The Quest Saga Collection: Books 1 - 5

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  Her body relaxed, but her eyes still locked onto the High Priest.

  Q sighed. He didn’t really blame her for her reaction. She had good reason to take any gender discrimination very personally.

  She was from the Seraphian race, a race of angel-like beings. But though they resembled those holy doers of good, their structure of society was quite messed up. Women were just objects, subject to abuse and discrimination, and in such a society men got away with the most unethical of things.

  Elizabeth’s mother had lost her life when her father abused her to the point of fatality. Elizabeth never really talked about it, but Q was very sure she was still bothered by it.

  “Come along, Mistress,” both of the ladies bowed to Elizabeth and led her and the pilot up the staircase.

  “We will be with you within the hour,” the High Priest said.

  Elizabeth nodded, almost forcefully, and the women disappeared up the staircase.

  “Shall we get going then?” he walked through the opening in the wall and Q followed him through along with Carlos.

  The dimly lit pathway seemed to run parallel to the staircase. The only visible light came from a small bluish glow radiating from the stones on the walls and ceilings.

  “Out of curiosity,” Q said. “Where exactly are you taking us?”

  “For centuries, our race has possessed a certain sight,” the High Priest said, his words spaced between the soft thuds of his staff. “One that we show to every one of our visitors.”

  “Like a monument?”

  “A special place,” he said.

  They walked further until they reached a dead end in the wall. The High Priest tapped his staff against it. A blue, door-shaped outline appeared just as before, and this section of the wall slid into the ground.

  A small cloud of mist flowed into the passageway, and a warmth seeped through the air and the walls. Q walked on, feeling a light breeze blow through, bringing with it the scent of fresh jasmine and lilies. The mist dissolved in the wind, revealing the faint image of a pool of water.

  “Welcome to Armorica’s best tourist spot,” the High Priest said.

  Q’s face broke into a smile when he realized what this was.

  “Hot springs.”

  ***

  2-1

  Q laid back against the smooth stone wall and let its warmth soothe his body. He had to admit, when the High Priest said ‘special place’, a hot spring was not exactly what he’d expected.

  “This water has the rarest natural occurrence of a set of minerals,” the High Priest said. “Strongest relaxation agent in existence.”

  Q couldn’t see him speaking though. The mist around them was thick enough to hide them all from one another.

  “Must be good to have it in your backyard,” Carlos said. “A quick dip now and then?”

  “This spring is reserved only for special visitors and ambassadors,” the High Priest said. “Overusing the pool could deteriorate its healing qualities. The general public, including myself, use the lower quality springs all over the planet.”

  “So is healing the Getafixians speciality?” Q asked. It seemed to make sense that a planet filled with nutrient-rich springs would have caused the natives to develop an affinity to healing wave-skills.

  “The Getafixians were born wielders of the Elementa of light,” the High Priest said.

  Q was stunned for a second, mainly because the Elementa of light was supposed to be one of the rarest Elementas to control, and then he noticed a small snag in what the High Priest had said.

  “Wait, the Getafixians were?”

  “For many generations, the total number of Getafixians light-wielders decreased. Then, about two generations ago our race’s ability to control the Elementa of light completely vanished.”

  “Just like that? No reason at all?”

  “Our race was genetically endowed with a very high level of life energy. Light is one of the most superior of all Elementa, and needs the wielder to channel out a very large amount of energy. Currently, the regular warrior class has too little life energy to use the light Elementa.”

  “So that means one from the Mage class can use it?”

  “The mages of course have a lot more life energy to use, but only the most powerful of all mages can have even rough control over light. And then of course there is you, the sorcerer. Your life energy level dominates that of anything else in the Universe. Controlling light would not be too hard for you.”

  “Wait, so if only a sorcerer can control light, then what class do the Getafixian light-wielders belong to?”

  “In between the mage class and sorcerer class lies an ancient, hidden class, The Druids. The Getafixians were the first and only Druids of the universe.”

  “So you’re between Mages and Sorcerers?”

  “Exactly. Druids have significantly more life energy than the Mages, but are still far behind compared to a Sorcerer.”

  “And so now, not even a single one you are of the Druid class?”

  “We’re all just a little weaker than most mages.”

  “Carlos,” Q said. “Didn’t you tell me a long time back that mages were a very rare class of warriors?”

  “I did,” his brother said. “And that still holds true. The Getafixians are the only race with that much life energy to use. They’re the exception to my statement.”

  “So no other race specializes in the Mage class?”

  “The Thanonians,” the High Priest said, a little venom in his voice. “They’re mages as well. Much weaker ones, but mages nonetheless.”

  “What?” Carlos seemed surprised. “Their race isn’t supposed to have that much life energy.”

  “They have always been strong users of wave-skills. Ironically they chose to leave that gift alone and practice close combat instead. I believe their large army benefits more by practicing close combat rather than wave-skilled combat.”

  “Do they have a race-specific element like the Getafixians do?” Q asked.

  “The Thanonians control the Elementa of sound,” the High Priest said.

