by Des Pensable
Aquitain was stunned at the suggestion for a moment.
‘Do you really think that some of the spirits from the Moonmist Collective would join me?’ he asked then pondered on how he might make them bodies.
‘Wait a minute!’ he thought. ‘I am a part of Astaria and it is a part of me. That is what Llanlorian said when she made me Gatekeeper. That’s how I can pass through it and know where everyone is. Now I understand how the Astarian collective could control Astaria. Astaria could be my body if I let it.’
‘Are you okay’ asked Glammer as Aquitain seemed to be totally lost in thought.
‘Yes. Yes.’ he said. ‘That was a brilliant suggestion of yours. You are marvellous Glammer. You’re even better than marvellous. I don’t know what would have happened if you had never decided to help me.’
‘You would be dead.’ she said.
‘Yes and you are right. I’ve been thinking about that and what you proposed when you revealed that we are both half dragons.’
‘I have always thought of the Newmans as my kin. They aren’t and they never will be. I’ve been like a pet animal raised by a family that thinks he is one of the family. They love me but I can never be one of them. We are both the same. We’re considered unnatural abominations created by a god to do his or her bidding and we can be discarded on a whim whether we have succeeded or failed. However, as you pointed out, we have a unique chance to change that and defy those arrogant gods.’
‘I’ve seen how little regard they have for me and you. Come to Astaria with me and I will make us real Astarian bodies that you and I can wear with pride. Go get some volunteers that will fight for us and we will capture and make Astaria our home.’
‘Are you saying what I’m thinking you are saying.’ said Glammer becoming a little excited.
‘Yes Glammer. I am. We’re going to defy our arrogant divine creators. We’re going to write our kind into the book of creation.’
‘But what about your pledges to Miranlla and Gizel.’ she asked.
‘I always believed in logical thought and action. I have come to accept your concept that pledges are rules created by cultures to control their members. You and I are Agents of Chaos. We are not bounded by any culture’s rules.’
‘Miranlla has been bought up to see herself as one of the elite, a ruler which sets the standards of the culture rather than conforming to it. She believes that the Warden should have several partners to show his power. I wasn’t so keen at first as I was brought up constrained by a Newman culture of monogamy but I can see her logic.’
‘I think Miranlla sees a partner as more than just a vehicle for pleasure but a business enterprise where more partners mean a more successful enterprise. She persuaded me to take her half-sister Gizel as my second. I would be honoured if you would join me and add to our strength.’
‘Together united in love we will try to create a true identity for half dragons, Llanlleans and all the other creations such as your mothra on Moonmist. One that no longer calls us abominations and sees us just a temporary tools of gods but as genuine parts of the family of nature.’
‘What do you say?’
‘You are wonderful. I accept.’ she replied and her smile radiated hope and love.
‘Now back to business. I’m going to the Warden’s Rest. Can you find the Mentarin Ignatius and bring him to meet me there before you visit the Moonmist Collective. It might be possible to get the Mentarin to leave without a fight.’
‘One more thing before you go. You said that K’wala created you to search for something in the netherworld. What was he looking for?’
‘He was looking for Borse.’
‘You mean Borse was in the Netherworld?’
‘Yes. Borse had created some type of machine that he took there. They wanted me to find out where he was.’
‘You said they wanted to know where he was. Who else was involved?’
‘The Lady of course! She’s involved in everything that happens everywhere. She and Findus are rivals. Borse was originally working with the Lady and now he’s working with Findus.’
‘Did the machine have a name?’ he asked.
‘Yes. I think it was called a cadaltheus. I don’t know what it did but everyone seems scared of it. So it might be a weapon of some sort.’
‘How did you get into the netherworld and more importantly how did you get out. Isn’t it a one way trip?’ asked Aquitain.
‘That’s what everyone thinks but Borse built a two way portal into the netherworld from Astaria and K’wala found it.’
‘By all the Powers! That’s what they are trying to hide.’ thought Aquitain. ‘They’ve broken one of the Creator’s prime rules.’
‘Thank you Glammer. You have filled in the most important pieces of the puzzle. Now go and recruit our army.’
Aquitain teleported himself to Warden’s Rest, had a chat with Ironbark and the water elemental guard then strolled around inspecting the area. The plants and bushes were all growing well and a couple of fire pits suggested that people were starting to visit the place.
Suddenly Glammer appeared with Ignatius then vanished. He was dressed as if he was about to go to bed.
‘You might ask your fairy assistant to allow me to get properly dressed before coming next time, Gatekeeper. This is Moonmist not Astaria!’ he said in an annoyed tone.
‘Oh I’m sorry. The matter is urgent. I thought that you were worried about Moonmist being destroyed by that massive build-up of magic in the quartz shelf you showed me.’
‘Oh. Well yes I am. I will be presenting your solution to the problem at the next council meeting.’ he replied.
‘I have a better solution.’ replied Aquitain and I have a deal for both you and the Mentarin Council to consider.
‘I want all the Mentarin in Astaria to leave. I suspect they are there to stop me trying to release Lord K’wala and Lord Borse who both know about the dragons imprisoned there and have had ample time to work out how to take advantage of the situation. Releasing them will really rock the boat for everyone.’
