Elvangar

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Chapter 34

  Dobuk

  Aakuta crossed the room and sat down in a chair. Lady Mystic looked at him expectantly, but Aakuta said nothing.

  “Tell me about Malafar,” repeated Lady Mystic. “Tell me the truth. You owe me that much.”

  “I do indeed,” sighed Aakuta. “How did you find out?”

  “I was downstairs tonight when you helped out your friends,” answered the high priestess.

  Aakuta nodded sadly and began, “I am Master Malafar of the Omungan Academy of Magic. Or at least I was at one time.”

  “At one time?” frowned Lady Mystic.

  “Yes,” nodded Aakuta. “I thought that I was happy in my own way at the time, but I was merely deceiving myself. I lost my son first and then my wife. My daughter became the Star of Sakova, leader of the Sakovans, a people that I thought were barbaric savages. I murdered the leader of Omunga, because I was drugged, but even after I overcame the drug, I could not accept my daughter’s people. I also could no longer accept my own. I was a man standing alone against the world.”

  Lady Mystic sat in a chair facing Aakuta and urged him to continue.

  “I murdered another Katana,” continued Aakuta. “I don’t know whether I did it for personal revenge, or to make amends to my daughter. Whatever the reason, it once again endangered my daughter and her people. I almost died that day, but the Sakovans nursed me back to health. Strange as it seems, even though I caused the Sakovans so much harm, they cared for me. Or pitied me, I am not sure which, and it didn’t matter at that point. I had to leave for good. I decided to take a new identity and disappear. Lyra’s trip to meet with Lord Marak seemed to be an ideal time to do it.”

  “Is that when Aakuta was born?” asked Lady Mystic.

  “Yes,” nodded Aakuta, “but something also happened then. I met the Chula people who were also known to be barbarians, but they were not. Oh, they dress like savages, but they are a wise people. They helped me understand what a fool I had been all of my life. They explained to me about Vand and the war that was to come. They made me understand what a difficult position my daughter was in, and how special she is, not just to the Sakovans, but everyone in the world. How could that not change my attitude?”

  “I have no experience of my own to compare it against,” Lady Mystic said softly.

  “Finally,” continued Aakuta, “I met the Khadorans. They were not like anything I had expected. There was no national cohesion like Omunga had. Khadora was a bunch of clans all seeking to outdo the other. Only Marak was different. I realized that I could help him. That is when I started to change. That is when Aakuta was born.”

  “Surely that is not what brought you here?” asked Lady Mystic.

  “Not directly,” Aakuta shook his head. “At first I just wanted to be left alone to meditate, but Khadoran greed made that impossible. My name became known to the clans, and I saw that I would never have peace in Khadora. I found out about the Jiadin invasion and figured it was Vand’s first move to crush civilization. I made a vow to get involved and help out wherever I could, but even then I had no idea where it would lead.”

  “To courting Vand’s daughter,” sniffed Lady Mystic.

  “Yes,” Aakuta agreed sadly. “When Marak was imprisoned, I tried to free him, but he refused to flee. That puzzled me at first, but then I realized what he was thinking. He was committed to the death to stop Vand. I had to make the same commitment to save my daughter and her people. I did.”

  “That is where Zygor came in?” probed the high priestess.

  “And Brakas,” nodded Aakuta. “I figured out what Zygor’s game was, and I beat him at it. When I tracked down Brakas, I realized that Vand would just send a replacement for Zygor, and another, and another. I had to stop that to give everyone time to prepare. When I heard that Smarc was coming, I knew what I had to do.”

  “And that brought you to Motanga,” nodded Lady Mystic. “So you have been playing me for a fool ever since, and I did not detect it because you do not believe in Kaltara or anything else. You came here planning to die, didn’t you?”

  Aakuta sighed and stared at the floor. The room was quiet for several minutes. Only the grating blare of the horns invaded the silence.

  “I guess I did,” Aakuta finally replied. “I had no home any more. I had no future. There was nothing for me to look forward to.”

  “And you used me to gain knowledge about Vand’s plans,” accused Lady Mystic.

