by Ceri Clark
A small reception committee stood near the end of the canyon. Sori and Shenella changed direction to swim towards them.
‘What is everyone wearing?’ Shenella asked Sori. Instead of the clothes worn at court that she was used to, they wore short or tight-fitting outfits. They were all green and made of some strange material she had not seen before.
‘They weave them from sea grass.’ he replied. ‘If you’d had your eyes open you would have seen the meadows just past the island!’
As they neared the small group of people, Shenella grew more and more nervous. Sensing her distress, Sori took hold of her hand and squeezed it.
‘It’s all right; the one at the front is my father, the Kinar, our king. The rest are all his advisers. They are elected by the people.’
The Kinar stepped forward.
‘Welcome to our city, my lady. My name is Chero and these are my advisers.’ He pointed to the surrounding men and women.
‘You must be tired. Sori will take you to the old Water King’s apartments here. I trust you will find them comfortable.’
Sori tapped her on the shoulder and pointed up the cliff face. The apartments were at the top. Baffled she kicked her legs and allowed him to escort her up.
‘They don’t waste time with words do they?’
‘My father hates unnecessary chatter. He is a very serious man. Don’t worry, not everyone is like him. I’m not.’ Sori let go of her hand and pushed open a curtain of sea grass at the entrance.
As they stepped over the threshold her eyes widened in amazement. Evidence of sea grass was everywhere, from the bed and bedding to the curtains against the small window beside them. Seeing light in the far corner, she went to explore. There was a small corridor leading to a sitting room with plants on opposite walls. Each plant gave off a soft green or blue light creating a soothing ambience. It was beautiful.
Half-floating, half-walking towards the bedroom she saw Sori had turned on a light in there also. As she neared she was surprised to find a purple snail in a glass bowl. Its shell was a luminous royal purple merging into orange on the outer circle of its shell. Its glow was enough to light the whole room.
‘Is it all right?’ she asked.
‘Of course, if you want it to go dark just cover the bowl with this. You must remember to put food in there every day or they don’t last long.’ He handed her a cloth.
‘Thank you, Sori - for everything.’
‘My Lady, it was a pleasure and if you need anything, just let me know. I will pick you up for breakfast in the morning. Sweet dreams, my queen.’ He smiled, touched her cheek, and floated out.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CITADEL
As soon as the light faded, Mirim broke away from the circle and dove through the doorway to the control room. Bemused, Kiera and Jake followed as she frantically swung her crystal back and forth over the glowing colored consoles. The white, green and yellow crystals were all glowing but to her evident surprise so was the blue. Frowning, she moved nearer. She was right. The Water Queen had never left Eleria.
As she stood back to take it in, the red panel began to glow a soft red. Jake and Kiera behind her joined her with questioning eyes. “They’ve all been used,” she answered. “Earth, Fire, Air and Water - every element is activated. The red is not as bright which suggests Dinar was able to use his power without the crystal, so it was enough for the Matrix to pick up but no more. This is proof that all the families still exist and we can defeat the Magi!”
“Who are the Magi?” A voice unfamiliar to Mirim asked. She whirled, a boy she had never seen before stood in the doorway.
“Wha-a, Wh-o-o” her chin jerked back in surprise.
“Karl! How did you get here?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know, I followed you into some light.”
Mirim looked at Jake and the other boy and made the connection.
“Wonderful, a Terran. He’ll only get in the way.”
Jake ignored Mirim, “Karl, it’s great to see you but you have to go back. It’s too dangerous here.”
“Where is here?” Karl asked his cool grey eyes taking in the bare white walls and the control crystals in the center of the room. He walked over to get a better look. Mirim sidled in front of him to block his way.
“We are in Eleria and you shouldn’t be here.”
“Well, if Jake is here I’m staying.”
Jake grinned at his friend. “You know I want you here but it is too dangerous. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Well,” Mirim interjected. They both looked at her.
“You can’t go home.”
“What! You told us we could!”
“I’m sorry I lied. Well, I didn’t exactly lie but when I left to go to Earth I knew there was enough power for two trips at the most. I used so much power finding you and teleporting to Kiera that it used up all the power that we had. It will take a couple of months to produce enough power to go back.”
“Great!” Jake threw his hands up in the air.
“I’m sorry, but the fate of the world is far more important than just getting back to your boring life.”
“Not to me!”
Mirim looked at Jake’s furious face for a moment before concentrating on the console again, choosing to ignore what he said. She stepped across to the blue crystals.
“The water element.” She held her crystal closer. “It was used quite recently.” Mirim frowned, losing herself in the complex information she was analyzing. “Here! She used it here!” Jake and Kiera jumped at her outburst.
“Sorry, I mean it was used above ground. A few miles to the east are the islands. I think they are where Jersey is in your world. It shows the power was used there... but I can’t trace her now. She must be either on or under water. Power protects its own. All I can say is that she is near where the Merpeople live. If she is by water she is safe from Aras for now.”
“What about Karl?” Jake demanded.
“There’s nothing we can do - just look at the white crystals!”
