The Ageless One: Beginnings
By
Jason Richard
Published by Jason Richard at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 by Jason Richard
Discover other titles by Jason Richard at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/agelessauthor
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Chapter One
His Beginning
What am I? I am a Twyla. Don’t know what a Twyla is? That’s fine, I can explain. We, the Twyla, ordain all magic. We are supernatural beings who live on a higher plane of existence, and it is we who decide what incantations or rituals cast which spell, and why. We give magic order and purpose to protect the mortal realms, otherwise there would be chaos.
But this story isn’t about us. It’s about a young boy called Doelan, a mortal I’ve been observing for some time. You see we, the Twyla, try not to interfere in the affairs of mortals, but sometimes, to prevent darkness from destroying them, we have no choice. There are times when we must give mortals a fighting chance, and one of the best ways we can do that is by watching certain people whom we know have a great destiny. Whether they devote their lives to fighting evil, or just happen to be at the right place at the right time, we make certain they have everything they need to fight the good fight.
This young boy, Doelan, is one such person. You may ask what was so special about him, and why the Twyla would watch him. You might wonder what great destiny could possibly be in store for him. My answer is simple.
I do not know.
You see sometimes not all Twyla can foresee a particular future. As it stands only our esteemed queen, the greatest of all Twyla, knows exactly what this Doelan will do, or try to do. She is the queen of the Twyla, and of magic itself, and she is convinced that this boy is destined to be more legendary than any hero before him. However, there are some who would question her judgment.
There are a few reasons for this. For starters, the land Doelan called home for the first few years of his life is Halhor. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but Halhor is home to the gislers, who are not considered a very strong people, owing to their eternal youth. That might not seem such a bad thing, but other races grow up big and strong while the gislers are locked in the bodies of children throughout their entire lives. They do not die of old age, but as weak as they are no one has ever wanted them as allies during wartime. War, it has been said, is the work of men, not boys.
The gislers tried many times, most notably during a council with the winged eagle men, who were waging a war against snake-like monsters called slefah, one of the evilest dark creatures of their world. The gislers wanted to help, but the eagle men Chieftain said, “It would be dishonorable to bring children onto the battle field. I am sorry young ones.”
At the time, the gislers were still under rule of the Ciniceros Empire, where the human emperor declared, “I understand you want to help, but you must stay under our protection. It’s for your own good.” However, some gislers at the council believed that the other races merely envied their youth, and one mayor of Halhor infamously declared, “Too bad we cannot fight against time itself, then you’d be scrambling to be our allies.”
It didn’t go over well.
Whatever the reason, most other races view the gislers as weak or in need of protection, while the gislers disagree. They view themselves as just like any other species, and this is the race that Doelan was born into, an eternally young species called the gislers, also known as the Ageless Ones.
Or so it seemed.
What Doelan saw for the first few years of his life wasn’t exactly true, you might say. However, he would not discover this for some time, so for now, let’s pretend everything he saw was as it seemed so we can focus on Doelan himself.
The second reason one might question the Twyla queen’s interest in him is quite simple.
Doelan grew up in an orphanage, the kind of place you don’t expect someone great and legendary to come from. He was raised under the care of attendants, not parents, in a stone building with many rooms for the various orphaned children. Not that Doelan knew what stone was when he was young, but the building was made of it all the same. Actually not knowing about stone caused him a bit of confusion once. Only a few months old and just learning to walk, older gislers (boys and girls who looked no older than fifteen) would pick him up and take him to the window to let him look outside. He couldn’t go there yet, but they let him look and he saw the gisler houses; richly decorated marble cottages with impressive looking columns holding up the porch roofs. They were pretty to look at, unlike the drab stone building Doelan lived in, but he didn’t really know that. Since he had never seen the exterior of his building, he naturally assumed that it looked like the marble ones on the outside.
It was when he turned one year old that he discovered the truth. By that time he was allowed to go play outside. It wasn’t so bad at first. The grass felt cool and soft beneath his feet, and he had tons of fun chasing bugs and stomping on flowers, until he noticed that his building was as unpleasant to look at on the outside as it was on the inside; just a block of stone with windows. When he saw other children playing around those shiny marble cottages, and with their parents no less, he realized he was different, but he couldn’t be certain how.
Now Doelan didn’t remember this, as he was too young. But he kept seeing those buildings and making that same conclusion, so when he did start remembering things he would look at those houses and just know it. To him, it was as if he had always known he was different. However, it wasn’t until he started talking at five years old that he learned how. He was being tucked in by a gisler who was twenty, but of course looked fifteen, when Doelan decided to ask a few questions.
“Why do we live here and not with our parents in the marble buildings? And why are there more children here?”
“Well Doelan,” said the older gisler. “This is an orphanage. We take in children whose parents can’t take care of them.”
“Why can’t they take care of us?”
The gisler answered, but Doelan was still at that young age when older people, especially adults, felt the need to protect him from the truth. “They had to go on a journey,” he said. This of course meant they had passed away. In Doelan’s case, however, the circumstances were a little different, but he wouldn’t find out how until later…as I understand it. At this point, the older gisler just covered him up and said, “now go to sleep.”
So now he knew. He didn’t have parents to watch over him, and that’s what made him different. However, that wasn’t the end of it. You see Doelan was expected to show respect for his elders. He learned this by asking questions about people that visited Halhor. He would look out the window, see the cyclops people in their huge suits of armor and ask, “Is their armor really indestructible?” Or he’d notice the eagle men with wings on their backs and would absolutely have to know, “Can they really fly?” He also saw that the eagle men had feathers instead of hair. The only hair they had was for beards, and Doelan was tempted to ask if they had feathers in their armpits too. However, he knew he would probably just get scolded for asking rude questions, so he kept that to himself.
However, he would still ask a dozen questions and the elders would respond in one of two ways. They would either remind him of his manners, telling him to say “yes sir,” and “no sir” respectfully or they would send him off with, “Doelan, I’m busy.” But still, Doelan learned to use manners with his elders.
