by Des Pensable
‘We need to get rid of some of this heat!’ he thought. ‘Perhaps I can eject the part of our body you turned into a soul container?’
He looked at the illusory diamond soul container. It was glowing white-hot and there was no evidence of the malign spirit’s spirit aura. His body had turned bright red but it didn’t appear to be affecting his thinking. Why haven’t I melted? Because Beryl has a very high melting point and so has diamond. If I can get just rid of some of this heat I might just survive. If I eject part of my body it might explode and that will shatter the rest of my crystal body.’
He moved his mind into the auto-hypnosis state. Chanted a calming mantra again and looked internally. His diamond heart was truly a beautiful sight, his spirit was as bright as the sun on Mudrun. He needed to channel the power and heat away. He needed to turn the heat to light. Light will escape much easier from a crystal than heat. He knew from his training that heat was a similar form of energy to light.
‘I think I have it!’ he shouted then used his power to control light to convert the heat to light and sent it out of his body in all directions. The light took on the darker blood red colour of Beryl and as more heat energy was converted to light, it lit up the whole skyline in a spectacular display that could be seen for leagues.
The light reflected off the clouds down onto the Queen’s castle half a league away, illuminating it in an unnatural bloody light. Animals fled in panic and children screamed in fear. All at the Queen’s Palace were feeling very uneasy. It was only two days until the Queen’s Ball. This was a very bad omen in a land of semi-darkness, a sign that some terrible disaster was imminent, especially since it was coming from the Hill of the Tombs.
Moments later Llanlorian’s cat, Rat Catcher appeared and shape changed into the small female yellow scaled little person that he recognised as his guardian.
‘Hello Aquitain, I was sent here to save you but it looks like you have coped quite well without me. I haven’t got a body yet so I hitched a ride with Rat Catcher.’
‘Okay guardian it’s time we had a heart to heart talk! said Aquitain forcefully.
‘How did you manage to hide in my body all my life without me knowing?’
‘I thought it was rather obvious.’ she replied.
‘Our spirits were glued together as one. We had separate minds but we shared the same body and each had control of it. We were separated during Llanlorian’s ritual.’
Aquitain was stunned with the implications of what she had said.
‘So I was possessed by you?’.
‘No more than I was possessed by you.’ replied the guardian.
‘How long were you there?’
‘Since the day of your creation.’
‘Was it an accident or planned?’ asked Aquitain.
‘It was intentional. I was to be your guardian until you were able to adequately protect yourself.’
‘Who planned this?’ asked Aquitain.
‘You know the answer Aquitain. It was your father.’
‘Why did you hide from me all the time?’ he asked.
‘It was an agreement reached with your grandfather that has expired. We believed that you must learn from your own mistakes. I have chosen to remain silent until now. I was only to help you under dire circumstances.’
‘Then why did you let me die twice!’ asked Aquitain.
‘You are still alive and talking are you not.’ replied the guardian.
‘Are you suggesting that my deaths and reincarnations were planned?’
‘Your whole life was planned until you reached Mudrun. In Mudrun you were tested and you survived. I must admit that I was worried at times. However, you’ve proved more cunning, resourceful and resilient than I could have hoped. Your father has accepted you and you are now usefully employed as an Agent of Chaos. My job is over.’
‘I missed the part where I was asked whether I wanted to be an Agent of Chaos.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Aquitain your mother told you frequently that you were no ordinary person. She said you had a destiny. You said as much to Miranda and you even said this to Allalanllea just days ago. You know that you are different from others.’
‘That may be true but I don’t want to destroy things and bring about people’s deaths. It’s not what I imagined I’d be doing’ replied Aquitain.
‘Order is created from chaos by change and similarly order is destroyed by change thereby creating a balance between the two. People tend towards creating order and fear and resist change even though it is necessary. Agents of Chaos are perhaps more aptly called Agents of Change that try to reset a balance where there is an imbalance.’
‘Miranda is a preserver whose job is also to maintain the balance. She derives powers and protection from the Lady but at a cost. She must live by rules imposed by the Lady. Your power is derived from your own ability and you are not governed by rules. You can deal with the champions or villains of order and chaos on equal terms. The cost is that you are only tolerated if one side or the other thinks they can use you to their advantage.’
‘So as soon as I act against the Lady’s interests then I lose Miranda.’ suggested Aquitain.
‘That is rather a pessimistic view of the situation. I suspect that you will only lose Miranda if you drive her away as she loves you with great passion.’ replied the guardian.
‘So you think that she would turn her back on the Lady for me?’ suggested Aquitain.
‘To be honest I don’t know. I have never been in love. I have observed it but never been a part of it. In is not in my nature to love or be loved.’ replied the guardian.
‘It is not in your best interest for you to love or be loved. It will make you vulnerable.’
Aquitain was lost for words.
‘Wait … I’m receiving a message from your father.’
‘Your father sends his congratulations. It seems that the Lady has noticed the destruction of the Agent of Chaos known as Schlum.’
‘You mean that spirit was another Agent of Chaos. By the Powers that will have repercussions!’ stated Aquitain.
