The Torak sighed and laid a hand on Tmundo’s shoulder. “I am sorry, Tmundo,” he said softly. “There are many reasons to restore Changragar. I will explain them all in due time. What brings you up here?”
“I bring messages from Khadoratung,” answered Tmundo. “More and more hellsouls are being discovered, many before they could strike. There is confusion why some disappear in smoke while others do not. The last killed was a Kamaril soldier. The man had the thumbprint under his wristband, but his body did not disappear.”
“That is something that was bothering me, too,” admitted Axor, “but I think that I understand it now. The thumbprint is indeed the mark of a hellsoul, but the bearer can very well be a normal human being. I believe that the first death of a hellsoul initiates the magic of rebirth. When he arises he is, from that point on, only a spiritual being.”
“So if he is decapitated before he becomes a spiritual being,” nodded the Torak, “he merely dies and will never experience the rebirth?”
“Exactly,” agreed Axor. “The six that were killed near the Morgar estate fit that description. Each body was found to have a thumbprint. I assume that it was their first death.”
“That makes sense,” replied the Torak. “It is still disturbing that these hellsouls are able to infiltrate our armies. Our very customs are their disguise. If we did not wear wristbands as part of our uniforms, the hellsouls’ chances of discovery would be greater.”
“You are the Emperor of Khadora,” Tmundo pointed out. “Issue a decree eliminating the use of wristbands. The hellsouls must be discovered before the attacks begin.”
“I will make it so,” nodded the Torak as he saw Fisher coming through the small canyon. “If you two will excuse me for a moment?”
Marak walked towards the canyon and greeted Fisher. He steered the spy away from the path of Chula carrying materials to the temple.
“Quite the restoration project that you have going here,” smiled Fisher. “You are becoming more Chula than the Chula themselves.”
“Perhaps,” smiled Marak. “What news do you have for me?”
“I finally have a name of the head spy from the Island of Darkness,” grinned Fisher. “His name is Clarvoy. He is a master of disguises from what I have heard.”
“You sound envious,” chuckled Marak. “How do you get this information?”
Fisher frowned and immediately checked to see if anyone was within hearing range.
“You know that I have been good about not prying on your sources,” declared the Torak, “but things are going to become very critical very soon. I must have confidence in your reports.”
“I understand,” nodded Fisher. “I wish that I could give you confidence on my source, but I cannot. In fact, I do not know the source of my information.”
“How can that be?” asked Marak. “You have told me just about everything that Vand is doing. None of your information has shown to be false. I expected a very high source within Vand’s organization.”
“It may well be,” shrugged Fisher. “I have been getting my information from a mage at Raven’s Point. Originally it was from the mage Rhoda, but she was eventually kidnapped. Now Polema tells me what she hears.”
“Polema?” echoed the Torak. “Who is she?”
“Rhoda’s replacement at the Raven’s Point estate,” explained Fisher. “This all began some time ago. One day there was a note waiting for me at Fardale. The note was short. It said that I was desperately needed at Raven’s Point. I went there, and Rhoda approached me. She heard a voice speaking to her almost every night. It was always the same voice. At first she thought that she was going crazy.”
“Crazy?” echoed Marak. “Is she hearing people talking that do not know she is listening? Or is the contact more direct?”
“More direct,” answered Fisher. “There is somebody on the Island of Darkness working against Vand. He sought out an air mage that would listen to him. After many failed attempts, he found Rhoda. He made her write everything down and told her to contact me. I set up a way for her to contact me if she ever needed to. She did so whenever she heard from the stranger.”
“And now Polema does the same?” asked Marak.
“Exactly,” nodded Fisher. “After Rhoda was kidnapped, the information flow was turned off. I returned to Raven’s Point and spoke to Rhoda’s replacement. I explained to her what Rhoda had been doing and asked her to do the same. A week later the first message came in. She has been receiving them ever since.”
“Any idea as to the identity of the spy on the Island of Darkness?” asked Emperor Marak.
“None,” frowned Fisher, “and that bothers me. I am always skeptical of free gifts. If I become too dependent on this one source of information, I could be tricked at a crucial time. That is precisely why I am willing to divulge this source to you. It has been exceedingly accurate so far, but who knows about the future.”
“You are wise beyond your years,” smiled the Torak. “Can Polema contact the spy?”
“No,” Fisher shook his head. “The air tunnel pressure is maintained to make it one way. She can only listen. I thought about sending air tunnel messages towards the island, but that would risk destroying the one source that we have. It is not a wise idea at this time.”
“I was afraid that you would say that,” frowned the Emperor. “The one piece of information that you have not obtained is the timing of the attack. I would like to know that.”
“I will see what I can do,” frowned Fisher, “but do not expect it any time soon.”
Chapter 20
Council of Elders
The Council of Elders met in the city of Morada in Elvangar. The twelve wise men of the elves discussed the information gleaned from Eltor and Caldal.
“At last we have what I feel is full disclosure of the travels of Eltor and Caldal,” declared Malid, the Head Elder. “The testimony highlights the dangers still existing in the world beyond the Barrier Islands. There is a war brewing in the human world. That war may find its way to Elvangar. What will this council suggest to the queen regarding our security?”
