by Bri Sailor
“I’m not entirely sure myself.” Said the king. “It just seems…odd.”
He walked up to the statue and started to climb up. His curiosity was piqued and something was telling him to investigate. He pulled himself up and came face to face with the diamond. It was nearly the size of his head! He traced a finger around the edge.
“It’s like its sticking out. Almost as if it were forced in.” he called down to Arainya.
“Can you loosen it?” she hollered back.
The king tried to pick and pull at the gem with his fingers. It moved some but he wasn’t quite able to get a grip. He thought a moment and chewed the inside of his cheek. He focused a moment and the tips of his fingers turned into claws. The pointed talons were able to fit the small rim of the diamond and carefully worked it out. He caught the stone before it could fall to the ground. All the breath left his lungs as he gazed at the hole.
“Arainya!” he shouted, sounding almost panicked.
“What do you see? What do you see?” she gasped.
The king balanced the massive diamond between his leg and the statue while still holding on. He reached his free hand into the cavity where the diamond had been guarding. His eyes threatened to pop out of his head and he forgot how to breathe. There, sparkling in his clawed hand was a rectangular crystal. He could swear an otherworldly light was softly emanating from it. The queen felt shivers down her spine.
“I-is-is t-that—”
“A crystal.” Finished Toran in complete shock.
He quickly shoved it into his pocket and hefted the massive diamond back into place. He then jumped some forty feet to the ground. He pulled the crystal out for Arainya to see. The queen was speechless as she ran a finger over the cool, smooth surface.
“It’s a sign.” She gasped.
“Ailana is still in this fight. And so are we.” Declared Toran triumphantly.
#
Ehren sighed and shook his head as they continued to make their way back to Dragonhearth.
“I still am in shock that both you and Ky were able to transform, let alone Kova. And what it means for our enemies.”
Atreyis nodded in agreement. “I understand. But given the sheer amount of Black soldiers that are now our prisoners, I think we may be able to use them. Which then, with all of our combined forces should be enough to finish Lusha off. With nearly her entire army gone I don’t think it matters how powerful she is. Thousands of tiny raindrops can quickly become an overwhelming flood.”
“I don’t trust it.” interjected Cora. “The Darkness is unlike anything I’ve felt before. It’s almost as if I can see it right now.” She looked off in the distance past the city. “My mind’s eye sees nothing but Darkness ahead. The dread in my heart feels like a warning. Somehow I just know it. Lusha is going to use the Mälgrav in some way. I know she’s done it before.”
Ehren and Atreyis were concerned.
Cora continued. “I don’t know how she will do it. They can’t take corporal form. At least, not in this realm.”
“Do you know of any way to fight these beings?” asked Ehren with a sense of urgency. Atreyis could already see the wheels turning in his head as he began planning strategies.
Cora shook her head. “It’s like a distant memory that I just can’t quite bring to light. I need to get back to the library. I feel the answer is there.”
No sooner had they entered the city a smiling Arainya and a wide-eyed Toran ran to meet them.
“The Goddess has saved us yet again!” cried the queen happily.
She ran up to Cora and placed an object in her hands. The priestess’ heart stopped and she sucked in a sharp breath. There in her hands sparkled the third crystal shard.
“By the gods!” exclaimed Ehren.
“Where did you find it?” gasped Atreyis.
“From the Goddess.” Said Toran simply.
Everyone looked at him for the answer since he thought it was so obvious.
“We were in the library when I noticed something odd about the diamond placed in the statue of Ailana. I climbed up and the crystal was hidden behind it.”
Cora bit her lip and hardened her face. “This may put us a step closer but we still have so far to go. We haven’t heard anything from Nya yet. It’s premature to celebrate anything at this point.”
The king and queen’s eyes were slightly downcast as their hope faded.
“I think we need to find what little moments of happiness we can and just…enjoy them for even the briefest of moments.” Said Ehren solemnly. “It is one of the few things we have left.”
Cora pretended not to hear him while she put the crystal in the pocket of her robes and made her way back to the library. The prince looked at his father.
“We need to see to the troops. Find every single one that is Descended. If Kova doesn’t return soon I want Atreyis to show us how this transformation works. If we stand any chance against whatever unknown adversary is coming our way, we need to utilize all of our potential.”
“I agree.” said Toran.
Ehren continued. “Cora has a feeling that Lusha has yet to display her full powers. She fears that somehow the witch is going to use the Mälgrav. She says all she can see now is Darkness ahead.”
The queen’s eyes widened with fear and the king grew grim.
The prince frowned. “Cora says they can’t take on physical forms in our realm. But regardless, we have no idea what they are capable of. We need every advantage we can create.”
#
The throne room door groaned under its own weight as Drax slowly pushed it open. Kova was sitting on her throne holding her head in her hands.
“My queen?” asked the large man softly.
