Golm

Golm - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I was at Channdis’ house; I was outside. It was late at night. I had grabbed a stick and a barrel and I was training for the tournament. I was hitting the barrel pretending I was decapitating a person. This was my first night out doing this.
I stopped soon after I started, because I was embarrassed at myself. “What am I doing?” I asked myself, “I’m hitting a barrel with a stick. I’m not a knight, I’m Herridan.” I threw the stick. I gave up, if I embarrassed myself, in front of nobody, imagine what would happen if Channdis saw me. I was too love driven. I didn’t know what I was doing. All I wanted was to see her, no, kiss Princess Elesia, even if she had wings and I had a tail. She was just so beautiful.
I didn’t know what to do; I was so confused. I sat on the ground. I looked up at the stars. They were different from ours. They were more beautiful than ours were and they reminded me of the days when I ran from the law. I would lie on the grass, and I would look at the stars until I fell asleep. I decided to forget about Elesia, I was convinced that she would never go for a guy like me. I went back inside and went to bed.
I woke up. I went downstairs to see Channdis at his usual spot in his library. I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He wanted eggs, so I made him some. I sat down with him and ate my breakfast with him. “Channdis,” I asked, “Have you ever gotten so confused, that you wonder why you even exist?” Channdis pulled down his glasses and put down his book.
He answered, “No I haven’t. Mostly because I can just look at myself and figure out why I’m here. You, on the other hand, you were raised in a place where the inside is what counts. It must be tough living here.”
I nodded and I added, “Yes, and there are a lot of distractions too.”
Channdis smiled and said, “Well I really don’t blame you. Your possible origin would surely bother me.” I nodded. Channdis asked, “Did you hear the announcements when you were in town yesterday?” I nodded again. Channdis continued, “Yes, I’m organizing a little meeting with all my fellow sages and a few others.”
I asked why. He answered, “The other day I was looking through my books a little more, and I couldn’t find anymore articles on Kridden and Narr. So I’m asking everyone if they know anything and fit together this puzzle a little more.” I asked why again. “Well do you not remember the story I read to you a few weeks ago? You could be the Hero of Golm.”
I shook my head and told Channdis, “No, I don’t think so. It’s too farfetched. My dream, Golm, my parents, it’s all a pile of hunches. There’s no proof.”
“That’s exactly why I’m hosting this meeting.” Channdis exclaimed, “I am hoping to find some facts and maybe I could piece together this mystery.”
I nodded with a look of disbelief. I said, “Well you don’t have too much of that. My tail did grow at late age and I did have an odd dream and I did find Golm, but Kridden came to my world 250 years ago, and how could I be her son, I’m not 250 years old, I’m 22!” Channdis agreed, but he mentioned, “But you do have some good sword skills. She entrusted sword skills into her son.” I was shocked, how did he know? He explained, “I saw you out my window last night. You have some good instincts.” He smiled. I blushed. I was so embarrassed. Then Channdis said, “No, I’m not being sarcastic. They were pretty good for some one who hasn’t tried it all his life.”
I was less embarrassed. Channdis got out of his seat and waved outside, “Come on Herridan.”
I looked at him. “What?” I asked.
He started walking outside, “Show me what you got. I’ll teach you a thing or two.” I got up and followed him. I had to; I was his slave.
We got outside, in the backyard. I stood in the center, as I watched Channdis look at one of his trees. He ripped a small branch off the tree. “This seems pretty good.” He said looking at it. He started muttering something; I couldn’t make it out. He began to stoke his hand up and down the stick. Then he quickly snapped his arm all the way down the branch. To my surprise, the crappy little stick had turned into a sparkling, new, sword!
The sword looked as if it was for a king. It was reflective steel and it was sharp. The handle was leather and the guard was iron. The blade had one edge. The flat edge went straight up about 50cm and at the end, it cut downwards on a steep angle a few inches and continued parallel to the flat edge. This side was the very sharp cutting edge. It was a remarkable sword and Channdis made it from a stick, some how.
He handed it to me. I took it with honor, but I was still hazy as to how Channdis made it. Channdis said, “I hope you like it. You should keep it.”
I asked, “How did you do that?”
He replied with a little laugh, “Magic, of course.”
I threw the sword in shock. I told Channdis, “But magic doesn’t exist!”
