
A Discovery

Jevan hefted the dusty, leather-bound tome onto the table where he’d been working. He opened it slowly, because of how fragile these ancient books were. Then he set to his task, running the translation scanner over the title page. An Accounting of the Relicta Collis Antiquities.
The title was unremarkable, so Jevan continued scanning, not paying much attention at first. He was grateful for the scanner he’d been given by the Athla’naa, because it saved him so much time. It digitally recorded the text from the ancient tomes, translating and storing them for later study, so he hadn’t needed to learn his ancestors’ ancient script.
In recent months, Jevan dedicated more time to exploring these dusty archives, uncovering his people’s forgotten history known only to a few historians. There were records of conflicts and diseases that had decimated the Medellan population on several occasions. Other tomes recorded the innovations his ancestors made, as they progressed from small farming communities to constructing grand cities capable of housing millions.
The familiar prickle that proceeded a telepathic message from his bondmate cut through Jevan’s concentration, making him pause and smile.
“I just finished a meeting with the Aterian Council Subcommittee. Will you be home for dinner?” Ardyn asked.
“I just began scanning another book. Let me finish, and then I’ll come join you,” Jevan responded.
“My bondmate, the scholar…” Ardyn commented with note of fondness, making Jevan smile again before he returned to his task.
While Jevan mostly relied on the scanner, he began recognizing some words as he skimmed ahead through the text while running the scanner gently over the brittle pages. When he looked back at the scanner, the translation at the bottom of the current page intrigued him.
We may never understand the purpose of what we found in the ancient archive of the first ones.
Then Jevan turned the page and his eyes widened at the sketches he saw. Not believing what he was seeing, Jevan ran the scanner over the text accompanying the first sketch.
The relic is small, fitting easily in the palm of the hand. It appears to be designed to hook over something, but for what purpose, I cannot say. The dark blue and silver materials it is made from are unlike anything I have ever seen before. What is most remarkable is that it shows no signs of corrosion.
Looking back at the sketches, they showed the relic from two angles, and based on the size and shape, it reminded him of the earpieces he and Ardyn wore to help translate the Aterian dialect for them, along with keeping them in communication with both Keryth in his ship orbiting the planet, and with Takyra back in Vestos.
Jevan set aside the scanner and pulled out his earpiece, setting it down next to the sketch. His earpiece didn’t have the hook or elongated extension, but the central part of the sketch looked almost identical to the part he placed in his ear.
The implications had his heart hammering in his chest. Picking up the scanner, Jevan read along as it translated them. Each one sounded similar to the technology the Athla’naa people had developed. Could the Athla’naa have visited our world so long ago?
The tome itself was dated to around fifteen hundred years ago, and the archive it described was speculated to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.
This is an incredible find. I wonder how much of this does Marta know? Or Keryth?! There’s no way our people could have created these relics. Is there?
As Jevan scanned the final page, he stopped short when the last paragraph ended mid-sentence. What?! Flipping the page over, Jevan checked to make sure there hadn’t been pages stuck together that he’d missed, and that’s when he saw the problem. Running his finger along the seam between the last page and the cover, there was a ragged line with small bits of paper still protruding. Someone tore out the last pages!
“Someone did what?” Ardyn asked. “It’s really late. Will you be home soon?”
Jevan groaned, looking at his watch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it was. The tome I was scanning has missing pages. I’ll tell you more when I get home.”
“Good, but you’ll have to eat your dinner cold again,” Ardyn teased before severing the link.
Groaning again in frustration, Jevan switched off the scanner, rubbing his face and absentmindedly scratching his beard. If it wasn’t so late, he would have called Marta to discuss his discovery. Now, it would have to wait until morning. Jevan rose from the table and put away the books he’d been working on that day and grabbed the scanner, sliding it into the inside pocket of his jacket. Before turning to leave, he locked the door to the protected archive.
Leaving the Aterian Central Archives, Jevan quickly hurried down the sidewalk toward the apartment that he and Ardyn shared. It was located between the archives and the Grand Council Hall, where Ardyn spent most of his time. Marta had arranged the apartment for them when they arrived in Donarvon several months ago.
As he hurried home, Jevan’s mind whirled at the implications of what he’d read. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the shadowy figures lurking ahead until they grabbed him and dragged him into an alley. Before he could even shout, a hand clamped over his mouth, and they slammed him hard against a brick wall.
“Ardyn, help! I’m being attacked!” Jevan mentally cried out to his bondmate. “I’m in the alley around the corner.”
Jevan could feel Ardyn’s rise of panic as the men began to punch and kick him. “Filthy elf-lover!” one man shouted, giving him a hard kick in his groin, making Jevan double over in pain.
Lashing out as best as he could, Jevan tried to fight back. His fist connected with the nose of one of his attackers with a sickening crunch before they pulled him away from the wall, while two men took hold of his arms.
The man he’d hit had blood streaming from his nose. He glared at Jevan as the others held him firm despite his struggles. “I’ll teach you to attack your betters, elf-lover,” he said with a growl, slipping something metallic onto his fingers.
Then all Jevan knew was pain, as the man hit him repeatedly in the face and stomach with his metal-protected knuckles. The man also kept kicking him in the groin until his legs gave out and he hung limply in the arms of the two who still held him. Jevan thought he was about to die, so he reached out to Ardyn. “I’m sorry, dear heart. There are too many of them. I can’t…”
“Hang in there, Jevan. I’m coming!” Ardyn replied.
“No! They’ll attack you, too,” Jevan pleaded, still taking more blows from his attackers. “I think they hate Athla’naa. They could kill you! Please, stay away.”
Jevan sensed a surge of anger from Ardyn, just as his attackers let him go, letting him collapse onto the ground. Spitting blood, he wondered if they were finally ready to kill him. Instead, the man whose nose he’d broken squatted down next to him and sneered into his ear.
“Let this be a warning to you, elf-lover. Stop nosing around those archives if you know what’s good for you.” Then the man pushed him over and searched his pockets, taking his wallet, keys, and the translation scanner.
The archives? So, this wasn’t about who his bondmate was? Why did they care what he was researching? The questions swirled in his mind as his head slid from his arm onto the hard pavement. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard them throw something to the ground, shattering it.