How Teddy Roosevelt Slew the Last Mighty T-Rex (34 page)

Suddenly, a cool breeze whipped through the trees, catching him unprepared. His torch sputtered in his wrinkled hand, and the chill paralyzed him. Dumas pulled his jacket close.

In an instant, long suppressed memories flooded back to him. He fought his thoughts, his emotions, yet he couldn’t halt the emptiness and isolation rushing through his core. He clutched his breast.

But it has been a heavy burden that I’ve carried— almost too much for a mortal man. And I bore it my entire life, and now I bear it alone....

The truth....

He staggered along a narrow stone walkway and then across a shadowy meadow. A stone monument, overlooking the cliff, towered before him. He stopped.

His aged mind spun with memories from his young adulthood: the clandestine councils, the elitist scholars holding to themselves the secrets of their ancient history that—

Dumas remembered the first time they’d told him and his complete disbelief.
It was too terrible to be true; it couldn’t be true. Yet was it too terrible to keep from future generations? Did future Tyrinians not have a birthright to know?
He shook his head.

And he remembered when they voted... when they debated for days, and cycles and years, whether to abandon the truth.

They did have their rationale
, Dumas thought.
They did present their case with great care, and many were swayed by their… reasoning.

Dumas brushed his graying brow and covered his ears, desperate to muffle the voices screaming in his head. He looked upward at a staircase, spiraling from the monument’s base to a platform twelve or thirteen meters above his head.

Dumas leaned on his cane, breathing easier. The voices quieted to a whisper.

He remembered there were scholars of conscience. There were those who pleaded that the truth must be preserved— those who preached that the truth would someday be revealed anyway.

And then, he recalled sadly, how they were silenced. A mockery.…

He felt proud of these men in later years, but inwardly, he felt painful guilt— for he, Dumas, was not one of them; he had voted with the majority to bury the truth with his generation.

And now, he was an old man— the last of the spineless. And he was sworn to uphold the oath of his predecessors. And he knew he would take his oath to his death; he could do little else.
Could the elders have been right all along? Are we better off in darkness?
Dumas shook his head.

Now, nearing the end of his life's journey, he realized his grave mistake. He would have voted differently, if only he had a second chance.
But that was what all men say, who lack the necessary courage to follow their own convictions.

His frail legs carried him up the spiral staircase. He ambled forward then stopped. The voices disappeared, and an eerie calm settled over him. He thought of the young scribe Porrias and the new generation of scholars who occupied the academies of learning in Tyrie and Adair. He grinned— a pained expression mixed with remorse and joy.
The young will lead us where the old have failed.
Dumas could only hope.

He crept upward, emerging atop
The Pinnacle of Time
: a monument built by his ancestors to observe the skies above the lands of Tyrie. He ran his aged hands over the stone-etched symbols representing Ellini, Alberon, and the tiny winter moon Thermegan— an eternal testament glowing in radiant starlight.

His thoughts turned to the men that occupied the lands the criminal Darros had described.
The scholars had always known other groups of men roamed this world, yet none knew if these men had access to the truth, or if they would share this knowledge with the people of the Great Confluence. Perhaps this young Porrias will find out.

He exhaled.
But, as for me, I will never live to know.

Dumas buttoned his coat and lifted his head toward the expanding heavens. Ellini had now disappeared behind the western ridge, and the clear sky gleamed with a thousand thousand stars.

His gray eyes strained, searching all too familiar patterns. And he could not help but wonder....

### End of Part 1### (The Yaakmen of Tyrie)

To purchase and download the complete novel (the remaining 4 parts from my 5 part novel):
The Yaakmen of Tyrie
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A note about my Novelette: The Watchers from within Moments, Revealed
currently offered at Amazon (Kindle) and Smashwords.com. Jim Vedder, chief engineer at California’s FastTech Corporation, has developed the world’s fastest camera. But exploring
the bizarre universe of the super fast, soon uncovers horrific entities that captivate the world’s
consciousness
. And FastTech is quickly, and somewhat unwillingly, drawn into a quagmire of politics, fate, and the unforgiving press
.
Download: The Watchers, Now!
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or
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A note about my short story: The Day God Winked
currently offered FREE at Amazon (Kindle) or Smashwords.com.
Every human on earth would remember exactly where they were on the day everything changed.
 
Like Pearl Harbor or JFK’s assassination or September 11th, 2001, the event was firmly anchored in everyone’s conscience— sometimes clear, sometimes hazy, confusing, and ultimately unfathomable.
The Day
, so labeled by the billions who bore witness—
the Day
that swept away any other single episode in the history of mankind was so profound that many, even three years later, firmly believe that it was all some sort of delusion or dream; although only a few of the skeptical would openly admit they thought nothing at all happened. But for one troubled man,
The Day
meant so much more. Warning for strong language and depictions of drug use.
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