Channdis laughed again, “Oh you mustn’t have magic where you come from. My how dull your lives must be. Here, magic is as common as the pigeon in the town!”
I picked the sword up again, it was light. I asked, “Did you create this?” Channdis shook his head. “Oh heavens no! That’s the blacksmiths’ job. I merely transported it from my chamber.” I asked in amazement, “You have a sword?” Channdis laughed again as he explained, “Well the sword is yours now, but I received that sword for saving someone’s life.” I had to ask whom. Channdis didn’t want to answer, he didn’t think it was important.
Channdis asked me to hit the tree he was standing by, as hard as I could. I hesitated; I didn’t want to chop the tree down or embarrass myself. The tree was a younger one, its trunk was only about 4” in diameter. Channdis asked again. I took a breath and smacked the tree with the side of the blade. Channdis said disappointed, “Herridan. You’re holding back. I know you can hit the tree with the right side of the sword. I also know you can get it stuck in the trunk a great deals worth. Now try again.”
I rolled my eyes in disbelief. I got ready again and this time I didn’t hold back. SMASH!!! The sword was in the tree trunk with a clean cut. The thing that shocked both Channdis and myself was that I had almost cut right through the tree. I breathed hard, for I had concentrated all my strength into that slash. The sword blade was centimeters from the other side of the tree trunk. I smiled, “Was that good enough?”
After Channdis paced around the tree a few times he replied, “That is truly a gifted strike. Herridan, did you have any idea that you could do that?”
I thought on it for a second and told Channdis, “Well I did have the feeling that it was going to impress you, but I never thought I could do that. Hey, how sharp is the sword, maybe it was just really, really sharp.”
Channdis reefed the sword out and gave it back to me. “No, it’s slightly the sword; it’s mostly you who accomplished that feat.” He looked towards the Palace faded in the horizon. He added, “Only few warriors can ever do that.” I looked at my tail and wondered again, what it all meant?
The days grew closer to the two events approaching our lives. It was 3 weeks until Channdis’ meeting about me and it was 3 weeks until the Golan Sword; it was going to be a busy day. I hadn’t told Channdis about my motivation for training with the sword, Princess Elesia. He did, however, know that I wanted to go to the tournament. He asked why, but I told him that it was because I loved using a sword and I would like to try my skills in battle. This was true, but I mainly wanted the kiss and the respect of Princess Elesia. I didn’t want to say that was the reason, because maybe it was forbidden for a tail man to love a Princess
If I did enter the tournament, though, I would have nothing to lose. The battles were about points or who ever surrenders first and each participant had padding put on their weapons, so no one got hurt. I wasn’t the surrendering type and I have super human sword skills, or seem like it, so how could I loose? Channdis and I would go outside for an hour or two everyday and he would teach me some things. Channdis was quite the swordsman, too, but I was better. Channdis didn’t mind coming outside and halting his studies. He says the exercise is good and he’s training a worthy cause.
I wondered why Channdis was so hyped up about me being the one who’ll kill Emperor Runar. To me, the land of Golm seems to be very happy and that Runar isn’t evil, so why did he deserve to die? I finally decided to get this off my chest and ask him, what’s so bad about Runar?
I could tell Channdis was very annoyed at these questions I was asking, but he knew I didn’t know, so he explained to me that he was unpredictable. For a while he wouldn’t do anything and leave Golm alone, but Channdis said when Runar felt like doing evil, he did evil. He would raise taxes to ridiculous fees, he would order his men to burn down a village, and he would even use children’s skin to make his furniture. He did this for his own amusement. He was all-powerful and no one could take his place unless some one killed him. As Channdis mentioned before, Runar can’t die because he’s immortal. Golm was a vast land. Filled with many villages, people and lives. And Runar could, with his power and his vast army of followers, destroy it all. To sum it up, it wasn’t so much what Runar has done, but what he can do. Now I know why some people serve and/or avoid Runar. It’s all a matter of if he’s cranky or not.
That night I didn’t sleep very well. Too many things were rushing through my mind, Runar, Elesia, Channdis, my dream, the tournament, my tail, how I put my sword through a tree and how much I needed to go to the bathroom.
