by Jeremy Dwyer
They entered the room and saw a large bed – that of a king – with the body of a man resting on it, holding a sword, which had a slight blue glow to it. There were fifteen (15) portraits on the wall, and each of them showed a nobleman kneeling and receiving a gift from a different king. Thirteen (13) of the portraits showed the nobleman receiving a vial: one (1) for each of the twelve (12) Great Waters, and one (1) for the Dead Waters. The fourteenth (14th) portrait showed the same nobleman receiving a book, and the fifteenth (15th) portrait showed him receiving a sword.
Judith was writing all of this into her book, observing the fine details of the portraits, and seeing that the nobleman in the portraits had a striking resemblance to the face of the much older man whose body was lying in repose on the bed. The titles underneath each of the portraits identified the kings, and this wealth of historical information was carefully noted by her.
A spirit appeared before them, bearing a resemblance to the man lying on the bed. “Why do you disturb me again, Jenaldej Prince?” the spirit’s voice asked.
Lady Ismene spoke up on behalf of all of them, not just Prince Emerond, saying: “Our world faces a deadly enemy, in allegiance with a most terrible evil. The Ahitan Empire is on the rise, and a woman of their bloodline, by the name of Victoria, holds the tiara of power. She is in hiding, waiting for the time to strike.”
“You will not find her in time. She will find you. Then, she will defeat you if you do not prepare to the utmost degree, and she will shed much of your blood to serve her demon,” the spirit said.
“You are the great Duke Hagan, are you not?” Lady Ismene asked.
“You know my name, spirit woman. What of it?” the spirit of Duke Hagan asked.
“In your lifetime, you designed marvelous structures. You were the greatest architect, and your works are legendary. If anyone was clever enough to learn of their terrible secrets, and knew a powerful way to strike at the Ahitan woman, it would be you,” Lady Ismene said.
“There are means to strike at the woman, but her death cannot be brought on by a single strike of any weapon. There is too much evil power in her,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“What of the sword you hold? The Spirit Sword is a great weapon, is it not?” Lady Ismene asked.
“Indeed, it is a great weapon, giving knowledge to use against evil. The virtuous one with you can take it, if his heart remains pure,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“Knowledge to use against evil? I thought this was an actual weapon that could help find our enemy and separate her from her source of power,” Emerond asked. He was surprised, and annoyed at having been led to believe something more about this Spirit Sword.
“Knowledge is one strength to use against the minions of demons. Another is virtue. The greatest is piety. The knowledge of her location will be given by the Spirit Sword when she is struck with it,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“How do we find her to strike her? Does the Spirit Sword help us to find her the first time? Or are we left to do that for ourselves?” Emerond asked.
“The woman must be seen to be struck and marked by the Spirit Sword. That much depends upon you,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“Didn’t you also say that this Spirit Sword could cleanse evil, and weaken the Ahitan woman in some way, pushing aside the source of her power?” Emerond asked, looking to Lady Ismene.
“I do believe that cleansing of evil is one of its powers,” Lady Ismene said.
“The Spirit Sword does not cut the flesh. Rather, it marks the spirit, and cleanses evil from it, but not the evil of a demon, which exceeds its powers. The Ahitan woman must be struck by physical weapons many times, and she will escape you many times,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“We came here for this? A sword that doesn’t even cut the flesh, but gives knowledge! The knowledge that it gives – helping us to find her – we can’t even use that knowledge to find her the first time! A sword that cleanses evil, but not the powerful evil that is within her! Why did we trouble ourselves to come here for this Spirit Sword? I was led to believe that it was something far greater,” Emerond asked, showing his annoyance.
“All real powers – even those of life and death itself – are manifestations of spiritual knowledge. The Spirit Sword will be worth the effort to obtain it, I assure you,” Lady Ismene said.
“When we do find the Ahitan woman, or she finds us, we can hit her, then find her again, then hit her again, as many times as necessary,” General Joshua said.
