Kastori Tribulations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 3)

by Stephen Allan

  He gave a dramatic pause. He looked across the crowd and saw the faces of eager young Kastori tired of working under the feet of the older generation. Use their anger. Turn them into zealots.

  “I am not surrendering!”

  Everyone cheered, and he held his sword aloft.

  “This is the greatest sword of black magic,” Typhos said. “It is one of three great swords, and it is one that will lead us to victory. I am still your savior. I will still lead you to prosperity, great lands, and long lives. However, we do have a battle coming, and unfortunately, there are risks in battle.”

  Don’t tell them they will die.

  “But I will stand here as your savior and tell you that as long as you avoid dying, I can heal all your wounds.”

  I can’t actually do that. But once I get a hold of Amelia and Lyos…

  “In time, I will become the savior that you all envision, and that time is not far off. That time will come even sooner as we prepare to win control of Anatolus!”

  Hands went up, and triumph began. Yes. We will win. Yes we can and yes we will. Do you see this, Erda?!?

  “Get your rest tonight. Do whatever you want while the sky is still dark. Because at dawn, we march on Mount Ardor. We take out all of the outposts along the way, and if anyone resists us… we will dispose of them.”

  The crowd roared once more. Typhos watched with glee at the prospect of doing battle with his allies. Weak, perhaps. But with my power… I tilt the odds to whichever side I fight for.

  “A new age is coming, my friends. An age in which we prosper rapidly and quickly, an age in which I will guide you to. We will not fight forever with violence, but we will always fight to advance ourselves to new worlds and to control all that we sense. This is the age of Typhos!”

  53

  Typhos rose with a yearning for battle in his heart and envisioned the destruction of numerous enemies in his mind. He shot out of the golden tent, expecting to see his fellow members lined up in rows, waiting for his command.

  But when Typhos emerged from the tent, he didn’t see anyone. Frustrated, he looked everywhere he could, wondering if maybe they’d already gone ahead and done their duty.

  They had not. With a quick sense spell, Typhos could see everyone remained in their tents. Several had awoken, but none had moved.

  “Typhos,” Hanna said.

  Typhos turned to the young girl coming from one of the red tents, her eyes tired but sympathetic. His eyes did not have the same level of sympathy.

  “Why is everyone not getting ready for battle?” he asked, exasperated.

  “The people are scared to fight. No one here has killed anyone.”

  “Well, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there,” Typhos said. “Get them up. I will persuade them to—”

  “That’s not the only thing,” she said, and Typhos’ eyes went wide. Hanna must have picked up on his nerves because she went over and put a hand on Typhos’ arm. “The council erected a magic-proof poisonous barrier just outside the forest by the mountains. It’s quarantining us from them. They moved everyone to their side of the thicket. It’s a bunch of beautiful flowers, but you can’t burn it.”

  “Isolation,” Typhos mumbled. I could cut through, but they’d just kill me on the spot. I can’t get through there quick enough.

  How about that, Erda. You’d rather push me away than fight me.

  Well, fine.

  If I can’t have this planet…

  “Typhos, the council isn’t coming after us,” Hanna said. “They’re essentially giving us this land. No one wants to kill anyone. Can’t we just accept this offering and live here?”

  “What?” he said, but his voice didn’t have as much disbelief as it did moments earlier. “We didn’t become organized so that we could let the council still control Anatolus!”

  A few other Kastori had emerged from their tents as the voices of Typhos and Hanna carried across the outpost.

  “No, but we did become organized so that we could follow you and establish our own rule. And we have that, Typhos. We govern ourselves. Isn’t that enough?”

  No. No way. I want this planet. I want my mother gone. I want more worlds. I want more. More!

  “For right now,” Typhos said in appeasement of the girl, who somehow had seemed to shrug off his mind spell with ease. “But I am not content to live in just a small section of Anatolus. I want this whole world.”

  And if I can’t have this whole world, no one can.

  How do you destroy a world when you aren’t strong enough to do it yourself?

  “And you’ll get it in time, but we don’t have the power or the desire,” Hanna replied.

  Create something with the power and desire for destruction.

  Yes.

  Yes.

  Typhos smiled, a smile that in his mind reflected his nefarious intentions but to Hanna probably seemed accepting.

  “Very well,” Typhos said. “I am going to relax in my tent for a bit. If anyone from the outside approaches, let me know immediately. Otherwise, we will remain here for the time being.”

  Hanna wearily smiled.

  “Thanks, Typhos,” she said as she hugged him. “We’ll follow you. We just don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  You won’t have to. At least not on this planet.

  54

  Typhos went for the one piece of paper he had not burned inside the tent of Ramadus—the paper on ancient monsters.

  He read about great beasts, some supposedly real, some the stuff of nightmares from the active imaginations of children. All of the beasts shared a few things in common—they all had massive size, all at least a hundred feet; all had menacing faces, the type that could put the fear of death into even Typhos; and they all had an insatiable desire to destroy Kastori.

