“Follow me,” Millfloe, spoke sullenly, as he stooped to pick up his knife.
Silas looked up at the imps. “Let’s go,” he waved his hand in invitation.
He looked out through the iron bars of the fence and saw a large crowd gathered, staring at him and the imps. They had made quite a spectacle, apparently. The crowd was human, he noted, exclusively human.
He followed the guard into the embassy door, noting the thickness of the gate and the door that protected the embassy. The circumstances weren’t necessarily the friendliest he realized, and the guard might have had some justification for acting hastily.
“Go up the stairs and turn left,” Millfloe grunted.
“Thank you,” Silas said. He paused to hold out a hand to the surprised guard, who took it and shook, then looked at Silas in surprise.
“No hard feelings,” Silas said reassuringly.
“You may also apologize to anyone else who you have falsely accused of a mistake,” one of the imps said pointedly.
Silas grinned at the injured egos. “I didn’t see any mistakes, did you?” he asked.
The imps immediately responded with a chorus of denials, making Silas grin, before he walked up the steps, and opened the door on the left.
He immediately saw Kestrel standing in the room, talking animatedly in the Elvish language to the exotic beauty, while three imps floated nearby.
“Were you lost? Did you eat too many mushrooms before you joined us?” Odare immediately asked Silas’s imps as they entered the room.
“Did you think to give us specific directions?” one of Silas’s imps replied.
“Quiet everyone. Imps, we thank you for your assistance. You can go now; we’ll summon you after we visit the temple of the human goddess,” Silas decided to dismiss the quarrelsome imps, who all promptly disappeared.
“Lucretia, this is Silas, a human who comes from unknown human lands far, far to the east of here,” Kestrel introduced. “Silas, this is Lucretia, a hard-fighting former member of the Eastern Forest guard, and now an official Elvish ambassador to the human nation of Hydrotaz.
“We’re sorry,” Kestrel apologized to Lucretia. “As I was saying, we are trying to get to Kai’s temple, and this is apparently the Hydrotaz spot the imps knew best. So here we are.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Silas,” Lucretia advanced and held out her hand as she spoke in a lilting accent. She held her hand at a slight angle, and Silas was suddenly uncertain whether he was supposed to shake it or kiss it. Realizing that his hesitation might seem rude, he bent over the hand and held it as he administered a soft kiss.
“Such human gallantry!” Lucretia grinned. “You eastern humans could teach our western humans a thing or two,” she laughed lightly. “You don’t have to repeat that, of course.”
“Silas will respect your confidence,” Kestrel vowed lightly.
“We’ll be on our way. No reason to keep a goddess waiting. Tell Giondell we said hello,” Kestrel offered quick words and shepherded Silas towards the door.
“He’ll be sorry he missed you,” Lucretia replied as they left the room and went back down the stairs.
“This may get awkward,” Kestrel told Silas in a low voice as the pair left the embassy grounds and starting walking down the city street. “I’m friends with the leadership here, and we may have to make a social visit if we’re spotted.”
“What is a Viathin?” Silas asked, curious to know the reference a bystander had made upon seeing his protective dome.
“Just about the evilest race of beings to inhabit the universe,” Kestrel spoke with strong disdain. “Why do you ask? You aren’t fighting them, are you? I’ll come help you instantly!” he pledged. “That may be what the goddess is going to speak to us about.”
“No, no,” Silas tried to prevent the elf’s sudden flow of mis-conjectures. “I used my energy to protect myself with a dome when the guard attacked me, and someone outside asked if I was a Viathin,” he explained.
“Ah,” Kestrel replied, the wheels in his mind ceasing to spin in the wrong direction.
“The Viathins did do things like that,” Kestrel commented. “Lucretia will probably hear an official request for information about any Viathins that she might have harbored in the embassy,” he sighed. “That’ll be a mess to clear up.”
“I’m sorry,” Silas apologized. “The guard was ready to attack, and I didn’t know where you were or why he was attacking or where I was. I just tried to defend myself without hurting anyone else immediately.”
“We’ll straighten it out,” Kestrel dismissed the matter. “The temple is down this way,” he sounded eager to move on, and he hurried his pace to move down the street through the oncoming traffic. Silas followed along behind as Kestrel walked confidently forward, and then paused as they came to the front of a building.
It was a temple, Silas knew that immediately. There was not only an appearance that spoke of it as a place for people to enter and worship, but there was an air, an invitation that seemed to permeate the building. He felt a desire to go inside and worship Kai.
“This place,” Kestrel said softly. He turned to Silas as he spoke. “The things that have happened here are beyond belief. Not just the statute, but the battle with the Viathins before that,” his voice trailed away
“Let’s go inside,” he said after a pause. Kestrel led Silas into the foyer and then directly through it, to the large sanctuary. Once they entered, Silas paused and stared, and stood for a long moment that felt like it was an hour, as he struggled to comprehend what he saw.
It was a huge statue of Kai, several stories tall, rising high into the upper reaches of the building. But despite its extraordinary height, the most incredible facet of the complex item of worship was not its size, but its appearance. The statue was breathtakingly beautiful.
