“We are not here to fight!” Arimus shouted as the sides of the far walls opened up and hundreds of long, steel spikes, each the size of a soccer ball poked out in rows, aimed right at them.
“This is not good,” James muttered as the spikes began flying. As soon as one volley was released, another was set in place and fired right after. James and Arimus unsheathed their eidolons and began cutting them down as fast as possible, narrowly avoiding them.
“We’ll wear out before they do,” James shouted as he fought for speed. “You have to cut through that steel wall! It’s the only way we can get out of this. I don’t have the strength!”
“Right!” Arimus yelled. “But can you handle this?”
“I have to!” James shouted. “Just do it!”
James picked up Arimus’ slack as the old Sage leapt into the air towards the steel wall, the winds keeping him afloat as he charged up his windmill eidolon to build strength. James picked up his speed and fought back both sets of spikes as they flew at him mercilessly. Just as James fell down to one knee in exhaustion, Arimus launched him forward with a gust of wind. The old Sage cut through the steel wall with his blade and the gust of wind sent James flying through a second after. Arimus batted away a couple spikes and then followed his friend inside.
“I must say,” Arimus chuckled. “I am enjoying being the strong one again.”
“I’m not,” James groaned as he picked himself up off the glass floor. Arimus walked past him and looked ahead at what composed the floor. It was quite bare, draped only in black curtains on the sides and lit up by just a few torches on the far wall. At this wall was a round pedestal, and one large book, sitting in its center. A red and gold banner hung above it without words. James glanced down at the floor and realized that the glass was so thick, there was no way one could see what was in the floors above or below them.
“If this floor is such a secret, how come we got in so easily?”
“Remember that the Academy was always filled with Sages,” Arimus said, staring at the book in the distance. “If one was attempting to break in this area, there would not only be the spikes, but a number of warriors as well.”
“Speaking of which, where’s the guy who was talking to us from the lever?”
“I’m not sure if there was someone here…it seems…artificial in nature.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Call it a hunch. If there was someone alive here, our eidolons would have sensed it.”
“This is true.”
“And it would also explain how it knew that we were not authorized to this area. Perhaps our biology was scanned the way we use our eidolons.”
“Well, I hope it was worth it,” James sighed, finally catching his breath. “All this for one book.”
“No doubt a book that holds much knowledge,” Arimus said as he approached it, staring at the plain wooden cover and the worn pages. “Let’s begin skimming through it.”
Arimus picked up the book and extended it out so they both could read from it. They only read for a couple minutes when their eyes widened in shock.
“This is impossible…” James said in awe. “But it explains everything!”
* * * * *
Catherine and Zain reached the south gate just as two male Allayans burst though the entrance and stuck their bronze swords in their faces.
“State your business!” one of them said. He could have been no more than twelve.
“No one enters without stating their business!” the other said, no doubt his brother based on his looks.
“Calm down, boys,” Catherine held back a laugh as she and Zain put their hands in the air. “Do you know who I am?”
“BOYS! DOWN!” Kyran growled, coming outside. “That’s the Princess of Allay and the King of Languor you’re sticking your blades at!”
The boys yelped in fear and scurried inside before Kyran could pass judgment. As the doors closed, Catherine could see hundreds of people crowded in the courtyard. They all appeared to be Langoran.
“I’m happy you’re here,” Kyran said flatly. “I’m not good at…hosting.”
“I’m sure you’ve done fine,” Catherine said, hugging him. “When did you get back?”
“Only an hour ago. Going through the tunnels were quicker than running above ground. You were right. They did have a secret tunnel extending right here to the south gate. As soon as we were out, I caved it in so none of those red creatures would follow. I had to kill a great deal of them to get here. Lost some of the Langorans with me.”
“But you saved as many as you could. That’s what matters. How many are here?”
“There are some in the courtyard. Most are in the meadow or the village receiving food. I would estimate about six thousand in total between the ones I brought, and the ones that came here on their own.”
“That would mean we lost over forty thousand,” Zain scowled. “All in the span of what felt like minutes.”
“Those red creatures were efficient.” Kyran said flatly. “Thorn is devising more clever ways to take us down. His next attack will hurt.”
“What of the Prattlians?” Catherine asked.
“They’re still filing in slowly. They started building a number of tunnels underneath the village and I put a stop to that so it wouldn’t all cave in. They’ve turned around and devised a network to the meadow. No one wanted to go above ground until they were well within the confines of the castle, which I understand.”
“Was King Nathaniel correct? Are there new Sages?”
“Fortunately, yes,” Kyran said with no emotion. “Approximately thirty.”
“That’s not a whole lot, but far more than we’ve had before! Where are they now?”
“Keeping order in the meadow. With the Langorans and Prattlians both there, I wanted to ensure there was order.”
“And Tyuin? Has he arrived?”
“Of course,” Kyran said. “He’s in the courtyard as we speak.”
“Good. Have him meet me and King Zain in Arimus’ old quarters. We can talk privately there…have we heard anything about Scarlet?”
