Chapter 9
“Now what shall we do?” asked Ara turning to the Prince. He didn’t have time to get an answer as a barrage of lightning bolts flew down from the sky, striking the black lake.
“I apologize for my deception,” the man yelled sarcastically over the howling winds. “My name is Destor Caelu and I only want Prince Vale. No one has to be hurt.”
“We need to figure out how we’re going to get out of this and fast,” Vale screamed. “I don’t think I need to tell you that we don’t stand a chance against him on this bridge.”
No sooner had he spoken as giant raindrops began to fall from the sky pounding the ground, lake, and the flimsy bridge. They held onto dear life as they swung from side to side.
“I’m open any to suggestions that Your Highness may have,” Ara retorted.
“Well, there’s no way we’ll make it to the Citadel,” he yelled back, trying to make himself heard over the gale force winds. He obviously controls the weather so Lenta may be able to help with that.”
Ara looked at Vale completely confused, but when he turned back he saw what Vale was talking about. Behind the man in purple, Lenta was running to get to the scene and she looked furious.
With her dress billowing around her, Lenta closed her eyes and outstretched her arms. Ara figured that trying to stay concentrated through the torrential downpour wasn’t easy, but if she could succeed, they may have a few seconds to get off the bridge before it collapsed.
Moments later, all the raindrops stopped their descent in midair before swarming around Destor. He cried out in shock at the barrage of water pellets as Ara and Vale rushed across the bridge to shore. With a wave of her drenched arm, two giant waves leapt from the lake and crushed down on Destor bringing him to his knees.
An abrupt lightning bolt ripped through the sky, striking the bridge where it connected to the Citadel. Ara and Vale touched land just as what was left of the bridge met its watery grave.
Ara ran up to Destor, as he was slowly rising to his feet, and brought an elbow down hard onto his head. As the man in purple again stumbled back, Ara kicked him hard knocking him onto his back. Stalking towards him, he bent down and grabbed him by his violet robes, holding him up.
“Tell us what you’re doing here,” roared Ara with fire in his eyes. “Why are you trying to kill us?”
Ara could see the hatred in Destor’s black eyes. He looked furious and not yet ready to concede defeat. His plum veil may have covered the lower part of his face, but Ara could tell from his eyes that the danger was not yet over.
“You have no idea the amount of evil that surrounds this land even now,” hissed Destor. “Even if you would be able to stop me, you’re too late. The wheels are in motion and everything you know about Eliantar is about to become ash. You foolishly stare at me as though I am your greatest enemy but I assure you there is a greater threat than myself right now.”
“What plan? What wheels are in motion?” Ara barked. “Answer me this second.”
Destor just cackled and grabbed onto Ara’s wrists. Pure, white energy crackled from his hands into Ara’s body. Ara screamed in pain as he let Destor go. Destor dropped to the ground but held firm to the bodyguard as he unloaded electricity into his enemy’s body.
“Do something,” screamed Vale to Lenta. “I’m trying to pull them apart with my mind, but the electricity has them fused together.”
“There isn’t a thing I can do,” panicked Lenta. “If I get one of them wet, it’ll electrify them both and Ara will die.”
Before Vale could respond, the sky turned a hot white-blue and an energy bolt flew towards the ground striking Ara hard. Destor and Ara fell apart. Ara, who had stopped screaming, collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Smoke rose up from his burnt body, as Destor stepped over it, clearly pleased with himself.
“Prince Vale, you are coming with me. Ambassador Benigg, please stand down and Quale will be spared,” Destor Caelu commanded.
Lenta pushed past Vale in a fury. Her normally beautiful curly, dark hair hung like a wet nest around her face. Her pristine dress was drenched and torn. The kindness and wisdom that usually showered her face was gone. She now appeared to Vale like a destitute person who was ready to kill for scraps of food.
“Quale will be spared?” she snarled. “Moments ago you threatened that the entire world would be burned to the ground and now you try to bribe me with sparing me? You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
“So be it,” sighed Destor blasting Lenta with sparks from his hands. Lenta flew back and hit the ground hard.
Destor didn’t see the massive tidal wave rise that Lenta had conjured before, rising from his right until it was too late. It began to sweep him away until he got his footing back. When he rose, he was greeted by a fist to the face from Ara.
“If you’re going to kill me,” he said with a smile. “You should make sure that I’m really dead.”
He began to pummel the villain into submission. Vale had rushed over to help Lenta to her feet and the two watched as the man with the tattered and torn clothes beat the man in purple regality.
“He heals even more quickly than he gave himself credit for,” Lenta said with a weak smile. “That will certainly come in handy with this monster.”
Ara Tataman wasn’t happy to be fighting. He had always avoided conflict with others, but his job was to protect Prince Procer. What was clear was that there seemed to be more and more enemies making that task difficult. In his experience most Elites were gentle, tranquil beings but within the last month or two he felt like he’d been exposed to a pack of savages.
