Chapter 35 - Ashukan D’Ahren

“Now, what is this treasure all about?” Leon asked in a deceptively casual voice, but Skyle could see the embers of fury bellowing in his friend’s chest.

In truth, Skyle couldn’t blame Leon’s suspicions. After all, he himself had been somewhat worried that Leena and Emil might take advantage of this opportunity to make their escape. If the treasure was anywhere near as precious as the Seras Clan seemed to think, who knew what the determined, strong-willed girl would be willing to do to protect it?

Upon returning to the tree, however, they had found an anxious looking Leena cradling Emil’s head on her lap as she breathed a sigh of relief after spotting the returning boys’ figures. In Skyle’s True Sight, the dark red overtones of worry and trepidation had steadily decreased upon seeing the boys’ return. This predisposed Skyle favorably to the girl, as she was obviously genuinely glad to see them back safely.

Leon, however, seemed to have a deeply suspicious character by nature, and had pointed the edge of his interrogation towards the surprised Leena as soon as they had finished climbing to the top of the tree.

“I don’t know anything about a treasure,” Leena stammered, shaking her head in confusion.

“Don’t you lie to me, girl,” Leon growled, his eyes hardening.

“I don’t know what you found, but I’m telling the truth,” Leena said in soft, even tones. “I asked Emil about the treasure, but he only overhead the adults talking about some treasure they were hoping to find. But the adults were always dreaming of finding treasures in the ruins, as every scav’er is wont to do. As for our cargo, it contained nothing special, just the typical scavenged materials we trade in.”

From her aura, Skyle could tell the girl believed this to be true.

“Your caravan was targeted and ambushed by the orders of the Seras clan,” Skyle said softly, his eyes intently examining Leena’s aura. ”They were to retrieve a package and a map, leaving behind no survivors and making it look like a raid.”

Leena’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands as tears sprang forth from her eyes. Her aura was instantly stabbed by a sharp reddish aura of pain and anguish, and Skyle couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards the young girl’s plight.

“Why would they.. I don’t understand..” Leena mumbled, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Then is everyone.. Did they all..?”

Leon was still looking at Leena as though he couldn’t make up his mind about her, so Skyle stepped forward and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Their men have been deployed around this red zone’s perimeter. I doubt their men will have left any survivors when they left your caravan,” Skyle said slowly, his eyes full of sympathy for the pain he could see lancing through her aura. “I’m very sorry.”

Leena let out a soft cry of grief as she fell forward, muffled sobs rocking her chest as she covered her mouth with both hands, trying to avoid waking up Emil. The boy must have been truly exhausted, as he did not even stir. Skyle’s hand ended up somewhere near the back of Leena’s neck when she bent forward, and as when he awkwardly tried to draw his hand back, it brushed against the exposed skin of her neck.

Leena seemed to interpret the touch as a comforting gesture, and the grieving girl finally broke down, suddenly turning to Skyle and burying her head on his chest as both her hands latched on to his shoulders.

A subtle smell of flowers rushed up into Skyle’s nose, and a feeling of warmth spread across his chest as Leena clung on to his chest, her long silver hair falling in long, glistening waves at her sides. Her small, delicate hands were squeezed into fists, and Skyle could immediately identify fresh cuts and bruises on the snowy white skin. Recalling the decisive movements with which Leena had harvested the materials from the dracolings’ corpses, Skyle felt a knot in his chest as he finally realized that Leena hadn’t just been unfamiliar with performing the task, but rather that she had likely never done it before. Perhaps she had the knowledge, and had watched others do it. However, her soft, pristinely beautiful hands were unmarred by any of the callouses or roughened skin that were the signs of the hard, menial labor required to perform such tasks.

Let alone approach the fearsome beasts’ corpses, how determined did a girl have to be to instantly plunge her hand into its corpse and dig through its viscera while pretending not to mind the task at all? All this, while constantly blaming herself for the lost lives of countless children. It was a wonder that she had held up as admirably as she had thus far.

Wet tears spread across Skyle’s chest as his hands waved about awkwardly in the air, hovering over Leena’s back. Although he had often comforted his little sister Kass, he did not have many dealings with girls of his own age. As for Leena, judging by how well developed her body was, as well as being taller than Skyle himself, she was likely older than him by a couple years at least.

