Luminaries & Lies

by Jeremy Dwyer

  So great was greed and hate,

  Yet warlords had no shame.

  Unmatched was the giants’ might,

  The war was to be the final fight,

  The breath of enemy was seen as blight,

  Vanquished was to be his name.

  The war was fought on distant shores,

  Beyond light’s farthest view.

  In spirit every strike was made,

  No stone did crumble, fall or fade,

  Eyes saw not war but this parade,

  The battle is fought each day anew.

  Many listened as the singer recounted the story – the myth, as far as Pandaros was concerned – and mused about how it must have actually occurred.

  Pandaros and his fellow explorers passed through that village and walked for two (2) days, heading up mountain trails, until they found a sufficiently private location inside of another cave.

  “Why are we here?” Hesperos asked.

  “The meaning of the passage is clear to me, now,” Pandaros said.

  “That book you were reading before we left?” Hesperos asked.

  “What book is that?” Telamon asked. He, like other Explorers of the Quiet Sea, collected knowledge as he traveled, keeping many books and maps.

  “A book of cultures and their theologies. This land bridge is home to many stone-worshippers who have gathered around these colossal statues and formed their own mythology, separate from the popular myths and nonsense,” Pandaros said.

  “In the book there is a verse – a puzzling one, but I have deciphered it. It indicates that there is a tribe in this location that has what we seek. To them, onyx is a sacred stone,” Pandaros said.

  “You seek onyx?” Telamon asked.

  “Not just ordinary onyx. We are searching for the lost luminaries – the darkness candles,” Pandaros said.

  “I have heard of them, but considered the claims of them to be exaggerations by dubious sources. Yet, the darkness, however slight, is visible in these skies. Does this mean that some luminaries have already been lit?” Telamon asked.

  “Yes. They were found and lit by us,” Pandaros asked.

  “You said there was another among you,” Telamon said.

  “Abrax holds six (6) of the luminaries. Yet, we seek another,” Pandaros said.

  Abrax eased his powers of darkness and revealed himself that Telamon might know who he was.

  Telamon looked toward Abrax and saw that he was carrying a candelabra with thirteen (13) candle holders, six (6) of which had burning candles.

  “You said that a tribe of stone-worshippers has it. How do you know?” Telamon asked.

  “There is a leap of logic here,” Hesperos said, remembering the verse that Pandaros read aloud and not seeing the connection to any tribe having any luminaries. He did not yet sense the logic that Pandaros was thinking.

  “Did you see the colossal statues?” Pandaros asked.

  “Plainly,” Telamon said.

  “Yes, of course,” Hesperos said.

  “So they are not standing under a shadow of darkest light, and thus not cloaked from your sight, then, wouldn’t you agree?” Pandaros asked.

  “I do not quite follow,” Telamon said.

  “I understand now,” Hesperos said.

  “Do you? Or are you reading my thoughts to find the logic that was beyond you?” Pandaros asked, suspecting that Hesperos was reading him all along.

  “You mean that the luminary was taken and unlit, so that it can’t hide the colossal statues. You think a tribe of stone-worshippers took it and have it here,” Hesperos said.

  “Indeed. You should learn to reason correctly on your own,” Pandaros said.

  Hesperos was about to ask another question, but then stopped himself and thought more clearly. Then, he said: “I can look for someone thinking of a black stone. That might be the onyx – the luminary.”

  “That is just one (1) possibility. Yet, be cautious. Another telepath might probe you, so do not let your guard down. Stone-worshippers can be found at higher elevations, where they have temples and structures erected. We must move up to find them. Then, we will find the luminary,” Pandaros said.

  “What would you have me do?” Telamon asked.

  “Stay here and protect Abrax, as he protects the luminaries. You have strength and speed, if needed. Yet, in the interest of the Quiet, do meditate and attract no attention to yourselves,” Pandaros said.

  Pandaros then turned to Hesperos and said: “You will come with me.”

  “Will we call the spirits against them?” Hesperos asked.

