by S L Gassick
“Blind faith? We might as well be worshipping Gaea,” Scrathios scoffed.
“Yes. But now’s the time to move. She has been correct about this artefact, that itself is proof enough.”
“Why now then?”
“It is not for me to ask. Her powers have not fully evolved yet, which is why no-one else can see her. She has visions of the past, present and the future. It is a curse she bears. But it is she who will lead us into a new age, this planet is once again changing, we all know this. And she will lead us.”
“But what about the Second Coming of Gaea? People say Theus is hiding a boy descended from Gaea himself.”
“It is nonsense,” replied Shui with a wave of his hand, “and if there is such a boy I will slay him myself if I have to. That or get him to our side. In any case, he will never be a match to the Queen. I dare say she will be more powerful than Gaea himself.”
“That is up for debate. But what about this Domini? Can we trust him?” Goolu butted in.
“To do what? We are holding all the cards. He thinks all we want is to defeat Theus and take a chunk of the land ourselves. That’s why I had his aide outside only just then told by our men that our sources got word he was needed back at his Valhalla.”
“Which he isn’t I presume?” said Goolu.
“Oh he is! I had one of my men stab his son on his way back home to make sure. We don’t want Domini thinking we lied to him just to get him out of here. That wouldn’t be nice. His son will be fine by the way, in case any of you have grown a heart.”
“So what is to happen, Shui? Why are we even here? What have you planned for us all? Another demented idea perhaps?” asked Scrathios.
“Oh you are a silly funny thing my little King. If you didn’t know already, I will be able to control the Undead by my mind when in possession of the Kalad; it is something I have been training myself for. The more we kill, the more Undead we get. Therefore, my men have been slaughtering many to amass another army of vast numbers, literally turning their own against them. As soon as I feel I have enough numbers to completely defeat the Valhalla, I will team up the Undead with our Clans, which is why you’re here seeing as you’re both my neighbouring countries, and together we will defeat Norheath entirely. After this, the three of us will then turn on the rest of the Vahalla’s until the Dark Clans will finally control the Earth.”
“Why not attack one of the less powerful neighbouring Valhallas?” asked Goolu.
“Because, once we defeat Norheath, the rest of the Valhallas will tremble and give themselves up. We don’t want to just kill everyone, where’s the fun in that?” Shui finished the rest of his wine.
“What about the titans?” asked Scrathios, “they are a powerful force. What if they all decide to turn against us?”
“I wouldn’t worry. Norheath have done us the favour of treating them like dirt. There’s no way they’d put their lives on the line for that Valhalla, and the wild titans do nothing but roam the lands. They are not known for working together, let alone combining forces and creating their own army. Everything will happen so fast, they won’t know what’s happening. They will scatter and wait for our battle to be over. Remember, we don’t want to disrupt their way of life, we want to give them freedom.”
“Shui, there is something you are not telling us…”
“My mole in Norheath? Don’t worry about that. It’s very high up.” He refilled his goblet of wine with one of the tall red bottles placed on the table.
“No, Shui. Not the mole.” Goolu leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “A power like this artefact does not come without cost. There are tales of the place we go when we die: the Underworld. I’m sure they will not be happy you are not leaving them rest.”
Shui shrugged. “Well, probably not. There are stories of a Lord of the Underworld whom, if he does exist, I will probably have to answer to. This artefact, this Kalad, is said to open up a portal to the Underworld – a portal through which, if left open long enough, the Lord of the Underworld can come through. It’s all very exciting.”
“And what then? What if this Lord comes through?” Goolu rubbed his head. “This is all quite a lot to absorb.”
“Well, I shall make it simple for you.” Shui smiled. “This Lord of the Underworld will probably destroy every living thing on the planet. Of course I have no intention of letting this happen. I am not truly that mad!” Shui burst out laughing, silenced himself and then began again, “But I’ll handle it. Once I have the Kalad in my possession I should be able to communicate with this Lord of the Underworld directly. Though to do so, I apparently have to put it in my mouth.”
“Yuck. In your mouth?” sniffed Goolu
“Yes, it isn’t something I particularly look forward to doing either. I wonder if Theus has done it? He’s had it for long enough. Knowing him, he probably hasn’t even tried it out. You know what they’re like over there, they are so serious that they forget to enjoy the finer things in life!” With that, Shui clapped his hands twice and from the doors came ten young gorgeous women in skimpy, revealing pink outfits. Three of them started singing in the corner of the room and the rest started seductively dancing around the guests.
“Now relax! Have fun! I’ve got it all under control. Once I take over Norheath, we’ll have free reign to do whatever we want! No more of their Gaea! Finally, the people of Earth will have freedom!”
The dining room was suddenly alive with drinking, dancing and singing and Shui watched on amused at the fact that they did not seem too worried that he had just said he will soon be in possession of something that could destroy the entire Earth, starting at their very doorstep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As the young group continued to climb the hill, Hemero was becoming more anxious that they had not heard any noises for a while. The canopy of the forest had blotted out the moonlight, leaving them in complete darkness and Rose was starting to get annoyed with Hemero for getting her into this in the first place. She huffed and puffed as she tore off branches that were in her way and climbed further uphill.
