Bertan`s quest by Michelle Tarynne (ereader android .txt) 📕

truth that painting on the ceiling represented. Deep down he felt, not many people visited this cavern. From the moment he glimpsed the secrets the ceiling had unveiled he suspected that even fewer people had made it out of this place alive. He held the eyes of his siblings. If he were, to be honest with himself, he would have to admit that he wasn't surprised at all to notice that their young minds had the kind of defiance and scheming only their mother possessed. He nodded at them, giving his permission to go with whatever they might plan.
The second half of the children’s journey awaited, the part Brine loathed the most, for all through that time he would know they were sailing into a trap, and he could do nothing about it. The children had to be saved and this was the Seekinglanders’ only option.
Darkness slowly surrounded them again and everyone in the boats became unusually silent. Suddenly, it was understood that each breath brought them closer to the end of the life they all knew. The unknown beyond the ever-closing shoreline sped up the time so much, that when finally a lone figure could be noticed, holding a bright light, waiting for them, everyone wished for their journey to continue. Brine knew at that point, whatever that bright light would bring, was to be a curse.
Finally, it was there. The lake decided to let them go unharmed. The closer they got, the more details were visible, the blood red robes the figure was wearing and the wide stone stairs that led up to the ceiling.
Every boat safely arrived to the rocky shore. Most of the children were keen on getting out of the boats to finally have some solid ground under their feet. It's only Pam and Coope that lingered and waited for everyone to leave first. There was some form of silent sibling-only communication between Pam and Brine that went unnoticed to everyone. The older brother nodded again and turned around to hide any sign of Pam and Coope hiding under the boat’s wide sitting benches.
"Welcome everyone," a beautiful female dressed in black, tightly fitted suit greeted them. She wasn’t any bigger than any of the Seekinglander adults. Her eyes flashed with the kind of foreign power that spelled fear to everyone around. "Welcome to the Sword Territories little ones," she repeated after everyone took notice of her presence, "I am the Mother of the former Ruling House. You are not of the Axe kind. Therefore you are not our enemies and you may live here unharmed. Even more so, your tribe has been in a close contact with us for a very long time” she paused to let it all sink in, “ A great treaty was designed between your tribe and the Sword kingdom. You are the descendants of the Anaerthers, our former allies and we are offering you, and only you, a gift of great importance. There are only two choices for you to make, for you can't go back as your past has just disappeared. The Oracle has foreseen that the old world would be devoured by a war now, and those of you that are not here right now will die out. Surface is to be lost forever."
Brine saw it right then and there, in the eyes of the Sword Mother greeting them, the death sentence upon every adult Seekinglander protector. Suddenly, it was all clear. The deal was to take the children, only the children. The adults that arrived with them were just objects to get rid of.
Brine wasn’t the only one to notice death sentence within the Mother’s message. His Commander standing next to him tensed. The two of them, without any communication, started to retreat as soon as the Mother turned to face the children more closely. She continued, unaware of their movements, "At this cycle only we are offering you the gift of eternal life and power beyond your dreams. The only way to pay for that gift is your memories. The other choice you have is to keep your past in your minds, but you will never grow into anything more than servants to us, without the gift of life. The choice is yours, of course, and we will respect it. Just be sure that now is the only moment this choice is given to you," she finished.
Brine and the Commander retreated slowly and quietly into the water when the Mother started to climb up the stairs that seemed to reach the ceiling, followed by the children. Sword Guards closed in to separate the little ones from their Protectors. All in silence.
The boat that carried Pam and Coope was the last in the row of the boats. With the last of his might, Brine pushed that boat away from the shoreline, hoping their resistance would save their lives. He prayed for the Fates to guide the children into the safety, knowing he couldn’t join them without being heard or seen by the Sword guards who appeared around out of nowhere. He was still holding the ropes when the fated arrow met his chest. Silent fountain of the Call spilled from every Anaerther core upon their final departure.
***
After the cavern was deserted and empty once again, Mars walked up to the robed figure that greeted them with her bright lantern earlier. She was standing still, exactly at the same spot.
"How are you E. the slave of the Titans?" he asked worriedly when he made sure again no ears were to hear their conversation.
"Not better and not worse than when we met the last time," E. answered not bothering to take off her hood.
"How is the little rebel?" He asked, like so many times before.
"She is gone," E. whispered almost inaudibly, “Dead.”
"How can it be?" Mars almost collapsed, "I thought everything was in place," he was breathing heavily with his hand close to his core.
"It was, but we still failed. It's only our fault, for we failed to take into account her grown size," she choked out.
"She shouldn't have grown while being away and without steady doses of the Tharo," he whispered.
