by Rai Aren
Wolfgang jumped. “Where did you get the ammunition?” he asked, panicking.
“From friends,” Maximilian replied.
“Put it down,” Wolfgang ordered, raising his cane.
Maximilian just stood there, looking at his father defiantly.
“I said put it down. Now!” Wolfgang stepped towards his son, swinging the cane to the side, ready to strike. “Obey me, you insolent wretch!”
Seeing the cane in his father’s hand triggered old feelings of absolute hatred. “Ahhh, so there is a little Nazi left in you, after all,” Maximilian sneered.
Wolfgang swung at him with all his might.
Maximilian stepped back as the cane whizzed by his face, narrowly missing him. He was slightly breathless from the near miss. “That was always your answer, wasn’t it Father? Beat me into submission.”
“You left me no choice,” the old man grunted as he took another swing, aiming for Maximilian’s throat. “You were always a difficult child.”
“Little good that cane will do you now, Father,” he said, sidestepping the blow. “Time to retire it. Time to retire you.” He pointed the gun at his father’s mid section and fired.
Hit, Wolfgang staggered back, dropping the cane. His eyes were wide with shock as his hands grasped his stomach. His breathing became heavy. He coughed out blood.
Maximilian walked up to his father.
The old man collapsed to his knees, bleeding profusely. “Help me.”
“Oh, I’ll help you alright.” He knelt down beside him and aimed the gun straight at his forehead. “Help put you out of your misery, you cruel old hypocrite.”
“Maximilian…son, please don’t do this,” Wolfgang pleaded. “Think of what you are doing.”
“I am. Good bye, father.” Maximilian pulled the trigger.
The shot was muted by the thunder outside. Maximilian stood there, looking at his father’s limp and lifeless body crumpled on the floor. Blood pooled around him. Maximilian bent down and took hold of the pendant he wore. It was an exquisite ankh. He knew both it and the disk were representative of great power; he felt it within the mysterious objects. He took the chain off of his father, wiping the blood off of it with his father’s sleeve. He placed it around his own neck. He felt triumphant.
“Here is where our paths diverge, Father. Our destinies are no longer one and the same.”
yyyyy
Hans, Khadesh, and Khamir had listened as Maximilian had relayed the story of his father’s murder at his own hands.
Hans had not known the truth of what had happened to Wolfgang. It was something that was left unspoken, but there had been rumors he had taken his own life. Everyone knew not to speak to Maximilian of his father, but they never knew why. Until now.
“So you see, you did not know the truth about him,” Maximilian said to his captives, as he finished telling them of the events. “And now I hope you will grasp how determined I am.”
“How did you explain away the murder of your father?” Khadesh asked, sickened at what he had just heard.
“As I said, I have friends, Stasi friends, in the police, in political office, everywhere. I told them that he was about to turn against them and betray some of their secrets. I told them I had no choice but to stop him, to protect our mutual interests. They understood completely. It was deemed a suicide. The story went that he killed himself out of shame for wavering in his devotion to his previously held beliefs.”
The room was silent.
Maximilian enjoyed having them know how ruthless and resolute he was, and how dangerous. It made him feel even more superior. “I eventually sold the family house and most of the artifacts. Of course, I kept the metal disk and the pendant.”
“Where is the pendant now?” Khadesh asked, trying to mask his earnest interest in it.
“Why? Do you know something about it?” Maximilian asked.
“Just archaeological curiosity,” he replied.
“I doubt that very much,” he stated, eyeing him quizzically. “You won’t get your hands on it, if that’s what you’re thinking. Dustimaine is checking the symbols against the chambers below the Sphinx and he’s under heavy guard.”
They said nothing.
“What do you know of the disk my father found?” Maximilian asked.
“Nothing,” Khamir answered.
Maximilian looked to Khadesh.
“We have never seen it,” Khadesh answered.
Maximilian frowned. “But you must know something,” he pressed. “Its purpose, what it may have been used for? Why it has those strange effects when sunlight hits it?”
“Ceremonial, I would speculate, from its description,” Khadesh answered.
Hans stepped forward, waiting for the order to encourage their cooperation.
Maximilian was angry at their insolence, but he gave no such order. He waved Hans off.
Hans took a step back.
Maximilian knew they were keeping secrets from him. “No matter,” he snapped, “I will find out all I need to know in due time.”
