The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles_One_the Cimaruta

by Lady Ellen

  “He was never around much when I was at Laurel’s, but then we had a big blow up a few years back, and I froze his powers for a time,” laughed Thaddeus. “He didn’t like that much. He’s gone out of his way to avoid me since then.”

  “Well, all the more reason to get this quest of yours done and have you back home, Thaddeus.” Delecta walked to the window. “C’mon, Randy my dear, we can Tunnel back to the portal and let these two get some sleep.” She turned and held out her hand for Randy to take. They said good-bye and Randy hung onto Delecta. Together they chanted “Eogorum!” and they were gone in a blink.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” said Thaddeus.

  “Yeah, but a bonus,” agreed Persy, looking down at the purple Crystal Seed. “This is SO going to give us the upper hand. They couldn’t have brought us a better gift. What a pair.” Persy folded it back into its protective cloth and put it in the pocket of her traveling dress. Her 1669 special model.

  “Ok, I’m toast,” yawned Thaddeus, walking out of Persy’s room. “See you in the morning.”

  “Night,” Persy returned.

  The next day started early, with Angelica calling them at 6:00 am. After eating and dressing, practice resumed in earnest. Spell after spell was perfected, the timing of each incantation practiced to precision.

  Angelica made both of them, small elder pentagrams and triangles to wear in their clothing, and to hang on silver chains around their necks. She had also done herbal sachets of rosemary, rue, dried elderberries, lavender and hyssop.

  Satisfied all was in order, she and Robert (who stayed home all day from the Museum, knowing they would be leaving) walked them to the portal.

  “Remember, Persy, I can hear you through the Time-Linx if you call in Silent Speak. Ideally this is your quest, but I can get involved if your life is in danger. Don’t hesitate to call,” Angelica said.

  “I know, Mom and don’t worry, I will if I have to, but I think we can do this. Delecta and Randy gave us that last bit of confidence with the purple Crystal Seed. We’ll be fine, really.” She tried to assuage her Mom’s concern.

  “Thanks for everything, Angelica, your hospitality, my few days at school, and most importantly, the training. Persy and I are ready. Really,” Thaddeus said.

  “Oy, what about me?” howled Benson. “Back to chopped liver status am I? I’m going, and I’ll be there to protect these two cheeky monsters.”

  Angelica, with tears in her eyes, and Robert with his arm around her, laughed at Benson and waved the three of them into the Time-Linx and crossed them over to Bellarya.

  Benson, deep in Persy’s pocket readied himself for his least favourite part of the overall adventure. Thaddeus took Persy’s hand and they walked into the brightness of the Linx.

  The wind slowed down, they walked out of the portal into Beijing, 1442. Benson raised his head from Persy’s pocket and quipped, “Persy, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

  Persy ignored him. They were just on the outside of the wall around the Forbidden City and a guard, some six feet, six inches in height suddenly appeared in full armour; his face mostly covered by his helmet, the only parts showing were eyes, a broad flat nose and long stringy beard. He was brandishing a sword, the size of which neither Persy nor Thaddeus had ever seen, but more importantly, the large and sharp end was pointing directly at Persy’s heart.

  Krak Ling In Beijing

  “VANQUESTA!” Persy and Thaddeus had the same knee-jerk reaction, same thought and the spell went off perfectly. They disappeared with Benson in Persy’s pocket, in a split second blur. The guard stood there, mouth gaping, eyes squinting like he couldn’t believe their tricks. He sheathed his sword, shook his head, turned and walked away.

  “Crikey...that was close,” said Benson, poking his head out of Persy’s pocket.

  “I’ll say,” Persy said. “We have to stay invisible to get into the Forbidden City. No one gets in except the Emperor, his royal family and ministers, which includes Krak Ling. They think he’s some high-end priest.” Persy and Thaddeus stood completely still, surveying the Southern Gates in front of them.

  They were looking at the Meridian Gate which was a wall some thirty feet high with five openings. The outer four gates are well guarded, but the centre gate had only two guards.

  “Boy, not much concern for the central gateway,” Persy said.

