Kavren opened his eyes. There was a terrible pain in his body. He could barely sit up
from the bed where someone had laid him. His head was spinning. He paused for a
while. "Where am I, what happened to me?" he thought. "I've obviously been here for
a while," he said. Before he could even realize where he was, one of the twins came
to Kavren. "Finally. Thank God you're awake. Don't tire yourself too much though. I'll
tell Queen you've recovered. She'll want to see you."
When he had finished, he left Kavren's side, very happy. Kavren understood nothing.
Where was he, how long had he been like this, who was Queen? He stood up. A
little further on he saw a container of water. He barely reached it and bent down. He
splashed some on his face and drank some. Then he paused for a moment. "I seem
to remember," he whispered, staring into space. It was Ralthir who brought him out of
his reverie as his refreshed memory brought it back to him. He walked in and called
out to Kavren;
Ralthir: You're really awake. It's a miracle.
Kavren: Where am I?
Ralthir: Don't worry. We are in a safe place. It seems that even in the desert there are
still survivors.
Kavren was still in pain. And his memory was only just coming back. Still, Elyon was
the first person he thought of.
Kavren: Is Elyon okay?
Ralthir: Don't worry, he's fine. The whole clan is fine.
Ralthir leaned over to Kavren, who was crouching beside the water, and put his hand
on his shoulder.
Ralthir: You did it, Kavren. You saved us all.
Kavren: Rescue?
Ralthir with an expression of slight surprise and a smile;
Ralthir: Don't you remember? How could you forget that you took down that gigantic
creature all by yourself?
The pieces in Kavren's head were slowly starting to fall into place. The appearance of
the chord and fighting it. Slowly he began to remember.
Ralthir: We all thought you were dead.
Kavren: So how did I get here?
Ralthir : it's better if Queen tells you about it. She wanted to meet you anyway. Come
on, I'll take you to her. And the rest of the clan will be happy to see you alive. You are
their hero.
Ralthir took Kavren's arm and helped him up before he had a chance to answer him.
Then they both made their way out of the tent with slow steps. Almost half of
Kavren's body was bandaged, and when he stood up, he felt the pain of all the
wounds and stitches all the stronger. He was limping as he walked.
When they came out, there was a crowd of people who were also standing and busy
with other things. The caravan was a little relieved after all that had happened and
after so long in the desert. When they realized that it was Kavren who had come out
of the tent, there was silence in the huge crowd. They were all fixated on Kavren. A
few silent seconds of puzzled stares gave way to applause and shouts.
Kavren was soon surrounded by a huge crowd. He had gained the trust of those who
didn't respect him, even those who hated him. As Ralthir tried to clear the way,
Kavren had left his arms and was walking alone. Ralthir rejoined Kavren, who was
walking carelessly through the crowd, and escorted him to the Queen's tent. They
continued to chat along the way.
Kavren: there are many foreigners in this crowd.
Ralthir: They are nomads who live here. Some time after you fought Akor and won, a
few people from the caravan told me that they had come from afar. That's how we
met Queen and his nomads. They have managed to survive in the desert, constantly
moving between the few safe zones. It's all rocky here, so the chords can't find us.
They're descendants of people who fled to the desert after the fall. We were
exhausted and you were in a very bad situation. When I told him about the battle
with the Akor, Queen was touched and offered to help. I had no choice but to accept.
Your grasp: You did the right thing. What's the status of the caravan? What are our
losses?
Ralthir: zero, except for those who ran away in that chaos. It's a miracle really.
Kavren: How long have I been dead?
Ralthir: It's been a week. We really thought he was dead.
Kavren: Where is Elyon?
Ralthir: you really care about that boy, don't you? Kavren...
Ralthir: Last time I saw him, he was with Torm.
After walking for a while they finally reached the Queen`s tent. When they entered,
there was a thin, tall woman with long black hair and black eyes, with a very muscular
physique for an average woman, looking at a map at a table. She had several scars
on her face and arms, which Kavren could easily recognize as battle scars.
Queen: So that's you.
He left his desk, came over to Kavren and held out his hand.
Queen: My name is Luna, but everyone calls me Queen. They said you were the
leader of this clan.
Kavren: I prefer Luna. I'm Kavren. Nice to meet you.
Luna is momentarily stunned, but continues without compromising her tough
personality;
Luna: Normally we'd be more interested in looting you than taking you with us, but
I've never heard of a warrior who can take down a whole chord by himself.
Kavren: I understand that you are very familiar with the war.
Luna: Well, there's not much of a choice in this land. I would actually prefer to talk to
you two leaders alone.
Ralthir is stunned when he is suddenly under their gaze;
Ralthir: Okay, all right. I'll leave you two alone.
