Spirit of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 2)

by A. J. Martinez

  Akielas placed a hand on Eckxio's shoulder and looked at him. He could see that the Elf was losing hope. "The fairy king will know how to return her soul," Akielas said. "We are going to go and we will find you a new weapon. You will fight again with sword and shield and we are going to take the Emerald Cosmo Jewel from the Specters and return it to the Greamos."

  Eckxio was frowning but he forced a smile and raised his head. Akielas then looked at Willow. Please hang in there, he thought.

  "Forget about these Effeelions," Auron said. "They have the Aero Cosmo Jewel. Eventually the Specters will find them and try to take it. I think they will end up helping us without realizing it, so we should just leave them alone."

  "That is what I thought," Akielas agreed. "Let's hope that they can defend the jewel against the Specters."

  "My father, Sherwood, told me about the Effeelions once," Eckxio added. "From what you have said about them, they sound selfish. Father described them much differently, however, for us it was only a myth. I thought they were supposed to be angelic creatures from the realm of light."

  Suddenly Akielas felt Willow's body moving. He jerked his head over his shoulder and stared at her. Eckxio touched her forehead and also felt some movement. It was as if she was trying to awaken and it brought light to their eyes. Eckxio shed a tear and kissed her hand.

  "Hang in there," the Elf whispered.

  "She is strong," Auron commented. "She reminds me of my daughter, Hanna."

  "Akielas, we should hurry to the fairy king," Eckxio suggested.

  "Of course," Akielas agreed and stood up.

  "She doesn't look like she has much time," Auron said. "Who is going to watch over her while you two are gone?"

  Akielas and Eckxio looked at each other then looked back at Auron. "It's obvious, is it not?" Eckxio said.

  "I can't stay here," Auron replied and stood up, using his sword with a grunt. "I must find out how to make this work." He pulled out the Golden Sun from within his tunic.

  "Ganicus," Akielas whispered. "What exactly happened to him? I felt his presence disappearing when I was in Kazenolumos.

  Auron closed his eyes and stood in silence before he answered. Akielas knew that it was really painful to say. Auron turned to the small round window and gazed at the houses outside. "Ember killed him," he finally said.

  "That's impossible," Eckxio said, holding his left arm as it stung with pain every time he moved it.

  "Ganicus had the Golden Sun. How in the world did he lose to Ember?" Akielas asked.

  "Ember used the Golden Sun to trigger the power of the Crimson Cosmo Jewel," Auron answered. "She knew that it had both light and cosmo, which was what the jewel needed to awaken. When Ganicus attacked Ember, the crimson jewel activated and then she used it with the emerald jewel to destroy Ganicus. After he died, I took the Golden Sun and returned it to his father. The king gave me permission to use it until we defeat the Specters."

  Akielas punched a hole in the ground and shed tears. He screamed and then threw his cup of tea against the wall.

  "I am not cleaning up after you again," Auron snarled.

  "That is not funny," Akielas rasped. "Damn it! Damn it all. He was just a boy. He died because of me."

  Auron grabbed Akielas by the collar, brought him up then slapped him so hard his skin turned red. Eckxio stood up and pushed Auron back.

  "What is the matter with you?" Eckxio snarled.

  "You are making a habit out of blaming yourself, Akielas," Auron yelled. "It is pitiful. You are not the man who raised me. You are not the father I know. Where is that optimism that you always had? The Akielas I know never felt sorry for himself. He stood up tall and saw nothing but great things ahead of him."

  Akielas rubbed his cheek and thought for a moment. He stepped back, grabbed a chair and sat down. "You are right," he said. "I have been feeling so guilty. This is all my fault after all. I was just angry because Ganicus died too soon. I told his father I would keep him safe. I knew one of us would die eventually as we fought the Specters, but I didn't think Ganicus would be the first."

  "And his death won't be in vain," Auron swore. "I am going back to Amaranth Island in the west isles. I am going to find out how the Golden Sun works. It has a fire nature and I believe that my tribe will know what to do. Then, I will wear the armor and fight the Specters. Perhaps it won't be much, but at least we will stand a chance."