Kova looked up at the intrusion. Her eyes were red and her face tear-streaked. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed.
“Drax! What are you doing here?”
The large man humbly walked up to the throne. “I wanted to make sure you are okay. You scared everyone, you know?”
“I see.” Said the queen as she composed herself. “I’m surprised that anyone seemed to notice.”
Drax smiled sheepishly. “Well, it is hard to not notice a giant green dragon flying around.”
“Mmm.” Grunted the queen.
“How did you do it?”
Kova shrugged her shoulders. “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish with sheer willpower.”
“Oh.” He scratched his head. “So are you coming back?”
The queen shook her head. “No I don’t believe so, Drax. It’s time to come out of the trees and unite our people. No more separation.”
The man looked confused. “But some have been there since they were born.”
“No!” Kova exploded up. “No separation! We will be together! I won’t lose anyone else!”
Drax scrunched his face in confusion. “I don’t understand. No one is being separated.”
The queen’s eyes suddenly changed into an intensely bright green. She whirled around and picked up the heavy wooden throne and heaved it across the room. A deafening boom echoed in the room as the wood splintered and broke. Drax looked on in shock.
“My queen? Are you—”
Kova spit flames. “It didn’t bring them back!”
In a split second Drax was across the room and wrapped his thick arm around the small woman and held her tight. Her roars of anger turned to anguish as the floodgates opened and the sorrow overwhelmed her. Her solid muscular frame shook as she sobbed.
“It didn’t bring them back.” She cried softly.
“Who?” asked Drax, he was genuinely confused.
Kova gently pushed him away. She wiped away the tears from her puffy eyes.
“For years I naively…no, foolishly, believed that the day Philgen was dead it would finally bring me some peace. That my family would finally be able to rest.” She sniffed and threw her hands up in defeat. “I was wrong! Wrong!”
She fought the tears. “The rat-bastard is dead. By my o
wn hand no less. And it fixed nothing! Nothing I tell you!”
Drax looked at his feet. “I’m sorry, my queen
“I don’t deserve your pity, Drax, but thank you.”
Kova sat on the floor where the throne had been. She slammed her fist down on the trap door.
“Why me? Why was I the only one? How did I survive?” she felt the wood beneath her. “Why not any of them? Why couldn’t I save them?”
Drax was at a loss for words. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, my queen. Maybe because the Goddess knew you had the strength to make things right.”
The queen rubbed her face. “Yes, well, I now find my strength sapped. I spent so many years planning. Lost dozens of lives. Made multiple attempts on his life. Now that he’s gone what more do I have? I’m so tired.”
“Then rest.” Replied Drax simply.
Kova’s eyes softened. “It’s not that simple.”
“Yes it is.” Said Drax matter-of-factly. “He’s dead. The witch is gone. There are no other threats. Now is the time to rest.”
Kova stood up and gave him a hug. “I thank you, my friend. But this is my burden to bear. My lesson."
She stepped back and looked into his warm brown eyes. “My throne is no longer here. We will return to Dragonhearth. From there I shall rule. Now that I look around. This was never my home.”
The queen looked around the empty palace throne room. Stripped of all its glory by Philgen and his occupation.
“There are just too many memories that have been tainted by evil. There’s a darkness here that may never go away.”
Chapter 15
Cora’s brow was furrowed so tightly that she was beginning to get a headache. She tried to ignore it as she focused intently on the pages before her. She had raced through the library and went straight for the twelve books in their glass cases. Whatever fear she had previously felt, just at the sight of them, was now replaced with fervor. Seeing only Darkness fueled her, but seeing Kova’s transformation was her fire. The priestess could feel it in her bones. The witch was going to use the Mälgrav in some way. And all Descended are capable of transforming. What did it all mean? Were Ky and Atreyis simply catalysts? That because they could transform it allowed for others to follow? No. It had to be more complicated. That was too easy. Her focus returned to the evil pages before her. Rituals. Spells. History. The Priesthood of Béloneras, the White Dragon. She paused as a passage from one the books she had studied in her training came to mind.
Every person has light and dark within them, but it’s the one that is fed that grows. For some, instant gratification is too attractive. The White Priesthood was founded by such souls. They had been promised power in the realm of men and rose to great heights before the Vvarrío appeared and attempted to right all of their wrongs.
Cora shook her head and sighed. The books she was reading now, however, painted the Vvarrío as the true villains. Cora sighed in frustration as she continued. The book talked about how those that chose to follow Béloneras were “rewarded” in the spirit realm by becoming a Mälgrav. At least, that was how she interpreted it. She wondered why anyone would want such a fate.
The willing become that which they so worshipped. The reviled ones.
