Flash Fiction: Obi Travalar, Chapter III

by Peter O'Keefe
CHAPTER THREE: Terrible Truth

After a morning of complete confusion and preparation, the Travalars were ready to leave for the festival. It turned out that the bad weather hadn't been permanent; the day was sunny and bright, with a nice cool breeze blowing from the north, a deep blue sky and puffy white clouds. These colors contrasted sharply with the orange, red and yellow leaves blowing lazily off the trees. The entire village of Coperna smelled like autumn, and it was perhaps the nicest day anyone could remember.
       Obi went to his room, several minutes before departure, to take a few of his things. He was dressed in an immaculate white shirt, covered with a long red coat, and slightly baggy pants and tight boots completed the look that his parents had hoped to achieve: that he would look like more than a country peasant, but not quite rich enough to be worth the trouble of robbing. These were, in fact, his nicest clothing, the ones he wore for the most special occasions. 
       “Obi! I forgot my savings!”came Aaron’s voice from nearby. He burst into the room a second later, frantic in his search for his savings. Every year, their parents were a little stingy about spending money at the festival, so they had learned to save up whenever possible, and only to use it once they were certain their parents would not be spending anymore. Aaron had on his fancy green coat, as usual, and looked quite dapper, aside from the fact that his hair was still a perpetually messy hive of scum, as his family liked to put it. This just meant it was never combed.
       “Where did I hide it?!”he demanded wildly, throwing things all over the place in an attempt to locate his well-hidden wealth. Obi sighed, and told his brother, “Last month you told me to hide it, remember? So that you wouldn't spend it before the festival? Here, close your eyes. I put it in my hiding place, and I still don't trust you with where it is.”
       Aaron reluctantly complied. Carefully and quietly, Obi located the small hole in the wall near his bed, in which an assortment of odds and ends were stashed. Included in these possessions was a little coin. It was made of thick copper, engraved with the symbol of King Gerald. It looked a little blackened, for reasons unknown, so he suspected it was quite old. He recalled finding it as a boy of six years, and in the strangest of places. It had been inside a shoe. His shoe, to be precise, the one he'd had when he was very young. He had never told his parents that he had found anything, for fear that they would think he stole it. Or that they would steal it from him.        Obi’s hand pushed past the coin, and grabbed hold of Aaron’s small box of loose change.
And then, as Obi was about to push his bed back into place to cover the hole, he hesitated. Maybe he should bring the coin. His festival friend, Nancy Nobel, would be truly impressed that he owned something of such mystery and value. Maybe it would be alright if even Aaron saw it, now that he thought of it. He was closer to Aaron than anyone else in the world. He decided he would show it to Aaron...but only once they reached the festival.
       “Okay, I got it!”he said a second later. Aaron opened his eyes, a look of annoyance on his young face. “Thanks a lot. What took you so long?”
       He snatched it from Obi’s hands. Obi grinned and said, “Sorry, I was searching through all the other money boxes I have in there.”
       Aaron shrugged. It was his way of saying he forgave Obi for the wait. Then he asked, “You need help with your stuff?”
       “No, I think I'm fine. When're we leaving?”
       “Half an hour.” Aaron chuckled a little. “Boy, you always take the most stuff to festival. You'd think you were skipping town. What's in your bag this time? I see you didn't pack our bunk bed yet.”
       “No, not yet. I can't get it to fit; the bag’s so full of all the letters you've written to the king.”
       Aaron acknowledged defeat. Nobody could deny he had written to the king several times already, whenever someone from town visited the capital. Upon returning, they always said that a robber had stolen the letter on the road. Since Aaron was now a man, a full eleven years old, he knew he had been told grotesque lies, and that they just hadn't mustered up the courage to deliver his entreaties to his majesty.
       Finally, Obi finished packing his things. He was ready.
       He headed outside, to where nearly the entire village stood in the town square, waiting impatiently for the stragglers to arrive. The entire township travelled together, which was a smart idea for unarmed people on the road- and ones that were carrying a lot of money, at that. Obi swept his gaze over the massive throngs, looking for his family. This was no easy task. Before he found his family, he ran into Herb and his wife, who were also looking for the Travalars.         “Why did you come out so late?”Herb questioned. Obi shrugged and said, “I pack a lot of stuff. Look for a reddish colored mule.”
