The Secret of the Golden Gods Omnibus Edition

by Pedro Urvi

  “Your Ancients see too much where there is very little. What times of darkness are you talking about?”

  Ariadne bowed her head. “The Erudites of the Five Houses, in their misguided eagerness for immortality, in their stubbornness to achieve advances for our society, are corrupting the elemental principles of Mother Nature. Very soon they will make abominable discoveries which go against the very existence of what is natural. The Ancients know that the technological race, the experiments with animals, humans and our own vital essence are reaching a point of no return. Your own Erudites carry out their research tirelessly, do they not?”

  Adamis thought about Notaplo’s experiments, then of the other Houses. It was true that there were rumors of secret, dangerous experiments being conducted in several Houses, seeking not only to reach immortality but to gain more Power. He was thoughtful as he looked into the eyes of the young woman, deciding her fate, considering everything she had revealed. It was too much information, too important to allow him to make a hasty decision. Ariadne seemed to read the doubt in his eyes.

  “Will you turn me in?”

  Adamis considered it. “No. You may leave.”

  “What answer should I give the Ancients?”

  “Tell them I will meditate on what you have told me.”

  Ariadne produced a pearl and gave it to him. “Through this you will find me, and through me you will reach the Ancients.”

  He nodded and took the pearl. Ariadne turned and left the underground chamber.

  As soon as Adamis set foot in the street, Teslo appeared from among the shadows of the night. With him came a squad of his trusted soldiers, armed and ready.

  “Shall I have her arrested?” he asked, his eyes fixed on Ariadne’s figure in the distance.

  “No, have her followed. I want to know where she goes and who she deals with. Keep an eye on her.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Adamis looked at the pearl in his hand. He could feel the Power it gave off. Curious. Certainly an interesting meeting, and a very dangerous one. I will have much to think about during my journey of exile to the continent…

  Chapter 20

  “I don’t understand why we have to wait here,” Kyra said. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the stone wall of the busy tavern with a snort. She stretched her legs under the table and breathed in the rancid air of the place.

  “Take it easy,” said Karm, who was sitting beside her. He was surveying the undistinguished customers of that ill-reputed inn. “It’s what your friend Romen asked us to do. This isn’t the moment for impatience. He said he’d be back with the information we need. Or so we hope.”

  “We’d better not arouse suspicions, spitfire,” Honus said. He raised his beer mug to her from across the table.

  Kyra sat up straight on the wooden bench. “I’m not going to arouse any suspicion, ugly. And don’t point at me, you great lump. The only one who’s going to attract attention here is you. You’re as ugly as you’re big. And don’t make me angry. I’ve got my eye on you.” She put her hand to her neck, which luckily hurt less now. Honus’ two blows a couple of days before had been both accurate and powerful.

  “I know perfectly well I’m not much to look at, but here among whores and drunkards I’m a king,” Honus said. He laughed and took a swig of beer.

  “Have you forgotten Romen’s warning already?”

  “Yeah… yeah… the soldiers of the Guard use this joint too when they’re off duty. They come for the women and the alcohol… I haven’t forgotten.”

  “I can’t afford to waste time,” she said impatiently. “Time’s exactly what I don’t have. I must get to Sesmok’s surgeon,”

  “Stay put,” Karm said. He put his hand on her wrist to hold her back. “Wandering around the streets of the capital when you don’t know it is suicide. They’re all looking for you: the Guard, the Hunters and the Enforcers. Do you really think you’d get anywhere near the palace by yourself without being caught? You wouldn’t, and I’m not going to let them capture one of our Heroes, not as long as I can help it. You’re too valuable to all of us.”

  Kyra wrinkled her nose. “I got to this stinking tavern in the Merchants’ quarter, didn’t I? I just have to get a bit further north.”

  “Hah!” said Honus, and took another gulp. “I like this girl, she’s got guts! If she’d been with us in the Crystal Mines we wouldn’t have lasted a month. The Tormentors would’ve torn us to pieces because of her.” He laughed again.

