Days of riding through Bellumi territory has weighed heavy on the envoy’s nerves. Countless checkpoints and searches.
Wasn’t the Lieutenant’s purpose to speed along the process? Yet she seems to revel in each stoppage. She loves order, the core of the Bellumi.
After all the checkpoints, the group got a reprieve. It has been nearly a half a day since they made the last clearance.
Ser Stephan and Aero agreed to stop at the next body of water to rest the horses and eat, but they haven’t seen one. The Lieutenant has never been stationed in this region of the territory, so she doesn’t know the land. So, the group has kept riding. With it getting late they decide to just make camp at the next stop.
As they round the bend in the road on the ridge, they begin to see a huge lake below. It is no ordinary lake, Aero realizes that the lake is the Pool of Nazeret, a forbidden site.
“Stop!” Aero exclaims as he dismounts his horse. “Do you know what this is?”
“It’s a pink lake, we need to find a way down there. I want see how the water tastes.” Matthew responds.
“Tastes like death, because you will die if you drink it.” David responds.
“And if it didn’t, by law we would have to kill you.” Ser Stephan adds.
“Why? Is pink water bad?” Matthew asks.
“Matt, this is the Pool of Nazeret, it’s a forbidden site.” Aero answers.
“The first forbidden site.” David corrects Aero “you do know the story, right Matthew?”
“Never heard of it.”
“How have you not heard that story?” Roasa says as she exits the wagon.
“Just haven’t, I grew up poor. My father was a mason from the Two Springs community that married a woman from the Bend. History was never important to us.”
“My people don’t ever have money, but we know the story.” Roasa responds.
“Matthew, about a hundred years before the Great War, Bellum was built around their region seat, Nazeret. Which was a large city of around a half a million people. Historians say it was a beautiful city filled with some of the finest art in the kingdom. The castle square was filled with emerald statues. Many of the great philosophers or the day would gather among the emerald statues to teach. Most history books record it as the most beautiful city in the land.”
“Wait, David… I mean Dave, castles… artist… statues… We have been in Bellum for days; I haven’t seen any of that.” Matthew responds.
“As I was saying, during this time the region was rampant with magicians of all kinds. A magician that practiced blood magic named, Zhet demanded blood for power. After the regency refused, he called a star down out of the sky that crashed into the city creating the crater lake below. The survivors of the region were forced to worship Zhet. He demanded that animals be sacrificed to him by throwing them into the lake. His powers grew, and so did his boldness. He began demanding that each mother’s first born be thrown in the lake, but the Bellumi fought back and eventually drove all magicians from their land. Then they fought for the crown in the Great War.”
“So why didn’t they return to normal life afterward?” Matthew asks.
“Because it was weakness, and we will never allow it to happen again!” The Lieutenant answers.
The group can hear the distain in her voice. Out of respect for her, they mount up to continue their ride.
They ride along the hillside for another hour before finding a small stream coming off the hill toward the pink lake. The group makes camp quickly, horses watered, tents set up, stew started.
A few minutes before dusk, and everyone is settled in for the night.
Will tends to the stew.
Dave and Stephan talk quietly.
the Lieutenant walks the perimeter.
Roasa thinks about her husband.
Aero looks out over the lake, still in amazement.
Matthew drinks… Water…
Just another night on the road. The Capital is far from anyone’s mind, in Bellum the group is safe. Another night closer to Meego weighs heavy on Aero’s mind as he turns in.
In the morning the group is awoken to the sound of thunder. A rain day.
Matthew wakes up long enough to hear the rain, but quickly crashes. These rare rain days allow him to catch up on sleeping.
Most of the group remain in their tents.
Only the Lieutenant does her normal duties.
She tries to get Roasa to train with her, but she refuses.
So the Lieutenant trains with her spear alone.
Aero, Will, Stephan and David all watch from their tents.
She trains as she normally does yet this time in the rain, she has a noticeable smile. Perhaps it was that smile that coaxed Roasa out of her tent to do her daily training. The Lieutenant has really brought Roasa along with both the sword and spear the past few days.
They train extra long in the rain as the men watch along. Something about the rain energizes both women, and by the time they finish both are smiling.
It was the first time the group has seen Roasa smile.
After the women finishes their training, everyone closes in for an uneventful day.
Sometime in the early evening the rain finally stops. Too late to continue, they remain in camp for another night.
Around the campfire, everyone enjoys a rabbit stew Will prepared. Tonight, is the first night since the group picked up Roasa that that feel they can relax. Even the Lieutenant seems to enjoy the company of the group. Jokes, and laughter fill the air.
As Matthew leads the group in a song, David leans into Aero “We needed this, a day of healing rain.”
Aero just nods as he takes in the scene.
The next morning, everyone packs up ready to continue the journey.
The group stands on the edge of the hill overlooking the lake one last time.
“Bellum is a beautiful country, Rain.” Aero says to the Lieutenant.
“Rain? Why do you call me that?” She asks.
“Because you clearly love the rain.” David answers for his brother.
Everyone agrees.
“And you want to call me this?”
“That’s great! You have to let us call you Rain, it’s a term of endearment.” Roasa says.
Fine, I will allow it.” The Lieutenant responds to everyone’s delight.
Everyone heads to their rides. Will stops to gaze on the lake one last time. He sees a splash below him in the water. On the bank near the splash stands a little dark skinned Bellumi girl. He turns to look to the group to see if anyone else saw it, but they didn’t. Before he speaks up, he looks back down but the girl isn’t there. The lake is motionless, no signs of a splash.
Will wonders if his eyes had played a trick on him. As he is looks over the lake where he thought he saw the girl, Ser Stephan calls for him to mount up. He looks back at the lake one last time before running off to join the group.
Surely his mind was playing tricks on him.
Relics of the Old Age 