‘That’s true and part of the reason I have revealed myself to you. You have just graduated into the game of the gods a little earlier than I had hoped. You are no longer a squire but a knight. You now have a name and a reputation. More powerful creatures or groups will be interested in using you to further their own ends. You will be offered rewards and enticements to help with their problems but you will always be expendable.’
‘Guardian, I have been a Newman, a Logicon, a bear, a Llanllean and now a crystal construct. I feel at home in all of these bodies. Is that my destiny, to be a spirit without a true body? What kind of creature am I?’ asked Aquitain.
There was long silence and the guardian spoke.
‘You are Aquitain. There are no others like you.’
‘So Miranda’s tattoo is to protect her from me.’
‘Possibly, but that is not necessarily the case, I suspect only the Lady and Miranda know what the tattoo is hiding. We will have to wait until you are allowed to remove it.’
‘What is your name guardian?’ asked Aquitain.
‘You may call me Terrin.’
‘Tell me about yourself. You know everything about me. I know nothing about you.’ said Aquitain.
‘No. I’m sorry that is not possible at the moment. Perhaps one day in the future.’ replied Terrin.
‘Are you an Agent of Chaos? Am I just a clone of you!’ asked Aquitain suddenly.
‘I am an agent of your father. You are neither a clone of me nor your father. Your spirit is partly that of your father and partly that of your mother. To that extent you are partly Newman. You have been brought up with the culture and values of the Newman society which seems to be controlled by emotions more than logic but taught to think more logically and analytically than most.’
‘You have special skills and abilities that Newmans do not. You have a sense of duty and a great empathy for others, but can think and ac
t unemotionally in a crisis. There are no rules for an Agent of Chaos. If you can cause change and bring balance without death and destruction then you will have succeeded in your mission.’
‘I think that is enough questions for now. Think on what I have said and then when your body cools down go and find Miranda and come back to Astaria.’
‘Who is my father, Terrin?’
‘The Lady knew who your father was and the little people worked it out as well. That should be enough for a smart person like you.’
‘Fare well Aquitain!’ said Terrin as he teleported away.
After an hour the light intensity started to fade. His diamond heart lost its white-hot look and cooled down in minutes through a variety of oranges to a dull red. His crystal body would still be hot for hours but the crisis was over. He would live.
‘Glammer are you around here somewhere?’ he called using mindspeak.
She reappeared only a pace from him flying so that that her face was level with his.
‘It doesn’t look like you’re going to blow up any more. I thought for sure that you would. You are truly amazing.’
‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘That blue stuff in the memory bubbles was a crystalline form of magic essence. When the memory bubbles became unstable, all the magic essence wanted to get out. Somehow you managed to control its release. You have greatly impressed the Moonmist Collective with your magnificent feat of selfless courage in destroying that horrible spirit. You have no idea how much trouble it caused. They wish to honour you.’
Moments later two other Truth Radiants identical to Glammer appeared, one on either side of her. One began a ritual and the whole area for thirty paces around him lit up with a golden glow, the breeze became still and the night became hushed as if something grand was about to happen. Dozens of miniature radiants the size of moths with glowing bodies of all colours, air elementals and other small magic flying creatures that he had no name for started collecting in the area of the golden glow until there were hundreds of them.
The most beautiful music he had ever heard began playing gently and the myriad of small creatures formed a large circular procession around him slowly flying and pulsing their glowing coloured bodies in harmony with the music. As the music became louder and the tempo faster the procession began streaming and flowing faster with the sound, their little bodies glowing brighter and pulsing faster. When the tempo reached a fever pitch the colours of the flashing bodies began to synchronize forming into bands of brilliant vibrant raw colour.
The atmosphere was hypnotic and the air reeked of intense magic, as he stood transfixed inside the cylindrical rainbow of power. Glammer took on a rich greenish hue while the Truth Radiant on her right became a brilliant deep sea blue and the third bright sunny orange. The music became muted as the blue one spoke first.
‘My name is Aurabelle. I am leader of the order faction of the Moonmist Collective Mind. We wish to applaud and honour your mighty feat of courage in destroying the Agent of Chaos known as Schlum that has been causing so much death and destruction during the last few years. We have petitioned the Council to honour you with its greatest title, ‘Warden of Moonmist’.
Aquitain smiled inwardly as his little crystalline face couldn’t really smile and using mindspeak said
‘Forgive me but I’m not a great warrior. I didn’t seek it out to destroy it for any altruistic reasons. It came after my friends and me. I didn’t even try to kill it. I didn’t think I could. I just tried to stay alive and believe me I don’t intend to chase any more of them.’ said Aquitain.
‘Your modesty is admirable. It’s a title in recognition of your triumph over a powerful malign creature that has caused much disruption, pain and misery on Moonmist. You have shown to all that your heart is pure.’
‘Constructs don’t have hearts.’ said Aquitain.
‘Of course they don’t, it’s a metaphorical heart.’ said Glammer a bit miffed. ‘Do you want to know about it or not?’
‘Okay.’ he replied, ‘I’m listening.’
