by Dean Cadman
Lusam noticed Neala trying to say something to him, but he could barely hear her over the howling wind. He decided enough was enough and erected a magical barrier around them both, plunging them in an almost eerie silence. It caught Neala by surprise and she found herself shouting loudly at Lusam.
“No need to shout,” he teased, gaining himself a stern look. “What did you just say? I couldn’t hear you for the wind.”
Neala rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. “I said, can’t you put up a magical barrier and block out the wind.”
“Oh, yeah… good idea,” he replied, grinning at her. Neala simply shook her head again, ignored his comment, and began scanning the island for any evidence of a temple ruin. It didn’t take either of them very long to realise, however, that if Lohlaen had indeed ever been there, it was certainly not obvious now.
When they had first seen the island appear on the horizon it had looked relatively small, but now that they were standing on it they realised just how big it really was. It would take them days, if not weeks to search every part of the island—time that they simply did not have.
“Any idea’s?” Neala asked.
“Only one, but you’re not going to like it,” Lusam replied. “I thought we might levitate around the island and take a look from above. Maybe we can spot something up there that we cant see from down here.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I don’t like it,” Neala replied.
Lusam chuckled. “Well, if you have any better ideas…”
“Actually, I might,” she replied, with a thoughtful look on her face. “Didn’t you once tell me that you could see the magic in the walls at Coldmont and the High Temple, and also in Mr Daffer’s basement?”
Lusam looked at her slightly confused. “Er… yeah, but there are no walls left here to see.”
“Whole walls, no… but maybe you can see the remains of them somewhere.”
Lusam immediately slipped into his mage-sight and a moment later gasped loudly. In the centre of the island was the unmistakable glowing outline of a ruined building. A building easily large enough to have been the fabled Lohlaen.
“I don’t believe it,” he whispered under his breath.
“Can you see it?” Neala asked, excitedly.
“Yes… I can see it,” he replied, breathlessly. His pulse raced at the thought of discovering yet another Guardian book and being able to finally close The Rift once and for all. Not to mention being able to save his friends and finally settle down to a normal life with Neala—a married life. He put his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground, swirling her around whilst she giggled and squirmed in his grasp.
“You’re a genius, Neala,” he said, smiling at her as he lowered back to the ground. “And I love you.”
Neala smiled back at him. “I love you too,” she whispered, leaning in to kiss him gently on the lips. It was only a brief moment that they spent there together, but Lusam wouldn’t have traded it for the world. It was the first time, in as long as he could remember, that he had felt confident everything was going be alright.
Lusam hated having to bring the moment to an end, but he knew that he must. Time was still their enemy and lives were still at risk. He gave Neala one final kiss, then gently broke their embrace.
“Come on, let’s go see if they left any treasure behind,” he said, grinning at her. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled at him. He wasn’t sure if it was because of their brief encounter together or the prospect of searching the ancient ruin. But truth be told, he didn’t care, it was just good to see her so happy.
The force of the wind against his magical shield made it difficult to walk across the exposed boulder-strewn landscape and he had to ask Neala several times to slow her pace. By the time they were halfway to the ruins, Lusam was breathing very heavily and he began to wish Neala wasn’t so afraid of levitating. He decided to experiment with the shape of his shield, to see if he could make it any less resistant to the wind. Eventually, he discovered that an egg shape seemed to work best, and was soon able to keep up with Neala’s enthusiastic pace.
When they finally reached the ancient ruins of Lohlaen, they simply stood and stared at what little remained. It was almost impossible to differentiate between what might have once been the temple, and what were only natural boulders and rocks. It seemed like whoever had built the original construction had used the local building materials, which given the island’s remote location, was quite understandable, Lusam thought. In fact, it was only because of his mage-sight that he was able to tell there had ever been a building there at all, and it took him a good ten minutes to point out the almost invisible boundaries to Neala.
The ancient footprint suggested that it had once been an impressively large building, although not in comparison to the High Temple in Lamuria, or even Coldmont in the Elveen Mountains.
“Where do you suggest we start looking?” Neala asked, breaking the silence.
Lusam shook his head slowly. “I have no idea. I was just going to ask you the same thing.”
“I take it you can’t see any hidden entrances with your mage-sight then?”
Lusam shook his head again. “No, I’m afraid not. I looked for one as soon as we arrived, but a few feet under the surface the stone floor of the building still remains and it’s magically warded so I can’t see past it. No doubt it’s part of the original protection for the Guardian book, so no one can detect its presence from the outside world. But unfortunately, it means that I can’t see what lies beyond it either.”
“Then I guess we better start digging around,” Neala said, stepping inside the boundaries of the old ruin and moving to the far north-western corner. She was already turning over rocks and digging in the soil with one of her daggers before Lusam caught up with her to reply.
“We can’t just start digging randomly,” Lusam objected.
“Why not?” Neala replied, turning over yet another piece of stone.