      Obi shoved his way through the sea of humanity. The sun was blazing down on him, and all the bodies halted the wind from reaching him, so soon he started to become very hot. The people before him blurred, and soon he realized that he had lost Herb. He stumbled blindly through the crowd, desperately looking for a familiar face. And then he found one. Twenty feet away, Cole Seb was staring at him intensely, almost a glare on his weather beaten face.         Obi ran away. The people around him scowled at him, but he didn't care. He just had to get far away from that creepy individual. He was running so fast, he ran right into somebody.        “Sorry, sir,”said Obi breathlessly. Then he saw that the man he had run into was Argen Malonaca. The old man smiled kindly and said, “Quite alright, my lad. Are you looking for your family?”
       He nodded. His heart was beating so fast, he couldn't even speak. But at least he knew that with Argen, he was safe. The old man continued, “They're near the mayor’s house, down by the windmill. If you run fast enough, maybe you can catch them in time.”
       Without even asking how Argen had known that, Obi thanked him and was on his way, zipping past all the grumpy, impatient townspeople to get to the windmill. When he came there, he saw nobody was there. 
       “I missed them!”he thought to himself bitterly. He knew that all the town was headed the same way, but he didn't want to be going without his family nonetheless.
       “Hey Obi! Over here!”
       He saw Aaron and Dara approaching him. The rest of the family was a few steps behind them. Obi went over, and said, “I thought I'd never find you! Thank goodness! A few minutes ago, that old man Argen told me yow were all here.”
       Aaron looked confused. “Really? We weren't here a few minutes ago. We were over by the stables until just now.”
       By now, Obi was kind of tired of all these weird things happening without explanation, so he just went along with it. The family gathered together in a tight group (uncomfortably so) and awaited the village to begin departure. It took very long for the village watch to get ready, since you could basically get things for free if you were in soldier’s uniform- by this, I mean everyone was too scared to stop you. Not a whole lot of respect was saved for the military nowadays.         But at last, Coperna was ready to leave. The Travalars put all their bags into their cart, and hitched their red mule to it. The rest of the town also did this (those who could afford mules, that is) and then they were on their way. But as Obi began to leave the borders of Coperna for the long awaited festival, he couldn't help but scan the crowd for a minute or two. He didn't see Cole Seb leaving. In fact, he had been searching for Cole. Why stand in the crowd to wait when he wasn't even going? The thoughts of the man gave Obi the shivers, more so now than ever before, even more than when he was a little child and saw a stranger staring at him.         The road was very packed on the way to Osêria. It was an old road, known as Norpolk
Highway, designed hundreds of years ago to connect all the important cities in Milandria. Several parts of the road had eroded away, or simply been destroyed, but the segment connecting Osêria with Oakville was still almost entirely intact. This was a good thing, for the journey to the festival would have been impossible without the road for many people, including the Copernans. Plus, this road was a generally crime free one, chiefly for the fact that it was so heavily travelled.           Obi only saw the road one day a year, but he had the whole thing memorized by heart. It was no ordinary highway, to be sure. The road itself was plain, well-trodden dirt, but lining both sides were stone columns and walls, ivy wreathing much of the plain gray rocks. Every mile there was a statue of one of Milandria’s greatest heroes, occasionally even someone who hadn't been Milandrian. There were a few Vikings that had greatly helped the country (some of which the villagers had torn down in recent times). Being ancient as they were, the statues were very much faded, some barely resembling more than a giant rock. But many of these had been scrapped, and new ones built in their places. Actually, there were two very new statues that they passed each year, ones Obi could actually remember being built. The first was the great, wise king, Arthur Heimer, the former king and father of Gerald. The second was Adrian Masias, the only person in Milandrian history to have their statue put in the road while they were still alive. That was no small achievement.
       As usual, Obi and Aaron would separate from their family while walking on the highway (which was also no small achievement) and go ahead to talk to the travelers from different villages and cities who were headed to the festival. Once, they had encountered a man who claimed to be the king’s brother, which Obi and Aaron had totally believed until Teff told him later that the king had no brother. As a result, they hadn't had much faith in any of the sorcerers, grand knights, kings or politicians they had met on the road… but it was still fun to hear their stories.         This year was no different. After having a long conversation with the Grand Admiral of Milandria, they realized that they had become bored. Since they were grown men, thirteen and eleven, such fantasies no longer entertained them. 
       “There's gotta be someone cool going this year,”Aaron complained. Obi had an idea. “Hey, I have an idea!”he stated. “Why don't we talk to that man Argen? Did you see how mom and dad reacted when they heard his name? I'll bet he's, like, a retired mob boss or something.”        “He looks harmless to me,” said Aaron doubtfully. “But okay. He can't attack us on a road full of people.”
       Talking to Argen Malonaca, however, proved to be easier said than done. This was for the plain and simple fact that the old man was nowhere to be found.
