The Changing

by Jeremy Laszlo

  Garret too had lost much in the last week. His brother was dead or missing along with Sara, his twin’s lover. The king whom Garret served was gone, and though Garret had not known the man properly, he did know of the man's deeds and love for his kingdom. Also Garret had lost his mentor and leader, Linaya’s own father, Sirus the head of the order of blessed Knights of Valdadore. To top it off Garret had carried just an hour before the limp body of Sasha, Linaya’s mother and Sirus' wife, as she bled to death in his arms. So many emotions tore at Garret’s soul, he had no choice but release them here in a seldom traveled corridor in the castle of Valdadore with a young woman in his arms, who herself had lost more in a span of days than any person should have to endure. Taking comfort in one another's arms the two young adults let their grieving take hold of them, and together they shed tears for those they lost until at last, calming themselves, both had cried every tear their bodies could manage.

  Garret, coming once again to his senses, realized he was overdue at the council meeting going on just two floors below in the war room, yet for the life of him he did not want to leave this beautiful woman alone in such a fragile state. Although he had agreed to look out for her, it was also his responsibility to be at the meeting. Not knowing what other options he had, Garret disentangled himself from the small woman's body and rose to his feet, his damaged arm hanging limply at his side. Watching her face lift to meet his eyes, Garret was momentarily lost in her emerald gaze, but recovering his wits quickly he offered her his uninjured hand and helped the small woman to her feet.

  "I am terribly afraid that I have to be going to attend to other duties," Garret stated reluctantly.

  "I understand, Lord Garret," Linaya replied softly.

  "Would it be all right if I were to return later to check upon you?" Garret asked.

  "It would please me to see you again Lord Garret, if you should wish to visit. However, please see that your arm is tended to," Linaya responded a hint of worry in her voice.

  "I will, m'lady. I will return just as soon as I am able," Garret promised. "Will you be OK?"

  "Please call me Linaya. I will be fine. It is just a lot to handle right now," Linaya answered.

  "I will call you Linaya so long as you call me Garret," Garret replied, the hint of a smile on his lips.

  "I will, I promise," Linaya said.

  Garret watched as Linaya shared with him a smile, if only half-heartedly, before he turned and without so much as a pause strode down the corridor, retracing his steps back to the first floor and to the war room. Approaching the large chamber he could hear a heated debate raging from within, one in which he would certainly be called upon to lend his voice to one side or another, and again pausing to take a deep breath Garret forced the doors open and strode into the room with his still injured arm hanging at his side.

  * * * * *

  Ishanya stood upon the plane of the immortal gods, not watching but instead feeling the events that played out upon the world she had once helped to create. Though she no longer cowered or hid from her peers, nor did she mingle with them, choosing instead to remain solitary as her power grew. Ishanya was impressed at this point on how well her little coup was playing out. Even though it had not all gone exactly as she had originally planned, things were still ultimately in her control. The mortal Seth was playing his role nicely, following to near perfection every single path Ishanya set before him. Ishanya believed that even with the unforeseen consequences of Seth creating new races of man upon Thurr she could and would handle that particular setback in due time. Though Seth had indeed garnered many a new follower to her cause, and more came every day with word spreading of his deeds, he had inadvertently gathered worshippers of his own, though Ishanya had since devised a simple plan to ratify that particular situation. She would not go back on her word of course, at least not for now. The human had, in his understanding of time, many long years to live having gathered the life forces of so many of his followers. But when the time came that he was too powerful, his loyal subjects feeding him power with their own deaths, Seth would be dealt with. Once his pathetic existence was ended, all the power he had gathered would then return where it was destined to, and Ishanya would have enough power to envelope the world in war and with it the heavens. When the dust settled from Ishanya’s scheme, she knew she would not only be victorious, but also rule the heavens alone with Thurr as her creation to do with as she wished.

  For now, however, she remained patient. Seth was doing her bidding in one form or another, and as of yet none of the other gods had taken notice of Ishanya’s growing power and following among men. None of them had noticed the slight shift in power within the inhabitants of Thurr. None had yet noticed that their end was racing towards them, its gaping maw open wide to swallow them into nothingness. On the plane of immortal gods, Ishanya thrust back her ethereal shoulders and held her head high once more as she had done ages ago, no longer afraid of what her peers might do to her.

  * * * * *

  Seth, clad in his armor, began to scale the makeshift rungs in the stone wall of the room that had been akin to a prison cell since his mysterious arrival. Having waited several hours for the stone to cool, he was surprised to find that even now it was quite hot to the touch. Not so hot as to scald his flesh, but still hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold too tightly. Using his fingertips and toes Seth carefully scaled the wall one rung at a time until at last he was able to pull himself up through the portal in the ceiling and into the room above. Within seconds of reaching the higher chamber, Sara scurried up after him, her toes and fingers barely finding purchase among the stone rungs before she moved on to the next. It was both unnerving and impressive to see the changes wrought upon her body in action. With the combination of being lighter and having increased strength and agility, Sara made easy work of a task that had left Seth panting. So disproportionate was her weight and strength to her size, Seth wondered if Sara would have been able to simply jump the distance from the floor below to the one above, though he did not voice it.