  “Tormentors?”

  “They’re the Enforcers they use at the mines,” Karm said. He gestured to one side. “We’ll explain later. I see Romen’s just come in.”

  Romen, his arm in a sling and his head covered by a hood, made his way over to them through the throng of customers, who did not pay him any attention. He sat down in front of Kyra, beside Honus.

  “It’s taken you forever!” said Kyra.

  Romen smiled at her with his usual charm. His blue eyes gleamed. “I’m glad to see you too.”

  “Beer?” Honus asked cheerfully.

  “Yes, good idea.”

  Kyra frowned. Sparks flashed from her eyes. “Beer? What do you mean, beer?”

  Honus ignored her and asked one of the serving-girls for another round.

  “We have to put on an act while we’re waiting,” Romen said.

  “Wait? What, even longer?”

  “I went to see my group,” began Romen, and his face grew somber. “Things are very bad. Two of them have died at the hands of the Enforcers. A third was captured by the Guard. He shook his head. “They’re looking for the Heroes and the leaders of the resistance. They’re combing the capital. I had to take a risk to reach my last contact here in Osaen. I gave him the message that we’re here. If he manages to pass the message on without being caught, we might get help from the resistance.”

  “But, aren’t you with them?” Karm asked “Can’t you pass on the message yourself?”

  Romen shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. I only know my own group, and that’s just five rebels. And they only know another five. That’s how we communicate, and that’s the guarantee that if one’s captured, the whole resistance doesn’t fall with him.”

  “By Oxatsi, that’s good thinking!” said Honus.

  “On the other hand,” Kyra said, “it might take an eternity to contact Liriana. The plan was to contact her and get information that would let us get to the Surgeon.”

  “Liriana’s a leader. I don’t have direct contact with her precisely because I know her. She’s the one who calls me when she needs me, not the other way around. I’m sorry.”

  “And what about us?” Karm asked.

  “I haven’t forgotten about you. To be able to enter the organization you have to speak with someone of rank. Liriana’s the right person.”

  “So what now?” Kyra asked. She sounded bad-tempered. Time was slipping by and they were making no progress.

  “For now we wait. I know you’re upset, but if you go out there they’ll catch you, and that’s something I can’t let happen.” Romen looked hard at her, his blue eyes imploring her ruby ones. “You’ve got to listen to me for once, do as I say,”

  Kyra would have liked to get up and leave, but his anxious gaze was too much for her.

  “All right, then. But I’m not going to wait for long.”

  The serving girl arrived with the drinks, and Honus paid her a gross compliment. Karm glared at him, and his reply was a shrug and another swig from his beer. Time passed slowly. Kyra was feeling more and more anxious, and the fact that the place was filled with drunkards and women of easy virtue was not helping.

  Suddenly someone came over to them. They did not see where he had come from, and started in surprise. The stranger picked up a stool from a nearby table and sat down with them. Kyra looked toward the door, but he had not come in that way. She stiffened, and her hand went to her dagger.

  “The Guard’s patrolling every corner of the c
ity, with the Hunters backing them up,” said the stranger in a low voice. “They’re searching for you. They know you managed to get into Osaen.”

  “Damn!” said Kyra. “I thought we’d lost them.”

  “It’s very hard to lose Hunters,” said the stranger without lifting his head. His voice had the conviction of experience. “In the open field, or in the forest, it’s practically impossible. Here in the city among all the Senoca trying to survive one more day, maybe …”

  The four were staring at the newcomer, but his manner did not change.

  Kyra realized that she had let slip too much information. She stared at the shadow which was the man’s face under his hood. “Who are you?”

  “A friend,” he replied softly.

  “I have no friends in the capital.”

  “That’s not quite true, Hero of the Senoca, you have a friend here, another Hero, like you, and we share her friendship.”

  “Liriana?” Kyra asked.

