How to Find your Way in the Incomplete Archives

Six

Book two of the first series started with the Holy Maiden taking control of the knights of Blodwen. She had discovered her power of prophecy and earned the title of the 'Seer of Light'. Though there were mentions of limits to the ability, perhaps for the sake of maintaining balance in the world of Arcania.

The Librarian found increasing traces of disharmony in the writing.

The book was still similar in physical design to the previous. The quality of pages remained as before but they counted a noticeable increase in the number of illustrations. Most of these pictures were of the main character and her potential lovers. The images were not very relevant to the text at hand.

'Is this the glorified 'fanservice' I heard the Archivist mention?' they wondered, unsure of what the term meant.

The personality of Luna, too, underwent a subtle change. She was more confident but she passed increasingly harsher sentences on her enemies. She trampled on her opponents with lesser moral repercussions.

The story, of course, portrayed these as heroic moments, even going out of the way to paint the other side as stereotypical villains during the trials when previous mentions of them had never hinted at those tendencies.

'Was the author suffering from amnesia?' discordant storytelling was starting to show at every turn.

Book Two introduced Luna's first long-standing antagonist – the fiancee of the Prince. It introduced her as someone who was uninterested in the affairs of the nobles yet unwilling to relinquish her position as the Prince's future wife. She was from a trade family and deeply interested in commerce. Nothing else held her affections quite as well.

"She only sees me as another bargaining chip on her board," the Prince was shown to confide in Luna during one crucial scene.

In spite of the clever setup, nothing much came of it. Like other antagonists, she was forced to accept utter defeat in due time for the most ridiculous accusation — witchcraft.

'I do not like where this is ahead,' the Librarian flipped a page.

The story also began showing glimpses of the Crown of Evil – the ruler of the Shadow Kingdom, a land that followed the Path of Darkness, shunning the 'righteous' rule of the Holy Maiden. He was the ultimate antagonist of the series or so the book said.

'It's all so generic,' the Librarian complained to no one in particular, 'Must I proceed through all three before I can see her story?'

The silence of the Valley presented no answers.

****

The Holy Army had passed through the town of Fernheather. The ruined state of the buildings and the ambience of unease amongst the townsfolk were an unmistakable testimony to their atrocities.

There were no young men, women or children to be seen on the streets. Only the old and physically disabled had survived the purge. The Blodwenians called it 'mercy', sparing the helpless and eliminating all those that they deemed as even remote threats to the Blodwen Empire. Their passage decimated towns, erased tribes and left entire populations crippled.

Archaea and Arlan were not strangers to these sights. Their own homelands were an example of such an attempted purge. After countless encounters, they were still unaccustomed to the cruelty of it.

"We must restock our silver's worth of rations here. There are no towns or villages up ahead for the next seven days," Arlan consulted the map, "I'll find what remains of the market, My Lady,"

"Alright, I will secure us a place to stay for the night. We will meet back here in three hours."

They parted ways to scout their assigned locations.

The town's central square was damaged beyond recovery. Their Temple of Darkness had been dismantled to its foundation stones. Archaea was able to recognise it from remnants of the defaced idols. All the surrounding buildings had suffered a similar fate.

She turned away from the main streets and looked for secure, quieter pockets in the outer orbit of the town.

After about an hour, she arrived at a group of buildings that must have been inns in the past. The signage above one of the doors was broken in half but the building itself had survived.

She tied her horse to a rotting wooden fence and walked in without preamble. They had seen many such businesses, once prosperous houses, now standing empty and desolate. She looked for signs of visitors but found none.

Archaea walked in, assuming the inn was abandoned and started to climb to the second storey.

"Who goes there?" a male voice startled her. It was coming from somewhere within the semi-darkness.

"I'm a passing traveller looking for a place to spend the night," she searched for the speaker.

"Do travellers usually trespass private property without looking for the owners?" The accusation was unavoidable.

"I have travelled from afar and seen quite a few places like this in ruins. When I saw no one at the counter, and heard no cooking, I thought this place was unused,"

"And I am to believe that?"

"You need not. Without knowing who you are or what relation you have to this place, I am not obliged to explain myself any further," Archaea had pinpointed the source of the voice to a door leading to the back, "Show yourself,"

"And how do I know you're not hostile?"

"I have yet to draw my sword. That is the best guarantee I can give you in our circumstance, and" she took a deep breath, "I swear on my honour, I intend to do you no harm if you do none to me,"

"I hope your honour is as high as you are tall, at least," a young man stepped out from behind the door. He was younger than Archaea, in his late teenage years at most. He was of average height and build, dark-skinned, black-haired and had clear, green eyes.

He held his hands up, a disarming smile plastered on his innocent face, "As you can see, I am also unarmed. No need for conflict, I can assume?"

"None whatsoever. Who are you?"

"The name's Fremont. In truth, I am also a temporary tenant of this inn, but it is not abandoned," the man held open the door he had just come through, "The owner lives here,"

Archaea craned her neck to get a better look inside. She could see an old woman huddled on a floor mat in the back. She stopped knitting the unfinished blanket on her lap.

He followed her gaze, "Granny Romna here runs this inn. I'm staying with her, and in return for letting me stay, I help her with the housework."

"I see," Archaea stepped forward, "Greetings, Lady Innkeeper. Me and a friend of mine are looking for a place to spend the night. Could we borrow a room?"

The innkeeper squinted at her, "There is hardly any business here nowadays. I see no reason to refuse."

"Thank you, we will pay you in silver. How much for a room for two?"

"These days I have no use for silver. How about you fetch me some supplies instead? Food to last me the next five days will do fine. Of course, you'll have to cook for yourselves,"

"I'm fine with the cooking. As for the supplies, that I can agree to after I check the state of our own rations," Archaea made to leave, "I will be back with our confirmation within the next couple of hours." The Princess left the room.

As she was untyping her horse, the young man ran out behind her, "Wait,"

"Yes?"

"You said you're leaving tomorrow. Might I ask in which direction you're headed?"

"We're heading north,"

The man had a sheepish look on his face, "The thing is, I need to travel that way too but there were no merchants or caravans willing to take me on. Can I come with you?"