Trials of an Infinite Dream

Rated E Everyone

Helena dragged the beast’s head by its curved horns across the barren steppe. Out of every crack in the earth steamed dark magic left over from back when this land was cursed. But she’d come to the end. She could already see the crowds of people ahead. Across the river that borders her home country and the forbidden lands of Belian Kys, a group of nearly a hundred cheered her on. She looked up, face covered in the same purple blood that trailed behind the head she hauled. Her eyes were dead as they met with those of her welcoming party. A boy pushed to the front with tears in his eyes. Her boy. Elias. He was but six.

That was Helena’s last adventure; one she began with her husband, the brave knight Sir Eilwen, whose cowardice left her alone at the beast’s lair. Elias wept twice that day while Helena chose to spread her sorrow across the decade. Word eventually found its way to their fief that Eilwen returned to the capital, but he never returned to what was once his land. Moreover, no one ever came to take back the farm. Helena thought it best to simply keep living until the king’s very blade was at their doorstep.

It was at the end of that sorrowful decade that Helena faced her son’s newly sixteen-year-old grand declaration.

“I wish to be an adventurer like you, Mother.” Elias beamed from ear to ear.

Helena turned to him while squeezing the utters of their fattest cow. “A fine jest.”

“I’m serious, Mother. This is my dream.”

“It is a foolish dream.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because it would turn even a man of chivalry and valor into the opposite.”

“But I was born for this. It’s in my blood.”

“Am I your mother simply because my blood runs through your veins?”

“Um...well, I…”

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Yes, but I contest. How did you know to become an adventurer?”

“I didn’t know. I just did.”

“Then so should I.”

“You should go fetch me another bucket. It seems I’ve underestimated more than just your capacity for flight of fancy.”

“Please, Mother. What must I do to prove to you I am worthy of your blessing?”

Helena sighed. Her son’s eyes sparkled like the blossom trees that crowned the western ranges. At night, the fairies that blessed the mountain springs would glitter in amongst the leaves.

“Very well,” she said. “I will put you to the test. If you fail, you may try again in one year’s time.”

“Yes!” Elias ran off.

“Get me another bucket, boy!” Helena smirked then returned to her milking.

Later that day, Helena ordered Elias to help her carry hay bales out into the fields leading to the forest behind the farm. The edge of the woods met with the base of their piece of the western mountain range. Together, they laid the bales out and about a specific perimeter both in and outside the forest. After each one they posted a wooden peg topped with a single apple. When they were finished, Helena presented her son with his very own makeshift obstacle course.

“Your first of three trials will be to find a magical crystal I’ve hidden in the forest,” she explained. “Whenever you come to a hay bale, you must climb over it and strike the enemy on the other side represented by the apples. If you skip one, you fail.”

Helena tossed Elias a shortsword. He unsheathed it, mouth agape in childlike wonder.

“You have one minute to find the crystal,” Helena said. “On my mark.”

“Wai--one minute?” Elias complained.

“An adventurer does not whine. He sees the task ahead and accepts it for what it is.”

Elias scoffed, rolled his eyes, and assumed a ready stance; knees bent and blade forward.

“Succeed or fail, you will not return from this trial with that attitude of yours,” Helena said sternly.

Elias kept his eyes forward. “Forgive me, Mother.”

“Alright. Begin.”

Elias rushed toward the first obstacle. With a single leap, he cleared it, twisting his torso to slice clean through the apple atop the peg.

Helena’s brows bounced up. “Huh.”

Impressed, she stepped out to the side to get a better view of the forest. Though he couldn’t escape having to scale the larger ones, most of the hay bales proved barely a challenge for Elias. And his swing of the sword was as deft as a knight’s.

As Helena watched her son leap, spin, and painstakingly hunt for the crystal, she pocketed her hands. A pouch on the back of her belt shifted, pushing up the covering flap. A faint glow and crystalline crackle sounded from within.

“Time’s up, boy!” Helena called.

Elias returned to his mother panting and massaging his sword arm shoulder. “It’s impossible. I checked everywhere.”

“You checked in the trees?”

“Yes.”

“You checked in the leaves?”

“Yes.”

“You checked in the hay?”

“What?”

“How about underground?”

“Mother!”

“That one was a joke. But you were close. I’m impressed.”

