by Pedro Urvi
“I need you to seal the entrance,” Haradin said.
Komir did not bother to hide the anger he felt. He went to the door and turned to face the Mage.
“Please, Komir, it’s vital. We must seal the chamber again. I beg you.”
Komir was trying to contain the anger surging inside him. “You owe us a lot of explanations,” he said.
“I know, and I’ll give them to you. But now we must seal the chamber. Please, Komir, it’s essential. We’re still in danger.”
Komir exhaled. He placed the Dark Medallion in the hole in the door. At once the circular door closed with a metallic sound and the entrance was sealed.
Haradin let out a long sigh and leaned on his staff.
“It’s time for an explanation, Haradin,” Komir demanded.
“I think so too,” said Aliana
Iruki was distressed. “What happened in there?” she asked.
Haradin raised his arm and motioned them to stay calm.
“If you want to know… I’ll give you my answer. It’s something I haven’t told anyone, but for a crucial reason. I was afraid of exactly what nearly happened just now. But before I reveal the secret I’ve kept for so long, I must ask you for an oath of loyalty. Nothing of what you’ve seen here today, or what I’m about to let you know, will ever be mentioned again outside this Chamber. This knowledge is not for any other ears. Do I have your word of honor?”
Haradin looked at each face, making sure they all understood the importance of what he was asking. His eyes questioned them, one by one: the Five Bearers, then Kayti, Hartz, Lindaro and finally Lasgol.
They nodded.
“All right. I’ll tell you everything I’ve discovered. Most of my life I’ve been studying the Ilenians, deciphering the secrets of the Lost Civilization. It was almost an obsession, I have to admit. What started out as mere curiosity became a hunger to learn, and that in turn became fear, a great fear for the future of Men. The Book of the Sun is not just a grimoire, it’s a complex compendium of Ilenian knowledge, and in it there are elements of their very ancient history. As I studied it —and it’s taken me years —I discovered passages whose contents tormented my soul and changed my life forever. Instead of the benevolent, advanced civilization I wanted the Ilenians to be, as did many other scholars of the subject” —his eyes were on Lindaro and Sonea as he said this— “they turned out to be a race of cruel, bloodthirsty despots. The Ilenians, with all their power, ruled over the earth as if they were demigods. The first men, when they first met them in time immemorial, took them for divinities. The Ilenians enslaved them, since as far as they were concerned men were no more than lesser beings, without magic, without power, without intellect, no more than animals.”
Lindaro’s face wore a look of horror at this revelation. “Are you… are you sure, Haradin?”
“I’m afraid so, Lindaro.”
“But with so much power… Why not look for knowledge, wisdom and good?” Sonea wondered. Her shoulders sagged, and she looked deeply disappointed.
“That’s what I was able to make out from the Book of the Sun. I don’t have all the answers, as there’s a lot I don’t yet understand and the grimoire is extremely complex. But I can tell you with complete certainty that the Ilenians enslaved humans and used them for their own enjoyment.”
“And how did the first men manage to escape from the slavery of the Ilenians?” Aliana asked.
“That’s one of the great mysteries which have obsessed me for a long time, and I think I’ve finally solved it. The Book of the Sun doesn’t make it clear, but it does make reference to several significant points which, properly deciphered, help us to understand what happened. The first clue refers to a bloody revolt in which the slaves, the first men, led by a young hunter, rose against the Ilenians. The second clue refers to inner tensions among the Ilenians, to the division of their leaders, to a confrontation among the Ilenians themselves. And the third clue, perhaps the most relevant in my opinion, points to the vanity and hunger for absolute power of the Ilenians, which ended their civilization and freed humans. In their yearning to acquire ever more power, to reach a level of magic capable of ruling nature itself, even death, the Ilenians went too far. They violated the laws of nature, believing they were gods, invincible and untouchable. And nature, rebelled against them. In their vainglory they forgot an unbreakable universal law: that all power, above all that of magic, demands a price. The universe always enforces a constant balance between the sources of power, and sooner or later that balance is regained. When the Ilenian Lords of the five elements tried to bend Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Ether to their will, Mother Nature rebelled against them at last, and managed to corrupt the Ilenian magic. The Ilenians in their pride, believing themselves invincible and indestructible, realized too late that their power, their magic, had turned against them, poisoning them in the process.”
