Mighty Hammer Down (33 page)

"That was nearly 3000 years
ago."

"Then there’s something I don’t
understand. How could the Medorans of today have any knowledge of a
threat beyond the wall? Why do we have stories of
monsters?"

"Do you think people forget things so
easily? 3000 years is not that long. Besides, there were the
rings."

Rommus cocked his head. "Rings?" What
do you mean?"

"We had rings made by men of magic
that made it possible to communicate beyond the seal. The rings
take the wearer to a place where there are only souls. It’s quite
beautiful."

"So there was a way to speak with the
people you left behind? If that’s true then why have I never heard
of your people or these ancient beasts that you guard?"

"We did not exactly guard the beasts,
we simply learned to control them and keep them from killing the
people close to us. As for why you have not heard the stories, I
think you are mistaken. You have heard of beasts beyond the
seal."

"I suppose I have heard that, but
there’s nothing specific about it."

"I don’t know what answer you are
looking for, Master Rommus, but I do know that the rings either
stopped working, or the people on this side stopped using them more
than a thousand years ago. The lost communication means that any
mention of the Dirujen would only be in the most ancient texts.
Perhaps that is why you do not know our story."

Rommus moved his jaw from side to side
as he thought. "I guess that makes sense. It’s just such a hard
story to believe. What kinds of beasts are down there?"

Vohl stared at the horizon in the
distance. "There are things bigger than these horses that walk like
a man. There are things with great wings that can carry off
children. There are things in the waters that can sink the greatest
of ships. There are things that can hide in shadow and sun. There
are too many beasts to mention; and all of them more dangerous than
you can imagine. It was for the good of the world that these things
were sent beyond the seal and out of your lands."

"Are they free to come here now that
the seal is broken? Are we in danger?"

"They are as free to roam as I am, but
you are not in any danger as long as I am with you. I do not think
they have any reason to leave their familiar places anyway. I don’t
think they will come here."

Rommus ran his fingers over the hilt
at his hip. "Well that’s good to know."

"You must be careful with
that."

"With what? The sword? Believe me Vohl
I am no amateur when it comes to weapons. I can not only use them,
but I make them as well."

"Not a sword like that. That sword is
far more dangerous than any other blade."

Rommus smiled. "I told you this is not
some mythical sword held by some god. It’s just a golden
sword."

"Is that right? Did you not see what
it did to the man when it cut his neck? It takes only the slightest
tear in the skin to send someone into the void. You must not cut
yourself with it or you will go there as well."

"I have already cut myself with it and
nothing happened. I don’t mean to ruin any religious ideas you
might have about this thing, but it’s just a sword."

Vohl stared at him for a moment before
speaking. "It is possible that I am mistaken, but I don’t think
that is the case, Master Rommus. I have seen that sword
before."

"Well I took it from Mages when they
were trying to harm us. Those are the people we are running
from."

"What are Mages?"

"You know, magic men. Actually I don’t
know that they can use magic at all, I think it’s just a game they
play. I have a hard time believing any stories of magic actually.
But those men are still dangerous."

"I understand."

Rommus stood up and helped his new
friend to his feet. "Vohl, what is it that your people did to get
banished from these lands?"

"We did not do anything to deserve
such a thing. We are simply of the proper bloodline."

"What do you mean? Why would that make
you worthy of banishment?"

"We were sent away because we are a
bloodline connected to a god."

"I still don’t understand. It was some
religious ritual?"

Vohl stared into Rommus’s soul, his
long hair floating in the light breeze. "The ritual came before the
banishment. Inshae made us immortals before the gods sent us beyond
the seal."

Chapter 24

"What?" Rommus blurted out slightly
louder than he intended to. "What do you mean immortal? And do you
mean you worship Inshae?"

Vohl laughed, showing his perfectly
straight teeth. "Hardly, Master Rommus. I am personally quite angry
with him, and not many of the other Dirujen are very fond of him.
And as for what I mean by saying I am immortal, I mean that I will
never die. Does the word confuse you?"

"The word doesn’t confuse me, but your
story sure does. How can you possibly expect me to believe that you
cannot die? It’s absurd."

"You only find it absurd because you
are unfamiliar with the idea. Is it absurd to believe in a sunset
if you’ve spent your whole life looking to the east?"

"A sunset follows a sunrise. It’s a
natural order. Everything has a beginning and an end. Living
forever is not part of a natural order."

"Ah, but does the sun not rise again
after it sets in the west? Does it not follow a perpetual pattern
of rebirth and death over and over? Who are you to determine where
the beginnings and the ends lie?"

Rommus shook his head as if to clear
it of the confusing thoughts. "So you mean that instead of never
dying, you are perpetually reborn? I don’t see how that is supposed
to make more sense Vohl."

"That’s not exactly what I am saying.
It would make better sense if you understood your own
immortality."

Rommus snorted a laugh. "I am not
immortal, I am an ordinary man."

"All beings that are aware of their
own existence are immortal. I can prove it to you."

"This should be good," Alana said as
she finished up with the horses and approached them. "Let’s hear
it."

Vohl smiled at the woman. "Of course.
I will start by asking a simple question. How far can you
see?"

Alana immediately pointed and
answered. "To the horizon."

Rommus rubbed his chin and twisted his
face in thought. His eyes met the patient eyes of Vohl. "The stars.
I don’t know the distance, but I think that’s as far as I can see.
Perhaps the blackness between them is farther away, but there’s no
way to know."

