Powers Long Forgotton:Icon of Resistance

Powers Long Forgotton Part 1
ICON OF RESISTANCE

Introduction
A Mysterious Passer-by

The corn fields were stirred. Someone was running through them, and for what my ears could hear, he was running through them fast. I grabbed the pole of my pitchfork, standing next to me against the cabin, without leaving my hammock in which I was peacefully lying. I hesitated shortly, then loosened my grip on the pitchfork. Only seconds later I let go of it and relaxed again. That person running wasn't a threat. He was running away from something or someone, scared. This became obvious as I listened more carefully. Finally he entered my line of sight, and as I laid back comfortably I looked at him. Or should I say... her?

Her eyes blinked of relief as she saw a peaceful farm in the distance. She slowed her pace, took some final steps, and eventually fell down to the ground.

I got up from my comfortable position. A lady in need should never be left in peril. I went over to where she fell, about fifteen yards away from me. Something odd caught my eye there right away, but it took me some time to realize what it was. It was a shiny object sitting in the shallow pocket of her old, torn and dirty cloth.

I carried her into my house and kept her warm. She was asleep or unconscious, I still do not know which. It was several hours later when she woke up at last. She slowly opened her bright blue eyes and looked at me, with a sort of thankful, relieved smile.

Then she got up as if the devil was upon her.

"I should go." she said.

I told her to stay, that she was much safer here. She wouldn't listen. I couldn't stop her, there was a strange energy in her that was urging her to leave.

"I'm putting you in danger. I cannot put others in danger!" she shouted, increasing my confusion further. She said it as if it was some sort of oath she had sworn, and she clearly never wanted to break it. As she hastily ran out of my house I went up and grabbed some clean clothes, quickly mounted Boney and rode after her. I approached her quietly, and kept following her at a safe distance.

"I'm putting you in danger. You should not follow me. Following puts you in grave peril. I may not put others in danger!!"

In a weird way, she was really starting to fascinate me. How could she not? Not a minute though did I ponder the fact that something dangerous must have really been after her, never did I see any risk in the steps I took.

"I thought you might want some nice clean clothes. I couldn't offer you a bath as you went out so quickly, but you're dirty and a lady such as yourself should never be dirty. Ladies are elegant and should always be."
She never looked back, but kept on marching at quite a fast pace, replying the following:
"I'm not the lady you need. Go back to your farm and be at peace. Find yourself a true lady and never have any worries. Besides, I don't need any help."
“Don’t need or don’t want? I think the latter.”

I went to ride next to her, dismounted my horse and offered her to get up.
I saw her take a quick glimpse at Boney but then quickly look straight ahead again.

"Though you do not want any help, you seem to be hasty. A horse might be of great help to you." I said in an effort to convince her.

She remained quiet for a while, then rudely mounted Boney and started galloping towards the horizon.
She never looked back, and I would never find out who she was or what she was running from.
As I walked back to the farm I heard the sound of a horse coming my way.
As it approached I turned around and saw my good old Boney back, with the lovely yet few-worded lady still riding him.

"I forgot to take those clothes." she said.
"Very well then. Here they are."
As she moved to take the clothes, I held back for a second.
She sighed.
"But first..."
Her mood went down even further as I started talking, as if she could already guess what I would say.
"... first you have to take that bath I offered you. I wouldn't want my clean clothes to get all dirty again without a reason, because you, my lady, are dirty too!"
"Very well then, have it your way. But only if you feed me afterwards will I take a bath, and then with the speed of the wind I will ride your horse away from this cursed place.
...
ugh, this is a mistake, I can tell already."

I filled the tub with ice cold water and then went down to prepare her a good meal.
Afterwards I went back outside to rest and give my guest her privacy.
Some 30 minutes later she stepped out into the field. I took one look at her, and was amazed at how beautiful she looked washed up. Her flowing, long brown hair, partly covering her face that could have been that of an angel, those blue eyes a man would kill for. Like a real upstanding lady should look.

"I... I had a look in your closets and saw some clothes I liked better than those you gave me."
She blushed shyly.
"Thank you for the food. God bless your soul. Goodbye."

I was speechless. By this time I was sitting up in my hammock, unable to grasp what I had just witnessed. As I saw her ride off towards the horizon, I realized I could not let this pearl go on alone. She could need assistance on her journey, wherever it may take her. I thought she might not make it on her own.
I quickly jumped up and went to the stable, where Najes was standing in a dark corner of the unlit cabin. "Time to give those old hooves of yours some exercise, brave girl." Just by saying that, she knew what she had to do. As a racing wind we took off, following the path the mysterious lady took. In spite of Najes' age, she's still the fastest runner in the country. In a very short while we closed in on the goddess I had just fed and dressed. She looked back, saw me approaching, and spurred her horse. I heard her yell "Go away!" or something that meant the same, I can't really remember. I didn't listen though, I could never give up on her, no matter what she said. In the end she would understand that I followed her for her own good.


