The Circle of Six: Emily's Quest (Legends of Eostra)

by Sanders, Dan

  “Sabina, Bevan, it’s Sabina!” Emily screamed into Bevan’s mind.

  She glanced back towards Havendel where she had last seen Bevan. Some of the Paytah had penetrated the Reven and Ibaloth defence shields and were now on top of the great Havendel wall.

  Chapter 49

  Sabina Arrives

  HAVENDEL–Eostra’s City

  ANNWYN

  “I see them. Let’s help Sabina,” Bevan shouted to Daimon.

  Bevan turned to the Ibendari general and said, “Turn the soldiers around. We have fight left in us.”

  “But, Highness, they are bearing upon us.”

  Suddenly, the giant curved mandibles of a Paytah appeared over the parapet, clicking, scouting for its next victim.

  One of the Ibaloth that stood along the battlement lifted his hairy, orange arms and spoke quietly. The Paytah froze in mid-air within a body length of the Prince.

  Daimon jumped over the wall and onto the back of the frozen Paytah and drove his flaming blue blade into the shell of the fire-ant. The beast burst into sapphire flames, falling onto other ants climbing the wall. Daimon jumped back onto the wall and grimaced at Bevan. Bevan nodded his thanks.

  Bevan yelled to the general, “Get the Ibaloth to keep the Paytah off the walls. Get them to pair up with a soldier as Daimon just did then. These beasts must not enter the walls. Emily’s rabbits will be defenceless against them.”

  The general disappeared into the blackness. Bevan and Daimon jumped over the parapet into their hovering sky-chariots and zoomed across the black plains and over the oncoming swell of Paytah swarming the great Havendel wall.

  Bevan peered into a night punctuated by blasts of fire. The Paytah and Faoir were chasing the last of his soldiers to their deaths. He didn’t engage the fight. He wanted to get to Sabina. In the field below he saw the glowing orange form of Kato, swirling at great speed, picking off the Paytah one by one as they jumped onto the wall. What a great and noble being, he thought.

  Emily was right. He saw the glowing manes of Magas and his Nakoth standing next to the river. Hundreds of Styx glowed blue and emerald, yellow and white, as they stood on top of the gently streaming Filderma waters.

  Bevan jumped off the parapet and approached the river on his sky-chariot and saw Lupi standing next to Emily on Arun. Sabina stepped out from behind the Styx leaders and onto the banks.

  Bevan jumped off his sky-chariot before it came to a complete stop and ran to Sabina. He wanted to throw his arms around her. Instead he bowed and said, “I’m glad you made it. The battle needs the Styx.”

  Sabina smiled formally and nodded. Bevan adjusted his robe.

  “Clouds alive, you’ve changed,” Lupi said, hovering over to Sabina.

  “It is good to see you, Lupita,” Sabina said.

  Magas stepped forward and said, “We have no time for reunion. Dawn is almost here and we must get into Havendel.”

  Daimon said, “The Paytah have reached the city.”

  Lupi said, “We have to get the Agramond and the Styx together to defeat the Paytah. We can attack them from behind.”

  Sabina and Bevan nodded.

  “Where are the Melders of Torek?” Magas asked, scanning the night.

  Emily said, “I have seen Xavier and Blade leading the CIS armies, but they have not interfered directly with us.”

  Magas said, “We must exercise care. I sense a trap. Emily, follow me back to Kalen-Na. You must prepare.”

  “But Magas—“ Emily began.

  “Don’t argue, Eama,” Magas said. His Nakoth whinnied anxiously underneath the ancient Melder. Magas patted the electric blue mane of his charge and pointed his staff at Emily. Emily flew off Arun and landed sitting in front of Magas on his Nakoth. She scowled in disappointment.

  Sabina stepped forward and said, “I have an idea. My fellow Styx come to aid our cause. Lupita, you are right, follow my lead.”

  Sabina and Lupi combined the armies of the two Exotic nations. The Water Sprites spread out along the river. The Agramond hovered above in anticipation. Bevan and Daimon escaped into the air and watched Sabina’s plan unfold. With a frustrated Emily in his lap, Magas disappeared into the night on his majestic Nakoth. Bevan knew the joy the ancient Melder felt riding such a being.