“No…”Kyran said, placing a hand on the Princess shoulder. “And my eidolon stopped sensing her not long after the attack….”
“You’ve done a great job,” Catherine said, keeping back her emotions. “Start escorting the others to the meadow. The Kings and I will address them shortly. Use any carriages you need.”
“Sure,” he said. “And just so you know, James’ father wants to speak to you urgently. He’ll be waiting in the meadow with the other villagers.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Catherine said. Kyran bowed and led the way into the courtyard in front of the Sentinel Academy. The Princess took a deep sigh as she saw all eyes fall upon her and Zain. They were terrified and looking to them for answers, and it was the first time that she was unsure of what to say.
“I’m glad you’re all safe,” Zain shouted for all to hear. “But make no mistake. We are not out of danger yet. From this point on, I want you to listen to the Princess and her allies. Though they were enemies, we are not anymore. Spread the word. Allay and Languor are temporary allies.”
The crowd murmured and squeezed against one another with their muscular and broad shoulders. Many of them were forced to climb on the backs of their comrades or the pillars just to see.
“We have a common enemy now, and he is ruthless,” Zain continued. “You saw what he did to us, and that won’t happen again. We need to unite against this foe and defeat him before he gains anymore strength!”
The Langorans nodded and shouted in agreement as Zain motioned for Catherine to take over. She stepped forward and lifted her head.
“The Kings and I are going to conference and devise a plan as soon as possible. Once we know what that is, we’ll tell it to you from the castle overseeing the meadow. Please start heading there now. We will have carriages waiting to escort you outside, or you may run there if you wish. Kyran and the Allayans
will guide you. If you are hungry, you will be provided food and water in the village. Our home is your home.”
“You heard her,” Zain shouted. “Now head out!”
Catherine and Zain began heading for the Academy as the Langorans filed out past them. Zain sighed and looked down at the Princess at his side.
“You’ve faced this enemy twice now. What do you think are the odds of our survival?”
“Unless new information comes to light,” she said solemnly. “It’s not good.”
“That’s what I thought.”
* * * * *
“The more I read it, the more I can’t believe my eyes,” James said as Arimus nodded, deep in thought.
“This does change everything. What I want to know is how the Sages acquired this knowledge. It must have taken years of research and speculation.”
“But it makes perfect sense!” James said. “Doesn’t it?”
“Can you read it out loud? I want to think about it while I listen.”
“The stones of power are our biggest strength and greatest weakness,” James began reading. “That is the conclusion that I’ve come to based on my research. Before my discovery, it has been thought and widely accepted that the stones of power are unique and diverse in their properties. The instructions of use are basically the same and listed as follows: to tap into their full potential, there must be a carrier and an user. In order for a Kingdom’s people to participate in their stone’s power, they must have touched it or been blessed by the carrier at birth. This gives Allayans their eidolons, Langorans their mass, Quietus their higher life expectancies and transformations, and the Prattlians their intelligence. The sole mystery being left with Zen-echelon throughout our history. Nevertheless, these are the instructions and accepted procedures, and all of this information has been passed down throughout the five Kingdoms for centuries. I have deduced that this information is false.
“The stones of power are not unique at all, but rather, the same. All five stones have the exact same properties and potential. It is my hypothesis that we have been told they are unique in order to limit our power. Tradition is a concept that can be very gratifying to all those involved, but it can also limit one’s critical thinking and acceptance of alternative thought. This is what has happened to us. We believe that the stone of Allay can only produce Sages and eidolons and nothing else, because that is what we’ve been told for generations. That is what has been traditionally accepted, and so this is what we as the children of our ancestors, believed.
“I believe the great King of old who founded the five Kingdoms did this upon his ‘deathbed’ in order to limit the power of his sons. He gave a stone to each and told them what powers can be unlocked from each, knowing that this diversity would ultimately separate them and put them at odds against one another. Now why would he do this? I suspect it’s based on the knowledge my colleagues have gained through several trips to Zen-echelon. All have died on their journey, but because of our eidolon’s abilities to process information beyond what is seen, we were able to leave coded messages and information upon our deaths, myself being the one to catalog these messages and compile them for this report. We have deduced that Zen-echelon has only one member living there and he considers himself the King. This King, we believe, is the one of old. The original King, who found the five stones of power as a boy in the beginning.
“In order to work on his endgame, whatever that may be, he needed time to himself, without being watched by countless numbers of citizens and warriors. This is why we believe he somehow faked not only his old age, but his passing, allowing his sons to rule separately and never gain his level of power, while he now had all the personal time he needed to further his goals.”
“Thorn must have grown tired of his rule in this world,” Arimus interrupted. “With the stones he could have extended his life over and over by absorbing others but it wasn’t enough. He wants more. To be a god, maybe create worlds of his own someday, but he’s limited in his power, even with the stones. He needed time to figure out a way to accomplish his goals.”
