by Pedro Urvi
“You are speaking of war…”
“It is inevitable. It will happen sooner or later. I am giving you the opportunity to choose the winning side.”
“And the High Kings?”
“This is an alliance between Princes, not Kings. We will deal with them in due course.”
“I cannot go against my father.”
“Think about it. It is you or him. If you do not join me now, you will have no kingdom to inherit.”
“How long do I have?”
“Until the full moon.”
“Very well, you will have my reply then.”
“Do not make a wrong decision…” Asu said threateningly.
“I will not,” Aize said, and left with a firm stride.
Adamis was deeply worried. He had witnessed a scene whose implications were deeply serious. He knew Asu was not in his right mind, but to make secret alliances with the Princes in order to go against the High Kings was something he could never have imagined. For a moment he considered the option of seizing Asu and killing him. But in all probability he would never manage to. Not in his present state. Not there, with Asu surrounded by his soldiers.
At that moment another figure came out on to the balcony. Adamis concentrated and watched. Who was Asu meeting with now?
“Did he take the bait?” asked the new arrival .
Asu’s eyes turned to his interlocutor, and he smiled. “He has, yes.”
“Will he accept?”
“Yes, he will accept. He has no choice.”
“When he does, let me be the one to deal with him.”
“Of course, my dear friend, the honor will be all yours.”
Chapter 21
Bring them to me, the God ordered.
The Executors pushed Kyra and Ikai along the corridor between the pods with their spears. As they stumbled along, he tried to make sense of what was happening. They were in the presence of a Golden! The Gods never set foot in the Boundaries. In that case what was this one doing there? He studied him for a moment as he approached them. This Golden was slender, and wore a rich dress-armor with a breastplate of silver and red scales. He carried a sword at his waist and an elegant cape which seemed to blaze. He was not a soldier, nor did he belong to the lower castes. He was a noble, dressed for war. He must be there carrying out a mission for his Lord. And if he was alone, without soldiers, then it must be a secret mission.
The Golden touched Maruk on the shoulder. There was a golden flash in the shape of a flame and Maruk, overcome with pain, bent over and fell to his knees.
“Leave him alone!” cried Kyra.
The God raised his hand and threatened her with a long golden finger.
Behave, slave. On your knees. Both of you.
She and Ikai knelt beside Maruk.
“I’m… I’m sorry…” he muttered, trembling. “I’ve… failed…”
Kyra took his hands in her own. “Of course you haven’t.”
“You’ve done all you could,” Ikai said. “Don’t torture yourself.”
Maruk bowed his head and shivered.
“We’ll get out of this,” Kyra assured him.
The Golden gave an arrogant guffaw.
You truly are resilient. But this is the end of the road for you.
“We’ll see about that,” Kyra said furiously.
My Lord will reward me beyond expectations. He has been looking for you for a long time, slave.
“Let me guess: you serve that swine Asu.”
The Golden stared at her wide-eyed, his thin eyebrows arched, his expression one of pure fury.
How do you dare speak like that of the Prince-Heir of the House of Fire? He snapped his fingers, and an orange-red bubble surrounded her.
She cried out. Her body temperature began to rise, and in a moment it had become unbearable, as if she were being boiled alive.
“Leave her, please, I beg you,” said Ikai.
She must learn her place. I will not tolerate lack of respect.
Kyra fell to the floor and began to scream.
“Enough, please. She’ll behave.”
The God kept up the torture a moment longer. Then he waved his hand and the bubble vanished.
Kyra breathed and searched her body for burns. But there was no trace of any.
“Are you all right?” Ikai asked her, full of concern.
She is. But the next time I will roast her alive like a chicken.
His Highness will not be happy, my Lord Beru, came another voice from behind the God.
A second God appeared beside the monolith. This one was not a noble, but wore the robe of an Erudite.
You are right, my good Erudite. Best not to make the Prince angry. He turned to Kyra, who was getting to her knees. Another insult and it will be your brother who pays for it.
She bit her lip and said nothing.
As for him, the God said, and this one ‒ he indicated Maruk ‒ I can deliver them dead. Am I right, Erudite?
That is correct, my Lord. The Five High Kings have ordered their capture and delivery, but they never specified in what state. Therefore they can be delivered dead.
And tortured.
Of course my Lord.
Very well. All is clear, then.
Kyra, Ikai and Maruk exchanged anguished looks.
Bring me their discs.
Two Executors handed them to their master. Beru examined them carefully. Then he used his power on them and closed his eyes, as if capturing the essence of Power in the discs.
Power of the House of Ether… of someone powerful… very powerful …
He brought out a third disc, Maruk’s, and examined that in turn.
They are the same, all three of them. Who gave you these discs?
Nobody replied.
If I have to repeat the question, someone will suffer… a great deal.
It was Ikai who spoke. “Adamis gave them to us before he died.”
Kyra glanced aside at her brother. Maruk bowed his head.
That traitor, eh? That makes sense. The imbecile was very powerful.
The three relaxed. The lie seemed to have worked.