Without leaving, he puts his hand on Kavren's shoulder and whispers in his ear, "I'll
be right outside." He then leaves the tent. After Ralthir leaves the tent, Luna gestures
for Kavren to sit down and they sit opposite each other.
Luna: You have an interesting team, I'll give you that. I had the chance to meet you
when you were in your sickbed.
Kavren: Yes, I noticed.
Luna: Normally there are no people in the desert.
Kavren: How many people are left anyway?
Luna: Probably more than I thought and more than you think. Humanity is no more
than a pest rat in this realm. In the nooks and crannies, they are barely fighting
death.
Kavren: So people are coming to the desert. Since you know about this.
Luna: A few lost people very rarely end up in the desert. They usually end up as bait.
And the ones who don't, they come to us. Their fate is not much different in the end.
Your grip: What do you mean?
Luna: A few of them tried to steal from us, tried to kill us. So we used them as bait to
catch chords.
Kavren: I understand you like to play your cards close to the vest.
Luna: Calm down. I'm not going to do something like this to you. Normally, killing a
chord requires great sacrifices and a lot of people can die, but if you succeed, you
have supplies for months. That's why we don't try to hunt chords. And we say to
those who try. Think of it as an exchange. You give us food, we give you shelter and
treatment for a while. And because you bring them food, you have earned not only
the trust of your caravan, but the respect of my nomads. So he won't kill you. At least
as long as you don't make a big mistake.
Kavren had responded to everything Luna had told him with an expressionlessness
and silence, with a perfect lack of reaction.
Luna: Don't ever try to fight a chord again. At least don't do it alone. I won't say this
out loud because I don't want to ruin your image as a strong leader, but you were
almost dead when we found you.
Kavren
Luna: All right, Madman. What are you and your clan doing in the desert.
Kavren: There's fertile land to the north. We are trying to get there.
Luna: This is the first time I've heard of it.
Kavren stood up and asked Ralthir, who was waiting outside, to bring his bag. After a
short while he brought it to Kavren. Kavren sat down next to Luna again and took the
Tenebris out of the bag. He opened the section on the lands to the north and showed
it to Luna. Luna could not hide her surprise at the book.
Luna: I...I...this...where did you get this?
Kavren: It belonged to my father.
Luna: I've seen this before.
Kavren's expression changed for the first time during the conversation. His eyes
widened and his ears perked up.
Grasp: How? When did you see it.
Luna: I was a little girl then, but I will never forget something I saw for the first and
last time in my life. That's for sure. At that time my father was leading the migrants.
One day we came across a man who had fallen into the desert. He was exhausted
and dying. My father helped that man. He was holding this thing. I witnessed them
talking about it all night long.
There was a brief silence.
Luna: So he was your father.
Kavren: ...
Luna: I remember that my father helped him a lot, and if my memory serves me right,
he was going north too.
Your grip: Your memory is too good.
Luna: As I said, other people rarely come to the desert. It's not easy to forget
someone holding something like this.
Kavren: That "thing" has a name. It is called a book. This one is called Tenebris.
For a moment Kavren had forgotten that he was carrying one of the last remaining
books. He felt like a fool for giving the tenebra to Luna. He took it back from her
without saying anything. For a moment he didn't know what to do when Kavren pulled
the Tenebrae out of her hand, as Luna was absorbed in staring meaninglessly at the
writing.
Luna: So what does it do?
Kavren: It is used to prevent the loss of information. My father traveled all over the
realm and wrote down what he saw. He even mentioned you.
Luna: How did he mention it?
Kavren: He told her about your benevolence and that you saved her life.
Luna: I understand.
Kavren: My father talks about a region in the north in this book. We were trying to get
there. We are not the only ones. Before the fall, some of the people were evacuated
to the south of the desert. We lived there for many years, but now there is hunger
and famine. Cannibalism has started.
Luna: So it's not just food you're looking for. You are also looking for new seeds and
water.
Kavren: Yeah, but I see we're overcrowded. I think if we hunt for a few chords we
might not need them. You said it lasted for months, right?
Luna can't stand this unexpected sentence and bursts out laughing. Kavren's
expression becomes dull again, but Luna's laughter continues for a few more
seconds. Then she catches her breath and turns to Kavren;
Luna: I said you've earned the respect of the immigrants, not that they'll die for you. I
can make them obey me in everything, but I can't send them to die for people they've
never met. It is a great risk to hunt even one chord, but it is impossible for us to hunt
several for you.
Kavren: I see.
Luna: I can still let you stay here for another day or two. At least until your caravan is
ready. And we'll give you some provisions.
Kavren: Thank you.
Luna: But tonight, while their leaders are up and about, we can have a nice feast.
And we've got booze.
Kavren: Don't call me leader or anything like that. I like it.