“Mother Nature is very wise…” Iruki mused.
“Indeed,” Haradin agreed. “Mother Nature could not re-establish the natural order of things, or defeat the Ilenians, thanks to the tremendous power they had attained, but she did manage to corrupt the thing which made them gods: their magic. She contaminated it, turning it into a poison for them.”
“But they didn’t die, they’re sleeping,” Sonea said musingly.
“Yes. The Ilenians fought against the poisoning, but they couldn’t beat it, since the more they used their magic the more it poisoned them. Some died trying to purge it, others perished unable to accept what had happened to them. But a few discovered how to slow down the effects of the poison by using very little of their magic, no more than a thread to sustain their lives and almost stop the advance of the poison. Knowing that the corrupted magic would eventually kill them, they went down to the Everlasting Chamber to sleep the eternal sleep until the day when Mother Nature’s punishment should perish, the day when the corruption that was poisoning them ran its course and set them free.”
“Are you sure it was Nature?” Hartz asked with obvious disbelief.
Haradin smiled at the big Norriel.
“I know that for a man of the highlands like you, rational and no friend to mystical concepts, this might sound a bit strange. The Book of the Sun gives us those clues, what I’m telling you now is my interpretation of them. If nature seems too much of a mystical concept to you, then you can think it was Men, or the Ilenians themselves, who poisoned their source of their power. Whose hand was responsible is unimportant. What is beyond doubt is that they fell poisoned. Their magic had been corrupted, and so as not to die, they slept this everlasting sleep for three thousand years, until the day came when it would happen.”
“And that day has come?” Lindaro asked with fear in his eyes.
“Yes, Lindaro, the day has come, which is why we’re all here today.”
Komir was trying to puzzle out why they were there and why they had come so close to accidentally awakening the Ilenians. He could make no sense of it and he liked it less and less. “What do we have to do with all this?” he asked.
Haradin turned to him and nodded.
“According to what’s written in the Book of the Sun, the Five Lords of the Elements, the rulers of the Ilenian race, begat five descendants with the lesser race of men. Five descendants to ensure that one day, when the poison was finally out of their systems, they would wake them from this everlasting sleep: five Chosen who would answer the summons of their ancestors and free them to rule once again over the earth. Five Chosen of their own blood, their descendants.” Haradin pointed at each of them in turn. “You five.”
They gaped at him.
“Are you telling us that… that… we’re descendants of the Ilenians?” Aliana asked, wide-eyed.
Haradin gave a slow nod.
“Yes, their descendants and Chosen, for you carry the medallions of the Five Lords of the Elements: the medallions necessary to waken them from their sleep. For three thousand years they have been waiting for this day, the day when their
sickness would pass and they would be able to return to the surface, and that day has come. That’s why you were summoned here, the five of you, to this chamber, to complete the ritual which would return them to life; you or your descendants, or the blood of your blood. The medallions are linked to your blood-line.”
The news was not at all welcome to the five young people, who were staring at each other in puzzlement.
Komir was incredulous. “But… but that can’t be,” he muttered
“No… we can’t be descendants of… them…” Aliana said. She too was finding it impossible to accept the implications of what she had just heard.
Asti shook her head. “I not believe. I Usik, no Ilenian.”
“I’m with Asti,” Iruki agreed. “I’m a Masig, daughter of the Steppes. We all belong to different races. How can we be the descendants of those creatures?”
