The Lost Journals #1

“I have witnessed something extraordinary in the forests beyond the walls of the great city of Itredence. It pulled us close, beckoning us with a tune that we felt deep within our bones. At the end of our journey was a window to a place far more beautiful than I could ever describe. I cannot wait to study more about it. Explore beyond the window it showed me. I wish to look beyond the veil.”

- From the journal of Farris Duron, Grand Historian of King Theodic I

Decades ago, the journal of Bosciynia's famed historian, Farris Duron, was uncovered during an archaeological dig around what used to be the old upper district of Itredence before the Great Beast Wars d. After some time deciphering his words, and piecing together the timeline he gave, snippets of entries were published into the press. This discovery would be the first well-preserved text of the world before magic, and how it changed (for better or for worse) immediately after.

~~~

The halls of the palace were eerily silent. There was no movement, no noise. Not even the clamor of the metal armor of the patrolling guards. "If it were any other night, Farris Duron would be enjoying his evening stroll to the various libraries and bury his nose deep into a book, losing himself. It was the only time that he could, for when daylight came he would become someone else entirely. Not someone else other than Farris, no, but the Grand Historian - the most important of the country's scribes. He oversaw many of the King's meetings, taking minutes and rewriting them into the thick, leather bound book in his office. He was also in charge of overseeing fellow scribes and sending them off to do their daily tasks of sitting in on various meetings of higher officials. All history was to be written down for future monarchs. Bosciynia's history was to not be forgotten even though it had just begun.

This night, however, was not spent going from library to library. It was instead spent furiously packing for the few days Farris would be beyond the safety of Itredence's walls. There was something agitating the forest to the west of the city; the wildlife had increasingly moved out of the forest and into the towns that had just begun to flourish after the last decade of construction. King Theodic wanted first-hand documentation of the phenomenon, and he ordered Farris to go investigate with an entourage of guards for his protection. Farris was not the type of man to deny the King, but his tongue could not hold still his disagreements. He would go, but the King would know how foolish a task it was.

The last thing Farris wanted was to be attacked by a bear that they disturbed from its slumber.

Eventually, he made his way through the maze of hallways towards the doors of the barracks. It was the easiest way to get to the stables - located behind the main building of the palace - and to the carriage that awaited him. After loading his bag securely to the top, and Farris was settled in with two guards sitting opposite of him, they were off.

Farris thanked the gods above for the laborers for their ingenious design. Itredence was nestled within fortified walls and the palace itself placed at the far end. The city was large, but the rear gates of the walls allowed for the King to make his leaves without the pomp and circumstance of parading through the city. Within minutes they were outside the walls and trekking down the worn paths out into the forest.

The ride itself was quiet; whether it was due to the hour in which they left or the aniticpation of what they would find. There was no description given, no clear item or instruction to let them know that was what they were looking for. The only information - aside from the general area - was to look where the animals weren't. Farris hoped that this excursion would be over quickly despite it just beginning. Find, document, and rush back before the new week began.

He prayed he was that lucky.

His guards were silent, both absently staring out their respective windows with the visors of their helmets pushed up. "One would never catch a guard looking so in the palace. Not where the King might see. Not that he minded. Their disregard of the palace uniform protocol was not of importance, and he would not bother the King with such a minor rule breaking. Both guards did not seem to be the type to want to talk, so Farris settled on doing what he did best — write.

Or at least he tried to. The carriage jolted every so often and at the slightest bump in the road the small lantern lighting the inside of the carriage swung wildly that he thought it was going to fall off its hook and catch him on fire.

Farris wrote about his meeting with the King and how he was told to go on this brief journey. Writing down every single last detail that he could, right down to which underwear he packed in his bag. He even wrote about the beginning of their carriage ride and how the glow of Itredence began to fade from view. Eventually, he had to stop for nothing had happened worth writing in the few hours that it had been since they went off and instead decided that it was best to try to get some sleep. So, nestling himself close to one side of his designated portion of the carriage, that was what he did.