Luna: For your clan, you are. If you're going to keep going north, you'd better
embrace that role. Advice from one leader to another.
----------------------
As darkness fell and the light of the moon dominated the night, the caravan and the
nomads gathered around a huge fire, eating and singing songs in the freezing cold.
For the first time in a long time, the people in the caravan felt happy. Later that night,
some of them were drunk, some were passed out in a corner, and some were having
pleasant conversations. Kavren, on the other hand, had climbed to the top of the cliffs
and gazed out at the horizon and the people below. Until he noticed someone
approaching from behind. But he continued to watch the horizon without reacting.
Luna: He's really right. That big guy said he might be here.
Kavren: You mean Torm?
Luna: Yes, that's him. I forgot his name.
He came up to Kavren and sat down.
Kavren: I don't like crowds. Why did you come here.
Luna: It's not right for leaders to be constantly circulating among those they lead.
Most of the time it is better to keep a distance between you. If you blend in too much,
you become one of them, and that diminishes your power.
Kavren: ...
Luna: I talked to most of the people in your caravan.
Kavren About.
Luna: About your journey, about where you came from, about you.
They were both looking at the horizon. They were talking without looking at each
other.
Kavren: If you wanted to know something, you could have asked me.
Luna: Would you really give a real answer?
Kavren: I would tell you what you need to know.
Luna: So you were going to decide what I should know and what I shouldn't know.
Kavren: Why do you need knowledge?
Luna: Human beings don't only need knowledge for their purposes. Sometimes he is
just curious. Isn't that the purpose of a book. Why did your father make a book if he
wasn't curious?
Kavren: Why don't we hear it from his own mouth.
Kavren took out the Tenebris from his bag. He opened some of the passages he had
read earlier and made notes and began to read;
"God knows I barely survived. I don't even know how long I was there. I could swear
the trees had eyes. They were looking at me and reaching out. as if inviting me into
an eternity of nightmares. I could swear I saw my wife. My wife and my son. God, I
miss them so much. And then I think I fell asleep. I had another nightmare and
another nightmare and another nightmare. I saw people dying. I saw people dying in
my hands. I saw blood filling the rivers and overflowing into the seas, I saw the
stench of corpses rising from the cities and rotting the crops growing in the farthest
fields, I saw the rains seeping into the soil from the piles of bones around. I was close
to stopping. Then I saw a fire burning inside me, I felt it burn through my whole body,
it was so real. I remember standing there wanting to die, and the last thing I
remember was running. And here I am now. I found myself lying on a plain, sweating
blood. The first moment I opened my eyes, the sky was like heaven for me. When I
came to, I sat up and started writing these sentences. I'm not sure what I
experienced, but I'm going to push my memory and write down what I learned. I
remember leaving the desert. As I continued walking north, I came across a forest. It
was extremely dark inside the forest, but the reasonable distance between the trees
gave an inviting feeling. The forest was enormous, stretching to the left and right as
far as the eye could see. I remember thinking that going into it was the only way out,
and I remember having the impression that I was being watched as I went on, as if
the trees were closing in on me. As if there were eyes in the branches and they were
watching me. Even though I was moving slowly, my heart was beating like crazy.
After a while I could see that the trees were made of bones, and then I crouched
down at the base of one of them and the rest is like I told you. There is something in
this forest. I don't know what it is, but when I turn around and look back at the forest
in the distance, it looks perfectly normal. As much as I want to solve its mystery, I
must continue my journey. Some of the things I saw in that forest...I don't think they
were nightmares. I'm afraid I might have seen the future. I have to find out if I have a
chance to create a better world. I have to find out what happened, I have to find out
about the fall."
They had both stopped watching the horizon. Kavren was looking at Tenebris and
Luna was looking at Kavren, who was reading it one by one. Luna broke the few
seconds of silence when Kavren finished reading.
Luna: I heard some crazy stuff about a forest from one or two people who fell in the
desert.
Kavren: What were they saying?
Luna: they were all saying different things. The only thing they had in common was
the forest. They were mad.
Kavren: My father also gave the forest a name.
Luna: What's her name?
Kavren Olydren Forest
Another silence and another silence-breaking Luna;
Luna: So that's what your father intended.
Karven: ....
Luna: And what is your purpose?
Karven: That's what I told you. Going north.
Luna: When will you stop lying.
Your grasp: What do you mean.
Luna: The deserts are harsh, they produce many warriors, and I have certainly seen
many warriors. Some fought for glory and fame, some for their people, some for their
families and loved ones. All of them either disappeared or died fighting. Without
exception, I saw fear in their eyes. The prospect of not surviving frightened them all.
But I see you. I see your eyes. Eyes say many things. Your eyes don't say fear.
Kavren: Maybe I'm too brave.
