Sagaria

by John Dahlgren

  Sir Tombin’s interrupted her. “The Goram Mountains. That is where the portal to the Shadow World is hidden.”

  Queen Mirabella nodded sadly. “You are correct, noble knight. A long time it has been since we of Sagaria had to acknowledge that, but now we must. The powers of the Shadow World have been slumbering for many years, gathering their strength for the assault upon us, and now we must be prepared to confront them.” She paused, staring so intently at the stained-glass window Sagandran could have sworn that she was seeing right through it. Perhaps she was. “The Shadow World,” the queen continued, as much to herself as to her audience, “was not always separated from Sagaria, you know.”

  “I did not know,” said Sir Tombin. Even Samzing looked startled.

  “Yes,” said the queen. “It is another thing little remembered. In those days, the region of Sagaria known as Tamshado was renowned for its peace and tranquility. All over Tamshado there were temples for the worshipers of life, and people would journey there to pray, to meditate, to look inside themselves for the understanding that resides within us all. Legend has it that some were able to perform great miracles in those sacred buildings – miracles of healing, miracles of goodness. It was there that the founders of Spectram came to understand the essential harmony that lies in the diversity of living entities, and they discovered the principle that led them to design this great city around us. Tamshado was a place where people worshiped life but, all the time, knew that what they were really worshiping was love.

  “There was something even more remarkable about Tamshado in those days. The whole region was a part, not just of Sagaria, but of the Shadow World. Imagine,” she said, demonstrating with her hands, “that you had two soap bubbles, one here in my left hand and the other here in my right, and you pressed them together – like this.”

  Sagandran could almost see the bubbles flattening where they were pressed close.

  “The surface between the two bubbles is flat,” Queen Mirabella continued, “and just about as thin as the skin on a single bubble. Well, that was what Tamshado was like between the Shadow World and Sagaria. If you were in Tamshado you were, in a very real sense, in both worlds at once. The harmony between the two realms was as great as that.”

  Dissolving the illusion of the bubbles, she waved a hand, as if dismissing memories.

  “Alas, those times are ancient history now. Overnight, the temples of Tamshado were infested by darkness, by evil. A man of the Shadow World called Cleonthes, who was so evil that even the love created in Tamshado could not divert him from his purpose, went there and set about destroying all that he hated so much. There was nothing our ancestors in Sagaria could do to counter him except to nullify the bond that existed between the worlds; so Tamshado became two distinct regions, one in Sagaria and the other in the Shadow World. We have no knowledge of what happened to the Shadow World under Cleonthes; a few magicians of Qarnapheeran’s Elemental Orders ventured there to investigate, by passing through the hidden portal our ancestors had kept open between the worlds. We know that some of them did not return, and fear that the worst happened to them. Those who did return have never spoken publicly of what they found there.

  “And so it was for centuries. Then, more recently, only a few decades ago, another came upon the scene. This man, who was called Arkanamon” – Samzing stiffened abruptly, but did not speak – “forced open a new portal in vile mimicry of the one that joins our world to the Earthworld. He thought he would find a different world beyond the portal, one that he could rule in tyranny. Instead, Sagaria’s Tamshado – if you can visualize this – flowed into the portal, spreading and blossoming until it once more became a part of both worlds.

  “But the evil of Arkanamon had permeated every atom of the portal so, as Tamshado poured through it, everything was mirrored. What had once been good was perverted into its opposite, evil. The temples were infested by a darkness of spirit that tore at and devoured the very foundations of what had been the essence of Sagaria’s Tamshado.

  “So the way into the Shadow World was reborn. Arkanamon set himself up as that world’s tyrant, as he had planned, and proclaimed himself to be the Shadow Master, the name under which he is now known. He used the vile magics of the Shadow World to spawn creatures that would slavishly obey his every whim – those same magics that had given birth to so much love in Tamshado, but now twisted and distorted into evil. They possess all the beauty that Tamshado once had, but in their hearts, there is only the ugliness of unbridled malevolence.”