Nayakax was wondering if they should begin to think about setting up camp for the night and get some rest, regardless of the noises they had heard a while back, as it was getting so late and everyone was tired, but as he was about to talk, Hemero suddenly stopped still in his tracks right in front of him. For a short moment, Nayakax wondered if Hemero had read his mind, until he saw the panic in Hemero’s face.
“Where are they, Hemy? Why haven’t we heard them?” Nayakax whispered in his ear.
“Because something is wrong,” he whispered back. “They are more interested in something else. Something nearby. Come on.”
Phin became immediately worried that they were now surrounded by a hoard of the Undead. Visions of zombies eating into his flesh and tearing him limb from limb began to permeate his mind. He suddenly found himself crying with his eyes shut tight and then realised Rose, Nayakax and Hemero had run off.
Phin saw them further up the hill and tried to keep up with them but there was now only a speck of light to illuminate the path. Just a dim moonshine tearing itself through the trees and landing on the dull, soft mud below their feet.
As Phin started to catch up, he could see Hemero, Rose and Nayakax standing completely still at the top of the hill. He was relieved that this huge uphill process was over and that they were finally going to start setting up camp. He considered that it was somewhat thoughtless to be standing on top of a hill where everyone can see you, but right now, he really just didn’t care.
As Phin approached the top he suddenly realised they were all looking at something, and that he could now see them more clearly as they were staring down into a bright, warm light. Phin then saw smoke billowing up into the sky and started to think it was some kind of volcano. He ran up to see what was happening and as he looked down towards the bottom of the other side, he noticed a plateau and then a wave of heat hit his face.
Below them on the plateau stood a vill
age ablaze, the buildings either on fire, lying in ashes, or a crumbling, smouldering mess. Cries of pain and suffering rose up through the darkness and instilled fear in the group. They stood there in shock, staring at the gnawed bodies lying motionless in the streets, families running around carrying what was left of their belongings, mothers clutching their dead children, holding them tight to their chests as they scream to the skies in agony, and the shouts of men trying to organise one another to save the other townsfolk from the wreckage.
Phin felt like he was looking straight into Hell and it only hit him there and then, the real importance of getting the artefact back. ‘What do we do?’ he whispered quietly.
But it was not the village that Hemero and the others were now concentrating on. For just below them, hiding within the forest, were the Knights of Norheath talking quietly amongst themselves. It was hard to ascertain how many there were, but Nayakax could make out at least five of them.
“Look.” Nayakax pointed. “They are not helping, merely watching. Is this their work?”
“No,” replied Hemero, “this is the work of the Undead. This is their chaos.”
“Then why do they merely sit there?”
“Let me listen,” replied Hemero. He crouched down, touched his hand upon the floor and began to focus kyu into his ears to hear the conversation better. His ears gave off a faint red glow, as if they were burning. “I’ll tell you what is said.”
Hemero listened into the conversation, but it was hard to distinguish which voice belonged to who.[DG17] He repeated what he was hearing to the others as best he could.
“… they are dying, Cathus!” one spoke.
“That is not our concern. We have more pressing issues.”
“I don’t care. I’m going!”
“Sit down man. This is not our war.”
There was some rustling and a huff.
“Don’t the rest of you see? This will soon be our war if we do not help people like this!”
“You know our orders. Remain silent, do not bring attention to ourselves and get the artefact back as quickly as possible.”
“The time we have spent discussing this we could have helped and moved on by now.”
“Then there it is. We are to move on.”
There was a clang of metal, had someone picked something up?
“Then you can go on without me Cathus, I am going to stay and help these people.”
There was a silence.
“There is no way to change your mind?” There was a sorrow behind the voice. A dim hint of despair.
“No.”
“Then so be it. Surrender to me all your knightly possessions.”
“What?”
“Cathus, don’t …” spoke another voice that not yet been heard.
“Don’t tell me what to do young Riben. If Lirilius wishes to continue without us and disobey orders, he is therefore stripped of his position and must hand over anything which could identify him as a Knight of Norheath to our enemies. It’s for his benefit as much as ours. Our mission remains.”
“Cathus! You…!”
“It’s ok Riben. I’ll be fine. Go on without me and complete your mission.”
Then there was complete silence as one of them slipped towards the village, towards the engulfing flames and cries of agony. The other Knights disappeared into the darkness. Nothing more was uttered.
“What are we to do?” asked Phin.
“We continue after the Knights… right?” Naya looked to Hemero to answer.
Rose pointed angrily towards the burning village. “Are you mad? Look at them Naya, we must help!”
Nayakax shook his head. “We cannot. If we lose track of the Knights, we lose hope of finding the artefact, there’s a bigger picture here.” Naya insisted.
Rose was shocked. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. So we just leave them to die, is that it?”
“I’m not saying that, don’t pin this on me Rose. Of course I want to help, but the damage has clearly been done, we can’t afford to lose the knights. That’s why we’re here.”