Now his elders were eternally young, so by human standards they looked fifteen. This didn’t bother him at first, for he knew the taller ones with deeper voices (more so than his own at least) were the ones to say “yes sir” and “no sir” to. Therefore he could always tell who was of a greater age, and with whom he should show respect. But one day, something happened. Doelan was seven by this time, and the mayor of Halhor came to the orphanage. He was said to be forty-six, but he looked like a fifteen year old, skinny blonde boy with blue eyes. His clothes were fairly regal; a sort of scarlet cloak compared to the normal brown cloaks most wore, but that was it.
Erid, the head of the orphanage, was supposed to be thirty-two years old, but of course he didn’t appear to be. Before this day he had always looked like the oldest person in the room, and acted like it as well. This day he looked like the oldest, if only by a little, but didn’t act like it. As Doelan looked back and forth between the two of them he could not tell what made the mayor older than Erid, who bowed to the mayor as if it was so. Erid was dark haired, big for a fifteen year old and even taller than the mayor. He said “yes sir” and “no sir,” the way all of the orphans were expected to, and Doelan just didn’t get it.
He went up to Erid later and tugged on his shirt, “Erid, is the mayor really older than you?”
“Of course he is Doelan. Why would you ask that?”
“He doesn’t look any older than you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Neron looks older than me, and those…um…eagle people who came here had grownups who looked old…but you don’t.”
“Oh the eagle men aren’t gislers Doelan. We stop ageing, but we really are adults.”
“How do you know?”
Erid sighed in irritation, “We just know, now please stop bothering me, I’m busy.”
Erid walked off, and speaking of Neron, that very same boy was listening. He, a dark haired and freckled boy who was seven at the time, came up to Doelan and grinned.
“You don’t like it when we stop growing up! Oh! You don’t want to stop growing up! You want to grow old!”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes you do. You want to grow old. Hey everyone! Doelan wants to grow old!”
“Stop it!” cried Doelan.
“Neron!” cried Erid from across the room, “Stop!”
Neron stuck out his tongue at Doelan and ran off; from that moment Doelan knew once again that he was different, even in the orphanage. Little did he know that it was just going to get worse.
Neron started talking to the other orphans, and wherever Doelan went they would make fun of him. Doelan hadn’t exactly made a lot of friends before this. The other orphans had always seemed more interested in playing soldier than learning about the strange visitors, so he didn’t have much in common with most of them, but they had never treated him cruelly until now.
He couldn’t walk anywhere without a child saying, “should I get a cane for when you get old?” Or “Don’t you know you’re not allowed to be older than the mayor!” And then there was the chanting, “You want to grow old! You want to grow old!” It was more than Doelan could bear.
You might not think it such an insult, but then again, you’re not a gisler. Eternal youth is what makes a gisler a gisler, so Doelan not understanding it was like a bee not understanding honey. It was almost as if he was a wasp raised in a beehive by mistake, and unfortunately for Doelan the other gislers’ words stung, just like a swarm of bees.
Eventually most of the orphans lost interest, being told off by the elders for their behavior, but Neron and a few of his friends kept tormenting Doelan. He learned to avoid them, and those boys were scolded, but for a long time Doelan had no friends while Neron continued to be a nightmare. He was the gisler who didn’t understand eternal youth, and he was alone.
Then, one day when he was ten years old, Doelan couldn’t take it anymore. As the orphans were playing outside in the gloomy evening twilight, Neron said something worse than anything he had said before, and then began chanting with his friends, “You want to grow old!” over and over. And this time Doelan snapped. He hit Neron and jumped on top of him! They attracted a crowd of children, some of which weren’t orphans, and eventually, Erid showed up.
“That’s enough!” cried Erid. “Stop!”
But he could barely be heard over the screams of children shouting, yelling and surrounding two fighting boys, one on top of the other. They were in the grass field, not far from the marble Halhor cottages, and some people among the cottages were looking towards the scene.
“Out of the way!” Erid called again. “Move!”
He seemed more like an adult now than ever before as he came up, pulling Doelan off Neron. Doelan struggled in Erid’s hands while Neron got up and made a move towards both of them.
“Enough!” cried Erid, making the boys freeze and the young crowd silent. Despite his deceptively young age, he had a commanding presence. “Neron,” he said to the boy across from him. “What is this?”
Neron had a hard scowl on his face as he spoke. “He hit me!”
“Is this true?” Erid asked Doelan.
“He said I wasn’t a gisler,” Doelan shouted. “He said I was a freak, he...”
“That isn’t what I asked Doelan,” Erid said sternly.
Doelan didn’t answer right away, but he did, reluctantly. “Yes.”
Erid released his grip a little but Doelan didn’t run at Neron again. Instead he turned around to look at Erid, keeping his head down.
“You see,” said Neron. “He did hit me.”
“Neron,” said Erid. “Did you call him a freak?”
“But he...”
“Neron!” Erid looked the small child in the eye. Neron didn’t answer, but fidgeted.
“Neron, answer me.”
“He did call him that,” said another boy, about eleven years old. “And he started a chant with some other boys.”
Doelan didn’t recognize this boy, which meant he probably wasn’t an orphan.
“You heard him?”
“Yes.” The boy nodded his head quickly.
“Neron?”
The guilty child swallowed. “Yes sir.”
“Why?”
Neron still hesitated. “Well he...he...he keeps going on about how the grownups here don’t look grownup. It’s...he’s just weird.”
“So? I’ve heard this. It’s a little strange maybe but hardly grounds for this kind of behavior.”
Doelan wasn’t feeling any better.
“He was teasing him sir,” said the eleven year old. “He kept saying that he didn’t belong in Halhor because he was different. He said he wasn’t a gisler, and that he was a freak.”
“Ah, that explains it.” Erid put his arms on his hips like an adult and looked at both of them. “Neron, remember when those human boys teased you about being an orphan?”
