“Until we find Devyn, all else is without purpose.”
“We agreed to pursue the possibility of understanding the last prophecy and—”
“Follow me or return to the temple and await my return, your choice; until I find Devyn there will be no change in my plans.” She pushed Starmaid into a gallop, the urgency becoming even more pronounced. Yes, something had gone wrong. Her body shivered with the realization that Devyn was undoubtedly in great danger, but not dead, surely.
Push, push. Come on, Starmaid, please let me find him.
She glanced behind her and saw that Oran and Elian had been joined by the rest of their remaining troop. It hit her why Devyn hated leading men and women into battle. She was putting them all in harm’s way. No matter—
There ahead of her, a pitched battle was in progress. As she came closer, she noted the men, women, horses, and blood all about the area.
No sign of Devyn or Lord Wallace.
Please, Ogmia, let Devyn be alive.
There was no time to explore further as Lord Wallace’s forces were upon her. A blast of blue lightning arced out from her raised hand, and two of Wallace’s men fell to the ground. She continued into the fray, the shouts of battle rising as Elian, Oran, and their small force joined in the fighting. Starmaid jumped over fallen soldiers, horses, and what else impeded the gallop that Brenna insisted upon. Most of the battle was behind her now. Still no Devyn.
A flash of blue light flashed her way as her hand went automatically to block it. She had found one of the two she’d most ardently sought. Lord Wallace was on one knee and attempting to send another volley of magic her way. He was clearly—
There behind Lord Wallace was Devyn, prone and lifeless.
Before Lord Wallace could send another arc of magic, she drew Starmaid up and jumped from the saddle, her own arc of magic sending Lord Wallace to the ground.
He raised himself back to his knees. “Ah, the whore has come to view the corpse of her traitor husband. How fitting.”
“You have a way with words that goes even beneath your lack of intellect. Such an ability could only have come from your lineage.”
“I had not anticipated that a farmer and his whore would find their way into my circle.”
Brenna smiled in spite of the seriousness of the situation. “That you would kill my husband is a travesty I will make you pay for; that you have endured so long is a travesty for our world.”
“I have ruled with the power and necessity that all inferior beings require.”
“You have ruled with the avarice of a cub on a cone of honey; the bear can be forgiven. You have no place to hide from your culpability in the misery and indignity that was inflicted in your name.”
“Ah, the song of the self-titled downtrodden as they view the altar of their own inadequacies.”
“Lord Wallace do you not realize the shame of your existence?”
“I know the measure of all that is right and wrong. That is not shame; that is knowledge. I know the necessary shadows for what it takes to create order. The populace must continually be made to understand the consequences of not following rules, and much of that must be done in shadow There can be no order without rules. Ignorant fools barely able to survive have no ability to reason what is in their best interest. So, I must do that for them.”
“Lord Wallace, you miss the purpose of humanity. We are here to better ourselves. And to accomplish that we must accept the help of others and in turn be willing to help those around us. We are not here to be imprisoned by any one man’s or woman’s ideology. That has been your bane upon this world. An animal in a cage cannot act out its true nature. It is no different for us. The master of the caged animal knows nothing of what that animal should or could become. The master of the cage has created a contrived and unnatural situation where the one inside the cage is weary of the master on the outside, and vice versa.”
Lord Wallace attempted to rise from his knees, but could not. His eyes widened. Brenna could not tell if it was rage or pain that was ruling his senses.
He coughed. “You might well have described our world as it is. Maybe your council should have come sooner. Then again, talk is easy. Experience makes for better understanding. In that you surely lack, for you are nothing but a simple caretaker.”
With a swiftness she had not anticipated, Lord Wallace pulled the dagger from his shoulder and sent it directly toward her heart. She stepped aside a fraction of a moment before it could do its damage, and as she did she sent a lethal volley of death into Lord Wallace.
His eyes widened in disbelief and then went blank. His body slumped forward to meet the pool of blood in front of him.
She rushed to where Devyn lay, her hands searching for any sign of life. There was none. No breath, no pulse of blood moving through his body. “No, no, this cannot be.” She placed her hand over his heart and sent a low pulse of energy. Nothing. She sent another, and waited.
An eternity passed before she felt the flow of blood.