Jake threw an apologetic glance at Karl as he crossed over to the white crystals in the center.
“These are my crystals?”
Mirim took a mental step back. She had lived here her whole life. It was strange to think of the crystals belonging to anyone but herself.
“I suppose so.”
Jake reluctantly pulled his own crystal out. “Can you show me how to use this? Maybe I can track the fire element? You told me the white crystals are connected to the rest. It makes sense that maybe I can help?”
Mirim exhaled a long slow breath. It was worth a go. Shey would be all right but they didn’t know about Dinar. On impulse she tried to enter Jake’s mind. It would be quicker to show him than tell him. Her thoughts sought his. Jake instinctively raised his barriers as he recognized the feather-light touch of her mind. She sought a way around. He would be stronger than her, the others presence would be adding to his power. His barriers were strong she had to give him that.
Unaware of the struggle, Kiera made as if to say something to Jake but changed her mind. It was enough to distract him. Mirim broke through his barriers and placed the false memory in - showing him how to use his crystal to track the fire element. Jake blinked and glared at her.
“Shouldn’t you ask before you do that?”
Mirim blushed with embarrassment. Caught out in front of the others with one of the most basic rules of the Elementi, She’d spent too long on her own.
Jake was surprised to find connecting to the Matrix wasn’t like earlier. Before it was more like requesting the information, now he was going to have to fully integrate with it.
Armed with the new knowledge, Jake took the plunge. Holding out his crystal, he held his awareness out towards the white crystals before him. He floated there bodiless for a moment and the Matrix grabbed him. His mind swirled in crystal. There were memories here, thousands of them. Lives of men and women going back hundreds of years swamped his senses, he struggled against t
he tide. Jake tried to orient himself, to become the dominant mind. However, it was too strong. He let go of his sense of self to become part of the pattern.
He saw the planet of Eleria as an organic computer. The planet’s surface was a huge motherboard, a base for the Matrix symbiotic mind. Each individual crystal contributed to its memory. The minds of himself, Kiera, Mirim and almost everyone on the world provided the processing power. He was amazed at how everything was connected. Energy was coming from everywhere, from the natural volcanoes, to the plant life in the sea, from the tides to the winds - it all contributed. He saw the Matrix would endure forever but for one thing; it needed at least one of the Elementi to give it the spark of life.
His... no, their memories now spanned thousands of years to the first meeting of minds. He recalled the first day, the surprise at the first flicker of consciousness. There had been nothing and all of a sudden it had a mind - it could think.
Jake recalled the touch of the first alien minds as they fused with the Matrix mind. He felt their relief at finding a compatible uninhabited world and the fear that they may be too late. He found out that his people had come from a different dimension. It was Earth! Before arriving here, they had lived beside a volcano for centuries using it as a means of powering their city. Their civilization had become incredibly advanced but so dependent on their location that they moved their entire city across dimensions to escape its destruction.
In clear images he saw the first explorers arrive in a cave off one of the islands. They had used it as a base of operations, living there in a makeshift camp for a couple of years while they analyzed the planet.
Finding no indigenous life they moved the entire city. It took ten years of preparation but only ten minutes to transport it. For the entire first year of the preparations they had lived in the cave before building temporary houses above ground.
In time they had children. Jake couldn’t help but feel for them. They were able to do things that before would have been impossible. The children could forecast the weather, find metals to mine or read minds. These children were able to hide it at the beginning but as they got stronger it became more difficult. The Elders of the city found out and cast them out. Even with all their science, they were still afraid of what they didn’t understand.
The children were called freaks and worse. Jake felt their distress as if it was happening now. The crystals recorded emotions as well as memories. Ostracized by their families and neighbors, they had to leave and build a life away from everything they had known.
Forty years passed in a blink of an eye, he saw the original civilization begin to die. The planet wasn’t as compatible as they first thought. Something prevented them from having children. Eventually the city lights grew dim.
The children of the caves as they became known were the only people left. Those caves, Jake realized were where it all began - it had somehow changed the parents but made the children adaptable to the world. Evolution at work, Jake recognized.
In his mind’s eye, the pictures became clearer as the Matrix bonded fully with the humans. He saw the city die and the children forget. The civilization soon reverted to feudalism; the strongest and the most powerful became the leaders while the weakest were reduced to slavery. At the back of their minds the Matrix dwelt and grew until it was able to make contact.
It drew five children with the greatest talents and the cleverest minds back to the cave. Without knowing why they each took a crystal from the hundreds littering the floor. Their minds inexplicably fused with the crystals creating an unbreakable link with the Matrix mind.
It showed them how to find the abandoned city, taking them through a disused path from one of the nearest islands. They returned to their families and brought them to live in the city. A hundred years later they emerged once again into the world. A powerful combination was born, Atlantean science mixed with Matrix technology - the Elementi.
