by Des Pensable
‘That means it can never join the League of Worlds, it can never ask for assistance from anyone anywhere because it doesn’t exist. You marked Moonmist as belonging to the new Warden Aquitain. Suppose someone was to attack Moonmist in force, a minor power and a few thousand troops like in Twin Tower now. Who would help you defend it?
Aquitain, your father and perhaps a motley collection of a few dozen guards against trained soldiers and war wizards. Few if any of the Lord there would back you. Would K’wala herself bother? Will she help if the place doesn’t exist?’
‘Well the logical thing would be to get it put into the book of worlds.’ replied Miranlla.
‘That is a good idea but who wrote the book of worlds? Why it was the creator him or herself. How do we go to the creator and say please put my world on your list.’
‘Yes I can see a problem in that.’ replied Miranlla.
‘Good then you will also see that any Queen of Moonmist will need all the help she can get to defend it.’ replied Granite.
‘Yes I can see that also!’ she replied.
‘Good. Then if you wish to be Queen and have people help you in times of need then be sure that neither K’wala or my son will be implicated in anything to do with the Great Storm and we will all rest easier.’ replied Granite.
‘So I might have to sacrifice my principles in the name of the security of Moonmist.’ she replied.
‘By the Powers you are learning fast.’ replied Granite cynically.
‘I can only say what I have said to others. I will do what I believe to be in the best interests of the Lord Warden, the Lady, my family and my people.’ replied Miranlla.
‘Bravo. We are making headway.’ he replied.
‘You haven’t met Aquiveritas yet have you? I will show you where Aquitain was born. My son won’t be able to see you.’ and Granite pointed to a wall in their mind arena and it changed to look like the surface of a lake.
An image began to appear in the lake of a wonderful building that appeared to be made of crystal. As their vision zoomed closer to it Miranlla could make out lovely gardens of flowers with birds flying about and animals roaming the grounds around the building.
‘It’s beautiful!’ she said.
‘Yes. It is isn’t it! Inside Alpha is a small world. While most of it is a permanent illusion that building is made of pure crystal magic. There’s quite a lot in there. Hopefully it will never be released in one go. It could do quite a bit of damage. That’s where Aquitain was born. I suspect his mother had a lot to do with the design and layout. I don’t think Aquiveritas is that sensitive to his surroundings.’
A few seconds later a dragon flew out of the building and landed on the ground and looked up at them. Their view seemed to zoom down to its face.
‘Is that you father?’ he asked. ‘Have you decided to release me yet?’
‘No I haven’t decided yet!’ replied Granite tersely.
‘Nothing has happened to Borse yet. If I were to release you I’m sure you will add to my problems.’
‘Father I’ve had two hundred Mudrun years to reflect on my faults. Please give me a chance to atone.’ replied the dragon.
The image of Aquiveritas faded as the wall resumed its dull colour.
‘Now let’s get down to business. What are you intending to do at the Great Council of Little People?’ asked Granite
Chapter 41 Taking the Initiative
‘I was hoping to find out why the little people think a Great Council is necessary and more about their spirit guardians before I decided what I could do to help.’ replied Miranlla.
‘In other words you have no idea.’ replied Granite.
‘Well …yes.’ replied Miranlla a little embarrassed.
‘Okay let’s see what your little friend has to say.’ replied Granite and Rori appeared in the mind arena.
‘Where am I being at the moment, Lady Miranlla?’ he asked.
‘You are inside the head of a dragon.’ she replied. ‘This is Lord Granite the dragon.’
‘I wasn’t knowing that dragons were having rooms in their heads.’ replied Rori looking around.
‘Rori why did you go to seek Lord Aquitain’s help.’ asked Miranlla.
‘Kami was thinking that the Spirit Lord might be helping us to be stopping the fighting between the spirits.’ he replied.
‘Why would the spirits be fighting?’ asked Miranlla.
‘The new spirit lords are not liking the old ones. So they will be fighting.’
‘Whose idea was it to call the Great Council?’ asked Granite.
‘I am thinking it was Kami’s idea.’ replied Rori.
‘You are not telling us the truth.’ said Granite. ‘Who’s idea was it?’
‘Um. Maybe someone was telling Kami to be calling the Council.’ replied Rori.
‘Who was that someone?’ asked Granite.
‘I am not knowing, perhaps you should be asking Kami.’ replied Rori looking a little concerned.
‘Look out that window and you will see your body is now made of stone. Unless you stop wasting my time and start telling me the truth you will remain there as a pile of stone for the rest of your life!’
Rori looked out the window at his small stony body and began trembling. He turned and dropped to his knees facing Granite.
‘I’m being very sorry Great Lord. It was being Lord R’ptor that told me to be telling Kami to be calling the meeting. Lord R’ptor is believing that Lord Aquitain can be helping him to change the Pact of Renewal so that the Little Peoples can again do their duties properly.’
‘What did Lord R’ptor say about Loopis and Jacintra?’ asked Granite.
‘He was saying that they are not true spirits but they are big peoples pretending to be spirits.’ replied Rori.
‘What did Lord R’ptor say about Lord Aquitain?’
