Rigel
Page 25
“Hey, that’s not fair. We brought back Rigel and Rona, didn’t we?” protested Opal.
“Well you’ve not done anything productive since. I don’t see anyone with you now. And you’ve lost Rona and Rigel!”
“It’s not our fault,” interrupted L’aroche.
“No, you took them, Laurie, when they were supposed to stay safe here. It’s your fault that the enemy now has them! And another thing: you’re always running in different time frames. You’ve been gone a year in your time, a couple of days in ours and this is what you come back with.”
Rigel realised that they must have been gone only for a few days in Kozenian time. In their own time it had been several weeks. Rigel wondered what had happened to Laurie while they were away.
“Laurie. We’re back,” Rigel said. The people in the room turned around and jumped as they saw them.
“Here they are!” said Quimby, rushing over. He pulled them to the front while smiling at them. “Good to see you two!” He beamed. Everyone was staring at them as if they had done something very wrong, which in a way, Rigel supposed they had ….
“Where have you been?!” demanded Mizar, looking furious.
“We – we …”
“Speak up!”
Rona began crying, the situation and the pressure becoming too much. Quimby patted her on the back.
“There, there, it’s alright,” he murmured.
“It’s my fault,” said Laurie, standing forwards.
“No, Laurie –”
“Yes it is,” he replied, not looking at Rigel. “I made them come with me. I’d gotten used to their company and their skills and power were incredibly helpful on a mission … I also thought it was useful training for them. I asked them to come. It’s not their fault they ran off.”
“They could have said no, though,” grumbled Alcor from his chair.
“I’m sorry,” Rigel said, lowering his head.
The king sighed. “Never mind. It’s over now. What happened?”
Rigel told them everything since Frivlok had snatched them. The group listened in silence as they described the story. When he told them about the Celestial Hearts and the arena, the group groaned.
“How did you get away?” asked Alcor.
Rigel finished the story, feeling incredibly tired.
“It’s over now,” said Laurie. “Best just to forget …. One more thing, though: I think you should apologise to Rusty.”
Turning around, they saw Tink pushing Rusty into the room in a wheelchair. He had a large bandage around his head and looked quite punch drunk.
“Er … sorry, Rusty,” Rigel said, patting the robot on the head.
“Mind his bandages!” said the little mechanic, swatting Rigel’s hand.
“He can’t actually feel anything though, can he?” There was a gasp around the room. “What? It’s true though, he’s just a robot!”
Rusty crossed his arms. Everyone else in the room was looking at him with their mouths open.
“Please stop talking,” said Rona.
“Sorry. Sorry, Rusty.”
Waving a hand as if it did not really matter, the robot dismissed it.
Rigel suddenly decided to tackle something that had been bothering him.
“Please will you let us train now? We’ve been shifted from place to place and done interviews and appearances but we haven’t done any training. It was by luck really that we escaped from the Dark Realm. We had no way to defend ourselves. You seem to want us to do all these incredible things and yet we have no idea how. I don’t want anything like that to happen again. In the future we might not be so lucky as to get away and then what?”
The Queen sighed. “Very well,” she said. “It is inevitable that you should come to the point where you want to train.”
“Why does it feel like you don’t want us to?”
“It’s not that, but … we’ve been told of the process,” said Alcor. “It’s very difficult, life-changing, even. We’ve known how much you’ve been through in these past few weeks and we were trying to selfishly shield you from that upcoming hardship. We knew it would have to come at some point. So if you are requesting it, then we shall grant it.”
“It’s not wrong to be concerned, but I’m glad you’re granting it,” said Rigel.
“Get some rest then, we’ll see you’re ready to start tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” said Rona.
“Good night.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Drilling soldiers walked in an orderly line along the yard. A sergeant was shouting out the timing to them: “Left, right! Left, right! Left, right!”
Rusty led Rigel and Rona across the yard. The robot took them confidently to the other end, whereas the children were feeling nervous and trying to keep out of sight.
Around the next corner they spotted several children sparring with wooden swords whilst a master overlooked their progress.
