The Lord of Obsidian [Quest for Earthlight Trilogy Book 2]

by Laraine Anne Barker

  Peter stood at the open window, his eyes riveted in horror on the scene that it framed. He couldn't see Jadus's face, but surely Morgause's features, twisted to chilling ugliness with rage and hatred, would be stamped in his mind forever. The air sizzled and crackled with the force of her emotions. The tight lips moved and Peter heard her vicious whisper. “There's still something I can do."

  Abruptly her face turned all sweetness and light again. Tears sprang to the lovely eyes. She walked round the table and cradled Jadus's head against her. “Oh, forgive me, my love! My temper is dreadful when I know that evil sorcery is being used against me by those who are jealous of my power. I had to destroy the Obsidian Orb before it could be used for my destruction. But some of your power came through, and I know that my dearest Jadus will do what's necessary to save me when the time comes."

  Peter could sense that her whole body began to tremble. Jadus himself obviously felt it because he stood up and put his arms around her protectively. Her voice quivered as she cried plaintively and fearfully into his shoulder, “They will try to kill me, Jadus. They will try to kill me."

  "What is it you want me to do, my love? You know I'll do anything for you—anything to stop these people from harming one precious hair of your lovely head. Just tell me what you want me to do."

  Jadus had his back to the window so Peter couldn't see his face. But as Morgause lifted her head to give her lover the full force of her beautiful eyes, Peter caught a gleam of vicious triumph under the lowered lashes as she raised her lids.

  The vision started to fade. Sound was the first to go. Peter could see Morgause's lips moving but was unable to hear what she said. Then the globe in which he was encased spun in a whirl of blue, green and white. Only when the world stopped spinning did he realise he had been taken to another time and another place. It was, he thought later, as though a page had been turned in the Book of Obsidian and he was about to learn something else.

  * * * *

  THIS TIME, to Peter's surprise, the surroundings were familiar. It was a summer day and Peter recognized the house belonging to his Uncle Paul and Aunt Angela. His aunt was alone in the kitchen. He had no time to find out what she was doing before someone used the knocker on the front door with unnecessary force, causing Aunt Angela to start. He followed his aunt down the stairs to the front door without moving. When Aunt Angela opened the door and he saw who stood there, Peter screamed at her, “Shut the door! Shut the door!"

  But Aunt Angela couldn't hear him. He was merely an unseen ghost. She looked inquiringly at the smiling, handsome stranger and suddenly appeared to recognize him as the friend her husband had brought home before he disappeared, for, before Peter realised what was happening, she had invited Sujad the Traitor into her home.

  Peter watched as they mounted the stairs, making small-talk about Uncle Paul's disappearance. He found himself following them without any effort on his part.

  "He left a note saying he'd been called away on business and was taking Peter with him for company,” Aunt Angela was saying. He had not heard what Sujad had said, and now found he was unable to hear the traitor's reply. However, it was obvious from Aunt Angela's words that he was watching something that had happened while he and Merlin were somewhere in the Southern Alps.

  Again he tried to warn her not to listen to Sujad, although he knew she was unable to hear him. In his frustration he shouted, shaking his fists helplessly. “Let them hear me, Essence of Obsidian! She doesn't know Sujad is a traitor. She'll go with him, believing he'll take her to Uncle Paul."

  The scene outside the globe disappeared and Peter felt, saw and heard the Essence of Obsidian pulsing down at him. The soothing sensation entered his brain again. “You will miss what they say if you do not keep quiet, Peter."

  "I can't hear what he's saying anyway. He must have put some sort of spell around his voice."

  "Ah! Very possibly. It is a measure of his power that he is able to do so. You will have to be content with listening to your aunt's replies."

  "Okay.” Peter forced himself to calmness and turned his attention back to beyond the wall of his enclosure, which turned black as soon as the Power of Obsidian ceased pulsing.

  He waited impatiently for the blackness to clear. By the time this happened, however, all he saw was Sujad summoning his cloud. He saw the dark shape swirl itself around Sujad and his aunt step back sharply as though to stop it from touching her.

