“Scyleia!” This time, a woman, almost as tall as the queen herself, stood and entered the arena.
Both women grabbed a spear and faced each other.
“Show no mercy to yer fellow sister!” Melousa ordered to both women. “Kill!”
The woman moved against each other, but just as their weapons were about to clash, something strange happened.
The earth shook.
“Find the wielder!” yelled Melousa, her rage instantly intensifying. She recognized the power of earth wielders immediately, and if there was anything she hated more than capital city people, it was earth wielders. “Bring me their bloodied corpse so I be breaking every bone from their body myself.”
“No need to for such violence,” called a calm voice. The earth moved forward in waves, holding above it a man who looked to be made of Earth itself. He had deep brown skin that looked to be cracked in pieces. Every cut of his body was etched in a deep crimson. “I’m Kaidoz, General of the Suteckh Empire. I have a proposition for you, great queen.”
~~~
Kaidoz’s eyes met those of the wild queen that sat on a dreary piece of rock. Hundreds of skulls and bones surrounded her “throne.” Indeed, the stories he’d heard had been true. Melousa was the tallest woman he had ever seen. Like many of her kind, all of her skin was a deep purple. She wore a dark brown rag that covered her breast, and another old rag hung under her waistline. A long bone ran horizontally through her nose and circled on both sides, coming together above her thick lips. Her untamed, dark hair was long, reaching to her lower back. Another explosion of spiked hair spurt atop her head, pointing to the skies. Dozens of bracelets dangled on her arms and legs. A long necklace of bones fell from her neck.
“I be wanting no proposition from yer!” roared the Melousa. Spears in hand, her warriors took an offensive stance. “For yer insolence I be having yer killed.”
Kaidoz held his hand up. “I have information on your children!”
“Cidralic and Dokua!” She stomped her foot, her fangs bare as they spit out drool. “I could be caring less of those two. Cidralic left his own kin to be a lowly commander to those Suteckh. Can yer imagine the shame? A son of mine, serving capital city vermin!” She rolled her massive fist. “Dokua was no better. She left seeking revenge for a brother that be not worth it. And to be making everything worse, those two died in battle!”
Kaidoz nodded. He was well aware of the Orians’ beliefs. For them, dying in battle was a sign of weakness. A public mark of humiliation that branded one unworthy. It was the dream of every Orian warrior to die of old age. This was the only way of proving one’s superiority over one’s foes.
“Great Queen—”
“No more words. Yer be bringing me unpleasant news. Yer shall die a painful death at my hands!”
The queen stood. Despite his hint of apprehension, Kaidoz remained still. It was imperative that he remain calm. Besides, the queen was blessed with skin of the ancients. This meant that she could take a lot of attacks, even elemental ones, without going down. This might account for why she was over one hundred years old but showed no sign of her age.
“I thought you wanted revenge on Empress Latiha of Missea,” he said. As he’d expected, the queen stopped dead in her tracks. Her face registered a sense of confusion. Kaidoz could tell she was having an inner struggle. Part of her wished nothing more than to kill the earth wielder before her, but the other, more vengeful side, wanted to know what news he brought of her ancient rival.
“It not be mattering what I want with that squaw,” she said, her curiosity winning out. “The Golden Wielder put a protection shell over her. Even I be not strong enough to defy his earth power.” Her gaze turned to Kaidoz, and she stomped her foot, causing the skulls to rattle as they tumbled crashed into each other. “I be hating earth wielders! Yer die!”
“Truly you are grossly misinformed, great queen. The Golden Wielder, Aadi, is no more. It’s been years since he left this world. Whatever protection shell he cast went with him.”
Immediately, Kaidoz saw that he had gotten the reaction he had wanted. The queen’s lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“So yer be saying that the squaw no longer has the protection!” It was more of a statement than a question. “That be meaning that I will finally be getting my revenge on her for taking my sister all those years ago.” She turned to the women beside her and raised her arm. “Orian warriors, ready yerselves! We be going to war!”
Kaidoz smiled, glad at how easy it had been to manipulate the queen. Now all he needed was to exact the next phase of his plan.
Missea was to be his next stop.
