by Dean Cadman
His circle had come to an end with this image. Helveel had led to Coldmont, and Coldmont to Lamuria, but there was no way he could hope to discover what was painted on the ceiling of Irragin. He just hoped that Lord Zelroth had also failed to discover the whereabouts of that one. Lusam couldn’t help smiling to himself, when he thought of how disappointed Lord Zelroth would be if he did indeed win this battle, only to find a picture of his own home painted on the ceiling there.
The High Priest cleared his throat, snapping Lusam’s attention back to the present. For a moment he had forgotten the man was standing there as he inspected the great work of art high above him.
“Irragin in Mount Nuxvar,” Lusam stated, looking up at the image.
“Yes, you are correct, it is Irragin, but how you would know that I have no idea,” the High Priest replied looking at Lusam strangely. Lusam thought about revealing the importance of the image, and decided it couldn’t harm if the High Priest knew the truth of what the images represented. After all, he was charged with the safe keeping of this particular Guardian book, and had done a good job of it by all accounts, as had his numerous predecessors.
“It is the location of another one of the Guardian books,” Lusam said causing the High Priest to gasp out loud. “At the place where I first discovered a Guardian book there was an image of Coldmont painted on the ceiling. In Coldmont the image was of Lamuria, and here it is of Irragin.”
The High Priest took only a moment to realise the implications of Lusam’s words. “Then that would mean Lord Zelroth has read a Guardian book within Irragin,” he said sounding slightly shocked at the prospect.
“Yes, and also the one in Coldmont I’m afraid,” Lusam replied, still inspecting the image high above them. The High Priest muttered something under his breath, but Lusam couldn’t tell what.
“If you are correct, then he must suspect that there is a Guardian book here in Lamuria.”
“Yes, I believe that’s why he has been so interested in Lamuria for as long as he has. I think stealing The Heart of the City is secondary to him wanting to read the Guardian book here, and also discover what you have painted on this ceiling. I think he would be very disappointed to discover it was a picture of his own temple,” Lusam replied smiling at the High Priest.
“I agree child, but let us hope that we never have to find out. If you will follow me, I will show you to the book room,” the High Priest said, gesturing for them to continue on their way. Lusam nodded and followed the High Priest towards the darkened corridor up ahead, extinguishing his light orb near the ceiling, and sending the other one further in front of them to illuminate the way. The corridor wasn’t very long, and Lusam soon found himself standing outside a familiar stone door, with a five pointed star carved into it. He slipped into his mage-sight and could clearly see the five indentations on the walls, ceiling and floor that needed to be magically connected to each other to open the door.
“The incantation to open the door is quite complex. If you give me a few minutes to prepare I will open it for you,” the High Priest said beginning his preparations. Lusam hoped it was not some kind of sacred rite to open the door. The last thing he wanted to do was offend the High Priest, but he needed to get inside as soon as possible. The more time they wasted, the higher their probability of failure.
“Allow me,” Lusam said, instantly creating an unbroken line of power between the five indentations, even before the High Priest had the chance to reply. The door made a sudden grinding noise, and started its slow opening process. Lusam expected the High Priest to protest, or at least ask him how he had created the spell so fast, but he didn’t, he simply watched Lusam, as Lusam watched the door slowly open.
Once the door had opened far enough to allow him access, Lusam approached it. He carefully stepped across the invisible boundary into the room, and just as it had done in Helveel and Coldmont, the interior of the room burst into light, revealing an identical circular room. In the centre stood a familiar looking pedestal, and on that pedestal a Guardian book.
The first thing Lusam noticed about the Guardian book was the word Transcendence written on the front of it in large golden letters. He remembered the one in Helveel had the word Freedom written on it, and the one in Coldmont had Absolution on its cover. None of the words meant anything of significance to him, either alone or combined. He decided he would ponder over their meaning at a later date, when he had more time to do so.
One other curious thing he noticed, was the fact that the green lines-of-power he had seen in Coldmont, and later in Helveel were absent from the pedestal in this room. So too were the words associated with their relevant destinations. He then remembered that both the green lines-of-power, and the words on the pedestal had only become visible to him after he had read the Guardian book in Coldmont. Once he had thought about it for a moment, he realised that any mage who wished to use the pedestals to teleport from location to location, must need to have already read the Guardian books at each of those locations for it to work. If he was right, both the names and the green lines-of-power would become visible to him after he had read this Guardian book.
Lusam stepped up to the pedestal ready to open the Guardian book, but paused before he touched it. He had an idea which may, or may not prove to be of importance, but he decided to take a gamble anyway.
“Your Grace, I need to ask you to do something for me, but please, don’t ask me why, as I’m unable to answer that question,” Lusam said cryptically.
“What would you ask of me, child?” the High Priest said.
“I would like you to bring me one of the Power orbs and leave it inside this room, for when I regain consciousness,” Lusam replied. The High Priest agreed to his request, assuring him it would be there waiting for him when he regained consciousness. He thanked the High Priest, turned back to the Guardian book, and opened its cover. He was instantly enveloped by a blindingly bright light that burst forth from inside the book, freezing him in time before it. The High Priest watched him for a few more minutes, then turned to leave the room. If he had stayed a few moments longer, he would have witnessed the pulses of Aysha’s light washing over Lusam, as she watched over him.
