by Pedro Urvi
“I’m going to ask you two things, and you’d do well to tell me the truth.”
Haradin looked into his eyes and nodded.
“Who killed my parents? And who sent the Dark Assassins eighteen years ago and the White Tigers afterwards?”
Haradin sighed heavily.
“I don’t know. If I knew I’d tell you. What I do know is who sent me to you, and that’s what I’ve told you.”
Komir gave Haradin a tortured stare, which the Mage bore unmoved.
“Did you know… my birth parents?”
“No Komir, I’m sorry. I didn’t get to meet them. From what I was able to gather after their death, they were well loved and respected in their community. I know nothing more of them. The enemy was lurking, stalking me to get to you, I didn’t want to risk being discovered, so I disappeared and erased all trace behind me. But I do know they’ve been after you ever since that day, and throughout all these years, in secret, hiding in the shadows, trying to find you in order to kill you.”
“And how come they never found me?”
“That, my young Norriel, could be better answered by the Silver Witch.”
“Oh, I’m tired of all this!” Komir snapped out. He turned round and crossed the Ilenian portal. He had had enough of the Mage and his half-veiled truths.
Just as Haradin had predicted, they appeared in an Ilenian temple. Once recovered from the painful effects of the crossing they began to investigate carefully. The went up a level to a chamber with the sarcophagus of one of the Ilenian Lords. Neither Hartz nor Kayti had any knowledge of the symbols engraved on the walls of the chamber, but Komir felt the presence of the element of Air.
“Any ideas?” asked Kayti.
Komir took a deep breath and let the essence of the chamber imbue him. Yes, this must be the Temple of Air, I feel it in my guts.
“We’re in the Temple of Air.” he announced.
“Where exactly is that?” Kayti asked.
“No clue,” said Komir looking around.
“So what now?” asked Hartz.
“Now we find a way out” said Komir.
“The chamber is sealed…” said Kayti.
“In that case… there’s only one thing left…” said Komir, grabbing his medallion.
“Really?” groaned Hartz.
“Sorry, my friend, there is no other way… time for Ilenian magic.”
“Damn!” protested the big guy, crossing his arms over his chest.
Komir closed his eyes, concentrated and called upon the medallion. We need to leave, take us out of here, safely.
The medallion flashed, blinding them all.
“Great,” complained Hartz, covering his eyes.
The medallion flashed again and again, each time with more strength, then stopped.
An enormous whirlwind began to form in the middle of the chamber.
“Oh, that’s great!” barked Hartz.
The wind grew stronger and stronger, and the whirlwind acquired the force of a hurricane.
“Come to me!” said Hartz, spreading his huge arms in the middle of the storm like a demigod.
Kayti and Komir joined him. “I’ll hold you little guys, don’t you worry,” he said, laughing at the whirlwind and the hurricane winds. They found themselves swept off their feet and pushed up to the ceiling. An instant before they struck it, the dome of the cavern opened with a golden flash and the whirlwind shot them out towards the surface. They lost consciousness, their bodies helpless in the terrible spell.
When they woke up on the shore hours later they realized that the temple was really submerged in the middle of a giant lake.
Hartz protested instantly.
“Damned devils’ whirlwind! Bastard Ilenians, their temples and their tricks! I almost threw up my guts and I’m dizzy as hell!”
Kayti went up to him and kissed him on the cheek, cutting off all his protests.
From there they had turned East, following the plan.
Vision of Power
Isuzeni bowed.
“The army is ready to march. The pass through the Thousand Lakes has been secured, my Empress. Should I give the order to advance?”
The Dark Lady remained thoughtful on her throne. Isuzeni did not dare to imagine the deliberations crossing the mind of that powerful, pitiless woman. After a long while the Empress stood up.
“Follow me, Isuzeni, before we start the final assault I want to consult the Skull of Destiny. I must check whether the premonition has changed or is still the same. We’re so near the end, I don’t want to leave anything to chance, we’ll assure ourselves of success,” she said, and went to the back of the great imperial tent, surrounded by her guard. Isuzeni followed his Lady in silence, restless, eager to know what vision it would show.