“Garwin and Yeol have been teaching me a few tricks.”

“Well, I suppose you’ll have to try harder next year.”

“Hold on. Is it not the best two out of three?”

“Two out of three? If this were a real adventure, there would be no best two out of three.”

Elias raised a brow and smiled. “Ah. I sense you haven’t come up with the next two trials then.”

“You think me unprepared?”

“Do I?”

Helena scowled and pointed a finger at her son. “You are not so clever, boy.”

She stepped quickly toward the road leading northeast. Elias chuckled to himself.

“Put away the hay bales and pegs and meet me at the chasm,” Helena shouted back without turning.

Elias groaned and sheathed his sword. With a loud grunt, he hoisted up the first obstacle.

As the sun began to set, Elias met his mother at the narrower end of a huge chasm separating two fields of rolling, green plains.

“Your second trial will be to jump across the crevice using a simple wind spell,” Helena instructed.

“You’re going to teach me magic?” Elias grinned.

“I’m no wizard, but out there in the wild, a mite of magic can be the difference between drowning in lava and making it home in one piece.” Helena reached out her hand and closed her eyes. “Now do as I do.”

Elias mimicked his mother.

“If you can’t feel anything, open your eyes and make an effort to take in your surroundings,” Helena said. “Do your best to memorize the world around you until you can still see it when you close your eyes again.”

Elias opened his eyes and looked around. To his right were the distant street lamps of a nearby town. Ahead was the chasm and the blowing grass of northern plains. Above was an indigo blue sky with puffy clouds of peach and salmon. To his left was his mother and road leading back home, the western mountains painted in the background. He closed his eyes once more.

“Now feel the wind,” Helena continued. “Imagine its threads flowing atop the image of the world around you. Highlight them in your mind.”

Elias let out a breath like it had been stolen from him. “I see it. I see the wind.”

“Good. Gently grasp it as it swims through your palm. Gently.”

Elias closed his fist. Suddenly, his hand glowed a cool green. He opened his eyes, stunned by the sight.

“Don’t be afraid, boy,” Helena giggled. “This is your bond with the wind. Now pull the light to your heart and cast the spell. Laventa.”

“A-Alright.” Elias slowly brought his glowing fist to his chest. “Laventa!”

The light in his hand split into two magic spheres. The spheres swirled up his arms and down to his legs. Wind slithered around him like the ghosts of twin cobras. The sound of violent gust and low whistle bursted from beneath Elias as he was launched ten feet into the air. He flipped backwards, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Helena shuffled to position herself under him. He landed, and they both came tumbling to the ground. Elias’s head shot up. His mother burst into a hearty guffaw as he rubbed his eyes and blinked excessively.

“I think I’ll spend the next year practicing that one.” Elias looked at his mother with a wheezy laugh.

Within the next six months, Elias had increased his speed on the obstacle course significantly. After his farm duties were complete, he’d lug two dozen hay bales out into the fields and forest and set up the pegs with wrapped up leaves so as to not waste apples. Helena would watch him at first with a smile. Her pride would fade, though, at the thought of her ruse. It still seemed to her like the right thing to do.

More months went by and one day, Helena had woken up earlier than usual and caught her son in the fields practicing Laventa. His casting time was next to nothing. Had this too been a part of his training?

Finally, the time had come for his second attempt. Elias had just turned seventeen, and he had set up the obstacle course even before the day had started.

“You should have waited for me to set up the course,” Helena said.

“Forgive me.” Elias clapped his hands. “But I believe today will be the day.”

“We shall see. Head inside so I can place the crystal.”

Elias jogged around the barn and into the house.

Helena went around the west facing part of the house and closed all the windows. Then, she waited no more than ten minutes. Helena stood in front of the first obstacle, the crystal tucked away in her belt pouch. She nibbled on her thumb nail. Massaged her temple. After a shameful exhalation, she cleared her throat.

“Alright, boy,” she called. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Elias returned to his mother and unsheathed his blade. “Watch well mother. I’ll make it seem as if I knew where the crystal was even before you set it.”

“Yes, well,” Helena muttered, “One minute. Do your best.”

Elias assumed a more confident battle stance.

