Bertan`s quest - Michelle Tarynne (best beach reads of all time txt) 📗

wake up and the Mine is its lair." Kyre and Hunn shared a frown, but they wouldn't argue.
“How can you be so sure? How can I listen to a child?” Kyre wanted so much to reject her idea.
“I am to become a queen once. I have to be right, even when I'm wrong,” she said after a moment, “There is no difference if we die right here or just a few moments later.”
“We can still make it,” Kyre said unable to find enough hope to transfer it into his mind and voice, “Can’t we?”
“I think it's best not to lie ourselves anymore. Not at this point,” Lar muttered.
“You still have a lot to learn, kid,” he said, “Though your kingdom seems to be doomed.”
“Obviously.” Lar looked at the white fires, the first and last line of defense. “It doesn’t really matter now. Does it?” she stopped for a while and looked wearily into his eyes. Kyre was shocked to see that it was not a child anymore he was having this discussion with and he knew what took her inner youth away.
Deep was the sigh that left his lungs as the relief flooded and warmed him when he realized he could do nothing else than to follow the maddened twins in their pointless trek. He finally came to accept that it was the time for all of them to die at some point and join the rest of their tribe. He looked one more time at the fiery creatures that led them.
Gi'Waters and Si'Waters leading them were meandering like the lava-rivers, though the land was flat and unobstructed. They chose their private paths, seen and understandable only to the Blood Madness. Was it the luck or the Fates that they met not a single core on their way?
It took less time than they expected to enter the Red Madness Lands, where the three of them were the only ones bearing sane minds. Fear claimed Kyre, Hunn, and Lar once more.
Lar was unable to close her eyes even for a moment, curious to the paths they walked, forgetting at times that she was scared. Every red eyed monster they passed along the way renewed that fear. Every time she relived what happened outside the Inner Block walls, till every set of eyes blurred into one image of the face of her maddened father. From that moment everything felt like a dream, a silent red-eyed nightmare.
The future queen could not accept the sacrifice she witnessed back then. Her blood line had been tainted in a way that could not be fixed by staying alive. When an unsuspecting heart finds its courage, the gravity can be defied with a force that hides behind the unseen, blind faith. For what it's worth in fear and anger, her young core held the keys to the future once it became clear that the only storm she had to control was the one on the inside. Lar knew right then, when her child eyes stared into the white flames shooting up for the clouded sky that there was no brave thing to do left for the past had already erased future dreams and hopes. The past already robbed her of her people, her family and her reign.
Lar kept on walking and following the twins though what seemed like a dream. Her body was tense as a stone. Her hand never left the soft and feathery Haxe bird, as if that mere touch brought enough comfort for her to let her life go on.
Once they crossed the Wall, uneventfully, even though no sanity met their eyes, they boarded the lonely platform, that looked like it was waiting just for them. Lar gripped its railings like it was a life line. Mountain Range foothills bathed in a white fire kept on getting closer and closer to finally stop their platform, as the three-tracks finished there. Only then did Lar close her eyes and wept, while the Twins fell to the ground as if aiming to get some of the lost poison-induced coma.
“All we can do now is to wait for the fire to fail,” Hunn said, “Then we climb and get to the other side. It’s not that far, if we find our way to the Foregone Caves. They cut right through the mountain.”
“How do you know about them? How can we be sure Swords won’t wait on the other side? Why haven’t you mentioned that earlier for fates Sakes?” Kyre exclaimed agitated.
“I didn’t think it was a vital information as I would never even plan to go through the Red Madness,” Hunn laid down his Haxe bird next to Lar, “I’m sure Swords don’t know about the caves yet, as it was the first Seekinglanders to delve into this mountain, I’m not even sure why it’s such a big secret.”
“Probably it’s the Duchess’ idea. It always goes back to her. Whatever we don’t know, it always goes back to her,” Kyre sighed. “What really worries me is why the Twins know of it.”
“How do you know they know about it?” Hunn asked.
“Just a feeling, just as I know it’s all the Duchess’ fault. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for her.” Kyre gestured towards Lar.
“Mom has her ways. I wouldn’t advise you to criticize any of them,” Lar chuckled, ”I might tell on you.”
“Feel free kid, if we ever get out of this mess,” Hunn tried to smile a very tired smile.
“We will.” Lar said.
“How can you be so sure of that?” Kyre asked.