He decided not to reveal what he had experienced when he first used the disk in the sunlight. It was his secret. He had placed the disk in a room, angled towards a window that received direct sunlight. It had been remarkable, the effect it had on him. Maximilian had experienced a powerful vision that very first day.
He felt the strange emanations coming from the disk. It was as though it infused every cell of his being with the sun’s transmuted energy. The feeling was transcendent. He saw himself in a chamber, the disk sitting against the wall. Coming from the center of the room was a bright light, formless, but beautiful. It was a power unlike anything he had imagined. He felt magnetically drawn to it. He saw himself enveloped by this light. He felt invincible. He envisioned himself growing more powerful than any person in history. His inner voice told him his supremacy and authority would be undeniable, impossible to challenge if he could possess this power, if he could control it, and use it.
And possess it he would, he had vowed in that moment.
Khamir and Khadesh regarded him in thoughtful silence.
Maximilian took a deep breath, recalling the electrifying nature of his vision. His body tingled at the memory. He straightened his stance, standing taller. “I intend to unlock all of these secrets. Nothing will stand in my way. Especially not small, insignificant people like you. My destiny lies down there, in that chamber.”
Khadesh considered his statement. He looked at Khamir. A silent understanding passed between them.
Chapter 31
Fire, Circa 10,000 B.C.
THE time had come. Zhek and several villagers, including Rekar, Shera and their friends Jonar and Rembes, all clad in black, set out for the main city on horseback. These four were the people Zhek most trusted. Jonar and Rembes were big men, with great strength and skill in battle. Rembes was just a couple of years older than Jonar, but they were friends, they had each other’s backs, and worked well together. Zhek wanted them to go along in case they met with any kind of resistance.
Once they reached the Palace, they all covered their faces and broke out into two groups.
The supplies the small group needed had been carefully concealed on the Palace grounds over the previous days for ease of access. Rekar, being a gardener, knew the layout of the grounds well and so chose a well-hidden spot that saw very little foot traffic. They had brought accelerant, cooking oil that Shera had been stealing, little by little, from the Palace kitchen. She had come up with the idea after witnessing an accidental fire in the kitchen. One of the cooks had received severe burns in the incident, as she had not had time to move away when the oil was unintentionally lit. It was perfect.
They had also monitored the movements of the Palace guards, but security around the area under constru
ction was virtually non-existent. It had been deemed unnecessary to guard it carefully as the section was sealed off from the rest of the Palace and was uninhabited. Members of the Royal Family generally avoided it, allowing the workers space to complete the project, and the children were not allowed to go there due to the risk of injury.
It was late into the night now. They had waited until everyone had long since cleared the site. All was quiet. While Jonar and Rembes stood on lookout, Rekar and Shera went to retrieve the material they would carefully place around the partially constructed wing. They had hidden all manner of flammable materials – mostly wood, linens, and rags. They worked quickly. They had already decided which areas each would cover. They placed the materials around the most vulnerable parts of the wings, corners, and areas that had beams attached to them and poured the accelerant on them. They also left a trail of the oil leading to all of the other piles of construction material, connecting them in a deadly web.
Rekar finished first, and then ran to the location they had agreed to meet at, the place where the fire would be lit. A couple of minutes later, Shera joined him, breathless, her chest heaving. Her heavier frame was not built for speed.
“Are you ready?” Rekar whispered.
Shera nodded.
Rekar signaled to Jonar and Rembes. The men readied themselves.
Rekar dumped the rest of his and Shera’s cooking oil onto a section of wood flooring where the biggest pile of material had been laid. Then he struck the flint he had brought along and threw it into the pile. It ignited immediately. Within seconds it was a blazing fury.
“Move out!” Rekar ordered.
They jumped on their horses. Jonar took up the lead position, while Rembes trailed behind to make sure no one followed. The foursome made a speedy getaway, as the bright flames rose ever higher in the night sky behind the fleeing arsonists.
yyyyy
Minutes later, the alarm was raised inside the Palace. The accelerant was doing its job exceptionally well. Huge sections of walls and ceiling in the wing were already engulfed in flame. Roiling flames shot out, hot and hungry to consume anything within its reach. The fire was alive and growing. The climate, now increasingly more arid, meant the wood had been quite dry. The heat kept the first people on the scene, Royal guards, at bay. Thick, black smoke poured out of the burning structure making visibility poor and breathing difficult.
