The Young Shall Inherit: Aerolan Saga: Book 1
Now a tale of the perils of the unknown, a tale of courage and bravery, of innocent endeavor for right, and of a brave man, braver than his years should allow.
I feel no remorse as I, Kalbr'an, do admit to being the hand behind the will.
That desire had greater strength than I too could have imagined, a secret reserve that came from the depths of the soul of one young woman who would be not only a leader, but also a warrior for right. So let us tell this tale and you shall see . . .
Geth'n awoke the next morning feeling more rested, but more restless than he could remember ever being.
A strange sensation.
He looked across the room at his friend Pet'r who was still sleeping but twitching occasionally.
Must be dreaming.
He rose quietly and walked to the window looking out over the street below. It was almost impossible to determine anything about the city. He looked up and down the street as far as he could without opening the window, pressing his face against the surface. After noting a few curious things about those who wandered, he saw nothing that impressed him.
He looked at the skies and northward toward the distant hills spread out beyond the city. He felt a strange and tense sensation. Something about the colors of the sky and the grayness of the vista before him wasn't right, but he couldn't decide what it was that disturbed him about the scene. But something made him feel uncomfortable.
He turned from the window and was startled. Pet'r was standing in the middle of the room gazing at him strangely.
"There is something wrong," Pet'r spoke to him but seemed to be looking beyond, beyond what Geth'n was watching.
He wasn't looking at Geth'n, but rather through him with the strangest look on his face. A look Geth'n could only remember having seen before during the fight with the thieves on the road from home.
What is wrong with him?
Geth'n said nothing. Pet'r walked past Geth'n to the window, hardly noticing him.
"There is more trouble for our world than we could ever have imagined," Pet'r said, still looking out of the window. "You and I, we started so innocently on our little adventure but things are changing. My dreams reveal this world is headed toward calamity unless something is done to stop it."
What is he talking about? Who is this, it just isn't Pet'r?
Geth'n couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing.
"Pet'r, Pet'r, wake up. Wake up, my friend," he said, as he walked to his friend's side, reached to touch his arm, but jumped back when Pet'r whirled about suddenly.
"I am awake, my friend. Maybe for the first time in my life," Pet'r answered, looking deeply into his friend's eyes.
Geth'n turned away from the intensity of the gaze, but he suddenly felt he too knew something horrible was happening and there must be something done to stop this strangeness.
What is going to happen? Why do we know, when no one else seems to? He realized he and Pet'r must be a part of whatever was evolving and they were never again going to be what they were. There is a difference. Only now is there a difference.
It's the girl; there is something about the girl, but what?
"You're right. I also think we are part of the answer. We must meet with the girl we saw yesterday. I was given that message, on the way here, stating we were to meet "the girl with flaming red hair" and she, at least, fits that description," Geth'n said very seriously and with deliberation.
"Pet'r, I believe you and I, in some way, have been chosen to do something; something that will change, not just our lives, but the lives of all."
He turned and saw his friend nodding agreement and looking more somber than Geth'n ever remembered. A morning of revelations.
What can we do, what do we need to do?
"Yes, we must do something -- and soon, I fear," Pet'r spoke, as though his friend's thoughts projected to him, "I believe the girl has some of the answers; but she too may be like us and not know what the questions are."
"Let's go then. We have little time to waste," Geth'n began dressing, not knowing why he suddenly felt an urgency where before there had only been restlessness.
They finished getting dressed and left the room in search of the girl. They found her on the floor above theirs, cleaning a room vacated by another guest. They had walked almost directly to her not knowing where she was. They didn't speak to each other but followed the same path unerringly, found her, and stood silently watching her move about the room.
Anisah was working diligently, each morning was the hardest because she had to make certain the rooms were completely cleaned after the guests had gone, as well as change the bedding in those rooms where the guests were staying longer. She was bustling around more rapidly this morning and she didn't know why.
Suddenly, she was aware of a sensation, a feeling of awareness of a presence and the presence of many things and many people.
But more importantly, she felt she was being called to do something.
The urge was more adamant than her decisions to leave her home ever was. She paused in her scurrying, looked out a window, sensed something was immediate, turned to see the two young men watching her.
"We've come to talk to you. It is important, I believe, we do so immediately," Geth'n spoke softly to her. She wasn't startled by their presence; it was as though it should happen.
"Yes, you're right. Very important," she answered, looking at each of them with a great certainty in her eyes. She knew when she met them last night these two were now part of her world.
Pet'r nodded solemnly to her as she caught his eye.
"Let's go to the stables out back. No one goes there this early and the stable boy doesn't care what we do there," she suggested.
She placed the linens on the bed, walked to the door, turned and closed it behind her. They walked together to the rear stairs, down and out into the stable where they found some hay bales in the corner to sit on.
"My name is Geth'n. This is Pet'r," Geth'n started by way of introduction, "We are from Peetle."
Anisah gasped.
Geth'n stopped what he was saying and waited.
"I was told in a dream I would meet with 'two young men from Peetle'," she looked at them in wonder, "how can a dream be so real it comes true." Her eyes were wide and she looked at each of them, then shook her head and placed her face into her hands, as though to cry.