“I just know, just as I know this fire will go out soon, so let’s be prepared to find the way,” she smiled and laid down on the ground, next to the Haxe bird, “Thank you, “ she whispered silently into its feathers. 17

The streets were deserted. The lights were still and lacked their usual sparkle. The Royal City of Naam came to a lifeless stillness that nothing of logic and reason could explain. With a great curiosity, Ash and the Unnamed looked and searched around for any sign of life. No luck there. It seemed that no Sword and no slave were present in the whole city.
"Is there any immediate need to find out what’s wrong here?" The Unnamed asked, already knowing the answer.
"No, not really.” Ash frowned and looked around for the last time, “I think this can wait. There is a high probability everyone fled to get away from the New King Cassess. He will just crush every other Line House like he just erased mine, once he learns what happened here. But let's not trouble our minds with that. It's good, in a way. It means the Mountain Range Peaks stay unguarded."
"How is that going to help us with anything?" The Unnamed asked. Suddenly his core let him know how important it was as the familiar tug called for his attention.
"That helps only if you're ready to undo my mistake," Ash said and looked at the Unnamed expectantly, "Are you ready for another sacrifice to save the night, brother?"
"Yes." There was no hesitation in his voice.
“We need to get to the Winter’s Peak,” Ash said and walked through the abandoned city. The Unnamed gasped unintentionally.
“It’s the only way,” Ash sighed waiting for his newfound brother to join him, ”Water has always been the essential element of the Tharo Juice." He started another one of his stories, "It has always been the domain of the former Ruling House. Our water used to be poisoned with time, and it seeped through the mountains into the underground Great Lake. There it created distinct layers from its surface to the rocky bottom. Each layer had a different color and taste. The original way for the water to leave the lake had been by an outlet well at the bottom, it regulated the depth of that lake. We used to draw water from the surface layer.”
The Unnamed remained silent in the face of visiting the place where his Mother lost her head.
“When I clogged that outlet-well, the surface layer started to overflow the natural-made dam and drowned the mines and tiers down below,” Ash continued, “It's been leaking and overflowing the dam walls ever since. The lake is still big enough to reach its shores deep beneath Naam, but its overall composition had changed. The taste and color changed too, leaving us barren. The slaves have always been the ones to prepare the Tharo Juice, so we didn’t realize anything was wrong with it for centuries. Honestly, I'm not sure a lot of Swords knows the truth about it." He took a deep and calming breath once more to be able to continue. His anger started to seep through the crust of his training. "First, we tried to breed with the outsiders and then even with the slaves. The Fathers got a freedom of choice as far as the partners went when it became clear there was a problem. All for nothing. The gift of a new life was taken from us, and we started to grow even bigger and bigger." Ash looked right through the unfocused eyes of his companion. "The process of our extinction had started with my hands to blame."
"I still don’t get it, Ash. Why have literally no one picked up on this? How come that the children just popped in and around without anyone taking notice? How did that even happen?" the Unnamed mused aloud, finally something grasped his attention strongly enough to make him stop thinking about his Mother. His mind has some things to do now, trying to put more of the pieces together into a picture that would be wide enough to understand it, without any more questions to follow.
"The Swords have the infinite time to find the solution. At least, that was the Old King's reasoning, so nobody really paid any attention. The Mothers being the Mothers felt the need to have more and more children. So, at some point, the Fathers' duties evolved into bringing the babies in. I did not understand the pull myself until I found Ashe in the outer rim territories. Kidnapping babies have been our way ever since. But, of course, another problem arose then," Ash sighed.
"They were untrainable into the Sword ways," the Unnamed realized as if struck by lightning. A memory of Bertan's resistance and hatred at their first encounter had resurfaced in front of his eyes.
"Yes, some less than the others. The King's order was clear on that, though. The weak ones had to be weeded out as soon as the weakness emerged," Ash said in a light tone that defied the anger coming from him. His fury, for the lost and executed at the slightest sign of weakness, was almost tangible.
"But the Mothers interfered yet again," the Unnamed said, leading Ash through the Tower of the Third, now Royal House , “She was just sent away, instead of having her head taken by me.”
"Even with the new blood entering our midst not one Sword baby has been born, not even to the new additions. The Mothers grew more and more restless, willing to spill the secrets to the young ones. They grew the conscience at some point and saved many of the weaklings, and that started to endanger the integrity of