by Jeremy Dwyer
He soon spotted a man with blue skin standing next to the enormous crystal towers. Many lights – both from ordinary torches and from drinkers of the Lujladia waters – shone upon the towers. Pandaros knew that it was a sun worship temple by its design. What concerned him was that the man with blue skin apparently supervising the towers was distinctly different from the blue-skinned man he had met before.
Pandaros scanned the island further, looking out for another man with blue skin. He discovered such a man and approached him up close, recognizing him as his former rival almost instantly.
Blazer Endrit saw the man he had seen before – the man who had come for the luminaries – and instantly reached out his hands to draw water and turn it into fire.
Pandaros quickly sent forth the spirit of sickness and it entered into the man with blue skin, causing him to fall to the ground.
Then, Pandaros drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from his vial to become further energized. He summoned a spirit of confusion, also sending it at the man with blue skin.
Blazer Endrit felt something enter into him – and he suddenly forgot his purpose.
A man he did not recognize began speaking to him, saying: “I say to you, bring to me that which is mine, which you have taken. The cold, dark onyx candle which you have stolen.”
~~~
Marzia and Roxanne were no longer hidden in the darkness provided by Halina, but stood back in the shadows and watched.
Roxanne prepared to kill Pandaros, but she was suddenly jolted by a thought.
Marzia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and was energized. She reached out to Roxanne telepathically and said: “Do not move. He wants the luminary, so let him have it. He will take it back to where he has hidden the others, and then we will have them all.”
Roxanne complied, knowing that the greater prize was ahead. Marzia was very strategic – and intrusive into the thoughts of others – which meant that she was less governed by instinct.
~~~
“We must leave at once, that the kingdom may expand yet again,” King Xander said, standing up from his throne.
Rivka and Aura followed him, and the Chronicler Gisella followed behind them.
King Xander led the way down the steps from his throne and then out of the throne room and then out of the palace. He, Aura, Rivka and Gisella boarded a small airship in the courtyard and used it to travel to the northern docks where the Eminence of the Oceans waited, anchored in the waters of the Kazofen Ocean. The large flagship was surrounded by the two hundred forty-one (241) ships of his fleet.
King Xander boarded the flagship, followed by Aura, Rivka and Gisella.
“Welcome aboard, Your Majesty. We are nearly ready,” General Povaximus said as he saw King Xander.
“If our reinforcements are nearby, tell them to leave, for they shall not be paid,” King Xander said, looking to Rivka.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Rivka said. She walked away from the king and went to a private room on board the ship.
Gisella watched and decided not to follow her.
Aura decided that she would follow Rivka, because she was angry about her sister’s close relationship to the king. As Aura walked off to follow Rivka, Gisella changed her mind and followed the sisters.
Once in the private room, Rivka saw that she was not alone. However, she had to proceed because significant matters were not going to wait – the king could leave at any moment as soon as the general was ready.
Rivka drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from her vial. These waters energized her, and she reached out to the spirit world, and sensed a hateful and evil presence. She was hoping it wasn’t there, but since it was, she had to approach, so as to refuse the help for which King Xander did not wish to pay.
Rivka began speaking in a voice that only one (1) particular spirit could hear, saying: “Master of Spirits in the Maelstrom of Vengeance, we have no need for thee. Your assistance is not necessary, and we ask that you now leave.”
The deep and terrifying voice of the demon Gadamalto spoke back into Rivka’s spirit so that only she could hear, saying: “As you have received, you shall pay.”
Rivka spoke back, again in a voice that only Gadamalto could hear, saying: “The bargain was not kept, so the king shall not pay.”
Gadamalto became furious and spoke back to her spirit fiercely, causing her to cry out in pain. The demon’s voice was still such that only Rivka could hear, and it said: “Then the king shall be destroyed by my servants! You shall be destroyed as well, by your own blood! Tell your sister what you have done! Tell her that you have tasted the king’s flesh in passion and pleasure and that his seed is in you, because the king loves you more, and Aura is merely his fool, whom he will never love.”
Rivka screamed out against her own will, saying: “I tasted the king’s flesh in passion and pleasure. His seed grows within me, as he loves me more. You are his fool whom he will never love.”
Gisella watched this and was startled, but wrote it all down. She suspected that spiritual powers of an evil nature were at work – Rivka’s vial of water definitely had the carving of the classical symbol denoting the Zovvin waters – so she could not be sure if the confession was true.
Aura heard Rivka’s confession and became furious: even though she already knew that Rivka had been in the king’s bed and that he had been in her body – from having overheard the cries of passion – she was most angered by the second part, wherein she was called the fool who would never be loved. Aura immediately put her hands on Rivka’s throat and choked her with all of her might, and Rivka was powerless to stop it, being in pain from the demon’s screams that shook Rivka’s soul. Aura then sang into Rivka’s ears: “Die! May you forever die! May you never breathe again! May you be gone and suffer for always in another life!”
Gisella stood back, not wanting to be an accidental accomplice of this attempted murder. Before long, Rivka fell to the floor and her spirit left her body.
