Destiny (40 page)

Komir turned to her for a moment, then protested in a low voice:

“And you took it? Why didn’t you leave it where it was? Don’t you realize the book belongs to Haradin? What do you think the Great Mage will think when he discovers it’s missing?”

“It won’t matter anymore,” Kayti said with a wave of her hand. “We’ll have put an end to the evil locked up in this chamber. And don’t forget, those two Ilenian volumes are evil Objects of Power. They shouldn’t be in the hands of a Mage, but stowed away safely and guarded by the Custodian Brotherhood.”

“You and your damned Brotherhood. You have no right to take away those Ilenian grimoires. You’re blinded by your beliefs, and you don’t even know whether they’re true or not. Why do you believe the cataclysm will occur? Why now? Why do you believe you’re the one chosen to stop it? They’re no more than beliefs without any basis or logic. You’re blindly following a prophet without any proof.”

“I disagree,” Kayti said sharply, and tension once again grew in the hall.

Sonea cleared her throat.

“There’s something more, Komir… don’t think I didn’t have those same doubts too… but something happened which made me lean towards” —she blushed— “borrowing it.”

Komir looked at her reproachfully. This was not like the Librarian.

“Let me explain. It’s a fact, not a believe, which also answers one of your questions, why now? You see, Komir… when I had those two powerful grimoires with me, something odd and very significant happened. All I’d done was lay them on a table, one beside the other, I didn’t even open them, precisely because I was afraid of unleashing some spell I could not control. I must say that seeing them in front of me I could feel their power, a tremendous power I didn’t want to try for fear my soul would be lost in it. But in spite of my refusal, the Book of the Moon and the Book of the Sun flashed simultaneously several times, and in answer my Medallion of Air shone intensely. A small golden sphere appeared hovering over the two volumes, then began to spin very fast and flash in all directions. It was as if the books had created a radiant sun which was gaining power with every spin and every flash. I wanted to run, to get out of the room. I realized that the grimoires were casting a powerful spell and for a moment I feared the sphere would explode and consume me. And in that moment of panic, the golden sphere gave out a great pulse and I fell into a trance. My mind emptied completely and turned black as night, then I felt the summons. An urgent feeling filled me, something which told me I had to go somewhere immediately. I felt it was a matter of life or death, it couldn’t be postponed. I just had to answer the summons. The call was urgent, and I felt it in every pore of my skin, with a discomfort that was growing all the time. I had to go, had to start, nothing else mattered, there was nothing else in the world for me.”

“Go where?” Lindaro asked.

Komir pointed to the sealed entrance. “Here, to this chamber, to that door over there.”

Sonea’s eyes grew wide with amazement.

“That means you were summoned too! It wasn’t only me!”

Komir nodded slowly.

“That’s why I took the book, Komir,” Sonea went on, “because of the summons. I thought I was the only one who’d been called here, and so I came. I brought both books with me as they’re the key. Or perhaps they’ve used me to get to this place. Whichever way, I’m convinced we need to find out what’s hidden in that chamber, more so now that I know we’ve both been summoned. We’re in front of the chamber which holds the Enigma of the Ilenians. We’ve been called, and we can’t stop now. It’s our duty to find out what mystery is hidden in there, not only for ourselves, but for the good of all men.”

Komir shook his head, unconvinced.

“Certain mysteries are better left alone… whether we’ve been summoned by arcane means or not.”

But Sonea did not give up.

“Don’t you understand, Komir? We’ve come here for a reason… a specific motive. It can’t be just coincidence that we found the medallions, that we discovered the portals… that we were summoned here today. Think about it, there are too many coincidences there. As my dear master Barnacus used to say:
In the natural world, coincidences don’t exist, there’s always a reason for them. Find the reason and the coincidence will cease to be one.
We’re here for a reason, Komir, and I believe we should find out what it is.”

“Even if what Kayti’s Brotherhood believes is true?”

