Record of Loddess War: Child of Balance
________________________________________
Parn ignored all the noise and laughter of the tavern as he sat,
nursing his tankard of ale. It had been three weeks since he and
Deedlit had gone their separate ways, and he was still feeling empty
inside. He slowly smiled at the memory of her smile, her playfulness,
her sense of duty. It was the last that had caused their separation.
The Elven High Council at Elendar at requested, no, demanded, that she return
home. To help with some 'dire peril that was facing all of Lodoss' as the
request had put it. Non-elvens were not allowed access into Elendar, so Parn
was left behind. Parn had idly wondered what made Deedlit so important to the
High Council. He had always know she was special, but he had foolishly thought
that all Elves were like that. Otherwise, why would she be gallivanting
around Lodoss
with a young human warrior? The two of them made plans to meet again, but
Parn was
doubtful. Deedlit had admitted that the council sometimes took years to
reach a decision
when an important matter was at hand. Time did not affect the Elven kind as
it did the other races. Deedlit herself was well over ninety years of age
by the time
Parn's father was still a baby.
Parn took another long pull at the tankard as he mentally went over the past two
years that Deedlit and he had spent together. She had shown him the beauty
that
was *LIFE*. No battles, no wars, no demons, no dragons. Just fairies,
trees, and, nature.
It was something he would remember for the rest of his life. The rest of
his short life;
in Elven terms at any rate.
Parn drained the tankard and motioned for the waitress to bring him another.
He had
found the tavern three days after leaving Deedlit in the forest. He had
been staying there
ever since. He really didn't have anywhere else to go. At first, he had
thought about
returning to Valis, but he had spent the past two years with out any combat
training. He
was, Parn painfully admitted, too slow and noticeably out of shape. He would be
an embarrassment as a Knight, and could not, would not, face King Kashue in
his present
condition. Parn suddenly came to a decision. He would go off and find a
dragon. A big one.
At least that we he could keep his honor and go out in a blaze of glory.
Anything would
be better than wasting away like he was now. He continued to brood as the
waitress
placed another tankard in front of him.
****************
Two women stood over a boiling cauldron, using their powers to stare into time
and distance. Their small hovel stood in a forest, at the top of Mt. Garuda.
"It is time." One of the women said. Her voice was cold, almost harsh.
"Yes, he alone; in body and in spirit." The second woman replied, she
sounded regretful.
"You are always coddling them Sephrenia!" the first woman chided,
"Well, shall we summon him?" she continued.
"He is so young, Polgara". Sephrenia sighed, "But, as you said, it is time."
"Very well, let us begin."
****************
Parn finally fell asleep. His body was not used to daily alcohol
consumption, and
he had not had a peaceful nights' sleep in weeks. He always stopped
drinking short
of getting drunk. Although this was admirable, it also kept him restless at
night.
As he slept, he dreamed. He dreamed about his life, sifting through
memories in
a very detached manner. He dreamed about his childhood, remembering the
first time
he had tried to lift his father's sword. He remembered growing up an
orphan, amidst
the rumors surrounding his father's death and disgrace. He remembered the
first time
he had wore his father's armor, and the adventure that had led to his
knighthood. Mostly,
he dreamed about Deedlit. The beautiful paleness of her skin, her golden
hair, tumbling
tresses that covered her neck and shoulders; he remembered the lilt of her
voice, and
the time that they....
"Enough of this!" A voice rang out in his mind.
"You have too much too do to sit here mooning over that elf-girl!"
"Leave him be Polgara, " another voice said, "he's in love."
"Mortal love in cloying and foolish. We don't have the time for this. *HE*
doesn't
have the time for it. Snap out of it boy and pay attention!"
Parn's dream became a hazy mist and he felt the presence of two people in
his mind.
One demanding, and one caressing.
"Listen boy. Your destiny is at hand. You must come here, to the forest in
Mt. Garuda,
and then we will begin your instruction."
*Instruction?*
"There is much we must teach you." The other voice gently said.
