The silence is sung

During the advent of time,

Then comes nothingness.

Tomorrow, unknown bard.

Nay got back up, her knees were trembling.

“You knew.”

She could feel the wise man’s Rreico. Just like their first encounter, what she perceived was indescribable. She could not even distinguish male or female, she only saw peace and infinity in knowledge.

Knowledge of what had happened. Of what was going to happen.

“I’m going to kill you.” Nay warned.

The threat made the old man smile.

“Yes, but not right now.”

Nay did not listen to him, she gripped her sword’s handle, and unsheathed it while putting pressure on her scabbard.

Her blade screeched out of its sheath at unbelievable speed.

With not even a tremor in his Rreico, he stepped backwards, and with a finger, accompanied the sword going straight towards his right arm. With his index, he pushed upon the metal. Nay was pushed with it, overtaken by her own strength. Her deflected sword plunged inside the ground.

Not stopping to think about what had just happened, she let go of her sword stuck inside the ground, unsheathed her dagger, and attacked again.

Once again, with no change in his Rreico, without giving anything away to Nay, he dodged her attack. At the same time, he hit the flat surface of her dagger with the palm of his hand.

Her dagger broke cleanly.

Unarmed, Nay threw away the remnants of her weapon to the ground and punched Vestigio in the face.

“False God.” Announced two-hundred voices.

This time, he did not dodge. His eyes grew wide out of surprise, and he stood perfectly still, taking the hit straight on his cheek.

He took two steps back while grunting in pain, then stood back straight to face her.

“How utterly terrifying.” He calmly said while looking at the nothingness behind Nay.

She was on the verge of hitting him again when she suddenly stopped.

He was not moving anymore, clearly announcing his intent of not defending himself anymore.

“You believe I’m unable to kill you bare-handed? You think I’ll have pity on an old man that lets cities burn, and kids hang?”

Sage Jormun shook his head.

“You are more than capable of killing Nay. And you could have done so by mistake with your blades.”

Nay gave out a sarcastic laugh.

“By mistake!?”

“You were aiming for my arm and my side. Why not my neck or my belly?”

Nay stayed silent at his retort.

She wanted to kill this man.

Did she?

Still, what he was saying was correct.

“You’ll only kill as a last resort. If there are no alternatives. I’m just an old man defending himself. Marke has taught you too well. The seed of peace inside you is already much too close to becoming a flower. What’s more, with the maelstrom your Rreico currently is, you cannot beat me. Not on your own at least, but you cannot see them, can you?”

That last sentence disturbed Nay, but she decided to just ignore it. What he said before was…true. If she wanted to beat the Master Legio, she could not let herself be dominated by anger.

That realisation brought some more.

“How did you break my dagger bare-handed? How did you manage to parry my sword with just a finger? Who are you? Why, why with all those powers did you not save Carle!?”

The Sage stayed silent for a short moment, lost in thoughts.

“Three things I need to say to you, Nay. I can answer some of your questions as well, though. Not all, I have not enough time for that. Still, I have enough for us to sit in front of the oasis. After your punch, I find it quite hard to stand on my feet.”

He turned around, showing his back to Nay, and walked towards the small lake.

The young Legio lowered her head. Her anger was receding, and so her tears were coming back. She took her sword, wiped the earth on it with the crease of her elbow, and sheathed it back.

She sniffed loudly, looked back up, and followed the Sage to the oasis.

The night had fallen. The starry sky was reflected in the pool of dark.

Sage Jormun was sitting down on the sand of this miniature coastline and looking towards the infinite black above them.

Nay did not sit, standing a few feet away from him.

“Your dagger suffered a lot in the past, and I used a weakness in the metal to break it. Sorry, I had not many ways at my disposal to disarm a Master Legio.”

Nay shook her head in denial. “How, by the devil, could you know this?”

“Because you do. The event that weakened your weapon is written in your eyes, in your Rreico.”

Nay saw her dagger pierce the stone, hundreds of feet above the surface, under the heaviest of rains.

“Rreico doesn’t give you that knowledge. Your story is of the realms of gods, not men.”

Sage Jormun started laughing.

“But the gods you talk about are human.”

