by Pedro Urvi
As he came closer he saw that the entrance to the High Chamber was deserted and the great doors closed. At the same time he saw shadows moving on the upper part of the Chamber, at the foot of the Great Monolith. Without thinking twice, he used his Power. He rose in the mist until he was level with the roof of the chamber and saw three figures crouching on the crystalline surface. They were doing something with what appeared to be two discs. He approached stealthily. Suddenly a cloud moved away from the moon and the silver beams fell upon the figures. He recognized them, and a chill ran down his spine. It was Lord Erre, as he had guessed. But he had not been counting on the fact that he would be with Asu and one of his spies, one of his Shadows, as Albana had been: probably the substitute for the deceased Oskas.
Adamis froze. He could not move, or he would be seen. He took out Aruma’s ring and put it on a moment before the Shadow turned in his direction, as if he knew he was there spying on them, as if he could feel him. The spy’s eyes swept across where he was standing, but found only a fading mist. The Chameleon Ring had protected him. But should Asu be the one to look, he would be lost. He would not fool the Prince of Fire; he was too powerful. Adamis flattened himself on the crystalline floor without taking his eyes off his enemies’ backs.
“Help me,” Asu said to Erre.
The Noble turned round and followed his lord’s order.
“Activate the inhibitor disc so that we can hear what they are saying.”
“I do not think it will work,” Lord Erre said.
“That crazy Erudite Moltus says it will work.”
“All the more reason,” Lord Erre replied.
“Activate it and we shall see. Sometimes that old lunatic’s attempts work.”
Erre did so. For a moment nothing happened. Then a voice reached Adamis. A voice he knew only too well: his Father’s. Instinctively he looked around in search of its source. And then he saw them. Below, inside the High Chamber, the Five High Kings formed a circle. They were not wearing formal attire, nor did they wear their crowns. They were in royal armor, and the elemental medallions shone at their necks. They were staring at each other in silence, and the atmosphere inside was charged with a tremendous tension. Adamis realized that this was no friendly meeting.
“This has gone too far,” he heard his father say angrily.
How he could hear his father when he knew with absolute certainty that the conversation was blocked and directed only to the five high kings, he had no idea, but it surely had something to do with the disc and Moltus. Moltus… the Erudite who betrayed me. I thought he had died. But he is with Asu. He had deserted to the enemy ranks. The vermin! Very worthy of him. The fact that Asu had Moltus’ mind to turn to was very bad news. The Erudite was a venomous snake and half-crazy, but he was brilliant, utterly brilliant. There was no knowing what technologies he might have developed for his enemy. Problems keep growing with every step I take. Adamis suffered a spasm and held back a cry of pain. The Shadow turned, as if he had noticed.
“Be still,” Asu snapped at his spy. “This is very important.”
The Shadow glanced around with eyes half-closed, frowning, before turning to look at what was happening below.
Adamis sighed. That was a narrow escape. He focused on watching what was happening below while the voices reached him through the disc. That clandestine meeting had him completely at a loss. What were the Five High Kings doing, meeting in secret behind closed doors? Were they trying to put an end to the increasing tension? Maybe the meeting will put an end to all that talk of war, he thought hopefully. But his Father’s voice dispelled his misunderstanding.
“Have you lost your mind?” Laino, Lord of Ether, cried in accusation to Kaitze, Lord of Air. “How dare you murder my Erudite?” As he threatened, behind the Lord of Ether’s back a mist formed, rising several feet above his body and taking on the shape of a horrifying spirit. Such was the Power of the High King that the spirit looked like a giant bodyguard emerged from the ghost world. It was a long time since Adamis had seen his father so angry.
“I did not order the murder of your Erudite,” the Lord of Air defended himself. “Someone is trying to make the blame fall on my House.” In response to the threat, behind him and above his head black clouds formed. They reached the ceiling, threatening a powerful storm, and a bolt of lightning zigzagged inside them.
The Lord of Ether turned to the other High Kings. “If not you, then who?”
“He was the most likely one,” Kaitze said, pointing an accusing finger at Gar, Lord of Fire, who sat up erect and raised his chin provocatively.
“To accuse someone, you had better have proof,” the Lord of Fire said, and behind him a huge flame began to form like a fiery column which rose to the ceiling, consuming all the air around it and giving off a black smoke.
“So who was it, then?” Laino asked. “I will not allow such an attack on my House to remain unpunished.”
None of them replied. They were all watching each other: haughty, powerful, defiant. Their eyes were filled with power and strength. None of them would admit to any weakness.
“Nobody admits it?”
“Maybe it was done without express consent,” said Lur, Lord of Earth.
“One of the Nobles? An Heir Prince, perhaps?” suggested Edan, Lord of Water.
This time the silence became tenser. None would admit to having less than full control of their House.
“From the way hostilities are escalating,” said the Lord of Ether, “it is clear that you cannot control your own heirs and the nobles of your houses.”
“And who are you to talk about heirs being out of control?” said Gar, clearly referring to Adamis.
