The Legend of the Purple Sun

Chapter one

The mysterious object

One day while exploring a dark and mysterious piece of uncharted forestland I came upon a tall unusual obelisk. It was about 15 feet high and 4 feet wide standing alone in a small clearing. While it started out quite thick and square at the bottom it gracefully got thinner and cylindrical at the top. If I were pressed to make another guess, as I certainly didn’t have a tape measure with me, I would say it thinned out to about a foot’s width around. Then it suddenly blossomed into a huge golden ring. The body of this mysterious object being made of a matte black material of some unknown origin only proved to make this golden ring stand apart from it even more. In the center of this gleaming ring hung, as if by some unseen strings, what looked like a glorious purple gemstone of some kind. If indeed it was a gemstone it had to be the largest ever seen by man. The golden ring alone was a good 4 feet in diameter and it hung perfectly in the center with only half a foot or so of glowing purple light between it and the golden ring. Of course it was difficult to get close to this stone but from my vantage point I would have to say that it was perfectly flawless. The only thing that could be seen in the stone was the silver gleam of the moon reflecting off its perfect surface. It was pure rich color made whole and real. The light around the stone pulsed and hummed by some unknown method. It seemed clear to me that this was some kind of device but what the devil could it be for? Suddenly the thought occurred to me that maybe that was just the case! Could this in fact be some kind of evil device placed here in this unknown spot by the hoary host of Hades himself! The thought sent chills through me as at that particular moment it did seem quite possible. I know you may laugh at the thought. You who sit there safe in your quiet room as you read this might well think such thoughts preposterous but you weren’t there. You didn’t see the strange purple glow and the mysterious black surface of the ominous object. However being a man of thought and science I did only what my training and instinct had taught me to do. I looked over the object more closely. There was a gold base about the very bottom of the object, which gave it a very ornamental appearance. I knew somehow that it had a greater purpose. What could it be though? Still being cautious but feeling a bit braver despite my ridiculous demonic fears I circled around the object and looked even closer. On the back, or perhaps it was the front and I first came at the object from the wrong way around, were some raised characters. I was sure it must have been some kind of writing and indeed it was. At first glance though it resembled no other written language I had ever seen. Not to sound like a braggart but as I’m sure you know from my reputation I have mastered all the modern languages and every dead language that would be of use to an explorer/archeologist/scientist. What could it mean? After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided what my next course of action would be. Putting down my pack I reached inside it until I found what I was searching for. I always carry with me some supplies with which to make rubbings from the artifacts I might come across. You never know when you might run into something carved into a mountainside or a huge stone wall that might be useful to study later on in the comfort and safety of your library. So I took a thick piece of white chalk that I had with me and brought it back to my mysterious friend. I stood in front of it trying to gather my courage to do what I had planned next. Scientific reasoning made me see that if I was careful and thoughtful in my actions that I would come to no harm. Some deep hidden part of me, part of us all I’m afraid, was still worried about demons and monsters. I pictured the moment my chalk touched it’s surface that black evil hands would reach out and squeeze the very life out of me while glowing red eyes laughed at my dying screams. Rising above such foolishness I gathered my strength and did what I had to do in order to further the cause of knowledge. Holding the chalk by the side I rubbed it lengthwise over the characters. I laughed to myself as no demon like hands, no glowing red eyes and thankfully no laughing at my dying screams came to pass. The funny thing about monsters is that we create most of them in our minds, even the real ones, maybe especially the real ones.

Once the writing was covered with chalk it was much easier to see them. I looked carefully at what was now in front of me. Suddenly I remembered a language that I had studied about two years ago with a friend of mine from Africa. He had come along a strange tablet on one of his safaris and asked me to help him with the translation. We worked on it for days to no avail. Frustrated and at our wits end we decided that some time away from the problem might help. He knew how much I liked to walk the streets of his colorful city so we went for a nice walk while musing about the problem. No matter what angle we attacked the problem though it still seemed unsolvable. Coming upon a small bazaar I suggested that we put the problem out of our minds and offered to buy him a piece of fruit. As we each munched away on a delicious piece of fruit we looked through the booths and tables of the local merchants and traders. Most of it was junk meant for the tourists but still amusing to look through.

