by Jeremy Dwyer
After a second day of travel, the Sun Lynx arrived at the Admiral Ramalaxis Bridge and Rayner dropped anchor and lowered the boarding ramp onto a pier.
“We’ll wait for you,” Rayner said.
“I’d like to accompany you gentlemen, if you don’t mind,” Guillermo said.
“That would be fine. However, I ask that you join us as well,” Przemek said, looking to Daven.
“Why?” Rayner asked.
“He obviously has the power of music. That may help us to understand the effects of sound on the structure of this temple. That way, he can get the answers that he’s been waiting for,” Przemek said.
“I’ll go,” Daven said.
“I’m waiting here,” Rayner said.
Laurentius, Przemek, Daven and Guillermo went down the boarding ramp and onto the pier. From there, they walked to the nearby coastal town. Within an hour, they were at the site of the ruined temple, with large shards of broken crystal lying about, as well as partial walls made of crystal that were left standing for centuries.
“My family was blamed for all of this, and the deaths of the people in the temple,” Laurentius said, while walking around and looking at the various crystal walls – many red, some yellow and a few blue.
Przemek drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from his vial and was energized. He looked closely at some of the crystals and saw marks and fractures similar to those that were on the replica. “These crystal fractures are closely – but not perfectly – matched by the replica in Emeth’s Eleventh Hall,” Przemek said.
“Can you explain the cause of the fractures?” Laurentius asked.
Przemek looked even more closely at the crystals lying about – peering deep into their low level structure – and he saw various jagged patterns as well as wave patterns, but he did not know what they signified for certain. “I see jagged fractures as well as patterns of waves,” Przemek said.
“If you were to break the crystal with sound, would this happen?” Laurentius asked, looking to Daven.
Daven drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial and was energized. Various harmonies occurred to him and he began humming, then singing them.
“Nothing’s changing,” Przemek said.
“I’ll try something different,” Daven said, and he began singing the musical scales.
“Still, nothing’s changing,” Przemek said.
“Try the highest pitch you can. The sailing crystals cracked. Maybe these can, too,” Laurentius said.
Daven concentrated and began thinking of how he would cause the crystals to crack, or even shatter into many pieces, and words began to form in his mind. He realized that they would be too powerful, possibly even damaging the sailing crystals of nearby ships, so he reduced his range. He held on to the words, singing only a melody.
“I do see something, however slight,” Przemek said.
“What do you see?” Guillermo asked, unable to perceive the changes in the crystals.
The crystals of the temple fragments around them suddenly began to vibrate and pieces broke off of them. The crystal that Przemek held also began to break.
Guillermo was fascinated by what he was hearing and seeing, even though he realized it was also dangerous.
“This crystal is definitely undergoing stresses. I see fractures, and they have patterns, but they’re different from the historical ones,” Przemek said.
“That isn’t sufficiently strong support of my case, but lends it some credence,” Laurentius said.
“It’s not convincing…not yet, anyway. At best, sound induced fractures of the temple’s crystals are theoretically possible, but not readily achieved. The sailing crystals were not as thick, which made them more vulnerable,” Przemek said.
“It could have occurred that way, however, right?” Laurentius asked.
“It’s remotely, theoretically possible. That’s all I can say so far,” Przemek said.
“Even if you can prove it, then what will you do?” Guillermo asked.
“I’ll take it to the banks, because they’re the ones who collected the cost of damages, and would have to repay me,” Laurentius said.
“And if you can’t prove it?” Przemek asked.
“I don’t know, yet,” Laurentius said.
~~~
Portia and Romana led the way – followed by Lady Onora and Desmond – to the Eleventh Hall of Emeth.
As they entered, Lady Onora took Romana by the hands and said: “Romana, before we begin our research, we must first pray, and not place our confidence in ourselves. We Pray to Thee, One True God, to bless our minds and our efforts that we may discover the truths necessary to carry out Your Divine Will for us, so that we may best serve you.”
“I’m ready,” Portia said, not paying much attention to their prayers, but noticing them, and hoping it meant something. She hoped against her beliefs, because she believed that prayer and religion was all mythology, but she hoped that a loving deity could improve a dangerous world.
“I’ll go with you,” Romana said, and they began making their way through the enormous building, studying a number of writings on crystals.
“You may want to start by looking for information about their structure – the properties of the onyx crystal or the geometry,” Portia said, poring over the writings with Romana. They climbed the steps to look at the inscriptions high up on the interior walls, where the historical knowledge was carved in stone for permanent reference.
Their studies lasted for many days without finding anything of use.
~~~
Lady Onora, however, did not follow them, going off in a different direction instead.
Desmond, out of curiosity, followed her, hoping to be of assistance.
“You’ve got something else in mind?” Desmond asked.
“Yes – King Xander – if he has come to rule many times before, then there ought to be some indication in Emeth,” Lady Onora said.
“Unless the last time he came was before Emeth. This city – these halls – are only about three hundred fifty (350) millennia old. There is plenty of evidence that the world is much, much older,” Desmond said.
