Rich descended into darkness and felt a warm tingling sensation. Suddenly, he found himself in a completely different room. Two sets of thrones sat side by side before him, one made of white stone and the other of black. Various chess pieces adorned the thrones, with the pawns at the bottom, the stronger pieces in the middle, and topped with the king and queen. Much of the room lay in shadows except for the thrones and the area in which he stood. He cleared his throat to say something, but then the hooded figures of Palad and Nemes materialized on their respective thrones.
"Welcome, Heinrich," Palad said, the voice the same one that had been in his mind, though he was hearing it with his ears this time. "For your victory, you have been granted an audience with us. Say what it is you’ve come to say, and we will listen intently."
Rich bowed low, feeling as if he’d worn a tutu to gym class. He’d never met actual royalty before, unless he counted his grandparents, which felt different anyway. He slowly lifted his head, and as he did, the two sovereigns pulled back their hoods.
In the vision Arlenen had showed him, Palad and Nemes had appeared in their prime. Now they looked old, ancient even, with deep wrinkles and sunken eyes. Palad’s hair had turned pure white, while Nemes had retained his dark black hair.
“Yes,” Palad said. “You see why we wear this hoods. As the stones’ powers fade, so must we. It is not comfortable for many to remember that we’re not the young warriors we once were.”
“Speak for yourself, cotton head,” Nemes said, his voice much sharper than Palad’s. “I don’t know about you, but my mind is still as clear as ever. Just because we look old, don’t think we’re senile, boy.”
Listening to the two, Rich could see how bits of them were woven into the very fabric of what it meant to be a paladin or a nemesis. He cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice from trembling. “Your majesties, a company of paladins and nemeses made this journey together through the maze for one reason. Temperance’s power is now greater than both families combined, and banding together is now the only way to prevent her from getting what she wants.”
Nemes rested his head on one palm, leaning to the side. “Temperance, you say? But she is locked away. She can’t harm us while that is still true.”
This was the first Rich had heard of this. “But the Gray Knight is here, and he’s her right-hand man. Maybe she is free as well.”
Palad shook his head. “We would know. She is buried with the starstone, and we can feel the presence of all the stones. That is not to say that she could not be retrieved. Our powers have indeed grown weak.”
Rich suddenly felt chilled as a thought gripped him. “Where is she held? I know you think it’s a secret, but I’d bet my sword the Gray Knight knows.”
Palad started to speak, but Nemes cut him off. To Rich’s surprise, Palad came back even stronger. "I see no problem in giving him the general location. It is in the middle of a desert in India. Why do you ask?"
A disturbing though occurred to Rich. "The Corridor itself is a weapon. I think the Gray Knight means to steer it to that desert and use it to free Temperance."
The sovereigns gave each other a knowing look. "It may very well be what you say, but there is little I can do. With our power declining, there is a good chance Temperance will free herself, given enough time," Nemes said.
"That's right," Rich said. "Alone, you can't do anything. Obviously, the Gray Knight has a lot of power from Temperance, but she couldn't have given him all her power, right? The two of you together could stand against him."
Rich squirmed as the ancient eyes of both of the sovereigns bored into him. "We don't work together," Palad said softly. "It is not our nature."
Nemes crossed his arms. "For once, I agree with you. You're very young, Paladin. Perhaps you don't quite understand the nature of the conflict here and how long it's been going on. You cannot simply drop something like that."
Rich reached into his pocket and took out the notebook that Jan had given him. "Tell me," he said, remembering afterward to bow. "Please. Tell me what you started fighting about in the first place."
Rich half expected them to start yelling at each other, Nemes making the first move and Palad mounting a valiant counter offensive. Instead, the Sovereigns stared into space, their expressions a mix of confusion and embarrassment.
Palad bowed his head slightly. "I no longer remember. It is part of our waning powers. Our memories are not what they once were. I simply know it had something to do with our father, the one known as the Knight Father.”
Nemes shook his head. "I don't remember the beginning, but I remember many things since then. Many battles and many wrongs. It is enough to keep me fighting."
Then the two did lapse into an argument, talking so quickly that Rich couldn't follow it. Instead, he held up the notebook and tried to call out so they could hear. "I have the story," he said. "I can show you what you’ve forgotten!"
Both of the sovereign’s heads snapped over at the same time. "The answers are in there?" Nemes said skeptically. "Hardly looks old enough to hold an ancient story."
"But it does," Rich insisted. He explained to them about the walls, about Jan’s translation and the little he had revealed. They listened without interruption, and when he was done, Palad held out his hand, frail and wrinkled. "Let me see it, Sir Heinrich.”
He took the book and read the pages out loud, his voice better than the most brilliant storyteller Rich had ever heard. He made the guy who did all the movie trailers sound like an amateur.
Rich watched their faces as he read, Nemes’ proud expressions giving way to something much more vulnerable.
Rich didn't need his paladin powers to sense the deep regret there. Palad finished and returned the book to Rich. "We have shamed our father," he said. "I think I forgot because it was easier than to face what we've done.”