  The Water Sprites raised their arms and chanted to the river. Under their command, the waters stilled. Bevan was amazed at the power he felt along his skin. He had never seen the Styx wield such power. The chant rose in pitch and urgency, pleading with the Water Lore to heed their call. As he swayed on the gust of night air, Bevan remembered Sabina’s mind and realised the canyon of her intellect was now matched with her true birth. She really was the daughter of land and water.

  The water formed a wall that rose above the blinking bodies of the Styx and into the darkness. The Agramond blew on their Pandrien Pipes, their lilting notes summoning the wind.

  As the chant from the Air-Elves matched the song of the Styx, a curled wall of gargantuan waves inched across the land, rumbling the bedrock and thrashing the sky.

  The Faoir realised they had a mighty torrent rapidly engulfing them from behind. Their control over the Paytah wavered. In the ancient Fire Lore tongue they pushed the Paytah harder. The fire-ants clambered over each other and what began as an attack on the great wall was now an escape from a watery death.

  In an attempt to break up the encroaching wall of water, the Faoir changed tactic. They turned the Paytah and faced them directly into the oncoming tide. Channelling the power from the subterranean beasts, the Faoir focused a bright beam of fire, the width of a small stream into the night. The sky lit up to reveal Agramond riding on the crest of the watery wave.

  When the fire from the Paytah and the Faoir slammed against the watery wall, steam filled the plains. The wall rippled. The Agramond and Styx chant became more ardent, straining under the impact of the Fire Lore.

  Bevan said to Daimon who was hovering next to him, “The water will engulf the great Havendel wall. We must prepare the city.”

  Just then Sabina approached them through the mist. With her arms in front, she rode on her own stream of water.

  “That’s a wonderful trick,” Daimon said, motioning at Sabina’s new power.

  “It’s no trick; simple particle manipulation. When there is sufficient water in the air, this is relatively simple.”

  Bevan smiled at Sabina.

  Sabina sensed Bevan looking at her and said, “We must move from here, else we risk being caught in this.”

  “In what?”

  Sabina signalled to watch the mist. Slowly, the wave changed under the control of the Air-Elves. It spiralled, spinning into a screaming tornado, sucking all in its path. Flaming Faoir and thousands of Paytah were yanked into its destructive force.

  Bevan recognised their plan. He felt the pull on his battle armour. Beasts and bodies flashed through the walls of the water as it withdrew back towards the Filderma River.

  Droplets sprayed Bevan’s face and he shouted, “We must get Lupi and meet in Kalen-Na. The sun is almost here.”

  Just then black clouds emerged from the watery wall of the Styx, forcing their way against the torrential magnet, bobbing toward Havendel. The leading cloud was tinged with green.

  Sabina jumped off her watery platform and onto Bevan’s sky-chariot, grabbing his waist for support.

  “It’s Torek,” Sabina Thoughtshouted. “And he has others.”

  Bevan leaned forward in his chariot. They raced towards Havendel. The watery tornado gobbled the Paytah off the wall. Victory was in sight. The remaining confederation soldiers found solace behind the great Havendel wall.

  “Magas, Torek is here.”

  As they approached the wall, Bevan saw Magas riding directly into the swirling wall of water. There were three white riders with him.

  “They will be killed,” Daimon Thoughtshouted.

  Sabina Thoughtspoke, “Trust the Melders.”

  Bevan watched with amazement as Magas raised
his staff high in the air. With colours swirling around the tip of his staff Magas collected the water that rushed before him. He touched his staff to the ground. Earth formed around the tip and began to glow. He then swirled his staff in a circle above his head. The earth grew in size and it glowed red hot. He pulled back his staff and hurled a burning boulder of lava into the approaching black clouds. The other white Melders followed the ancient Melder’s lead.

  Instantly the clouds changed form to reveal black-robed men hovering in the air. The dark Melders dodged the assault from Magas and retaliated by conjuring two black cloud-walls that sandwiched Eostra’s Melders in a mighty thunderclap.

  Bevan moved to rush to their aid, but was frozen by an unseen force.

  “Get inside to Kalen-Na.”Magas’ iron will jammed into Bevan’s mind. “The spring morn approaches. I will take this threat away from here.”

  “We need you, Magas,” Bevan cried out.