When they reached the area he watched the preparations for the ritual. A dozen prisoners, naked from the waist up, had been firmly bound and tethered to a long wooden bench. The screams of the captives were muffled by leather gags which covered their bloodied faces, possessed by the utmost terror. Isuzeni looked at them with disdain; he felt no pity for them, they were merely spoils of war.
“Bring me the Skull of Destiny,” the Dark Lady ordered.
Two Moyuki came into the back of the tent carrying a massive chest with ornaments worked in silver. They left it in front of the Empress and backed away. Isuzeni, filled with a gnawing envy, watched his Mistress pick up the precious Skull with her long fingers and black nails. When he saw the priceless crystalline Object of Power shining in the light of the oil lamps, Isuzeni had to hide a look of covetousness. The Skull was what Isuzeni’s heart most yearned for, since with it he could rule his own future. Whoever possessed the Skull would be in a position to change his destiny, and that meant a power so immense that not even the wealthiest of kings, with all the gold of a continent, could ever buy.
The Dark Lady placed the Skull on the naked chest of the prisoner in the middle of the bench. The unfortunate man was moaning and trying by all means to break free of his bonds, but it was impossible. Yuzumi began to intone a magic prayer in such a dark and gloomy chant that it seemed to be conjuring death herself.
“Blessed by our ancestral Lord of the Dead is the Premonition,” the Dark Lady said, and Isuzeni bowed his head in respect.
His Mistress put her hands on the Skull and invoked it with closed eyes, using the dark and immense power which so much awed him. The unmistakable vital energy, with its grey sheen, which the Skull devoured in an eternal feast, began to leave his Mistress’s body to feed the insatiable Object of Power. Isuzeni’s heart beat faster. The arcane magic was already beginning to work. Yuzumi removed her hands, and the Skull assaulted the prisoner it rested on and went on spreading its voracious appetite through the remaining sacrificial victims. It began to suck the life out of all of them. The grey vital essence flowed from the bodies to the Skull in a torrent of death.
“Today I shall let you watch the Premonition,” the Dark Lady told Isuzeni, and he bowed humbly, since rarely did she grant him such a privilege. “For your own good I hope the premonition has changed, or else your head and guts will roll on the floor of this tent.”
Isuzeni’s blood froze in his veins, and the great fear which took hold of his soul nearly made him faint.
“The mirror, quickly,” he ordered, and two Moyuki brought it in immediately and placed it in front of Yuzumi. Isuzeni stood beside her facing the full-sized mirror and waited nervously. What would the Skull show them today? It was enormously important; his own life was at stake. There was barely time, the conquest had begun. It was all or nothing. They would live or die in that faraway land; the Skull knew that, and might show it to them if it so chose.
Yuzumi placed her hands on the Skull again and with eyes closed, spoke words of power. The grey energy shot out, projected from the Skull to the mirror. Isuzeni felt a sense of insanity. The Dark Lady concentrated and began to interact with the power of the Skull, looking to see what her fate had in store
for her. In the midst of the torture suffered by the unfortunate prisoners whose life was being consumed in a nightmare of pain, a blurred image began to take shape in the mirror. Using her immense power, the Dark Lady shaped the premonition which the Skull seemed reluctant to show in any comprehensible form. Filled with uncontrollable envy, Isuzeni focused on trying to make sense of the scene which was beginning to take shape in the mirror. A scene which —he trusted and hoped fervently— would have changed substantially.
Fearing for his life, Isuzeni uttered a prayer to his Lord Imork.
But unfortunately for him, and most of all for his Mistress, the scene the Skull deigned to show was one well known to both of them. His Lady was lying on a hill whose grass was discolored red, while around Yuzumi lay her personal guard, her Moyuki, exterminated. Some burnt to dust, some frozen, annihilated by the elements.
The image vanished, and the Dark Lady forced it to come back. First it was blurred, then a little clearer. And then appeared the two hated figures, always seen from behind, a man and a woman: the Marked and the White Soul. He, unmistakable for the great power which emanated from him as well as the mark on his right hand: a great round mark of a strange golden color, as if a magical sun had burnt him. She, resplendent in her white armor with plumed helmet. An ancient rune was engraved on the back of her armor, which with tremendous effort they had been able to identify as the rune of the soul.