Nightfall.
We had been silent for several hours now, but I'd always been riding next to her. And all that time she had been pretending I wasn't there. I was waiting for her to stop and rest. She never did. A few more hours passed, until she finally spoke.

"Why do you care for me so much?"
She didn't look at me, she kept staring at the moon in front of her.
"Why do you care that I care?" I wittily responded.
She remained silent, unimpressed.
After a few minutes she turned and looked me in the eyes for the first time.
"I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Hurt from what?" I asked.
"You wouldn't understand."

I felt this was not the moment to bother her with more questions.
We just kept riding towards the moon, without saying anything else. It must have been around noon the next day when finally she came to a stop.


A Precious Bracelet

We had reached a road that led to a small village named Spensbrough.
“Are you hungry?” she asked as she looked at me.
“I fear you didn’t give me any time to gather some food back at the farm.” I responded.
“No problem.”
She sounded as if having no food doesn’t matter at all when you’re hungry. But those stomachs don’t fill themselves up, I thought as I said:
“Well you also didn’t give me any time to take some gold pieces with me as you left.”
“I still don’t see a problem… the way I’ve survived all this time is by stealing food or money from lonely travellers. I’m afraid we’ll have to continue doing that if we want to stay on our feet.”
“I understand that you had no choice back then, but now that I’m with you, we can maybe find other – more peaceful – ways to get food. Maybe… you have something valuable with you that you can sell?” I suggested as I didn’t want to start stealing for survival.
I noticed her pushing that shiny thing - that was still in her pocket – deeper away, hoping I wouldn’t see it.
“What is that, by the way?” I asked.
“Stay away from this!” she quickly jumped up and defended it as if it was her own child.
“This is way too important to sell. My life depends on this!”
“Don’t feel so offended lady, I wasn’t really going to ask you to sell it… I was just curious. I would really like to know what it is. It looks like a very beautiful bracelet. And around your arm, I’m sure it would be a divine sight.”
She blushed, calmed down and started explaining.
“It’s… well the story goes like this. About a year ago, I encountered a very mysterious yet charming man. He was always dressed in black robes, and never told me his real name. We kept seeing each other in secret, as we had fallen in love. He told me no one was allowed to know of our relationship. Nearly four months had passed like this, when he suddenly gave me this bracelet. The inscriptions on it read “Those who do not fear it, shall not falter. Those who dare to speak of it, shall suffer.” He took my hand, kissed it softly, made me swear that I would never bring this bracelet near an innocent man, as that would place him in grave peril. Then he turned away. I never saw him again.

A few days later, the King’s troops raided my house and searched in every corner. I quickly realized they were looking for the bracelet, so when no one was watching I hid it in my corset. Even though they could not find what they were looking for, they knew my conscious wasn’t clear, and banished me from the lands. The official reason was that I “had committed a terribly shameful crime,” and that I “was to never return again.” The real reason was that they could trace me outside the city, and pressure me until I would give them what they wanted. I managed to escape them all this time, but I have been lucky several times.“

My mouth was wide open as she explained this whole story. It was very hard to believe what she said but something about her made it so real that I didn’t doubt her story for a minute.

“So… who was that nameless man?” I asked with great interest.
“I have only just found out myself”, she said as she put the bracelet back in to her pocket.
“And because of this recently gained knowledge, a terrible darkness has been on me for the past week. I’ve been on the run for it for more than a week without stopping.” She continued.
“The darkness, as you say, chasing you… it’s the man who gave you the bracelet?”
I was getting more confused by every word she spoke.
“No,” she confidently said. “That man has been trying to aid me the whole time. He’s helped me escape the king’s forces several times. Never did he show himself in person, but I just know that it was his presence that helped me somehow. That darkness is… something else. It really wants this bracelet. The man that gave it to me just wanted me to keep it safe.”

She was pondering all those events from the past for a minute and seemed to have come to a conclusion.

“He apparently never wanted me to know who he really was. If I were to be caught by the king’s men and told them what I know about him, he would never be safe again.
He wanted me to disappear as fast as possible, before the king’s guards would find me. Running away from the forces that were behind me, I finally arrived at a peaceful-looking farm – and you know the rest.”

The more she told me, the less I understood, but I still hadn’t received the answer I needed to know.

“So… who was he, the man that gave you that bracelet?”
“He is a mighty prophet as I found out last week. He’s been on this earth for more than a hundred years, and he’s been guiding helpless people in need all this time. I would guess he has enemies that want his incredible knowledge. That has something to do with the bracelet, but I’m not exactly sure what. I believe he picked out someone trustworthy, hoping the bracelet, and key to his knowledge, would be safer. Now that I come to think of it, I believe he consciously led me to you, knowing you would help me no matter what I did. Even though he himself made me promise I would never bring this bracelet near anyone else. Maybe he was getting desperate himself, thinking it wouldn’t take much longer for me to be caught at last.”

