The King was speaking to Misia. Kasey’s arrival with the unconscious King interrupted whatever they had been talking about. King Erestar took the other King in his hand and put his other hand over his body. Kasey watched as the wounds healed under the King’s touch. He is a follower of the Shepherd! She had only seen the Shepherd grant such healing power and on rare occasion. She looked up at King Erestar with her eyes wide. He looked down at her with his piercing blue eyes and said, “Don’t worry. He will be ok… at least physically. I am hoping his concussion will keep him out so I can deal with him tomorrow.”
Kasey smiled and said, “Hopefully you can Shepherd him to be more cautious.”
King Erestar eyed her when she put emphasis on the word Shepherd. “Indeed, we do know what you did to him.”
“Then you know it was needed,” she replied not missing a beat. Erestar nodded, “Maybe... The situation is being reviewed. It was intended that the champion would defeat King Alagaar and the rest in order to be part of the army would break out. We did not expect a lot that happened. But for now, please… walk with me.”
King Erestar bent over and put his hand out for her to step onto then he lifted her to his shoulder. “Omar has told me a lot about you,” he said as he walked them both towards the palace.
Kasey looked over her shoulder to see Misia and Tifus take flight but keep their distance. They were conversing as they flew. Kasey looked back to King Erestar. “That’s right, I keep forgetting that you are one of the Magi.”
He nodded, “And your name intrigues me, ‘Kasey Phoenix’. I was told by a mutual friend that I would know my champion by the familiar symbol under which she conquered. I notice you have a Phoenix on your breastplate.”
She looked down at her armor and then to the flag of Philos. “Then you do follow the Shepherd.”
“Of course I do, he is the rightful ruler of the Universe,” he said.
They reached the castle. King Erestar beckoned for Misia and Tifus to follow. He waited for them to catch up. “I know that you are the one who brought the Sword to Soterion. And from what I know it was a perilous journey,” he said as Kasey could see Ischus approaching from within the palace out of the corner of her eye. Ischus told him all about me.
“It was but I learned much,” she said. “So I hear,” said King Erestar as he turned to Ischus.
Kasey raised an eyebrow to Ischus. Then she looked to King Erestar and said, “And what did my dear brother tell you.”
King Erestar laughed, “After given the proper persuasion… he told me everything.”
“Oh now did he?” She looked at Ischus with a half-smile. King Erestar interrupted her glare and said, “I hope you don’t mind but I have taken the liberty to prepare a feast for you and your team.”
Kasey knew that this was a big deal. The Raphad were a very personal and private race and for them to offer to host her in their home and to eat with her was a big deal. It was a sign of trust and invite to friendship. Kasey nodded. “Of course, I am deeply honored.”
A guard brought the rest of the team to the palace. They went to the table which was five feet from the floor. There had been special chairs made for each race… even the Nepsah. King Erestar and Queen Hope sat together on the floor with legs crossed.
The others sat. Kasey was seated between Ischus and Misia. Tifus sat beside Misia. Including the large amount of Nepsah there were 53 people in attendance. A large beast had been roasted and was set in the middle of the table. As Kasey began to fill her plate she asked, “I have always wondered, where do the Raphad find their food?”
Erestar laughed, “That is a very good question, we get our food from a continent west of here. There are large beasts that roam to the south.”
“Interesting,” she said.
Suddenly King Alagaar stumbled into the room. “I thought I smelled cooked meat. Who are these? Not more guests are they?”
King Erestar whispered to Kasey, “It seems he had lost his memory of you and the fight between you two, but I told him you won.” Kasey nodded to King Erestar. The Daqad King started filling his plate with the food prepared on the table. He noticed that everyone was quiet and looked up. He looked around the room at those gathered. “Does everyone really expect me to be that sore of a loser? I would not have added myself as the last challenge for the Champion if I didn’t think that someone was capable of beating me. Did I expect it to be a Miyka? No. A woman? Absolutely not. But from the looks of what she did to my armor she is no average female Miyka."
King Alagaar turned his gaze from the crowd to Kasey as if expecting a reply.
King Erestar spoke first. "You don’t need to reveal anything you are not comfortable with revealing," he said. King Alagaar added, "But with reports of flaming wings and strength that could best a Raphad, I will have to say that my curiosity needs some satisfying."
She looked to Misia. "I don’t think it will hurt."
Misia shrugged. "I am from another planet called Earth. I was a human, what you would call an Adam. I passed into a world known as Musterion through a portal on Earth. There I was transformed into a Kalat. I lived there as a Kalat for several hundred years. I was one of their nobles. Then I met the Shepherd. There He is known as the Master. He lifted the curse of the Kalat from me in return for a life of servitude to him. He renamed me Kasey Phoenix...”
There was an awkward silence for a moment and then King Alagaar slammed his fist on the table and let out a boisterous laugh. "You were a Kalat? I have heard Kalat have been known to best even Raphad! Now I feel a little bit better about myself. I have never heard of this earth but I have been to this Musterion you speak of. It is where I learned the 'rock song'." King Alagaar removed his gauntlets to reveal rock clusters on his knuckles. "See? I have been there. The Daqad there taught me to sing the rock song and I brought it to my people. Before that, my people did not know how to get information from rocks. This Musterion... there is much to it. I did not realize it was also a bridge to other worlds."