“Yes.”
“Well, next time you want to tease someone, imagine them feeling the way you felt when you were teased.”
“Yes sir.”
“As for you Doelan, you should never attack someone in anger, because one of these days that anger is going to make you do something you’ll regret, like hit someone who will hit back. I don’t care what that person has done, anger never solves anything. You know what you act like when you attack in anger?”
Doelan just gave a blank stare.
“Doelan, it’s dark creatures that act like that, and we are not dark creatures. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir,” said Doelan. That was one of the ways adults talked to children, no matter what race they were. They would tell them not to act like evil dark creatures, such as ogres or slefah. It made Doelan feel worse.
“Now I don’t want either of you to fight again or there will be consequences, and I want you both to apologize to each other.”
The boys looked at each other and said reluctantly, “I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now you should all be going inside. It will soon be time for bed.” Then Erid raised his voice. “And I do mean all of you, even the ones who are not under my care.”
He walked towards the stone orphanage building as the children he was responsible for followed.
Doelan walked slowly, a little ashamed that he’d been in trouble. He was the orphan, the one who didn’t get what made a gisler a gisler, and now he was a troublemaker. He was feeling more alone than ever.
As he walked a voice sounded in his ear.
“Are you alright?” asked the eleven year old that had spoken earlier.
“I’m okay,” said Doelan gloomily. “Thanks for helping me.”
“You’re welcome.” The boy smiled. “You’re name’s Doelan right?”
“Yeah.” Doelan gave a weak smile.
“I’m Liri.”
“Hello.”
He kept walking, and wasn’t going to speak since he couldn’t think of anything to say, but Liri kept speaking.
“Hey…uh…did you know that the eagle men live in a nest?”
Doelan stopped, “What?”
“The eagle men live in a nest.” He grinned.
“But I’ve always heard they live in a palace.”
“They do…but it’s made of wicker…or something like wicker. Bits of wood woven together, so it looks like a nest. It’s even been called that on purpose. The nest palace.”
“How do you know?”
“My family goes on vacations…I’m not old enough to go yet, but they tell me everything. Did…did you know that their palace flies?”
Doelan was getting more interested by the minute. “It does?”
“Yeah, it…”
“Liri!”
They looked over to see an older boy.
“Is that your brother?” asked Doelan.
“No that’s my father.”
“Oh.”
“It’s okay. I gotta go, but would you like to hear more about the eagle men later?”
Doelan thought about it, “Yeah.”
“Great, you’d be the first. Well, bye.”
He ran off, and Doelan watched Liri leave with his father, a sight that still somehow seemed strange to Doelan. He knew he should at least be used to it by now, but it wouldn’t stop feeling strange. Still, he decided he didn’t care. As Liri looked back at Doelan, they waved Goodbye to each other, and for once Doelan didn’t feel quite so alone.
Well, that’s his beginning. Perhaps you still wonder why the Twyla queen would take such an interest in this boy. After all, he’s done nothing legendary yet, but then again, no one ever became a legend at the age of ten. Except maybe a few elves, but that’s a different story.
This tale has hardly begun, along with Doelan’s trials, for he still doesn’t know that our queen watches him, nor does he know the circumstances surrounding his parents, and how he came to the orphanage. Finally, he does not yet realize that things in his home, in Halhor, are not entirely what they seem.
But that is a story I cannot tell. One Twyla watching him is enough, but two will definitely be detected by his enemies. I will have to leave Doelan alone and attend to my duties regarding magic. My queen will look after him for now. My part in the telling of this tale is over. If you want the rest, you will have to observe him for yourself.
****
Chapter Two
His Enemies
The bonfire burned bright and hot, and it seemed every gisler in Halhor was there, sitting around it. Doelan sat crossed legged in the grass with the rest of the orphans. Despite the heat from the fire, he was still pretty cold, so he huddled up in his cloak as best he could, watching the older gislers tend to the blaze. They looked exactly like fifteen year old humans, but some were far older. Normally, this bothered Doelan, who was only eleven by then, but he wasn’t thinking about that this night. That's how special this night was. As it stood he was more interested in Halhor’s visitor, a magician from Linicai, capital city of the Ciniceros Empire. The center of the empire was ruled by humans, and this one was supposed to be fifty years old. Doelan had seen older humans, but never one this old. He was curious to see what someone who aged normally looked like after living so long.
A few of the other orphans were giggling. Doelan looked but promptly looked away when he saw Neron. Neron would probably tease Doelan later; something stupid like, “you want to look like that weird old guy that came here!” So I think adults here all look the same? So what? Doelan thought, trying to brush it off. However such talk would upset Doelan more than he wanted to admit. He was just thinking of an excuse to move away when he heard a “Psst!” off to the side.
He turned and grinned when he saw Liri at the edge of the group. Doelan made his way through the rest of the orphans and sat down. Liri was twelve, only a year older than Doelan, and always had an impatiently exited expression, as if he had something to tell you and just had to say it. As it turns out, when Doelan sat next to him, he did.
“The magician’s going to show us the storm wars, when the goblins used dark clouds to wage war on surface dwellers like us! I’m so excited!”
“Me too,” said Doelan. “I’ve never seen goblins before.”
“Well, you’re about too. This magician’s going to use magic to tell the story.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, my mother said I’d find out when we watched, but that means we’ll see what goblins look like, definitely.”
That was certainly a good thing in Doelan’s mind. He had never seen any dark creature with his own eyes. He had only heard them described, and now he was going to see them. He was expecting creatures with slanted eyebrows and sick grins.
“What do you know about goblins?” he asked.
“Well,” said Liri, “Not much. All I know is that they’re kind of like bugs. Dragonflies really, they…are you alright?”
As it was, Doelan was not alright. He looked at Liri, the color draining from his face.
“What did you just say? About the goblins?”
“They’re like bugs. They…Oh. Right. You don’t like bugs do you.”