I stared at her, not knowing what the best reaction would be, but without thinking much about it I said what came to mind.

“A prophet? Oh come on… I don’t like questioning your words but I really don’t believe in people that know what lies in the future.”
I expected her to be angry or disappointed in me for not believing her, but she didn’t seem upset.
“It’s okay. I don’t think I would believe it just like that either.”
“Prophet or not, it’s no doubt that you are in peril and that you need help. So help is what you’ll get. The way I see it is that that prophet of yours was just a man with a bracelet that the King was after for some reason. He gave it to you hoping it would be safe and you coincidently came to me.” I explained my thoughts of her story.
“Very well. You believe your theory and I believe mine.” She said.

“Listen… err, we still haven’t eaten. I propose that you stay hidden at a safe distance from the road. I will go make a deal in the town and will come back to this place with food. Stay safe and don’t go too far from here.”
I thought it was best if she remained unseen in any civilized place. After all, the king was still looking for her. She agreed.
“What’s your name?” she asked me before I went.
I looked in to her eyes and said my name was William.
“Arimana.” She said to me. I smiled at her, and then went to the town, hoping I could get some decent things with me.


The Restless Spensbrough

It didn’t take me much longer than thirty minutes to reach the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded by an old wooden wall; the gate looked like it was so rotten it could never be closed without falling apart. While getting closer to the town centre I noticed how dull the streets were here. I hadn’t seen civilization since the war started, but it seemed like every man went out to fight and the women stayed inside praying every moment their husbands would soon come back. I quickly realized how good I had had it at the farm.
Some kids were playing with tiny rocks, and right as I was thinking how nice and innocent these kids looked, I noticed they were throwing those rocks at each other, trying to hurt one another as hard as possible. As I passed them by they looked at me and soon they were all over me, asking for some bread. It hurt me not being able to give them anything, but I kept on walking through the streets without hesitation, looking for a nice place where I could get some food. After a short while the kids stopped following me and I heard the sound of tiny rocks being thrown again. On the edge of the road, outside a dirty building an old man was sitting with a bottle of ale in his hands, mumbling nonsensical sentences. This place made me feel uncomfortable. A little further ahead I noticed lights and noise coming out of an open door. An inn, I was going to try it in there.
As I walked in I noticed three men with large beards sitting at the counter, and one table in the far right corner of the inn taken by a shady cloaked man.
So I was not the only one that hadn’t gone away to fight. As I approached the owner of the place all the other guests turned their heads towards me, inspecting me.

“Greetings friend. I’ve come here to see what food and drinks you have to offer.”
He opened his mouth, upon which I smelled his stinking breath and saw his two only remaining teeth.
“Old bread, water and ale is what I have. Two shilling for a hump of bread, one shilling for some water and two shilling for a beer, take it or leave it.” He said with an old whiney voice.

It was going to be hard taking something with me from this place, without any actual means of payment.

“Listen friend, I have this fine coat for strong winter nights. It’s worth at least a pound. If you give me four humps of bread and some water it’s yours. You’ll make plenty of profit this way.”
He slammed his already clenched fist on the counter. “Listen porkface. I do not want your stinking coat. I want something shiny.” He replied with a threatening voice.
“I do not seek trouble. I just seek food and water to aid a lady that will die if she doesn’t get it.”
A small lie for my own good couldn’t be that bad, as I didn’t plan on giving up. Right?
“Get out of here. Now. Or trouble is all you’ll get.”

The three men at the counter stood up and surrounded me, and the man sitting at the table turned his face my way. He was wearing a cloak, I could not properly see his face.

“Who is this lady you speak of?” asked the man. All the others remained silent and eased down as he spoke. He partially removed the cloak that covered his face.

“I do not know her personally, but she is in danger and it would be a sin not to help her.”

“Come with me.” he said. The man stood up and went outside. I turned away from the men standing unmoved around me, and followed his wise directions.

“A decent person such as yourself should not come to places such as this. Follow me. I will get you water and food that can be eaten without losing all your teeth.”
He took me to a nice looking house on the edge of the town. It was brightly lit and looked inviting, compared to the other houses in the town. The man urged me to get inside.
“This is my house. You may take as much food and water as you can carry.”


“We have two horses so we can carry quite a bit.”
“So you do know her? You travel with her!” he said with a friendly smile as he opened a cupboard in which was some fresh meat and bread. I was particularly surprised about seeing meat, since it is very scarce these times.
“Yes. I lied about not knowing her. But our business is our own.”
“Very well. No doubt you have your reasons for this secrecy. Usually that means you’ve got something to hide from a force stronger than your own. Can you defend yourself?”
“Well… my bare fist can fight but I doubt it can match with swords and armour.”