King Erestar rubbed his chin. "I would be interested to explore this Musterion." Kasey shook her head, "I imagine the tunnels would be too small for you. Also, if you were to enter and come back out you could only be there for several minutes and then 150 years has passed when you re-enter Soterion. Or you could end up in the past. Or you could take a one way portal and not be able to find a way back. I would caution anyone wanting to enter Musterion to make sure they plan wisely."
Alagaar laughed as he took a bight of a large chicken leg. "And with that knowledge, I won’t make a return visit. I could consider myself lucky."
King Erestar looked deep in thought.
Kasey gave him a concerned look, “What troubles you?” Erestar laughed, “My size. There are many things that my size limits me to. I was wishing there was a way to change my size when I really needed to. It is something I have searched for and found no real answer to for years.”
Kasey nodded, “I am sorry you have not found something.” King Erestar shrugged, “On to other subjects. A decision will be made tonight as to who the champion is. King Alagaar and I have voted and we did vote for you. I believe the other monarchs will also. As to the Elder, I’m never sure what he will do.”
Kasey smiled. “Two monarchs down!” She raised her glass to the others and they cheered. King Alagaar cleared his throat as he drank the Trundleberry tea being served. Then he pulled it away inspecting it. “Bah! Faerie tea, I don’t trust it. Erestar, where is the ale and the wine! I’ve looked all around this castle and haven’t found a drop.”
King Erestar laughed. “It appears that we are fresh out,” he said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
“Fresh out?! You are a King, you are never fresh out. I had heard that you do not drink ale or wine. Too good for a drink?” King Erestar shook his head, “We don’t for many reasons. Did you know that King Migdahla (my predecessor) was drunk when his son murdered him?”
King Alagaar grumbled, “That was a nasty business.” King Ere
star nodded, “Indeed. And in order to lead one must have a clear mind. I stay away from it so that I am not tempted to overindulge.”
King Alagaar shrugged, “You should carry some for guests.” King Erestar laughed and turned to Kasey very obviously wanting to change the subject. “Kasey, something King Alagaar and I discussed was the fact that you created your own team. This was not expected but it definitely showed leadership and initiative.”
King Alagaar nodded his head, “And you took me down! That is impressive too. I have sparred with hundreds of people who could not best me.”
“Like those initiates that you killed?” I can’t believe I just said that.
She had taken him off guard, “What? I didn’t kill anyone. Besides all initiates were told the danger of the Gauntlet.” Kasey shook her head, “But not that they might be killed by one of the judges. When I came up on you there were two dead bodies on the ground in front of you.”
King Erestar cleared his throat, “They are alive.”
She jerked and looked at King Erestar, “Alive? One of them had had their head knocked off!”
King Alagaar seemed even more confused, “What is she talking about?”
King Erestar sighed, “Kasey, they were brought back to life.”
“By who?” asked King Alagaar.
“Me,” said King Erestar.
“So I did kill two people, but you brought them back to life?” asked King Alagaar.
King Erestar nodded.
Kasey looked away. Poor Laberos. I tried to save you. “How?”
“I prayed to the Shepherd,” said King Erestar. Kasey stood up and tried to compose herself the best she could. She had tears in her eyes though. “I am sorry, I know this looks rude but I need to excuse myself.”
King Erestar looked concerned, “Are you ok? I am sorry if I said something offensive. If you need to be excused I understand. A room has been prepared for you. It is on the second story and your name is on the door.”
She nodded. It’s just not fair. It’s not fair.
She left to her room where she spent the rest of her night trying to sort through the anger, the grief, and the guilt she felt.
12
Out of the Frying Pan
Omar, Sasha, Bogdan, and Nekar followed Alora through the tunnels of Musterion. It had been two days since they had left. “Are you sure you know where you are going?” asked Omar.
She just keeps going straight. She hasn’t turned from this tunnel once. As if reading his mind Sasha nudged him, “Is she lost?”
Omar nodded, “Either that or personally wasting our time.”
Alora turned around and glared at them both. They continued through familiar scenery throughout the day until they reached a section of tunnel that took a dramatic decline. The hill down was sharp.
She turned and eyeballed the wagon that Bogdan had brought. She stalked over to Bogdan. “Its several days walking down that hill. But with that wagon it could be as little as a day. It levels out at the end for enough time to come to a rolling stop.”
Bogdan shook his head, “We need weapons and equipment.” Alora argue, “You really don’t. There is no life down there and a good 25 yards from where I’m thinking the wagon will stop is the portal to earth.”
Omar said, “Bogdan, we don’t need the weapons. We can take them all out and secure them in duffle bags. I believe from what is in the wagon and my invisibility device we could easily hide the bags from others. And I can't take days more of this.”
