioned his daughter’s name. Vellar just about threw a fit.” Garen chuckled, as if amused at his own private joke. “Serves him right, I suppose. She’s a wild one, that girl. Lady Malvia faces an impossible task containing her.”
“You used to be friends with Mara’s mother?” As soon as Talis said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. His father’s face darkened, brooding on some old wound.
Father sniffed, lifting his head as if leaving everything unpleasant behind. “Tomorrow then, it’s all settled. Do you require help from the servants on packing for the voyage? I imagine traveling lightly is the way to go.”
Talis noticed the color drain from his mother’s face as Father talked. Wrinkles formed hard crevices on her forehead, and her breath went shallow. She sighed, her body rigid, eyes glazed over as she stared at the flames.
After a long silence, she whispered, “Where is he going?”
Talis grimaced as his mother lowered her head in a gesture of defeat.
“Far away, dear…north across the desert, past the barren lands, to an island, I suppose. Not on any of our maps, but there nonetheless.”
“But he’s so young.” Her hands shook, then she calmed herself and put down her knitting.
“He’ll be protected by our soldiers.” Garen narrowed his eyes at Talis, puffing on a carved, wooden pipe. “Now then, go on, rest awaits you. We’ll see to everything, just you see.”
Talis turned and shuffled off, lost in thought. Would they really be protected by their soldiers, out there in the cold lands north of the Nalgoran Desert? And how could he leave Naru without Mara? There had to be a way to see her…
Early the next morning, before any light touched the sky, Talis stared out his window. A hard lump clenched his stomach as he thought of leaving home for the first time. Would he make it back safe? Or even if he did make it back alive, would there even be a home to come back to? He held the map case, still sensing the warmth inside.
Downstairs, he gazed at his mother’s face, memorizing every curve and line. He hoped she’d be alright. As if she knew exactly what he was feeling, she reached out and hugged him, and choked back the tears.