As the kind man had already gathered plenty of food and water he led me in to his dungeon.

“Here. Take this sword. It might help you. It’s not very sharp, so you might want to take it to the blacksmith first.”
“I cannot pay the man.”
“Tell him Paldino sent you.”

I hesitated shortly.

“How can I thank you for all this?”
He looked at me, shook my hand and said “There is no need to thank me. If I can help anyone out, it is my pleasure. It is my purpose.”
“You know, that is quite similar to me. I got myself in to a strange mystery for the same reason, helping someone.”
He smiled kindly.
“I know.” He said. “Good luck on your journey.”

There I went, loaded with food, water and a sword. Off to the blacksmith.

It sounded very quiet around the blacksmith. An older man was lying comfortably in a chair. I went up to him.
“Hello good sir. Paldino sent me.”
“Ahh, good old Paldino.”

It was a very friendly looking blacksmith, that smiled happily as he heard Paldino’s name.
He sharpened my sword, asked me if I needed any other service, and when I said no he thanked me for coming by and wished me all the best. I wanted to ask what I could do in return, but before I could speak he made a gesture, explaining that it was alright.
I thanked him many times, and went back to the gates of the village. On my way back, I passed the house of the man that provided me with food and drink. It looked abandoned now, as if no one had been there in years. I was left confused, but did not have time to think of it, Arimana had been alone long enough. I continued my journey, away from Spensbrough.


The War

As I made my way back to where I left Arimana, suddenly images of the time the war broke out came floating into my mind. It must have been nearly eight years ago, during wintertime. The king’s son, Elioth, was in Scotland on a diplomatic mission, when he was murdered by a band of thieves. The king never found out who murdered him, so attacked the whole of Scotland to get his revenge.
He summoned every man capable of fighting to report to the nearest barracks where they got armour and a weapon, and were given basic lessons of sword and shield usage, before they were sent off to fight. I was about twenty-five years of age at that time, so normally I would have been sent there myself. Luckily, I could escape my duty by fleeing the town I lived in to a desolate farm. Very few people knew it even existed, it was used dozens of years ago by my parents and grandparents as a refuge during the civil war. I rarely had to leave the farm since I had everything I needed right there. That’s why it had been so long ago since I had last seen civilization.
I could never have imagined the effects the war would have on our villages. Everyone was poor and solidarity was a virtue long forgotten.
Meanwhile the war was still not over and every day more casualties were made.

I came to my senses when I recognized the place I was at. It was where I had left Arimana. I walked away from the road and started searching near the bushes. I could not find her.
I started fearing the worst, that she may have left without me. Or that her evil chasers had found her and taken her with them, or worse ... I immediately started blaming myself for having left her alone, that it would have been much safer to take her with me to the town.

All of a sudden though I heard a quiet snoring sound very close by. There she was, lying a little further ahead behind a bush. Sleeping peacefully. I forgot, when she arrived at my farm she had been on the run for more than a week straight. Of course. I didn’t wake her, instead I sat myself down a few meters from her, waiting patiently until she would wake up.


On The Run

“NO!” She jumped up with a dazed look on her face. “How long have I been sleeping? Dear God I told myself not to fall asleep! Ugh!”
“Good morning, princess.” I greeted her with a slight smile on my face.
“What time is it?” she asked as she threw some water on her face.
“Sun’s just about rising. And it looks like it will be a lovely day.”

She looked very frustrated.

“Oh no, I’ve been here the whole night?!”
“I figured you needed it, Arimana. I hope it’s done you some good. Here, have some bread.”

She moved closer to me and she asked how it went. I explained to her the whole story of what had happened at the nearly abandoned village, the unfriendly innkeeper, the shady cloaked man, the blacksmith, and so on. We discussed this for quite a long time - my story had obviously made her forget about the time- even though I was the one doing most of the talking. She didn’t say much about herself, even when I made several attempts to get some more information about her.

“Thank you for all this… err…
… well that’s rather awkward.”
She blushed.
“What is awkward?” I asked.
“I… I forgot your name.”
“Sir William, at your service!”
“Right. Thank you, William. You’re… you’re truly a good person.”
I changed the subject, I never liked speaking of myself.

“Say, Arimana… that prophet you mentioned, can you describe what he looked like?”
“Well… he always wore black robes as I said, had a tamed beard and thick grey eyebrows. His facial expression is hard to describe, as he looks like any other normal helpful elderly man.”
“Mm. Interesting.”
“What? Why? Are you starting to believe my story at last?” she asked with a teasing tone.
I laughed loudly.
“Mmm, just maybe” I responded with a witty smile on my face.

