Omar bowed deeply. “Your Majesty shouldn’t trouble herself to venture outside the palace just to meet someone as unimportant as myself.”
Queen Elizabeth’s laugh was like a song. “Dear Sir, I dare say you’re not unimportant. You have every Akana in the city fighting over who will get a chance to join the Magi while you’re here. I’ve even had two Miyka approach me, wishing to join your ranks. In one hundred years only one Miyka has joined a guild. We are aristocrats, and to join a guild is to shrug off that duty and calling. So please, sir, know that your presence here is, to say the least, noteworthy.”
“You’re Majesty, I’m sorry to have caused such uproar in your kingdom. Would you have us depart?”
“Nonsense! Queen Ariana is a good friend of mine. I count her as a sister. If she has joined your ranks, then you must stay in my kingdom long enough for me to see the greatness that you have brought to Soterion.”
“Whatever greatness I’ve brought to Soterion pales in comparison to your beauty.”
“Thank you. That is enough, sir. Your compliments are appreciated, but you must know that I belong to my king and further flattery would rouse his anger.”
Omar stared at her in silence, still captivated by her beauty.
Kleis slapped him on the back and said, “Your grace, we thank you for your hospitality and humbly accept it.”
She nodded to Kleis. “Follow me, good sirs. I’ll show you to your rooms.”
They followed the queen while she led them up fifteen flights of stairs. Omar was glad that the castle servants were carrying his baggage. He wasn’t sure that he’d have made it without them. As Omar climbed each flight, he thought of the gift that he would leave for the Kingdom of Loefel Meren. Omar had built an elevator that worked off pulleys and ropes for the Magi Tower. All it required was one person to pull the rope and that person didn’t even need to possess much strength due to the leverage he had designed into the lift. He decided he would have one built for these towers too. As they ascended the stairs, Omar also admired the beautiful artwork on the walls.
“Who is the artist?” he asked.
Queen Elizabeth smiled. “I am.”
“For all of them?”
“Oh yes, this is a hundredth of what I’ve done over the past thousand years.”
“Could I buy one from you?”
I’m afraid that only the monarchs of Soterion can afford them, but I might give you a gift before you leave. We will see how things go.”
They followed her to their rooms where they all had a breathtaking view of Loefel Meren. Queen Elizabeth told them they would be summoned for dinner, which would be served on that same floor. They were all glad to hear that.
Omar quickly drew up the plans for the pulley-operated elevator, rolled up the parchment, and left his room, following a servant to the dining hall. When Omar arrived, he noticed that King Magus’ place at the other end of the long table was not set. The Queen noticed Omar looking at it and announced, “The king is not feeling well this evening. He will not be joining us.”
The table was filled with wonderful food. They all ate as they told of their journey and recent happenings around Soterion. When dinner was over, the servants cleared the table, and Omar began to explain how the Magi would interact with Loefel Meren.
“From reliable sources, I hear that you can do the impossible,” said the queen. “Many in Loefel Meren wish to learn these skills that the Magi possess. I’m worried, however, that this will affect the structure of our kingdom. How can we deal with this?”
Omar replied, “Your Grace, if you come up with a number, I’ll only accept that many of each race from your kingdom each year. I’m sure you’re worried most about losing the race of the Akana entirely, since the Magi are all about acquiring knowledge. I can speak to Queen Ariana, and I’m sure she will agree with my offer that you may retain half of those that complete Magi training within your kingdom, as long as they have their own guild hall and apartments in which to live.”
“This is agreeable to me.”
Other minor issues were brought up throughout the evening, but Omar found solutions to all of them. The queen was intrigued by the stories of what the Magi were capable of so the gathering continued late into the night.
“And lastly, I wish to give your people a gift,” Omar announced as he pulled the parchment from his satchel. They gathered around it at the table and Omar explained what it would do for her palace. Her eyes lit up as she grasped the benefits.
“Sir, this is a great gift. In return I will paint a portrait of you that you may take back to Caelsis.”