I was at a table of trinkets and jewelry idly looking through for a present to send my niece when I spotted something that shocked me. Calling my friend over I showed him a symbol on a bracelet that very much resembled one of the characters on his tablet. It was somewhat different but very close. Neither of us would have even noticed it if we hadn’t been immersed in the tablet for the last few days but once seeing it he found another trinket with another similar symbol to one on his tablet. Soon we were seeing them everywhere. We called the merchant over and after buying something from him for a little extra then the asking price he told us where he had gotten the jewelry. We tracked down the manufacturer who sent us to the artist who designed them. She told us that she had found the symbols in a book about a lost tribe. Strangely the tribe was doing very well for itself when suddenly without warning or reason it vanished. We researched everything we could find on the lost tribe. The tribe and the tablet were connected without a doubt but what was the tablet doing in Africa when the tribe lived half a world away? We eventually had some of the language deciphered but there wasn’t enough of the tablet to provide a full working knowledge of it. Eventually I had to move on and bid my friend a fond fare well and wish him good luck. I asked him to keep me posted on his progress but come to think of it we never talked about it again…

As I looked at the writing in front of me it was definitely of the same origin as that of the tablet and the symbols on the jewelry. There was considerably more here then we had found on the tablet or in our research of the lost tribe. Now just to puzzle it out. If only I had my notes… DAMN IT! Well no use recriminating one’s self over things that can’t be helped. If I carried everything with me that on chance I might need out in the field I would need a team of 20 just to handle my luggage. I like to travel as light as possible. So I’ll just have to work with what I have with me.

I paced back and forth for a few minutes and thought through the problem in my mind. Remembering as much of the work my friend and I had done I tried to come up with a solution to the puzzle. If this object used to be some kind of public gathering point meant for every day use it would be easier to understand. However if it was something that was meant to be hidden from the eyes of the world it could be filled with tricks and misleading paths. I stood in front of the writing and stared down at it. Looking over the characters carefully I suddenly had a thought!

"Yes! THAT’S IT!" I said out loud as the meaning of the writing started to become clear.

Then suddenly I felt something wrap around my ankles and pull my feet out from under me. My head hit with a hard dull thud against the obelisk and everything went black.

Chapter Two

A friend is made

It must have been the pain that woke me because I felt that even before I realized my current situation. After I opened my eyes and had a minute to clear my head I realized that I was hanging upside down from a thick tree branch by my ankles. My hands were tied quite tightly behind my back and I was hung a few feet off the ground. There was a small camp fire burning ten feet to my right and if I stretched I could see the obelisk through the trees to my other side. No matter where I looked though I couldn’t find my captor. I saw my pack had been opened up and gone through. All the contents were stacked neatly by it and one of my journals was open. Knowing I probably only had a few moments before whoever it was returned I set about freeing myself.

Of course the knife in my belt was gone. I expected that. They even seemed to have found the smaller one I had hidden under my shirt. However the one I had hidden in my boot was still there. A metal button at the top that looks like ornamentation pulls out to reveal a two-inch long, half an inch wide blade. No it won’t bring down a charging rhino but it will sure as hell free me if I can just reach it. Bending in half I managed to bring my bound arms up to my feet. It’s not easy work and must be done quickly with no mistakes. Being caught trying to escape can be worse then being a captive. Straining I reached the knife and pulled it free. It’s deadly sharp for such a small unassuming blade so great care must be taken in order to keep from slitting my own wrists. I manage to free my hands with nothing more then a few nicks. Reaching up I cut the rope at my ankles and hit the ground with a roll and dove into the brush.

I was hoping to escape being seen and at the same time learn more about my captor and why I was attacked. My reputation does usually precede me and I’m not without a few enemies but I couldn’t think of anyone who knew I was away from home let alone in this part of the forgotten world. Looking around at the camp though something seemed wrong. Even the way my belongings had been gone through suddenly seemed staged. I was probably being watched in hopes that I would do something or go somewhere or maybe just be frightened off. I looked around for possible hiding spots for my captor while trying to give the appearance of jumping in fright at every forest sound. There seemed a few possible choices but the ideal one, the one I would have chosen, up above the site in a tall tree behind a dense cluster of branches and leaves was to deep and dark for me to see if there was anyone hidden in it. Precisely why I would have chosen it and I’m guessing why my enemy is probably hiding in it now. How to get up there and surprise them while I’m being watched though…

