Vaclyner's Rite Chapter 2 "The Lady's Messenger"

This chapter is where Vaclyner is offered the choice of going on his journey. We get to see more of his character and discover his motivation for doing as he does.

Chapter 2

The Lady’s Messenger

 

            The sun had just risen over the horizon when Vaclyner entered the forest the next morning. Beams of red light shone through the trees, giving the forest floor a mottled look, which left him feeling uneasy. As he made his way deeper into the trees, he could remember the taunts of his friends from the night before. Their laughter echoed in his mind, causing him to twitch and cringe in renewed embarrassment. Along with his bow and quiver, he had also brought his skinning knife with him. When he remembered Fragiir’s admonishments, his hand gripped the knife hilt, eager to draw it.

            Gritting his teeth against such instincts, he made his way down into a dry stream bed which he used as a path heading north. After following this path for about fifteen minutes, the western bank started to rise. He reached a certain point which was familiar to him and scrambled out of the stream bed to higher ground. He came upon a large boulder, his usual perch, which he could sit behind in wait for his prey on the far side of the stream below. Once there, he sunk to his knees, sat on his heels and waited.

            He’d decided to start hunting on his own three years earlier �" as soon as he became strong enough to string a bow. As it turned out, he discovered that he was good at it from the start. His skill with a bow was excellent and he would return home from his trips with kills on a regular basis. It was on the one year anniversary of his first kill that he managed to slay the giant wolf.  It was this feat that got him treated as a hero for a time. It was what prompted Fragiir to take him to Fleuvila for “a real man’s celebration”. And it was the feat that was the basis of all his stories for the next two years.

Normally, he would be kneeling behind his rock thinking of the next creature he could claim to have slain. But he had to admit that Fragiir was right. He couldn’t go on recreating his single past glory. He was just a boy �" eighteen years old �" hunting for food in the woods. The whole idea only frustrated him and embarrassed him anew so he tried thinking about Kirianna instead. He had just conjured up the look she gave him in his mind when he heard the voice.

“So, you’re Vaclyner of Boschvila, are you?”

The boy jumped and spun around to face the direction the voice had come from. He saw nothing.

“Who’s there?”

“What was the Lady thinking? She doesn’t usually make mistakes.”

“Who’s there, I say? Show yourself!”

“Yes, I suppose so.” For a moment nothing happened then an old man dressed in hardly more than rags walked out from behind a tree far too narrow to have hidden him. He was short and very thin. He looked like he could simply fall apart at any moment. “You are Vaclyner, aren’t you?
            “How do you know my name?”

“Well, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” replied the old man.

Remembering Fragiir’s warning, Vaclyner drew his skinning knife and pointed it at the strange old man. “Answer me.”

For a moment, the man looked like he was going to laugh at the sight of the small blade. He did quietly scoff before replying. “That will do you no good, boy. Impressive gut hook but, I’m under my Lady’s protection. Put that thing away and I’ll tell you what I’ve been sent to tell you and nothing more.”

Vaclyner hesitated and stared at the old man, then slowly sheathed the knife. “This had better be good. You’re scaring away any animals I could be hunting with your talk.”

The old man ignored the comment. “That’s better. Now. I have been sent by the Lady Anadella to find you and give you a message of great importance and benefit to you. But by the looks of you, I’m not sure if you’re worthy of such a message.”

“Not worthy?” Vaclyner was taken aback. He wasn’t sure if he liked this crazy old man very much. “You don’t look like much yourself. Are you sure you’re in a position to defy this Lady of yours?”

“Well, you certainly have the attitude she requires. Very well then, I’ll tell you. Sit down.”

The boy sat back down on his heels and waited for the man to speak.

“The Lady Anadella has been watching you and she knows your troubles. She feels that you would be a worthy student and would like to help you become the hero that you pretend to be. Then you’ll be able to show those fools in the village who you really are.”

“Watching me. How can she be watching me? Are you a spy?”

“I can tell you that she doesn’t like to be interrupted when she speaks so if you accept this gift, you might want to break that habit.” The old man pulled at his beard and scowled at the boy. “I am not a spy. The Lady Anadella is a sorceress of great esteem among her peers and one of her many powers is seeing and hearing things far away. Now if I may continue.”

“Fine,” sighed Vaclyner.

“Good. Now, The Lady doesn’t make this offer to just anyone. She’s only done it three times before since I’ve started working for her and all three times, the candidates proved themselves unworthy. It’s my job to tell you what she requires of you and you will accept it or not. Are you with me so far?”

“That depends,” said Vaclyner. “What about you? Did you ever have to pass this mysterious test?”

“You ask too many questions, boy,” the old man growled through his teeth. “If it were up to me, I’d just forget about you and move on.”

“Yes, but it isn’t up to you,” replied Vaclyner. “It sounds like I hit a nerve. So let’s have it; tell me about your failure.”

The old man growled once more and held up his right hand showing stumps where his last two fingers should have been. “I failed the test because what The Lady had to teach me required the full use of both hands. I lost these fingers on the way to her castle. She didn’t send me home because she decided I would make a good enough messenger. Now if you will stay silent, I can do that job.”

Vaclyner had to suppress a laugh. He remembered the laughter directed at him the night before and felt he understood the urge now. Then he remembered the way the laughter felt and decided to stop giving this old man such a hard time.

“All right, then,” he said. “What does Lady Anadella want me to do?”

