The Emerald

by Bob Nailor

  Ballec held the knife high above him. "Mother Yendisa. I call you to witness your beginning with the end." Ballec took the knife and pulled it quickly across the guard's neck.

  The shocked guard didn't have a chance to even react as the blood pulsed from the gash.

  The priests released their grips, letting the guard spiral to face the chasm of flames. They pushed the guard forward. He fell silently into the pit of flames. A large flame leaped from the chasm to play against the cavern's ceiling.

  "Mother Yendisa accepts our first offering." Ballec raised his arms, his billowy sleeves sliding down to reveal his strong arms and leather armor beneath.

  # # #

  Jewyl watched the crazed man at the fiery chasm. His eyes told her what she needed to know. Ballec was delirious. She was in no way in the same stupor as the poor guards, but she still felt the effects of the drug.

  Suddenly Chardo was nudging at her. "Turn," he whispered. "I have a knife. Let me cut your ropes."

  Jewyl stretched her arms toward Chardo and turned ever slightly. She didn't want to appear obvious.

  "Where did you get a knife?" she asked.

  "Percho." Chardo worked furiously to work through the bindings of the priests. "He took one from the kitchen and hid it where the guards wouldn't look — just in case." He smiled. "I told him I could perhaps help retrieve it, but he assured me it wouldn't be necessary."

  "Is that all you think about?" Jewyl shook her head.

  "No. Right now I'm trying to figure out how we are going to escape. Our number is greater than theirs, but Ballec is quickly changing those odds as we speak."

  Jewyl glanced up to see the priests push another guard into the fiery chasm. She turned to face Azre. He held his head down, defeated. She felt her wrists suddenly loose of their ropes.

  "Lord Azre," she called. "Give me your wrists. I have a knife to cut the ropes."

  "How many of us are free?" He glanced at those beside him.

  "All of us except you and a couple of your guards at the far end. For sure, the six of us when I cut your bonds."

  "I wasn't that drugged not to notice the Holy Father's guards did not remove my weapons when they bound me." Azre nodded toward his hip to his sword and dagger.

  "Done," Jewyl said. She continued to hold onto the knife.

  "Ballec," Azre yelled as he stood, drawing his sword. "You have no right to offer my guards as sacrifices to Yendisa." He stepped forward toward the two priests and a sacrificial guard.

  Ballec, just beyond, turned to face Azre, his eyes wide with surprise. "I am the Holy Father."

  The guard stood wobbling at the chasm's edge between the two priests. The man was completely engulfed in a state of grogginess, unaware of the situation — a silly grin on his lips, barely opened eyes gazed at the open space before him.

  "Behold my power!" Ballec grabbed the guard's arm and yanked him forward, casting him over the edge, and into the flames below.

  Azre leaped forward. The priests, surprised by his action, immediately stepped back. They wore no armor or weapons.

  Behind Azre, Jewyl and Chardo also moved forward to help in the attack.

  ###

  Jewyl forced her way forward, slashing and cutting with her sword. Suddenly she realized she was on the tongue of the sacrifice altar and the fires of Yendisa flared upward to lick the stone pedestal where she was. Time held as she stared into the abyss, seeing a swirling morass of flames with a dark center. A priest charged. She moved. The priest continued into the chasm, flailing as he fell. The black center turned into lips of a mouth and swallowed the priest. A face emerged from the flames and moved upwards. The beauty of the face encased in a dragon skull helmet mesmerized Jewyl.

  Yendisa, Jewyl thought and moved away from the edge and around the guard who was nearest her.

  The flaming goddess continued to gain in size, consuming the air above them. Her dragon head skull helmet couldn’t contain the hate in the eyes of Yendisa as her image wavered in the heat of the fiery furnace below. The goddess snarled, her beauty wavered.

  “The Sword of Shiyula is hidden for all time,” Yendisa howled. “You will never find it.”

  Unaware of Jewyl’s movement, the priest's eyes widened as Jewyl stepped menacingly closer toward him. He moved back, his foot balancing on the edge. He lost his balance. Jewyl reached to grab his hand, but was too late. The man turned to face the flames of his new-found goddess. A hand of flame reached up from the furnace, grabbing the falling offering and shoved him into the gaping mouth of emerging Yendisa.

