by Jeremy Dwyer
“What’s happening?” Brant whispered.
Zoe leaned in and whispered back: “Baron Amidio is moving in on Baron Paavali’s position. With their cover of darkness, Amidio has the advantage, and Paavali is going to get slaughtered. Then, Amidio is going to get what he wants.”
Brant whispered: “They’re both coming to kill Duke Kenrick and Duchess Keeva and steal their land, I get it. Amidio’s going to win both battles. So why are you relaxed?”
Zoe whispered: “That last part is where you’re wrong.”
Brant whispered back: “How? We can’t fight that many. Nowhere near it.”
Zoe whispered: “I saw what I needed. That lava river is the best thing that ever happened.”
Brant whispered back: “Why?”
Zoe whispered: “All around the lava river bank is a glassy rock – it’s called obsidian. It’s dark, but it’s still glass, so…”
Brant whispered back: “So what?”
Zoe whispered: “Take this sapphire – I bought it with some of our guard duty money – and put it out there, on the front of that wagon. But first, I need you to move the wagon higher up, to the top of the hill, so it’s in a better position. Hurry back.” She then handed a small sapphire to Brant.
Brant took the sapphire, sneaked out the barn, approached a farm wagon twenty-seven (27) feet away from the barn and pulled the wagon to the top of a nearby hill, which sloped steeply as it rose thirty-three (33) feet up. He placed the sapphire on the front of the wagon and then returned to the barn in a hurry. The Nabavodel waters he drank made him strong enough to pull the large wagon and swift and stealthy enough to avoid being noticed. “What now?” he whispered when he was back inside.
“Just wait,” Zoe whispered. She then applied her powers to project a beam of light through an opening in the barn door, turning a corner, and heading up the hill toward the sapphire on the front of the wagon. The beam of light then reflected in a different direction, pointing toward the obsidian on the ground at the northern bank of the Pika Huojin Lava River. The light bounced off of the obsidian in every direction.
~~~
Baron Paavali watched as a wild scatter of light illuminated the area around him and his community. What it revealed was a standing army led by an old rival. Paavali was disappointed that the Lujladia water drinkers who were with him didn’t thereby command the powers of light in sufficient measure to notice Amidio’s army hidden in the darkness much sooner. However, this was likely due to their own relative weakness: a magical darkness could be made deeper and more difficult to penetrate if the people who generated it drank a purer potion of Ikkith Tar waters and had a high enough potential.
“Baron Amidio, I’m not surprised at all to see you here, even though you were hoping I would be,” Baron Paavali said.
“Baron Paavali, so nice of you to see me. That doesn’t mean you can withstand my forces, however. I will take what I want, and kill whom I want. This territory shall be mine,” Baron Amidio said.
Barn Amidio then turned to his soldiers and said: “Attack!”
Baron Amidio’s army moved forward and attacked fiercely, but without the cover of darkness, three thousand nineteen (3019) of his warriors fell to the well-trained combat forces within the community of Baron Paavali. Additionally, two hundred fifteen (215) of his shadow guard fell. The remainder of Amidio’s army suffered injuries ranging from mild to disabling.
Baron Paavali and his community were completely slaughtered, however, because of the overwhelming number of warriors in Amidio’s army.
~~~
Paavali and all of his followers, as well as the fallen among Baron Amidio’s army, all felt their spirits descend into a place of darkness, pain and confusion.
Therein, they heard a frightening and deep voice speak to them, saying: “Here is your destiny. You shall burn for eternity.”
“Who are you? What is this place?” each of their spirits asked.
“I am Gadamalto, Master of Spirits in this, the Maelstrom of Vengeance. In your greed, you saw fit to wage war and steal from others. Here, you shall have nothing, and suffer the pains of need and want forever. Worse, you shall endure the agony of the sword of judgment that will pierce your spirit without mercy,” the deep and frightening voice said.
~~~
Baron Amidio looked over the corpses of his own soldiers as well as those of Baron Paavali’s forces. Both sides, living and dead, with or without the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean to generate the cloak of darkness, were fully exposed, due to the light scattered off of the obsidian on the ground beneath them.
“Our rival has fallen. Yet, you have sustained many injuries. We will rest before attacking and seizing this land. At ease,” Baron Amidio said. He drank anew of the waters of the Trerada Ocean from his vial, becoming energized and assuring that his own health was protected from even the slightest cut or scrape endured on the battlefield. He was fifty (50) years old but looked thirty-five (35) and felt as young because of those waters. He was disappointed in the losses, but he would find a way to turn them into a gain. Most of his fallen soldiers left behind wives or girlfriends in their home territory, and Amidio planned on enjoying the personal favors of those widows when he returned from this mission after capturing the duchy.
~~~
“That went better than I expected – in a way. Baron Paavali and his troops are all dead. Amidio’s army is beat up pretty badly. Now, let’s get out of here…with that sapphire,” Zoe whispered, after having watched the battle. She ended the projection of the beam of light, since she felt it was no longer needed.