  “Yeah, that’s because the only dude who gets to use it is the Emperor. Oh, and the Empress, once, on her wedding day, then she’s banned, too,” explained Thaddeus.

  “Man, chauvinistic, or what?” Persy huffed, annoyed.

  “Yup, that’s the way it is. The other gates are for royals, spiritual leaders or ministers, that’s it. No one else gets in except by Royal invitation.”

  “Well, then. The centre gate it is. Besides, less people to bump into,” she grinned and marched off toward the centre of the wall.

  As they approached the gates, Persy could see more of their details. They were bright red with nine rows of nine immense golden nails down each gate. One guard stood to each side of the gates, which luckily, were slightly open; enough to allow Thaddeus and Persy to slip through.

  They walked down the white stone walkway into the city itself. They came up to a wide moat - the Inner Golden River - about one hundred and fifty feet across with five, highly-decorated bridges crossing it. Again, the centre one was unused, so they proceeded over that one. Along all the bridges were statues of dragons and phoenixes, the two prime creatures of the Imperial family and the Chinese people.

  They were ogling the vast white stoned courtyard they were standing in when they got to the other side of the Inner Golden River.

  “Mom said the Forbidden City covers about a hundred and seventy eight acres and supposedly has nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine rooms in total; in the buildings. Nine is a big number for the Chinese. How on earth are we to find Krak Ling?” asked Persy. “His residence is in here somewhere.”

  “Well,” answered Thaddeus, “We stay invisible for a while, switch to the local lingo and poke around for clues. He’s going to be associated with one of the Temples, we just have to find it.”

  Persy joined her right hand with Thaddeus’ left and they tapped their wands together. “Lange Locale,”. Now, they would understand anything anyone speaking Chinese said and when Persy and Thaddeus spoke, it would seem to be in the proper local Chinese dialect for that time, but they would hear themselves in English.

  “Holy Red Walls, Batman,” said Thaddeus. “I guess they’re really into the colour red, eh, Persy?” Thaddeus was sounding more Canadian all the time.

  It was true; most of the walls and buildings they could see in the distance were deep red. Along the top of the walls were at least three rows of very ornate, brightly coloured tiles, each an image of dragons, phoenixes, flowers, flowering bushes or just bright colourful patterns.

  The rooves of the buildings were in typical pagoda style, the tiles rounded and very ornate.

  They were about to go through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, where three great halls were built each on top of a marble dais. The Hall of Supreme Harmony was the tallest and no building was allowed to be higher. Here, the Emperor did his governing and received the highest officials. It was busy with people coming and going.

  “This looks as good as any place to start,” Persy said. Thaddeus and Persy made their way into the hall. Inside, the sandalwood throne, standing on a two-meter high platform, was in the centre of the hall and encircled by six gold-lacquered pillars painted with dragons. The golden throne was carved all over with dragons. Beside the throne stood two bronze cranes, an elephant-shaped incense burner and tripods in the shapes of mythical beasts.

  Above the throne was a golden caisson, or coffered ceiling, with dragon designs. In the middle of the ceiling was the design of two dragons playing with pearls.

  The Emperor happened to be sitting on the throne, the ministers and all their subordinates kneeling down, ko
wtowing and chanting aloud, “Long Live Your Majesty", with incense burning and the sounds of bells ringing and drums beating in unison. Over to the side were a group of priests, one very distinctive, standing in the middle while all the others bowed around him.

  “Look,” whispered Persy, “It’s him, it’s Krak Ling. Remember? Just like in the book.”

  Krak Ling’s head turned in their direction. Even though they were invisible, it made Persy feel very queasy. Could a sorcerer of his magnitude sense them even in their subdued energetic state? They backed up against the wall, to be as far from him as they could. He turned back to watch the Emperor.

  Even though they could understand the words, Persy and Thaddeus still had no idea what was going on in the hall. Whether it’s a ceremony of some kind or just some official meeting was beyond them.

  “We’ve been invisible for a long time Persy,” Thaddeus sighed. “We need to find somewhere safe to lift the spell, I’m getting exhausted.”