  “Only if needed, and if it is worth the price that spirits demand. The stone-worshippers’ minds will be weak, and easily manipulated. You will lead them to give over the luminary,” Pandaros said.

  ~~~

  Pandaros left the cave and Hesperos followed. They traveled for three (3) days through the mountains, always careful about their direction, so that they could return to the cave where the others were waiting.

  Before long, they encountered a large tribe of hundreds of men and women bowing down in front of a circle of seventeen (17) colossal warriors. They were chanting and paid no mind to Pandaros or to Hesperos.

  One of the men was wearing a tribal mask in the form of a hawk and the hawk had black eyes. The hawk, Pandaros knew, was a bird that traveled high into the mountains: it was a symbolic and spiritual way for men to connect with the peaks of the greatest stones of all. He also knew that the black eyes were not appropriate to the symbolism of the hawk or to stone-worshippers.

  Knowing Pandaros’ stated intent from earlier, Hesperos then drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial and was energized.

  Pandaros turned to Hesperos and thought, without saying: “Have him come to me, and give to me the mask, that I might have a closer look at it.”

  Hesperos reached into the mind of the man wearing the hawk mask and suggested to him that he should hand over the mask to Pandaros and the tribal man then did so.

  The other stone-worshippers then stopped and looked at what was happening.

  Pandaros put his hands on the eyes of the hawk mask and felt that the eyes were cold to the touch. He pulled on them and removed them and saw that they were both crystal and each had a wick like that of a candle. This convinced him that he had two (2) new luminaries, whereas he expected only one (1). This removal created a pair of openings in the mask.

  The tribal man who handed over the mask became angry and said: “You have violated us! The stone eyes of the hawk look down on us and give us blessings and wisdom. The hawk lifts our spirits to the peaks where we cannot go. Now, our spirits cannot rise to the mountain tops and so we will have a curse!”

  The other stone-worshippers then approached and looked as if they were going to strangle Pandaros, or even stone him to death. Pandaros looked at Hesperos and thought of what he should say, and Hesperos read him.

  Acting on Pandaros’ thought, Hesperos then reached out with his mind and ordered the angry tribal man to change his mind.

  “The eyes of the hawk were false, and were misleading us. You have set us free,” the tribal man said to the other stone-worshippers.

  Pandaros then handed the hawk mask back to the tribal man and said: “With the false eyes removed, you may now see clearly.”

  The tribal man wore the mask again and returned to worship around the statues and the other stone-worshippers followed him.

  ~~~

  Pandaros then led Hesperos on the way back to the cave and met with Abrax and Telamon.

  Once inside the cave, Pandaros held up the two (2) new black onyx luminaries.

  Telamon reached into his own backpack, took out a flint, steel and a wooden torch, and started a fire to light the torch.

  Pandaros was hoping that he was correct and that these new onyx candles were not false like the one (1) that the Baron in Volaraden had given him. He held the wicks of the two (2) new candles to the torch and they were lit. He then plac
ed the pair of new onyx candles into the candelabra, so that it now held eight (8) luminaries. After this, he said: “Let us see what is to be seen.”

  The group of explorers walked outside the cave and saw that the sky was much darker now – the slivers of darkness on each of the suns were more noticeable, even on the yellow suns which had recently gained back their strength. The yellow suns were wayward, and Pandaros knew this about them – they could not be relied upon for navigation unless a person was a drinker of the Atrejan Ocean waters. Still, they were no match for the darkness. It was colder now, as well. This was more acutely felt at their altitude, even though they were only, perhaps, fifty (50) feet above sea level.

  “The darkness is expanding. More of the surface of each of the suns is obscured,” Telamon said.

  “Because the new luminaries were both true. Yet, there are more to be found,” Pandaros said.

  CHAPTER 45: Journey through a Storm in the Shadows

  The darkness brought by the luminaries was seen throughout the world. Some places, however, were affected more than others.