Zoe hurried out of the barn, taking Brant by the arm. Brant ran back up the hill to the wagon and took the sapphire, and then ran down the hill to join her, moving as quickly as before. They headed deep into the fields, crouching down and hiding behind stalks of wheat, in case Baron Amidio’s forces tried to trace where the beam of light came from.
“Where’d you learn that trick?” Brant whispered.
“Watching Fantine and that constructor of hers gave me an idea,” Zoe whispered. She had seen the machine in operation almost two (2) years ago, when the architect was experimenting with making smaller structures – bridges and water pipes, even dams for streams and rivers. Zoe knew that a lot of those things didn’t last, because Fantine hadn’t worked out all the problems with it back then – everything the constructor made was prone to stress fractures for some reason or another. Fantine also did a lot of work refining crystals to use for bending the light beams that were generated during the construction process. Zoe bought some of her spare gems, because they were very well cut.
“That thing didn’t really work – everything it made had cracks in it,” Brant whispered.
“That was two (2) years ago when she was still working on it. I’ve heard rumors that she fixed the problems,” Zoe whispered.
~~~
“Now, Aislinn, you are to return to your post, make your observations and give us a new report,” Duchess Keeva said after the prayer had ended and they let go of each other’s hands.
“Yes, my lady,” Aislinn said, and she hurried out of the castle, unlocked and opened the secret side door through which she had entered earlier, then closed and locked it behind her. She returned to her post behind the hill and drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean. She became energized, and then gazed out at the last known location of Baron Paavali’s army. There, she saw the corpses of Paavali and his people. She also saw something hidden in the darkness – another lord and some unknown number of people around him – but the darkness was too deep to peer into clearly. Aislinn had good potential for using the waters of the Lujladia Ocean, but nowhere near the highest. The waters she drank were fairly pure, but she didn’t have enough overall power to fully probe the darkness. All that she could make out was that another attacker was waiting in the shadows.
Aislinn then returned to the castle, where she unlocked and opened the secret side door. She entered, then closed and locked
the door behind her. She returned to the throne room and knelt down, saying: “My lord, my lady, I have news.”
“Stand, Aislinn, and give your report,” Duke Kenrick said.
Aislinn stood up and said: “My lord, my lady, Baron Paavali and his army have been slaughtered where they stood. Yet, another army is waiting, in the darkness. They do not appear to be moving.”
“Praise God, our enemy has fallen,” Duchess Keeva said.
“Yet another enemy awaits! I cannot fully peer into the darkness, so I cannot see their number. For this, I apologize to my lord and my lady,” Aislinn said.
“They are not moving because they have suffered great injuries in the battle against Baron Paavali. They will need time to rest. This is also the Will of God,” Duke Kenrick said.
“This is the time during which we will leave. The ships will be arriving tonight, and they will take us all to a distant land,” Duchess Keeva said.
“Come, let us meet them, and gather the farmers and the miners,” Duke Kenrick said.
“My lord, my lady, there are so many, and your duchy is forty-three (43) miles from north to south, and forty-one (41) miles from east to west. How can we gather them all in a single night?” Aislinn asked.
“Some time ago, we made payment to the captains of many merchant ships, telling them to be ready when the time came, to gather up our people throughout our land and sail away. They would know the right time,” Duchess Keeva said.
“That is what the prayer was for, young lady. This is the night. Follow us,” Duke Kenrick said.
Duchess Keeva and Duke Kenrick took Aislinn by her hands and led her to the main gate of the castle. They unlocked and opened it and then went outside.
Aislinn looked out into the distance and saw airships approaching from all directions. Many landed at the outer edges of the duchy, others came closer inland. She counted seven hundred seventy (770) airships arriving in various locations throughout the Duchy of Yutaka, landing in fields and quarries. Hundreds of people could be seen boarding each one, and then the ships ascended and sailed east.
“My lord, my lady, I see them. Seven hundred seventy (770) airships, all over, gathering up people throughout the duchy,” Aislinn said.
“Now, do you believe in the Protection of God?” Duchess Keeva asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I believe,” Aislinn said. She was baffled at the same time that she was delighted.
An airship landed before them, and the boarding ramp was lowered.
“Do you believe that this ship will take us to a better place?” Duke Kenrick asked.
“Are you getting on it, my lord, my lady?” Aislinn asked.
“Yes. We believe,” Duchess Keeva said.
“Then I will follow you,” Aislinn said.
Duke Kenrick, Duchess Keeva and Aislinn boarded the airship – a two hundred eighty (280) foot long galleon with three (3) sets of pivoting, double-masted sails. Farmers and miners from villages near the castle also boarded, until there were two hundred fifty-eight (258) passengers.
“Welcome aboard, Duke Kenrick, Duchess Keeva,” an older man – dressed as a military commander wearing various medals on his lapel – said as they stepped on board.
“Thank you, Major,” Duke Kenrick said.
“Aislinn, this is Major Doctor Randolph, our captain, and a man of God,” Duchess Keeva said.
“This is the time to sail into the Provincial Lands of God,” Major Doctor Randolph said.
“Where we shall fear no perils,” Duke Kenrick said.
