by T M Caruana
“It’s for the same reason as you dare make yourself visible. You know very well that we need to conserve our strength,” she replied shortly, but that was all it needed for everyone to listen and nod in agreement.
I have to admit to feeling fed up with them all at this point and stroll up to the cannon platform to enjoy the stunning views in solitude. As the podium had no railing and the cliff face was only five metres away, it gave me the feeling that I was standing in the sea. The world was the thin line of the horizon between the sky and the water. The evening was ending with the sun disappearing behind the mountains of Spain and it made the coast of Morocco seem closer than it actually was. It was all so beautiful, everything I had missed when I was locked up in the clinic. All these sources of pleasure had been stolen from me. Dying didn’t feel scary in comparison to never having experienced a seagull’s cry, the salty scent of the sea or how the sun warmed my skin.
I lifted my hands up in the air and stretched them out on either side. Half-forgotten memories filtered through my mind. I couldn’t make out any images, only a feeling that felt familiar. I tried my best to make sense of them, but my powers seemed inadequate. In the next second, I had to rub my eyes once again to look up at a rainbow-shaped stream of water that rose up from the sea. This couldn’t be a natural phenomenon. I couldn’t believe my eyes and wasn’t sure if it was me who had created it. The jet came straight towards me and landed by my feet in the shape guise of a man who looked like a Greek God. Before I could react, the man kneeled at my feet.
“At your service, Your Highness,” he said subserviently.
Of them all, he was arguably the most beautiful and made my face blush crimson with shyness.
“Thank you…you can stand,” I stuttered after having waited for him to raise himself of his own accord.
The words seemed ridiculous and I wasn’t sure of the protocol to follow. I assumed this was Leo, because he was the only one we were still waiting for. I had already been warned by Hunter not to take part in small talk. But as effectively as ‘Hocus Pocus’, my words had made him rise. Even though I considered myself lacking in confidence, it was unusual for me to be completely without words in front of the beautiful men I had met outside the clinic. Furthermore, I hadn’t yet been confronted with any words to be forced to answer.
The man in front of me looked admiring out to sea. I stood silently, studying him. He had one arm on his hip, ready to draw a sword for a damsel in distress and the other to obscure the sun from his eyes. He didn’t smell at all of seaweed or fish, which I assumed he should have done. He had a smooth face, not hard and sensual like Tarus’s, it was somehow more caring and protective. His shoulder-length hair was bundled in a low tail on his back. It seemed that he must have wrestled with the currents as some of his curls had loosened and hung wildly over his face. His deep blue eyes looked back at me and I felt like I was drowning in them.
“My apologies for being late, it’s difficult to swim to this location due to the currents battling between the ocean and the sea. The Atlantic is hammering the Mediterranean just where Atlantis City once stood, which should have given protection to the passage to Gibraltar,” he said.
I couldn’t comprehend his emotions, which seemed to be rooted deeper than a simple apology for his tardiness. “This is my favourite place in all of the worlds. It’s nature’s gift to man, a vision of two continents, two waters, a layer of sky and sea, and the place where my people were created. In ancient times people believed that it was the world’s end and that a ship would sail off the world’s edge if it sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules,” he continued.
I wasn’t sure if I had understood the situation correctly as he seemed grateful to me even though I didn’t have anything to do with it and secondly, he was the most talkative one so far. It didn’t at all correspond with Hunter’s warning and made me nervous as to what I should reply. However, his story seemed more like a sermon so I followed the rule of, ‘Talking is silver, but silence is golden’. My beautiful knight smiled at me when he noted my silence and he became aware that his presentation was superfluous. He placed his arm protectively around my back and led me back towards the rest of the group, even though I really had no desire to return to the Third World War that was going on amongst them.