"Of course, if you REALLY want to find a dragon and get yourself killed, we
can lead
you in that direction as well, " the other voice said sarcastically.
*Well...*
"I wasn't serious you IDIOT! Stop this self-pity! It is really unbecoming..."
"Polgara..." the other voice gently chided.
"OK, OK. Parn, just come to Mt. Garuda, we'll explain everything then."
*Who are you? Where is this?*
Polgara sighed. "Sephrenia, are you SURE he's the one?"
"There is no doubt, how do you explain what he did with the swords?"
Sephrenia replied.
"I know, I know, but he seems AWEFULLY stupid."
*Hey!*
"Never mind boy, this is a dream, your dream. We came here to summon you, OK?"
*Well, I suppose... is it really important?*
"Of course it's important! Do you think we would be wasting all this energy
to contact
you if it wasn't important?" Polgara exploded.
*Sorry*
"It really is important Parn, " Sephrenia gently explained, "You have to
fulfill your
ultimate destiny."
*Ultimate Destiny?*
"Do you have a hearing problem boy? Yes, your ultimate destiny. You MUST
come to
Mt. Garuda. Start as soon as you awake. Do not tarry in that tavern any
longer.
And just to make sure that you do not mistake this for some alcohol induced
haze...." Polgara said as a hand reached out in the darkness of Parn's mind
and touched his chest.
A burning, searing pain shot through him and he woke up screaming. Parn quickly
lit a lantern and looked at his chest. There was a burn mark the size of a
human
hand imprinted on his chest. (Auth note: OK, so it's not very original. 10
points
to anyone who guesses where I stole that from)
Parn winced as slowly touched the mark. *Well, I guess I wasn't drunk* Parn
thought, mimicking Polgara's final remark. Parn checked his belongings to
find some cloth or bandages to wrap his chest. He really didn't feel like
explaining what had happened to the inn keeper. He ended up tearing apart
one his
old doublets and tied it around the wound. Next, he dug around for a map and,
when finding one spread it out over his bed. *Now, how do I get to Mt. Garuda*
***********************
Parn started out of town on Chester, his white stallion. He was still as
depressed as ever, and missed Deedlit something fierce. However, for the
first time in weeks, he was starting to fill with excitement; a nervous
anticipation. He had never believed in things like 'Destiny' or 'Fate'.
He always just charged straight into life, sure that his courage and
strength could carry him as far as he needed. Unfortunately, none of
his strength or courage could keep Deedlit with him. He could not
help but think that she was in danger, bravely facing a grave threat to Lodoss.
A threat, he reminded himself, that he should also be facing as a knight
of Lodoss. He was filled with shame but immediately dismissed it; he was
once again going to have a purpose in life, and those two strange women
would show it to him.
He didn't really trust Polgara and Sephrenia, after all, one or the both
of them had hurt him pretty badly. He also wondered at how they benefited
from helping him. To be honest, he really didn't care. He needed something
to occupy him, to get his mind off Deedlit. He needed to live dangerously
again.
Mailker sat on a branch in the tall fir tree has watched the human warrior
approach. He wiped the perspiration off his dark skin and once again cursed
the sun. Drow did not belong in daylight. One look at his prey and his
mind blazed with anger. It was an insult to send him against such a weak
opponent. The Overseer had been adamant, however. This human must be killed
before he reached his destination. Mailker sneered. *The young fool is
probably headed for a tavern or a brothel* Humans had no control over their
desires at all. They were worse than the Drows' fair skinned cousins.
Parn was riding at a canter when the Drow attacked. Parn remember his previous
encounters with Dark Elves. Deedlit had always been there... *ENOUGH! I can't
think about her now!* The Drow had seemed to fall from a tree, right on top of
Parn. Chester was startled and Parn lost his hold on the reins as he tried
to draw King Kashue's sword. He fell off his horse just as a small dagger flew
by his head. He rolled over to his feet and faced the Dark Elf.
Mailker smiled as the human faced him. *He was a lucky bastard, for sure.*
Mailker
*never* missed a target on a first shot; not for the past two hundred years,
anway.
