Reverse Chronicles

Threads of Fate

The Kealyn domain is one of three domains in the Sarcen empire allowed by the emperor to be governed by a noble ruling family. It is located in the southwestern part of the empire and borders Mysinda to its southwest. This domain is known for its production of high value livestock that is distributed throughout the empire. Directly north of the Kealyne domain is the Sarcen empire’s capital city, Xanvaldrea.

Xanvaldrea is protected by natural barriers. To its southwest is the Lharbian domain, a large arid region mostly consisting of a dry desert. To its east is the Orquiz domain, with three mountains ranges that protected the capital, from both domestic and foreign threats. The road from Kealyn goes through rivers that curved in many directions, creating numerous oxbows.

In Xanvaldrea resides the emperor, who is protected by the five dragon generals. Two of which are from Kealyn, Wisterion van Kealyn, the leader of the dragon generals, and his younger brother, Zenneif van Kealyn, the arcane general.

I slowly close the book that Wisterion gave me. It pretty much contains everything I have to know about the empire. All I need to know now is how to return to my world. Our journey to the capital began early this morning and the carriage that I am in moved swiftly as if Roger’s death did not happen. I initially thought that only Wisterion and I would travel to the capital, but I was surprised when his brother rode in another carriage.

There are six carriages in all. Master Zenneif van Kealyn’s carriage, as the servants calls him, is at the front, followed by three carriages that carried his stuff, most of which are books, staffs, wands, robes, and chests. Wisterion is in the fifth carriage and most of his belongings are with me in the sixth carriage.

I look out the window to see rivers that curved with numerous oxbows as said in the book. Cutting across the curving rivers are bridges that provided transportation ease. The houses around the rivers are built on top of elevated hills. A lot of ships and boats sailed on the mirror-like serenity of the water’s surface. The picturesque scene takes me back when my family went on a fishing trip. I caught a small fish, but I released back to the water. Those were good times and thinking about it makes me miss home.

Suddenly, the carriage stops.

“The masters are stopping for lunch,” the footman says. “Master Wisterion is signaling me to call you.”

“Oh right!” I quickly bolt out of the carriage and grab the chairs and the table from the back of the carriage. They were all surprisingly light given their large structure and appearance. I arrange it in front of Wisterion’s carriage and fetches a goblet. I place the goblet on the table and poured some wine.

“Good,” Wisterion smiles. “However, your battle skills need some work.”

“Oh, so he is your new Squire?” a man with brown hair and blue eyes approaches. He carries a wand and has a book fastened on his belt. His left hand, a free hand, wore a glove. His outfit is very stylish. In our world, he would be a K-pop idol or big celebrity with his looks and his charm. “He looks promising! Hi, I’m Zenneif. It’s nice to meet you!” He extends his hand.

“I’m Alan,” I shake his hand.

“Oh, so you are like the emperor!” he exclaims.

“Like the emperor?” I begin to wonder.

“Yes, you are from another world,” he replies.

“Zenneif!” Wisterion shouts. “We are not supposed to talk about the emperor.”

“Relax, he’s not here.” Zenneif shrugs Wisterion’s statement.

“The emperor is from another world?” my entire being is flabbergasted.

“He is, supposedly.”

“Supposedly?” my tumultuous thoughts begin to calm down.

“I never met the guy,” Zenneif answers. “He is said to be from another world and his great powers enabled him to build the Sarcen empire from scratch. Brother has seen him, but he keeps quiet about him.”

I turn to Wisterion. His gaze meets mine, but he redirects his towards the river as he takes a sip of his wine.

I have to meet the emperor. Maybe he knows of a way to return to Earth.

“Hmm, so you want to meet the emperor?” Zenneif smirks. “Sorry for reading your mind.”

“Alan, take the spool of thread from your chest,” Wisterion interrupts the conversation. I do as he tells me and fetches the spool. When I returned, he extends his weapon, turning it into the golden threads that he used in the battle in the village. “Zenneif, if you would.”

“No problem,” Zenneif taps a piece of wood with his wand. It instantly turns into two wooden dolls. “Here you go,” Zenneif blows the dolls toward us with a gust of wind.

