The Cycles of Revelation Series
Artifact of the Dawn: Joining Forces (A Queer Sci-Fi Adventure)
Episode 4: After Jevan saves Ardyn’s life in the forbidden woods, will they stay to investigate the strange artifact Ardyn has found, or will they flee in the hopes of not being caught?
Ardyn shrank away from the outstretched hand, his ears dropping as he took a step back from the tall athla’maakh. Oh, no… it’s… it’s him. Taking a breath to compose himself, Ardyn’s voice still quavered when he spoke. “You… saved my life and felled the sar’ora I had been tracking for the past week. For that, I am grateful.”
“You’ve been tracking that triwolf for an entire week?” Jevan asked, lowering his hand and raising a quizzical eyebrow. “Then how’d it get the jump on you like that? Is this your first-time out here on your own?”
“No,” Ardyn scoffed, squatting down to survey the carcass, impressed by the precision of where the man’s arrow struck. “It’s a long story, but I lost the trail and was hurrying back to my settlement. This beast had been preying on our children, and Elder Aelrynd tasked me with hunting it down. This sar’ora had been unnaturally vicious with its kills, so I had to approach it cautiously.”
“By rights, the kill is mine now…” Jevan began as Ardyn looked up and scowled at him. “…But since it nearly ate you, I guess I can let it go. Do you need any help with skinning and preparing the pelt?”
“No,” Ardyn said sharply. “I’ve been skinning beasts since I was a small child. I don’t require the help of an athla’maakh. Especially one that I should kill for venturing into the Aria’una.”
Ardyn turned to face the task before him. The sar’ora was a sizeable beast, and this was going to take some time. Taking a deep breath, he noticed the athla’maakh was still there, watching him. Turning, he glared at the man.
Jevan cleared his throat. “I was wondering, why did you say you should kill me? And what does… Aria’una mean?” Jevan asked, carefully pronouncing it as if it were an unfamiliar word. “I haven’t learned that phrase yet.”
Rolling his eyes, Ardyn stood to get the tools from his pack. “It means forbidden place. Did you not notice the bhath’la’ar… the red-leafed trees?” Ardyn pointed in the general direction of the perimeter of the Aria’una. “They clearly mark the perimeter. We allow no one to venture past them. The Athla’naa elders even punish our own people for venturing here. For an athla’maakh like yourself, it carries a sentence of death.”
“Death? For something I wasn’t even aware existed?” Jevan scoffed, crooking an eyebrow at him. “So, why are you here? Are you so fond of punishment?”
“No, I am not. I became disoriented during the storm,” Ardyn explained. “I did not know I was running into the Aria’una to escape the deluge.” He refused to admit to this athla’maakh that he had accidentally wandered into the Aria’una before the storm.
“Well, no one is going to know we were here,” Jevan argued.
Ardyn knelt before the felled beast and laid out his tools before responding. “The elders know already. The Triumvirate always knows if someone has breached the perimeter. I’ll expect to face a public whipping when I return.”
“So, do you plan to kill me?” Jevan challenged him. “Or will you drag me before your elders for execution?”
The faint smirk on the tall man’s face should have annoyed Ardyn. Instead, it made him feel oddly at ease. No! He’s athla’maakh, Ardyn reminded himself. He shook his head in response. “I won’t do either. You saved my life, and it would be dishonorable for me to kill you, even if you are athla’maakh. Just know, your life will always be in danger from now on.”
“Are you telling me, if I hadn’t saved you, and we had come across each other inside this forbidden place, you would have killed me for being here?” Jevan asked.
Frowning at the thought, Ardyn regarded the taller man with his twinkling gray eyes. Would I have killed him? For violating some ancient tradition that I don’t even understand? “I… am not sure.”
Jevan huffed and gave him a brief smile. “Well, one more thing, if you’ll indulge me. It’s obvious that you don’t like Medellans, but I’m curious how you know my language? You’re the first elf I’ve met who speaks it so fluently.”
“I’m a ranger,” Ardyn replied, as if that explained everything, before turning and grabbing his sharpest stone knife from among his skinning tools. Why won’t this fool leave me to my task?
“Well, I’ve also never met an elven ranger who can speak the Medellan tongue beyond a few broken words,” Jevan said with a suspicious tone. “I frequent a couple of settlements for trade, which is where I learned to speak your people’s language. Are rangers from your settlement required to learn it?”
“No, but I thought it would be useful to know,” Ardyn said with a shrug of his shoulders as he expertly made the first slice into the corpse of the sar’ora. “I range close to your territories and have occasionally traded with your people, most of whom refused to learn my language.”
“Your language isn’t easy to learn,” Jevan admitted. “Thankfully, I had a very patient teacher.”
Looking up at the man again, Ardyn had to ask. “Who taught you?”
“An elder from a settlement I trade with,” Jevan replied. “She insisted I learn and set about teaching me. In exchange, I taught her more of my people’s language.”
Turning away from Jevan, Ardyn went back to his gruesome task. Behind him, he could hear as Jevan began walking off. “Well, I’ll let you get to it. Enjoy that pelt.”
