“What a splendid oasis!” Aradin gushed.
“I want to stay here,” Rhuna said impulsively.
“You mean after…after whatever happens, and we no longer have to battle against the Dark Master and his work?”
“Yes…if that time ever comes,” Rhuna said wistfully.
“Until that time – if it ever comes – we can stay here and enjoy it,” Aradin said softly.
After they had admired the view in silence a while longer, Rhuna and Aradin resumed their exploration of the old track which led through the field of colourful wildflowers and up a gentle slope. When they reached the crest of the small hill, they stopped and stared in surprise.
“A lake!” Rhuna exclaimed happily. “How beautiful!”
“All those trees around it!” Aradin added excitedly.
“I can’t wait to tell the others,” Rhuna gushed. “We should all go there to swim, or just look around and have a good time!”
“Have a good time,” Aradin agreed with a happy grin.
They turned back to the inn, walking briskly with joyful, light strides.
After the new innkeepers had cleaned up after their latest guests and tended to the other daily chores, they packed some dried fruit, nuts and bread for the day’s outing at the newly-discovered lake. Goll was the only one who remained at the inn with Goram, explaining that his delicate skin condition made such an excursion difficult and unpleasant for him.
Rhuna and Aradin led the large party along the track through the wildflowers and beyond, until they stopped on the hillcrest to admire the splendid view. The lake looked like a sapphire gemstone in the bright sunlight under a clear, blue sky.
“I cannot wait!” Lozira said happily as she took Shandi’s hand and resumed walking. Rhuna noticed that Tozar walked steadily behind Lozira, and she wondered whether father and daughter had begun to mend the horrendous rift between them.
The lake and surrounding trees seemed farther away than they appeared, and Rhuna also became impatient as the sun reached its zenith in the sky and they had barely reached the first green bushes and trees that framed the lake.
“We should have left earlier,” she remarked.
“Next time,” Aradin replied.
Lozira and Shandi began to run steadily ahead, while Mohandu also trotted faster, jostling the basket of food and other items he was carrying.
When they arrived at the water’s edge, they walked only a little farther along to reach a sandy cove partly sheltered by trees.
“This is perfect!” Yarqi exclaimed. Rhuna looked at the mysterious woman who looked like a stranger in her newly-made yellow-brown kaftan. She had bundled her long, unruly hair in a topknot so that she could swim in the lake, and Rhuna marvelled at the transformation.
“She looks like a different person,” Aradin remarked, once again knowing Rhuna’s thoughts.
The Atlan representatives settled themselves in the shade of a tree and unpacked their food as they looked around, content with their surroundings and the welcome distraction from their daily concerns over the Black City and its dark ruler.
“We’re glad you decided to come,” Rhuna said to the group of representatives.
“We also require a day of recreation,” Protector of Remembrance replied. “It is necessary to maintain vigilance and acuity.”
“Goram should have come, too,” Rhuna said to Aradin as they settled down on soft sand closer to the water.
“It would really help him,” Aradin agreed as he removed his tunic and footwear. “He has no personal life anymore, and that’s why he’s always so angry and…unhappy.”
Before Rhuna had begun to undress, the happy sound of childish squeals and splashing filled the air, and she turned to watch Shandi knee-deep in the lake’s shallow sandy cove. Kiana sat down nearby, dangling her feet in the water while Lozira prepared to swim into the deeper parts of the lake.
“Maybe this will be her last happy day,” Rhuna whispered so that only Aradin lying beside her could hear.
“Maybe…”
The excursion to the lake had refreshed Rhuna’s mind and created an atmosphere of light-heartedness in the inn for a few days. She wanted to look forward to their next day of recreation, but the countdown to the precise planetary and stellar alignment was constantly in the back of her mind.
“Only four more days,” Rhuna said as she and Aradin prepared for the night. “I feel a bit sick thinking about it,” she confessed to Aradin as she slipped under the covers of their comfortable bed. “How awful Lozira must be feeling!”
She wrapped her arms around Aradin, thankful to have him by her side in a lovely new home which she treasured all the more due to the uncertainty of the future.
