Family lies

After several hours of walking in silence through the infinite desert, the fatigue became apparent. Xavier still had difficulty breathing, so they progressed slowly, although at least his cough had improved.

'I assume that the monsters also depended on magic; they have not attacked us yet,' commented Xavier.

'It is possible. There were no monsters before the age of magic,' replied Delfin. 'What are we doing now?'

'Flee,' replied Xavier. 'We are criminals in the dynasty; we will be killed in the spot for the position of Tahal in the southern kingdom; we have no chance of surviving without the salamanders, the dragons, or without magic.

'It will be a long journey,' complained Dolphin, looking into the desert.

'I have some gold hidden in the Finch Forest; it will be useful for our travel. I suppose our best choice is Orphen,' said Xavier as he looked in the distance.

'Without magic, this world will change a lot; disorder will reign,' analyzed Delfin.

'Hey, look!' warned Xavier.

Some carriages seemed to be moving in the distance.

'What is that?' asked Xavier.

'It looks like... the tower of Liev,' replied Dolphin.

They continued to walk. Delfin was right; right at the border between the desert and the dynasty, where the jungle of Morr began, instead of the tower of Liev, they found a lot of debris.

'What happened here?' Delfin asked one of the men who was searching through the rubble. By his clothes, it was obvious that he was a low-class nobleman.

'Liev's tower collapsed suddenly. Our sons and the knights are trapped under the rubble.' The man looked at them from top to bottom; they were dirty, both of them wearing tough leather clothes; it was obvious that they came from a battle. Xavier looked pale, with blue lips. Delfin had blood stains on his clothes. The man looked toward the desert.

'The battle is over; there are few survivors,' replied Delfin to the inquisitive look.

The man approached some of the other parents and relatives involved in the rescue. They sent some carriages towards the desert.

'Why have they not sent rescue for the army?' asked Xavier.

'They can't. The kingdoms have no one available, the knights have lost their enchanted armor, the magicians seem to be unable to use their magic, there is disorder everywhere, and the people are revolting. Don't go near the royal city or the citadels,' the nobleman advised them.

'Can you take us to a village?' asked Delfin.

'I'm sorry, we need the carriages and horses; we still hope to find someone alive in the rubble; we can't help you.'

Xavier and Delfin nodded and continued their march.

'If even the tower of Liev has fallen, the age of magic is really over.' Delfin smiled. 'A new era, without the lies of the past.'

The night began to fall, and the sun was hiding over the horizon. They were walking slowly. Xavier turned and looked back, staring carefully at where they had come from.

'Let's get out of the road,' he suggested with a worried face.

Delfin followed the recommendation. They hid behind some bushes, about thirty meters from the road.

'What are we waiting for?' asked Delfin, staring at the distance.

'An opportunity,' replied Xavier, stabbing his dagger into Delfin's heart.

Xavier withdrew the dagger and walked away from Delfin as quickly as he could. Delfin tried to stop the blood from coming out of his chest, but unsuccessfully.

'When did you realize I stole his body?'

'I didn't. I was going to kill Delfin anyway; you just got bad luck, Clinton,' replied Xavier, surprised.

'Why?' asked Clinton.

'There is no honor among the bandits,' replied Xavier with no emotion in his voice.

Clinton smiled, 'In the end, we're not... so different,' he said with his last breath.

Xavier approached the body carefully, making sure it was dead. He cut his throat as a precaution. He checked his pockets and belongings: a gold coin, a couple silver coins, and a good-quality dagger. It took him some time to cut off the skin of the whole body to damage all the arcane magic diagrams and runes. Without looking back, he abandoned the body in the bushes and went out on the road under the moonlight.

Xavier felt his body losing its strength; it became difficult to breathe, and each step became heavier. "At least it's over," he thought before he lost consciousness.

'Marle, for heaven's sake, we don't know who he is; he could be a criminal.'

Xavier heard a man's voice reproaching someone.

'We cannot leave him here, Jano,' replied a woman.

Xavier felt his body being lifted from the ground; the cart began to move, and he lost consciousness again. A child's voice woke him up.

'Ma! Why is Farpas shining?'

'Because it is burning Aleum, our house is gone, the bakery is gone, everything is gone,' the woman answered.

The boy's name forced Xavier to maintain his conscience.

'Your name is Aleum?' He asked the boy; his speech was slow, cutting the words in order to breath.

'It is. It was my father's name; he was a powerful magician, but he died,' replied the boy, with pride at first and then with some sadness.

'And your mother's name is Marle, isn't it?'

'That's right. In fact, her name is...'

"Marlebis," they both said at the same time.

'How do you know that?' asked Marlebis.

'I met someone with the same name many years ago.'

There was silence for a few minutes; only the noise of the wheels of the carriage was heard; not even the insects seemed to want to make noise. In the distance, several lights shone.

The next day, in one of Mola town villages, Xavier and his travel companions would learn about what happened in the citadels and the royal city. Without magic and without the knights enchanted armor, the peasants, guards, and regular soldiers rebelled against the nobles. Without their magicians and knights, they were merely ordinary men; the revolts degenerated into battles in hours, and, at nightfall, the peasants assaulted the noble mansions and committed all sorts of atrocities.

