“We need to inform Iktai immediately.” Hazpo limped towards her cupboard.
“What, like right now?”
“Of course, you silly girl! She needs to know of this!”
Shera hesitated. “I don’t think Iktai would want to see me.”
“Nonsense! This is more important than your squabble with her the other day,” Hazpo waved her arms impatiently, beckoning for Shera to join her at the corner of the room. There was teleportation tile on the floor, inscribed with the Runic Symbol for transport.
Hazpo muttered under her breath, and her arms glowed its familiar bluish-green hue. She bent over and pressed her palm against the tile, which received her powers. There was a long, ethereal sigh emanating from the now glowing tiles. The whole living area was now bathed in the same light that came from Hazpo’s arms and the transport tiles.
“After you,” she said, and beckoned at Shera.
The Young Acolyte had no choice but to concede. Taking a deep breath, she stepped on the tiles. An odd sensation pulled at every surface of her body as she was teleported.
When Shera opened her eyes, she was not in Hazpo’s comfortable, quaint home anymore. She was in a large hall with many paintings of Queen Vahana I, II, III and IV on the left, and the four High Priestesses preceding Iktai on the right walls. They were in the High Priestess’s home. Another faint pop echoed to her right, and Hazpo materialized out of thin air.
As her body solidified, the woman shook her head and gave out a shudder. “Mercy to Maan, I can never get used to teleportation!”
At the end of the empty hall of marble was a door. Hazpo, without missing a beat, rushed towards the door, urging Shera to follow in her wake. Upon reaching the plain blue door, Hazpo gave it a small knock.
“Come in,” Iktai said from within.
Upon hearing Iktai’s voice, unpleasant memories began coursing through Shera once more. She relived the moments in the Prayer Hall when the High Priestess had shamed her in front of the other Priestesses and Young Acolytes. Hazpo, not letting the younger woman gather her thoughts, pushed at the door and admitted the duo into Iktai’s office.
Iktai was sitting on an armchair with her legs on an ottoman. There was a grandeur in her office that was rather unbecoming of a High Priestess, though Shera kept her opinion to herself. Mysterious objects floated around the ceiling, and a large window towards the right wall revealed the view of Sedayval.
“Hazpo and ah… Shera,” Iktai said, looking at her visitors. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Hazpo and Shera stood in front of the High Priestess and bowed deeply. Iktai reciprocated with a nod of her head and asked them to sit on chairs she materialized out of thin air. Shera sat and looked at her clasped hands. She could feel the High Priestess’s eyes boring deep into her. Hazpo took charge and began speaking.
“As you may have heard, Your Excellency, the Shando delegate decided to stay over in Young Acolyte Shera’s home.”
“So I have heard,” Iktai said lazily, her foot shaking on the ottoman. “What about it then?”
“The young man told Shera some incredibly distressing news. And she felt that you needed to know about it.”
Seeing that Shera refused to speak, Hazpo gave her a gentle nudge. Timidly, Shera looked up at the High Priestess whose gaze still had not left her person. She proceeded to inform Iktai of Vahren’s motivation for coming to Sedayval.
The High Priestess merely listened with passive nods. She was unperturbed by the news.
“And he also brought a letter my mother mailed just two days before she died.”
This caught Iktai’s attention. Leaning forward and placing her feet on the floor, she asked sharply, “Letter? What letter?”
Shera reached for the letter in her pocket and handed it to the High Priestess who snatched the letter abruptly. The Young Acolylte looked at Hazpo. They were both surprised by the sudden change in Iktai’s demeanor.
Iktai read the letter, her tired eyes snaking and trailing along the lines of the letter. Her lips moved silently, mouthing out several words in the most minute but audible tone. When she was done, the letter in her hand began glowing, first in a bright brown color. Shera could see the outline of the words in the letter before the whole paper burst into flames, settling as embers and ashes on Iktai’s floor.
She gave out a scream of protest, the letter being the proof of Irinde’s last words on this earth.
“Why did you do that for?” Shera cried out, standing from her chair.
“Shera, please!” Hazpo exclaimed, pulling at her arm. “Your excellency, I am so sorry for her behavior. She is still affected by her mother’s death…”
Shera wrenched her arm away from Hazpo’s grip and looked at the High Priestess. “That was my mother’s letter! You had no right to do it!”
“Sit down, you stupid girl,” Iktai snapped. “Are you so quick to believe a word of a stranger? A Shandorianian at that? He is obviously lying!”
“That letter was not a lie. I recognize my mother’s writing from anywhere, and the letter was attached with this,” Shera said, fishing out something Vahren had given her. It was the small, flattened sapphire jewel piece that glowed.
“Where did you get that?” Iktai asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Shera held on to the blue jeweled piece. It glimmered in the room. Hazpo was confused as was Shera. Iktai seemed to be angry, but they could not ascertain why.
“It came with my mother’s letter… This was what Vahren sent to me.”
“That bitch. The audacity of that bitch! How… how did she manage to get into the Heart of Sedayval? There is no way she could have reached the Jewel!”