It was not until the carriage came to a stop with a jolt that Farris was forced awake bleary-eyed, slightly disoriented, and with a growing pain in his neck. His guards were no better, having also taken the time to get some sleep; their confused looks mirroring his. However, their ability to recover was much quicker than Farris' as they both pulled their visors down, covering their tired eyed, and readied themselves for the door to open.

The guards from the outside opened the door to black night. Moonlight barely made it through the thick canopy of trees. It was only because of the torches that the guards held that allowed Farris to see the outlines of the trees in the distance. The carriage was stopped in a small clearing as Farris stepped out. It would be the place that the carriage would wait for them as the path ahead was far too narrow for it to drive through.

The curse of a royal carriage.

"How far is it from here?" Farris asked the closest guard once he made it off of the final step.

The guard sighed, whether from annoyance or tiredness was uncertain. "Roughly half a mile further and then off a worn path for another quarter."

"Not terribly far, I suppose," Farris commented. "Have you seen it?"

"Nah," the guard shook his head. "I don't think any of us on this expedition have seen it. The only one who has was forced to stay back."

Farris opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. What an odd thing to have happened. "Wouldn't have it been best if they were here to guide us?"

"Oh absolutely, but none of us are going to argue with the King. I suppose he had questions for him."

A meeting with the King, but Farris was not there to record their minutes. An uneasy feeling gnawed Farris' insides, but he brushed them aside. There was nothing to worry about. The King felt it was more important to record the strangeness at its source rather than do the paperwork of a meeting. Farris nodded to himself before turning to the guards who had just finished strapping their weapons around their waist. They gave him the signal to march.

The glow of the front guard’s torch illuminated a small sphere of light that barely touched the lowest leaves of the canopy; the heat barely made them rustle as they moved further into the forest. Their pace was slow and cautious. Farris suspected that none of them anticipated the metal armor could clang so loudly in the forest — himself included. It was highly improbable that any predator was in close proximity, but they could never be too careful. During their walk, Farris began to question the validity of the guard's claim. Even in the barely illuminated darkness there was nothing strange about the forest. No changes to the trees, or to themselves. Nothing felt out of place.

Yet, there was still the small glimpse of excitement that held strong within Farris. It pushed him forward even more. The wonder of things that are yet to be discovered.

So, he pressed on.

It was not long until he felt it, but what it was proved to be difficult to describe.

Every few seconds a sensation would rush over him. It was not quite a tingling sensation when he used to run across the carpets and shock his sibling, but it was more akin to something reverberating within his bones. Similar to the way lowest note of a horn shakes you from the inside out. At first, Farris thought that he was the only one feeling the sensation and the way it moved through his body. However, after paying more attention to the guards around him, he noticed they, too, were subjected to it. There was the subtle ways in which their walks shifted nearly at the same time, the look of uncertainty in their eyes as they cast glances around them. They all walked on edge, no one quite liking the feeling.

It became stronger as they made their way deeper. A steady droning of something strange and foreign. Farris' heartbeat felt as though it was beating in time with the sensation rather than its own rhythm. The fact that they were so close, that something was happening around them, evaporated any doubt in Farris' mind.

"I see something!" The guard at the front's voice echoed around them.

Their march came to a halt, and Farris peered around their unintentional line to try to get a glimpse of what they could see. In the distance there was a glow. A cool, blue-white light that shimmered in the night. The feeling within them was stronger than it ever had been.

Farris was the first to move; pushing past his guards and quickly walking in the direction of the glow. He ignored the shouts of protests, and the metal armor banging together, as his guards tried to keep up with him. Each step brought him closer. Clutching his satchel that contained his parchement, quill, and ink, he began to run. As he got closer to whatever was glowing, it illuminated the trees, thus making his run that much easier after the glow from the guard's torch faded. His entire body was overtaken by that deep reverberation and used it as momentum to draw him forward. It was pulling him towards it just as quickly as he was running in its direction. Farris' running slowed to just a walk when the source of the glow finally came into view.

