“Can you please tell me then, why it had to be like this?”
Mom moved in closer, and next thing I knew we were in a group family hug. The sobs jumped out of my chest.
“Shhh, sweetheart,” John consoled. “I know this is all very difficult to understand, and if you feel you are ready, we’ll continue.”
I nodded, curled up in my parents’ embrace.
We stayed locked together for a couple of minutes, then I insisted they tell why I had a dad who says he loved me, but wasn’t part of my life.
“I’m ready,” I stated.
Both John and Mom inspected me before he continued, sighing first. “Saydi, you’re connected to the Two Thousandth Year War more than you know.”
Gulping, I asked, “How?”
He focused intently on my face. “Well, let’s recap; that way, we won’t get lost in all the technicalities, okay?”
I nodded and watched Mom as I listened to the latest revelation.
John began, “The War of the Two Thousandth Year started because of the Pyres’ creation, the Rondure.”
“Yeah, I knew that.”
Nodding, he acknowledged me. “And you know the Rondure, if completed, has the capability to darken the Spirit Light of any mortal it touches. Then, in turn, it gives the Pyre the ability to build an army of darkness, almost instantaneously.” He lingered for a moment.
“Yeah, I remember.”
He smiled and took my hands again.
Glancing down at them, my acceptance of him wavered...and only because I wondered why Mom wasn’t concerned that
Dad
was giving me the willies.
John kept going with his synopsis. “Of course, that would mean they would no longer need to use the power of suggestion, leaving behind the normal, slower course of the mortal having to accept the suggestions they present.” He hesitated and squeezed my hand, smiling.
I smiled back, then whined, “Yeah I know, they lose free will. But what does any of this have to do with you not being in my life?”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, it’s related,” he promised.
What else could I do but nod and pray he’d get to the finality of the thing.
“Once humans are touched with the Rondure, the evil would be immediate. It would converge on their Spirit Light and snatch away their free will—the free will that gives them the ability to make good and informative decisions in their lives. Unfortunately, becoming an instant follower would mean they would have no choice but to do the Pyres’ bidding.”
I flashed back to the book that had fascinated me. At that time, it hadn’t translated into such gloom and doom and with it possibly being (no I wasn’t ready to accept it yet)
real
, the fear of it rushed into every crevasse of my bones. As he continued, I tried to hang on to my old reality, the one where I was a fatherless, goofy teenager.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“Mm-hm.”
He looked at me from the corner of his eyes. Satisfied I could handle it, he patted my hand and pressed on. “Now, as you further know from the book, the Tovs have sealed and hidden the incomplete Rondure in a catacomb. Do you remember what completes it?”
“Yeah. The strongest Spirit Light.”
He commended me on my memory. “Good. Now let’s move forward.” John handed me a rolled up piece of leather that was tied with leather strips.
“Read this,” he instructed.
It was the same type of leather as the book. I took it from him and carefully untied the strips, unrolling it across the table and reading it out loud. I noticed it had the same type romantic writing as the book:
“Hear what I say, the war of the two thousandth year has ended and the Shamar Tov have kept closed the Rondure of the Pyre Nefarious. The years hath passed, thy vessel’s Spirit Light is forthcoming.
“Beware, for it lives within thee mortals. Heed my warning, it will feed in strength and be unleashed. With thy truth and strength, thy catacomb will reveal and abandon thy Rondure. If thy vessel is willing to relinquish that which it holds, thy Rondure will replenish.
“Not all is lost. Shall the light of thy vessel be strong, a warrior will live within to lead both mortals and Shamar Tov in battle. Once united, they shall have thy strength to command thy elements of thy universe as it was in the two thousandth year war. Thy vessel must be of both, that it shall destroy thy Rondure.”
I breezed my fingers over the yellowed paper. It was just as intriguing as the book.
“It’s a sequence to the book, don’t you think?” John suggested.
“Kind of,” I admitted.
Zack spoke up. “Keep in mind, Miss Saydi, that both the book and the scroll were written by the Tovs.” He grinned big.
“Okay.”
John shook my hand slightly to get my attention. “Can you tell me how you interpret the last paragraph in the book?”
I shrugged. “Well, I took the last paragraph to mean that the gods created a vessel of sorts, and it’s the only thing that can lead to the catacomb...sort of like a map.”
They all nodded with smiles.
“Yes, very good,” Zack said. “But Miss Saydi, what is the defining factor in that paragraph?”
I shrugged slightly, unsure what he meant. “I don’t know.”
Mom eyed me. “Saydi, use your smarts. It’s an old ancient puzzle. You know how they used words, so unlock it.”
She had more confidence in me than I felt. Closing my eyes, the last paragraph replayed in my head. However nothing jumped out at me. “Sorry, I got nothing.”
John touched my cheek without letting go of my hands. “The vessel alone can’t open the Catacomb. It requires truth and strength.” He pointed to the page and underlined the words with his finger. “See?”
“Oh...I get it. So the vessel is really nothing without truth and strength.”
The dark-haired lady nodded. “Exactly.”
Zack shuffled in his seat and tapped the scroll. “Let’s move on, Miss Saydi.”
Once again touching the yellowed page, we continued. I sensed my parents wanted me to decipher things for myself. Apparently it was something I had to learn by doing, rather than by them telling. “The first paragraph here says the vessel’s Spirit Light is forthcoming.” I glanced around the table, the fear forgotten. Instead it was replaced with wonderment. “Is the Spirit Light in this scroll the same one they searched for in the book?”
“Very good,” the white-haired lady said.
