by Dean Cadman
“Don’t feel too bad, son, if you spend enough time around Morgan, you begin to recognise his pranks,” Hershel said, looking down at Lusam.
“Not always, sir,” Morgan said, causing another round of laughter from the paladins. Everyone knew the story about the resin on the outhouse seat, it had become almost legendary amongst the paladins over the years.
“Now that I think about it Morgan, the latrines are due a deep clean when we get back. It’s very good of you to volunteer, old boy,” Hershel said, eliciting even more laughter from his paladins. To his credit, even Morgan kept his smile, at least until Alexia told him to stay away from her for at least a week after he’d finished cleaning the latrines.
Soon afterwards Lusam had gathered what power he could from the paladins, and began preparing himself to close The Rift. As soon as he was ready, he focussed his mind on The Rift, and applied the knowledge he had gained from the entity in Helveel. He could feel The Rift with his mind, and the forces holding it open from within. He pushed, and Aamon pushed back.
He could feel the hatred flowing from Aamon, and also his frustration at not being able to do anything about it from within the Netherworld. It gave Lusam the encouragement he needed, and he pushed even harder. The tear in The Rift began to slowly close, but soon Lusam was sweating profusely with the immense effort. His head pounded, and his breathing became ragged. His vision began to blur at the edges, and he knew at that instant he couldn’t close it with what little power he had left.
Desperately he reached out all around him for any magic that he could use, but only a few trees were within his range. He took what he could, but it made little difference to the eventual outcome. He fell to his knees exhausted, and could feel Aamon’s mockery wash over him from within the Netherworld. He used the last of his power to inspect The Rift, and found that he’d only managed to close it a fraction, before his vision faded and he fell face first towards the ground. It took a monumental effort for him to turn his head and avoid landing on his face, but he did, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was a beautiful blue glow coming from the treeline.
Neala screamed out his name, but he heard nothing.
Chapter Forty-Four
It was completely dark when Lusam finally came around. His thunderous headache made him feel nauseous, and he immediately regretted taking the magic from all of the paladins. Now he would have to wait until his own power naturally regenerated for his headache to ease. He tried to sit up and instantly regretted that too, as a fresh wave of pain erupted behind his eyes. Even the moonlight was too bright for his sensitive eyes right at that moment, but when the circle of blessed weapons began to glow with their eerie blue light, it was positively painful to look at.
“Easy lad,” Renn said quietly by his side, helping him to sit up. He heard the twang of Alexia’s bow, and the light of the blessed weapons suddenly winked out. He opened his eyes just in time to see Neala racing towards him from Alexia’s side.
“Are you alright?” she asked, kissing him on his forehead. Even his skin was hypersensitive, and he couldn’t help wincing at her touch.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, but it might take a while,” he croaked. “How long?”
Renn looked up at the moon. “About seven or eight hours, lad,” he replied, knowing exactly what Lusam meant.
“Sorry, I failed,” Lusam said, holding his throbbing head in his hands.
“Not exactly,” Neala replied.
“What do you mean?”
“Apparently Pippa has been counting the time between the creatures emerging through The Rift for a while now, and whatever you did has slowed them down a bit,” Neala replied.
“Aye lad, it’s made it easier to control them for now, so get your strength back, then we can decide what to do next,” Renn said, patting him gently on the shoulder. Lusam thought back to what he had sensed about The Rift, and knew he had only closed it fractionally from what it had been. The feelings of mockery from Aamon were still fresh in his mind, and strangely so was the final image he had seen before blacking out. He turned towards where he had seen the strange blue light, and amazingly it was still there. Not as bright, but it was most definitely still there. But it was the faint whispers in his mind which caught his attention the most. They called to him, over and over without pause. It wasn’t exactly a voice which called to him, but something much more basic. It was a longing. A desire. A need to touch the glowing light. He tried to mentally shake the whispers from his mind, but no matter what he did, they were still there.
“What’s that?” Lusam croaked, just about managing to lift a finger and point. Renn and Neala looked out into the darkness, but couldn’t see what Lusam was pointing at.
“I can’t see anything, lad,” Renn said, scanning the darkness.
“Me neither,” Neala said.
“Something large on the ground is glowing blue, about fifty paces over there,” Lusam half-whispered, pointing out towards the treeline. He didn’t want to mention that he was hearing things as well. He knew the whispers were only in his mind, so he saw little point in telling anyone about them just yet.
“I don’t see anything out there,” Neala replied.
“I think he might mean the old temple foundations,” Hershel said from behind them, as he looked out into the darkness towards the direction Lusam had pointed.
“How do you know it’s over there?” Renn asked, obviously knowing which temple he was referring to.
“We discovered it shortly after we arrived here, but we haven’t had an opportunity to check it out since,” Hershel replied.
“Temple?” Neala asked.
“Well, it’s more of a foundation really. The original intention had been to build a temple here to guard against The Rift ever being reopened. But they abandoned its construction and moved the site to what is now The Sanctum of Light on the opposite side of the river. There are many theories as to why they abandoned it, but the most likely is that they wanted the additional security of a river between themselves and the forest. Its construction started during the early days of the first Paladins of Aysha, and back then they probably hadn’t perfected their knowledge about the various Netherworld creatures yet.
