The Order of Elysia

Chapter 8- Pathseekers

The sun burned down from the sky and Lilly cursed the Order for only giving her long-sleeved linen shirts and two thick pairs of leather trousers when she had boarded the ship. The others had brought their own wardrobe and thus had the chance to pack shorter ones for this miserably humid weather.

On one side of the training ground stood Warden Volker, working with some of the Steelbounds, while the new Disciples were left to wait under the scorching sun for the Pathseeker who was supposed to introduce them to tracking and archery, but they had already been waiting for ten minutes and there was no sign of a teacher. Lilly kicked at a swirl of dust with her foot, absentmindedly watching it twist and scatter when a faint murmur swept through the group. Some of them were whispering something in between: "Oh, no, not him”, "Is he the teacher?” and "Wow, he looks so good.” and as Lilly lifted her gaze, she quickly understood why.

Warden Thorndale strode toward them with the kind of confidence and presence that demanded attention. Despite his fast pace, he appeared relaxed, as if he did not have the slightest reason to hurry. There was a gravity about him, not just in the way he moved, but in the silence he carried with him, like the stillness before a storm. Raven snorted beside Lilly and rolled her eyes at his sight.

There was something about the Warden, an intimidating aura Lilly had already noticed the first time she saw him. Even some of the other Wardens kept their distance from him as Warden Thorndale did not seem like a man people would have liked spending time with.

When he reached the group, he got straight to the point: "I’ll be instructing you in the ways of the Pathseekers as I represent the Dominion and am the commanding Archwarden.”, he announced, his eyes sweeping across them. "I’ll spare you the speech about safety measures and get straight to the practical part, to see how well prepared you have come.” He gestured to several baskets behind the group, filled with shortbows, longbows and a few crossbows. Lilly hadn’t even noticed them earlier, but she was excited to try her luck with a shortbow.

One by one, they grabbed their weapons and followed Thorndale’s commands. They were to stand roughly seventy meters from the colorful targets and try to hit the center. Lilly had never held a bow in her life and struggled even to draw the string properly. Warden Thorndale watched as she fumbled awkwardly with the limp string and unwieldy arrow, giving her a disapproving smirk, his emerald green eyes fixated on her, as though he enjoyed watching her fail. Raven noticed her struggle and helped her get enough tension on the string for the arrow to fly at least a few meters. With that small assistance, Lilly’s next attempts improved slightly and finally, on about her fifteenth try, she managed to shoot an arrow that landed just half a meter beside the target.

Since it was her last arrow and the lesson wasn’t over, Lilly ducked low and walked around the side toward the target, careful not to enter the shooting line. As she stepped beside the target and bent down to retrieve her arrow, she felt a gust of wind across her face accompanied by a whistle; the rush of a bolt flying mere centimeters past her cheek, striking the target right next to her.

Lilly gasped and looked toward the direction the shot had come from and there, in the distance, stood a broad figure with dark hair, staring right at her: Rurik. She couldn’t see his expression from this far away, but she was certain he was grinning. Injuries during training didn’t usually lead to citations, she remembered and she knew that Rurik knew as well. She grabbed the arrow she had come for and returned to the group cautiously. Her eyes locked on Rurik, cold and defiant, as he now approached her. No one else seemed to have noticed that he had aimed at her and no one paid attention as he suddenly stood broad and threateningly in front of her, crossbow in hand.

"You wouldn’t dare.”, Lilly snapped when she was close enough for him to hear her, referring to all the people around them and the short distance between them.

Rurik looked around briefly and shrugged. Then, he lifted the crossbow slightly, now aiming right at her stomach. Her heart pounded. Was he really ruthless enough to shoot her here and now, in front of everyone? Rurik gave her a nasty grin, but just as Lilly thought he might actually pull the trigger, his gaze caught on something behind her.

Instantly, Rurik lowered the weapon and muttered: "Just joking around traitor.”

Lilly turned and saw that Warden Thorndale had been watching the entire exchange and by the dark, displeased expression on his face, she couldn’t tell whether he would have preferred Rurik to go through with it, or whether he simply didn’t tolerate rule-breaking. Either way, Lilly was relieved she didn’t have to find out what Rurik might have done if the Warden hadn’t been there.

"Deelhoven!”, Warden Thorndale grumbled and Lilly took a step aside so the two men could see each other better.

"Yes.”, Rurik pressed out, not nearly as confident as he had been only moments before. Lilly enjoyed the fact that Rurik seemed nervous all of the sudden; nervous about being punished for his actions, even though it wasn’t clear how much the Warden had seen.

"I see you have excellent skills with the crossbow. Maybe I can offer you some extra training with it if you are interested.”

***

The wind at the edge of the northern cliffs was sharp but clean and it carried the scent of salt, brushing Lilly’s hair into her eyes. The sea below snarled against the rocks, but up there, the world felt strangely still. Alaric passed the wine bottle to Raven and she took it, wiped the rim with her sleeve and took a large sip. Lilly sat with her legs tucked under her, warming her hands against the smooth stone.