‘What if I didn’t release them? What if I leave things as they are? Did you know that Mudrun no longer has an inter world portal? That means you cannot ship your magic goods through Mudrun anymore. That means no more money or supplies.’
‘My family and I have been merchants trading in magic goods in Panmagica for decades. What I would like to do is set up Astaria as a trading centre for magic goods. You sell them to me and my family on sell them to the customers. No more middlemen. That way you continue your research on Moonmist, you will have all the trade and supplies you need and if you stay out of my affairs then I’ll stay out of yours.’
‘A part of this deal will be you leave the inhabitants of Moonmist alone to live their lives without any more interference. No more possessing them for amusement or any other purpose.’
‘How are you going to stop the build-up of magic in the quartz shelf.’ asked Ignatius.
‘You and I are going to build a new portal on the other side of Moonmist and I will redirect the portal in pathway 5 to it.’ replied Aquitain. ‘That way there will be no further build up and it will slowly bleed away.’
‘But we’d need a new portal anchor to do that and they’re damned expensive and time consuming to make. I doubt whether the Council would accept the cost.’
‘I have a portal anchor stone that we can use and I will fund the cost of the changeover.’ replied Aquitain. ‘You and I will personally eliminate the danger of a magic storm on Moonmist and both make a profit at the same time. It should also dramatically improve your standing with the Mentarin Committee. What do you say?’
‘What are you going to do about the dragon and the lizard people?’ asked Ignatius.
‘I’m going to evict them. They are not welcome on my domain.’ replied Aquitain.
‘I like the way you think Gatekeeper.’ replied Ignatius with a wide smile. ‘I just might be able to sell this to the committee. By the way I am always
available as a consultant.’
‘I’m sure that I can find some profitable jobs for you that you will love, Ignatius and maybe some personal entertainment of the type that pleases you.’ replied Aquitain as they shook hands.
‘I’ll call an urgent meeting of the Council to consider your proposal in the next few days. How do you want me to get in touch with you?’ he asked.
‘Use a dream sending, suggesting a time and date and we’ll meet here at Warden’s Rest.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Before you go perhaps you could tell me why Borse took the Cadaltheus into the netherworld?
‘Oh. You know about that do you?’
‘We were all glad he took it down there as it was too dangerous here. The problem is of course is that everyone thinks he’s going to bring it back out and that’s what they’re all scared of.’
‘How dangerous is it?’ asked Aquitain carefully.
‘Bloody dangerous! He used it to capture all those elemental dragons. He reckons it should work on lesser powers as well. Maybe he’s even tried it by now.
‘How does it work?’
‘You know how you can store a spirit in a soul crystal. Well we found a new material that would allow us to store several spirits in the same crystal. Borse thought that if he made a big enough soul crystal then he could create a town in there. People could live in there forever. So he built one and called it Cadaltheus. Needless to say any Mentarin that defied him went into Cadaltheus.’
‘Eventually after he had a dozen in there they worked out a way to form a mental concert that allowed them to project their power outside the crystal. They tried to possess him and direct him to let them out but he was too strong for them. That gave him an idea. He could use them to possess others so he offered them some sort of a deal. I presume they agreed. He captured more mind wizards and put them in there and soon he had a machine that would allow him to possess the mind of almost anyone. It certainly worked on the elemental dragons. That’s how he captured Barra and Tuatara but for some reason K’wala was able to resist and got away. He presumably warned R’ptor to stay away.’
‘Well tell the members of the council that are worried. I won’t let Borse back out again.’ said Aquitain.
‘Good!‘ replied Ignatius and he teleported away.
‘Greed and profit. It’s always the same.’ thought Aquitain. ‘I wonder if it will ever be any different and he strolled around waiting for Glammer.
Several minutes later Glammer returned.
‘I’ve got them in this basket. I have 23 fighters and 4 wizards. They are each in a crystal. Do you think that will be enough? ‘ she asked excitedly.
‘It will have to do.’ he replied. ‘Let’s go to the Queens Palace portal. That should be the safest entrance.’
Ten minutes later Aquitain and Glammer were back in the control room.
‘Has anything happen?’ he asked.
‘Nothing much! Just a lot of noise from Adonis trying to taunt you to come down there and we have a visitor.’ replied Miranlla. ‘Rori is outside gateway 1 requesting to see you. Why is she here?’
‘Glammer this is my Grandfather and you know Miranlla. Glammer has agreed to help us evict anyone that doesn’t wish to leave.’
‘Did you have any success with the Mentarin?’ asked Granddad.
‘Yes I did. Glammer found him for us. He is excited at my proposal and is going to call an urgent Council Meeting and put it to the Mentarin as soon as possible. He thinks that it has a good chance of being approved.’
‘That’s a real good start.’ replied Granddad quite impressed.
‘Glammer has brought 27 fighters wishing to help us get rid of our unwelcome visitors.’ said Aquitain..
‘What? Where are they?’ asked Miranlla.
‘They are members of the Moonmist Collective mind. They want to be Astarians.’
‘What are you up to?’ she asked looking quite concerned.