Leo’s hand was removed from my back as he was hurled back by a familiar arm tightened around his throat. Tarus appeared unexpectedly from the dark shadows behind the podium, attacking my unsuspecting knight. Leo’s strong back squirmed out of his grip without any problems, without counterattacking and took a few steps to the side. He waved his hand around, which made him look like a lunatic; but suddenly a sword of water appeared in his right hand. I was still surprised by the supernatural powers though I should be used to them from what I had seen of today’s events. My gaze returned to Tarus, who didn’t have to shake his arms around, but only raise his hand to get a sword of fire to occupy it. A fierce battle commenced where water and fire fought each other. Leo had to take a few steps back to avoid the power from Tarus’s swing of the sword. Both men had equally sized bodies, which didn’t give one the advantage over the other, but Tarus’s fire seemed stronger than Leo’s water. What could I do to stop their fighting so they wouldn’t kill each other? Didn’t anyone get along? It made me wonder if it was one big battlefield they called ‘home’.
“Stop, stop…QUIT IT!” I screamed hysterically at the top of my lungs.
Tarus’s emerald green eyes looked up at me, respecting my orders. They were as beautiful as usual and this time even sympathetic. Leo realised this was an advantageous moment and took a firm step forward with his left foot to force his sword into Tarus’s stomach. Tarus was thrown to the ground, to lie lifeless before my eyes. Desperately, I rushed to his side and fell on my knees. His head was warm against my hands, but his eyes were closed.
“Tarus, oh Tarus…” I appealed repeatedly as I turned my head and gave Leo a hateful look.
To my surprise, he laughed in my face. This was followed by a gentle smile from Tarus. His black shirt was soaking wet, but not with blood, it was just water. The battle had been a game that now made the whole group laugh at my ridiculous response, all except Hunter, who watched the event with disapproval.
“Considering I don’t have a nice personality, your reaction to my wellbeing seems excessive,” Tarus whispered cheekily and smile, which made Leo nod in collusion as if they shared a secret.
“You are insanely childish and remember that using your powers in public isn’t allowed. You can put everyone in danger if you don’t have enough strength left when it’s really needed. You are here to save the worlds, not just yourself. Don’t forget that. There is a lot at stake. Come now, there isn’t much time left,” Hunter sermonized.
Tarus’s head remained in my hands when Leo had already turned around to join the others.
“You do ‘trust’ me after all.”
I realised he murmured the word trust, in exchange for love. His voice reached me only with the help of the wind, whilst he discreetly stroked his thumb over my hand that was holding his head. I had never felt so humiliated, but the feeling was overcome by the relief I felt that Tarus was unharmed. He flipped his body upright and then grabbed both his hands around my waist to lift me off the ground. I took a deep breath to collect myself before we went back to the others.
“I thought there were seven of you, aren’t we missing someone?” I declared, wanting to interrupt everyone’s rant or amusement over the incident.
“What now, aren’t six knights enough, how many do you need?” Michael teased, “And you already seem to have a favourite,” he joked, apparently failing to understand Hunter’s dismay at his comments.
My scarlet cheeks must have been exploding when Hunter interrupted.
“We of other worlds are here. The Chameleon is based on Teli and won’t come through the portal himself. It’s true that he is one of the knights and has been very helpful, however I have to assume that I have hea
rd from him for the last time.”
His rocking body language didn’t assure me that his information with regards to the mystery man was either accurate or complete. His feet once more scuffed the pebbles on the ground and led me to believe that there were more secrets to come to the surface soon. His awkward body language could also have to do with his apprehension at the affection I had shown for Tarus. He had already warned me to stay away from him. I had impolitely disregarded his appeal, which had only been meant for my own good. My instincts told me that Hunter was someone I should keep in with, who I could trust, but my attraction to Tarus was too strong. Perhaps this was that temptation that made him so dangerous, like a fish biting the worm concealing the hook that would penetrate through its entire body; a deadly, treacherous moment.