Luna: No. This is not courage. Not the eyes of a brave man, but certainly not those of
a coward. It's a very different motivation than that of other warriors. There is no
courage because it is very hard to be brave in this world, but there is no fear. Either
you are afraid of death or you don't care about dying. How can a man who is not
afraid of death simultaneously lack the courage of a warrior? No, you don't care
about dying, maybe you want to die but you lie to everyone. You don't care about my
people, who are starving and on the verge of cannibalism. Then why?
Your grip: What makes you think I don't care.
Luna: A leader who cares about his people, his people know it. Your people don't
know that, Kavren. Right now they only follow whoever looks brave. Because it
makes them feel brave, but the first time they feel discouraged, you will realize that
you are alone. Can you live alone, Kavren.
Kavren: I grew up in solitude. You don't know me.
Luna: You're right, I don't. But some wounds you don't need to know to see.
Even as Luna touched Kavren's back with her hand, Kavren, unable to bear the pain
he felt from his wounds, couldn't resist a momentary painful reaction.
Luna: I listened to how you fought the chord. There are talented people in your cage,
but you alone went into the mouth of the big chord. I want to know why someone
would do that.
Luna got as close to Kavren as she could.
Luna: Tell me, can you live alone?
Kavren: I've never had a day without being alone.
He turned and locked eyes with Luna, who was extremely close to him. So close that
they could feel her breathing. They stared for a few seconds. Then Kavren suddenly
rose from his seat. He walked a little away and then started to leave the hill. It was
impossible for him not to hear Luna calling loudly behind him.
Luna: NOW YOUR EYES ARE TELLING FEAR.
Kavren stopped. Luna came to her. Together they went downstairs and spent that
night in a secluded tent.
----------------------
Early in the morning the next day, the caravan was getting ready to leave. Luna and
Kavren were making their way through the crowd.
Luna: You could have stayed a few more days.
Kavren: We have to get on the road.
Luna: You can still come anytime you want.
Kavren: We have a long way to go.
As she said this, Luna tried to take Kavren's hand, but he wouldn't let her. Together
they made sure the preparations were complete. Just as they were about to leave,
Elyon rushed to Kavren's side. Luna was suddenly surprised by Kavren's changing
facial expressions. He looked happy.
Elyon: I'm so glad you're okay.
Kavren: I'm glad you're okay too, there's nothing wrong. I haven't seen you for a few
days.
Elyon: There's nothing wrong. I spent time with Torm and others.
Grasp Good. Come on get ready and wait for me.
Luna, as Elyon was leaving them;
Luna: It was really interesting. I don't know that you can be happy.
Kavren reverted to his old testimony.
Kavren: Do you remember when you asked me why? It was not to die, but to see
death. That's why I am on this journey. I want to see death.
Luna: What are you talking about?
Kavren: I want to see death, I don't know how, but I want to see it. It's a feeling that is
spreading through my body. Every time I approach him it is as if I am talking to him.
Luna: ...
Kavren leaned into Luna's ear and whispered
Kavren: don't think of me as someone like you. I am not a leader. One day I doubted
my humanity and since that day I have closed my goodness behind my fingers. I
cannot be weak or cowardly. I feel something pulling me, I experience anger.
Luna was shocked that this man, who only a minute ago had a look of joy on his
face, was suddenly filled with so much anger. She was speechless and unable to
respond. Luna stood frozen as Kavren slowly walked away and rejoined his caravan.
All preparations were complete and the caravan was on its way north again. Elyon
was eating next to Kavren, and Kavren was sitting reading Tenebris when Ralthir
came up to him.
Ralthir: So... do you want to tell me what happened?
Your grip: What do you mean?
Ralthir: Between you and Queen.
Kavren: Queen.
Ralthir: Luna.
Kavren turned off Tenebris and turned to Ralthir.
Your grip: What do you think happened?
Ralthir: come on, you can't fool me. You were together that night.
Kavren: If you keep spying on me, I won't hesitate to kill you.
Ralthir: So something happened.
Ralthir had a stupid smile on his face.
Ralthir: Come on, I'm just kidding. She's wrong, but she's an extremely beautiful
woman. Sometimes only a woman can unlock a man.
Kavren opened the Tenebris again and began to read, while continuing to talk.
Your grasp: You sound experienced. You must have known many women.
Ralthir: Oh, not all of them. Only one of them.
Kavren: And where is he now?
The smile on Ralthir's face fell for a moment.
Ralthir: The last time I saw him, he was dying. On a bed, his body collapsed and
emaciated from starvation.
Kavren: ....
Ralthir: Some people say they live for themselves. I don't believe them, and I don't
think you are one of them, even though you seem to be the opposite. We cannot live
alone. It is not possible.
Your grip: But you're alone now.
Ralthir: And there's not a moment when I don't suffer because of it.