One Way Ride
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“So, why’d you come back?” I asked. “You could have just gone to the guild.”
He shrugged and looked down at his feet like he was embarrassed about something. He didn’t answer right away though. His face turned red as if it were on fire. Finally, after a few seconds of silence, he said in a low voice that sounded almost angry, “I wanted to see what would happen when they found out who my father is.”
My eyes widened. That’s all? Just curiosity? What kind of person does this kid think he is? Does he really believe that everyone will bow before him because of some stupid family name? The only thing more ridiculous than his actions so far are the words coming out of his mouth now.
It makes me want to laugh. This guy thinks he can get anyone to do anything by threatening them with their own families?! How pathetic! And how much did those idiots from the guild pay for information on your dad anyway? They must be rich or else they wouldn’t have been able to afford such an expensive bounty.
But even then…why bother going through all that trouble? You don’t need money; you’re already living off your father’s fortune. Why not just go straight home instead of wasting time here? Oh well, whatever. I’m sure it doesn’t matter anymore since we won’t be seeing each other again once we leave town tomorrow morning.
“Well,” I continued, “if you come back here to make a fool of yourself, congratulations. You’ve succeeded admirably.”
The boy glared at me angrily but still refused to look up. Instead, he kicked dirt over the flames. When the last ember died out, he stood and walked toward the edge of the cliff without another word. Then he disappeared into the darkness below. There wasn’t any sign of him anywhere.
What a jerk! If he had done things properly in the first place, none of us would ever have known who his father was. Now we’ll never know either way. Whatever happened to being honest? Don’t people realize there aren’t many good men left these days?
People like that brat should be ashamed for making fools of themselves. Who knows where he learned his bad habits? Maybe someone taught him to act like that growing up. Or maybe it’s because he has no real friends to teach him otherwise.
Either way, I hope he gets what’s coming to him someday soon. I wonder if the gods will take pity on him one day? Probably not. They probably hate him too. After all, they let that little girl die while she was trying to help him.
As I sat there thinking about everything that had transpired tonight, my mind drifted back to the conversation with the old man earlier. He hadn’t given me very much information, but enough to figure out that my brother had somehow managed to escape from prison.
My mother told me that he was supposed to stay locked up until the trial was finished—a year ago. So how did he manage to break free? Did the guards forget to lock him up again? Was it part of some new punishment? Something tells me that it’s not likely that they forgot to put him behind bars.
No, it seems more plausible that my brother broke out himself. In fact, it sounds like he might have escaped quite a long time ago.
It also explains why he hasn’t tried to contact me yet. As far as he knew, I was still in prison along with our parents and sister. He couldn’t possibly have expected me to turn myself in willingly after hearing about what happened to them. Not unless he was willing to kill me. This means that the next time I hear from him, it may be under different circumstances altogether.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain shoot across my chest. A small drop of blood appeared from between my fingers and landed on the ground near my boots. At first, I thought I’d cut myself shaving or something, but the wound didn’t seem to be healing.
On closer inspection, I realized that the injury wasn’t superficial at all. It actually went deep inside my body somewhere. It hurt worse than anything I’d experienced before, and I quickly began feeling dizzy. All thoughts of revenge against my brother vanished from my mind. I started to panic and struggled to breathe.
“No!” I shouted. “Don’t tell me…”
A wave of despair washed over me as I fell to my knees. Everything seemed so hopeless now. I couldn’t move or speak. Even breathing became difficult. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for death to claim me. For a moment, I feared that I might not wake up again.
But then I heard footsteps approaching from above and opened my eyes to find myself staring directly into the cold gaze of a stranger standing beside me. His face looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him before.
He knelt down and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “but I’m afraid you’re going to die.”
***
After leaving the barrio, we rode through the streets of the city until we reached the main road leading northward. We stopped briefly to rest and eat some food before continuing on our journey. By noon, we were finally back on the trail heading toward the mountains.
The air grew colder as we climbed higher into the hills, and by nightfall, I could see snow-covered peaks glimmering in the moonlight ahead.
We spent two nights camping outside the mountain pass. During the second evening, I woke up to find the boy lying next to me. He was sleeping peacefully, and I decided to leave him alone for the remainder of the trip. When morning arrived, however, he suddenly awoke and stared straight at me with wide-open eyes.
“Where are we?” he asked quietly.
I shrugged. “Just outside the border of the kingdom.”
His expression turned grim. “So this is where you’ve been hiding all these years? Why didn’t you come to get me sooner? You’re my only family left.”
