Myles stared forward. I am empty. I am nothing. I am no one. It was what he said to himself regularly these nights.
Catalina shed a tear. She brought his face to hers. “My King tonight is our fifth anniversary. I have brought you a gift.” She stood and stretched her arm out to reveal the woman in white. She stood there in the court of the palace of Pathos with a bow and arrow drawn. It was pointed right at Myles. Myles laughed. He put his hand to his head and laughed hysterically. “An arrow cannot kill me.”
The woman in white quickly loosed the arrow but it did not hit him. Myles saw where it was headed and tried to stop it. He imagined a wall of brick in front of it but it went through the brick as if it was water. It hit Catalina. So what, she cannot be killed by mere arrows either. But as the arrow struck Catalina, Myles saw that it was no ordinary arrow. It was a shaft of pure white brilliant light. It had struck her and she fell to the ground. No blood came from her but she looked up at Myles with eyes fluttering. She spoke, “My love. I am sorry that I took from you your life. And now thanks to the Empress and the Shepherd, I have found a way to give it back to you.” She took all of her emotion, all of the emotion of the woman in white at losing her people, and Myles rekindled emotion and fed it back to Myles. But she gave more, she gave the very energy that held here in Soterion to him and suddenly Myles could feel again. He was breathing. Myles held her there in the dark before his gray throne. He held her in his arms and before she died he said, “I love you, Catalina. Thank you for showing me real love.” He wept and one last tear ran down her cheek.
The woman in white stood over him. Tears ran down his face as he looked up at her. “What are you waiting for?”
She stood silent.
Myles lay Catalina’s head on the floor and stood. “I slaughtered hundreds of your people. Just kill me.” The woman spoke for the first time, “I was planning to. Until I found out that you are not some dark vampire sorcerer king but that you are Myles Callaghan. I had planned your death until your wife visited me and told me everything. She pleaded for your life and I told her the only way to bring you back.”
Myles shook his head, “Who are you?”
The woman removed her veil to reveal that she was an oriental looking Yaarma. “I am Misaki, I am the Empress.”
Myles was shocked. Misaki? How? She is the Empress? She gestured to Catalina’s corpse. “Please do not fear for her. She knows the Shepherd now and all that the arrow did was release her from her coma. She is one of Omar’s coma patients. She is a dreamer like me. Or at least something like me.”
Of course, that’s why my powers were magnified.
Misaki turned to Myles, “It is time Myles. It is time for you to give your life to the Shepherd.” Myles started to argue but found he had no argument in him. It was the Shepherds loved showing through Catalina that allowed her to sacrifice her life on Soterion for him. He had tried everything and become one of the most powerful people on the whole planet, but he still had felt empty. He had given up lying and cheating for Catalina so he knew he could do without that and be happy. There was nothing left for Myles to hold on to.
Myles nodded to Misaki, “It is,” was all he said.
And with that Myles saw the Shepherd standing there beside Misaki.
“Myles, do you accept me as your Lord and Savior?” He asked. Myles bent a knee to the ground, “I accept you as my King, my Master, my Lord, my Shepherd, and my Savior. Please come into my life and my heart and change who I am forever.”
Myles bowed his head and fire engulfed him. It was a white hot fire surrounding him and purifying him. He stud amongst the flames and found that he was wearing his old hat and long coat.
The Shepherd was gone but Misaki stood there looking at him with the eyes of a child. “Myles, will you take me to my brother?”
Myles nodded, “I think it is long overdue.” She looked down, "It has been so long since I have seen him. He was just a boy. I'm not sure what to say to him but I have always loved him."
Myles smiled at her, "He loves you very much too. On earth he became determined to be reunited with you, but I believe he has been distracted since he left earth. He had said that if he became powerful and influential enough that you would know he was here but I think that was an excuse."
Myles turned to speak to Catalina. She is gone, for good. Tears welled up in his eyes. I did truly love her. I have grown so used to her it is like she was part of me. But I have the Shepherd now and so does she.