In the morning I found out that Channdis’ meeting had been postponed to the day of the tournament, because the master sage wished for a lesser attendance. I guessed he wanted more sages to attend and not many phony gossipers. Channdis was disappointed that he couldn’t see me perform. I was also a little unhappy, but Channdis said that one of their psychics could tell him how I was doing. It was fortunate though, if I screwed up, he wouldn’t be able to see it, just hear about it.
Channdis sent me to town that day, to fetch him some groceries. I got to town and went straight for Fronden’s stall. I told him what I needed and he gave them to me. I asked out of curiosity, “Fronden, have you ever seen a Golan Sword tournament before?”
He chucked and replied, “Oh boy, I’ve been to everyone I can remember, see. Yep, that is some show if you ask me. Why’d you ask? Are you planning on going? I know where you can get some nice seats for practically nothing!”
I shook my head. I told him, “No, I’m not just attending, but I’m planning on entering!”
Fronden snapped, “Did you sign up my boy?”
I scratched my head and said, “Uh… no. I didn’t know where to do that.”
Fronden jumped from his seat and pointed down a street. He shouted, “I’ve told that master of yours, Channdis to hire a messenger! The sign up is going on now down that street! You better hurry, I heard it’s filling up fast!” I jumped! I didn’t want to miss my one chance at kissing Elesia talking to a merchant. I ran! Fronden called to me as I ran off, “Hurry! I’d love to see a tail man use a sword and beat some one too!”
I rushed down the street Fronden told me to go down. There was a huge crowd of people, lined up along some sort of stand. I stepped into the line and waited. I kept my tail around my waist, so no one would notice I was a tail man. A half-hour later it was my turn. I was at the end of the line; no one was behind me. The person who registering everyone looked like a normal person, which meant he was a royal clerk. He looked up at me and said, “You are very lucky. There is only one spot left. So what’s your name.”
Before I could answer, two short people ran to the line and barraged right through me. One of them said, “I’m Hrodd. Sign me up!”
The other one pushed him and told the clerk, “Carvon was here first. Sign me up, not him.”
The first one yelled at him, “What are you talking about? I was here first.”
I pushed them both and boomed, “I was here first! Not you midgets.”
The clerk said, “Well we only have one place left. I’ll decide who will be signed up by their usage of the prize money, if you win. Agreed?” We all nodded.
The first dwarf said, looking like a gentleman, “I’d use the money to repair my grandmother’s house.”
The other one moped, “My family is starving! I need to buy food!”
For my turn I grabbed the clerk by the collar, brought him to my face and yelled, “If you don’t sign me up, I’ll rip your lungs out!” I put him down. He was scared stiff. After a few moments, he asked me, my name, age and where I lived. He wrote them down and as I walked away, him and the dwarves were to scared to notice I had a tail, fortunately.
I got the groceries at Fronden’s stand and I left. On the way back home (it felt like a home to me now), I saw Princess Elesia’s carriage pulled over to the side of the road. One of the servants was fixing a wheel, so they weren’t moving. When I passed, I saw the beautiful Elesia inside, who was supposed to look like the sunniest morning. Instead she looked sad and troubled. The servant was distracted fixing the wheel so I couldn’t resist. “Good afternoon your majesty.” I had startled her. I felt sorry and stupid! Why did I talk to her! I have no clue how to talk to a lady, especially if I don’t have anything to talk about.
She looked at me; she was disguising her depression. She smiled and said, “Good afternoon to you sir.” She looked down the road and then at my tail, which I hadn’t noticed yet, was waving in excitement.
I realized how I was being rude so I grabbed my tail and let out a small blush, “Forgive me your majesty, I, I didn’t mean to bother you.”
I started to walk away, but she stopped me. “Yes, I remember. You are the great Channdis’ slave, Herridan. Nice to see you again.”
I was curious, so I asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you down this road? The road to your Palace is the other way.”
The servant heard us talking and he stood up to see what was going on. “Princess who is this?”
She said to the servant, “This is a friend. Please continue your work.” He continued fixing the wheel. She then looked at me again and answered my question, “If you must know, I come down this road every Fronfare (Friday). I come down this road to see all the scenery and to get out doors. Just to ride along and dream. It sounds all nonsense to you I think.”
Her voice was so beautiful when she spoke of dreams. I told her, “No, it isn’t. Sometimes I used to look out the window and think.”
