by Pedro Urvi
But the one who really worried Kayti was Komir. The Norriel did not seem like himself; he kept stopping to look back. The encounter with his pursuers seemed to have affected him. He seemed in shock.
“How do we get there?” Yakumo asked by the shore.
“The… medallions…” Lindaro said brokenly in an exhausted voice.
Lasgol came out of the thicket and joined the others.
“I’ve located them. There are more than twenty of them, and they’re close to our trail. They’ll soon be here.”
“Tiger Warriors?” Yakumo asked.
“Yes. But there are more with them, three in dark clothes… three… like you… Yakumo.”
“Dark Assassins…” Yakumo repeated, nodding. “We have to disappear at once or we’ll all die.”
“I need to know who sends them. I want justice for my parents. I’m staying. I’m going to fight,” Komir said, staring at the forest behind them.
“We can’t take them on, there are too many of them. They’ll kill us. I can assure you, Norriel, we won’t survive,” Yakumo said, with such conviction that no one doubted it.
“I’m not running any more. I’m here for justice and this is where I’m going to get it,” he said with determination.
“The three Dark Assassins, even without the help of the Tiger Warriors, will have no difficulty in finishing off our group. Believe me, I know. We can’t fight them, not like this, it would be suicide.”
“This isn’t the time, Komir,” Lindaro put in. “There’ll be a better moment later on, when we’re better prepared. Here and now, as Yakumo says, it’s suicide, and you don’t want us, your friends, to die, do you? Let the Light guide your heart, my friend.”
Kayti could see in Komir’s face the struggles of his mind and heart. It seemed the sight of the Tiger Warriors had brought back all the pain of the events which had set him on his quest and all the disappointments which had followed. She looked at Hartz in alarm, and he gave the trace of a nod.
“We have to reach the Temple of Air!” Kayti urged.
“I have an idea!” said Sonea. She went up to Iruki. “Give me your hands, trust me.”
The two of them held hands and looked at the lake before closing their eyes.
“Concentrate, and summon the whirlwind,” Sonea said.
Iruki opened her eyes in surprise. “Are you sure, Librarian? It’s a dangerous spirit, better not to wake it up. It’s better not to bother such powerful spirits, at least not without a great Shaman to help. It could kill us all if it turns against us.”
Sonea made a gesture of disagreement. “It might be dangerous, yes, but I’m sure it’s the only way to get into the Temple, and then out again. It’s like a door, we must call on it, summon it. Trust me.”
Iruki nodded, and both of them focused on the task.
Lasgol and Yakumo moved forward, went down on one knee and readied their weapons. Some seven hundred paces away two Tiger Warriors appeared at a run.
“Get a move on, they’re here!” urged Kayti.
Iruki’s medallion flashed intensely blue, and immediately, as if in response, Sonea’s flashed white. The water in the lake turned rough, and a storm started to form over the blue mass. Hurricane winds appeared from the center of the lake, propelling a sequence of strong waves against the shore. The blue sky vanished behind a threatening darkness. Lightning fell from the dark sky into the wild waves.
“Five hundred paces, they’re coming close fast” Lasgol cried behind them.
Kayti stared at the lake; a giant whirlwind began to form in the midst of the great storm. Deadly lightning lit up waves of unbelievable height, and the colossal whirlwind began to swallow sea and sky as it came closer to the two Bearers on the shore.
“Four hundred paces!” Lasgol cried in warning. He aimed carefully, murmured something, and let fly two simultaneous arrows, which struck the first two Tiger Warriors. “Hurry up!” he yelled.
Iruki and Sonea were still deep in concentration, drawing the whirlwind to the shore. For a moment it seemed to Kayti that the cyclone was the personification of the god of the wind, performing a dramatic dance over the lake.
“A little more, it’s nearly here!” said Lindaro, his hair waving wildly in the wind.
Two arrows whistled through the air and brushed against Yakumo in passing. He avoided them at the last moment with an extraordinary twist of his hips.
Lasgol fired two arrows at stunning speed and felled the enemy archers.
“The rest of the group are on their way!” he warned urgently.