  “You are the Circle of Six. You are the fulfilment of the Wellwyn Prophecy.”

  Sabina placed her hand on Bevan’s arm and said, “We must go. His fate is sealed.”

  Bevan looked over his shoulder as he hurtled towards Havendel. The water corkscrew of the Agramond had moved away and vanished into the darkness. Magas and Torek were on the ground in a fierce battle of the elements. Two of the most powerful beings on Annwyn lit the sky in a war that would be passed down in story to each generation of the Twin Worlds for millennia. Bit by bit, Bevan saw Magas and his Melders leading the advancing Torek and his followers away from Havendel, south towards Jalpari.

  Lupi pulled alongside Bevan as they reached the great Havendel wall. They flew across to the other side of the parapet, the divider between the battle from the outside and peace on the inside. They saw the egg-shaped building of Kalen-Na hovering above the lake. They reached the entry at the bottom of the Egg and Bevan saw Kato on the ground protecting a brood of rabbits. The giant cat’s roar echoed off the Blue-Sage Cliffs. The CIS soldiers dropped their weapons. The confederation soldiers led them to holding cages at the foot of the cliffs.

  Pointing to Kalen-Na hovering above, Lupi asked, “How will we get Kato up there? She is too heavy for me.”

  “I will go,” Daimon said, patting his newly beloved sky-chariot.

  “I’ll take care of this,” Sabina interrupted. She held out her hands and instructed the water from the lake to flow under the Giant Tiger’s feet. Kato growled in humiliation.

  “She hates water.” Lupi laughed weakly.

  The black sky faded into morning grey. The five beings hovered together at the bottom of the egg-shaped Kalen-Na. They looked at each other with dull eyes. For a moment none of them moved. Sabina adjusted Bevan’s robe across his shoulder. Silently they glided into the oval opening at the bottom of the egg. As the mist cleared, waiting for them inside were two beings in dark green robes. One was a young boy with wild red hair. The older man had long cream hair. They were smiling.

  Chapter 50

  The Celestial Battle

  The Celestial Room of Kalen-Na,

  HAVENDEL,

  ANNWYN

  The two rabbits sat on their haunches, alone in the domed Celestial Room of Kalen-Na. Emily hopped about nervously, her nose and paws twitching. She glanced at the egg-shaped walls.

  “They will be here, Emily; try to relax.”

  “How can I relax, Rupurt? Where is Magas? He said he would come back after he brought me here.”

  “I’m sure he has a good reason.”

  “Sabina, and the others?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Emily looked around the Celestial Room. This was where everything was meant to happen. She wanted to appreciate the beauty of the room. It was like her chambers, as though the outdoors had been brought inside. Bushes with crystal vines, a small pond with pink water, and small trees with variously coloured fruits were scattered around the edge of the room. Light-stones bobbed above casting soft yellow shadows.

  Rupurt tried to ease Emily’s worry. “Can you believe Elementals were in this room, five Elementals?”

  “Huh, yeah, I suppose.”

  She hopped to the curved wall of the room and laid her paw onto the glassy surface. She had done this a few times now and felt the connection with the room as naturally as breathing. The opaque wall became visible, revealing the land as it lay before her. She tapped on the wall to confirm it was still there. Even her small rabbit knock rang through the high egg-shaped building. Kalen-Na: what a strange name for a building.

  It was almost the dawn of spring. The darkness faded into a misty grey as the colours of the day and the colours of the night changed hands. She closed her eyes and felt the land. The power of Havendel soothed her but as she reached beyond the boundaries and into the plains and across to the Filderma River she felt the land’s pain. Death had come at the hands of Gorgos. For everything Eostra stood for, light and harmony and love, he stood for the opposite. She shuddered as though a chill wind ran through the Celestial Room. Where were her friends? They had only minutes before the first ray of sun struck the land, and it would be over. Over. Her body was happy for it all to be over. The darkness made her deeply sad.

  Emily hopped to the centre of the room and examined the deep groove carved into the rough sandstone floor. It was the first time she’d had a good look since her audience with the Elementals.

