The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (14 page)

“
Why
not? They’re gods, aren’t they?” Thadius asked. “They can control
everything.”

“
Not everything.” Matthias grimaced. “I don’t want
to go off track, but from what we know, from ancient texts, the
gods cannot control true
evil
. Even on their own creation, once the madness
took hold of the creatures which had tapped into the powers, and
they grew angry and hateful, they couldn’t control them.” Matthias
shook his head. “The gods are still a mystery. No one understands
them fully. Anyone who
claims
to is a liar. The history we have written down in
the archives is that the gods weren’t prepared for what had
happened. Their idea was to create a utopia. Erithia was meant to
be beautiful. But they did not factor in the possibility of evil.
They had never seen anything
like
it. And when evil was given an opportunity to
grow, it spread like the plague. The entire
world
was being torn apart. Humans were
born into the madness and though many fought back, just as many
joined the cause of the demons, inflicted by the very same madness
as the other creatures. And that is when the gods stepped in to try
and fight back.”

"They made the Akari,” King Arwell nodded.

“
You
do know about the Akari then?” Matthias nodded.

“
Of course!” the king scoffed. “You may have
suppressed
most
of my people’s learning, but a few lucky ones like myself
are still taught of the Akari and the Great
Peace.”

“
I
have never learnt about them,” Josephine sniffed with a hint of
disdain.

“
That
is because
you
never
did
like learning about history,” he smiled. “You were
always more interested in learning about the here and now than
about the past.”

Thadius coughed and interrupted them. “Excuse me,
Your Grace, but I have to clarify something. You don’t mean to say
you believe the Akari were
real?
”

The
king nodded. “Of course they were.”

Matthias nodded. “They were as real as you are, Thadius,” he
answered. “The gods created them in the hope of stopping the
madness that was spreading across the world. They were made to be
strong, but physical strength and determination on the Akari’s part
wouldn’t be enough, and so with them the gods wove a new power into
the world; the fifth power, or the pure power as it’s called by
those who study them. The gods made it so that the Akari alone
could use the new power and they made it an energy stronger than
any of the others and capable of overwhelming the other four
combined.”

“
And with it they brokered a peace that lasted over
two
thousand
years,” the king added, nodding.

“
Until seven hundred years ago, when they all vanished,”
Matthias added.

Thadius shook his head. “I can’t
believe
the Akari
were
real
! I mean, I know I’m not a scholar, but I
have
read many books! At
least
six
of them! You would
think
I would know the truth!” He exhaled. “Where did
they go?” he asked.

“
No
one knows for sure,” Matthias replied. “In the space of a single
day, they all disappeared as if they had never existed. People at
the time assumed that the gods took them back, that they weren’t
needed anymore.”

“
But then came the Great War,” the King said. “And
the Akari never came back to help.” He scoffed. “Humans have been
left alone to fend for ourselves for centuries. We had to fight
that war alone. We have been
fighting
against oppression ever since. In
one
form or another,”
he added, casting a steely gaze over Matthias.

“
I
was a little surprised you didn’t know they were real Thadius. When
you mentioned they were mythical yesterday, when we were studying
the carvings of them in the entrance hall, I was taken aback a
moment. But then I remembered that perhaps I am in an enviable
position when it comes to knowledge.”

The soldier frowned. “I’ll
try
not to take that as an
insult.”

“
Time has covered over their legacy to most people
here,” the king said. “But that’s mostly down to
your
kind again,” he
said bitterly to Matthias. The wizard looked abashed. “They have
become figures of myth and legend like many other creatures have
over the years, since your kind denied my people the will to learn
as they once did.”

Matthias took a breath. “I think, perhaps, we might be moving
off topic.”

The
king sniffed scornfully at the diversion. Then he nodded. “Are you
going to tell us what this has to do with the prophecy
then?”

Matthias nodded. “I needed to know how much you knew of the
Akari and their power. You see, they haven’t left us completely,
Your Grace.”

Arwell looked puzzled “You mean they’re
coming
back?
”

Matthias shook his head. “Not quite.” He raised
his hands to accentuate his next point. “This is what I had left to
tell you yesterday. The part of the prophecy that I could not find
the will in myself to speak of yesterday because it is almost too
unbelievable to say.” He swallowed and looked to Josephine.
“Princess, you don’t just have
any
power. You have the pure power. You possess the
power of the Akari.”

“
That is
ridiculous!
” She spluttered.

“
The seeing stone has shown that you are the sole
known heir to their fifth power. You are the
only
one alive this day with the ability
to stop the dragon.”

“
That’s
insane!
” The king barked. “Utter madness!” He seized
Matthias by the collar.

“
Your Grace!” Thadius exclaimed as the king shook the
wizard.

“
There is no way that
any
of this is true!” The man
spat.

