{"id":3724,"date":"2016-06-14T00:01:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T04:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=3724"},"modified":"2016-06-28T06:08:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-28T10:08:06","slug":"night-wintertide-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/night-wintertide-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night Before Wintertide, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Night Before Wintertide
\n<\/strong>A Story by Kevin M. Gallagher, Jr
\n-Part One-<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jason stood before the Nadeus tree, a twelve-foot pine adorned with albino flutterballs, in the holiday room of the castle. It was the holiday season, the time of year where citizens of Argos, the city of which Jason was prince and heir apparent, celebrated Wintertide. The town was bustling with traffic as families shopped for loved ones and friends gathered for Wintertide Festival, a weeklong celebration, activities.<\/p>\n

Ten years had passed since Jason last thought about Wintertide and its meaning. He never understood the weeklong festival, or the celebration of Andekus, the goddess of charity and the deity of the holiday. He couldn\u2019t grasp the idea of celebrating seven different ideals when it was clear to him that it was all made up. However, he did understand that his father, King Iollan Dactyls, despised everything related to Wintertide.<\/p>\n

Although the Dactyls ruled Saffraan, the western nation of Arthica, they were part of a small community that believed in one creator, rather than the gods and goddesses of the land. Believers of the one, true savior also disregarded the Wintertide holiday and celebrated Nadeus. But even the most powerful believers were afraid of what the majority would do if they found out about their belief system.<\/p>\n

\u201cSon,\u201d a voice from behind Jason snapped him out of his thoughts.<\/p>\n

Iollan stood behind his child, stroking his black, bushy beard. He was imposing, standing at six feet tall with muscles bulging through his heavy royal garb. He was looking his son in his eyes when Jason turned around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t so long ago that you looked up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was<\/em> long ago father. I\u2019ve grown much since I was a child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason looked to the floor. He and his father had a tenuous relationship in recent years, specifically with how non-humans were being treated in the kingdom. He looked to his father, brushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou treat those not like us without respect. We were all created equal in His eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may be true, but that does not mean we all grow to be equal. The world is more complicated than you believe it to be, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you make it more complicated than it needs to be, Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason walked out of the room. He had spent the last ten years following his family blindly in what they believed. When he witnessed his father kick a down on his luck gnome\u2014just looking for a warm place to sleep\u2014out of the city, he was heartbroken. Jason confronted his father about it and when he saw that his father held no remorse, he knew he had to follow his own path.<\/p>\n

As he made his way out of the castle, he was stopped by Arik Purdell, the five-year-old son of his father\u2019s top General, Alan. Jason didn\u2019t acknowledge the young boy, the thought of his father\u2019s treatment of other races still on his mind, and quickly walked by with purpose. He was running late to meet a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster Jason,\u201d the boy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cArik, I\u2019m sorry, but I have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, okay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason stopped walking. He could hear the disappointment in the boy\u2019s voice. He turned and stared at the child and gave him a brief smile. \u201cHow many times do I have to tell you, it\u2019s just Jason,\u201d he said as he knelt down beside the lad.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, sir,\u201d Arik said. \u201cYou seemed angry, and I wanted to try and make you feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason smiled. \u201cThe fact that you wanted to help me is all I need to feel better. You are going to make a fine general one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d the boy smiled, \u201cwhat are you up to?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m meeting some friends at the Wintertide Festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWon\u2019t the king be angry with you?\u201d Arik asked, befuddled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason smiled and stood up. He tousled Arik\u2019s hair before turning around and heading out of the castle. As he left the castle grounds, his mood began to change to match the holiday d\u00e9cor\u2014the more fantastical the town looked, the less he thought about his father. Jason\u2019s eyes grew large as he soaked in all that Wintertide had to offer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Falcon\u2019s Nest, a tavern in the south side of Argos, was the home to criminals and lower level Saphron Brotherhood members that visited Argos. The brotherhood, a group of assassins from the region, often had their initiates use the tavern as their home base. Once they had proved themselves worthy, the initiates were promoted and invited to the Saphron Brotherhood\u2019s main hideout, which remained a secret to all but those who belonged.<\/p>\n

Icarus Callatuil sat at a table in the tavern, waiting for his friend. With its dim lighting, insipid odor and penchant for attracting the least trustworthy citizens of the city, the elf could never understand why his friend chose the tavern as their meeting place. He didn\u2019t mind though, for the Falcon\u2019s Nest had some of the best ale in all of Tellest.<\/p>\n

Jason walked into the tavern as the elf finished his drink. He scanned the room for his friend, before locking eyes with Icarus. The elf waved him over and pointed to the bartender, holding up two fingers to request another round of drinks. Jason walked to the table and sat down as the drinks were delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m surprised you continue to agree to meet at the Nest. My father would be livid if he knew you were complicit in my rebellious actions,\u201d Jason smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour father would be even more livid if I shared all his dirty secrets from his rebellious years to you,\u201d Icarus smirked as he responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father? Rebellious? Even so, he wouldn\u2019t forgive my choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJason, my boy, there will come a time when you complete your training and take the throne. We will become friends and work together often. I will also be sitting with your future son, training him,\u201d Icarus paused to take a drink, \u201caiding him when he rebels against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason smiled and they clinked their mugs and gulped down their ale. Icarus signaled for another round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never understand your stubbornness about meeting here. It\u2019s a dangerous place, and this is just to anger your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed. I thought you would know me better. The fact that coming here bothers father is just an added bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEnlighten me then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArgos is the capital of Saffraan. If you want to find information, the Falcon\u2019s Nest is the place to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what information can the prince of Saffraan get here that he can\u2019t get from official contacts?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat information could I possibly receive at the castle that could lead to an adventure? Come to the Nest enough, you\u2019re bound to hear about something exciting. You can\u2019t tell me that an elf of your age doesn\u2019t know how to find adventure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I suppose you want my help when the time comes?\u201d Icarus asked, ignoring Jason\u2019s question.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are mentors for?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Night Before Wintertide A Story by Kevin M. Gallagher, Jr -Part One- \u00a0 Jason stood before the Nadeus tree, a twelve-foot pine adorned with albino flutterballs, in the holiday room of the castle. It was the holiday season, the time of year where citizens of Argos, the city of which Jason was prince and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[145,146],"tags":[705,1357,128,1355,1356,1213,220,1354,1358,706],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Short-Story-Panel.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-Y4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3725,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3724\/revisions\/3725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}