Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (4 page)

These are questions I dare not ask
myself as I strive to keep my people free from the deadly pull of
depression.

We will band together, and with hope
for the future, Veldrenn will be rebuilt by human and elven hands.
Together we will create a glorious city that we can all be proud
of.

This is a time to reflect, to remember
who we are, where we come from and where we are headed.”

(Queen Andrielle of
Veldrenn)

Leon smacked the family
table with his palm in annoyance. “No, absolutely not. There is no
way I am losing the
only
son I have left to a path of revenge. Can’t you
see what losing Finn has done to your mother? Surely you don’t want
to put her through that again, do you?”

His father’s eyes watered before he
turned away from his son in an effort to control his emotions.
Vartan’s mother, Victoria, was equally determined to stop her son
leaving. She breathed deeply before turning to leave the room,
unwilling to talk about it any further.

Vartan watched sadly as his
mother left, then put his hand softly on his father’s shoulder and
spoke with determination, “Father, I love you and mother dearly…
but this is something I
must
do. It is because of Finn’s death that I choose
to walk this path. I
will
find the Knights of Greenhaven, and persuade them
to let me join their honourable fight. It is my duty, and it is all
that I want now.”

Leon wiped the sweat from his brow,
sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He felt the passion
and determination shine in Vartan’s voice and knew that there was
no point in fighting it any further.

“
Son, I will support your
decision if this is truly what you want, but I believe you’re
running a fool’s errand. I want you to promise us that if you fail
or at any time decide to change your mind… you come back to us. By
the gods Vartan, you may have a way with a bow and sword but you
have had no formal training to speak of. Do you
really
think you will be granted
Knighthood? They are men of nobility, with years of training and we
are not of noble blood,” he pleaded, in a final attempt at swaying
Vartan’s resolve.

“
There is an annual
tournament held in Greenhaven. I will find my way to it and we will
see if I have the skills necessary. That is the only plan I have
for now,” said Vartan.

“
Then so be it, but you’re
not leaving without this.”

Leon walked to the corner of the room
and took his sheathed sword out from a locked cabinet, blowing off
the dust and taking a moment to admire the magnificent weapon. The
shine from its blade cast reflections of the sun into the room from
the nearby window.

On its hilt were two parallel naked
figures of striking beauty which appeared to be seated on the
wielder’s hands. Their eyes were embedded diamonds that glittered
hypnotically in the light. In all of Vartan’s years, his father had
never opened that cabinet in his presence. It was always strictly
forbidden to touch. Vartan’s jaw gaped wide at the sight of the
sword.

“
This sword was forged by
elven hands and has been made from a material unseen in Marithia. I
traded for it in She’Ma’Ryn many years ago and it has brought me
luck ever since. If you are going to be in any danger, I want you
to have it.”

He held out the sword with both hands
gripping the hilt, “Here, take it before I change my
mind.”

Vartan hesitated, shaking his head. “I
cannot take this sword from you father, I know it means far too
much to you.”

“
Vartan, do you really
think this sword means more to me than your life? Take it, before
you tempt me to beat you over the head with it,” he said with a
grin, handing it to Vartan who was momentarily lost in its beauty
and perfection.

“
Now go and carve out your
destiny. Send word to us on your journey and come home often if you
are able. We love you, always.”

A teenage Vartan rode hard in the
direction of Greenhaven, the thunder of his horse’s hoofs pounding
into the ground was almost calming. The wind whipped his hair
wildly around his face. He desperately tried to shut out the
painful memories of recent events. The thought of his brother’s
body so viciously destroyed by the shadow demon still chilled him
to the bone.

“
I will make them suffer
for what they have done! And will stop at
nothing
to rid this world of the
shadows that plague us,” he mumbled to himself, kicking his boot
into his horse. The sound of increasing wind rushed past his ears
and overwhelmed his senses, as if an unknown force of nature was
trying to slow him down.

Turning his head to the woods rushing
by, his voice growled, “Do you hear me? I will bring death to you
all!”

His thoughts travelled back to the
conversation he had with his father before he embarked on his quest
of vengeance, tears escaped and ran down his face.

Stay strong! They will be
fine without you there to protect them. You have to do
this
, he told himself.

The sun shone bright and glittered
when it touched the diamond eyes of Vartan’s sword. Like a
messenger from the gods, Vartan was intent on his purpose. His
father’s sword bounced harshly on his back, reminding him of the
pain driving him forward.

Powering on, Vartan felt an eerie
emotion of a presence above him, as if the gods were closely
watching his progress. Vartan yanked the reins hard and his horse
struggled to come to a full stop at the last crossroad before
Greenhaven. It complained loudly at his request.

Turning to the sky above, he struggled
to see through the cloud of dust he had created. With panting
breath, he searched for an answer. The cloud of dust suddenly
dispersed as if something had blown it away from above
him.

Looking ahead, the wooden signpost was
now clear. To his left was the path to Greenhaven, and to his right
was the path to the Jade Inn.

