When Aetron returned from the silence of the sanctuary in his mind to the real world, he paused for a moment to collect himself. Everything he'd discussed with Null—the fog, the story, reality—was still spinning in his mind. But now he needed other answers. More concrete, more urgent answers.
He opened the tent entrance. Inside, Kadros and Niyara examined scrolls showing the clan's supply situation. When they saw Aetron, they both smiled.
"Father," Aetron said, still a bit hesitant. "Mother."
"My son," Kadros said warmly. "I'm glad you came. There was something we wanted to talk to you about."
But before Kadros could finish his sentence, a small storm erupted from the corner of the tent. "Brother!" Thera came running and jumped onto Aetron's legs. Aetron laughed, bent down, and picked up his sister.
"Hello, little warrior," he said, ruffling her hair.
Thera wrapped her arms around her brother's neck, looking at him with a happy expression. Aetron thought for a moment. He needed to give this little girl sword training, but today he had more important things to do. She'll definitely object, he thought to himself. I need to give her another task.
"Thera," he said, lowering his voice. "I'm going to give you a critical mission. Can you do it?"
Thera's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "What mission, brother?"
"Do you remember Princess Eirlys?" Thera nodded. I want you to watch her for me today. We need to understand what she's planning and doing. Can you do this as my special guard?"
Thera whispered excitedly. "Secretly?"
Aetron leaned to her ear. "Yes. I can only trust you with this mission." He kissed her cheek. "Now go on, little spy."
Thera giggled, climbed down from Aetron's embrace, and slipped quietly out of the tent.
"I didn't know you had such good persuasion skills," Null's voice commented in Aetron's mind.
Aetron mentally patted Null's head. "I understand children's language, love."
The feeling from Null was like a slight electric shock. "Am I a child?" she asked, her voice dangerously calm.
Aetron quickly changed the subject and turned to his family. "Mother, Father... I have things I need to ask you."
Kadros and Niyara looked at each other, then turned to their son. The moment they'd been waiting for had come.
"First," Aetron said, "I know why we can't leave this forest. There's a barrier. And I know we used to be a powerful empire... But why are we in this state now? Why were we exiled here? I want to learn this."
Kadros took a deep breath. "This is a long and painful story, my son. Forty-two years ago, we lost the great war with the Syrallia Theocracy and the Kingdom of Thanar." He paused. "The real reason we lost... was your grandfather Maderas. Or rather, his overconfidence."
Niyara held her husband's hand. "Actually, it wasn't all his fault, Kadros. As a dynasty, we all made the same mistake." She turned to her son. "Aetron, there are seven levels of Edgium, as you know. But from the fourth level, Vision, the path becomes personal. It takes shape according to the inclination of your heart and soul. Our clan, Selenae, mostly chooses the Vision path."
"Vision," Kadros continued. "It is both a blessing and a curse. It offers you glimpses from the past, prophecies from the future. It can even help you find what you're looking for if you're lucky. For example," Kadros said, "I once saw victory in a battle and relaxed. But what I saw was only a possibility. It didn't come true. Vision doesn't guarantee; it shows. But your grandfather... and our ancestors... the bright future deceived us, we saw."
Aetron listened quietly. Vision. Seeing the future and seeing the past. "This Vision..." he thought to Null. "Maybe the 'fog' is blocking this power? Or is this the way to overcome it?"
"Maybe," Null agreed. "But first you need to reach it."
"But there's something else you need to know," Niyara said, lowering her voice. "We don't belong to this world. Especially our dynasty."
Aetron froze for a moment. He could feel Null's shock in his mind, too. Stars. Other worlds. This was like the reality of the universe he came from... but different. Older. Deeper.
"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to control his voice.
"I... I also came from another world," he thought to Null. "But your family... your entire lineage?"
"Apparently," Aetron replied in his mind, still in shock. "So did I... return to my home? Or to another foreign world?"
"This is a secret known only to members of our dynasty who've gained the leadership quality and their spouses," Kadros explained. "We came to this world from another universe, among the stars."
"Our first ancestor, Aurya," Niyara said, "came here in a massive metal bird called a 'spaceship.' Back then, there was technology, but it was forgotten through subsequent wars and internal conflicts. Thanar's family established their own state in this chaos, and his companions established the Syrallia Theocracy."
Aetron paused for a moment. "A spaceship?" he said. "By any chance... could it have a connection to a place called Zener?"
Kadros and Niyara looked at each other in shock. Null's voice echoed in Aetron's mind: "You... how did you connect that? Isn't Zener the name of that military base in the world we first arrived in!"
"My son, where did you hear about Zener?" Kadros asked, his voice both astonished and tense. This name was one of the dynasty's deepest, most guarded secrets; the name of their ancestors' first refuge.
Aetron tried not to panic and put on a calm expression. "In stories like this, the first place they send you is never random, love." Where had this thought come from? It was as if he were speaking from another level, from a higher perspective. The fog again? Or... the beginning of Vision?
He turned to his family. "During those three days I was lost in the forest... I had strange dreams," he said slowly. "In one of them, I was in a place with metal walls called Zener. As if... as if that place was where our ancestors came from. It was very vivid."
Kadros and Niyara were still shocked, but they knew their son's Vision ability could manifest differently and unexpectedly. "This... this is incredible," Niyara whispered. "Perhaps Vision is showing you not just the future, but our deepest past. Our ancestor Aurya's blood must flow strongly in you."
"Good save," Null said, obvious relief in her voice. "But this strengthens our 'fog' theory even more. Why didn't we ever think about Zener before? How did we miss such an important detail?"
"Zener... Yes," Kadros said, returning to the topic. "That was the name of our ancestor's ship. But let's continue. About the war and why we're here."
Aetron nodded, his mind full of questions, but he remained silent.
"When we lost the war," Niyara said sadly, "Thanar agreed. In exchange for our people's safety, our empire was disbanded, our lands were divided among five lords, and we... were exiled to this forest. This barrier is the seal of that agreement."
"An agreement?" Aetron asked. "I thought this was an oath."
"That's the rest of the story, my son," Kadros said, with a painful expression. "This wasn't an ordinary agreement. It was an oath created by our ancestor Aurya. And this oath... took everything from us."
Aetron saw the pain on his father's face. "Father, you're tired. If you'd like... we can continue tomorrow."
Kadros smiled at his son's thoughtful attitude. "You're right. You've learned enough for today. Go rest. Tomorrow, we'll tell you what the Blood Oath is and why there are no elderly in this forest."