The Last Queen of Lemuria (21 page)

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"Yes,"  nodded Greta, sleepily taking the basket and vimana from the shelf.  "I must. I must..." and slowly walked toward the square, looking straight forward.

Tamil flew higher above the roof of the hanger in which the flügs were standing. They would have to draw them out of the building, if only for a short time. The leaders of Groix got closer  to the palace. The smell of food was in the air. The sorcerers hadn't even had time to eat before the war. Captain Timor stayed in charge of the hanger, looking with envy at the soldiers' kitchen.  Tamil made the sign to Aleur. He came out of his hiding spot, and walked straight toward the captain. The officer was taken aback when he saw the Lemurian. Using the officer's confusion, Aleur spoke first:

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"Where can I find his Majesty King Gorr?"  He asked, "I've come with a message from Lemuria..." continued Aleur, coming right up to the captain, and not giving him time to remember himself, grabbed the captain by the arms, slamming him into the wall. The captain gasped and hung lifelessly in the engineer's arms. Aleur dragged him quickly into the corner and dashed to the machines. Fortunately, there were only two soldiers there. They were standing by one of the ships, and were too busy fighting with each other to notice their uninvited guest. Aleur crept closer.

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"I'm telling you, they stole a flüg!"  Burned a small, black-haired youth.

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"You've got to be lying! The Queen and Princess would never betray Groix!"  Exclaimed the older soldier.

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"I saw it myself! The Black Princess, Queen Yala and that Lemurian fiancée of the heir kicked the captain out of a flüg and flew away! They should be in Lemuria by now! The King is in quite the rage!"  Giggled the first.

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"I can hardly wait for the offensive! They say Lemurian girls are unbelievably pretty..."

Aleur jumped up and ran along the iron balls. Around twenty machines were standing at full military ready. The young Lemurian took a knife from his belt, opened the door of a flüg and cut a thin hose. Then a roar was heard from outside, and Aleur saw two flügs taking off through the hangar door.

Aleur finished his plan and ran out of the hangar. The captain was still laying on the ground, but was giving signs of life.  Tamil grabbed Aleur's hand and dragged him to the hangar roof.

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"They flew to Olmolungring," he said, "we're too late, Aleur!"

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Tamil!" My friend! You've never lost spirit! Hold on! Two flügs isn't so scary!"

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"How do you know?"  Snapped Tamil, "you've never gone to war.

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I've read about it in books," lied Aleur.  "I've cut off the fuel supply of the other flügs.  We've got some time yet before the sorcerers notice the problem, and then they've got to fix it. We'll make it."

Tamil motioned with his eyes at the fuel tank. - "While were here..."

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"Burn that too?"  Guessed Aleur. "I don't have my flint and steel. However..."

Aleur remembered his promise to Shonith La. Never to use the vimana for evil, and never to reveal its secret! But anyway, Shonith La knew what was going on! A few years a go, the young engineer, going over the designs for the vimana, figured out that the flying board hid a terrible weapon. He made the vimanas exactly according to the ancient designs, but as Shonith La had demanded, he did not reveal their secret.  Now the time had come that that secret could save Lemuria. Aleur grabbed the board by the crystal on its edge and turned it on its axis. A small, barely noticeable crack appeared in the center of the board. Taking a firm hold on both sides, Aleur broke the vimana in half. But it did not snap. A thin wire that had been connecting the two halves came out of the center of the board. There was a small red crystal hanging from the wires. Aleur took a deep breath. Tamil looked at him with eyes opened wide.

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“What is that?”

- "A weapon.  A weapon of evil thoughts.

It should work!" But the fact of the matter was that he had never actually done it. He had only seen the designs... The engineer, holding the vimana by the edge, cast his glance at the red spot. His muscles tensed, and a vein bulged on his forehead. Nothing happened. He gathered up all his pain, all the suffering of the last days. "The red pebble is fed with negative energy!" The vimana shook. The crystal came to life and glowed with a ruby light.  And, then a miracle! - a red ray of light ripped out of the stone! He hit it on the iron wall of hangar, and completely silently burned a hole through it, giving off bright sparks. It smelled of burning.  It worked! Aleur jumped a bit out of joy. And ran toward the store with fuel and ammunition.

