The Fourth Chapter | History

The Fourth Chapter | History

Whether she was royalty or not, it was rude to touch people without their permission, so she felt the need to ask. Besides, she had no idea how they functioned. If she touched them out of the blue, he could get startled and accidentally strike her, or they might be hypersensitive to touch. It might even just make him uncomfortable. She didn't want to risk it.

"Also, please, don't call me 'Your Majesty'. You may call me Alvera."

"Of course, M'lady."

"So.. can I?"

"Oh! Yes, go ahead."

Alvera reached out with her left hand and touched the tips. She made her way inwards, running her fingers over the feathers as delicately as she could, trying not to hurt him. They were very much as fluffy as she imagined. Soft and airy, she could feel the wings twitch beneath her fingers. As she roamed, one of the feathers latched onto her arm. She locked eyes with Cedrick for a brief moment before pulling her hand away, feather still in grasp, and placing it back in her lap.

The air suddenly felt heavier, and a brief silence fell between them.

"So... is there anything else I need to know?" Alvera asked, trying to break said silence.

"Ah yes, the history."

"The history?"

"Or, would it be better to show you?" he mumbled, "If I do, I can show you around immediately after, and then I can introduce you to the council..."

"Um... Cedrick? You're mumbling," she pointed out.

"Oh! Right. Um. I think it would be best if I just showed you the tapestries. How does that sound?"

"Fine, I guess."

Alvera had no idea what he was even talking about.

"Well, to see them, we have to crossover. Do you think you're up for it, M'lady?"

"Just tell me how," she replied.

"Well, I can't teach you per se. It's very much something you learn on your own. All I can tell you is that you need to: One, be calm and have a clear mind. Two, close your eyes. And three, you need to visualize where you want to go. The more specific, the better. But, since you don't know what Ravensfield looks like yet, I'll just transport you with me."

She gave him a nod, "Do I need to... do anything?"

"Just hold my hands," he said, holding his hands out to her.

Alvera placed her hands in his. He closed his eyes, so naturally, she followed him. His wings encased them both as if shielding her from danger. The next thing she knew, she felt herself moving, but not the good kind. The feeling of being spun upside-down consumed her, and she had the sudden urge to throw up. It was like something was holding her down and keeping her from moving. Her mind felt dark and empty but at the same, time filled with voices. They whispered to her, uttering all sorts of devilish things. It was somewhat painful. She started getting light-headed, and the need to open her eyes was growing fearfully fast. Eventually, she felt her shoes touch the ground, and when Cedrick gave her the okay she opened her eyes.

In front of her stood a tree, a large tree. It sprouted out from the ground and towered no less than eighty feet above both of them. The branches spread out far and wide, blocking out most of the light coming down. Leaves that were molded from pure gold covered all the twigs and limbs of the tree. They glistened and sparkled as the wind blew against them. The trunk looked rough to the touch and parts of the bark were chipping away. It was definitely an old tree, the massive circumference of the base told her that much, but oddly enough, it wasn't rotting at all. She stared in awe and marveled at the beauty in front of her.

"Where- where are we?" she asked, tearing her gaze away from the tree to look at Cedrick.

It was only then that she noticed they were in the middle of nowhere. In her attempt to analyze what she was witnessing, she had completely glossed over the fact that the tree they were in front of wasn't even rooted into the soil. The piece of land they were standing on was floating high above the ground. Not so high that she couldn't see the ground, but high enough that she could see miles in every direction. Underneath them, there was a gaping hole. It looked as if the tree had, quite literally, been torn straight out of the ground. Uprooted and suspended from nothing in the air. The roots hung underneath the small patch of land, begging to be reconnected to the earth. Pebbles fell from the underside, hastily meeting the ground below with harsh impact.

Now, Alvera was not very fond of heights, but she tried her best to swallow her fear. She didn't want to seem like some fragile princess in front of someone she was meeting for the first time. Yes, she was several feet above the ground but if she didn't look down, or think about it constantly, she would be fine, right?

"What is it? Are you scared of heights, M'lady?"

She turned her gaze back to Cedrick, eyes scanning his face. He seemed concerned enough.

"I'm not too fond of them," she replied.

"Well, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. Even if you fall, I have wings, remember? I won't let anything happen to you, Alvera." He smiled.

Alvera would be lying if she said that what he told her didn't make her feel safer. Speaking of wings, Cedrick's had disappeared. Alvera assumed that he had somehow retracted them into his body, so instead of asking, she returned his smile and asked her original question again.

"This, Alvera, is the Sacred Tree of Eternal Knowledge. It's where things like The Tapestries, The original קคקєг๒คςк ๔є รςгเקՇยгเร, and other historic documents are kept."

She nodded in understanding.

"So, how do we get in?" She couldn't see a door anywhere after all. It didn't surprise her though. Since when did trees have doors?

"You'll need to hold my hand again because we're going to have to pass through," he replied.

"We're going to pass through the trunk?"

"Precisely."

Alvera put her hand in his once more and let him lead her into the tree. She felt nothing as they passed through, and when she got a good look at the inside, she was astounded once again. It was, admittedly, a lot more spacious on the inside than it looked from the outside. The walls on both sides were lined with wood-carved bookcases that practically hit the ceiling. Every single one was filled to the brim with books of all different colors, sizes, and titles. There was a ladder on either side to allow access to the higher shelves. On the floor, there were several chairs and tables. Some warm light source, which she could not identify, hung from every corner of the room, dousing it in an almost orange glow. It reminded her of her family's cabin in the woods.

