A Fractured Land (Working Title)

Part 3

 Leah gave me a curt nod as we stood before our father, sitting in his favorite chair as the sounds of the shearing crew filtered through the open window. He sat forward as I presented the book to him, gently taking it from me as he did.

"What is this?" He asked, holding it on his fingertips. Though father was a gentle man, his voice was coarse from many years of harsh use, and an unfamiliar witness could mistake him for a person possessing a lesser kindness than he did.

"I found it up Calway Pass." I said.

"Where, up Calway Pass?" Father was observing the book running his fingers across the cover.

"Just past the creek, in the woods. Drevyn got away again, and she led me to it." I said a bit too quickly, promptly cursing myself for having rehearsed it so many times.

"We oughtta get a leash on her, at this point." Father chuckled, "It was just there, in the woods?"

"Underneath a tree, where the roots had come up." I tried to say it more slowly, and less rehearsed, "Yeah, in the woods."

"Interesting," father murmured. He opened the book as gently as I had opened it, back in the stone hall. Its age was palpable, and the pages were stiff. He mulled over the first page for several long moments, and slowly transitioned to the next, taking care of the paper as he did. "Interesting," he said again.

"What do you make of it?" Leah asked.

"Well, Leah," father said, clearly, "it seems to be a book, of some sort."

"Sage wisdom." I said, smiling.

"An old book," he said, also hiding a grin behind his eyes, "and written in no language I'm familiar with."

"Is there anyone you think could translate it?" Leah prompted.

Father pondered this for a moment, leaning back in his chair, still looking at the second page. He slowly turned to the third. I saw a shadow of a thought cross his mind, but it was fleeting. "Unfortunately, no one in our lands would be of any assistance. If it's an ancient language, there is no one educated enough among the Rölnik to be familiar with it."

I had no expectations coming into this conversation. Though I knew the likelihood of deciphering the discovery that Leah and I had brought back with us was minimal, there was still a moment where a genuine disappointment settled over me. Before Callum left for the Soturi, he'd taken us on all kinds of adventures where we'd find ourselves fighting demons from the Ruin fabricated entirely by our imagination and uncover the lore of lost civilizations in their wake, scrambling back to the farm to tell father all about our adventures. A strangely nostalgic feeling had come over me as I'd handed the book to my father, reminding me of all the times I'd handed him maps scrawled on scrapped parchment, recanting tales of splendor and glory as he'd looked over it. Now that Callum was with the Soturi and Leah and I were grown enough to leave the farm, the entire situation seemed a bit silly; the difference was that this time, we had not made it all up. Father used to play along, assisting us in developing the extensive stories of the mystical lands we'd travel, but he had nothing to add, now.

"What about other lands?"

My father glanced up suddenly, and I looked at Leah.

"What about them?" Father seemed nonchalant, but I could see him tense slightly.

Leah pressed on. "You said no one among our people can decipher it. Who can?"

At this, father seemed a bit surprised. He looked at her, blankly, as the weight of her question sank in, and his mind quickly redirected its efforts. "Is this important to you?"