Evil Within

by Richard S. Tuttle

  "Follow me very closely," warned Winona. "If you step off the trail, there will be nothing we can do to save you. Pay attention."

  Suddenly the fog swirled swiftly, and Prince Antion could see for several dozen paces in all directions. The ground was marred by large blotches of boiling mud and crystal clear ponds with steam rising off them. A worn narrow path snaked between the cauldrons, and Prince Antion lowered his eyes to ensure that he did not stray from the trail.

  The group moved at an extremely slow pace for twenty minutes as Winona led them through the maze of cauldrons. The temperature of the air grew hotter than a summer's day in Anatar, and Prince Antion could feel sweat forming on his forehead. His whole body felt hot and damp, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the fog closed back around him. Once again the group moved through the thick cloud with limited visibility. Finally the mist began to thin and then the fog ended. A few minutes later, the group passed under a gaily-painted archway and Winona halted at the edge of the cloud. Before the travelers stood a large city constructed entirely of white stone. Hundreds of buildings filled a broad valley and a cloudbank surrounded it all.

  "The city in the clouds," Talot said reverently. "It does exist."

  Hundreds of people moved through the city on streets paved with white blocks. Any who noticed the group at the edge of the city stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the newcomers.

  "This is Harangar," announced Winona. "You are now in the city of Orro, and you shall obey the laws of our people. I would advise you all to ask before you do anything. Outsiders are not usually welcome here."

  "I know you were sent to bring Jared and me to the city," asked Prince Antion, "but are the rest of my people welcome here?"

  "I was instructed to bring your party," nodded Winona. "If they behave, they will be welcomed. I would advise them that their brand of humor would not be appreciated here. Men are not placed above women in Harangar. We are all equal. If they hold their tongues, they will probably survive."

  Winona mounted the horse and rode forward a few dozen paces to halt the conversation and wait for the men to follow.

  "She definitely does not love me any longer," Prince Derri quipped softly.

  Prince Antion shook his head and suppressed a smile as he mounted the horse, pulling Jared up behind him. He waited for the others to mount and then moved to follow their guide.

  Winona led the group along a broad avenue. People lined the street and stared at the outsiders as they passed by. There were no smiles or waves of welcome, yet there was not any hostility either. What Prince Antion felt from the crowd was a very palpable air of fear from the citizens. He began to understand that Winona's words of warning were not exaggerated. The group would have to be very careful in any interactions they had with the locals. Winona made a turn in the center of the city and proceeded along another broad avenue. Prince Antion could see a majestic palace at the far end of the street and figured that would be the destination of Winona's journey. He was correct.

  The sky was darkening by the time they reached the palace, and the Arin prince surmised that the sun was setting somewhere outside the massive banks of clouds. Winona led the group around the outside of the palace until she came to the stables. The stables were small for a royal palace, but the prince imagined that there was probably little travel allowed outside the city.

  "Your horses will be well cared for here," Winona said as she dismounted and handed the reins to a stableman. "I would advise taking all of your belongings with you. You will have rooms inside the palace for your use. You are prohibited from leaving the city for any reason until given leave to do so. This is not a request," she stressed forcefully. "Anyone who tries to leave without permission will be hunted down."

  "You mean we are prisoners?" frowned Sandar.

  "You are guests," retorted Winona, "and proper guests do not insult their hosts by breaking important rules. No one is allowed to leave Harangar without permission, and that applies to the citizens as well as the rare visitor."

  "When will we see Orro?" asked Prince Antion as he gathered his belongings.

  "When he requests your presence," answered Winona. "That will not be today. Once I get you settled, I will find out who your guide will be within the city. He or she will be able to keep you informed of the rules and schedules."

  "So our journey with you is over?" asked the Arin prince.

  "It is," declared Winona. "I am a scout, not a city dweller."