Chapter Forty-Three
Hershel had all of his men fully assembled for battle by the time Neala caught up with him in the barracks. She guessed the men must have already been on high alert given the current situation outside, but it was still an impressive sight to see so many paladins all in one place ready for battle. Alexia entered the room a moment later carrying what looked like several bundles of arrows.
“I thought you were staying with Lusam?” Alexia said, unwrapping the bundles of arrows on the floor.
“Yeah me too, but I figured I couldn’t let you have all the fun without me,” she replied, grinning at her old friend. “Besides, Aysha gave me these blessed knives, so I guess she wants me to help you fight.”
“Fun, probably isn’t the word I’d use to describe what’s out there,” Alexia replied in a serious voice.
“Oh, come on, you’re not scared of a few thousand undead are you?” Neala said with a nervous laugh.
“The undead… no. It’s the thousands of Empire magi that are making me slightly nervous,” Alexia replied, grinning up at her friend. She noticed Neala seemed unusually anxious about the coming battle, but didn’t know exactly why. She had fought alongside Neala many times in the past, and never had she seen her so unsure of herself. Alexia knew very well how good she was with a blade. No one that Alexia had ever seen her fight, had even come close to beating her in the past. So why she would suddenly be afraid of fighting the undead outside Lamuria was confusing to her. Then she suddenly realised the problem. It wasn’t her faith in her own ability to fight that she was questioning, it was her faith in Aysha: if she failed to wield her new blessed weapons, she would be defenceless on the battlefield. She simply couldn’t allow her best friend to enter battle with doubts like that, or she would never survive out there.
&nb
sp; Alexia stood up and took hold of both of Neala’s hands. She looked her straight in the eyes, and said, “Neala, listen to me. I can see you’re having doubts about whether or not you’ll be able to use those blessed weapons that Aysha gave you. You just need to put your faith in her, and she will not let you down out there, I promise you. Open your heart to her fully, and let her in, Neala. Think about it, she would never have given you those blessed knives, if she didn’t know you were capable of using them, Neala.”
Neala smiled and nodded at her words of encouragement, but Alexia could tell she hadn’t managed to erase all her doubts, and knew that could be very dangerous for her out there. A few moments later Alexia noticed Hershel heading back towards the armoury, and hurried to catch him up. Her excuse to Neala was that she was needed there to help with the equipment distribution, but really she wanted a quiet word with Hershel about Neala’s frame of mind.
“Sir, may I have a quiet word,” Alexia called after him. He stopped in his tracks and waited for her to catch up to him.
“Is there a problem, Alexia? If any of the men are giving you a hard time just let me know their names, and I’ll sort them out. I’m sorry they aren’t used to having female company in the barracks—” Hershel said, but was cut short by Alexia.
“No, sir, the men have been no trouble, but thank you. I needed to speak with you about Neala. She’s having doubts about the upcoming battle. I tried to talk to her about it, but I’m not sure I made any difference.”
“Everyone has their doubts before going into battle, Alexia, it’s perfectly natural,” Hershel replied.
“No, sir, you don’t understand. She doesn’t doubt her ability to fight, she is doubting her ability to use the blessed weapons Aysha gave her. She is doubting whether or not she will have the faith to use them in battle.”
“Oh, I see. That could be a big problem for her out there with all those undead walking around. I don’t suppose we could convince her to stay inside the city could we?” he asked hopefully.
“I doubt it, she believes Aysha gave her the knives so she could help Lusam, and she’s probably right. I was wondering if there was any way we could keep an eye on her out there, so she doesn’t go and get herself killed?”
“Leave it with me, I’ll think of something,” Hershel said, “and by the way, you don’t have to call me sir when we’re out of earshot of the men. After all, once this is all over, you will most likely be in command of the new female branch of Aysha’s paladins.”
“Me?… But I don’t know anything about being a paladin myself yet, how can I possibly lead others?” Alexia asked, shocked by what Hershel had just said.
“Well, you’re the most senior female paladin we currently have, and you were ordained by Aysha herself. I’d also bet a month’s wage that by the end of today you’ll know plenty about being a paladin,” Hershel replied grinning at her, but also noticing how apprehensive she’d just become. “Don’t worry too much, Alexia, I’m sure it won’t happen overnight. We still need to find more women willing to join up first, so you should have plenty of time to learn how we operate before then. Besides, most of a paladin’s training revolves around cultivating their faith in Aysha—so they are able to use their blessed weapon—and I would say you’ve already scored top marks in that regard. Then there’s weapon’s mastery, which by all accounts, it seems you score pretty highly there too, according to Renn. Which only leaves you with the history of our order and that of the High Temple’s to learn, and I’m sure I can help you with that.”
Alexia was about to respond, when they were interrupted by one of Hershel’s men bursting into the room.
“Sir, there’s movement on the southern edge of the valley. It looks like they are preparing to attack the city,” the paladin said. Hershel swore under his breath, he had been hoping for more time, but knew it had finally run out.
