Auron stepped into the balcony and joined Akielas gazing in solitude at the endless desert of the Zolan country.
“Have you been able to see what they are doing?” Auron asked.
“Yes. They destroyed an Elfin village in Verday,” Akielas answered. He would not take his eyes off the horizon.
“We can’t just sit here and let them carry on with their spree of destruction. We have to do something,” Auron said. “Where are they now?”
“I don’t know. I can only sense and see them when they use their maju. They are really good at hiding it. It must be a new spell they learned.”
He noticed Auron staring at him unpleasantly. It made him feel uncomfortable, yet he understood how Auron felt. It was hard to track his apprentices. With only one way to find them, Akielas could only wait for them to use their magic.
“How is Ganicus?” he asked.
“He is breathing normally and still asleep,” Auron answered. “I still cannot believe that boy, at age twenty-one, is able to withstand that much maju in his body. Perhaps, it was that golden medallion that helped him break the limit. Either way, it is rare to see such a youth with that much power. I have never felt such vast maju before.”
“He was using a Valiarmos,” Akielas said, “an enchanted armor created by the legendary Prodigus Kollos. It is said that Prodigus’s brother hid all of the Valiarmos somewhere uncharted. He did not want anyone to use their power.”
“How do you know all of this?” Auron asked.
“You would know too if you read the dragon bible, like I told you many years ago,” Akielas replied with a smirk. “It was written by Prodigus, himself, the pioneer of magic.”
“I never enjoyed reading large tomes,” Auron said and walked inside the palace, only to find King Mahamuth entering the balcony.
“Ganicus would like to speak with you,” the king said.
“Me? What for?” Auron raised an eyebrow.
“Not you,” Mahamuth said and pointed at Akielas. “Sir Akielas, please come with me to the prince’s chamber.”
They followed the king down a hall. Some pillars had toppled, and slashes from swords and fiend claws now decorated the walls. It was a mess, and the king’s servants were still cleaning it up and rebuilding the interiors with terramancy. The hall led to Ganicus’s chamber. The arched door was bedecked with square patterns forming a cross. The king pushed the doors open, and once they entered, they saw Ganicus sitting in a lotus position on a bed so large it seemed to be made for ten people. He was surrounded by a harem; the women were wearing transparent clothes. Although the prince barely paid attention to them as he mulled, the women caressed him and fed him grapes, wine, and wiped his lips with a handkerchief. They were very attentive of him, but the prince was aloof.
“Well, looking at you now, it is hard to believe you were unconscious just hours ago,” Akielas teased, and Ganicus woke from his deep thinking. The boy smiled weakly and clutched the Golden Sun hanging from his neck. He had saved the capital of Zolan by awakening the Golden Sun. It was a relic guarded by his family since the early kings of his dynasty, and it was now in his hands.
“I want to go with you,” the boy spoke. “I want to assist you in getting rid of these masked fiends from the face of Odealeous, so that no one will ever have to experience what I have. I want to use the power of the Golden Sun to defeat them, Ember and Hertha.”
“There is actually two more of them,” Auron added.
“As I said. You were one of the best that I have ever trained,” Akielas said. “Thank you for joining us.”
“That is what you would tell me when I was less than his age,” Auron chuckled.
“I have given him permission to travel with you,” King Mahamuth said. “He has shown that he can manage the power of the Golden Sun. The first in the family to use its power. Akielas, I trust you to look after my son for me. This will not only benefit the people of Zolan, but perhaps, it will also end the conflict we’ve had with other countries.”
“Now that you mentioned it, my apprentices have influenced the minds of northern kings to trigger war,” Akielas remembered.
Ganicus rose from his bed and pushed away his harem. He lifted his twin swords and locked them together into one blade. He donned his armor that had a sun embossed on the chest plate. He put on his vambrace, boots and slung his sword on his back.
“Where are we going first?” Ganicus asked, excited.
“To Evee Iris. We are going to see the Elves,” Akielas answered then turned to Mahamuth. “I don’t know when your son will be coming back.”
“Don’t worry. I understand how important this is. Make sure you defeat this villain,” said the king. Ganicus hugged his father before departing.
“Return as a hero, my son,” were the king’s last words.
