Clash Of Worlds (51 page)

The men of Ardenor performed the duties of women here. They were the weaker sex in this kingdom and would do duties such as the smithing of new armor and fletching new arrows for their superior female counterparts, as well as making sure there was always fresh food for the feast.

The amazons had given the king a royal welcome and they had feasted for two days and two nights whilst Zeris and Bremusa had talked at length at the rumours that now filled the western lands. An elderly mage, by the name of Quinton, a servant of the former king of Alexandria (and Zeris’ father), had taken up refuge in these lands after the conclusion of the Great War.

The mage had long since retired and lived alone in a small house just on the outskirts of Ardenor. The mage still possessed great power and wisdom despite his advancing years and he had seen signs of a dark power that would soon make its way back into the world, a darkness that had not been seen for a long time. Kanto, Bremusa and the mage had met at the old man’s home and talked at great length of the potential threat. After his daughter’s vision of his banished son Valentine, and now these rumours of a dark power rising, Zeris thought it wise to seek counsel with the mage. He did not believe in coincidence, and if his kingdom, and indeed his banished son were in danger, he wished to know about it.

Quinton had foreseen this dark power’s coming, a darkness that threatened even the great power of Alexandria. The mage was very sketchy, talking mostly in riddles. This was partly due to his old age. Quinton was one hundred and eleven years old and his mind was not what it once was. “The stars are aligning my lord,” he said to Zeris. “Soon, The Destroyer will walk upon these lands. Rest assured, this realm will never have seen such a fearsome power.” The old mage, who had seen a lot during his many years, seemed genuinely shaken. His sight had long left him, leaving him blind as well as frail, yet he could see the future more clearly than any of them ever could.

A few days after the king’s arrival, Quinton passed away. Zeris extended his stay in Ardenor to attend the mage’s final farewell. As was tradition, his body was burnt, and then put into a casket to be buried. This was to ensure that the body of the mage would not become one of the forsaken, the undead race that was ever growing in the south. Shortly after the farewell ceremony, Zeris said his goodbyes to Bremusa and had set off for home with his honour guards.

The king wished to discuss these developments with his most trusted aids, Auron and Rokk, his high council. He also planned to speak with his daughter, Kara, of whom he had no knowledge of her disappearance from Alexandria. He wished to learn what the girl had seen in her dreams. She and Valentine were twins you see, and thus shared a psychic connection, although neither was likely aware of this. The king knew of this however and although he was forbidden to speak about his banished son, he wanted to know if Kara knew anything about the person that the old mage had claimed threatened the very existence of Alexandria.

He was also concerned for the safety of Valentine. Zeris had always felt a deep sense of guilt for having to give up his only son to Trenkenth. Although he saved many lives, including his own by doing this, he had always felt empty inside as a result. He was worried that his son might be in danger from this same dark power that Quinton had seen and he was hoping that Kara would be able to assist him.

After seven days travel, the king and his party of ten honour guards arrived with their horses over the final mountain and the Alexandrian palace was in sight…they were home at last. They now travelled on the open road for the first time, having previously travelled within the forests and mountains to maintain the secretary of their journey. As they approached the castle, Auron was already standing at the main gate. However this time it was not to greet his king home, for Auron was the bearer of bad news.

Something is wrong.
The king could tell from the look on Auron’s face. “What troubles you my friend?” said Zeris as he dismounted from his horse.

“My king, the Princess is missing.”

“Missing? What do you mean?” asked the king. He and Auron walked through the main gate of the castle and into the courtyard.

“She disappeared shortly after your departure.”

“My journey has been eighteen days. Has she been missing this entire time?” replied the king, not kindly.

“I have searched every inch of the castle and sent scouts out to nearby lands, we have found nothing, my king.” As head of the king’s security, and the man empowered with command during the king’s absence, Auron felt directly responsible for Kara’s disappearance.

Zeris knew differently. Auron had been his most trusted aid for many years, and also a close friend. He knew that Auron would have taken every precaution possible to ensure his daughter’s safety. He knew that if Kara had gone missing, it was from her own desire to do so. “Send out word, she could not have gone far. She does not know the lands well enough,” said the king.

