It was strange to see the cavern in its raw form. It was so different from the home Merryth had created here. She followed him into an adjoining cave, then another. "What are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for the reason I put this cave here," he answered, his bright eyes searching. They strode through to a third cavern, where he stopped with his beak open.
She stepped around him and then saw why he'd stopped. Lava flowed through the cave, slow and thick. Paradiso watched it for several moments as its fire reflected in his eyes.
"Is this the lava that flows down to the Siirtian mountains?" she asked.
"Yes," he said finally, closing his beak. "And I know why I put this cave here."
"Why?" All at once, Lielle felt herself fading. "Tell me quickly, my magic is going."
"This cave is fire, the Crystal Cave is earth . . . it will all work together."
"What do you mean, it will work together?" she asked desperately.
"This is bigger than I thought—it isn’t just about the relics anymore.” The bird turned away from her, his gaze going back to the cavern. “Come back again in several days—there's something more I have to do."
"I can't control when I come back, and we're running out of time!"
∆ ∆ ∆
The vision disappeared, and her energy compressed as she was sucked back into her mortal form. She'd fought so hard to stay in the vision that coming back to her body was pure agony. Shards of pain went through her head—her chest refused to inhale.
"Breathe, Lielle," Zordan ordered. "Breathe."
She fought to inhale until stars danced before her eyes.
Zordan cursed and pinched her nose, covering her mouth with his own. His breath was hot as it entered her chest, forcing it to rise. The dizzying blackness disappeared, but the stars remained until he blew in a second breath.
She took the third on her own. "I—I'm all right."
"The hell you are," he muttered, and she opened her eyes to see his worried frown. He brushed a thumb below her nose, and when he drew it away, it was bright with blood. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have let you spar."
"Sparring was my choice," she argued.
"Yes, but you can't have visions if you're out of magic."
He helped her sit up slowly.
She sighed in defeat. "On that point, we agree."
He hesitated for a moment. "What did you see?"
"I saw the bird again, and he asked me to take him to where he would create the Cave of Knowledge." She paused. "I think he's discovered something about the locations. He saw the lava flow there and said there was something more." She rubbed her eyes. "He said to come back in several days."
Zordan was quiet for long moments. "I hope to hell we have that long."
Sadness filled her, and tears began to slip down her face. Perhaps it was just the aftermath of the vision and the pain, or maybe it was just that she felt so useless.
So far, the visions had been a waste of time. She didn’t know when the next vision would arrive, or even if her mortal form could take it. Even worse, the only lead they had was an abandoned cave.
Zordan pulled her into his arms, his solid muscle giving her strength. “Shh, don’t cry. It gives me pain to see your tears.” He tipped her face up to look directly into his, his expression as grave as she’d ever seen it. “Everything happens in its own time. You’ll regain your strength and have another vision. Then we’ll find the key and win this war. In the meantime, we can check out this Cave of Knowledge." He smiled briefly, thumbed the tip of her ear, and planted a kiss on her lips.
It all sounded so easy when he said it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Zordan
Zordan was more worried about Lielle than he wanted to admit. If anyone else he knew had visions that caused them to bleed, they would have stayed in bed for at least a day. Yet, within minutes Lielle was back on her feet, albeit a bit unsteady.
When she raised her hand to make a portal, he stopped her. "Perhaps you should save your magic."
She opened her mouth to protest, but then her eyes met his and her shoulders drooped. "All right."
He put an arm around her as they started for the door. "It isn't a failing to ask for help. Even soldiers rest between battles."
This seemed to mollify her, and one of her slender arms crept around him in return. They made their way toward the laboratory at the front of the castle. He chuckled, and her glowing eyes rose to his face in question. "I just realized how quickly I've become unaccustomed to walking. Those portals are mighty convenient."
Her mouth widened in an answering smile. "They are, aren't they?"
They were still chuckling about it when they reached the laboratory, which was filled with people, some he'd never met before. He caught Tordan's eye, and the other cyborg waved them over. He was standing with his mate, Aielle, and Mordjan, examining a weapon.
"What is that?" Zordan indicated the weapon.
"A ray gun. We're making the shields you requested, but we’re still trying to get these to work.”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“We're having trouble with the power source, so we can fire each ray gun only once before they melt." Tordan gestured to a discard box piled high with melted weapons.
"Damn," Zordan commented. "What a waste."
"Yes. Just one more thing we can't fix," Mordjan growled.
"Don't start, Mordjan." Aielle's smile was slightly forced as she turned to Lielle. "How are you doing?"
"So far, so good,” Lielle responded. “We were wondering if you could create a portal for us to the Cave of Knowledge."
"Sure.” She glanced to her mate and then hesitantly asked, “Do you mind if I ask why?”
"I had another vision that brought me to that location. I want to go there to see if I can figure out what I am meant to find.”
Aielle studied her face. "You know the chests are at Garthurian, right?"
"Yes, I did see that from the higher realm. But I think we need to check where they were. There's something else going on with these caves . . . we want to figure out what it is."