Komir tried to step forward, but Hartz held him back.
Kayti noticed that the great whirlwind, instead of moving towards them, was now motionless, very close to the shore. Why isn’t it responding to the call of the Bearers? What’s happening? A translucent flash from Komir’s medallion caught her attention. It’s Komir! He doesn’t want to leave and he’s pushing the whirlwind away with his medallion without even realizing it!
“Come on, come on!” urged Lasgol, shooting arrows at the approaching warriors.
Kayti realized they were not going to make it.
“Hartz, it’s Komir! He’s pushing the whirlwind back! You have to stop him!”
Hartz looked at her with doubt in his eyes, then at his friend.
“Stop him or we’ll all die! He’s not even aware he’s doing it!”
Komir was in a trance-like state. “Let’s fight, Hartz, like the Norriel we are. Let’s face the enemy, you know they deserve to die for what they did…”
“Stop him, Hartz,” Kayti begged. “Do it for me!”
Hartz put his big hands on Komir’s shoulders and looked into his friend’s eyes. With great concern, he said:
“No, not this time, my friend. You’re wrong, you’re condemning us all to death. You heard Yakumo, we can’t fight Dark Assassins, much less when they’ve got twenty or so of those Tigers with them. Think it over. Our lives are at stake. Come on Komir, think about it, it’s suicide. I’m your friend, I’ve always been on your side, would I lie to you? Why?”
“I know you’re my friend, the best of friends, but they’re here… within my reach… I must bring about justice, for my parents.”
“What you think is justice, my friend, is just plain revenge. You justify it to yourself by calling it justice, but right now, what you want is nothing more than revenge, not justice.”
“They killed my parents, Hartz. It was them… and they’re coming here now…”
“I know. And I promised I’d help you find those responsible and bring about justice. But this isn’t how to do it. This way would lead us to death. You know me, there’s nothing I like better than crushing skulls! Do you think I’d pass up the chance of a good fight? But I’m telling you, this one would be our last one. We’d all die here. We’d all die because of your thirst for revenge.”
Hartz’s words touched Komir. Had they been spoken by any other man they would not, but this was Hartz, and Hartz always spoke from the heart. If Hartz died because of him, he would never forgive himself. Komir began to realize his friend was right. He looked into his friend’s big brown eyes, filled with worry, and felt he had been wrong, completely wrong. The rage in his heart died out, and common-sense once again reigned in his mind.
“You’re right. I’ve been a fool, and I almost got you all killed.”
“Don’t you worry, tomorrow you’ll get me out of some other mess,” Hartz said with a broad smile. “Today it’s my turn, tomorrow it’s yours.” He patted him on the shoulder.
Kayti breathed out heavily with relief. She turned and saw the whirlwind reach the two Bearers and swallow them.
“All in! Let’s go!” she shouted.
In a moment they all hurled themselves into the vortex of the whirlwind. Lasgol, who was covering them from behind, did so an instant before the enemy reached them.
Everything turned cloudy, and they lost consciousness.
Kayti woke with a terrible headache and an u
npleasant dizziness. Something crimson caught her eye as she tried to clear her head. Lasgol and Hartz, already on their feet, watched Yakumo as he knelt. The rest of the group were still unconscious. When Kayti managed to get up she saw the origin of the crimson hue: it was blood… the blood of a Tiger Warrior, who lay dead on the ground with his throat slit.
“We were lucky that Yakumo woke up before he did,” said Hartz with a gesture at the body. He came up to her and kissed her forehead.
Kayti felt true love and affection. She remained lost in thought, surprised by how much that simple gesture meant to her. She loved this giant, and that filled her with happiness, even there, surrounded by danger and death. Perhaps all the more so because of it. How fortunate she had been to meet the big Norriel while she was following the sacred quest ordered by the Custodian Brotherhood. Now she prayed to the gods that her mission would not turn into an obstacle to their love. She had to carry out what she had sworn to do; her mission was important, not only for the Brotherhood but for the future of mankind. But she was not being honest with Hartz, she was not telling him the whole truth, she could not… however much she might wish to… and that put their love at risk. Kayti knew this, and she suffered bitterly in silence, since losing Hartz as a result of that betrayal would destroy her.