“What is there to suggest?” asked Amber. “Humans are constantly warring. Caldal spoke of the many different armies in Khadora alone. This is not something the elves need to be involved in. We should suggest nothing.”
“I disagree,” declared Volox. “We are not just talking about a war that the humans will be engaging in. We are talking about a war to end the world, as we know it. From what I have read, this Vand has over one million men in his army. The best estimates that Caldal could supply on the number of Khadoran troops are abysmal. Vand will sweep right over Khadora and into Elvangar. Is it not in our best interests to at least make contact with the humans to determine the level of threat to Elvangar? Surely that can be done without divulging the whereabouts of our homeland.”
“The humans already know where Elvangar is,” pointed out Vitalora. “Perhaps many of you missed it in the transcripts, but Caldal mentions that the Qubari gave him directions to the Gates of Elvangar.”
“Where is this?” demanded Malid. “I do not remember reading any such thing.”
Vitalora leaned closer to Malid and shuffled through his papers. He found the transcript of the interrogation and pointed to it. Malid read it out loud.
“The Qubari warrior handed Eltor a chart to the Gates of Elvangar,” read Malid. “When questioned how he had known the location of the elves, the warrior responded that they had always been friends of the elves. Why shouldn’t they know where their friends lived?”
“All the more reason to make contact with the humans,” stressed Volox. “Now that they know where we live, there is no risk in determining the danger to our homeland.”
“Negotiations are a waste of time,” Malid shook his head. “Queen Alycia has already declared that the elves will not aid the humans in their war against Vand. She considers the subject closed.”
“What the queen considers closed is not the topic of discu
ssion before this council,” stated Vitalora. “We are assembled here to determine what our advice should be to the queen.”
“You are out of order,” scowled Malid. “How dare you say that the queen’s wishes are not to be considered in this council? She has the authority to remove any elder who is unfit for the job.”
“Would an elder be unfit if he informed the queen of her obligations?” Vitalora asked brusquely.
“The only obligation of the queen is to lead the people of Elvangar,” interjected Amber. “Do you declare that you know more about this situation than Queen Alycia herself knows?”
”That is exactly what I declare,” stated Vitalora, “and if the Head Elder will allow me to speak, I will enlighten the rest of you.”
“You are standing on the edge of a precipice, Vitalora,” frowned Malid. “Speak what is on your mind, but be aware that your statements will be heard by the queen.”
“Excellent,” Vitalora nodded curtly. “I was afraid that my statements would not be recorded so that the queen could feign ignorance of them.”
“Enough!” shouted Malid. “I will not stand for such talk in this chamber. Speak your piece and then sit down.”
“There is another section of the interrogation that members of this council have passed over,” began Vitalora. “Or perhaps it was not passed over, but the significance of the event did not penetrate our thick skulls. You will notice towards the end of the interrogations that Caldal describes the earthquake that rocked the world, but in the transcripts from Eltor, it was clearly not an earthquake. He mentions that it was said that Angragar was reborn.”
“So what?” asked Amber. “We felt the earthquake here in Elvangar. It obviously was a large one. The words they use to describe it are of little importance to us.”
“I agree,” nodded Malid. “The humans are so immersed in finally restoring Angragar that they think everything that happens is somehow connected to it. I do not see where you are leading.”
“Then allow me to continue,” said Vitalora. “The phrasing used gnawed at me. I was sure that it meant something specific, but it has been many years since any us of studied ancient history. So I went to library and researched Angragar. There are many references to it throughout our literature, poems about the death of civilization and such. Most of us remember Angragar as the human civilization that attacked the elves.”
“We remember,” nodded Amber. “It was a barbaric attack from our closest friends. That is the very reason that we now know that humans are not to be trusted. Our whole civilization is built on avoiding humans precisely because of Angragar. You did not need to go to the library to rediscover that. You only had to ask any school child.”
“If my desire was to know as much as a school child,” retorted Vitalora, “I assure you that I would have stopped looking at that point. I next went to the royal vaults for further research. This is where I found out how far our society has allowed itself to be deceived.”
“Deceived? Echoed Volox. “What do you mean? Is what we were taught about Angragar not the truth?”
“It is not the whole truth,” answered Vitalora. “Elvangar was indeed attacked by humans flying the flag of Angragar.”
“That is enough research for me,” interrupted Malid. “You just admitted that our human friends attacked us. There is nothing else that matters to this discussion.”
“I admitted no such thing,” retorted Vitalora. “The vessels that attacked us were not from Angragar. That mattered little at the time. The elves immediately set out to take revenge on the humans. We sent our armies to attack Angragar. We besieged the city and began destroying it with our siege engines. The human monarch, King Regis, surrendered to our forces. Only then did we discover that we had attacked an innocent people.”
“Innocent people?” asked Volox, the pained expression on his face was clearly evident. “What do you mean?”
“The ships that attacked us were flying false colors,” continued Vitalora. “The attacks on Elvangar were a deliberate attempt to foment war between Angragar and us. We obliged Angragar’s enemy. When the error was discovered, we made a pact with the humans of Angragar.”