Refocusing on the mission, Hunter raised his voice to drown out the mumbles of the group, as if he were the chairman at the opening of a meeting. He needed everyone to gather themselves for their upcoming difficult task. “All right everyone, now we are reunited as one strength!”
9
TWO STARS AND A PORTAL
Four stones lay in the middle of the round concrete table weighing down the two pieces of the map. The pieces had been perfectly joined together into a map approximately the size of an A5 sheet of paper. Only a small piece on the bottom right corner was missing.
“Okay, I really hope that we are at the right place, because otherwise we have to wait at least another month, until the next full moon has started waning again,” Samuel muttered.
His mathematical knowledge made everyone fall silent, listening attentively. I could feel the excitement in the air and it appeared everyone’s impatient anticipation had a common denominator: homesickness. Except for Tarus, who seemed content as long as he stood next to me. Samuel bit his lip as he studied the information in front of him. What was he thinking? As I thought this should be an easy calculation for him. He looked bewildered as to what action to take. Was he hiding something? Were there yet more secrets that could endanger the journey home?
“What has the moon to do with the equation, does it have to be a waning moon for the portal to open?” I asked.
“You see this formula…this…Qa, Qb = 2(Q^)abP^,” Samuel read out loud whilst pointing at it with his index finger. “What I understand is that ‘Q’ represents the moon phase, ‘a’ must mean the portal entrance, allowing ‘b’ to be the portal’s exit. As we know, the portal has two possible exits, as indicated by the number ‘2’. The ‘^’ symbol could refer to the pressure of the force in the portal and ‘P’ indicates the speed you are travelling at,” he mused.
“The power stones have an impact on the pressure of the force in the portal. If anyone were to travel with too many stones, it would result in fatal consequences, wouldn’t it?” Tarus butted in.
Tarus looked at me and I had the feeling he was fully aware that his comment was correct. He obviously wanted to point out to me the seriousness of concealing and travelling with an excessive number of stones, which would jeopardise the participants’ chances of survival.
“Yes, that’s right,” Samuel agreed. “It’s not possible for three people to travel with only one stone nor is it possible for only one person to travel with two stones. With regards to the pressure of the force, it increases gradually relative to the moon’s effect. The closer after a full moon you travel, the safer it is to travel through portals. The strain on the body would be too great when there is a full moon. From Earth the portal only opens once a month, which is the day after a full moon, when it has started waning. With regards to the exits when travelling from Teli, the first option is to end up at a systematically chosen location on one of the six other worlds, but I can’t quite figure out how to predict which one you will end up in. When I read the first line of the poem I guessed it had to do with the rainbow. Though it seems strange, as it isn’t visible at the same time as the moon. The second option provides the ability to travel to the location represented by the power stone you possess. If you travel between the other worlds, those that don’t involve Teli, there is the opportunity to travel wherever you want if you just know where the final destination is,” he continued. “Hunter, how do you know for sure that the portal will open here?” he asked.
He clearly wasn’t afraid to offend him despite Hunter’s severe expression and crossed arms that hadn’t resumed their relaxed position since my tender declaration toward Tarus.
“It was the Chameleon who stated the location. Why? Is it wrong?”
He sounded concern.
“No, we are in the right place. You see these numbers in the signature: ‘Captain Lalo 0360724,0052075? They are coordinates. Lalo is abbreviated from the words latitude and longitude. The digits are the coordinates for Gibraltar,” Samuel assured us.
“According to legend, a girl found a green stone, and when she touched it for the second time the sun opened the clouds over Atlantis, which was located just out there in the sea,” Leo jumped into the conversation. “In just one day and a night the whole city sank into the sea. No one on Teli has rediscovered the city, but we all know that it was transported in the portal to Vati,” he continued. “It is said that Atlantis was a supernaturally powerful city that lay before the Pillars of Hercules, the gateway to the Gods. I guess that is the portal - the Pillar of Hercules, that we are going to travel through tonight?”
His question was directed back to Samuel.