Chapter 17
Hiromy, apparently oblivious to what the sign meant, bent down and caressed the lumpy insignia. “How beautiful.” Her voice was dreamy.
“Perhaps you should reconsider your trek through this pass, lassie.”
“No,” Aya answered without much thought. “We need to get to Missea as soon as possible and, like it or not, this is the fastest way there.”
“Then I shall pray for you, lassie.” The captain took Aya’s hand and gave her a gentle kiss. “I hope that you quickly rid yourselves of the woes that loom over you.”
“Thank you for everything.” Aya planted a kiss on Armeen’s cheek. “I hope to see you soon.” Then without looking back, she moved the slab of metal aside and jumped into the hole.
Hope to see you soon?
What did she mean by that? Had they agreed on something that he was unaware of?
“Are you four coming or what?” asked Aya from down below.
Falcon nodded a quick goodbye to the pirates and hopped into the hole. As he did, he noticed a face of dread across every single one of the men. Armeen, in particular, appeared exceptionally distraught. His eyebrows were drawn together, and his posture was stooped. It was as if he knew that the Rohads were entering their underground grave. He couldn’t say he wasn’t thinking the same thing. Onaga clansmen were terrible beings who tried to exert their dominance over Va’siel many years ago. Had it not been for the interference of the Golden Wielder, they probably would have succeeded in attaining their goal. It wasn’t only their ruthless behavior that made them dangerous. The Onaga’s were said to have different abilities. Some could absorb wielding attacks, others withstand them. Many other abilities remained lost to time. To this day, it remained a mystery as to how exactly the Golden Wielder had singlehandedly managed to defeat the entire court of Onaga royalty. It was hard to defeat one, but to take out all seven of them, especially when they all possessed such diverse abilities, was nearly inconceivable.
Sheridan landed beside him with a loud thump. He took a quick glance around and shrugged, unimpressed. “I still don’t see why this place has everyone so spooked. So it has the Onaga insignia. What of it? They were all defeated.”
“There lies the problem,” said Aya, her voice strained. “The history books don’t have too much information on what exactly happened with the Onagas. We know more about the scorch that plagued Va’siel than the Onagas. However, many of the books reference the fact the Golden Wielder did defeat them but
not
kill them.”
“What does that mean?” asked Faith. Her voice was as low as a mouse’s.
“The books suggest that the Golden Wielder locked them up somewhere in Va’siel. It might very well be that this is the hidden sanctuary. That would explain the sign at the entrance.”
“Phewww!” Sheridan said incredulously. Falcon could tell that he wasn’t believing anything that he was hearing. “Why would the Golden Wielder lock them up? Why not just kill them and be rid of them?”
Aya threw up her hands. “I don’t know, Sheridan. I don’t have all the answers. I’m simply saying what I know. Besides, this would also explain why this pass has been taken off most maps. Look around. It used to serve as some kind of merchant pass. But it looks like it hasn’t been used in a
long
time.”
Falcon quietly took in the scenery. The air was thick. Grimy stone walls that seemed to be feet thick flanked them from both sides. Torches blazed on the walls, providing an ominous red and orange glow. Normally, he would have wondered how a torch could have lasted a century without its fire extinguishing, but at the moment that was the least of his worries. Through the darkness, he managed to make out a number of broken down stalls leaning against the walls. When he closed his eyes, he could almost see the room buzzing with activity as vendors sold to passing customers. Now, however, old beat-down memories were all that remained of that time long past.
“Lithan.” said Faith. Instantly, a ball of light materialized before her. It bobbed up and down, its translucent white body moving with every step its caster took.
“I don’t get why some of you guys do that?” said Sheridan.
“Do what?” asked Faith.
“Announce the ability you’re casting. Seems like a sure-fire way to tell your enemy what you’re about to do.”
“It has some drawbacks,” said Faith, much more patiently than Falcon would have answered. “But announcing what one is about to do is a way to enhance one’s abilities.”
“Many martial artists like me yell before an attack to focus our power,” added Aya. “It’s the same as you. I’ve seen you yell before you lunge in for a sword attack. You do it because it’s a way to focus and drive your energy. Isn’t that the same as announcing to your enemy you’re going in for an attack?”