“Very well. You are the virtuous one, perhaps you can make use of it,” Emerond said to General Joshua, disgusted at having been misled. All of this seemed like metaphorical language to Emerond, because he had taken Lady Ismene literally at her promises. An army of spies and assassins would have been better – except he had such an army already, and they failed thus far.
“I call the virtuous one to step forward,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
General Joshua walked up to the body of Duke Hagan and waited.
“Take the Spirit Sword,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
General Joshua placed his hand on the hilt and lifted it up.
“With this, you may place a mark upon the soul of your enemy, so as to find and ultimately defeat him,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“Defeat him who?” General Joshua asked, surprised and confused.
“What are you talking about? I thought that the enemy we were pursuing was the Ahitan woman – Victoria? What do you mean by defeating him?” Emerond asked, now completely disgusted with the twists and turns that the story was taking.
“The wicked warlord, known as Lavakara, was my greatest enemy while I was alive, and now I sense that he has returned from hiding and shall be your enemy. He is ancient, yet young. Strike at his spirit – the spirit that has moved from the body of one warrior to the body of another over the millennia, in his determination to be the greatest warrior ever. You will thereby mark it so that you can find him and strike at him wherever he hides. In time, you can defeat him, when he can no longer evade you,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said.
“So we have another problem in addition to Victoria and this tiara of power she has. We have to go against this warlord, Lavakara? This just got a lot worse, very quickly,” Emerond said.
“Evil does not rest for long,” Romana said.
“Evil does not rest at all, it merely rearranges itself. I know of this Lavakara, and he shall be a scourge to us if he decides to act against us. He has been the bane of many, yet none can ever find him in time. When they do, he is gone too quickly to act against,” Lady Ismene said.
“Is that why you really brought me here? I thought we were trying to defeat Victoria before her tiara became effective enough to use against us,” Emerond said.
“That is what I had planned. I thought that we could use the Spirit Sword to find her and mark her with it, so that she could never hide again, and possibly even strike at her to diminish her hold on power by separating her from the demon,” Lady Ismene said.
“You led me to believe the Spirit Sword was so much more, and that it could find her and weaken her. Now I know that it cannot find her the first time, and it cannot weaken her, as she must be struck many times by other weapons, and we have yet another enemy looking to act against us. I’ve little reason to take your suggestions as literal, or complete,” Emerond said to Lady Ismene.
“Do not trust the warlord. Know that Lavakara crafts many lies, and through his deceptions, he will turn empires to dust. He is exceptionally formidable in battle, and armies fall before him or turn to his side. Yet, he fears the Spirit Sword,” the spirit of Duke Hagan said and then disappeared.
Judith noted and recorded all of these things from the conversation with the spirit of Duke Hagan, but she also noted and recorded something else: there was, underneath nine (9) of the first thirteen (13) portraits, a very ornate trim on one portion of the frame. She went to them, and looked and saw that the ornate trim
was actually a small vial, and was able to remove it from one of the portrait frames. Looking at the vials depicted in the portraits, and the markings on them which matched those on the vials that were part of the frame that held the corresponding portrait, she noticed which ones were missing.
“Who is aware of the locations of the four (4) missing vials?” Judith asked.
In asking this, Judith was speaking in accord with another tenet of the Chronicler’s Oath.
The Eleventh Tenet of the Chronicler’s Oath: State your questions cleverly, to learn much while revealing or suggesting little or nothing.
This meant that she could attempt to elicit information from them, as she did not know for sure whether one or more of them, on a previous trip here, took the other vials, or knew who did. At the same time, she was acting according the Tenth Tenet when she revealed to them the previous information as it concerned demonic forces. As a result, the second part of this Eleventh Tenet, which advised revealing little, was not as important here, as this very castle held the secrets of demonic forces, and the Oath did not instruct her to keep their confidences. When the tenets came into conflict in a given situation, some were more important than others – at least partially.