Hartz turned to Komir for a moment, then lowered his gaze.

Sonea pondered her answer.

“Whatever is waiting inside that chamber is something we don’t know, that’s true. It might be a great danger… well, yes. It might even be as Kayti believes, even though I hope her beliefs, given man’s natural tendency to fear the unknown, have exaggerated the true danger. It’s something that happens in many cultures. The gods of evil, their malign power, are exaggerated to scare mere mortals” —Kayti gave her a disapproving look — “but as a scholar I can’t let this opportunity pass. In there is the key to the disappearance of the Ilenians, and I’ve been summoned to this chamber. We must solve the enigma.”

Komir folded his arms in disapproval. “Really, I don’t know which is more dangerous, Kayti’s religious fanaticism or your academic kind, Sonea…”

“I’m no fanatic,” Kayti spat out.

Hartz stepped in at this point. “Let’s not argue,” he said.

Lindaro, who had been studying the Book of the Sun all this time, raised his eyebrows.

“Very interesting… From what I can gather, the Book of the Sun explains the existence of these chambers and underground temples the Ilenians built, and the portals which link them. I don’t understand much —I’d need longer to study it in detail— but I’m sure that the first part of the grimoire deals with the temples and portals. Sonea, please help me decipher this long passage. If I’m not mistaken, it makes a reference to the Everlasting Chamber.”

“Yes, of course,” said the Librarian, and came to join Lindaro.

Komir meanwhile went over to the sealed door. His unease was growing by the moment. Part of what Kayti had revealed he had already guessed himself, but he was not going to admit it. In any case, he was sure it was a bad idea to open that chamber. Still, and although it bothered him deeply, Kayti was right: they should bring that evil to an end for the good of everyone.

Those doubts troubled him more and more. He had already fulfilled his destiny, had confronted the Dark Lady and defeated her. The Black Army had been destroyed. He did not want to be involved again in anything else of the kind. Sonea was right: there was a reason why the medallions had been found, and that reason had been the destruction of the Dark Lady and her Black Army. That was the reason, not any other. And Komir wanted it to stay that way. But in that case, why did he feel that unease in his stomach? Why had he been summoned there with Sonea?

Lindaro ran his index finger along a page of the volume. “Really intriguing,” he said. “I’ll see if I can translate… The symbols are:
Chamber… Everlasting… Eternal… Sleep…
yes, that should be right.
In the Everlasting Chamber… they sleep… the Eternal sleep…
Then there’s a section I can’t seem to understand. Further down it goes on:
Wait… Await…
What’s this symbol, Sonea?”

The Librarian thought for a moment.

“
Wake…
or
Rise…
I think
…”

Lindaro smiled.

“It makes sense.
Awaiting the awakening… Being awakened…
By whom, Sonea?”

She scratched her chin thoughtfully.

“
Sons… or Descendants…”

“Yes, yes! That’s it!” Lindaro said excitedly. “
By the sons or descendants… the Chosen.
We’re translating it! And it goes on:
They sleep… poison… magic…
How interesting!
They sleep the poison of magic.
And then:
Not… Die…
Fascinating! But I don’t see any more references here… although there are several bits I can’t decipher… the symbols are too complex. I’m sorry.”

“Perhaps it’s in the Book of the Moon!” Sonea said. She started to look through the silver pages.

Komir tried to summarize what Lindaro and Sonea had translated.

“
In the Everlasting Chamber they sleep the eternal sleep. Waiting to be awakened by the descendants, the Chosen. They sleep the poison of magic in order not to die.”

“Ilenian magic!” Hartz protested angrily. “There’s got to be something wrong here. I’ve got a feeling about it!”

“I don’t like it either, Hartz… not one bit,” Komir said.

Hartz nodded at him, then turned to look at Kayti, who was trying to open the door. She was determined to go inside, come what might. Komir could see it in her eyes; her faith had blinded her. Amtoko had warned him against those people who in pursuit of faith or mystical beliefs turned into fanatics and forgot reason. He had to be careful with her.