The figure was carved in the perfect proportions of a human woman. Nothing was extreme, nothing was overtly exaggerated, nothing was anything but the exact shape that the human form needed.
The dress that was carved out of stone seemed to shimmy in some unfelt breeze. The folds of the cloth were exact and realistic. The cavities that showed where the material parted from the torso and limbs of the body were true separations, as it the dress were a separate item from the statue.
And the face was so achingly beautiful that Silas unconsciously gasped as he looked at it. And it was the face of Kai, the face that he knew from his own meetings and dreams of the goddess.
“It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen,” Silas said as he began to instinctively move forward towards the worship rail, so that he could kneel and pay homage to the goddess. “It does her justice!
“Did the goddess make this herself?” he asked Kestrel.
“No, actually, I made it, in a manner of speaking,” Kestrel replied.
Silas stopped his approach to the incredible stature to pause and look at Kestrel following the elf’s incredible claim.
“You must be the greatest sculptor on earth!” he exclaimed.
“I was in a state of, frenzy, I suppose you could say,” Kestrel answered. “The temple had been ruined, and a sculptor was trying to create a new statue, but he wasn’t doing justice to our goddess, so I tried to do something better, and,” he paused and shrugged and struggled for words, “and I just let my emotions and powers run free for a day or two.
“This is the result,” he added modestly.
“I don’t think the goddess herself could look as beautiful as you’ve made her,” Silas continued to be mesmerized by the towering figure.
“Is that any way to talk about your goddess, after she’s shared her energy with you and watched out for you?” Kai’s voice carried through the air.
Silas nearly squeaked with fright. His head turned in all directions, his complexion white with fear. Kestrel also looked around, a gentle grin on his face at the teasing humor he recognized in Kai’s words.
“Come to the alcove directly in front of
you, so that we can talk,” Kai commanded, and the pair immediately veered away from the statue and entered a small, dim side chapel that had room enough only for a handful of people to have a private moment of worship.
“Thank you for coming,” Kai’s voice emanated from a painted image on the wall. “Silas – who doubts my beauty, I now understand – already knows part of this, but not all. Kestrel all of this will be news for you, my young elfling.”
“Not so young any more, my goddess,” Kestrel answered affectionately.
“My apologies, my goddess,” Silas was full of abject embarrassment. “You truly are a wonder like no one or nothing I have ever known, and I apologize for having denied your beauty.”
“Silas, Silas,” the painting laughed.
“Kestrel, you should know that Silas has made himself into a mighty hero, not unlike another great champion I know who likewise rose from the ranks in a time not too many years ago,” Kai began. “He fought against an evil entity, a demigod of sorts, who has survived and flourished as a source and well of evil for many long millennia.”
“Is this evil a remnant of the Viathins?” Kestrel asked.
“No, it is not so exotic as that. L’Anvien was simply a man who accumulated knowledge and power and magic artifacts over time, and grew in power in a land far to the east of here, while also being far to the west of Silas’s land. He has sat in painful control, or at least held influence, over a large swath of territory. And in recent years,” the goddess explained.
“L’Anvien has grown desirous of more power and more homage and more beings who he could persuade or force to worship him as if he were a god. But he is not a true divinity,” the goddess insisted.
“The time has come when his persistent evil has grown too dark to be tolerated. He has spread too much pain and death, and he must be stopped. Silas has already begun the campaign with a successful first step,” Kai continued to report.
“First, second, and third steps!” Silas proudly corrected.
“No, young one, only one very small step. You have freed your own continent, but that is only a fraction of the world that lives with fear of L’Anvien in their daily lives,” Kai re-corrected in return.
“Now, the time has come for the two of you to join forces and fight against this monster. I want the two of you to unite your abilities and your thirst for justice, so that you can go to the very heartland of L’Anvien’s domain and defeat him,” Kai told them.
“You must lay him low and put an end to his existence,” Kai commanded. “I ask you to do this for me, and for Kere.”
Kestrel was silent for a moment. “Kere has felt the touch of his evil as well?” the elf asked. “I wasn’t aware of this L’Anvien’s presence in our lands.”
“Do you not remember the evil influence that infected the princess of the Eastern Forest, and drove her to madness?” Kai asked. “Kere and I both now recognize that L’Anvien was the source of the regrettable civil war that erupted among your people not so many years ago. And when the Princess needed to flee to safety, she and her advisors rode off to the east to find refuge in L’Anvien’s lands.”
“L’Anvien was the reason for the tyranny and civil war?” Kestrel asked, his eyes taking on a steely glint, as he recollected the damage and death that had been spread through the Eastern Forest by the misrule and abuse of power that the Princess Elwean had exercised under the influence of two unknown advisors from the east.
“I’ll go to the palace and ask for an army to march to seek revenge,” he vowed.
“An army is hardly necessary,” Kai answered. “The two of you, alone, have more power than any army known. You do not need an army; you just need to go to L’Anvien’s court and destroy him.”
“You want us to leave now, my goddess?” Silas asked. “I had hoped to speak to Lumene once more before I begin the quest you want. We were going to have a ceremony,” he finished his though in a voice that trailed off.