The cry of an eagle could be heard in the distance. The bird emerged from the peak of a mountain to the south. It wings were extended as it glided gracefully through the wind. The bird was in descent and heading towards the castle. As the eagle got closer, Auron recognised the bird to be not of this land. “It is an eagle from the Underworld realm,” he said, nodding at a selection of Archers who stood guard on the castle walls. The Archers readied their bows and took aim.

“Wait! Do not fire!” shouted the king.

“But it is…”

The king interrupted Auron before he could finish. “It is a messenger, nothing more. It poses us no danger.”

The warlock Rokk, looked on from a window on the higher levels of the castle. He normally resided on the most northern tower within the palace and he had just finished his morning meditation. The strength of the warlocks power came from clarity of mind and he meditated for an hour every morning to clear his mind of any unwanted distractions. His attention had now been drawn to the window by the return of the king and he also recognised the eagle approaching. Upon seeing the bird, he left the tower and made his way out onto the courtyard. When he finally reached it the eagle was now sat on the king’s left arm.

“Welcome home my king. I see you are not alone,” said the warlock who made reference to the eagle. “Your presence is timely as usual my friend. We need your assistance,” said Zeris.

Rokk had a unique ability you see for he was highly attuned to many things that others did not possess. His skills as a warlock included the rare ability to speak to many creatures, beings that were not human. He could understand the words of an eagle just as clear as the words of you and I.

Auron did not approve of such dealings with creatures of the Underworld, no matter what their race or form. He had a distinct hatred of the dark realm and it often clouded his judgement when it even came to matters of diplomacy. “I do not approve of this. The bird is from that god-forsaken place. We cannot trust its words,” Auron snorted.

“I am well aware of your concerns my friend,” said Zeris. “Rokk, please proceed,” the king commanded. He held out his arm upon which the eagle was sat and invited Rokk over to speak to the bird.

The warlock slowly approached the creature. The bird seemed a little nervous as first but soon lowered it’s guard for Rokk had a soothing presence about him. After a few moments, Rokk felt confident enough to stroke the bird’s head. The eagle did not fight the warlock’s affectionate touch and now Rokk felt the time was right to communicate with the creature.

Zeris and Auron looked on as Rokk mumbled to the bird in the eagle tongue and in return, the eagle mumbled back. A look of confusion formed on the warlock’s face, almost as if whatever the eagle was telling him could not be possible. Rokk mumbled once more to the bird, looking for clarification. The king noticed Rokk’s confused facial expressions and was eager to know what message the eagle had passed on to the warlock. After another minute or two, Rokk bid the eagle farewell and it flew from the king’s arm and went back in the direction from whence it came. The warlock looked deep in thought, as Zeris and Auron looked on. Finally, Rokk broke his silence. “My king, we need to talk.”

Kanto, Rokk and Auron made their way into the castle’s council room. This was where the king would usually have meetings with his closest aids. A large round table stood in the middle of the room and the king sat down on the throne seat, the largest chair at the table. There was an uneasy silence between the three men until finally, Auron lost his patience.

“Spit it out man!” he said bluntly.

Rokk locked eyes with Auron for a moment. “Very well.” He turned to Zeris, who was just as eager as Auron to hear the message the eagle had given to him.“The eagle came with a warning. Although it’s origin is somewhat confusing.”

“A warning?” asked Zeris.

“Yes,” replied Rokk, who paused for a moment before delivering the message. “The bird stated that your son is in danger.”

Zeris and Auron shared a quick glance, the same glance that the warlock had seen them share whilst Princess Kara had been ill in her bed. The same time the princess had spoke of a small boy in her dreams.
The boys name was Valentine,
Rokk Remembered.

