by Des Pensable
‘The Inter-World Druid Council believes that some god had the temples put here for a purpose and another god or group of gods destroyed them. Why is unknown.’
‘We have never seen the inside of the two that are operational. When we heard that you and Aquitain had gained entry to one we tried to get in after you were gone and couldn’t get in. What does that suggest?’
‘His father helped him get in.’ Proffered Quab.
‘Or perhaps a Goddess let him get in.’ said Miranda. ‘Or wanted him to get in. That’s where Aquitain lost Alpha and Zephira. Maybe it was planned all along. Everything. The Mask of Chaos, everything. It was all planned to separate Aquitain and the dragon spirit in Alpha. That’s why Zephira wasn’t harmed and why alpha was sealed so that it couldn’t communicate.’
‘Then surely whatever the dragon spirit in alpha wanted to do has been stopped.’ said Quab.
‘Not necessarily.’ replied Granddad. ‘If the dragon spirit in alpha implanted a plan of action in either Aquitain or his father’s head then they may do it without realizing it.’
‘Oh. Dear Lady!’ said Miranda. ‘I’ve got to go to warn Aquitain!’
‘That’s not a good idea M’Lady.’ said a voice in her mind. ‘You may get hurt. I’m sure Aquitain sent you away from Astaria for a good reason.’
Chapter 36 Puppets of the Gods
Miranda searched her mind for who could have spoken into her mind and suddenly she knew who it was. She made the hand signal to Granddad to link minds. He was a little surprised that she knew that family signal but created a link.
‘What is it Your Highness.’ he asked.
‘There is a puppeteer controlling one of us hopefully not you. Its name is Slivver. Don’t kill it. It’s a friend but we need to interrogate it. I’ll create a diversion.’ and she prayed silently to the Lady that it wasn’t on Granddad.
Miranda suddenly stood and began singing a soothing song she guessed might put Slivver to sleep.
‘Stop that Miranda.’ said Featherdown but she didn’t. Suddenly there was a mental attack. She stopped singing and fought against it. Granddad saw the attack coming and attacked Featherdown’s mind. A cockroach ran out of Granddad’s gown across the floor and up the back of Featherdown’s chair. A word of stunning was spoken and Featherdown slumped forward then came back to his senses.
‘Get it off me!’ he shouted and Miranda ran around behind him and felt just below his neck and peeled off Slivver.
‘I hope you didn’t kill it. I want that satisfaction. I’m going to make it suffer.’ he said with vengeance in his voice.
‘I’m sorry but you can’t hurt it.’ replied Miranda cupping it in her hand.
‘It’s a friend of mine.’
‘You’re responsible for inflicting it on me?’ he asked sounding a little confused.
‘No of course not! Lord Borse probably did.’ replied Miranda.
‘What’s going on!’ demanded the king.
‘There may be more.’ said Helix to all of them and he flew onto the King. They heard another word of stunning and the King slumped forward. Miranda rushed over to the king and checked his neck. There’s none here.
Heteronymous returned to his senses then slapped his chest.
‘It’s in here. In my lungs I think. Hold on!’ and he moved out of his chair and changed shape into an air elemental and it fell to ground. He changed back to his newman form and gleefully trod on it making sure it was thoroughly squashed.’
‘You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to do that! Check the others.’ He shouted and Helix flew onto each person checked them and declared them free of parasites.
Quab sat there amazed.
‘Do you mean to tell me that you two have been controlled by leaches?’
‘Not leaches, Quab!’ said Granddad. ‘Psychic parasites also called puppeteers. Really nasty little critters! You should kill it Your Highness.’
‘Nope sorry! It stays alive. Now put it on me and wake it.’ said Miranda.
‘You can’t be serious.’ replied Featherdown. ‘It’ll control you.’
‘Perhaps not!’ suggested Helix using mindspeak to all of them.
‘Would you mind introducing yourself cockroach.’ asked Miranda.
An illusory image of an elderly man with a long white beard appeared beside the King.
‘Miranda, Your Highness, let me present Lord Helix, Ambassador of the Inter-World Alliance. He is a friend of mine.’ said Granddad.