“A ceremony? Are you getting married? Congratulations!” Kestrel patted Silas’s shoulder.
“No, not a wedding ceremony. I can’t do that until I return from this quest to kill L’Anvien. But a ceremony to give me a title, so that I can aspire to marry the princess. I’m just a commoner,” Silas explained.
“You are hardly ‘just a commoner’!” Kai denied his claim. “But that is not an issue for now.
“You may go home and carry out your chores for a few weeks, but then it will be time for you to go,” she said.
“The two of you must decide how to make your march together,” Kai told them. “With your friends the imps and sprites, not to mention your own great powers, I imagine you will accomplish this in a relatively quick span of time,” she continued.
“And the world will be a better place for your good works. All the gods will thank you, all the people will thank you, but most of all, I will thank you, and Kere will thank you,” the painting pronounced.
“Now, this is enough time in the temple. Go about your lives and your planning for this campaign,” Kai told them. “Thank you for being two such trustworthy acolytes,” she said.
The glow about the painting disappeared, and both companions felt the sudden absence of the glorious power of the goddess.
“That was something!” Silas blurted out.
“She always has an impact on me,” Kestrel agreed as the two rose to their feet. “Let’s go back to the Eastern Forest and discuss this further,” he proposed.
When Silas nodded agreement, Kestrel called the imps.
The temple erupted in shouts of surprise at the unexpected invasion, but the two visitors calmly allowed the imps to engulf them and take them back to the Healing Spring.
Once the imps were all happily placed in the water, Kestrel and Silas discussed their proposed campaign.
“I’d suggest that you have the imps bring you here to start,” Kestrel began. “We know now that this L’Anvien attacked the Eastern Forest with emissaries he sent here, so we can simply follow in their tracks backwards to the place they began.”
“He’s attacked my lands too, but I have no problem starting at this end,” Silas agreed. “It would all be travel over land, wouldn’t it?” he found appeal in the promise of not having to sail across the vast ocean that separated Ellan Sheeant From Rolemica.
“We’ll bring along a small squad of elves, enough to help us carry supplies and be able to set watches all night long,” Kestrel agreed.
Silas looked up at the sky. The day was advancing, and he realized it was getting late back in Amenozume.
“I probably need to get back home. My Princess will be expecting me,” he blurted out.
Kestrel looked at him in surprise, having been deep in thought about the logistics of preparing for battle.
“We’ll roust the imps out and send you on our way then,” the elf politely agreed. The two of them awoke the imps, who complained about a too-short nap in the water.
“I’ll go straight back home from here,” Silas advised. “Please tell your wife I said thank you for her hospitality.”
“We’ll talk again soon,” Kestrel agreed, and then Silas was gone.
Kestrel looked at the remaining imps, who hovered around him. “He’s a bit young, isn’t he?” Kestrel asked rhetorically, perplexed by the unexpected departure. “But he must know how to fight; there’s bound to be some reason Kai called upon him to be a champion,” he mused.
“Now, who would like to go back into the water for a bit more dreaming?” he asked, making the imps clap with glee.
Chapter 35
Silas returned to a darkened palace in Amenozume. Evening had fallen, and Silas found his journey that had taken hours of time had caused him to not only miss dinner, but much of a concert taking place in a large hall in the palace. Silas visited the kitchen, where he was fed a comfortable meal by the cooks, who knew very well through the palace gossip that Silas and the Princess had a close relationship.
Forna returned to his room and found
him there after the concert.
“There you are! We couldn’t find you anywhere; where did you go?” she asked. “Lumene had even managed to save a seat for you next to her.”
Silas winced at the news of his prominent failure to appear.
“I went to the land of the elves to talk to Kestrel. He and the imps took me to another human land where there’s a tremendous statue of Kai, and she told us a little more about what we’re going to do,” Silas answered. “Kestrel didn’t know anything about L’Anvien, so it was all news to him, but I knew a lot of it already.”
There was a knock on the door, and a servant entered. “Her highness Princess Lumene requests the company of Silas, if he has returned to the palace,” the messenger reported.
Silas had a similar conversation with Lumene as he had with Forna.
“We missed you,” she told him. “You are always going to be doing this, aren’t you? Flitting away even when you’re not on some grand adventure,” she sighed. “It’s very confusing Silas, not knowing when to expect you.”
“I don’t think it’ll be like this forever. Kestrel seemed to have a pretty normal life once his time as a champion was done,” Silas offered a hope for a calmer future.
Despite his need to visit with Kestrel for further discussions about strategy, Silas decided he ought to remain in Amenozume for the next few days. He hoped his presence and a regular routine of activities around the palace would calm Lumene.
On the morning of the ceremony to provide Silas with a noble title, Silas observed Sloeleen leave the Speaker’s tower several times to rush to the Princess’s rooms. The Speaker grinned conspiratorially at Silas as she passed him but revealed no news.
“you’re pretty busy this morning for a Speaker in a city where there are never any messages or news,” he stopped her to point out one time, interested in learning what news she was receiving.
“It seems that way,” she agreed, then hurried back up the stairs towards her tower.
Foundations Broken and Built Page 32