Rhuna felt she had barely drifted off to sleep when a booming thunderclap reverberated throughout the inn, jerking her awake.
“What was that?” Rhuna whispered as she sat upright and looked around in the darkness. Although she had been half asleep, she knew instinctively that it was not natural thunder.
“It came from outside…from the pyramid!” Aradin said with sudden alarm as he jumped to his feet. Rhuna scrambled out of bed and rushed after him, thankful that Shandi was asleep in Kiana’s room. As they scurried past her mother’s room, she stopped briefly to peer inside and assure herself that Shandi was safe.
“Goram?” Lozira called out shrilly into the dark night from her upper level sleeping chamber. “Where are you?”
Rhuna’s heart thumped wildly as she realized what the resonating thunderclap of large stone against stone signified. She followed Aradin outside, and then heard scurrying footsteps from all around the inn’s buildings.
“Is it the pyramid?” asked Protector of Remembrance as he emerged from the adjoining building carrying one of the Atlan lamps.
“Goram!” Lozira screeched from the main building, and Rhuna stopped to wait for her daughter. “What happened?” Lozira asked in a trembling voice as she ran towards Rhuna across the garden.
“I don’t know yet,” Rhuna answered, and then took Lozira’s hand as they both rushed after the others towards the pyramid. The darkness of night felt heavy and ominous, and as Rhuna looked up at the sky, she saw a thick cloud moving across to obscure the moon and most of the stars. She looked down at the pyramid again where Protector of Remembrance now stood with his arm raised high, holding the Atlan lamp above them.
“Goram!” Lozira wailed as light flooded the entrance to the lower level of the pyramid. Rhuna felt a heavy thump in her chest as she realized that the trap door had fallen to the ground, permanently sealing the time portal chamber.
“Goram!” Lozira sobbed loudly as she fell to her knees. Rhuna let herself drop down beside Lozira as she embraced her with both arms.
“It is four days too early!” Mohandu commented, nodding nervously.
“Why did he go four days early?” Yarqi asked, echoing Mohandu’s puzzled tone.
“He misled us,” Protector of Remembrance said. “We assumed he would not reveal the precise day or time to anyone, lest we should attempt to apprehend him.”
Rhuna shuddered as coldness wrapped around her, and she pulled Lozira closer as her unrelenting sobs shook the silent night. As she lowered her head closer to Lozira, she heard a stifled groan from the garden behind her.
“Who is over there?” Aradin asked, reacting to the same sound. “We are all here, aren’t we?”
“Shine the lamp in that direction,” Stillness of the Lake said.
Rhuna looked in the direction of the groan and was startled to see the feet of someone lying on the grass. As the light of the lamp moved farther ahead, she recognized Panapu’s thick, solid legs standing above a prone figure on the ground.
“Who?” Aradin asked in a bewildered tone.
“It’s Goram!” Rhuna exclaimed in the same bewildered tone.
Lozira gasped loudly as she spun around to look at the person lying at Panapu’s feet.
“Goram! Goram!” she cried as she scr
ambled towards him. Rhuna ran beside her, kneeling down next to Goram as her instincts as a Healer took over. She immediately looked at Goram’s face and eyes, then raised his eyelid gently with her finger.
“He is barely conscious,” Rhuna announced as the others quickly gathered around them, raising the Atlan lamp so that it shone directly onto Goram. Rhuna looked into his pale face and saw his green eyes behind flickering eyelids. He groaned again and tried to move his head.
Lozira cupped Goram’s face in her hands as her tears fell onto his cheeks. Rhuna felt Goram’s vital pulses at his temple, neck and wrist, then moved back slightly so that she could look for injuries to his body.
“He has suffered a circulatory collapse,” Rhuna said. “But I can’t see how…oh, here it is!” Rhuna moved Goram’s head slightly to one side so that she could see dark impressions on the back of his neck. Then she looked up at the lumbering giant who still stood in the same pose, like a guarding stone statue.
“What happened, Panapu? Did you do this?” Rhuna asked. Panapu remained silent and merely looked around at the others.
