Chapter 5: Chapter Five – The Lonely Quest

When Salubrious was nearly finished weaving his bride’s new swathe, he sent his twin as his messenger to declare his soon coming. And so Calamitous came to the bower of Beauteous and her family, and in accord with the Ancients’ custom, he announced in a loud voice, “The Groom is coming!”

Immediately, the bower erupted into a frenzy of activity leaving Calamitous to sit alone and wait. Thus, the same discomfort settled into the heart of Calamitous, for as before, he loathed feeling useless.

However, Beauteous and her family were too busy to notice the twin’s darkening mood. They rushed about making preparations and gathering all kinds of fruits and nuts for the feast. So, in a short time, a long table was set with all kinds of fruits and a great diversity of nuts. Beauteous placed a large basket of shelled hazel nuts in the center of the table, for she knew they were the favorite of Salubrious.

Also, they decorated their bower with every color of flower. These flowers were weaved together into long rainbow-colored garlands, and so the scene was very festive.

While they did all these tasks, Beauteous sent out her younger siblings to invite everyone nearby, thus the children happily went and called to their neighbors to gather a great multitude to the marriage feast.

So it happened that by the time Salubrious came with his bride’s new swathe over his shoulder and his weaver’s sword in hand, there was a happy throng gathered to meet him with joyful expectation.

As Salubrious approached, someone in the crowd shouted out the customary words, “Behold, the Groom comes with his weaver’s sword in his hand!”

Immediately, Calamitous was reminded of the sword Doom, but then a new thought came into his mind. He gazed down at his newest stone tool.

“Maybe, I am not supposed to use another’s sword,” he pondered silently. “Perhaps, I am to make my own.”

When the crowd quieted, Salubrious stood before the throng and held up the swathe he had just finished weaving. In response, there were many approving nods and even a few glad cheers.

Then, the father of Beauteous brought her forward, and Salubrious gently draped the find colored cloth over her shoulders. With this done, the new husband kissed his wife upon her lovely brow, and in this way, the marriage covenant was sealed. Immediately, the whole crowd erupted into a joyful cheer.

Now that Beauteous wore her husband’s colors, none had doubt that she was his wife and he was her husband, and so was the custom of the Ancients.

As the feasting started in earnest, Beauteous rushed about in her new swathe serving her guests, and she was such a gracious host, that she was admired by all.

However, during all the festivities and merry-making, Calamitous sat brooding, for as before, he was held at a distance by all but his brother, and even Beauteous was quiet when she served him. Thus, the eyes of Calamitous darkened, and soon after, he excused himself from the feast.

With troubled thoughts swirling in his head, Calamitous returned to the river and walked alone upon its shore. Gloomily, he searched the riverbank for another stone, but this time, he sought a large piece of raw obsidian.

Finally, the Ancient found a gray stone of sufficient size, and so he sat down and began to carefully chip away flakes, and this is the manner in which he worked the stone: He began his work of flint knapping with a smooth round hammer stone and then, as the work called for more precise breaks, he used a piece of hardwood to pressure-flake bits of the rock away from the core. Thus, after six days and by meticulous labor, he had created a razor-sharp sword of stone.

When the lithic weapon was completed, he held it aloft and announced its name to the nearby river and the empty forest that surrounded him.

“I name you Wrath-bringer, for I shall use you to bring down my wrath upon that evil tree!”

Then, with a fierce expression and fiery-colored eyes, young Calamitous made several dramatic slashing motions through the air as though he was slaying some invisible enemy.

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With his weapon finished, Calamitous decided to accomplish the destruction of the Tree of Deepshadows without delay. And so, with purposeful strides, he set out upon his quest.

Though Calamitous did not know where exactly the shadow-tree grew, he had heard his father and mother say that it was in the North, so north he went, and with every step, the air grew colder. In time, he went through the great northern pass, and then, he crossed a vast grassy plain, and still he went north, until finally, he came to the shore of a narrow sea.

Now, the eyes of the Ancients were far keener than those of their descendants, and so, as he stood upon the shore, he spied an island many miles to the north. Without hesitation, he dove into the cold water and swam for that distant rocky piece of land.

In a few hours, he reached the island, and from its shore, he saw yet another further north. After he had swam to it, he could see a third isle to the east and a fourth to the west. Because north was all he knew, he chose to swim to the northern island. From its rocky beach, he saw two landmasses – one was in the west, and the other was to the east.

Still not sure where the evil tree grew, Calamitous had to blindly choose his way. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to go toward the isle on his right, and so, he swam again. However, when he came to stand upon this new shore, he found that it was not an island at all but a peninsula that stretched out toward the northeast.

Walking up the cape, Calamitous soon came to a valley within a wide canyon. As he followed it, the valley slowly turned so that when he came out, he found himself walking southwestward.

In the distance, he could see a range of black mountains, and a wide pass opened before him. Passing through the gap, he came into a dark vale where thick black clouds swirled endlessly overhead blocking out the sun.

Nothing grew within this valley, not even a single blade of grass. There were no trees or bushes or even weeds. There was only gray, lifeless soil, and coarse, black volcanic rocks.

Here and there, open pits of pitch and lava boiled and belched fourth foul smelling sulfurous gas. These gasses rose and merged with the clouds above.

However, as Calamitous went further into the Vale of Shadows, he began to find the gray dirt and black volcanic rocks dusted with a strange white substance.

Now the Ancients could feel, smell, hear, taste, and see more keenly than Common-men, and so when Calamitous investigated the white powder, he could easily see that it was actually made of countless tiny crystals. When he picked up a pinch of the crystalized dust, he saw that it turned to water at the touch of his skin.

Because the world of Riven had, from the very beginning, been created by the King of Heaven to have a warm and mild climate, none had ever seen snow before, and so it caused Calamitous to marvel.

The blanket of snow grew thicker the further he went, until finally, the Ancient’s bare feet made deep prints. Moreover, the snow seemed to perpetually drift downward in a hazy curtain which obscured everything that was any great distance away.

As he walked, he gazed at the white frozen landscape with unfettered wonder. Yet, he did not feel cold, for the light that lingered within the flesh of the Ancients also kept them warm, so that the snow only melted at the touch of Calamitous and did not cause him to feel pain or even discomfort.

After a little more than a day of walking, Calamitous came over a slight rise in the land and stood upon the crest of a small valley. In truth, it was not a valley at all, but it was a wide bowl-shaped impression. Strangely, not one single snowflake fell within this crater.

It was at that moment that he remembered another story which his parents had told him. They spoke of how Perfidious, the broken-one, had stolen a Stone of Fire, how he had broken that flaming stone, and how he had made a great smoldering mace out of one of its burning shards. They had said that, in the north, he struck the ground with his massive mace, and within the scar he had made upon the world, he planted his evil tree.

There was no doubt in the mind of Calamitous that this was that same place, and that the tree he now looked upon was the very same tree.

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