  “That doesn’t seem too terrifying.”

  “That is only because none realize the hidden potential of the Elementa.”

  “What? Hidden potential?”

  “Everything that has mass vibrates. So every object, living and nonliving, vibrates at a specific rate. We call this our natural frequency,” he said. “Say we caused sound waves that vibrated at the same rate, or frequency, as the object. This would make the object vibrate at a higher intensity, a phenomenon called resonance. If the waves were loud enough the object would tear apart and probably explode. A Thanonian, after much practice, can identify the natural frequency of any object, and create waves at the exact same frequency.”

  “They’re a walking detonator,” Carlos said.

  “Well, all I can say is that we’re very lucky they don’t use these powers regularly.”

  “I think it makes sense why they don’t use them though.”

  “Really?”

  “Regardless of how many Thanonians use their powers, they can only break apart things one object at a time, right? If they try to break apart two objects at once, the two sound waves they create would interact with each other and mess up the whole attack.”

  “True,” he said. “Plus two people is an understatement. Their armies are hundreds of millions in numbers.”

  “Things have changed so much since I last came here.”

  The High Priest laughed, “It’s been five years since you left,” he said. “Of course things would have changed a lot”

  Q listened a little closer after Idhren said that. He was really curious about his brother’s connection to Armorica, and he was sure he wasn’t going to get a straight answer if he asked him.

  “I was quite surprised when you contacted me,” Carlos said. “I wasn’t expecting you to find out about Q that early.”

  “Information travels around fast these days. As soon as I heard of the li
ght wielder I just had to meet him. A few information sources were willing to help trace back your location once they realized the one who had requested was Idhren of Armorica.”

  “You should just call yourself Lord Idhren. This High Priest business is just silly?”

  The High Priest just laughed, “The Getafixian customs do not let them call me by name,” he said. “Believe me, I requested to be addressed by name, but no one took me seriously.”

  Q tried to keep listening, but his head started to ache. High Priest Idhren’s voice started to sound like a jumble of incomprehensible words. Almost immediately he felt his body go sluggish, and he slumped into the waters. A torrent of bubbles swirled around him and his vision went blank.

  ***

  2-2

  Q’s eyes fluttered open, and registered a blur of images.

  “You finally woke up,” a voice said.

  He blinked a few times to clear his vision. The High Priest sat in an old wooden chair by his bedside, with his staff across his lap.

  “Hello, Idhren,” Q said. And then he realized he’d just called the most powerful man in Armorica by his first name. “I mean, High Priest,” he corrected.

  Idhren just laughed, “You may call me Idhren, just as you brother always did.”

  Q smiled. The guy seemed pretty down to Earth, which wasn’t something he expected based on the way this planet embraced medieval culture.

  His body felt weak and fluid, as though every muscle had turned into putty. He shifted position on his incredibly soft bed. He didn’t know how sleeping on a pile of feathers felt, but he was sure this felt better. His head still ached quite a bit, and his vision wasn’t completely cleared up yet.

  “You must rest awhile,” Idhren said.

  “What happened to me?” he asked. “I remember being in the hot spring, but everything after that is a blank.”

  He chuckled, “You, my friend, fainted from the heat of the water.”

  “You mean the thing where being in hot water stops the blood flow to the head?”

  “Precisely. This must be one of the first times you’ve been in a hot spring.”

  Q nodded.

  “I must say you were quite lucky Carlos reached you in time. That misty air prevented us from knowing you’d fainted.”

  “Where is Carlos anyway?”

  “He’s sleeping in his quarters. The hot springs seemed to have relaxed him a bit too much,” he chuckled. “The girls are taking their turn at the springs now. The one called Elizabeth laughed and laughed when she found out the reason why I’d separated us by gender. She laughed even more when she found out why you had fainted.”

  “She’s a silly one.”

  “I did not know she was of the Seraphian race,” he said. “That fact explains alone explains her resentful reactions earlier on.”

  “Yeah,” Q said. “She’s been through a lot.”

  “Seraphian women are undoubtedly one of the strongest beings I’ve ever come across,” Idhren said. “Some may be weak in body, but I have never seen one who was weak at heart.”

  The room’s wooden doors exploded, the shrapnel flying all over the floor. Idhren stood up, his staff pointed at the entrance, its orb glowing with a mystical aura. Q tried to get up, but his body was still far too weak.

  A dark-armored figure ran into the room, its physique showing it was a man.

  “Stand down, warrior,” Idhren said, his voice thundering through the air.

  The intruder bent low and brought his arms in front of its chest. He was getting into an attacking position.

  “There!” a voice yelled, and the sound of heavy footsteps followed.

  The guards, Q thought.

  The armor clad intruder seemed to realize he was outnumbered and charged at the wall opposite to the door. He put his hand up into the air, and the wall exploded, creating an opening about three feet in diameter. He made a final burst to pick up the pace and dived full length through the hole before Idhren or Q could even react.

  A few guards ran into the room, “Sire, are you safe?”