“According to our records, it took centuries for the early paladins to clear the majority of the forest of Netherworld creatures. So it would have made more sense having their stronghold on the opposite side of the river, rather than right here next to The Rift. That way they would have been able to better control their encounters, by starting at the edge of the forest and working their way further in over the years, as the numbers of Netherworld creatures gradually decreased,” Hershel said.
Renn chuckled to himself. “Not to mention what a nightmare it would have been trying to keep any temple built here stocked with supplies.”
“Aye, there is that too, old boy,” Hershel agreed, laughing.
“Okay, but why is it now glowing? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t glowing when I first got here,” Lusam said, starting to feel a little better.
“I’ve no idea, lad,” Renn replied.
“Help me up, please,” Lusam said, holding up an arm for someone to grab. Renn took hold of his arm and hauled him to his feet. The world spun around him, and he had to hold onto Renn so he didn’t collapse back onto the ground.
“Thanks,” he said, gripping Renn’s arm tightly.
“Are you sure that you should be trying to move around yet, lad?” Renn asked in a concerned tone.
“No, not really. But I need to go over there and take a look,” he said, nodding towards the glowing foundations.
“What? Are you crazy?” Neala asked, stepping in front of him.
“Not that I know of. Why?” Lusam replied, grinning at her.
“Because it’s dark, you have no magic left, and you can barely stand. Oh… and the forest is full of Netherworld creatures waiting to rip you to pieces,” she replied sarcastically.
Lusam chuckled, reigniting the pain in his head. “I
’ll be fine,” he said through gritted teeth a moment later.
“Obviously,” Neala replied, rolling her eyes.
“She’s right, lad, you’re in no fit state to be wandering around outside our perimeter right now. Maybe you should wait until you’re a little stronger, then go look at whatever it is you can see out there.”
The strange whispers continued calling to him in his mind. They were soft and pure. Calming and reassuring. He felt compelled to answer their call, as if his very soul was being summoned by the soft blue light.
“Really, I’ll be fine. Besides, there are no Netherworld creatures nearby, or the blessed weapons would be glowing. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll take one of the spare blessed weapons with me. If it begins to glow, I’ll earth-bind it,” Lusam said, looking between Renn and Neala.
“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling us, lad?” Renn said, narrowing his eyes at Lusam.
Lusam smiled, but didn’t reply. He began bending down to retrieve one of the spare blessed weapons, but quickly realised it wasn’t a good idea when everything began to spin again. “Would you mind passing me one of those?” he said to Renn.
“You’re not exactly filling me with confidence, lad,” Renn replied, passing him a blessed sword.
“Nor me,” Neala said, giving him a stern look.
Lusam grinned and took the sword without another word, then turned towards the glowing temple foundations. He tried to appear more steady on his feet than he actually was, and slowly made his way towards the edge of their perimeter.
The gentle whispers seemed to grow louder and louder in his mind, but he still couldn’t discern their meaning. He looked out across the clearing at the glowing foundations, and knew instinctively that he needed to go there. But for what reason, he didn’t know. His own sense of self-preservation made him search the area for any magic that he could use before leaving the safety of Aysha’s light. He soon found that he could reach further into the forest from where he was now, and took a little power from each tree to bolster his own depleted reserves. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to clear his head, steady his legs, and possibly allow him to levitate a short distance in case he found himself in trouble.
He took a deep steadying breath, and stepped away from the protection of the paladins’ perimeter. He kept the blessed weapon where he could clearly see it, and made it ready to earth-bind at the first signs of trouble. He would have liked nothing better than to have run across the clearing, but he knew his legs would buckle under him if he tried. It was only a short distance, but it was quite possibly the longest walk of his life. It seemed to take an age to cross the clearing, and when he finally stepped onto the glowing foundation, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The whispers began to grow louder and clearer in his mind, and a wave of euphoria suddenly flowed through him, completely replenishing his magic reserves, and washing away all signs of fatigue.
“Lusam, my child, listen carefully to me. You must show no outward signs that we are speaking right now. Although this temple was never completed, it is still my house, and as such, nothing that is said here can be overheard by Aamon, Driden or anyone else. But without walls, they can still see you,” Aysha said in his mind.
Lusam didn’t know what to say or do, so he began walking slowly around as if looking for something on the ground, whilst keeping an eye on his blessed weapon for any signs of trouble.
“You need not worry Lusam, you are safe here from the Netherworld creatures. None can enter my house. I have brought you here at great risk to yourself and the rest of humanity. Driden will be watching you closely, and will know the moment you leave my house that I have helped you.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Why did you help me then? Why didn’t you simply let me regenerate my own magic?” Lusam said in his mind.
“I fear that we no longer have time for that, my child. I sense a great build up of power within the Netherworld. I believe Aamon is sacrificing his new abominations, and using their power to bolster his own. The wider the tear in The Rift becomes, the easier it is to widen it still further. He will have sensed your weakened state when you attempted to close The Rift, and now I believe that he plans to take advantage of that weakness. If he is allowed to succeed, he will tear The Rift wide open, and emerge into this world.
