saralando

01-KYMARIS- vigilance



Kymaris was standing in front of him, fierce and stately.
Around them was the Palace’s hall, lit by hundreds of candles and completely hung with tapestries.
He did not know where to start, fearing Kymaris would consider him a fool, when He would ask him to break an egg.
But He had not walked that far just to stand in front of the creature.
He decided to just show her the egg.
Before He could start explaining, Kymaris exclaimed:

“I thooought I’d neever see it again.”

“Have you seen this egg before?” asked He.

“ Of coourse I haad,” said Kymaris, “I waas the keeeper… fooollow mee.”

He followed her through the Palace, until they came to a big silver door that she opened.
The room behind it was filled with light coming from an impluvium and was completely empty, with the exception of a pedestal in the middle.
The floor and the walls were made out of a material similar to the egg’s shell.

“Thiis iis wheere I uused too keeep it,” said Kymaris.
She told him the whole story.

...


It was an honor for Kymaris to be called to the palace to guard the egg.
The egg had great powers: it worked as a lighthouse, lighting up the right path and allowing the king to rule his kingdom in peace and justice.
At that time, in fact, a king ruled Goor, but this was before the Hundred Wars, before the rebellions and the rivers being red with blood.
Those were good times.
Kymaris kept the egg in the palace, guarding it night and day, though it was really unnecessary the egg could only be bought or received as a gift. Stealing it, would make it disappear and reappear in a far away place, past Monti Alti, and the person who found it would be its new owner.
Some of the creatures in Goor thought that this was just a lie made up to prevent thieves from stealing the egg.
Actually no one could tell if the legend was true, because no one ever tried to seize the precious possession before.

One night Kymaris fell asleep. Someone must have drugged his food or worked some kind of magic. Kymaris had never slept before, not even for a second, but this time she just fell asleep on a stack of hay.
The only thing she knew when she woke up was that the egg was gone.
The times following that night were sad and dark.
Deprived of his guide, the king started thinking that his subjects didn’t fear him enough. In reaction, he ordered the public execution of one hundred randomly selected people.
There were lots of valuable men among them, as well as children and women.
It was butchery.
No one ever forgave him for this. People began meeting secretly to plot against the king, who set up a public execution every time he would find out about a rebel faction.
Kymaris never forgave herself, because she thought she was the cause of this all.

“I hooope you will be aable to fiind out hooow to uuse it…” said Kymaris after her tale, “I waas juust the keeper… I caannot heelp you. But maaybe Aghaares could.

Shee’s cleveer… she knoows a looot.”

That said she trotted back into the palace, whose empty rooms echoed with the sound of her hooves.