A Royal guard pounding furiously on the door of the Royal bedchambers awoke the King and Queen. “Your Majesties! Your Majesties! There is a fire in the Palace!”
Traeus flew out of bed, and opened the door. He did not see or smell smoke, as it had not yet reached this far. “A fire? Where?” he asked.
“In the east wing, the construction area,” the man answered.
“Go find Commander Maraeven,” the King ordered. “Tell him to meet me there at once.”
“But I should help get you and the Queen to safety, in case the fire spreads,” he protested.
“I will ensure the Queen is safe. I want to assess the fire myself, see what needs to be done to fight it,” the King said, shaking his head. “Go. Now!”
“Yes, your Majesty,” the guard answered and took off.
Mindara was sitting up in bed, frightened.
“Mindara, go find the children, make sure they are safe. They will be scared. We need them to stay calm and in one place. Ensure guards stay with you.”
“I will. Please be careful,” she said, her eyes wide with fear.
Traeus nodded as he quickly changed out of his nightclothes. “I hope we can contain it, but if not, I will ensure you are evacuated if the fire spreads to this wing,” he assured her. He then ran off to the scene of the fire.
yyyyy
Mindara quickly bundled Alaj up and raced to gather the rest of the children.
Just prior to the commotion, Anjia had awoken suddenly. Her pendant felt unusually warm and its energy pulse strengthened slightly. She felt an immediate sense of panic. She had just gone out to see how Tramen and Setar were, when she heard voices yelling. Mindara found her in the hallway. Four Royal guards had positioned themselves nearby.
“Mindara, what is going on?” Anjia asked, worriedly.
“There is a fire in the east wing. We must find Tramen and Setar. We will all stay together, unless we are told to evacuate.” The Queen ordered all but one of the guards to go assist with the fire. If it was under control and they were not needed she told them to come right back. The men nodded and left.
yyyyy
Royal guards from all over the Palace were summoned to help fight the blaze. Only a very few remained positioned throughout the Palace as the fire rapidly grew in both size and intensity. Thick smoke billowed out from the site.
Commander Maraeven met the King outside the east wing. “What happened?’ he yelled over the din of voices scrambling around in confusion.
“I do not know!” the King answered, holding his arm up to shield his face from the searing heat. The King could not imagine what could have set off such a terrible blaze. ‘How could someone have been this careless?’ he asked himself. When this was under control, he would be having words with Victaren.
“I will organize my men,” the Commander said, not needing to wait for the King’s order.
Traeus went to help a group fighting the fire on the far end of the wing, while Commander Maraeven ordered more water brought in, and went to help out at the south wall of the burning structure. The fire was growing larger minute by minute. The people fighting the fire were forced back by the heat and acrid smoke. The night sky glowed an eerie orange.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion as part of the south wall collapsed. Screams rang out. Two of the Royal guards fighting the fire were trapped underneath the burning section.
Commander Maraeven yelled out to his men, “Help me! We must get them out!” He ran over to the area. He could see that nearly the whole wing was now ablaze, he knew it would all be very unstable. “Quickly!” he shouted.
But there was nothing they could do. Behind them, the flames grew closer and hotter and the smoke began to choke them. The section of wall that had fallen on the men was still ablaze. No voices or movement came from below it.
Another section of the wall gave way, tumbling down, narrowly missing the Commander. One of his men pulled him out the way just in time. “Commander, it is too dangerous! There is nothing we can do for them!”
The Commander was beside himself, but he knew the man was right. He could not risk more of his men. The situation was far too precarious. “Fall back!” he ordered. They redoubled their efforts to battle the now raging inferno, but it was outpacing them. It threatened to move beyond the construction area, towards the rest of the Palace.
Chapter 32
Abduction
AS the fire and chaos raged on in the east wing of the Palace, Zhek, Rekar, Jonar and Rembes, met up with the second group of men who had lain in wait at the assigned meeting place. They prepared to move on the children’s rooms. Shera had returned to Tessea, her work was done. With their faces still covered they made their way to the west wing, where the private sleeping chambers were located. Zhek was wired in anticipation of seeing his son again, the only other surviving member of the Draxen family.