Luminaries & Lies

by Jeremy Dwyer

  Soon, however, a boat with tattered sails did arrive and came to rest at the edge of the river, near the cave opening.

  “The powers of your mind?” Lavakara asked, mockingly, knowing that she had no influence.

  “Just good timing – which is the essence of combat, and of everything else,” Claudia said, looking at Lavakara and at Tofa.

  “A ship with tattered sails; yet, with no wind, it hardly matters,” Lavakara said.

  “A mechanism under the water may have pulled it,” Danek said.

  Tofa recorded all that was said and done, but she could not know if powers had been exercised by Claudia or Lavakara.

  “This is the vessel that brought me here. It will be a series of steep, downward slopes connected by long plateaus, ending in a cave,” Xal’Kativok said. He knew that resistance was pointless – he had been defeated, despite his combat skills on his home world. He was simply no match for the people who drank the waters of this world, and did not wish to squander his life on a losing battle. Another day, perhaps, would see him in better circumstances. Cooperation may be his only route to those better days.

  Claudia and Lavakara still carried Xal’Kativok between them, each holding one (1) of his broken arms.

  Claudia read Xal’Kativok’s mind and said: “What he says is true. At the end of the river, there will be a cavern with an ocean. Partway across the ocean will be an island, and another, larger ship can take us there.”

  “An ocean inside of a cavern, you say? For such a thing to escape notice, for so long, is remarkable,” Lavakara said.

  “You think that someone knew? You think that he knew,” Claudia said, pointing to Danek. She had not been able to read Lavakara’s thoughts, but inferred his suspicions from the way he said it. She had her own doubts about the matter.

  “This is a vast world with many secrets,” Danek said.

  “You’ve been around many millennia, yourself. Yet, you didn’t notice?” Claudia said, looking at Lavakara.

  “I follow some trails, not others. I am not the scholar and I do not have the privileges of the Oath, or its confidentiality rules, to go where I please at all times,” Lavakara said.

  “Don’t act as if you don’t keep a few of your own secrets,” Claudia said. She was cynical, and didn’t actually know his secrets, as a strange and chaotic haze surrounded his mind. It simply stood to reason that a man who was a living legend from many millennia ago, infamous for stealing the bodies of others, had some dirty secrets.

  “Perhaps. But nothing quite so large as an ocean,” Lavakara said.

  Tofa recorded the exchange between them into her book. This was all incredibly intriguing, yet she could not understand it completely. She didn’t have the telepathic powers, and was not allowed to make inferences or deductions, as the Oath forbade all but the recording of direct facts.

  Danek was making deductions, as he was not a Chronicler, and he didn’t trust Lavakara’s motives in coming, but knew that having physical control of this Xal’Kativok was necessary to secure his cooperation and discover the underground city.

  Claudia then moved toward the boat and said: “Down we go, then.”

  Lavakara moved along with her, still holding Xal’Kativok’s other arm. They escorted him into the boat, as they entered it simultaneously.

  Danek and Tofa got into the boat with them.

  Within minutes, the boat began to move on its own along the river, into the darkness, with the occasional steep downward slope.

  Tofa found the drops disconcerting, but recorded the experience dutifully.

  “A ride like this may be why no one mentions it … not at all a good time,” Claudia.

  “The physical discomfort is of no concern. It will end and we will discover something extraordinary,” Lavakara said.

  With each drop, Xal’Kativok moaned, because the pressure on his broken limbs made the breaks feel more painful. The bones were displaced and were due to set incorrectly, and he could feel this.

  “Dirt like you deserves it, you know. She deserves better than that. Never steal a kiss,” Claudia said.

  Tofa now knew that Claudia read the thought of what Xal’Kativok did earlier. She felt avenged and let slip a smile, but no one could see it in the dark tunnel that contained the river along which they traveled.

  After twelve (12) hours of travel in the near darkness, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

  Minutes later, the boat came to a stop and they all stepped onto the riverbank.

  Lavakara and Claudia moved together to carry Xal’Kativok between them once again. Tofa and Danek followed.

  They walked through a cave entrance leading out onto a rocky ledge and saw the cavern with the ocean that went out to its own horizon, as far as the eye could see and beyond.

  “What lights this cavern?” Lavakara asked.

  Claudia looked around for a source of light, and then looked behind her at the tunnel, which was clearly not the source.

  “It’s not coming through the tunnel. And it’s not any kind of light bouncing off of the walls, either,” Claudia said, now puzzled as well.

  Danek and Tofa also looked around, and she noted all of this in her book, including drawing a sketch of the cavern.

  Danek could not discern the source of the light either.

  “That ship is like the one that took me across the ocean to this cave,” Xal’Kativok said, pointing toward a larger ship. The vessel to which he referred was at rest, docked near the ledge, and had tattered sails like the riverboat.

  “Our voyage continues,” Claudia said. Then, she and Lavakara carried Xal’Kativok onto the larger ship.

  Tofa and Danek followed and boarded the ship.

  Tofa sketched a picture of the ship into her book and, after a few minutes, it set sail.