“Bugs, spiders…if it has more than four legs it gives me shivers.”
He turned towards the fire and almost shivered right there. The idea of large bugs…
“I’m sure the goblins won’t be too scary,” said Liri.
“I’m not scared,” said Doelan.
“Fine. Oh look! Is that the magician?”
Doelan looked but saw nothing. He was about to ask when he felt Liri flick something off his shoulder. He looked at Liri, a little shocked.
“What was on my shoulder?” he asked.
“Do you really want to know?”
Doelan thought about it. “No,” he said. “Not really.”
Liri giggled a little.
“Gislers, young and old!” cried the voice of an old man.
Doelan and Liri looked to see him. The visitor had arrived, and he stood next to the fire.
He was human, dressed in a white linen robe with one arm fully clothed and the other arm bare, along with the shoulder. He had grey hair, wrinkled skin, and a solemn expression. This really was the oldest person Doelan had ever seen, and he hadn’t expected this. He had been told that older humans were hunched, with their skin hanging as if it was a bag on their bones. In person, Doelan found that this description, though it had some truth to it, was quite exaggerated. That seemed to happen a lot when other gislers described old age.
The old man spread his arms out.
“I come to speak of the goblins wars, and how they ravaged our lands. It began with the eagle men.”
From his pocket the magician took out something which smelled like herbs to Doelan. He threw it on the fire, which blazed brightly! A ball of fire flew up, floating above the rest of the fire, and beneath that a patch of smoke shaped itself into what looked like a castle floating on a nest. It was illuminated by the fire ball like a small sun. Doelan and Liri watched and listened eagerly.
“As many of you know, the goblins never come out during the day. The bright sun is our only protection against them. One day, however, dark clouds obscured the sun in all nations, taking that defense.”
Another cloud of smoke obscured the fire ball, the smoke palace went dark, and small smoke figures flew around it. Doelan wondered how he could see as well as he could.
“The goblins descended on all, and the war was brutal. In the end the spell was broken. Magicians gathered together from all nations, and all together cast a simple spell to make it rain. The black rain was like a poison, but it, along with the clouds, faded away, and once again we were safe from goblin attacks.”
The smoke didn’t imitate rain, but cleared, revealing the fire ball sun, once again shining on the nest palace. Doelan figured that rain, in this form, was asking for a bit much. The next moment all the smoke cleared, but then started forming another figure, like a human.
“Many died in the wars and poison rain, but we won, and all was safe again. But remember, if you go out at night, beware these creatures. They are deadly, and show no mercy.”
The smoke solidified, and even gained color, and Doelan, for the first time, saw what a goblin looked like. It was not very tall, and rather skinny, but as thin as it was it had strong looking muscles. It still seemed as if it could break your bones with ease. It wore a loin cloth and at its side was a sword made from a single piece of metal. It had a large, round and bald head with a thin lipless mouth and two slits for a nose. However its most grotesque features were the ones that gave Doelan shivers.
It had compound eyes on its face, and wings on its back, like those of a dragonfly. Doelan couldn’t remember the last time his skin crawled so much.
“And listen,” the old man continued. “Listen for their screech. If you hear this screech, run!”
The smoke figure bellowed out, and Doelan heard a sound that for a second reminded him of crickets chirping. But this wasn’t chirping, it was a bloodcurdling screech!
It ended, the smoke figure faded away, and the old man walked off, gislers everywhere clapping, except for Doelan. He was panting. Panting hard.
Then he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder!
“Whoa! Doelan? Are you okay?” asked Liri.
“I’m fine. Uh…everyone’s leaving.”
And sure enough, the rest of the gislers were getting up.
“Are you sure…” Liri began.
“I’m fine.”
“Okay. What did you think of the magician?” he asked as they stood to go with the rest.
“Uh…” Doelan hesitated. “He was okay I guess.” Doelan didn’t want to mention that the goblin scared him. Something about the eyes. Doelan always imagined dark creatures and evil sorcerers grinning menacingly, but what he saw from the magic smoke…it was emotionless.
It was like this creature wouldn’t hesitate to kill you. It wouldn’t take pity on you, nor would it savor the moment before killing you, giving you time. It would just kill you.
Of course Doelan knew he was being silly. He had no idea what goblins were like. What he saw was an apparition, like an artist’s interpretation.
Even so, something about those eyes. Those big compound eyes had disturbed him.
But he wasn’t going to tell Liri. “I never knew about the black rain,” said Doelan. “Did you know about it?”
Once again, Liri had that impatiently exited look. “Did I?” And of course Liri would tell him everything he knew about the subject. Doelan smiled, happy to listen and to talk about something else.
…
Back at the orphanage, Doelan couldn’t sleep. He huddled up in his blanket, looking around. In his bunk, surrounded by sleeping gisler children, he watched. He remembered what the magician said about goblins coming out at night. He knew he was making a fool of himself.
After all, he thought. Goblins have never come into the village before. Why should they now? That didn’t stop him from watching for them, and listening for their shrieks.
He tossed and turned. He heard the gisler in the bunk above him groan. He knew he needed to stop, or he’d wake his bunkmates up. He kept thinking, this is stupid, this is stupid, this is stupid. Then he turned over and quickly hid under covers!
He had seen something in the room!
He stayed underneath the blanket. It was hot, or at least it felt hot, but he didn’t dare come out, for he was certain that he had just seen a goblin! Right there in that room!
Still, he didn’t hear anything. Cautiously he peeked out. He saw nothing. He poked more of his head out, and still nothing. Maybe he had imagined it. That was probably the case. He still saw nothing.
A little relieved, he stayed still, hoping to get some sleep. He still knew he was being silly. There was nothing out there. Nothing.
Slowly he closed his eyes, and managed to get to sleep.
His dreams were not pleasant.
…
The last thing Doelan can remember is running. He’s running away from the cottages screaming! It’s something about goblins. He sees them…or he had seen them. He isn’t sure any more. But he has to run. He has to.