“
You won’t stop me!” he
yelled, before turning his horse and kicking into a gallop toward
Greenhaven.

The city coming into view was
unmistakable for anywhere else. The gold lined bricks glowed in the
sunlight like a beacon of hope.

As he neared Greenhaven, he saw
coloured flags topping its walls, signalling the festivities
waiting within. Loud cheers erupted from the crowds within its
walls. Royal guards holding silver spears signalled for Vartan to
halt at the entrance.

It’s now or
never
, he thought.

“
Who goes there?” called
out a guard.

Vartan straightened his back and
lowered his voice, speaking proudly, “I am Vartan, son of Leon and
Victoria and I seek entry for the annual knighthood
tournament.”

The guards looked at each other before
laughing loudly and returned their gaze to the young teenager
mounted on horseback before them.

“
Surely you are not
serious, are you boy? So does every other child in these lands. Are
you
trying
to get
yourself killed? Never mind that, even if we wanted to let you in,
do you even carry paperwork of your nobility?” they
asked.

“
Of course, I have my
paperwork with me,” he began.

Vartan feigned reaching into his pack
and waited for his moment to kick his horse hard. Another cheer
erupted from the city, and the guards turned to peek at the cause
of the commotion.

Vartan kicked his horse’s side. It
quickly responded, neighing loudly and galloped toward the guards
at frightening speed.

Before the guards had a chance to
react and lift their spears high enough, Vartan leapt over them and
continued through the open gate.

The guards gave chase and repeatedly
yelled, “Stop, intruder!”

Ahead of Vartan was a large, excited
crowd watching Dryden, knight of Greenhaven, dispatch yet another
challenger from the arena. The knight kicked his opponent square in
the chest, sending him flying out of the ring and into the dirt,
blood splattering on the ground around the fallen man.

The crowd cheered loudly and chanted,
“Dryden! Dryden! Dryden!”

“
Ha! Is that all you’ve
got? Please, is there a man who is
not
here to waste my time?” he
mocked, scanning the crowd.

Dryden was a formidable opponent, who
reminded Vartan of the muscular build of a stallion. Fighting him
was not going to be easy for anyone, let alone an untrained boy,
but blood pounded in his temples at the challenge.

Vartan charged toward the crowd,
yelling at the top of his lungs, “Get out of the way!”

Everybody quickly moved aside, with
the exception of a few unfortunate folk knocked aside by his horse.
Vartan leapt roughly through the crowd, and drew his father’s
sword, pointing it at Dryden’s face. The shine of the sword lit up
the knight’s skin.

Dryden raised one eyebrow,
not showing any signs of intimidation at Vartan’s actions as he
stared down his new opponent, “My word, what
do
we have here?”

The Royal guards in pursuit of Vartan
stopped in their tracks when Dryden slowly raised his hand for them
to halt.

A guard spat out his words
in Vartan’s direction, “Our apologies Sir Dryden, but he has no
paperwork of nobility to speak of and charged his way through the
gate. This impostor has
no
right to be here!”

Resting his hand on the
hilt of his sword, he paced while he spoke softly, “That may be so,
but he did manage to outsmart the
two of
you
, didn’t he? I do admire his courage
and none of these men were worthy of their entry today.” He pointed
at an injured group of men resting nearby. “Why don’t we have a bit
of amusement? That is a very nice sword you have there, what is
your name boy?”

“
The name is Vartan, and I
come seeking knighthood.”

The crowd laughed and began chanting
“Fight, Fight, Fight!”

Dryden grinned, raising his right hand
to ease the crowd down.

“
Well Vartan, if you
have
come here to prove
something you have your chance. If you manage to push me out of
this circle or force me to submission, I will ask our great king to
grant you your knighthood, but I cannot promise you anything more
than my word to request, the decision lies with our king,
Arman.”

The crowd chanted, “All hail King
Arman!”

Vartan smiled and the crowd erupted in
cheers.

Dryden paced around the boy, toying
with him as if he were prey and responded loudly, “However, there
is a price for your entry to this fine event!”

He spoke through a wide
grin, “If you lose and I manage to push
you
out of this circle, or
force
you
to
submission then you shall hand over that big shiny sword of yours
and will be promptly thrown out on your rear. After all, you have
not been granted entry to our fine city, have you? Guards, are you
satisfied with those terms?”

The guards looked at each other,
excited at the prospect of the battle and shrugged and responded in
unison, “Agreed!”

“
And you Vartan, do
you
accept my
terms?”

Vartan took a deep breath and cocked
his head, contemplating the offer.

He breathed deep and
demanded bravely, “If I lose then I
will
leave my sword and get thrown
out on my rear, but my horse and other possessions come with
me.”

Dryden roared with laughter at the
impertinent young boy. He shrugged as if he cared not,
“Agreed.”

Vartan rested his own hand on the hilt
of his sword, turning his body to an angle away from the knight
before responding, “Then I also agree to the terms!”

The crowd went wild with
excitement.

Above, King Arman Saber took interest
in the gathering and excitement below.