“You can thank your brother for that.”
The boy scowled. “Who is my brother?”
“Your half-brother.”
For several moments, the young man remained silent. Then he shook his head and sighed heavily before turning away from me. “What do I call you?” he asked without looking back.
“Call me whatever you want.”
He nodded curtly. “Well…my name is Raul.”
“Raul.” I repeated the word silently. It sounded vaguely familiar. “Is that short for something else?”
“Yeah, Raul is just an ordinary nickname.”
I smiled slightly. “That’s good because no one would ever believe that I’m named after the great king who united the whole country.”
“Oh yeah? What does your real name sound like?”
I laughed. “My full name is Rolando de la Vega y Aragona.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
“Because it’s my name too.”
He glanced at me curiously. “Really?”
“Yes. And yours is—”
Before I could finish speaking, the boy jumped off his horse and raced toward a nearby tree. He grabbed hold of its trunk and pulled himself up onto a thick branch. From there, he leaned out over the edge of the tree and peered down at us below. After a few seconds, he returned to his seat and continued riding alongside me.
“Are you ready to go on?” he asked casually.
I nodded. “Let’s continue.”
As we made our way deeper into the mountains, the terrain gradually became more rugged and steep. Eventually, we came upon a large rock formation jutting upward from the ground. It was covered with moss and vines, and it looked completely natural. There were no signs of any other human activity around it whatsoever. As we approached, Raul pointed to a narrow opening high in the center of the stone wall.
“This is the entrance to the cave,” he explained. “It leads underground to another place far beyond the kingdom.”
“Another land?” I asked skeptically. “In which direction will we travel if we follow this passage?”
“South.”
I frowned. “But how do you know that?”
“I don’t really know,” he replied honestly. “All I’ve done is a guess based on what little information I have about the kingdom.”
I studied the rock formation carefully. On closer inspection, I noticed that it wasn’t actually a single piece of granite sticking out of the earth but rather three separate rocks joined together by mortar.
If they had been cut cleanly apart, each individual stone would probably weigh hundreds of pounds—far too heavy for even the strongest person to lift. However, their combined weight must have been much less than that, since the entire structure appeared to be perfectly balanced. Even so, it still required tremendous strength to move such massive boulders.
“Why did you choose this particular spot to hide inside?” I asked. “If you wanted to escape the kingdom, why not simply ride south along the highway?”
“There aren’t many people traveling that route anymore,” he answered. “And besides, I thought it might make a nice surprise for you when you found me here.”
“A surprise?”
“Yes.” His face brightened. “When you first met me, I told you that I’d never seen anyone like you before. Well…now you’ll finally see someone like you again.”
***
Once we entered the tunnel, the walls quickly grew very dark as though the sun itself had disappeared behind them. The air felt damp and smelled faintly of moldy soil. We walked slowly through the darkness until we reached the end of the path.
Once there, Raul stopped and held his hands out in front of him. For several long minutes, nothing happened. Then, abruptly, a small flame burst forth from between his fingers and illuminated the area ahead of us. When I saw what lay beyond, I gasped loudly.
We stood in a vast cavern filled with thousands of tiny lights glowing softly against the darkness. They hovered motionlessly above the floor or floated lazily across the ceiling, creating a soft glow that cast everything in shadow except for the brightest spots.
In spite of the fact that the chamber was enormous, the light source seemed to emanate from nowhere in particular. All I knew was that it couldn’t possibly have originated within the confines of the room; otherwise, the flames would surely have burned themselves out ages ago.
“Where are all these lights coming from?” I wondered aloud.
“They’re called fireflies,” Raul said proudly. “You can find them anywhere in the world where there’s plenty of water and lots of plants growing close to the surface.”
“Fireflies?”
“Yes.” He smiled happily. “Just like you!”
“Me? How do you know that?”
He shrugged modestly. “Everyone knows about fireflies.”
I stared blankly at him for a moment. Finally, I shook my head and chuckled. “No, they don’t. Not unless they live near a lake or stream.”
“Ah,” he responded with a hint of disappointment. “Well then, maybe someday you’ll come across some yourself.”
I didn’t reply immediately. Instead, I turned back to look at the rest of the cave and took note of every detail: the smooth surfaces of the walls and ceilings, the delicate patterns carved into the stones, and the various shapes created by the flickering lights dancing overhead.
After studying the scene for several moments, I suddenly realized something else. The whole thing reminded me of a cathedral.
Raul laughed. “What makes you say that?”