She slammed the book shut, unable to read any further. Tossing the book across the table she leaned back in her chair. The more she dug into the past and the longer she remained in the hidden vault library, the more she felt as if everything that she had been taught was a lie. Sure, there were some truths and there were half-truths, but there were so many unanswered questions. Her grasp of reality was loosened after what she had seen when Lusha pulled Atreyis and Ky into the Realm of Spirits through their dreams. She had ventured at times into that place. Sat on the mountain tops. Walked through the rolling meadows. Sat at a crystal clear babbling brook in the forest. But that temple. The Darkness. That was something beyond.
“Where do the Mälgrav even come from?” she tilted her head back and asked the ceiling and the Goddess. “Do we even go to the Realm of the Spirits? Is it the same as where you are from, my Goddess? Where did evil even come from? Why does it exist? Why does any of this exist? I can feel an expansion in my soul. Your soul. There is so much more. I know it. But my feeble mind can hardly begin to grasp it.”
A strange wind blew through the empty library and made the fires flicker and go out. Cora jumped up and conjured a few small balls of light and scattered them around her. The hairs raised on the back of her neck as she was all-too aware that a presence was with her. Her heart pounded as she tried to focus. It didn’t feel malicious. She tried to clear her mind. The wind blew again. One of the forbidden books on top of her stack of books fell off and landed face down on the table. Just as she was about to reach for it a scroll seemingly fell out of nowhere next to the book. The wind stopped and the fires came back to life. The shaken priestess left her orbs of light around her as she sat back down at the table. She cautiously reached out a shaking hand and flipped the book over and read the pages. It was written is Axörg, the language of the Ever Dark, but it was somehow different. As she stared at the runes they shifted and began to make sense as her eyes started to glow gold.
Darkness has been since the beginning. And before. It will remain after. Beginning is a fallacy. As is the End. Time is round. Just as Spring follows Winter, Winter will come again. Patterns. The river of time is a vast, endless waters. True Power will always be obtained. Taken! Stolen! From the Weak to the Strong! Darkness is the Power. Darkness is not the Balance, it is the Scale! It does not Invert, it Reveals! It is the way of true Knowledge. Death only resumes the Cycle! The Self is the Ultimate! Others serve the Self. The Watchers watch. The Watchers are curators. They create Order. Create Chaos. They are the Original. They stretch beyond Gods and Men. They are Dominion. All are subservient. Blood. Suffering. Death. Pain. Darkness. All are the only Truths!
A deep shiver ran through Cora’s entire body as she violently shook with fear. She could feel the evil pouring off of the pages of the book. In one swift movement she waved her arm and sent the book flying into the darkness. If she never read the vile thing again it would be too soon. Her heart raced and fluttered as the Darkness tried to suffocate her. She could feel hundreds. No thousands. No more. So much more. She could feel each of their evil souls. She could feel what was waiting out there, wanting to be released. A fire burned along her spine, in her belly, and up to her head as her eyes burned gold and she imagined a bright white light wiping all of it out. The evil felt as if it had left and she started to calm down some. The enigmatic scroll that had landed next to that dark tome rolled towards her. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. The Darkness would not overtake her this time. She broke open the ancient wax seal and unrolled the ancient, leathery parchment. A soft warmth washed over her body and soul as she recognized the beautiful flowing language of the gods.
All have existed since Creation. Even at its birth, Light cast a Shadow. A natural consequence. Balance. They cannot exist without Each Other. Beginnings are Endings. So the Cycle continues. The Power Within is far greater than Without. Intent, not Force. Time’s endless waters are vast and forever deep. Light and Dark exist in the Beyond. And beyond the Beyond. Love. Love is what Is. Love is All. Others are Love. All are Sovereign. Gods within, Gods without. Love is Truth. Love is Balance. Love is the Highest.
Her thoughts were interrupted as someone placed a plate of food and a drink in front of her.
“Eat.” Said Joslette softly. “You’ve been at this for hours. Even the gods ate and took breaks.”
Cora politely obliged the queen and sat down the dark tome. She picked at her food.
“Have you found anything?” asked the priestess queen.
The high priestess sighed. “I’m not sure. So far all of these vile abominations seem to agree that those demons are unable to take physical form in our realm. They do have the ability to attack through dreams, but unless they are channeled they can do little more than cause ment
al anguish. But that can be enough if done correctly or the person is susceptible to it. What I saw Ky and Atreyis fighting…” a shiver passed through her. “If such beings were able to take corporal form…I can’t even imagine…”
Chapter 16
Atreyis lay next to Ky’s cold body. She had no tears left. The sun had set and the night breeze felt almost cold.
“Kova transformed.” Said the princess softly. “Even without you here you can still bring about change. You seem to have a knack for pushing people. Your transformation pushed Kova’s and mine. You pushed to get your command back. You pushed my father and subsequently opened his eyes. You pushed back against the very tyranny you helped install and helped free people.”
Atreyis took in a deep breath and sighed loudly. “And you pushed me to become more.”