  She sighed. “Now the worst has happened. Long ago, Arkanamon discovered the midnight-blue Shadow Crystal. The Shadow Crystal is not evil (in itself, it is neither good nor evil) but Arkanamon infused it with his own darkness of heart, so now it pulses with a deep malignancy. Then, a few years past, one of the countless spies he has sent among us was able to steal the clear Star Crystal of Sagaria, so that Arkanamon possessed two of the three crystals that hold our worlds in their correct balance. It makes my heart shudder to contemplate what the pure Star Crystal may have become now that the Shadow Master has had the time to mold it with his own malevolence.”

  Once more, Queen Mirabella gave a long, rueful sigh. “We should have taken more concerted action at the time, but it seemed to us that there was still no urgency. Two crystals on their own are as powerless as no crystals at all. The third crystal, the Rainbow Crystal of the Earthworld, the one that can bind light and darkness – the light of the Star Crystal and the darkness of the Shadow Crystal – was irretrievably lost. We were content for it to remain that way. If all three crystals should ever be brought together, their owner would become a conqueror of worlds.

  “Your Grandpa Melwin once idly told me of a crystal he had discovered in the forest near the Earthworld gate to Sagaria. He thought nothing of it, except that it was a beautiful gem, and mentioned it only as something interesting that had happened since last we’d met. Fool that I am, I followed his cue and paid the matter little heed. It was only after I heard of his abduction that his tale of the rainbow-colored jewel came bobbing to the surface of my memory.”

  “The Rainbow Crystal,” said Samzing, completely somber for once. The light that normally danced in his eyes was still. “Sagandran’s grandfather had found the Rainbow Crystal, and both he and you thought it was nothing more than a pretty trinket.”

  “Exactly,” said the queen morosely. “But Arkanamon must have learned about it – perhaps he has spies here inside the castle of Spectram – and recognized it for what it was. That’s why he had his minions seize Melwin.”

  “But Melwin didn’t have the crystal,” said Sir Tombin.

  Queen Mirabella looked sharply at him.

  “If Melwin had the crystal,” Sir Tombin explained, “they would simply have killed him and taken it back to their master, would they not? Instead, they must have discovered that he no longer possessed it, and taken him to the Shadow World to try to” – the Frogly Knight glanced uneasily at Sagandran – “persuade him to tell them where it was.”

  “Torture him, you mean,” said Sagandran hollowly. “They’re torturing Grandpa Melwin. But you know something?” He stuck out his chin in something like defiance, trying to turn his misery into a source of pride. “Whatever they do, he’ll never, ever tell them where the Rainbow Crystal is.”

  “How can you know that?” said Queen Mirabella, shaking her head.

  “Because it’s hanging around the neck of the one person Grandpa Melwin loves more than anybody else.” With difficulty, Sagandran kept his voice steady, kept the racking sobs at bay.

  Samzing stared at him with sudden acuteness. “You.”

  “Yes, me.” Sagandran pulled down the neck of his Grateful Dead T-shirt to hook the gold chain on his thumb. “His only grandson. A grandson who’s very proud to have Grandpa Melwin as his grandfather – prouder than ever, now.” He drew forth the gleaming jewel and held it out in front of him so that they could all see it. In the light of the throne room’s stained-glass w
indows, its facets glowed as if the stone was burning within.

  “Melwin gave it to you?” said Queen Mirabella.

  “Why not?” snapped Sagandran. I’m reprimanding a queen and I don’t care if she has me struck dead for it. Oh, Grandpa, Grandpa.

  “Why not, indeed?” said Queen Mirabella, easing back into her throne. “He could have chosen no better person than one so fiercely loyal to him.” Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and Sagandran saw how truly old she was, despite the girlish smoothness of her face.

  “He had it mounted, as you can see, and set upon this golden chain, and he gave it to me for my tenth birthday.”

