The other, a man as well, spoke up. “When I scanned him I felt something suck me into it, and cut off from it immediately. It never happened to anyone else so I assumed the void was just my imagination.”
So the void has appeared on and off, she realized.
“A void?” the lady who had addressed Commander Reagan earlier spoke up. “Are you sure you felt a void-like presence?” she asked, her voice both fearful and enraged at once.
She knows, Chris realized.
“I am sure I felt it, Lady Rhea,” the first man said.
Her eyes widened, “It can’t be,” she mumbled.
“Yes,” Chris said. “Razy has the Tenebrae EcQuest.”
The council room exploded into noise.
“That disease does not exist, child!” one man yelled.
“What nonsense is she speaking!” another said.
“QUIET!” Commander Reagan yelled from the door side. Everyone froze and quieted down. “As long as you are in this room, you will have an orderly conversation,” he said, his voice forceful and domineering.
Lady Rhea stood up and gazed at all the elders present at the council. “The Tenebrae EcQuest is a real disease,” she said. “We have not had a single case in over seventy years which is why all of you doubt its existence. It is a parasitic disease that has so far occurred only in us Dark Knights.”
“I have heard of the disease before as well,” another woman said. “I do not doubt its existence nor do I doubt its severity.”
Most of the elders started to slowly accept the idea.
Lady Rhea turned to Chris. “The patient’s symptoms all fit in with the Tenebrae EcQuest,” she said. “But if it is that disease then we can do nothing to cure it.”
“This is why I asked for all of you to come,” Chris said. “I do not know what you think of the Tenebrae EcQuest, but so far it is the only lead we have as to what is afflicting the patient.”
A nod of approval went through the elders.
“No disease is truly incurable,” Chris said. ”I suspect the Tenebrae EcQuest is not the easiest disease to find a cure for, but it would not be fit for us to give up without trying. We might at least be able find a better way to prolong the life of the patient.”
“We could try to supply his life force with an additional energy source,” a woman said. “If the Tenebrae EcQuest is sucking at energy then we shall provide it just that.”
“But how do you know that won’t backfire on us?” a man asked. “Like Lady Rhea said, the Tenebrae EcQuest is a parasitic disease, one that we know nearly nothing about. Supplying it with energy might actually help it grow and aggravate the patient’s condition. It is too risky.”
“Here’s what I think we should do,” Chris said. “My comrades at Aliea Academy are looking into their records to see if they have any information on the disease. I suggest you spare a few people to do the same with your archives. We should also explore a third route and directly try to find something about the Tenebrae EcQuest by observing our patient.”
“How do you suggest we do that?”
“Energy scans. Simple. It took nearly twenty energy scans to find any trace of the voidal presence inside him. Taking more may reveal something else.”
Lady Rhea nodded, “This is a good plan. I suggest we proceed immediately.”
A collective nod went through the elders and Chris knew she had succeeded.
The council room’s P.A. system blared on. “All Knights are to assemble at the main hall in accordance to her Highness, Empress Andrea’s request.”
“An announcement?” Lady Rhea said, and turned to the Commander. “What is going on, Reagan?”
“I am as clueless as you are, Lady Rhea,” her father said and opened the door. “Let us not keep the Empress waiting for too long shall we?”
The elder’s slowly walked out the door and through the corridors. Chris followed them all, with Commander Reagan right behind her. She did not once turn around to see her father. She didn’t want to know what expression he would show. It was better to be clueless than to see something unpleasant.
The palace’s main hall was a marvellous place. Pillars of black marble stood around the room, their surface carved into intricate sculptures. At the end of the hall was a high platform that rose about fifteen yards from the floor. On it was a large throne constructed of a stone that was much darker than anything else in the palace. It was almost as though it were sucking in all the light around it.
Just like the Tenebrae EcQuest, Chris thought, unsure of whether to be sorrowful or jolly at the similarity.
Dark Knights began to pour into the hall. From what she gathered there were about twenty thousand of them in there, and not even half the hall had been filled up. She noticed the elders all place themselves comfortably next to the side walls of the hall.
“We shall go up to the speaking grounds,” Commander Reagan said and led Chris right up to the front.
Suddenly, the Knights began to cheer loudly, and the deafening echo reverberated through the hall. Chris looked up to see what the commotion was all about. The Empress had made her way to the stage, and with her were Taylor and Q.
Thank god. They’re safe, she sighed with relief. She looked at the Empress, who had taken her seat on the dark throne. Chris was far out from the speaking grounds, but she could still see the Empress quite clearly.
Her expression was blank, as though she were trying to regain her composure. Her eyes though, as all eyes are, couldn’t lie. Chris sensed fear in them. Fear, and anger.
“Knights!” she spoke out, and all the heads turned her way. “As you all may know, we lost contact with three of our towers; one this morning, and another two just a few hours ago.”
A faint chatter started among the Dark Knights at the very mention of the situation.
“The reason I have summoned you all here is because we have confirmed our towers were attacked by none other than our old foes.”
The hall froze into silence as every Dark Knight began to realize what that meant.