The answer was frustrating, even to Zordan, and looking around the lab, he almost reconsidered. There was no guarantee that they would find the mysterious key from the vision, and he was needed here.
"Do you need me to come with you?" Aielle asked.
At Lielle's swift negation, she raised her hand and opened a portal. "Good luck."
Zordan stepped through the portal, emerging into darkness. He stood still for a moment until a bright light appeared. It was Lielle stepping through the portal behind him. She held her hand high, a ball of light burning above it. Once the portal closed behind her, she threw the ball of light into the center of the room, where it hit a crystal and expanded, lighting the entire chamber.
He'd expected this cave to resemble the Crystal Cave, but the two were nothing alike. The Crystal Cave was below the cliff, yet its entrance was still aboveground. From the cool stillness of this cave, he'd bet they were far, far belowground. This cavern was enormous, much larger than the living quarters at the Crystal Cave, yet it had obviously been a home. Plants climbed the rock walls and overflowed from notches in the walls and columns as they rose toward the ceiling. There was a large, stone-lined hearth at one end, and the rock was carved with designs he'd come to recognize as elven.
"This is the Cave of Knowledge?"
"No, this is where the Guardian of the Cave of Knowledge lived for a thousand years.”
A portal appeared, and Zordan's hand went to his sword. But it was Kiersten who stepped out, followed by another elf who almost could have been her twin.
"Lielle, Zordan." Kiersten nodded formally. "I heard you were visiting the original location of the Cave of Knowledge. My sister, Merryth, was visiting from the merrealm, and we thought we'd see if we could help you."
Merryth stepped forward to take Lielle's hand. "It's an honor to meet you. I'm eager to help in any wa
y I can."
A blush rose to Lielle’s cheeks and Zordan could tell she was pleased by Merryth’s effusive comment. "Can you show us everything you know about these caves?"
Merryth nodded, pointing toward the darkness behind them. "The cave where the chests were hidden was over there."
He moved in the direction she indicated, finding a smaller cavern. He searched the room, adjusting his ocular enhancement several times without finding anything out of the ordinary. He mentally rolled his eyes. Nothing out of the ordinary. He was standing in an underground cavern that he and Lielle had found because of a magic vision. Said cavern had once housed what he could only assume was some great wealth of knowledge and had been protected by some unknown magic.
Lielle peeked in beneath his arm, and he stepped aside so the three elves could enter.
"We had no need to lock the cave again after we took the chests to Garthurian."
He took in the large symbol on the floor. "Here lies the same symbol as the one in the Crystal Cave."
"Yes. But this isn't what Paradiso was showing me." Lielle crossed the cavern, rounding the wall at the back and disappearing.
"Where did she go?"
Even Merryth looked surprised, so he hurried after her, rounding the wall himself to find a smaller cavern, which wasn't really a cavern so much as a tunnel. Through it flowed a river of fire. Kiersten and Merryth came in behind him, so he drew closer to its heat. "What is that?"
"It's a lava flow. Fire from the center of Aurora. It flows from the north of here and down into the Siirtian mountains to the south," Lielle said.
"Those are the mountains where my people are from?" He didn't know when he'd begun thinking of the Siirtians as his people, but it felt right. Just as being here with Lielle felt right.
The heat was becoming uncomfortable, so Zordan urged them back into the Cave of Knowledge. He knelt beside the symbol in the center. "What are those circles?"
"Those are the elements, the symbols of magic. Paradiso said something about the cave being fire, and the Crystal Cave being earth."
"Earth, air, fire, water . . . aren't those the elements of your magic?"
"And spirit." Lielle looked impressed that he'd remembered. "That is the circle in the center. Hmmm . . ." She grew silent as the four of them examined the symbol. "In the vision, Paradiso said the caves would work together."
Zordan raised a brow. "From this distance? How far away are the two caves, anyway?"
"Several days, if you had to walk between them."
He reached out and traced the symbol. There was an almost imperceptible depression around the outside edges of the circle. What could it be? Frustrated, he rose, running one hand through his hair and taking Lielle's hand with the other.
"Maybe the power is in the crystals themselves," Kiersten suggested. "Would you like to come to Garthurian and see where we store the Cave of Knowledge now?"
At Lielle's eager nod, he grinned. "It certainly couldn't hurt."
Queen Kiersten created a portal with barely a wave of her fingers, and he shook his head. The power these elves exhibited with a tiny wave was beyond anything he could have imagined in the human world.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lielle
They emerged from the portal in the throne room at Garthurian, and Kiersten waved her hand to reveal a dark opening at the back of the dais.
Zordan's hand went to his sword. "Where does that lead?"
"To the basement, the most protected place in Garthurian." Kiersten's laugh tinkled in the air. "You won't need your sword, warrior." After exchanging a smile with her sister, Kiersten led them down what turned out to be a hidden staircase that descended below the dais.
Kiersten lit several of the light crystals with a careless wave, and Lielle drew in a sharp breath when she saw the machinery contained within.
"This looks like the laboratory at Renwyn." Zordan's eyes were intensely curious as he trailed them over the walls and tables.