He called for a servant and sent for Charli, Owen, and Caleb. He sent a separate servant for Carn.
"Get all of your things, we will be traveling to the Seven Kingdoms where Omar is," he commanded. They were and had become his subjects. They all came back with their bags or Omar-invented toys. Caleb was riding a velociraptor that he had hatched and raised. He had become attached to his new pet.
Myles shook his head with a smile, "Are you really going to bring that with you?"
Caleb only smiled back as if in answer to his question.
Myles introduced Misaki, "This is Misaki, Omar's sister." Their eyes got big. Myles could no longer feel their emotions but he was better at reading them. He continued, "She is also the Empress of most of this continent. You should refer to her accordingly."
Carn came into the throne room. He looked over at his sister's body and then to Myles. "What has happened here?" He ran to her body and stroked her hair. "What have you done?"
"She gave her life energy to return my life to me. I am again flesh and blood," said Myles. Carn studied Myles and then Myles could feel him in his head. Myles did not fight it. Carn's eyes widened as what just happened played before him in his mind.
Myles frowned. "Carn, I am abdicating the throne to you. There is only two stipulation. You will sign a treaty with the Empress and I have some secrets to reveal to you. I want you to hear me out when I get back. I am going to the Seven Kingdoms for some time but I will be back to speak to you."
Carn rubbed his chin. "The throne... treaty. I think I can do this. I know you are not at fault here but still I have many questions. I will ask them upon your return. Do not make me come looking for those answers."
Myles nodded. Then he turned to Misaki. "Shall we?" he asked.
She nodded and said, "May I have the honor?"
"Yes," said Myles. She turned to all that were to be traveling with them and smiled. They all, including Misaki, began to fade until they were but dust upon the wind. The wind blew them at unfathomable speeds out the window of the throne room. It blew them with the snow west and south to the Brugmos see, it blew past Gauntun upon the Sea breeze. They floated through the humid lands of Drakonge and above the volcanic mountain range to the Lampros River and south to Caelsis.
15
Answers
Kasey had gone to her quarters in Castle Lurin. She felt like an angry child but she just wanted to understand why the Shepherd allowed some to be healed and not others. She woke with the first rays of the sun creeping in through her window. She had a beautiful view of Philos. The fountains here were remarkable with some shooting water up to 25 feet into the air.
A knock came to her door. “Come in,” she said trying not to sound irritated at having her peaceful quiet moment interrupted.
King Erestar entered the room with a breakfast tray in his hand. The King is serving me breakfast in bed?
“Oh… you didn’t have to…” she couldn’t think of the right words to say. Of course he didn’t have to you idiot.
The king set the tray of eggs and bacon and biscuits beside her bed. It smelled delicious.
“It is ok, I can see you are not in the mood to be disturbed right now,” said the King.
Great, I can’t believe I let that show. “No no, please come back.”
He turned back to her, “No need for formalities of unnecessary kindnesses with me. I am fine to just leave you alone.”
She shook her head, “No, please come in. I want to talk to you.”
He came in and sat at a large chair against the wall. She sighed, "We obviously both follow the Shepherd. I just don’t know why he would allow you to bring back the dead and he wouldn’t allow me to heal the dying. I don’t understand how he picks and chooses who should die and who should live."
King Erestar looked down as if in thought. "I think I can relate. Kasey, there are a few secrets that I would share with you to help you in this matter. First I will tell you that my wife has had two miscarriages. One child she carried to full term. No one knows, the Raphad are very secretive about child birth for just that reason. If a child is miscarried then they are not forced to speak about it. Children are very important in the Raphad culture. The Queen recently had the opportunity to council a woman who had been through the same thing. The woman was an Adam and the Adam call the creator Adoni. She accused Adoni of murdering her baby..."