  “Shh. Better not to mention names in Osaen, they might fall into enemy ears. But yes, I’m her friend.”

  “Who are you? Show yourself.”

  “I will for just a moment, so that you recognize me in the future, but I can’t show you more because my life’s in danger. I’m a wanted man, almost as much as the Heroes.”

  The stranger’s hands pulled the hood back half-way, revealing his face. Kyra had never seen it before, but she knew at once he was a friend. He must have been more than seventy. His face was leathery, his hair and beard as white as snow and his features angular. His eyes, an intense blue, shone with the unmistakable gleam of deep intelligence.

  She glanced at Romen, but he shook his head. He did not know him either.

  The stranger drew his hood back over his face.

  “If you’re here, and you know Liriana, then you’re with the rebels,” Kyra said, more as a question than a statement.

  “Yes, I’m with the cause. A message reached me from one of our own” ‒ he turned to Romen ‒ “asking for help. He said he had one of the Heroes with him. This old dreamer had no choice but to come and see. The last thing I’d want is to see one of the Heroes in the hands of Sesmok, or the Enforcers.”

  “Then help us, old man. I don’t have much time.”

  “I see you’re more straightforward and down-to-earth than your brother…”

  “You know my brother?”

  “Yes, I know him. Our paths have crossed several times.”

  “So, will you help us, then?”

  “I’ll make you a proposition, young Hero, as I did to your brother before he set off to rescue you from the Eternal City. I’ll help you in exchange for your help in the difficult days which are coming. Unfortunately that’s the way things work in this ungrateful world…”

  “What do you want of me?” Kyra asked. There was distrust in her narrowed eyes.

  “The message of freedom already flies high, like an eagle: unstoppable, majestic, over fields, villages and cities of the Six Counties. It’s a message of hope, of a dream the Senoca had lost and are now regaining little by little. It’s been a long hard effort organizing ourselves so that this rumor can reach the peasant, the farmer, the woodcutter, the miner, the shepherd, the apothecary, the craftsman, the people, every one of the Senoca. And we’re succeeding.”

  “What does that have to do with me?”

  “What’s enabled the message to spread so quickly and reach so many is the appearance of the Heroes who have defied the Gods in their own dwelling and emerged victorious. You are a symbol for the people. You represent what they wish to be, but which their defeated and fearful spirits will not let them be. At night they dream of being Heroes, but fear overcomes them by day.”

  “I still don’t know why you need me.”

  The stranger gave a bitter laugh. “Youth gives us energy, courage, momentum, but not vision. That comes with experience, with time. We need you because the whisper must become a shout, the unanimous cry of an entire people demanding their freedom.”

  Kyra began to understand.

  “The time has come to rebel, for the people to rise against the tyranny of the Regent, against the cruelty of the Enforcers and their masters the Gods. What was once a spark is now a flame, the flame of rebellion. It’s already begun to burn fiercely, and it will keep growing as the Counties join and rise in an unstoppable fire that will consume the whole Boundary. And from those ashes the Senoca people will rise again, free and filled with hope.”

  “Hey, this guy can speak all right!” Honus muttered. “I almost feel like joining the rebels.” Karm kicked him under the table and put his finger to his lips.

  The stranger turned to Kyra. “But in order that this may triumph, the people need leaders to follow, and those leaders are you, the Heroes. And that’s why we need you.”

  “Honus is right,” Kyra said. “You talk beautifully, you’re a real visionary… I’d even say the prophet that the people need.”

  “We all have our part to play in this critical moment in the history of our people. My role in the movement that will make us free one day is that of philosopher and thinker.”

  Honus’ mouth twisted. “And agitator,” he said

  “True. I don’t deny my responsibility. I’m the organizer of the rebellion, and that’s why I’m here today, because for it to triumph I need you, Kyra.”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” she said. “I’m with you. I always have been. Until now I haven’t been able to follow my own way. I’ve been helping my brother with his. But as soon as I finish what I came to do and my family is safe, you can count on me. I’ll join the cause.”