“I’m a Healer, Naya. I can help them down there. You guys can carry on with your mission, but I won’t be able to live with myself if I just left these people to die.”
Nayakax took a deep breath. “We can’t always help everyone Rose. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, I don’t want to waste my time with this, when we should be making sure the artefact is in safe hands.”
Rose pulled a face of disgust. “Sorry. ‘Waste my time’?”
“I can trace their tracks,” Hemero whispered to himself.
“It is wasting our time!” Nayakax was continuing his argument with Rose, oblivious to Hemero.
“We can do both…” Hemero said a little louder.
“What’s that?” Phin asked.
“I can do it. We can save the village now, and I think … I’m sure, I’ll be able to track them. We’ll catch them up.”
Nayakax squared up to Hemero. “Not if they get too far away! It’s been hard enough as it is. I’m surprised you got us this far!” Nayakax took a breath and calmed down. “I’m sorry Hemero, I’m impressed – really I am – but you were the one who was telling us how important this was. You talked everyone into it. I’m not risking thousands of lives for the sake of a mere handful.”
Hemero nodded slowly, and scratched his head, walking around Nayakax slowly. “You know Naya, I come from a small village, probably the same size as this. Maybe there was a group nearby, like us right now, quibbling over whether we were worth it, that decided to let my village die, let every single one of my people slaughtered, because there was something else that had to be done. Some other priority. So it was ok for my mother to die? My father? Was it worth it? What if the next Gaea is down there, mutilated, taken before he could have changed the world? People matter, Nayakax. More than anything, people matter. And this? This back and forth between us? This is a waste of time.”
“But …”
“But nothing! Look at them Naya!” A flash of red burst into Hemero’s large, bright eyes, reflecting the flames from below, but there was something underneath that raged inside him, something inhuman. He pointed down towards the village. “I know people think that I’m stupid, that I’m just some loser kid, some freak, but don’t test me on this Nayakax. I’m telling you, we can save the people dying down there and catch up to the knights. Now if you don’t believe me, then go, and I’ll catch you up too.”
Nayakax looked down to the chaos, the screaming, the rivers of blood and people lying on the floor motionless with their clothes still on fire. He was not trained for this kind of situation and if he was being honest with himself, it scared him.
“Hemy,” Nayakax calmly began, “if we don’t get the artefact back … every village will be like this.”
“We will get the Kalad back, Naya. Or we will all die trying.” Hemero stared into the flames. They engulfed him in light within the darkness, the fires of Hell laid beneath him like a welcome mat. His fists began to clench and his muscles tensed.
Nayakax looked at his classmate in a new light. There was something special about him, something within him that he had not sensed before. He sincerely believed it was fate that brought them this far, and that it was fate still that was guiding them all, and Hemero, for all his faults, somehow seemed to be at the centre of it.
Before Nayakax had decided, Hemero raced down the hill with Rose following close behind. He thought for a second, shook his head and chased after them. He couldn’t help but feel this was a mistake they’d all regret..
Phin now stood alone at the precipice looking down at the village on fire. He did not want to go and would much rather have just followed the Knights. Knowing they were close by had given him comfort and now he felt they were vulnerable. He didn’t like feeling vulnerable.
He remembered how his Dad would always tell him he should always run from trouble, that he wasn’t smart or tough enough to take it on, but right now, he
felt he could not leave his friends. Would Hemero do the same for him? He’d like to think so. But he was hoping he wouldn’t have to find out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Milius was speed-reading through books at the library, hoping to find something about the Kalad that might be of some use. The room was cold, dark and musty. A faint smell of cinnamon hung in the air, probably from the old lady behind the counter at the other side of this incredibly expansive room. The books went from floor to ceiling with an extendable staircase giving access to those too high to reach and at the sides were roped-off areas for visitors to come and see the beauty of the library.
There was a large basin of fresh water and leant up against it, a mysterious guitar case with an owner nowhere to be seen. Milius presumed the owner had got lost in this maze of literature. It wouldn’t be a surprise; it was considered one of the largest rooms in the Valhalla.
Surrounding him were huge cherry wood tables that reminded him of a Members Club in town that he visited once where the Elders went to sup on special liquids, potions and herbs. Some people would often set up their own ‘Member’s Club’ within the hidden corners of the library but he kept away from that.
However, right now, Milius certainly wished he had some kind of potion to stay awake. The reading would often get monotonous, tiresome and sometimes just plain boring. He found there were myths and tales of similar items that would bring back the dead, but none matching the description of the missing piece. He felt he had learnt more history in the course of the last few hours than he had done in years in class. He thought his old History teacher, Professor Bullsworth, (whom they called Blabsworth because of his constant blabbering), was right all along, if it’s something you’re interested in, you really do retain it better.
This was all well and good but his research had proven almost useless - until he came across one particular old book. Its leatherbound cover had almost disintegrated and pages were missing, clearly ripped out, some even looked like they had been burnt. Whatever this book had gone through, it had clearly had a rough time under its previous owners. Yet here it was, scarred and stacked on a shelf, being of little interest to anybody until this very moment. Its former glory put into use once more.