Major Doctor Randolph then raised the boarding ramp and pulled the levers to elevate the ship to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. That vessel, along the other seven hundred sixty-nine (769) ships, all traveled through the air over the continent of Waderav, heading east, until reaching the coast, where they returned to sea level in the Gradaken Ocean. From there, they sailed northeast.
Aislinn drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from her vial. She became energized and then looked out over the Gradaken Ocean waters at a distance of one hundred seventy (170) miles, not knowing where they were sailing or what to expect when they arrived. She felt afraid at the same time that she felt invigorated, as this was an escape from danger, but the size and scope and timing of the escape were beyond what she ever could have imagined.
CHAPTER 42: Discovery of Knowledge and Purpose
Erikkos listened carefully and heard nothing but the rustling of the trees in the Javanda forest around him. The sounds of crumbling and cracking stone had ceased – or, at least, paused – so the Citadel nearby was no longer actively collapsing. He could not hear any living thing moving within or around it, either. The unseen ships that had fired upon him previously had not acted since, so he felt safe.
The broken walls of the Citadel allowed Erikkos easier entry than his previous exit. The structure was remarkably well built, albeit heavily damaged by his song. He walked through its marble hallways, while stepping around or climbing over the rubble, and he eventually found a pair of diamond doors that had nearly been ripped off of their hinges but were otherwise intact. He walked through them and found an interior hallway. When we walked around to its far side, following its hexagonal angles, he found another set of diamond doors, on an interior wall, but these were severely damaged and wide open. He walked through this doorway and found a large room with a lake and bridges leading to a hexagonal island in the center. There was a faint mist in the room.
Erikkos crossed one of the bridges and stepped onto the island where a cracked, twisted, cylindrical shell partially covered a marble basin, which was filled with yellow-green gems. He examined the damaged shell and saw that its remains – many crystal shards protruding in every direction – were as sharp as knives. Many of the yellow-green gems inside of it also seemed to be damaged. Rather than risking injuring himself, he drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial and was energized. He then carefully formed a melody that gently moved the crystals shards of the broken cylinder out of the way, such that the yellow-green gems within it spilled out of it and onto the ground. Some of those gems remained on their marble basin and appeared intact. He took fifteen (15) of the yellow-green gems and inspected them as best he could. He saw no obvious structural damage or even crystal deformations at their low level structure.
Since he did not drink the waters of the Kazofen Ocean, Erikkos could not explain how he was able to see the low-level structure: it was a new and extraordinary sight to him, even though it was not through his eyes; rather, he just knew what it was, and it was an experience he enjoyed. He turned the yellow-green gems about and tried to understand what they were, but he did not know what to compare them to. Once of them started to change in his hands, becoming malleable like clay.
Erikkos then sensed something new – thoughts. There was a person nearby.
“Congratulations, Erikkos,” a voice said. An older man – with gray-blond hair and a thin beard – appeared out of the darkness.
“Your name is Kastor. I know this without you telling me, or having heard of you. It’s in your thoughts. You are an Ursegan drinker, and you have lived for eight hundred ninety-two thousand six hundred twenty-eight (892628) years,” Erikkos said.
“And I read your thoughts, that you are a drinker of the Pirovalen waters, and have no logical means of reading the thoughts of others, or of touching crystals and sensing their structure or manipulating them,” the older man, Kastor, said.
“Nor do you have a logical means of reading my thoughts. You think it’s this mist…that something in it empowers us,” Erikkos said.
“For the moment, yes. And those gems are what created it, when they split the Dead Waters in this lake. This Citadel is a reserve of the world’s greatest wealth. Yet, it appears that most of the gems have been damaged,” Kastor said.
“I don’t know what they are, but these seem to have survived, along with a few more,” Erikkos said.
Kastor sifted throu
gh the remaining gems and found himself able to experience the remarkable sensation of peering into their low-level structure. He found thirteen (13) more yellow-green gems that were apparently undamaged. “Yes, these are intact. This mist is thin. After it dissipates, our access to the other powers will soon fade,” he said.
“You know it’s the mist because of those to whom you have spoken about the mythical unified ocean waters. That’s also how you know the yellow-green gems split the Dead Waters. You believe that is what King Xander saw in the first age,” Erikkos said, still reading Kastor’s thoughts.
“King Xander was an utter fool – easily deceived by his own wishful thinking. I was alive during the two (2) previous ages, so I have seen him twice before. He never learned or understood the true nature of the oceans’ powers, or the meaning of the unified ocean waters. Now, he has been destroyed, and rightly so. Yet, what he sought, others have come close to finding,” Kastor said.
“They have found it, even if they didn’t fully appreciate it,” Erikkos said.
“You are a good friend with a powerful voice, my fellow explorer. You can appreciate the extraordinary wealth that is around us. Yet, the carnal degenerates who owned this Citadel for hundreds of millennia have wasted the greatest of opportunities. Instead of harnessing the power they held for the ultimate gain, they succumbed to lust. They did nothing but capture slaves for use in their sensual excesses. I have been observing these abductions at a distance while slowing my own thoughts so that they could not detect or probe me. Now, owing to your music, this Citadel has been breached, and their source of power has been put within our grasp,” Kastor said.