All of a sudden she looked troubled. “We must go.” She said with a silent voice. I felt it would be wrong to ask questions at that point. If she felt that we needed to go, we would go. Questions could always be asked later. We walked away from the bushes, moving towards the road, where we had left Boney and Najes. Loyal as ever, they were still standing there. I quickly packed the food Paldino gave me on to Boney and got myself mounted, with the sharpened sword within my grasp.
I told Arimana to lead the way. “Where your instincts lead you”, I said as they hadn’t failed her yet, and I hoped they wouldn’t anytime soon.
She started riding east. Why, I did not know and I did not ask, but she looked certain. Questions could still wait until later, first we had to get away from that place with haste.

Disorientation
----------------------
“Though I can see you walking, I can barely guide you. I am chained and my powers are drained. Find my house, and you will find more answers.”
----------------------
Back on track

We rode east until dawn without talking, when she slowed down next to a tree in front of a crossroads. “Read that sign”, she said. “Ulkundar, Parvandale and Jinderlake. Are you familiar with these places?” I asked her. “No. But I sense we must follow the path to Ulkundar.” She said with great confidence.
And so we did. As we approached the village, a feeling of discomfort came over me. “It feels like we’re the first ones to cross this path in a long time Arimana.”

“Yes. No one has come here for nearly five years.”
“How do you know?” I asked, somewhat taken aback.
“I don’t know … I just… know.”
We followed the path at a slow pace and approached the gates of the village. The gates were closed, and there was no one to be seen. A darkness seemed to shroud the village, yet the skies were blue. I took my sword, got off of Najes and walked to the gate.

“Hello!”
There was no sound, except for the echo of my voice, and a cold wind flowing through my hair, giving me an uneasy feeling.
“Hello!” I shouted again, even louder.
Because I got no response, I tried opening the gate. It wasn’t locked. I could open it without a struggle.
“Be careful” whispered Arimana who was staying several steps behind.
I looked back at her and nodded.
As I opened the gate completely I saw abandoned streets, with rubbish piled against walls here and there, where the wind had blown it. As I slowly ventured further in to the city, I noticed a sign hanging from a rusty nail hammered in to a big tree in what used to be the market square of the village.

I gestured Arimana to come closer as I began reading the sign.

“CITIZENS OF ULKUNDAR – IT IS WITH GREAT AGONY IN MY HEART THAT I ANNOUNCE THE EVACUATION OF THE VILLAGE. OUR ENEMIES HAVE DESTROYED OUR LAST REMAINING DEFENSIVE OUTPOSTS, AND ARE NOW MARCHING ON TO US. WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING THIS MOMENT FOR MONTHS NOW, HOPING IT WOULD NOT COME, BUT FINALLY THE DAY WE DREADED IS HERE. WE HAVE PREPARED FOR THIS AND ARE NOW READY TO BEGIN A JOURNEY TO SAFER TERRITORIES. WE WILL GO TO THE NEARBY FRIENDLY TOWN OF PARVANDALE, WHERE WE WILL RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM THE CITIZENS. WE LEAVE ON FRIDAY MAY 2ND AT NOON. PACK ONLY YOUR VALUABLE BELONGINGS, AND LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE BEHIND. THERE WILL NOT BE MUCH ROOM FOR US IN PARVANDALE, BUT THEY WILL HELP US WITH WHAT THEY HAVE.

DO NOT FEAR IT AND YOU SHALL NOT FALTER. DO NOT SPEAK OF IT, OR YOU SHALL SUFFER.
Mayor Quicken
May 1ST

I repeated the last sentence.
“Do not fear it and you shall not falter. Do not speak of it or you shall suffer.” That sounds uncannily like the inscription on your bracelet.
I wonder what is meant by that though.”
“Me too… and who were the enemies he mentioned? It sounds as if they got no military aid from nearby villages to defend them from the threat.”

Whatever the answer, it must have had something to do with happenings of recent times. The bracelet and Arimana ’s instinct leading us there, the text on the sign, it could not be coincidence.


Ongoing Conflict

“So… what now? Where do we go from here?” I asked, while still standing next to the sign.
“We should go to Parvandale. This whole evacuation was only five years ago. Many of the people should still be alive. Hopefully some lived to tell the tale at Parvandale.” She said.
I agreed it was a very good choice to go to Parvandale and talk to the citizens there, but suggested to remain in Ulkundar for a little while longer, to see if we could find any actual reasons of why the village was attacked. Maybe we could even find the origin of the bracelet there, or a clue as to what it did.

As we slowly explored the village, we came to the church. The old doors were wide open. We walked in to take a glimpse. What really caught our eye when we first got in was a big sign hanging above Jesus’ crucifixion. The sign read:

“DO NOT FEAR IT, DO NOT SPEAK IT “

It seemed the words carved in to the bracelet were what kept these people going. It seemed to have given them hope and strength.