Nay sneered.

“You have lost it.”

“No, I am Jormun.”

“You are delusional.”

But Nay was hesitating as she said this. The words he had offered were too strong to not be taken seriously.

“This is impossible.” She continued.

Jormun turned around to meet her gaze.

“You have met the ghost of Vanni yourself. Do you genuinely believe she is a goddess? Have you seen justice in her actions?”

Nay stopped talking. He continued.

“Gods are mages, most of them at least. Worshipped for their actions, their powers, they have marked history. After the war of the Firantes, most of our stories, traditions, culture, were lost. To fill this void, some were raised to the status of gods. Look at Carradinoris. They do not believe in the same gods we do, while we were part of the same people a hundred and fifty years ago!”

“But you cannot be Jormun. Even if what you say is true, it would mean you lived a hundred and fifty years ago!”

The old man smiled.

“Oh, I died way before that. Mages usually live longer than non-magic users, but not more than a century or two. Vestigio simply discovered my wandering spirit and accepted me inside himself.”

“You are…dead?”

“Not anymore, really, as Vestigio’s gift was a true resurrection. He shared his life, and in exchange, I offered my wisdom and my power over the Rreico. He used it twice to save his friends. But all, even the greatest of mages, must ultimately kneel in front of time. All.”

Nay looked towards the house. She sat down.

Vestigio turned around to completely face the young Legio.

“Usually, you would ask a question, and I would offer a Truth in exchange. But…after more than four centuries of Truths… I must apologize Nay. Carle…his Rreico was one of someone that cannot be saved. I still tried… because all my life I fought against tragedy. We talked, I tried to show him another way. But he wanted a Truth, and I gave it to him. I am no god, no matter what the Tellers believe. I fail, I am corrupted by power like all the others. Old age weighs heavily on me…Ha! I am simply trying to find excuses for myself.”

“Carle could have been saved! Your words are what killed him!”

“Yes, just as much as the fact that you left while he desperately needed a friend to stay with him.”

Nay jumped back on her feet and grabbed him by his robe. She lifted the old man in the air with the strength of one arm.

“You dare…”

“I am simply stating facts, Nay. But while we both may be partially responsible, the one that made the worst mistake is undeniably Carle. He refused to believe in the most important person in his life.”

Nay shook the man like a twig.

“You told him that exact person would never believe him! You are the one who…”

He did not seem to be bothered much by his body being treated like a leaf in the storm, his expression stayed the same, overcome by sadness.

“But Nay, that person, it was Carle himself. He only needed to believe in himself to prove me wrong.”

The young Legio let go of the sage, her body starting to tremble.

“No.”

She dropped on her knees. Her tears coming back once more, this time she was unable to stop them.

“Carle…” She cried.

The old man put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” She said weakly. She raised her head, to see that the old man was crying as well.

“I am sorry, Nay.”

Nay sobbed, on her knees in front of the large mirror of water showing the specks of lights in the sky. After a few minutes, the old man talked again.

“Three things I need to say to you, Nay.”

There was no wind in the oasis.

“Trinne is alive.”

The young woman looked at him. “You cannot know that.”

“I can. It is the second thing I need to tell you. Another of my many mistakes. I always believed I was the only one able to understand the Rreico completely. My first attempts to teach it were resounding failures. I stopped trying a long time ago, only teaching the basics anymore. Then, the last one I taught proved I was wrong from the beginning.”

“Dad?”

The old man nodded.

“Yes, your father. He managed to touch the Rreico of life, of everything. The one I can see naturally because of my power. He had none, he was no mage. Still, he reached it on his own. I always thought it was impossible, but that night, I felt it.”

“The night he…?”

“Yes. Beyond the western plains, beyond the desert, I felt someone join me in the rhythm. Marke had managed the impossible. For you.”

Nay kneeled in front of the Sage. He sat down as well.

“He cannot teach you what he found, but in a way, I can.”

Nay swiped the water in her eyes. She would finally receive what she came for.

The price had been too high.

“The first thing you need to know is that Truth Tellers and Legios use the same energy. The same rhythm. They simply do not use it to look at the same thing. You should be able to feel it sometimes. Rreico is only supposed to show you someone else’s intent, but even then, you can see much more. If it’s a man, a child, a soldier, a human being or an insect. Intent is only part of what the Rreico is.”