  “I’m delighted to hear you say that. It’s excellent news.”

  Kyra raised her finger in warning. “But I’m just speaking for myself. My brother doesn’t share my views.”

  “I know,” the stranger said. “Perhaps one day he’ll change his mind and join us.”

  “I doubt it, although I know he’ll help us if necessary.”

  “And what about you two?” he asked Karm and Honus. “Will you join the cause?”

  “You can count on me,” Karm said with absolute conviction. “There’s nothing I’d like more. It’s why I came here. It’s time to fight for freedom, or else die for the dream if necessary.”

  “Hmm… I don’t know,” said Honus. “I just wanted to get out of that infernal mine. And what with all this fuss, I haven’t had time to think. But if Karm joins, I guess I will too.” His voice was gruff. “Although let’s be clear about one thing, I’m not thinking of dying.”

  “Very well,” said the stranger. “As Romen’s group has been discovered and killed, you’re now part of it.”

  “Let’s hope we’re luckier than they were,” Honus muttered.

  “Let’s hope so,” Romen agreed heavily.

  “Right, then,” Kyra said. “Now will you help me kidnap that bastard of a surgeon?”

  The stranger leaned back and stretched his back and shoulders. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll see what we can do for you.”

  Miratos, Sesmok’s Personal Surgeon, was sitting on his luxurious bed waiting impatiently. He had had a terrible day at the Regent’s palace, and now, free from his obligations and back at his own rich mansion, all he wanted to do was give in to the pleasures of life and forget about it. He poured himself a glass of wine to make the wait more bearable.

  “Every day he gets more paranoid and unhinged,” he told his parrot, and immediately regretted it.

  “You heard nothing,” he hastened to say.

  “Nothing,” the bird repeated.

  “That’s my boy.”

  The last thing he needed was to fall out with Sesmok because of the indiscretion of a parrot. He thought of getting rid of the bird, but looking at the huge room filled with exotic exuberance, he dropped the idea; it went well with the decoration. After all, what was the good of being one of the most powerful men among the Senoca if he could not even have a parrot to turn to?
>
  He drank from his silver cup and sighed. Sesmok had called him to the palace urgently in mid-morning. Luckily, or rather for the Regent’s convenience, Miratos’ villa was next to the palace. Sesmok had asked for his services because of a bout of migraine. In fact it had been brought on by Lord Hunter Osvan and Svariz, the Commander-in-Chief of the Guard, who had come back with bad news about the Heroes. Miratos had needed to work wonders to alleviate it.

  He took another sip of wine. It’s no fun treating a migraine when the patient’s yelling at his two men of trust like one possessed, he said to himself. I can’t understand why he gets so upset about two farmers he hasn’t managed to catch. He threw a tantrum and was yelling out that peasant girl’s name like a madman: Kyra! Kyra! Kyra! Bring me Kyra! Kyra! Kyra! The halfwit! He nearly deafened us all.

  In any case, that was none of Miratos’ business. He was a Surgeon. Politics and all the other concerns of Regents and Gods failed to interest him as long as he was able to enjoy all the pleasures he fancied.

  After all, there isn’t a more intelligent man in the whole Boundary, or one who knows his own field better, than your humble servant.

  “And no, I’m not modest. I know that.”

  “Modest,” the parrot repeated.

  Miratos laughed. “How could I get rid of you when you make me laugh so much? I think I’ll ask them to bring me another one like you.”

  His eyes fell on the silken sheets of the bed, the velvet cushions in soft tones. He would shortly enjoy a night of lust and pleasure the way he liked them, until dawn. He had sent Autas, his loyal old servant, to find him someone new and exotic. I hope he finds me something worthy of my discerning palate. He’s been rather a disappointment lately.

  Two knocks on the door caught his attention. Autas came into the room at his signal and bowed deeply.