*Who would have thought that the fool would have fallen off his horse?* Mailker
drew is long sword and waited.
Parn's battle instincts kicked in and he nearly charged the waiting Dark
Elf. Parn,
realizing how often that particular tactic worked, forced himself to stand
his ground.
Mailker reassessed his opponent. The human obviously had little skill
compared to
his own, but he had not run away or foolishly tried to charge him. *perhaps
this one
has at least half a brain*
Mailker fluidly moved forward and swung his sword in an arc, right at Parn's
head.
Parn was barely able to parry the attack, before Mailker struck again. His
next
swing disarmed Parn, and Parn, stumbling back lost his footing and fell to
the ground.
Mailker grinned as he stepped up to Parn, lifting his sword in the air.
Just as he
was about to swing, an arrow suddenly impaled itself in his wrist. Mailker
screamed
and dropped his sword. He stepped back from Parn and looked off in the
forest for
a few seconds. He suddenly cursed, jumped back away from Parn and
disappeared.
Parn scrambled to his feet and looked off into the forest in the direction
the arrow
had come from. He noticed some movement in the forest, about a hundred
yards away,
then it was gone. Parn wearily looked around, brushed himself off then
remounted
Chester.
The rest of Parn's journey to Mt. Garuda was uneventful. Parn traveled at an
almost leisurely pace. He wanted to make sure that he would not be ambushed
again, so
traveled slowly. He also spent some time each morning practicing with his
sword.
The Dark Elf he had faced was good, but he should not have been able to disarm a
Knight so quickly.
Parn intuitively knew that something about his quest, or his "destiny" had
caused
that Dark Elf to attack. He needed to get back in fighting form, and fast. He
also wondered at the mysterious person who had saved him. He deduced that the
unknown archer was probably an elf. No human could have made that shot through
a forest with such grace and accuracy. For a second, he thought that it might
have been Deedlit, but dismissed that idea quickly. Deedlit would not have hid
from him after saving his life. So that meant that someone else was helping
him.
But who? And why?
Two months after the Dark Elf had attacked him, Parn reached the top of Mt
Garuda.
He had traveled around in the forest for a couple of days before he happened
upon the small hovel. It was made completely of wood and didn't seem too
sturdy.
There was a vent on the roof with smoke coming out. Parn idly wondered how
anyone could cook anything in such a small house.
As he approached the hovel, the door opened a tall woman stepped out. Parn
caught his
breath; she was beautiful. She had long flowing black hair, pale skin, and
striking
green eyes. Angry green eyes. She stood by the door, her arms akimbo,
waiting impatiently.
"It is about time you got here boy? What did you do, crawl here?" the woman
demanded.
Parn quickly forgot about her beauty.
"You must be Polgara." He said blandly.
Polgara ignored his tone and said, "Come inside boy, we don't have all day."
Polgara abruptly turned and re-entered the hovel. Parn angrily started off
after her.
"Listen Polgara, I HAVE a name, its..." Parn stopped talking as he entered the
hovel. The inside of the "house" was beautiful. There was lots of
expensive looking
furniture, paintings, sculptures, a cozy fireplace, even a stairway that led to
another floor.
Parn's anger faded into amazement. "H-how... Where..."
Polgara sighed and gave Parn a forced smile "PLEASE come in... _Parn_"
Parn walked into the house and wordlessly closed the door behind him.
Another woman
walked into view and she was carrying a large pot. The aroma from the pot
was making
Parn's mouth water. He'd been living off of rations and forest wildlife for
awhile,
and a home cooked meal was just what he needed. The woman put the pot in the
middle
of a large table and turned towards Parn. She smiled warmly at him and
said, "Welcome,
Parn. I'm glad you were able to make it here safely. Please be at ease,
and come
here and eat. You must be hungry."
Parn took a close look at the woman. She was every bit as beautiful as
Polgara, but
in a different way. For one thing she was much, much shorter. She barely
reached
Parn's chin. She also had shoulder length, pale skin and deep blue eyes.
