Meet Archai - Sapient of Jaydür

I haven't shared much about The Voices of Jaydür. It's a project that is very close to my heart. I have been working on this world and series for a long time, and I am finally closing in on my first book of the series. This is huge to me! I've had so much building up to the opening gates of the adventure within!

Bounty of the Everdark is an intro to the dark elves of Jaydür.

An Ogre's Tale is an intro to the humans, ogres, and elves.

Nahtaia: A Jaydürian Adventure is an intro to the faeries.

The Dryad and the Dark Elf is an intro to the dryads, and another piece with dark elves.

There is a special group of people within Jaydür -- and I really mean within. They are Jaydür.

You've heard of the Voices, the four elemental goddesses that keep the world in balance. But you haven't heard of the Sapients. Sorry, I have no link to them yet, but let me introduce you to one of them.

But first, what is a Sapient?

The Sapients of Jaydür are bodyguards to the Voices...and there's only two! The people of Jaydür actually question the existence of Sapients because they're never on the same dimensional plane. They're on the "other side of the veil." Unseen. Unheard. Their place is at the side of the Voices, keeping any kind of negative energies or spirits at bay.

Archai is the first Sapient you meet in the series.

Archai. He's infuriating. He's kind. He's cold. He's the one you want around when anything goes wrong. ANYTHING. Well...except emotions. This guy can't handle emotions, which kind of puts him in a pickle when Caia, the replacement of the recently murdered Voice of Apan, is a very, very emotional girl.

“You cried when you saw all those villagers lying dead in Nov'Eit,” he said. “Why?”

The question seemed entirely uncalled for.

“They were people of my village,” Caia replied, shocked to be asked such a thing. “I’ve

known them all my life.”

“And?”

“And their innocent blood was spilled.”

“And?”

“And it was spilled to get to me. How can you ask such cold, unfeeling questions?” She countered.

“It's a trait you gain over time—a survival mechanism that you will need to learn. I bring you nothing but the facts that you will have to accept and things you will need to be accustomed to. Those you love will die, and you will be left with me. We will need to learn to get along but first, you need to learn to trust me and take my word as it is.”

Caia shook her head, bothered by the notion of so much loss. An eternity was a long time that met no end. “It is not that I do not trust you,” she admitted.

“Then you do?”

“I do because Dy'mün claims you're worthy of it. That does not mean I like you.”

~~~*~~~

I guess, what can anyone expect from Archai? He's spent thousands of years protecting an ageless, wise goddess who knew what she was doing. Now, he's expected to help the replacement learn her place and abilities while she has ties to family and friends she's afraid to leave behind.

“How old are you?” she asked.   

 Archai smiled. “There is no answer to that. I have no age. I just am.” 

Caia contemplated his words with the small, wooden horse clutched to her chest. The idea was ludicrous. How could someone not have an age?  “All right,” she finally said. “How long have you been then?”   

With that, Archai slid his sword from its scabbard and studied the edge of the blade as the light reflecting off the metal brightened his teal eyes. His lips curved, revealing a perfect set of teeth in an arrogant grin. “Too long a time for simple minds to comprehend. I’ve witnessed the rise and ruin of countless kings and kingdoms. I've attended the birth of languages." He ran his finger across the blade. "The very course of the moon and stars has grown dull in my time.”     

Silence filled the room for a moment while Caia found her words. “I hardly know what to say to that,” she quietly replied, fumbling with the bauble in her hands.      

His eyes flicked to her from behind the blade of his sword. “Then that is because there is nothing to say."

~~~~*~~~~

Yeah, that's right. Archai has no age. Or, at least, he doesn't know how old he is. He's been around for a heck of a long time. He's ageless...and not only that...he's loveless. Can it get any worse? Watching the world change and age, people live and die, and he's never known love. In fact, he finds the very idea ridiculous.

“These relationships Jaydürians have are useless. They live together, then die while the other goes on living. Then the one left living is trapped in a mindless rut about what they should have done before either of them died in the first place.”

~~~~*~~~~

 So, this has been something of an intro to one of the characters you'll meet in the first book of the Voices of Jaydür series. I hope it's at least brought you some curiosity about the world!

L.F. Oake