King of Days: The Veiled Guardians

2. Lovely Home and a Late Father

As the light shone through the pit, the four kids were mesmerized at the various items they saw. From corner to corner lay objects the kids had never seen and even the walls themselves had plaques and banners. The girls shrieked with excitement while Karíto cuffed his ears to shield himself from their squeals of delight. The hole, though small, was a bit bigger than first expected. The treasure that lay inside was something out of a fairytale.

There lay old chalices, a few gold pieces as well as strange objects all around. But the oddest parts were the three chests and the central tapestry. Karíto looked at it and studied its features. It bore several inscriptions and had a shadowy figure in the middle. The figure held a sword in their left hand, a lantern in the other, and a round shield propped against their feet. Behind him, commoners stood adjacent to him in front of various houses. Karíto got closer with the lantern to see the inscription, he noticed it changed. Jumping back he cried out to his sisters, "Look! It changes in the light!"

With that the girls stopped their perusal to examine it. As they all walked toward the tapestry, they noticed its rapid change in the light. What was once a dark and ominous cloth, had turned into a happy and colorful banner. The man stayed in the middle, but he was no longer garbed in dark robes, instead he was dressed in noble attire and held his hands in a proud fashion.

Tèrrìll pointed and murmured, "The people in the back are now dressed as he was! And look, the houses have turned into castle walls!"

The girls then giggled and tried to mimic the man standing in the middle. They all made what resembled an upward facing double C over their chest then laughed out loud.

Fortìle piped up, "What a strange man! Boy, I wish I could change as fast as he does!"

Karíto then smiled and looked and read the inscription "Cruc" and above that "Salu". The children looked in wonderment at the unique tapestry. Then they looked at each other with wide smiles and went back to investigating the vault.

One found a tool that looked like it could mark paper. Another found a decorative lantern, and it even jingled inside. A third found some garments which looked just like the ones in the banner. Karíto found a sword behind the shield. On the sword was inscribed "SG" and on the shield the strange symbol was brazed, to his delight he found that it also changed in the light; from a dark and frightful shield, to a shiny silver look. He felt it in his hand and noticed that it was made from a hardy metal. Strangely, it was not cold to the touch. Likewise, the sword was made from the same metal, and it too was not cold to the touch.

Now the three chests became the center of attention to the children. As they approached, they found it required no key, but no latch could be found either. They tried to pull at what seemed to be the top, but nothing happened. Hidía pointed silently to the top of the chest, it too had some writing, but it was too faded to read. In the middle was what looked like an indention of the upward facing double C.

As Karíto began to investigate it further, they heard a yell in the distance. The kids jumped and gathered what little they could hold in their pockets, not more than a coin or two. An object that looked like a stamp with two metal pieces puzzled them.

When they all climbed out of the cellar, they found that the sky had grown dark. Tèrrìll looked at Karíto and said "We had better close it, we don't want people thieving at us now!"

Karíto proceeded to close the door, but before he did Fortìle yelled out, "Wait!" She jumped back in and pulled out the sword and shield. "We might need these down the line!"

Karíto looked at her, shook his head, "Why would I need those?" However, she insisted all the more and showed him how majestic they looked in the sun. Lifting the shield Karíto said, "I will keep the sword for now, but I believe the shield is much too heavy."