Elesia became concerned, “Why did you stop? The gift to think freely is rare for a person like you.”
I laughed, “Mostly because I’m too tired from listening to Channdis talk about legends.”
Elesia let out a little chuckle, “Oh dear me, you truly are a very different person inside. Your face lies to me! Are you sure that tail of yours is real and not magic?” Then she looked at me funny, as if I were an alien, then she said, “You are something special.” When she finished the servant had finished repairing the wheel and they were off.
She kept looking at me, as she became smaller in the distance. I said quietly, “You are something special too…” Then the carriage stopped and Elesia called me over. I ran to her.
She thanked her driver for stopping and then she whispered something in my ear. “When the moon is over your house on Lonfare (the sixth and final day of the Golan week, so it’s like the week end), be outside.” She told her driver to go. I stood there again, watching her disappear. My tail, in its spiral shape, was reminding me that I was confused.
What did she mean by, “Be outside?” I thought about it all the way back home. The trip was long and it was well into the evening; I cooked Channdis’ and my supper and I hit the tree with the sword a little. Then I went to bed.

* * * * * *

Elesia eventually got back to her palace after her little ride. She was confused about me. She didn’t know what to think. I had taken a look at the tail men area of town and I was disgusted. The women were carrying their children, looking around for a spot on the street to sleep on. The men were horrible; they treated everyone more awful then for my tastes. They would kick a family away from a spot and claim it for their own. Then they’d use that spot to sit a cry on. Then the woman and her children would join him and they would all cry together. The men would go out of their area to beg for food, only to come back dead, beaten by a law enforcer. Their clothes were putrid and they had no knowledge or any education. Few of them didn’t even know how to talk. The saddest thing was, was how low their tails were. They were so depressed, even the natural slight curl upwards and the slight wagging didn’t even exist.
So why was I so different, she wondered? She walked to her chamber upstairs. She dressed in her nightgown. She stepped out onto her balcony. She said to herself, “Herridan. Your very name brings great mystery to me. I am normally very good at solving problems, but you Herridan, are a very special one indeed.” She let out a sign and gave her wings a quick flap. She peered into the moon and told herself, “Tomorrow…”
A knock at her chamber door awakened her from her daydream. A voice came from behind the door, a gentle voice, “My lady… My lady, may I come in?”
Elesia answered, “Yes Lopa, please come in.”
In came a female maid (the four armed people). “My lady, people say they saw you come in looking concerned. I wish to know what is wrong.”
Elesia smiled and told her gently, “I appreciate your concern, but nothing is wrong.”
Lopa asked, “You’re worried about the tournament aren’t you? I know Emperor Runar has always used the proper rules, but don’t be upset about the changes he has made. Look on the bright side dear, you still get to kiss who ever wins and give them 20 000 GC.” She patted Elesia’s back and told her not to worry too much, then she left.
Elesia called for Lopa again. She came. Elesia asked Lopa, “If two people loved each other, but they knew their relationship couldn’t work, what should they do?”
She sighed and said, “These are questions that you should ask your advisor not me, I just clean.”
Elesia pleaded, “Please Lopa, what would you do? I trust you much more than my advisor.”
Lopa thought for a second, then she explained, “I would follow my heart, conscience or what ever you call it. It knows all the answers.” Elesia thanked Lopa and sent her to her duties.
As Elesia lay in bed she reminded herself, “Tomorrow…”

* * * * * *

The Lonfare seemed to last forever. I wanted to see Elesia again. Only 9 days remained before the tournament and I was practicing hard. Channdis had hired a few people for me to train with, but they were either too astounded to see a tail man in my condition or they were too easy, so I easily won match after match. Of course, we didn’t use real swords, because Channdis was worried about casualties. The people fought the unentertaining way, stabs and leg slashes. Those were normally the hardest to defend against, but luckily I knew how to deal with them. I also began fighting 2-on-1 and 3-on-1. Those were slightly more difficult, but I was still way out of their league. It all seemed natural to me how I could use a sword, I hadn’t learned anything yet, rather than learning it, it seemed that it had been coming back to me. Like I was remembering it, without ever learning it. Every crash of our wooden sticks made me remember a technique, a strategy or the battle seemed slower and I had more time to react.