“
The seeing stone told us,” Matthias said as calmly
as he could. “They have
never
been wrong.
Ever
.”

“
This is a
trick
,” the king hissed. “A Mahalian
plot!
” He let go of Matthias, who stepped back, feeling his
neck. The king paced across the floor. He struck out a hand,
pointing at Matthias. “
Where
is your
proof?
” he asked.

Matthias looked from the maddened king to the
princess, who was watching him, glassy-eyed. “The proof sits
within
you
Josephine. Don’t you
feel
it?” he asked.

The
king spun his head to look at his daughter, who took a breath. Her
hands were shaking.

“
But I... I’m
human!
” she struggled.

“
Your Highness, I am not even going to pretend for
a
second
that you are actually an Akari
creature
. But you’ve somehow been given
access to their abilities. There is only one way in my mind that
you can have been given that gift. The gods must have chosen you
somehow to undertake this task!”

“
Guards!
” the king bellowed, and on his command the
soldiers returned, bursting through the door and running straight
for Matthias. They grabbed his arms tightly. “I have listened to
enough of these farfetched stories, given you
far
too much time to weave your
lies
into my daughter’s
mind! I don’t know what the
real
reason is that your people have sent you here, but
I am
not
going to let you
brainwash
me or my daughter into
believing
them!
Take him away!
” He barked, and Matthias was dragged
to the door.

“
You
know
what I’m saying is the truth!” Matthias yelled to
them. “You’ve been
chosen
princess! You
have
to listen to me!
Please!
” The door slammed shut behind him. The
king walked unsteadily to his chair and fell into it, his head in
his hands.

“
Your Grace,” Thadius whispered, kneeling by his side. “How
can I help?”

The king shook his head. “Just go.
Leave
us
Thadius.”

The soldier nodded and turned to go. Then as he
was opening the door, he turned. “Whatever you need of me, Your
Grace and Your Highness, I will do my
utmost
to help you.” Then he turned and left the
room as the king hunched over and the princess watched the door
with shock in her eyes.

Matthias sat on the rotting, damp, moss - covered wooden cot
of the cell he had been thrown into. He was still in the palace,
but somewhere under the structure, and a small, barred slit in the
brick wall beheld daylight beyond and showed him a small view of
the palace’s exterior wall from below ground level. He had been
dragged and thrown in the room by the guards and left for the
better part of a day now. It might even have been
longer.

He
looked up at the sound of footsteps from the corridor beyond and
the wooden door was unlocked and pushed inwardly. Thadius appeared
in the doorway. He stepped into the confines of the cell and the
door closed shut again behind him. For a moment he stood and
watched Matthias silently.

“
Afternoon,” Matthias said.

“
Did
you sleep well?” Thadius said and indicated to the cot.

“
Like a damp old log,” Matthias replied
acerbically.

“
Why
didn’t you stop my men from dragging you down here?” Thadius asked
him.

“
Was
that what you were expecting?” Matthias smiled and shrugged, then
shook his head. “I said I would tell you the truth about why I was
here, and I have. I told the king and the princess everything they
needed to know. If I were to break free from here, what would that
accomplish? They need time for what I have told them to sink in.
Besides,” he said, looking around the room. “It’s quite cosy in
here, once you look past the dirt.”

Thadius chuckled. “I’ve heard it called many things, but
never ‘cosy’.”

“
Why have you come to see me?” Matthias asked. “Or
are you here to
kill
me?”

Thadius paced forward a step, placing his hands in
his pockets. “Was that what
you
were expecting?” He smiled. “Your people are
idiots,” he said, and began to pace the room. “Asking you to kidnap
the princess? How could that
possibly
have gone well?”

Matthias leant back against the cold, stone wall. “I must
admit, it was not one of their saner requests,” he said. Then he
shrugged. “I think they panicked. They believe there is danger
nearby, and they wanted me to keep the princess safe.”

Thadius shook his head. “Don’t you think it would have been
better if you had asked?”

Matthias chuckled. “You’re probably right, it
would have been. That
was
the original plan. But there we go. These things
happen.”

“
Not often. Or
ever
, now I think on it,” Thadius
smirked.

Matthias shifted in his seat. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry
I betrayed your trust.”

Thadius snorted. “You assumed that a
true
trust existed
between us.”

“
And
I assumed wrongly?” Matthias asked. “Because it didn’t seem that
way when we were working on the plans to clear the
catacombs.”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t trust you fully,
even
after
you had impressed the king with your revelations. A young
wizard sneaks into Rina with important news?" He shrugged. “I’m a
sceptical man at the best of times. Something in my suspicious
head
told
me not to let my guard down around you
completely.”

Matthias smiled at him. “That is probably a sensible thing,”
he said.

Thadius walked back to the door, and knocked three
times to a guard on the other side. It opened at his instruction.
“
But…
you’ve
proven
one
thing to me,” he added.