“Was anyone else with her?” Vitio asked.
“Not according to Juni,” Sinno replied, “but he had to flee quickly in order to warn us. I fear the opposition has something planned for the Adren Kingdom.”
“You don’t think they’d try overtaking it like they did with the Archaic Kingdom?” Vitio said. “It’s only Yama, correct?”
Apsa sucked her teeth. “If Toono winds up there, too, then there is no telling. We don’t have anybody skilled enough in the Adren Kingdom to oppose the two of them. We have no Jestivan and now no royal head, depending on where Supido is. I have scouts headed for the location on Spirit Road where the run-in with the Rogue Demon occurred. They should arrive within a day or two, and they’ll assess the damage and search for his body.”
“This makes the mission in the Still Kingdom even more important, Vitio,” Venustas said. “All our eggs are in that basket, and it has spread us too thin to chase Yama. Toshik, Bryson, Olivia, and Vuilni are all occupied with it. Agnos and Tashami could be anywhere across the Realm Rivers or Sea of Light. Himitsu is with his dad and Fane in the Archaic Kingdom. Lilu seems to be the only one who would be the most accessible to do this. Otherwise, Yama roams freely in the Adren Kingdom.”
Vitio grumbled, “I’m not sending my daughter after that freak by herself. Yama has already established a reputation of killing off Jestivan.”
“Very well then,” Venustas said with a frown. “Let’s hope the Adren Kingdom remains a member of True Light at least until the rest of the Jestivan return from the Dark Realm.”
Apsa blankly looked off to the side of the screen, appearing to mull over her thoughts. “Felli ...”
Venustas sighed. “Yes?”
“Seeing that the Energy Directors are who sculpted the Jestivan, why not one of you chase down Yama?”
“I can’t leave Fiamma; I’m all this kingdom has to protect itself against an upper echelon talent.”
“I’m speaking more along the lines of the two directors presently stationed in Phesaw,” Apsa explained. “In fact, let’s inform Director Buredo of his brother’s likely death at the hands of Toono and his kingdom’s potential demise with Yama running amuck within it.”
Venustas sat up in her chair. “He would go after her in a heartbeat; you have something there.”
“All due respect to the directors, but isn’t it likely that Yama has succeeded her mentors?” Vitio asked. “This seems like we’d be feeding the poor man to the wolves—or wolf.”
“And if Toono is here, too ...” Sinno added.
“We must do what it takes to slow them down,” Apsa retorted. “Felli, can you get word to Buredo?”
“Of course.”
“Good, as soon as possible.” Apsa tapped her fingers and shook her head. “But Neaneuma must stay in Phesaw. She will act as its protector. And when the Jestivan return from the Still Kingdom—hopefully safe and sound—we need one of them stationed in a different kingdom at all times, which includes Phesaw.”
There was something still eating at Vitio. He ground his teeth, then asked, “How did Toono get into the Spirit Kingdom? We have Dev servants at every teleplatform.”
Without pause, Apsa replied, “By an Adrenian naval vessel, stolen from the blockade between the Sea of Light and Archaic River. It arrived at my port a week ago with ten percent of its original crew, but none of them knew what had happened. It was as if they’d had holes in their memories. It’s why I had sent General Minerva to Reikon Gate to escort Supido here to the capital as an extra precaution. Reports were that there was a hole in the wall of the captain’s cabin. We’re unsure what from.”
“Acid,” Venustas murmured.
“What, Felli?”
“When I examined what was left of King Damian’s body months back, I noticed something about his hand. To any normal set of eyes, someone would have thought he’d been severely burned. However, I had a slight suspicion that it was acid at play—especially considering how the Prim Prince was killed over three years ago.” Her gaze grew stern. “And now, after hearing this, I’m starting to believe that my hunch was correct. Someone in Toono’s crew is using very potent acidic substances.”
“Okay ...” Vitio took a deep breath. “Communication needs to be better. This is a disaster.”
“Speaking of communication,” Apsa said. “Why have we not heard from Ophala about any of this?”