Rori looked at Miranlla and said. ‘Lord R’ptor was saying that Lord Aquitain is not a true Spirit Lord but he was being a person that the gods use for making big changes.’
‘Hmmm … that will be all for now.’ said Granite and Rory’s avatar disappeared from the mind arena.
‘Miranlla don’t trust little people. The Lady in her wisdom made it so that I can’t read their minds. They look harmless but get into more mischief than you can imagine. They also seem to be unable to tell the truth.’
‘R’ptor come here!’ yelled Granite.
To Miranlla’s absolute surprise R’ptor appeared instantly as a Newman robed like a druid.
‘Thank the Lady, you’re back Lord Granite.’ said R’ptor.
‘You can thank Aquitain for that. The Lady left me where I was for hundreds of Mudrun years and look what happened while I was absent.
I’m not happy R’ptor.’ replied Granite.
‘I totally agree.’ replied R’ptor.
‘My wards have largely been corrupted by Mentarin pretending to be Spirit Guardians called Loopis and Jacintra. However, a few of my wards have remained loyal and obedient and Spirit Guardians K’wala, Barra and Tuatara are on the other side. I think Lord Borse may have been involved.’
‘What’s this about you calling a Great Council of the Little People?’ asked Granite. ‘That is not one of your duties!’
‘Um. No Lord Granite, but it seemed to offer the chance of changing the Pact of Renewal so that it would reduce the corruption of my wards caused by the false guardians.’
‘How did you expect Aquitain to help?’
‘I believe from what I have witnessed that he is an Agent of Chaos, Lord Granite. I have assumed he has been sent by the Lady to cause change.’
‘What if he does not come to the Little People’s Council?’ asked Granite.
‘Then the situation will be no better or no worse.’ replied R’ptor.
‘Have you made arrangements with Whooshoo for transport of the Little People?’ asked Granite.
‘Yes, Lord Granite.’
‘What about the hidden yellows?’
‘
They are undecided whether to go Lord Granite. They are afraid of revealing their presence.’
‘Okay, you can go. Keep me informed. This could turn into another mess.’ replied Granite and R’ptor disappeared.
‘Are you beginning to see the responsibilities of power yet my dear?’ asked Granite.
‘You desire to be Queen in Moonmist yet you are dabbling in the affairs of Mudrun as well. I am still the Lord Protector of Moonmist. If you become Queen, we will have to work together. If you become a tyrant do I protect you or the people? If I hear of a conspiracy against you do I tell you or act against the conspirators even though their cause may be just?’
‘I’m sorry Granite. I did not choose you. I chose Aquitain. He does what he thinks is right for the people. I love him and believe in him. I will do no more or no less. If we cause waves then you will need to work out how to calm them. That is your job.’
Granite looked at her intensely for a few seconds then said.
‘Remember changing the Pact of Renewal will cause chaos. Maybe Aquiveritas has some ideas. You should also check out the hidden yellows they were K’wala’s wards. You will find Alpha on a chain around your neck.’ And she found herself standing in her Newman body beside Rory. The mound of rock in front of them turned into the head of a great stone dragon who climbed out of the ground as if it was water.
He winked at Miranlla and took to the air with great flaps of his mighty wings. Miranlla and Rori both watched as he disappeared into the distance.
‘He is being the Lord Protector I am thinking! Kami will be greatly interested in this.’
‘Hmmm.’ thought Miranlla. ‘What have I got myself into?
Rory I want you to send a message via the spirits to Aquitain and tell him I’ll be waiting for him where he wanted to meet me in about an hour.
Rory agreed while Miranlla used a teleport ring to go to the teleport marker outside twin towers. There were several Panmagican troops there sitting around talking so she changed into cat form and vanished quickly into the jungle before they could react.
‘I hope Aquitain is prepared for an ambush’ she thought as she turned into a tree to wait a hundred paces from the teleport marker.
Granddad arrived at the marker with Goth his huge metal construct and was immediately challenged by the guards who were considerably more alert after Miranlla had come through.. A minute later there were eight dead guards and Goth prowled around looking for more.
Miranlla was a little reluctant to approach Granddad shouting to him well before appearing as she was worried about Goth not realizing who she was.
‘It’s me Miranlla, Granddad. Call off your monster.’ She shouted and waited for him reply.
‘Okay come out and show yourself.’ He yelled and she came slowly out of the jungle.
‘What’s going on? I got an urgent summons from Aquitain to come here.’ he said.
‘He’s got something planned.’ she replied. ‘but he didn’t tell me what.’
Granddad went over to Miranlla and they stood and chatted in the jungle on the edge of the clearing waiting apprehensively for several minutes until Aquitain finally turned up.
He immediately noticed the dead bodies and looking around carefully called out for Miranlla and Granddad who came strolling out of the jungle.
‘What’s going on.’ asked Granddad sternly.
‘I’ve got something interesting to tell you. I had a chat with Granite a few minutes ago. He was waiting for me to arrive.’
Aquitain formed into a Newman, smiled and created a mindlink with Granddad and Miranlla.
‘Tell me all about it.’
‘That’s interesting. He’s trying to cobble together a deal that might help him save face and possibly save his job.’