Nay nodded. “Marke told me the same thing. Everything alive has a Rreico. My mother baking bread, a bird making its nest…

“Tellers don’t look at that, they look at the world’s Rreico.”

“The world’s?”

“The Legios look at the individual, the specific, while the tellers look at the general, the whole.”

Nay stayed silent for a moment.

“I don’t understand. What is the Rreico, then?”

“The soul of things, I suppose, would be a good translation. But it would still be imprecise. The soul is seen as something from the inside, while the Rreico is also the links of the past, the present and the future between all those souls. The Legio would see the souls, while the Tellers would see the links.”

“So, if you can see both…”

“No. Being able to see both would only make you a Teller and a Legio. With this vision of the Rreico, a lot would be revealed to you about someone, but at the same time, you would barely see anything. You’d be able to look at his past and future, you’d be able to catch his intentions and foresee his actions. That’s all. In no way would such a trick make you able to reach Redrick Darkstar.”

The old man stopped talking for a while, gazing upon the stars.

“If there is a Rreico for what’s inside, and one for what’s outside, there is also a third. One I can see since I am a teenager, since the birth of my powers.”

He met her gaze.

“Nay, you know the rules of magic, right?”

She shook her head no.

“Magic is energy, one very close to Rreico. A Legio is able to see it. You can see it on me. It is an aura exuding from my body.”

Nay nodded.

“It is a terrifying power, and lets you, if you train, control the elements, move objects with your mind, or create inextinguishable water sources for example…but all mages, if they have the energy and the training, can do that. Another part of their power is passive. It expresses itself differently for each mage. The more powerful the mage is, the more powerful this passive ability is as well. But, and its true for all mages, this part of their power is almost impossible to control, as it expresses itself through feelings. You have experienced this personally.”

“I…no…I don’t think I…”

“Your shadows.”

Nay shut up. A memory was brought back to the surface.

Shadows talking to the assassin.

The hundreds of voices a few minutes ago.

Her body trembled.

Those shadows were…

“I saw them tonight, when you attacked me.”

“What?”

“There are more than two hundred now. They will continue to grow in number as well until all of them become yours.”

Nay shook her head.

“No, no. My dreams. They were only thirteen of them. And on the plateau as well, they were not so many.”

“You are becoming an adult; your powers are growing free. Your passive magic is not a bad thing, as it always listens to you, one way or another. The more you learn about yourself, the more the shadows will listen to you. But they will never obey you. Usually, this kind of power never appears during childhood, or in some very weak form, for the most powerful of mages. Even me, my power to see the Rreico only appeared when I was fourteen, and I am now considered a God.” He smiled sadly as he said that.

“But, me…”

“I know. I saw. Through the Rreico of everything. The third Rreico. The one that lets me see way too much. If I don’t shut down my sense of it, I could lose myself forever in it. It is horrifying and magnificent. It lets you know about the history of a weapon just by peering into the eyes of its wielder. It lets you see the last day of a new-born. It is a power of knowledge. Still, it doesn’t make you all-knowing. It doesn’t make you perfect. It doesn’t make you able to understand. With this power, Marke could see every single technique his friend had. He could learn from every single duel he had ever been in. He could relive every swing of his sword. And still, the only solution he found to save you, was to sacrifice himself.”

Nay clenched her hands in the sand.

“His Rreico…”

“Yes, you sensed his Rreico that day, didn’t you? You saw the Rreico of everything.”

“You cannot teach me something like this.” Nay was certain of it.

“No, teaching this is impossible. But guiding you? For someone to reach it? You have witnessed it. You have witnessed it in him and in me. You have seen the way. Now you just need to walk on it.”

“I don’t have time for this. If this Rreico lets you know that Trinne is still alive, then I need to…”

The old man smiled.

“Nay, do you believe in her?”

“Of course, but the Angel…”

“The Angel is from somewhere else. But it has a Rreico, like everything that is alive. The rules it follows are the same as ours. And it failed to find Trinne. It is wasting time trying to find those that hid, and in the meantime, Trinne is planning.”

