Dark Age
Authors: Felix O. Hartmann
To Mom and
Dad
Acts of the most unwavering love take longest to be understood. Thanks for all that you have done for me.
I
A Thief
If I had
known
That day follows the
night,
That every shadow is cast by
light,
I would have
understood
The actions that he took.
Chapter 1
I
sat
atop
the Mount, the rooftop of the city’s cathedral, engulfed in the calming silence of the night. All shops closed, all men retired, and the last candlelight vanished into the ever-darkening sky. Above me, the horizon seemed infinite, yet the stars and the moon appeared so close to grasp; like all those dreams that run out of our reach, yet stay close enough to keep us chasing along.
I came here on special occasions. The view made my world look like a game, taken from a merchant boy’s toy collection. The guards stood idly, like tin knights scattered throughout the scene, stationed around houses that appeared to be nothing more than tiny boxes. The high outer wall separated the city from the rest of the world like a dark curtain, never to be lifted.
Impatiently I turned my head to the bell tower that loomed over the city with an air of menace, ticking away our seconds. Thirty minutes to midnight were left on the clock-face. In half an hour, I would turn seventeen, leaving only one year until being forced to join the Grey Guard for the next ten years of my life.
Far above the dark spire of the bell tower, Orion shone brightly, drawing my attention back to the present. I could not stop but smile. He was my protector, but also just another soldier never coming home.
“What are you smiling at?” said a soft voice coming up behind me. Katrina.
“You’re here,” I said, not sure whether I was relieved or surprised.
“I knew you’d be here,” Katrina replied, tightening her dark green coat around her thin waist. “You always are, when there is something going on.”
“Something going on? That’s a way to call it,” I said, flicking a pebble off the rooftop into the dark abyss.
Gracefully, she stepped over the frosty tiles and sat down next to me. An innocent loving smile crossed her lips. “You didn’t show up to work today.”
“I had other things on my mind,” I said.
“You need to keep busy. Thinking day and night about the Guard won’t help.”
“I just hate the unknown,” I said, “I don’t know what will happen once I leave those gates.”
She pushed a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. “But, there’s still plenty of time for you here. And for us…”
“Please don’t make this any harder,” I said, looking into her hazel eyes, which were just as lost as mine. “Everything I have will be nothing but a memory a year from now.”
She was tense. With crossed arms she looked away.
“Let’s not fight. Not tonight,” I asked, and pulled her in closer, letting the tranquility of the quiet city absorb us.
For a moment, I observed my breath as it hit the cold air and turned into fog. I noticed her shaking hands and took off my leather jacket. Carefully I put it over her slender shoulders.
She pressed closer against me for warmth, “You didn’t answer me,” she said. “What were you staring at when I came up? The bell tower?”
“The stars,” I answered, and pointed to the skies. “See the ones that look like a soldier? The three in a row make the belt, the shoulders are above. That is Orion.”
“I know my stars,” she said teasingly.
“My brother taught me to chart the night sky.”
“Elias?” she asked.
I nodded, “The night before his summoning to join the Grey Guard we were sitting right here. He said to me,
‘Whenever you feel alone, Orion will be watching over you. I told him to keep an eye on you.’
” I smiled, knowing how silly it sounded, yet how true it was to me. I could feel his presence, although he was far away. “I was just a little boy at the time, running to his room every morning to see if he was back. I had no idea of what he had to face, nor could I have possibly imagined how long ten years would last.”
“Adam,” Katrina said softly, “The valley… not everyone gets to come back.”
“He will come back,” I hissed. Taking her hand, I dropped my voice, “And so will I, no matter how many of those demons I have to kill.”
An uncomfortable smile crossed her lips. Squeezing my hand tighter, she reached into her pocket. “I got something for you.” Carefully she pulled out a silver chain. A little wooden eagle, with spread wings, hung in the middle of it.
“It’s beautiful. This must have taken you ages to make,” I ran my finger over the fine details, from the beak to the feathers. “I wish eagles were still around.”
“Kings of the skies, and symbol of many nations long gone… I doubt they were ever any more real than dragons,” she said.
“Still…,” I looked at the small eagle in the palm of my hand, “there’s got to be more out there than just cattle. Some creatures that serve a purpose of their own”
“Mhm.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just…,” her voice broke off.
“What?”
“I just wanted to give you something to remember me by when you are out there,” she said softly.
I pulled her closer into my arms. “I could never forget you. You know that.”
She smiled at me with unease, and then looked away. There was an awful quiet. We both must have thought of things that we could not put into words.
The silence was broken when she grabbed my arm and pointed at the bell tower – it was a minute to midnight. The minute hand stood still, just inches from the center of the clock, uncertain to proceed to the next day, as if hoping it could still turn back. Then, it lashed to the right, setting off the bells.
Katrina put her arms around me, pressing her head against my chest. With her touch, a warm feeling of comfort surged into my heart, taunting me, as I knew I would not be able to experience it again a year from this day. I already missed her, even though she was right there with me.
“Happy Birthday, Adam,” she whispered and leaned in, while the loud brass bell struck for the fifth time, announcing the end of the day.