The Xenoworld Saga Box Set

by Kyle West

  For an hour or so Judge Kais rambled on, his monologues never staying in one area for long before going off on a series of tangents completely unrelated to his original point – and, more often than not, he and his audience had completely forgotten what the original point was. It wasn’t long before I gave up. The only one who seemed to be listening with any degree of interest was Isaru.

  When Judge Kais paused for breath between one of his many soliloquies, the bell sounded three times, signaling a merciful end to the lesson. He frowned, as if indignant at being so rudely interrupted.

  “Very well,” he said brusquely. “We shall continue our lessons on Thursday. I’ll make a note of where I left off. It is vital that you thoroughly learn about the expansion of treason law during the time of Old Colonia, one hundred and twenty-five years after Ragnarok. It was one of the four key changes that led to the Annaran Uprising, and shows that even we Elekai are not immune to the corruption of power.” He cleared his throat. “One of many examples, in fact. You are dismissed.”

  And like that, the spell was lifted. Once-dormant limbs sprang to life in the students’ flurry to escape. As if the lesson had never happened, Judge Kais returned to his papers, no longer interested in dispensing his wisdom.

  But Isaru stepped forward. “Judge Kais?”

  Kais looked up, startled. “Ah, Prince Isaru. How might I be of service?”

  “The Annaran Rebellion, and particularly the expansion of treason law under Elekai rule,” Isaru said. “Can you point me to any resources if I wanted to learn more about it?”

  Kais practically beamed, and all three of his chins waggled pleasurably. “Why, of course. Detailed records were written by the Elekai historians, Arden and Mireya. You should be able to find them both in the library.”

  “I’ve read those,” Isaru said. “Do you have anything written on the Covenant’s side of things? I seek to understand their perspective on the matter.”

  Judge Kais blinked. “Hmm. Those records, if they exist, would not be in our collection. Brevia, perhaps, but not here.”

  Isaru sighed, and nodded. “It’s as I thought. Perhaps if I had a pass to the second floor, I might explore up there. I’ve found nothing of interest on the first floor.”

  Judge Kais’s eyes widened. “I should think not, my dear boy. A pass is not something I hand out lightly, not even to my own apprentices.” From Kais’s tone, I was surprised that he didn’t add a “good riddance,” and more surprised at the fact that this man actually had apprentices.

  “It’s as I feared, then,” Isaru said, sadly.

  “You appear to be unusually bright,” Kais said. “You’d make a fine Judge, someday, if you apply yourself to the learning of the law.”

  “Of course,” Isaru said. “Though the formation of law in history is what interests me most.”

  “Ah, yes.” Judge Kais’s eyes became dreamy. “Interesting indeed, that.” He looked down at Isaru amiably. “Tell you what. You find something interesting on the second floor related to the historical formation of treason law, and we’ll discuss it together.” He chuckled. “I’m hard-pressed to find interesting conversation, even among my Seeker brethren. Not everyone understands these intricacies, and who knows? Perhaps I’ll learn something new to add to my lessons.”

  Please don’t, I thought. If there was a reason why Judge Kais couldn’t find interesting conversation, it was probably because he was as boring as a lump of stones to talk to.

  But Isaru only smiled, giving a gracious bow. “Nothing would please me more, Judge Kais.”

  Kais took a moment to write a quick note, handing it to Isaru. “Now, I trust you won’t abuse this permission I’m giving you?”

  “Of course not,” Isaru said. “It merely grates on me that I can’t yet study the subjects I wish.”

  “I see,” Judge Kais said. “Well, then. Never forget, though, what curiosity killed.” Judge Kais spared a glance for me, but it had none of the warmth he had given Isaru. “Off with you both, then. You shouldn’t tarry on the way to the Sages’ Tower. It’s all the way on the other side of the Sanctum.”

  “Thank you, Judge Kais,” Isaru said.

  Judge Kais nodded before returning to his papers.

  When we were outside the Dome, I shook my head. “I can’t believe he gave you that pass, and I know you don’t intend to use it to study burgeoning treason law in Old Colonia.”

