An Arrival at Lagnin

The breeze nudges the trees back and forth as the grass echoes and
ripples across the meadow. A light blue-orange haze fills the sky, and
the afternoon sunlight is filtered through the pollen drifting on the
air towards its future. There are no noises but for the birds and the
rustling of the leaves and those small things that live in the
earth.
Kaiynen and Jaine are both eleven years old, although Jaine has always
taken great care to make it clear that she is at least an hour older.
Today they are playing amongst the tall grass, running and hiding and
running, unaware of anything but themselves and their joy. Kaiynen
falls to the soft ground and finds himself staring at a large butterfly
that is gently exercising its wings whilst perched on a thin blade of
grass.

*

Staggering out of the forest, the man falls to his knees and collapses.
After the briefest of pauses he pulls himself up and continues to drag
himself onwards, limping on worn and bloodied feet, heaving a bag on
his shoulder. His long, animal skin coat trails to his ankles, weighing
him down. He does not abandon either. He rushes painfully onwards,
pushing through the pain and slicing pins of every step. He continues
onwards because he can see smoke ahead, just beyond the wild meadow.
Perhaps a farm, or just a camp; either way it means help.

*

Kaiynen and Jaine watch the butterfly flutter away on the wind. The
grass is almost taller than they are. Looking back across the wheat
field, Kaiynen can see his father in the kitchen window of the main
farmhouse, preparing the evening's meal.

Jaine also gazes at the house. "Should we go in?" she asks.

Shaking his head, Kaiynen seizes his sister around the waist. "You can
try if you can!"

Jaine screams and struggles free, slapping Kaiynen on the back. He runs
off, crouched low into the undergrowth, disappearing amongst fronds of
yellow and green. Jaine gives chase, shouting threatening warnings of
what will happen when she catches him. He turns and peeks back over the
blade tops - he can see Jaine's head bobbing through the foliage, and
the chimney smoke rising in the distance. He darts down and heads away
from Jaine.

*

Reaching the meadow, the man stumbles through the flowers and grasses,
beauty slipping by as he barely pulls his life with him. Behind him he
can hear the paws and hoofs, the sounds driving him onwards with
desperation and a craving to survive.

*

Running blindly through the grass, focused only on avoiding his sister,
Kaiynen fails to notice the large man crashing through the meadow until
they collide with a crack. They both fall to the ground, Kaiynen crying
out with fear. He scrabbles backwards, clawing at the earth. He sees a
man, dirty and bloodied.

"Get outta here kid." The man's face, streaked with sweat and grime,
grimaces in pain. "Run!"

Kaiynen leaps to his feet and dashes back towards the farm,
encountering his sister on the way and, without a word, grasping her
arm and pulling her along with him. Before she has a chance to protest
she hears the noises, the growls and snarls and roars of the creatures.
Their father spies them before they are halfway to the house. "Father!
Father! There-there's a man!" Kaiynen shouts between breaths, pointing
back.

*

Kaiynen's father, a strong man in his forties named Sulgest, hears the
screams of approaching animals and emerges with a sizeable crossbow in
hand. "Get inside!" he orders, moving past the children and striding
towards the meadow. The man has got back on his feet and is moving
swiftly backwards, watching for the approaching creatures. He reaches
the clearing of the field and drops his shoulder-slung bag, nearly
collapsing to the ground once more in the process.

The man reaches inside his coat and pulls out a cylindrical hand-held
device, a little longer than an outstretched hand. As the man grips it
carefully, Sulgest watches in disbelief as a large blade emerges with a
slicing snap, locking itself into place and forming a mighty
broadsword. Sulgest pauses in his approach, unsure of the man's
intentions.

With a snarl a four-tusked wolf leaps from the parting grasses, closing
the distance to the man in a moment. The man is ready, and the wolf
falls to the ground, lifeless and headless. The effort is too much, and
the man's sword lowers, and he drops to one knee.