  “You’re right,” agreed Persy looking around. To the side of where they were standing was a passageway to what looked like a small room. “Let’s see if anyone is in there.”

  They walked around to the small hallway and went into the room it led to. No one was there, simply some street clothes lying on a chair. It seemed somebody had changed into their ceremonial garb and left their clothes.

  “I guess we’ll be OK until whatever is going on finishes. Let’s give ourselves a breather,” said Persy, tapping her own head. “Aperios!” Thaddeus did the same.

  “Whew. That feels better.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,”

  Benson buzzed off Persy’s shoulder and landed on a window sill in the corner of the room, scouring for flies.

  Persy spied a couple of bamboo mats off to one side and pointed them out to Thaddeus.

  “I think, the easiest thing to do is stay here until things start to break up out in the Hall, then become invisible and follow Krak Ling and his cronies home, hoping that’s where they’ll go next,” suggested Thaddeus.

  “Best plan I’ve heard. Not being Asian, we’re going to have a tough time explaining our presence in the Forbidden City, even if we do speak the dialect. We haven’t a clue who or what to ask. I’d say a little game of ‘Follow the Leader’ is a definite plan.”

  It didn’t take long for their plan to be put to the test. Within a few minutes they could hear shuffling and murmuring as people raised themselves from the floor and began organizing themselves to follow the Emperor out of the Hall. The Emperor and his immediate entourage were just about out of the Hall, followed by the rest of the Royals as Persy and Thaddeus came out of the small side room. Krak Ling and his group were the third group leaving.

  Quickly, Thaddeus and Persy touched wands, just as Benson zoomed into Persy’s pocket. “Vanquesta!” They couldn’t be seen.

  Thaddeus and Persy slipped across the floor of the Hall and sidled up beside a group of priests whom were dressed in similar robes as Krak Ling, but not as ornate.

  Once outside, the Emperor and his band took the centre bridge back over the Inner Golden River, while Krak Ling and his followers veered to the left and went out the Eastern Gate. Then they scurried down a narrow walkway, between several smaller buildings.

  At the end of the passageway, Persy could see the familiar pagoda style roof lines of more respected buildings. Krak Ling stood aside and indicated to the majority of his followers to carry on down to the building directly at the end of the path, presumably a temple. When the last man was inside, he and two others faced a blank wall.

  Although Persy and Thaddeus were about six feet back, Persy could see that above Krak Ling’s head was a brick in the wall with a dragon etched on it. Her eyes flicked around the rest of the wall; she spied two more bricks, one at the level of each of Krak Ling’s shoulders, also patterned, these with phoenixes.

  Krak Ling raised his right hand, palm facing the wall. On his ring finger was a ring with a opulent red stone, about one by two inches in size. It glowed as if on fire when Krak Ling swooped his hand in an ark over the patterned bricks. The wall literally melted revealing a doorway.

  On the other side of the doorway, Thaddeus and Persy could see a small platform, leading to a downwardly spiralling staircase. Krak Ling and his two companions quickly entered and started down the stairs, followed closely by two invisible kids and a quivering Benson.

  There were four full spirals to the stairway and about halfway down, Krak Ling stopped and looked up the stairs behind him. Persy and Thaddeus stopped dead in their tracks. Although they were soundless, Persy knew Krak Ling was sensing something; an energy which he felt didn’t belong here. He scowled; scrutinizing the walls and steps, obviously trying to put a finger on what he was feeling, then harrumphed, turned, and carried on down the stairs.

  Thaddeus and Persy breathed a sign of relief, then followed Krak Ling in hot pursuit. At the bottom of the steps, there was a small stone-walled anteroom with a large heavy wooden door at the far end. Krak Ling and his two accomplices walked swiftly to the door and again he waved his right hand at it. The door swung laboriously inward.

  They entered as a group, the visible and invisible, Krak Ling now having lost interest in the energetic aberrations around him and glanced around the room, his centre of magic.

  “Sniv,” he snapped at the short, thin, anemic looking man, “light the incense burners.”

