The Fires of Cerran

Chapter Eight

Arch Chancellor Velgar often wondered upon the days that had long since passed. Though they were distant, and memories of them were fading, he still found himself reflecting deeply upon them. His mind drifted deeper into texts and chronicles than anything that surrounded him at present. His introduction, quite remarkably, had come from a flea market in Lower Dulwich, just South of The Welling where he studied. As he made his way along the paths, in the bright summer light of Lower Dulwich, he came across a small collection of market traders who were camping along the roadway. The Maester, who at the time was youthful and spry, called upon an elderly woman's stall which found his fancy through the magically coloured bedsheets and pillowcases that the woman had crafted.
'Most beautiful.' Velgar said, smiling to the woman. She smiled, but her gaze was vague towards him.
'You want?' The woman said in a scratching, aged voice. She watched Velgar as he ran the patterned quilts along his fingertips.
'No thank you, I'm forbidden from it.' He held his Welling signit up to the woman, again her gaze followed him unsteadily. He looked closer at the table, flicking through items that covered its dusty surface. There was a little of everything, chess sets, fruit bowls, a few wooden ornaments. All were old, each likely carrying a thousand unique tales. But that wasn't what drew Velgar's attention now. Instead it was the small collection of leather bound books that were tightly packed into a wooden apple box. He walked across to them, and pulled at the tops to reveal the covers, three were blank tanned leather, but there was one that was different. He pulled at the book, it was buckled and tightly bound by a second smaller buckle as well. The Maester took the book, rested it atop the others and unbuckled the outer bindings and looked upon the carved coverings. Upon the cover there were three figures kneeling upon an alter. From what Velgar could make out, the people were praying. However, on closer inspection he saw that they were in fact backing away, and it seemed in terror, from a beast within three heads, magnificently long wings and fire belting from its mouth.
'The Elder books.' The woman said, her voice quieter than before. Velgar looked to her, she was sat crossed legged on the edge of the grass and only now did he see the greyness that clouded her eyes.
'The Elder books?' Velgar repeated, unsure of himself. The woman smiled a near toothless smile. Velgar looked around, the other sellers were taking little notice of them. 'What exactly are these?' He asked.
'Books from days long since gone. Tales, stories and legends of people now returned to the Goddess.' The woman replied, she waved her hands to signal Velgar to sit with her. He did so and placed the book in front of the woman, her hands groped the front of it before finding the second buckle and carefully unhooking it. She wiped the front, feeling every detail with her beaten cracked hands.
'Long before your King conquered the West, there were people who had ruled over this land for more than a thousand years.' She said.
'The Elder Folk.' Velgar replied confidently.
'So they do teach you something in The Welling then?' The woman returned, a wry smile breaking her wrinkled acorn coloured face. As she held the book, she carefully lifted the cover, licked her finger and flicked through the pages. Velgar only caught glimpses of most, they were thick pages, expertly hand-written texts accompanied by extremely detailed artworks. The woman stopped at a page, turned the book to face Velgar and pressed a finger down upon it. Velgar looked down to the page and saw a two page spread of a map of the Kingdoms, except it was different. Several of the strongholds that now occupied the place weren't there, and the forests extended deep in the South, with large mountains and hills depicted where Arisen now stood. Several names were etched upon the map, where Cerran stood the word 'Cera' was written and Mormo was replaced with 'Miromir'. The Maester looked upon the map with wonder.
'The Kingdoms of the Elder Folk?' He asked, his words barely coming through coherently. The woman nodded.
'These lands were ruled by many Kings, and the ways of their life are written within these pages. A thousand years of peace, with trade and fair justice upon the peoples of this land.' She said, again flicking through a good hundred pages of text. But then she stopped, and Velgar found a rendering which showed a crown falling from the head of an executed king.
'What is this?' He asked.
'War.' The woman answered without a second thought. The man looked to the woman, held his fingers softly against the page of the book and said softly, 'How much for this?'
The woman stayed silent.
'Name your price.' Velgar demanded, readying his purse and beginning to count coins before being stopped by a sudden strong grip upon his wrist. The woman's hand wrapped around his wrist with remarkable strength.
'Take them all. Take them all, keep them safe. Learn from them, as I have done.' She said, pushing the book further towards the Maester. He looked at the pages and then back to the woman, she smiled at him and nodded.