Why did he give you three these discs? For what purpose?
Ikai realized that this Golden was no fool. Tricking him would be a complicated business. It would be better to tell as few lies as possible so as to appear as honest as possible.
“He gave them to us so they could help us free the Boundaries.”
The Golden stood up straighter, considering the reply.
Erudite, can these three use the Power?
The Erudite approached them and took out a disc and a silver dagger.
Your right hand, he said to them.
The three exchanged glances, then reluctantly stretched out their hands. First he made a cut on Ikai’s palm, so that the blood fell on to the disc. The crystal absorbed the blood, and countless tiny veins appeared carrying the blood to the golden pip in its center. When the blood reached it there came a golden flash that illuminated all of them.
This one can.
Then it was Maruk’s turn. But there was no flash. The Erudite looked at the noble and shook his head. Finally it was Kyra’s turn. There was a vivid flash.
She can.
The Erudite moved back to the Monolith.
That is curious, Beru commented. The siblings can, but not this one. How did you use it without the ability?
“With … a gauntlet from an Eye, modified.”
The Golden laughed and clapped. What resources these rats have! Amazing, the things they are capable of. If we are not careful, they will be capable of taking their own Rings off. He laughed again. I thought this one had no value. I was going to end his miserable existence. He aimed a kick at Maruk. And it turns out he has a good head on his shoulders.
The Erudite nodded. It is not at all easy to modify a gauntlet.
You will live today. Tomorrow, we shall see, the God said, and laughed again.
“Thank you,” Ikai sai
d, hoping to pacify him.
You are a smart boy. He was staring at Ikai’s scar. I see by your face that you have been in trouble and that you have learnt from it. Tell me, how many Boundaries have you already freed?
The question surprised him. He had thought that by this time all the Gods would know, but it seemed it was not so. And if they did not know… that meant the Houses were hiding the loss of the Boundaries from each other. This was interesting. It meant there was conflict between them, which was something they needed to happen. He considered his reply. He might lie, but he did not know how much this noble really knew. He decided not to take any risks.
“We’ve freed all the Boundaries except this one.”
The expression on the Golden’s face was first one of utter surprise, then of pure joy.
Unbelievable! These cockroaches seem to be worth studying!
They are, my Lord. Who would have thought it?
My Prince will shower me with riches for this piece of news. He fixed his red eyes on Ikai. You would not dare to lie to me, would you? There is no need for me to tell you about the consequences of that.
“I haven’t lied. This is the last Boundary. We’ve come to free it.”
The God burst into gales of laughter. The more he laughed, the higher the temperature rose in the chamber.
And had I not been here you might even have done it. He controlled his laughter. But it does not matter. Now that the other Boundaries have fallen and we still have control of our own, the House of Fire has become the strongest. Asu will be supreme.
My Lord, the Erudite said suddenly.
Beru turned. The Erudite nodded to draw his attention to the end of the monolith.
It is time for the harvest.
A golden ring was climbing the surface of the monolith toward the upper end.
Excellent! He turned to the Executors. Go back to the upper levels and get ready for harvest-time.
The Executors obeyed at once. A dozen remained on the lower level. They disappeared for a moment, to reappear pushing huge metal carts with silver wheels. These resembled the carts used in the mines to carry ore. They placed one at the start of each line of pods and waited for their master’s order.
Beru spread his arms wide and turned to the three of them. You think yourselves very clever, you little rats. But the truth is that you would never in a million years be able to equal the intellect and creativity of our civilization. I will demonstrate this to you. And then you will understand how futile are your attempts at rebellion. You will never be free. You will always be our slaves, because we are immensely superior to your pathetic race, in every respect.
The golden ring reached the end and shone with a blinding golden light which lit up the whole chamber.
It is time, my Lord, the Erudite said.
Go ahead. Let us collect.
The Erudite moved his hands over the monolith. One by one the pods lit up. Ikai looked at the one by his side. Suddenly the woman in it opened her eyes wide. The disc with two silver circles on her forehead gave a loud metallic click and divided into two parts. The lower remained fixed, while the upper began to spin, flashing intermittently. One by one the discs of all those in the pods became activated, and the chamber filled with the sickly metallic clicking.
On the woman’s face there appeared black veins. Ikai swallowed. Kyra was staring at another pod, where the same thing was happening. She moaned, horrified. After a few minutes the veins turned blacker still. The woman was now rigid, staring ahead, her eyes blank and her mouth twisted. The blackness spread throughout the veins in her face, then to her neck, then to the rest of her body. Ikai, fearing the worst, clenched his jaw.
At last the disc stopped with another loud click. Both circles of the disc had turned golden and shone intensely. He tried to make out whether the woman was still alive. Once again the metallic discs of the other pods filled the chamber. A terrible shudder passed through him, which he could not hide.
Beru noticed this. Do not worry about them, slave, they are alive. They have serviced their Gods, and in a few days they will do so again. He indicated the monolith, where the ring had gone down to the bottom and was touching the floor. His expression was one of pure satisfaction.
Collect them! he ordered his Enforcers.