There was
wisdom, kindness, even affection, in those eyes. Parn instinctively knew
who she was.
"Thank you Sephrenia, you're right, I am hungry."
Sephrenia laughed, "Sit, eat..."
"And then..." Polgara said, "We start your training."
************************
Deedlit lay on her bed, exhausted after another day of deliberations. After
two months,
she still had not learned exactly why she had been requested to return home.
All she
had learned was that the Drow were causing some problems, but then Drow were
_always_
causing problems. Even her father wouldn't tell her what was really wrong.
All the council did all day was argue. It took them weeks to decide to
actually
ally themselves with the dwarves in this matter. Now, they were deciding if
they
wanted to involve the humans. All Elves had a feeling of superiority when
it came
to humans. Deedlit turned over on her bed and thought about Parn. Before
she met
him, she was no different than any other member of her race. She tolerated
humans,
was curious about them, and even liked some of them; but she always that she was
better than them.
She was attracted to him the moment that she met him. She never figured out
why.
He was a young, average human warrior. He wasn't very experienced or
skilled and
he seemed to think with his sword instead of his brain. But there was an
honesty,
courage, and innocence that could not be denied. Her heart was his. Her
love was
completely sealed on the day he had saved her from Kardis, the Goddess of
Destruction.
She had loved him before that of course, but never thought that there was a
possibility of a future for them until then.
Parn was special. She knew that a normal being, be it a human, elf, dwarf, or
even a dragon, would have difficulty defeating a God. There was something in
Parn that set him above the rest. He didn't realize it, but he knew that he
had changed somehow. She knew that was why he had left Valis. Deedlit had
never
voiced her suspicions to Parn, she just wanted him to be happy, for as long as
he could, until duty and war reclaimed him. Her eyes started to water as she
thought of their last day together. Parn had looked so sad, so hurt. She
could
no not protect him anymore. She had promised to watch has back so he could
move
forward, but no longer. With some help she would be able to keep him out of
_physical_ danger. She hoped that things were going well.
There was a polite knock at the door and a servant entered.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, your Highness, but His Majesty has requested your
presence in his library."
Deedlit sighed, *What does father want now?*
*******************
Parn's 'instruction' was not going well; at least from his point of view. His
two teachers never told him anymore about his ultimate destiny, and so he never
saw any purpose in what they were trying to teach him. Their teaching method
was very strange and very confusing. He would spend alternate days with either
Sephrenia or Polgara. While he was with one, he never even saw the other.
Today was Polgara's turn, which meant lots and lots of physical activity. She
seemed to enjoy running into the ground with all the physical training that she
provided. Most of the training consisted of running, hard, in full armor, for
hours on end. Parn admitted that he had needed the exercise, but not this much!
He still remembered the first day of his training; Polgara had woke him before
dawn. Within ten minutes he was fully dressed and running through the forest,
down hill, as fast as he could. When he reached his destination, (Polgara had
marked a tree in the forest), he turned around and ran back uphill to the house.
He had not eaten anything all day and was famished, but the first thing Polgara
gave him when the reached the house was an old sword.
"What is this for?" He had asked her, looking at the rusty blade.
"It's yours. You will train with it from now on."
"But its rusty..." Parn objected.
"So are you!" Polgara snapped back. "Put the sword King Kashue gave away, and
use this one instead. As you improve, so will it."
Parn was dubious, but had to admit that the sword did look better after a couple
of weeks. Training with Sephrenia was very different. In fact, Parn hardly
considered it training at all. He basically helped with anything that
needed doing
around the house while they talked.
Sephrenia taught him a great deal about herb lore, how to use nature to his best
advantages with out abusing it. He learned a great deal about what plants were
safe to eat and what plants to use in curing various ailments. He found all
this
information useful and he was grateful for it. For some reason, he bleakly
foresaw
that he would be spending a lot of time alone, and the herb lore would be
useful.
The thing that drew him to Sephrenia most of all was the conversation. He
had never
felt so at ease around anyone before. He had told her everything that he
had experienced,
all his troubles, worries, and especially about Deedlit. Parn had no memory
of his
mother, but Sephrenia was everything he envisioned in one.