  The one which caught the attention the most of Typhos was the calypi. A great beast of two hundred feet with a long tail, massive wings and the capability of breathing fire, legend had it the monster flew only at night, taking away the one time the Kastori could rest. During the day, it would disappear, but at night, it became a haunting presence, the type of beast that Kastori would not notice until it was too late.

  That. That is the monster I need to create. Except bigger and more intimidating.

  Typhos sat in silence as he tried to seek out the power to summon monsters. No one had mentioned such magic, and he only began to think it possible once he assumed the power of Fargus.

  But in a flash, his creation came to him.

  It would be twice the size of the calypi. It would have an extra set of arms, the better to destroy nearby enemies. It would have the power of magic—the power of fire, the power of healing, and the power of manipulating physical beings near it. Dark black scales would cover the monster, and yellow eyes would haunt anyone who saw the great beast. Typhos shuddered just thinking about the beast, but the vision became so clear he couldn’t help but think about it over and over again.

  “They want to push us away so we can’t fight with magic,” Typhos said to himself. “Then we will fight them with something worse.”

  He exited the tent and the day had turned into afternoon. He summoned two Kastori.

  “I will need to be in my tent for the next several days, alone. Do not let anyone disturb me. If anyone from the other side comes to talk, tell them we are not talking for a week. No matter what.”

  His voice left no room for argument, and the two Kastori went to stand guard at his tent.

  Without any food, water, or sleep, Typhos spent the next three days forming the beast. He first imagined it down to the finest detail, using his power of concentration to keep his previous imagery still. He developed the beast in the depths of the ocean, so that once it came to life, it would spring out and annihilate all that it saw without any warning. No one can know about this. Not even my own people.

  Through all of the development, Typhos paid no attention to his basic needs. He became so consumed with creating the ultim
ate monster that he pushed through his fatigue and waning energy. The monster must get made.

  Finally, on the third night, he endowed the creature with magic, and it was ready to do battle. Greater than calypi.

  It is Calypsius.

  “Calypsius,” Typhos messaged the beast. “Rise from the waters. Destroy all that you see. Hunt all Kastori without mercy. Leave the planet intact, but destroy the Kastori.”

  Typhos, with his sensing magic, saw the beast’s eyes open, and even he felt a chill at the deep, yellow eyes which became singularly focused. The beast launched with frightening speed from the depths of the ocean, and Typhos broke his sensing powers to run out of the tent. He heard the emergence of the creature and the terrifying, reverberating cry it gave as it emerged several miles from his own tent and made its way for the forest. He saw the first batch of fire breathed from the creature and smiled in pride. Exactly as I had hoped.

  Numerous Kastori broke out of their tents upon hearing the sound, and many screamed in horror.

  “Behold! Calypsius!” Typhos cried as another surge of flames came from the beast. Typhos saw barriers going up, but the spells would have no effect against the beast. “This is the weapon that will win the war for us! It will cleanse this planet of the enemy, allowing us to return!”

  “Typhos!” Hanna screamed from behind in horror. “What have you done? You haven’t just killed the enemy, you’ve destroyed this world for us!”

  “Precisely,” Typhos said with a frightening smile. “Cleanse this world of the enemy as we go to Monda.”

  “Why Monda?!?”

  “Monda serves a personal need and will give us time to allow Calypsius to do its job,” he said as another great cry came from the monster. “But we must now focus on moving. Kastori!”

  All of the Kastori rushed to Typhos as the beast continued raining fire from afar upon different outposts. Typhos could sense much death immediately and relished his impending victory.

  “We must go to Monda now. This beast is so great it may decimate our own if we do not hurry. From the peak of Mount Ardor, enough power exists to teleport us to Monda. Come near me and I will take us there!”

  All of the Kastori huddled around Typhos as he cast his spell and teleported them all to the edge of the cliff. When Typhos opened his eyes, he could see not everyone had made it with his spell. Such is the price of battle.

  “To the top!”

  He led the charge and paused when he came to the top.

  “Erda,” he said.

  His mother stood there, in the center of the ring, the mark of a tear on her cheek.

  “Is this what you wanted, Typhos? To destroy the world so that you could move past my mistakes?”

  “Shut up!” he cried as he sensed the beast finishing up on the ground.

  Ignoring his mother, he opened a portal to Monda, which opened to a field on one of the remote areas of land, uninhabited by humans, a great place to start his conquest without interruption. The Kastori rushed through the portal, and soon, only Typhos and Erda remained.

  “Come with me,” Typhos said. “Show me where your other son is. He will be my slave, but he and you will live if you come with me.”

  Erda sobbed as she shook her head.

  “My son deserves to live a better life than under the foot of his brother. I will not make him suffer.”

  “But you would make me suffer,” Typhos shouted just as Calypsius’ face emerged from the cliff, staring down both at them. It’s even bigger than I thought.

  Typhos could not appreciate the scale of the beast until all four hundred feet of the monster hovered over them, the harbinger of death.

  “Get out of here if you want to live, Erda,” Typhos said. “The beast will destroy even me.”

  But Erda said nothing. The beast leaned back to breathe fatal fire.

  “I hate you!” Typhos cried, but he teleported his mother to the ground below as he jumped through the portal, dodging the incinerating flames of his creation.