  "I know that our journey was not pleasant for you," Prince Antion said sincerely, "but I want to thank you for getting us here safely. Your people should be proud of your skills and the protection you provide them."

  Winona's brow creased heavily as she tried to determine if the Arin prince was mocking her in some way. Her eyes glanced at the others in the party and could not detect any of them suppressing a laugh. Confused, she turned and started walking towards the palace doors.

  "Follow me," she said loudly. "I will get you settled."

  The group followed Winona into the palace. The first thing that struck the Arin prince was the total lack of guards. Simply attired people moved through the corridors without weapons of any kind that the prince could see. Most of them stopped and stared as the newcomers passed by. Winona walked briskly through the maze of corridors and halted in front of a door.

  "These are two-bedroom suites," Winona announced. "There are four of them in a row. You may arrange yourselves as you see fit. Remain in your rooms, and I will send someone to show you around the palace so that you can find your way to the dining room and library."

  Without any words of farewell, Winona turned and walked off. She moved quickly through the halls towards Orro's chamber and the small office adjacent to it. She entered the office and stood before the desk. A tall dark-haired man sat behind the desk and he looked up as she entered the room.

  "Welcome home, Winona," smiled the man. "How was your trip?"

  "I am glad that it is over, Balrec," Winona replied. "We have seven new visitors. I berthed them in four adjoining rooms starting with the first visitor's quarters."

  "Thank you," nodded Balrec. "Do you suspect them to be a problem to security?"

  "They have an attitude problem," Winona reported as she slipped several pieces of paper onto the man's desk. "Three of them are princes from the Land of the Nine Kingdoms. They have overrated impressions of their skills and a general attitude of superiority over others as is typical of outsiders. I would not be surprised if they tried to escape, but I will be ready if they do. No doubt they will try to retrace the route I used to bring them here. I will choose a spot and keep watch."

  "No," Balrec shook his head. "Orro wants you to stay within the city. I have already dispatched another scout to take your place."

  "Why?" frowned Winona. "My place is not within Harangar."

  "Because Orro has commanded it," shrugged Balrec. "Perhaps he shares your mistrust of the visitors and wants someone with your skills close by."

  "Very well," Winona replied with disappointment. "Perhaps I could use some time to spend with my family. Will there be anything else?"

  "Not for today," replied Balrec. "Stop by in the morning just in case Orro has plans for you, but I think you will probably just get a well-deserved break in service."

  Winona nodded and left the room. Balrec picked up the papers and read them. He frowned heavily as he read the report and then filed the papers in a desk drawer. He rose from his chair and walked to the suites occupied by the visitors. He knocked on each of the four doors and waited in the corridor for the men to file out of the rooms.

  "I am Balrec, an assistant to Orro," declared Balrec. "If you will follow me, I will orient you to the public parts of the palace so you know how to get to places available for your use. You may introduce yourselves as we walk."

  * * *

  The warriors met in an elegant dining room for the morning meal. Others in the room stared at them as if they were an oddity, which was und
erstandable for a city that did not welcome outsiders. The palace servants were also curious, but they hid their curiosity well. They were careful not to stare, and if they were caught making eye contact, they immediately averted their eyes. They were just finishing up the meal when Balrec entered the dining room. He walked over to the table and halted between Jared and Prince Antion.

  "I would like you and Jared to come with me," Balrec said to the Arin prince. "You have been given an audience with Orro."

  "Just the two of us?" Prince Antion frowned as he rose.

  "Yes," replied Balrec. "The honor of meeting Orro is very rare. There are citizens that have never had the opportunity, and for those who do get to meet him, it is a once in a lifetime event."

  "Surely his assistants must meet him daily," posed the Arin prince as Jared grabbed a last mouthful of food and rose.

  "Hardly," Balrec shook his head. "I have only been in his presence three times."

  "What about the other assistants?" asked Jared.

  "They are all dead," answered Balrec.