  “I am fine. So is our guest,” Idhren said. “How in the world did an intruder get into the palace?”

  “We do not know, Sire. The security team is looking at all the surveillance right now.”

  “Surveillance? The man is trapped in here. The force field will not let him leave.”

  “A section of the field was taken out before the attack commenced, Sire. The intruder seemed to have planned this very well.”

  Idhren’s eyes widened. He was clearly not happy with what just happened. But he remained calm and addressed the issue, “Investigate this thoroughly and send a few men after him. There is no way he could have escaped without the locals catching glimpses of him.”

  “Yes, Sire,” the guards bowed and left.

  Idhren turned to Q, “I believe we’re going to have to shift you to another room. Armorica’s intel team will soon inform us on details of the event. We can talk about this incident then.”

  Carlos ran into the room, his hair in a mess, and sweat pouring from his face.

  “Are you guys okay?” he asked, panting heavily.

  Idhren sat back down on his chair, “Come join us, Carlos,” he pulled up another chair.

  Q sat there in amusement as his brother looked at Idhren in utter confusion.

  “We’re fine,” Idhren laughed. “You on the other hand, look like you ran for your life.”

  Carlos collapsed into the chair and took in big puffs of air.

  “I see there’s been a lack of regular exercise in your life.”

  “Shut up,” he finally managed to say.

  Idhren smiled, “This informality is so much more comforting.”

  “I’m the Commander of Aliea,” he said in between deep breaths. “I need to be formal.”

  “Sire,” a man walked through the torn door.

  “Ah, General,” Idhren said. “What has intel found out about the intruder?”

  “He’s been posing as a Getafixian for almost a month now. We’d hired him as an errand boy, and he used that to get access into the main palace.”

  “Posing as a Getafixian? Is he a Thanonian then?”

  “Yes, Sire, a young male.”

  Idhren paused for a few seconds, “Double up on security, and make sure we only hire people who have family here in the city. No Thanonian is going to go to the extent of faking the existence of a whole family.”

  The General fidgeted, “Sire, there’s one more thing…”

  “Yes?”

  “We sent scout drones to the planet of Thanos, and we found concrete evidence of the Thanonians assembling an even larger army.”

  “Preparing for war?”

  “We believe so. The number of soldiers in their army has doubled. As it stands now, for every man we have they have ten.”

  “We will discuss this later, General.”

  “Yes, Sire,” the man bowed and took his leave.

  “A ten to one shot seems overwhelming,” Carlos said.

  “It isn’t overwhelming. It’s massacre. Our army, even with stronger weaponry and superior mages, cannot hope to defeat those numbers.”

  “You could call for backup.”

  “All our allies are too far away to help us once a war breaks out. They’d take days to reach Armorica, and by then who knows what sort of damage will occur.”

  “Still better than nothing.”

  “It might be better than nothing but the outcome is still the same.”

  “Maybe I can contact some of Aliea’s allies. They might give us better options.”

  “That will not be required. The Getafixians of Armorica have plenty of allies. We will call upon of them if we deem it necessary,” Idhren said and turned to Q. “Shall we get going then?”

  “Going where?”

  “The palace’s inner arena,” he smiled. “Let’s have a look at your powers shall we?”

  ***

  2-3

  “Fina
lly!” Elizabeth jumped into the hot spring.

  A laugh rang through the air, “That’s the most boyish thing you could’ve done,” the pilot said as she got into the water a little more gracefully.

  “Stop being such a stickler, Alicia,” she pouted.

  The pilot laughed, “Fine, fine. Let’s have some fun.”

  Elizabeth had spent a while talking to Alicia while they’d rested in the master quarters. She seemed like a really fun person, which was something Elizabeth hadn’t expected. Most pilots were conditioned to be stern and focused. But then again, she had a friend, Kai, who was Aliea’s most versatile pilot and he was pretty much the goofiest person she knew.

  “So,” Elizabeth shifted a little closer to Alicia, which was hard do with all the mist. “What’s your deal with Aliea Academy?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Aliea takes very few teenage cadet enrollments, and usually a lot of them have umm…difficult circumstances.”

  “Well, I don’t have any of the sort.”

  “Aw, c’mon. There’s gotta be something.”

  “You make it sound like only damaged people get into Aliea,” Alicia laughed.

  “I’m not making it sound like that. I’m saying it is that.”

  “Really? You think all of Aliea’s cadets are people who went through a lot in life?”

  “As soon a cadet comes into Aliea they never go back to their planet, at least not until they finish their whole training regimen. Do you think any normal kid would be fine with staying away from their home planet for four or five years?”

  “I joined when I was eighteen.”

  “That old?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wait, how old are you now?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “You don’t look like it though.”

  “Maybe this spring water is helping me out,” she laughed.

  “I sure hope not. I’d hate to look younger than fourteen.”

  She laughed, “Don’t worry, for the way you act at times, you have a better chance of cutting your hair and passing off as a boy rather than looking like a thirteen-year old girl.”