“I’m sorry to tell you that in fact you are. The Five Lords of the Elements made sure that their blood would mix with that of the first races of Tremia: Masig, Usik, and the first races of the west and mid-est. All five of you possess the Gift, something strange and rare, and the Ilenian medallions can only be used by you, each medallion by one Bearer, to be exact. This fact links you specifically to your ancestors by line of descent. You are blood of their blood.”
“It’s crazy!” Komir cried. He turned to Aliana, expecting her support, but found her lost in some thought of her own.
She fixed her gaze on the Mage.
“There’s something else you still haven’t told us, isn’t there, Haradin? For quite a while I’ve been suspecting something unusual which caught my attention, a feature we all share and which I can’t explain. We all belong to different races, but we all share the same tragedy: we’re all orphans.”
The other four Bearers looked uneasily at each other.
Haradin lowered his gaze and nodded.
“It’s my sacred duty, and that of my Keepers, to protect the Enigma of the Ilenians so that it’s never revealed and so they can never return and destroy us Men. Eighteen years ago a significant fact was revealed to me. While I was studying the Book of the Sun, the Ilenian Somber Medallion awoke and showed me Komir in grave danger of death. It warned me. At the time I did not know why, but now I know the reason. It warned me because one of the descendants, the future Bearer of the Medallion of Ether, was going to be murdered.”
“By whom?” Aliana asked.
“This is where I was left completely at a loss and without answers for a long time. The Dark Lady had sent Dark Assassins to kill him.”
Sonea’s restless mind was trying to untangle the mystery. “Because of the Premonition?” she asked.
“Exactly. To stop it, so that Komir would not kill her.”
“But what do the Premonition and the Dark Lady have to do with the Ilenians and all this?” Iruki asked.
Haradin gave a deep sigh.
“That’s the key: everything and nothing. It took me a long time to understand it, to reach this conclusion. There are two Destinies which cross in time in a single person who has the power to stop them. Two Destinies of incredible importance for mankind, which might have put an end to all Tremia, which would have unleashed death and suffering on thousands of people: two destinies with catastrophic repercussions, with one person at their epicenter, where both paths crossed.”
Sonea’s eyes went to the Norriel. “Komir,” she said.
Komir shook his head.
“Indeed. You have prevented both Destinies: The Dark Lady did not win and the Ilenians did not return. With your courage and power, you stopped them. It’s something truly amazing and impressive.”
“Not just me, we all did it together.”
“Indeed, but you were the key as both Destinies run through you” Haradin said.
“The ways of the Light are mysterious,” Lindaro said, “and those Chosen to protect us from evil still more so. But go on, please, Haradin. You saved Komir…”
Haradin sighed once again.
“Yes, but there was nothing I could do for his parents. I hid him in the highlands among the Norriel and asked their Silver Witch to cast a spell that would keep him hidden, as I knew they would go back for him, to end his life, even though at the time I still had no idea why. I thought he was the only one in danger, but I was wrong. Although he was the only one they were seeking in order to kill, the Dark Lady’s scouts discovered and kidnapped four other children with a similar power to Komir’s. Four children with a very special and powerful Gift.”
“That was us?” Aliana asked in wonder.
Haradin nodded.
“The Dark Medallion warned me… on four more occasions… just as it had done with Komir, for a Bearer, a Chosen, was in danger… But to my misfortune, never in sufficient time for me to reach you and prevent… prevent the death of your parents… It’s a sorrow and a shame I carry burning in my heart. I tried to save them, to get to them in time, but I couldn’t.” Haradin shook his head. There was deep sorrow on his face. “On each occasion, I got there too late, the warning was too late, and you had already fallen into the hands of the Dark Lady’s Sorcerers.”
“And you rescued us?” Iruki asked.
“With the help of the Keepers we tracked the Sorcerers one by one, following their trail, and found them. I fought with them on four different occasions, and miraculously came out victorious. That’s how I rescued you eighteen years ago.”