Laino fixed his eyes on Gar’s, and Adamis thought everything would be over there and then. His Father was about to attack the Lord of Fire. Lur and Edan tensed as well.
Kaitze attempted to calm things down. “We are at the brink of war for exactly that reason,” he said.
“He needs to choose his words carefully! I am High King of Fire, and I am in control of my house!”
“Are you sure of that? asked the Lord of Water. “It is not what my spies tell me.”
“How dare you!” exclaimed Gar, and his flame tilted toward Edan as though it were a living creature ready to strike. Immediately an enormous waterfall, seeming to come from the sky, formed behind the Lord of Water.
“Stop, all of you!” said Kaitze. “This is going too far. The heirs of the Royal Houses and the Nobles are out of control. They will cause a war if we go on like this. They see their rival is weakening, and they want to seize their opportunity. And they will not wait for our approval for much longer. They see us hesitating in the face of events, and that cannot be allowed.”
There was a moment of enormous tension. Finally the Five appeared to regain their senses and grow calmer.
“As for your Erudite,” Kaitze went on, turning to Laino, “none of us ordered his death. It is not the satisfaction you were after, but it will have to suffice for now,”
Laino’s eyes lingered on the other four kings. He studied them, and in the end he nodded.
“I accept it, but only because all this endangers the Great Project.”
“Very true,” said Edan.
“The most important thing now for the five of us is to conclude the Great Project,” Laino said. “Do you agree? Or have you forgotten all the work we have done in order to bring this great work to success?”
The five exchanged distrustful looks, which ended in one of common agreement. They nodded.
“We have been working on this secret plan for a long time,” said Kaitze, “and we cannot let all our plans be ruined when we are so near completion. Let us sit down and make sure sanity prevails.”
The five took their places on their thrones. Adamis did not know what his father was referring to by the Great Project, and this ignorance, the fact that he had kept that secret even from his own son, hurt him deeply. He took a deep breath and went on watching attentiv
ely. He needed to understand.
“How is the plan going?” asked Kaitze.
“My funerary temple in the great continent is ready,” said the Lord of Water.
“And mine,” said the Lord of Fire.
The remaining High Kings nodded in their turn.
“Excellent. My temple too has been finished. We already have the first part of the Great Project completed. It is time to begin the final preparations. Do we all agree?”
They all nodded.
Laino, Lord of Ether, used his Power and called out: “Let the Guardian Priests appear.”
From behind the monolith appeared seven figures in white robes with hoods that hid their faces. Their robes were embroidered in gold, and each of them carried a staff of Power in one hand and a golden book in the other. Adamis watched in awe. He had never seen anything like this before. Yet he had no doubts that they were Golden. He felt he understood what was happening less and less, which made him uneasy. What was the Secret the High Kings were keeping? Who were these strange Priests? What was the Great Project?
The Guardian Priests bowed to the Five and fell to their knees, heads bent.
“Five Guardians to watch the temples and our eternal rest,” the Lord of Ether said, and beckoned.
Five of the Priests rose and came forward. Each one came to stand before one of the High Kings.
“Have you brought it?” Laino asked.
“We have brought it, at a very high cost,” replied Gar, Lord of Fire.
The Priests bent close to their masters, and each High King handed his Eternal Priest a disc of enormous size, with an enormous golden pip inside. These discs were so big that Adamis was baffled. The Power stored in them must be huge. Why would these Priests need so much Power?
“Very well. You already know your mission.”
“To protect the eternal rest of our lords,” the priests said in unison.
“Until when?”
“Until the day of the return,” they responded, again as one.
The Lord of Ether nodded to them. “Go to the temples and see that all is prepared.”
“As the Five request, so it shall be done,” they said in unison once again, and left the chamber.
Adamis, who was growing more and more puzzled all the time, looked closely at the two remaining Priests. Each of them carried a huge book in his arms. One had a golden cover, the other silver.
“Come forward, Guardian Priest of the Book of the Sun.”
The priest knelt and presented the book to the Five.
“Come forward, Guardian Priest of the Book of the Moon.”
The other priest knelt in his turn and presented his great book.
The five rose from their thrones and went down to the Priests. They laid their hands on the books: the right on the one, the left on the other. They concentrated and used their Power. An amalgam of flashes of different colors issued from their hands. For a long moment the Power of the Five imbued the Tome of the Moon and the Tome of the Sun. Adamis knew they were placing a spell on them, as was the custom in olden times, but the Golden no longer used that old technique. All this is very strange, he thought as he tried to puzzle out what was happening.
“Leave now, and preserve the books as you have been instructed.”
The two priests bowed solemnly and left the hall in silence, carrying their books.
Laino gave a final summons. “Come forward, Guardian Priest of the Medallion of Shadows.”