  “Huanshu, the candles,” he barked to the other, burly and facially scarred man. Both ran to do Krak Ling’s bidding.

  The room was massive. It was over one hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. Its ceiling was too high to see its details. There were four, ten foot tall red doors off the room, two on each side. All along the top of the walls were finely designed tiles, rows and rows of them; the walls were decorated with the works of art. This included landscapes, flowered copper and brass vessels, painted textiles, fine translucent porcelain and endless sizes and shaped lacquered boxes. The art alone in this room portrayed a vast fortune, without mention of the golden, gem encrusted stemware, plates and serving trays aligned on the many shelves.

  Down the centre of the room was a long dark, wide table, intricately carved along its edges with red lacquered poppies set into the carving. The chairs around the table numbered into the fifty’s.

  At the far end of the room, behind the largest burner, was a barred off area; another room separated from the main one. The bars were of gold and very close together, with fine filigree scroll work up and down each one.

  Krak Ling marched straight down to this area and spoke in a sibilant voice, “How are you, my pretty? Xian? (Zane) Where are you my sweet?”

  Without warning, the air of the vast room was filled with the entrancing trill of a song-bird, singing at the top of its lungs. Krak Ling smiled and his eyes gleamed with joy at the sound of his nightingale.

  But then he turned, scowled and walked over to a bookcase to his immediate right. He extracted a large, black and red leather book and laid it on the table in the middle of the room.

  “Back to the matter at hand,” he declared as he motioned Huanshu and Sniv to take seats on opposite sides of the table.

  “Word has reached me that in her time, Melanthios has managed to retrieve the first of her Nine Magical Objects to becoming the All Powerful One. Now, without The Book of Black Dominance, I’m going to be lagging behind her all the way in this quest for the other eight. Even though she doesn’t know I’m aware of The Book, that really doesn’t help me. I dare not take her on directly without the Potion of Eternal Life to guarantee I’ll survive such an encounter. So what do we know?” He leered at both men, knowing with disgust that neither possessed any insights at all.

  Benson couldn’t control himself, “Looks like he’s expecting a lot from those two. Makes about as much sense as military intelligence.” He snickered as he spoke in Silent Speak. The Vanquesta spell kept the sparkles under wraps.

  “Or airline food” Thaddeus snapped back. />
  “Alone, together.”

  “Act naturally.”

  “Butt Head.”

  “Soft Rock.”

  “Will you guys put a sock in it?” hissed Persy, silently. They both replied, “Fine” in unison.

  Krak Link flipped through some of the heavy pages of the book on the table and stopped at one close to the centre.

  “Obviously, you two have nothing to offer. I shall have to work this out myself.” Huanshu looked up at Krak Ling blankly, while Sniv sat with his head bent low, staring at his hands.

  “We have Xian, who was blessed with immortality by one of the ancient Chinese alchemists in Han Wudi’s time. The sorcerer mastered the Potion of Eternal Life, but hid it from the Emperor. One of her feathers is part of the potion.

  Also, I have one of the Apples of Immortality, which the Norse hag Skadi stole from her father Thiazzi. I swiped one before that rotten minx Loki stole the rest from her. I tell you, that lot, they deserve each other.

  And I believe I have the spell worked out, it’s just the other elements of the potion I need.”

  “What are they, father?” asked Sniv meekly. “How can we help?”

  “I’m NOT prepared to tell you,” Krak Ling spat out. “The less you know, the safer I am. When I need your assistance, you’ll be told, but not before.”

  Krak Ling looked down disdainfully at his son. Why were the Gods so cruel to take his strong warrior son ...who fought so bravely in the Opium Wars; it wasn’t even his time frame to protect; and leave this weak-kneed, useless excuse for a man, as his only heir? These thoughts tormented him daily adding to his increasingly cruel disposition.

  Huanshu, well, at least he’s handy in the times when brawn is needed, and impeccably loyal. A willing ‘strong arm’…every wizard should own one.

  Persy tried to lean forward to read the opened book on Krak’s table. This spell she wanted to see.

  Unfortunately, in leaning, she knocked over one of the candles on the table. “C-a-lunk!”