“You aren’t just a pretty face,” Samuel taunted. “Even more reassuring is that on the map, inside the pentagram’s south-westerly pointing triangle closest to the coordinates, it displays the word ‘metal’. That is the material that the pillars should contain. The triangle that points west states the word ‘water’. It leads me to believe that they are the coordinates to Stonehenge, where we emerged when we first arrived on Teli. It would agree with my hypothesis since there is an underground channel below Stonehenge. Adjacent to these words we find the names of the worlds Vati and Medi inside the triangles. They are shaded in with the same rainbow colour that represents each world. Vati blue and Medi yellow. It’s probably not by chance that the elements that are written down give clues relating to the places where the portals open, as well as the world’s nature. The one who has created the map possesses much information on all seven worlds.”
Samuel took a breath before he continued.
“I made my final interpretation based on the second line of the poem. ‘Count two lights revealing a starry day’, it must mean that the portal will open where the lights from two stars meet,” he explained as he glanced down at the second poem, further down the map.
“You seem to have figured out most things,” Kora snorted sarcastically, making a point of looking up at the rock’s side.
Everyone turned to see the light from the Lynx and Phoenix stars where it converged halfway up the rock. It seemed we were in the right country, but in the wrong location.
Michael, who had arrived in a white minibus, similar to the public taxis, stowed us all in and then stomped on the gas. The heat rose in my body breaking out into a light sweat before I realised I was sitting on Tarus’s knee. Shortly after, a strong grip drew me by my arm away from the hot knee. He must have been unaware of the strength of his grip. It hurt my fragile bones and didn’t cease until I was sitting on Hunter’s lap. It felt like a tug of war over a toy between two jealous brothers. By now I felt next to indifferent to this repeated childish behaviour and was just trying to make sure I didn’t hit my head against the window as we drove along the bumpy rock edge.
“For how long will the portal stay open?” Michael shouted to Samuel, glancing at the rear-view mirror.
“I don’t know, it’s not explained on the pieces of the map we have,” he shouted back from the rear of the bus. “How could I have been so blind? I should have understood that the opening of the portal was at the actual monument to the Pillars of Hercules,” he murmured gloomily.
The bus climbed past Sunset Close and Cliff
top House, and turned onto a narrow road that led to the lookout point. A small wooden hut, where tourists paid their admission to continue up the Rock, could be glimpsed on the side of the road before the parking area. It was unmanned at this late hour. Michael ignored the parking spaces, and stopped within walking distance of the monument.
Everyone was happy to jump out of the cramped bus and escape the charged atmosphere. The only ones who hadn’t hurled insults at each other were Tarus and Kora who it seemed barely spoke to anyone. Samuel had looked uncomfortably warm sitting next to Tarus, behind Michael who was driving, and had been forced to lean half way out of the window to take deep breaths. Hunter had grabbed my hand as soon as the bus trip was over and was pulling me quickly towards the conjunction point of the stars’ lights. He was concentrating hard on the ground instead of towards the starlight. As I was slowly regaining my powers, I could sense a deep feeling of anguish over what he would have to do. He was trying to find another way to resolve a disconcerting dilemma. I could feel that he knew something about the portal, which was unfavourable to the others. What was it? What was it that he was about to do? He was hesitating; otherwise we would have got to the lights already.
“Tarus give me the orange stone. You get to go with Leo with the red stone through the portal,” he urged, without slowing down.
“I wouldn’t use that portal if I were you,” came a voice from the bench just a few feet down from the monument, making everyone freeze like statues.
“Eutychia, you rotten creature,” muttered Hunter, apparently unsurprised to see her.
He pulled me protectively behind him.
“Hunter, that was unnecessary. Haven’t you learned anything about the culture here? A kiss on each cheek, I think is customary,” she responded sarcastically, without looking in the least bit threatened or insulted.
“Who is she?” I asked, feeling scared as Hunter had suddenly become very protective.