  “Is a mechanism under the ocean water pulling this ship, as well? Or is there a current?” Lavakara asked out loud.

  “Why don’t you dive down and find out for yourself?” Claudia asked.

  “Hardly the clever way,” Lavakara said, knowing she intended for him to endure a hardship or disappear.

  “What matters more than the ship is just what water we are sailing upon,” Danek said, wishing he had brought an alchemist to test it.

  They voyaged for three (3) hours across the ocean until the ship came to an island in the center.

  CHAPTER 27: Challenge to the Heralds of the King

  Halina, Roxanne and Marzia traveled a day across the Ikkith Tar Ocean another three (3) days after that, booking transport on different ships and heading south toward Haza’Kedro’Maral Island in the Pirovalen Ocean.

  Along the way, they arrived in the sea port at the Colossal March Warpath land bridge, where they sought out yet another ship to take them to the Scholar’s Path land bridge as their next stop.

  It was one of the more interesting sea ports, not because it was well traveled, but because of the magnificent colossal stone statues of warriors, each over a hundred (100) feet in height. These numbered in the millions on this island, and legends had built up around them. They could be found on every continent and land bridge, but this land bridge had the single largest concentration of them. Stories of the statues – mostly myths about their coming to life at the end of the world, or being the petrified remains of the architects who made the world – had been written about them over the millennia. The truth was hard to find, although Halina and Marzia both suspected that the reality was immensely more interesting than tales told to entertain. The stone statues never moved, and Marzia probed them for signs of thought, just to prove to herself that they were stone, and not a living thing that was transformed into, or encased in, stone.

  Roxanne barely noticed the statues. She did notice Marzia staring intently at them and said: “They’re just stone. That should be obvious. Staring at them won’t change it. The stories about them are all children’s fairy tales.”

  “I know. They’re just works of art, and I like to take a moment to appre
ciate them,” Marzia said.

  “Are you trying to read their thoughts? You should save your energy for hunting and killing the next man – a living man, that is, if you want to catch up to me,” Roxanne said.

  “Yes. The living ones are the only ones that count. These statues – if they ever were alive – are none too lively, now,” Halina said to her companions.

  In that sea port, however, there was a large and lively crowd gathered and several finely-dressed men stood in the middle, speaking out about economic hardships. They each wore a ten (10)-sided medallion with gold coins at the corners and a carving of a key in the center.

  One of the finely-dressed men said: “Empires have risen and fallen, built on the heavy labors of the people. Yet, there is great wealth in the world, vast beyond your knowledge. It is hidden away in the secret places, by the false rulers.”

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “You have worked the land to secure these riches, and yet you are not rich. Why should the princes and nobles and false kings have the wealth, when you have only the toil?”

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “You think you have been given powers by the waters. But the powers belong to the princes and nobles and false kings, and you are merely their slaves. The power works through you, and it serves them.”

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “Each time you drink of the waters, you use their powers to serve these empires of lies. By this, you make yourselves more the slaves of the princes and nobles and false kings, enriching them, yet remaining poor.”

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “The waters only give you a single power. The princes and nobles and false kings keep the true power for themselves, which is to have all the powers, through you, their fools.”

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “Turn away from this. Drink not these waters that transform you into their servants. Find the true water, from the ocean that gives freedom.”

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “The Unfailing King will come to lead you to the waters that give all powers, and that will set you free.”

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “His laws are just and he will rule you properly, if you turn to him.”

  Marzia drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and she was energized. She moved closer to these finely-dressed men and began probing their minds. She learned from them that they were loyal to a king – an ancient, long dead king – who was, in their estimation, just and kind, and under whom the world prospered. She also learned that they believed in there being a single ocean that had all of the powers. Yet, they did not know where the ocean was, or where the king was. They only knew that many people had to be made to believe.

  Marzia knew by their words and their thoughts that they were false prophets of the ‘Unfailing King’ that Tanith Orenda had warned them about.

  Halina recognized the finely-dressed men as enemies by their mention of the ‘Unfailing King’ and she set her mind to stealthily killing them. Marzia read her and said out loud: “Not just yet. Sometimes, words mean as much as actions, or even more.”

  Roxanne also recognized the finely-dressed men as enemies and began thinking of an illusion by which to distract the crowd.

  Marzia read her mind and said out loud: “Let’s challenge them, first. Their own words may be turned against them, with the proper questions.”

  Marzia then stepped forward and asked the finely-dressed men: “Where is this ocean? What water is in it?”

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “A greater water, far exceeding the sum of the powers of the waters of which you can drink only one (1).”

  “Tell me where to find it, that I may be free,” Marzia said.

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “Only the Unfailing King can lead us to this water.”

  “Where is the Unfailing King? Why has he failed to appear?” Marzia asked.

  The crowd then began laughing.

  The two (2) finely-dressed men both appeared upset and angry at this.

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “He will come when the world is ready.”

  “What does ‘ready’ mean? There are twenty billion (20000000000) people in the world. Do they all have to be ready? Is, perhaps, ninety five (95) percent enough?” Marzia asked. She was not mathematical – she merely sought to annoy them.