The din of battle had waned behind her. Oran joined her with the information that all of Lord Wallace’s troops had been killed, with but a few running away in defeat. They rounded up Fury, and after Brenna had attended Devyn’s wounds, a wagon was obtained and he was placed inside.
She took Lord Wallace’s dagger and joined Devyn. The wagon headed back toward the temple. Halfway there, Devyn opened his eyes. She kissed him on the forehead. “Well, well, farmer, it seems I had to save your life a second time.”
Chapter 31
The Final Prophecy
The flame hawk circled the old temple as evening rolled in over the city. Oran and Elian were busy orchestrating what cleanup was possible.
They found a place outside the city that was turned into a makeshift camp. A contingent of wagons and supplies were sent back west to try and recover any survivors.
Simon supervised collecting and treating the wounded, people and horses alike, saving what could be saved. There were too many casualties for any separate burial, so massive fires were being prepared to wipe away the mass bulk of the carnage, though the blood, the iron smell of death, would linger for many rainstorms to come.
The one storm that had brewed off the ocean had not arrived.
Those entering the city were cautioned to wear the blood mark before doing so, as the sudden absence of the cats was not a sign they had left.
Devyn was up and about, feeling none the worse from his ordeal with Lord Wallace, or so he would have people believe. His exterior wounds were minor in comparison to the core damage he had taken from Lord Wallace. Brenna knew it would take some time for him to regain his usual energy levels. He would not be going anywhere out of her sight for some time to come, she avowed.
It was time for the temple. The three sisters stood with Brenna and Devyn, the mark of blood upon their heads. Simon made his way into their group.
Devyn held the dagger. “He’s dead, and we have the dagger. It’s over.”
Asrah pointed to the flame hawk. “He knows it’s not over, and we three still feel an inevitable darkness heading our way.”
Meinn spoke next. “It has only gotten stronger in the past days. We thought at first it was the arrival of Lord Wallace and the shadow of the destruction, violence, and blood that would rip through these lands.”
Sapta pointed to the sky. “No, it comes from there. Why that is, we do not know.”
Brenna took out the small scroll that held the last prophecy, and read it out loud.
“Maybe getting the chalice back is of much greater importance than we suspect. It has given us essential information for a long period of time. Maybe unless we get it back and continue receiving such information, we’re lost.”
Devyn nodded. “Well, whatever the outcome, the next step was part of our plan. Assuming we would ever get this far,” he added for good measure. “What happened to the cats? Last time we were here, they sat and watched as we entered. This time they disappeared as soon as they lay si
ege to Wallace’s army.”
“The blood,” Asrah answered. “The blood is more than a means of passage. It is a signal that the ritual is about to begin. They somehow know it.”
Brenna led the way. Inside they lit a torch and with a short search found the stones that would open the inner room they had found last time. The sisters and Simon followed Devyn; no one spoke, and there were no other sounds than their feet upon the marble.
Devyn approached the white altar, as did Brenna, Simon, and the sisters. The blood on the sisters’ heads glimmered in the eerie light of the black jewel room. Devyn took the jeweled dagger from his belt and raised it to where the stones pointed. He gave a last glance at each of them and inserted the dagger.
Nothing.
He gave it a turn to the left, and waited.
Still nothing.
A turn to the right, and a small click, and then came a grating of stone against stone. The six of them looked to where the sound emanated; the entire wall slid down, ever so slowly into the floor below. Before them a massive room opened up, the three walls inside completely encased in black jewels. Light seeped in at the top, light from the outside, and as Brenna looked up the very ceiling rolled back to show the night sky while she and the others watched in wonder and amazement.
The six moved inside the room. “How is this possible?” Devyn asked. He realized none of them could possibly have an answer. This room was three times as big as the entire circumference of the temple appeared from the outside.
When they’d stood but a few moments inside, the floor itself began to rise, riding them to the top of the temple’s opening. Black jewels moved back from the walls on either side, and what looked like a giant telescope ascended from seemingly nowhere and peered out into the darkening evening.
They watched in awe as the room transformed itself into a spectacular display of odd lights, blinking in some dance they could not comprehend, amid pods of unrecognizable noises giving no hint of their intent.