~~~
Rivka found her disembodied spirit in a dark and confusing place, and an all too familiar voice spoke to her in its deep and terrifying way, saying: “This is the Maelstrom of Vengeance, the place of your eternal suffering and confusion.”
Gadamalto took great joy as he tortured Rivka in every imaginable way, knowing that it would never end.
All that Rivka’s spirit could do was scream in unimaginable agony forever.
~~~
Gisella was horrified at what she had seen, but was unsurprised that the allies of such an evil king would ultimately destroy each other.
“She was my sister! She was my betrayer!” Aura said, alternately furious and fearful. She then left the room.
Gisella recorded all of this, and was actually bothered more than she cared to be. She wondered: since when does one sister kill another? She began to feel the sadness that Aura did not show. She then followed Aura to return to King Xander on deck.
General Povaximus was standing there, speaking with the king, and it was clear that the ship had already begun to sail.
“Where is Rivka?” King Xander asked.
“She died of sorrow, Your Majesty,” Aura said.
“She was your sister. Why are you not in mourning?” King Xander asked.
“A song is always in my heart, Your Majesty, even in the face of death. Sisters may die, but music is forever,” Aura said.
Gisella recorded all of this into her book, even Aura’s facial expressions. Her tone of voice, however, was rife with sarcasm, although Gisella did not record that aspect. As a Chronicler, she did not owe the king any report of the murder that Aura had committed: he would have to figure that out for himself, but Aura’s sarcastic tone of voice should have been an obvious clue.
CHAPTER 49: Waging of a War against the Kingdom of the Sky
Being a demon was painful, but Gadamalto found a sick and twisted way to enjoy it: he learned to value suffering, and to forget true joy; he learned to love
hate, and to hate love; he learned to place his hope in hopelessness and to abandon true hope. Otherwise, it would have been unbearable for him, as well, because he was an enemy of the One True God, and was condemned and tormented to an even greater degree than those human spirits he was given to torment. He did not give his thoughts over to the truth, however – the truth that all of the torment he personally endured was due to his inescapable and deep realization of his ultimate betrayal against the One True God. This truth caused to him to go, ultimately, insane.
The demon Gadamalto held billions of spirits in eternal captivity, confusion and torture in the Maelstrom of Vengeance, and this was his delight. Among these spirits were unrepentant murderers and abusers of all types, along with those who sold their immortal souls for any temporary gain. He also held sway over those who were in the realm of the spirit world adjacent to the material world – they were not yet condemned, but were in a precarious state of existence. Many had not made their final decision of what power they would serve, and they were given a period of grace during which to decide. Gadamalto had hoped to influence their decisions with promises of favors.
He reached out to these spirits during their grace period and called many of them to serve him, promising a respite from torment that they would ordinarily face once they were condemned and given over to him. Since he was the tormentor, he could do such things. Since, however, the finite amount of time for which they would have this reprieve from suffering was vanishingly small when compared to their eternal torment to follow, it was no real loss to Gadamalto: he understood the infinite, even if they did not.
Gadamalto calculated many new ways to make King Xander suffer, and so he made offers to the undecided spirits that they might haunt the ships and the crew of the king, and many thousands accepted this offer. He sent them forth and they converged on the king’s fleet.
~~~
Pandaros had control over the blue-skinned man because of the spirits of sickness and confusion he had summoned and sent forth.
Blazer Endrit writhed around on the ground, suffering from the illnesses that the spirit of sickness had inflicted upon him.
Pandaros then said to him: “I can heal your illness, if you return to me what is mine. This sickness is your reward for theft.”
Blazer Endrit felt nauseous and weak. His bones ached and his muscles were sore. He could make out the words the man was saying and spoke weakly, saying: “yes, end it.”
Pandaros then called the spirit of sickness to ease the suffering so that the blue-skinned man could gain his strength back in part.
“Stand, now, and take me to it,” Pandaros said.
Blazer Endrit stood up and walked uneasily and slowly toward the Trading Center One building and Pandaros walked beside him.
Marzia and Roxanne followed, hiding in the shadows, only so that they did not lose sight of Pandaros. Because of the twilight darkness of the sky, they were able to escape his notice.
When they entered the building, Blazer Endrit led the way into a side room and took hold of a box on a table. He tried to open the box but realized it was locked – he had forgotten this because of his confusion brought on by the other summoned spirit, which Pandaros had not taken away or called to relent.
Pandaros realized the box was locked and asked: “Where is the key?”
Blazer Endrit said: “I cannot remember. My mind is not clear.”
Pandaros considered this for a moment and called the spirit of confusion to relent and allow the blue-skinned man to have more of his mind back.
Blazer Endrit felt his thoughts become clearer and so he was able to find a key hidden in some books and he used it to unlock the box. Inside of the box, he found a cold black onyx with a wick and handed this to Pandaros, who recognized it as a luminary, at least in form.
Pandaros then sent forth the spirits of sickness and confusion directly back to the blue-skinned man, and he instructed those spirits to torment him in full force for as long as they could.