  I don’t know why I keep helping you.

  But you better not let the chance to atone for your mistakes go by.

  … I guess the same is true for me.

  55

  On the other side, Typhos saw scared faces. He saw faces which cried at the loss of Anatolus. Support is not black or white, Typhos. Some can support you and the elders.

  Too bad. They chose their path.

  I think I’ll need guardians to enforce my will, though. Not everyone here is so easily persuadable.

  Typhos cleared his throat to speak to the Kastori before him but paused when he heard the familiar voice of his mother in his head.

  “What have you done, Typhos?”

  He quietly moved to the side as his followers meddled about, continuing to talk.

  I brought the end of your reign, Erda, he communicated, surprised that they had the capability over such a vast distance. And for reasons beyond my knowing, I saved you. It was pure instinct.

  “It’s because I am your mother, and you still love me,” she said, drawing curses from Typhos. “For all the hate, there’s still the good in you. But Typhos. The end of my reign? Or the end of your home planet? Do you see what you’ve done?”

  Suddenly, in something Typhos had never seen before, a burst of images shot through. The forest, burning. All of the outposts, burning. Kastori scrambling to hide inside caves where the beast could not find them. The monster hunting down individual Kastori who could not flee to safety and seeming to take a sociopathic glee in destroying smaller individuals.

  “You have not just won a battle, Typhos. You’ve annihilated an entire world. This isn’t a war you’re fighting, son. You’ve destroyed everything. And in doing so, you’ve brought the pain you have inside you to everyone who ever lived on this planet.”

  Good, Typhos responded. Let them suffer. They need to know how I felt.

  “Do they? Do they, Typhos? What is this going to do? You’re going to destroy Monda, find my son, and then what? Kill him? That’s not going to make things better for you. You know this. If it did, you would have already killed me. But you know you love me as I love you and that you can’t kill love.”

  Typhos paused. There was an element of that statement that he knew to be true. He didn’t want to admit that he loved his mother, or that he wouldn’t feel better even after destroying Monda.

  But he had to admit given his actions, there was a strong possibility she was right. The young man sighed, upset and confused.

  How do I make things better? He wasn’t asking it earnestly, but it came out that way.

  “Come home, Typhos. You and I can defeat this… Calypsius. Forgive. I know I’ve made many mistakes. I’ve failed you, Typhos. But you are failing your people right now. Kill me, for all I care. But don’t kill my world and your race. I’m asking you this as your mother.”

  Typhos pondered it far longer than he had expected. He had fallen hard from the lofty expectations, and he saw himself that it was indeed a tragic fall. A savior didn’t devastate a planet in the name of his pride. A savior didn’t deny the love of his parents because of his own tribulations.

  I am no savior. I have led a genocide, and not a salvation.

  But the pain my mother put me through…

  It was too great. He was too far down the path of destruction. He let out a sigh, gave a quick thought to what could have been, and ended the conversation with his last words.

  My mother died with my father. I have no mother.

  “I am your mother and I am here, and I will continue to fight to bring you home. You may think that I have abandoned you, and that love means the person leaves you, but it is not that way. Perhaps someday, Typhos, you will meet someone who loves you, and who will never leave you.”

  If only. I have no one like that right now.

  Typhos knew that was the greatest tragedy of all.

  Because of his reaction to all of the suffering and tragedy in his life, he had pushed away and, in some ca
ses, murdered those who would comfort or guide him in the right direction.

  The Typhos he had become, he knew, had something to do with his circumstances, but everything to do with his choices.

  Epilogue

  Six months later, Typhos stood on a hill on Monda similar to the one he frequented on Anatolus. Wearing his mask, he overlooked a magnificent city, full of tall structures, thousands upon thousands of humans, and technology that could seemingly replicate much of their magic. He closed his eyes, sat on the ground, and concentrated on sensing Anatolus.

  No one’s left on the surface. There are about two hundred Kastori left within the mountains. And…

  Mom. She’s still alive.

  I ultimately control her life.

  And I’ve chosen to let her live every single time.

  Typhos sighed, disappointed that he could not carry out what he had sworn to do. He rose and glanced at his target. Though Monda contained many similar places to this city—albeit none as large or visually impressive—Typhos intended to take his time. He wanted the humans to suffer for all of the years that he had, for over a decade and a half, before he would bring down his indestructible might upon the pathetic society.

  “Typhos.”

  He turned and saw Hanna approaching. Much as he had seen his mother age dramatically, Hanna, too, seemed to have aged a few years in the six months since their arrival. She had never opened up, but Typhos knew the woman struggled with something emotional since their arrival.

  “Why did you do it? Why did you destroy everything and everyone we loved?” she said, her voice weak and frightened.

  Typhos sighed, cast his head down, and turned away from the girl he once could barely talk to.

  “Because nothing and no one on Anatolus loved me, and I felt the only way forward was to destroy what scarred me.”

  “And have you moved forward?”

  Typhos said nothing.

  “You assume that no one there loves you. I take it it is safe to assume you believe no one will ever love you?”