Looking over his shoulder, Ardyn watched as Jevan began walking eastward. Sighing to himself, he couldn’t tear his eyes from Jevan’s retreating form. Ardyn hadn’t meant to be so brusque with him, but all athla’maakh made him nervous, especially the males who often stood over a head taller than him.
For a moment, he wished he’d had a reason to call Jevan back when a thought occurred to him. “Jevan!” Ardyn called out. “Wait a moment, please.”
Turning around, Jevan hurried back to Ardyn with a puzzled expression.
“I found something,” Ardyn tried to explain. “I found it in the cave I sheltered in during yesterday’s storm. Could you look at it? I was wondering if your people made it.”
“Yeah, sure. I’d be happy to take a look,” Jevan agreed with a warm smile.
Setting aside his knife, Ardyn stood and went over to his pack. Reaching inside, Ardyn felt for the strange object and pulled it out. It glowed faintly as he held it out to Jevan. As soon as Jevan held it, the glow faded again. How curious.
Holding the strange object, Jevan marveled at how light and smooth the metal was. “Were those symbols glowing?” Jevan asked in awe as he turned it over to study it.
“Yes. They glow every time I touch the thing,” Ardyn replied, reaching out and touching it again. As soon as his fingers made contact, the script flared to life with their soft blue glow.
“That’s strange. I wonder why it only reacts when you touch it. It certainly doesn’t seem to glow from my touch,” Jevan remarked as he continued to examine it. “What does the writing say? It’s elven, right?”
Ardyn nodded. “I believe it’s an archaic script, one that only our elders can read.”
“Yeah, but they wouldn’t take it well if they saw this, would they?” Jevan asked with a frown. “I know enough about your culture to know that you forbid most technology. This metal work is far more advanced than I’ve ever seen.”
“So, you don’t think this was Medellan made, either?” Ardyn asked.
Jevan shook his head. “No, definitely not. I’m no smith, but I know we don’t have any metalworking techniques that could make anything this lightweight or smooth,” he confirmed. “We certainly don’t have whatever technology would cause it to glow like that.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Ardyn said, taking it back and holding it in the palm of his hand. “I have never seen something like this from the Medellans I’ve come across.”
They both stared at the object as it glowed in Ardyn’s hand. Then Jevan had an idea. “Is this area forbidden because of that? Could there be other technology like this that we’re not meant to find?”
Ardyn’s ears perked up with interest before dropping low as he frowned at the object in his hand. “You’re right. I know I shouldn’t, but my curiosity has always gotten me in trouble with the elders more times than I can count,” Ardyn admitted. “I’m already here, with far more questions than answers after finding this… thing, and I need to explore the Aria’una and see if I can’t find some answers.”
With his own curiosity piqued, Jevan flashed a bright smile at Ardyn. “Since I’m supposed to be dead anyway, would you mind if I came along? This has me intrigued, too. Please?”
The elf regarded him for a moment before nodding in agreement. “I am usually more wary of athla’maakh, but I feel I can trust you. Yes, I would welcome your company. Will you help me skin this beast?”
“Yeah, I’d be happy to. Let me go grab my pack. We can do it faster with the knives I have,” Jevan suggested as he turned and hurried away.
After they’d finished skinning the sar’ora and prepared the pelt as best as they could for travel, they spent the remaining daylight searching the surrounding area. They specifically looked for caves where more strange objects could be hiding.
When they hadn’t found anything by dusk, they opted to stop and make camp for the night. They agreed they would take one more day to search the Aria’una. If they still hadn’t found anything by the end of the next day, then they would make their way out of the Aria’una and part ways.
After making camp, Ardyn used what little light remained to hunt for some dinner while Jevan set about building a fire. It didn’t take long for Ardyn to return with a couple of fat little jumpers. It impressed Jevan with how fast Ardyn hunted them down, and soon they were roasting their dinner and eating in companionable silence.
After they had finished eating, Jevan regarded the elf across from him. Ardyn had delicate, fine-boned features. His long, lilac hair complimented his pale skin, made luminous in the light of the moons. The graceful up sweep of his pointed ears, and the flash of fire in the dazzle of his fathomless eyes, only enhanced Ardyn’s looks. He was breathtaking and the most beautiful male elf Jevan had ever met.
“Do I intrigue you, Medellan?” Ardyn snorted, bringing Jevan out of his reverie.
“Yes, you do,” Jevan replied honestly. “I find all elves intriguing. Your people are exceptionally beautiful.”
“Is that all that interests you? Our looks?” Ardyn huffed with clear disgust.
Jevan laughed. “Not only your looks, no, but I will admit you are even more attractive than most. You are the most stunning elf I’ve ever seen.”
Ardyn scowled at him while scooting farther away. “Keep your perverse interest in my people to yourself. I know how your kind are.”
A mix of confusion and disappointment came over Jevan. “My kind? I would never do you any harm, I promise. You can trust me.”
“I put my trust in Medellans once before,” Ardyn said with a growl. “I am no longer so naïve.”
Needing to understand, Jevan assumed as non-threatening a posture as he could. “What happened? Can you tell me? Please?” Jevan asked quietly.
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