“He must have reached the whirlwind at the last moment,” Lasgol said, looking at the Tiger Warrior.
“Let’s wake the others so that we can go on,” Kayti said, leaving the warmth of Hartz’s embrace and banishing those dark thoughts.
A few moments later they were all awake, trying to recapture the emotions they had felt. Komir said nothing, but he looked lost in thought.
They went quickly to the funerary chamber, it was spotless, covered with Ilenian inscriptions. The walls shone with a faint luminescence. In the center was the great sarcophagus of polished white marble in which rested the mummified body of the Ilenian King of Air.
They stood round it, and Kayti turned to Komir.
“Komir, can you open the passage to the portal?” she asked, gesturing at the sarcophagus.
The Norriel’s eyes seemed unfocused.
“Passage? What passage? How is it activated?” Lindaro asked excitedly.
“Under the altar,” Kayti said.
Komir raised his head and looked at Yakumo… “Before we do, I need some answers from this… Assass… foreigner…”
“I don’t think this is the right moment…” Lindaro began.
“I have avoided confrontation with the enemy as I realize I was wrong. But if I’m not mistaken, Yakumo has some answers that I really need and are overdue.” he said, and put his hand on the pommel of his sword.
Hartz came to stand next to his friend, showing his support.
Iruki narrowed her eyes and tensed, but Yakumo remained calm. The others did not seem to know what to do in this awkward situation.
“You and I are not enemies,” Yakumo said neutrally, his eyes on Komir.
“That I hope is true, I really do,” Komir replied. “You belong to their race, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And you serve their Queen, the Dark Lady…?”
“I used to… I’m what you would call a deserter… I didn’t report after my last mission. I abandoned my duties and left with Iruki. If I’m captured I’ll be tortured to death and it will be a terrible, painful one, because such is the punishment for my disloyalty.”
“Why did they send you to Tremia? What for?”
Yakumo looked at Komir and let his shoulders sag.
“I belong to an Order of Assassins which the Dark Lady uses to achieve her ends. I am a Dark Assassin, as you know, and I was sent to this continent to carry out missions for my lord Isuzeni.”
“And who is this Isuzeni?” Komir asked, sounding more interested.
“Isuzeni is the High Priest of the Cult of Imork, Lord of the Dead, and First Counselor to the Dark Lady. He’s the most powerful man in Toyomi after the Empress. He’s her strategist, a brilliant and ruthless man, and a powerful Sorcerer. He commands the Empress’s armies, and he’s the one who has prepared this invasion during years of undercover operations.”
Komir’s eyes were now fixed on Yakumo, as the information he was providing was extremely interesting. He continued searching for answers. “About eighteen years ago three men like you, three Dark Assassins, were sent to Tremia to kill a baby. What do you know about that?”
Iruki stepped forward, worried.
“Don’t answer him,” she said to Yakumo. “You don’t owe him any explanation.”
Komir tensed. Yakumo spread his hands wide.
“Relax, both of you,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything I know, you have my word.”
Komir gave a long sigh, sensing that answers were going to be revealed at last.
“I do know something and I’ll tell you. Not because of your threats, but because I believe it’s a way of redeeming the evil I’ve caused in my dark life. Three Dark Assassins were sent to kill a baby, yes, and they failed. Someone very powerful ‒ I have no idea who it was ‒ killed them.”
“Who sent them?”
“Are you sure you want to know the answer? It’s one which will doom your existence. You can still turn round and take a different path. Don’t condemn yourself to a cause which will lead you to a confrontation which would result in your death. This quest brings nothing but darkness and pain, it will consume your soul and leave it black as coal. Don’t follow the steps I was forced to take myself.”
“Who?” Komir insisted.
Yakumo sighed, a sigh of deep sorrow. He glanced at Iruki for a moment and bowed his head.
“Isuzeni the High Priest sent them, on orders from the Dark Lady. She is the one who wishes you dead. She is the one who has been searching for you all these years, to take your life.”