Bogdan shrugged. “Alright. But remember it was against my better judgment.” They began to take all of the equipment out of the wagon and stuffed them into the empty duffle bags that had been packed in case the wagon stopped working. Then Omar secured the invisibility devices, even his, to the bags. The wagon was pushed to the edge of the downward slope and then everyone but Bogdan got in. Bogdan pushed the wagon from behind and then jumped in. Omar had taken two other items from the wagon: one that would measure the speed and distance they were traveling and the other would attach to a vehicle creating a barrier so that wind didn’t get in your face and eyes and g-forces don’t act on your body. As they went down the tunnel Omar gauged that they were going 120 mph.
They traveled for hours going down the slope with twists and turns. About 4 hours into their journey Omar fell asleep next to Sasha.
As Omar woke he could feel that the wagon was coming to a slow stop.
“The portal is just down this way,” said Alora as she led them on. Bogdan secured his invisibility device to the wagon leaving it there. “I can teleport us back to the weapons when we come back through,” Omar commented to Sasha. She gave him a warm smile. How quickly my world has become hinged upon her opinion.
Alora and Nekar were off to the side speaking to each other in hushed tones. Those two are planning something… scary.
Omar turned his attention to Sasha. She was speaking to Bogdan on theories of how to try to revert him to his original form. Omar wandered ahead, he was anxious and in a hurry to move on. He followed the tunnel which gradually turned to the left. As he just got out of view of the others he saw a tunnel off to the right. Omar looked in to see inside an archway that had a dazzling light emanating from it. The light had shifting colors something similar to the Aurora Borealis. It was beautiful, amazing, and inviting. Omar stepped closer to it changing the views on his monocle. It gave off more energy than a portal. So much power was coursing through the archway, it was astonishing that it didn’t explode everywhere but was contained only within the archway. Omar reached out and let his fingers run through the light. The energy ran through his body. He felt a severe pain running through his arm and he looked at the teleportation device which was glowing the same color. Omar screamed out in pain. It was as if he had grabbed a hot wire, he could not pull his hand out. The others came rushing in and grabbed him pulling him away from the archway.
Once he was separated from the light there was no more pain. Alora shook her head. “That was very stupid for a man said to be earth’s most brilliant scientist.”
Omar shook his head, “It was almost like the light beckoned to me. Do you know what it is?” She nodded, “It is a vein of energy. The energy that fuels the portals of Musterion. There is a portal behind this archway that leads to the core of Musterion. The core is where the portal to earth is.”
Omar rubbed his head, “How do we get through the archway?” Alora responded, “I will go through and switch a valve which will temporarily disable the flow. You will have but a moment to get through until the flow of energy starts up again.”
Then it clicked in Omar’s mind that a Katken was the only one who could get them to the portal because she would die going through, but Omar had learned that Katken have 9 lives.
Alora backed away from the archway and then ran towards it and jumped in the air passing through. Several minutes went by and then the energy stream stopped revealing Alora and a portal behind her on the other side. They all passed through the archway quickly and then the flow of energy began again.
“How many more lives do you have?” asked Omar.
“Five.” Omar bent over, “Thank you so much for sacrificing something so valuable.”
Alora shook her head, “I did it for my Queen, not you.”
Omar shrugged, “All the same.”
Alora rolled her eyes, “Let’s go.”
They all stepped into the portal one by one. When Omar reached the other side what he saw was even more beautiful than the archway. He could see the center of Musterion which was a ball of shifting light in the center of the spherical room he was in. If he jumped and reached he could touch it but he dared not do it. He was standing on one of many slender walkways and to either side of the walkways were thousands of archways lining it… like holes one could jump down into.
He looked all around him. The archways lined the floor the walls and the ceiling. Omar could feel gravity pulling outwardly from the spherical room; He could walk up the walls or on
the ceiling if he wanted. “There must be hundreds of thousands of them, how do you know which one leads to earth?” asked Omar in wonder.
Alora gave Omar a toothy grin, “Because I marked it last time I went through it.”
“You went through the portal to earth? You have been to earth before?” “I’m just an innocent kitty. Who would notice me?” Alora shed her clothing and bent over on all fours giving Omar her cutest look and said, “Meow.”
There are Katken on earth? How long? How many? Why haven’t we figured this out? “How many Katken are there on earth?” Omar demanded.
Alora shrugged, “Several hundred I would guess. Earth is good for Katken, we have the humans trained.”
Sasha let out a laugh at those words. “Indeed you do.”
“Shall we?” asked Alora.
Omar nodded, “Of course.” Alora walked down the path until it intersected with another path. The others followed. She led them to an archway that had scratch marks all down the brick. Alora looked at them and smiled, and then she jumped into the portal. Omar let Sasha go through next and then he jumped in after her. They all landed in a section of tunnel. Omar could see the end of it. It led to debris. There was ash and burned wood.
Alora began to move forward and Nekar stopped her. Omar noticed that his hand was shaking and his eyes were wide. Nekar shook his head. “Don’t go that way. We must go back.”
“We can’t said Alora,” she pointed behind them. The tunnel was walled in behind them. “This is the way we are meant to go.” Nekar turned back. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. He had a resigned look on his face and then he closed his eyes and prayed very quietly but Omar heard, “My Master, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as Thou wilt.”
Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux Page 17