Akielas, Auron, and Ganicus exited the palace and made their way out of Oba Oasis. Before the sunlight welcomed the night with its last twilight, they reached the cliff where the pentacle was. Akielas gave Ganicus a teleport crystal. The boy looked at it as if it were another piece of jewelry that he collected in his chamber.
“Don’t lose it, and don’t break it,” Akielas told the prince. Ganicus seemed different. He had matured a little; Akielas saw it in the boy’s eyes and posture. He knew that Ganicus would leave behind the spoiled prince attitude and was ready to face whatever obstacles that life threw at him. Awakening the power of the Golden Sun sure made him change faster than I thought.
Three crystals shined and triggered the blue lights of the pentacle. A cylinder of blue trapped them in the magic circle, and the desert disappeared before their eyes. The magic of the pentacle traveled at an incredible speed through the unknown, and their bodies felt as if wind rushed through them. Then the blue realm flashed, everything changed, and they were in a verdant forest of trees reigning thirty feet tall and higher.
Akielas teleported to Evee Iris. The pentacle had been marked near the gates that was now pieces of wood rising from the ground. On one side was the forest, its beauty verdant and pure, and on the other side was Evee Iris in ruins. Its vestige spread acres away. The village had hundreds of thousands of Elves. Akielas and Auron saw dead bodies in sunken land and broken homes. It was no longer the Evee Iris he remembered when he visited Willow and Eckxio.
Akielas felt remorse and guilt looking at the ruins. Ganicus surveyed the area with eyes wide.
“It’s no wonder they call it the green country. I have never seen this many trees growing in one place before.” Ganicus ran into the forest mindlessly with excitement.
“Careful, Ganicus, you shouldn’t wander the forest alone,” Auron warned, but it was too late. The prince sprinted amongst trees, tall grass, and was already picking wild fruits.
“I am not going to babysit the boy,” Auron told Akielas then gazed at the ruins of Evee Iris. “So, this is where the Elf village was. It has more acres of land than the first village I built with my people years ago. Where are the Elves now?”
“They should be somewhere nearby,” Akielas answered, turned away from the ruins, and walked into the forest.
They paced amongst teak and ceiba trees. Leaves fell from above then split into two and fluttered, leaf insects flew around, schools of parrots sang on trees, and apes rested on branches with their babies. Auron picked a passion mango from its branch, bit it open, and slurped its seeds. Akielas waved his hand using illumancy to track Eckxio or Willow’s maju.
“They walked through here,” he said. “Wait, where did Ganicus go?”
“He ran off into the forest by himself,” Auron replied. “Let’s hope that he doesn’t get attacked by a wild animal.”
They heard the boy screaming, and his footsteps broke twigs as he ran back towards them. He was being chased by a Konkuro, a fifteen feet tall white ape. It jumped from branch to branch as the boy ran below it. Ganicus drew his sword, and Akielas thought the boy was going to hurt the ape. Akielas propelled himself using aeromancy then cast a pulse of wi
nd at the white ape. The Konkuro roared and grunted but ran away. Akielas fell down slowly as wind billowed his cloak.
“What was that?” Ganicus asked, sheathing his sword.
“Don’t ever kill a wild animal in this country. It is forbidden. Stay close to me, and you will stay out of trouble. Our friends are nearby.”
“Sorry, I got too excited being in such a verdant place,” the prince said.
They continued walking through the Spirituah Forest and soon arrived at a campsite. Tents and campfires scattered, and the Elves seemed as vigorous as Akielas remembered them. Evee Iris might have been destroyed, but its presence lingered. The vibe had not changed. Their spirit was still strong. Blacksmiths sharpened swords, archers fixed their bows, mages made new staffs and rods with kapok wood. Children ran in a glade playing with a kite. In the center of the campsite, Akielas saw Sherwood, the king of Elves.
Elves bowed their heads to Akielas as he walked by, and the females curtsied. None were taller than five feet. Elves didn’t grow past that height. They enjoyed the fine things in life and had higher magical abilities than that of humans. Ember’s fiends were more powerful than I thought; the Elves barely survived. The survivors of Evee Iris ate and fed their children. There were more women than men. Akielas knew that there had to be more survivors, perhaps, in other parts of the forest.