Nay felt like she could finally breathe again.

She smiled for what seemed to be the first in a long time.

“The Angel should be the one to be afraid.”

“Yes. You cannot join her. I do not know if her plan will work or not, if she will survive, but I do know you joining her will not help her.”

“You do not know!?”

“As I said, Rreico of everything does not give you the ability to be all-knowing. Truths are more wrong than it seems because you need to understand beings like humans to know for sure what they will do. And I don’t even understand my own companions perfectly, even though we share the same body! Nonetheless, you going there won’t help her. Just like you, she needs to grow. She needs to learn too.”

“What am I supposed to do, then!?”

The old man shrugged.

“How should I know? I’m not you.”

His answer left her speechless.

But the simplicity of the Sage left to be replaced with something much somber.

“Nay, I need to tell you a third, last thing. After that, I will ask of you something that should never be asked of anybody, but that only you can give.”

Nay saw something new in his Rreico, something solemn.

“In the past, you were called End. But that wasn’t your name, was it?”

“I believe so. They always said Nay, when they were talking to me, so I always thought that was my name. But when they talked about me, they used End.”

“By they, you mean the last of the Leïns.”

“Yes.”

“Vestigio was young during the war of the Firantes. He fought alongside the imperatrix and the conqueror against them.”

“You lived during….”

“Yes. It was another time. I know you shall meet the imperatrix and meet her in the capital. This is where your other questions will be answered. But I am out of time. What I need to do…You have forgotten, or maybe no-one told you, but Nay, you are not a Leïn.”

He talked in a hurry, his voice weakening.

“What? No, I’m not human, I am a Leïn.” Declared the young Legio.

“That name is used to describe those saved by Lebe. It is not you. Just as you are no Firante, the invention we created to justify our actions. And human? Leïns are human, even after Lebe’s intervention.”

“The Leïns are…what about me?”

“You…no, I do not believe you can be called that.”

The young woman gasped.

“But…”

“Listen to me well. We lost the war.” His eyes were dark, his expression terrifying.

“What?”

“The Firantes, because that is what the Leïns finally became in the end, used a spell. A spell that would suck the Rreico out of everyone dying during battles.”

“What!?” Nay repeated, more and more lost.

“Magic is close, no, a kind of Rreico, or at least an energy resembling it. The Firantes, instead of using the magic of those lucky enough to have it, were using the Rreico of living things. Firante magic.”

Nay shook her head, she could not believe that.

“But…to suck out the Rreico means…”

“Oblivion. You grew with them, you believe them unable to do such a thing?”

Nay remembered her wolf cub. The Byrn baby she had saved, her only friend in the group of bloody women. They had killed…no…sacrificed it.

She felt sick, but nothing could come out of her stomach anymore.

Remove the Rreico. No-one could understand what that meant except a Legio. There was nothing more vile, nothing more atrocious than this.

If someone’s Rreico was used, it was life itself that would have been used. There would be no beyond, no calm hell of Trayx. It would be absolute darkness. An abyss so deep you could not even imagine its colour.

“They cast the spell. A spell I understood much too late. And even when I realized the Truth, I could do nothing. Because the only way would have been to stop the war, and the wave of violence was unstoppable.”

“The people who died during the war…?”

“Yes. Every body. Every Rreico. Sucked. Transformed. Until all the Firantes that cast the spell were killed.”

“Why? A weapon?”

“A bomb. Because Rreico is a type of energy. More vibrant than all the others. Powerful mages have to exile themselves to die, as the power retakes a chaotic form during this moment.”

Nay thought about it. If the Sage was telling the truth, and she hadn’t felt a lie once, then…

“By Lebe.”

Nay understood.

The Firantes had created a bomb. A bomb fuelled by the death of millions during the war.

“Yes, it killed her.” He answered.

“What?”

“Lebe. When she learned of what her kind had done…She just let herself die.”

“Lebe was…”

The old man raised his hand to interrupt her. He groaned doing it. In truth, his whole body seemed to sink deeper and deeper into the sand.

“I have no time left. I simply need to tell you. Nay, this bomb…”

She felt the Rreico. She shook her head in denial before he could finish his sentence.