  “Of course I do,” Isaru said. “I’ll spare that subject a glance, at least enough to satisfy Kais. I have other things in mind, though.”

  “Like what?”

  “Hyperborea.”

  I became a bit guarded at Isaru’s interest, especially in light of my dream from last night and my conversation with Isandru. “Why are you interested in that?”

  “Well, you have to admit that it is interesting. I found citations during my studies last night, but of course, all of them were on the second floor. There was an apprentice there, so I couldn’t sneak up there.”

  “It’s just a dark story,” I said. “I suppose I didn’t realize how bad it was until recently. Maybe some things are better left in the past.”

  Isaru looked at me suspiciously. “What would you know about all that? I just read some interesting things about it in relation to the reversions. It’s the reason I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  I sighed. There was no point in hiding what I’d learned from Isandru, but we were already halfway across the Great Hall. “I can’t really explain right now, but I talked to Elder Isandru about it last night.”

  “Isandru?” Isaru looked at me in disbelief. “When did you see him?”

  “I couldn’t sleep last night. I went to the wall for a bit of air and ran into him on the ramparts.”

  “In the middle of the night? And you didn’t get in trouble?”

  “No,” I said. “If I had run into anyone else, though, I probably would have. It was a strange coincidence because we both couldn’t sleep.”

  “And you just...asked him about Hyperborea?”

  “I don’t remember how it came up, but he seems to know a lot about it.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said...” We were coming to the Sages’ Tower. “I’ll have to tell you later.”

  Isaru nodded. “We have this, then there’s the Clerics after lunch. And then Martin told me that you and I would meet with Isandru himself, later.”

  “He’s teaching us personally?”

  “He’s the only Prophet available,” Isaru said. “Fiona normally would, but she’s been gone for a while.”

  “On Nava Mountain, you mean.”

  Isaru shrugged as we passed through the open doors of the Sages’ Tower.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  SIX INITIATES WERE ALREADY GATHERED at the bottom of the tower, sitting in wooden chairs and waiting for the lesson to begin. There was no sign of our instructor.

  The tower wall made a wide circle, rising about twenty feet before stopping at a wooden ceiling. Stone steps made a circuit along the tower’s circumference before disappearing into the second floor.

  Isaru and I took our seats, just in time to hear footfalls coming down the stairs. I turned to see a man wearing a Seeker’s robe that bore a sprig of three leaves on its right breast: the sign of the Sages. The man’s face was old and wrinkled, and like so many of the Seekers we’d seen, he wore a customary gray beard, though his was trimmed short.

  “Let’s get started,” he said. “Everyone stand. We’re going to the Grove.”

  Everyone exchanged glances as we followed the old Sage out of the tower. He hadn’t even given his name, but Isaru was there to fill in the blank.

  “That’s Sage Alan,” Isaru said. “He’s the best Agronomist in the Sanctum.”

  “Agronomist?” I asked.

  “You’ll see in a second.”

  We passed through the corridors, trying to keep up with Alan’s long legs as he stepped out of the side entrance of the Sanctum. The day ha
d grown bright and sunny, but the air still had a cool snap to it.

  He strode ahead to a tall oak that looked to be at least a hundred years old, if not more. Its branches were high, spreading in all directions, forming a thick canopy through which the blue sky and sunshine barely found a way through. Behind him, many more trees rose on small hillocks, until they were met with the outer wall of the Sanctum, which could barely be seen through their maze of trunks.

  Once we had all gathered, he tapped the trunk of the tree.

  “What makes this tree grow?” he asked.

  Everyone looked at each other, not sure whether it was a trick question.

  “Air,” one initiate said.

  “Light,” another said.

  “Water.”

  Sage Alan nodded to all of these. “All of these are true. But there is little water here, on Nava Mountain. Indeed, in all of the Red Wild. And yet, the land blooms. It grows a variety of plants, where there should be a desert. In fact, it once was desert.” He paused. “Why do things grow here, then?”