       “I know I saw him leave with us,” Obi muttered. By now, people were staring at them as if they were psychopaths or something. Obi had never really cared what people thought of him, but the looks he got were enough to make even him wish to return to being bored. 
       “Okay, lets just give up,” said Aaron dejectedly, twenty minutes later. Obi agreed, and they fell into walking with the rest of the crowd. 
       “Hello, boys,” came a voice from behind. They both jumped. They discovered none other than Argen Malonaca standing behind them, a confused smile on his face.
       “Hi!”said Obi. “Where were you? Me and my brother wanted to talk to you because we were bored. We couldn't find you.”
       “Ah, yes, I am oftentimes difficult to find when I don't wish to be,” said Argen, stroking his
beard thoughtfully. “So, what would you wish to speak to me of?”
       “I don't know, we're just bored,” replied Obi. The man said in reply, “I can always tell you the tale of a heroic man I once knew. A brilliant, brave man who died several years back. He was my old pupil.”
       “What kind of stuff did you teach him?”asked Aaron. 
       “Oh, I taught him to be an adventurer. I myself am one. I travel all around the world going on quests and saving people; I was training a man to help me with that.”
       Obi and Aaron gave each other shrewd smiles. They both knew this old guy couldn't be a hero, especially not at his age. But Argen continued on, as if he hadn't noticed (which he hadn't). “This fellow was known as Robert O’Brien. He lived all his early life in the city of Temani. In fact, he didn't come to the capital until he met me. You see, fate selected this man; it certainly wasn't just me. He was walking down a road one day on the way to see the city Allville, and a stranger in peril asked him to deliver a secret message to me; this stranger was a friend of mine, in fact, and still is to this day. Robert O’Brien delivered it to me, and it was actually a plea to come and rescue him and a companion from a band of rogue evildoers. As soon as he heard this, Robert insisted on aiding me on this quest. Since then, we became best friends.”
       Obi was silent a minute. Then he asked, “Is this a true story?”
       Argen gave him a most peculiar stare, and then asked, “My boy, what do you think?”
       “I think it sounds just like all the other false tales we've heard on this road,” said Aaron thoughtlessly. Argen stared at him a minute or two, then asked, “And how do you know these other stories you heard were false?”
       “One guy told us he was the king’s brother, and the king doesn't have a brother,” put in Obi. “Since then, we just haven't trusted any stories on the road.”
       “But suppose that first chap was speaking of a king from a different country?”supposed the old man. “Or what if he meant it on a more philosophical level? Who are you to say he told a lie?”        Before Obi could even think of answering, Argen asked, “What if I were to tell you that you do not have a brother? Would you believe me?”
       “Of course not!”snapped Obi. “My brother is standing right here!”
       Argen shook his head sadly, then said, “My boy, what if that is the truth?”
       This was all kind of confusing and weird, so Obi desperately looked around for something that could change the topic. He found something. But it didn't make him relieved, instead, more fearful. 
       “Hey! Aaron! Argen!”he said quietly, yet panicked. “Look over there by that woods over yonder! Is there a man hiding in there?”
       “There is!”exclaimed Aaron. “It looks as if he's following us to Osêria!”
       “Yes, he's not a very good stalker, is he?”said Argen disdainfully. Obi grew afraid. “Stalker?
Stalking who? Who is that?”
       “Not a real stalker! Just… you know. He's bad at being unseen, is all I'm trying to say. His family have been involved with me for a long time, but he is definitely my favorite one of them.”
       This was definitely taking a strange turn.
       “And who is he?”demanded Aaron impatiently. Argen, taking a moment to glance from the stalker to Aaron, said, “His name is Cole Seb.”
       Obi’s heart grew cold. “Not him! He is a real stalker! He's been stalking me for years! Every time he's in town, I see him staring at me as if he's going to mug me!”
       “Ah yes,” agreed Argen, “he always looks mean, doesn't he? He's really quite a gentle soul, when you get to know him. But he isn't the only one who's been watching you. The other stalkers are just a lot better at stalking than he is.”
       That made Obi frightened. Perhaps the scariest thing about that sentence (if one thing could indeed be picked out) was an important factor: how did Argen Malonaca know all this?        “Obi! Aaron!”came a call. They found their mom rushing towards them. Argen faded into the crowd. When their mom arrived, she wasn't too pleased with them for wandering off, in spite of the fact that they did this exact ritual every year. 
       “Mom,” moaned Aaron, “how much longer will it take to get there?”
       “We've only been on the road an hour,” she told him primly. It usually took about three to four hours to reach Osêria. Obi looked at the skies. 