“What was in this pact?” Amber asked anxiously.
“Kaltara had King Regis lead his people out of the city of Angragar,” Vitalora said. “Once the true believers were out of the city, Kaltara sealed it. The elves of Elvangar then created a jungle to hide the city from the enemies of Kaltara. The pact we made with the humans was that we would remains friends, but we would no longer meet one another. It was said that when Angragar was reborn, then the elves and the humans would reunite to vanquish their common foe.”
“Common foe?” questioned Malid. “And who would that be?”
“Vand,” declared Vitalora.
“The Vand of old?” asked Amber. “Or the Vand of new?”
“The are one in the same,” stated Vitalora.
“The same?” questioned Amber, his brow creasing in confusion. “Are you daft? Angragar was thousands of years ago. While the elves have managed to be ruled by the same family for that great span of years, I do not believe that the humans are capable of such loyalty. Perhaps someone has resurrected the title Vand for his own use, but I cannot believe that there is an ancestral connection to the Vand of old.”
“I am not talking about ancestry,” corrected Vitalora. “Vand is not a title of a human ruler. Vand is an individual, although I hesitate to call him human.”
“I am also confused,” admitted Volox. “Are you trying to say that the Vand that threatens the humans at this very moment is the same individual that threatened Angragar thousands of years ago?”
“And the same Vand that sent ships to pillage the coast of Angragar,” nodded Vitalora. “I point you to page five of Eltor’s interrogation. He mentions that the Emperor Vand is immortal. Rumors abounded that he takes the body of another every so often, having last done so only four months before the capture of Eltor and Caldal.”
“I take it that as nothing more than scary rumors to keep the captives in fear,” Malid shook his head. “When put together with everything else the boys told us about the Island of Darkness, it was just more nonsense to control the masses.”
“I took it the same way,” admitted Vitalora. “It was not until I started research on Angragar that I changed my mind. What truly convinced me that Vand is the same man that attacked Elvangar are the Prophecies of Kieran.”
”Where do they come into all of this?” asked Amber.
“As you know,” answered Vitalora, “Kieran was a young man at the time of the attack. His own city of Alamanda still lies in ruins along the coast. He was the only survivor of that attack, and it was his word that the ships bore the banner of Angragar. At the time he was a mage student, not even tested, yet he was selected to accompany the war ships sent to eradicate Angragar. While he was in the land of humans, Kieran had a series of visitations from Kaltara. Those visitations have come to be known as the Prophecies of Kieran.”
“I remember something about them,” nodded Volox. “Kaltara spoke of future heroes who would stand against the evil and restore order to a world of chaos. It was said that the prophecies vaulted Kieran into prominence despite his young years.”
“I do not doubt it,” agreed Vitalora, “because Kieran was quite young when he became king. I went deeper into the royal vault and found copies of the Prophecies of Kieran. They spoke about a Time of Calling in which three heroes would arise to carry Kaltara’s banner. Those heroes were the Torak, the Star, and the Astor. Do those names sound familiar to any of you?”
“From the interrogations,” gasped Amber. “Those are the names that Eltor used to name some of the humans.”
“I recall that Emperor Marak was also referred to as the Torak,” nodded Volox. “Could they have adopted those names because of their historical context? Perhaps there were human texts that copied the Prophecies of Kieran?”
“I suppose that is possible,” smiled Vitalo
ra, “but that supposes that Kaltara was fooled by those humans, too. I say that because, according to the Prophecies of Kieran, the ancient city of Angragar shall not be unlocked until the Astor reclaims it. Angragar is indeed reborn, fellow elders. The Time of Calling is upon us.”
“What now do we propose to the queen?” asked Volox. “If the prophecies of Kieran are the truth, then Kaltara is calling upon the elven people to join in the human struggle against an ancient and evil foe that has brought death to both of our peoples.”
“The queen will not accept this,” frowned Malid. “She was quite clear that the issue was closed.”
“She has no choice,” countered Vitalora. “Even the queen must bow to the will of Kaltara. God is clear in what he expects of the elven people. To refuse God’s call at this time is to force the elven people to disavow Kaltara.”
“I stand with Vitalora on this,” vowed Volox. “I think the old texts are clear. We need to tell the queen that Elvangar must make contact with the humans. I ask for a formal vote.”
“I disagree,” stated Malid. “I think you raise some interesting points, Vitalora, but they are not conclusive. I will, however, call for a vote on this matter.”
The vote was taken with eight elders demanding that the queen contact the humans. Two elders abstained, and two voted to dismiss that matter until more information was studied. Malid and Amber were the elders who voted to dismiss the issue. Although he had voted against it, Malid was obligated to present the proposal, speaking for the victors of the vote. The meeting adjourned, and the Head Elder went directly to see the queen.
“What is it, Malid?” asked Queen Alycia as she stared over the railing at the people moving through the city.
“I bring a proposal from the Council of Elders,” declared Malid. “It entails sending envoys to the humans.”
“I said that matter was closed,” shouted the queen as she whirled around to face the elder. “I do not want to hear any more about it.”
“I am obligated under the law,” protested Malid. “The Council has taken a vote. I must present it to you.”
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