The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark (34 page)

The Drailes shrieked at the presence of the Ikrenums and immediately fled. Prince Ramon slumped to the ground from pure exhaustion. “Am I glad to see you,” he said with a sigh.

“I apologize, my lord,” said Mikael. “We would have been here sooner, but the shockwaves must have blown us miles away.” He dismounted his Ikrenum.

“How did you know where we were?” asked Topenga, getting to his feet.

“We heard the Drailes and saw the direction they were heading,” replied Kasa. “I then quickly got the Ikrenums together and found Mikael.”

“Well, I thank you,” said Ramon. “Corin thanks you, but we must continue on our path. We still need to cross River Crasus and enter the Dark World.”

“Where is Rumin, my lord?” asked Mikael.

They all looked over to see the left arm of their comrade sticking out between two dead Drailes. Immediately, they ran to his aid, and with their combined strength, managed to pull the dead birds off the heavily perspiring young man.

5.3

B
LADEMASTER

W
ith the dust finally starting to settle, following their encounter with the Drailes, Prince Ramon and his party steadily collected their weapons and armory for the rest of the journey. The surge of adrenaline from the battle left them in high spirits, and they felt at that point that they could achieve anything. As they finished gathering their thoughts, however, they realized that the yellow tree had disappeared. They also wondered what had released the immense shockwave that had completely disoriented them.

“What do you think it was?” asked Mikael. “The gods playing with us?” He focused all his attention on Prince Ramon.

“I know what I saw,” said Ramon. “And it was no trick. That tree was there. The meaning of it being there in the—”

He was unexpectedly interrupted by the sudden return of Kasa, who had been searching for more of their scattered supplies. Kasa walked anxiously up to the group, his hands on his head.

“Why so worried, Kasa?” asked Topenga, with a concerned look.

“I have searched everywhere,” Kasa replied. “Absolutely everywhere, and I cannot find any fire substance. The explosion and the winds must have blown it all away.” His chubby cheeks paled.

Rumin and Mikael immediately slumped to the ground upon hearing the news, and Topenga looked straight up into the sky before looking at Ramon. “It is over, my prince,” he said. “We will not make it across the great desert to the Caves of Sena without fire substance.”

“No. I refuse to accept that,” replied the prince. “We have not come this far to turn back now.” He paused for a few seconds, with his hands on his hips. “If we go back to Corin,” he continued, “without even first reaching the Dark World, we might as well be sacrificed for being cowards. As your prince, I am asking you to continue with the mission. Mikael, what are our supplies of blue flame?”

Mikael quickly rummaged through their packs. “We have the blue flame, your highness,” he said. “But without fire substance, it will only take us halfway through the desert, and an attempt to cross the remaining half with no source of light will mean certain death. We will have no protection against the Kronos.”

“Again, I refuse to accept that,” growled the prince. “I refuse to accept that there is no other way.” He shifted his gaze between each of his comrades.

“There might be another way, your highness,” said Topenga, rubbing his fingers against his temple.

“Please, Topenga,” the prince said in a gentler tone. “Speak. Tell me what you are thinking.”

“Within the Dark World,” Topenga started. “It is said that the Cave of Napol is filled with natural light, meaning that no Kronos can enter. If we can make it there with the blue flame, we could wait inside until the Kronos return to the sky, and then make a dash to the lands beyond the desert. Beyond that, we can only pray that our gods do watch over us.”

Kasa dropped to the floor, with his head buried in his hand. “But how do we know the exact distance?” he asked. “And how do we know the Kronos will return to the sky once we enter the cave? We could be there for days, or even longer.”

“Enough,” cut in Ramon. “It might not be the best plan, but at the moment, it is all we have. We left Tustodes on a mission we knew would not be easy. It is likely that none of us will survive this journey, but continue we will. If it is the judgment of the gods that we succeed, then it will be our greatest feat.”

“Your highness, what is that over there?” asked Mikael. He looked ahead with a look of bewilderment. The entire party turned in the direction he faced. To their amazement, the same yellow glow they had seen earlier seemed to have returned, but this time there was no tree in sight.

“Do you think it is safe to go toward it?” Rumin asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

“At this point, I do not think we have a choice,” replied Ramon. “It might give us the answers we need.”

All five men walked cautiously toward the glow. Mikael held to his battle-axe with both hands. Rumin ran his hands across his fork, as if to assure himself it was still there. With each step they took, the light grew brighter.

“That looks like a sword, your highness,” said Topenga, halting. They stopped a few yards away from what was indeed a magnificent sword lying on the ground. “But it is a red sword, my lord,” he added.

“It is indeed red, red as blood.” Ramon looked on in awe. “The markings on the blade are as I have read in a book, but it cannot… It cannot be possible.”

Approaching Ramon, Kasa withdrew his bow and knelt down, closely examining the sword. Standing slightly behind him, Ramon let out a few coughs, trying to urge Kasa to share his thoughts.

“The markings are clear, my lord,” Kasa said finally. “The symbol at the top is the mark of Anobis.” He ran his hands across a circular shape, with an arrow in the middle. His finger traced down to an engraving of four crowns on the bottom of the sword. “And here. The symbol of the four kings.” Kasa shifted his gaze toward his four companions, who all looked at him with wide eyes. “None of this is possible, my lord,” he continued. “No normal blademaster crafted this sword. All indications would suggest that it has been forged in a similar fashion to the Sword of Corin.”

“The sword wielded by Baran?” asked Rumin.

Kasa nodded, prompting Rumin to throw his hands in this air. “This is ridiculous, Lord Prince!” he said. “The Sword of Corin rests on Mount Anobis, with Baran. It is also significantly larger. The blade that lies in front of us cannot be that sword.”