       “Judging by the sun, it's about eight o'clock,” he proclaimed. Aaron moaned audibly and said, “That means we'll be on the road ‘till ten!”
       “Ten or eleven, give or take,” corrected Obi. This did not in any way, shape or form improve Aaron’s mood. Nor was it meant to.
       The journey dragged on, but at last, the great city of Osêria was in sight. The city was a beauty, stone spires rising high and colorful banners decorating the towers. Millions of people were in there now, but this was not uncommon. Osêria was a port city, one of the only cities that could get you across the Andrian River, a colossal river that took up to three days to get across, if the weather was that bad. 
       But perhaps even more impressive than the city itself, and the graceful but powerful might of the river, was the festival itself. Set in a plain in the beside the city, it was a miniature city of its own. Colorful towers rose from it, and gathering halls and theaters and tents and shops and stores and warehouses and supply cabins, all in bright, fantastic colors. It got bigger every year, and this year they had really outdone themselves, with nearly twice as many attractions and shows and plays, many from different countries. All wished to prosper from this spectacular day, but Obi wished only to have a good time. As usual, from the higher ground he was on, he could see almost the entire festival, and looked eagerly for the arena, where the great jousting competition would be held. He found it. The arena was open to the skies, with thousands upon thousands of seats in a circle, gradually getting higher up. In the middle was the jousting arena, but many other things were held there. There was always a bit of a rush to get a seat in the arena for the competition, but nobody saved themselves seats by getting there too early. That way, they would miss out on all the other wonderful things. 
       The members of Coperna arrived at the festival- or more correctly, near the festival. The line to get in was tremendous, at least a thousand people in front of them. Luckily, most towns who attended the festival had adopted the smart idea of paying for the whole town at once. Sure, every year a few people got in for free by sticking themselves in the middle of a town’s residence, but it was very efficient this way. Even so, they had to wait a while before they could enter. It was almost eleven o'clock by the time they came to the ticket counter.
       The ticket counter, mind you, was one of the most protected areas of the festival. The ticketmasters themselves were rather old and jolly, but in case anyone tried to attack the or something crazy like that, sentries were posted beside them. These sentries were actually warriors, dressed in full armor and with a menacing sword in-hand. To tell you the honest truth, Obi looked forward to seeing how real warriors looked, and once he had mustered up the courage to speak with one. He'd asked him which wealthy family he was from to be honored with such a position. To his relief, the warrior had smiled, and told him that he had been born a peasant, and that you don't need royal birth to be successful in life. Obi hoped this was true, because he couldn't imagine himself being a strong, smart warrior. Every year since, he had looked for that particular warrior, but he had never seen him again. 
       “Next!”shrieked the ticketmaster. The mayor of Coperna stepped forward, and began his payment for the town, which he had collected from everyone last week. Obi and Aaron were bored. The great festival, the most exciting thing of the entire year, was ten steps away, and they had to wait for their fat mayor to finish counting his money. Obi gently reminded himself that he was only being irritable. The festival awaited him, if only he would be patient.
       “Hiya, Obi!”came a familiar voice. He forgot about all the weird happenings for a minute.
Nancy Nobel, his festival associate, was here. 
       She was the daughter of the falconer, a prestigious man. Nancy Nobel went by many names, such as the Notorious Nobel, Nocturnal Nancy, and the Fishstick Girl. She also had the ability to go anywhere she wanted in the festival without paying. It was pretty cool, and as her companion, Obi was also usually given leave to go where he pleased. Nancy was almost Obi’s height, and was always dressed in a purple tunic, making her easy to spot in a crowd. Right now, she had her long red hair tied in a ponytail behind her head; she always did this during the festival, for if her hair was in her eyes, she could easily be robbed by a vagabond. She had been robbed only once, which was apparently an astounding achievement.
       “Hey, Nancy!”he said eagerly. It was a relief to see someone who wasn't affected by the weird happenings of Coperna. “How have you been?”
       “Living the good life,” she affirmed. “The festival gets better every year! Come on, let's go somewhere we can talk.”
       Obi and Nancy cut through the crowd and into the festival. And, since he wanted to get in early, Aaron followed them. The festival grounds looked so much better from the inside. Tents and buildings and shops lined a broad highway that ran through the whole thing. Smaller roads branched off of this one and lead to different parts of the festival. 
       “Wow,” he said, shocked. “I can never believe how beautiful this place is!”
       “Yeah, it's really sad when they tear it all down,” said Nancy. “All this magnificence will be gone by tomorrow.”
       That was hard to believe. Then Nancy added, “Oh, I have the most exciting thing to tell you!
And this is inside information, so it has to remain hush-hush. Understand?”