  Sujad extended his hand to her. Once again Peter couldn't hear what the traitor said, but he noted the anxious uncertain expression on his aunt's face. As she listened to whatever Sujad was saying, her face suffused with an angry flush. Her features twisted with fury and her gray eyes flashed as she spat something at him. Peter was able to hear the low sound of her voice but couldn't make out the words. Sujad obviously was able to convince her, however, for she took his hand and allowed herself to be drawn up into the traitor's protective cloud. Peter caught a glimpse of her face before she disappeared into the black cloud—and this time she was smiling at the traitor.

  He fumed with frustration as the black cloud began rotating like the beginning of a tornado.

  "I can't make her hear me!” Again he shouted in his desperation. “I can't stop her going with him! Because he was a friend of Uncle Paul's she doesn't understand how evil he is. Can't you do something to stop her?"

  "I am afraid not.” The slow, deep voice was ineffably sad. Its pulsing light shut out Peter's vision of Sujad's evil cloud. “Humans make their own choices. I am not human, Peter. I am merely a power. Think of me as akin to the current of electricity that humans use to drive all the appliances of their everyday lives. I cannot force or persuade anyone from an unwise decision or course of action. If I could, there are actions and decisions I would perhaps have persuaded the Great One from taking. In doing so I might have upset the very foundation and cause of the Earthlight."

  As the Power of Obsidian ceased speaking, Peter saw the last traces of Sujad's cloud vanish. The blackness closed in around him again; despair clutched his heart and tore an involuntary dry sob from him.

  The Essence of Obsidian returned, pulsing gently. “Do not grieve, Peter. I may not be human but I have knowledge of emotion and I understand how you feel. All that you have seen was decreed and has therefore happened as prophesied. While those of the Earthlight always do their utmost to protect the world and everyone in it, there are some things over which they have no control. After all, if the Earthlight could control anything it wanted to, there would be no evil to fight against. What you have seen so far are things that have happened—things that are not strictly lessons but which the Earthlight felt you should know. In the absence of the Obsidian Orb—which of course is able to show things that have happened and to predict things that might happen in certain circumstances—I was the only one able to exercise such power."

  "I can't bear to think of you talking to Sujad Cariotis and disclosing the secrets of your nature to him the way you have to me."

  "Sujad Cariotis has made himself Lord of Obsidian; the Spirit of Obsidian cannot deny knowledge to one who exercises such supreme command over its substance. It is an innate part of the Absolute Law. But Sujad has never heard my voice. I communicate with him in mind-speech as briefly as possible.” The Power of Obsidian gave another sigh. “There is something else the Earthlight would like you to see before we get on with our lessons proper. The Earthlight would like you to warn the Great One."

  Before Peter could ask questions the pulsing light of the Power of Obsidian died and he was looking through the wall of the crystal globe again. He saw Sujad—or was it Jadus?—strolling through a leafy English wood in summer. He saw a small cottage. Someone—a young girl—came through the front door, looking stealthily over her shoulder. She was neatly but poorly dressed. Having made sure she wasn't followed, the girl started running. Peter saw the man who was either Sujad or Jadus run to greet her with the same eagerness with which Jadus Castirio had greeted the witch Morgause. P
eter caught a glimpse of the girl's face as she ran to her lover's embrace. She was very pretty but compared to Morgause would probably have been labeled plain.

  The setting changed. This time Peter was in the cottage. It was apparent that those who lived there were poor. The girl was weeping copiously in the arms of a woman who was obviously her mother. Above the girl's sobs, as the scene began to fade, Peter heard the lusty cry of a baby. The next thing he saw was the girl sitting up in bed cradling a new-born infant. He hardly had time to digest this before he saw a child, barely five years old, toddling across the floor to his mother's waiting arms. Moments later the child was older and starting to look like a young version of Sujad or Jadus. Finally Peter saw the grown man. The story had obviously come full circle, for the young man was walking in a green wood again. This time, however, the girl was different. Richly dressed in the colors of spring with a breathtaking beauty that would have turned any man's head, she seemed to float into the arms of her lover. She looked like the essence of spring itself—a veritable goddess. But this was no goddess, no spring nymph. It was the witch Morgause.

