SILENCE: The Beginning

In the forgotten town of Eldridge the silence was palpable. It had been this way for centuries. Not the serene quietude of a tranquil meadow, or the mindful looking-on of a faraway mountain, but a stifling void where the absence of laughter is thick in the air. No children’s laughter echoes through the streets, no birdsong whispers in the neglected parks. It was as if sound itself had packed its bags and abandoned Eldridge, leaving behind a haunting stillness that begged to be unraveled. And in the heart of this auditory void, a mystery waited to be unveiled. 

In a pocket dimension of Seraphara, Eldridge has been disconnected from the rest of the world. The townspeople have embraced the culture of silence, having an annual festival with silent dance shows, concerts utilizing instruments that utilize vibrations over audible sounds, silent artistry such as quilting, tapestry, and painting, visual storytelling through dance and miming. What the town lacks in audible sensations, it makes up for in rich culture, connection, and a passion for each other.

Sebastian and Sofia, siblings and children of the town’s Sage, Caleb Stonehaven, are lovely, obedient children. They are brilliant and have a vast knowledge of their town’s heritage, history, and culture. While their father is often busy with the Whispering Council, he has ingrained in them the importance of their city’s history. They are curious children, and they always have been, often asking questions during Ceremony and Academy. Questions that often got them dismissed from class, troubled looks, and many rumors spread about them throughout the city. Questions like, “Why do we have to follow the Custodian of Silence?” and, “Why don’t we leave Eldridge?” Questions asked, of course, only as inaudible hand gestures and writing. Questions like these have often caused distrust in Caleb’s position as Sage, the second in political leadership only to the Silent Elder, Elowen. 

Sebastian is only two years older than Sofia, but Sofia presents as much more mature. She is the knowledgeable truth-seeker of the two. Sebastian, while still brilliant, is much more analytical, whereas Sofia is more of a free spirit with big dreams. She has spent much of her time creating dances, tapestries, and paintings depicting a world where the Custodian is demolished and Eldridge is once again free of demanded silence. She performs these for her brother, and the two keep them a great secret from all of the townspeople. Especially their father. Sofia is a beautiful dancer and her needlework is flawless. If the patrolling Wardens were to ever discover their thoughts of bringing upon the downfall of the Custodian, they would be shadowed instantly. The Wardens are the patrolling authority around Eldridge, direct manifestations of the Custodian. If noise is made, they will engulf the noisemaker and the person would be no more. The Warden would resume its patrol as if nothing had happened.

While the town of Eldridge had many happy folk in it, there was an undertone of sullenness and darkness. Many of the older people pretended as if this undertone did not exist, likely out of fear. As mentioned, the town was thick with culture, and many were determined to keep that culture alive, if only to make sure that they and their children remained alive. Eldridge is a beautiful town, with astounding landscapes of mountains in the distance. The residents are kind and full of camaraderie for one another. But it is all clouded with fear.

Sofia, in a rush, ran to Sebastian’s room with great haste. All residents of Eldridge have adapted to walk and run in almost complete silence, even at the fastest pace. Sebastian was at his desk, studying the history of music in Eldridge, his biggest passion. Sofia gestured that he had to come with her, that she had a book for him to read. He waived her off, saying in silence that he was busy learning about the harmony crystals, his favorite instrument to see. She grabbed him by the arm, pulled him along, and begged him to come with her. Defeated, he closed his book with an air of gentleness. He followed her quickly through their house into the basement. 

“I’ve been onto something,” she gestured with her hands, pointing at a stack of books. The basement was windowless, and most houses had no such basement. But as their father was the Sage, it was permitted by the Elder. Sebastian had just turned twenty-one, and Sofia was nearly nineteen, but the two had mastered almost all forms of silent communication. Most people prefer to simply write, but their father was strict on their studies of all forms of communication, including hand gestures, facial distortion, tapestry, music, and quilting. 

“What?” Sebastian gestured with his face. She pointed at the stack of books, old books that he had never seen before. He asked where she had found them and she said not to worry about it. When in fact she had silently been sneaking into her father’s study for months without his knowing. 

“We are not alone,” she gestured. “There are others outside of Eldridge.” He asked her what she meant, but she became frustrated with how long it would take to explain what she wanted. She looked up to the door, made sure it was closed, and looked around the room to make sure there was no way any noise could escape the room. Sebastian knelt down to his sister and in a soft voice, even quieter than a whisper, she started to say, “We’ve been lied to,” but before she could get the first syllable of the first word out, just when she only opened her mouth to speak, Sebastian cupped his hand around her mouth and looked at her with an intense anger, though it was really fear.