       “I do,” said Obi, “but I can't speak for Aaron.”
       “To be honest,” said Aaron, “I only followed you two so I can get in earlier. But I can keep a secret. I'm good at that.”
       Obi didn't recall Aaron having any specialty in this field, but Nancy didn't care, and continued. “They're considering leaving the festival up for a full week next year!”
       Obi was shocked. “That's amazing!”he crowed. “Imagine that! Even if we can't stay for all seven days, two or three days of festival a year?”
       “Is it for certain?”interrogated Aaron.
       Nancy shook her head and replied, “Not yet, but the chances are pretty good. My dad is supporting this, but some of the other attractions don't think it's a good idea.”
       “Why ever not?!”exclaimed Aaron.
       “They said that they can't afford to be away from work that long. And they say that having a
week of festival will take away the magic of the  whole enterprise.”
       Obi and Aaron considered. These were actually good points. But the idea of a longer festival made up for that. It was basically the only fun thing the Travalars did all year.
       “Does anyone want to check out the new cafeteria?”asked Nancy. “It's so cool! It looks like a longhouse, and this year, most of the food is for free, compliments of nearly every baker in the world.”
       Obi couldn't complain to free food. The strolled over to the mess hall, and the three friends engaged in pleasant conversation, just catching up and talking about random things, and having a good time. They did the same as they did every year: mostly talking and stroking about, but going to the attractions- or at least, the parts of them they considered interesting. There were still five attractions that they could not visit, due to Obi’s banishment from them, but so many new things had opened up that this didn't really matter. 
       It was such a wonderful time. Obi enjoyed talking to someone normal, and Nancy enjoyed talking to someone her age; nobody else of the festival crew was thirteen. And Aaron enjoyed getting free food. In other words, it was a win-win situation for everyone involved.
       “Did you he's what the mayor of Osêria said last month?”asked Nancy. Obi shook his head. He didn't hear any of the latest news until a merchant came to town and was friendly enough to talk.
       “He said he's really upset about the currency fraud stuff- this festival, by the way, only accepts his majesty’s currency- and says that if the king does not resolve the matter soon, he will break away from Milandria.”
       “What? He can't do that!”exclaimed Obi. “He doesn't own the city; King Gerald does!”        “He's just saying that to get the king’s attention,” explained Nancy. “I think he will be coming to the lance today.”
       They walked in silence for a moment. Then Obi said, “Anything else new around here?”
       “Uh, yes,” admitted Nancy. “The Vikings were spotted close to Osêria this morning. Some say they are coming to attack the festival. But I doubt it, with all the people here, and all the warriors.”
       Again with the Vikings, Obi thought to himself. They kept coming up. 
       “Let's try to find the man Argen,” suggested Aaron. “He really seems to know a lot about adventuring and cool stories and stuff, whether he's a real hero or not.”
       “You believed him?”asked Obi. Aaron shrugged and replied, “He seemed pretty trustworthy to me.”
       “Who is Argen?”inquired Nancy. She was still in the dark about all the weird events that had occurred to Obi of late. 
       “A strange old man we met yesterday,” explained Obi. Then he said to Aaron, “But Argen himself said he is nearly impossible to find.”
       “Indeed,” came a voice from nearby. Somehow, Obi wasn't at all surprised to find Argen
Malonaca standing behind them, stroking his beard thoughtfully and leaning on his staff.         “Hi! We just wanted to-”
       “I wish we had time for pleasantries,” interrupted the old man, “but we do not today. Please, danger is nearby. I must explain it to you. We need somewhere to talk freely. Please, follow me.”        He turned on his heels and left. Nancy, still completely in the dark, said, “That took a weird turn. Are you going to follow him?”
       “I think I have to,” said Obi. The pain of not knowing what was going on was killing him. He began to follow Argen through the crowd. He turned back a minute or so later, and was relieved to find that Nancy and Aaron had followed him. He would hate to be walking off with a stranger on his own, no matter how trustworthy the man seemed.
       Eventually, they arrived at a dark colored tent, perhaps the only dark thing in the entire festival. Instead of entering it, as Obi would have expected, the old man settled for standing behind it. This was an area of the festival where the supplies and extra food were stored, so there were no crowds in this section- and more importantly, no snooping ears.
       Behind the tent, a dark canvas rose overhead, supported by wooden beams driven into the ground. Under this mysterious setting, Obi would come to be told of the strange events that surrounded him.
       “I will start by telling you that my real name is not Argen Malonaca,” began Not Argen
Malonaca. “My real name is Raldin. Perhaps you have heard of me?”