‘I am told he was instrumental in helping us defeat the Panmagicans at the battle at the Druid Enclave.’
The illusory image of Helix bowed to Miranda.
‘It is most pleasant to finally meet you Your Highness. You should know that I am a good friend and have been a tutor of Rob and his father. I certainly believe that his father was not aware of what would happen when he joined spirits with Aquitain’s mother. He has also honoured his agreement for release and has felt and been made to feel guilty all Rob’s life. Now that we are alone perhaps we can proceed to find out what our little spy as got to say.’
Miranda lifted her hair and placed Slivver on her neck and Helix awoke on him.
A minute later Slivver awoke and began a mindspeak conversation with Miranda that only she could hear. The others waited patiently watching for any signs that she might be being manipulated by the creature.
‘You trusted me. M’Lady. Thank you’ he said happily.
‘Yes. I trust you, my little friend.’ she replied. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’
‘Well we were together when you and Aquitain visited your mother at the nymph camp. Somehow Adonis realized that someone was looking at his spirit and he thought that it must somehow be you. So he stunned your mind and I fell off. When I woke you and Aquitain were gone. I was found by Adonis and questioned by him. I’m afraid I told him where you were. He then took me somewhere where I was questioned by Lord Borse. and I told him everything. Then Lord Borse had me delivered to the Chancellor’s clone body and when he died and took up residence in his clone I was there to look after him.’
‘Really!’ said Miranda and looked at Featherdown.
‘When did you die and transfer to your clone body.’
‘What!’ said both Quab and Heteronymous totally surprised. ‘You died. When?’
‘Hmm … this is most embarrassing but I suppose you should know. I was very arrogant and suffered for it. I died trying to get the Panmagicans army to retreat. I thought I had a deal with Archwizard Firestorm then one of the High Priest Kelnor’s religious fanatics called my bluff and we all died as I was holding a glass bulb of a particularly lethal poisonous gas. My spirit was transported to my clone body and that creature which has been working me to death ambushed me. The rules and titles are all its doing.’
‘Not mine.’ said Slivver to Miranda. ‘Lord Borse told me that he likes a tidy ship and told me to do it.’
‘The new titles seem to me to be a good idea.’ stated the new King.
‘The titles and rules were all instituted by Lord Borse.’ said Miranda and it makes perfect sense. It is exactly like what happened on Moonmist. The Queen was possessed and controlled by a Mentarin spirit. She ran her kingdom for decades and no one knew she was a slave to the Mentarin. If the Chancellor and the King had puppeteers then it seems like the Mentarin were trying to control Mudrun as well.’
‘Wait a minute.’ said Featherdown you mentioned a Lord Borse. ‘I seem to recall a wizard by the name of Borse was the founder of the Mentarin and died hundreds of years ago.’
‘That is correct.’ replied Helix.
‘An Arch mind wizard by the name of Borse was one of the leaders of the Mentarin movement over a thousand years ago. They were a society of mind wizards dedicated to researching advanced magic and I’m told methods of achieving longevity. I suppose that it is possible that he discovered a way to keep alive and if so he may have ascended to a lower level of divinity.’
‘By the Lady, this is disturbi
ng.’ said Quab. ‘Who did you report to Lord Chancellor?’
‘I don’t know but I had to send a dream sending each night with the day’s progress. It could have been Borse I guess.’
‘So the King and the Lord Chancellor are both lackeys of external Powers or organizations. I trusted you both. I thought we could fight whatever was causing the troubles in Mudrun. Now I know we are all just puppets. We’re nothing. We can’t even control our own minds.’ said Quab angrily.
‘Yes we have been controlled Quab but now we’re free.’ replied Miranda. ‘Aquitain freed me and my people on Moonmist who have been controlled for decades. He created bracelets that would block the Mentarin from possessing them. You can do that here on Mudrun. My people on Moonmist are trying to fight back. They are much worse off than you are here. We have to free our people from these Mentarin and any others who would control our lives.’