  "I am confused," Prince Antion shook his head. "Yesterday you said that you were an assistant to Orro. You did not say that you were the assistant. I am fairly sure of that."

  "You are correct," nodded Balrec as he began leading them out of the dining room. "To be an assistant to Orro is the highest position one can ever attain in Harangar. It is a position that is held until one's death, at which time another assistant is chosen. Still, one never thinks of himself as the assistant to Orro, for the knowledge given to an assistant is the learned knowledge of those who came before him. It is as if one has inherited a new body. It is difficult to explain."

  "Well at least Orro's desire to see us will give you a fourth chance to be in his presence," smiled Jared.

  "I am afraid not," frowned Balrec. "My presence was not requested. It will just be you and Prince Antion."

  Balrec stopped before two massive ornate doors. "Wait here until the doors open," he instructed.

  "I still have my weapons," Prince Antion blushed with embarrassment. "I should have left them in my quarters. I did not expect to be in there without guards."

  "You may keep your weapons," shrugged Balrec. "Orro has no need to fear such things. As for guards, they are only needed to keep people out of Harangar. We have no need of them within the city."

  Balrec turned and walked towards his office, and the doors magically swung open. Prince Antion and Jared stepped into the chamber and the doors closed behind them. The chamber was a massive circular room with a high domed ceiling. There were no torches for illumination, yet the room was as bright as the broad avenues of Harangar. The room was devoid of furniture and furnishings. In the very center sat a glistening pool of water with jets of water around its circumference. The streams of water rose high into the air as if they were trying to reach the domed ceiling. Around the pool was a circular stone bench broken every so often to allow access to the pool itself. There was no one in the room.

  Prince Antion gazed about the room looking for other doors, but there were none. Jared crossed the floor and passed through a gap in the bench to gaze into the pool. After a thorough inspection of the chamber, Prince Antion joined Jared at the side of the pool, and they both sat on the bench.

  "What do you make of it?" the prince asked.

  "It is peaceful," smiled Jared. "The jets of water soothingly break up a silence that would be all too pervasive. It is as if one could come here and forget all the troubles of the world beyond the clouds."

  "Perhaps that is why Orro came here in the first place," mused Prince Antion. "Maybe he just sought refuge from mankind."

  "You don't think Orro is human?" asked Jared.

  "I don't see how he could be," shrugged Prince Antion. "No one can live for thousands of years. Truthfully, I suspected that Orro did not exist at all, but Balrec certainly believes in him. I guess we will have to wait and see."

  "Do you think he will be evil like Audric thought?" Jared asked anxiously.

  "That thought has kept me awake more nights than you can imagine," sighed Prince Antion. "Audric was a man of great knowledge, and only a fool would easily discount his words of warning, but we have little choice. If you are not prepared to deal with your brother, evil will eventually envelope the Land of the Nine Kingdoms. I am willing to take the risk of facing evil right now to have a chance to save the world from evil later. I think you are, too."

  "I am," Jared swallowed nervously.

  Suddenly the jets of water changed tempo, and Jared and Prince Antion fixed their eyes on the pool. They watched, mesmerized as the jets began to descend. As the streams of water shrunk, something became visible in the center of the pool, something that had been hidden by the hundreds of water streams.

  Prince Antion stared in bewilderment as a stone pedestal was revealed from the top down. The sight of the hidden pedestal was not so shocking, but what sat upon it was. A human head sat on the pedestal facing the two warriors. It was a man's head, but it was devoid of hair, and its texture was like parchment left in the sands to crack and crumble to dust over the ages. Deep within its eye sockets were two solid white orbs, the featureless eyes of a man without sight.

  Prince Antion gaped at the head in silence. His first reaction was shock, but he soon began to feel anger, anger at having been tricked by the people of Harangar. They obviously meant to scare him with some magical show of deceit, and he began to wonder what their reasons might be. What were they after?