After a couple hours, or after the hired people pleaded to Channdis to let them leave, I forget which one came first, I went back inside. Channdis kept commenting on my extraordinary sword skills. He was looking forward to learning if the reason I was so good, was the Narr and Kridden legend. As well as hearing how I fare in the tournament. I still hadn’t told him that I wanted to kiss Elesia, he just knew that it came with the 1st place prize.
I heard that the coliseum, where we would fight, was huge. It could seat a little under a million people. That’s about ¾ of the entire Golan population, so I’m told. People from every city, town village or farm would travel hundreds of km away just to see the tournament. People would bet on whom would win and artists would craft sculptures, of whoever won, to sell. It was the biggest tournament or even the biggest Golan celebration held every year. And I was in it.
The tournament consisted of 64 entrants, registered through out Golm. When the final 8 are decided, a second day of the tournament begins. The longer and more intense battles take place. The runner up gets 1000 GC, but this year, the winner gets 20 000 GC. That kind of money, from what I’ve calculated, is worth about $200 000 in my world, so it’s a lot of money. Of course, there was the kiss from the beautiful Princess Elesia, which interested me more. I was so excited, the more I thought about it, the slower Channdis' clock ticked.
Night finally came and I was anxious to go outside, but I wanted to wait for the moon to be the highest and I wanted to wait until Channdis was asleep. I was quietly pacing around the hall and occasionally I’d look out a window at the moon, which didn’t look any different from the one I grew up with. Finally it just became unbearable. I went outside and waited on the lawn. Luckily for me, it was warm out and the bugs weren’t biting. I could have fallen asleep if too many things weren’t on my mind.
The stars were very different from the ones I knew. The constellations were unknown to me, but everything was a star, there were no satellites or airplanes to fool you. It was a true sky. Then I saw a moving star, I first thought it was a satellite or a plane, but Golm didn’t have any of those. So what was it?
It came closer to me, dropping altitude. After a few moments, I realized what it was. It was Princess Elesia. She was flying! She was flying towards me! She became in focus and I could see her face. My mouth dropped as she made a quick, swift landing. In a little bit of shock, I asked, “Princess?” She wasn’t wearing a huge gown or anything fancy. She was wearing pants with a shirt, an old-fashioned design, but still, shirt and pants. I was giving her a funny look about her clothing.
She crossed her arms and said, “I would like to see you try and fly with that dress on.” I was still was a little stunned at how strange she looked with out royal clothing on.
I asked, “So is this what you meant by, ‘be outside?’ You wanted to me to see you fly or something, your majesty?”
Elesia got a little annoyed, “Herridan please, when no one’s around, don’t act all polite and proper. It drives me crazy!”
I felt a little relieved that I didn’t have to use what little manners I had. I asked, “Well…um, Elesia, why are you here then?”
She said, “I want to find out a little more about you. I can’t judge you by your tail at all. Where are you from.”
I didn’t want to blow my secret so I answered with, “I came from the rest of the tail men, but some one adopted me and educated me.” Maybe she’d be satisfied with that.
Elesia wasn’t, she said, “Try again, your lies don’t fool me, your face reads something different. Tell me, where are you from?” I still didn’t want her to know, but I did tell her, “You wouldn’t understand.” Elesia still had her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot.
She grinned, “Try me…”
There was no way to back out of it now. She was even more determined than before. I guess if I could read faces like everyone else I would have seen her stubbornness, but I sighed and said, “I’m not from Golm.” She didn’t quite understand. I explained further, “I’m from the other side of The Tolken Door.”
Elesia gave up on me and said, “Good bye Herridan. You obviously aren’t what I was expecting.” She flapped her wings and then she started to fly. Now this insulted me, they want to know who I am and they leave thinking I’m insane!
As she started to gain altitude, I called to her, “Wait Elesia!” She stopped and hovered for a bit. “Elesia.” I though quickly about what to say and decided to tell an honest lie. “I’m the son of Narr and Kridden.”
She descended again and landed. “Do you really think I am that naive?”
I got a little angry too and told her, “It’s true!” Though I wasn’t sure it was, “I fall under all the qualification’s of their son in the legend. My sword skills are elite, says Channdis, and my tail grew five years ago, I never had it before then. If you want to know who I am just ask me. I won’t lie to you. Look my tail is down, meaning I’m being fully honest!”