       “You're kidding!”exclaimed Nancy excitedly, forgetting for an instant that she hated
strangers. “Oh my gosh, of course I know who you are!”
       “Um… I don't,” admitted Obi. Raldin nodded and stroked his chin. Then he said, “Then Mr.
and Mrs. Travalar have done their job right.”        “I'm confused,” volunteered Aaron confusedly. 
       “Would you like to enlighten them, my girl?”suggested Raldin. Nancy was too happy to oblige.
       “He's only the most famous person in the history of the world! He is the wizard who saved the world dozens of times!”
       Raldin glanced at his fingernails modestly. This was a lot to take in for Obi and Aaron, especially the fact that they hadn't known a thing about the fantastical wizard. Raldin smiled and said, “A brief summary of my life, but an excellent one. I will tell you, though, that the amount of times I saved the world is more than a couple dozen. Yes, I am a wizard, and it is my job to try and keep peace in all of Andria, Milandria specifically.”
       “What does that have to do with me, though?”asked Obi. Raldin grew very tense for a minute. The he said, “Obi, what I am about to tell you will change your life forever. Are you ready?”
       Obi couldn't begin to imagine what was going on, but he nodded numbly. Then the wizard said, “Obi, you are not a Travalar. You were adopted.”
       If he had been numb before, now Obi was paralyzed. Adopted? How could he not be a Travalar? I mean sure, he didn't look very much like one, but he had never considered this possibility before. His head was swimming with the strangeness of how it felt to tell himself over and over again in his mind, ‘I am not a Travalar.’ It didn't sound right. Of course he was a
Travalar! All his life he could remember… well, not all his life.
       He turned to look at Aaron and Nancy. They both looked shocked too, but Aaron looked absolutely distraught. Suddenly, Aaron said, “You're lying! Obi has been around all my life! I can't remember a day he wasn't with us! My parents will tell you that! Our parents!”
       Obi was a little shocked. Aaron had never had an outburst like that to anyone but his family; why would he be upset like this with a stranger?
      “I'm sorry you're taking the news so badly,” said Raldin in a comforting tone. “But it is true. Obi, what is the earliest thing you can remember?”
       “Seeing the festival when I was four years old,” replied Obi automatically. The wizard looked deep into his eyes, which was slightly uncomfortable, and said, “No, it's not. You know it's not.
You never told anyone the other memory, the older one. Tell us now.”
       Aaron and Nancy were staring at Obi with confusion, fear and distress on their faces. Obviously, this was the most interesting thing that had happened to the in their lives, so naturally hey had no idea how to react to it. Obi drew in a ragged breath and told them what he had never even hinted at to any human before.
       “I just saw a dark city street,” said Obi, a little hoarsely. “Um, I remember a horse standing next to me. The night was so cold. I seem to recall that my shoes were hurting my feet. And there were two men speaking, an old one and a young one. That's all I remember.”
       “Just as I thought,” said Raldin approvingly. “You may as well know, the old man was me.”        “And the young one?”questioned Nancy. 
       “I will tell you in time. For now, I think that is adequate proof for young Master Travalar that Obi is not from his family.”
       “But that doesn't make any sense!”complained Aaron further. “Herb and Dara would remember Obi wasn't one of us!”
       “Yes. They have known about it all along.”
       Aaron was silent, too in shock to speak now. Then Obi, still recovering from his own shock, asked, “If I am not a Travalar, who am I?”
       “An easy enough question,” said Raldin. “Do you recall what I told you of a man called
Robert O’Brien this morning? He was your real father.”
       “So my name is Obi O’Brien?”asked Obi. Raldin shook his head and replied, “No, I’m afraid that Obi is not your real first name. I originally meant it to be O.B., as in the initials for O’Brien, but it just kind of turned into Obi with an ‘i’. Your real full name is Henry Lee O’Brien.”        That was a bit of a change from the name Obi Travalar. Despite the circumstances, Nancy couldn't withhold a snicker. “Ha!”she said. “Henry!” 
       “Now is hardly the time to care about a name!”said Obi. In truth, this was a very crushing blow to him, almost as much as being told he was adopted. His name withheld his identity, and without his name, he felt like he wasn't the same person anymore, like he could never be the same person again. Obi couldn't believe that in one fell swoop, his family and his identity had been stolen from him. The worst part was, he had a feeling that Raldin was telling the truth.        “I know this is a lot to take in,” continued the wizard, “but we don't have time for that right now. I'm afraid there is something more urgent gong on. Let me explain. Your father was my right hand man, Obi, and my best friend- I think I'll call you Obi, it sounds better- and we went on many important missions together, to save the country and to restore peace. Your father was in his late forties when our more dangerous mission was first introduced to us. 
