The Protagonist Speaks

Dear readers, tonight we publish an in-world interview between two characters, a noble woman who wants to know more about one of the protagonists. They speak of scholars and warriors, of calculating the future and fate.

So… mister… Arneth, is it?

Arneth Farhan, your highness. May I ask what’s the purpose of this interview?

I was told a member of the Daht’Gahren was seen in town, and I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to know if you monks are for real, or if you are all just an act.

I am, ever, at the countess’ disposal.

Really? I couldn’t tell. You don’t look like a scholar monk, more like a swordsman yourself.

Indeed. My martial prowess comes from the time I worked with my father, as a caravan guard. We would always accept contracts for guarding merchant caravans, and thus from an early age I’ve been familiar with numbers. That would prove to be very valuable later on.

And how does a caravan guard becomes a Daht’Gahren?

Slowly, your highness, as it is with all students. Since I learned of the Daht’Gahren I have been attracted to the promise of their life. When my father had accrued enough means to pay for my tuition, I journeyed to Verian Tower in search of apprenticeship. I was twenty then. When I graduated, I was thirty-five.

And how was it, living in the tower of the Daht’Gahren?

Both demanding and rewarding in extreme measures. You may have noticed my… pointed lack of body hair. Every Daht’Gahren trains memorization and fast calculus to such an extent that the stress alone causes all of our hair to fall. For our graduation exam, we each have to commit an entire library to memory. And yet, what we gain is… unfathomable. I learned to read peoples’ minds just by analyzing their body language, and to calculate the future of nations.

That’s… impressive, if not preposterous. How can anyone withstand this?

Many don’t. Of every thousand students, only one graduates. It is never easy for anyone. I remember the sleepless nights spent studying, the oral exams that seemed designed to be impossible… I doubted myself for a long time, as I apprenticed, alone with but a mountain of books for company.

Surely there must have been something to look up to?

Yes, but it is hard to put it to words. Our teachers would make practical demonstrations of the knowledge they taught us, recite entire books from memory, read our minds in the middle of a class, things like this. However, what drove me most to study were the alternate calculations. They would show us, mathematically, how much worse off our world would be if this or that person hadn’t finished their studies. It is impossible for me to convey right now just how important each and every life is, and the difference every single person makes when they have knowledge, and the will to act.

Dear readers, tonight with us is an elderly tree elf recounting an adventure from his youth. He’s here to tell us about befriending a human, and their adventures that followed.

Can you tell the readers a bit about yourself?

Oh hi, I’m Rudi, I’m a tree elf, and I’m the author of Legend of Elberkhan. Yes, yes, I know you thought it was written by Yuxiao, but tell me, if it weren’t for me, how would she know the story? I was there. It was a long time ago, but I was THERE!

I am 777 years old. Now don’t look so shocked, that’s just rude! Ok, fine, I am pretty old, even for a tree elf. I still have my charm though, ahem… Anyway, as I grow older, I’ve been thinking more and more about the adventures from my younger years, of which one particularly stood out.

The story happened when I was 112, when I first met Aary. I remember every detail of it, as if it all happened yesterday. I was just a boy back then, like him… What are you laughing at! I was!

Apologies (putting on a straight face), so how did you two meet? I know it’s explained in the book, but can you briefly talk about it, without giving away too many details, for those who haven’t read the book yet?

Sure. I was just elfing around in the woods, you know, catching rabbits and other delicious treats. It was near my home tree hole, somewhere on the side slope of the Soulkeeper Mountain. Actually, it was not very far from the Castle of Elberkhan, but far enough away from the dangerous humans, or at least I thought it was. Well, not that I thought that all humans were dangerous. After all, my father was a human. But I always knew that some of them loved violence, they fought each other to obtain and keep things that they didn’t really need…

Sorry I’ve gotten a bit carried away now, haven’t I? Where was I? Yes, I was elfing around in the woods, minding my own business, and that boy snuck up on me! Caught me by surprise! He made me lose a very fat rabbit, I still haven’t forgiven him for that. I was scared out of my wits. I really thought he was going to eat me!

And what did you think about Aary when you first got to know him?

Well, he was kind, and brave, pretty eccentric, but nonetheless a good kid. Who can blame him for being a bit… strange, really, with all the terrible things he’d been through and all the suffering he had to endure almost constantly, all at such a young age. I don’t want to sound old, like I said I was just a boy myself, but I did have almost a hundred years on him.

Almost from the start I felt that he was hiding something from me, or maybe he was even hiding it from himself. I didn’t want to push him too much, you know, but personally I don’t believe that holding secrets is good for anyone.

Tell us a bit about the story of your book. Again, without spoiling it for the readers who haven’t read it.

Well, when I look back on my 777 years of life, that year was easily the most exciting one. Meeting Aary completely changed my life – from an ordinary tree elf whose only concern was the next meal, to what I am now, a well-respected advisor and the author of a book!

It was lifechanging for him too, meeting the most important girl in his life, having scary encounters with fearsome beasts that almost cost him his life, and discovering all those secrets about himself and the king… Oh, not to mention the big war at the end of the year. Phew, I’ve never seen anything like that before or since! Oops, am I giving too much away? Sorry! I got carried away again!