Elesia was startled at my words. Then she asked anxiously, “Can you prove it? Your perceptions are a little hard to believe, but you have my attention. Can you show me anything right now?”
“Yes I can! Just wait here, I’ll get my sword.” I ran into the house quietly. I grabbed my sword from my room and came back outside. “Huff, Puff. Ok, here it is.” I said to Elesia.
She asked, “What are you going to do with that?”
As I walked over to one of Channdis’ trees I said, “You’ll see.”
I stood in front of the tree, holding the sword. The tree was a little thicker then the first one, but my skills had improved, so I should be able to damage it enough to get my point across. I took a deep breath, turned on my fight mode. I closed my eyes, thought about my motives. Then I opened my eyes, let out a small grunt and that was all it needed. I had cut the tree in two. The top half fell crashing to the ground. My hand was split open, because of the shock of the tree, but it didn’t hurt. The best part about this was Elesia’s facial expression. It told me that I had convinced her.
She grabbed her mouth and said, “Oh my…” I jabbed my sword into the ground beside the tree.
I walked over to Elesia, smiling. “Do you believe me now?” I asked. Elesia nodded slowly.
Then she asked, “But how?”
I laughed, “Do you really have to know?” She nodded again. I told her, “I’m going to tell you everything. The legend and my life’s story…” Elesia didn’t rebel, she was very confused and needed to know everything.
I told her everything, from how I was adopted by John and Fiona to how I found Golm to how I met Channdis to how I met her. I told her basically from page #1 to here. She clung on to every word I said, thinking about why it was happening to me. The moon was getting low and the first significant light from the sun should appear soon. We were lying down, side by side on the grass, looking at the stars. I finished with, “Now I’m here with you.”
“Herridan, I misjudged you. I acted nice in pity for your kind and now I see that you’re from a world where personalities are the difference, not appearance. You are kind, intelligent, brave and loving. Unlike any tail man in history.”
I added, “And the reason Channdis is holding that meeting, is to find out if my origin is true.”
Elesia asked me, “I believe you are their son. Do you believe it?” I turned away. The question had been driving me mad since the first time I heard it.
I answered with what I believed, “No. I don’t think so. It’s just coincidence.”
Elesia accepted my answer and pointed out to me a constellation in the sky. “Do you see those three stars in the triangle shape?” She asked. I didn’t see it at first, so Elesia added, “The one were the stars are blue, red and yellow?” I saw it. It was a triangle of three stars. One was blue, another was red and the last was yellow.
Elesia explained, “Those aren’t stars. They can only be seen just before dawn. They are actually the reflection of light off of an under water pyramid.” I asked were she was trying to get at. She continued, “In mere moments the stars will revolve around each other, because of the position of the sun. Everyday is different of what star will end up on top.” I nodded in agreement. She finished, “If it’s yellow, the next few days will be in your favour. If it’s red, the next few days won’t be in your favour. Finally, if it’s blue, your path will be entirely up to you.”
In a few minutes the stars started to rotate. They spun slowly and steadily. After a minute they stopped. It was quite a spiritual sight to see. Blue was on top! That meant the next few days would rely on my decision. I didn’t know what it meant, but I decided to make my first decision now. I moved a little closer to Elesia. She looked at me and I was looking at her. “So what will be your first choice?” Elesia whispered softly.
I bought my head closer and answered, “Maybe I could…” Elesia started to back away, but I kept coming closer.
Then Elesia got up. I fell down. Elesia brushed off her clothes as she said, “Herridan, I hope you win the tournament. I would most favour your victory rather than some one else.” I got up and looked at her. I was very startled about how she suddenly got up and wanted to leave. She was flying away.
“Good bye!” We both called to each other.
After she was gone, I pranced in joy. I almost kissed her, I thought! I was an inch away. Now I had to win the tournament. I had to finish what I had started. I grabbed my sword out of the ground and headed to my room. Maybe I could get an hour of sleep before Channdis woke up, I thought.
For the next few days, I did my work as usual and I trained with 5 people now. I lost a few times, but I needed to keep on improving my skills. In 4 days, the tournament would start. Every night I couldn’t sleep. The dreams of winning and the nightmares of losing haunted me, but none the less, I pressed on.