Behind the friends, a powerful explosion cracked into the heavens. The blast nearly knocked the friends from their boards. The store was destroyed.

Chapter 25. A Prophecy Fulfilled

Shonith La opened the box. The Chintamani's glow had dimmed from the sorcerer's enchanting, but all the same, the Protector was here in Lemuria.  They would have to try to increase the glow of the Stone until the sorcerers reached the city. Only Shonith La knew how to strengthen the protective properties of the Chintamani. The secret had been passed from generation to generation of Keepers. Casting spells was used only in the case of deadly danger. Shonith La pressed on a small impression in the side of the box. A click came, and a small, secret chamber opened at the bottom of the box. A thin, gold plate, covered with symbols came out of it. The Keeper placed his hands on it. When his fingers had warmed the gold, the plate lit up and through the ancient letters, showed words Shonith La could understand.

"In order to strengthen the Chintamani, pronounce the magic words, written here four times and turn to face the east. The spells will bring a certain living being to you. When you see it, kill it, no matter what it is. And sprinkle the Stone with its blood. Afterward, pronounce "Chintamani," through fire and drizzle it with water. The power of the Stone will increase instantaneously."

The Keeper shivered when he remembered the murder. Because the law of protecting the lives of everything was very important in Lemuria.

The Keeper began the ritual with a heavy heart. He changed into a royal blue robe, embroidered with tiny mirrors, and took a small bag from the table. A thin sheet of silver, crushed into powder was sprinkled on the floor. Repeating his prayer to himself, the Keeper drew a circle around himself, then a large, equilateral triangle in the center. He lay a small, sharp knife with a silver handle at his feet, turned to the east and picked up the Chintamani.

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"Forgive me, o great Rigden-Djapo for using a magic ritual," exhaled Shonith La.  "But I don't have any other way.  I must save my people. The Great Prophecy of the death of Lemuria is becoming fulfilled. Today is the very day- the seventeenth day of the moon, the day of the Great Wave. Who could have known that the Great Flood of ancient manuscripts would be a flood of sorcerers! We prepared an ark in order to save ourselves from a flood, but that our sorrow would be coming from somewhere else entirely."

Shonith La raised up the Stone and read aloud:

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"La manu tavero dan, biset nero laroman... la manu tavero dan, biset nero laroman..."

The Stone began to glow brighter. Blue rays of light tore away from its center, blinding the Keeper. He continued reading the spell:

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"La manu tavero dan, biset nero laroman... la manu tavero dan, biset nero laroman..."

The Lemurians continued the evacuation. Almost all of them had set out for the ark, there were only a few dozen people left on the square- Council members, and royal servants. Among them, Prince Doro had hidden himself. Yala and Yuma were completely swallowed up in helping people, and didn't notice the little runaway. Also there was Greta, still waiting for her husband to appear.

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"Faster, faster," cried Yuma, hurrying along the people who were tarrying, "carry others on your own vimanas if they cannot take off!"

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"Look! Look!”  called out a child's voice.

Yuma turned around and saw Doro.

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"Doro! What are you doing here?!"  She cried, throwing up her hands.

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"The flügs have arrived!"  Cried Doro, glancing up at the sky.

Everyone turned to look at where the Prince was pointing. Over the far away bay, two black dots appeared.

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"Everyone on their vimanas!  It's beginning!"  Shouted Councilor Rasha. When they realized that the evacuation drill was a trick, the Lemurians began to panic.  People darted around the square. Some tried to fly, but many of the vimanas wouldn't take off.

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"You won't manage," called out a voice drowning out the cries. Your vimanas move too slowly. The flügs will catch you in midair," came the voice again, belonging to the Black Princess, who had been not too far away, watching the commotion with a smile on her lips.