“I may have already doomed this world by my actions here today, but if I had stood idly by and done nothing, this world would have been destroyed regardless. Once you leave my house, Lusam, you must immediately begin closing The Rift. You will not have more than a few seconds before Driden senses my deception. I fear what he will do, but I feared my inaction here just as much.
“Lusam, I once spoke to you of a great destiny which awaited you. A destiny which was once clear to me, but has now become clouded in my vision. I can no longer clearly see the path which you will tread, but instead three diverging paths. One remains the same as it always has, while another ends here today, with your death at the hands of my brother, Driden. The third path is yet unclear to me, as is how it ends. But now I believe it to be the most likely path you will tread if should survive this day. You should also know my child, that you do not possess the power required to close The Rift today. All we can hope to achieve this day, is to slow Aamon’s plans, and gain enough time for you to grow in strength. Lusam, if we should prevail here today, you must seek out a fourth Guardian book and gain its knowledge.”
“But, I’ve already tried to defeat Lord Zelroth, and I failed,” he thought, trying hard to ignore the more painful memories associated with the attempt.
“I speak not of the Guardian book at Irragin, but of the remaining undiscovered Guardian book. I see in your mind that you have already seen the image of The Pearl Isle within Irragin, and now you must seek out that place.”
“How can I find The Pearl Isles, when no one alive knows where it is any more?”
“There is still one who knows. Search your memories, my child, for the one which you seek is already known to you. More than that, I may not reveal, lest my brother Driden considers it yet more interference.”
Lusam had no idea who Aysha was referring to. All he could think of was the ancient journal he had read. It was the only information he’d ever discovered regarding The Pearl Isles, as well as the temple there, known as Lohlaen. But nowhere in the journal was its location revealed, and although he felt like he knew the author of the journal, and his friend Isidro, he knew both had been dead now for almost two millennia.
Then he remembered the crazy old man on board the Pelorus—Lamar. He had claimed to know where the island was, but then his mind had suddenly begun to wander. After that, Lusam hadn’t been able to get any more useful information out of him. He’d attempted to read Lamar’s mind, but had found it so damaged that he soon gave it up as a lost cause. But maybe now he could repair that damage. After all, he knew far more about manipulating energy since reading the Guardian book in Lamuria, and he knew that energy was essentially what made a person’s mind work. It was like a hugely complex series of magical power lines. If he could find and fix the broken ones, maybe that would be enough to repair the damage to Lamar’s mind.
“It is time, Lusam. We must not delay any longer. Remember, you will only have a few seconds at most before Driden realises what I have done. Use that time wisely, my child.”
Lusam had a thousand questions to ask, but before he could voice a single one, Aysha’s presence began to fade away, along with the eerie blue light beneath his feet. The light didn’t vanish entirely, however, but instead remained barely visible to his mage-sight. He stepped gingerly towards the edge of the foundations, wondering what would happen when he stepped away from its protection. He could see Neala watching him from behind the safety of the paladins’ blessed perimeter, and suddenly wished he’d at least given her a final kiss before leaving her behind. Now he might never get another chance. How could he possibly survive against a God? All he could think o
f were Aysha’s parting words, that he would only have a few seconds at most once he left the protection of her temple’s foundations.
He took a deep breath, centred his mind on what he needed to do, and stepped off the edge of the foundation. As soon as his foot touched the ground, he released every bit of magic he had towards The Rift in one massive pulse. The air all around him crackled and sizzled with power, as The Rift’s tear rapidly began to shrink. He could feel Aamon’s shock, then his desperate attempt to thwart his efforts from inside the Netherworld.
But it was already too late.
Aamon had not been prepared for Lusam’s sudden massive burst of power, and had reacted too late to prevent the tear in The Rift from being drastically reduced in size. As Aysha had predicted, he had not been able to completely seal The Rift, but now the size of the tear was only a fraction of what it once was.
Everything happened so quickly, that he barely even had time to think before a blindingly bright flash lit up the entire clearing, quickly followed by a second. The headache which exploded behind his eyes, almost brought him to his knees. Squinting through the pain, he was amazed to see a huge man standing before him. He was almost seven feet tall, and clad from head to toe in a full set of golden plate armour. The golden armour appeared to be made from individual overlapping scales, and it reminded Lusam of the dragon he had seen in his nightmares. He shuddered at the memory of the beast, and took an involuntary step away from the God standing before him.
Driden took a step towards him, closing the gap between them both again. His piercing blue eyes bored into Lusam, as if he were judging him for something. Fear flooded through him as Driden touched his mind. It was a base, primal fear, just like he had felt when the dragon had trapped him within his own nightmares. Lusam turned towards Neala, and found her, along with every other paladin, kneeling with their heads bowed in his direction. He spun the opposite way, and was relieved to see Aysha standing by his side, staring silently at her brother, Driden. Lusam tried to speak, but he couldn’t form any words. Instinctively, he tried to step towards Aysha for protection, but his legs wouldn’t work either. And all the while, Driden seemed to bore deeper into his very soul.