“I’m honored,” was all Omar could say.
The next day the elevator would be built and the queen would paint the portrait. Afterward Omar would leave Kleis there to recruit members for the Magi, and the queen would specify the numbers and limits. Omar would return to Caelsis when the portrait was finished, and Kleis would return when the first round of initiates had been chosen.
Omar woke in the middle of the night, stirred by the wonderful evening they’d all had. He wandered the halls for a while. He came to a place where he could see from a window into a courtyard below. He was surprised to see the queen standing down there with a falcon on her shoulder.
She appeared to be speaking to it like the Yaarma spoke a special language to animals. As he stood there, the queen caught sight of Omar through the window. Omar rushed down, entered the courtyard, and bowed deeply before her.
“Your Highness, I’m so sorry. I cannot un-see what I’ve seen, but I can promise if you explain to me what I just saw that I will keep your secret. You have my word!”
She looked around the courtyard to see if anyone else was watching and then stepped close to Omar. “And it is time I share this secret with someone, but in return you must share something with me that is a grave secret for you. That way we will share a trust with each other.”
Omar nodded in agreement.
She sighed. “My father was a Miyka, but my mother was a Yaarma. This is too long ago for anyone to remember or know, but the secret could get me killed.”
Omar, though fascinated, understood the trouble it could cause her. Kleis had mentioned it before. The Yaarma were not considered to be candidates for royalty. Omar decided that he could share his secret also. He took off his coat and spread his wings.
“How does an Akana come by wings?”
“The truth is, I’m not an Akana.”
“Then what are you?”
Omar told her how they’d come to Soterion from Earth through Musterion.
“This story is amazing. No one would believe it even if I told them. We are bound together in our secrets.”
They bade each other good night and went to bed. The next day they exchanged the gifts they had discussed the day before, but there was no further mention of their shared secrets. Omar sadly departed Loefel Meren and returned to Caelsis. The only woman he’d met on Soterion whom he knew he could let himself fall in love with was a queen who was already taken by another man. It seemed the only thing he still lacked in this new world was someone he could love.
29
Betrayal
Myles was quite pleased with himself. He’d gotten in and out of Kasey’s room with ease while she slept. He’d watched her for a moment. She’s so beautiful and radiant. He'd teleported out of her room after leaving her a rose. She might think I'm no good for her anymore but at least she'll know I'm still thinking about her. The rose will definitely tell her who succeeded in lifting her prized secret weapon.
He laid the rose down and the thought pierced him that he wished things had been different. But they weren’t, so he teleported back to the gambling hall in Teknon. A bad feeling nagged at him, so Myles wanted to get it over with. Sure enough, when he arrived Hay-lale sat waiting for him.
Myles strutted in and stood in front of him. “Have you been waiting here this whole time?”
“Of course, but do you have what I’ve been waiting for?”
Myles handed him the sword. “We had a deal.”
“That we did. And to be honest with you, I never honor my deals. However, I’m interested to see how it plays out if I tell you this one thing.”
“Okay, so lay it on me.”
“Soterion is a dream world. It’s a real world when you’re here, but it exists within the realm of dreams. You can do anything you can imagine once you realize this. We’re all real here in this realm, real…but the world around you is as malleable as a dream.” Hay-lale smiled as he walked toward the door.
Myles let the words sink in for a minute. “Wait! Who are you really?”
“I am Hay-lale. But I’m known by many other names: Belial, King of Babylon, King of Tyre, Son of Perdition, Serpent, Lawless One, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Lord of Darkness, Father of Lies, even Satan…” There was a glimmer in his eyes as he looked at Myles one last time. “But here on Soterion, I’m known mostly as the Great Red Dragon.”
Myles ran out the door after him with his heart pounding. He looked around but there was no one in sight. What have I just done?