Another beast tears out of the meadow, and Sulgest does not hesitate.
His crossbow is before him, aimed, and he wrenches the trigger home,
semi-conscious of the mechanism releasing and firing the metal arrow
through the air, slicing with precision through the side of the animal.
The animal is not stopped, only slowed, and its attention is now
towards Sulgest. Calmly and without pause Sulgest pulls another arrow
from the pack attached to his right leg, reloads and waits until the
creature is close before firing. The lion collapses heavily to the
ground, sighs one last time and dies.

Sulgest reloads as he approaches the man. He has retracted his sword
and concealed it once more inside his coat. He grasps his bag and tries
to stand. His leg buckles beneath him and he falls firmly back into the
ground. Sulgest stands beside him, looking down. The man stares up at
him with eyes full of respect.

"Thank you..." he begins to croak, his voice failing.

"No time for that," Sulgest interrupts. "We have to get inside. Come
with me if you want to live."

*

Kaiynen sits on the counter and watches as Jaine tends to the man's
wounds and his father continues to prepare the meal. The man said his
name is Tranton Seldon.

"So Mr Seldon," Sulgest begins, "now that we've all settled down and
are safe, perhaps you could tell us what in Icen's name you were doing
running around out there and bringing those beasts to my
children."

He takes a sip of water to his cracked lips. "Call me Tranton," he says
through a faltering voice, "and thanks for your assistance. I think I'd
have been in some serious trouble if you hadn't been here."

"Serious trouble? Do you have any idea what you were up against there,
lad?"

The man smiles, almost mischievously. "I'd say so, yeah."

"Oh you would, would you?"

"I've killed...many of them." Tranton looks Sulgest in the eye and
grins. Sulgest nods in slightly unconvinced approval.

"I dare say you have, with that fancy sword of yours. Never seen
anything quite like that."

"I found it, up in the mountains. It's saved my life more than once.
I'd be a dead man without it."

Sulgest abandons his cooking and moves closer to Tranton. "Up in the
mountains, you say? The southern mountains?"

Tranton nods. "They're the ones, yeah." He reaches down into his bag
and rummages about. The family watches, enraptured. Tranton places a
small round object on the table, a crest of some kind, a circular gold
medallion with white wings emerging from the sides and an arc of steel
running through them all. "I brought this with me."

Sulgest leans forwards and examines it. "Maybe you did. But I haven't
got the faintest what it is."

Pushing it towards him, Tranton says, "it is the symbol of the
Hollanhead government. It is proof of where I come from."

Sulgest laughs a deep laugh and returns to his cooking. "You can't be
giving me any of that, lad. Nobody comes or goes to Hollanhead no more.
You might think me a stupid farmer, but I know my history. Nobody has
crossed the southern mountains for over two hundred years. Some even
say they're cursed, the bloody fools. Main point is: you can't be from
Hollanhead. It's impossible."

"I'm the first, then. The first to make it for well over two hundred
years. Much longer than that. Four hundred and seventy three, to be
exact."

"Is that so?"

"It is. The path is open again, this place is going to become the last
stopping point before heading over the mountains. I was the first to
make it across, and you were the first to meet me. In fact, without you
my journey would have been pointless. Dying on the last step would have
been unfortunate. You'll be a hero."

"I'm no hero, I'm a farmer. But if what you say is true...then you'll
be wanting to get yourself to Lagonia."

"The ruling city."

"That's right. The ruling city."

Sulgest and Jaine start serving the food. Sulgest eyes Tranton from the
corner of his eye. "You must have many stories to tell."

Tranton smiles. "I've so many, don't know where to begin."

"You'll have plenty of people to listen to you once you get to the
capital."

"I won't have time for that," Tranton says, eating like a man that has
not eaten warm and satisfying food in a long while, "this particular
story is far from over. I'm planning to go north." At this assertion,
Sulgest laughs a long and loud laugh.

"Well, Mr Seldon, you're either the most brilliant liar I've ever had
the misfortune to meet, or you are saying the truth. Either way, I wish
you the best of luck." Sulgest looks out the window at the fields, then
at his two children. He looks back at Tranton, a look of amused concern
on his face. "If what you say is true, I suppose things are set to
change around here."

"That's right."

"Nothing will be the same," Sulgest muses. "Such a quiet morning it
was, too. I wonder if I shouldn't have left you to be eaten."