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"She's right," said Yala. - "Everyone in the Palace! The walls of the palace will save us from the fiery balls.”

The people, in a panic, threw their things and vimanas down and ran towards the castle. Yuma, grabbing Doro by the arm, dragged him behind her. Guria ran behind. Yala came last, supporting the pregnant Greta. The terrifying hum of the machines in the sky grew stronger. The flying ships of the sorcerers came closer.

Shonith La read the spell. The Stone became even brighter. Suddenly, the Keeper stopped, feeling someone's gaze on his back. There came a hiss. He looked around to see that a huge cobra had crawled into the room. Shonith La froze. The cobra flared its hood and came closer to the circle on the floor. "The blood of the first, who comes into the Sanctuary..." passed through Shonith La's head.

Overpowered by fear, he bent down to take the small knife from the floor. And suddenly, a terrifying explosion shook the Sanctuary. Sparks lit up the room. Shonith La threw himself to the window and saw flügs bombing the City of the Sun. Just then the cobra bit the Keeper. He clutched at his leg. He knew he didn't have much time left, so Shonith La threw himself at the snake with his knife. Blood spurted. Shonith La hurried, growing paler with every second. He ripped off a piece of his robe and raised his legs higher than the bite. He grabbed the dead cobra and dripped its brown blood on the Stone. The Chintamani held its shade.

Huge flaming balls were burning everything around. The fairy-tale houses of the Lemurians went ablaze. The gardens caught fire. Everything became shrouded in smoke. There came a deafening explosion, the fiery shells ripped through the castle walls.  People fell, wounded by shards of stone. Others darted around the garden, trying to  rip off their burning clothes, screaming piercingly. A few people were trapped in a ring of burning earth and trees. The flames got closer, and the five Lemurians helplessly waited for death.  Yuma, Doro, Yala, Guria and Greta had hidden themselves not far from the garden pond, behind a hill covered with chis bushes.

A few yards away, a wounded Tina fell to the ground.

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"Tina! Tina!” Cried out Doro, throwing himself at the servant-girl. Yala managed to grab him by the leg and forcibly dragged  him back to the shelter.

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"Mama! Tina's there!"

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"I know, my boy," whispered Yala, pressing him to her chest, "but if we help her, the sorcerers will find us."

The Prince nuzzled his nose to her and sobbed.

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"We must leave," proclaimed Guria.  "Within a few minutes, the flügs will fly away. They'll run out of ammo and fuel. But I don't hear another cohort coming."

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"What does that mean?"  Asked Greta.

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"That means that Gorr is playing some kind of game. Perhaps the main army is going to the shore to bomb the ark. Or something has stopped the remaining cohorts from taking off.  Look, they're flying away," answered Guria.

The thin, trembling old man with bloodied hands, squeezing a dead cobra in no way resembled the powerful Keeper of the Relic. He squeezed out drops of blood, covered the Stone with them, carried it through the flames of a lamp and watched the viscous liquid boil and steam away. He did this again and again, cutting the snake with the silver-handled knife, repeating the ancient spell. Nothing happened. The Stone dimmed. The magic had no effect. The pale, dying old man had been unable to resurrect the Protector. Shonith La shouted at the ceiling in desperation:

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"Curse thee, Rigden Djapo! You are a God of sorcerers. You only help them!  You allow them to do anything they wish! You gave Lemuria only one magical spell, and it turns out that it's no more than some old children's limerick. It doesn't work! Doesn't work! Lemuria has died! The City of the Sun is no more! You have tricked us! Take your damned Chintamani!"  He threw the Stone away, and fell to the floor in helpless despair, sobbing. His tears fell on the Stone. And suddenly a miracle happened. The gray, lifeless metal began to shine. But instead of blue light, violet-pink rays blinded the poor old man. The flustered Shonith La sat in silence for several seconds, look at the light of the Stone and suddenly whispered: