by Jeremy Dwyer
~~~
Victoria then went to the Great Granddaughter’s Room, where she saw Tanith Orenda waiting. The room, like all the others, had its own fountains of all thirteen (13) waters. Additionally, there were hundreds of rubies embedded in the walls, which gave the room a regal appearance. However, the rubies had been cut and filled with blood of sacrificial victims, so the red was more than that of crystal.
The old woman was wrinkled like a woman in her late seventies, but her soul was far more twisted than her skin. When she saw Victoria, she said: “I told you that your sight would return and that your eyes only needed rest. You are now more powerful than before, child.”
“Yes, you are correct, many thousands great grandmother,” Victoria said.
“Of course, I am correct. Did you sleep well?” Tanith Orenda asked.
“Yes,” Victoria said.
“Did you dream?” Tanith Orenda asked.
“Yes. In my dream, the world was empty with only me and many green islands and with the oceans,” Victoria said.
“That was a prophetic dream of conquest, many thousands great granddaughter,” Tanith Orenda said.
“There was a man who offered me a wager,” Victoria said.
“What was the wager?” Tanith Orenda asked.
“It was over a game – The Thirteenth Armada. If I were to win, my womb would be fertile. If I were to lose, my soul would be lost to the Maelstrom of Vengeance,” Victoria said.
“Did you accept the wager?” Tanith Orenda asked.
“No. I did not answer him. That is all I remember, and then I awoke,” Victoria said.
“There are challenges ahead of you, and you must be prepared. The violet eyes are one more weapon you have to face adversity,” Tanith Orenda said.
~~~
Tanith Orenda thought back to the war one hundred (100) millennia ago. The amethyst was discovered, on an island in the Kazofen Ocean, where it was being used to control the people in a small island nation. They answered to their tribal priest who had violet eyes and commanded them to do many things. The tribal priest was ultimately killed and the amethyst was taken and brought to Tanith Orenda.
Tanith Orenda first learned of it when her spies reported on its use, and she simply had some of her young male slaves blinded – so as to resist the hypnotic trance the violet eyes caused – and then they were sent to strike at the cult leader, obeying telepathic commands and guidance from servant women who drank the Elanatin Ocean waters. The blind male slaves struck the tribal priest dead, took the amethyst amulet by feeling for it, and brought it back to the old woman. Then, the blind males were conveniently struck dead, having no other purpose. Tanith Orenda then learned how to use the amethyst with the help of one of her servants who drank the waters of the Kazofen Ocean, thereby giving her the ability to see deep into the amethyst’s crystal structure. That is how they learned how to properly receive and utilize the violet eyes.
CHAPTER 9: Warning from the Sage in Hiding
In the city of Emeth, in the Library of Tedorik, Danek was studying in his office when, suddenly, darkness enveloped him. He was taken by the arms and a voice spoke to him, saying: “The Old One wishes to see you.”
Danek knew, immediately, who was speaking to him. The Hidden Paladins were the guardians of the ancient sage – Sava-Tzefanya – who was hidden away in secrecy. Due to his numerous experiences and studies during his two hundred forty-eight thousand eight hundred thirty-two (248832) years of life – granted to him by the waters of the Ursegan Ocean which he drank – he knew a great many things, and this made him exceedingly powerful. It also made him a dangerous enemy to the evils of the world, so his very existence was concealed.
The Hidden Paladins – cloaked in darkness by the powers of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean which they drank – carried Danek to another place, such that he could not see the path, and could not be seen by others as he traveled it.
The powers of darkness were eased and Danek found himself looking into the face of the old one. The ancient sage had a look of dismay on his face, and said: “The tiara will soon reach its fullest power, now that the yellow suns are giving little light in the skies. Once it is active, it will be used to spread more than death – and that will occur, have no doubt, in great numbers. Worse than death, even, lies will be told, and there will be an attempt to bring those lies here.”
“No falsehood may be written here. None ever has – the Verifiers review all things,” Danek said.
“The swarm of lies will outnumber the righteous and truthful ones who will be here to guard against them,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“When many messages arrive, some must wait, until the Verifiers have had time to review them, and decide if they are fit to be recorded here,” Danek said.
“Beware the enemy who will deceive you, and the sword that will cut at you,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“Emeth is protected from lies, is it not? It is also protected from the sword, as I have always seen,” Danek said.
“A complex truth, to the eyes of a fool, is like a lie. A partial truth, to the eyes of a sage, is like a lie. Do not be deceived. Admit nothing you cannot prove, so that no lie is written down by your own in that city. Fear the sword,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“Are we not protected?” Danek asked.
“At times, when you are prepared,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“What is that preparation of which you speak?” Danek asked.
“Solemn prayer. Do not let wisdom cloud your mind – all writings are incomplete, and the reader must know this, as must the writer. Each truth written has its full meaning in a far larger context, that you cannot fully see, and you know this, and must not forget it,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“I know that none of us can know all things. We must see the silhouette of the truth from the scant knowledge we have, like sailing around a lake in the fog, and only seeing its edges,” Danek said.
“You shall face a greater darkness than a mere fog,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“We shall endeavor to penetrate it with our minds,” Danek said.
“Beware that your very minds are not weakened, for she has even that power, when the tiara is worn,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“If our minds are weakened, what are we to do?” Danek asked.
“Do not write down any lie. Put both of your hands into the lion’s mouth to be devoured rather than writing a lie and thus becoming a false scribe,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“Is the time for martyrdom at hand?” Danek asked.
“It may just be,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“Then, that is what I shall instruct all the Chroniclers and Verifiers to do,” Danek said.
“Some will fail you,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“If they write a lie here, it will lead to ruin and death,” Danek said.
“Utter ruin, beyond your imagining,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“I must direct them to defend the truth with their lives. Yet, Chroniclers of the Oath have guardians,” Danek said.
“The devotion to truth must come from within. There may come a time when the protector of truth must prove this devotion with his own death,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“Do you mean that the guardians will not be there for us?” Danek asked.
“You may be the guardians. This may be your battle. Do not let it startle you. There is nothing to fear,” Sava-Tzefanya said.
“This will be a difficult message for many,” Danek said.
“Now is the time to deliver it to them,” Sava-Tzefanya said. At this, he gestured toward the Hidden Paladins waiting in the room, and they projected the cloak of darkness around themselves and Danek.
Danek was carried into the darkness along a path which he could not see and returned to his office in the Library of Tedorik. The powers of darkness eased, and he could see where he was. The Hidden Paladins then left him, returning to the darkness from which they came.
~~~
Danek then called together a number of Verif
iers, Chroniclers and even librarians and warned them with these words: “Attempts will be made to deceive you, and you must suspect deception, rather than allow any false things to be written here. Attempts will be made to coerce you to write a false thing, and you must be prepared to surrender your wellbeing – even your very lives – rather than allow a false thing to be written here. The archives of truth are here around us in these halls. They are to be defended with blood, if necessary,” Danek said.
One Chronicler asked: “Who will coerce us to write a false thing?”
Another Chronicler asked: “Are there not guardians to every Oath-taking Chronicler, such that none can ever be harmed?”
“The woman with the tiara will have many powers, including coercion of the body and deception of the mind. Death is preferred over allowing her to lead you to write down lies,” Danek said.
“In our death, we cannot Chronicle,” the second Chronicler stated.
“Better a lost truth than a kept lie,” Danek said.
“What you ask is immensely difficult,” the first Chronicler said.
“I am not asking. I am instructing. Death may be at hand, even for some who take the Oath, because an evil power will attempt to write its lies here, through you,” Danek said.
“Our guardians will not be there for us?” the second Chronicler asked.
“You will become the guardians,” Danek said.
“You mean that we will be abandoned,” the second Chronicler said, angrily.
“Do not judge the circumstances, even when they might affect or harm you, for judgment is against the Oath,” Danek said.
“Abandoning us to danger to defend the truth is also against the Oath,” the second Chronicler said, obviously furious.
“That is what you want the Oath to read, but it does not. The guardian assigned to those who chronicle is not a promise, and the Oath does not bind them to protect you. You merely wish that it did,” Danek said.
At this, the Chroniclers, Verifiers and librarians left the room to go on to their assigned tasks.
Danek, however, called to one of the Verifiers – Alyona – and asked her to remain, saying: “I wish to speak with you.”
“I am at your service,” Alyona said.
“How would you defend against a great many lies being presented to you?” Danek asked.
“If a statement is made by a Chronicler and then merely recorded here, that is equivalent to us claiming the statement is true. The truth of it, of course, has to be tested by a Verifier. However, if a statement is made by a Chronicler, and then the fact that the Chronicler made the specific statement is recorded, then that is a true statement – the fact that they made the statement. A mark of uncertainty may be recorded along with it, such that the reader knows the veracity of the underlying statement is in doubt. This is similar to how proceedings of trials in a court of law are recorded, as some give false testimony – the testimony is false, but the fact that they gave it is true,” Alyona said.
“You may need to expect many lies. Also, coercion,” Danek said.
“This city is protected by a guardian, is it not?” Alyona asked.
“Yes. You and the other Chroniclers,” Danek said.
“I mean a guardian spirit – an angel, as some call them – defends against attacks,” Alyona said.
“Be prepared that you might have to directly confront a deceiver – one who is also a murderer. Write no lies, and believe none,” Danek said.
“You ask no small commitment,” Alyona said. She guarded her words, and her tone of voice. However, she was not at all eager to face a threat to her personal safety – or existence.
“I’m not asking – I am instructing,” Danek said.
“Some may have families,” Alyona said, as if to dissuade him from requiring personal risk-taking.
“Do you?” Danek asked.
“No. Not yet, anyway,” Alyona asked. She had dated many men, and had a good one in mind for starting a family. This was her job – logical fact checking, analysis of surrounding evidence, classification of documents by reliability. Her job was not, however, dying to uphold anything. She was a young woman and had a future, or so she hoped she did.