Gislers call after him, but he runs. There are goblins! He knows it! He can’t see them clearly but they’re there. He runs. He runs!
That’s the last thing he remembers.
…
Doelan woke up in a not so comfortable bed. He knew immediately it wasn’t the same bed he usually slept in. This bed was from the doctor’s wing from the orphanage. He knew it hadn’t been a dream. He really had been running from something. He looked around for a second, seeing the stone walls, more uncomfortable beds, and the gisler nurse, who of course looked fifteen. The petit, fussy red head girl in a white uniform was actually twenty five, but Doelan was too groggy to feel weird about it. He turned over and tried to go back to sleep.
Though he wondered what happened to him.
…
Much later Doelan’s head was better, though it was still throbbing a little. The nurse had spoken to him earlier, but with his head still pounding they didn’t talk much. All he knew was that he had run off, and had been found after that, past the edge of Halhor. How much later he didn’t know, for in the end the nurse had let him get some rest. He watched that same red headed gisler nurse scold another boy across from him. Doelan was still a little out of it, but he was back to normal enough to find the scene strange. The boy would turn fifteen soon, and be a man, so he looked the same age as the girl, but she was scolding him like a child all the same.
He knew that these thoughts kept his mind off of his throbbing head, if only a little bit. Even thinking about his head was better than thinking about those…creatures. He needed something else to think of fast! He got it, but it directed him back towards his head.
“Hey Doelan,” said Liri’s voice. “How’s your head?”
“Fine,” he said unenthusiastically as he turned over. “Fine. Hello Liri.”
“Hello,” said his friend with a concerned smile.
There was a pause for a moment. Doelan leaned back and closed his eyes and Liri just looked at him awkwardly.
“The nurse told me,” said Doelan, still with his eyes closed, “that I was found outside the village, knocked out. That was after they attacked me with questions of where I’d been.”
Liri laughed, and then tried to cover it up with a cough.
“Don’t worry,” said Doelan smiling, his eyes. “I meant it to be funny.”
Liri smiled back. “I see. Well, you really were found asleep you know. I was worried, and I was also wondering where you’d been.”
Doelan sighed. “I don’t know why everyone keeps asking me that. How long did it take them to find me anyway? An hour?”
“You mean you don’t remember?”
Doelan opened his eyes and turned on his side. It took him a second to get comfortable again, and another second to rest his throbbing head on the pillow properly.
“I don’t remember much, no. The last thing I remember I was running away from the village but…” he didn’t want to tell Liri he had been scared of goblins. He was too ashamed. He figured he had probably imagined them anyway. “That’s all I remember.”
“You just ran off and can’t remember why?” asked Liri, who sounded as if he almost didn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I can’t explain it,” said Doelan. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. I don’t know why I ran off, and I don’t know why I collapsed.”
Liri swallowed nervously.
“What?” asked Doelan.
“Um,” said Liri. “Doelan, I was there when you ran off. You didn’t collapse. At least…no one saw you collapse. You kept running, and as long as it took to find you…you must have been running for long time.”
It took a second for Doelan to process this. He tried to speak a couple of times but words seemed to fail him. He didn’t understand.
“But that means...Liri? How long was I gone?”
Liri swallowed again. “A week.”
Doelan lay there with a stupefied expression on his face. An entire week? He had been missing that long? What could he have done in that time?
“I’m sorry Doelan,” said Liri. “I don’t know what happened either. Are you sure you don’t remember why you were running?”
Of course Doelan remembered, though he wished he didn’t. In his stupor, he told the truth, “Yeah. Goblins.”
“Goblins?” asked Liri in disbelief. “What about them?”
Doelan was shuddering just thinking about it, “I thought I saw some.”
“In Halhor? I think other gislers would have noticed.”
“Maybe I imagined them,” said Doelan.
“What do you mean?”
Doelan thought about how to explain it. “You remember that magician?”
Liri thought about it. “Yeah, the human. He told us the story about the goblin wars.”
“Well when he told that story last nigh…I mean…I guess that night…a week ago…he told that story and…it scared me.”
“Oh,” said Liri silently. He didn’t say anything else for a few moments. Doelan waited patiently, and then Liri said, “Is that why you were running?”
“I think so. I can’t remember much, but I remember thinking that there were goblins around me. I don’t know.”
“That doesn’t explain where you were.”
“I know.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Doelan huddled up a little. Liri looked at him with pity. They might never figure out what had happened to Doelan. Still, Doelan was worried more about something else. Something that he knew was coming. He shivered some more, very scared. Liri noticed, and realized…
“You’re afraid you’ll see goblins tonight aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Said Doelan flatly. “I know they come out at night, when it’s dark. That’s when I’ll be scared again.”
Liri thought for a moment, and then spoke, “You know Doelan, you aren’t the only one whose been afraid of things at night.”
“What do you mean?”
“This human kid who came to Halhor, who was probably just being mean, told me that there’s this kind of dark creature that hides under your bed at night. Adults can’t see them, so they can’t check for you to see if it’s safe.”
“Really?”
“No. My father told me that this is an old tale…just made up. Anyway, he also told me that, to stop being scared at night, I should count.”
Doelan stared in disbelief. “Count?”
“Yes. Count until you can’t imagine the creature anymore, because that’s where the creature is. In your imagination.”
Doelan didn’t believe it, but then, “I suppose I can try that. Did the dark creatures go away for you?”
“I don’t need to count any-more.”
Doelan still wasn’t sure about it, and Liri noticed.
“Doelan, could you at least try it? I…I don’t want you to disappear again.”
Doelan looked at Liri, who stared back nervously. Doelan didn’t want to disappear again either. He knew, for his own sake and Liri’s, he was going to have to be brave.
“Okay Liri, I’ll try.”
They smiled at each other, though secretly Doelan believed it wouldn’t work. Still, it was all he had, for he knew that he would have to face the darkness again.
