The Cycles of Revelation Series
Artifact of the Dawn: Reminiscing (A Queer Sci-Fi Adventure)
Episode 14: Jevan and Ardyn pass the time in confinement reminiscing about their pasts, while secretly planning their escape.
Ardyn laughed nervously at the suggestion that he was treating Jevan as a mate. “N-no, I am trying to be your friend and make sure you eat. If you starve yourself, you will be too weak to run when the rain finally comes.”
“You’re right, as usual,” Jevan agreed as he rose with a groan and came to the table.
Sitting down opposite Jevan, Ardyn ate his porridge, which was thankfully still warm. When they were first served this for breakfast, Ardyn made the mistake of letting Jevan sleep in and waited for him. By the time they got around to eating, the porridge had hardened into a cold, lumpy mess that was nearly indigestible.
As they ate, Ardyn thought about everything going on. “Why do you think our leaders have been keeping all these secrets?”
Jevan shook his head and shrugged. “I wish I knew. There’s something they’re hiding. Something worth punishing anyone who finds out. After everything that’s happened, I really want to know what’s in that tower. We need to find a way for me to get inside. Maybe we can dig under that wall somehow?”
“That might work,” Ardyn replied. “I want you to see it, too. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There’s something else that’s been bothering me about what I saw. Nothing was covered in dust. If the place is forbidden and has been abandoned for so long, then what’s keeping the dust from settling and covering every surface?”
Leaning forward, Jevan tilted his head. “That is very odd. Could your elders be going there and cleaning off the dust?” Jevan wondered.
“The Triumvirate rarely ever leave Maala’naa,” Ardyn replied. “The fact they are traveling here to witness our punishment is highly unusual.”
“Then who… or what… is keeping the tower clean? It’s all so bizarre. You said you saw things that looked like slanted tables, covered in glowing symbols and blinking lights? I wonder if those symbols or lights controlled anything?” Jevan wondered. “I’m betting one of them may even control that invisible wall we found.”
“That was my thought, but I could not make sense of it,” Ardyn said. “I was afraid if I touched the wrong one, I might turn on something worse than that wall. I will need to take more time to study everything and then maybe I can figure it out and get that wall down so you can join me.”
“How will you get back in? Your elders took the key from you,” Jevan said with a frown.
A mischievous grin crossed Ardyn’s face, making Jevan look at him curiously. Then Ardyn rose and made his way over to the cloak he had been wearing the night he rescued Jevan. Reaching into a hidden pocket, he pulled out the glowing key.
“How did you get it back?” Jevan asked with a look of surprised delight.
“They put it back into my pack and stashed it in one of our storage huts,” Ardyn replied as he slid the key back into its hiding place. “Remember, my people don’t use doors or locks, and I don’t think they expected I would try to escape and take you with me. They didn’t seem to think it was all that important. You saw how quickly they dismissed it.”
They lapsed into silence, both lost in thought. Too busy himself, Ardyn made the bed while Jevan stoked the fireplace. It wasn’t cold, but it was something to do. Once the bed was made, Ardyn wandered over to the window that overlooked the forest. Jevan’s small home stood on the edge of the village, right next to the woods.
Ardyn longed to wander the forest again. He missed the freedom that came with being a ranger and wondered if he’d ever be able to do that again. Once they made their escape, he and Jevan would be fugitives from both of their people. Neither of them could ever go home again.
“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Jevan asked as he joined Ardyn by the window.
“I was just thinking about how much we’re going to give up, all because of that stupid piece of metal I found,” Ardyn said sadly.
“Hey, don’t talk like that,” Jevan admonished. “You discovered a long-held secret, protected by centuries of lies. The truth is there, within the Aria’una. Whatever it is, it’s important. I can feel it and we need to see this through.”
“I know. Part of me is excited to find out more, but a part of me grieves for everything I’m giving up because of it,” Ardyn confessed. “Look at how much our lives have already changed in such a short time, just because of this one little thing. Neither of our lives will ever be the same again, no matter what we do.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jevan said with a sigh as he sat down on the bench and rubbed his face. “However, being fugitives on the run will be far better than facing that flogging or spending the rest of our lives in those mines.”