As the images died, Jake once again concentrated on the feel of power that would link him to the last member of the Firelli family. Finding the thread, he tweaked it until the sound of the vibrations filled his senses. Floating out of his body he moved upwards away from the Citadel. He quickly passed the upper floors and noted the Spartan interiors until he reached the outer wall. The force-field prickled his awareness as he went through, breaking into the water of the ocean. A matter of moments and he was out under the cloudless night sky.
In the Control Room Jake’s body collapsed. Karl leapt forward.
“What’s wrong with him?” He demanded.
Mirim rolled her eyes.
“Nothing, he’s just out of his body. He’ll come back.”
“You could have at least warned him to sit down! What kind of person are you?”
Mirim ignored him.
Rotating slowly in the air Jake tried to locate the now familiar feel of the Fire element. It wasn’t there. Confused he looked up the coordinates of where the power was last used. Finding them quickly, he focused on the numbers and sped towards them, letting the Matrix guide him.
He sped over the water only slowing down when he reached a port. Passing over he could see small fishing boats teeming with fish. People were running to and fro carrying huge baskets of the fish on to dry land, while still larger nets of fish were hauled on to the docks with ropes.
Passing the port he carried on through. This was Naven, he recalled from the Matrix meld, the capital city of Eleria. It wasn’t a large city, he noted, not compared to London or even Cardiff or Edinburgh, but as there were no roads and motorways it left plenty of room for more buildings. The tallest houses were just three stories high. The shorter ones nearest the port were made of wood, the grander houses further in were made out of some local yellow stone.
To the right of the city lay the castle. Settling on a rooftop a few streets away, Jake paused. It was not safe to go any further. How would the fire element have survived in the Magi stronghold? It didn’t make sense.
He reached out for the vestiges of the Fire Element again. It wasn’t there now. If the fire element was on earth and Aras had grabbed him, he would have been taken here for sure. According to the schematics the Matrix held, there were prisons underneath. If he were able to use enough power to make the console glow, maybe he would have enough power to escape? He needed to get back. He rose from the building and followed the silvery thread of power back to his body.
Shenella woke up early. Grabbing the cloth she had placed carefully over the subdued glass bowl beside the bed, she pulled it gently towards her. A mellow purple light emanated through the room. This was so strange but yet so familiar. She must have been underwater before. How else she could explain how calm she was?
Someone had thoughtfully placed a set of clothes made of sea grass at the end of the bed while she slept. Picking them up she saw they were blue trousers and a small blue top similar to those she had seen the day before. As if she didn’t feel and look foreign enough she was now dressed in a different color to everyone else.
She had just finished tying her hair back when Sori walked in. ‘Are you ready for breakfast?’
‘I feel like I’m ready for anything. What do you eat?’ She laughed nervously.
‘We’re vegetarians. Don’t worry, we don’t eat fish!’
Getting up from the bed edge she followed him outside. As she stepped past the door she started sinking rapidly. She suddenly remembered they were at the top of a canyon! They were in the sea of course they didn’t need streets. Kicking her legs she stabilized. Sori, laughing at her swam down to join her.
‘You forgot where we were didn’t you! Come on, let’s go and eat.’
He swam slowly so she could keep up, but she was still tired by the time they arrived at a large hall. She’d forgotten to use the crystal.
Although it looked the same as the rest, the room had a series of rounded doors and windows visible from the outside; this one did not have any curtains. Men and women sat on long low tables on the lower floor
while stairs led up to a long gallery where the food was laid out. Sori took her upstairs and helped her choose.
Shenella felt awkward swimming with a bowl of food but she followed Sori’s lead and held the bowl with her hand covering the opening so the vegetation wouldn’t fall out. He led her to the corner and they sat by a window that overlooked the canyon. Outside the same mixture of greens and yellows from the climbing plants still glowed and every now and then people swam past, some in couples, some in small groups.
What now? She thought. She couldn’t go back; Aras would kill her. Even if he hadn’t found out that she was Elementi royalty, he would still kill her for running away. Despair filled her. Sori saw her distress and put his arm around her.
‘It’ll be all right, Shenella.’
At the main doors there was a stir as the reception committee she saw last night came in. They were dressed differently from the previous evening, wearing more colors. When they saw Sori and Shenella, they made their way straight to their table.
Their grim faces were the first things that Shenella noticed when they sat down. Sitting up straighter in response she waited to hear what they had to say.
‘We’ve just had word back. Aras is furious. It’s official; he’s declared war on us. But if what Sori said is true,’ the Kinar looked Shenella in the eyes, ‘the High-King may be coming back. Aras has taken to his bed. The priests think his renewed illness means the High-King has arrived on Eleria. However, even with just the High-King and the Water Queen, it may still be possible to unseat Aras and send the Magi back to the Dark Continent. Will you help us?’
Shenella paused, fork halfway to her lips. Of course she would help. There wasn’t much else she could do. Her whole life was built on a lie. She needed to get revenge for the death of her parents. She couldn’t remember her real parents clearly, but she recalled the love and the agony of her father’s death and her foster parents’ ‘accident’ was still fresh in her mind, even after two years.
Her decision shone in her eyes. ‘Yes!’