Edging forward, Ramon placed his hands on the tip of the red blade, running them up and down. “I know not the significance of this sign,” he said. “I am bewildered by everything we have seen today. The burning tree, the explosion. None of it is as it should be.”

“What are we going to do, my lord?” asked Kasa, rising from the ground.

Ramon lifted the blade in the air, holding on to it with both hands. “Whatever the past events symbolize,” he said loudly. “I will uncover it.” He placed the sword by his side and looked at his comrades. “We will continue toward Sabudu, where we will seek shelter and a good meal. We shall take this sword with us. Its meaning must be understood.

“But my lord,” Topenga started. “Is it wise to—”

Ramon’s glare cut him off. The prince mounted his Ikrenum, and the other four joined him as they continued toward Sabudu.

A few hours had passed since the discovery of the ancient blade, and Prince Ramon had come to the decision that it be returned to Tustodes, where his father and the rest of his council might understand the significance of its sudden appearance. He gave Topenga the task of guarding the sword at all costs, even above his own life, since it would seem that they were now meddling in matters of more importance than their own survival.

They rode on, and fatigue set in once more. With Sabudu still a few hours away, Ramon thought it best to stop for some well-earned rest. The darker clouds continued to overshadow the constantly fading sun. The air had grown colder with each mile they traveled from Tustodes. Though they were within the confines of the Light World, they still worried about the bandits that scoured the areas near Sabudu and neighboring cities. They agreed to sleep in cycles, with two men watching at all times.

Following another meal of dried meat, bread, and cheese, Mikael, Kasa, and Rumin soon fell asleep in a small alcove guarded by the Ikrenums. Prince Ramon and Topenga remained a few yards away, beneath some tall trees. The loss of their fire substance meant they no longer had the luxury of their blue flame, but the temperature remained bearable.

The mood was subdued, as Ramon felt he had nothing to say to his once best friend outside the battlefield. In his half-ripped tunic, Topenga lay down, using his hands to keep his head off the ground, and looking into the skies of Corin. For his entire life, the glare of the Corin sun had been constant and unmoving, bearing ever down on the capital of the Light World. But now it was distant and dim, an orange haze covering much of the sky. Half of a glowing, radiant light reflected off the many mountains surrounding them. A moderately warm sensation splashed onto his face from the now faint rays of the sun. Though he knew the dangers awaiting them in the Dark World were great, he longed to just once witness a flicker of darkness.

With Topenga deep in thought, the prince reflected on his life and what he stood for. Lately, he had started to realize that life as he knew it was not real. The benefits of being in the royal family had blinded him to the weakened state of his planet. Looking over at Topenga, he remembered how they used to be as boys. They had been inseparable, always getting into mischief together, along with the three other young men who lay close by in fitful sleep.

Topenga had been like the brother he never had. But in some cases, brotherly love led to jealousy, which was especially the case when Topenga was chosen as a Colonoy ahead of him. Since the attack from the Drailes, Ramon had started to realize why Topenga was the right person to guard his family.

“Topenga, are you awake?” asked the prince. He shifted positions and lay at a similar angle to Topenga, looking up into the gray skies.

“I am, my lord,” replied Topenga softly.

“I wanted to express my gratitude for what you did for all of us today.”

“You need not thank me, my lord,” Topenga said. “My sole reason for being here is to ensure your safety, and I will continue to do just that.”

Ramon leaned toward him. “But I have not been very appreciative of everything you have done,” he said. “I have treated you as an enemy for some time, and I am sorry for that. I suppose jealousy got the better of me. But I assure you, my apology is sincere.”

“Please, my lord,” said Topenga firmly. “You can hate me. You can beat me down, but I will always live to serve Corin, and your family are all I know.”

“You are a great warrior, Topenga. I will make sure my father knows this.”

“I thank you, my lord.”

Ramon ran his hands through his curly hair. “Do you think we will survive the Dark World?” he asked.

“I do not know,” Topenga spoke softly. “I always thought of the Dark World as our home,” he went on. “I always believed that as we are all one, no harm could possibly come to us there. But over time, I have come to realize that no matter where we are, it is not safe. The universe is vast, and we are not favored. I curse the day Auphora did this to us.”

Ramon winced. “Do you think there might be a chance that the stories were true, and Auphora really did all he could for us?”

Turning toward the prince, Topenga raised himself from the ground. “The God of Gods is not just. He is not a god of peace, but one of war. The fact that he banished his own son might seem like he did not have a choice, but I believe he did. Even during the First Coming, he opposed the very children he created to rule beside him. The war of the Immortals was said to be a necessary war because of the greed and corruption that overcame the demigods, but I ask you this: Why would your own children turn against you twice?”

Topenga lay on his back once more and took on a more relaxed tone. “I believe Auphora became afraid of how far the demigods’ voices started to reach. So he declared war on them. And I believe he did the same thing with our Red God. He feared the power Baran could have achieved. So no, I do not believe he did any good deed for us.”

“I suppose I have always wanted to believe that my life has had some purpose,” said Ramon. “I don’t want to feel the kind of anger that clouds the hearts of men. I do not want to hate all those from Crandor or Tyranis, or even Earth. I do not want to feel hate for those that stood against us.” He paused and focused his gaze toward the sky once more, glancing occasionally at Topenga before speaking firmly. “I only want you to know that, no matter what happens, I always have and still see you as the brother I never had.”

“As have I, my lord. As have I.” Topenga slowly returned to his original position, with his back on the ground.

The calm silence returned, as they both continued to gaze into the skies.