“True,” Ardyn agreed. “Escape is really the only logical option since your ard refuses to speak with you.”
Jevan had tried to send messages to Mathias, but the ard denied all requests. There was nothing else to be done, other than to either face their fate or run from it. They both became lost in their own thoughts once more; Ardyn went to sit on the bench while Jevan stood and paced the floor. Watching him, Ardyn admired the effortless grace with which Jevan moved, despite his tall frame and the obvious tension that ran through him.
Eventually, Jevan gave up pacing to sit on the floor by Ardyn’s feet. “You haven’t told me too much about your childhood, beyond some vague references to your extended family, and how you kept getting in trouble for asking too many questions. Would you tell me more, please?”
Shrugging dismissively, Ardyn looked down at Jevan, trying not to admire how his sparkling gray eyes contrasted with the beautiful dark tone of his skin. “It was noisy. I was always surrounded by people. When I couldn’t explore the forests around Maala’naa and had finished my assigned chores for the day, I often sat in a corner and just watched everyone. Even as a child, I was not very social. I spent a lot of time thinking about things I shouldn’t. Often, I wondered how things worked or came to be. I wanted to make things, and when I tried, I always found ways to improve them, which got me in trouble.”
“What kinds of things did you try to make?” Jevan asked.
“Nothing that special,” Ardyn replied. “My favorite one was an improved bow design. I worked on it in secret for weeks. I kept it hidden in a small hollowed-out log outside of our settlement that I thought no one else knew about. Changing the shape of the bow helped my arrows fly farther with more accuracy. So, I hid it for a long time, knowing they would punish me for it. They eventually caught me. They destroyed my new bow and whipped me, before confining me to my family’s hut for weeks.”
“Is that why you became a ranger? To get away from all that?” Jevan asked.
“Yes,” Ardyn admitted. “I know the elders welcomed that. I was seen as a troublemaker, with an infectious curiosity. Getting me to stay as far away from everyone was a good solution all around. So, what happens when Medellan children have curiosity like I do?”
“When our children show an aptitude toward a certain skill, whether it’s hunting, farming, trading, metal working, or building, they become apprenticed with an adult who is a master in that profession,” Jevan explained. “The master will teach their apprentices until they master the skill for themselves.”
“What if an apprentice finds a better way to do something than how the master taught them?” Ardyn asked.
“Either the master will take the new way into consideration and incorporate it into how things are done, or they will show the apprentice why it’s not a good idea,” Jevan explained.
“What aptitude did you have that led you to become a trader?” Ardyn asked.
“Being a trader requires a certain amount of charm and persuasiveness. There isn’t much I can do to improve that other than to be even more charming,” Jevan said with a broad smile and a sly wink, making Ardyn laugh. “However, I have seen some improvements in how we approach farming and metalworking since I was a child. Often times these were originally suggested by an apprentice and improved upon by a master. Ultimately, the improvement is demonstrated to our ard, who decides whether the improvement is worthwhile or not.”
“What happens if your ard doesn’t approve?” Ardyn asked.
“Then we keep doing things the old way,” Jevan said. “It’s happened a few times and I know the apprentices who have had their ideas rejected were unhappy about it, but there was nothing they could do to change their ard’s mind.”
Ardyn contemplated that, while fiddling with his braid absentmindedly. A thought struck him then. “Do you think your ard might also purposely hold back some innovations, like the Athla’naa elders do?”
Jevan frowned at the implication. “If you had asked me that a few weeks ago, I would have said no. I would never have believed such a thing. However, with everything we’ve encountered, you may be on to something. That would explain a lot that I’ve often wondered about. Why does it seem every question we have leads to more questions? Now I want to go back and figure out what their big secret is even more.”
“Yes, as do I,” Ardyn agreed.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoy my writing and are not yet a member of Medium, for a nominal fee you can join and support me, to unlock more of my articles and all the content on this platform.