The image flickered, then disappeared again. Isuzeni looked at his Mistress and saw her struggling with the Skull, subduing it so that it would show her what she wanted to see, the images which with the passing years she had managed to wrench from it and link into an almost coherent scene: her destiny. The image reappeared and the scene continued unfolding. Isuzeni saw the Marked kneel beside Yuzumi’s body. He unsheathed a long hunting knife and placed it on her neck while the White Soul looked on impassively. Isuzeni’s heart froze again, as it had so many times before, for this was the moment which preceded the death of the Empress. At the same moment a third silhouette appeared, another woman who stood beside the Marked. The figures were still blurred, but he knew them well.
The Premonition had not changed. It was still the same. Isuzeni gasped. The Dark Lady would take his head in payment.
He was a dead man. His knees shook, his soul was doomed.
The image vanished, then to the High Priest’s surprise it came back a moment later, flickering strongly. The scene began to take shape, and in it two women appeared: two women Isuzeni had never seen before. The edges were blurred, but there was no doubt. Their faces were unclear, but their bodies were definitely female. The Dark Lady groaned with the effort and went on struggling to control the vision. Isuzeni noticed that the image was beginning to focus on the neck of the first woman. On it something shone intensely, with a color… the image became clearer and he distinctly saw an intense white gleam. It brought an image of wind to his mind, and a mystical breeze touched his face.
The image moved back from the first girl and focused on the neck of the second. As with the first woman, his attention was caught by a new gleam. But this time it shone blue, like the sea. A sense of water flooded Isuzeni. The High Priest was baffled; this was a new and fascinating vision. Why was the Skull showing them these two women and the objects which shone at their necks? Were these the medallions his Lady had sensed awakening? Very likely, since the power which issued from them was very ancient, but where had they come from? What kind of power did they provide? And what was more important still, what did those two women have to do with the Premonition? What did they have to do with the Dark Lady’s destiny? His Mistress had told him how in her last vision she had witnessed the link between the Marked and another young woman, using medallions of great arcane power, but this vision they were now seeing was completely different.
“Do you feel it, Isuzeni? Do you feel the power of the medallions?” asked Yuzumi, without looking at him, her face twisted from the strain.
“Yes, I feel their power very clearly… Undeniable, unquestionable.”
The Dark Lady’s face tensed. “It’s a power of an incredible magnitude. In this vision I feel it imbuing me with its powerful essence… so ancient…”
“I detect the power of the medallions, on the two women’s necks. I feel air… water… The medallions are linked to the elements of nature… Yes, I could swear it’s so… two medallions, two powers: Water, Air.”
“There’s more than that… Argh!” Yuzumi groaned under the strain of trying to control the vision. “They have the Gift… It’s necessary to interact with the medallions. But, there are not two… I can sense the extraordinary power of at least three medallions.”
“The Marked must be wearing the third,” Isuzeni said. “But I can’t tell for sure, it’s as if it wasn’t there…”
“From the Marked I can feel the void, the spirit, very powerful, increasing his Gift, turning him into an unstoppable force. Damnation! The combination is too powerful! Argh! Unequalled Power!”
“The spirit… has to be Ether, my Lady, the fifth element. Yes, it has to be. It fits!”
The Dark Lady clenched her jaw. “Three medallions with the power of three of the Elements of Nature… that means there must be five medallions. I can’t perceive them, but they must exist. If there are three, there will be five: Earth and Fire!”
“I think so too, my Lady.”
“Yes… Argh!” the Dark Lady closed her eyes and concentrated, struggling to control the Skull.
Isuzeni did the same. He could feel the Power coming from the medallions, soaking his frail body with an essence so strong, so powerful, that it made him shiver with raw fear.
“They must be mine! The power of the medallions is too great, they cannot serve my enemy. They must serve me! Make me become the most powerful force humanity has ever known!”
The mere idea of the Dark Lady imbued with such a colossal power froze Isuzeni’s blood. Nothing would stop her, nothing! Not even the Premonition itself. He could hardly breathe at the thought.