‘The basket Glammer is carrying is full of crystals each containing a spirit of a person that lived and died on Moonmist. I have offered them new bodies and lives.’ replied Aquitain.
‘What? You’re mad. The power is going to your head. You can’t do this this. You’ll upset all the gods. They will come here and destroy us. They’ll destroy Astaria.’ She cried.
‘No they won’t. They’ll look the other way. They’ll ignore us. They’ll allow us to do exactly what we want to do because I now know Astaria’s secret and the gods that know the secret don’t want anyone else to know about it. They’ll do nothing unless I try to reveal the secret which I don’t intend to do.’
‘Now I have a job for you and Granddad. I want you to arrange a meeting with the Yith Lord you met in your old home. I want to try and make a deal with him.’
‘I also expect that Heteronymous will send someone to talk to us when they discover that there is no longer a portal at Twin Towers and we should get a message from the Panmagicans at Twin Towers.’
‘You can both leave when I let Rori in and please be careful!’
‘You seem more positive. What’s happened?’ asked Miranlla.
‘When I brought Alpha back here I talked with Aquiveritas and he told me lots of stories about gods and powers like Borse and K’wala and made it quite clear what it truly means to be a half dragon. I am monster and an abomination. I’m a tool and a plaything. I won’t ever be accepted as either a dragon or a Newman. You and Glammer and I and many of the creatures created by Lord Borse and the Mentarin on Moonmist shouldn’t exist but we do exist.’
‘We have no status as living thinking sentients simply because we weren’t created by the maker. Other sentients despise us as being unnatural. That is wrong. We are unique and valuable regardless of who created us. We deserve to be recognized as a part of creation like they are. I am going to change our status. I don’t know how yet but I will. I have a Divinity Seed inside. That is no accident. There must be something in it that will help. What I need is time to find it and there is a way to buy that time.’
‘Our whole situation here is little different to business in Panmagica. It’s all about magic, secrets, greed and profit. Granddad has been kicked out of Panmagica and needs a new home. The Mentarin are close, interested in maintaining their privacy and could supply us with cheap magic items that we could resell. There’s no reason why we couldn’t set up thriving magic trading city right here. In time we might even challenge Panmagica itself. We can do this. This is what Granddad and our family do for a living. If we can do that here it would give me time to work out a way to be recognised. But first we need to clear these interlopers out and consolidate our position.’ he replied.
Granddad and Glammer nodded in agreement.
Aquitain teleported them all to the Mudrun southern gateway exit opened it to allow Miranlla and Granddad to leave and Rori to enter then quickly closed it and he and Rori teleported back to the control room where he introduced Glammer.
Aquitain took a look at Rori’s sad face and asked what was wrong.
‘I am being sorry to be saying but Kami has been banishing me from the clan. I am being a person without a home.’
‘You are welcome to join us here Rori. My home is your home if you wish.’ replied Aquitain.
‘I am thanking you very much Spirit Lord. I am thinking that there are no others peoples like me here. I am thinking maybe I could be spending some time with my yellow kin in Miranlla’s world. They are having many problems there. I am thinking maybe I could be helping them.’
‘That could be very useful Rori. You can be my special representative to the Trixies and keep me informed of any problems that they have that I might be able to fix.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Maybe you could be fixing their malformations, Spirit Lord.’ said Rori.
‘What do you mean? asked Aquitain.
‘Kami was telling me before the storm that if little people took too much magic into their bodies the gods made them malformed. They could ask Raptor or K’wala to heal th
em by taking the magic out. Maybe you could be doing that.’
‘Really? That might be what the problem is. There’s too much magic essence in the atmosphere in Moonmist. It sounds feasible.’
‘I don’t know how to drain the excess magic out of them Rori but I can guess who would know. I’ll try to find out. You will need to wait here for a while as I have work to do. When I get a few minutes spare I’ll take you to Bellen and the Trixies.’
Chapter 47 Confrontations
Aquitain changed to his Rock elemental form and melded into the control room wall. He looked around Astaria to see where all the people were and swam to a remote region in the basement area of Astaria where there were no signs of life.
He stepped out of the wall and checked the area to ensure it was empty, then meditated and unlocked his spirit from his Zenostruct body and leaving a little bit of spirit behind to keep the Zenostruct functional he slid into the rock of Astaria as easily as it was water. He then mentally shaped his green crystal half dragon rock body shape and flowed out of the rock. He locked his spirit into the new body and walked around with it. It felt very much like his familiar little green crystal body but he was now twice the size of a Newman. He modified his eyes to improve his vision.
He tried shape changing to his various forms and found no problem except that he had a fixed bulk. I wonder if I can change size if I’m not tied to a fixed body he thought. So he unlocked his spirit allowing it to be free and mentally shrunk his size until he was the size of his little green crystal body. He then mentally increased his size. It grew to about 3 times the size of a Newman but no bigger. He took this to mean that his spirit volume could be compressed into a small volume but there was a maximum volume to which it could expand.
He readjusted his size to Newman body size sealed his spirit to it changed to his rock elemental form and swam back to the control centre stepped out of the wall and changed to his green half dragon body shape.
Using mind speak to Glammer he said.