“What are you talking about?” Emerond asked.
“I didn’t know that any vials were present,” Romana said.
“Of the fifteen (15) portraits, thirteen (13) depict Duke Hagan receiving vials of water from different historical kings. Underneath nine (9) of those thirteen (13) portraits, the frame of the portrait has an ornate design element that is actually a vial, and is removable. The missing ones are the vial with the markings of the Zovvin waters, the vial with the markings of the Pirovalen waters, the vial with the markings of the Elanatin waters and the vial with the markings of the Dead Waters,” Judith said.
“That is an excellent question, trustworthy Chronicler. Shame on us for not noticing this detail,” Emerond said.
“This is interesting, but I have no idea what it could mean,” Lady Ismene said.
“Of the vials that are present, what is their significance?” Nathan asked.
“Also an excellent question, and I don’t know if we have the time to answer it,” Emerond said.
“It is time for additional study,” Judith said, and she left the room, heading back toward the room with many bookcases and books.
Everyone else followed Judith, thinking that she may be the one to find the answers they sought. If it is knowledge against demonic powers, she would be allowed to reveal it, according to what she had previously said.
Judith read additional books, but nothing she read gave even the slightest clue to the meanings of the vials. She read and transcribed twenty (20) of the books, in a little over three (3) hours, and then said: “I am done reading for now.” Everyone was waiting, patiently or impatiently, expecting something to come from her studies.
“I have found nothing new to reveal at this time,” Judith said, and all were quite disappointed. They could not match her speed of reading, so they had to depend on her to find and reveal something quickly, or they would do without.
“We have the Spirit Sword, and a world filled with difficulties and a growing number of enemies. It may be time to make our move,” General Joshua said.
“Agreed,” Emerond said, wondering if the move they made would mean anything – the Spirit Sword sounded like it had little to offer.
Reversing their route, they left the castle and the mountain that contained it. Once they reached the cave entrance, they returned to the Lucent and sailed back to the continent of Revod. Along the way, Judith considered many things she had learned from the books, and what it all meant. She hadn’t revealed all of it, because it didn’t pertain to the opposition of demons. She still had to keep some things to herself: too much revelation would constitute interference according to the Chronicler’s Oath, and she had to keep to the tenets of the Oath as much as possible.
CHAPTER 18: Subjugation by Blade
On the continent of Ihalik, the witch, Fallavakara, continued in her quest to grow an undead army large enough to conquer the Ahitan woman – the woman with violet eyes, by the name of Victoria – and take her tiara.
She kept her forces hidden in the forests and swamps, ambushing travelers. With each one, her army, numbering more than two thousand (2000), grew stronger and stronger, and more able to surround each new victim or group of victims.
She struck not only men but beasts. The wolves of the forests were surrounded and subdued, one by one, as her human minions were used as barriers to blockade them. Occasionally, the wolves would get the better of a few men, but she had ample surplus. The wolves were fast and had strong teeth to rip the flesh, which made them more valuable than the humans for some purposes.
The ruby dagger needed only to slice the flesh and make the smallest cut before the curse within it seized the living being and turned them undead. In time, like with the human subjects she ruled over, she also commanded a pack of wolves, consisting of over one hundred (100) animals.
She ordered her human undead servants to gather some fallen branches and vines and build webbing between the branches of trees. With this, she was able to capture bats, and turn them into her undead minions, as well.
Wherever she pointed the ruby dagger, the undead would follow. Additionally, the undead humans understood her spoken commands, even complex ones, as their minds were present, despite the suppression of the soul. The undead wolves understood something more limited, as a living wolf would do. The bats merely followed the direction of the ruby dagger and no more, not heeding any spoken commands. They could attack, and that is what they did. She could direct the bats to attack human travelers, bring them to their knees in pain from the bites, and then surround them with her humans and wolves until she could readily strike at them with the ruby dagger, turning the living into the undead.