We went out of the church and in silence continued exploring the village. Everything looked rather normal, except for some signs of the short-notice abandonment. We went inside some of the houses and noticed how few of their possessions the people had taken with them. Anything that wasn’t of capital importance was left behind, still altogether some of the things would be quite valuable to the common man. I was surprised that the village hadn’t been plundered yet.

As we came to the other end of the village, we saw the remains of what used to be a wooden building. Some charred pillars were still standing, but mostly it was reduced to ashes and dirt. Someone’s house must have been burned to the ground here, for whatever reason.

Arimana walked between the rubble and neared what would have been the centre of the house, when she suddenly seemed to be feeling unwell.

I quickly went over to her. I caught her just before she fell to the ground. I tried to wake her up, but she was unconscious. Her breathing was more shallow than it should be, but at least she was still alive.

After trying to wake her up for several minutes, finally she opened her eyes, all dazed and confused. She was in shock, mumbling weird sentences about happenings I could not place.

“A man standing on a cliff. Making a gesture with his staff. Burning arrows searing through the sky. Giant armies clashing. A horrific creature making a terrible echoing screech…”

She was silent for a moment, shivered, then continued.

“Masses of corpses, lying on the ground. Their faces revealing the cruelty of how they died. A terrible darkness remains…

Those were images from the past, William. I had a vision. There was a giant battle that took place nearly two hundred years ago. I cannot believe it. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Ever since I left my farm, nothing has made sense anymore Arimana.” I said.

All of a sudden, it happened again. Arimana collapsed, and passed out. I wasn’t panicking as much as I did just minutes ago, but still a rush of fear came over me.

When she came to her senses again, she didn’t want to tell me what she saw this time.

“I know now what we must do.” She said. Purposefully she walked to the gate of the village, “Sure, spare me the details.” was the only thought that came to mind.

When she got back to the horses, she shouted “To Parvandale!”, and commanded Boney to go as fast as he could. It was hard for me to keep up with her, even though I was riding Najes… the fastest horse in the country! This was getting all too crazy. We rode for hours, and then finally approached Parvandale, as the sun was sinking in the distance.

A big, welcoming sign greeted us as we approached the wide-open gate.
“P A R V A N D A L E” it said, with the image of a pint next to the sign. This village was alive, unlike the previous ones.
Merchants and travellers were coming in and out of the city like I had never before seen, and kids were playing nice games with each other for a change. Though the atmosphere here was definitely warm-hearted, I advised Arimana to cover her face a bit.
It would prove disastrous if some of the king’s soldiers would recognize her. We left our horses in the stables near the entrance, walked in to the city and passed an inn where drunk men were happily chanting songs in unison and laughter was as common as it should always be.
A little further ahead a merchant spoke to us, brimming with enthusiasm. “Greetings me good friends. Lovely milady, kind sir, I can see that you are strangers here, eh? Well why don’t ye hear me out, then!”

He had a Scottish accent. England was at war with Scotland, but this man seemed to have no worries at all.
“Just for you t’day, I’ve got these nice self-brewed ales here with me. Ye can have a taste if ya like, just go ahead and try these ones. If ya like it, I’ll be sure to make you some interesting prices!”

“Thank you good man, but we can not pay you. Though your offer is very nice , and I’m sure your brews are excellent, I fear we can not give you any business.”
“Arr ye don’t have te pay me for just a lit’l drink, rite me mate? Just take this if ya like and drink ‘t up. I have plenty more, lovely and exhausted travellers such as yerselves deserve a drink now don’t they. It’s on me chap!”

Surprised about this man’s liberal attitude I accepted his offer. One brew looked green and… unhealthy, but tasted like a normal ale. The other looked like a normal ale, but didn’t taste anything like it. “Allow me to say – those brews tasted really good, even if their appearance would not show it.” You could see on his face that this made him a very happy man. I gave the good man some of our bread, and his face lit up like that of a man who had just found 10 pounds on his doorstep.

“Ay, yer soul be blessed me mate. Come by any time ye feel thirsty!”
“Will surely do. Oh, before we go, would you mind if I ask you some questions? Sadly we did not come her just for ales and meats.”
“Ye already asked one there so I guess I got no choice now do I eh” he said as he burst out in laughter.
“But nay, seriously, go rite ahead!”

“Do you by any chance know what happened in the village Ulkundar, a good twenty miles from here, nearly five years ago?”
“O, Ulkundar. Aye, I believe they were attacked by someone…” he explained as his mood changed from playful to pretty serious now. “But I’ve only arrived here some years after it happened so I don’t know the complete story. Some of them folks are stayin’ in this city rite here.”
“Could you point me to one of these people? I am greatly interested in finding out what happened in Ulkundar.”
“Surely can mate. If ya want sum strong stories, I suggest ya go to the inn ya just passed by. But if it’s the trust ye’r looking for, ya best go to mister and misses Pultkin, near the butcher. Ya can't miss their house, it's the one with the wild flowers growin all about it. Used to be quite the patch o’ land back in the days, or so they say, but miss Loraine’s back is troubling her too badly lately. Used to be a fine woman too… Anyway, head on south, can’t miss ‘em!”
“Thank you ever so much. I will return when I can to reward you for your aid. What’s your name, so I know who I need to look for!”
“Me name’s of no importance. But the good folks around here call me Oddbrew”
“Very well Oddbrew. We will not forget about what you have done for us. Thank you.”
“All the best fer you me friends! May you find what you’re looking for!”

