Engraved - The Hunted Warrior

Chapter 25.3 - Freedom or Death

By the time Alam had reached the temple Tajar had gained enough strength to be sitting at the kitchen table. His appetite had returned with a vengeance. The spoon traveled in an uninterrupted circle from mouth to bowl. He stopped chewing only to gasp an intake of air as the next spoonful was slopped in. Alam joined him, Hannah, and Iwan at the table and was supplied with bread and a large bowl of stew.

"The temple will become busy soon. Now is the best time for us to tell you what we know about the box you're carrying around," said Iwan.

"Thank you," replied Alam. Tajar simply nodded in agreement as he shoveled a large chunk of mutton into his already full mouth.

"You should be aware that much of what we share is from stories told over fires. Stories change and grow in the telling. I suspect that the tale is at least partly fictional."

"Understood," said Alam through a mouthful of bread.

"Some fifty or so years ago an Evara was born. Her parents were the rulers of the Evaran realm. The Evara do not conceive children as easily as us humans, so it was a cause of great celebration. All babies are a treasure, but an Evara baby is a very rare treasure. They named the child Clarisai. She was their first born and thus the heir to the Evaran throne. It is said she was a child of sweetness and grace.

"Sorry," Alam interrupted. What is an Evara?"

"They are a race of people from a land over the mountains to the west. There aren't many of them anymore so it's not surprising that you haven't met one. They look similar to us but they are slightly smaller than us humans. They mostly keep to themselves. They are a quiet and relatively peaceful race.

"The story of Clarisai really centres around two conflicting visions: one from her mother and one from her father.. The mother's vision gave them hope, the father's gave them fear. You see, when Clarisai was still a child her mother had a vision in the night. She saw that Clarisai would grow in power and would one day be strong enough to destroy the Empire of Morcham, who has been an enemy of the Evarai for centuries. The Evarai rejoiced, but not for long.

"The very next night Clarisai's father had a vision which contradicted her mother's. In his vision a young sorcerer from Morcham rose up to strike the girl. He stripped her of her innate magical powers and ended her life. In this second vision the Empire of Morcham, aided by your people, by which I mean the clans of The Endless Plains, invaded the woodland realm of the Evarai. The Evarai were scattered or slain and their barrow homes dug up and burnt."

"And our people help them in this vision?" asked Alam.

"Yes."

"But it is just a dream. Everyone has dreams and few of them ever become real," said Alam.

"It is not so with the Evarai. They know the difference between dreams and visions, and were convinced that they were conflicting prophecies," said Iwan.

Hannah continued the story. "The Evarai debated about the visions and what they should do about them. In the end they decided to push fate towards the vision that they desired - Clarisai's mother's vision. The first thing they did was contact your people. Their idea was to get your people to support them so that you would not join the Empire of Morcham. They found the young leader of the most powerful clan on the Plains and convinced him to visit them. It was their hope to forge an alliance. The meeting did far more. It is said that when the clan leader met Clarisai an incredibly strong bond instantly sprang up between them. It is told that he felt an overwhelming desire to protect the child, and for many years abandoned his duty to his own people and lived among the Evarai like an uncle to her.