“The heart of Sedayval?” Hazpo asked in hushed tones, her eyes widening. “You mean to say, that Shera is holding a piece of the Jewel of Maan?”
Nothing would have prepared Shera for what happened next. The High Priestess pointed at Hazpo with her index finger. A sharp beam of light came from the tip of her finger, piercing Hazpo’s chest.
The Priestess let out a surprised ‘Oh!’ as the concentrated light tore through her chest. Blood and flesh spattered on the wall behind her, marring the blue walls with red, black and congealed pieces of yellow. She was dead even before she reached the floor.
Shera screamed and took two steps back. She could not believe what was happening. The High Priestess had just murdered one of her own Priestesses.
“I can’t have any witnesses,” Iktai said with a pant. Eyes bulging, she seemed to be talking to the now deceased Hazpo. “If anyone found out about the Jewel, we would all cease to exist.”
As if just suddenly realizing Shera’s existence in the room, Iktai extended a hand out to Shera. “Give me the fragment of that jewel.”
Shera knew that resistance was futile. Holding back the tears, she could not believe what was happening. This was the High Priestess, the one who was supposed to protect the sanctity of Maan – and she had just destroyed that notion by murdering one of her Priestesses. The fragment of the jewel scratched against the surface of her skin.
“I can easily wrench it out of your cold, dead hands,” Iktai said, her arms beginning to glow. But Shera was ready. She knew she was no match for Iktai, but she would put up a fight even if it was futile.
There was a loud snap in the air as a thunderous beam of light shot from Iktai’s finger again.
Shera dropped to the ground to her left. The beam from Iktai’s hand hit the wall behind her in a lugubrious blast, with bits and pieces of marble hitting her head.
As she fell to the ground, Shera carved at the air, her own hands gleaming. It was one of the symbols she had mastered, ‘Mist.’ She often used this symbol to help in the Sedayval crops when the oranges and apples required a colder milieu to bear its fruits comfortably.
Instantly, the High Priestess’s room was plunged into a thick blanket of wet air. She heard the High Priestess curse out. Shera took advantage of the smokescreen to get up and move towards t
he door. She avoided another blue beam of light, which hit the floor where she’d lain just two seconds ago. The mist thickened and the room seemed to solidify in a thick patina of impenetrable whiteness.
“You bitch! After I get that fragment, I will kill you, just like I did your mother!” Iktai screamed.
Shera’s heart stopped at the remark. She was already at the door. An immense feeling of rage enveloped her, and she was tempted to stay back and fight. But, she was reminded of her mother’s constant words. Gingerly, she opened the door and was immediately plunged into the empty hallway. The teleportation tile still glowed, the remnants of Hazpo’s earlier magic still coursing through it. Without wasting any time, Shera ran towards the tile.
Behind her, she could hear Iktai’s door open once more. The High Priestess screamed at Shera’s retreating figure, shooting out random magical pulses, hoping that it would find contact with the Young Acolyte.
But Shera was quicker. Stepping on the Teleportation tile, she was transported halfway across Sedayval.
Chapter 7: Chaos
Shera landed in the floor of Hazpo’s home, panting. Without wasting any time, she siphoned the magic from the tiles, preventing the High Priestess from using it. Her whole body was trembling from the entire experience. She moved woozily towards the kitchen and let out a horrible retch. The sight of Hazpo’s chest, tunneled by the sheer sharpness of Iktai’s magic, was still niggling in her mind.
Iktai did not want anyone to know the true nature of the Jewel of Maan. Was it all just a lie? Had Andel been right all this time?
Shera did not know what to think.
Not knowing what else to do, she ran back to her home. Throughout the entire journey, only one mantra echoed in her head.
“Iktai killed my mom…”
Upon reaching home, she found Vahren sitting at the garden polishing his dagger. He was puzzled by her disheveled appearance. Unable to contain her emotions anymore, she embraced Vahren.
She told him what happened. Vahren bit his lip in frustration.
“Do you have the fragment?” he asked.
Shera fished it out of her pocket and gave it to him. “Iktai freaked out when she saw this. It was as though she was possessed!”
“Where did you get that?” a voice came from behind them.
Shera and Vahren turned around to see Damas standing at the entrance to the garden. He was staring at the fragmented Jewel on Shera’s hand. He took a step backwards, as though wanting to escape from the place. Damas looked as if he just saw a ghost.
“Mother sent it to Shando along with a letter. She… she knew that she was being poisoned,” Shera answered. She looked at her father, and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. The blood had rushed off his face. Then, Shera experienced the oddest out-of-body experience in her entire life. She pieced everything together – her mother’s mysterious illness, her father’s refusal in taking Irinde to healers out of Sedayval, and his forbiddance in speaking about the green scales that had formed on her thighs.
“You… you knew.”
Damas took another step backwards, eyes widening. It was clear in Damas’ eyes that he wished to be anywhere but here, but Shera was quicker. She threw herself at him, her hands pushing hard against his shoulders, his back slamming against the wall. Vahren was surprised by the strength the Young Acolyte had.
