The Unwritten Thanos Kalamidas The Unwritten H i s t o r i c t i d e s Thanos Kalamidas Ovi ebooks are available in Ovi/Ovi eBookshelves pages and they are for free. If somebody tries to sell you an Ovi book please contact us immediately. For details, contact: ovimagazine@yahoo.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the writer or the above publisher of this book An Ovi eBooks Publication 2025 Ovi eBookPublications - All material is copyright of the Ovi eBooks Publications & the writer C The Unwritten The Unwritten Thanos Kalamidas Thanos Kalamidas An Ovi eBooks Publication 2025 Ovi eBookPublications - All material is copyright of the Ovi eBooks Publications & the writer C The Unwritten T he morning mists still clung to the city walls of chang’an as the calligrapher shen Yulin adjusted the cuffs of his scholar’s robe and squinted against the gray light. even in his sixth de- cade, shen’s brush hand never trembled, and today he would inscribe the emperor’s spring edict, an honor few would even dare dream of. The imperial court trusted him not merely for his artistry, but for his silence. “Master shen!” his assistant Wei burst through the beaded curtain, panting like a winded donkey. “There’s... someone. A foreigner. outside the studio. says it’s urgent. says it’s about... time.” shen frowned. “time?” Thanos Kalamidas “He said it as if he knew what time is ...not just when it is.” shen set down his inkstone and rose. “Wei, if you’re drunk again before noon, i shall tattoo your forehead with ‘i AM AN oX’ in cursive seal script.” “i swear it! He’s strange, master. speaks like thun- der and wears boots like iron.” They found the stranger just beyond the moon gate, leaning against a ginkgo tree as if he owned it. His coat, stitched of something slick and black, gleamed like lacquer. His hair was cut scandalously short, and across one wrist he wore a small, blinking rectangle that made shen think of daoist tricks. “Ni hao,” the man said, bowing awkwardly. “i’m sorry to intrude, Master shen. i’ve read every scroll you’ll write, and i need your help before history un- folds... badly.” shen’s eyes narrowed. “do you insult me by pre- tending to know my future brushstrokes?” “i’m from the future. The twenty-first century.” He gestured to the strange rectangle. “This is a smart- watch. sort of like a sundial but with cat videos.” The Unwritten Wei let out a squeak. The man’s eyes burned with urgency. “in five days, Governor Li Xuan of Anping will rise against the court. You’ll be summoned to scribe a decree of trust and amnesty, meant to pacify him. That decree will delay action long enough for him to strike. A hun- dred thousand will die. The dynasty begins to frac- ture from there.” shen took a long breath. “That is a bold tale. And you are?” “i’m Julian Graves. Professor of Asian Antiquities. i came to see the tang dynasty in its prime. i didn’t mean to intervene, but once i saw the records, your records, how your brush sealed the empire’s fate...” He paused. “i’m asking you to change what you write.” “Ah.” shen smiled faintly. “You believe ink rules the sword.” Julian stepped forward. “Words become law. Law commands men.” shen walked to his studio, motioning Julian to fol- low. “You understand nothing of court politics, Pro- fessor Graves. An unsanctioned word brings not just Thanos Kalamidas disgrace, but death. i have watched men executed because their calligraphy lacked the ‘proper weight’ of loyalty.” “But if you write the edict differently, delay the de- cree, signal suspicion instead of trust—” “And if i do so, what happens to the rebellion?” “Li Xuan is exposed. He’s arrested. No uprising.” “And in your scrolls of history?” shen sat down, calmly. “What becomes of shen Yulin?” Julian hesitated. shen chuckled. “dead?” “in the revised records, yes,” Julian admitted. “ex- ecuted. But your act becomes a martyr’s legacy. The dynasty lasts two hundred years longer. china enters an earlier renaissance.” shen turned to Wei. “Fetch me tea. The strong one. For this is surely the strangest dream i have ever sipped.” Julian leaned forward. “You could save an empire.” “You ask me to write false words.” The Unwritten “No, true ones. Just earlier than you did in your original timeline. A push, not a lie.” Wei returned with the tea, sloshing most of it in his haste. “Master shen, i heard something, guards are coming. They’re looking for a ‘foreign ghost in black.’” Julian’s eyes widened. “They must’ve detected my arrival. i have to go. i’ve anchored my return point in the bamboo grove outside the west wall. i’ll wait two hours. Please... please think about it.” He ran, vanishing into the mist with that uncanny fluidity only outsiders seemed to possess. shen sat for a long while. Then, slowly, he lifted his brush. * * * * * * * The court was unusually still as shen approached the throne. emperor Xuanzong, cloaked in drag- on-embroidered silk, watched with half-lidded eyes. “You bring the edict?” “Yes, Your Majesty.” shen unrolled the scroll, ink still fragrant. Thanos Kalamidas The emperor read it in silence. The assembled min- isters stiffened. A ripple of tension broke across their ranks. “This does not match the phrasing discussed,” murmured chancellor Gao. shen knelt. “i beg forgiveness, but in my heart, i could not suggest full trust in Governor Li Xuan. His letters show a hunger that no amnesty will sate.” Gao whispered furiously to the emperor. Xuan- zong’s eyes, sharper now, flicked between them. Then to shen. “A calligrapher who dares weigh in on strategy?” the emperor said. “Your brush exceeds its station.” “i will accept execution,” shen replied quietly, “if Your Majesty believes i have exceeded it wrongly.” The emperor studied him, fingers tapping the jade armrest. Then: “No. Let the ink stand. Prepare riders. Watch Anping.” Gasps. Gao turned pale. The Unwritten days later, soldiers uncovered a weapons cache beneath Li Xuan’s summer villa. The rebellion never bloomed. shen returned home in silence. He found a note pinned to his studio door, written in oddly perfect chinese: Your ink saved centuries. I’ll tell your sto- ry for a thousand more. Thank you. —J.G. And below that, scribbled in shaky but familiar strokes: P.S. I brought back an iron pen from your era. I tried writing with it. Still terrible. You’re safe. shen smiled, gently folding the paper. Then, with the steady grace of a man who knew ex- actly when history should be nudged, not rewritten, he returned to his scrolls. THE END Thanos Kalamidas The Unwritten Historic Tides Thanos Kalamidas Ovi eBook Publishing 2025 Ovi magazine Design: Thanos The Unwritten Ovi ebooks are available in Ovi/Ovi eBookshelves pages and they are for free. If somebody tries to sell you an Ovi book please contact us immediately. For details, contact: ovimagazine@yahoo.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the writer or the above publisher of this book An Ovi eBooks Publication 2025 Ovi eBookPublications - All material is copyright of the Ovi eBooks Publications & the writer C Thanos Kalamidas Thanos Kalamidas The Unwritten H i s t o r i c t i d e s Thanos Kalamidas , a multipublished writer, cartoonist and illustrator; born and grew up in a picturesque neighbourhood on the moun- tainside of Hymettus in Athens, Greece. Then his life took him to Berlin, Germany and to London, UK for studies. After a brief stay in Yorkshire he moved his life to Paris, France while working in Tokyo, Japan and in Cape Town, South Africa. In the last 25 years he became a permanent Scandinavian resident and recently, in his glorious sixth de- cade, he moved to a scenic village in the Växjö area.