A Warden then appeared in the corner of the room, its green eyes searching the room for noise. It was common knowledge that Wardens saw through noise and their eyes could not physically see the world around them. They were entirely utilitarian beasts created by the Custodian to seek and destroy audible noise. Their hearts beating, and Sebastian sweating profusely, he removed his shaking hand from Sofia’s mouth. They both stared at the Warden, never before being so close to one. It scanned the room, waiting for any further noise. It floated through the room, its dark, shadowy figure coming so near to the two siblings that if they were to reach out they could touch it. Nobody knew what the Wardens felt like. In a moment of great curiosity, Sofia thought briefly about reaching out to it, but seeing the fear in Sebastian’s face, remained still. What felt like an hour was really only ten seconds, and the Warden dissipated into the air and was gone. Sebastian gestured angrily at Sofia, asking her what she was thinking trying to speak outside of the Whispering Hour.

“I have to tell you something!” she gestured.

“Enough!” he yelled with his hands and face at her. He stormed out of the room, again his footsteps silent.

Sofia rushed after him, begged him to just look at the passage she had found. Her face had fear in it, but not in the same way the Wardens made her fearful. It was an existential fear. He looked around for his father, but he was not in the house. He followed her and she pointed to just one passage. It was in an ancient tattered, blue, dusty covered tome. The pages were yellowed from age and were brittle. Sofia pointed to a passage that said this: “This writing must remain hidden for its entire existence, until the Custodian of Silence is defeated and sound restored to Eldridge. It has been fifty years since the Custodian of Silence stole the sound from Eldridge. People have already started to change, new rules in effect. People are getting shadowed by the dozens, sometimes hundreds, all at once. It is a war between the Custodian of Silence and the residents of Eldridge. And we do not stand a chance. It is assumed that being shadowed is instant death, though its hard to say what happens for sure. My name is Sun, and I have lived in Eldridge for my entire life as a teacher. I have studied and traveled all around Seraphara. It is a lush world full of people. This is my dying dialogue behind the truth of the Custodian of Silence and the greedy deal made between It and the old mayor of Eldridge, Roland.” As Sebastian finished reading the passage, the two felt their father calling them through the vibration of the chime at the front door. That is how they called each other, through vibrating chimes. The two siblings looked at each other in utter confusion, and while they wanted to speak to each other, they simply closed the book and Sofia placed it back in its hiding spot behind their textbooks on the shelf. They walked swiftly upstairs to meet their father, as it was by no means odd for them to be in the basement.

Two days later, the two siblings were able to speak more about the text that they had read. While they could have talked during the Whispering Hour, they decided it was best to not put any of this into any type of traceable sounds. People of Eldridge had developed a keen sense of hearing over time. 

“What is Seraphara?” they gestured, using their hands to spell, as there was no known gesture for Seraphara. “What deal is he talking about?” “Is this real?” “What else is there?”

They gestured for hours the different questions they had for each other, but of which they had no answers for. Sebastian asked if there were other books like that one, and Sofia told him, yes, lots. They both sat in deep contemplation. They couldn’t read through the books in the house, they would have to have complete privacy if they were to freely read the books. Discovery of such propaganda would be grounds for immediate arrest, and possibly tortured until you made a sound and were immediately shadowed. That’s how criminals were punished, they were forced to make noise and were immediately engulfed by the Wardens. 

“I found a map,” Sofia told Sebastian. “I think it’s Seraphara. But I can’t be sure. I have to see, tomorrow during the festival I’m leaving.”

“What?” Sebastian asked, grabbing her arm. “You can’t leave!”

“Sebastian,” she gestured, something she never did, “I am going. I don’t want to ask you to go, but I could really use you.” A tear formed in her eye as soon as she gestured his name. “I think there’s more out there. Please.”

