The Chronicles of Articia; Children of the Dead. K.D. Enos

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СКАЧАТЬ rulers or territories. They were almost completely nomadic like the ruffians of the northlands today. Adara spoke to them of the battle of the light and dark. The nomadic tribes were suspicious of the goddess for she had not made herself known to them prior to this gathering. Then, one single act of courage changed the hearts and minds of the nomads. A young girl stepped forward carrying a shield too large for her to effectively use and dragging a sword too heavy for her to lift."

      "Heather!" Ava responded.

      "Yes," Brendan replied. "The first warrior of Articia was Heather of the North. She was the first of the humans to take a stand against the rising darkness. The nomad warriors of the tribe all laughed at the young girl, but Adara smiled at her and looked toward the rest of the men. She foretold 'This young girl is the bravest of your tribe and will be favored in all she does. She will be a queen in Articia.'

      "At hearing this, the rest of the nomadic warriors stood and committed to the fight because they were unwilling to be seen as less brave than a girl-child. Despite this initial stand, it took many years for the forces of good to organize into an army. Many skirmishes occurred across the land before humankind was organized into city-states." Brendan adjusted in his seat to stretch out his legs. "During that time the humans became more battle savvy and learned to work with the otherworldly races.

      "The destri had never been ridden before and had no understanding of the man-mount relationship such as we have with the horses of our world. It took many years for humankind and destri to come to an 'understanding' in regards to mounted combat."

      "Who was the first man to ride a destri?" Tristan asked.

      "Ah, you make an interesting assumption, Prince. It was not a man or a woman who first rode a destri. It was a small child. Though no one recorded whether it was a boy or girl," Brendan said, smiling.

      "It was very early in the first war of power when the destri arrived on Articia. They came through the rift very close to a small village of equestrians. These villagers were comfortable with the wild horses that had always existed on Articia but none had seen a horse of such grandeur and size as the destri." Brendan put his hands on his knees as he leaned forward in his chair. "When the destri strode over to meet the villagers, the leader lowered its head and bowed to the villagers. A small child confused the greeting as an invitation to mount. So the child, excited for the opportunity to ride, scrambled up on the back of the huge horse."

      The royal children laughed at this, but Brendan raised his hand to silence them. "Normally this would have been a great indignity for the noble horses, but their leader was amused and surprised by the innocent bravery of the young child. The destri stood as the child grabbed its mane and the mount took off to give the child the ride of its life.

      "It took many years for humans and destri to forge a relationship where rider and horse were comfortable companions." Brendan sat back up straight. "When a human was selected by a destri to be its rider, they began a lifelong relationship. Only the most honorable warriors were selected by a destri."

      "Did all of the kings of Articia ride destri?" Dom asked.

      "No, my Prince, not all of the royal family are selected by a destri," Brendan replied, "In fact, very few have been selected."

      "Why is that?" Ava asked.

      "Because, Ava, the destri are independent and highly intelligent creatures. To be the mount of a king is to subjugate to the king. So, very few kings have ever had a destri as a mount."

      "The cavaliers ride the destri. Are they cavaliers because they ride the destri or are the destri only selecting the cavaliers as riders?" Alec asked.

      "Well, young Prince, there's the dilemma. That is almost as easy as answering the question, which comes first, the chicken, or the egg. Perhaps it is just easier to say, it depends." Brendan smiled.

      "That's not an answer," Alec replied with a bit of a frown.

      "No, my young Prince, it is not. But you have to get used to the fact that you will not always get the answer for which you are looking." Brendan said with a sigh. "Sometimes answers come as part of a journey."

      Brendan stood and walked across the room to pull the curtain on the western window. The sun was now past peak and shining in his eyes, making it difficult to see his students. He turned back to his seat and continued his lesson. "The first war of power was long and arduous. Humankind had not yet learned the ways of magic or steel because the elves and the dwarves had not yet taught them those ways. So humans brought the best weapons they had at that time, mostly clubs and crude spears, and stood alongside the more experienced elven and dwarven warriors to face the hordes of the darkness. Many men, dwarves, elves, and destri were lost in the first war but they prevailed. From the fellowship of battle was born the symbiotic relationship we have today with the dwarves and the elves.

      Articia's first hero and king was created by the first war of power, Calum the First, and as the goddess Adara had predicted, he chose as his queen the now grown Heather of the North."

      Ava smiled at this, knowing that she would soon scour the castle library to find the historic tome that told that story.

      "During that war the dwarven smiths forged many steel weapons for the humans to use in battle." Brendan pulled out a magical dagger that was clearly dwarven forged and passed it to the students to examine. "Humankind was very protective of their master weapon forgers and the dwarves yearned to forge better weapons for the human warriors, who truly appreciated the craft of the dwarves.

      "The elves were more elusive and private. They interacted with only the most gifted humans. In the early days of the rift, it was discovered that some of the humans had innate magical abilities, with varying levels of power." Brendan thought back to the days of his schooling in the magical arts by the elves, and smiled. "The elves were more comfortable dealing with Artician's who the goddess blessed with magical abilities."

      "What do you mean?" Dom asked.

      "When one has innate magical abilities, one gives off a colorful aura. This aura tells much about the nature of a person's magical abilities and whether he or she is leaning to the light or the dark arts," Brendan replied. "The elves relied on this aura to measure our intent. They have a long history of being deceived by those with dark intentions, so they find it hard to trust beings they cannot easily read."

      "I have never seen any auras around anyone," Tris commented.

      "Not all of the magically gifted humans can, Tristan. Only Adara understands this mystery. Some of Articia's practitioners have this ability and some do not. We surely do not know why the goddess has bestowed her gifts in such a random fashion," Brendan replied. "For some reason, all of the elves are blessed with the ability to see auras. It was probably born of their eternal fight against the darkness.

      "The elves' magical ability has always been innate. They do not need to use phrases or gestures to bring about their power." Brendan adjusted in his seat again. "The elves' ability is also common in the demons that came from the rift. It is thought that in the world, from which they came, demons and elves had similar power and it was carried with them to our world."

      Brendan reached back to his desk and pulled out a book. "Humankind does not have this innate ability. In the early days of the first war of power, the elves brought many unknown things to Articia, including tomes written in the language of that world." Brendan put the book he had selected on his lap and continued. "Many were written in a language the other world called Latin. It took us many years to learn the nuances of that language, mostly because of its dangerous nature."

      "It is dangerous СКАЧАТЬ