  Scanning the room around them Seth was not able to distinguish much in the darkness other than the fact that this floor looked much like the one below. The chamber here was round too and the ceiling was high. But some differences were immediately discernible. In the center of this room stood a podium of some sort and there were two openings in the wall. Behind the podium a large window was set into the stone, and though no trace of glass remained within the frame, it was still a memorable sight as Seth had never before seen a window in the shape of a teardrop. Opposite the window, on the other side of the room, was a massive arched doorway framed in large stone blocks that even in the dark of night were clearly different from the other stone of the chamber. Seth was relieved to have found a door. Now he knew they were one step closer to getting back home. All he and Sara needed to do at this point was determine their location and from there they could choose a route back to Valdadore and learn the outcome of the battle with the black horde.

  Raising one of his palms Seth summoned a small ball of fire to illuminate the room, and turning slowly he took stock of his surroundings. Seth watched as Sara walked around the room pointing out details. The building was obviously ancient as it showed signs of disuse everywhere. Sprouts of grass and weeds grew from between the stone slabs of the floor and dust and dirt clung to everything. Upon the walls of the chamber were etched symbols of the like Seth had never seen before, written in a language foreign to him. Also around the teardrop window as well as the door symbols had been engraved into the stone in repeating patterns that made no sense to either of the young lovers. Although neither Seth nor Sara could read the language, they both agreed that it was a sure sign that they had not remained in Valdadore. Seth was not surprised by the fact that they had traveled so far by means of his magic. In fact he had a deep seated feeling that his power alone was not all that had guided him to this particular place, and here in the room with them Seth believed he found validation for that belief.
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  The dais at the center of the room, or more appropriately the altar, appeared of very simple design in the dark. Though scoured by age and the elements, Seth believed he could make out features upon the singular stone column that supported a small slab of stone that made the top of the altar. Though upon first glance appearing a simple stone column about three feet high, upon closer inspection the form of a woman’s body graced the surface on what would be the front of the column. Though the ages had scoured away all of the details of the carving, Seth knew in his heart who it was the stone depicted. His fears realized, without even mentioning the discovery to Sara who still busied herself studying the symbols upon the walls, Seth turned away from the stone depiction of Ishanya. Collecting Sara as he went, Seth strode to the doorway, ready more than ever to be free of this place.

  As he stepped into the doorway, Seth increased the intensity of the fireball within his palm to illuminate further that which surrounded the building. Though still dark outside, Seth noted several things of import using only the light of his magical fire. The chamber they had exited was but a small part of a much larger structure. Stepping out of the doorway onto a large stone platform, Seth at first imagined that they stood atop a great hill in the surrounding wilderness. But as he and Sara traversed what would have been the hilltop, they discovered that the entire structure was in fact manmade. Though covered in unusual brush and vines that Seth had never seen before, as he and Sara explored the top of the structure, they found it to be perfectly square and unnaturally level. Coming to the edge of the great stone platform they were surprised to find that the hill was not what they had previously thought it to be either. Where they imagined great sloping hillsides to be, covered by foreign flora to disguise its true nature they found instead at each side of the great stone platform a sprawling, descending stone staircase that made up an immense building beneath them. All four sides were identical in what appeared to be a great stone building erected in ever narrowing layers, one atop another, creating in essence a giant stone pyramid with the peak carved off to create the platform they now stood upon. In the center of that platform, at the pinnacle of the flat-topped pyramid, was the round chamber that Seth knew now to be an altar to Ishanya built ages ago. Seth could feel the goddess's eyes upon him, could sense her mocking him silently upon the night air. With the hair rising on his neck and arms, Seth led Sara down one of the four faces of the building. They carefully picked their way among the brush and vines as they climbed down to the wilderness surrounding them. Though neither of them had thought to count the many great steps they descended to reach the soil below, the process took over an hour to complete and Seth imagined that there were more than a couple hundred layers to the great building. In a hurry as he was to escape the building, each new step seemed to mock him by providing yet another step ahead and then another.

  Reaching the ground cautiously, Seth had not thought of a course of action as to what to do once they had escaped the great pyramid. Having no way to determine in what direction lay Valdadore, he could not in good conscience lead Sara off into the wilderness to become prey to whatever inhabited this part of the world. Expressing his lack of knowledge of their surroundings to Sara they both agreed it best to wait until sunrise before choosing a course to lead them back home. Sara was enthralled with the great structure of the pyramid and wanted to explore more. With a devious little smile upon her lush lips, she convinced Seth to continue investigating the surroundings of the pyramid with her. Reluctantly Seth agreed, although inside he was happy that Sara, despite her physical changes, was the same woman he adored more than any other person. Taking Sara’s hand in his own they began to pick their way amongst the undergrowth around the great structure of the pyramid, both wondering what it was they might discover.

