Sangriala

Chapter 5: Valanta

On the second travel day since Taival, before evening, we reached the coast. It was a landscape where rugged coastal crags of layered stone were interrupted by coveted sandy beaches. Here and there grew bunches of palm trees. We had seen a couple of snakes on our way, a monitor lizard, and lots of birds, whose numbers grew the closer we came to the coast.

When the unbound open of the sea spread in front of us, I felt relief in my mind, as if a goal had already been reached. Somewhere east from here, the Yana River also let its waters into the same ocean, and in the rivermouth bay, there sat the Sacred City of Sangriala. I felt like I had longed for the sea for long, although I noticed this longing only when we reached the coast. Somewhere beyond this wide-open sea, there lay Mah Island – a land much smaller than Elysium, but a land that would be ours. A piece of smallness amidst vastness. An island around which Max, Denis, and Emilio had walked in slightly more than a week.

What had Sid told me about that trip around the island? It had taken place three years ago; at a time when the Grand Master had still been alive, and Max and his friends had only been fourteen or less.

I was now riding one of the horses, wearing my captain's cap, and Mary sat behind me, holding me. If Max could do it, why not me. Riding didn't turn out very difficult, as our horses were mild-mannered and perseverant. They didn't make much noise of themselves. "Taival horses", Killie had explained. "Same nature as the villagers." And then he had made a pause, watching the waters glimmering ahead of us. "I like them."

The animals followed each other, and we needed to do little more than keep in balance. Besides the sight of the sea, my mind was satisfied by the fact that I was now master of my own horse. That meant I could take care of Mary. I could do anything. What I couldn't, I would learn. Man was made to survive. We were on the right path. Towards the destination of our long journey. I felt more than knew it. As scary as the thoughts initiated by Chairo's stories were, I still felt peace, for those thoughts were finally shaping a pattern, with its own internal consistency.

That was my power. I was internally consistent. I accepted the reality around me, even when it didn't please me. If there was a mistake in the world, it would not go away by denial to believe it, but by doing something about it. Obviously, within those limited powers I had got. Yet, however small my powers, they weren't entirely futile. We had come this far already; we'd travelled and struggled our way through a totally strange world. I could see whatever my eyes reached. I could influence whatever was reached by my voice or my hand. If teen boys could make it in an unknown world, then surely could I, a youth in my best age. And if something remained impossible, then it was that. Upon facing the impossible, my mind could still remain calm.

*   *   *

As soon as we had reached the coast, our horses had found a path they set out following. Killie and Turhan stopped a couple of times, stepped down to investigate traces and signs on the path, quietly exchanged some words among themselves, then mounted their horses again. Our escorts were growing worried, even nervous.

Brynhilde was now riding ahead of us, with Max. Or more accurately, she let Max ride, even though she was surely more experienced on horseback than him. I asked Bry what the men had seen in the tracks of the path.

"I don't know", admitted Bry. "I don't know this area at all."

At the same moment, we saw an odd, erect monolith standing on a rock that watched over the sea. Mary pointed it to me with her finger, saying nothing.

"I just noticed the same", I said. "I saw one like that on Mah Island. When I walked the moor, looking after you. Before I landed in the hands of the boys of the Brotherhood. There were marks on the stone."