~*~
Omar returned from his journey, excited to get back to science. He’d missed it in the stress of dealing with politics. He felt as though he’d been under a spell the whole time he was in Loefel Meren. It was a pleasant spell to be sure, but he was completely distracted during his visit by all the beauty, and he’d been unable to focus on gathering information. On the way back he felt as though the spell had been lifted, and he remembered all the things he had missed.
Omar’s Kuon, Matsa, landed next to the Tower and Omar dismounted. He started to unload his many bags but could immediately tell that something was wrong. There was a strange tension in the air. Omar stopped what he was doing and immediately went to find Roca. Other magi told him she was behind the Tower meeting with new recruits.
Omar circled the Tower and found Roca speaking with Seux, Ariana, Erestar Lurin, and Hope Migdalah, the female Raphad that Erestar had asked permission to bring along. Hope was the daughter of the former Raphad King of Drakonge. As he approached them, Erestar was speaking and Omar could tell by the way Hope looked at him that there was at least a deep friendship between them. Erestar wore armor marked with a gryphon, a strange thing for a man who seemed so peaceful. The gryphon was the symbol of House Lurin.
Omar had already studied the history of the Raphad. The symbol for House Migdalah was a tower—it stood for stability and strength. Hope was the last surviving member of House Migdalah and there were rumors that she would someday take the crown and become queen. As if to answer these rumors, Hope changed the symbol of House Migdalah to a peacock. On Earth the peacock was known as the bird with a hundred eyes. It was also known that way on Soterion. Akana scholars speculated that Hope’s choosing of this symbol was an acknowledgement of her royal status but also expressed her determination to stand back and keep watch rather than rule. The Raphad had never asked her to lead, so they must have picked up on this message.
Omar had also asked around Loefel Meren about Erestar, trying to learn more about this giant but gentle leader. Very little was known about Erestar. He was first heard of after the Drakoni won the battle of Drakonge. Suddenly he became the single most important person to the Raphad, a key to their survival. He was not a king, but he might as well have been.
As Omar approached them, they all stood. Roca went to him immediately, obviously quite anxious.
“You must join us, Master Omar. Much has happened since you left the island. I was just briefing the royal recruits of the Magi on what’s transpired. I held off on sending you a message about this.” She looked down, “I wanted to show you that I could handle things in your absence by taking care of this problem before you got back. I’ll start from the beginning so that everyone is on the same page.”
“The day after you left over a month ago, a fireball fell from the sky into the jungle. We sent two Magi with invisibility devices into the jungle to check it out, but they never returned. The next day I led a search party of twenty-five Magi into the jungle, and found no sign of them. We continued to search but until last week never found anything.
“Some kind of ship had landed in the jungle. Saphira recognized it as technology from her home planet Gnosis. Unfortunately this ship is equipped for war. Their technology is more advanced than that of Soterion, Musterion, or even Earth. I made the decision that no one would be allowed to go into the jungle until you returned and we have posted sentries.”
Alien technology that’s beyond that of Earth’s? That is definitely something to take seriously, Omar mused. Whatever came out of that ship could be hostile. He knew they couldn’t take any chances.
“All right, I have twenty sun grenades left. Bring me twenty of the best Alexandros. We have to prepare to defend ourselves.”
Erestar stood and announced, “We’ll come with you.” Ariana, Hope, and Seux all nodded.
Omar smiled “We’re grateful for the help. We may need everyone we have here on the island.”
Omar armed each of the twenty Magi warriors with a sword and a sun grenade, giving them specific instructions not to use the grenade unless they were in immediate mortal danger.
Omar led the team into the jungle where they found the spacecraft. It sat there with no engine sounds, but they could hear movement. Omar led while Hope and Erestar followed behind him, crouching down, trying not to be seen.
They found the missing Magi crystalized within a shimmering blue field around them. It looked as though they had been frozen, but the substance was more like glass than ice. A dead Gauntman lay on the ground. A campfire burned brightly. Guarding the camp was a five-foot tall metal, golden-colored praying mantis. It was either robotic or some kind of strange, armored life form.