“The idea is simple, really,” replied the old man. “All you have to do is arrive at her castle far to the east alive and in one piece. Then you will have earned the right to become her student.”

“That’s all? That sounds too easy.”

“Easy, is it? Did you listen to nothing your friend told you last night? Yes, Lady Anadella heard that too. You’ve seen my hand; I was the lucky one. The other two never made it.”

Vaclyner tried to imagine the obstacles that could stop a man from simply walking to a castle and failed. “How did they die, then? You could at least tell me that.”

“How should I know,” the old man shouted. “I wasn’t there and The Lady never told me. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. That would make the challenge too easy.”

“Well, where is this castle?” the boy asked. “You say it’s far to the east but that could mean anything. Do you have a map?”

“A map! Don’t be ridiculous, boy. I suppose you’ll want a horse to ride or a dragon to simply fly you there.”

“What’s a horse?” Vaclyner never heard of such a creature.

“Never mind. The Lady lives in Hyritorre Castle. Can you remember that? Hyritorre. You’ll have to cross the Alamarin River and the Trenisiyn Mountains. From there, you’ll go south about a hundred miles then turn east again across the eastern grasslands. The castle sits on a plateau at the foot of the Black Mountains. You can’t miss it; it glows blue.”

“The Trenisiyn Mountains?” cried Vaclyner. “They’re over three hundred miles from here. I’ve never climbed mountains before. How am I supposed to get past that?”

“It’s a challenge, boy. Challenges are supposed to be difficult. You figure it out.”

Vaclyner was beginning to realize that this journey wouldn’t be as easy as it seemed. Neither he nor anyone he knew had any idea what lay on the far side of the Trenisiyn Mountains. And he’d never even heard of the Black Mountains.

“So what’s your decision, boy?” asked the old man. “And try to make your answer snappy. I never cared for the forest very much. I’d much rather be back in my room at the castle.”

“I’m not sure,” replied Vaclyner. “If I go, I’ll have food and water to think about. I can hunt, sure, but I have no idea what kind of game I might find on the way. There could be nothing. Maybe I could go back to the village and get some food. At any rate, I’d like to ask Fragiir what he thinks of all this. He’ll know what I should do.”

“Absolutely not! If you leave, you’ll leave from where you stand and you’ll leave now. Got it? Anyway, I can tell you what you’re friend will say. He’ll forbid you to go at all. He’ll stop you physically if he has to. At the very least, he’ll insist on going with you and this is a journey you must make on your own. If it’s food you’re worried about then don’t. The Lady has foreseen this problem and is willing to provide you with a small amount of help on that score.”

The old man paused to scratch his beard. An unpleasant look came to his face but he didn’t speak of it.

“What is it?” Vaclyner saw the old man’s discomfort and wasn’t about to let the possibility of prying more information out of him pass. “What troubles you, old man?”

“Aagh,” the old man scoffed. “The Lady never gave help to me or the others as far as I know. Perhaps she favors you for some reason. I can’t see why.”

“Oh,” Vaclyner wasn’t disappointed to hear it despite the old man’s opinion. “But tell me about this help The Lady will give me. Where can I find food?”

“Not so fast. I won’t say one more word until I have your answer. Yes or no?”

Vaclyner thought about the laughter from the previous night. It was well deserved but that didn’t make how he felt about it any less real. He knew that if he could just prove himself, they would give him the respect and admiration he enjoyed briefly from killing the wolf. He thought of Kirianna and what she said about not caring if he was a hero or not. That was all very well, but a little voice inside him told him to imagine how she would react if he really was everything he claimed to be, and more. He had to admit that he’d been pretending at being a man and this could be a chance to stop pretending at last. He wouldn’t have to imagine adventures anymore.
            “All right. I’ll go,” he said.

“Excellent. As for the food, there’s a hidden cache at the eastern edge of the forest. It won’t be easy to find so she’s kept it challenging, at least. It’ll be at the base of the largest tree in the forest, in fact, and it’s marked by a pile of stones. Once you’ve found that, it won’t be easy to get to; you’ll have to remove all the stones and dig it up. It’s encased in a box made of solid oak. It’s one solid piece, mind you, and it’s no fair breaking it open. The Lady will know. To make it a little easier, I’ve been required to give you this.”

The old man reached into the front of his ragged shirt and pulled out a bronze medallion. It had been cast with a design that was unfamiliar to Vaclyner: a jumble of crescent shapes and crossed lines. Perhaps it was a rune of some kind.

“What is that?” he asked the old man.

“Couldn’t tell you. I was told to give it to you and that’s all. I know it will be needed to get to the food cache but, I have no idea how it’s supposed to work. Apparently, you’ll know when you get there. I’d hold on to it until you get to Hyritorre if I were you. Sounds like it could prove to be useful. Here.”

Vaclyner took the medallion and looked at it once more, tracing the design with his fingers before putting it around his neck and tucking it under his shirt.

“That’s it,” the old man said. “Time for me to be getting back.”

Vaclyner watched as he turned to leave then stopped him. “Wait. What’s your name, old man?”

He gave Vaclyner a pointed look and issued a raspy laugh through crooked teeth. He walked behind a tree and was gone. Vaclyner sighed, checked the position of his bow and quiver, and walked east making his way toward the edge of the forest.

 

 

Author's Note

Any and all critiques are welcome.