Helena took a moment to look at her son. Though he had her caramel skin and curly hair, he was his father’s boy. Only then did she notice his more chiseled jaw, his bushier brows. The bridge of his nose dipped like the moat at the base of a great stone tower. His gaze was as true as an archer’s shot, and the dimples were a dead giveaway. A great pride welled up on the cliffs of her eyes. And a silent anger rattled the cage of her grinding teeth. At that moment, Helena’s mind declared war against her heart. Or perhaps, it was the other way around.

“I’m ready, Mother,” Elias said.

Helena blinked twice with a loud sniff. “Begin then.”

Elias was off. He dashed forward at a courser’s speed, clearing the first hay bale like it had tossed him up. At the peak, he flipped and swung his blade with finesse. The apple fell from the peg in two perfect pieces.

Helena’s jaw fell at the sight of her son kicking off of trees and swinging on branches. She watched as he unturned rocks and slid his hand in and out of the bales like it was rehearsed. In fact, it most likely was. Each strike he took at the apples was intentional without an ounce of sloppiness in his movement about the forest. But alas…

“Time’s up, Elias!” Helena sighed to herself.

Elias came out of the forest in the opposite mood he entered. He approached his mother and drove his blade into the ground with a roar. Helena flinched.

Elias took a deep breath and bowed on one knee. “Please forgive me, Mother.”

“It’s alright.” Helena uprooted the sword. “You did well. There’s still two trials to go.”

Elias looked up to his mother handing him the shortsword.

“Don’t lose heart just yet,” she said.

The two met at the chasm once more, the sun as low as one year before.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Helena said.

Elias bent low, hands to the earth. “I swear I’ll make you proud, Mother.”

Helena’s eyes widened.

“Once I’m an adventurer, I’ll stay true to myself and never lose courage.” Elias bowed his head. “I swear it.”

Helena bit down on her quivering lip.

Elias charged forward. He swung his arms forward as he leapt off the edge of the chasm. Without delay, he reached out, shut his eyes, and pulled toward his heart the magical green energy of the wind. He rolled forward so the bottom of his feet pointed into the abyss. Beneath him spun a translucent, runic circle.

With a valiant shout, his eyes shot open. “Laventa!”

The runic circle expanded swiftly. A massive gale launched Elias back up. With flailing arms, he flew across the chasm and landed with a thud on the other side.

Helena reactively threw her hands up. She hopped up and down, whistling and howling with cheer.

Elias sat up, hand on his back as he moaned in pain. He saw his mother and let out a short laugh.

Helena waved as her son gave her two thumbs up and fell back to the ground.

Back at the fief, the two stood beneath the canopy of a scarlet bonsai. They stood four yards apart, and Helena tossed a wooden blade over to her son. He raised a brow.

“Your final trial,” Helena assumed a defensive position with her own wooden weapon, “Is to defeat me in combat.”

Elias looked at his play sword. Back to his mother. He gripped the hilt firmly and readied his stance.

After a moment of silence, Elias lunged forward with a battle cry. Helena slid her body along the strike, dodging by a hair. With the pommel of her sword, she bashed her son in the stomach. He went down clutching his abdomen.

Helena looked down at Elias. She smirked and suspired in relief.

“I win,” she said. “Let’s see how well you do next--”

She stopped. Elias was crying. He hid his dripping face beneath his arms, but the hiccupping breaths and congested sniffling had him beat.

Helena left him alone. They did not say a word to each other for the rest of the night.

The next year passed the same as the last. Elias finished his duties then trained until dinner. He began to ask questions at the table concerning one-on-one combat. It became clear to Helena that he was learning from his friends in the capital who had been training under knights for the past four years. Alongside his obstacle course practice and spellcasting work, he would train against a dummy he’d set up beneath the bonsai. Helena noticed a bit of spite in every swing he made. As the day of his third attempt drew nearer, Elias asked her less questions. He seemed almost flippant about the trials instead of the usual fiery determination. Something was different.

Helena woke up the day of Elias’s third attempt. He was now eighteen and much taller than his mother. The obstacle course wasn’t set up, but Elias was already standing outside the barn.

He smiled when he noticed Helena approaching. “Mother.”

“Yes, my son.” Helena crossed her arms.

“I’ve decided that even if I am to fail today’s trials,” he said, “I am going to leave the farm to become an adventurer.”