‘Bravo! Well said Your Highness.’ said Granddad.
‘She’s right you know.’ added Featherdown.
‘We’re free and we’re starting to know our enemy. We are learning his tricks. We can devise ways to block him. Knowing your enemy is the first step to defeating him. I have spent most of my life helping people to overthrow tyrants who wanted to control them. They wanted their lives and thoughts to be their own. After being controlled by Slivver I now know how they felt.’
‘Me too.’ added the King. ‘It’s bloody unnatural.’
‘How do we fight Gods?’ asked Chantalot a little despondent.
A moment later in teleported an aged looking Newman dressed in a simple druid gown but exuding palpable power.
‘Am I late?’ he inquired.
‘Who are you and how did you get in here?’ asked the King gruffly.
Helix’s image suddenly appeared beside the man.
‘Let me introduce Lord Granite, Protector of Crystalhaven and Moonmist. He is an elemental dragon of great antiquity. I might add that Crystalhaven is the true name of Mudrun.’
‘Thank you Lord Helix.’ replied Granite.
Everyone jumped to their feet speechless and bowed. Elemental dragons were legendary and believed to have disappeared hundreds of years ago.
He walked over to Granddad and shook his hand.
‘Aquitain has a high opinion of you sir.’ and he looked at Miranda and said ‘ and you are his chosen, my dear.’
Both Miranda and Granddad were in shock and unable to talk. They just nodded.’
He walked around to her and gave her a hug.
‘I gather you’re all trying to work out what’s happening?’ he said.
‘Yes.’ said Featherdown. ‘Your err … Excellency?’
‘Just call me Granite!’ he said. ‘I don’t go for fancy titles. It’s what you do that counts not what you call yourself.’ And he sat beside Miranda. Everybody quickly sat down in their chairs and Quab moved to the chair on Granite’s left side.
There was absolute quiet as everyone breathlessly waited to hear what Granite had to say. He gazed at each person except Miranda for a few seconds and they felt he knew everything about them.
‘I was the Collector and Guardian of Crystalhaven which I’m told is now called Mudrun. I was a little foolish in my trust of one of the immortals and became trapped on Moonmist. Aquitain set me free. I have spent my time since then trying to catch up on what has happened during my absence. I am not happy with the current situation. As a collector I was bound to only record what happened on Crystalhaven and forbidden to influence the events that happen here. As the guardian I was charged with protecting it from outside influence. I failed on both accounts.’
‘It would seem that Borse and my son Aquiveritas have been involved in what has transpired here. My son was imprisoned as a punishment for his recklessness and it seems he has still managed to get into trouble while there. I see you have found him.’ and he pointed to Alpha.
While everyone else was thinking about what they might ask Granite, Miranda spoke up.
‘Aquitain is on Astaria right now. A large number of Mentarin and mercenaries are also there. Aquitain is working on how to get rid of them. Perhaps you could help. He sent me away to hide Tigerlilly. I’m very worried about him.’
‘Who is Tigerlilly?’ he asked.
‘Our daughter.’ she replied.
Granite seemed rather thoughtful and said
‘Well this is unexpected. Tell me about her.’
Miranda told them the story of how her spirit was captured at the Queen’s Ball by the Mentarin and placed in the Felynx body and how Aquitain found her in the land of dreams and they made Tigerlilly as a construct to help find her spirit but she turned out to be a real child.
Granite asked her several questions and then was quiet for a minute or two.
‘It seems the situation may be more involved that I thought. Where is Tigerlilly now?’ asked Granite.
Miranda was about to tell him but changed her mind
‘I’m sorry. Aquitain told me not to tell him or anyone else.’
Everyone present was shocked at Miranda’s refusal to tell Granite.
Granite looked at her for several seconds and said.
‘So be it. I now begin to understand what Aquitain sees in you. Good for you! As you can imagine I’m quite busy catching up on the situation at the moment. I might borrow my son if I may.’ And he and Alpha disappeared.
‘Well! Where do we go from here?’ asked Granddad but he got no response from the others they were all too busy with a myriad of thoughts.
