Sentria: The War for Askeran (Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Impossible Proposal

I got out of bed and looked around at the change of scenery. Eldwyn was still sleeping, in a bed rather than a cot, and the Invar Mountains stood outside the window. I wondered about Princess Ilya was and if she was with us. Perhaps she was left behind in the Village of the Wind, or perhaps she was sent elsewhere and needed rescue. I left the room to look for her and instead found the Gray Woman standing in the main room.

"She's fine," said the Gray Woman. "She's out picking lilies. Have a seat." She gestured to the couch and sat down.

"How did we get here?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"The time has almost come." She looked out of the window and then back at me. "I used the last bit of magic I had. My powers are fading and soon I will do the same, but I have to deliver a message to you...you still will not win this war."

"But we've united the relic tribes," I said. "Their power together—"

"Will not be able to thwart the northern threat, but there is another way."

"What do I have to do?" I asked

"It's not for me to decide, it's for you. You are in charge of your story, High Prince Darren of Sentria. It is you who has to decide what lengths you will go to acquire the power necessary to defeat Cordath."

"I don't know what else I can do." I was exasperated. So much had been accomplished since last we had left. The mountainmen were united and the relic tribes had joined our cause. Not since Askeran's origins had they been so united. What power was left to acquire?

"That is up to you. The power that you're facing is old. Dragons who have been resting for centuries and a burning hatred that has been building for this moment. Look inside your heart, and the answer will be there."

I looked around the room, noticing that the cat was no longer there and neither were the paper cranes. "You're not folding the parchment anymore." I don't know why that stuck out to me, but it did.

"My work here is done. This age of magic is dying and a new world will rise in its place, one that doesn't need the Gray Woman. Someone else in some other world will fold the paper cranes."

"Is there something to be done?"

"No, it is meant to be this way. In order for you to become who you are supposed to, sacrifices must be made and I am one of those sacrifices. But don't look sad, young one. I will always be here in some form. There will always be a woman connected to the truth within stories."

Princess Ilya entered the room holding a basket of lilies and smiling. "Oh, Prince Darren," said she. "I know it seems out of place, but the Gray Woman noticed my admiration of these flowers. They're not supposed to grow at such a height and yet here they are."

I smiled at her.

"Stay and relax." The Gray Woman stood up and went to the kitchen. "You'll need time to understand what must be done and these things shouldn't be rushed. I'll make some tea and biscuits for breakfast."

I went back into the bedroom and waited for Eldwyn to wake up. I didn't want him to be jarred by the change of location, but like always, he acclimated quickly. He was like a chameleon, capable of adapting to whatever space he was in. I told him what the Gray Woman said and asked if he had any ideas and he replied that this was up to me. I had to use my imagination to find the truth. The options were so limited and open at the same time, I didn't know where to begin so I let it slip from my mind as best as I could to let it happen naturally.

We had our breakfast and the house was filled with a buttery aroma and faint notes of spices. Breakfast was delicious and the conversation avoided our topics about our quest. We talked about books and the mountains and shared laughs as if nothing was the matter, as if there wasn't a war coming in any day. There were still trials ahead, but for now, we could exhale and collect ourselves in good company.

I went out back behind the house and petted the two horses who were happy to see me again. The Gray Woman was showing Princess Ilya her book collection, Eldwyn was meditating on a nearby mound, and I practiced my sword attacks on a large stone. I pretended like it was a real enemy and circled it, waiting to strike at just the right moment, and changing up my attack depending on the imagined retaliation. The sounds of the steel hitting stone echoed throughout the Invar Mountains and when I tired myself out, I sat down against the rock and watched Eldwyn in the light of the midday. His eyes were closed and his legs were crossed. I wondered what truths reached out to him on this mountain. What messages from the past, future, or other lives spoke to him in this state. He was the most wondrous boy I had ever come to know.

The horses were playing, frolicking around the grassy area and neighing back and forth, and then it struck me. I knew my answer.

As the sun set, the Gray Woman prepared supper and we ate at her roundtable. Princess Ilya was positively glowing from the literature she had encountered and she was excited to tell us.

"Her collection is like nothing I have ever seen," she said, too excited to eat her salad. "The books on Cairon especially. I only understand a little bit of the language, but from what the Gray Woman told me, their culture is exquisite. They live more primitively, but they live life by a strict code. Those in power have fought to get there, and reigns shift frequently. Oh! And their fictions are something of another nature. They speak of places beyond the sky, other worlds with other creatures, and claim that they've been in contact with them. Whirlpools in the sky and beings who can transcend time. Askeran's novels all seem so based on our reality."

"That's fascinating," I sad, smiling.

"It's true," said the Gray Woman. "People in Cairon have very open minds. They don't concern themselves with their origins as much as they concern themselves with their souls and the future. They're a continent that believes in redemption and becoming better as a society."

"And Eldwyn," said Princess Ilya. "What have you learned on this day."

"O!" said Eldwyn, "The winds had much to say today. All isn't well in Askeran, but there's still hope to be found. It kept saying that we needed to look deep within ourselves to know the truth and to always believe in the impossible, even more than the possible."

"That's a beautiful sentiment," said Princess Ilya. "Prince Darren. What of you? Have you come to any decision about our next course of action?"

"I have made a decision," I said to them. "I realize now what must be done. The Gray Woman has told me in so many words that it's not about what the path looks like, it's about where I choose to go and what I believe. I can't make a decision based on rational thinking, I have to reach out into the unknown and retrieve my own blessing. I have to fulfill my own wants and only then can Askeran be saved...and it's for that reason that we will be resurrecting Prince Lucas of Stargon."