Andrea stood up from her throne, “We are now at war with the White Knights,” she said.
The whole room exploded in noise, with yells, battle cries, and screams filling the air. Chris could see everyone yelling, but she heard not a single sound. Her mind isolated itself from everything, focusing on nothing but the Empress’ words.
And among all that outrage, she entered her own bubble of silence. Her bubble of solitude.
Her bubble of fear.
***
3-4
Q heard all the Dark Knights cheer as Andrea walked into the main hall. He couldn’t believe the Dark Knights actually had an army this large. He had always known that they’d had a formidable army, but hearing and seeing are completely different experiences.
“Impressive isn’t it?” Taylor walked beside him with Andrea a few yards ahead of them both.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said, his eyes excited at the sight that lay before him.
They ascended a staircase at the side of what Taylor had called the ‘Speaking grounds’. Q’s attention immediately shifted from the roaring crowd to the mystical throne atop the platform. It was as though someone had welded pure darkness into a throne. The very act of looking at the dark structure made Q feel uneasy.
“Come along,” Taylor grabbed his hand and stood him diagonally behind the throne. She went and stood on the opposite side.
Guess we’re the Empress’ guards now, Q chuckled. He glanced below and saw Lokai standing at the side of the hall, a wide smile on his face. A few men were around him, all patting him on the back and talking to him. Q smiled to himself. He felt warm knowing Lokai had finally returned home.
The Empress wasted no time in addressing the gathering. Q didn’t really pay much attention to what she said since he already knew everything there was to know about the situation. His mind wandered off, and his eyes drifted towards Taylor in a daze.
Her hair flowed gracefully, as
though they were strands of precious gold. Her blue eyes gleamed as they scanned the crowd below her. Her skin glowed mystically, as though she had been sculpted out of moonlight. Q’s heart quivered for a moment, and he found his hand reaching out to touch her face.
“We are at war with the White Knights!” Andrea’s voice thundered through the room, snapping Q out of his daze. His arm jerked back to his side, and his eyes shifted to the crowd.
What the hell was I doing? he thought.
Meanwhile, the whole hall had exploded with noise. A mix of emotions ran through the entire army, but Q could tell not a single Dark Knight felt any fear.
They really are the best mercenaries, he realized.
“Q?” a voice called out from his left. He turned to see Chris walk up the staircase with Commander Reagan right behind her. For some reason, though, Chris seemed really shattered.
I guess she still isn’t used to all this, he thought. Though Chris was actually an exceptional fighter, she didn’t like violence, which was why, even though she could have been a high ranking warrior, she chose to be a healer. Chris came and stood next to Q, while Reagan went over to Taylor’s side.
Four bodyguards, Q thought.
“Is everything going to be okay?” Chris asked, her voice a little shaky.
“It’ll be fine, Chris,” he said. “We discovered the enemy in time. We’ve only lost three towers to the White Knights, and now that we’re sending out all our forces we’ll capture every White Knight that invaded them.”
A beam of white light shot into the air above the Dark Knight army.
Q instantly charged but jerked to a stop when he realized it wasn’t attack.
It was a hologram.
A boy about his age smiled at him, his brown hair flowing onto his forehead, his green eyes looking at him mockingly.
“Levi,” Q muttered, his hands clenched, his mind enraged. He was the boy who had orchestrated that devastating attack on Aliea Academy.
“Greeting from the Quantum Array, Your Highness,” Levi bowed.
Andrea glanced at him, “I do not know of Quantum Array,” she said, her voice in monotone. “Nor do I know of you.”
The hologram expanded. To Levi’s right stood a man dressed in a white suit and a red tie. His wavy black hair fell to one side of his face, and his lips were curled into a smile. He twirled his golden sceptre with one hand, and waved at them with the other.
“ALBION!” Andrea’s voice thundered.
“Hello, Andrea,” he grinned. “And might I say you look lovely today.”
“So you have brought an innocent entity into our feud.”
“It’s nice to see you too,” he chuckled. “And for the record, I did not bring the Quantum Array into this. They approached me themselves.”
Just what does Levi want out of this? Q wondered. He knew Levi was a very materialistic person. That green-eyed devil did no favors without expecting something in return. The most likely scenario was that he wanted to destroy the Dark Knights as well, but Q couldn’t really see what would motivate him to do that.
“It’s funny how you always meddle in my affairs, Q,” Levi smiled. “Last time you and that Dark Knight friend of yours were able to save Aliea Academy from my beautiful Hades weapon.”
It was all Taylor really, Q thought, recalling how Taylor had absorbed all the energy out of the bomb, thus rendering it useless.
“This time it’s going to be quite different,” Levi said. “I dare you to stop me,” he smirked.
“Stop making cliched statements like that and you may actually win for once,” Q grinned
“Albion,” Andrea spoke. “Do you really want to do this? Countless soldiers will die for an unnecessary cause.”
“Unnecessary?” Albion’s eyes widened. “You believe this is unnecessary?”
“Calm down, Albion,” Levi shushed the White Knight King. He looked at Andrea, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. “How is Razy doing?”