“Who went through the time portal?” Protector of Remembrance demanded to know as he quickly looked around at everyone. “Who?” he repeated forcefully.
“Harbinger of Solace,” answered Damell.
“Tozar?” Rhuna gasped breathlessly, looking around at Damell standing at the edge of the illuminated area. Damell stepped further into the circle of light as Goram groaned again.
“Yes, it was Tozar, Harbinger of Solace who stepped through the time portal in place of Goram,” Damell stated in a slow and deliberate manner. “He also caused Goram’s collapse by pinching his vital energy flow at the neck, causing temporary unconsciousness.”
Rhuna was speechless as she looked back and forth between Goram and Damell. She sensed the astonishment and bewilderment in the eerie silence all around her.
“Panapu stood guard, in case events did not transpire as planned,” Damell added when Rhuna looked up at Panapu again.
“What happened?” Goram asked groggily as he tried to sit up. Panapu bent down, slipped his hands under Goram’s shoulders and lifted him into an upright position with ease.
“Who did this?” Goram’s voice quickly regained its usual fiery temper. Lozira continued to cry softly as her hands wrapped around Goram’s neck and face.
“Tozar, Harbinger of Solace, rendered you unconscious and then stepped through the time portal in your stead,” Damell answered.
“What?” shouted Goram as he staggered to his feet unsteadily. He roared like a wounded lion when he saw the smooth stone slab which had dropped down to seal the time portal chamber beneath the pyramid.
“An act of revenge!” Goram bellowed as he dropped to his knees. “He harbored hatred and revenge the whole time, intending to destroy me!”
Rhuna looked down at Goram’s trembling body as Lozira once more wrapped her arms around him.
“No, that is not the case,” Damell stated firmly as he pulled something out from inside his vest. “Harbinger of Solace has written a message to us,” he said as he handed a sheet of fine parchment to Rhuna. “Read it for us.”
Rhuna took the parchment and turned it around until she recognized the letters of the script she had learned from the Masters of Ancient Wisdom. She recalled that Tozar had also learned the same method of writing from a Master in the Land at the Top of the World.
She moved slightly forward so that the light of the Atlan lamp shone directly onto the parchment, and as she held it up in front of her, she realized that her hands were trembling. She cleared her throat and slowly began to read aloud.
“Fellow Atlans, forgive my secrecy and stealth; only my oldest friend, Damell, Avenger of Justice, and the loyal Panapu were entrusted with my plan.” Rhuna paused and looked up at the Atlan representatives. Their faces expressed surprise and bewilderment.
“My course of action was clearly shown to me as I observed my daughter and learned of her plight. She has suffered and endured ordeals in her young life that no one should experience in an entire lifetime. Yet she is prepared to endure even greater emotional pain for the sake of her husband’s happiness.”
Rhuna paused when she heard a stifled sob from Lozira. She looked down at the kneeling couple and saw how they both listened to Tozar’s message with raw and trembling emotion.
“Yet he is misguided in his pursuit of greater powers, and it behooves me as her devoted father to rectify this aberrant course he has determined for himself.”
“Oh!” Lozira sobbed again as she pressed her hand over her mouth and quivering lips.
“He has forgotten the pure love that brought forth genuine happiness and goodness from deep within him. The love that caused him to forsake his former way and choose my daughter to be his cherished life partner.”
Rhuna paused as she felt a wave of emotion rise from within her. She looked at Goram whose face expressed first astonishment and bewilderment, then realization and sudden, devastating emotion.
“He belongs in this time,” Rhuna continued reading, “...with his wife and child, where his considerable talents can be directed outwards, to benefit others which shall in turn advance his own greatness.”
“Oh, Father!” Lozira cried softly as she gave way to bittersweet tears. Goram finally turned away from Rhuna and the parchment in her hand and embraced Lozira to comfort her.
“W-what?” Goram stammered helplessly. “What child?”
“Continue to read,” Damell urged softly.