"We too were told of you. The gods have a need for us to be together and we have no idea why. There is just this overwhelming sense of urgency Pet'r and I feel. And for some reason, Pet'r is now receiving part of what and why, in his thoughts, but I too am now noticing I am learning some of what we must know. What we are seeing we are seeing together without speaking about it. What we are seeing we are seeing together without speaking about it," Geth'n was talking quickly, but quietly.
Anisah listened quietly.
There was another world beyond the three of them. She sat straighter and something about her face was losing its' youthfulness and changing, as Geth'n explained more, into a more mature and thoughtful presence. She knew her youth was gone. There was to be more to her life than she could have ever imagined.
"I believe I understand," she said, politely waiting for Geth'n to pause, "and I believe you are correct when you say our destinies are linked."
She turned to Pet'r, "What do you see now?"
Pet'r paused for a moment as though composing his thoughts. "There is to be a great Darkness flow over the land and eventually the world. And, there is within that Darkness, a force that can destroy this land and bring us and all our peoples into despair and desolation, if we do nothing. The Darkness is, even now beginning to creep over the land. And, for whatever reason, we three will, and must be, a part of saving our world.”
“So we each must have a contribution to the solution of this problem. And though we don't know what that is now, we do know it is something we alone must do." Geth'n spoke with deliberation, "We quickly need to determine the cause
and each of us needs to understand what we are feeling now?"
They each looked at the other and nodded their agreement. There was, or seemed to be, an aura about them -- the beginning of a bond that permeated the air about them. Their presence with each other completed an essence of something greater than each one possessed. They were overwhelmed by the sense as they talked and, for them, the rest of the world disappeared.
Col'n, the young stable boy who had helped Anisah, came into the stable and never saw them.
Anisah only caught a glimpse of him, wondered briefly why he said nothing to her, but returned to the conversation.
It wasn't until many days later she realized the three of them, when they were together and in harmony with each other were actually invisible to the outside world.
They talked for hours, needing no other incentive than they work out the puzzle and find a solution to this insurmountable catastrophe.
"So if we are in agreement we must take some action, what do each of you think our plan is to be?" asked Anisah.
"I believe I should continue my journey to Tariny, there is something there drawing me. Some kind of knowledge I do not possess but which I feel is vital to us if we are to find the answers to what we seek," Geth'n began, certain there was no other answer.
"I also was going to Tariny, but I wished to learn the healing powers of the land. Now I believe, within the knowledge of what I shall learn about those things, I will also find a part of the answer relating to this new found horror," Anisah added, feeling her bond with these two men would make her contribution stronger.
"I'm to continue what I thought I wanted to do for a lark, but now I believe there is some sort of destiny in my desire to travel into the northern mountains," Pet'r spoke with great deliberation. "There is something there that must be done and I have been chosen to do it."
Anisah watched Pet'r as he spoke; she suddenly knew his destiny had already been mapped somehow. She also knew somehow Pet'r was to go away from them and, in some way, their lives though now bonded would be less than it was at this moment. She wasn't certain why she felt that way but she knew and she hurt inside knowing.
"Then we must depart as soon as possible. But it's too late to go today. There are still dangers on the open roads," Geth'n offered, "Let's rest tonight and tomorrow we’ll begin our new journey."
The other two nodded in agreement, they rose from the bales, and the world reappeared for them.
"I have to finish my work inside," Anisah said, looking about her as though surprised she was here with these men, "Mistress Farlen will be upset if I'm not finished soon."
As she hurried back to her task, she seemed no longer a part of what they were, but only a chambermaid. Then she stopped, turned to them, laughed lightly, turned back and ran into the hotel.
The two men looked at each other and Geth'n placed his hand on his old friend's shoulders.
"We never knew what this would lead to, my friend, but there is no greater conviction on my part than we must do whatever comes our way. I believe you are taking the first step and I fear for you, but I also believe whatever you find on your journeys is indeed a vital element in answering the puzzle we have been chosen to resolve,"
he hugged his friend quickly and stepped back, a grim look on his face.
"I must do what has to be done. I'm already different than I was. I don't know how just yet, but I have been bothered by these dreams for some time now, and it is impossible for me to ignore the directive I have been given. I only hoped we could have followed our adventure together, my friend," Pet'r spoke quietly,
"But we will come together again because it is our destiny to prevent what lies ahead. We have a bond between us now that exceeds what our friendship has ever been. We're a part of something we do not understand yet, but I believe, it is to be more than we can imagine."
He looked at his old friend somberly, then he smiled, "But we shall always be friends. And I believe this sense of danger will be resolved in the end." He returned his friend's hug and a slap on the back as he always did after one of their youthful adventures.
Geth'n laughed aloud. Pet'r joined him.
"We're becoming such grumpy drools, my friend," Geth'n said, still laughing, "We need to have a little fun along the way. Let's see what tomorrow brings." They turned and walked into the hotel and returned to their room.
Later that night Anisah came to their room. They sat and talked for many more hours about what they did know and how they should proceed. They decided they would leave at dawn.
Anisah had already told Mistress Farlen she was leaving, and she wanted to thank the young stable boy again for all he had done for her, but she was eager to leave now.
Geth'n decided they should meet in the stable, get Anisah's horse to carry their few things and leave before the city woke. The other two agreed and Anisah returned to her room.
PARTING