  “I did at first,” admitted Aakuta, “but that changed. It wasn’t supposed to change, but I could not help it. I never dreamed that I would meet someone like you. I wish it had happened before I came here. I would never have gotten in that boat.”

  “You could have just stopped fighting against Vand,” Lady Mystic pointed out. “I warned you that I never wanted to choose between the two of you.”

  “I couldn’t stop,” Aakuta shook his head. “Vand already suspected me. Even if I stopped, he would find out what I had done in the past. There was no exit for me. Besides, you don’t understand what Vand is.”

  “I don’t understand?” balked Lady Mystic. “Vand is my father. I know him better than anyone else alive. How can you say such a thing?”

  “You see him as your father,” nodded Aakuta. “That is the problem. You are viewing him through a beautiful morning mist, but you truly do not understand him. You are ever loyal to him and think he will be the same towards you. He will not. You are just as discardable as I am. His only loyalty is to whatever is in that room that he visits daily.”

  “My father would never discard me,” Lady Mystic raged. “You are the one who does not understand Vand. How dare you say such a thing?”

  “In my position,” replied Aakuta, “I feel free to state the truth as I know it. There is no reason for me to try to deceive myself. That is what I ran away from. I will never do that again.”

  “As long as you feel that you must tell the truth,” retorted Lady Mystic, “what do you really feel for me? Do you love me, or was that just part of your disguise?”

  “I wish that I could say that it was part of my disguise,” frowned Aakuta, “but the truth is, I really have fallen in love with you. I never meant for it to happen, but it has.”

  “And I should believe this because?” prompted the high priestess.

  “It matters little now whether you believe me or not,” sighed Aakuta. “You asked me not to make you choose between me and your father, but here we are. That is exactly the position that I have put you in. I am sorry.”

  “You really do love me?” Lady Mystic asked with tears in her eyes.

  “I do,” Aakuta smiled thinly.

  Lady Mystic rushed over to Aakuta and kissed him. He rose and hugged her just as a loud knock sounded on the door. Lady Mystic broke the embrace and answered the door.

  “You are ordered to the throne room,” declared a soldier. Seeing Aakuta through the open door, he continued, “Your presence is also required, Aakuta.”

  The soldier disappeared, presumably to summon others. Aakuta crossed the room nervously and shut the door.

  “I am sure this will be about the alarms,” Aakuta stated. “Fix your hair. You don’t want your father seeing you looking like that.”

  Lady Mystic nodded and ran into the other room and brushed her hair. She smiled warmly at Aakuta as he opened the door for her. They climbed the stairs together and entered the throne room. The room was packed with military officers, mages, and other high officials. Even Clarvoy, the spymaster, was there. Fresh scorch marks and blood marred the floor, and it was obvious that Vand was in a foul mood. The doors at the rear of the room slammed shut and everyone fell silent.

  “This temple was attacked tonight,” Vand declared. “A large group of our enemies came onto our island, entered this most sacred temple, and stole away with the elven king. You cannot imagine how angry this makes me. What is worse is that it is now clear that these invaders had inside help. That is something that I will not stand for
. I want those that are responsible to step before me.”

  No one moved, and Vand’s face grew darker by the second. Clarvoy approached and knelt before Vand.

  “You Clarvoy?” Vand shouted with rage. “You would do such a thing?”

  “I would never knowingly harm you or your efforts,” Clarvoy answered with a steady voice. “I offer myself up only for my lack of discovering the spy within your midst. Had I acted better, the elven king would still be captive.”

  “This is true,” nodded Vand, “but you are not the one I seek. Get up.”

  Clarvoy rose, but he did not move back to his previous position.

  “There is another loss that we suffered tonight,” Clarvoy stated. “The mage from Raven’s Point was also taken from us.”

  Vand’s dark eyes immediately glared at Aakuta. He waved the spymaster away, and Clarvoy returned to his station.

  “How were your interrogations going, Aakuta?” scowled Vand. “Did she give up the secret of the air tunnel before she fled?”