Erestar left no time for guesswork. He reached out and grabbed the creature with both hands, completely enveloping it, but the creature bit Erestar and locked on to him. A surge of energy and a blue flash of light knocked both Erestar and the creature to the ground unconscious. They both stirred and stood up, staring at each other. “I think it’s created some kind of bond with me,” Erestar exclaimed, his startled gaze roving around. “This is amazing! I can see through its eyes.”
The creature spoke. “My master is now dead so I’ve chosen you as my new master. I’ll do as you direct me from now on.”
“Oh. First I want you to let those two Magi out of the cage.” The creature immediately obeyed.
Erestar glanced at Omar and shrugged.
“I guess it’s your pet now.”
“What’s your name and where are you from?” asked Erestar.
“I am Sabriel. I’m from Gnosis. Where am I?”
Erestar answered, “You’re on Soterion. Why did you come here?”
“We received a distress signal from this planet.”
“A distress signal?” asked Omar.
“Yes, a signal only a Gauntman would know how to send.”
Saphira said, “I didn’t send any signal. It would take me hundreds of years just to create a receiver that could find the signal.”
“Let’s all return to the camp," Omar said. "We have to find what this is about.”
Erestar grabbed the ship, Hope picked up the body of the dead Gauntman, and they joined the Magi as they headed back to the Tower.
Queen Ariana came to see Omar and reminded him of the Rock of Truth. The Council decided that if the Rock worked, then they would use it with the new recruits. Omar, the Council, and the royalty of the other kingdoms wrote out an oath to swear upon the Rock of Truth.
The next day as the sun rose, the first initiates to the Magi on Soterion stood upon the Rock and swore the oath. “I swear to never reveal the secrets of the Magi. I swear to help all Magi when it does not morally conflict with my beliefs or interfere with my own pursuit of knowledge. I swear to protect the secrets I carry. I swear to share all knowledge, both secret and public, that I have now or ever do acquire, with all the other Mag
i.”
Omar monitored the vital signs of those who swore their oath through his laptop and other equipment he’d brought to Soterion from Earth. He noted a slight alteration in each one of them after taking the oath. The Rock of Truth was now a permanent part of the initiation. Every Magi from then on swore that same oath. A new order had come to Soterion.
30
The Battle of Epher
As Myles walked back to his hotel room, the full weight of his actions closed in on him. The heist had simply been a temptation to bring out the worst in him and get him to betray his dearest friend, and he had fallen for it. The things he had been told about Kasey were probably lies. His arrogance, his stupidity, and his tenacious effort to preserve a worthless lifestyle all crashed down on him. He vomited several times along the way.
It began to pour down rain. What have I become? I'm on some kind of roller-coaster I can't control. It was one thing to be a con man and a gambler. But to end up as an accomplice to the greatest enemy of God was a new low for him. That was too far down to go. I've got to find a way back.
He stumbled through the mud with his tears hidden by the rain. A flash of light blinded him and a blow to the back of his head sent him crashing to the ground. He got a glimpse of his attacker as he fell into the mud. Tyree.
Tyree had gone after Myles while Kasey went to retrieve his Kuon, Ganan. She’d started to look for him when she discovered that Ganan had gotten away from her. She didn’t know where he went, but Tyree had seen him flying off into the distance so she was tracking him to try and catch him.
Tyree had left her and followed Myles, watching him stumble along, apparently dealing with some kind of remorse or sickness. It made Myles an easy target.
Tyree picked Myles up and carried him to Arrow. Heaving Myles onto his Kuon, he flew quickly to Phlox. Once there he took Myles to the secret passageway, where the entrance to Musterion was. He followed Nekar’s instructions, but as he began to enter the portal, Ganan jumped out of the darkness and pounced on them both, sending them all falling through the portal. Tyree stood up and looked around, irritated. He found himself in a room with nine different paintings.
Bridgeworlds: Rise of the Magi Page 29