  Akielas nodded and patted Auron's shoulder. "I believe in you," he said.

  "We will leave Willow with my father in Verday," Eckxio said. "Then we will go to the fairy king in the Quariras Mountains."

  "Sounds like a plan," Auron replied. He donned his chest plate and vambrace and slung his sword on his back. "I am off to Amaranth Island. When will I see you?"

  "When you return, meet us in the Yama country, over the Kumo Sora Mountains," Akielas answered. "The teleport crystal will take you there. All you have to do is send me a signal."

  "Well then, see you soon," Auron waved goodbye and walked on to the pentacle in the corner of the room. Auron used the teleport crystal, a wand-shaped blue gemstone. The pentacle began to shine, blue lights rose from below engulfing Auron and, within seconds, he disappeared, teleporting to another location on the map of Odealeous.

  Eckxio donned his diamond studded chest plate and vambrace. The chest plate had been fractured and the pauldrons had been broken in the fight with Ember. He lifted Willow and gently fixed her blonde hair over her shoulders.

  Akielas sat by his crystal ball and looked into it. He waved his hand over it with eyes closed as he allowed the ball to manifest the images in his mind. In the crystal ball, a young boy with long black hair appeared by a shore. The boy dug his feet in the sand as waves crashed up to his knees. The young boy stared into the horizon with a lost expression on his face. Perhaps when this is all over I will see you, my son, Akielas promised. Ajira, I know you are lonely now, but daddy will come and save you one day and we will live together like we are supposed to.

  "Akielas, let's go," Eckxio urged.

  Akielas stood up, walked to the pentacle, and joined Eckxio. He used his teleport crystal, lights rose from below and they fell through a blue abyss.

  Ember

  On a small island north of El Nido, their tower loomed like a fortress from Necrovania. The skies were cursed and always dark, the ocean was always angry with massive waves crashing on the plateaus below the tower. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed very day; the sun was never seen.

  In one of the highest floors of the tower, Ember and Naunet lay in bed.

  Naunet had survived the gunshot during his confrontation with Rey Ling. The small missile had been taken out by Ember and she had closed his wound using carnomancy, an art that branched off of pyromancy. Carnomancy was the art of controlling the flesh. Ember had a connection with Naunet so she could control his body. She healed his wound but a scar still marred his chest.

  "I thought I was going to die when that missile plunged into my body," Naunet said wearily as Ember caressed his chest.

  They were both naked under the bed sheets. She had eased his pain with her body and now they lay lazily staring at the ceiling. Wind came in from the balcony and thunder echoed outside. It was their paradise away from the entire world.

  Here they did not hide their faces. Their masks hung on the wall as well as their clothes. Their Omiack Eye glowed purple in the dark with no pupil or sclera. The Omiack Eye was a gemstone with cosmo energy given to them by their goddess, Arkana.

  "What exactly was it?" Ember asked.

  "Some kind of device that could shoot round pieces of metal from a small barrel," Naunet answered. He rose and sat on the bed in the lotus position. Ember hugged his back and rubbed her chest slowly against him. "It even destroyed some of my fiends. How can something so small have such an impact?"

  "That Xaianian is a gadgeteer. His inventions are his powers," Ember said. "But how in the world did he come across a cosmo item?"

  "He probabl
y found a fallen star," Naunet guessed. "That is how Akielas found the teleport crystals that he uses now."

  "Perhaps," Ember added. "Not to worry. This world is ruled by magic. Only mages have true power. Even the people of Ironside know that machinery will never overpower the mystic arts."

  "Well said," Naunet whispered in her ear then kissed her. "Nothing can really prevent us from taking the Omnistar from Rey Ling. The gadgeteer has no connections with Akielas and his allies."

  "Don't underestimate him," Ember said and looked at the balcony as curtains billowed from the strong wind. "Akielas is never short on friends. The man is blessed with people on his side. I am sure he will at least have some connections with the queen of the United Pathways."

  "You think so?" Naunet asked, voice soft.