"And yet she had grown so much that our plan failed," E. said with such a deep sorrow that she seemed to crumble with every breath she took. "I'm sorry Mars, your daughter is dead."
"Who killed her?" He asked after a long and meaningful silence. He was thankful that E. kept her face hooded, so no one would witness tears marrying his cheeks.
"The new King," E. answered slowly.
"The Cassess?" He asked, just to be sure.
"Yes."
Mars took his time to steady his breath and ease his mind. He took some of the dirt in his palm to smear it into his face. After a moment he started to mutter.
"By the dirt that feeds us and by the tears that spilled from my pain. I, Mars of the Old, curse the Swords to become a tribe without a King. I curse the King Cassess to die of the deception and lie, in revenge for the death of my beloved daughter, Bertan. So help me in my calling the lost halls and the lost light of the Anaerthers." More tears rose within his eyes.
"I'm not sure if curses work on the Swords. So many slaves cursed them in their deaths and nothing ever happened," E. said while following Mars down the steps to the shore.
"My curses always do work," Mars gritted through his teeth, "When we were leaving out first Homeland, I cursed our own ancestors and the Anaerthers Stronghold, for the evil that took their cores."
"None of them have ever been seen again ever since," E. mused, "Still, Swords seem to have Fates on their side."
"Not anymore. They just never picked up any fight with someone their own size or power," he said reaching for one of the boats, "Until now."
"Will you take the two of us to the safety?" E. asked quickly, "Time starts to take a toll on the third shift already."
"They should be quick before the guards come back here to clean up," he looked at the Protectors.
"They are already waiting by the tall rocks. We thought you would come a little earlier."
"The Lake seems to have its own time," Mars sighed heavily.
"That it does," E. agreed and watched him pull the boat through the shallow waters. Finally, he was quietly towing it towards the big rocks visible in the distance where the Slave Elders always waited.
 
"Took you long enough." A low whisper was carried by the surface of the Lake, accompanied by the fallen Protectors’ last Calling.
"Is there anywhere else you have to be?" Mars asked with a deep sigh.
"No, but we don’t want to be here either," an older woman dressed in red robes said when she boarded the boat.
"It's a gruesome place," said the lady dressed in black.
"Not for long," Mars gritted through his teeth.
"Indeed," the woman in red said with a frown, "Though, I'd like to see the end of the Anaerthers being turned into those monsters. How many more of our own will have to suffer here?" she asked impatiently.
"As long as it takes," Mars answered. He chose to swim and push the boat this time, so it would be easier to talk with the Elder Slaves, "But I think it was the last of the children as the Elders decided for the Final Trek."
"Are they out of their minds?" The woman in black squeaked.
"It's been worse and worse with every generation that fed in the ways of the surface," the lady in black robes said with contempt, "We should have never let them go on with that experiment."
"Like the first generation would ever listen to anyone," Mars said emotionlessly, "Would you listen to anyone back then? Even to the voice of reason?"
"We had been stubborn. We have to admit that." lady in red admitted, her eyes crinkling, "And now it seems to bite us in all the wrong places now."
"What are we going to do now then?" her companion asked in agitation.
"Nothing Lela, nothing. We keep on doing nothing but some small tweaks to the reality around."
"How is that going anyway?" Mars asked grimly.
"They still don’t know what hit them," the woman in red cackled, "They have no idea who their slaves are, what they really do and why their Tharo doesn’t work the way it should anymore. Like any other royals, they hide behind regality, afraid to admit their time is over."
"It's not really over. Still, after all, those years, they still walk this surface," Lela scoffed, "We should never let them be. We should let them die in their insanity, not create this race of monsters."
"Lela, my dear. They aren't any worse monsters that we used to be and still are," the woman in red said calmingly. "We created that new race out of pity and sorrow. Their hateful minds turned against our gift, so we work to take it back. But we had learned the hard way that any process must happen slowly and without being noticed in the first place."
"We had been noticed," Lela protested.
"And we still pay our price, don’t forget that. The only time we were spotted to meddle with the life around us, and the Anaerthers are still paying the price."
"It hasn’t been all that bad this time around here," Mars said from behind the boat, "I like it here, and I'm sure I don’t ever want to go back to the Stronghold. The air we can breathe here is amazing, and the freedom we can achieve is just mind-numbing."
"None of us wants that to happen. That’s why I'm still angry the Elders decided to take that Trek," woman in Red said in a raised voice.
"Why are you so surprised?" Lela asked testily, "They know their Home place is not on the surface, it's only natural to want to go back. It’s all our fault too. We never told them exactly why we ran away from the Stronghold."
The conversation quieted soon after and they