Nemes let out a frustrated sigh. "I admit, you are right. But I'm sure letting Temperance destroy us was not what he had in mind. We need to stop her, even if it means combining forces."
The brothers met each other's gaze for a moment and both nodded. Palad turned his gaze back to Rich. "Thank you for bringing this to us, young Heinrich Witz. I believe there is only one thing to be done. This Corridor has been our own prison too long, and the prison of many knightly souls who might have been useful. We must use our combined might to destroy the Corridor."
Rich flinched at the words, not sure he’d heard right. “But what about everyone else? My family and friends are still out there, and they’re hurt.”
Palad turned to Rich, arching a bushy eyebrow. "And what would you have us do, Paladin? Are we to save your allies and leave your foes? In the spirit of healing, we would heal all of them, or none at all."
Rich searched his feelings and found they were a mess. Sure, it was the paladin way to be forgiving and help people when you could. But letting Mallory, Jezreel, and Bruno loose in the world? They had already shown they couldn't be trusted, even when you helped them. They had power to do so much evil, probably to hurt many people. Why should he agree to help them? He looked at Palad's face and saw compassion, and for a second, he looked a lot like Rich’s own grandfather. Rich then looked at Nemes' face and saw only impatience.
He balled both of his fists tight. If he didn't let the dark knights go free, his parents, Aaron, Angela, and Nadia wouldn’t go free either. Was there a right choice with this? Maybe he was expected to give up his friends and family to prevent all the evil things the dark knights would do.
No. He shook his head slowly and then harder. Being a paladin was about family. The Paladin and Nemesis lines were really just two lines of a larger family. So in a way, Mallory was just his super-evil distant cousin or something. And Jezreel his evil aunt. He
shivered at the thought. Not the kind of relatives you wanted coming over for Thanksgiving.
"We're all family," Rich said. "I want you to heal them all."
A smile rose up on Palad’s face, a twinkle in his eyes. "I am proud to call you my descendent, Heinrich. You are truly what a paladin should be."
He closed his eyes, muttering to himself, his hand drawing a strange pattern in the air. When he lowered it again, he opened his eyes and turned back to Rich. "I've taken the liberty of retrieving both of your aircraft and placing them in the center of the coliseum. I've instructed my servants to take all of the paladins to your craft and to do the same for the nemeses."
Nemes nodded and snapped his fingers. "Done. Hurry, Heinrich. I am sure the Gray Knight will resist us, but we will hold him off together as we work to destroy the Corridor.”
Rich turned to go, but Palad called him back. "There's one more task required of you, Heinrich." Palad held out his hand and all the light swirled around it, being drawn toward a bright orb in the middle, shining with such intensity that Rich could hardly look at it. But its glow felt familiar somehow, pleasant, like that tingling sensation of happiness he always felt when he accomplished something important as a paladin. It had to be the Sunstone. Rich couldn't find the words to express his feelings, and instead stared at it, hypnotized. Even as he watched, the stone dimmed, going from hard to look at to only slightly brighter than a car's headlights.
Nemes did the same, producing a pale stone that glowed like moonlight and dimmed the longer he held it.
"I think you know what these are, Heinrich. We must stay here and do our work, taking most of the power from the stones for the task. I will place the Sunstone in a protective case and entrust it to you. You will want to bring it to your grandparents. They will know what to do."
"And I will call a trusted nemesis who is present here and do the same," Nemes said. “Once we do this, we will have little power left, and so the task will fall you and your kind. Do not disappoint us."
Rich nodded, speechless. He couldn't imagine taking something so powerful and important. Then again, it had been drained of most of its energy. He knew, though, that Temperance would probably do anything she could to get her hands on it. As he watched, the orb become smaller and smaller until it was only about the size of an egg. Palad removed what looked like a golden case from around his waist and placed the glowing ball into it before handing it to Rich. "Go now, Paladin," Palad said. "My grace and my favor go with you. I do hope that we shall meet again, though it will likely not be in this mortal realm.”
Rich bowed low until Nemes cleared his throat. "Run, fool boy! You will regret every second you don't move!"
Rich didn’t need any more encouragement, and he turned and found the hallway stairs behind him. Keeping the Sunstone close, he ran as fast as he possibly could to his plane.
CHAPTER 21: THE END OF THE MAZE
Nadia jumped as the two paladin and nemesis aircraft materialized in the center of the coliseum. "Come on, Angela. I think that's our cue to go."
They pressed their way through the crowd, many of whom were trying to go the other direction. Frustrated, Nadia took out her sword and found that this alone cleared a path for them pretty well. Checking every so often to make sure Angela was still right behind her, she made her way down the stairs and hopped onto the ground of the coliseum. The nemesis plane was closer, but she knew she didn't want to go for that one. She turned to the paladin plane, running as fast as her tired legs would let her. About halfway there, the Gray Knight reared up in front of her, raising his sword. "What do you think you're doing? You can't leave the maze. The queen forbids it!"
As he continued to bar their passage, something inside Nadia gave way.