Blazer Endrit became so confused he could not even understand the pain that he was in or remember his own name or purpose. He fell down and writhed around on the floor, nauseous and in pain from the sickness, not knowing what to do next.
Pandaros then put the onyx luminary into his backpack and hurried out of the building. From there, he made his way to the docks. Unknown to him, Roxanne and Marzia were following, and Marzia knew that Pandaros had the luminary.
When Pandaros paid eight (8) platinum coins for transport and boarded a ship, Marzia and Roxanne tried to do the same, but realized they did not have enough money to pay for both of them.
Marzia had the answer, however. She paid for herself, and then telepathically instructed Roxanne to create an illusion of coins. Marzia herself then telepathically directed the ship’s steward to accept the payment and not question the illusion he was presented with, so that he believed that he had been paid.
The ship sailed north across the Pirovalen Ocean, then briefly converted to the form of an airship to travel over the Scholar’s Path land bridge, returning to sea level in the Ursegan Ocean. From there, the ship sailed north to the Colossal March Warpath land bridge and Pandaros left the ship.
Marzia and Roxanne followed him stealthily, keeping their distance and letting the twilight darkness cover them.
Pandaros drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from his vial to be energized. Then, he called upon a spirit of light, which guided him while he walked slowly up the mountain path.
Roxanne drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from her vial to be energized and provided her own subdued light for the mountain trek. Marzia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and was energized, so that she could know the intentions of Pandaros and if he had noticed them.
Marzia directed Roxanne to keep her light subdued and not gather undue attention, even if it would allow her to see long distances – she was only to make it possible to move safely up the mountain path. Instead, Roxanne was to wait, and be ready for a lethal strike with burning light. Marzia probed for thoughts in the area, and found that Pandaros was expecting to meet with a pair of men – a Pirovalen drinking singer and an Ikkith Tar drinking assassin – along with a pregnant Kazofen drinking woman. Pandaros had bad relations with the woman, who was angry about the luminaries, and was possibly carrying the child of the singer, or of a fallen man who had been a light bender. The assassin was guarding the luminaries.
While probing the mind of Pandaros, Marzia also learned the true purpose of the luminaries, which was to power the machine in Thalkalana that would consume stars and create the underground ocean. That was startling, yet it suddenly made sense. What made little sense was Pandaros lighting these luminaries now – out of curiosity, he was experimenting to discover what might happen to a world plunged into darkness. He had no reason to believe anything useful would occur – he was willing to confuse, kill, destroy or otherwise ruin everyone and everything in pursuit of the answer to his philosophical question, so she doubted his sanity. Marzia then telepathically communicated this information to Roxanne, who was aghast.
As Pandaros approached the cave in which his fellow Explorers of the Quiet Sea were hiding, Roxanne and Marzia fell back.
Marzia telepathically watched and waited for the proper moment.
Pandaros entered the cave and produced the new luminary from his backpack.
Amaltheia looked at him in anger, but could do little to stop him, so she said nothing.
Erikkos was intrigued and said: “You succeeded, quickly and without injury. But is it a true luminary?”
“Injured or not, you always come back, unlike those who go with you,” Amaltheia said.
“My leadership is essential,” Pandaros said. He then held the luminary out toward a torch mounted on the cave wall. As he did this, he felt a burning sensation in his back, which got hotter and hotter, until his clothes and skin caught fire and he fell to the ground, dropping the luminary before the torch
could light it.
Amaltheia saw this and was surprised – but she smiled, because she hated him. She then saw Abrax burst into flames, as well, and these flames poured out of the personal cloak of darkness in which Abrax had been hiding. However, moments later, his personal cloak of darkness ended and the burning corpse of Abrax fell to the ground. Amaltheia sat up, overjoyed, having hated him also.
Erikkos saw the fate of Abrax and Pandaros and intended to avoid it for himself. He quickly drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial and was energized. He sang out musical notes – loud and high pitched – that caused pain for everyone in and around the cave: Marzia, Roxanne, Amaltheia and the child within her. He then fled the cave and went out into the darkness.
Outside the cave, Marzia and Roxanne held their ears and winced in terrible pain from the musical notes, which could hardly be called music, as far as they were concerned. As a result, they did not see Erikkos exit the cave and disappear into the darkness for the several minutes during which they were assaulted by the sound. Despite Roxanne’s powers of light, she did not know where to look. Erikkos was also quick enough to move outside of Marzia’s range for telepathic tracking.
After the painful musical notes that Erikkos sang had come to an end, Amaltheia was able to focus and see that Erikkos had left her. She became furious that he did not stay by her side, and that he had caused her such pain with his voice.
A moment later, a pair of women entered the room. Amaltheia looked at them, fearful that she was the next to be destroyed.
“They weren’t my friends. I was their captive,” Amaltheia said.
The luminary that Pandaros had dropped became lit from the flames that consumed his corpse, darkening the skies even further.
“Most men are not worthy to be called friends. For a while, though, you were their ally. The one who ran was your lover, and a possible father of the child,” Marzia said.
Roxanne then relaxed her powers of light, but the bodies of Pandaros and Abrax continued to smolder.