"Well.” Raven said after a beat, her voice dry: "No hallucinations today. That’s a win.” She paused, but then continued: "No one told me how real they can feel… illusions I mean.”, Raven murmured, staring out into the sea. "I was convinced I was burning alive for a moment at the trial.”

"I saw someone I thought was dead.”, Lilly replied absently, not hiding the pain in her tone.

"I didn’t see or hear anyone.”, Alaric said eventually. "Just silence. Not a voice, not a sound. For hours. I thought I’d gone deaf.”

Raven looked over at him. "That almost sounds...merciful.”

"It wasn’t.”, he said, his tone unreadable. "It was a void. Like the world had forgotten me.”, Alaric didn’t say more after that; he leaned back on his elbows and turned his eyes up to the stars that were just beginning to freckle the sky.

That was when Lilly decided to casually tell Raven and Alaric about her confrontation with Rurik. Both of their mouths sprung open in shock. "Why didn’t you say anything? I was so focused on hitting that damn target, I didn’t notice.” Raven burst out, while Alaric muttered, "Son of a bitch.” referring to Rurik, or maybe to Warden Thorndale as well.

"It’s not unusual for the individual Dominions to pick their favourites early among the new recruits and offer them extra training. That way, they increase the chances of a specific glyph manifesting itself and with it, the chance of being assigned to that Dominion as their primary.” Raven’s expression darkened at her own words.

"So Thorndale is going to reward Rurik for trying to shoot me? To train him to not miss his aim the next time?”, Lilly shuddered.

"I know people like Rurik. They thrive when they make life difficult for others. It makes them feel powerful.”, Raven said, lost in thought. There was a certain sadness in her voice and Lilly knew that Raven must have spoken from her own experience. It wasn’t the right time to ask further questions, as for the first time, they were simply hanging out, enjoying a warm and pleasant summer evening together.

Alaric also sensed the wistfulness in Raven’s voice and dreamily said: "At home, in Ilvarra, the other gods receive more attention than in the rest of Solendris. Each of the thirteen months is dedicated to a different god and every month we pay homage to the god who is to receive our worship.”

"And which god is it this month?”, Raven asked, now somewhat pulled out of her melancholy. It was clear she wasn’t a very pious and faithful person.

"Elysia.” Lilly said quietly, secretly pleased to finally demonstrate her knowledge instead of asking questions about the Order.

Alaric smiled at her, took a sip directly from the bottle of the fruity red wine they had brought and replied: "Yes, that’s why the new Initiates are always brought to the island on the first of this month.” He paused for a moment and added dreamily, "I never thought I would really be here one day.”

They stayed silent for a minute or two, but the talk about the gods had reminded Lilly of something she had wondered about and after brief hesitation, she cautiously asked the two: "Were you also in a room with statues during the trial?”

Alaric nodded, but Raven furrowed her brow as if she was hearing about it for the first time.

"I noticed there were only twelve statues in the room, but I just couldn’t figure out which god was missing.” Lilly continued, addressing Alaric.

"Nox, the god of the moon and darkness, was not among them. But that’s not surprising if you believe in folklore.”

Lilly knew what he meant- Nox was said to have once been the lover of Elysia, her counterpart, her soulmate. For millennia, they supposedly danced around each other, unable to be together and unable to be apart, until Elysia created a barrier that banished Nox from her Realm centuries ago.

"Oh, those blasted tales of eternal love and longing. That sounds like one of the plays the traveling troupe in Nemoris performed every year. The audience loved it and the tickets always sold like hotcakes.”, Raven rolled her eyes, clearly not fond of such religious tales.

Then, silence settled in, just long enough for the wind to whistle through it and Raven passed Lilly the wine. None of them said it, but all three were thinking the same thing: We survived. There was no need to speak and the silence was not cruel, but they shared it.

When Raven’s laughter faded down the slope and Alaric’s quiet footsteps were swallowed by the path between the trees, Lilly remained where she sat, legs folded beneath her and arms wrapped around herself, the last warmth of the shared wine still lingering in her chest. The wind had grown cooler, brushing strands of hair against her cheek, but she didn’t move.

The stars were clearer than she had ever seen them, distant and uncaring, scattered across the sky. Somewhere far below, the sea pushed itself against the cliffs and around her the Isle breathed in silence. A star flickered just above the horizon and for a moment it seemed to flicker brightly against the dark, but when she blinked it was gone. She hadn’t chosen this life; the oath had been forced on her, but she would not let that be all of her story. She hadn’t crawled through the trial only to give in now. Her father would not have wanted that, he would have hated the Order for claiming her, but he would have told her to live and to endure.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, letting the hush stretch, letting her thoughts settle like silt in water. The fear and grief weren’t gone, they still coiled low in Lilly’s stomach, still clung to the edges of her mind, but they did not drown her. She had made it through captivity, torment and through the Chamber of Gods and she was still here.