Soon.
…
Awake, late at night, Doelan was scared again. Those bug eyed creatures with their bloodletting shrieks…He huddled up, as if the blankets could shield him. He was still in the hospital bed in that wing of the orphanage. He was alone, so he felt nothing to inhibit him from crying.
Every time he heard a creak, or some other noise, he imagined a goblin. He looked around. Every shadow moving made him cringe and want to hide. Then…like before…he saw what he thought was a goblin.
Crying some more, he thought…remember what Liri said. Count.
“One…two…three…” he wasn’t feeling any better, “four…five…six…” at least he wasn’t picturing goblins any-more, “seven…eight…nine…ten…” he calmed down a little, “eleven…twelve…thirteen…” he peeked out, not seeing anything. He sighed in relief that he hadn’t seen any goblins, with their empty eyes, their sharp swords… “Fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…”
He kept counting. It kept his mind off of goblins, and eventually he got to sleep.
…
He woke up the next morning, and the first thing he did was breathe a sigh of relief. The sun was out, and that was a comfort. He breathed in and out, thankful that he had gotten through the night.
“Are we feeling better?” asked the red headed Nurse with breakfast for him. She had just entered the room when Doelan looked up.
“Yes, thank you,” said Doelan, who was famished. He sat up, ready to eat.
“I don’t suppose you remember where you where?” the nurse asked as she places a wooden try filled with bacon, eggs, and water on his lap.”
“No,” said Doelan. “I still don’t.”
“Alright,” she replied before leaving.
As Doelan ate he thought about it. He didn’t know where he had gone. He wondered if he ever would.
In truth, after that day, inquiries were made, but no one ever found out where Doelan had gone. Nothing strange happened for a while, so it was eventually forgotten, if not completely. It was the mystery that was never solved. Where a young orphan had been for an entire week.
At that moment, though, Doelan was happy, thankful he had a way to fight his fears. He was also thankful for Liri, and Liri’s father. Doelan stopped eating for a moment. He suddenly felt sad that he didn’t have a father to tell him this kind of stuff. However, he was glad Liri shared his father’s advice with him, and was eager to thank Liri again and tell him how it worked.
He really was thankful.
Still, he knew his fear of goblins would haunt him for a long time. This wasn’t just an imaginary creature under the bed. The goblins were real, and it his fears of them wouldn’t go away so easily.
And someone watching him knew it, all too well.
Doelan was being observed by a mind. The person who owned that mind wasn’t watching him with physical eyes, but observing him through pure thought. She had no need to watch him in person, and as far as she was concerned she had more to learn by watching him with her mind, for what she would see in person was different than what she saw now; a boy eating bacon and eggs in a bed.
So strange, she thought, as she gazed at him. His fears of my goblins allowed him to see them. I didn’t know that was even possible. It even allowed him to get away…even if it was for a short while. What’s even more amazing, though, is that he was sent back to us. He isn’t particularly important, so far as I can tell.
Still, one more little boy in my fold will be helpful, if only by a little. And now that he has a way to block the goblins out, his fear of them shouldn’t cause any more trouble. Still, I might want to keep an eye on him. I don’t foresee him causing me too much trouble directly, but if he alerts other gislers to my presence that will set me back a while. Let’s just hope my goblins can keep him from escaping again.
Little Doelan, I’ve got my mind on you.
For now, Doelan was safe, and happy eating his breakfast. But he had caused trouble, and was bound to cause more.
****
Chapter Three
His Friend
It was a chess set of wood, but finely carved with the pieces colored purple, green and gold on one side with red, white and black for the other; the squares were green and red. It had a sort of jester, masquerade theme to it. The king was a jester sitting on a throne, and the queen was a jester woman. The bishops next to them were jesters with recently fired bows, arrows in their heads, and sad expressions. The knights were jesters trying with great difficulty to mount horses while the rooks were towers with jesters hanging upside-down from the battlements. And lastly the pawns were comedy masks, each portraying a different emotion, and a few rude faces.
It was with this chess set that Doelan and his friend Liri sat down to a game. By this time Liri was thirteen, dark haired, and a little taller than Doelan, who was twelve. The two of them were dressed in cloaks, sitting down in a clearing with one tree in it. In the distance a set of quaint marble cottages, a city of sorts, could be seen, and on the other side of the boys the sun was low, casting a yellow light over everything. Doelan and Liri were looking at the game, ready to make their moves, well, for the most part anyway.
“Are you sure you want to play this game?” asked Doelan. “Playing against me can’t be too hard.”
“Oh come on Doelan,” said Liri. “You’re getting better.”
“I can tell,” said Doelan sarcastically. “Last time we played instead leaving me with just my king, like you first did, you left me with my king and a pawn.”
After a second of silence they laughed.
“Well, that is better,” said Liri. “Even if just a little. Now, it’s your move.”
Doelan thought for several seconds and then moved the pawn in front of the king forward one space.
“You think about it that long?” Liri inquired. “That’s been your first move every time we’ve played. I know it’s good to think about it, but only if you do something clever. Moving the same first piece every time isn’t clever.”
“Well,” Doelan hesitated. “I don’t know I...”
“Doelan!” cried a boy’s voice from in the distance.
“Oh,” said Doelan. “That’s Erid. I guess I’d better get back to the orphanage.”
“Already?” asked Liri, checking the sky. “It’s hardly sundown.”
“You know how Erid is,” said Doelan. “He’s really annoying that way; worse than a pack of flies.” he began to imitate buzzing noises. “Bzzzzz.”
“Doelan you really shouldn’t disrespect to your elders like that.”
“Ah yes, everyone says that Erid, Mayor Aralor, and all the others are our elders, but I still can’t believe it. I mean...”
“Is this the problem where you think they don’t look that much older yourself?”
“Well, Erid is supposed to be thirty two, and the mayor is supposed to be Forty one, but they look the same to me. And they look exactly the same as the other elders too, even though they’re supposed to be over a hundred!”