In time, Fallavakara’s army grew so large – over two thousand three hundred (2300) men, over four hundred (400) wolves and over two hundred (200) bats – that she became confident that she was ready to face the Ahitan woman, Victoria, who would be no match for these undead servants. Fallavakara had so many minions, in fact, that she used them to attack a few travelers just to drink their blood. Her thirst for blood never ended, or abated for long.
The size of the army gave her the ability to take control of the small port town named Lahavinik, and all there either became her servants, or meals of blood. Sailors and freighter captains visiting the port found themselves struck with the ruby dagger and made into the undead, subject to her commands, such that her army grew to over three thousand (3000) men, along with the over four hundred (400) wolves and over two hundred (200) bats. She now had access to their ships, which were exactly what she would need to move her undead army. She also had their knowledge of tales from other lands, and the possible location of the Ahitan woman named Victoria, who was, as many of Fallavakara’s latest victims said, on Udovedaj-Pren Island.
The ruby dagger had made her formidable in a way that she never was before. True power had always been out of Fallavakara’s reach. Her old master had blamed her for a lack of concentration, and too much focus on her thirst for blood, rather than real accomplishment and growth of useful power. She cursed the thought of him and his words, as blood was the nectar of her life, and her joy in life. Success took time, of course, along with the right sort of magic. The waters of the Zovvin Ocean enabled her to reach into the spirit world, but they did not give extra years, which meant her powers would end in time. Her former master, Lavakara, had told her that only a fool could ever think that any liquid, even blood, was as powerful as the great waters, be they Zovvin Ocean waters or the waters of the other great oceans. He insisted that the waters themselves were the ultimate power of this world, and that even the suns in the sky were as nothing compared to the waters. Fallavakara begged to differ, and so he dismissed her as his student, calling her an unteachable fool. To this day, she believed blood to b
e greater than the waters, and she was drunk on it: the blood of men, the blood of wolves and the blood of bats. She had so many servants that she no longer sought more: she used the army she had to subdue victims only to drink of their blood rather than turn them into more undead to follow her commands.
In her blood-drunkenness, she reached an ecstatic state: the blood – mixed with Zovvin Ocean waters – extended her life, and she felt she could never die, so she had limitless potential for power that would last forever. The ruby dagger would enable her to grow her undead army as needed, as well as surrounding victims on whose blood she would dine as she pleased. Her life seemed perfect, and she was overjoyed.
However, she awoke from this state and remembered her mission: to kill the woman with violet eyes and bring her tiara to Gadamalto, the Master of Spirits in the Maelstrom of Vengeance. She was afraid now: vengeance would be visited upon her if she failed, and the demon made it clear that the stakes were raised after he gave her the ruby dagger. He was her master now, and the time had come to follow his orders.
Fallavakara pointed the ruby dagger toward the abandoned ships in the port – she had either subjugated each crew member into a state of undeath, or killed them, so no one was on board. In total, twenty one (21) ships were taken, and her undead servants were at the helm of each. She now had a fleet, albeit of cargo ships that had visited the port, and she was ready to set sail. The ships were capable enough, and the crew still had their skills, just not their individual freedom of thought. They could steer the ships, and sail them over sea or sky.
Fallavakara pointed the dagger to the northeast and gave her orders, saying: “Sail to Udovedaj-Pren Island in the Ikkith Tar Ocean.” Her human minions complied by sailing the ships north over the Trerada Ocean until they reached the Glivoran Trail land bridge. They then converted the fleet of ships to airships to sail north over the land bridge, returning to sea level in the Kazofen Ocean. They sailed northeast across the Kazofen Ocean, until they reached the southern coast of the continent of Revod. They then converted the fleet of ships to airships once again, sailing north over Revod, returning to sea level in the Ikkith Tar Ocean. There, however, the witch and her undead fleet confronted difficulties for which neither she nor they were prepared.