The King stopped to take a deep breath and rubbed his chin in thought. "I am no expert in such matters but my wife is. She kindly explained to the woman that her view of the situation was all wrong. She could continue to look at it as Adoni murdered her baby or that Adoni took her baby. There is flesh which is temporary. Life is but a vapor and lasts for such a small amount of time in comparison to eternity. But the soul is eternal. She asked the mother if she would rather her baby grow up in this world and experience the good things and the bad or to go straight to heaven where the child would never experience heart ache, pain, or disappointment."
Kasey could see where this was going but she wanted to let it marinate and she thought it important to let him drive his point home.
"What did the woman say?" asked Kasey. "Well, at first she claimed ownership on the child and Hope only sat silently as she spoke. The woman began to feel selfish as she spoke. She realized to make a child endure the pain of this world just for her enjoyment was cruel. Then she argued that by Hopes argument we should kill our children to spare them and send them straight to heaven. Then Hope explained to her the other side of things. Adoni is Adoni and we are his creations. Does the clay ask the potter what he is making? Can an ant understand the inner workings of your mind or mine? Adonis’s will is. You can have an opinion about it if you want but it doesn’t change that it is His will and you are likely not going to completely understand it for after all if my God was a God I could understand, would he still be God? If I could wrap my mind around him and fit him into a box, would he not be a creation of mine rather than me a creation of His?"
Kasey sat in thought for a moment. Is there no bounds to this man's wisdom? "So what you are saying is that I can try to understand God's will which is a good thing but I will not always understand His will. And when I don’t understand it, it does no good to disagree or continue to question it because it is beyond my comprehension. And you are also saying that to die and be with God is better than to live on but we live on because that is His will because he has something for us here. So instead of being angry that God allowed my friend to die, I should be happy that my friend is with Him and all my friend's pain and suffering on this world is over."
Erestar nodded, "Does that makes sense to you?"
Kasey smiled, "It not only makes sense. It is what I needed to hear. Thank you."
Erestar sat back and folded his arms, "I will share something else with you. I am not a Raphad."
Not a Raphad? Kasey scowled as she tried to understand what that meant. "Then what are you?" "Kasey, I am from another world and there we were simply called giants. I was a great sorcerer and the only giant sorcerer. I was obsessed with the collection of magi items. I ended up in a situation where I needed to cast a spell that was beyond my experience. I tried anyway because it was a life or death situation. Not only did it burn out my ability to use magic, but it also created what Omar would call a worm hole that took me to another planet."
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "Because I know that you feel out of place here. I can see it in your eyes. But I will tell you, you were voted as the Champion of the Kingdoms last night. It required a unanimous vote amongst the Monarchs and the Elder. You are very welcome and needed here."
Kasey smiled again. "Thank you for making me feel welcome King Erestar. King Erestar stood up, "Before I leave you I want to ask you to think on one thing. You are going to have to choose a Kingdom to reside in and to be their General. If you feel better suited to for Suchikos as you were once human or Loefel Meren because you are now a Miyka, I do understand. But please do give Philos some consideration."
Kasey bowed her head and said, "Of course." She had already decided that she was going to stay in Philos but she thought it more polite to wait until the ceremony this evening to make the announcement.
When King Erestar left Kasey sent for parchment and quill. She sat at a table and started working out a ranking system for the armies, a promotional system for gaining rank, pay charts by rank, and a list of the 11 fighting styles that she would be teaching the armies. She worked well into the night creating battle scenarios and formations and even travel plans to visit each one of the Kingdoms. By the time the suns began to set she had almost a book's worth of parchment.
One of the servants came to her room and knocked to let her know that it was time for the ceremony. She dressed in her armor and walked from her room down the hall where the balcony was that Erestar would be making announcements from. She sat in the room that led to the balcony and waited for the King to call her.
"I want to introduce you to the Champion of Soterion, Kasey Phoenix," he said. Then she got up and walked onto the balcony beside him. The crowd cheered for her." What an odd turn of events. I was once hated and now I am loved by many.