  She followed the groove as the circle ran around the room. In perfect symmetry the circle enclosed a five point star etched into the floor. At each point, an ornate stone dais wrapped in vines rose from the floor like a Reven finger. She recognised the symbols in the arm of each star-point from the Wellwyn Prophecy. Carved into the floor were the element symbols of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. She remembered Eostra said each arm of the star represented an element.

  As if reading her mind, Rupurt said, “It looks a bit like a hand with five fingers poking up.” He hopped over to the empty stone finger and pointed to a carving in the floor. “This looks like a harp.”

  “The Harp of Harmony,” Emily said, relieved.

  “Do you have the Harp?” she asked Rupurt.

  Rupurt pulled the small ornately carved Harp from the pack. Delicately, Emily raised the Harp, ready to place it on the dais.

  Just then she heard a noise and looked at the door. Zane stood in the doorway with his arms calmly by his sides. His black saucer eyes studied her for a moment before he stepped across to the dais in the centre of the pentagram.

  Zane pushed his fingers into his blue belly and withdrew a white stone bowl. Emily recognised it as Gilga’s Kettle. She hopped over to Zane and bounced in the air, trying to glimpse if Eostra’s Egg was still inside. It was empty.

  “Where is it?”

  The ancient protector ignored Emily’s plea. His fingers worked quickly over the outer lip of the crystal bowl. The kettle glowed in response to his touch. He calmly withdrew another bowl, exactly the same as the first. Emily was amazed.

  Unperturbed, Zane took a second Gilga’s Kettle to a dais at another point on the star. With the same reverence, he repeated the same ceremony for four other points on the star.

  “Wow,” Rupurt said, “Six Gilga’s Kettles.”

  Emily held up the Harp of Harmony to Zane. “Can you at least tell me about this? Should I put it up now?”

  Zane looked as though he might respond, but suddenly cocked his head, as though listening for something. He straightened and looked at Emily. “The Circle is now complete. The Harp is not your destiny.”

  Emily looked at the Harp and handed it to Rupurt.

  Zane’s smooth crystal body lightly stepped to the dais at the centre of the star, let his hands fall into their usual position by his sides and stared ahead.

  She hopped over to him and said, “Do you know what I am meant to do?”

  His blue face studied her for a moment. She thought his large eyes looked sad. He startled her when he said, “You have lived two lives, Chosen One, lives that mark your existen
ce thus far. Do you trust yourself enough to fulfil the measure of that existence, despite where that existence began?”

  Emily wanted to ask more, but he had turned and faced the entry to the Celestial Room. She knew he would not speak again.

  Just then, in a great gust of wind, Lupi burst through the doors frantically waving her arms.

  “We’re under attack.”

  Emily’s heart raced. She had nowhere to hide.

  “What—?”

  Rupurt tucked the Harp under his arm and leapt behind a clove tree at the edge of the room. Emily followed. Rupurt hopped in front of Emily, trying to shield her. She smiled thinly and turned her attention to the fight.

  Daimon and Bevan exploded through the entrance, running backwards, swinging their swords, deflecting blasts of red energy hurled by Xavier and the dark Melder, Blade.

  Kato roared into the room with Sabina following. Sabina’s fingers tickled the air. Water filled her hands. She hurled them at Xavier with such force the floating waterfall knocked him onto the floor. His staff echoed as it slid across the stone.

  Bevan dropped to his knee and pushed his fingers into the sandstone floor. The floor trembled and buckled under Blade and Xavier, throwing them into the air and onto their backs.

  As Blade rose Lupi buzzed high in the air, wrapped her fingers around her hurricane hammer and slammed it into his back, knocking him across the room. Blade changed form into a boulder, heading directly for Daimon.

  “Daimon!” Bevan screamed.

  Daimon jumped as the boulder landed with a thud next to his feet. In a blink, Blade changed form again into a sandstorm and thrashed about Daimon’s body like angry bees. Daimon lashed at the storm with no effect. He was whipped by a thousand razor cuts and blood dripped down his cheeks and his scarred arms.

  Bevan ran, hands held wide, and weaved his hands through the sand. His muscles bulged. He sang quietly to the sand. He called to the Rock Lore. He was turning the sand into stone by his own commands. The Melder, spinning in sand form, resisted. The sandy body of Blade began to form under Bevan’s command. Blade changed form and the sand exploded and knocked Bevan unconscious into the transparent chamber wall.