  “This is the first report that I have had concerning her disappearance,” replied Aakuta. “As for the air tunnel, she has told me nothing so far.”

  “So far?” shouted Vand, causing everyone in the room to cringe. “Do you expect her to tell you more now that she is gone?”

  “I suppose not,” Aakuta replied, his eyes staring at the floor before him.

  “You suppose not?” Vand mocked Aakuta. “You would have no more success in getting anything out of her than I have getting something out of you. Lady Mystic?”

  “Yes?” bowed Lady Mystic.

  “Your demeanor tells me more than Aakuta’s words,” Vand said, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints. “You know who is responsible for this, don’t you?”

  Lady Mystic did not answer. Her eyes dropped to the floor and her breath became ragged.

  “Speak,” shouted Vand. “Tell me that Aakuta is the spy. Tell me!”

  Lady Mystic spoke so softly that her breaking voice was inaudible.

  “Tell me!” Vand shouted louder.

  “It was Aakuta,” snapped Lady Mystic as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Aakuta moved swiftly to salvage what he could of his life. His arm came up and pointed at Vand, but nothing happened. Vand glared at him and then grinned broadly.

  “You cannot attack me when I have a room full of mages,” sneered Vand. “Do you think they would allow you to hurt me?”

  Aakuta looked around the room and saw over a dozen mages with their arms pointed at him. He understood then what had happened. Vand had been ready for the confrontation even before Lady Mystic spoke. Vand had his mages surround Aakuta with inverse shields. The dark mage would be incapable of sending a spell outside the shields.

  “You already knew,” Aakuta said accusingly. “Why did you subject your daughter to such agony? Have you no heart at all?”

  “Heart?” sneered Vand. “I have not believed in such petty emotions in centuries. As for my daughter, she had a choice to make as to where her loyalties were placed. I would have been sorely disappointed if she had not betrayed you.”

  “So now you know the truth,” Aakuta said. “You should also know that you can not win the coming war. Why throw away this empire that you have built up? If you go to war against Khadora, you will lose it all. Be happy with what you have.”

  “Khadora is only the beginning,” sneered Vand. “My armies will march over the length and breadth of the entire world. Before I am done, Kaltara will kneel before me and beg for mercy, but he will receive none. Just like you will receive none. Take him behind the throne room,” he ordered his guards.

  The soldiers seized Aakuta, but there was nothing he could do about it. The mages kept their inverted shields around him, and he saw no victory in scratching the hands of the guards. He let himself be dragged out of the room. When he looked back, he saw two soldiers escorting Lady Mystic. She did not look as though she wanted to witness what was coming, but she had no will to fight it, either.

  Aakuta knew where he was being taken. He had wanted to see what was inside the secret chamber ever since he had heard about it. Now he was going to get his chance, whether he wanted to or not. As the guards halted in front of the chamber’s door, Aakuta hurriedly erected his own defensive shields inside the inverted ones that surrounded him.

  Vand opened the door to the chamber. Hot arid air instantly flowed through the door, immediately parching Aakuta’s throat. Vand gave the order and the guards shoved Aakuta through the doorway. The door slammed shut behind him.

  Aakuta immediately felt his shields being battered. He looked around what he thought would be a chamber, but it was not a chamber. It was a place, massive sprawling wasteland from horizon to horizon. Aakuta shook his head to clear his vision. The plains were far too vast to exist within the confines of the temple. The mountains would dwarf the temple and make it appear insignificant.

  Aakuta licked his lips and rotated slowly. There was no door behind him. No walls around him. Where the door should have been, was a crude arch made of rough stones. Aakuta walked through it, but he merely came out the other side. Then he heard the laughter.

  Aakuta whirled to face the sound, but all he saw were mountains, dark, black mountains. Volcanoes erupted to the right and to the left, and lava flowed freely down the sides of the towering peaks. He felt his shields begin to shrink. His first impulse was to strengthen the shields, but he knew that he would merely waste his energy. The battering was relentless and there was no escape from his alien prison.

  “What are you?” asked a booming voice. “You come to me like a man, yet the smell of fear is not strong upon you. You serve Kaltara, yet you do not even know him. What sort of creature are you?”