  Jewyl stood there, legs apart, waiting when she felt the presence of Ballec. He moved toward her, sword at the ready. Jewyl could feel his aura even though she still had her back to him. The essence of Yendisa before her now oozed from the man. Jewyl knew the goddess' dark eyes watched them from beneath the dragon's skull.

  Jewyl raised her left hand, waiting. Behind, she could hear Ballec's boots as he moved closer and closer. Jewyl lifted her index finger, waiting. She could almost feel his breath on her neck. Jewyl pivoted, turning in a flash while lifting her sword to a swinging attack.

  Ballec was caught off guard, his sword still at the ready, but not up to protect or deflect the blow.

  Jewyl's sword cut the air, grazing his white leather shoulder pad on its path to the neck.

  Ballec smiled at her, waiting for the end. Jewyl held the blade against the pale flesh of his neck. She gazed at the flames of the chasm and the wavering image of Yendisa above them.

  "Do you wish to offer yourself to your goddess?" She nodded to the flames.

  "Hold." Lord Azre’s voice echoed through the chamber.

  ###

  The priests of Yendisa turned to flee. Chardo lurched to follow, but Jopab already had the exit secured. None would leave.

  Lord Azre stood firm, the fires of Yendisa glistening on the polished leather.

  "You are the Holy Father because I gave you the position." Azre paced toward his brother. "You never earned it."

  Ballec stood his ground, a snide grin curling one side of his lips. He shrugged.

  "Tonight I have seen with my own eyes the corruption you have wrought." Azre turned to look at the remaining people in the grotto and the hovering image of Yendisa.

  All of Ballec's priests huddled together. Jopab, Percho and Azre's personal guard now stood at the entrance, blocking it.

  "I owe you nothing," Ballec said. "I am the Holy Father. All bow to me." He inhaled deeply, pulling himself to full height.

  "You are correct, brother." Azre lifted the sword above his head. "You owe me nothing. I owe you nothing." The sword came swinging down in an arc.

  The cut was clean. Ballec's head poised for a moment before tumbling to one side and falling into the fiery chasm. Ballec's body convulsed then crumbled, leaning toward the waiting fiery gap. It tumbled and fell into the chasm. Flames leaped high. Yendisa reached out to snag the offering.

  "Lord Azre!" Jewyl called. "Your brother?"

  "Let us attend to what remain of my guards." Azre sheathed his sword. "We shall all go back to the main hall." He gazed at the remaining priests of Yendisa. "They shall remain here with their goddess. The entrance will be sealed." He glanced at the flames of the chasm. "If they so desire, they may offer themselves to their goddess." He sighed and pointed at the flaming chasm. "Otherwise, they will die of starvation. I will not have their diseased minds in the temple of Hagontha." He gazed at the chasm of fire. “The flames cannot be quenched or dampened. Let them burn for eternity, unseen by human eyes.” He paused and heaved another sigh as he gazed at the hovering image of the goddess. “Let Yendisa die within them. She is no more.”

  “I am the Void,” Yendisa howled. “I am forever. I cannot die. I am Yendisa. I was before you. I shall be after you.”

  “You are nothing,” a voice called from above as the ghostly image slowly descended into the open area above. “I am Hagontha. Chaos reigns. Be gone, you foulness of evil.” A spectral hand grabbed Yendi
sa’s dragon skull helmet, pulling it away. The beauty Jewyl had seen within the helmet now wrinkled with putrescence.

  Yendisa screeched and dropped toward the churning flames of turmoil within the chasm.

  “Leave the room, now,” Hagontha commanded. “It shall be no more.”

  Above, the myriad arches creating the secret chamber darkened and crumbled as the flames faded in the crumbling dust. Two priests ran to the edge, paused, and finally leapt to their deaths.

  “Hurry,” Jopab said and hustled the group out the entrance, blocking it against the remaining Yendisan priests.

  Jopab stepped through the doorway and Chardo closed the heavy door and placed a beam to hold it shut against anyone pushing on it from the other side.

  Only the slightest sounds of the crumbling pillars and falling stones could be heard.

  “Let us clean the temple of those who followed Ballec,” Azre said and led the group up the winding stairs. “We will also seal the door above so none may use it.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The Holy Father

  Lord Azre sat on the throne-like chair in the main hall. All the priests of Hagontha’s Temple stood in attendance. Azre stood.