I pointed to the ceiling. “Look at those arches over there. And the pillars down below.”
“Oh yes! Of course, now that you mention it…”
The two of us spent quite a while exploring the cave, marveling at its beauty and taking pictures of ourselves standing next to the strange creatures that inhabited it. It was hard to believe that our journey had only just begun.
There were still so many places left to explore, so many more wonders yet to behold. As we made our way deeper into the cavern, I became increasingly aware of an odd sensation in my chest—a feeling that I could almost taste.
At times, it was strong enough that I feared it might overwhelm me completely. But other times, it faded away entirely, leaving me confused and unsure whether it had ever existed at all.
Eventually, however, the feeling vanished altogether, and I began to wonder if it had been real after all. That was when I heard a sound unlike anything I’d previously experienced—the faint whisperings of countless voices calling out from somewhere deep inside the earth.
Their words sounded like the wind rustling through the trees, or perhaps the gentle murmur of flowing water. Yet despite how soothing they sounded, I sensed a great sadness underlying their tone. A sorrowful longing for something lost.
At last, we arrived at the center of the cavernous space. Here, a large pool of water glowed brightly beneath the light of dozens upon dozens of floating lanterns. Several dozen people sat on benches surrounding the perimeter of the pond. Most appeared to be children of varying ages.
Some played games with one another; others sang songs or recited poems. Others simply stared silently at the water as though trying to memorize every detail of its shimmering surface. One little girl, no older than five years old, even cried quietly as she watched a pair of fish swim past her feet.
As we approached the edge of the pool, they looked up curiously and greeted us with smiles and waves. Many of them wore simple robes made from cotton and linen, but several also sported elaborate costumes decorated with beads and feathers.
Even more intriguing, each person possessed a unique pattern of freckles across their cheeks and noses. I studied them carefully, wondering why such differences should exist among individuals who lived together in relative harmony.
Then I noticed someone sitting alone off to the side. She was dressed much differently from everyone else, wearing a long black gown embroidered with gold thread along the seams and collar. Her hair was tied tightly behind her head, and she held herself very straight, looking neither right nor left.
Perhaps most unusual of all, however, was the fact that she wasn’t staring at the water. Instead, she stared directly ahead, gazing fixedly at nothing at all.
“Who is that woman?” I asked Raul quietly.
He glanced over at her and nodded toward his own reflection in the water. “That’s Mother Serenity.”
Mother?
For a moment, I thought I must have misheard him. Then I remembered what he had told me earlier. His mother had given birth to him here, and this was apparently where he had first learned to speak. Wasn’t that supposed to make him… well, not exactly a child anymore? Why would anyone call himself a “mother”?
“She gave birth to you?” I repeated incredulously. “But you’re twenty-two years old!”
“Twenty-three,” he corrected me gently. “And yes, that means I’m nearly twice your age.”
My eyes widened in shock. Twenty-one years ago, Raul had been born into this world without any memories whatsoever. He couldn’t possibly remember being raised by a human family, let alone having a mother named Serenity. In which case, how did he know who she was? Did she tell him stories about his childhood? Or perhaps she had shown him photographs taken during happier days before the war began?
I decided to ask him later. For now, however, I needed to focus on finding a way out of the cavern. After all, it wouldn’t do for us to spend too much time here. Not when we had so much ground to cover yet.
We walked around the perimeter of the pool until we reached the bench beside Mother Serenity. The young man seated there stood up politely as we approached, then bowed deeply and said, “Welcome home, Master Raul.”
“Thank you,” replied Raul gravely. “It has been far too long since I’ve seen you.”
The boy smiled warmly. “You are always welcome here, my friend. And please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Jules. It is an honor to meet you.”
Raul extended his hand in greeting. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Jules. I am called Raul.”
Jules laughed heartily at that. “Yes, indeed! You certainly don’t look like a ‘Master’ to me!”
This seemed to amuse both Raul and Father Joseph immensely. They exchanged smiles and chuckles while Mother Serenity continued to stare straight ahead, her expression unreadable. I could sense her presence nearby, but I didn’t dare approach her just yet.
There were still many things I wanted to learn from her, and I knew better than to interrupt her meditations. Besides, if I tried speaking to her now, I might frighten her away entirely.
So instead, I turned back to Raul and asked, “How does one become a master here?”
To my surprise, he answered immediately. “By learning to live as one with the land itself, of course,” he explained. “When a person becomes attuned to nature, he can commune with plants and animals alike. When two masters come together, they may even share ideas and knowledge, allowing them to accomplish great feats of magic.”