“…this bomb is you.”

“No…” She whispered.

The old man was having a hard time catching his breath.

“I am sorry, Nay. But they used a baby to store all the Rreicos. A living being can handle the energy indefinitely and can handle any quantity of it until he or she dies. It transformed you, made you…not human anymore. You were a mere object. You only needed to be ‘killed’ to explode and destroy everything.”

“But I’m sixteen years old, look at me, I…”

“A strong mage lives longer, and you…Nay, no mage or Legio can ignore your power. You see mine crawling above my skin? I can see yours as well. It is everywhere. It can be seen from miles away. I could see you come closer to the desert just by looking at the horizon!”

“But I…I have no memories. I remember the Canyon, but my parents, my Firante parents, they always have been there. They should have been old, no matter what!”

“I do not know. I believe you woke up, you became a living being again much later. During the war, the Firantes realised you were much too powerful, and that killing you wouldn’t just destroy their enemies, but themselves as well. Some wanted to use you anyway, and others opposed this decision. The imperatrix, with the conquerors and my help, arrived at that moment. She used the internal troubles of the Firantes and the strategies out of the conqueror’s books to vanquish them. But it was in vain, we had lost. Because we could not find you. A group of Firantes took you away and hid in the Unbroken Ones. I waited a long time for the Firantes to use you, to just end things out of spite or any other reason. But that moment never came. When I felt you arrive, when I saw the pillar that touches the star come closer…I finally believed it had come. Our time was over. But no. Marke took you under his wing. You weren’t a weapon anymore. You had become a pacific, loving young woman.”

Nay didn’t listen to him anymore.

“So I am a monster. I am the End. When I die, everyone will die.”

“You have been created to be an abomination, but this is not you. You’ll be the one ineluctably ending our world. But in no case has this end to be now, in a close or even far future. With your powers, you could live a long, long time.”

“But not eternally.”

“No, time is absolute.”

Nay stayed silent.

“I should just spend the rest of my life hidden in a cave, hidden from everything. Sleep there forever.”

“You would starve to death. And even with food and water, there will be an earthquake at some point and you’ll die buried under the rocks.”

“WHAT SHOULD I DO THEN!” Shouted Nay as she stood up.

The Sage Jormun smiled. “I answered this already. I have no idea. This is your road to walk on.”

“But…but…”

“If you want my opinion, I believe the path you’ve taken is worth continuing. You should live, take risks. End comes for us all Nay. You are in no way changing this rule. Nonetheless, the reason why I revealed this to you was not to punish you or to torment you. There is something you need to know.”

Nay laughed weakly. “Well? What else? Go on!” She said.

“Your power is never to be used.”

“But, what about the shadows?”

“The shadows are something inside of you, anchored. Its what this power giver you passively.” He stopped to breathe. It seemed that the simple usage of his lungs was carrying too much a strain for him. “I think this particular expression of your power comes from all the Rreicos that have been put inside you, and that are trying to take back a form of life through you. There is nothing you, or anyone, can do about it. In a way, isn’t it poetic? Life, even stripped away in the most horrible of fashion, always finds a path. But using magic demands training, sorcery, catalysts, or enchantments. This is what you must never try. Neither to vanquish the Angels or for any other reason.”

“Why?”

His voice was ragged, every word a suffering, and still, he carried on with his story.

“Because if you create a flame, your power will turn it into a volcano. If you create a gust of wind, cities will fly. No human can control what you have. Even if you could, power corrupts. Power gives you the arrogance to believe you can save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. It makes you believe you are all-powerful. If there is a God, he gave us our freedom. Freedom to choose between right and wrong. Because even he himself cannot use his power without repercussions.” His eyes became hazy and grey. Nay felt his incredible Rreico falter. “I need you to promise me that, Nay. Live. Be happy, live until the stars fade. Never use your power. I lived four centuries, and everything I learned only showed me how ignorant I really was. But like everything else, time takes its toll. And I feel my mind slip. Promise me, Nay.”

“I have no desire to destroy the world. I can promise you I will never use my power. But even though being happy is something I very much wish; I cannot promise you that. But I shall live. For Joanna. For Marke. I’ll never understand why they died instead of me, but I shall never let it be in vain.”