  In that place between the ocean of light, Lujladia, and the ocean of darkness, Ikkith Tar, was the Wandering of Shadows. The narrow land bridge was already shrouded in a confusing mixture of light and darkness that earned it its name. Cold went with the darkness, and both became more intense as the eclipsing of the suns of the sky progressed. The winds whipped up and the moisture in the air turned to snow, giving rise to a sudden and powerful blizzard.

  Inside their sanctuary – a small wooden building held together by dried mud – Taesa, Caroline, Emerond, Brant, Zoe and Judith were all taking rest.

  Judith was accustomed to waking before others, so that she did not miss much, but the travels did tire her. The Chronicler’s Oath demanded attention, but it didn’t forbid necessary sleep. She awoke and watched the others, preparing to record the days’ events.

  Taesa awoke suddenly from a dreamless sleep. She looked around and saw that only Judith was awake before her. Judith noticed Taesa and watched as the young singer looked around, clearly startled.

  Along with her ability to create beautiful music, Taesa was finely-attuned to hearing music and other sounds. She was the first to hear the sounds of the storm winds as they approached.

  “A storm is coming. I can hear the winds!” Taesa said.

  Judith recorded this into her book and then stood up and opened the door to look outside. She didn’t see anything. Taesa went along with her and realized that Judith couldn’t see it, and she couldn’t see it either. “I heard the winds, but I don’t feel them yet. I guess my hearing is that good,” Taesa said.

  Zoe heard the noises of people moving around, then awoke and said: “Close that door! Get in here! Don’t let anyone see you!” She ran over and took Taesa by the arm and pulled her back in, and Judith followed. Zoe then closed the door.

  “What’s the matter with you? People could be looking for you right now! You don’t know who’s out there!” Zoe said.

  By now, everyone else was starting to wake up from hearing the commotion.

  “What is going on?” Brant asked.

  “She opened the door and went outside without us going first to scout the area!” Zoe said.

  “Come on! You know things are bad right now!” Brant said.

  “Taesa! This is no time for more of your adventures!” Caroline said.

  “Let them look first,” Emerond said.

  “There’s a storm coming. I can hear the winds in the distance,” Taesa said.

  “Is it cold out?” Zoe asked.

  “No worse than before,” Taesa said.

  Zoe drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean and was energized with the powers of light. She opened the door and stepped outside of the wooden building, and then looked out into the distance for miles in all directions. She saw a blizzard approaching from the south, and it was fierce. It was seventy (70) miles away from her best estimate.

  Zoe went back in and closed the door.

  “It’s about to be a lot worse than before. A blizzard’s approaching, from the south,” Zoe said.

  “Since we’re hiding, this will make us harder to find, won’t it?” Caroline asked.

  “Harder to find our frozen, dead bodies? Yeah, sure,” Zoe said.

  “Oh! That’s encouraging,” Caroline said, annoyed at her pessimism.

  “You mean we’re not safe just being here?” Taesa asked.

  “This building is wood and mud, but that’s it. When it gets cold enough outside, we’ll freeze to death inside,” Zoe said.

  “You have another suggestion?” Caroline asked.

  “Find a better shelter. Or hope,” Zoe said.

  “How bad is this storm gonna be?” Brant asked.

  “How soon will it arrive?” Emerond asked.

  “Maybe an hour. That doesn’t give us much time to find somewhere else. And walking through this storm could be the last trip we ever take,” Zoe said.

  “Then we need to insulate ourselves against the cold,” Emerond said.

  “How?” Zoe asked.

  “Light can give heat, correct?” Emerond asked.

  “I get what you’re trying to do. I’m not sure if I can generate that much light,” Zoe said.

  Emerond opened a pocket in his coat, took out a vial and drank the Kazofen Ocean waters within it and was energized. He then took a diamond that he kept with him and started to mold it into a shape by manipulating its low-level structure. He placed the crystal on the dirt floor and said: “This will turn the light to heat.”