  "Tonight, my brother, Ballec, the Holy Father, was consumed by the flames of Yendisa in a sacrifice to her." He strolled across the room. "There were several priests who covertly praised Mother Yendisa." Azre stopped. "If any are among you, you have two choices. One, to come forward now, or two, be forcibly taken from your ranks when discovered. I shall count to ten. To run will be your death."

  Azre stared at the gathered men. He took a deep breath and then began to slowly count.

  Three priests moved forward, their heads bowed, ashamed.

  Azre gazed at the men before him. "I count only three. There are no others? "

  "Pardon, Lord Azre." A priest moved forward. "Huglo and Renz have taken their lives. They were the ones to put Sleeper's Dream into your food, helped the Holy... your brother, Ballec, perform the sacrificial ritual. They imbibed the remainder of Sleeper's Dream."

  Azre nodded his head. "If that is true, then you three will be placed under arrest and jailed as traitors. You are stripped of all priestly duties and no longer to live within the chaos of Mother Hagontha. You will be jailed in Dianiya until your last day."

  Jopab stepped forward. "My lord, if I may?"

  Azre nodded acceptance.

  "These men were misled by Ballec. Also, at the temple in Bashiwa, there are those who served your brother in the ways of Mother Yendisa. At the other temples we may discover more. May I ask humbly for your forgiveness of them. I agree, allow these men to be stripped of their priestly duties, but instead of being imprisoned, may I suggest they become servants and confined within the prison’s chambers. The same treatment for those at Bashiwa, and elsewhere."

  Azre moved to the throne and sat. He tugged at his beard as he thought.

  "I will allow the new Holy Father to decide their fates." He gazed at Jopab. "Do you feel that to be fair?"

  "Most fair, my lord," Jopab said. "Do you wish the priests to decide on the new Holy Father, or will you deign who you feel to be a proper choice?"

  Lord Azre smiled. "I will not assign a Holy Father." He hesitated. "I will suggest a candidate who I feel will serve Mother Hagontha. It will be a final decision by the priests."

  Jopab nodded and stepped back.

  "Do not shrink back so easily, Jopab." Azre lifted his hand and indicated Jopab should come forward. "I feel my choice should be one who knows me. Also, it should be a priest who is strong in his faith to Mother Hagontha, and be understanding of her chaos. I hereby suggest to the gathered priests of Zornal the priest I know as Jopab to be the next Holy Father."

  "A decision well made, Lord Azre." The voice was old and weathered. "As a Holy Father, I highly recommend Jopab to be the new Holy Father."

  "Who speaks?" Azre searched the area where the voice emanated.

  "Lord Azre," the old man said and bowed. "I am Harsborz, Holy Father before you assigned your brother Ballec." Harsborz turned to face Jopab. "If any man is true to his faith, it is Jopab. When he learned of the blasphemy by Ballec regarding Yendisa, he went in search of a solution."

  "Do you wish to be Holy Father again?" Azre leaned forward.

  "I was Holy Father. I will remain a Holy Father until my demise. Today, I see Jopab as the new Holy Father." He turned to the collected priests. "Is there any who contest Lord Azre's suggestion?" He paused. "Speak now."

  A murmur spread through the group of priests. Finally Percho stepped forward.

  "Lord Azre, we accept your suggestion. Jopab will be installed as the new Holy Father."

  Azre gazed down at the humbled man. "Congratulations, Jopab. You will indeed make a very good Holy Father. As you have taught me, even in the chaos, there is a plan. Mother Hagontha now reveals this to me."

  "I thank you, my lord." Jopab once more stepped back into the shadows.

  "The priests are now dismissed." Azre waved his hand.

  # # #

  Jewyl stood beside Chardo, before her sat Lord Azre, once again, staring at her.

  "What shall I do with you, Jewyl?" Azre shook his head. "I offer you marriage, and you deny me the pleasure." He glanced at her companion. "And Chardo. You can't dance and look terrible in a dress."

  Chardo shrugged.

  Azre placed his elbow on the chair's arm and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.

  "You saved my life today." Azre shrugged. "That cannot be dismissed, or forgotten."