Sherwood conversed with his son, Eckxio, and Willow. Akielas noticed two green creatures that floated above them. Two green-skinned giants with butterfly wings and hair streaming colorful like a rainbow. An Eedahlan, he assumed.
Eckxio looked over his shoulder at Akielas. “There he is,” he said as Akielas approached.
“The dragon gods have blessed us all,” Akielas said and embraced Eckxio and Willow.
“Have you found Hertha?” Willow didn’t hesitate to ask.
Akielas frowned, and from his silence, they knew the answer.
“Who is that?” Eckxio pointed at Ganicus.
“I am Ganicus, prince of the Zolan country.” The prince bowed, and as he lowered his head, the Golden Sun hung from his neck. He quickly tucked it in his chest plate.
Sherwood looked at the prince. The old Elf’s bushy eyebrows rose, revealing his small green eyes. “Good dragon gods. Is that what I think it is?” Sherwood marveled at Ganicus’s medallion.
“Oh, this.” Ganicus clutched his medallion and showed it to Sherwood.
The old Elf seemed to know what it was. “One of the Valiarmos. I have only read about it, but I am sure that this is the Golden Sun. Is it not?” Sherwood reached for it and touched the spikes of the medallion and its ruby jewel bedecked in the center.
“That is correct. It was passed down by generations in my dynasty,” Ganicus said, proudly.
“Yes, I see. The Elves had a Valiarmos once,” Sherwood stated.
“What? Where?” Eckxio and Akielas said simultaneously, zooming into Sherwood. The old man dry coughed and stepped away from them. Akielas seemed the most intrigued; he had a passion for treasure hunting and loved collecting rare items, antiques, gemstones, and any magical tool he could get his hands on.
“The Elves once had the Angel armor that was forged by Prodigus Kollos’s brother, millenniums ago,” the old Elf explained and coughed again.
Willow gave him some tea to ease the pain in his chest. The old Elf drank slowly. Akielas and Eckxio waited impatiently for Sherwood to continue his story.
“As I was saying,” Sherwood resumed, “the Angel armor was used by a brave Elf so long ago. It was a magic armor of divine maju. The brave Elf vanished the darkness with the power of the Valiarmos. After that brave Elf died, the original master of the Angel Valiarmos came to repossess it. That is all I know.”
Eckxio and Akielas stared at the old man then at each other. They thought there was more to the story but then sighed and frowned.
“Father, so you have no idea where it could be?” Eckxio asked.
“Not really. However, your grandfather once told me that the Angel Valiarmos belongs to a being of light. I am not sure if that is helpful.” The old man sipped his tea and sat by the campfire.
Everyone else stood up, pondering, while staring at the ground or up at the sky. Akielas thought of a plan to defeat the white mask fiends.
“Even if we had this divine armor, it would be useless if we don’t know where our enemy is,” Auron stated. He had not spoken for a while. All heads turned to him and heeded his words. “It is best not to spend our time chasing after treasures. Our only hope is that Akielas can track one of these white-masked bastards; we team up and obliterate them from the face of Odealeous. Akielas, I suggest you focus your maju on finding them above anything else. You are allowing them to cause havoc. Whether or not they are your children, you have to think about what they are doing and not hesitate to get rid of them.”
Akielas stared at Auron. “Do you have the heart to kill your own daughter?” he asked solemnly.
“No, I don’t, but if I knew she was causing destruction and mass murdering people, I would take the responsibility of ending her life to save thousands of individuals. Unlike you.” Auron walked away after arguing with Akielas. The red-head was cold, but he was right. Akielas knew that he was weak, and someone else would have to silence his apprentices.
“Is that what this is about?” Willow asked and faced Akielas. “I am sorry, Sir Akielas. You know that we are good friends, but these masked villains are too evil. I am no one to judge, but they are too dangerous to be kept alive.”
“I agree,” Eckxio said.
They all stared at Akielas, waiting for him to respond. He didn’t answer. He sat down by the campfire with Sherwood and sipped tea. They joined him and chatted. Auron sat by a tree carving wood, making a toy for his daughter.
