The Tale of the Lost Tairen

The Tale of the Lost Tairen (complete fragment)

Paddy's expression was deeply sober, and his face downcast. "You are asking of me a sad story, Taira."

"If you don't want to tell me, of course--"

"I intend to tell you," said Paddy quietly. "But the tale is sad and the outcome one of the most sorrowful tragedies I have ever heard."

"Tell on, then," she returned, and plucked a stem to chew on while they traveled.

"It is the story of the Lost Tairen of the Upper Regions, as we are told of them. Times and times ago, when the dragon was fresh bound and the alyen raging in incoherent fury, there were a group of tairen. It was an outpost, a small gathering who were dear friends both of one another and of the reigning general, whose name has been since lost to time. But some of theirs have not: Red, Jain, Fortai, Aelsa and Sheba. Yes, Sheba our general was named after one of the Lost Tairen.

"But I am becoming sidetracked from my story. The tairen seemed to have gained a great victory, and all were rejoicing. They were confident in their strength, and determined to reach towards the Upper Regions, which seemed to be mostly Silent. Yet the greater contingent of the tairen believed that that area could be kindly governed, at the very least, and more kindly by tairen than by alyen, who were proved to be cruel and vengeful.

"And no wonder! From their point of view, the tairen had stolen away everything they were searching for. They had espoused the Darkness, whom they call Queen, and then the tairen had locked her away with complex magic none of us know how to do any more--and I suspect that magic is no longer possible in any case. They were angry, no wonder.

"But this led to a bold part of the tairen determining to reach beyond there. We were by far and far the majority, then; not like now, when we are almost equal, and in some places we are the minority: then was our heyday, and then was the time of our strength. They went, and the Lost Tairen were the ones who went furthest. All was good for a time, all was pleasant and strong and stable. Then the alyen gathered their strength for a mighty push, and they cut off our contact with the Lost Tairen.

"I suppose by the very name of my tale you have already guessed the outcome of them in the end, but bear with me and listen. The tairen did all that they could to rescue and find them. They fought, and many, many soldiers fell on the battlefield for them. There were enough tairen there that we thought they had a good chance, and at every breath, every one who fell, our people were firm in the knowledge and expectation that we would find our own people once more, and that all of our friends would be found; perhaps not all, but at least most of them. We knew, or thought we knew, that they would be found. And that was why the tairen pushed. Seven times they pressed, and seven times the alyen crushed them back. And on the eighth time, at last, they found victory, and fought their way through. But it was a trap, and the alyen closed around that brave group of soldiers. Our warriors fought with renewed determination, and less than a moon later broke the passage through past the lake. But it was watered with the blood of the tairen, and every step we make was taken at the cost of some tairen life. Yes, you look fearful: but it is true, and it is not to the alyen's credit that such a disaster was to come true. And then, at last, we got through and we searched in great hope for those two lost sections of the tairen; but never a one of them was found, and there was no trace that any of them had ever existed.

"And that is why we call them the Lost Tairen, and we think of them whenever we are on patrol here. We keep it for them and their bodies and whatever happened to them, as much as we do for our own convenience. It is one of the things that the tairen do, not for any practical reason but for a heart-reason; and after all heart-reasons are just as important, when one is to keep the morale of one's soldiers and fighters up. Nobody fights for practicality: all fight for the heart, even if they claim to fight for practicality and ease. They fight to espouse a cause they believe in, unless they are forced. And that is the cruelest thing a creature can do--to force another. Did you know that? It is the sharpest offence one could make, among at least tairen circles. If the alyen were to take you and try to use you for their own desires, it would be a terrible grief to all of us, and not least because you would be being forced."

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I hope you liked this! It's neither the beginning nor the ending of the scene, but my favourite part of that scene. It may not even be compliant with what I intended to write, and thus may be largely cut in the end, but who knows. Feedback is completely welcome! I like criticism when delivered politely. And I don't know how to tell the difference between trolling and politeness often, so-

Anyway, I'd love feedback on this, as detailed as you like. :D

Feel free to ask me for context. This is all (c) L. E. Morgan, 2022.