  "You killed your brother," Jewyl stated. "Is there no remorse?"

  "I executed Ballec," Azre said. "He was my brother, true, but he was also a person of treason. The law is not above any."

  Chardo leaned over. "Don't get him mad. Remember the last time?"

  "But, Ballec was your brother." Jewyl wasn't about to quit.

  "Yes, he was my brother. He was the bastard son of my father with a servant." Azre slammed back into the chair. "He was never full royal blood. He was a half-brother, at best."

  Jewyl folded her arms before her. "Half-brother. Royal blood. All of it is nonsense. He was your brother."

  "No, he wasn't my brother," Azre snarled. "He never acknowledged me as a brother until this very day. Did you not hear his voice? He mocked our relationship."

  Jewyl eased back. "My apologies."

  "No, you don't understand. He never accepted his position. At my coronation, after the death of our father, he had the nerve to call my mother a 'princess whore' tricking our father." Azre stood. "It was his last chance. Our father had promised him the position of Holy Father, I gave it to him, and wanted nothing more to do with him." He paused. "And, so it was until you escaped."

  "So are you going to put us in prison?" Jewyl watched him, waiting.

  Azre stepped toward them, directly in front of Jewyl.

  "No, Jewyl. I am not placing you under arrest." He glanced at Chardo. "Nor you." He strutted to his personal guard who held weapons. "I return your swords and daggers. You won't have to dance for them, Chardo."

  "You feel safe to allow me a sword?" Jewyl played the sword before her.

  "If you wish to kill me, so be it. I give you both your freedom. Even though I know you to be The Emerald, I cannot bring myself to arrest you. Today, you both showed me loyalty in defending my life. I know Jopab did most of the covert work, but he was only making sure his plans were coming to fruition. Ballec had to be stopped." Azre took a deep breath. "You are free."

  Jewyl sheathed her sword. "I thank you, Lord Azre, but you are still a descendant of a traitor to my grandfather. I could never marry you.” She smiled. “But when the time comes and I decide to take a husband, I might consider a traitor."

  "With you by my side as my wife, Jewyl, we could reunite the three lands and bring your Shiyula into existence." He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

  Jewyl stepped back, but didn't wipe the kiss away.

  "You
're blushing, m'dear." Chardo eased her away, heading out of the temple where the world, a broken Shiyula, and a hidden sword awaited.

  <<<< THE END >>>>

  About the Author

  My name is Robert S. Nailor but most people call me Bob.

  I’m retired from the federal government. I was a computer geek and still do some programming yet today. One would think I should have plenty of time to write but I actually seem to have less now. So, to make sure that things work out correctly, I force myself to sit down and write. That doesn't always work. Today, writing is fun and I find it relaxing. I get to visit those fantastic and strange places within my mind and well, if I don't come back right away, there is no longer somebody behind me writing on a pink sheet of paper.

  I live with my wife, Violet, in a ranch home snuggled into a small wooded acre in NW Ohio. I was born in Sioux City, Iowa but my parents moved to Ohio in 1953. I have four sons and currently have ten grandchildren - 7 granddaughters and 3 grandsons. Plus, I have great-grandchildren – 2 great-granddaughters and 3 great-grandsons.

  My interests are camping (have RV, will travel), gardening, music, cooking and reading. So where do I travel? I've been in 46 of the 50 states and strangely, Hawaii is one of the states I've visited. I have also visited two of our territories - Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Traveling allows me to add the ambiance to my stories and to some of the characters, also. Gardening is a bit gamey since we live in the country and have the wildlife visiting us constantly — deer, rabbits, raccoons, birds, squirrels and many others. So vegetables don't always make it to harvest but what does is more than tasty. There are flowers, sometimes too many, to keep me busy. Music? I love New Age music and my favorite group is Mannheim Steamroller... and not just because of their fabulous Christmas albums; I was hooked on them before that. I also have created some of my own electronic music which I've been told is pretty good. Should I mention cooking? I love to cook and do gourmet cooking. Having worked with Boy Scouts for several years, I have taught many boys the basics of cooking beyond hotdogs and beans. I have won quite a few contests. As to what I read; well, obviously a lot of science fiction, fantasy and some Christian. Horror, romance, adventure and other genres are also great reads when they catch my attention with an intriguing tag line or cover.