They were impressed – this was certainly more like it. Rigel judged that the training here would be strenuous and difficult; he could not see how it would be life changing. He shrugged. He’d find out soon enough, he supposed.
“I still don’t understand why we didn’t have to bring any of our things,” said Rona.
Rusty shrugged his heavy shoulders as he walked. “I don’t know, miss,” he said. “I was only given orders to do this. I suppose they don’t think you need any of your things.”
“But I haven’t even got any clean clothes!” she persisted.
“I don’t know, Rona,” he repeated. “You’ll just have to see.”
Walking in silence, they arrived at the main door and walked through it. After being checked in by the receptionist they moved to the office of the head training instructor. He had thin hair brushed back towards his neck although it was not fully visible because of the hat resting on it. His outfit was neatly brushed with polished buttons shining brightly. It was a grand midnight blue. The man’s face was lined but kindly looking. A swagger stick rested nearby on the desk.
“Good morning,” he said. “I am General Jartysurap, the head training instructor at this Kozenian establishment. You must be Rigel, and you must be Rona.” He shook their hands whilst they smiled, unable to think of anything else to say. “We’ll take good care of you here if you take good care of us.” They did not know what he meant, but nodded anyway. “Give yourself over to the training and the rewards will be endless. Neglect it and there will be no hope for any of us.”
“The children were wondering about the specifics of the training,” said Rusty. “Rona was concerned that she was not bringing any of her things with her.”
“There’s no need to worry about any of that,” said Jartysurap, smiling at her. “It will be explained in due course, in fact without further delay, if it pleases you?”
“Yes please,” they said.
“Very well,” replied the General, standing up. “If you’ll follow me then I’ll show you what needs to be done.”
The group was escorted to an older section of the building that was not visible from the outside. Continuing through the building, they noticed how the statues became grander and more frequent and the walls changed from new stone into weather-beaten old stone.
Rigel looked up as they passed another statue. This was a shaped column of onyx moulded into a twisting spiral of a dozen crows, their beaks open to clench the tail of the bird above. The topmost looked down at the floor with its beak open in a silent squawk. Rigel blinked as he saw that this bird’s eyes were purple and moist looking. Pausing, he stared up harder at them and then balked as the eyes looked down at him and then winked.
“What the?” He blinked and stared at the eyes only to see that they were hard black orbs, as cold and lifeless as the rest of the statue.
“What?” asked Rona, who had just walked into his back.
“Thought I saw something – the bird’s eyes. Gone now ….”
Descending a flight of heavily carpeted stairs, they arrived at a set of ornate doors made of a thick oiled wood. Inlays of gold depicted scenes from Kozenia’s past – dark visions of the old days when the Light Ones fought the Shadow; the present, shown as a shining example of technology and wonder; and finally the future, portrayed by the last parts of the present being turned into wisps of smoke, although whether these were good or bad, it was hard to tell.
“Are you ready?” asked Jartysurap. They nodded, suddenly nervous of what might lie behind the doors.
Knocking three times on the door, the General stepped backwards as it opened inwards. An unearthly humming was emanating from somewhere, although it was so faint that Rigel wondered if he was imagining it.
Stepping through the doors they found themselves in a room of ornate wonder. Two tapestries depicting another world hung on the wall: one of them showed a world full of life and beauty, the other a world full of shadow and death. Both were beautiful. A strip of carpet led them to the other end of the room, where several important looking people were standing to attention at either side of a pure white archway. A faint humming was emanating from it. The General ushered them towards it before saluting the group. They saluted back before bowing to the children who nodded their heads awkwardly towards them.
“I present to you Rigel and Rona, the Light Ones,” he said.
The people in the line came forwards and shook their hands, introducing themselves.
“I am Professor Erdiz,” said a woman dressed in heavy white three piece suit and robes. “Guru and wise woman here at the training facility. I am also the Protector of the Realm.”
Before they could ask what the Realm was, he had moved on to allow the next person to introduce herself.
“Hello. I am Captain Arentec, Weapons Master.” She certainly seemed to be: Rigel could spot about seven different kinds of weapons strapped to her.