  "You should know," Ember responded. "Master Akielas had many followers when we lived in El Nido. Even after we turned our backs on him he still found many allies throughout the world. When I fought Auron in Burnahdujf and stole the Crimson Cosmo Jewel, I was shocked to discover that Akielas was his adopted father. Then when Hertha took the grimoire from the Elves in Verday, somehow he knew Eckxio and Willow. Then that prince Ganicus. Everywhere we go Akielas always has someone on his side."

  "How does he do it?" Naunet asked.

  "Akielas is very curious," Ember answered. "I think he had already traveled Odealeous before he taught us. Akielas always sought knowledge from wherever he could and people are drawn to him like worms lure fish."

  Naunet gently brought Ember's face to meet his and asked her, "Why didn't you kill him after we woken the Emerald Cosmo Jewel?"

  Ember remained silent for a moment, then looked away. She covered herself with the bed sheets and lay down, gazing at the storm outside.

  "Answer me," Naunet said and tried to turn her face back, but she pushed him away.

  "When I kill him I want it to be just me and him," she finally answered. "I want no interruptions, no distractions. Just me and him alone with our swords so that we can end this once and for all. I want to see him lose right before my eyes. I want to give him one last chance to join us before I slay him and, if he refuses then I will kill him. As our master, I want to defeat him and prove that I am the better mage."

  "You want him to tell you how much he loves you," Naunet added.

  Ember looked at him and winced.

  "You are still bitter about losing him to that other woman," Naunet continued.

  "That is not why," Ember snarled. She stood up, nude, and paced towards the gargoyle hanger. She grabbed her clothes, swung them over herself, becoming black smoke then covered her body from neck to toe. She fixed her short raven black hair behind her ears then faced Naunet and said, "I do not make decisions by listening to the ghosts of my past. I want to kill him honorably, not like a commoner in a town or village."

  Naunet chuckled and stood up from the bed as well. His dreadlocks covered his face and he tossed them aside. "You still have feelings for our old master."

  "Don't you?" Ember asked and grimaced.

  "Of course I do, but that is not what I meant," Naunet confessed. "You have romantic feelings towards him. I can see it, you can't hide it from me. A part of you still wants him. Oh Ember, soon you will be a ruler of Odealeous, on the day of the tri-eclipse. On that day Akielas will do his best to stop us. On that day you will face him one last time and I fear you won't have the heart to finish him."

  "Yes I will," Ember snarled.

  "Prove me wrong," Naunet replied and donned his clothes that shifted from smoke to leather.

  Someone knocked on the door. "Come in Jairo," Ember answered.

  Jairo entered the room and removed his mask. He shook his head and brushed his hand through his white spiky hair. "We have a problem with our next target."

  "Is that the demigod?" Ember asked.

  "Yes, how are we going to take the Aero Cosmo Jewel from him?"

  "The same way we took the other cosmo jewels," Naunet replied and chuckled. "We either take it by force or we trick them into giving it to us."

  "The Effeelions might be peaceful creatures, but they are powerful," Jairo explained. "Caim is no pushover either. You remember when I fought him ten years ago and lost all my magical abilities."

  "So you are scare of him now," Ember teased.

  "You want to face him all by yourself, then be my guest," Jairo said. "We need a plan. I was just spying on that city in the sky. The Effeelions do not want to get involved with Akielas, so we cannot use him to take the jewel. I think we are going to have to face Caim without tricks or strategies. He is invincible."

  "He is still half human," Ember reminded. "Let's bring out that side of him and use it against him."

  "He does not care about humanity," Jairo replied. "He is too busy assisting the Effeelions with their spiritual mission."

  "How about a little optimism." a voice came from behind Jairo. He startled and jumped away, his boots sliding over the marble tiles.

  "Hertha, you startled me," Jairo grumbled.

  "I think you are still traumatized from that fight ten years ago," Hertha analyzed. "You need to make a plan with someone who has not been psychologically damaged by this demigod. Someone like me."

  Hertha was the youngest and the shortest in the group. She was an earth mage and, like her element, she could be very stubborn. She removed her mask and freed her short bright brown hair that went past her ears. "Maybe all three of you have forgotten, but we now have the upper hand," she said. "I have finished forging a special item that will help control the cosmo jewels."