A jolt of fear went through Q. How does he know?
Levi smirked at them, with an expression of ecstasy on his face. Q knew he just loved being in this position. Now he was the one with all the cards, the one with answers to questions that hadn’t even been asked yet.
“What are you talking about?” Taylor asked, her voice trembling with rage.
“You see,” Levi said. “The Quantum Array has done quite a bit of research on the Tenebrae EcQuest. Apparently it’s quite easy to induce it on someone else.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Taylor’s voice thundered.
“My god,” Levi looked at Q. “Is she like this all the time?”
“Just answer the question, Levi,” Q said, his voice cold.
“I find it funny that you think you can order me around, considering your position,” he chuckled. “But don’t worry. I’ll tell you anyway. I’m sure your healer found out by now that the Tenebrae EcQuest is a parasitic disease. Does she know that you can actually harvest that parasite?”
“Oh my god,” Q’s eyes widened. He could see where this was going.
“We drugged Razy with the parasite.”
“You fiend!” Andrea yelled. “You forced your forbidden drugs onto him!”
He shook his head, “That’s not what happened at all.”
“Oh sure, like we’d actually believe you,” Taylor said.
“You can ask him yourself,” Levi winked. “If he wakes up again that is.”
Albion chuckled, “I can see why Levi has so much fun talking to all of you,” he said. “Well, sadly, that’s all the time we have. It was nice to see you again, Andrea. Hopefully my Knights will take you out before we have to face off on some battlefield.”
“How dare you?!” Andrea glared. “How dare you come into my Palace and threaten to have me murdered. We will take down every last White Knight you send to attack us. You can send as many as you want, but that will not change a single thing. A White Knight will NEVER set foot inside the Palace of Darkness.”
“My dear, dear, Andrea,” Albion smirked. “They already have.”
Q heard thousands of yells explode through the air. He looked down and saw nearly half of the Dark Knight army collapse to the floor. The rest of the Dark Knights held laser blasters in their hands, forcing the other Dark Knights onto the floor. It was utter chaos down there. The Dark Knights seemed to have fired at a part of their own army.
What in the world is going on? he thought. It didn’t seem like the Dark Knights would stage a mutiny of any kind. What was this then?
“You thought about checking my forces,” Albion said. “But did you think about checking yours?”
A faint glow came from all the Dark Knights that had attacked the army.
Q watched in horror as their pure-black battle armor changed color to snow-white. His mind went blank when he realized what was going on. The enemy had disguised themselves as Dark Knights and smuggled into the Palace of Darkness. More than half of the Dark Knight army had never been on their side in the first place.
Q’s mind went into a daze as the White Knights seized every remaining Dark Knight in the hall. The battle was decided even before it had begun. The Palace of Darkness had been utterly defeated.
“This is my present to you, Empress Andrea,” Levi smirked. “Welcome to war.”
***
3-5
Taylor watched the hologram as Levi and Albion disappeared. She looked down at the main hall. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There had been an army of Dark Knights right in front of her, a proud and powerful army.
But now an army of White Knights stood there instead.
Hey, this is just a joke isn’t it? her mind asked.
Her body was rearing to jump in and knock out the enemy, but she froze in place. As confident as she was in her abilities, there was no question she would get mauled by an army that large. She figured there were around twenty five thousand White Knights in the hall. She could take a thousand on her own if she really pushed herself a
nd didn’t mind getting maimed.
But that’s only if I rely on my physical abilities, she realized.
She didn’t know the extent to which she could use her Elementa of Darkness, and neither had she tried. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to find out.
Suddenly, a few thousand Dark Knights charged into the hall from all the entrances.
The last Dark Knights left in the palace, she realized.
Laser blasters went off, and swords clashed as the Knights battled against each other. From down below, it seemed like a resistance was beginning, like a revolution had been created. But from high up on the speaking grounds, Taylor could see that this attack was nothing more than a gust of wind to the hurricane that the White Knights were.
And like she had predicted, the Dark Knights were quickly being fended off, and more and more of them collapsed to the floor with every second.
“Fall back!” Empress Andrea yelled.
“They are acting out of rage your majesty,” Commander Reagan said, holding his position at the edge of the staircase, scouting for any White Knights trying to make their way up.
“This is not the way one puts up a fight,” she said in disappointment and sorrow.
Taylor wondered what Andrea was feeling right now. Her palace was under attack, her troops had been subdued, and the only reason she herself wasn’t captured was because she was on the speaking grounds that were much higher than the main hall. That tactical advantage of being on higher ground was the only thing that was saving all of them at the moment.
Taking a White Knight on, one on one, wasn’t a big deal. It would take any of them less than ten seconds to finish that fight. But twenty thousand against five was not something that could or should be attempted.
Taylor looked down at the battle. The Dark Knights were holding their own for longer than she had expected, but it would take no more than a few more minutes for the enemy to enforce defeat upon them all.
“Empress, the force field around the Palace is down,” Commander Reagan said. “The security team passed on the information before they went unresponsive. I think the White Knights got to them as well.”
The Quest Saga Collection: Books 1 - 5 Page 71