  Unexpectedly, Prince Antion felt a draining feeling within his body, and he began to swoon. He thought that Jared was trying to draw on the Talent within him, and he placed a hand on his friend's leg.

  "Don't," the Arin prince said softly. "You must remain pure. Their trickery is not worth introducing evil into your mind."

  "Don't what?" replied Jared nervously. "I am not doing anything."

  "You are more than I expected," a booming voice echoed in the chamber.

  Prince Antion twisted on the bench to find the source of the voice, but no one had entered the room. His eyes returned to the head on the pedestal. He gasped as he saw the head's lips moving.

  "You will do well with the proper instruction," continued the voice.

  Prince Antion felt the drawing of his Talent cease, and he sought to find his voice.

  "Speak not," commanded Orro. "Your words mean nothing to me. In time we will communicate, but that time has not yet come."

  Prince Antion felt his head clearing and his strength returning.

  "That is what it feels like to have the Talent drawn from you, Prince Antion," declared Orro. "Remember the feeling well, for you must grow accustomed to it. If you are not prepared for it, it will weaken your mind and body until you die. Learn to prepare for it, and you will survive."

  The Arin prince nodded silently.

  "You, Jared," continued Orro, "have the greatest challenge of them all. Without your help, the Land of the Nine Kingdoms is doomed. You claim to be a man of peace and purity, yet it will take an act of evil and death to restore what has been perverted. Can you destroy Zinan, Jared? Do you have it within you?"

  Jared opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He stood open mouthed and wide eyed as the talking head continued.

  "Good and evil are two faces of the same man," declared Orro. "Within each man the struggle of two great forces wages a constant battle for supremacy. Seldom does either one win completely before the man's life expires, but it does happen occasionally. It is even more rare when that struggle for supremacy takes place in a person with extreme capability in the Talent. You live in a rare time indeed. The world rests on the shoulders of you two warriors. Should either of you falter, all will perish. Can you destroy your brother, Jared?"

  Jared shook his head exaggeratedly.

  "We shall see," mused Orro. "It is amazing what men can be made to do, given the proper perspective. The two of you will come into my presence daily until such time as I feel you are ready to retu
rn to the Land of the Nine Kingdoms. You will be taught how to use the Talent within you, and what you must accomplish with it. You will grow to understand what needs to be done. Go now."

  Jared and Prince Antion rose slowly from the bench. As they moved to an opening in the stone bench, the head spoke again.

  "The others in your party will have no need to visit with me," Orro declared, "but neither are they allowed to leave Harangar. Each has made a commitment to aid you in your quest. That commitment must be honored."

  The waters of the fountains began to grow tall and soon the pedestal and the head disappeared from view. As the two warriors approached the exit, the huge doors opened magically. Jared and the Arin prince walked silently through he doors, which closed as soon as they had exited. They stood silently for several minutes as both of them tried to catch their breath.

  "Do you believe what just happened?" Jared finally asked.

  "I would not have believed it if it had been told to me by another," admitted the Arin prince, "but I was there. I felt him drawing the Talent out of me. It did not feel like it did when you and Audric did it. This was much quicker and more forceful. I grew lightheaded and weak. I would not be able to protect you in such a state."

  "I don't know that that makes a difference," frowned Jared. "I had hoped that Orro was going to have a different answer than Audric, but he speaks the same. Everyone wants me to kill Zinan, but I cannot do it."

  "You were honest with Orro," Prince Antion pointed out. "Your attitude did not dissuade him from teaching you."

  "Of course not," Jared retorted. "He plans to change my attitude. That much is clear to me, but I will never change. I cannot take a life."

  "You have no choice," frowned Prince Antion. "If you refuse to take one life, you will be taking the lives of thousands of others. The lives of all the people in the Land of the Nine Kingdoms rest on our shoulders. That is what Orro said. We either kill the evil ones, or we enable the evil ones to kill everyone else. King Zinan is the greatest evil one of all. He must die, and only you can do it."