The Past

In the Beginning

As the story goes on, you may note a few continuity errors, but that is due to this being my first draft. I make note of all of them to fix in my revision because I write on google docs. I'm not focused on writing well, the point of this is just to get the plot on the page :)

The next day, we continued our path towards the caverns. No longer travelling on sand, we were able to cover ground at a quicker rate. Charcoal black mounds of stone stood in the distance as we packed up our camp in the morning. Despite the hot days, the nights brought a chill that made me grateful for the blankets I packed.

"Do you think we'll find it here?" Remor asked me, as we continued our journey to the cavernous mountains.

"I can't say, but I would hope so. We can't very well search every cavern in the Realm, now can we?"
"There are gods who could help us, experts in tracking. Deftre knows land like no one else, he can sense everything within a league of him, even insects as they scurry on the ground." As if prompted by his words, a small rabbit came out of a dry thistle bush near us, hopping in the opposite direction. "I haven't seen him in a thousand years. Many of the gods weren't in this Realm when the Mirror was lost."

"Can't gods just teleport to and from the Mirror?"

"No, it bears a magic we cannot overpower." I noticed that his eyes were greyer than they had been. "I trust my mother explained to you how the Mirror was created in this Realm?"

"It was created by Hystemus, Aphol, Zetha, and Ethon, I believe."

"Yes, but the magic of it wasn't theirs. Mother imbued it with some spell, some words that none of us know. I wasn't yet born then, but I've heard the stories. The words she used were words she was taught by other gods, from other Realms. There are gods that do not come from the Holy, gods from their own planes of existence, who are older than we. The Mirror is older still than them."

"I don't understand. Where did the first Mirror come from?" I didn't quite understand how the Realms themselves came to be, nor the gods. I had assumed they had all simply existed for eternity.

"The Mirror came first. Before anything else existed, the Mirror came into being. I believe the first gods were just the essence of creation, gods of life and death, light and darkness. They must have found the Realm that we now call the Holy, and populated it with eternal and powerful beings, who then populated the other Realms."

"Wow. I had never given much thought to the Beginning. How do you know all of this, Remor? Did your mother grant you this knowledge?"

"No, it is simply an assumption on my part. Do not take these words with value, for they are unfounded." He turned his eyes away from me and to the mountains in the distance. "The truth is, no one knows, for no one can meet the First Gods. They hide from the world, and they protect the Mirror. In turn, the Mirror protects them. That is why I believe we cannot use our magic to find it, or to travel from it. The First Gods must keep us in line by putting limits on our power, which is why only Mother can travel across Realms without the Mirror."

"She can?" There were so many secrets she had never told me, and a part of me hated her for it.

"Yes, but she remains here because she is particularly fond of this Realm. As for the rest of us, we have all vowed that when the Mirror is found, we will not return for a thousand years."

"So I'll never see you again? Well, not particularly you, of course, but whichever god I choose to marry," I stammered, trying my best not to seem a fool.

"I cannot speak for the others, but I would not leave until your lifetime is complete, Kinheal. You're far too special."

My face burned every time I received a compliment from him, though I was half-certain it was due to the midday sun blazing overhead. Soon enough, we would reach the shade of the mountains.

The rest of our journey to the caves was filled with speculation regarding the Beginning and the Mirror, and of the man who hid the Mirror. We couldn't understand why he had hidden the Mirror, or what to do with it once we found it. I knew what Teirr and Paves would do, for they were now as good as wed, and he would sooner die than leave her to marry someone else. Was I still certain I wanted to find the Mirror, if finding it meant that I would lose my two closest friends forever?

Yes. This was larger than me, it was for the good of our Realm. Who's to say I couldn't go with them? Just because my mother was a queen didn't mean her heir couldn't be a boy. Why should I, Kinheal, be considered the only potential heir of Zalta? It made no sense!

I expressed as much to Remor, and he simply said that that was his mother's design, though I couldn't begin to fathom why she would make that choice. Though, right then was as good as time as any for me to tell Remor about the note I found in Athern's cabin, when we were at the mountains, almost at a point from which we would have to continue on foot.
"Of course, I should have suspected..."

"What?" I pulled my reigns abruptly. "Do you know who wrote it?"

"No, it simply lines up that he should be a spy. I couldn't understand why he would join us otherwise." He was lying. I couldn't say how I knew, but something in my heart told me he was lying. But why?

"We should continue on foot from here," I told him. "I can create us a path up to the caves, but not while on a horse. I'll make them a pen."

I lowered myself from my tall mount, dropping to the ground with a thud.

"Then, to the caverns we'll go."