The old man had a large smile.

“Yes. Very good. I see that Marke…he left a part of his Rreico inside you. Beauty of death…I need to ask you something, Nay.”

She looked at him, doubts in her eyes.

“I do not know if I can. Why? What you told me…you did not help me. You hid many things, many very important things. I have nothing left. I don’t even know myself anymore, what I am.”

“You may not be a human being, Nay, but you are human. You are Nay. Daughter of Marke and Ra’fa. Sister of Lisana. Heart of Trinne. You are not defined by what you are, but by who you meet and what you want to become. I…” The old man seemed to have no more air. “I am out of time. I need…I need…Once again Nay, sorry but…I would like you to kill me.”

“What!?”

“The Rreico…what we did, Vestigio and I, it makes our death…only partial. Complicated, I am sorry, can’t explain…The power keeps me alive, but my mind is slipping. Vestigio, Magdalena and Gera, they are not really there anymore. Their Rreico is stuck inside this body, with no way for it to escape. Prison of flesh. You…Nay, you can free us. Your power protects you. No magic can stop you.”

“But…it would kill me! If what you told me is true, you will explode, no!?”

“Explode…quite macabre, don’t you think…magic cannot harm you. That is why it can only be you. Whoever else would do it would die trying.”

Nay could not listen to him anymore. “You cannot ask me this! Why!? Why me!? You deserve no help from me! You deserve to stay inside this flesh prison for your sins!”

“Yes…maybe…not the others…I am sorry Nay...I know you will…I would have so much liked to meet you before…with my son…he…us…”

The old man’s head lowered. His body stayed, without moving. He was breathing still, but Nay could hear the Rreico. The Rreicos. Moving inside like bats stuck inside a house, windows closed.

“BIACH!” She swore. “BIACH, BIACH, BIACH, BIACH!!! This is unfair! I don’t need this! I need to bury Carle. I have to look for Lisana and Ra’fa, tell them about dad. I promised him I would not kill! No! I shall not do it!”

Nay walked towards the house, then turned around back to Vestigio’s body, her hand on her sword. She turned around again. And again. And again.

She thought her eyes were empty of tears, but still, they fell.

“What should I do? Ha!? What should I do!”

She shouted and shouted, but no one answered her plea.

She fell on her knees, punched the sand with her fists.

“This is unfair! Unfair!”

There was no sound in the oasis except her own.

“Are you giving up, runt?”

She rose, furious.

“OF COURSE NOT!”

She walked towards her tent. She packed, carried the little she had left beyond the dune.

She left it there.

Then turned back to the oasis.

She entered the house, took the letter on the table then unhanged Carle’s body. It fell in her arms. Pushed by something beyond her, she caried him next to the old man, and decided to bury her friend in the sand, just there.

She didn’t know why. She wasn’t sure how she was still standing.

She thought for a moment about what she could say, but a weird feeling stopped her. He too, had left parts of his Rreico in her. She knew. She could always say goodbye, wherever she stood.

She cried her sorrow to the stars.

The sun rose when she faced Vestigio.

He had not moved. His breath had stopped, but his body was unfazed, in some sort of half-life state. The Rreicos were still buzzing inside. She could feel them, feel the growing horror of them being stuck there.

Nay unsheathed her sword.

The birthing light of red and yellow was reflected on her blade.

She rose her weapon.

And repeated a strike she had done ten thousand times.

The world became white.

She blinked. The old man had vanished. Water was bursting inside the massive hole that had taken the place of the Master Legio. The forest around had been flattened by the explosion, Vestigio’s house was in ruins.

Nay was standing straight, everything that had been behind her had been spared by the explosion. Sand under her feet was crumbling to fall in the crater.

She stepped back. Her feet touched a smooth surface.

Glass.

She was walking on glass.

Uneven, quite deadly if she had been barefooted, she was only interested in the phenomenon for a short second.

She was looking at Carle.

He seemed peaceful, sleeping under a layer of crystal glass.

“Maybe gods don’t exist, but miracles do.” Nay said in a whisper.

And she smiled.