Too much information caused my brain to forget their names, except for Zack.
The white-haired lady pressed on. “That’s right, that’s exactly what it is. Now can you elaborate on that for us?”
Even though I was certain my brain was going to blow up, I forged on. “Well, it’s telling us that the war is long over and the gods have kept the Rondure away from the demons...”
John cocked his head to the side and pushed his head forward a bit. It looked like he was trying to pry the correct interpretation out of me. “And...” he encouraged.
Even if he was my dad, I still wondered if the man was nuts.
“Um...” I stalled. “Um...”
Two or three of them sighed.
John said, “Okay, let’s move on. We’ll come back to it.” It was John’s turn to tap on the scroll.
What an impatient bunch! And come back to what? What are they expecting? I’m only seventeen! All these riddles are driving me crazy. Why couldn’t they just tell me outright?
“All right! All right!” I exclaimed, turning my attention back to the page. “There’s a warning. Something bad lives in mortals, and it will grow and be unleashed. Then it goes on to confirm what John said earlier about the catacomb needing truth and strength.” I looked around the table, and being a smart mouth added, “So what horrible alien lives within mortals that will grow and be thrust upon us?”
Ignoring my offhanded ridicule, Zack calmly asked, “What is it that leads every human to do a Pyre’s bidding?”
“That’s easy,” I said. “Temptation.”
He beamed at my ability. “Correct. Many desires will be granted, and with that, many more Spirit Lights will fall into the hands of the Pyre.” Then he nodded toward the scroll.
The whole thing started to make me unnerved; they weren’t letting me breathe. “Do you think I could simply try and soak in some of this crap you’re handing me?”
“Saydi!” Mom bellowed.
I gaped at her. “Fine!” I was annoyed and felt the insolence creeping to my lips as I spit out the rest of my interpretation.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the last part of paragraph two. We know it’s the strongest Spirit Light that will complete the Rondure. That’s obviously what the vessel has to give up, since it has the Spirit Light the demons were after. Duh!”
Mom glared at me with a warning.
I bit my lower lip and scanned the third paragraph. “The third one says things are good and if the vessel is strong, it shall be a warrior and will lead a battle.”
I glanced at Mom to see if I’d get an approving look...nope. Down my eyes went once again, attending to the task. “Okay, once mortals and gods unite, they’ll be able to command the elements and I’m assuming they’ll win.” Again I looked around the table and was met with eager faces. “I don’t get the last part, though. The vessel must be of both to destroy the Rondure. Are they referring to having the strength and truth?”
“Yes. We believe it to mean the vessel must have pure strength and pure truth to be able to destroy the Rondure,” the white-haired lady informed.
“Don’t you know?” I asked John. “You guys wrote it.”
He smiled sweetly. “Unfortunately, things get lost through the centuries. Now we only have interpretation, not fact.”
“Now, let’s focus on both the book and the scroll as a whole,” John said. “If both were written by Tovs, what doesn’t seem right about one of them?”
Too much... So many puzzles, and my brain power was slowly slipping away. However I trudged forward in hopes of eventually finding out why.
“I don’t know,” I replied, frustrated.
John smiled and showed patience. “I know it’s been a lot of information, so let me guide you,” he encouraged. “The book was written very shortly after the war and the last paragraph gives very little information. However, that information is imperative.”
There was something final about the way he said it, enticing me to solve the riddle he was offering.
“Can I try?” I asked.
His face lit up. “Yes, of course.” It felt good to please him.
Reaching back in my mind, I again reiterated the last paragraph of the book, then again read the scroll—and out of the blue it made perfect sense!
I sat straight up and blurted, “The book only reveals one specific thing. The scroll...”
Of course!
“The scroll gives details...” Quickly I scanned the faces, excited at my discovery. “The gods are trying to hide the vessel. They wouldn’t write a scroll advising that it was coming soon and giving detail on what would happen, right?” I beamed at myself. “The gods wouldn’t want all that information out!”
John smiled. “See, she has her mother’s smarts.” That made Mom smile.
Then he proudly went on, “You’re exactly right. The scroll was written by a traitor about one thousand years ago. If you notice, it starts off with general knowledge, but then it betrays us, leading us to believe we will be victorious...when in reality it’s leaking information to the Pyre. It’s revealing how the Rondure can be destroyed.”
John patted my hand. “We were able to intercept the scroll before it fell into the wrong hands and consequently were able to destroy the traitor.”
It was all very exciting until I realized it had nothing to do with the answer I was looking for. “Look, thanks for the history lesson, but how does any of this have bearing on why I didn’t have a dad?”
Mom burst out crying.
I immediately hugged her. “I’m sorry! What did I say?”
Upon reviewing the rest of the faces, they all looked ready for an emotional breakdown. John spoke for all of them. “Saydi, you understand with all the talk about Spirit Light and souls that the vessel could be nothing but human, right?”
Through the whole story we kept referring to the vessel as an “it,” so what he said made sense. “Yeah! It would have to be human, wouldn’t it?” I smiled.
Mom threw herself against John’s chest crying, and the others all had tears on the brim. Me...well, I felt utterly confused. “What’s going on?”
John held Mom tight and at the same time held my hand with a tear rolling down his face. “Saydi...you’re the vessel.” It came out more like a loud sigh.
Something between a choke and croak jumped up my throat, gagging me. “Wh...what?”
John frantically tried to comfort Mom and me at the same. “Your Spirit Light was chosen from the spirit chamber for the strength of its light and its ability to forge with great love. Every Spirit Light belongs to one certain person and yours is the one they want to complete the Rondure.”