And thus the old Scottish rat waved us off as we went to look for mister and misses Pultkin’s house.
Exactly as he described it, with all the flowers growing out of control, it was very easy to find. After we knocked the door we had to wait for several minutes before the door was opened. An elderly man greeted us and asked us what our business was.

“Greetings, mister Pultkin I presume?. I’m sorry for disturbing you at this early hour, but I’m a traveller with a great interest in the events that took place in the town of Ulkundar five years ago. I was told by a good sir named Oddbrew that you could tell me more about it.”

He looked me straight in the eyes, then yelled “Loraine, make some tea will you, we have visitors!”. Hearing the name Ulkundar incited his enthusiasm, and he invited us inside.


The Bracelet

It was a decent sized, rather upscale house on the inside. As we followed mister Pultkin to the living area, misses Pultkin came to welcome us with three cups of hot steaming tea. “Greetings young man, young lady.” She said as she gave me and Arimana a cup of tea. We thanked her and sat down on the chairs mister Pultkin had arranged for us.

“So, what stirred your interest in Urkundal, young man?”
“Call me William, sir. Me and my sister Arimana here, passed by the village on our way to Parvandale and wondered why it was abandoned. We went in to take a look and read a sign on a tree, which spoke of an evacuation because of an imminent attack. One thing in particular caught our eye. The sentence “DO NOT FEAR IT AND YOU SHALL NOT FALTER. DO NOT SPEAK OF IT, OR YOU SHALL SUFFER”, because it is much too similar to what is inscribed on her bracelet.”
“What bracelet?” he asked as he seemingly got more excited.
Arimana showed mister Pultkin the bracelet, he took it out of her hands and stared at it with great wonder. He stuttered as he began to speak.

“H… how did you get this?” he asked.
Arimana answered that she received it as a gift months ago.
“But… but this is Paldoni’s Icon of Resistance!” mister Pultkin said in great awe.
Misses Pultkin who was busy preparing some breakfast moved closer to take a look herself.
“Oh my…” she said as she saw the bracelet.

Arimana stood up and asked “Who is Paldoni?” as she grabbed the bracelet from mister Pultkin’s hands.
“My dear… he was the leader of the rebellion, and saviour of the common man over two hundred years ago. When the people were being suppressed by the king, he stood up and offered them another future. They rebelled against the king’s forces, which in the end resulted in a gigantic battle. In tales of this battle, they speak of unseen, unexplainable things that happened.
As both armies clashed, suddenly a dark creature appeared on the battlefield, out of nowhere. They say that darkness took the upper hand against magic. Paldoni, the leader of the rebellion, wielded a staff, with which believers say he could control magic powers. He tried various magical spells to ward off the creature, but its powers were too strong. In the end, this battle of magic versus darkness had terrible consequences for the lands and its people… no man lived to tell the tale afterwards, every man died a horrific death on the battlefield. The clash of those powers was too much for everyone.”

“… and darkness remains.” Said Arimana to finish off mister Pultkin’s story.
“Yes dear… how do you know?”
“I saw it in a vision.” She said.
“A vision?”
“When we were in Urkundal, we got to the remains of a burned house. As I walked between the rubble, I passed out and when I woke up, I had all these vivid images in my head that looked exactly like what you described to us just now.”
Mister Pultkin raised his eyebrows.
“After the citizens of Urkundal fled the village five years ago,” he began explaining, “a merciless army inspected every building, looking for Paldoni’s house. They were looking for his bracelet, which no doubt is in some way related to his powers. When they did not find it, they burned down his house. You were standing on the remains of Paldoni’s house, my child.”
“… and that’s why she got the visions? Because she was holding Paldoni’s bracelet!” I said, feeling glad that finally some pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall in place.

Suddenly, it came to my mind that Arimana had another vision shortly after, of which she did not speak yet.
“Arimana, what about that second vision you had? You said you knew what we had to do, but you only led us here, where some of our questions are answered, and more unanswered ones arise.”

“Another vision?”, the old mister Pultkin asked.
After some hesitation, Arimana spoke.
“Yes. In the second vision, I saw Paldoni himself, showing me his staff. Then I saw the gates of Parvandale. In the vision I was led to a small old house, here in this city. The house was empty, but there was a hidden stairway leading down to a dungeon. I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to find or do there, but I have to find it. Do you know such a house, mister Pultkin?”
“Many of the houses here are old and tiny, but only one of them has no one living in them. It’s the old Dumpstedt house. I will bring you there.”