  “This is good news indeed!” cried Sir Tombin before he could remember himself. “Good news about Arkanamon not having seized the crystal, I mean,” he added apologetically. “Not good news that your grandfather is suffering in his clutches.”

  “At least Melwin will still be alive,” said Samzing mildly. “That is something to be thankful for. The Shadow Master will not let your grandfather die so long as he believes Melwin can tell him where the Rainbow Crystal is.”

  “Even if my grandfather is begging his tormentors to be allowed to die?” hissed Sagandran. “That’s your ‘good news’?”

  Perima, who’d been uncharacteristically silent all this while, stood up and came over to him. She put her arms around his shoulders and held his head to her side. He could hear the beat of her heart telling him it was all right to give in to the tears he’d been holding at bay. Throwing his own arms around her slender waist, he let out a great wail of pain and distress before beginning to weep.

  Sagandran had no idea how long it was before the convulsions began to subside and he became aware of his surroundings again. At first, all he knew was that someone was holding him tightly; his mother, he thought, but too skinny and unyielding to be his mother. As soon as he realized the person was Perima he tried to push away, hot shame flooding through him, but she wouldn’t release him.

  “There’s no shame in your tears, Sagandran,” she whispered in his ear. “They’re what make you the strong person you are. I love you for your tears, Sagandran.”

  At last, he was able to sit upright again. Perima didn’t move. As he looked into her upturned face, he saw that she had been weeping with him. From the moment they’d met, he’d sensed a bond between them, however much she frequently irritated him. Over these past few days, that bond had become ever firmer, though often he told himself it might only be his imagination at work. Now it was something so potent that it must be obvious to everyone in the room; it was something that could not be denied. He didn’t understand the nature of the love he felt for Perima, whether it was brotherly or something beyond that. All he knew was that it was indisputably there, and that she returned it. He turned his head to regard Queen Mirabella, who was watching them from her throne. There were tears in her eyes too, but she brushed them away with the flounced sleeve of her dress.

  “So there is still a chance for the three worlds,” said the queen, her voice a little hoarse. “Arkanamon has yet to possess the last of the three stones.”

  Sir Tombin cleared his throat. “He must have guessed that you know where it is, Sagandran. Someone must have told him that Melwin has a grandson, and that the grandson is here in Sagaria. How else would the Shadow Knight we met on the road have known to look for a boy of your general description?”

  “Guesswork,” said Samzing, producing his pipe then, glancing at Mirabella, he put it sheepishly away again. “Largely guesswork is my, ah, guess. If Arkanamon really knew where the stone was, his Shadow Knight would have certainly known as well. He’d never let a boy – any boy – get past him. He’d have forced us to turn the carriage inside out, and he’d have torn Sagandran apart on the suspicion he might be the boy bearing the stone, or might be able to tell him where it was. No, Arkanamon has learned that Melwin has a grandson, all right, and what the grandson looks like, but he has no idea where the grandson might be, or if he has any knowledge of the stone’s existence. And,” the wizard turned an angry stare toward Sir Tombin, “I think it unlikely that Melwin is being subjected to the torture your imagination has conjured up, my friend. Not any physical torment, at least.”

  Sir Tombin’s face was a map of confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “Torture would never have induced the boy’s grandfather to betray his existence, at least if what Sagandran and even Her Queenship have told us is true.” This time, when Samzing produced his pipe, he fearlessly lit it. “No, Arkanamon must be doing something far more subtle than that. He must have set his wizards to probing Melwin’s mind, and finding his secrets that way. A far more effective stratagem, let me tell you. This Arkanamon may be evil, but when I knew him in his youth he was never stupid.”

  “You know him?” they all exclaimed at once.

  “Yes, but that story is not for now,” said the wizard.

  There was a pause during which everyone wished someone else would have the courage to prod Samzing for more. No one did, not even Queen Mirabella.

  “If magicians are invading Grandpa’s mind,” said Sagandran in perplexity at last, “surely they know everything by now?”

  “Do you remember what I told you of magic?” said Samzing, regarding him.

  “Yes.”

  “Everyone’s capable of magic, if only they’d realize it. Everyone’s capable of putting up mental barriers that can thwart even the most powerful magician’s invasion.” He paused to puff on his pipe. “At least for a while.”

  “If anyone could keep them at bay, Grandpa could,” said Sagandran staunchly.

  “I agree,” said Queen Mirabella from the throne. “He has the strongest mind of any Earthworld human I’ve ever encountered.”

  “You mean he’s a stubborn old goat?” said Sagandran, smiling in spite of himself. “That’s what my mom always calls him.”

  “I wouldn’t have put it quite that way myself, but, well, yes, your mother’s right. That’s why he was chosen to be the gatekeeper of the Earthworld’s last portal. We don’t know who or what did the choosing, but chosen he most certainly was. Such a thing cannot have been left to chance. And …”

  “Such things are never left to chance,” prompted Sir Tombin.

  “Yes,” responded the queen. “Which means, Sagandran, that you too have been chosen. There was a purpose in you being given that jewel. We just don’t know yet what the purpose is.”

  Perima squeezed his hand again.

  Queen Mirabella stood, the folds of her dress swirling around her. “My heart is once more filled with hope – but only hope, not certainty. The unknown forces that guide the cosmos have brought you to me, Sagandran. They’re helping us, but they alone can’t defend the three worlds from evil. That’s a responsibility which has been laid where it has always been, in the hands of people.”

  Sagandran tucked the crystal back down the front of his T-shirt and drew his anorak around him, as if the layers of cloth might give added protection from evil. He found he was shivering, even though the throne room was pleasantly warm.

  “Arkanamon,” Queen Mirabella was saying, “is slowly absorbing the life energy of living things to make himself more powerful and to turn Sagaria into his own, into another world of darkness and despair. He loathes the light of the sun. He despises free and happy people. He seeks to destroy both wherever he can. If Sagaria should fall to him, Sagandran, the Earthworld will be next.”

  Sagandran was stung by this last comment. “You don’t need to tell me that. The people of Sagaria are as valuable as any of my own world. It’s people who’re important, not the worlds they come from.”

  The queen, who had been pacing from side to side on the throne dais, hesitated and graced him with a sorrowful smile. “You speak well, Sagandran. A great burden has been placed upon you, but I am beginning to believe that you are worthy of accepting the challenge. Your grandfather chose where he placed his love well.”

  Perima squeezed his fingers once
more. Sagandran didn’t know whose trust he valued the more, the queen’s or Perima’s.

  “We don’t know how Arkanamon discovered the portal between here and the Earthworld,” continued Mirabella. “Of course, he must have been aware that it existed but, aside from myself and your grandfather, there were few who knew its location and none would have revealed that information to Arkanamon or his minions. His spies must have searched every nook and cranny of Sagaria, turning over every stone. The portal could not remain hidden from their eyes – from his eyes – forever, I suppose. Once he found it, it would have been easy for him to send a troop of spies from here into the Earthworld to scout what was there. They must have also been ordered to seek the Rainbow Crystal in the Earthworld, because if it wasn’t in the Shadow World and they couldn’t find it in Sagaria, the Earthworld was his final hope. They failed to find the stone, but they did find a gatekeeper on the Earthworld side of the portal, and they suspected that he could lead them to the ultimate prize, the Rainbow Crystal.”

  She gently punched the wrist of one hand with the fist of the other.

  “Yes, that must be how it happened. So Arkanamon still doesn’t know for certain that he’s on the track of the last crystal, he just believes he is. The fact that you have it, Sagandran, must remain a secret encased by the four walls of this room. You must tell no one that you even know of its existence. All of you. Do you hear me?”

  “Our lips are as securely sealed as your own, Your Royal Majesty,” said Sir Tombin with a courtly nod.

  “And we expect, Your Queenship,” interposed Samzing caustically, “that your lips will be as securely sealed as ours.” His voice turned the words into a question.