As Skyle thought of little Kass and her proud tears that she would never show to anyone but him, his mind calmed down and his hands naturally fell upon Leena’s trembling back. There, they gently patted while his voice whispered gently.

“It’s alright, you can cry. Let it all out, let the tears flow. It’s ok..”

After a long moment, the tears finally abated, and Skyle stopped stroking Leena’s back when he realized her chest was no longer shaking with grief.

Another awkward moment of silence ensued as Leena finally emitted no further sounds, gently disentangling herself from Skyle’s comforting embrace only to find herself gazing up straight into Skyle’s eyes. The gentle smile on his lips along with the sincere warmth offered from within the depths of a gaze that seemed much too calm to belong to any ordinary boy his age, seemed to catch Leena by surprise.

She rapidly averted her gaze and drew back abruptly, as though she had been burned, while spots of color glowed high on her cheeks.

Skyle himself could feel his face heating up as he coughed uncomfortably, turning his head away and finding Leon’s face just in time to catch his classic roll of the eyes while shaking his head, as though silently saying, ‘Give me a break.’

“Are you alright?” Skyle asked Leena in a quiet voice, still averting her gaze.

“Yes, I feel better now. I’m sorry for that embarrassing display,” Leena replied in a soft, subdued tone.

“It’s alright, I can underst-” Skyle began, but was rudely interrupted by Leon.

“What can you tell me of Ashkandoren?” Leon cut in, his voice still flat.

Leena looked up with a start, her glittering violet eyes going wide. “Ashukan D’Ahren? No, not much. Just the typical nonsense about some lost ruins. Every scav’er has heard about it.”

Skyle gave a start as he caught the involuntary tremor that ran through Leena’s aura the moment she told the lie.

Leon grunted in a neutral tone, but kept pushing. “I’m no scav’er, so do regale us with the tale.”

Leena blinked a couple times before composing herself and answering in a casual tone.

“Ashkandoren is the rumoured legacy of some ancient civilization that ruled these lands a very long time ago. The whole range of the Storm Mountains is littered with innumerable ruins that suggest an ancient power once dominated our world. However, it is thought that the rifts brought vast armies and great powers who vanquished fair Ashkandoren, burning every last hint of their existence from the pages of history, until today only the bare vestiges of a vague legend remain.”

That seemed to be all true, but for some reason that same trace of duplicity ran its ugly mark across Leena’s aura as she continued the tale.

“Today, I’ve heard of countless foolish hunters and seekers who wander deep into the red zone, chasing after the famed ruins of Ashkandoren, only to never be seen or heard from again. The Lost Ruins are nothing but the mad fancies of hopeless dreamers.”

Leon didn’t say a word, but rather looked down at his hand while it slowly formed a fist. Skyle could see ripples of elemental essence streaming down the summoner’s arm, gathering upon that fist.

Before the first tongue of flame could spring forth, and without stopping to wonder how the other boy had known Leena was lying, Skyle reached out and took hold of Leena’s hand. The move immediately drew her attention, and when her eyes came up to meet Skyle’s intense gaze, he held them there while he asked with as much sincerity as he could muster.

“Leena,” Skyle said gently, but firmly. “Ashukan D’Ahren. Please, tell us the truth.”

Leena face paled, and her expression froze over, but it was her eyes that showed the most change. They flitted through a storm of emotions, from shock to panic, to anger and fear, but finally, as they studied Skyle’s earnest expression, they settled on calm acceptance.

Skyle nodded slightly, more relieved than he would ever admit, as he released her hand and glanced sideways towards Leon.

The fire summoner spread out his fingers and showed the empty hand to Skyle, shrugging as though nothing had ever happened, and he hadn’t been about to summon another of those terrifying fire bolts.

Then Leena began to speak once more, and all of the boys’ attention was enraptured by her accompanying action.

“Ashkandoren is simple nonsense,” she began, shaking her head from side to side. “Ashukan D’Ahren, however, is a different matter altogether.”