Helena’s face froze. Her lips pursed only slightly. She kept her chin from bunching up for too long and stared at the hay sprinkled ground.

“I will not allow it,” she said.

“That’s alright.” Elias cleared his throat. “Though I’d prefer your blessing, I feel I’ve proven to myself that I’m ready.”

“We shall see.”

Without a word, the two set up the first trial. A bitter fog had rolled in.

“It looks to me like it will not be a fair search for the crystal,” Helena said looking out into the hazey void.

“It’ll be fair enough.” Elias didn’t stance up. He simply rested his hand on the pommel of the short sword.

Helena shot him a puzzled look. He kept his eyes on the misty forest.

“Alright then, boy,” Helena said. “Begin.”

Elias reached over and pulled the magic crystal from the pouch on his mother’s belt.

“I do not wish to know if it was ever a fair search.” Elias handed the gem back to Helena. “I’ll meet you at the chasm.”

Elias started up the eastern road. Helena gripped the crystal in her palm as her arm fell to her side.

At the chasm, Elias performed perfectly. He landed on his feet on the other side of the crevice. He turned to give his mother a thumbs up. She returned the gesture. They said nothing on the way back to the farm.

Beneath the bonsai whose red leaves were muted by the fog, the two stood ready to fight. Instead of charging in, Elias strafed slowly to the right. Helena did the same. After one full circle around each other, Helena stepped forward. She struck high. Elias blocked and pushed her blade into the dirt.

“What is this?” Elias barked.

Helena corkscrewed back, fling soil upwards as her sword was pulled and spun out of the ground. Elias closed his eyes. Swiped the dirt out of his face. Helena came in for a sweeping kick. Elias tucked forward for an overhead strike on his mother. She took the hit and stood up.

“Stop it!” Elias yelled.

“Stop what?” Helena retorted. “Your conviction has made these trials pointless.”

“They aren’t pointless to me. I’ve already won two out of three. I thought you’d be proud that I wanted to finish.”

Helena roared as she swung wide, throwing herself off balance. Elias slid his foot low to catch his mother’s leg just as it rose. Helena fell back and slammed onto the ground. She coughed, remaining prone.

Elias pointed his wooden blade to his mother’s neck. She looked at him with a dead expression.

“Is this how you will send me off?” Elias growled softly.

Helena said nothing.

“In one years time, I will return,” Elias said, his voice raising. “If you will not duel me with all your might, I will return again the next year and next after that until you honor me with your blessing.”

“You dare speak to your mother that way?” Helena whispered, trembling with rage.

A moist film began to glaze over Elias’s eyes. He grit his teeth as his breaths became shorter. Then, he left her there. Elias threw down the play weapon and packed his bags. Within the hour, he departed toward the capital. Helena remained on her back until nightfall. She left her blade as well.

A year passed, and Helena waited for Elias to arrive. He did not. Helena drank until she saw nothing but the darkest black. When she awoke the next afternoon, she drew herself a bath. The water sang a tragic song as her tears fell from her cheek into the tub. Finally, she dressed herself and hurried outside to get as much work done on the farm as possible. Alas, under the scarlet bonsai stood her son, scarred and bearded.

Elias was already in his stance wielding the sword he threw down a year ago. It was not only confident, but it was perfect and strong. His brows furrowed when he saw her. But what Helena saw in her son’s eyes was not hatred. This was a fire known as solemn determination.

Helena picked up the other wooden blade and readied herself. “You’re late.”

“It took a while to find my way back home,” Elias said.

“How is your courage?”

“No greater than in this moment.”

Elias rushed forward, swinging down from a high angle. Helena blocked with one arm. Pushed kicked him in the chest. Elias planted himself. Slashed upward from his hip. Helena thrusted her blade up to clash their crossguards. With a swirling movement, Helena disarmed her son. She stepped forward, pointing the sword to his throat.

Elias put his hands up, eyes wide like a frightened fawn. He looked up to see his mother smiling at him crookedly. She proceeded to slam the play sword into the ground and walk up to her now burly offspring. With arms open wide, Helena embraced Elias tightly. Elias buried his face in his mother’s shoulder.

“You fulfilled your promise to me, son,” Helena said. “Forgive me, for my blessing was rightfully yours a long, long time ago.”