'It is said that in the royal city, things got bad so quickly that the royal palace could not control the crowd. The lower nobles attacked the high-class nobles and the royalty with the support of the ordinary people. Some high-ranking nobles decided that the queen should pay for them and handed her over to the crowd. I am getting goosebumps just thinking of what they did to her' said one of the farmers with a smile as he drank his fruit wine in celebration.

'We will get rid of the nobles once and for all,' replied another.

'I'm going back to Duero; these nobles had fortunes in their mansions; I'm going to recover everything Fillode stole from me with his taxes.'

A lot of people were talking about the subject. Xavier remained on the cart, half-seated, with his trunk bent forward and resting; that position improved his breathing.

'Kid! Go call your mother; I need to speak to her,' Xavier said to Aleum.

A moment later, the boy returned, accompanied by his mother.

"You are my Marle, no doubt," thought Xavier, looking at her. Her black hair was a little longer than he remembered; it was the first time he saw her bright brown eyes. Her face was pleasant; she had a thin nose, brown skin, and thick lips. She gained weight, but that only accentuated her curves.

'As you can see, I am too weak; there are things I must do, but I can't; I need your help.'

'You ask me for too much, sir. I don't know who you are; if you are a nobleman with enemies, they might attack us. I have to think of my son; we have brought you here, but I can't help you anymore,' replied Marle.

Xavier put his left hand in his leather jacket and pulled out his wizard's badge. With effort, he changed his position, approaching the boy and handing him the badge.

'My name is Xavier, Xavier de Vonder. I met your father at Liev's tower. He was a good man' Xavier remembered his father, his grandfather, and the lies of his family.

"I'm such a hypocrite," he thought with tears in his eyes as she told a lie to the young boy.

'Aleum of Taeria, your father was deceived by the masters of the tower of Liev. He survived murder attempts and persecution; he had to do many things to survive. When he met your mother, he was working undercover, trying to bring to justice a dangerous gang of criminals and murderers, the Vralia gang. He managed to bring them to justice, but shortly thereafter, his colleagues betrayed him and killed him.'

The boy took the badge with tears in his eyes, while Xavier and Marlebis looked at each other.

'I'll talk to Jano.'

'Do you trust him?'

'I met him after opening the bakery in Farpas; he had a fruit shop right next door; we've been friends for years.'

'Do you trust him enough to risk your son's future?'

Marle took the badge from Aleum's hands.

'I'll keep this; go play somewhere else.' 'But Mom...'

'Listen, Aleum, this can be dangerous; nobles and magicians are being persecuted and murdered throughout the dynasty. Your father had enemies. You should never tell anyone this. Do you understand?'

The boy remained silent and nodded.

'I need to talk to Xavier in private; go play over there.'

The boy walked away, and the two adults didn't lose sight of him.

'Is Xavier your real name?'

'Yes. It is. You don't want to know more; it's dangerous.'

'What do you want to do?'

'I hid some treasure at Finch Forest. Where the river enters the trees, there is a tall oak; it is the highest, three meters to the left. Buried in the ground is a small pot of clay, and inside is a bag. There are enough gold coins to live a lifetime in a small town or a village.'

'You're Aleum, aren't you?'

'No,' replied Xavier, looking at her in the eyes. "Forgive me, it's better this way."

Xavier, Marle, Aleum, and Jano traveled along the shore of Lake Orto and other alternative roads. The main roads had become dangerous. The checkpoints had disappeared, and bandits raided the travelers. Some nobles, with some acceptance among the peasants, managed to organize the population and prevent the total collapse of some citadels. In others, such as Duero, Farpas, and Telasa, the nobles were lynched and their mansions looted. It took Xavier and his group a week to get to the Finch Forest, and on the pretext of getting water from the river, Marle recovered Xavier's treasure.

They continued their journey to Humol. After Veldat kingdom looting during the war, the massacre of Battey, and the constant changes of administrators, the town lost its stability and part of its population. The criminals left the village to migrate to the citadels; there was nothing of value in Humol. Marle, Aleum, and Xavier settled in the town; they bought a small stone house. Jano traveled to Orphen to live with one of his brothers, although, like it happened to the dynasty, the disappearance of magic created disorder and riots everywhere.

'You're Aleum, aren't you?' Marle asked again one evening.

The little Aleum had just left the house to play outside after hearing the stories Xavier told him about his supposed father; it had become a routine. Marle and Aleum took care of Xavier; he was getting thinner and weaker, and some days breathing was almost impossible for him. Some other days he felt better, which allowed him to move a little and eat normally. He spent most of his days sitting in his chair or in bed.

'No,' replied Xavier. Marle approached, looked him in the eyes, and kissed him.

'Why don't you want to be Aleum?'

'Aleum was a good man and an adventurer. Xavier de Vonder is a murderer, a thief, a liar, a cruel, heartless man, capable of killing his family, massacring villages, and seeing his friends and allies die.' Xavier replied with tears in his eyes.

'It sounds like the perfect man for a woman of my profession.'

They both laughed.

About six months later, Xavier's condition worsened; he remained in bed, and his wheezing breath could be heard from meters away.

'I don't have much time left,' he said in a weak, low voice. He found it very difficult to speak.

'What name do you want to give him?' asked Marle, touching her belly, which was beginning to swell.

Xavier smiled. 'Tukmog' he said with his last breath as the memory of three young salamanders playing in a cave in the jungle of Morr dissipated from his dying mind.

The End