‘Aquiveritas is a rather short name for a dragon.’ said Chantalot suddenly. ‘They usually have longer names.’
‘That’s correct said Granddad. His full name is Aquiveritasgranitoberylax.’ he replied. ‘We called him AG for short.’
‘Hm … I know a little about dragon names.’ said Heteronymous. ‘Aquiveritas is the name he gave himself and the other part is his parent’s names. His parents would have been a dragon with its name containing the word Granite and the other with the name containing Beryl. This suggests they were rock based elemental dragons.
‘Beryl! That was the name of Lithgala before she was elevated to minor power. I wonder if it is Aquiveritas’s mother?’ stated Miranda. ‘Aquitain asked about Lithgala he said that Alin Amber was a Warden of Lithgala.’
‘By the powers, Alin Amber was the one spreading the story about the Time of Troubles and predicting the arrival of Aquitain.’ replied Featherdown. ‘That suggests that she is involved in a plot through her son.’
‘I have heard enough in this meeting to make several new legendary songs but I suppose I will have to keep them all secret.’ quipped Chantalot.
‘Yes you will! Let’s get back to working out what we should be doing.’ said the King pointedly.
‘If we can work out which gods might be involved maybe we can work out what they’re up to.’
‘Well it sounds like Borse, Lithgala and the Lady to start with.’ suggested Chantalot. ‘and possibly some Yith god and a couple from Panmagica.’
‘I think the Lady must have been forced into whatever’s happening by the other Gods.’ added Quab. ‘That’s why Miranda is with Aquitain.’
Miranda blushed and Granddad said ‘That’s a bit harsh.’
‘Come on it’s true and you all know it.’ said Quab.
‘Miranda was thrown at Aquitain as a spy for the Lady so that she has control over him. That’s what the tattoo is all about. She’s his reward if he does what the Lady wants.’
Everyone looked at Miranda in absolute silence.
‘Quab’s correct. Aquitain and I have already come to the same conclusion but he loves me anyway and I love him. None of you know Aquitain like I do. He loves me and Tigerlilly more than anything but he also loves all of you. He doesn’t care about the Gods. He does things because he believes they are right. He never believed he was an Agent of Chaos but he is. He was told that there are no rules when you are an Agent of Chaos so he makes his own. He said he is jus
t a simple merchant and the Gods will have to pay a heavy price for what they want us to do and I believe him.’
‘When I met him on a beach outside of Twin Towers a few months back he or perhaps his avatar father gave me a mere glimpse of the potential power within him. I was afraid for all of us. I wanted to run away and hide from him. I wanted to tell Quab and Featherdown so that they could stop him. He lay down and went to sleep in front of me so that I could flee but I couldn’t. He has the power to create or destroy. My mother showed me how power can be misused. I decided that I had to help him to use his power for creation not destruction and he has and he will.’
‘Everywhere Aquitain goes he makes powerful allies. In days he gained the trust of the air and water elementals of Mudrun. Aquitain was proclaimed the Greatest Hero of the Little People. He suffered greatly when he chose to swap Alpha, a part of his own mind for his cousin Zephira but he did it because he said people are more important than prophesies. He said the future belongs to us not the Gods.’
‘He opened his heart to Llanlorian, the feared gatekeeper of Astaria. She asked him to help her and she made him a gatekeeper. He destroyed Schlum a great evil on Moonmist and he was made the first Warden of Moonmist in a thousand years by the world itself. Moonmist put its trust in him. He freed the Elendari from the tyranny of the Mentarin. Now he’s trying to free Astaria of its ghosts.’
‘We know now that he’s an unnatural monster. He believes that he was created for a purpose that he doesn’t know but it doesn’t worry him. He knows that he’s a monster but he still cares for all of us. I know he’s a monster but I still love him. The Lady knows he’s a monster and is using him and he knows it but he’s still doing what he thinks is right for us.’
‘How do I know he loves me. Because he knows something that you don’t and I refused to accept. I was born on Moonmist and I am not what you think I am. I am a monster too and he knows it and it doesn’t worry him in the least. We were made for each other.