“What do you mean, ‘why not’?” Lusam asked, slightly exasperated. “We don’t have the tools for one thing, not to mention the time it would take to excavate an area this size. We could spend years digging here and still not find what we’re looking for.”
Neala cursed loudly. “No… I don’t think so,” she said, picking up a flat piece of rock. Lusam thought the prospect of treasure hunting had badly affected her judgement and was about to say so when Neala turned to face him still holding the flat rock. “I think we might already be too late,” she said, turning it over so he could see the other side. It took Lusam a moment to realise what she was holding in her hands, but when he did, he gasped loudly. It wasn’t a rock at all. It was a piece of crafted stone. And it had an unmistakable carving on it.
“Seven Hells,” Lusam cursed. “Isn’t that…”
“Yes, I think it is,” Neala replied, looking decidedly pale.
Lusam slipped into his mage-sight and his heart skipped a beat.
Neala was holding a piece of a stone door. A stone door to a Guardian book room.
Lusam stood there for a long time staring dumbfounded at the piece of carved stone in Neala’s hand. The carving on it glowed bright green to his mage-sight, just like the others had in Helveel, Lamuria, and Coldmont. Only this was no longer part of a door to protect a Guardian book.
Lusam’s mind reeled with the implications as he walked numbly towards where Neala had found it. He watched as Neala dislodged several more pieces of stone from the ground, each one bearing the unmistakable green glow of the carved five-pointed star. His eye suddenly caught sight of a familiar shape, and his stomach lurched once again.
“Maybe it was a different door,” Neala said, without any real conviction in her voice.
“No… it wasn’t,” Lusam replied, as he bent down and picked up another piece of carved stone. This time it was Neala’s turn to gasp as she recognised the remains of the book pedestal in his hands.
***
Lusam sat on a large rock staring at the piece of b
roken book pedestal by his feet. He wanted to deny what he was seeing with all his heart and soul, but he knew exactly what he was looking at and all the denial in the world couldn’t change that. Often, in times of hardship or despair, during his younger years, he had held his mother’s amulet for comfort—and he found that now was no different. He held it in the palm of his hand and watched the sun glint off the multifaceted crystal.
“Now what do I do?” he whispered dejectedly to the amulet. He had often spoken to the amulet when he had been a street kid in Helveel, hoping that somehow his mother would hear his words. That was, of course, before he had discovered that she was still alive and being held captive by Lord Zelroth in his stronghold at Irragin—or Azmarin, as he liked to call it now. Now she was truly dead, and he needed her now, more than ever. It was no longer just about him, it was the fate of the entire world that was at stake.
“I’m not sure,” Neala replied, obviously thinking that he was speaking to her. “But I know one thing for certain… it’s not over yet. There’s still hope.”
Lusam snorted. “I admire your optimism, Neala, but take a look around you. It’s gone. The Guardian book is gone and we have no way of knowing who took it, or even if it still exists for that matter. Either the stories about Lord Zelroth failing to find this island are false, and he has the Guardian book, or someone else had already taken it even before he started looking for it. But either way, it’s out of our reach now. We just have to face the facts, Neala—we’ve failed.”
“No, I don’t believe that,” Neala replied angrily. “I don’t believe that Aysha would have sent us here to fail. Surely if the Guardian book wasn’t here, she would have known about it. All we have to do is have faith and find it.”
Lusam laughed mirthlessly. “Sure it is. Or maybe you could just ask her where it’s hidden. Maybe she could swoop down from the sky like a drag… dragon!” Lusam said, gasping the final word. He stood up sharply and looked with fresh eyes at the ancient ruins before him. Neala frantically scanned the sky for any signs of danger, half-expecting a deadly dragon to swoop down on them at any moment. But before she could voice her concerns, Lusam spoke again.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back,” he said, cancelling his magical shield around them. Neala took a breath to respond, but the sudden gust of wind almost sent her sprawling to the ground, and Lusam was several hundred feet above her before she regained her footing.
Lusam soared high into the sky, and was immediately stunned by what he saw. The island below—Monmeriath isle—was the same island he had been dreaming about almost every night for the past few weeks. From sea level, it looked completely different. Its white cliffs were only about thirty feet tall, unlike the island in his dreams, where they were at least three times that high. The ancient ruin was also far more prominent in his dream, but it was unmistakably the same one.
Lusam circled the island, mimicking the flight path of the dragon in his dreams. He searched the horizon for any signs of the other island. The island that was covered in lush forests and meadows. The one where he had seen countless creatures on the ground and in the sky above—but it was nowhere to be seen. He tried to remember the flight path that the dragon had taken in his dream and began moving in that direction. He took a wide berth of the island towards the north and flew a long way out to sea. Then he banked heavily to his right, back towards the island and skimmed across the surface of the ocean just like the dragon had done.
He could see the white rocky cliffs in the distance, just as he had done once before—but now they were much smaller. The sea still crashed against their base, but now the waves almost reached the land above. He banked to the east and soared high into the sky, turning towards the great stone sea arch he had also seen in his dream—but it was no longer there. Confused, he stopped in mid-flight and stared at where it should have been. He could remember banking hard to the east and swooping down through the majestic arch… and then… then he had somehow found himself in that strange new land.