“You were the one who poisoned her!” Shera slammed her balled up fists against Damas’ body.
He took her beatings, unable to face the guilt anymore.
“Shera, let him go,” Vahren said. He gripped at her wrists. Damas leaned against the wall, his body rendered hollow from the guilt that had been revealed. His eyes were wide open, but he stared at nothing in particular. No words escaped his mouth, neither an apology, nor an explanation.
Shera could not take it anymore. Helplessness washed over her. But there was no time to gain closure. There was a violent knock against the front door.
“Open up!” a gruff voice shouted.
Vahren peeked through the small hole in the wall of the garden and cursed softly. “The Guards are here. We have to go!”
“Where?” Shera asked, wiping the tears and snot from her face.
Her father was now seated on the floor, maddeningly silent. He rocked back and forth, unable to construct a coherent thought anymore. The guilt of being found out had finally made him insane.
“We need to get to Andel. We need his help to find the Jewel of Maan.”
Chapter 8: Reveal
They had to be discreet about their journey to the Academy. The guards were on the prowl for Shera and Vahren. They escaped through the back door of the garden before the Sedayvalian guards stormed into the home.
It was nearing dusk in Sedayval. A small stretch of street separated the duo from their destination. Hazpo’s death was still in Shera’s mind. She could not forget how the look of shock was registered on the older woman’s face, killed by the very woman she trusted and revered.
“Are you sure that Andel is in there?” Vahren asked, looking around. The scales on his body seemed to acquire a life of their own, undulating like the steady flow of a cloth on a windy day. It seemed to always do so when he was excited or stressed.
“According to his friends, he has not left the place since you punched him. He seems determined, almost obsessed to prove the two of us wrong.”
“Well, let us hope he has found a way into the catacombs.”
The Academy was a building with many floors. Without any guards in the vicinity, Shera and Vahren had no trouble entering. They climbed up to the third floor to Andel’s office. The deserted corridor echoed their purposeful footsteps. There was a single solitary light flowing into the corridor – Andel’s office. Vahren stopped Shera midway through and pressed a finger to his mouth. They heard voices of people talking.
“I don’t know!” Shera could hear Andel shouting. “I don’t know where Shera is! Did you check her home?”
Shera could hear the fright in Andel’s voice.
A stranger’s voice spoke over Andel’s. “You’re lying! She is your lover, isn’t she? Where are you hiding her?”
A small thud could be heard, followed by Andel’s groan.
“We’ve got to help him!” Shera hissed. “They might kill him, too. Iktai does not care how many people she has to murder!”
Vahren nodded and tiptoed to the door. Shera followed suit. They leaned in to see two guards standing over Andel’s crumpled, writhing figure on the floor. Unsatisfied with Andel’s answer, the guard kicked him in the stomach. They were oblivious to the fact that Shera and Vahren were just outside the door.
“What are we going to do with this one?” the guard asked his partner.
“Kill him. High Priestess Iktai says that anyone associated to the Acolyte are guilty of treason anyway,” the other retorted. Andel gave out a whimper.
Vahren took the moment when they were both talking to enter the room silently. He approached the guard on the left quietly and planted a kick on the man’s neck. The guard careened to the side, crashed into a glass display of items, unconscious. The other guard snarled and attempted to plunge a knife into Vahren’s body. There was shock across his face as his sharp weapon shatter upon impact on Vahren’s tough body scales. Without wasting another second, Vahren planted two blows on the guard’s jaw and stomach. The guard keeled over, not moving another inch.
Shera ran into the room and helped Andel up.
“Mercy on Maan, Andel! Are you okay?” she asked, brushing the dust off his clothes.
“What… what are you doing here?”
Shera wasted no time. She had to set the record straight with Andel. “You were right. The Jewel of Maan is a mere power trip for the High Priestess!” She told him about Irinde’s letter, and how Iktai had killed Hazpo earlier in the day. Choking slightly, she revealed how Damas poisoned Irinde at Iktai’s orders.
“So, the Jewel does not exist then?” Andel said triumphantly, in spite of the
pain he had to be experiencing. “I was right?”
“You’re right about the Priestesshood. The Jewel does exist,” Vahren said.
“Why are you here?” Andel asked, annoyed.
“Well, for one, I just saved your life. So, a ‘thank you’ would be nicely appreciated. And second, we need your help to look for the Jewel of Maan. You are the only person who has triangulated its probable locations within Sedayval.”
Andel gave out a smile through his split lip and bruised eye. “Probable? I know its exact location.”
*
The whole city of Sedayval was put in a state of emergency. Announcements were disseminated by magic, as the High Priestess’s disembodied voice boomed out in every street, tavern, home, temple and portals in and out of Sedayval. She proceeded to slander Shera as a person who was instrumental in spreading a false belief system within the city. To make matters worse, she also accused Shera of murdering Priestess Hazpo. Vahren was not left smelling too sweet either. Marking them to be in cahoots with each other, the High Priestess promised an immense reward for anybody who could capture them alive.
The Truth in Lies: A TALE OF MANN Page 7