Day 145

[from Project Sky]

I knock neatly on the front door of the elder's house, and a voice answers from within. "Come in," it says. I presume this to be the voice of the elder. It's an old voice, a voice teeming with wisdom. I open the door and step across the threshold, finding myself in a large open sitting room. There's a fireplace set into one wall, though the fire is not lit right now: it's not cold enough for one to be needed. On the opposite wall are a number of bookshelves, most of which are completely full. If I took the time to peruse the titles, I'd imagine most of them would be quite old, and contain a lot of invaluable information about the world before the Ruin was activated.

The elder is sat at a dining table at the far end of the room, reading a book from the shelf. He must at least eighty years old, even older than our village elder. His eyebrows and thick and bushy, his snow-white beard is long and thick, and his eyes are sunken, like the eyes of a man who has grown weary. As I approach him, he puts down his book and looks up at me.

"A visitor from outside the town, hmm?" he says, his voice slow and deliberate. "May I ask what your business is with me?"

I'm curious as to how he knew I was a visitor from outside Harford, but I decide to get straight down to business. I tell him I'm travelling in search of a way to reverse the effects of the Ruin.

The old man raises his eyebrows a little. "I see," he says. "Is that so?" I see the wrinkled corners of his mouth curl upwards in a smile. "What a noble goal indeed. I myself once thought of trying to undo the damage it caused, but I am far too old to pursue such a goal now. A child like yourself, though… yes, a child like you could do it. Come, my child. Sit with me a while, and I shall share with you all that I have learned about the Ruin."

I nod, and as I sit down at the table, the elder stands up, carrying his book back to the shelves. He slots it neatly back into its place, then runs his fingers gently along the spines of the books, trying to locate a specific tome. I wonder whether he is losing his sight. "Where is it…" he mutters to himself. "Ah, yes, here it is." He pulls a dusty book off of the shelf and returns to the table, sitting opposite me and placing the book open on the table in front of him.

"The Ruin was constructed over 2,000 years ago, by an ancient civilization known as the Daricians. It is said that the Ruin's creator, upon realizing what he had created, immediately sealed it away, so that it may never be used. However, fifty years ago, towards the end of the great war against Alondis, Emperor Javiz and his men discovered the Ruin. Sensing his inevitable defeat, Javiz instructed his men to activate the Ruin, hoping it would repel the on-rushing armies of the Great Alliance. However, he did not realize the true power of the weapon.

"As I'm sure you know, when it was activated, the Ruin proceeded to shatter our entire continent, sending thousands of fragments of land floating hundreds of feet up into the sky. Many thousands were killed. Entire cities were destroyed. The Alondis Empire crumbled in an instant, and Javiz perished along with his men."

The elder turns a page of his book, and turns it around to show me. There's a drawing on a page of a tall, thin black spire, rising hundreds of feet above the surrounding area. "We do not know for certain what the Ruin looks like, or where it is," said the elder. "It was hidden well, and those who discovered it perished when Javiz activated it. Most scholars that I have talked to believe it to be some kind of giant spire, from which a shockwave rippled through the earth and tore it asunder. If that is the case, such a tower would be easy to locate, but I fear that it remains on the surface below us, almost unreachable. In any case, to reach the Ruin you will have to travel to the ruins of the Alondis Empire. Those ruins are highly treacherous, and you would do well to be cautious when in them."

The elder suddenly leans forwards a little. "However," he says, "this is the important part. Consider this: the person who created the Ruin was so fearful that it might be activated, that he hid it away in such a manner that nobody discovered it for two thousand years. I - and many others - believe that such a paranoid man must surely have also built a failsafe into the device, to reverse its effects in case it was ever activated. Once you locate the Ruin, you must activate that failsafe, and the continent will be restored to its original state. We cannot bring back those who died that day, or replace what was lost, but at least that much may be fixed."

The elder leans back in his chair. "I'm sorry that I cannot help you further," he says. "There is simply so much about the Ruin that we do not know. If we knew more about it, perhaps we could have reversed this calamity sooner. But from now on, it is up to you. You must locate the Ruin, reverse its effects, and restore this world to its former glory."

I nod, and tell the elder that I intend to. I thank him for all his help, and prepare to leave. "Wait," says the elder, as I stand up. "Before you leave, might I know your name, young one?" I nod, and tell him my name. "I see," says the elder. "I wish you all the best of luck on your journey."

I thank the elder once more, and take my leave. Elizabeth is still waiting outside for me, holding onto my peagsus' reins. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asks me.

I nod, and tell her I know now that the Ruin's effects can be reversed. "It can?" says Elizabeth. "How?" I tell her about the failsafe that the elder believes is built into the Ruin. "I see. But you don't know for sure that there is a failsafe, right? What happens if you reach the Ruin and there isn't one, or you don't know how to activate it? Is that the end of it?"

I shake my head, and tell Elizabeth that I'm sure there's a failsafe. If I can't find a way to activate it, I'll just have to keep trying. Her expression grows a little surprised, and perhaps a little impressed. "You really are dedicated to this, aren't you?" she says. I nod, and she smiles. "Well, in that case, I hope that there is a failsafe, and that you find a way to activate it quickly. I do like living up here, just beneath the clouds, but… it would be nice to live back on the surface, like we used to."

I nod in agreement, and Elizabeth hands me my pegasus' reins. "Will you be going now, then?" she asks me. "It's a long way to the ruins of Alondis. Shouldn't you prepare first?" I nod, and tell her I'll be sure to prepare well for the journey ahead. "Okay. Well, in that case, I wish you safe travels," she says. "If you like, you can come back and visit us again once the continent has been restored."

As I mount my pegasus, I nod, and tell her that I will if I can. "Okay. So long, and good luck," she says. I bid Elizabeth farewell, and motion to my pegasus to take off. It duly obliges, soaring forth into the sky once more. As I fly away, I look back and see Elizabeth waving me goodbye. Soon she is little more than a grey dot behind me, and I turn my attention back to the skies in front of me. It's going to be a long journey to Alondis, but I know I can make it.