Komir’s heart skipped a beat when a voice said behind him: “It seems we got here at just the right moment.”

They spun round towards the entrance and saw Aliana, followed by Asti and Iruki. Lasgol came last, bow in hand.

“What are you all doing here?” Komir protested.

Aliana pointed at the Earth Medallion around her neck. “We’ve been summoned,” she said. “Or did you really think you were the only one?”

“Oh that’s great,” Komir muttered. “I didn’t want anyone else in danger, but I see it’s not to be… Have all three of you been summoned?”

Iruki, Asti and Aliana nodded, confirming his fears.

“This can’t mean anything good.” He shook his head. “You shouldn’t have come.”

Aliana went to his side.

“Nor should you.”

Komir shot a distrustful glance at Kayti, which she ignored. “I had my reasons,” he said.

Aliana turned all the sweetness of her gaze on him. “And we had ours.”

For a single moment all Komir’s woes vanished as he lost himself in that sea of quiet.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” came Sonea’s triumphant cry, bringing Komir back to reality. “Here it is! I found it!”

They turned expectantly to the little Librarian.

Excitedly, she explained: “If I’ve interpreted the hieroglyph correctly… to enter the Everlasting Chamber, you need the Book of the Sun and the Book of the Moon. There’s another section I can’t understand, then this symbol. I think it’s the
key
but I can’t manage to decipher it. What do you think, Lindaro?”

Lindaro frowned over it in concentration for a moment. At last he said:

“
Dark…
I think it means
Dark…
and beside it is the symbol which represents
Pendant
or
Medallion.
The rest I can’t make out.”

“Hmm… so the key is some kind of dark medallion,” Sonea said.

They looked at their medallions unthinkingly, even though they knew none of those was dark: all except Komir, who already knew which medallion was being referred. And at that moment he knew with absolute certainty that his life was unavoidably linked to the Ilenians, to that chamber and to whatever was hidden behind the sealed door, since the medallion mentioned in the Ilenian book was none other than his Dark Medallion, the one which had led Haradin to find him when he was a baby, the medallion his mother had kept hidden. He gave a harsh sigh of resignation, accepting what he had no wish to acknowledge. Slowly he brought out the medallion, holding it by its chain, and showed it to the group as it swung in the air.

Sonea gave him a spirited round of applause.

Kayti looked at the jewel out of the corner of her eye, but her face could not hide her eagerness.

“Then there’s just one thing left to decide,” Aliana said. “Do we open the Everlasting Chamber? Do we probe into the secret of the Ilenians? Or do we go away without disturbing whatever’s hidden inside it?”

“You already know my opinion,” said Sonea. “We’ve been summoned here today for a reason: what I’d dare to call a very important one. We must find out what it is. We must understand why our medallions and these two Ilenian grimoires have brought us here today. We can’t leave now, when we’re so close to finding out the Enigma of the Ilenians.”

Lindaro nodded in agreement.

Aliana looked at Asti and Iruki.

“Let’s get this over,” said Iruki with fire in her eyes. “I want to go back to my steppes and see my people. Let’s go in.”

“I go in, want know why I here.” Asti said.

Aliana turned to Komir.

“I understand your concern, Komir. I know you don’t want anything to happen to us. But this calling was strong and real. Something incredibly important is happening. I think we all want to know why we’ve been summoned. If we turn back now, when we’re so near the end, we’ll always wonder what it might have been. And also I believe we ought to assess whether there’s any risk of something really bad happening. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I could prevent some great evil and held back out of fear, giving up right at its door. I agree, I think it’s best if we go in and unveil this mystery. I’d rather run the risk and see where it takes us, and if it’s something evil, face it and fight, the way we’ve done up till now. Yes, we ought to go in. And if we have to fight I’ll be the first to do it, fearlessly.”