Komir’s eyes flashed.
“Did they send the Tiger Warriors to my parents’ farm?”
“I don’t know for sure Komir. But they’re man-hunters for the Dark Lady, so I assume that’s so.”
Komir remained thoughtful.
“Why? Tell me, why?” His voice was desperate, almost pleading. “I need to know why all this had to happen and why they’ve been chasing me for eighteen years, trying to kill me.”
Yakumo nodded.
“I’ll tell you, Norriel, since you have the right to know. The Oracle said, before the Dark Lady killed him, that Yuzumi’s power has no rival, that nobody and nothing can stop her, that she’ll conquer all the known world. But there is also a rumor… nobody knows whether it’s true or not, it’s told in secret, always in whispers, as whoever tells it is risking their life. The rumor speaks of a prophecy… of the one who one day will end the life of the Dark Lady. The one who will put an end to her reign, a man of great power, a man… Marked.” Yakumo pointed to the back of Komir’s hand where it clasped the pommel of his sword.
“Me? I’m… the one… they talk about?” Komir asked, taken aback.
“Yes, you must be him, the Marked, the one who can kill the Dark Lady. I don’t know whether the rumor is true or not; perhaps it’s only a myth or a legend. But if the Dark Lady has been trying to take your life for so long there must be some truth in it. I’m just a simple agent, but even so, I know the legend of the prophecy well.”
“How can you be so sure I’m this Marked? It might be anyone else …”
Yakumo hesitated briefly, then looked fixedly at Komir and replied with blazing honesty:
“Because I was sent to find you and kill you.”
Kayti’s heart skipped a beat.
Frozen, they all glanced at each other. The situation was on the point of getting out of hand.
Hartz reached for his sword. Unconsciously, Kayti did the same.
Iruki and Lasgol seized their weapons.
Yakumo, on the other hand, did not bat an eyelid, but remained calm and motionless. He appeared unperturbed.
“By the Light! Stay put, plea
se, all of you!” Lindaro cried. He raised his hands to the heavens. “Don’t do anything foolish!”
Komir’s sword began to move, very slowly, as if time had stood still. His eyes were still fixed on the Assassin.
But at that moment Yakumo spoke.
“If you want my death, you can have it. Blood has been shed and claims revenge. If you must kill me, I won’t stop you. Go ahead.”
With a desperate cry Iruki stepped between Yakumo and Komir and covered her lover’s body with her own.
Komir looked at her for a brief moment. His emerald eyes burnt hot with the turmoil he was suffering. He’s about to burst, Kayti thought. She held her breath, but her heart was beating like a war-drum.
Komir’s arm moved. He breathed out long and hard. And let his sword drop to the floor.
Lindaro nearly fainted. “Thank the Light!” he cried.
Hartz gave a great gasp of relief.
Komir raised his eyes and said to Yakumo:
“I don’t want to take your life, that would accomplish nothing. I see that now. Just tell me you didn’t have anything to do with the death of my parents.”
Yakumo nodded.
“I had nothing to do with that. When your parents were killed I was carrying out a mission for the High Priest. Isuzeni had lent my services to an agent on this continent in exchange for other favors, to destabilize the balance between the three great kingdoms, in preparation for the great invasion.”
“He’s telling the truth, that’s how he rescued me,” Iruki said.
“Do you mean to say you’ve been working for Nocean agents? Perhaps even for Norghanians?” Lasgol asked, looking confused.
Yakumo shook his head.
“I’ve always served my lord Isuzeni. His orders, his wishes, aren’t discussed or interpreted, they’re carried out without the slightest doubt. Any hesitation is punished with death. I tracked all the Western kingdom in search of the Marked, and when I couldn’t find him I thought my life had come to an end, since failure entails death under the Dark Lady’s discipline. But my lord Isuzeni thought it advantageous to put my skills in the service of others, and that’s how I came to do certain jobs, to help in his strategy of destabilization. Among them I was ordered to kill Duke Orten for the Noceans. That’s where my beloved’s path and mine crossed.”