One day, as they were in the kitchen, cutting vegetables, their conversation
turned
once again to Deedlit.
" It is good to be in love Parn, Love gives you the strength to go on, it
gives you
the will to live."
"When I was growing up, all I wanted to do was be a knight. I never thought
about
getting married or having a family... but after spending two years with
Deedlit,
I've thought of little else."
This was the first time Parn had admitted his willingness to settle down.
He would
always love to be part of an adventure, but he would give it up for Deedlit.
Sephrenia smiled sadly, " Love is also hard Parn, because of you are, you can't
really settle down. Your life is going to be filled with danger, I fear. But
don't let that stop you from loving and nurturing your friends. You need them
as much as they need you, they care about you very much."
Parn suddenly thought about Etoh and Slayn. He smiled, Sephrenia had done
it again.
Somehow she was always able to read some his thoughts and then subtly change the
topic of their conversation, driving him to a new direction.
"Yes, " Parn replied, " my friends have always been there for me. "Without
them, I
would never have been able to save Deedlit."
Sephrenia didn't reply, as she continued cutting carrots.
"Sephrenia, " Parn finally asked, " you said my life would be filled with
danger
because of 'who I was'. You meant my destiny, right?"
Parn had never asked either of his teachers about his destiny. He got the
feeling
that they would tell him in their own time. He was, however, curious, and
felt that
it would be better to ask Sephrenia rather than Polgara.
Sephrenia smiled knowingly and admitted, "That's part of it Parn, but what I
really
meant was that you are the type of person who always jumps into a situation when
there's trouble. You can't help yourself. "
Parn thought about that for a few minutes then smiled and said, "I like
talking too you
Sephrenia, even though you're not really teaching me anything."
Sephrenia laughed warmly, and joked, "By the time your training is over, you'll
be the best cook in all of Lodoss!"
She then looked at Parn seriously, "Think about it Parn, haven't I taught
you anything?"
Parn thought about it for a long time, and was still unable to come up with
an answer
by the end of the day.
The next morning, as usual, Polgara woke him bright and early. They started
the morning
with a fencing lesson. Parn was impressed by Polgara's skill with a blade. He
was never able to get past her defenses. Parn had become a fairly
proficient swordsman
after training with King Kashue, but now his skills were becoming more
refined. He
learned to keep from over-swinging and loosing his balance. He learned that
speed,
agility, and precision worked better than brute strength. He enjoyed this time
with Polgara. She did not insult him, or really comment on any of his
mistakes. They
just sparred.
Unfortunately, that was the _only_ time he enjoyed spending with Polgara.
The rest
of his day was spent in running, and running, and running some more. He
never slowed
down or tried to find short cuts on the paths that Polgara gave him;
somehow, she
always knew exactly what he was doing.
Surprisingly, this day was a little different. After their sword practice,
Polgara
explained that it was time for Parn to take his first test.
"Test?" Parn said startled.
"Yes, its time to see if you've learned anything."
"So, what do I have to do, fight a four-handed demon swordsman? or maybe run
all the way to Marmo and back?"
Polgara gazed at Parn with a look that could melt steel, but all she said was,
"Nothing that easy."
Polgara reached out and gently took Parn's hand. She closed her eyes and started
a spell incantation. Slowly, a blue light started to radiate from her body
until
it enveloped both Parn and her. The light became brighter and brighter until
Parn was forced to clothes his eyes; the brightness of the light was too
painful.
After a few moments, Parn could feel the brightness diminish and he opened
his eyes.
He looked around and saw that he was now standing on the banks of a wide
river, the
water flowing rather quickly. He looked around, but could not see Polgara
anywhere.
"Polgara? Polgara? Where are you?"
"This is your test, " Polgara's voice said. "Cross the river."
Parn could not tell where her voice was originating from. He looked around and
said "That's it? Just cross the river?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anand Rao
anandr@earthlink.net
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=