  Zoe used her own powers to generate light and thereby illuminated the diamond – having the modified crystal structure – which Emerond had put down. At this, it began to glow and give off a faint amount of heat.

  Emerond then repeated the process, making another and another, until there were eight (8) modified diamonds, arranged in an octagon. Zoe illuminated each of those diamonds.

  Judith watched what they were doing and noted the shape of the crystal structure, but could not see the low-level structure. She then wrote all of this into her book.

  Emerond then took Taesa’s arm and they stood in the middle of the octagon of crystals – which was ten (10) feet across.

  “It’s warmer here!” Taesa said, surprised and smiling. She gave Emerond a kiss on the cheek to thank him, but tried to do it in a way that no one else noticed.

  Judith, however, did notice the kiss and recorded it into her book. She also noticed – and recorded – that Taesa was now holding Emerond’s hand and was leaning into him, clearly interested in the man.

  Caroline, Zoe, Brant and Judith then stepped into the octagon and felt the warmth, too. Judith recorded the fact of the heat increase into her book, but she did not measure it precisely.

  “It’s the way the crystals are cut on the inside. They bend light back on itself so it heats up enough that the crystal can’t contain all the heat, and has to radiate it,” Emerond said.

  “Neat trick. If we get out of here alive, can we keep those things?” Brant asked.

  “Be my guest,” Emerond said.

  Caroline watched her daughter and saw how she was growing affectionate toward Emerond. That he was a capable man made her hopeful that her daughter would succeed in winning his favor.

  They stood in the octagon of heat-radiating crystals for about fifty (50) minutes before the storm winds grew so loud that everyone could hear them.

  “It sounds bad out there!” Brant said.

  Zoe stepped outside of the octagon, opened the door and peered outside. She felt the cold winds that they heard, and they were growing in strength. She looked out into the distance – by the powers of light that were given to her by the Lujladia waters – and she saw that the blizzard was monstrous, over thirty (30) miles wide, and it went up into the sky a mile. The blizzard was approaching rapidly and she estimated that they had very little time before it hit with its full force. It was only about fifteen (15) miles away now.


  She hurried back inside and closed the door, moving quickly back to the octagon.

  The others looked at her expectantly and Zoe said: “It’s cold out there.”

  “And?” Brant asked.

  “In just a few minutes, it’s going to get a lot colder,” Zoe said.

  “…Out there,” Caroline said.

  “Outside this little circle,” Zoe said.

  Judith recorded all that was said, but she didn’t see the need to step out into the cold. Zoe’s report was enough, especially since Zoe was the one with the far sight.

  In another ten (10) minutes, the blizzard did arrive and strike at the cabin. The winds howled furiously, and a creaking sound was heard.

  “No!” Emerond said.

  “It’s going to get real cold, isn’t it?” Zoe asked.

  “What?!” Taesa screamed.

  “The winds are strong as well as cold. This is just a wooden building. It may be damaged,” Emerond said. He looked concerned now.

  The creaking sound returned, and then occurred frequently. Wooden beams could be heard shifting.

  Judith was watching all of this and it reminded her of the time she was in the Temple of Mev’Kna and it collapsed. She escaped, unscathed, and now she knew why. She now knew that she had been protected because she took the Chronicler’s Oath. These people, however, were not under any such protection. She seriously anticipated that she might have the unpleasant privilege and duty of recording their deaths in a few seconds or minutes or hours, at most.

  “We need to get out of here!” Emerond said.

  “We’ll freeze to death out there in minutes!” Zoe said.

  “I’d rather freeze than have the roof collapse on us,” Emerond said.

  With the next barrage of heavy winds, occurring only a moment later, a wooden beam snapped and a wall buckled inward, and the roof sank.

  “Come on! We don’t have a choice!” Emerond said, and he took Taesa by the hand, pulling her close and running outside where it was very cold and the snow was accumulating quickly and the winds stung the skin.

  Another wooden beam snapped and another wall buckled, sinking the roof further.

  Zoe and Brant and Caroline ran outside, with Judith running by her side.