“Puppetry is an art that has a class of its own. Unlike archery, it requires you to extend your magic using the threads in order to control an inanimate object or even your opponent,” Wisterion takes the golden threads. He touches a part of it and the entire roll extends toward the wooden doll. “Your will makes the doll move. As long as the threads are attached to you and your target, you are able to control it. Now you do it.”

I follow Wisterion’s instructions. I take the spool of thread and touch a part of it. Thanks to Roger’s advice on the weapon manuals, I knew how to extend my magic through the threads. They successfully extended!

Okay, now I have to attach them to the doll!

I slowly move the threads toward the doll and attached the threads. As I attach each one of them, I feel the doll on the tip of my hands. It connects to me through the threads, but it feels as if I am holding it. I try to move it, but it suddenly implodes.

“Ho, interesting!” Zenneif says.

“Hm? Is your magic too much for the doll?” Wisterion begins to think. “Okay, let’s try another medium.” He looks at Zenneif.

“No problem,” Zenneif taps the ground with his wand, this time. A piece of solid earth suddenly protrudes from the point where his wand touched the ground. A small fissure appears and out came a clay doll. “This should be enough.”

I extend the threads and attach them to the doll. It feels a bit heavier than the wooden doll, but it is manageable. I try to move the doll. I made it raise its hand and after a few seconds it did. I try to make it stomp and with a few seconds of latency it did the action.

“Excellent,” Wisterion looks at me pleasingly. “With practice, you will be able to command the dolls faster and more efficiently.”

After some time, the entire company resumed its course. As we travelled, my thoughts kept on going about the identity of the emperor.

“Is he really from Earth?” I soliloquize. “He must know of a way back. He has to! But then again,” my mind becomes pessimistic, “if he knew of a way, wouldn’t he have made it back already? He is the emperor, the most powerful man in the empire. If he doesn’t know, then…”

I look at the clouds as we moved. They look the same as Earth’s clouds, white, fluffy, and soft.

I wonder how Josh is doing? He must be also in this world. I hope he is safe.

“That’s it, Josh!” My mind finds a realization. “I can team up with him and maybe we can find a way back home.”

The azure sky suddenly turns dark, as cumulonimbus clouds begin to pile up directly above us. In a matter of seconds, a downpour ensued. The once serene mirror became a sea of tumultuous ripples. The rain made the entire company stop. The footman ran inside the carriage to shelter from the rain. The rain continues incessantly. Suddenly, the horses begin neighing loudly. I take a look outside and see the river overflowing. If it keeps up, we would all get washed away by flash flood.

A purple light suddenly lights up the entire scene. It came from the first carriage. In a blink of an eye, the rain stopped, and the water level returned to normal. The cumulonimbus disappeared as if they were never there in the first place. The sky returned azure, with fluffy white clouds sailing across the blue. A figure floating on the sky catches my eye. I focus to see who it was. It suddenly flies down closer to the entire company. It was Zenneif van Kealyn.

He stopped the rain with his magic!

All of the events made my head ache. I close my eyes and rested my head on the soft cushion behind me. My eyes slowly close and my consciousness gradually dissipates.

“Sir Alan, Sir Alan!” the footman’s voice wakes me up. “We stopped in Piskya for the night. Master Wisterion bade me wake you up and deliver his evening robe. He is at the main suite in the Kealyn rest house in the village.”

“His evening robe?” I begin to rummage through his stuff, until I eventually find it in one of his chests. The company stopped in front of the Kealyn rest house. It was already dark. I deliver the robe to Wisterion in the main suite. The room had a sign written on its door thus it was easy finding it. I knock but there was no answer. I try again, but the same result ensued. I barge in and see the room empty. I leave the evening robe on the bed and snuck out of the room before Wisterion could come. When I got out of the room, however, his timing caught me defenseless.

“Good work for today,” he pats my shoulder. “There is a room for you across the hall to the left. You should rest, we leave early tomorrow.” He enters the room and closes the door in front of me.

I proceed to the room he indicated. I take a bath and refreshed myself, eventually calling it a day.