Venustas followed the Spirit Queen’s question with one of her own. “Has anyone else noticed a trend in the stream of Ophala’s information? She knows a lot about what’s happening in regards to the Archaic Kingdom or Dev King Storshae, but she never mentions Toono or his plans.”
“I think we all know Toono has been the man pulling all the strings—despite him trying to make the Dev King and Toth Brench look like the masterminds,” Vitio said. “I doubt he reveals the truth of anything he’s doing to anyone, which would mean even Ophala can’t get a read on him.”
Apsa nodded in agreement. “It seems like we’re chasing a ghost most of the time.”
“Sometimes I don’t think he’s real,” Vitio said. “But I assure you, Ophala has a plan. She’s been staying in touch with me.”
“Just like her to pick and choose who receives information,” Apsa said. “It’s frustrating sometimes.”
General Sinno’s voice interrupted the broadcast as he said something to someone out of view. “Excuse me? Where?” Vitio, Apsa, and Venustas became quiet while Sinno’s face twisted in shock. “I’m coming right now.” He then redirected his focus to the broadcast and said, “Yama and her accomplice have been caught.”
“How?” Vitio and Venustas asked together. Apsa also appeared skeptical.
Sinno paused and stared into space while shaking his head. “They were found collapsed near the teleplatforms, on the road here—battle wounds and energy exhaustion, apparently. They did travel straight from Reikon Gate to the Adren Kingdom, fighting entire units in both places. Perhaps even for Yama, she was asking too much of her Adrenergy. I must go.”
“Don’t stop the broadcast!” Apsa commanded just as Sinno began to walk out of sight. “Take the Devish with you; we will watch and make sure nothing goes awry.”
The general nodded and turned. “Let’s go, Yulo.”
* * *
Yama and Kadlest stood at the Adren Kingdom’s teleplatforms, surrounded by lifeless bodies. Yama gritted her teeth as they watched one man helplessly sprint in the direction of where the capital, Katashi, sat.
“There is no sense in chasing him,” Kadlest said. “There was a specialist Devish at Reikon Gate who was recording us. I’m sure that at least one of the royal heads have been alerted to our activity already.” She looked at Yama, examining her wounds. “I’m not sure you sold it enough.”
Yama appeared annoyed. “Be happy I let as many soldiers hit me as I did. It goes against my natural instinct.” She clutched at her stomach. She had only been grazed by a blade, but it had been enough for her tunic to soak in blood. “And if I sold it any more than I did, I would have died.”
Kadlest smiled and proceeded down the trail toward the lake that sat between them and Katashi. “Precisely my point.”
With a scowl, Yama chased after her.
They traveled for about an hour before seeing soldiers heading directly for them. “Reinforcements,” Kadlest noted. “You know what to do.”
The two women began to slouch, grasping their wounds as they dragged their feet through the dirt. Yama thought she was acting, but now she was beginning to think that maybe she had overexerted herself at both teleplatforms. Kadlest looked back at her and said, “Don’t actually pass out on me.”
Yama collapsed, and the timing of it couldn’t have been any worse. Kadlest had no chance to react, for the Adrenian reinforcements were already upon them. Quickly, she did the only thing she could do: she, too, fell into the dirt.
* * *
King Vitio leaned forward in his office chair, his elbows resting on the desk an
d his mouth pressed against his folded hands. His focus was directed toward the broadcast displaying from Vistas’s dilated eye. In it was General Sinno’s back, while Yulo—a Dev servant of the Adren family—walked behind him.
Sinno stepped outside, into the bamboo barracks of Katashi Estate. After a few turns down fenced pathways, a wagon was seen in a dirt clearing. The Adren Major and several corporals circled the transport, their dominant hands grasping the handles of their swords. As he watched, Vitio nervously scratched underneath his chin.
Sinno circled the carriage, keeping a safe distance. A few soldiers stood near the door as they waited for a command. “Major Sulni, are you sure it’s them?” Sinno asked.
A woman off-screen replied, “Yes, sir. I just checked on them a couple minutes before you arrived, too. They’re still too weak to move. I have the Jestivan’s sword, so that we shouldn’t have to worry about.”
Sinno stood still with his hands behind his back. “Draw your swords.”