“Hello. I am Jhoan Silvers, Head Bandit.” He gave them a wink.
Several other lesser lieutenants and guardians introduced themselves until there was a line at the other side, all standing to attention. Jartysurap stood in front of the archway addressing them.
“Your training will commence shortly. Before that, I wish to disseminate information about it to you.” He licked his dry lips before he began speaking. “This archway is the portal to a dimension sealed off thousands of years ago after the Dark Wars finally ended. Weapons used by the Light Ones were stored within to keep them safe in case the Shadow ever returned. The immense power stored within them is of such an incredible force that if they fell into the wrong hands it would be the end for all of us. The guardians who stored the items are long dead and the knowledge of the weapons’ location rightly died with them. It is prophesised that the true Light Ones will be able to find them. It is not an easy task though. The Realm is a land long sealed and no knowledge of its present state is in our possession. It will be up to you to navigate it and find the weapons, returning only when you have found them all. There will be no way to escape and only when your task is done will it be possible for you to leave. It is no simulation, it is no dream. It is as real as this world and any injuries sustained, even mortal ones, will have to be treated in order to prevent death. This is your training. The process will be long and hard and the tasks you come across will form the basis for your knowledge. Do you understand?”
They nodded numbly.
“That is good. You will have some time to compose yourselves and prepare for the task ahead. In three days you will travel into the Realm, where your true training will begin. Before that you will spend a short but intensive period learning essential tasks for the mission: fighting, survival, history and magic. Are you ready?”
Once again they nodded.
“Then let us begin.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
On top of a throne cast into the shape of a hundred twisted bones, Frivlok sat motionless and in thought. The children were now in the Institute. The idea bothered him in an abstract way as he had little idea what they would be taught.
Unless … unless they were being escorted into the Realm. The only place he did fear. Stored there were the weapons that would unbalance his existence. They must not be allowed to travel there. They must be stopped … but how? He remained still and silent, the room heavy with silence. Suddenly he had an idea and a grin split his face. The nearby candles guttered uneasily at the change.
From the end of the hall a door opened and two figures entered: one a colossal man, head and shoulders above everyone else and as broad as two normal men; the other almost formless – his form was shadowy: there one minute, almost invisible the next. Smoke swirled around his feet as though he could disappear without warning. These two were Frivlok’s right-hand men and subordinate to him only because he took it upon himself to be in charge of them. Together, they made up the Three. Their aim was to destroy the Light Ones but ultimately they worked for a much darker purpose …
Arriving at his dais, they bowed. Frivlok looked down at them, his smile still twisting his face.
“Gentlemen,” said Frivlok, “it is finally time. We must work to bring the Light Ones to an end. We will bring forth the Darkness, the Dark Shadow that poisons the blood of all living creatures. No-one knows that sealed within the Realm is that threat which could truly destroy them. It is our task to unleash it upon the vermin of these worlds so we might live as we desired all those thousands of years ago.
“Gentlemen, tonight we walk abroad.”
End of Book One
Afterword
I almost cannot believe I am writing this. Rigel came to me as an idea many years ago in the form of a taxi driving on a beach (which originally was the way to get to Kozenia). I was writing other books at the time however, so it remained on the shelf. Then I sat for hours in the garden trying to work it out and I had the idea of the Celestial Orbs. After that I sat down to write and the rest of the ideas fell into place. I love the story and I am so happy with its final form. The first draft of the second book is complete and I cannot wait to continue the series.
I must say thanks to mum for Monday evening talks and coffee in random places. Helping me to work out all the logistics and who was there for every read through and the first person I went to run ideas past. Thank you for everything.
Niamh and Dad for their notes and support. Seth (who cannot read a book this length yet!) for being the best little brother ever.
Thanks to Imogen for proof-reading the manuscript and pointing out many flaws I never even noticed and whose suggestions improved the book massively.
And thank you to you for getting this far. I really hope you’ve enjoyed the book and I can’t wait for the ones in the future.
Love and best wishes,
Eli.
Sheffield, United Kingdom. 11th of September 2015
Send the children to their graves.