  No one had an answer...not even Isaru, who seemed to have an answer for everything.

  “The xen,” Sage Alan said, “is like no other plant on Earth. It needs little water. It needs little light. It can live even in the coldest and hottest conditions. Earth plant life, by comparison, is fragile. Most of it needs plenty of water, warmth, and light in order to thrive, though of course, there are plants that can survive in the near absence of one, or all three. The plants you see in this Grove, however...they should not be able to survive here with so little water. Why do they?”

  He paused a moment, allowing his question to sink in.

  “The green of terran plants comes from a biomolecule called chlorophyll, which allows them to absorb energy from light. The xen is similar to fungus, at least in appearance. The xen does not use chlorophyll, like plants do, though it does absorb light using a biomolecule called the xenoplast. Xenoplasts are able to, with near one hundred percent efficiency, absorb light from all the color spectrums, with the exception of red and a few others, depending on the plant. This is part of the reason why it’s so warm in the Red Wild, even in northern latitudes...instead of light being reflected by the xen, heat from the sun is absorbed and trapped on the surface. This climate effect, called the Red Well, has been known to impact the lands surrounding the Wild – to the east, the land has become wetter. To the west, drier. But the xen recycles the water and light it receives so efficiently that it has little need to be replenished with rain. Some Sages have even argued that the xen consciously transforms the surrounding landscape to suit its needs.” Sage Alan chuckled. “It’s hopelessly complicated, which is why we have an entire Sect devoted to the study and use of the xen, as well as the Xenofold. All of us, in some small way, are related to the xen, so it behooves us to learn about it. In days of old, our understanding of the xen and the plants it supported was much greater, but we of the Sages are dedicated to unlocking the secrets of the xen, and the consciousness that guides it.”

  Alan spent the next hour or so lecturing us on the basics...the xen’s entry into our world during the Ragnarok War, how its consciousness had once waged war on humanity under the direction of the Radaskim demon goddess, Askala, whom Elekim defeated.

  “The Grove here grows,” Alan said, hearkening back to the beginning of his lesson, “because of the xen. Most of it lies buried ten feet below the soil and grass, and where water fails, the xen provides. So it is that these plants grow in perfect harmony. Whether of the green or of the red, there is no need for war or competition here. It is another lesson: when there is abundant food, energy, and resources, there is no need to fight. A fact that humanity should note.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with that. I’d seen how the rich merchants had driven out the soldiers’ families in Colonia. The rich didn’t need those homes. They had more than enough already. But even if a person’s needs were all cared for, sometimes that person would fight if only because they wanted more.

  Plants and people couldn’t be compared, because plants couldn’t think like people could.

  Sage Alan placed his hand on the tree’s smooth bark. It wasn’t an oak tree – not a true oak tree, anyway. Like most xenolife, the tree’s bark and leaves seemed to glimmer in the light, and a good many of the leaves, if not most, were red in hue. Alan closed his eyes, and the leaves of the tree shifted as if by the wind. It became apparent it wasn’t just the wind – the entire tree was responding to Alan’s touch. Everyone watched, eyes wide.

  At last, Alan pulled his hand back and opened his eyes, looking at the rest of us. His eyes seemed curiously brighter.

  Maybe I was wrong about plants not being able to think.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  WE BROKE FOR LUNCH BEFORE heading to an office located on the second-floor balcony of the Seekers’ Dome, where the Clerics had their offices. It was just Isaru, Samal, Ret, and two male initiates I hadn’t met yet. Both wore the typical gray initiates’ robes, but besides that, they couldn’t have been more different. The first was tall with dark skin and short-cropped hair. I had seen him a few times in the Sanctum, mainly because his complexion made him stick out, but I didn’t know anything else about him. The other initiate was tall, wiry, and pale as a ghost with sharp features. He had a nervous energy about him, and seemed to make a point of not looking at me.

  I looked over the railing at the empty Dome below. We were the only ones in the building, and there was a sense of emptiness about it.