  The truth hit Peter like a blow from a sledge hammer. The first man had been Sujad Cariotis. This one was Jadus. Jadus Castirio was not Sujad's ancestor—he was the traitor's son.

  Chapter 5

  A New Lord of Corruption

  I MUST warn Merlin! Peter's mind screamed at him as he tried to work out the implications of what he had discovered.

  Then he saw Morgause's lips move and realised he could hear her voice.

  "You know how you're always saying you'll do anything for me?” She looked at her lover sideways through lowered lashes as they walked. “Well, you're about to have that chance. I'll be getting two visitors today and I want you to go with them. One of them is that wretched man who calls himself a sorcerer, Merlin."

  "But he is a sorcerer, my love. Even you can't deny that."

  Morgause's eyes flashed. She tossed the liquid gold of her hair back over her shoulders. “You'll soon find out that, whatever he is, he's no match for me."

  Like a fawning slave, Jadus hastened to soothe her. “Of course, dearest; I'm aware of that."

  She gave him another sly, oblique glance and a smile that Peter would have found beguiling had he not known better. “You'll be more aware of it after you've followed them and found out what they're up to."

  Jadus cleared his throat. The sound made Peter realise, with surprise, that the man was nervous. “It won't be easy to follow someone like Merlin without arousing his suspicions. He may not be as clever as you, but he's more cunning than the Devil himself."

  Morgause gave him another bewitching smile. “You've forgotten, my precious, that I'll be helping you. It's a simple matter for someone with my powers to fashion a spell that will protect you from his nasty suspicious mind."

  Peter watched in fascination as humility and awe lit the man's handsome features. “I can't believe my luck—that someone as beautiful and clever as you should prefer me to all the other men who dance attendance on you. You could have chosen the greatest lord in the land—a king, even—but you chose someone whose mother is a mere serf, and you've even had both of us released from serfdom."

  "You do yourself a grave injustice, my sweet. You're a fine handsome man—as comely as any lord and comelier than most.” Her silvery laugh rang out on the clear spring air as she gave him her most coy look and touched his cheek in a feathery caress. “Also, your father was greater than any lord. Your father, you see, came from the future—which is why he couldn't stay, much as he would have liked to. But it was imperative for him to return to his own time. Somewhere in the future he is a powerful man—a dangerous enemy to Merlin the Enchanter and more than a match for him.” Her green eyes glittered. “Your father is Sujad the Great, Lord of Obsidian.” She spoke the traitor's name and title in a tone of deliberate awe and pomp. “I don't suppose you can imagine the power he exercises as Lord of Obsidian, but believe me his control over obsidian—and especially the Obsidian Orb—is far greater than any power Merlin's ever had. And you'll be sharing that power. He's there in the future waiting for you to help him overthrow my detestable enemy, and therefore yours, too."

  Avarice shone in Jadus's eyes. Morgause's triumphant laughter trilled out again and Peter realised that he would hear no more of their conversation when the laugh started to fade. Then the scene blurred and spun in a whirlpool of spring colors—and Peter was back in the darkness that he had first thought was the inside of the Obsidian Orb.

  "What next, Spirit of Obsidian?"

  The pulsing light beat gently in at him again. But instead of the Essence of Obsidian's voice, the throbbing light died to nothing and Peter found himself back in the crystal-like ball. Then the ball vanished and during the next few minutes he wasn't sure where he was. One by one trees loomed up in front of him. He learned their shapes and the unique structure of each one's leaves, bark, flowers and fruit. The last tree made the biggest impression on his mind.

  "Salix babylonica,” whispered the deep voice of the Essence of Obsidian. “This is the sorcerers’ tree. All wizards create their staffs from this tree. Powerless while in winter's grip. Break off only the greenest tip. That's the most important thing to remember about this tree."

  "How do you make a staff from just a green tip?"

  But he received no answer. Suddenly it was dark again, although he could see pinpoints of light piercing the blackness in the far distance.