Metal screamed as the officers followed their superior’s command. Sinno stepped forward and nodded at the soldiers. They opened the back door, and the general gazed inside, the Dev servant peeking over his shoulder. The wagon was vacant, and the chains were seamlessly split into sections. The broadcast’s vantage lowered. A hole was set in the floorboards, big enough for a human to fit through.
Vitio’s heartbeat raced, and Apsa realized the same thing. She screamed through the broadcast, “The undercarriage!”
Her warning was too late. The broadcast backed away from the carriage just as General Sinno’s ankles were cut cleanly in two. He toppled over, losing balance without his feet to support him. He grimaced, trying to crawl toward his sword, two trails of blood staining the dirt behind him. As he reached for the handle, a sword ripped through his shoulder, severing his arm. He screamed in agony, and those around him did the same as their chests were slashed apart by someone too fast for any eye to see.
Suddenly, a woman appeared at the center of the collapsing officers, only visible after coming to a stop. She stared directly at the Dev servant recording the scene, giving off the illusion that she was eyeing down Vitio, Apsa, and Venustas themselves. Vitio gripped his chair tighter as he witnessed the disaster unfold. Yama was a frightening force.
Yulo turned and ran. All Vitio could see was the man’s shaky vision from each desperate stride he took, his breaths rattling through the broadcast. The royal estate appeared to be miles away. He’d never make it.
“Run ...” Vitio said under his breath.
Yulo froze and gagged—the sound vivid and sickly. His vision blurred as he gazed down to where a sword coated in his own blood extruded from his stomach. As it was yanked back out of his abdomen, Yulo fell to his knees, and then his face plummeted toward the ground.
* * *
An eerie quiet consumed the broadcast. King Vito and Queen Apsa gawked at what they had just witnessed, while Director Venustas stared blankly at her desk. “We created that,” the director said. “The Energy Directors are responsible.”
Vitio shook his head. “Something tells me that woman was headed down this path regardless.”
Queen Apsa had tears in her eyes, but her voice remained firm. “Get in touch with the Jestivan you sent to the Still Kingdom. I’ll send word to Ophala by falcon, so she can inform others. They must know the situation we’re in. All hands on deck are needed.” Pressing her fingers into her temple, she paused. “We’ve lost the Adren Kingdom.”
25
The Archaic Museum
It was the morning of the Mythmaker’s first deployment. While Agnos’s crew finished preparations before setting sail, he sat in the ship’s grand cabin, watching as Eet and Osh played in the open floor space. They hopped around, quizzing each other on the maps of the Realm Rivers and Sea of Light that were painted across the floorboards. Occasionally, they’d glance at the ceiling, where the night sky and its stars were painted, depicting the one night when the three constellations appeared in the sky. It would serve as Agnos’s greatest tool as he chased the location of the Thunder Queen’s wrecked ship. Zorra had a similar set-up in her own room. As the crew’s navigator, she needed it even more than Agnos.
Eet stood as tall as his childish frame allowed, hands on his hips and chest out. “Alright, time for a hard one, Osh! When can multiple whirlpools form next to each other?”
Osh frowned, but then exclaimed, “When Mustang and the Mage appear in the sky at the same time in October, January, March, and June!”
The boy’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think you’d know that; I don’t even know that.” He turned toward Agnos with wide eyes.
Agnos smirked. “She’s right.”
With a victory yelp, Osh leapt into the air and pumped her fists. Agnos chuckled. “It seems Osh’s relationship with Zorra has put her ahead of the game, Eet.”
“You’re supposed to teach me this stuff,” the young boy whined.
“I pale in comparison to Zorra. Sorry, buddy.” As Eet ran toward the door, Agnos asked, “Where are you going?”
“To talk to Zorra!” Eet screamed, the door shutting behind him.
“What happens if we miss the timeframe?” Osh asked.
Agnos’s eyes dulled. It was a fair question, but not one he wanted to dwell on. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”
“I’ll make sure it won’t,” she said with an exaggerated nod.
“Stay by Zorra’s side and I’m sure you won’t,” he said with a comforting smile. “You’re doing great.”
Osh turned to leave the cabin but stopped and whirled in order to bow.
