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Legend of the Promised One
A Day of Darkness
"Princess! Princess!"
Neri opened her eyes. Sunlight spilled on the floor; she'd slept late.
"Princess!" The call wasn't impatient; it was frantic.
"What's happened? I'm not up yet!"
"Better get up."
Neri did and pulled on the first clothes she found before running to the throne room. Everybody was there, people milling around speaking in grim voices.
"Uncle? Neanda! What's happened? Is everyone all right?" Their faces told her no.
King Nemon told her quietly, "This morning Laziah... threw himself off the cliff."
It was as if the floor had melted and fallen away. "Why... Why?"
"He did tell us." Neanda's voice was rough with pain. He held out one of Laziah's books.
Neri took it and turned to the last page. The words were spiky, clumsily written. "Can you read it for me? Can someone?"
Neanda took the book back and read. "My friends, I write to you in goodbye. The monster in the tunnels was myself. I do not know how this... illness is passed so this choice seems the best for protecting my people. Neanda will be the new leader of the cavedwellers.
"Princess, forgive me for leaving you with more troubles and no answers.
"I regret that I cannot help you all through the end of this legend but that is not to be. My life has been rich and I fear leaving it far less than I fear what may happen if I do not. All of you, I beg your forgiveness." The reading finished, everyone stood silent.
Neri had to cry. She said, "Is there anything else?"
"No..."
"Then I will see you-later." Neri looked at her uncle, at Neanda, and fled.
Back in her room Neri sat and hugged a pillow and tried not to think.
The monsters are people.
are people are people are people
No...
"Why didn't he just tell us? So we could help..."
Miya's voice said, "No."
Neri looked up to see the other girl standing in the window. "What?"
"Once the transformation starts it can't be reversed. Your friend did the only honorable thing to protect those around him."
"You said you didn't know anything."
Miya flinched, "Nothing that could help. It's being angry that makes it happen. When people become monsters inside. The crystal stopped it but the crystal is gone."
"I can't hear this now. Thank you for telling me but please just leave me alone now."
"Of course. I just wanted you not to feel guilty." Miya said stiffly. She stepped off the balcony. Neri rushed to the window but as long as she looked Miya didn't come up for air.
"Enough..." Neri choked and slumped down against the warm stone, tears coming.
Enough.
It was late afternoon when Neri rejoined the rest of the world. Business was doing its best to go on as usual.
"Neri, are you all right now?"
"For now." Neri dipped a curtsey to her uncle. "Has anything else happened?"
"No. The memorial will be tonight of course."
"I have more to tell you. Miya told me this... changing disease is caused by anger. The crystal protected everyone until it was taken. Miya said when people get so angry they become like monsters inside, now they'll change outside too. And there's no cure."
"There has to be, and we will find it." King Nemon told her, "The wizards are searching for an answer now."
"Thank goodness."
Zardor and a group of his people came to bow to Neri and offer their condolences. Neri shook her head, "Please don't keep back your problems because of my sorrow. We continue living."
But no one presented any disasters. As they left Zardor said, "You sound like a little queen at last, but you'd look more like one with your mother's scepter."
"He's right. You should begin to carry it."
"All right." Neri said. The last time she carried her mother's scepter it had been almost as tall as she was. "Uncle, where did Miya come from? You presented her as the Promised One but how did you know?"
"She appeared here, when I came in the morning. I thought she was lost but she said she was waiting."
"Did she prove it? Did she do any miracles?"
"I could hardly have asked her to. Besides, it has never been said that the Promised One has any special gifts."
"Miya has gifts. But I don't know what she really is. She frightens me."
"I believe she'll save us."
"I'll try to believe." Neri smiled, the expression coming without conscious thought. "I want to get something, I'll be right back."
"Neri, we have to help this legend happen as well as we can. I fear I'm not wise enough, but you might be."
"I'm not." Chilled, Neri left.
Her room had a big closet, too big for the few clothes Neri really wore. She crawled under a row of hanging gowns to get to the boxes in the back. Here were the toys of her childhood, her dolls and game boards and costumes. The scepter's box was under boxes of toys. She brought it out to her bedroom open, where there was more space and less smell of the wood chips that kept the gowns fresh.
The scepter was as long as her arm, made of dark wood glazed with gold dust. It was carved with a simple ball on the bottom and the eight-spoked wheel of the year on top. A cord tied just under the wheel held a plain gold ring and a pearl charm. Neri lifted the ring to read her mother's name from the inside. Queen Dian's promise ring and a white pearl from earth. Neri resolved to add her own charms someday.
She spent the afternoon dancing through daily palace activities. The cavedwellers were completely absent, and everyone else acted subdued. People brought maps of new islands and argued their claims, organized expeditions to look for treasure in the old sunken cities or demanded the palace guard's help clearing out nests of stinging eels. Jobah came and sat with Neri and they chatted and compared their planets.
When Miya came everyone bowed to her, as they should to the most important person on the planet. Neri considered bowing too, but settled on offering Miya her seat. Miya shook her head and sat at Neri's feet.
"What is this? A key?"
