Chapter 43-The Staffs of Zeus
Their flight was a long one. They traversed the expansive Atlantic Ocean again, but this time at a much slower pace. Lasante said that teleporting was too easily tracked, and that this type of travel fit into the current need for stealth. How teleporting was to be tracked, the brothers did not know, but they didn’t bother to ask. They decided that Lasante would know the best way to get them to their destination regardless of anything else, so they trusted his judgment. After a while, Helen and Angela rode up next to the brothers and they began chatting.
It didn’t take long for Irgen and Helen to see that the other two liked each other. He thought to himself that it was a good thing that he was there; otherwise there might not be anything to stop his handsome brother from putting the moves on this new Angela.
After what seemed like hours, the coast began to drift back into view, but this time, they passed well below Florida. Instead, what they passed over was Cuba. And then after a brief spell, they passed back into the sea. Finally ahead of them, they could see what had to be somewhere in Mexico, but neither of the brothers could tell.
“Are you sure you can find it Lasante?” Irgen asked good-naturedly.
Lasante lifted his head to peer over his back causing them to gain altitude as he did so, “A Sphinx, never forgets.” His crisp reply made Irgen smile, he grasped the good beast tighter, and Lasante relaxed back into his normal level beating motion. Irgen felt they would be good friends.
As they passed the coastline, they slowly began to descend, but their descent was so slow, that by the time they reached the ground, they didn’t think they could be anywhere near the coastline.
As they approached the tree line below them, Lasante tucked his wings, and they dove forward pushing through the thick underbrush which seemed to cover the place Lasante was looking for, eventually, they landed next to a large cliff-like face, that resisted all the overgrowth of the jungle beside it. Astonished Irgen jumped off Lasante and touched the wall. As he did so, the ground shook beneath of him, and the walls in front of him rose into the air, revealing the large entrance to a cavern.
The brothers entered the new structure gratefully, each had been waiting for what seemed like days to get some sleep, and to them this cavern offered them the greatest probability. But more than that, they had been waiting for an opportunity to go to the bathroom as well. It had been a long ride, and they were surprised they had managed to hold it that long.
The two brothers went off into the jungle for a moment to relieve themselves, while the girls went into the cavern and gave it a kind of homely feel. When the brothers returned, they found that making it homely had been a bit of a slight understatement; here they found four beds on two different sides of the cavern, with two on each side. In the middle of the cavern, Lasante had lain down to sleep. The horses had gone back up into the sky after the girls had hopped off them, so this was all the lodging that the five of them needed. On one side, the girls had put up a little pink curtain perhaps to ward away the two brothers, but they didn’t really need any coaxing, because as soon as they returned, they said a quick thanks and jumped in their beds.
Idus awoke with a start late in the night, he found everyone else to still be sleeping. He looked around cautiously before softly throwing the covers off of himself, and striding to the entrance of the cave. The moon gave off an eerie glow on the tops of the canopied tropical trees before him. His armor glimmered in the soft glow. He held out his arm and balled his hand into a fist. A small yellow glow was emitted from his hand and he grinned at his prowess. Another glint caught his glance and he turned his gaze to the great black battle axe in his belt. Softly he pulled into his arms. The warm confident power of the blade overtook him as he flicked the large weapon into the air, and jumped up, catching it lightly before slashing downward, landing like a puma. As he did so, a soft captivating voice sounded behind him.
“You are quite the master of that blade Idus.” He landed nimbly before turning to see the temptingly beautiful face of Angela. He blushed at the sight of her, and cast his eyes downward. “Do not be ashamed of your talent Idus. You have an amazing ability. I have only heard wonderful things of your expertise.” By now she had managed to walk right up to him. She placed her soft hand on his flexible armor and it seemed to evaporate into thin air leaving her caressing his powerful arm.
Idus stood there mesmerized, never before had he seen someone as beautiful as Angela. It seemed to him as though her very breath drew him towards her. He could not resist this overwhelming power. She smiled temptingly at him before grabbing his hand. “Tonight is the night Idus, the night you become a man. You will find your staff, and then you will be free to come with me. The sky’s the limit Idus…” Idus could not speak it was as though she controlled his tongue with some unknown force. “Now you must go, awake Irgen and go.” She winked at him before gracefully disappearing back into the cave and back behind the curtains.
Idus snapped back to himself and the armor reformed itself over his body. He shook his head before striding softly over to Irgen to wake him. He awoke with a start, and nodded as Idus explained that now was the time to find the staffs. They went and lightly tapped Lasante on the shoulder, to wake him. He gave a slight snort before opening an eye and looking at the two of them,
“We’re going to find the staffs, we’ll be back.” Irgen whispered under his breath. Lasante lifted his furry face and said softly,
“Good, but be careful, what lies beyond the safety of this entrance, can only be conquered by the two of you. Now go, and may the strength of Perseus rest upon you.” With that he strode forward leaving the opening of the tunnel wide open for the two brothers. With a short wave of their hands they descended again into the darkness.
This time as they descended down into the dark depths of the tunnel, light appeared ahead of them relatively quickly. As they approached it they found the light came from a small room. As they entered the room, the entrance in front and behind them closed. And a voice echoed in the small cavern wall. The brothers recognized it as Xenophon’s voice, it rang out in some infinitely strange language, and yet once again both of them could understand it. Xenophon said this:
“Before you lies your first test. Staffs cannot be used to transfer water or any of the elements somewhere else, so only a true conjurer can pass this test. And only the truly chosen ones can pass through the successive four rooms. Good luck. You are probably going to need it.” As his voice died down, water began to gush in from the walls. Idus looked uncertainly at Irgen and asked:
“How long do we have to keep the water out, do you think?”