This was of great concern for the king. He was indeed concerned for his long-banished son, however, there was a more immediate problem he needed to contend with. You see only the king and Auron knew of the existence of Valentine, the kings lost son. When Zeris, accompanied by Auron, had handed over Valentine to the Creator, Trenkenth, all those years ago, one of the terms for the survival of the Alexandrian realm was that the boy would never be spoken of again. In fact, only three people from each realm would have any memory of such a person. Each was sworn to silence and to speak of the boys would not only result in their own deaths, but also the ruin of the realm from which they came.

King Zeris, Auron and Vincent Xavier, now known as the Dark Archer, were the only three Alexandrian natives to have any knowledge of what truly happened to the boy on that fateful day. King Kanto, the sorceress Harriet and Lucius were the three from Underworld that also carried this burden. Trenkenth had altered reality to wipe the banished children’s existence from the minds of all other beings. Now you may ask, why did the creator not delete the boy’s existence from everyone? Trenkenth was cunning, and also curious. He wished to test the ‘lesser beings’, as he would call them. After the destruction caused by the worlds of Alexandria and Underworld during the Great War, he had come very close to wiping out the two worlds completely. The amount of bloodshed caused by Kanto and Zeris had angered him. However, he wished to burden the lesser beings and to also test their resolve. He gave those people who had direct contact with the two boys the most, the gift of remembrance.

When changing reality and making it appear as if the boys Valentine and Shadow had never existed within the realms, he let a select few retain their memories. He wanted to see if they could resist the temptation to tell others of the secret. Trenkenth had honestly thought the lesser beings would have broken their silence by now, giving him an excuse to eliminate the worlds once and for all. However to his surprise, the existence of the two boys had remained a secret, and so his faith in the lesser beings had been restored somewhat. This resulted in Trenkenth taking his watchful eye off the two worlds, something that Kanto had sensed. It was the moment that the king of Underworld had been waiting for. It was for this reason above all, why he had sent Lucius to earth.

For the reasons mentioned above neither Zeris nor Auron could reveal the boy’s true identity to Rokk. The pair sat nervously around the table in the council chambers. Rokk clearly suspected something, and he knew that eagles were rarely mistaken when conveying a message.

“Are you sure you understand the bird correctly my friend. Surely the missing person it referred to was Kara?” said the king.

“No, my King, the bird spoke of a young man. It spoke of your son,” replied Rokk

“The king has no son. Clearly you did not translate the message properly. That, or the bird was lying,” said Auron, who attempted to aid his king in concealing the truth.

“The eagles are creatures of integrity, even those from the dark realm,” said Rokk, who was annoyed by Auron’s suggestion.

“My friend, we do not deny that. Perhaps the person who sent the bird is the one behind this deception,” said Zeris. “Besides, I have learned of a new danger that may be soon upon us. Perhaps these two events are related.” Zeris went on to tell the pair of his meeting with Quinton. Rokk was very familiar with the old mage, having been a pupil of his teachings during his younger years. Zeris told them of the dark power rising, The Destroyer. of whom Quinton had foreseen was coming.

“So, do we presume that this ‘Valentine’ is the dark power that Quinton spoke of?” asked Rokk. “Perhaps. This is why we need to find my daughter. Her dreams may be a prelude. She is connected to all of this somehow,” said Zeris, trying to deflect the warlocks suspicions. “Rokk, I want you to take one-hundred of my best swordsman and lead the search for my daughter. Leave no stone unturned, no place unventured, no matter where the search may lead.”

Rokk stood up and bowed to his king. “As you command.” The warlock exited the chambers, taking a quick glance at Auron before leaving.

He still suspects,
the king realised.

Auron stood up from his seat and opened the main door slightly to make sure that he and the king were truly alone. Zeris placed his hand over his face. He was stressed, worried about both of his children.

“What is happening? All of these events happening simultaneously cannot be down to chance,” said Auron.

“I know…” said Zeris, who did not remove the hand from his face as he spoke.

“First the princess has a vision of Valentine in her dreams, and now she is missing. Then a flying messenger from that god-forsaken world appears? Something bad is afoot my king,” said Auron.

“It would appear that some things cannot simply be buried and forgotten about. The past is returning to haunt us, my friend,” said the king.