Destor’s face was beginning to bleed. His once regal robes were becoming torn and dirty. Destor Caelu clearly had had enough as he blasted Ara with another bolt of energy from his hands, knocking him back a few steps. Thankfully, it wasn’t as strong as some of the other blasts he’d thrown.
Before Ara could react, an immense wind ripped through Quale. Ara stepped back even more, rooting his feet as firmly into the ground as he could. In a matter of seconds he felt as though he were about to be lifted right off his feet. Glancing around, it appeared that Lenta and Vale were having the same problem.
“Everybody relax,” Vale bellowed.
Ara could see that Vale was concentrating hard. He must actually be trying to use his powers to keep them rooted to the ground. Ara’s heart went out to him, because it seemed that, try as he might he was fighting a losing battle.
Destor laughed as a miniature funnel surrounded him and then lifted him into the air. He hovered there several yards above the heroes, cackling manically in the midst of his minute whirlwind. All around the skies were pure black and there were no signs of life to be seen. The Fonnes were smart enough to know when it was best to stay underwater.
“You can’t keep this up forever young Prince,” Destor mocked from above. “Your powers aren’t as strong as mine and as soon as they slip, all three of you will be sucked into oblivion.”
“Gods help us but he’s right,” grunted Vale, with his eyes still closed. “We’re going to have to come up with a plan. There’s no way I can hold us down much longer and I can feel that his power is only getting stronger.”
“I could get a wave up that high,” Lenta suggested. “But, it would have to be very strong and it would just drown us all when it came back down.”
They all glanced around at each other for a moment unsure of what to do before Ara Tataman made his suggestion. If there was one thing Ara avoided when possible it was confrontation. But, that being said, if there was one thing Ara respected, it was the promise of one friend to another friend.
“Vale,” he called. “When he strikes me down, I want you to release me from your hold.”
“No!” screamed the Prince. “I won’t do that. You’ll get yourself killed. You’re not invincible, Ara.”
“Please just do it,” Ara pleaded. “That will give you the chance you need
to knock him out of the sky.”
Before Vale could respond, Ara called up to Destor, “You’re not taking the Prince, Destor. You’ll have to kill me first.”
Destor Caelu snarled from high in the sky. His bruised face contorted into a fit of rage as his scrapped, purple robes blew around him. Lightning once again flickered through the sky.
“There is something so genuine and yet naïve about an Elite peasant who is so eager to die for their master,” he mocked. “I’ve made it quite clear that all I want is to take Prince Vale with me and yet you still stand in my way. Give the gods my best!”
The lightning bolt raged through the sky, flying right in front of Destor. It struck Ara hard and the sky lit up a brilliant color of blue.
Vale closed his eyes tight as he allowed his power to let go of Ara’s body and concentrate more on Lenta’s and his own. Just before he had released his bodyguard, he’d felt it tighten tremendously, then go limp, before it started to collapse. Now he watched as it was whipped like a paper toy, high into Destor’s funnel. He saw the cold man in purple watch the lifeless body revolve around him, up and up. When at last it reached the top of the cyclone, Destor raised his purple-clad arms towards the body and then snapped them down, forcing the wind to propel Ara down hard on terrain.
Without realizing what he was doing Crown Prince Vale thrust all of his powers on the floating Destor, who had not expected this. Completely caught off guard, he stumbled back into his own wind storm and was sent plummeting back to the ground as well, hitting it just as hard as Ara did. The tornado was gone in an instant just like that. Vale and Lenta hadn’t even been pulled into it when he released them from his grip.
They rushed over to Ara’s side and knelt near him. Vale grabbed the man’s hand and held it tight, Lenta Benigg began examining him. She felt for a pulse and then began to hold her hand around his face, presumably for a sign of breathing.
“I’m fine,” came a small choke from Ara. “I just want to lie here for a moment if that’s alright with you two.”
“What were you thinking?” Vale snapped. “We don’t know what your threshold is. Either the lightning or the fall could have killed you.”
“Well, I was obviously hoping it wouldn’t,” Ara was grunting still in pain. “I knew that if I could free up some of your energy that you were using on me, you could knock him out of the air. Of the three of us, you were our only chance.”
“Well please don’t do that again. I truly thought you were dead.”
“And so he will be,” roared a hate-filled voice from behind. “The water woman will be joining him as well, I can assure you of that.”
They jumped up and spun around. They didn’t have to guess who would be standing there. Destor Caelu couldn’t have looked worse for the wear. He was now bleeding heavily from his head and his clothes were shreds now, only memories of what they once were.
“Since you’ve both been so insistent on not handing over the Prince to me, I’m afraid you’ll all have to be executed,” he shouted, sounding completely insane. I didn’t want to so boldly commit an act of treason, but I feel like I don’t have a choice any longer.”
“Look at his eyes,” Lenta whispered. “He’s completely losing his mind right in front of us. It doesn’t even look like he’s talking to us.”
Before she could say anymore, the heavens opened up once more and gigantic hail began to wail on the small island and the surrounding bodies of water. Vale, Ara, and Lenta dodged as much as they could, but knew it wouldn’t do too much. Across Bydra Lake, they could hear the sounds of hail smashing through the windows and tearing apart the tin roof and eaves of the Citadel. They all cringed at the sharp sound of twisting metal and flinched in fear as they realized that the chunks of ice were falling more prevalently and in bigger sizes.