  The second finely-dressed man then said: “Do not mock the Unfailing King. When the time arrives for his appearance, he will crush those who mock him and those who lead his subjects to be doubtful or disloyal.”

  “Is it a time, or a condition of readiness, that will herald his arrival? You haven’t made that clear, yet,” Marzia asked.

  Roxanne actually admired Marzia – she was tough-minded in many ways, and earned a great deal of respect, even the respect of Tanith Orenda.

  Halina did enjoy seeing Marzia torment these fools, as she had no interest in any sort of king. A man could be her lover, true enough, but kings were out of the question. After what Tanith Orenda said, this particular king – the ‘Unfailing King’ – definitely had to go. It seemed to her that Marzia was more interested in discrediting the whole idea, rather than fighting it out.

  “When the world admits it needs the Unfailing King, and submits to his laws by vowing to obey him, then he will arrive,” the second finely-dressed man said, continuing his previous explanation.

  “If they never admit it, he’ll never arrive, will he?” Marzia asked.

  “They will admit it,” the first finely-dressed man said.

  “How do you know? Can you read their minds? And how many will it take? What if only one in ten (1/10) admit it? Is that enough? Or is it one in five (1/5)? Tell me, please,” Marzia asked, now openly deriding them, while preserving a sincere tone.

  “Some will refuse the Unfailing King, and be crushed,” the second finely-dressed man said.

  “We can only warn you. We will not play these games. We are not like the thieves of this world that deceive you with their numbers, the way that the bankers do, when they steal your wealth,” the first finely-dressed man said.

  “The bankers charge interest for loans, indeed. They tell us what the percentage is, however. You will not. I would trust a banker, then, before you,” Marzia said.

  The crowd was now listening to her, and the two (2) finely-dressed men realized this.

  “If you are so wise, then set these people free,” the second finely-dressed man said.

  “The laws of the oceans are set. It is not my place to change those laws, or to lie to these people by saying that the laws can be changed. False hope is what you offer. No king can change the oceans. It is the oceans that will change the king,” Marzia said.

  “You are not as wise as you think. You speak only of the oceans you know, yet there is another,” the first finely-dressed man said.

  “I’m still waiting on that one. We’re all still waiting, aren’t we?” Marzia said, turning about and facing the crowd.

  The Lujladia waters she drank gave Roxanne such powers over light that she became a master illusionist. She could dazzle and deceive, and impress and even delight. Yet, she envied Marzia for her clever playing of the crowd through well-chosen words.

  “The Unfailing King will not submit to your demands for proof. You must submit to his demands for loyalty. When you admit your need, he will arrive, and bring order and justice, prosperity and peace, to those who believe,” the second finely-dressed man said.

  “I believe the world deserves better than either of you and your failed explanations,” Marzia said.

  Halina was ready to strike, but Marzia read her mind again and looked at her, saying ‘no’ with a facial expression.

  Roxanne thought for a moment of an illusion she could create – of a king in stately robes – but Marzia read her mind, as well, and looked to her in that same way. Roxanne then set aside her plans.

  The two (2) finely-dressed men realized that the crowd was not swaye
d so they left, indignant.

  “Why didn’t you want us to kill those liars now? They’re just going to cause us trouble later,” Halina asked.

  “A little light show might convince everyone,” Roxanne said.

  “No. Their kind preys on believers. We need to make sure they don’t get any. Illusions can be seen through – you know that – and then we lose credibility, and they get it. Killing them in front of the crowd might just create sympathy. As much as I’d like to get rid of them, this isn’t the time or the place. Maybe, when nobody’s looking, we can snap their necks and keep score. I haven’t forgotten,” Marzia said.

  From there, Halina, Roxanne and Marzia booked passage on another ship, which took them south over the Ursegan Ocean to the Scholar’s Path land bridge. From there, they booked yet another ship, taking them south over the Pirovalen Ocean to Haza’Kedro’Maral Island

  ~~~

  The two (2) finely-dressed men saw that they were not making progress in the port town of the Colossal March Warpath, so they booked passage on a ship heading to Ihalik, because they knew that there were many warriors in the militant Ihalik Empire who wanted a strong leader.

  The captain of the passenger ship sailed the vessel southwest over the Ursegan Ocean until reaching the land bridge containing Emeth. He then converted the vessel to an airship, elevated it to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude and steered it west, traveling over the land bridge. The captain then returned the ship to sea level in the Trerada Ocean, sailing west to Ihalik.

  When the vessel arrived in eastern Ihalik, the two (2) finely-dressed men disembarked and traveled about the port town of Lahavinik. They preached their message to everyone they met, and soon they had a large crowd of over nine hundred (900) people listening to them.

  The first finely-dressed man said to the crowd: “A great leader you need, who will be wise and just.”

  The second finely-dressed man said to the crowd: “He must have strength and bring prosperity.”

  The first finely-dressed man then said: “He will set you free from the bondage of service to false kings, and princes and nobles, who keep the wealth you earned for themselves.”