“I’m guessing as long as the Greeks thought it would take for you to drown.” Irgen said playfully as he felt the energy build up inside of him, he was ready for another fight. The energy burst forth and a huge drain appeared in the middle of the floor, sucking the water down with it.
“How far did you transfer it?” Idus asked.
“Just a few hundred feet below ground.” Irgen responded overjoyed that it had worked.
After a few minutes of the brothers feeling the water slide and tickle dangerously under their feet, it stopped, and a few more minutes went by, before the door in front of them opened, leading them into another tunnel before their next room.
“That was easy.” Irgen said brightly.
“Yeah it was easy, but I’m guessing that we’ll find out through all these, why an intruder could not ever reach the staffs again. I don’t think the safeguards were meant to challenge us, only to act as foolhardy protection against any would-be thieves.” Irgen nodded in agreement as they proceeded to the next room.
This time when the doors closed fire sprang up underneath of them, Irgen quickly placed a protective shield around Idus, but since this was his element, it would not harm him, so during the “trial by fire” Irgen slowly wandered around the small room playfully flicking the f
ire uselessly against the wall. Finally after minutes like this, the door in front of them reopened and the brothers headed forward, to the next room.
This time it was Idus’ turn to cast a protective shield of electricity around Irgen while he roamed freely about the room. After some time in the lightning filled room, the front door opened and once again, the brothers went forward to the last room. The anticipation built in them as they entered this last room. They wondered what substance was going to fill this room, when the doors closed. As they did, a slimy foul smelling substance issued out of the sides of the wall. Disgusted, Irgen quickly started to get rid of whatever it was. Moments passed, during which the foul squelching noise continued to fill the air around them, until finally it stopped, and moments later the last door opened.
Here a small, humble chamber opened to their view. Directly ahead of them, lay a large chest. Overjoyed the twins ran forward and opened the unlocked chest, it fell back revealing two gleaming staffs. One was the same brilliant red one with a white stone wedged in the wood that Irgen had seen in his dream. The other was bright silver, with a large round, sky blue stone attached like a head to the top of it.
Overjoyed, Idus grabbed his staff and lifted it upwards with a flourish. After him, Irgen reached down and cautiously grabbed the ominous red staff which he had seen in his dream. As he lifted it, a piece of papyrus caught his eye. He reached for it, and pulled it out to read it, as he did, Idus yelled: “aprirsi!” As he did so, an opening appeared ahead of them, leading them out, and into the cavern which they had just left. Idus ran full tilt up the passageway, some madness having gained control of him. Irgen hurriedly tucked away the paper he was holding and followed after his brother. He tried to connect to his brother’s mind but found something blocked him. His brother didn’t want to talk to him. A weight fell upon him as he slowed to a walk and let his brother disappear into the darkness ahead of him. It was over, his dream was coming true.
In frustration He pulled out the paper and conjured a small light above him and once again looked at its crazy lettering. But this time it was the Greek he had studied, and he understood the writing. “Finally a use for all that schooling,” he thought to himself. Xenophon’s note said this:
“I Xenophon have fled from my land in the hope that on this continent I might find peace, but my hope was vain, for here I have found more wars and savagery than had ever existed in Greece. Here I had hoped to find a type of people I could live with, but I find the majority of them to be a barbaric and loathsome people. They slaughter each other for sport, and war is rampant across the land. They no longer have the will to be productive, they only want to destroy. The quest for satisfying their endless lust has destroyed them. They have ceased striving for that which is good. They are doomed. And we can only hope others will take their place. You, who get these staffs, do not let it happen to our race.
I only ask one thing out of those who use these staffs, and that is-use them for good, for the building up of people, do not try to tear others down with them. They can be a powerful tool for those who are pure-hearted enough to abide their power. My brothers did not understand them. And as such they created wars. They destroyed many people and dreams. Do not let it happen again. Use them to help the world, and you will see how much the world has to help you.”
Irgen finished reading the paper as he emerged back into the cavern. Here he found Helen standing alone crying, with Lasante lying next to her. He walked forward carefully and put his hand around her shaking shoulders.
“What happened?”
“They’re g-g-one, t-t-the two love-b-b-birds eloped and ran off-f-f to join the Air c-c-clan, and after t-that, who knows.” She looked up hopefully at Irgen as though he had some solution to the problem which they were faced with, but he did not look at her. Instead he strode forward to the mouth of the cave and stared up into the starry sky. A tear slid down his cheek as he remembered that night so long ago, when the brothers had looked out of their dormitory window, and wondered what wonders magic would bring into their lives.
But that dream was gone, his brother was gone, and most probably his father too, and his real dream had come true. His brother had become what he had hoped he would not become. Idus had become, or would become, the Him in his dream. Irgen crouched down, and put his face in his hands, as he did so, he felt the warm touch of his shield on his back and remembered, with a tinge of hope, Medusa saying “You are never alone.” Quietly, he slipped the shield off his back and stared into its depths, and once again the lovely face swam into view, and said:
“Life is what you make of it, Irgen. A new page in your life is beginning; it is your decision on whether to wallow in the depths of despair or to fly on the wings of glory. Life is what you make of it!” And with that the figure descended back into the depths of the shield.
Irgen looked back up into the sky but this time, he remembered what Xenophon had said,
“The power is in you…” and then the words, “Use them to help the world, and you will see how much the world can help you.” He straightened up and turned defiantly on his heel and strode back to Helen and Lasante. He grabbed Helen in a tight embrace and whispered, “This is just the beginning. I cannot do this alone, but I cannot bring myself to ask you to bear the trials ahead of me with me…” Helen cut him off in mid speech.
“You do not need to ask. I cannot desert you. I will always be with you.” She looked up lovingly into those determined fiery eyes, and knew it was time. It was time for Irgen Tuerl to become a man.
The Brothers Tuerl & The Staffs of Zeus Page 44