  Seth and Sara spent the remaining hours of darkness exploring the area around the pyramid and found that once a small city stood here in the wilderness. Many floors to buildings remained with evidence of toppled walls and foundations, and although plants sprang up from what had once been roads and buildings alike, Seth and Sara imagined that the small city was once both beautiful and prosperous. They even ventured to guess what might have led its people to abandon the city as they explored and talked as if their current situation was nothing out of the ordinary, both of them simply happy to have each other as company. Seth imagined he could live his whole life with no other person in it than Sara. Her mischievousness kept him on his toes, her beauty kept him enthralled, her reasoning inspired him to reflect upon decisions, her laughter lifted his spirits, her voice brought him comfort, and her smile brightened his day. Seth could not imagine life without Sara. He hoped that someday, after they had found their way home, he and Sara could retire to the manor King Valdadore had promised him, and they could live out their days peacefully, perhaps raising a family of their own. After introducing Sara to his father, of course. The thought made Seth smile and Sara, thinking much along the same lines as they wandered among the ruins, returned his smile lovingly.

  As day neared Seth watched as one horizon began to brighten as the darkness of the night was chased away by the light of the sun. Knowing now what direction was east, Seth needed only to determine where it was that he and Sara had landed. Unfortunately for Seth, that required returning back to the top of the pyramid to get a better lay of the land and hopefully distinguish some landmark that he might recognize. Leading Sara back to the base of the pyramid Seth explained his intentions, assuring her she could stay below as he climbed up for a better view, but unwilling to leave his side Sara chose to ascend the structure with him once again. As they began to climb the west side of the great pyramid they watched as great winged bats screeched and squawked, careening through the air and eventually gliding out of view atop the pyramid. Sara smiled at Seth knowingly, realizing that these large bats were the very same he had used to save her life.

  For more than an hour Seth and Sara grudgingly climbed the dark side of the pyramid, opposite the sunrise, as the sky above them grew brighter and brighter allowing Seth, finally nearing the top, to extinguish his fireball. Helping Sara pick out an easy path to climb, Seth watched as for at least the twelfth time she wiped her eyes, which were now bloodshot, obviously irritated by something they had come into contact with. Seth realized at that moment that his eyes too felt dry and irritated, and wondered what it might have been that they had touched or brushed up against to cause such a reaction. Seth thought about the many plants back home that could cause rashes and irritations as they climbed the last few stairs to once again stand atop the platform upon the pyramid. The sun had crested the horizon in entirety, though standing across from the round stone chamber at the pyramid's pinnacle, Seth and Sara were still in shadow. Taking a moment to stretch, the pair turned to face back the way they had come to view the land surrounding them.

  For miles to the west lay a vast, dense forest of the like Seth had only heard about in stories. Here tall trees stood with giant thronged leaves like huge hands and vines hanging precariously from the uppermost branches, or clinging to the trunks and swirling around and around the trees. Fog hugged the floor beneath the trees where brush and bushes filled the voids between them and crisscrossing vines carpeted the floor of the forest as colorful birds winged in and out between the trees in morning calls of varying pitch and volume. Beyond the forest Seth and Sara could see a vast rolling plain that began green and became tan and then brown before appearing green once again at its far side. From this plain vast clouds of dust were swept by the wind and borne upon the air currents to periodically obscure any further details, but the plain itself was of little importance. What lay beyond was what immediately held Seth’s attention, and pointing out what he believed he saw to Sara for confirmation, more miles away than he dared count, there appeared to be a silhouette upon the far horizon. From here it was but a smudge of purple upon a backdrop of like-colored sky, but even so, as the sun rose higher by the moment the smudge grew to distinction and spread from one h
orizon to the other. Seth and Sara watched as their belief was confirmed.

  Beyond the vast forest, and further past the plains and whatever else might lay ahead, a range of mountains loomed in the distance, barely perceptible from this distance. Seth and Sara only knew of one range of mountains this vast. The range ran down the entire eastern border of Valdadore before turning west to create the kingdom’s southern border as well. If these were the Rancor Mountains in the distance, and the sun was behind Seth, then he was on the wrong side of them. If that were true, Seth had no idea what to expect in this foreign land. He knew not if people inhabited these lands, and if they did, what race they might belong to. The dwarves inhabited the mountains themselves, burrowing and tunneling far into the earth to mine metals and gems, but that was as far as his knowledge went. Here, on this side of the Rancor mountains, if indeed these were the same mountains he believed them to be, Seth had never so much as heard tales of what he might find in these lands.