She attacked with a ferocity she didn’t know she had in her. The blows caught the knight off guard, creating deep dents in his armor as she hit him three times. The Gray Knight fell on his back and lay still.
Nadia raised her sword again, but stopped as she noticed the presence of an old man in dark armor on the other side of the fallen knight. He clapped slowly, his lips set in something between a smile and a grimace.
“Good,” he said in a deep, gravelly voice. “That is precisely how that weapon is supposed to be used. It’s not your first time, is it?”
She tried to drop the sword, but found that she couldn’t release her grip. This was the man Mallory had showed her. The assassin. Her grandfather.
“Stay away from me,” she said, panicking as she had never panicked before. “I know who you are, and I’m not like you.”
The old man laughed, his eyes closing to slits. “Nonsense, Nadia. You wield that sword like you’ve been doing it your whole life. It feeds on the anger and fear of the wielder and the victim. You must have both in great abundance to be so powerful. You have reduced this mighty opponent to nothing.”
Nadia looked down at the fallen knight, her panic intensifying. He wasn’t moving at all. Had she killed him? She had only been trying to escape, to defend herself. She swallowed hard and asked the question she dreaded. “Is he...gone?”
“No,” her grandfather said. “He’s not dead. He has too much borrowed power for that. But it’s not so much the end result that counts. Already, you have made me very proud.”
Nadia couldn’t remember a time when someone’s words had stung so much. If she had her way, she’d spend the rest of her life trying to disappoint him.
“Get out of my way,” she said, raising her sword again. “I’m going with the paladins. If you try to stop me, I’ll use the sword on you.”
Instead of looking intimidated, however, the old knight laughed again. “Yes, yes, your training is coming along quite nicely. The sooner you stop resisting it, though, the better things will go for you. I see great things in store for you as an agent of chaos. I shall be watching your progress with great interest.”
With a wave of his hand, her grandfather vanished.
Feeling as though she needed to throw up, Nadia looked around and saw Angela running up to her. She grabbed Nadia’s hand.
“Nadia, are you okay? Where did you learn to use a sword like that?”
So Angela had seen. Nadia didn’t know how to explain this one away. “I’ll tell you later. We’ve get to get on that plane.”
As soon as she spoke, the ground began to shake, deep cracks appearing in the floor. They spread rapidly across the battlefield and up into the seats. Nadia and Angela dashed toward the plane and caught sight of Rich running with his mother from another direction. A ramp lowered from the bottom of the plane, and all of them dashed up it.
Rich wasted no time getting to the cockpit and yelled back, “Has anyone seen Aaron?”
Nadia looked around and saw only Maria and Angela. “Get this thing started!” she called up to the cockpit. “We’ll need to take off as soon as the others get here!”
The ground rumbled and the plane rocked from side to side, and Nadia helped Angela get her harness on before buckling in herself. Maria rocked nervously back and forth in her harness, keeping her eyes fixed on the ramp. She was looking much better, as though Jezreel had never attacked her. Nadia would have to ask about that if they made it out of here alive.
Next, Phillip ran up the ramp and took a seat next to his wife, wrapping his arms around her the best he could. Everyone yelped as the plane lurched forward, and then righted itself as Rich fired up the rest of the engines. Outside, it sounded like a combination of a thunderstorm and an earthquake, and Rich practically had to scream to be heard from the cockpit.
“Is Aaron onboard?”
“No!” Nadia yelled. “We’re only missing him!”
The plane rose a little more and then turned to the left. �
�I see him!” Rich called. “Hold on, everyone!”
The plane shot forward, and Nadia held fast to her harness. They increased in speed and banked suddenly in the other direction, making her already queasy stomach extra uncomfortable. She looked around for anything resembling a barf bag, but didn’t find one. Didn’t knights ever get motion sickness?
The plane changed direction one more time and dipped just as Aaron tossed himself into the cabin. The door shut behind him, and without a word, he ran toward the cockpit.
Nadia held her hands on her knees. Angela clung to her arm as the speed increased and the craft left the ground. The plane flew through turbulence that would probably turn most people off to flying for life—tossing her from side to side, dipping and rising again without warning. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying hold everything together and barely succeeding.
Before she knew it, however, it was over. The plane leveled out and Rich’s voice came on over the loudspeaker. “Uh, hi, everyone. This is your captain speaking.”
“Co-captain!” Aaron cut in.
“Excuse me. Co-captain. I’m going to open the blinds, and off to your right, you’re going to have a view that I think all of you can appreciate.”
A panel opened along the opposite wall, making a large strip of the plane transparent. Though the viewing area, Nadia could see the Corridor falling apart onto the plains, arcs of white and black lightning running through it. Enormous sections blew off at once, plummeting like meteors to the empty landscape below.
Rich was right. The sight filled her with relief and a bit of disbelief. How had this happened, and what did it mean? She didn’t know how, but she suspected that Rich had something to do with it.
A cheer went up among the group, some of them releasing their harnesses and standing to celebrate. Nadia joined in, and Angela threw her arms around her. “Please let this be over,” she said. “I just want to go home.”
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