  He gasped and cringed away as something hurtled past with a roar. Only as he stared after it and his heartbeat slowed to normal did he realise that what he had seen was a shooting star. He was somewhere out in space hurtling around like a rocket. He automatically reached out for something to cling to, but there was nothing in his small time-and-space capsule. Then he saw the Milky Way stretching above him like a cloud of glow-worms and forgot his momentary terror.

  Moments later he was amongst the celestial bodies that made up the Milky Way. One by one the Essence of Obsidian showed him the stars, the important planets and their moons, and he learned their secrets—their place in the cosmos of the Earthlight. They all greeted him by name and each one had its own function. Peter knew that everything was stored somewhere in his subconscious to emerge when needed. He also knew he could not have told anyone about the secrets of the stars even if he had wanted to—for the Earthlight would not allow him access to his knowledge until it was needed for the furtherance of the Earthlight Quest.

  As he watched the last star disappear in the distance and came back to the black globe that encompassed the Essence of Obsidian he spoke aloud. “Does Sujad Cariotis know the secrets that I've just learned? Did you show him what you've shown me?"

  He waited for the pulsing light to reappear. But nothing happened.

  "Essence of Obsidian?” he called again in sudden anxiety.

  "You are free to go,” the deep slow voice replied expressionlessly, but the pulsing light stayed away. “The lessons are over."

  "But I've hardly learned anything! Besides, you haven't answered my question. I want an answer. Did you show the stars and planets to Sujad?"

  "The answer is in your own heart, Peter."

  Peter thought briefly. “My heart is opposed to Sujad knowing the secrets of the stars and planets, which are inseparable from the Earthlight because they are a part of it. It's against the very idea that the stars and planets should greet Sujad the Traitor by name when he would use their powers to destroy their very natures."

  "Very well, then; you have your answer. If Sujad the Great, Lord of Obsidian, would learn the secrets of the stars and planets he will not do so from the stars and planets themselves, no matter how great his command over the Obsidian Orb. He may somehow contrive to learn them from the orb itself, however. Farewell for now; use your gifts well, Chosen One. Raise your head and you will be back in your own world."

  Slowly Peter did so. He found himself staring into the flames in Bart Brown's fireplace. He blink
ed, feeling drowsy as though he had just woken from a deep sleep.

  Then the sleepy whisper of the flames changed into a distant roar that grew and grew. For one brief moment Peter thought he was going to see another shooting star; but all he saw was the fire. It started burning higher and its heat became searingly hot. I'm sitting too close to the hearth, he thought stupidly. Panic gripped him as he tried to move and found he couldn't. All he could see was flames. The house must be on fire!

  He opened his mouth to cry a warning to Merlin and Bart. But no sound emerged. A breeze abruptly sprang up from nowhere. As the flames dipped to one side Peter could see over the top of the inferno. Through billowing drifts of smoke he saw what his stupefied mind thought at first was a dark green sculpted carpet. A split second later he realised the dark green was the tops of trees. What he was seeing was a forest fire from above as though flying like a bird.

  As fire and forest merged to a blur he thought he heard, very faintly, a few notes of the Lady's bell-like music. He strained towards the sound, his mind willing it to stay, but was unable to catch it again. Both music and fire slipped away, and he was sitting in Bart Brown's living room with Merlin and Bart on either side of him. Enquiry was written large on both their faces.

  Petulantly Peter thumped his knee with his fist. “Oh! It's gone! It's gone!"

  He grabbed the Book of Obsidian as it threatened to tumble to the floor.

  Merlin's hand briefly touched his shoulder.

  "The Lady will return,” he said, as though he had known all about Peter's vision.

  Surprised, Peter looked up into Merlin's dark eyes and the understanding there made him draw in a deep breath and smile shakily.

  The sorcerer's next remark, however, made him blink in astonishment. “Do we burn the book?"

  "B-burn the book?” Peter looked down at the book in his lap. He clutched it tighter. “Must we?” Surely in burning the Book of Obsidian they would be burning the Essence of Obsidian itself?