Before him, nestled amongst the trees was a near perfect circle that shimmered in gorgeous colors of purples and greens and yellows and oranges. Within that circle it showed a forest with trees and flowers that he had never seen before, in colors that he could not imagine naming. Whatever this was must have been pulled straight down from the heavens themselves. The gods blessed them this day to show them a new place they had never seen before. It hovered a foot about the ground with the grass fluttering ever so slightly underneath it.

Immediately, Farris sat before this glimpse into another land and pulled out his supplies. His words were messy and legible to only him, but cleaning up the mess would come when he returned back home. Right now, he needed to document everything from the way that the glowing circle looked from below to how everyone had felt its presence within them. He barely heard the sounds of the guards as they caught up to him, and the sounds of their murmurs of apprehensiveness and awe at what was before them. None of them had thought about what they were actually going to see when they got there, an no one expected this.

Farris worked silently as the guards gave him a wide berth. Letting him get close to ensure the details were right while also being vigilant and aware of what was around them. A few times he heard them step a bit closer when Farris wandered too close, eager to yank him back should he get a bit too curious.

Which, as annoying as it may be, was a blessing. Farris wanted to step through to what ever place that laid within reach, to feel how traversing through such a window would feel. He would have came right back if he could, but that might have been hard on his part. Instead, he stayed close and on the occasion would brush a finger along it. It was cold whatever it was and felt like silk slipping between his fingers. As he wrote more about his discovery, which has taken well over seven pages at this point, he stopped to wonder if the King would ever believe him. This was something that existed only in the pages of fantasy books. However, he had written proof and multiple witnesses. Everything would be fine.

"We will need someone on watch day and night for the amount of time we're here," Farris said finally as he blew on the ink to dry. "We do not know what this is, or what has or will come out of it."

"It still makes me strangeand I'm not sure how I feel about that," one guard replied.

"That is true," Farris nodded in agreement. "But we need to know what this is and why this…thing is causing us to feel the way we do. I have no problem staying here and waiting."

"We can't allow that," the guard replied immediately. "We are under strict orders to keep you safe and out of harms way. There is no telling what could come through that thing or what has already came through it."

"But if I'm here to document it, then I need to see it at all times," Farris argued back.

"We have orders."

"The King would only know if someone went and told him." Farris' words hung in the air around them. Silence passing on in long moments. There was truth to them. The only way that the King would know would be if word got back to them, and from the brief interactions with the guards they did not seem like the sort to run and fill him in on every single detail of the excursion. These guards were not of the same rank as those who worked within the palace itself; this group consisted of mere grunts in the hierarchy. This group were ordered to work the tiring shifts; the ones where they were made to stay up well through the night guarding unimportant areas of the palace and its grounds. It was an obedience tactic that they King and his generals liked to use. They behaved as the perfect solider, and if they performed well enough, they would hopefully be promoted.

But that was a rare occurrence these days.

Farris was aware that the King kept his rotation of guards close, and his inner circle closer. The anxiety of letting someone new that high within the ranks was far too great for him, but that did not mean that they could not climb up some steps. Farris knew what it was like to be in those rankings and the struggle to climb to the top. It was by sheer luck he gained an apprenticeship at a young age, and promited to Grand Historian after the death of his predecessor. So, on his long nights he would chat with the guards who were stationed in those odd hours. The interactions themselves, in their own strange way, was a form of transaction. The goal for the grunts was to move up in their ranks, and Farris' goal was to finally be given some semblance of freedom to do as he pleased. If the guards let him do that, then Farris was more likely to speak on their behalf when that time came.

With a sigh, the guard turned around and began to make his way over to where the others gathered not too far away. "I'll inform them of your suggestion. I cannot guarantee they will all be in agreement."