       “For starters, have you ever heard of a sorcerer called Ackyintrod?”
       Obi shook his head no. The wizard seemed pleased; I guess he didn't want Obi to have known about the sorcerer and not him.
       “Allow me to enlighten. He is a most terrible sorcerer, with as great a power as I myself. In the beginning of time, I overthrew him, so he no longer can harm us… mostly. But anyhow, one of his jobs, to this day, is to kill any mortal who dabbles in magic. As you may have heard, magic is too much for mortals to bear, and they can and will do terrible things with it. 
       “There was a man called Kratomi Darbesc, and he was mortal, just like you. Only, he was involving himself in dark magic, and we needed to have him killed. But he was so powerful, Ackyintrod could not kill him in his weakened state. So, for the first and probably last time in history, he came to me for help. He told me to find Darbesc, and kill him. If I did not, he could very well threaten life in Andria, so I agreed. 
       “Me and Robert O’Brien- that is to say, your father- were tasked with doing this. We had to travel to an underground network of caves, where the pseudo sorcerer had set up his hideout.”        Even despite the circumstances, the three kids could not help but be amazed by the story. It sounded pretty good so far, and it wasn't often that they heard of an adventure like this. Plus, the underground cave made it sound like a really cool story already. 
       “We rode there on horseback,” Raldin was saying, “but when we arrived, we discovered that the caves were much larger than we had thought. We were forced to split up. Your father ended up reaching a small village just outside the caves, and there employed the help of a certain Viking who was residing in the village at the time.”
       Obi was shocked. “A Viking?”he asked. “Why would he do that?”
       “Because, at the time the Vikings and Milandrians had been perfectly at peace with one another. That is a key fact, so remember that Viking later on. Anywho, they eventually reached the foolish mortal, but I was not there with them, so they weren't sure how to handle him. He spotted them first, and he attacked them viciously. The sound of the attacks drew me closer, and I saw that the way this man was fighting, he was no ordinary human being. Kratomi Darbesc had invented a magical device to increase his power and skill.
       “But together, I, your father and the Viking were able to beat him down, and there we struck him a fatal blow. He was sprawled out in the corner of the cavern, blood running from him, groaning terribly. Something rolled from his hand as he lay there. Your father was curious, so he went over to pick the object up. And as he did, a look of terrible glee passed over Darbesc’s face. He laughed horribly and said, and I quote, ‘You foolish man! I curse you to a horrible death! That object you now hold is the Orb, a terrible device I myself created! Because of it, you will inevitably be killed!’ And the man died.”
       There was a moment of silence for a while. Then Raldin, a look of incredible grief on his old face, continued, “Not long after, he passed away. He was in the city that night, and he contracted an incurable sickness and died. He was fifty years old when he died.  Thanks to the Orb.”
       “But… where do I come in?”asked Obi. 
       “You? Oh, you were already around by then. When your father passed away, you were three years old. But that's besides the point.”
       “Um, I don't understand,” said Nancy. “Why couldn't his mother just watch him? Why send him to the Travalars?”
       “I will get to that some other time,” said Raldin with a wave of his hand. “For now, isn't anyone interested in the Orb?”
       “I was going to mention that,” said Aaron dubiously. “What is it?”
       “Ah, an excellent question! As I said, Darbesc created the Orb. He made it to speed up his physical skills. Just by holding the Orb and pressing the button on it, the Orb automatically enhanced him. It helped his fighting skills, in physical combat and achievement. He was also ten times stronger with the Orb, and a lot more flexible and tactical when it came to attack. This Orb basically made you a superhuman.”
       “Wow,” said Obi. “That's pretty cool. Why did it kill my dad?”
       It felt weird to say dad and not be describing Zachary Travalar.
       “It can increase many of things like that, it is true. But the reason it is so deadly is because it does two other things: it decreases your wisdom, and increases your passions. Using the Orb, you are little more than an animal. Uh, an animal who can fight.”
       “That's… disturbing,” said Nancy.
       “What did it look like?”asked Obi. Raldin shook his head, and said, “No, you mean what does it look like. It still exists. It is virtually indestructible; I am still figuring out how to break it. As for how it looked, I believe I can answer that easily enough.”
       From the deepest depths of his pockets, he withdrew none other than the Orb. It was a peculiar object, about six inches long and six inches wide. It was an orange color, made of a material that looked like a giant plasma pearl, with no markings on it at all. The orange seemed to be shining dimly. But you could barely see the orange, due to the fact that it had a gold casing around it, with intricate symbols repeating themselves on its surface. The gold was slightly darkened as if by age. On the top of it, there was a small gold button and some more symbols on it. 