Then she raised her hands to draw her long, silver hair back from her face, drawing all eyes to the flawlessly elegant ears that unexpectedly stretched further than any regular pair of ears and ended in two sharp tips at the top.

Regular ears by human standards, that is.

Skyle stumbled back as he stared in shock at Leena, finally looking past the grime and dirt disguising her face as each of her refined features suddenly clicked into place. Long, slightly slanted almond eyes, sharply contrasted eyebrows as though they had been drawn by a brush, delicate nose sharply pointing up, soft lips that looked more tender than the fairest petals of any flower, and elegant ears that ended in charming tips at the top.

“You, you’re an elf?” Skyle blurted out, breathing raggedly.

Of course, it was Leon who answered first. “No, you dumbass, she’s an orc. Of course she’s an elf!”

Leena’s lips quirked slightly as though suppressing a smile, but she nodded gravely in Skyle’s direction.

“I am indeed of the fair folk, Arleena Starbreeze of the Sapphire Court. I apologize for the deception, but it was necessary to closely guard the secret of our presence here, lest our enemies discover us.”

Leena spread her hands to her sides in a gesture of contriteness.

“What is an elven maiden from the Sapphire Court doing here? Are we near the realm of the fair folk?” Leon asked impatiently.

Even Skyle had heard of the Sapphire Court. After all, the Sapphire Court was one of the major powers in the Elven realms of Aeria. Although they were not as dominant as the Emerald Court, before the Great Barrier had been erected, their power could still rival that of any of the human nations.

Leena shook her head. “This is a world beyond the reach of the Emerald Court. Our team.. We stumbled upon one of the rifts by accident, and were trapped and drawn in before we could react. This was over ten years ago. Along the years, all the other members of my team perished in here while attempting to find a way back into our world. I’m the last survivor. Fortunately, I found refuge in the Greenwood clan, who kindly accepted me as one of their own, even in spite of my secret.”

Skyle’s mind spun with the implications. This meant that the rifts were spread out all over Aeria, reaching even beyond the great barriers erected to separate the realm of the elves from the rest of the world. What sort of power lay behind the creation of the rifts, and what was their purpose?

“10 years? Just how old-” Skyle stammered, but was interrupted by Leon.

“Ashukan D’Ahren?” the taller boy prompted.

“I never heard of the place before, that much was true. However, I may have some idea of the meaning of the words.”

“Is it in Elvish?”

“Not Elvish, but as you may know the Elvish language was derived partly from the language of the ancients. As such, some remnant concepts are familiar to me. However, although modern language for humans seeks to convey the sound of words as a means of communication, the language of the ancients focused on the meaning of the words themselves. As for Ashukan D’Ahren, the words convey a sense of remembrance, of honoring things past with a deep sense of reverence and sorrow. If I had to put modern words to it, they would be a temple of memoirs? No, perhaps-”

“Shrine of Tears,” Skyle breathed, remembering the final words of Fierro Latimus as the man lay dying in his arms.

Leena seemed startled, but nodded in agreement. “Yes, that seems as accurate as any term I can think of at the moment.”

“So, the Seras clan attacked Leena because they think she holds a map and a relic from the Shrine of Tears?” Leon asked, disbelieving. “How could a small clan like the Greenwood clan find something like that, and still keep it a secret?”

Leena’s eyes suddenly lit up as she reached inside the folds of her jacket. From an inner pocket, she retrieved a folded piece of parchment.

“The caravan leader shoved it into my hands when he realized they would not be able to repulse the raiders,” Leena said somewhat defensively when Leon glared at her and snatched the parchment from her hands. “I didn’t even have the time to look at it. I thought it was a final letter to his dear ones, as he asked me to give it to his family along with this.”

Leena reached to her neck and pulled on a thin cord necklace Skyle had not looked at twice. Hanging from the cord, and hidden under her clothes, had been an oval disk made of a smooth silvery metal, glistening faintly under the moonlight.

“That’s..” Skyle rapidly pulled out the disk he had found from Fierro’s box. Holding it up side by side with Leena’s disk, he realized they looked identical.

Leena stared in astonishment at the twin disks, her expression clearly one that reflected the same puzzlement as Leon and Skyle’s.