"The royal scepter. It was my mother's and her mother's back a lot of generations."
"Pretty. Could I see it?"
"Sure."
Miya toyed with the scepter, turning it in her pale hands.
"It's supposed to have a secret compartment." Neri offered, "But I've never been able to open it."
Food was starting to appear and Neri got up to get some. She was glad this day was almost over; her heart hurt terribly. She hadn't lost anyone since her parents died, and she hardly knew hw to feel sad.
When Neri sat down again Miya handed her the scepter. The knob at the end had come off, swinging to one side on a hidden hinge. Neri saw the shaft was hollow and a bit of paper was visible.
"Don't worry. I didn't look at it." Miya said calmly.
"How did you know how to open it?"
"I don't know. I just did."
Jobah said, "She really didn't look at it."
Neri sighed and ate her dinner. What else could she do?
The King waited up until most everybody had gone home. Neri waited too to be polite, and Jobah stayed with her. Miya had found a broom and was helping clean the floor.
"I usually help out, but she doesn't seem like a person who would." Neri said, her fingers easing the paper out. It didn't feel like what books were written on and Neri realized it was old paper-earth paper.
Next to her, Jobah put his hands over his eyes. "Tell me if I can see it."
The roll of paper crumbled at the edges but the middle held. It was a map, clear and simple as the ancient drawings, that showed the hiding places of the three crystals and the ancient temple. Neri said, "You can look."
"Is that important?" Of course Jobah didn't know what he was looking at.
"There's not another copy of this, anywhere! Look!"
Jobah took a better look. "Hide it! You don't know who you can trust. Dear God, how do you know you can trust me?"
Neri gently let the map roll itself back up. "Sorry to sound like Miya, but I just know."
"Thank you. I don't know about this legend but if I can help just ask."
Neri looked down, then back up. "How far can the gliders go? And how fast?"
Jobah told her.
"Can we leave tomorrow?"
"Of course. You want to get to the crystal before Galiel does, right?"
"Yes, and hope the sacred whale can think of a hiding place he won't find it, because I can't! Ah... the memorial is going on now, they're always at night. Humans can't attend."
"I wondered why you hadn't gone."
"I was going to wait up all night, but if we're flying tomorrow..."
"You'd better not."
"Laziah would understand. I can respect later."
They looked at each other, understanding across the gulf between planets.
Later and elsewhere...
"It is tiring, being their legend. I am not real am I?"
"Nobody is yet. There are no heroes and villains, no legends... until it's all finished down to the final page."
"Is that true?"
"I don't know. It is what I'd like to believe."
Legend of the Promised One
A Day of Darkness
"Princess! Princess!"
Neri opened her eyes. Sunlight spilled on the floor; she'd slept late.
"Princess!" The call wasn't impatient; it was frantic.
"What's happened? I'm not up yet!"
"Better get up."
Neri did and pulled on the first clothes she found before running to the throne room. Everybody was there, people milling around speaking in grim voices.
"Uncle? Neanda! What's happened? Is everyone all right?" Their faces told her no.
King Nemon told her quietly, "This morning Laziah... threw himself off the cliff."
It was as if the floor had melted and fallen away. "Why... Why?"
"He did tell us." Neanda's voice was rough with pain. He held out one of Laziah's books.
Neri took it and turned to the last page. The words were spiky, clumsily written. "Can you read it for me? Can someone?"
Neanda took the book back and read. "My friends, I write to you in goodbye. The monster in the tunnels was myself. I do not know how this... illness is passed so this choice seems the best for protecting my people. Neanda will be the new leader of the cavedwellers.
"Princess, forgive me for leaving you with more troubles and no answers.
"I regret that I cannot help you all through the end of this legend but that is not to be. My life has been rich and I fear leaving it far less than I fear what may happen if I do not. All of you, I beg your forgiveness." The reading finished, everyone stood silent.
Neri had to cry. She said, "Is there anything else?"
"No..."
"Then I will see you-later." Neri looked at her uncle, at Neanda, and fled.
Back in her room Neri sat and hugged a pillow and tried not to think.
The monsters are people.
are people are people are people
No...
"Why didn't he just tell us? So we could help..."
Miya's voice said, "No."
Neri looked up to see the other girl standing in the window. "What?"
"Once the transformation starts it can't be reversed. Your friend did the only honorable thing to protect those around him."
"You said you didn't know anything."
Miya flinched, "Nothing that could help. It's being angry that makes it happen. When people become monsters inside. The crystal stopped it but the crystal is gone."
"I can't hear this now. Thank you for telling me but please just leave me alone now."
"Of course. I just wanted you not to feel guilty." Miya said stiffly. She stepped off the balcony. Neri rushed to the window but as long as she looked Miya didn't come up for air.
"Enough..." Neri choked and slumped down against the warm stone, tears coming.
Enough.
It was late afternoon when Neri rejoined the rest of the world. Business was doing its best to go on as usual.
"Neri, are you all right now?"
"For now." Neri dipped a curtsey to her uncle. "Has anything else happened?"
"No. The memorial will be tonight of course."