“His knowledge and power shall be needed to thwart the Dark One’s activities, should my plan fail to destroy him completely. Several plans of action await my decision when I arrive in the past time period, and in each case a period of several lunar cycles may be required to implement them fully. Wait for the result, and await a further communication from me as I endeavour to contact you in whatever manner possible from this past time period. Once my goals are accomplished, I shall find a peaceful place in which to spend the remainder of my days, content in the knowledge that I have given my most valuable asset as a propitiatory sacrifice that my only child, my cherished daughter, and her husband may rediscover their love and find peace and happiness.”
Rhuna swallowed hard as she finished reading Tozar’s message, and then quickly wiped a tear from her eye. She looked at Lozira who wept silently in Goram’s tight embrace. Goram stared ahead into the night, and then buried his face in Lozira’s long golden hair as he heaved with emotional release.
“Forgive me, Lozira,” he spluttered. “Selfish pride overcame me so that I forgot our precious love!”
“You had an important goal to achieve…” Lozira responded as her tears rolled faster down her cheeks.
“A selfish goal! A destructive and senseless goal!” Goram insisted as he squeezed Lozira tightly. Without you, everything would be without meaning, Lozira. You must save me from my irrational selfishness! Save me from myself!”
Rhuna quietly stepped back from the emotional couple, and returned the parchment to Damell. Protector of Remembrance moved the lamp down to his side so that they could slowly return to the inn in muted light and shadows.
As they returned to the upper level, Rhuna and Aradin stopped at the door of Kiana’s sleeping chamber where two candles were alight. Shandi sat upright on the bed next to Kiana as they both looked expectantly at Rhuna and Aradin.
“We looked out of the window to see what happened,” Kiana said.
“Lozira was crying,” Shandi announced.
“Yes, she was crying,” Rhuna confirmed as she entered the room and sat next to Shandi. “Was this the event you’ve been seeing in your visions?”
Shandi nodded. “Crying over her father,” she confirmed.
“Is Tozar gone?” Kiana asked.
“Yes, he went in place of Goram,” Rhuna said, and then felt a wave of emotion overcome her. “Oh…he’s gone,” she whispered as she slowly realized what had happened. “We’ll never see him again.�
�� Rhuna cupped her mouth with both hands as she suddenly felt the urge to cry.
“What about Goram?” Kiana wondered.
“Tozar’s message made him realize how selfish he had been, and that his place is here with Lozira; with us,” Aradin answered.
“He wrote a message saying that he wanted Lozira to be happy, and that by taking Goram’s place, he was making a conciliatory sacrifice…” Rhuna stopped as she felt tears choke her words.
Aradin placed his hand on Rhuna’s shoulder, and she steadied herself with a deep breath. She kissed Shandi’s forehead and stood up, taking Aradin’s hand as they walked into their nearby sleeping chamber.
“I don’t think I can get back to sleep tonight,” Rhuna said.
“I don’t think anyone will,” Aradin responded.
Part Eight
(The Dead City)
Rhuna felt she had barely slept when bright sunlight streamed through the window of her upper level sleeping chamber, forcing her to awaken and greet the new day. She sat up slowly and felt Aradin stir next to her. As she stood up to wash and dress, she heard the usual morning noises from other rooms of the inn, but she was poignantly aware that nothing was normal that morning.
Rhuna walked into the main rooms of the inn where most of the others were already busy preparing food or boiling water for a tea beverage. Despite the usual morning activity, no one spoke, and Rhuna also found it difficult to utter any words.
“I feel stunned somehow,” she finally said as she sat down near the niche occupied by the Atlan representatives.
“We are all somewhat shocked,” said Preserver of Faith softly as the group sat quietly in contemplation of the previous night’s event.
Protector of Remembrance leaned forward slightly and looked directly at Rhuna. “We offer you our condolences,” he said softly. “He was family to you.”
Rhuna nodded and smiled in appreciation of the kind words.
“It’s not like he has died, though,” Rhuna said, forcing a cheerful tone. “He is alive in a past time period, and he has plans to stop the Dark Master. Oh, I hope he succeeds!”
Rhuna- Black City Page 27