“Well that’s a common thing for our people. When you’re a gisler you stop aging when you turn fifteen. That’s why outsiders call us the ageless ones.”
Doelan grunted. He knew that, but it still seemed odd. He couldn’t really understand why he felt that way. If he had known his parents then maybe they could have told him. If Doelan had a gold piece for every time he thought something like that...
That his parents could explain things…
“Doelan!” cried the same voice again.
“Sorry Liri, I need to go.”
“Wait, hold on,” said Liri, putting the chess pieces in a wooden box that was behind him. “We can talk some on the way.”
After a second the pieces were put up, Liri took the box, Doelan took the board, and they were off, walking toward the buildings.
“Well,” said Liri. “I don’t care how much time we get. I’m going to help you improve your game. I think it’s a skill everyone should learn. That’s what my father says.”
“It more than anyone else has ever done for me. Thanks.”
They smiled, and Liri said, “you’re wel...”
“Oh look!” shouted another boy; Liri and Doelan looked and saw him in the distance, nearer to the village. “It’s the gisler who doesn’t want to grow up! He wants’ to grow old with wrinkles and a beard!”
Even from that distance, Doelan could tell the boy was imitating an old man, hunched over and walking with a cane. Doelan couldn’t see anyone else, but he heard the faint sound of mocking laughter from other boys.
Doelan glared him. So Doelan didn’t get that the elders were older. So what? This Neron didn’t have to be so...
“Neron, you stop that this instant and get inside!” came the voice of Erid. Neron stopped hunching and ran off. Doelan continued to glare at him for a few seconds.
“Just ignore him Doelan,” said Liri. “You know he’s just a jerk.”
“Yes, I know.”
Doelan relaxed his gaze and sighed. They were getting closer to the village now. In fact Doelan could see the giant Polophor flowers clearly. Red flowers the size of birdbaths with their faces pointed straight upwards, and there was a flower in front of every house. He could see them clearly now, though normally he didn’t notice them. Since he was close enough to see them, he knew it was almost time for him to part with Liri for the night.
But speaking of time, Doelan asked, “how long will it be before your family goes on their trip to see more of the world?”
“This year Doelan, after my…well…both of our birthdays. This year it will be my first time going, now that I’m old enough.” He grinned for a moment at that. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, you’ve told me about the other trips your family went on. They saw the human capital of Linicai, the nest palace of the eagle men, and other places. I’m just saying, you could just do what you’ve been doing and stay here, learn about it when they get back. It’ll be pretty boring if you aren’t around.”
Liri sighed. “I know Doelan,” he said. “I know. But it’s a family tradition, and I do want to spend time with them.”
Doelan figured he would say that, but still thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Part of him envied that Liri had a family, so he couldn’t really blame him for going.
“Alright,” Doelan said. “But listen, you tell me everything you see when you get back.”
“Of course,” said Liri, grinning. “That’s what friends are for.”
They shook on it before Doelan heard his name being called again.
“I’ve got to go,” said Doelan.
“Alright,” said Liri, starting to go off in another direction after Doelan handed him the chess board. “But remember, my parents say you’re old enough too. You could come with us.”
“I remember,” said Doelan as they went their separate ways. Doelan walked towards the orphanage slowly. Yes he had been invited to go with Liri on their trip, but Doelan wasn’t sure about that. He would definitely miss Liri, but there was something else holding him back.
He wondered if his parents would ever come for him, and didn’t want to be gone if they did.
He sighed as he neared the stone building that was his home. He picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the wall. As it clattered, Doelan stopped. There was something eerily familiar about that action, throwing a rock at a stone wall. It was almost as if he had done it before, though he couldn’t remember when. As he stared at that wall, he also got the feeling that something wasn’t right. It was as if this time should have been like that time he couldn’t remember, as if what he was seeing right now wasn’t real. It was similar enough to something that had happened, something he couldn’t remember, but it wasn’t real. However, he couldn’t explain it, and these thoughts were so confusing that they threatened to drive him mad, so he passed by, looking over his shoulder at the wall one more time.
“Hey Doelan,” said Neron, leaning against another wall as Doelan walked by. “I think I know why you’re parents left you here. They knew you’d want to grow old, and couldn’t stand the idea of their child becoming so wrinkled and ugly…so they abandoned you.”
Doelan walked past, trying to ignore him and the annoyingly sniggering boys surrounding him. However, Neron was not so easily ignored, and he followed Doelan.
“I know I’d abandon a child if I knew he’d turn all old and gross,” said another gisler boy.
Ignore them, Doelan thought. Just ignore them.
“Why I’ll bet that’s exactly what went through their minds,” said Neron. “They’re never coming back. Doelan They’re never…”
Doelan’s fist found Neron’s face before he realized what had happened, but he wasn’t sorry. Neron groaned on the grass, and Doelan stood over him. Very angry. The other boys backed away nervously.
“Doelan!” cried Erid.
Doelan looked up and his heart sank. Erid was coming, and Doelan was in big trouble.
…
Doelan sat huddled up under the large, sheltering oak tree outside the city of marble cottages. It was still an early morning sunrise as Doelan sat there, surrounded by dew covered grass. There were tear marks on his face. He wasn’t crying on the outside anymore, but on the inside he still felt empty.
“Doelan?”
Liri came from behind the tree with a concerned look on his face.
“Doelan?” he repeated.
“They were teasing me again,” said Doelan. “Neron and the others. Same stuff. I’m weird, I don’t belong in Halhor, you know.”
Liri sat down next to Doelan. “Doelan they’re just mean and dumb. So what if you find eternal youth strange? I don’t understand you either sometimes but I don’t call you names.”
“I know. That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
Doelan took a second to answer. “Erid.”
“The head of the orphanage? I can’t imagine him calling you names.”
“He didn’t, but he said he doesn’t understand me either. He also said I fight and hit the other boys a lot. More than anyone else.”