  "Is that so," Ember said, becoming curious. "This I must see."

  "Follow me above." Hertha beckoned.

  All four Specters exited Ember's chamber and flew up around the atrium. They ascended to the last floor, where they kept all the kaminyte, zeustoss, and mythium steel they had stolen. When they reached the floor they saw a high pile of kaminyte steaming black with dark maju. Next to it was another large pile of mythium they had found throughout the forests of Verday. Mythium looked much like granite, yet it shone with multiple colors in the sunlight and, although it was not as hard as kaminyte, it was just as strong as iron. Some confused mythium for common rocks but, when it was exposed to sunlight, it looked as bright as diamonds. Some mages used mythium to make swords with an elemental enchantment. Non-magic users would make weapons from it because the magic of the steel varied greatly, especially when forged into armor.

  Next to the great pile of mythium was a smaller pile of zeustoss. Ember and her friends had not acquired as much zeustoss as they desired, for it was rare. Zeustoss was an unbreakable steel and it required white flames that the Dwarves in Burnahdujf used to melt it. Ember remembered destroying Eckxio's sword and shield that were made of this divine material. No element could resist cosmo magic, for it was the supreme attribute.

  Ember knew that they required more zeustoss to create their ultimate weapon for the day of the tri-eclipse.

  "Where is it?" Ember asked with her hands on her hips, surveying the room.

  Hertha walked between the piles of kaminyte and mythium. She grabbed a staff leaning against the mythium and spun it playfully. It was a long staff that was a foot taller than her. Its grey color was like hematite, yet glossy. The steel looked as though it could melt into a bizarre silver liquid. It gleamed from the light that came from the oculus above. At the top of the staff was the Crimson Cosmo Jewel, caged with bars forming a sphere. The jewel shone, yet its light was tamed. Ember could see that the effect of the staff was somehow suppressing the power of the jewel. She approached Hertha while staring at the staff, mesmerized by its enigma.

  "What is this?" she asked in a low tone. Hertha handed the staff over to her.

  "It is the finished product of the steel we have been fusing," Hertha answered. "You know, omnithium. The combination of kaminyte, zeustoss and mythium. There is nothing in the world stronger than this."

  "Omnithium," Jairo said creeping behind Ember, his ha
nds drifted towards the staff but Ember slapped them away.

  "Don't touch, you idiot," she barked.

  "Omnithium," Jairo repeated. "I once found lost scrolls in Ironside written by Hettakus Kollos. The scroll indicated that Hettakus had used omnithium to forge many Valiarmos, such as the Golden Sun."

  "And Hertha knows how to make it?" Naunet asked.

  "Actually, it was I who gave Ember and Hertha the idea," Jairo said proudly. "The small lantern we used to extract Willow's soul was forged from kaminyte and zeustoss. The combination of the two steels with opposing attributes had the power to extract a soul with a dose of our cosmo magic. It was a complicated invention. Then I asked Hertha to try and mix all three metals together and see what kind of weapon we can create. I had no idea it would have the power to tame a remnant of the dragon gods."

  Ember raised the staff and gazed at the omnithium. The cosmo jewel at the top still emanated incredible maju but, when Ember inserted her maju into the staff, she felt as though she had complete control over it, unlike last time.

  "When I fought Ganicus it was difficult to control," she said, "but now it feels as if it is a part of me."

  "That is because omnithium contains more cosmo than the three metals separately," Jairo explained. "When the three are combined its force is much greater. In fact, without the cosmo jewel it's still a good enough weapon."

  "Sounds like it is more than enough to fight against this demigod you spoke of," Naunet added.

  "Persist to your heart's content," a voice echoed in the room.

  The Specters looked up at the oculus in the high ceiling. The goddess, Arkana, descended. She stopped at the center of the atrium, appearing as a transparent being. Arkana's eyes had no pupils or iris. They glowed blue and her face had a blank expression. She wore a purple cloak and underneath was a one piece skirt dress. The cloak had a tight hood that covered her head and on top she wore a crown that was bedecked with gemstones. What appeared before the Specters was but an astral projection of the goddess.