Sebastian felt his entire body go numb and every hair stood on end, and he was afraid that just by thinking of such a thing they would be shadowed. Their father too. He looked from their window to the streets, where Wardens were stalking the silent city streets. The dark streets, illuminated by yellowing lights, were barren. He tried to imagine what it would be like if they were bustling, busy. The two did not know what laughter sounded like, nor did anybody else in the city. But, if they had known, Sebastian would have surely heard the echoes of laughter from long forgotten families. He looked at Sofia, and he saw something in her that he had never seen before. If he had known his mother, he would have known it was his mother’s face he was looking at in that moment. He nodded, and she lead him to her room where she brought out a small map, in the same condition as the book she had shown him the other night. It was vast, and Eldridge was just a small dot on the big map. All maps that they had been shown previously only had Eldridge and a small surrounding boundary. At the end of the boundary, they were told, was desolated land that had been destroyed long ago during Wartime, a period of wars among neighboring nations. Roland, who had always been portrayed as a hero, in contradiction to the text the two read, separated Eldridge from the other nations to bring peace to his country. As a result, Eldridge was isolated from all other parts of the world and the other nations destroyed themselves entirely, leaving what everybody knew as an area nobody was ever allowed to venture to, or else they would be condemned to starvation and what savage beasts may lurk in the area. There were many dots and routes to the cities. There was Crestwood, Haven, Cascasde, and nearest to Eldridge, but still many miles, was a dot called Rivertown. Sofia pointed, and gestured, “This is where I want to go first. Just to see if it’s there.”

In deep thought, Sebastian nodded his head. The two made plans and packed bags to leave the next night during the Festival of Whispers. What they would do about their father, neither knew yet. They each packed a small backpack with water, a few things of food, and a spare change of clothes. Sebastian devised the route that they would take, one that avoided the street lights and crossed the fewest houses. He had known of a way to get to the Great Desert, but he wasn’t sure if it was real, as he only heard stories from kids at school that talked about it. What would await them when they reached the Great Desert, they did not know. There was no word of if it was guarded, though Sebastian thought it had to be. 

The festival was in full swing, but not a sound was made. Vibrations could be felt throughout the entire city, and lights were dancing all around the homes and small businesses. The ground was even glittered in flashing lights. It was a party to never be missed. Surely their father would notice their missing, but Sofia had that covered. She told him that morning that Sebastian was helping her study for her final history exam, an exam that all residents of Eldridge must pass prior to their twentieth birthday. If they do not, then they remain a student and are unable to assist in the economy of Eldridge, bringing great shame to their family.

The two left their house, slipping and sliding silently through the city streets, keeping a keen eye on patrolling Wardens, though they were aware that they could pop up anywhere at anytime. Looking at the map with nothing more than a flashlight and the moonlight, they made their way north for several hours. When the city was a good ways behind them, and they could barely make out the dancing lights of the city, there came a point that they began to hear noises. Not people, but things that they had never heard before. These were things like wind, night critters, and the rustling of leaves from the few trees and bushes that were around them. The ground beneath their feet started to turn from dirt and sand to thick, lush grass. The Great Desert was, in fact, no desert at all, but a great forest. One that they had never heard anything about. As they stepped forward, still hundreds of yards away from the edge of the trees, they could see that it went on in either direction for as far as they could see. Rolling hills of green were in the far distance. And as they looked back at Eldridge, from whence they just came, it was faint, but a slight aura could be seen surrounding the city, almost as if it were encapsulated as a sphere.

As they approached the edge of the forest, it started to enter their minds if, since they were far away, if they could speak. If they could make noise and scream. They discussed this through gestures, and they were unsure if they could. Sofia said she would go first, and against Sebastian’s warning, she let out a small sound, she said, “Hello,” so softly that most people could never hear it, but it was enough that a Warden would appear immediately in Eldridge. When nothing happened, she started saying it louder and louder, until they were both screaming louder than anything they had ever heard before, jumping up and down with joy.

Suddenly, they saw a Warden appear so near to them that Sebastian felt as if the coldest ice had brushed against his arm. His very bones quivered, and he looked at Sofia, gestured for her to run to the unknown forest. He gestured again when she didn’t move. She ran, and as she ran the grass beneath her feet made so much noise that it drew the attention of the Warden. Though her movements were so silent it wasn’t much more noise than the wind made. Sebastian thought instantly that there was too much noise for the Warden to pinpoint exactly where the noise was from. They both ran for the forest, and he started throwing sticks and rocks in all directions. The Warden was shadowing everything, and just as the two reached the forest and ran behind the trees, they looked back toward Eldridge, and a thousand glowing eyes were lined at the forest edge, seemingly unable to enter the forest. Their path back to Eldridge was lost.