  Someone lined up with me at the railing, but it wasn’t Isaru. Instead, it was the tall, dark-skinned initiate.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, in a strange, drawn accent.

  “It is.”

  “In Atlantea, we have one just like it,” he said. “And it’s almost as old.”

  “Atlantea?”

  “It’s one of the Eastern Kingdoms,” he said. “Atlantea is about as far east as you can go, not too far from the Atlantic Ocean.

  “What brought you here, then?”

  “Augur Orlan sensed my ability. He is an adviser to my father the king.”

  “Your father is the king?”

  “Yes. King Nabea VII. I would be his son...Nabea VIII. You can just call me Nabea.”

  “I’m Shanti,” I said. “The first.”

  Nabea chuckled. “I’ve heard you came from Colonia. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” I said. I didn’t really want to talk about it, so I said nothing more.

  “I can see I’ve upset you. Forgive me.”

  “It’s no problem,” I said. “What’s Atlantea like?”

  He was quiet for a moment. “It’s a small country, with a capital of the same name. It is one of the largest cities in the Eastern Kingdoms, but in times of old, it was much larger. Atlantea today only occupies a small amount of space compared to what it was then.”

  “Have you ever been to Colonia?” I asked.

  Nabea shook his head. “No, I value my life too much. The Eastern Kingdoms want little to do with Colonia. In fact, it was we who asked the Elekai to expand the Red Wild to the Gulf long ago; that way the Colonians and the Novans couldn’t trouble us.” He paused, as if considering. “Now, we are free to trouble only each other.”

  Then footsteps sounded on the marble behind, revealing a young, pretty woman with shoulder-length, tawny hair, walking toward the office door outside which we waited. I saw Isaru, Samal, Ret, and even Nabea, all at once not able to find their tongues.

  “Good afternoon,” she said. “I’m Cleric Karai.” She looked over us all. “There are more of you than I thought there would be, so we can just stand out here for the lesson.” Each of us waited for her to continue. “Your names?”

  We introduced ourselves, and I learned that the quiet youth who hadn’t talked until now was named Jaim.

  “First, Elder Draeus wanted me to give an overview of the Clerics and their duties,” Karai began. “I’m sure most of you are already familiar with
a lot of the basic tenets. After all, it’s the Clerics who are most in touch with the common people.” Her eyes found mine for a moment, before she continued. “As I understand it, Shanti has grown up in a world outside Elekai influence, so it’s probably best that I start from the beginning.”

  I tried not to feel singled out, instead focusing on what Karai had to say.

  “The Clerics minister to the needs of the people. Those of us with the Gift of Xenohealing are trained in its use, as well as in the use of medicinal plants. We teach the common people of our history, our gods, and what they can expect of us as Elekai. We intercede to the gods on behalf of the people, and we teach them what it means to be Elekai.”

  “And what does it mean?” I asked. “To be Elekai?”

  Karai smiled. “That’s what our Sect has been trying to figure out for almost four centuries. We began in Colonia, as all Seekers did, and for a time the Seekers were led by Annara herself, as you all know. During that time, our purpose was clear, and our guidance sure. However, Annara would not always be there to lead us, and shortly after founding the Seekers, she returned to the Xenofold.” Karai paused, considering. “But what does it mean, to be an Elekai? Much of that is lost to time, and there have been many different ideas over the years.”

  “Like what?” Samal asked.

  “Some have said our purpose was to unite all of humanity. Some believe our original purpose lies in the very name of our Order – the Seekers. What is it, exactly, that we are meant to seek? It could be the Prophecy of Annara, which she wrote before she returned to the Xenofold. The Prophecy, at least according to tradition, explains everything – who we are, what our purpose is, and when to expect the Second Darkness.”

  “It could be tomorrow,” Samal said.

  Karai nodded. “It very well could be. That is why, even to this day, Seekers still search for even a fragment of the Prophecy.”

  “What do you think happened to the original?” I asked.

  “We are diverting a bit from the main topic, but to briefly explain, it is written that it was lost during the Covenant’s uprising against the Elekai in Colonia.”