Ara felt himself launched back into the black water and knew that Vale had propelled all of them into the lake. He knew there weren’t other options to avoid being crushed by hail, but this lake was death as well. All he saw was black as he felt himself being tugged down. He struggled in the vacuum of wetness and fought to stay on top of the water.
Ara used all of his energy to keep his head above water and could just see Destor Caelu standing at the edge of the black lake watching these three struggle to keep from drowning.
“You all fight in there as if you stand a chance,” he began to mock. “I’m no expert in geography, but I do know that getting into Bydra’s Lake is a death sentence. I think I’m going to give you a gift, because I hate to see suffering. Please consider it a parting gift. Don’t worry, Prince Vale. I’ll have you out in a moment.”
With that he waved his hands and a powerful wind blew from the sky and slammed into the lake. Seconds later the water began to move in a spherical motion. A giant whirlpool had formed and pulled them each into the abyss, one after the other.
Ara was the last to go under. He struggled and pushed against the invisible forces, but the more he fought it, the deeper he sank. He looked up for a brief moment and saw nothing. There was no sign of sunlight. There was no sign of anything and so he closed his eyes and let the water bring him closer and closer to the bottom.
It was only a few seconds after he had accepted his fate that he felt himself being pulled in the opposite direction. He supposed he was becoming so delirious that he didn’t know which direction was up anymore. Then, before he had time to think another thought, he felt the sun and air hit his face. He was out of the lake and then…slam!
He hit the sand with a hard crack and realized that he and his friends had been carried in on a large wave.
“How…” he sputtered, trying to get all of the water out of his lungs. It felt like he had drunk most of the lake.
“Well,” began Lenta, trying to appear collected. “I do control water, after all.”
Ara remembered Destor and jumped to his feet but, seeing no sign of him, he rushed over to Vale’s side and helped him up.
“Where could he have gone so quickly?” Lenta asked.
“That’s my doing,” Forr Suosor answered. None of them had noticed the old man at first. “A group of Fonnes led me here. We saw from a distance what was transpiring and they swam here and launched an assault on the purple man. By the time I’d reached this island they had chased him off and you were coming ashore. What happened?”
Lenta began to explain as Ara brushed the damp hair from Vale’s face, staring into his eyes. Vale stared back for a moment and gave a faint smile.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?” Ara asked filled with concern for the young man he clutched.
“I’m fine,” Vale whispered back, before blushing and looking away. Feeling his protector’s eyes still on him, he pulled out of his grip and stepped away. “Thank you Ara. I feel much better now.”
The conversation between Lenta and Forr snapped Ara back to attention and he helped Vale to his feet. Another awkward conversation quickly ended!
“Lenta, that cannot be possible,” Forr exclaimed. “The powers that you claim this man had are unheard of. We all have unique talents, but this is unprecedented. Are you quite sure Quale wasn’t just having a storm at the same time?”
“I am quite sure. And you are correct. I have never before heard of powers as great as this. They were immense and he gave me the feeling that he may actually be holding back.”
“Now he’s gone and we don’t know where he’s going or why he wanted Vale,” Ara jumped in.
“He’s going to Steedo,” Forr announced. “I know my visions have been intermittent, but I can sense him heading there as we speak.”
Vale and Ara didn’t need to say what they were both thinking. They had originally believed that Sorpa Veneficus was somewhere in the forest realm of Tacia and now Destor was headed to Steedo. It made little sense, but it seemed clear that the two were in league with each other.
“Without asking Vale, I can assume that we’ll be
heading to Steedo from here,” sighed Ara.
“What?!” gasped Lenta. “You can’t actually be serious about following him there. Send the Royal Guard. Send all of them. The Royal Family does not apprehend their own criminals, Vale!”
“As I told you when we first arrived,” Vale said quietly, not meeting the Ambassador’s eyes. “This is a matter that I do not want others aware of but us. Please understand that if I get the Royal Guard involved, all of Eliantar will begin wondering what is going on.”
“Well, what is going on?” Lenta responded breathlessly. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing.”
“I believe now more than ever that some terrible thing is going on that has the potential to end all that we’ve built in the past 2,000 years,” Vale said. “I fear this may be beyond an assassination attempt. I can’t risk the entire world going into a tailspin of panic, until I have confirmed my beliefs. When the time is right, we will escalate our resources, but until then I ask that you please keep this between us and let Ara and I continue to investigate what exactly is going on in my kingdom.”
They said their goodbyes a few minutes later and Vale and Ara, with Forr in tow, began walking north towards the wind realm of Steedo. Ara turned around after a short time and saw Lenta staring after them with a look of appalled confusion on her young, pretty face. Ara shrugged back at her. He meant no disrespect, but he was clearly just as confused about what he was about to face as Lenta was.
The Woodland Tombs of Eliantar Page 11