  “Who are you?” Aakuta asked. “Show yourself.”

  “Answer the question,” countered the booming voice.

  “I am a man,” replied Aakuta. “I am called Aakuta.”

  Suddenly, the black mountain in front of Aakuta moved. The ground trembled and huge rocks fell away as the mountain shattered. In place of the mountain was a huge black beast with spiked horns upon its head. Its eyes were red like the lava, appearing molten and constantly flowing in one direction or another. Its snout protruded from below the eyes and curved, sharp teeth filled its cavernous mouth. It had long claws extending from its hands and feet.

  “Aakuta,” echoed the beast as it rolled the name around as if tasting it. “I am Dobuk, and you shall serve me for eternity.”

  Aakuta’s shields continued to shrink. His feet now protruded outside of the shields, and he could feel them burning. The pain was incredible, but Aakuta tried his best to ignore it. He knew that he only had a short time left before he succumbed to the evil.

  “Serve you?” echoed Aakuta. “What can I do that you cannot?”

  “Do not try to outwit me human,” laughed the demon. “Better men than you have failed. The question has nothing to do with my powers. It has to do with my amusement. You are already feeling the pain. I can tell. I smell your nerves screaming for release, but death is my whim, not yours.”

  “Suppose I refuse to provide your enjoyment?” asked Aakuta.

  “Try,” sneered the demon. “Many others have tried. It is quite amusing.”

  Aakuta’s mind whirled with possibilities, but he could not think of a way out of his predicament. His shields no longer covered his legs, and the nerves carried his pain to his mind where it exploded in massive sensations that made Aakuta scream.

  “Ah, delightful,” smiled Dobuk. “I do love those who think they can defy me. Scream on little man.”

  Aakuta’s mind raced to find a way to end the pain. He fell to the ground and it seared his body. He screamed in agony. He remembered the stories that Lady Mystic had told him about the others who had been subjected to this chamber. He remembered the tales of endless pain, agony, and insanity. The pain and agony was already upon him as he felt his shields disintegrating. Rather than reinforce the shields, Aakuta na
rrowed them. He brought the shields inward until they only encircled his mind.

  “You win, Dobuk,” Aakuta cried out. “Do with me what you will. I will fight you no more.”

  Every nerve in Aakuta’s body screamed with pain. He closed his eyes and put every ounce of his strength into holding the shields around his brain. At first he thought he had at least succeeded at preserving his sanity, but then everything went black. As his body screamed for death, he heard the final words of Dobuk.

  “You disappoint me human,” the Fallen One said. “You were devious when you were alive, but now you are nothing.”

  * * *

  The door to the chamber was opened, and Aakuta charged through it screaming. He ran straight across the corridor and slammed his head into the wall. His body collapsed to the floor and writhed in pain, but he rose again and staggered about. His crazed eyes rolled from person to person, but he saw no one. Lady Mystic started crying. Aakuta turned and raced for the roof.

  “Ah, the great Aakuta,” sneered Vand. “He thought he was mage enough to take my place. Now he is just another crazy man wishing to die. Even jumping off the roof will not ease his pain.”

  “What have I done?” cried Lady Mystic. “Can’t you help him?” she pleaded to Vand. “Please. For me?”

  “For you?” balked Vand. “You are as guilty as he is. You are the one who accepted him on this island. You are the one who taught him about us. You are the one who turned a blind eye to his obvious spying. No, Lady Mystic, I will do nothing for him. In fact, I will allow him to live for a long time, much longer than any of the others. Do you know why?”

  “No,” Lady Mystic shook her head. “How can it possibly please you to torture him so?”

  “Him?” laughed Vand. “No, my dear daughter, it is you who is being punished. I have warned you about emotions, but you fell in love with a spy. Well, look at your lover now. Watch him everyday as he pleads for you to kill him. But you can’t, you know. You do not have the power to kill him.”

  “But I am your daughter,” Lady Mystic protested through her tears. “I am your flesh and blood. How can you do this to me? I even betrayed him for you.”