A long, tense silence followed Haradin’s revelation. Komir, who already knew part of it, had less trouble coming to terms with the terrible significance of those facts. He swallowed hard and saw that his companions were trying to make sense of all they had heard. In their faces was pain as well as understanding.
Aliana was the first to react.
“You saved us, Haradin. That’s what matters, and we must thank you for it. You mustn’t torment yourself. You did all you could, and for that I’m eternally grateful.”
“So are we,” Iruki added. She glanced aside at her companions, who all nodded in agreement.
Haradin acknowledged their thanks with a small bow, but his eyes remained on the ground.
“Was it you who took us to our foster homes?” Aliana asked.
“It was. I searched for the most suitable homes I could find in the neighborhood of the ill-omened events. You were in great danger. I had to hide you and make sure you were protected and well looked after. I chose the best I could under the circumstances, bearing in mind the urgency of the situation. Iruki and Asti were handed over to chiefs of their respective tribes, you and Sonea to well-regarded Orders. It’s all I could do… I’m sorry…”
“You did well,” Iruki said. Her eyes were moist from emotion. “I couldn’t have wished for better parents.”
Asti nodded in agreement.
“How did you hide us from the Dark Lady?” Sonea asked. Her restless mind was tying the loose ends together.
“I asked the Silver Witch to cast a spell on four runic stones, as she had already done with the Somber Medallion. And so she did. My Keepers placed the runes of hiding close to your homes. They’ve been keeping watch on you since then from a distance, without interfering, and informing me.”
Komir stepped forward.
“What you’ve told us is much to take in all at once,” he said. “But we asked for explanations, and you’ve given them, whether or not we like what you’ve told us. I’m grateful, Haradin, although it leaves my soul troubled and in turmoil.”
Haradin looked Komir in the eye and gave him the trace of a bow.
Komir met his gaze and acknowledged the bow with a nod.
“And now what, Haradin?” Aliana asked. From the look on her face, she still had not quite taken in everything she had been told.
“Now we’ll leave this accursed chamber, never to return.”
Kayti pointed to the sealed door. “Shouldn’t we kill them?” She asked.
“Yes, we should,” Haradin said, his face uneasy, “but I doubt whether we�
�d be able to. You saw what happened. If we try to go in to kill them I fear we’d fail, and what’s worse, they’d manage to wake up. My magic is useless in there. That Chamber oozes Ilenian power. The medallions you wear serve the Ilenians, over and above your will. They’d turn against you and obey their masters. No, it’s too risky. We’re not powerful enough to confront the Ilenian magic in there. We should seal the Chamber and erase it from our memory.”
Kayti nodded.
Haradin turned and looked at them all.
“The Ilenians must never be awakened. Never. I need your word that everything you know about the Ilenians and this Chamber will never be revealed to anyone. This has to be a secret you’ll take to the grave.”
They all nodded in assent.
“Komir?”
“You have my word as a Norriel.”
“Aliana?”
“Of course, Haradin. By the Mother Healer.”
“Asti?”
“Me promise by Usik Forests sacred.”
“Iruki?”
“By the Mother Steppe of the Masig.”
“Sonea?”
“By the Order of Knowledge.”
Haradin looked at the couple:
“By Zuline, the Lady Custodian,” Kayti said.
“As Komir said, you have my word as a Norriel,” said Hartz.
Finally, Haradin looked at the Norghanian Tracker.
“By my honor,” Lasgol said.
The Mage smiled, satisfied.
“My Keepers and I will deal with the sacred task of hiding this place from humanity and watching so that nobody ever finds it.”
The Keepers bowed deeply to their leader.
Haradin turned once more to the young group. His eyes were determined.
“Remember, this oath binds you for life. Now be faithful to it.”
Farewells
Komir gazed at the landscape from the top of the great Egia Lighthouse. The view from that height was spectacular, just as he remembered it: the infinite ocean of enchanting indigo in front of him and league after league of green fields and small woods on the plains behind. The breeze brushed his face, and for a moment all his tensions and worries vanished.
