The New Dark – Julius 1

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Willem finished on the face of the prostitute and fell back on the bed, panting. It was a long way to the city of Erhan, and he and his brother, Baldwin, had to get some rest. The brothel was the only inn available (and they fostered no hard feelings about it). Getting up, Willem saw that his brother was still playing with his girl. He got his clothes on; paid his fee; and passed his brother, who was fondling the prostitute’s breasts, saying, “Remember tonight.” –“We shouldn’t be here,” Baldwin said, pale with fear, “need I remind you of the tales of this place? Grandmother always said this place was haunted and that once every Winter Solstice dark worship takes place.”Baldwin’s brother, Willem, gave out a laugh, “Pay no attention to the stories, and stories they are, mark me, that grandmother once told.”Color partially returned to Baldwin’s face. Baldwin, being the younger brother, always looked up to Willem as a source of wisdom, but this time he was not so certain his brother was correct. “Not just grandmother, Willem, the old Master Unwin wrote the same things that grandmother told as tales,” Baldwin put forth.Both Baldwin and Willem are scholars. They have dedicated their lives to the knowledge of the history of the land that they live in. Both are clean-shaven, as they are only students. It is only the Masters who can grow out their beard, and when they do, it grows out to their belt. Students only become masters when their hair turns gray. The brothers’ hair showed no signs of grayness, their brown hair still shown with pride. Their master is Unwin, who is known as the greatest living scholar of the age. The Emperor himself put him as his Steward for he knew of the great wisdom of Unwin.There was a pause from Willem for some time, then he spoke, “Master Unwin is wise in many respects, but blind in others. There is no such thing as a haunted place. The dead are dead. No man in all of Kor has ever seen a dead man walk, so would you, dear brother, let the dead rest!”“But what about the dark worship!” Baldwin said, with his eyes widened, “Master Unwin says the same about it. Grandmother said when she was five she saw men dressed in dark clocks come down this very crypt!” “There were probably just some young people, like you and me, wanting to cross the boundaries of the rules that Masters, such as our very Unwin, set,” Willem said with conviction. “See, brother, we are scholars! And as scholars we must, from time to time, get out of our books, and scour through the old ruins ourselves. This is how we put forth new knowledge and Çukurambar Escort legacy.”Baldwin fell silent. He did not know how to respond to his brother. Baldwin had no reason for himself to believe anything unusual about this crypt. And yet, a dark shadow fell over his heart.The two brothers descended into the crypt. They spoke no words to each other. The only sound heard was the pounding of their boots on the stone steps. The light from the moon and stars began to fade until they reached the bottom of the stairs and it was all black. Willem lit a torch and the brothers saw the expanse of the crypt. It was an intricate layout with one central tomb site with side passages and tombs. Although it was dark, the brothers at the center of their vision, about 100 yards in front of them, could make out the central tomb of the crypt.The brothers continued forward slowly. Willem hovered the torch over the tombs that were tucked away in the ways to their left and right. They were the tombs of the Kings of Condor before the Conquest of the Empire. Long ago, there was no Empire in the land of Kor, but independent kingdoms and principalities who were in constant war with each other. Condor was the greatest of the kingdoms with the most land and the most wealth.“Look brother,” Willem said, breaking their silence, “this tomb is of Gryfflet, the last independent King of Condor.” Baldwin looked over at the tomb. It was not like the other tombs. This tomb was simple, the others had ornate carvings with writings in a tongue that Baldwin knew not.“What a sad fate for a King,” Baldwin said in a low voice, “perhaps if after the Conquest he accepted the rule of his new Emperor his tomb would be as grand as the halls he sat in. Now he has the tomb of a common man.” Baldwin went silent. His thoughts came to Master Unwin and his rules. “Don’t you ever go to the Tomb of the Condor Kings. Dark place that is,” Master Unwin always commanded. A great fear came over Baldwin. He did not want to end up like the last Condor King for breaking the most central rule that Master Unwin placed. This new fear of being stripped of this status as a scholar of the Empire overcame the fear of the place itself. “Such is the price of treason,” Willem said, startling Baldwin from his thoughts. Willem gave out a laugh, “Don’t lose yourself in the dark, brother.” Baldwin gave out a smile to levy the situation. The light of the torch moved away from the tomb of the last king farther into the crypt, but Baldwin stayed at the tomb. His smile faded quickly into Çukurambar Escort Bayan a frown. His thoughts returned to Master Unwin. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. They were small, quiet footsteps as if someone was trying to sneak up on him.Baldwin turned around. His hand hovering over a knife on his belt. He was not skilled as a warrior, but he had no fear of using a blade to defend himself if he had to. From the corner of his eye, he saw the light of Willem. He knew it was not his brother playing a trick on him.“Who goes there?” Baldwin said as confidently as he could. In his heart, he was nervous, but he knew that he had to make himself confident. Then, something touched his foot. His foot jumped upwards. He saw from the little light that was in the room that it was a small creature: a rat. Baldwin let out a sigh and then he started to laugh quietly.“A rat!” Baldwin laughed, “Oh how I am glad to see a rat! Never have I ever thought that I would be glad to see such a creature. The gods do surprise me every day with their humor.”“Baldwin!” yelled Willem, “come hither!” Willem was at the end of the crypt at the central tomb.Baldwin calmed himself down from his laughter. Never would he let Willem know what had transpired with the rat. Baldwin reached the tomb and it was the most ornate tomb of them all. A statue of a king was carved inside of the wall. Sapphire jewels laced the edges of the tomb.“The tomb of the first King!” Baldwin exclaimed, “this is a tomb fit for a king. Do the Emperors get this treatment when they die?”“I have never seen a tomb like it, brother. This means that we should never report our sightings to the Emperor,” Willem said, with a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face. “Hold, brother,” Baldwin said, “Give me the torch.” Willem’s prideful face changed to a confused one, but he did not question his brother and handed over the torch. Baldwin looked more closely at the wall. Around the statue, he found carvings etched into the wall. “Writing, there is writing on the wall!” Baldwin explained.Willem looked closer at what Baldwin was examining. “Yes, this is writing,” he said slowly, half to himself and half to Baldwin. “Not just any writing, dear brother,” he said with excitement, “The writing is in the Common Tongue, but in the script during the time of the Conquest.”“That does not make sense. This is the first King it should be in an ancient tongue,” Baldwin said with his mouth open, as if to speak another thought.“Yes, it does not make sense,” Willem said. He went Escort Çukurambar deep in thought. After a moment, he grabbed the torch from Baldwin and hovered it over the tomb. He began mumbling to himself, but Baldwin could not grasp what he was saying. Willem turned himself to Baldwin and said, “Perhaps the writing is recent… Yes, the writing is recent. Maybe to record some knowledge before the first siege of Erhan.”“Then it must be especially important if they etched it at the tomb of the First King,” Baldwin put in. “You must read it, brother.”“Yes,” Willem responded, “I must… I will read the writing. Let us see what secrets the old kings were hiding from us scholars.”Willem searched with his eyes until he found the beginning of the script and read out loud the inscription, “In the age before the sun, Darkness ruled over all of Drakor. It was a land of the night, host to nameless beings.”Willem paused reading and asked Baldwin, “Age before the sun? I have never heard of such an age in my studies. Have you encountered such an age, brother?”“I know about the age before the sun as much as you,” Baldwin replied, “All the ages that I know of are the ones Master Unwin lectured about. Master Unwin always said, ‘The First Age was when the world was new and no man walked upon it. The elves lived there until they faded away and now are just wisps in the wind. The Second Age was when men were new. They formed their own kingdoms and raged war against each other. The Third Age was when the Empire conquered all the land of Kor and brought order to the realms of men and peace was found for the first time since the Fading of the Elves.’” “You know you’re lore well, brother,” Willem said, “but it seems that even the wise do not see all ends. Was there an age when the sun was not?” Willem pondered for a moment, then continued to read, “Then the Fire came and covered the Shadow. Some nameless beings took up the Fire and became living beings. Few found the source of the Fire and became gods, ruling with justice and order. Others took up Fire and became beings ruled either by violence or peace. Lastly, not to be forgotten, some took from the last of the embers and became human souls.”“This goes against centuries of the scholar’s research,” Willem said after he finished, “and as you noted the writing is recent. Clearly, all of this is nonsense, brother.”“Perhaps,” Baldwin responded faintly, his eyes fixed upon the writing on the wall. “But, something tells me that this is true. A hint over my heart.”“Hint?” Willem said. Willem was always frustrated over his brother’s fascination with the tales, but this time he felt his brother had pushed the boundary. He continued, “You need more than a hint to make it be true. We have scroll after scroll, codex after codex, from Blachernae to even the archives of Erhan, that show that this is all nonsense!”

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