"It is very similar, but this equipment is from the ancient elves, not the Ardaks. And the equipment in here doesn’t work. The system stopped working after our portals to the elven homeworld closed, and none of us have been able to get them to work again."
"Let me guess, it's on the list," Zordan said grimly.
"Yes." Kiersten gave a weak attempt at a smile.
Lielle stopped listening to them because something was pulling at her energy. She took three steps in that direction before she realized it wasn’t coming from the chests from the Cave of Knowledge. They were lined up on a table before her, but the pull on her energy was from the opposite direction.
She crossed the room to find a symbol in the ground, and as she approached it, the crystal on her chest began to glow. Her fingers began to tingle. “I think I’m getting another vision.”
“Wait,” Zordan called. “I’m not sure you’re ready for another—”
He might be right, but Lielle couldn’t wait any longer. She followed the vision and his voice disappeared, along with the room and everything else in it.
∆ ∆ ∆
Lielle recognized the room instantly, as she stood in very much the same place she'd been standing a moment ago. The underground chamber looked exactly the same, but this time, all the machines were working. Lights blinked, computers hummed, and on one of the monitors, a map of Aurora blinked.
Two men stood at the far end of the room, and between them stood a bird of paradise.
She crossed the floor slowly, studying everything, until she reached them. And as she came around them she realized they'd been standing in a half circle for a reason, shielding the view of a device that came upward from the floor. It stood roughly as tall as her waist, and a crystal glowed in a chamber at the top. Paradiso's symbol was at the very top, light from the crystal glowing through, illuminating it.
"This is the secret—it will protect Aurora when all else fails," Paradiso said.
"But why can't we engage it now?" Lielle recognized the speaker as King Cithir, Kiersten and Merryth's father, and the first king of Garthurian.
"The time is not yet right,” Paradiso cautioned. “In a thousand years, Aurora will need this protection far more than you could know."
"Why will it need protection?" Lielle stepped back as she recognized the second speaker. It was King Ardair, Aielle's father. Former king of Renwyn.
Paradiso lowered his voice. "The visions don't give details of individual lives, especially not so far into the future. Aurora's spirit-seer from the higher elven realm has told me that great evil exists on this planet, although she can't yet see what it is. She knows only that this device cannot be revealed, and that all parts of the device must be hidden and protected. I have chosen two guardians—they will guard the caves. But Cithir, you must protect Garthurian. And Ardair, you must protect the new kingdom of Renwyn."
King Ardair exchanged a glance with King Cithir and stroked his bearded chin. "We can do that.”
Paradiso clicked his beak. “But there is something more. In order to truly be protected, Renwyn and Garthurian must split apart, and the elves must not have contact. If they do, the portals will be found before the time is right.”
King Ardair took a step back. “You must be joking.”
“No, I most certainly am not,” the bird replied, puffing his feathers in affront.
King Ardair shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible. We have our differences, but I can't see one so large that the elves would split apart."
"Children." King Cithir let the word hang in the air, a pained expression on his face. "The anger among the elves is growing. We can create a split over mating with the other races."
"Come on," the future King Ardair rolled his eyes. "You can't really believe the elves would split over that. They will mate with whomever they want to, regardless of what the council decrees."
"They would split over it if you and I pretended to," King Cithir assured, certainty in his voice. "We would create the divisi
on."
King Ardair shook his head, bringing one hand up to cover his face. "It feels like we're being exiled. We don’t even know that this future will come to pass. Elven visions that far away are sometimes wrong.”
“Not this one,” Paradiso promised. “The wheels are already in motion. You saw the beginnings of it with the closing of the portals.”
Ardair rubbed his forehead. “I'm not sure I can do this. I know for sure I don’t want to."
"You must." Paradiso broke in. "And whatever happens, you must not break your silence. Not to your wives, not to your children. In fact, it would be better if no one even knew of these underground chambers of the crystals besides the two of you."
Both elven kings opened their mouths to protest, but Paradiso flapped his wings until they fell silent. "This is not the time for fear. Take bold action and protect the elves yet unborn! They will find it when the time is right."
With that, the bird stepped forward and tapped the symbol on top of the device with his beak. As he tapped each circle—earth, air, fire, water—it went dark. The container at the top opened and the bird gestured with his beak to King Cithir, who reached in and removed the crystal. Paradiso brushed it closed with his wing, pecking the final circle in the center. The device receded into the floor as if it had never been, and the symbol appeared in the floor, at that very spot.
Lielle felt her energy begin to vibrate with such excitement that it was difficult for her to maintain the vision. Each of the caves must have a device! What would happen if they put a crystal in each one? The three were still talking, so she tried to focus.
"I'm sorrier than I can say," Paradiso told them both. "There is an evil growing in the universe, and it will require great sacrifice from all of us to stop it. I can only hope that we have enough elves willing to make it."
"Don't worry about me." King Cithir rolled his shoulders back and his eyes grew hard as he stared at Ardair. "Worry about this youngster. I don't know if he has the mettle."
"So that's how it is to be, is it?" Ardair's eyes narrowed and his hand went to the hilt of his sword.
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