“Magic?” I echoed skeptically. “Do all these people possess magical powers of some sort?”
“No, only those who have trained themselves to understand the true meaning of life,” he responded. “They are able to tap into the natural energies within our world, using them to heal wounds and cure illnesses. But they will never use their power against others unless absolutely necessary.”
I frowned in confusion. “What makes them different from other mages, then? How do they distinguish between good and evil?”
Raul shrugged. “There is no distinction. All living creatures contain a spark of divinity inside them. Some choose to embrace that light, while others try to hide from it. Only the truly enlightened ones realize that every creature deserves love and respect—even those who seem most hostile or cruel.”
“Is this place really safe?” I pressed. “Are there any dangers lurking here that we should be aware of?”
His answer surprised me once again. “Not that I know of,” he admitted. “At least, none that I’ve ever encountered. However, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to take precautions anyway…”
He led me down the path leading back to the main entrance. As soon as we stepped outside, I felt the air grow noticeably cooler. The sun had set hours ago, leaving the sky above us dark and empty. A few stars twinkled brightly overhead, casting faint shadows across the landscape below.
It was beautiful but somehow ominous at the same time. I wondered whether it wasn’t just the darkness that made me feel uneasy; maybe it was something else altogether. Something more primal.
As we walked toward the edge of the cliff, I noticed several small glowing orbs floating high above us. Each orb was shaped like a teardrop, its surface shimmering faintly in the moonlight. At first glance, I assumed they were lanterns hanging from the branches of trees along the shoreline.
But upon closer inspection, I realized they weren’t actually attached to anything. Instead, they floated freely through the air, drifting slowly past each other in slow circles.
I squinted curiously at them. What exactly were they doing? Were they simply decorative pieces, meant to give off a nice glow whenever someone passed beneath them? Or…were they also magical objects capable of moving on their own accord?
A chill ran down my spine. Magic existed in our world, after all—but not nearly enough to explain what I’d witnessed tonight. These orbs were clearly much more advanced than simple lamps, and I couldn’t help wondering how such a thing was possible. If anyone here possessed magical abilities, surely Raul would have told me about it by now.
But before I could ask him for clarification, he stopped abruptly and pointed upward. We were standing directly underneath one of the hovering spheres now. Its edges glowed softly in the night, reflecting the pale illumination of the full moon above us.
I stared up at it intently, trying to figure out why it appeared so familiar. Then suddenly, an idea came to mind. This sphere looked almost identical to the one I’d seen earlier today. In fact, it resembled the very same object that had been used to summon the dragon! Was this another piece of the puzzle that I’d overlooked until now?
My eyes widened as realization dawned on me. Of course! That’s where the dragon had come from, isn’t it? It must have flown over this way when it arrived at Lake Ilinala. So perhaps the orb wasn’t merely a decoration after all; it might actually serve a purpose beyond providing light.
Maybe it was part of a spell designed to summon the beast. And if that was the case, then maybe it could also be used to send it away…
Before I could consider my next move, however, Raul grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me aside. “Let’s go,” he whispered urgently. “We don’t want to get caught up in whatever happens next.”
The words seemed oddly prophetic, given what happened next. Moments later, we heard a loud roar echoing throughout the forest. Several seconds went by without incident, followed quickly by another deafening cry. This time, the sound came from somewhere behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I turned around to see what was going on.
To my surprise, the source of the commotion emerged from the woods nearby. He stood on two legs, with long, powerful arms and thick muscles covering his torso. His skin was covered in gray fur, which shimmered slightly in the moonlight.
Although he wore nothing more than a pair of loose-fitting pants, he didn’t appear particularly weak or frail. Rather, he seemed surprisingly muscular and intimidating—like some sort of wild animal.
I glanced nervously at Raul. Hadn’t he warned me that these beasts were dangerous? Why hadn’t he mentioned anything about this particular species being especially strong? Perhaps he knew little about them himself. After all, he probably had only recently discovered this strange realm of his own volition.
Regardless, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to keep my distance from the creature. For better or worse, he appeared far too unpredictable and aggressive to approach without caution. Besides, there were plenty of other things worth investigating right here in front of me.
For example, the orb resting atop the tree branch directly ahead of us. It still hung motionless in the air, suspended between two large leaves. I studied it closely for several moments, wondering what kind of magic might allow it to float free of its base. Could it possibly be enchanted, like the sword I’d found earlier? Or did it possess some other type of unique power?
Whatever the reason, I was determined to find out.
The End