Darkness surrounded Garinor on all sides. He knew he was no longer alive after the scepter had stripped his soul away and then had blown to pieces. Yet, he was there, floating in a strange darkness that still seemed real to him. Sparkles of light fluttered by him, like sun glinting off flecks of sand. He reached out and each flicker reminded him of something. Here, he saw a piece of clothing he once had worn. There, he saw himself toss a ball to Tomli. The bits of twinkling light were his memories.
He looked around as the lights fell away from him. It was beautiful to watch, but he then he couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t let his memories, these fragments of his soul, fade to nothingness. He reached out with sweeping hands, though they were not his physical hands, but mental ones. And in those extendable arms he captured the glittering lights and he pulled them toward him, unwilling to let any of them disappear.
As he gathered the bits together, he became more aware of things around him. He saw glimpses of the cavern and the remnants of the scepter as it sifted softly to the ground in innumerable pieces. He watched the dusty remains flutter about as if time was again altered.
He felt pain. It was there again, just as when the scepter was about to explode too. It started from his hip and it grew in strength. He reflexively reached his hand down into his pocket and touched a fiery object that he withdrew and held up to his spiritual eye.
It was a stone. A plain rock with smooth edges all around. It didn’t glow, though he could feel heat emanating from it as if he had taken it off a raging fire. As he stared, he saw bits of dust float away from the stone, falling away like layers of an onion. With each sheet of dust, the stone became smaller and smaller and he felt his spirit being pulled ahead. He was drawn toward his body and as the stone continued to fade away, he felt his soul realign with its natural host.
He opened his physical eyes and watched as the last bit of dust wafted away. He looked up in shock at the prince and at Tomli, who had separated themselves and also stared back at Garinor.
Tomli ran toward his friend. “Garinor! How?”
He shook his head. “I—I don’t know. I guess—it was that bloodstone I found, Tomli. The scepter took my life but the stone exchanged itself for me. Somehow.”
The prince strutted over, easily holding the sword. “All well and good, then? And you have given over the kingdom to me now.”
“Yes,” Garinor said. “You’ve been groomed to take the position of king, so go do so and leave us be.”
The prince laughed and he twirled his sword. “It is amusing that you tricked me, but you will not do so again.” He turned then and stalked out of the cavern, knowing they would follow him.
As they reached the camp, Garinor could see that Terrian’s well-disciplined control had faltered. The prince’s men had usurped the others and the feel of the camp was entirely different. When they approached, the prince paid Terrian little heed, determined to deal with him as a traitor.
Before the prince’s guards could stop him, Terrian marched up to Garinor, his face livid. One strong, powerful hand swung out and cracked his son on the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. “Idiot boy! What I have devoted my life to, you go and give away?” The prince cackled wildly and Terrian was imprisoned for his life’s work.
The boys were held captive. The prince couldn’t outright hurt them or imprison them as well, but he didn’t care. His thoughts were already on conquest and fortune, and he wasted no time sending his most trusted men countrywide and planting the seeds of his plans. The next morning, the troop marched off toward the castle, where the prince would wrest the throne from his father’s hands if he didn’t succumb to the light of destiny on his own.
Bound back to back, Tomli and Garinor were set to have a difficult ride. But in Tomli’s pocket, he still held one thing that would help him. He worked his fingers diligently and removed the Daggerfist necklace that he had found in Garinor’s nightshirt. With its sharper edges, he worked at his bindings until he was able to break through. He then freed Garinor and the two of them escaped the prince’s clutches and went into hiding.
“I’ll never understand why you chose him over me, Garinor, but we have to put that aside and work to fix this situation.” A pair of fourteen-year-old boys, however, had little means of overtaking the prince’s army and once he reached the castle, the prince would be unstoppable.
The prince spent the first few years of his reign draining the resources of the land and seeking to build an empire that could ultimately dominate the world. His influence spread across the country and all who showed even the slightest evidence of wavering were put to death. So it was that the people plunged into fear and locked away their hopes for the bright future they had expected had Tomli taken power.
Years passed by, but Garinor and Tomli were not idle. They remained best friends despite Garinor’s choice, for still he had offered up his own life for Tomli’s. They worked secretly, setting up schemes to interfere with the prince’s plans. They robbed caravans for supplies and stole horses from the prince’s outposts. It was dangerous work, but like the years Terrian had spent defending Tomli and all the other boys who might be mistaken as the heir, so too did Garinor and Tomli believe in their actions.
It took seven years before their plot was uncovered, but by then a large contingent of people had joined their cause. A great civil war broke out across the land, led by Tomli and Garinor, whose ultimate goals were to overthrow the new king and to release Garinor’s father from imprisonment, for he had been kept alive as a memento for others who might rise up against the king.
Tomli was a natural leader and although the king’s men were better trained in combat, the people rallied behind Tomli as a man they truly honored. The war raged on for several years and at times became desperate. The king called in reinforcements from other kingdoms, for his father’s relatives still held power in their own lands. But the people could not be put down and at last Tomli faced the prince-turned-king with demands of his own.
The king didn’t understand where the people found the strength to fight after all the defeats they had experienced, and he could do nothing but surrender his reign to Tomli’s superiority. The prince took Terrian’s place in the dungeons and was never heard from again.
The years continued and Tomli was a venerable ruler. He spent many years undoing the harm caused by the prince’s actions and even longer winning over the hearts of those who had opposed his ascension and had supported the prince.
Terrian never forgave his son. When they met, they said little, and though Garinor had only been a boy when he chose the prince to rule, his years in prison hardened Terrian’s heart. Thus when Tomli offered the position of captain of the king’s guard, Terrian turned it down and retreated to Paligar, where he avoided Garinor any time he visited home.
Otherwise, the kingdom saw a growing peace and the people were glad to be freed of the prince’s terror. Tomli and Garinor each started families of their own and from there the seeds of the future were planted, ready to usher in a warm destiny for the land.
You have come to the end of Garinor’s adventure, but there are other paths to explore. Start over and guide Garinor again along his journey.
The End…