Ganicus told them the story of how Hertha stole kaminyte from the pyramid of his grandfather and attacked the capital with fiends. They all liked Ganicus, and as usual, he would draw the attention of the females around him. They had never seen a person with olive skin, besides Eckxio. The Elves liked his hairstyle, dreadlocks, very common in his country. He learned faster than Akielas thought. There were language barriers between Ganicus and the Elves, but they all spoke the language of friendship.
“One of you will have to end them,” Akielas said. Everyone stopped their chatter. “I won’t be able to do it. In fact, I won’t be able to see them die. I raised them. I am their father. I am too attached to them.”
“It will be my pleasure,” Eckxio said, “My Tharos sword will eradicate their darkness.”
“It will be my pleasure, as well,” Auron said. His voice came from behind them; no one had noticed him standing there. “I must go somewhere. I will be back tomorrow,” the red-head said.
“Where are you going?” Akielas asked, walking out of the campfire.
“To see the Amaranth tribe. They are the original keepers of the Crimson Cosmo Jewel that Ember stole. I want to speak with them and see if I can acquire some information regarding the jewel. If there is a way for me to use this piece from the crimson jewel, then they would know. I recommend that you try to find your apprentices, Sir Akielas. I can’t sit here and do nothing. Farewell until tomorrow.”
Akielas watched his son walk away into the forest as night fell. Auron was not the type of man to sit and wait. He was a man of action and was determined to defeat Ember. Akielas decided to rest and wait until tomorrow to find out where he would go next.
Ember
In the highest floors of her tower, Ember melted the metals that were collected throughout Odealeous. Kaminyte, zeustoss, and mythium. Extremely rare minerals containing bits of cosmo within them. In a wide furnace, able to contain hundreds of ores, Ember showered the metals with her flames. Blue fire was quick to melt most metals, but not these rare kinds. Kaminyte and zeustoss took long hours to melt, but mythium melted like common steel.
Her fiends brought more mythium from Verday. They tossed the ores into the furnace, supplying their master.
/> “Pirara azue,” was the spell she used. Her spell illuminated the chamber with a blue hue and buzzed as she cast it from her palm. It was too hot to wear her leather garments, so she worked in her underwear and an old rag top to cover her breasts. She was getting closer to her goal. The tool she was creating with these rare metals was nearly done, but she still needed more zeustoss and two more cosmo jewels to acquire. The Sapphire Cosmo Jewel and The Aero Cosmo Jewel were missing.
“We will find them all.” She talked to herself. “Naunet will find the sapphire jewel, and Jairo is doing his research on the aero jewel. Once we gather them all, we, the Specters of Odealeous, will conquer and cleanse the world of its impurity. The world has yet to atone for Prodigus Kollos’s greatest sin, but we will make things right. The genesis of a new world is near, and once we unite the power of the cosmo jewels, there will be nothing the dragon gods can do to stop us. Hear me, my goddess, Arkana. Soon the stars will align, and the two moons will unite. The world will change forever.”
Her goddess, the phantom of fate and destiny, promised her utter conquest of Odealeous. A privilege that only the gods were entitled to. “With Arkana on my side, the six dragon gods won’t be able to affect my fate. I will no longer be a human, but rather, a being with the right to rule this world. I will be able to pass down judgment and affect the laws of nature.”
There was a knocking on the door, and it irritated Ember. She ignored it and resumed with her work. The knocking persisted; Ember stopped and answered the door. She already knew who it was, but wanted to know if there was any good news or more zuestoss for their invention.
“This better be important, Hertha,” she snarled, staring down at the youngest member of the Specters outside the chamber. “I was in the middle of melting our supply of metals.”
“You won’t believe what Naunet and I took from those pointy-eared rats,” Hertha said, entering the chamber. She removed her mask and hood. Brown bangs fell on her forehead, covering her eyebrows. Her hair reached her chin. Hertha’s eyes were narrow with a bright brown iris. Just like Ember, Hertha had sacrificed her right eye and replaced it with an omiack eye, given to her by their goddess, Arkana. Hertha’s lips were full and chapped. Her skin was tan, a light and smooth bronze color.
Sin of Mages: An Epic Fantasy Series (Rift of Chaos Book 1) Page 16