“And if all the stones are the same,” James said. “All he needed was one in his possession. With his extensive knowledge about them, he could just use that while his sons fought against each other and never studied the stones for themselves.”
“But he had five stones…how was he able to pass on the stone of Zen-echelon to himself?”
“You’ve seen Thorn’s manifestations,” James replied. “It’s not that far-fetched to think that he probably created his eldest son to receive the stone, or killed the real one right after. Either way, it freed him up to do what he wanted in Zen-echelon.”
“What else does the report say?”
“It says…” James found his place. “We have experimented with this theory before presenting it here. We’ve had Allayans display the growth of a Langoran, able to extend the scythes of a Quietus out of their forearms and so on. We believe that as long as a human being touched any of the stones, they have the ability to perform any of the races’ feats. They are limited only by their mind and self-imposed restrictions.”
“Having the ability to transform as a Quietus and wield the eidolon of a Sage is an ability we all really have…incredible,” Arimus said, shaking his head. “It’s just that you were able to do both because you thought of your heritage.”
“No, I don’t think so,” James said. “I think everything’s a lot more complicated than we think, and that our mind is keeping more at bay than we realize. Otherwise, why aren’t we all blowing up like Langorans? I believe that our soul, body, mind…it’s all connected and creating a balance. If in our minds, we are Langoran, and we have this massive amount of energy just boiling over, our bodies respond in kind, sort of like anger. Some people completely lose it when they’re enraged while others can somehow hold themselves back. When I turned into a Quietus…I think it was because of the torture. It was so painful that I just wanted to kill, and that desire to kill, awakened the monster within me. Most people don’t reach that point.”
“Kyran has been tortured. I have been wounded.”
“But you are strong of mind,” James said. “You’re able to deal with it. I was just a child that was lashing out. The transformations disappeared once I became a Sage and unleashed my eidolon because I was more mature. I could handle more. They only came again, either out of a need to kill, or because I already knew of the Quietus blood within me. My mind was aware of my ‘Quietus blood’ so my body was able to respond. Think about it. The Kingdoms don’t fight one another often, and when they do, people just die. No one’s tortured. No one suffers for extensive periods of time. Even the Langorans under the shrine in the forest are just held there.”
“True…” Arimus trailed off in thought. “Having this knowledge does open up a lot of possibilities.”
“This is why Chloe was the strongest of us. She wasn’t even close to this level of open-minded thinking, but she was getting there. She talked about taking our souls and forming it into more than just an eidolon or a tool to be used. If I can create a fake dorm room, why can’t I increase my mass like a Langoran or transform like a Quietus?”
“Thorn found out about this report,” Arimus said. “Maybe there was too much noise being made over it. That’s why the siege happened.”
“I think the Quietus were getting close to this realization as well. You know how they like to test their might, and from what I saw during my time there, I realized that they are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. I think he saw their progress long ago and altered their composition so they could be controlled. So he could instill their voice within them and guide them in another direction. He took both of our people out.”
“This evens out the battlefield,” Arimus smiled. “Once word gets to everyone, we can use the stones properly. In a sense, our collective power will be higher than Thorn’s since he only has one stone at his disposal.”
“Exactly. His fear and decep
tion is what kept us down. That’s all. His manifestations won’t matter if we can create our own to combat his. He had us fooled though. By knowing when to act and leave certain things alone, he nearly destroyed us all.”
“Is there any more in the report?” Arimus asked.
“No…actually, a line just ends abruptly. I think the author was interrupted.”
“Or killed. It’s possible he may have told a few Sages, besides the ones involved in his mission, but it’s likely it was kept mostly to himself. For all we know, Thorn could have had the siege take place as he was in the middle of writing it.”
“Either way, we know now. This changes everything. This will mark the beginning of a new era.”
“Or it won’t,” a voice chuckled from behind them. Beyond the room, outside over the water were Alexander and Dominic, standing on a suspended platform.
“How did you get here?” James demanded as Alexander smiled wide.
“We followed you, of course. But it seems we were late. We wanted to leave our posts in Languor and get here before anyone else.”
“I take it you two are the cleaning crew?” Arimus asked. Dominic nodded as he stared with wide eyes at James.
“We’re burning this entire place down,” Alexander said casually. “We just came down here to see if there was anything of value beforehand. And look what we found.”
“Where are the spikes?” James asked as Alexander tapped his forehead.
“Disabled,” Alexander said. “I use my head before I enter strange, heavily armed rooms. But all that doesn’t matter. We can’t let you leave here alive. It would be very troublesome for our master.”
“I take it he told you about all this,” Arimus asked Dominic who nodded.
“Most of it,” he said. “Though that just helped in how I approached matters. The power boost was the best thing.”
“Yeah, sorry,” James said. “I just don’t believe you. That’s probably what Thorn told you to say if anyone found out the truth. You’re probably just channeling your strength like a Quietus while maintaining the speed and precision of a Sage. I’m sure he had you practice.”
Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) Page 24