“I wasn’t wrong,” Yuzumi said, her body rigid, eyes open wide, lost in the vision. She seemed to be living a supernatural epiphany. “Everything makes sense at last. This vision corroborates it. I wasn’t wrong to follow my Destiny of Glory, preparing to reach it, fighting to obtain it during so many years. An ancient arcane power has awakened. A power which has remained hidden for many years. A power which will be crucial in the outcome of the Premonition, in my Destiny of Glory. This incredible power has to be mine! The medallions have to be mine! All of them! With them, with the power they will grant me I shall reign over all the known earth. Nothing and no one will be able to resist me, my limitless power. Nothing will oppose my wishes. I shall bend men, land, sea and sky to my wishes. I shall destroy nations, raze down continents, I shall be a Goddess on earth. That is my true Destiny, that is the Glory I pursue and want. Do you understand?”
Isuzeni nodded; he understood. He could now clearly see the translucent threads of fate, together with the main elements which composed them and would decide their final form. They were linked together: the Premonition, the Marked, the White Soul, the medallions and their Bearers, the conquest of Tremia. All that led to the Destiny of Glory which his Mistress pursued. They would make her a Goddess among mere mortals.
“Argh! This vision confirms it, the Skull confirms what I’d suspected. The reason why I came to Tremia. The reason why I didn’t stay skulking in Toyomi, trying to avoid the Destiny of Death. I knew glory awaited me here, and now this vision gives me confirmation. The medallions are the key; with them I’ll make myself into a Goddess. I have to kill the Bearers and take their medallions from them. The Marked, and those women too. Now I know what will bring me my Destiny of Glory, and nothing will deny it to me. Nothing!”
Isuzeni shivered at his Lady’s outburst.
“And… is the moment right?”
“It is indeed. That senile old Oracle predicted it correctly. Now is the exact moment. Think about it.
”
With a long sigh, Isuzeni pondered upon it, using his privileged mind.
“It couldn’t have happened before. We weren’t prepared to invade Tremia, my Lady. We’ve just conquered and unified Toyomi under your flag. It has taken us a year to assemble the invading fleet. But not only that, if we’d made the invasion any earlier, the medallions wouldn’t have been found and you wouldn’t be able to get hold of them, and as a result your Destiny of Glory would not come about.”
“I see you understand.”
“And if we should wait,” Isuzeni went on, “the Bearers might become forces so strong that we’d be unable to defeat them.”
“Exactly. The moment is now. My moment is now. My destiny awaits me. A destiny so glorious that mortals don’t even dare to dream of such a thing. But I do, Isuzeni, and for me it’s no dream but a reality within reach of my hand. And my hand will reach it. Or do you still think I should retreat to Toyomi and let the Bearers of the medallions have dominion over Tremia?”
Isuzeni shook his head hastily. “No, no, no, my Lady, I don’t. With the medallions, the Destiny of Glory is assured. I too can see it now. It’s too important a treasure not to take the risk. Who wouldn’t risk it if the prize was to reign over the entire known world? I would risk it myself without stopping to think it twice, my Lady. Your choice is the right one.”
“At bottom we’re not so different, you and I, Counselor. If you were in my place you would do the same, and like me, you would risk everything, since the reward is so grand, so impossible that nothing would stop you. Divinity awaits me, and nothing will stand in my way. Nothing!”
Yuzumi’s eyes, filled with boundless determination, fixed on Isuzeni’s, and he knew that all the plans, all the efforts, all the work would finally make the Dark Lady into an all-powerful sovereign. Both the moment and the situation were right; they would achieve their goal. Just as they had done until now.
The image vanished again, only to reappear amid the Dark Lady’s groans of rage and effort as she clenched her teeth furiously, trying to control the vision. Isuzeni looked at the prisoners, only two of whom were still alive. Soon the Skull would be without nourishment and the vision would come to an end. A bright translucent flash from the mirror caught Isuzeni’s attention. He focused all his senses on the vision and identified the source of the brilliance: the neck of a young man in the middle of a forest. He could not see his face, but there was no doubt that it was a man. He was running uphill among the trees, and as he was running Isuzeni caught a glimpse of something gold on the man’s sleeve. The High Priest half-closed his eyes to see better and his heart skipped a beat: it was not his sleeve but the back of his hand.