The Elder's Curse by Andrew Walbrown (superbooks4u .txt) 📗

home for dinner, knowing he would be late like always. He could not wait to be home, to see his mother’s face and hear her scream for joy as he walked through the front door. His only regret was that Ulam was not with him to experience this homecoming. He vowed that after he saw his mother he would return to Mount Meganthus, find the secret portal to Kuruk’s Tower, and bring his foster-brother here. Then they could have dinner as a family again, finally.

By the time he reached the plains, Amantius had to take a break, falling to the ground to collect his breath while waiting for the throbbing in his leg to disappear. He could not believe he had become so vulnerable to humidity, the invisible force sapping any energy he had in his limbs. Moments later Kona joined him at the edge of the forest, wheezing as well. She’s worse off than I am. I guess a life in the desert didn’t prepare her for heat like this.

“How does anyone live here?” She managed through the gasps. “Why is the air so thick?”

Amantius could not help but laugh. “You get used to it, trust me. A little tip from a local, you probably shouldn’t wear all those robes. The more clothes you wear, the more soaked they get with sweat.”

“Duly noted,” Kona said as she removed her turquoise robe and placed it in her backpack. She also removed a silk tie from her hair, letting her gorgeous locks breathe in the salty ocean breeze sweeping across the island. Kona then grabbed a fallen palm leaf from the ground, using the broad leaves as a makeshift fan. As Amantius watched from nearby, he was struck with a sudden realization. Kona is really beautiful.

For whatever reason, he never looked at her in that way before, never considering the possibility that a Human could find a Kalikki attractive or vice versa. Though it was uncommon, from time to time Humans and Elves were known to find companionship in one another, as his run of fame in Thornsgrave could attest. But this was different, somehow, than romancing an Elf; this pairing seemed far more taboo than anything he had experienced. He was not completely sure how to feel about finding Kona beautiful, wondering if it was acceptable or even natural for him to have such thoughts. There were a few very obvious physical differences between the races, but traveling with her over the past week made him see her not as a Kalikki but as a friend instead. They both had dreams and ambitions, had likes and dislikes, and shared many of the same emotions. Both showed compassion for Nilawen when she was struck in the head by a rogue stone, felt fear at the sight of Kuruk’s Tower, and laughed by the oasis during the first night on the trail. If anything, Amantius found Kona more “Human” than some actual Humans he had met in his travels. I guess I’ve been focusing on our differences more than our similarities. Me, who has called an Orc his brother since he was a child! Ha! You’re one hell of a hypocrite, Amantius.

“Why are you laughing?” Kona asked as she started tying her hair back into place.

“Oh, um, nothing important,” Amantius stuttered as his cheeks reddened. I can’t tell her the truth. Not only is she married to a powerful person who probably wants me dead, but because of that, it might be deeply inappropriate to say anything. Besides, what if there is something wrong with me? What if it is immoral for a Human to find a Kalikki beautiful? Does Ulam feel this way about everyone he’s ever met? Even…whatever her name was years ago. Strange, I’ve never thought about this before. I guess I always assumed he would find someone who didn’t care about his race.

“Somehow I don’t believe you,” Kona said as she helped Amantius to his feet, a faint smile on her lips, “but let’s keep going. I’m curious to see an Emberi…sorry…an Accarian city.”

Before they set out Kona checked Amantius’ knee again, pleased to see the swelling had subsided. To aid his movement she had fashioned a walking stick from the branch of a cypress tree, explaining as she whittled that Kalikkis took pride in their knife-wielding and spear-making abilities. After she finished they crossed the plains separating Mount Meganthus from the city, a flat, grassy land dominated by vineyards and farms.

As they traveled on the main road leading into the city, Amantius realized he had not seen another person anywhere. There were still pigs and cattle in the fields, and birds sang high above, but there were no Accarians within sight. Though he found this strange, if not a little eerie, Amantius was confident there was a reasonable explanation. He thought there could have been a festival or some related activity towards the center of the city that could have attracted the farmers, or perhaps it was the one day a year they all made a pilgrimage to the other side of the island to pray for stronger crops and healthy children. Regardless, Amantius did not think anything was amiss until he reached the front gate. Something isn’t right, the gate shouldn’t be left unguarded.

The main gate to the city, the same gate Amantius had passed through thousands of times in his life, was both open and utterly abandoned. Throughout his whole life, the same band of men operated the gate, all of whom he thought of as neighbors and friends, having known them since he was a child. At first, a terrible thought passed through his mind; he wondered if the city had been engulfed in conflict for years and so many people had died that no one was left to defend the walls. He quickly realized that was improbable, though, due to the lack of destruction within the city itself. There were no buildings burned to the ground, nor were there corpses littering the