“Have you ever heard anything about this Shrine of Tears?” Leon asked, carefully spreading the parchment and examining its contents with a deep frown.

Leena shook her head helplessly. “No, and neither have I heard the words Ashukan D’Ahren. I just happened to associate the word Ashkandoren with the ancient tongue by pure chance. How about you?”

Leon didn’t answer, and instead fell into a gloomy silence as he regarded the parchment.

“A wise old man told me with his dying breath to find the Shrine of Tears,” Skyle answered quietly. “It may be a way out of this world. Perhaps the only way out and back home, if your team couldn’t find anything in 10 whole years.”

Leena’s eyes glittered with unshed tears, but there was quiet hope and deep yearning in her voice as she said, “Home.”

Skyle nodded, “And now we have a clue and a map.”

Leena smiled faintly. “That’s more than I’ve had in ten long years. I’ll take it.”

“Even if it leads us straight back into the depths of the black zone?” Leon scowled, flicking the parchment over to Skyle with a disgusted wave of his hand when the other boy turned in his direction. “Damn, we have to wander back into that deathtrap, and however many of those bastards are still looking for us.”

Leon smacked his fist against the trunk of the tree, shaking loose a few leaves and sending them fluttering down into the darkness below.

“You came from the black zone?” Leena asked, horror in her voice, but Skyle was already absorbed into his study of the parchment in his hands.

It was a rough sketch of various landmarks, showing several peaks with names on them, as well as several areas that were clearly annotated along with labels determining the different zones. Deep within the a zone labaled as the black zone, Skyle found an X along with a big letter A.

“No one has ever made it out of the black zone,” Leena breathed, still shocked. “It is impossible.”

“She’s right,” Skyle noted grimly, finally looking up at Leon. “We only made it out through sheer luck. I suspect those cats caught the scent of our pursuers and were distracted because of it. I doubt we’ll be lucky a second time.”

“You think I don’t know that? But what’s our alternative? Rot in this nightmare for ten years?” Leon countered, growling in frustration.

“We can’t go into the black zone,” Leena whispered, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two boys. “It’s practically suicide.”

“There is no we,” Leon spat out, glancing down toward the boy in Leena’s lap. “He’s a liability and the sooner we’re rid of him, the better. As for you, I’m of half a mind to send you packing as well.”

Leena’s eyes turned cold as she frowned at Leon. “Do you always look at the world in terms of assets and liabilities?”

“What else is there, then?” Leon replied, his hand unconsciously moving towards his chest while his eyes grew distant. It was where that hideous scar was, the one he had shown to Skyle, explaining it had been the price for trusting too much. “A soldier once told me, in this life there’s only the living, the dead, and those trying to make you dead. The sooner you realize you’re the only one in the first group, the sooner you can start to make those in the third group join the second group.”

“And where is that soldier now?” Leena asked suddenly.

“He was part of the third group,” Leon answered reflexively, then clamped his mouth shut, as though he wished he could take the words back.

Silence descended upon the forest, as a gentle breeze shook the leaves of the tree they stood on.

“I don’t know why, but I doubt Fierro would send me to certain death,” Skyle whispered, almost as though to himself.

“You did stab him through the heart, remember?” Leon said, but it was without any heat or malice.

“Now that I think back on it, I think it is more like I helped him stab his own heart,” Skyle mumbled, then shook his head. “No matter, I inherited Fierro’s legacy, and I don’t think he’s that kind of person. It is already late into the night, and when dawn arrives in a few hours we should signal the other hunter groups with the whistle. Then we’ll make our decision.”

“After all this, you’re really considering returning to the black zone?” Leena asked, though much more calmly this time.

Leon didn’t seem inclined to answer, and instead studied Skyle’s profile.

As for Skyle, after a moment of deep consideration, he smiled wryly to himself and nodded to Leena.

“Yes, I am.”

“What if the Shrine of Tears doesn’t really exist? What if the map is a fake?” Leena pushed.

Skyle simply shrugged, his smile widening. “That’s alright, I still have to go back.”

“Why?” Leena asked plaintively.

“Because that bastard’s still got da’s knife.”