"Both legitimate answers, but I am
sorry to say that both are wrong. The true distance is much shorter
than you think."

"How can it be shorter if we can see
farther?" Alana asked. "That makes no sense at all."

The answer will become evident, I
assure you. As long as I can explain it well enough. The truth is
hidden in the nature of light. When we are in darkness, we see
nothing. Our eyes require light to see, that’s something even a
child is aware of. It is a sad fact, however, that a child does not
ponder the nature of light after he learns what it does. He
understands the outcome, but not the thing itself.

"Take the light from the stars you
mentioned. It is necessary for the light of a star to meet your eye
in order for you to see it. When you close your eye, you cut off
the transmission of that light temporarily. This is the same as the
leaves of the trees creating shade by blocking light from the sun.
From this simple observation, we can see that light showers us in a
similar fashion to rain, although it’s far more complex. Unlike
rain, it is constant, and emanates from light sources like stars,
the sun, and candles. It does not fall from clouds, but shines
outwards in all directions, bouncing off of things and into our
eyes. It is how we are able to see things."

Alana smacked Rommus’s arm. "Rommus
that’s kind of like what you were telling me about the candle and
shadows."

Vohl raised an eyebrow. "So you were
one of the children that did ponder things. I am impressed Master
Rommus."

"I think I understand light fairly
well, but I don’t understand how light can convince me that we are
all immortal. Are you saying light lasts forever?"

"No, I am not saying that, although
the statement is true. I will come to my conclusion in a different
way. Now that you know that light showers us like rain, it should
make sense that in the same way rain touches your skin, light
touches your eyes. If you were unable to see, you would only be
aware rain when it touches you. Light works the same way. Now I ask
you again; how far can you see?"

Rommus and Alana both stood in silence
a while. Finally Rommus spoke up. "A person can see as far as his
eye. Like rain on skin, light must meet the eye in order to be
seen."

Vohl nodded. "Very good Master Rommus,
you are right and you are wrong at the same time."

"And you seem to be sane and insane at
the same time," Alana said.

Vohl laughed. "Stay with me, I steered
you both in this direction to make my point. There is more to this
riddle. The rain on your skin, the sun in your eyes, the smell of a
campfire, the sound of the waves meeting the sands of the beach;
these are all things our bodies tell our minds. Our bodies are
tools for interpretation and manipulation of our surroundings, but
the mind is lord of the body. Tell me Master Rommus, where am
I?"

"Where are you? You are in Medora,
near Vindyrion."

Vohl shook his head as he smiled. "No,
I mean where am I in relation to you? How far away am
I?"

Rommus reached out his arm. "Roughly
arm’s length I suppose."

"Think again Rommus and remember what
I just told you."

Rommus brought his fingers to his
mouth and stared at the ground. After a long pause he finally came
up with an answer that he thought was just crazy enough to be
correct. "There’s no way to be sure. If I rely on my senses, it
appears that you are at arm’s length, but since light must bounce
off of you and into my eye, I can’t be sure of your position. Just
like the stars, you are really only as far away as the edge of my
eye. What my senses tell my mind is irrelevant."

Alana shook her head. "What? Have you
gone crazy too Rommus? You sound like a fool."

"No, he’s right. It makes sense to me.
We can’t be sure where any object is because the light bouncing off
those objects can only be interpreted by our minds when it meets
the eye. Therefore my perception of his position is actually on my
eye…"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"
Alana interrupted. "Why do you think light bounces? I don’t get
it."

"Don’t you remember what I told you
before about the shadows? If something is blocking the light
source, it creates a shadow. The shadow is the absence of light. If
the sun was over there on the horizon and he stood in front of it,
blocking the light from reaching us, what would you
see?"

"Nothing. He couldn’t be seen in the
sun. He would just be a dark figure."

"Exactly. Now since he is not a dark
figure, and we are able to see his features, light must be bouncing
off of his features and into our eyes. Do you
understand?"

Alana paused before she answered. "I
think so. But how do you come to the conclusion that you can’t
trust your senses? Aren’t you using them to figure all of this
out?"

"No, I am using my mind. He just
explained that we cannot trust our senses to figure out where
things are, so our senses cannot be used to interpret reality. Our
mind is all we can be sure of."

"Now you are correct, Master Rommus,"
Vohl said as he folded his arms. "All things are in your own mind.
You can be sure of nothing except the fact that you exist. Your
friends, your past, the people standing before you; it is entirely
possible that they exist only in your own mind."

"But how does that make us immortal?
No more riddles and games, just tell us."

"I will tell you but I must ask
another question. Do you remember your fifth birthday?" Both of
them nodded yes. "If you died tomorrow, would you still remember
it?"

"We can’t be sure. Not until we die,"
Alana said.

"If you are hit over the head tomorrow
and your memory fails, would you still remember that birthday?" he
asked Alana.

"Well obviously if our memory fails we
won’t be able to remember it. Don’t be silly."

"But Alana, you just told me you
remember that day. Doesn’t it make sense that if you can remember
it now, you will never lose that memory? You might forget it for a
short time, but that memory will never go away. The fact that you
are able to remember means that you will always remember. If this
was not true, your memories would start after you get hit on the
head. You would not be able to remember that birthday because for
you, life would start tomorrow.