The Executors carried out two actions with precise, rhythmic movements. First they operated a lever at the top of the pod which opened the crystal lid, revealing the head of the person inside, then withdrew the charged discs from their foreheads and deposited them on the left-hand side of the cart. After this they picked up empty discs from the right-hand side and placed them on the foreheads of the poor wretches, then shut the crystal lid. They repeated the process with each pod. When they had finished, they took the carts to Beru. The God examined them and smiled in satisfaction.
A new harvest. Excellent. My Lord Asu will be very pleased.
Kyra gave Ikai a questioning glance. What was going on? He read the question in his sister’s eyes. Understanding all this and how it benefited Asu would be deeply important. They had to get information. He risked trying to find out.
“Will you let the slaves go now?”
Beru turned to him, obviously amused, and burst into loud guffaws once again. Let them leave? Why would I do something so stupid?
“So they can go back to their work? You’ll want them to fulfill the law of the Gods: produce or die.”
They are definitely not as bright as we give them credit for, these cockroaches, he commented to the Erudite. He picked up a crystalline disc from one of the carts, then gazed at the two golden circles which indicated it was charged. He smiled in satisfaction.
He nodded at the carts. They are already producing for their Gods.
Ikai was baffled by this. What were they producing?
I see from your expression of complete confusion that you have not the slightest idea what this disc contains.
Ikai shook his head.
How could they be expected to know, my Lord? the Erudite said. They are nothing but stupid slaves, they would never understand the Golden technology. And that of the House of Fire is the most advanced. My Lord Moltus is eminent in the study of Power.
Beru nodded emphatically. Your master is an old lunatic, but seeing the incredible results he has obtained, I will pass no judgment on him. What is more, Asu is happy with his mad Erudite, and if the Prince is happy with him, that is what matters.
He turned to Ikai and Kyra and showed them the disc.
That, you stupid rats, is what the slaves must produce. And it is a thousand times more valuable than all the gold, cereal, food or anything else you could create, harvest or produce. This is going to make us all-powerful and immortal: incontestable Gods.
Ikai could not imagine what he meant. However much he turned it over in his mind, he could not fathom what they could be getting from those poor souls, least of all how it might make them into all-powerful immortals. Kyra’s look told him she understood no more than he did.
Beru shook his head in amusement, enjoying his superior position in the face of his prisoners’ confusion. They still do not understand. I will explain so that you can see how useless are your efforts to free the Boundaries. In the end, the only thing you will have managed to do is strengthen my Lord’s position. And with these discs he will be unstoppable. He will have power not only over the slaves, but overall the Golden. The Five Houses will soon be his.
“He will not manage to defeat the other houses,” Kyra said firmly.
You are wrong, slave. Utterly wrong. This disc contains the vital energy of a slave. The Erudite Moltus has finally managed to develop the technology to extract it from your bodies and store it in discs so that we, the Golden, can make use of it.
Kyra’s face changed suddenly. It went from confusion to horror. She turned pale.
“The Ceremony…of Vivification…” she stammered.
I see you are beginning to understand. Yes, it is similar to the Ceremony of Vivification,
except that now we do not need to find a few selected chosen like you to extract life from. Now we have the capacity to extract the vital energy from any slave. Not only that, we can store it too ‒ he showed them the disc ‒ and consume it.
Brother and sister exchanged a look of horror.
The Claw, Beru commanded.
The Erudite opened a silver container. Inside was a golden bracelet with a claw-shaped clasp. He put it on Beru’s right wrist. On the upper side of the bracelet a circle was engraved.
Come on, I want to taste this harvest, Beru said. He passed the disc to the Erudite, who nodded and fixed it into the engraved circle on the bracelet. The claw fastened onto Beru’s wrist, and from its nails five needles pierced the Golden’s flesh. Beru wrinkled his pointed nose, but said nothing. The disc shone and divided into two parts. The upper part began to spin as it shone. On the Golden’s hand and arm black veins began to appear. After a few moments the black veins reached his neck, then rose to his face. Beru spread his arms wide.
Now I feel the essence of life in my body. He stretched out his left hand and created a fierce flame. A good harvest indeed. It replenishes what I use, and so much more. Do you even understand what is happening, slaves? It replenishes the essence of life which the Power consumes in my body. Do you understand what this means? No, of course not. It means that I can use all the Power I want, all the Power I have, without fear of being consumed, without fear that it will consume my life and die.
Instantly Ikai understood the implications. He swallowed. The thing that stopped the Gods from using their Power, the fear of growing old, of being consumed, was now gone. As a result they could release all their destructive Power without fear of the consequences. And if that alone was catastrophic, the tragedy was now truly disastrous, because to be able to do this they needed slaves. It condemned Men to finish up in the pods until they died. He swallowed, and a shiver ran down his spine.
We will harvest all the slaves, not only those of this Boundary but all those who have fled. We will hunt them and put them in these pods so as to extract their essence of life and replenish our Power. We shall have unlimited Power, we will be immortal, all thanks to your petty lives, my little rodents.