“Thank you Captain Garett, I’ll be right there,” Hershel replied dismissing the man. He waited until Captain Garret was out of earshot before turning back to Alexia.
“I don’t suppose you know how long it will take Lusam to read that Guardian book do you?” he asked hopefully.
“No idea, sorry. I’m not sure anyone does to be honest. All I know is that he was unconscious for about two hours when he read the one in Coldmont. Which apparently, was more than double the amount of time it took him to recover from the first book he read, according to Neala,” Alexia replied, knowing it wasn’t much help.
“I see,” Hershel replied, lost deep in thought. “We better hope and pray that he wakes up much sooner than four of five hours, or it won’t just be female paladins we’ll be short of.”
Over two hundred paladins stood in formation waiting patiently for Hershel to address them. The atmosphere was one of quiet resignation and reflection. Each man knew the insurmountable odds they faced once outside the gates of Lamuria. Their concern was not for the massive numbers of undead, but for the thousands of Empire magi massed at the southern end of the valley. The undead were easily dispatched by the paladin’s blessed weapons, but the magi, that was a different matter entirely. The Empire magi had the advantage of the high ground, and also the vast range from which they could attack. The paladins would only be effective at close quarters against them, and that would be impossible when they were massed along the cliff-tops as they were. The paladins knew that if they tried to circumnavigate the cliff-tops and attack the magi directly, it would take them far too long to reach their position. The magi would see them coming with plenty of time to react, and the general consensus was that the Empire would launch everything they had at the city before the paladins arrived. If that happened, the shield would fail quickly, and the undead would be free to wreak havoc within the city, killing everyone inside.
The men knew how precarious the city’s magical defences were, and knew their mission was ultimately a hopeless one. They believed they were simply buying Lamuria’s citizens extra time with their lives, and all were prepared to do so without question or regret. If they could clear enough of the undead, it might enable many of the citizens of Lamuria to escape with their lives before the city was completely destroyed. They knew nothing of Lusam, or the Guardian book in the High Temple.
Rumours had circulated throughout the barracks of a powerful young mage who had recently arrived in the city. One who had saved a group of paladins and healed their injured comrades. There was even speculation it was the same mage responsible for healing two men at The Sanctum of Light in Lamuria several months earlier. All of the rumours however, were tainted by the unbelievable tale of the same mage being able perform magic without having to speak any incantations—something no sane man could possibly believe.
Hershel silently paced back and forth in front of his men. Men he had known in some cases for many years, and shed blood with on numerous occasions. Others, he had only recently being in charge of training a few short weeks earlier in Stelgad. He knew, as well as they did, that many of them would die on the battlefield before the day was through. He could see the acceptance of it in all their faces, as he met each man’s eyes in the formation before him. They had lost all hope, and now clung only to their faith in Aysha, that she would deliver them from this life as swiftly and painlessly as possible when their time came.
Hershel knew from experience that when a man had lost all hope even before stepping foot on the battlefield, they would often quickly fall. He needed to somehow give them their hope back, or this battle would be over before it had even begun. They needed something to believe in. Something that would sustain them possibly for hours on the battlefield when all else looked lost, and that something had to be Lusam. He knew every man before him knew the story of the Guardians and their books, and if anything could bring them hope, it was that. He stopped pacing, and turned to face his men.
“Gentlemen, I will not lie to you, the odds are overwhelming against us, and many of us will not live through this day. But for those of you who do fall upon the battlefield, kn
ow this… Aysha will be there to greet you. I know this to be true, because she told me herself this very day, of that I swear to you in her name. When I look at your faces, I see all hope has fled from your eyes. I see only resignation, that death will soon claim you, and that our sacred High Temple will soon fall into the hands of the Empire. Well, I’m here to tell you that is not true. We do have hope. In fact, we have more than hope, we have a real chance of winning this battle.” Hershel paused for a moment, letting his men digest what he had just told them, then he continued.
“How? I hear you ask. Well, let me tell you. I’m certain by now that most of you have heard the rumours of a powerful young mage arriving in Lamuria. Well I can confirm those rumours are true—”
“Sorry, sir, but what use is one mage going to be against that army of Empire magi?” one of the men said, cutting Hershel off mid-sentence. Hershel nodded his head at the man, then continued.
“You’re right, of course son. One mage against that army would be no use at all, but he is not just a mage. Before arriving in Lamuria with Renn and his friends, Alexia and Neala here,” Hershel said gesturing towards each in turn, “they did something that no one has been able to achieve in over two thousand years. They discovered the location of the fabled temple of the Guardians… Coldmont.”
Everyone looked towards Renn for confirmation of Hershel’s words, unable to comprehend what he had just told them all, and what the implications were for the battle to come. Hershel continued over the top of the men’s murmurings.
“Gentlemen, that is only part of the incredible news I must share with you. Whilst they were there, they discovered one of the lost Guardian books, and what’s more, the young mage read it,” Hershel said, as the crowd of men erupted in excited chatter. He held up his hand to quieten the men, and a moment later they fell silent once more.