      “May I ask a question?”said Nancy, clearly asking a question already. “Why do you have to destroy this?”
      A dark look passed over the wizard’s face. He replied, “I have to. Because there are evil forces looking for it right now.”
      That gave Obi the chills. Here comes the dangerous part, he said to himself. Raldin then said, “Before I tell you of the enemy, let me tell you why you are in danger, Obi. When your father died, the possession of the Orb passed to you. And the only person who can wield this deadly device is the owner, which is you now. Because of this, the enemy needs to not only capture the Orb; they need to capture you.”
       That explained it. Any day now, Obi could be kidnapped by whoever the enemy were.        “And once they capture you,” continued the wizard, “the only way they can use the Orb is to kill you.”
       Obi’s blood ran cold. A group of villains were after him? And they were going to kill him? This just got better and better.
       “And just who are these ‘enemies’?”asked Aaron dangerously, with a look that said he wanted to take them all on at once. Raldin answered, “The enemy are the Vikings.”
       “What? I thought you said they were our allies!”cried Obi. The wizard shook his head and said, “My dear boy, I'm afraid the controversy between us and the Vikings began mostly because of the Orb.”
       Obi was astonished. That was a nice way of saying that the fight between Milandria and the Vikings was because of him.
       “Let me explain; the Viking your father hired to help him kill Darbesc was the one who started the fight, although quite without knowing. He came home, and started telling everyone about his adventures with the Milandrian O’Brien and the Orb. The newly elected viking-lord wanted to have this Orb with a passion, so he sent his people to obtain it for him. The leader he placed in charge of this expedition was Ru Gaffa, one of the most ruthless Vikings of all time.”        “You're kidding me!”exclaimed Obi. “That's the exact same Viking that is nearby with a raiding party! A friend of mine told me about him!”        “Yes, and why do you think he is in the area?”
       Obi was speechless. Nancy answered for him. “Wait, so they're only in the area to kill Obi?!”        “Yes, they discovered that Obi Travalar is really Henry Lee O’Brien,” admitted Raldin. “That is why they are in the area. I would have liked you to grow up as a normal kid and then tell you, Obi, but you are in danger every moment now. The Vikings will be upon us this very day.”
       “Then we've got to leave!”cried Nancy. The wizard shook his head yet again and said, “No,
or else they will kill many innocent people. We must stay for now. At least until Cole Seb comes to take you away.”
       “Wait, how is Cole Seb involved?”asked Obi.
       “Oddly enough, he is your legal guardian, Obi.”
       Wow. This was almost too much for the boy to take. Now the person who had been stalking him was his guardian, a crazed killer Viking was on his tail, and they had to flee somewhere and he didn't even know where. He would have asked, but for now he couldn't take any more. And then he got more.
       “Obi, the Orb is not safe with me. You must take it. Keep it safe. Don't let anyone touch it, and above all, do not press the button!”
       Obi nodded viciously. He didn't want to get involved in that kind of thing. The thought of a
human not being able to behave as more than an animal scared him. 
       “I'm afraid I can't stay with you for long,” said Raldin. “Duty calls. Meet Cole by the entrance at three o'clock. If you see any signs of Vikings, run. Go to the entrance, and if Cole is not there, run for the closest town to the south. Stay together while you're here, but as for Aaron and the girl, you two can not come. Your place is here, away from danger, is that understood?”
   Well, Nancy and Aaron were not pleased about this, but they finally agreed to not go with them.
The wizard nodded, and said, “Okay, so do you understand everything?”
       “No,” said Obi, “but I'm trying. It's still a lot to grasp.”
       “Just a minute,” said Aaron suspiciously. “How do we know you're telling the truth? What if this is all a big hoax, Obi? He would be leading three innocent kids to their doom. He had no real way to prove a thing he just told us.”
       “I understand you being skeptical,” acknowledged Raldin, “but if you want me to list every reason I am telling the truth, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment. I have many important things to attend to, and not the least of them is tracking the people who wish to kill Obi. If you wish for explanations, ask your parents, Aaron. Good? Now, I must contact some of my
consultants in the festival; until three o'clock, you kids are free to do as you please. Obi, keep the
Orb safe. And keep yourself safe.”
       He left them then. After he was gone, a strange silence filled the air. They were all trying to take in what they had heard in the past few minutes. This was no small task. Finally, Aaron broke the silence. 
       “Guess what they have before three o'clock?”he asked. Despite the horrible things that were in store for them, the kids all smiled. 
       “They have the great lance competition,” said Obi.
To be continued...

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