Three seats sprang out from three corners. “Ah, the seats we’re expected to take, I suppose,” Asrah said. A portrait bearing a remarkable resemblance to each sister was embossed on each seat.
Barely had the words been uttered when the flame hawk sailed in above them, and as quickly as the seats had appeared a perch rose up from the center of the floor. The hawk took its position, its eyes on Brenna. A seat rose from the floor behind her. “I guess I’m being offered a seat.”
“Look, the chalice.” Simon pointed to where it sat on a small table in the only corner without a sister on a seat.
Watching as Devyn stood in awe at all that was unfolding, Brenna smiled. She had almost lost him.
Was the entire room turning? It had to be. Stars did not move that fast. It had to be the room that was spiraling the view of early night. “Well, it would appear we’re all—”
“Look, that star.” Asrah pointed off to the west.
“—gathered.” Brenna finished her thought, even as she looked with the others to where Asrah pointed.
“It’s a star. It’s where the warning of terrible danger is coming from,” Meinn said.
“And it grows brighter every night,” Asrah added.
The flame hawk did not move; it stared only at Brenna.
“You need to hold the chalice,” Simon suggested.
Brenna took the cup and sat back down. “The caretalker has arrived.”
“Did any of you hear that?” she asked.
The others looked at her perplexed.
“They cannot hear us. We can only communicate with a caretalker who holds the cup.”
“Say everything you hear out loud, and I will transcribe what they say,” Simon intoned.
She repeated aloud what she had heard thus far, and it continued.
“The sisters have taken their positions in the chair. We need to destroy what well might destroy you. It is much too late to consider another way.”
The sisters continued to sit in the appointed chairs, and a dark-red stream of light from somewhere up above pointed at each of them.
“Ask them to think about from where the danger emanates.”
Brenna directed the sisters as had been requested. The flame hawk took flight. A beam of light swept out from each of the sisters and focused on some single point in the night sky; the flame hawk climbed higher and higher into the stream of light until he could be seen no more.
Brenna watched as a crackling beam shot out from what she assumed had been a telescope, and the beam followed the path of the flame hawk.
“This will be our last communication with you.
Your world is safe now.
We have destroyed the threat.
We so love what you call your world: Kielara.
Our world has a much simpler name, Earth, but we love it.
As you grow in the universe, you will also plant gardens.
This last threat was a large celestial body that would have completely destroyed what you all have accomplished over the many turns of your seasons.
We see no such other threats for many seasons to come.
Your technology is such that you must now make your own choices of how best to cultivate your garden, and how to protect it.
We hope that one day we’ll meet to share what you have done.
This temple will return to the sands.
The black jewels and the magic of the flame hawk are no longer needed.
For the next turns of the seasons, you will see your night sky alight with what we have done.
Do not be afraid.
Enjoy the wonderful bounty of the night sky.
Earth wishes you a fulfilling future.”
Epilogue
They found the words from the last prophecy transcribed on the wall, word for word as Simon had also transcribed them.
The cup disappeared once again, and the flame hawk never reappeared.
The sisters talked about how their journey had ended and made a hasty retreat away from those gathered outside the city.
In the palace overlooking Great Temple Reach, Devyn and Brenna where often seen on one of the many balconies overlooking the garrison.
It was assumed that Lord and Lady Gerrick were doing what many others were doing: admiring the showers of light in the night sky. It was now commonly believed that the stars were celebrating Lord and Lady Gerrick’s great victory over an evil lord.
There had been meteors before, but none like this; from dusk till dawn for a full turn of the seasons in differing parts of their world the night sky sparkled with celebration of the victory.
Brenna had served him up a heavy dose of what it takes to be a good partner for his having strayed from the battle plans they had agreed upon.
Brandy and Brandy were now friends with a small herd of goats. Devyn continued to hate the word lord, and insisted to Brenna that in battle his wits got the better of his intention.
The two of them spent much of their time making reparations to those who had lost love ones.
And whenever Devyn and Brenna discussed the sisters, the flame hawk, and the strange evening at the old temple, they could only conclude that the vastness of their universe was well beyond the scope of their understanding but well within the confines of their knowledge of a grand design and connection to much more than merely themselves.
The Last Prophecy Page 31