“Much of that knowledge has been transcribed by Chroniclers and brought here over the millennia. I don’t believe that there is no recorded knowledge of this king whatsoever,” Lady Onora said.
“If I were looking for records of a king, I would look for structures reputed to have been built in his honor, as well as records of land that he held and economic activity,” Desmond said.
“That’s a start,” Lady Onora said.
She and Desmond began poring over the writings in the hall, as well as studying many of the architectural replicas. Days passed without them finding anything of use.
~~~
“I think I know how to figure out who made them. These names are of ancient architects – a long line of teachers and students, but they’re not in order. The earliest of these lived at a time when the luminaries were found,” Romana said, reading several inscriptions and reasoning how they might connect to others.
Portia looked at the same inscriptions that Romana had been looking at and said: “If we can place the ancient names of the architects in the proper order then, yes, we can determine a great deal about who made them. Is that useful, though?”
“If we learn who made the luminaries, we can look for other information connected to that same name. From there, we may gain insight into the answers to more import questions, such as how to unmake them. I realize they can’t be destroyed; perhaps, though, they can be disassembled,” Romana said.
“That’s just a supposition, as much as I would like to believe it. However, with thirty-six (36) names here to rearrange, there are over thirty-seven (37) billion billion billion billion permutations. That’s a tremendous number of possibilities to consider in order to find an answer that might be useful,” Portia said.
“I thought that we could systematically eliminate large numbers of inval
id choices, based on the rules of the spellings of names,” Romana said.
“This could still be quite a difficult puzzle to solve,” Portia said.
“The alternative is?” Romana asked.
“I’m working on that,” Portia said.
“While you’re searching for alternatives, I think I’ll give this my best attempt,” Romana said and she took out a notebook and a pencil from her coat pocket and began writing a series of notes into it, concerning which letters were present. She also noted the various rules about name formation, which disallowed certain letters from being together and required others to begin a word, or to end it, or to be in the middle.
Romana spent additional days, lost in her studies, trying to solve the name puzzle.
Occasionally, Portia gave her assistance, in between searching for answers on other topics, as she had returned to her work as a librarian and people did occasionally seek her assistance on unrelated matters.
~~~
“The Tomb of the Ten (10) Kings – have you ever heard of this?” Desmond asked.
“No, should I have?” Lady Onora replied, surprised.
“According to what I’ve been reading, that tomb was a structure built in the first age, and it was intended to give a total of ten (10) lifetimes to whomever was buried in it after each of their first nine (9) lives,’’ Desmond said.
“How much truth is there to such a thing? A Chronicler would write what they heard or saw, indicating that it was merely an observation, and thus subject to illusions or to incompleteness. Thus, that which was said or written could have been a false statement, and it was only true that the Chronicler saw or heard it,” Lady Onora said.
“It seems to be a mixture of mythology and history. The name of the architect who built this tomb was Kheiron – supposedly the greatest of the age. He had a lover named Elektra, and she was reputed to give him inspiration for his designs by consulting a spirit named Abaddon,” Desmond said.
“Abaddon is the name of a demonic being. Anyone who would contact him and receive knowledge from him would have their soul condemned,” Lady Onora said.
“I know that spirits are leftover conscious energy after people die and they’re real. Still, I don’t know how much of the rest of this I can believe, but it does seem that the tomb was a real structure,” Desmond said.
“If this Abaddon was in fact the true designer of this Tomb of the Ten (10) Kings, then it may just have the power claimed. It may also be that King Xander gained access to it, enabling him to return again and again,” Lady Onora said.
“If the tomb is destroyed, then he can’t return again, according to the same source,” Desmond said.
“How can the tomb be found – and be destroyed?” Lady Onora asked.
“The tomb was supposedly hidden in northwestern Ihalik, near the coast of the Zovvin Ocean. Based on the information about the positions of the stars in the sky in that time period, I believe we could find it. Of course, that would require the help of navigators who could follow those stars. It would also require the end of the darkness that stands in their way of navigating,” Desmond said.
“The star positions can be traced mathematically,” Lady Onora said.
“Not in this case. They’re mostly yellow suns, so they’re not precisely calculable. We’re going to need Atrejan water drinkers,” Desmond said.
“If we could find the tomb – in some way – how would we destroy it?” Lady Onora asked.
“Tombs of kings are traditionally made of stone – the historical records seem to indicate this is no exception. That may be the easier problem to solve,” Desmond said.
~~~
On Haza’Kedro’Maral Island in the Pirovalen Ocean, Duchess Uliana – now nine (9) months pregnant and ready to deliver at any time – stood looking at the towers of the Temple of the Sky’s Nine (9) Kings.
The three (3) Torches of Majesty – Blazer Luken, Blazer Endrit and Blazer Darakizar – stood around it, with glowing blue fire in their hands. Ordinary torches protruded from the ground, surrounding the many blue, red and yellow towers, giving more illumination to those who had been working on its construction.
“There are now nine (9) blue topaz towers, twenty-four (24) yellow citrine towers and thirty-seven (37) red ruby towers – all according to the design,” Blazer Luken said.