“That’s it!” he said out loud to himself, realising that he had found what he was looking for. He threw his head back and howled at the sky above. If anyone had seen him they probably would have thought he’d gone completely mad, but he felt absolutely exhilarated. He didn’t know if it was the intoxicating effects of his dragon-flight or the sheer relief at discovering the possible entrance to Aysha’s ‘hidden realm’. Either way, he knew he had to get back and tell Neala the news right away. He took one final look towards the east, and was almost certain that he could see the shadow of the sea arch below the water’s surface. He knew that if it did still exist, that’s where he would now find it. Because either both the island and the arch had sunken into the sea, or the sea level had somehow risen to cover it. How either was possible he did not know, but he did know for certain that in his dream, both the island and the sea arch were much higher above sea level than they were now.
Even though he believed that he had already found the entrance to Aysha’s ‘hidden realm’, he still indulged himself in the dragon-flight from his dream. Instead of simply levitating himself back to the island to speak with Neala, he glided in a wide arc towards the ruins, just as if he was the dragon itself. It stirred memories of those dreams within his mind. Deep forgotten memories and feelings. Strong feelings of loss and sorrow so powerful that by the time he reached the ground again, his eyes were filled with tears of sadness. He felt the overwhelming urge to visit the spot where the dragon had sniffed at the ground, and as he approached it, the feelings of loss and sorrow intensified. There was nothing to visibly differentiate it from anywhere else within the ruins of Lohlaen, but the feelings of complete loss and desolation washed over him like a force of nature.
“Lusam… what’s up with you?” Neala asked, shaking at his shoulder. Lusam turned his head slowly towards her and looked up into her face. She looked worried. No… terrified. He tried to move towards her, but for some reason, he was on his knees, and he couldn’t remember why. He tried to stand, but it all seemed pointless. Nothing mattered anymore. He had lost the most important thing in his life…”
“LUSAM!” Neala shouted, startling him back to reality. He shook his head, trying to free himself from the overwhelming grip of the strong emotions. He felt Neala trying to haul him back to his feet, but he stumbled and went crashing to the ground. His head began to clear slightly and he felt Neala once again try to move him. Another failed attempt—but this time he was far enough away from the spot to be able to regain control of his thoughts.
He gasped loudly, taking in huge gulps of air to fill his lungs. It felt like he hadn’t taken a breath in minutes, and his vision was blurred at the edges. He lay there on his back panting like a dog, whilst Neala fruitlessly attempted to drag him even further away. The wind howled and battered at them both, tearing at their clothing and pelting them with small amounts of dislodged debris. Lusam gathered himself as best he could and created a new magical barrier around them both, plunging them back into an almost complete silence.
“I’m alright now,” he managed to say, between gulps of air.
“What happened to you? I was calling out your name and you couldn’t hear me,” Neala said, breathing heavily herself after her recent exertions. Even though he was now far enough away to regain control of his mind, Lusam could still feel the effects of the strong emotions. He rolled over onto his hands and knees and crawled away until it finally ceased, then fell onto his back again.
“I’m sorry, give me a moment,” he gasped, trying to get his thoughts back in order. He knew instinctively that the strong emotions were residual effects from the dragon, but what had originally caused them, he had no idea—nor did he really care to know. He had already suffered the onslaught of dragon emotions during his many nightmares, so he recognised their distinct nature. But these, however, seemed far more potent than anything he had suffered before, and they hadn’t even been personally directed at him. He shuddered as he got to his feet, backing away still f
urther from the threat.
“What happened to you?” Neala asked, taking him by the hand and leading him over to one of the many boulders to sit down.
“I’m not sure,” Lusam replied, shaking his head. “I think something terrible once happened here, and the… memories, or emotions, are still here somehow. I could feel the power of the dragon’s emotions, just like I did in my nightmares. Only this time it was different. It wasn’t hatred and malice directed towards me personally, it was a general sense of loss and immense sadness.”
“You were just kneeling there, staring blankly at the ground. And no matter what I did or said, you didn’t even seem to know I was there.”
“Sorry,” he said, meekly, then realising that Neala had been there by his side, he added, “did you feel it too?”
Neala shook her head. “No, I couldn’t feel anything. But why in the Seven Hells did you even go near it if you knew it was there?”
Lusam’s face flushed bright red. “I… I was pretending to be the dragon from my dreams, and it led me to that spot,” he replied, sheepishly.
Neala laughed loudly and he felt his face flushed again. “Is that was you were doing up there? I thought the strong wind was blowing you around like a broken kite,” she said, grinning at his obvious discomfort.
“I’ve found it, Neala,” he said, with a grin of his own.
“Found what?”
“The entrance to the hidden realm,” he said, watching her eyes go wide in surprise.
“Where?” she whispered, breathlessly.