“Well you get teased the most.”
“I know, but he still noticed I’m different.”
Doelan huddled up some more and Liri looked at him with pity.
“They’re not right about you,” said Liri.
Doelan sighed. “Sometimes I think you’re right.” he said. “But sometimes I’m not sure. Having no parents and all, I sometimes just can’t help but wonder how different I really am.”
Liri didn’t respond, but stood back awkwardly. Doelan would have liked Liri to say something. Anything, though he Knew Liri couldn’t help. He huddled up some more, when…
“Oh look!” said an all too familiar boy’s voice. “Doelan’s taking his old person nap!”
“I’m not asleep!” said Doelan angrily.
He looked up to see Neron approaching with a stupid smile, and a black eye. Doelan wished he could hit that grin off his face, but that would get him in trouble with Erid for sure. Then Doelan noticed the curious gisler girl behind him, about Neron’s age. So Neron brought an audience again, Though Doelan. Wonderful.
“Leave him alone Neron,” said Liri. “We’ll tell Erid.”
“I’ll just say Doelan hit me again,” said Neron. Doelan looked away. He knew that was true. Neron went on, “Though I’m surprised he likes hitting people. If he doesn’t stop ageing like normal gislers, he’ll grow old and break his hand hitting people. You want to break your hand with frail old bones?”
“That isn’t funny,” said the gisler girl.
Neron looked back at her confused. “What?” he asked.
“You said you’d show me something funny. This isn’t funny.”
Doelan was as confused as Neron, and so was Liri.
“Well sure it is,” said Neron. “He thinks it’s weird that we don’t grow old like other things. That Erid or the mayor are still young. He’d rather not be a gisler. He’d rather grow old. That’s funny.”
“Oh,” said the gisler Girl, who thought about it a moment, and then replied, “No. It’s still not funny.
With that she turned and walked away.
“Wait,” said Neron, walking after her. “Ailean wait.”
He followed her as she left, leaving Doelan and Liri, both open mouthed and speechless.
“Liri,” said Doelan, standing up. “What just happened?”
Liri stared ahead at the two departing figures. “I think you’ve been saved by a girl.”
“Weird,” said Doelan. “I wonder if she can save me from being beaten at chess.”
A second passed, and then the two of them burst out laughing!
“I doubt anyone can save you from that Doelan,” said Liri. “Come on, let’s go skip rocks or something.”
“Good idea,” he said, and followed Liri. However, he stepped on a rock, which he picked up. Struck with a sudden idea, he threw the rock at the tree. As the rock thumped against the tree he once again he felt he had done this before, though he couldn’t remember when, and again he felt like this time was wrong. This time he felt that the rock should have clattered as if against stone, not thumped against wood, which he knew was silly.
“Doelan!” cried Liri, which made Doelan follow.
From somewhere unseen a mind watched him, thinking, he’s figuring it out again. Extraordinary! But she did not like it. And of course, Doelan had no idea he was being watched.
Doelan caught up with Liri and said, “Remember, after our birthdays my family’s trip is coming up. You’re still free to join us.”
“Oh,” he said. “I remember.” But the truth was, he wasn’t looking forward to that day.
…
Doelan and Liri’s birthdays each came and went. For Liri’s birthday Doelan got to spend time with Liri and his other friends. They seemed to think Doelan was weird like everyone else, though at least they didn’t make fun of him. For Doelan’s birthday he just spent the day with Liri, feeling no need to invite anyone else. During this time, he noticed that Neron spent less time harassing him, and more time with that girl, Ailean, and that made him relieved. After that Doelan starting waiting for Liri to leave on his trip. He wasn’t looking forward to it, and there was something else going on with him, something he couldn't explain. It started when he threw a rock at that wall. All of it led up to this day.
Doelan and Liri, now thirteen and fourteen, each a year older, were playing chess underneath an oak tree yet again. The early morning sun shone under red clouds and reflected off the dew on the ground. It was a beautiful sight, but the boys didn’t notice. They were concentrating hard.
But while one concentrated on winning the game, the other didn’t. Doelan had other things on his mind.
“Interesting move Doelan,” said Liri as Doelan sat there rubbing his chin. “I didn’t know rooks could move diagonally.”
“Hmm?” said Doelan, seeing his mistake. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
As Doelan corrected his mistake, Liri looked at him suspiciously. “You seem distracted Doelan. Is something wrong?”
Doelan froze with his hand on one of the chess pieces. Something had indeed been on his mind. He had this feeling that nothing he knew was real, but he couldn’t tell where it came from, and he didn’t always feel that way. He also didn’t understand it, but it still weighed heavily upon him. He just couldn’t get rid of it.
And of course it all started with that rock and stone wall.
It had been on his mind quite often lately, and he had been thinking, deciding whether or not to tell Liri, for he sometimes felt he had to tell someone. But of course Liri was about to leave, and his family had already decided where to go. They would see the land of the cyclopses. The question was whether or not to tell Liri before, or after he left.
Until he decided, he figured he would stall. “Nothing,” he said.
“Doelan, you haven’t made such an elementary mistake at chess in a long time. I know, you actually beat me for the first time last week.”
Doelan couldn’t help but grin, “Yeah, I did. Alright, I’ll tell the truth,” but he wasn’t going to tell the truth that was on his mind. “I’ve been thinking lately about...maybe...getting out of the orphanage for a while.”
“With us on a trip?” said Liri hopefully.
Doelan chuckled. “Well, not out of Halhor yet, maybe someday...but that wasn’t what I meant. What I mean is that I might want to get out on my own for a while, right here.”
“Why?” asked Liri, who obviously didn’t understand.
There was no easy way to say it. “I wanted to...to ask around, you know, about when I was found on the outskirts of the city and...” He sighed. “I want to try to find my parents.” It was only part of the picture, but it was enough of the truth that Liri nodded his head in understanding.
“I see. What’s brought this on?”
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