I decided to play the fool and hope I could trick them into giving themselves away. Stepping out of the brush I walked back into the camp and went over to my belongings. Checking through everything to see what was there I quickly stuffed it all back into my pack except of one small item I hopefully palmed with out my captors notice. Then with my pack in one hand to use as a shield or weapon if necessary I quickly whirled around and in a smooth motion lit the firework I had hidden in my hand and tossed it up into the hiding spot. There was a loud bang and brilliant flash. I heard the leaves rusting and then to my great surprise a woman fell out of the tree! Her eyes were obviously dazzled by the flash but she landed smoothly on her feet in crouching position. I found her very beautiful. She had long dark hair and a nicely formed taught body that was barely covered in some animal skins. Rough boots had been made to cover her feet, a small loincloth held up by a thick strip of hide covered her groin but little else, a roughly fashioned bra held her bosom in place and there was a gleaming metal knife in her right hand. She may have looked primitive but that knife was certainly modern made. I didn’t want to fight her. What I wanted was information so instead of attaching I held my distance, prepared to defend myself if necessary and said, "So I guess we can both be taken by surprise. I mean you no harm. Who are you? What do you want?"

All she did was look determined and start to circle around me. I countered her moves and guessed she was just playing for time until her vision cleared. She looked very much like she knew how to handle herself and that formidable knife she held ready. I don’t believe in that nonsense about the weaker sex. Anyone who doesn’t believe that a woman can be as deadly as a man is a fool and probably a dead fool at that, at least in my line of work anyway. By the way she was moving I could tell she knew how to fight. It was hard to tell if she was really a primitive or not but it was easy to tell that she was strong and fast. If this came to a fight win or lose it would only be that much harder to get any information out of her. I tried the same speech in a local tongue but it didn’t have much effect on her. I only had seconds before her vision cleared and I would have to try and take that knife away from her. In a last desperate attempted I clumsily spoke the few words from my friend’s tablet that I understood. It wasn’t quite the same speech. Of the words I knew the few that applied meant roughly good health and happiness. I know it sounded more like a bad toast but I did say that I was desperate. I thought I saw a look of surprise cross her face for a second so I spoke as much of the tablet as I could remember. Her vision must have cleared by now but she hadn’t attacked. Maybe I was making progress? She was still circling and I was still countering hoping for a peaceful resolution but I was running out of text from the tablet. When I came to the end of what I remembered I thought fast and started to say the word or two I could remember from the obelisk. I didn’t get more then the first word out when she threw her knife into the ground and jumped at me! I grabbed her wrists, fell backwards and used my feet to throw her over my head. She landed like a cat and dove at me again.

"How do you know those words?" She said with venom as she tried to strangle me.

I quickly grabbed her hands, wrestled with her and said, "They were on a tablet a friend and I deciphered."

"You’re lying!" she screamed!

Her anger unbalancing her I was able to get some leverage and throw her off me. We both sprang to our feet ready to attack again. She was busy looking for an opening to attack but I was able to hold her off long enough to say, "Why would I lie? I have no reason to!"

"Every stranger who comes here lies. That is why I live to protect and patrol this forest. I have been following you for days but still see no reason to your rambling pointless journey."

"I’m a scientist and an explorer. I only want to understand and know more about the world."

"Then you know nothing of the legends?" She asked with a suspicious look in her eye.

"Legends? What are you? May the universe protect me, that’s the Purple Sun isn’t it?" Stunned by the realization I stopped and turned towards its purple golden glow.

"AHHHHH I knew you lied!" She screamed as she lunged at me.

Totally unprepared she easily knocked me to the ground and we started wrestling again.

"No, no I swear I didn’t know it was here. I wasn’t even looking for it. And even if I was I would never try to use it for my own selfish reasons. I swear on the universe and my life!"

"You wouldn’t want its awesome power for your own? Anything could be yours, everything could be yours." She said claming down and seemingly starting to believe me.

"Power such as that can’t be controlled by one person. If the legend is true it would destroy me and possibly half the world before it served me."

She laid on top of me still holding me down searching my face for the truth. Neither one of use were struggling any more we just sat there. Her breasts were perched practically on my chin and as she looked me over my eyes were drawn to her cleavage. I knew I’d been caught and looked back up at her with guilty eyes. She started laughing. It broke the tension and I started to laugh along with her.

"Well you’re obviously a man but you’re not an evil man." She said as she rolled off and sat next to me.

"And you’re obviously a women," I said with a smile, "But who are you?"

"I am Gentra, protector of the Purple Sun and it’s been a long time since I met an honest soul and had a good laugh, thank you. Come let us sit like civilized people and if you like I’ll tell you my story."

To be continued (eventually)