Farris smiled as the guard walked away, and kept his eyes on each of their reactions. Even under the armor there was the subtle shift of apprehension, and the blatant turns in his direction. They were too far to read their expressions, but Farris no doubt knew they mirrored the guard he had spoken to — which reminded him he should learn their names if they were to be around each other for a few days. He tried to play off his excitement when the guard came back to where Farris stood and focused that energy to fidgeting with the soft feather of his quill.

"This isn't what we want to do, defying orders and all, but we'll keep our mouths shut if you promise not to get into any shit," the guard said.

"And you can expect a good word from me when we get back," Farris gave a charming smile.

This seemed to placate the guard enough that they made their way back to the others once more, giving them orders to disperse while they in particular settled themselves against a tree. The first to keep watch while Farris worked. He would keep to his word if they held theirs.

The excitment that Farris had kept him up through most of the night. Barely sleeping for more than a few hours before he would wake up and begin again. At times, he would review his notes from before to make sure that they made sense and during other times he would scrap that page entirely and start anew elsewhere in his journal. His constant investigating had the following days passing by in a blur. Farris rarely left what he deemed a window to another land unless necessary. They had luck on their side during this trip as it did not rain while Farris did his investigation. It was silent during that time. Not for the lack of chatting amongst the guards, no, they refused to cease their chatter. The forest itself was quiet; the wildlife had not returned, not even a chirping bird could be heard. Its eery silence did not sit well for Farris and his journal noted that extensively.

Farris was sure they would be back eventually. Knowing the King and how meticulous he was for detail, he suspected another month, if not less, before he would be returning to the forest to view the glowing window. Perhaps next time he would step through it with or without the guard's permission.

It would not have been the first time he pushed the boundaries of what he was allowed to do when he represented the King. Before he was Grand Historian, during the years as an apprentice, Farris would insert himself in meetings that he had no place being in — usually without any notice from those in attendance. Many times these were clandestine meetings between opposition forces towards the Monarchy. Negotiating trade deals, conspiring attacks, and the like. Pressed behind barrels, or squeezed into small wardrobes, Farris kept himself unheard and unseen and would quickly race back to his mentor who would then inform the King of his findings. The chaos that ensued would not be seen by the average citizen. Politics tended to play out of sight until it became deadly.

Farris would meet these same individuals and exchange pleasantries with them, but they were none the wiser that the child of a dockhand, who grew up squeezing himself into places he should never have been in, would help thwart any and all of their attacks.

When he finally took up the coveted title of Grand Historian, Farris' espionage ceased. The King could not risk to lose him for there was no one of Farris' own calibre to replace him should anything happen to him. Hence why he was always guarded any time he stepped out from beyond the walls of the palace. But that did not mean Farris' desire dwindled in any way. He would continue to wait until that perfect moment, and it would no doubt happen soon.

Once everyone was secured in and on the carriage they began their trek back to the captiol. It was daylight this time and they were moving at a much faster speed than when they arrived. Farris nestled himself in, spreading open his journal to review and make further notes of their last few days; which pieces of information would make it into his final draft and which would be stuck within the confines of this leather-bound journal to not be seen by anyones eyes but his. He was already brimming with excitement to write on the thick, bleached white parchment, but knew he would need to take his time. This was world-shattering information that he would be sharing to the King. It had to be perfect.

Farris continued to to review his notes, nose buried into his journal and the smell of dried ink rising from pages. The forest passed by him, and to which he paid no mind. His thoughts were elsewhere entirely. It was during this time that Farris would not see the subtle changes that had already occurred in his own world.

He would not notice the way the trees were just a bit more green than usual, or how their roots seemed to have arched and curled and exposed themselves above ground seemingly overnight. Nor would he notice that his entire journey home something was always trailing behind. Unseen in the forest around him, blending into the shadows, but always trailed. It would follow them to where the trees ended the grand walls of Itredence appeared before stalking back into the shade.

A door does open both ways after all.