As if emerging from the shadows themselves, another priest appeared with a large medallion round his neck. The jewel was almost as big as the Royal Medallions which the High Kings wore. He presented it to the High Kings, who repeated the process. A massive amount of Power passed across to the medallion. Adamis watched, perplexed. The High Kings could not afford such an extravagant waste of Power. Those powerful spells would consume what little life they had left, so that they would not live to complete the cycle.
The Priest took the enchanted medallion and left.
“It is done,” Gar said, his voice and face stern, as if he were not really convinced. “And now what?” he added reluctantly.
“Now you should think seriously what you would rather have: immediate glory or immortality.”
“What do you mean?” said Gar, and the others directed questioning looks at the Lord of Ether.
“The balance between the Houses is broken. We all know that. The freeing of the Boundaries has brought it on. War is about to break out, because there are some houses which are more powerful than others at the moment. If it does, it is true that there will be glory for the winners. But they will lose the chance to gain immortality. To gain immortality we must complete the Great Project, and if there is a war we shall not be able to do so.”
“You are very sure we will gain immortality,” said Gar. “Some of us are not so confident.”
“The Eternal Chamber works, you know that as well as I do. We have several specimens of each House in hibernation. It will work.”
“You are very optimistic,” said Gar. “I have my doubts. Many things could go wrong.”
“That is true,” said Lur, Lord of Earth.
“Without risk there can be no victory,” said Edan, Lord of Water.
“We have the Funerary Temples, we have the Guardians. We have the Eternal Chamber; we only need to be awakened when we so decide.”
“That is the part I find less convincing,” said Gar.
“Time is running out for the five of us,” said Laino. “We will not see a new cycle. Our Power is running out and our body with it. We can hibernate and recover, the Eternal Chamber has proven it. You have all been in the Chamber. You have tested it. You know it works. We can come back in a millennium, rejuvenated, with some of the Power that is being drained from us. If we stay and fight amongst ourselves, we will die. It does not matter which House comes out victorious after the war. The five of us will die consumed in it.”
Edan nodded. Gar lowered his gaze.
“Someone has to wake us in a thousand years,” said Lur, Lord of Earth. “And what happens if they decide not to? If we are betrayed? There is a definite risk.”
“We have managed to make it work, after so much effort, time and secrets,” said Laino. “Now that we are ready, is that what is worrying you?”
“I do not want to hibernate and be unable to come back,” said Gar. “And neither do they.”
Laino nodded heavily. “They will wake us. It has been arranged.”
“Yes, but your system has never convinced me.”
“It is the safest. If you tell someone from your House what we are doing, do you think they will wake you in a thousand years’ time? Or do you believe they will betray you and let you die? Which is the more likely?”
Gar shook his head. “The risk of betrayal is too high. All the Nobles want to be King. No, we cannot risk sharing this secret with anyone from our own families.”
“In that case, my system is more suitable,” Laino said.
Gar protested under his breath. “Very well. We will follow your system. Nobody will share this with their Houses.”
All nodded in agreement.
“One last thing,” said the Lord of Water. “What shall we do to prevent the Nobles of our Houses starting a war?”
“We will distract them,” said Laino.
“How?”
“By giving them the war they want.”
“Against whom?”
“Against Men,” Laino said.
Immediately Adamis felt deeply afraid for Kyra and the others. All he could think of was that he must warn her. He had to protect her. The Five High Kings left the chamber by a secret passage. He tried to calm down and think about what he had just witnessed and its consequences. His father had planned a way to hibernate and return with his Power restored, and he was going to start a war against Men.
Asu’s furious voice reached him. “Those damn senile traitors will pay for this treachery with their lives.”
�
��My Lord,” Erre said, trying to calm him.
“So they want to reign forever, eh? Hibernate and return renewed. And they have not let anybody know that they have the technology to do it. The dirty cheats. Nobody is going to rob me of what is mine by right. I am the future, my father is the past. I shall send him to his Funerary Temple so that he never returns. I shall bury him alive. Nobody betrays me. Nobody tricks me.”
“Calm yourself, my Prince.”
“I will be High King, that is my destiny, and I will be the only High King. The Five Houses will be mine. My dear father can go on with his secrets. But he must be senile if he really believes I will allow him to hibernate and come back to take my crown away from me. I will be King, not him.”
“My Lord, that is high treason,” Lord Erre warned him. “Control yourself.”
“Do not worry about those decrepit old fools. Their time is over. My time has come.” He motioned to them, and the three left in haste.
What Adamis had witnessed had frozen him, but these words of Asu’s petrified him. The end is near.
Chapter 28
Idana was scanning the barrier of the Boundary from the top of a tree on the edge of the forest. The morning mist was starting to fade. The apothecary was so tense that she nearly broke the branch that held her.
Oltas pointed from the branch below. “To the North.”
“Are you sure?” she asked her Warrior Chief.
“That’s what the watch said. They should arrive soon.”
The mist vanished, and with its disappearance came a major disappointment. Crossing the Boundary which until then had served as protection there appeared an endless line of soldiers. Idana’s heart sank; they were not only soldiers, they were Gods!