“Don’t do that,” Agnos said. “Do I look like a royal?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never met one. But if I were to dream of what one would be like, it would be you.”
Osh left the room. The past several months had been strange for Agnos; he wasn’t used to being treated with such respect unless it came from a fellow intellectual. Now people were comparing him to royal heads and claiming he would become the Sixth of Six. But during times like these, he’d recall Grand Director Poicus’s most important words when he inducted the Jestivan years ago: Fame and glory are nothing but insignificant byproducts of our real goal—a greater good. Not that Agnos necessarily needed such a reminder. He wasn’t in it for glory; he wanted answers.
Osh had raised a great question. Once a year, there was a small window when the seafloor cave could be found underneath the location of three major constellations—or so the story went. Just before midnight on a day during the second or third week of January, the Archain Monk, Celestial Puma, and Herb of Gold would interconnect patterns in the sky. Underneath them was, supposedly, where the Thunder Queen had surrendered, allowing the ships of her fellow deities to annihilate her own. She had known about the cave, which was where she’d taken her chronicle.
This meant that the cave’s location was discoverable, but only once a year. It’d be a grueling twelve-month wait until Agnos could try again if he missed his chance. In the grand scheme of things, that wasn’t too bad. But for Agnos, after years of waiting for this moment, the worst thing that could happen would be another year of twiddling his thumbs in anticipation.
But that’s why he had Zorra. Her ability to read the constellations was of the upmost importance. Then there was Tashami, who provided the powerful winds needed to reach a location quickly, and he was also reassurance in case the Mythmaker ran into opposition.
Agnos got up and gazed out his window. The Whale Lord was anchored nearby, its cabin window in eyesight. Captain Gray Whale stood behind the glass, doing the same as Agnos. As they caught each other’s eye, they exchanged a nod. The time had come. Agnos would discover this world’s purpose.
* * *
Rhyparia followed the torches of Atarax and Rayne near the front of the group. Realmular Tunnel had taken its toll on the adventurers, but perhaps the worst of it had fallen upon Rhyparia. Exhaustion had set in weeks ago. The brunt of it had come during th
e week when Prakriti was out of commission. During that time, she weaved gravity for an average of fifteen hours a day. Keeping everyone’s feet rooted to the ground was crucial when the trees around them were as weak as branches. Thankfully, Prakriti’s recovery now granted her more time to rest.
In the distance came the sound of breaking branches and resounding thuds. They each paused. It was the first time they had heard something outside of their own movement while in the tunnel.
Rhyparia marched to the front, snagged Atarax’s torch, and pushed ahead, extending her arm so the light could reach greater lengths. After a few dozen paces, her eyes were drawn to the ground, where a skeleton lay. She scanned her surroundings only to find more of the same. As the rest of the group caught up, they came to a stop.
“What happened here?” Saikatto asked.
“Dimiours from over fifteen hundred years ago?” Rayne suggested.
Therapif hopped forward and gazed at one of the remains. “This is the skeletal structure of a human, and based off a quick glance, they don’t seem to be quite that old—more like a few hundred years.”
“How did so many get here?” Biaza inquired.
“Step back,” Rhyparia said, doing so herself. “I’m going to let the gravity revert to normal ahead of us. If what I believe is correct, then these skeletons should ...” She trailed off. “Well, we’ll see I guess.”
As she released her hold of the gravity in front of them, the skeletons didn’t fall through the tunnel like what should have happened had gravity followed the laws they had experienced up until this point. Instead, they lifted from the tunnel’s walls and hovered in the air, along with sticks and branches.
“Are you doing that?” Saikatto asked.
Rhyparia shook her head. “That’s all nature. It’s a phenomenon not experienced by many—if any at all.” She picked up a stick and tossed it. Its trajectory arched like any object would in normal conditions, but then the air snagged it mid-flight.
“We’ve reached the tunnel’s equilibrium,” Rhyparia said. “This is where the opposing gravitational forces of the two realms collide and balance each other out—hence the floating. The skeletons probably belong to those who have fallen in before. The equilibrium caught them during their descent, trapping them in limbo until they died of thirst or starvation.”
The Chronicle Page 27