Kasey spoke, "Thank you for the warm welcome. In the next few weeks I will be working with the Monarchs of your Kingdoms to standardize the armies across Soterion and to try to ensure our safety."
The crowd cheered again. King Erestar spoke of how Kasey had formed a team in the Gauntlet and even bested King Alagaar in combat. He said that to him and all of the other Monarchs she was the obvious choice for Champion. He explained that Kasey would choose the generals of the other Kingdoms and train them in the Kingdom that she chose.
"Kasey, have you chosen a Kingdom?" he asked.
Kasey nodded, "Yes, I have chosen Philos as my home Kingdom."
Erestar smiled and announced for those who couldn’t hear, "She chose Philos."
The crowd which was majority of Philos went wild with that bit of news. Kasey spent the next few days in the castle making plans as to where she would go, who she would speak to, and what she would speak to them about. An Aristocrat was assigned to help Kasey with the pronunciation of names of high ranking officials of different Kingdoms.
They began traveling from Kingdom to Kingdom. Always she was presented with some noble to make one of her generals. She never chose these nobles. She needed someone who was a natural leader and not part of any political system. Kasey would check the gossip mill when she got into town as to who was of most influence and who was a Patriot not to the King or Queen but to the country. She always ended up choosing low-born men. She spent a year first in Philos training at different locations throughout the Kingdom but becoming acquainted with the people of her own Kingdom. Then she went to Caelsis where she picked Sebastian, leader of the Alexandros Magi warrior class, as her general. This took some weight off of Kasey for she had already trained Sebastian. She spent a year in Caelsis where she continued her training with the Alexandros. She then traveled to the Emerald Forest which was more tribal so she trained the chiefs and anyone who would learn to fight. She spent a year there. Then she spent a year in Marasimlah where she learned much about Daqad culture. She chose the King as her general which unsurprisingly found no resistance. There she trained the King and his army. Then she spent a year in Suchikos where she found another follower of the Shepherd. She chose him as her general.
The last Kingdom that she visited was Loefel Meren. It was a beautiful mountain Kingdom with cascading water
falls. She had to walk through the commoner’s district to get the nobles district. Crowds formed in the streets to cheer for her. Kasey knew the social climate in Loefel Meren and could feel the tension between the noble houses and the commoners. King Erestar had educated her on the history of Loefel Meren and she knew that deep in the roots of this beautiful Kingdom were conflicts and tensions that she did not want to step in. The King and Queen were loved by the people but the noble houses were hated. Is they walked up the mountain towards the noble district King Erestar grilled her on what he had taught her.
“Remember the new standard of history. Everything happening before the Battle of Epher is BE and the numbers get larger the further you go back. Conversely everything that happened after is Post Epher (PE),” he instructed.
Kasey waved a hand at the commoners as she spoke to Erestar, “Yes, on earth we have a similar standard of time.” Erestar then said, “It had all started with unfair taxation. Since 936 B.E. (Before Epher) the Miyka had ruled as the noble race of Loefel Meren. In 765 the Miyka created a heavy tax system for the commoners to follow while the Miyka followed a light taxation system. This started 7 years of civil war in Loefel Meren and it was a bloody war. Then finally a treaty was signed but the Yaarma left to return to the Emerald Forest.”
They were greeted by Miyka guards at the gates to the noble district. The guards let them through and gave them an escort. King Erestar continued. “Now since then much had happened to cover those wounds. There was the Coughing Death in 334 B.E. and a 12 year war with Suchikos. And though those wounds are covered with the fresh memory of plague and foreign war, there is tension between the commoners and the nobles. And then there is you… you have no House to claim to. The Miyka don’t know why but they can’t trace you and where you came from. They find this unsettling. Also there is the fact that you are loved amongst the commoners here for you reputation for being nothing at all like a normal Miyka.”
Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux Page 21