The wall opposite her was just the beginning of a double staircase that led to another floor. The stairs curved upwards and extended out of her view.

"This is the Sacred Library. It's filled with the most sensitive information of our history and our advancements in the last few millennia. The only people who know where this place is and are allowed access here are the council members and their trusted advisors," Cedrick explained.

"The Tapestries, however, are upstairs. I imagine you would be more comfortable with those than spending hours reading these books, so come along."

He walked over to the staircase and made his way up, disappearing after a few seconds. She hurried to catch up with his strides and made her way up as well. The room was somehow just as spacious as the one below them but was nowhere near as clustered. There were only three note-worthy things there. The fabric that lined the walls, which Alvera assumed were The Tapestries, and the two books that were each trapped in separate glass cases on small pedestals, sitting in the middle of the room, side-by-side.

The textiles were bursting with color and a variety of symbols (which Alvera could not read) were woven into

"Shall we begin?" Cedrick asked.

She gave him a swift nod.

He strolled over to the edge of one of the fabrics and started talking like he was telling a story.

"When our world was born into the universe, it was imbalanced. So, to fix this problem, seven magical beings were created as well. Reedsy Faux, Kamden Angel, Farley Alter, Ursa Giant, Wyot Clove, Sybil Raven, and Vena Chant. Together, they created the Seven Realms. They are the Founders. And with the life-giving powers of the 7th Founder, they filled their Realms with loyal subjects," he started, pointing at the tapestries and gesturing with his hands.

"They existed in harmony for centuries, but in time, one of the Founders grew bitter and jealous. Jealous of the life-giving powers of the 7th. They wanted the power for themselves, even though that would probably be impossible and very dangerous. You see, each being's body is like a vessel for the magic they specialize in. It's made specifically to fit their magic, and as such, trying to harness another type of magic can cause massive strain on their body and cause it to burst. Despite knowing this, the rogue Founder became secretive and began working on using their magic for evil. From that evil came The Forbidden Text."

He pointed to one of the books in the center of the room. Alvera stepped closer and looked through the glass. The book looked old and worn out. The leather cover was peeling at the corners; yellow pages peeked out from inside. A feather pen was placed neatly on top of it; dry ink was still present on the tip. Letters spelling out 'The Forbidden Text' were engraved into the cover perfectly.

"The Founder was trying to come up with spells that very much pushed the limits of their magic. They were trying to use it to overthrow the council. How they ever thought they could win against six Founders is beyond me, but they tried anyway. Thankfully, not succeeding. The other Founders were able to retrieve the book from the traitor. Unfortunately, it was decided that the rogue was already fully consumed by greed and jealousy, so they had no choice but to destroy them. Because of the imbalance of the world, one of the founders being killed meant that they all had to die to restore it. So, before they started to perish, they formed the High Council to rule over the Seven Realms. Each of their children replaced their respective parent, and in their dying moments, the Founders created the magic glass barrier that holds The Forbidden Text. Ensuring that it would never get into the wrong hands again," he finished.

Interesting, but Alvera had questions.

"If the book has evil spells in it, why did the Founders not just destroy it?"

"It's not explicitly stated, but people believe that the Founders didn't destroy it because they assumed it would be needed later. The traitors' spells were advanced and ahead of their time. According to older accounts from people who witnessed the power, it was 'unlike anything they had ever seen.' Most people think that the Founders predicted that a time would come where the Realms would be threatened and this 'Dark Magic' would be the only thing that could save it."

"Well, who was the traitor then? Which one of the Seven Founders was it?"

"That, we do not know."

"Wh- How?"

"Our world is hundreds of centuries old, therefore, a lot of our original history has been long forgotten. The only people that could possibly remember would be the High Council; they are immortal after all. But, whether they just refuse to tell us or genuinely do not remember is not common knowledge. I think they don't want to tell us. It might cause hatred against that Realm and its subjects, even though it's not their fault that their founder went rogue."

"But, you're a trusted advisor. Shouldn't they at least tell you?"

"As I said, there's always the possibility they don't remember. They weren't created until after the traitor had died, so they might have never even known to begin with. The Founders were immortal as well, so they did not need to make an heir until they knew they would perish. From what I've heard The Council talk about, they only remember fragments of their creators' memories, but even at that, there's no guarantee that those fragments include knowledge on the traitor."

"And this important information was never documented anywhere?"

"If it was, we don't have it, at least not anymore. There are rumors that a tapestry was destroyed long ago. Some people think that was the tapestry that had the name of the actual traitor along with some other information, but again, these are just rumors."

Alvera pointed to the other book in a glass case and asked Cedrick what it was.

"That is the original קคקєг๒คςк ๔є รςгเקՇยгเร. The one that was written by the Founders. It's the oldest piece of information we have about our history. The knowledge contained in the book is really not much. Just some laws and rules, nothing you really need to worry about. It's not written in English, so I doubt you'd be able to read it anyway," he replied dismissively. "Now, are you ready to go, Alvera?"

"Of course. Where to first?"

"How about we go in order? Let's start with The Faux Shores. How does that sound?" he asked.

"Lead the way."