“It may not come to that. But the tiara is powerful, and the Ahitan woman may use it against us in ways that we cannot overcome. The power to influence us – or even to control us – is there. We cannot allow a lie to be written here. Lies undermine society, not always all at once, but they do erode our understanding, and lead to decline,” Danek said.
“Death of the young by warfare also leads to decline, and far more quickly, while the eyes do see. It is not so much a gradual or slow process, like the erosion of soil by wind and water,” Alyona said.
“I know this is a difficult message,” Danek said. In his great age – fourteen thousand two hundred fifteen (14215) years, which were allowed to him by the waters of the Ursegan Ocean that he drank – he had little cause to fear, and little desire to die. Yet, he chose a path of knowledge rather than family, and did not have personal commitments or aspirations. This message was difficult for him, but not as much as for the others.
“It’s not one that I was prepared for,” Alyona said. She was thirty-four (34) years old and very much fearful that she may lose her opportunity to start a family of her own.
“What were you prepared for?” Danek asked.
“I was prepared to tell you what I had learned. I was researching, based on a line of reasoning I had followed, that led me to an interesting name. Have you ever heard the name Serfex?” Alyona asked.
“No, that’s not a name that I can recall,” Danek said.
“He lived one hundred seventy (170) millennia ago. He was an alchemist, obsessed with stone statues and spirits. He was psychologically imbalanced, but extremely clever. He disappeared, mysteriously, from a Bazavadoran castle. There was an enormous storm at sea – in the Nabavodel Ocean – on the night he disappeared,” Alyona said.
“What does this signify?” Danek asked.
“There are accounts of witnesses claiming that he was with a woman at the time, and she wore some sort of crown, but then she was beheaded and the crown was taken away,” Alyona said.
“Are you suggesting that it was the tiara?” Danek asked.
“The evidence suggests it,” Alyona said.
“How does that help us now?” Danek asked.
“It’s just the beginning of our search, as to what the tiara really is, how it works, and why it was made,” Alyona said.
“The answers to these questions are important – of that I have little doubt. However, when matters and dangers become urgent, these concerns may be too far distant,” Danek said.
“When danger is urgent, one needs a navy, and an army. Not a Verifier,” Alyona said.
“Yes. I understand that. Find out whatever you can. Preventing every lie – and the violent acts of those who spread them – would be best. Chroniclers, according to the Oath, can only insist upon writing the truth and refuse to write a falsehood. Yet, they cannot interfere to stop someone from acting out in violence. However, we can, if we have the proper knowledge, in time to use it,” Danek said.
“The writings of many millennia – carved into the stone tablets of the many halls in this city – are my weapons. Not swords, or ships with cannons. I can discover where these writings lead, and perhaps learn how the power of this tiara could be brought to an end. All by logic,” Alyona said.
“I trust the abilities of your logical mind – enhanced by the Medathero waters you drink – to find solutions. If the knowledge is here, which is yet to be established, then you will be able to make proper use of it,” Danek said.
CHAPTER 10: Infiltrated by a Verifier of Lies
A scout entered the Great Granddaughter’s Room and said: “We have the Verifier, and await your instructions.”
“Excellent. Bring her to me. And bring Danielle,” Tanith Orenda said. At this, the scout left the room momentarily.
&nb
sp; Victoria looked puzzled, and Tanith Orenda saw this.
“We must spread our message to the world, many thousands great granddaughter. Even Emeth must hold our words, written upon its walls of stone. Yet, a Verifier must test all things, and has final say on what is to be written and what is to be rejected,” Tanith Orenda said.
“What, precisely, are we to do with a Verifier?” Victoria asked.
Just then, the scout returned, along with a woman who looked to be around thirty-five (35) years of age, having a short but thin build, with long, dark hair, and sharp eyes. She was dressed in the robes of a Verifier, with their classical markings. Two (2) armor-clad warrior females restrained the Verifier, one to each arm.
Additionally, Danielle followed, as the old woman had instructed.
“Your mind is perceptive, young woman. You are trusted because of it,” Tanith Orenda said to the Verifier. She knew what it meant to be a Verifier – they were almost all drinkers of the Medathero Ocean waters. The old woman could see that there was a vial on a chain hanging around the woman’s neck, and the vial had the classical symbols indicating that it contained those waters. Additionally, she knew the markings on the woman’s robes indicated her position.
“This is a temple of water-worshippers. Although I did not see the exterior – due to having been cloaked in the darkness – the interior is clearly of a conventional architecture, with its tall fountains of all thirteen (13) waters in each room I have been in along with the illumination by the blue crystals in the twelve (12) corners of the dodecagonal rooms, extending from floor to ceiling. Bringing me here by force, as your servants did, will not change my reckoning of the facts,” the Verifier said.
“Don’t be so sure. What is your name, child?” Tanith Orenda asked.
“My name is Adele. I am a drinker of the waters of the Medathero Ocean waters, and a trusted Verifier. I see, by the vial of water that you carry around your neck, and the markings thereupon, that you are a drinker of the Ursegan Ocean waters,” the Verifier said.