"I have more to tell you. Miya told me this... changing disease is caused by anger. The crystal protected everyone until it was taken. Miya said when people get so angry they become like monsters inside, now they'll change outside too. And there's no cure."
"There has to be, and we will find it." King Nemon told her, "The wizards are searching for an answer now."
"Thank goodness."
Zardor and a group of his people came to bow to Neri and offer their condolences. Neri shook her head, "Please don't keep back your problems because of my sorrow. We continue living."
But no one presented any disasters. As they left Zardor said, "You sound like a little queen at last, but you'd look more like one with your mother's scepter."
"He's right. You should begin to carry it."
"All right." Neri said. The last time she carried her mother's scepter it had been almost as tall as she was. "Uncle, where did Miya come from? You presented her as the Promised One but how did you know?"
"She appeared here, when I came in the morning. I thought she was lost but she said she was waiting."
"Did she prove it? Did she do any miracles?"
"I could hardly have asked her to. Besides, it has never been said that the Promised One has any special gifts."
"Miya has gifts. But I don't know what she really is. She frightens me."
"I believe she'll save us."
"I'll try to believe." Neri smiled, the expression coming without conscious thought. "I want to get something, I'll be right back."
"Neri, we have to help this legend happen as well as we can. I fear I'm not wise enough, but you might be."
"I'm not." Chilled, Neri left.
Her room had a big closet, too big for the few clothes Neri really wore. She crawled under a row of hanging gowns to get to the boxes in the back. Here were the toys of her childhood, her dolls and game boards and costumes. The scepter's box was under boxes of toys. She brought it out to her bedroom open, where there was more space and less smell of the wood chips that kept the gowns fresh.
The scepter was as long as her arm, made of dark wood glazed with gold dust. It was carved with a simple ball on the bottom and the eight-spoked wheel of the year on top. A cord tied just under the wheel held a plain gold ring and a pearl charm. Neri lifted the ring to read her mother's name from the inside. Queen Dian's promise ring and a white pearl from earth. Neri resolved to add her own charms someday.
She spent the afternoon dancing through daily palace activities. The cavedwellers were completely absent, and everyone else acted subdued. People brought maps of new islands and argued their claims, organized expeditions to look for treasure in the old sunken cities or demanded the palace guard's help clearing out nests of stinging eels. Jobah came and sat with Neri and they chatted and compared their planets.
When Miya came everyone bowed to her, as they should to the most important person on the planet. Neri considered bowing too, but settled on offering Miya her seat. Miya shook her head and sat at Neri's feet.
"What is this? A key?"
"The royal scepter. It was my mother's and her mother's back a lot of generations."
"Pretty. Could I see it?"
"Sure."
Miya toyed with the scepter, turning it in her pale hands.
"It's supposed to have a secret compartment." Neri offered, "But I've never been able to open it."
Food was starting to appear and Neri got up to get some. She was glad this day was almost over; her heart hurt terribly. She hadn't lost anyone since her parents died, and she hardly knew hw to feel sad.
When Neri sat down again Miya handed her the scepter. The knob at the end had come off, swinging to one side on a hidden hinge. Neri saw the shaft was hollow and a bit of paper was visible.
"Don't worry. I didn't look at it." Miya said calmly.
"How did you know how to open it?"
"I don't know. I just did."
Jobah said, "She really didn't look at it."
Neri sighed and ate her dinner. What else could she do?
The King waited up until most everybody had gone home. Neri waited too to be polite, and Jobah stayed with her. Miya had found a broom and was helping clean the floor.
"I usually help out, but she doesn't seem like a person who would." Neri said, her fingers easing the paper out. It didn't feel like what books were written on and Neri realized it was old paper-earth paper.
Next to her, Jobah put his hands over his eyes. "Tell me if I can see it."
The roll of paper crumbled at the edges but the middle held. It was a map, clear and simple as the ancient drawings, that showed the hiding places of the three crystals and the ancient temple. Neri said, "You can look."
"Is that important?" Of course Jobah didn't know what he was looking at.
"There's not another copy of this, anywhere! Look!"
Jobah took a better look. "Hide it! You don't know who you can trust. Dear God, how do you know you can trust me?"
Neri gently let the map roll itself back up. "Sorry to sound like Miya, but I just know."
"Thank you. I don't know about this legend but if I can help just ask."
Neri looked down, then back up. "How far can the gliders go? And how fast?"
Jobah told her.
"Can we leave tomorrow?"
"Of course. You want to get to the crystal before Galiel does, right?"
"Yes, and hope the sacred whale can think of a hiding place he won't find it, because I can't! Ah... the memorial is going on now, they're always at night. Humans can't attend."
"I wondered why you hadn't gone."
"I was going to wait up all night, but if we're flying tomorrow..."
"You'd better not."
"Laziah would understand. I can respect later."
They looked at each other, understanding across the gulf between planets.
Later and elsewhere...
"It is tiring, being their legend. I am not real am I?"
"Nobody is yet. There are no heroes and villains, no legends... until it's all finished down to the final page."
"Is that true?"
"I don't know. It is what I'd like to believe."