‘If you accept the title, you will be entitled to all the rights and privileges of a Lord of the Realm under the Charter. In addition the council has decreed that you will be granted the protection of a pure heart, which will confer immunity to fear, domination and possession as these were the tools employed by the chaotic spirit that you destroyed.’ said Aurabelle.
‘However, there is a down side.’ said the orange radiant rudely cutting into the conversation.
‘I am Belladonna and I represent the chaos faction. You have done us a disservice by destroying the spirit that we hoped would bring change to the rigid structure of the society on Moonmist that is the root cause of the pain and misery. Should you accept the title we have the right to place a curse on you.’
‘As a Warden of Moonmist you will carry the curse that you will not earn any personal glory while your spirit is cowardly hiding within the pure heart. No one but you will know or remember your deeds. You will get no credit, no honour or glory for your actions. It will be a hollow useless title.’
‘Could you give me some more details about this pure heart.’ asked Aquitain not quite sure how this was going to work out.
‘It will act like a spherical shield of magic that will surround your body. You can create it when needed and dispel it when you don’t.’ answered Glammer.
‘Glammer I presume you represent the neutral faction on the council. What does your faction have to say?’
‘The award is well balanced. Both the pure heart shield and the curse have both beneficial and detrimental points some of which may not be obvious at present. It will be up to you to determine when and how to use it.’
Aquitain remained quiet for a while thinking about what Glammer had said. If it wasn’t for her he would still be trapped, if not in the prison bottle then certainly within the soul crystal. It sounded like a double-edged sword. If he could use it carefully then maybe it would be useful as she suggested. Finally he made up his mind.
‘I wish to thank the council. I would be honoured to accept your title.’
‘Wonderful.’ said the blue radiant who then flew down and kissed Aquitain on the cheek. He felt a wonderful glow all over and a beautiful heart shaped diamond with a golden glow appeared in his chest and his spirit took on a bluish tinge. Next the orange radiant flew over and kissed him on the other cheek. The feeling of happiness and euphoria disappeared and the diamond heart took on a sickly red coloration and he felt depressed and unwell.
Finally, Glammer flew down and kissed him on the lips. This time the diamond changed to a faint greenish tinge, his red Beryl crystal structure reverted to the green Aquamarine and he felt normal again. She also whispered.
‘I have modified the curse a little. When the pure heart shield is active your spirit aura will be hidden from all except you. You also have powerful new knowledge within you. Use it wisely or it will be your undoing.’
There was a magnificent explosion of light and moments later the golden glow, the music, the swirling procession of magical creatures and the truth radiants all vanished leaving him standing in the frying pan in the darkness as if nothing had happened. He stood there wondering if it was all a dream or an hallucination.
The door on the crypt opened with a loud metallic scraping sound that bled off into the darkness. Llalorax came striding out with an expression of excitement on his face.
‘That was magnificent! You have been honoured beyond imagination and thoroughly deserve it! The last time that ceremony was enacted was hundreds of years ago. Good grief, Are you OK? You don’t look too well. In fact you look like a lifeless statue. You haven’t gone and died have you?’
Aquitain suddenly realized that Llalorax couldn’t detect whether he was alive or not while the pure heart shield surrounded his body that would effectively make him invisible to people searching for him using aura vision. He quickly dispelled the heart and his spirit was again visible.
‘No.
I’m alive. I was just having a mental break.’ said Aquitain using mindspeak.
‘Thank goodness. You had me worried for a moment. That was quite an impressive light show. It’s bound to attract unwanted visitors soon. We’d better get going.’
‘No I need some time to myself to think about things. You go back I’ll be back in a little while.
‘Okay but don’t stay here too long.’ replied Llalorax and he left.
Aquitain decided he would have to think seriously about this pure heart business. People were playing games with him again. They expected him to do great deeds like on Mudrun but here nobody would remember them. What benefit was being a hero if no one knew about it?
Suddenly Glammer reappeared. ‘Oh what luck, you’re still here. I’ve got a nice job for you.’
‘Oh. No. I knew there would be a catch. What do you want me to do?’ asked Aquitain.
Chapter 27 Terror Tactics
‘I think I know how you might find out where your friend Miranda is located.’ said Glammer.
‘Really and what do I have to do for this information.’
‘You need to ward an area from discovery. ‘she replied
‘Who for?’ he asked.
‘For the Moonmist Collective of course!’
‘There are those that might discover them and they do not wish that. You will be required to ward the area and then forget that you did. As a reward they will search for your friend Miranda and tell you where she is located. They might also tell you about the Warden’s Tower if you ask them.’
‘Are their other Wardens?’ asked Aquitain a little surprised.
‘No you are the only one at the moment but there have been two others.’
‘And the Warden’s Tower was where they lived?’
‘Yes.’ she replied.
Aquitain thought about it for a minute or two. Glammer was a master manipulator. She had helped him escape twice, had him honoured by the Collective and now was offering other enticements. She was powerful but very cunning. She wanted him to do something special. Something that he could do that she couldn’t. She seemed to want to help him and there was only one way to find out.