Misses Pultkin was still standing there, holding mister Pultkin’s cup of tea with shaking hands, filled with disbelief of what she had just heard.
Meanwhile, mister Pultkin led us outside his house, straight to a house on the edge of the city. As we approached it, mister Pultkin explained that it had been empty for a good four months. We opened the old rusty door and looked around, only to find the house empty. Arimana started feeling around on the ground. Both mister Pultkin and I started looking as well, and soon Arimana said she found something.
She blew away the dust that was covering an old hatch. Underneath it was a staircase leading down, just like she described her vision.

It was dark and frightening, and of course we hadn’t thought to bring a torch with us. Mister Pultkin said he would be right back, and indeed few minutes later he returned carrying a torch. I took it over from him and was the first to go through the hatch, and slowly move downstairs. Both Arimana and mister Pultkin followed me closely. The stairs led us to a small secret room, with an unlit torch in each of the four corners. I used my torch to light the others as well, and suddenly a familiar sight met our eyes:

“Those who do not fear it, shall not falter. Those who dare to speak of it, shall suffer.”

Exactly like it said it on her bracelet. We saw several variations on it thus far, but this looked exactly the same, except it was a lot bigger. It was on the far side of the room, on a wooden board, hammered against the wall. We all stared at it in great amazement. This was it, we would finally find out what the bracelet was and maybe even the identity of Paldoni.

Arimana moved closer to the text, and then noticed that underneath it, there was an open space carved in to the wall. She took her bracelet from her pocket, and fitted it effortlessly in the spot.
Four bricks in the wall got loose and slid to the side, revealing a small cavity. Arimana took a look inside and found a chest that was thin and narrow, but several feet long.
She pulled the chest out of the wall, and placed it on the ground. She hesitated as she reached for the locks of the chest, uncertain about her next move.
“You do it, William.”
“No Arimana. The prophet gave the bracelet to you. This is your task.”

She slowly opened the chest, and found a gnarled wooden staff in it.
“Paldoni’s staff!” shouted mister Pultkin as he sat down on the ground, and kneeled in front of the staff with his eyes closed, saying prayers silently.

Arimana wanted things cleared up instantly, so she interrupted him from his praying.

“Mister Pultkin, the man that gave me this bracelet was Paldoni himself. When he gave it to me, he said not to bring it near any innocent man, and to keep it safe. And so I did, but suddenly the King of England sent his troops to take it from me. I have not heard from Paldino ever since, so he must have been captured. I escaped the king’s grasp, but was chased by his forces all this time. The darkness that Paldino fought in the giant battle has also been chasing me. I have not seen it but I have felt it, and when I witnessed it in my visions, I had the same feeling.” She said, looking for an explanation.
“But… that’s impossible. That “darkness” fought Paldino in the giant battle over two hundred years ago, when the King’s forces clashed with Paldino’s rebellion! If he himself gave you his bracelet only months ago, then that means he is still alive. That is impossible, no man can live that long!”
“Not quite, mister Pultkin. Knowledge has come to me that Paldino is an ancient prophet, a servant of God. He has been on this planet for longer than anyone can say, trying to bring justice to the world. Paldino has been my guide all this time. He himself sent me this knowledge just over a week ago. How he sent it, I do not know, but suddenly I just… felt aware of it, as if Paldino wanted me to find it out right at that moment.
Ever since then, the darkness has been behind me. Somehow it must have known about me having found out such crucial information. A week later Paldino led me, though I was unaware of it, to William’s farm. Paldino knew that William would help me on my journey. He also gave me visions to guide me on my way, to help me make the right decisions and take the appropriate actions. But now that I found his staff, his intentions are unclear to me.”

To me however, his intentions were as clear as water. Arimana was chosen by Paldino to once again lead a rebellion. Yet I would not tell her this, my purpose is to be her helper and protector, she must walk the path herself. But, the reason why Paldino gave her his bracelet, is because he knew he would be caught soon. He also knew that the bracelet would lead Arimana to this dungeon, so that she would eventually find his staff. Since the staff is what apparently gave Paldino his powers, he wanted to pass these powers on to a person he could rely on the most – his lover. It is now up to Arimana to finish what Paldino has started. There’s been a war going on between darkness and magic for centuries, and apparently the king has chosen the side of darkness. It is now Arimana ’s task to end the war, and bring justice to the world. Right now I just hold my breath until the day she finds that out herself. That is when we shall ride to war, together, with the Icon of Resistance held in her hand.


© Kris De Winter @ 2006
Many thanks to “willel” a.k.a. Michaël Halsband for his awesome ideas and creative assistance.

See you soon for part 2!