‘I’ve decided that it’s time to take the initiative. I think that we can agree that we’ve all been used as pawns and lured into a nasty lethal no win situation that is coming to a head. We can’t win against gods but we can win against their agents by appealing to their greed. So it time we had something to bargain with that everyone wants.’
‘What’s that.’ asked Miranlla a little surprised.
‘Mudrun has only one inter-world gateway and that is here at Twin Towers. The Panmagicans’ god Findus or one of his flunkies sent them here to hold the gateway open as it is essential for trade between the Mentarin, the druids and Panmagica. It’s also essential for supplies for the troops.’
‘If there is no gateway there is no trade through here but there could be trade from the Mentarin and the druids if they used Astaria as the gateway.’
‘Astaria is my domain. We could control the inter world magic goods trade from Astaria and tax everything that passes through.’
‘I can offer our family and friends and many other good people a new home. With your help Granddad, we could become the biggest traders in magic goods among the worlds. All I have to do is get the Mentarin to buy into the scheme and we are in business.’
‘You mean do business with those horrible spirits. Are you mad.’ replied Miranlla starting to get upset.
‘No not at all. I’ve been thinking very clearly. I’m not sure that K’wala knows that I am supposed to be his son. I am sure that I’m a pawn in a game between the gods and powers. I’ve been told so many lies and there’s been so much deception that I’m not sure what is real and what isn’t. So I need time to find out. I need to create a firm reality that I and others can rely upon. We can do that by making Astaria a competitor of Panmagica.’
‘Panmagica excels in trade of two things magic items and secrets. However, most of its magic items are made by the Mentarin. What better way is there to find out what the gods are up to on Astaria than from greedy traders from all over the worlds wanting good deals on magic items and willing to sell us all sorts of secrets.’
‘After a few years when we can fully understand the consequences of releasing K’wala and Borse then we can decide on a course of action. In the meantime the gods and powers will have to wait on my decision and I will have time to learn from my Divinity Seeds.’
‘The gods won’t let you get away with this.’ said Miranlla.
‘I think they will. I think both K’wala and Borse know something that will really upset some of the gods that don’t know about it. The Mentarin know what it is and they have shown me. I suspect they don’t want either K’wala or Borse released but they will need the continued trade in magical items to pay for their supplies and research on Moonmist. If there is no gateway here Astaria will have a monopoly on trade with them. ‘
‘But our friends, the druids will lose out.’ replied Miranlla.
‘The druids want to keep this world sacred. If this is where they think the Maker created all the worlds they will fanatically protect it against all invaders. They made amoral deals with both the Yith and Panmagicans and key parts of those deals were that both groups had to stay away. Both the Yith and Panmagicans are here to see the other side doesn’t break the agreement.’
‘If Astaria is the middleman between the Mentarin and the outside worlds then the druids should be happy. We can deal with both the Yith and Panmagican on equal terms. The Panmagicans and Yith will have no reason to invade Mudrun and it can stay neutral and continue to be run by the druids.’
‘The big magic traders in Panmagica won’t accept it.’ said Granddad. ‘We will effectively be stealing their suppliers. They will fight back.’
‘I’m sure they will. That should provide us some entertainment because they will have to get into Astaria and no one will come into my domain without my knowledge. Do you think that you can handle them outside?’ asked Aquitain.
Granddad thought for a couple of minutes and then smiled.
‘Yes it should be possible. I like the sound of this. It is a terrific chance to expand our family business. So you want me to explain how we can permanently immobilize the permanent gate way here.’
‘Yes that would be very helpful.’ replied Aquitain.
‘So how did you plan to get at the gate?’ asked Granddad.
‘I’m going to swim to it.’ Then he Aquitain turned into an Earth elemental and disappeared into the ground as if diving into water. He climbed out a few paces away and turned back into a Newman shape.
‘It’s marvellous what you can learn if you have the need and the right teacher.’ He said with a smile. Granddad smiled and simply said ‘Well done.’
Let’s go ahead with my plan now since we’re here. You can check out the yellow scaled little people later and I want to have a long talk with Alpha.’
‘What do you want us to do.’ asked Miranlla.
‘I want you both to come with me to the cavern under Twin Towers and then I want Miranlla to vent her Tempest rage on Twin Towers. I want a storm that all will remember with fear all the rest of their lives. I don’t want them all dead as then no one can tell the story but a few deaths are inevitable. This will be a warning to Panmagica and its greedy traders that we mean business.’
They teleported into the area below Twin towers and Miranlla took off her belt limiting her power and gave it and Alpha to Granddad and drank in as much magic essence as she could hold. She then was teleported back to the teleport marker with Granddad.
She turned herself into a whirlwind and grew and grew in size and power until she could be seen and heard from all in Twin Towers, Everyone fled for shelter as the rain and hail struck followed by massive blasts of chain lightning that lit up the sky and gale force winds that circled around Twin Towers destroying structures, flinging supplies, animals, people and anything not securely held down all over the place.
They noticed that the storm only vented its fury over them. The surrounding countryside was not touched. They were under no illusion that this was a purposeful magic attack but they were helpless to do anything other than try to survive it.