“The temple is completed, then?” Duchess Uliana asked.
“Structurally, yes. The blue towers each stand one hundred twenty (120) feet tall. The yellow towers each stand eighty (80) feet tall. The red towers each stand forty (40) feet tall,” Blazer Luken said.
“Yet, the stars do not dwell within it,” Blazer Endrit said.
“Because of the darkness that keeps them captive. Until it ends, the temple is of no use,” Blazer Darakizar said.
“Blazer Endrit and Blazer Darakizar: you are both to focus all of your attention on finding the luminaries, and extinguishing them to end the darkness. Blazer Luken: you are to stand guard over the temple, while it is unoccupied by the powers of the suns,” Duchess Uliana said. She was furious, but saw no good in letting her emotions run away. The child within her was placing such a strain on her body and mind that she had no energy to do or to say or to even think about much else. She could not wait for the moment that she went into labor – and it could be any moment.
CHAPTER 47: Rise of Voices against the Unfailing King
While still in their rented room in the port town of the Wandering of Shadows land bridge, Caroline sat in a chair and held her grandson while he slept.
“This place won’t be safe forever,” Taesa said while sitting up in bed.
“People come here to hide – to disappear in the shadows between the Lujladia and Ikkith Tar Oceans. It’s a rough life, but it is a life, and probably safer than out there. I wanted to leave before, but now I think it’s our best bet to stay,” Zoe said.
“Until the king decides to come here,” Taesa said.
“He’ll never find us here,” Brant said.
“How do you know?” Taesa asked.
“Because this is one of the worse places to live: it’s not a home, it’s a hideout,” Brant said.
“What’s with all of these questions? We just have to avoid any more confrontations and misadventures,” Caroline said.
“This king wants the valuable lands. As far as we know – unless he’s taken them already – the continents that are left are Baradaxa, Javanda, Volaraden and Nataloridivu. He’ll want to seize those first, for their rich resources,” Emerond said.
“And then what?” Taesa asked.
“Then, he’ll look at the other valuable lands. This is the last place to look, because it has the least to offer. There are thousands of islands in most oceans with more to offer,” Emerond said.
“So, where will we get food from, if the king takes over those continents? Aren’t those the places where most of the farm lands and pastures are? I’ve seen maps of the world – and its economy – so I know about which resources are from which places,” Taesa said.
“I think I know what you’re getting at, but we’re not in a position to stop him,” Emerond said.
“Fighting makes for a tiring life. Sometimes we need to get out quickly and stay out of sight,” Zoe said.
“Soon, we’ll have nowhere to run or hide,” Taesa said.
“Until then, we’ll keep running and hiding,” Caroline said.
“We don’t have a ship, so we don’t have a navy,” Zoe said.
“We don’t need any of that. We just need to tell people the truth – that this king has lied to them and used songs to trick them into finding something meant just for him,” Taesa said.
“Do you think you’re the first person to have that idea? If it worked, the king would be gone by now, and we’d hear about it from people traveling here. No. This king will kill us if we confront him or speak against him. Don’t doubt it,” Zoe said.
“Anything we said or did would get him angry, so we’d have to
kill him. Too bad we can’t,” Brant said.
“That means we’re going to die here,” Taesa said.
“Not yet. We have time – we just have to wait for things to get better. Someone will do what is necessary and confront this king, when there’s no other choice,” Caroline said.
“You’re not that someone, and neither are we,” Zoe said.
“There’s nothing here – no knowledge, no freedom to move. All because we’re afraid,” Taesa said.
“Fear – some fear – is good. It keeps us from taking too many risks,” Caroline said.
“Soon, we won’t even be able to get the water we drink – who will bring it? Zoe will be fine – the Lujladia Ocean is right on the western shore. But Brant won’t be able to get the Nabavodel waters, and you won’t be able to get the Kazofen waters,” Taesa said, looking to Zoe, Brant and Emerond.
“Fine. So we might have to sneak out to refill our supplies,” Zoe said.
“Assuming you can, when the king controls every land,” Taesa said.
“We’ve gotten into – and out of – some tough places. Don’t worry about us – we still have a few tricks no one has seen, so we can sneak around a bit,” Zoe said.
“If you’re trying to convince us to leave, remember what happened at home…the home we used to have, until the people wanted revenge on you, and they destroyed it,” Caroline said.
“This is no way to live…it’s just a way to die slowly. My son will never know what the world is like, because he’ll be forced to live in hiding,” Taesa said.
“That’s better than no life at all,” Zoe said.
“He’ll know us, and we’ll be there for him. Sometimes, that’s all that really matters. An unexciting life can be the best of all,” Emerond said.
“What if he wants to live a long time by drinking the Ursegan waters? We can’t leave here, so we can’t get to that ocean or even near it, so he misses out on that, unless someone brings the waters here. Who will bring them if the king takes control of everyone out there?” Taesa asked.
“He doesn’t need to drink of any of the waters. I don’t,” Caroline said.