Sheridan shuffled in his feet. “”Well, I suppose so.”
“Why are we talking about this?” asked Hiromy.
Falcon nodded in agreement, and he couldn’t believe that it was Hiromy of all people who had to call them out on it. Here they were, in the middle of a possible Onaga sanctuary, and they were trying to explain basic attacks strategies to Sheridan that he, for all intents and purposes, should have been already aware of. It was first-year stuff, after all.
They moved in silence for a few minutes. The deeper they traversed, the darker and colder the narrow room became. Had it not been for Faith’s light, they would have been completely blind.
Falcon held up his hand. A snake-like wave of fire surrounded his arm. He waved it around, trying to spread the light and warmth his flames provided. He smiled inside as he noticed Aya getting a bit closer to him. He wasn’t sure whether it was just a coincidence or she was trying to be closer to the heat, but either way, he enjoyed it.
A moment later they arrived at an end. They now stood at the top of a set of descending stairs. Falcon followed the stone path with his eyes until the steps disappeared in pitch darkness.
Faith had the best source of light, so she led the way down. Falcon and Aya followed closely behind. Hiromy and Sheridan up back the rear. They had their hands wrapped in each other’s and walked so close together that Falcon was sure they were having no problem staying warm. Something that, despite his flames, he couldn’t say for himself.
The path down became extremely narrow. So narrow that Falcon’s elbows were constantly grinding against the hard walls. The stairs appeared to go down forever. They walked hour after hour, with no apparent end in sight. Once in a while they would sit to rest their aching legs, but every rest was only a few minutes long, and every stretch of walking was at least two hours.
Finally, when Falcon thought he was going to drop in exhaustion they came to the end.
“About time!” called out Sheridan.
“Wow,” Hiromy spun in place. She looked to be the only one that wasn’t tired. “It only gets more beautiful by the second!”
Falcon grimaced. Obviously he and Hiromy had vastly different opinions on what constituted beauty. The massive room had hundreds of thick stone pillars that stretched up until they disappeared in the distance. No doubt, somewhere, miles above them, there was a ceiling. The room had an air of abandonment hanging around it. Hundreds of skulls were spread across the floor. The room was so large, though, that even with the countless skulls, it was easy enough to walk across without stepping on one. Like the small entrance, this grand hall was also filled with long torches blazing on the walls and pillars.
“Beacoup-Lithan.” The ball of light that Faith had created before was now joined by four other ones, so that now five white lights were floating above her. She spread out her arms, and the lights stretched out farther away from her. This allowed them to have a much wider view of the area around them, which revealed more skulls, but no clear path in which to follow.
Faith looked at Falcon with concern. “Now what?”
Falcon tried to look confident, even though he had no real idea what he was doing. He couldn’t show that, though. Everyone looked up to him to lead them. It was his job to lead them through this with all of them intact.
“Let’s keep moving forward. I’m certain the way up will be up ahead.”
Everyone followed his word, and they moved. The place was so large that their footsteps would echo loudly across the room. At first, Falcon thought the repetitive ghostly footsteps annoying. Nonetheless, after a while the noises blended into his subconscious and became the norm.
A wave of apprehension washed over him as they passed yet another pillar. His stomach felt heavy.
Where am I leading them to?
At that exact moment, when he was about to suggest that perhaps they were lost, he felt a strange sensation spurt within him. It began on his head and spread down to his eyes. It was strange and warm, and suddenly, he saw a golden aura stretch before him. The aura spread in a single line. It moved forward and then folded around a pillar and disappeared around the corner.
“Do you guys see that?” he asked.
Aya stared at him and then ahead to where Falcon was looking. “See what?”
“The light. That glowing path there.” He pointed at it, as if willing them to see it.
His four companions looked at each other, confusion etched in their expression.
“Falcon,” Faith said. Her green eyes bore into his. “There is nothing there.”
“How can you not see it, Faith? It’s right the—”
He stopped speaking. It was obvious that he was the only one who was privy to the golden glow. Every fiber of his being told him to follow the light. It called on him, and something inside compelled him to obey.
He took off in a fast sprint. He could hear the footsteps of his companions close behind.
“Wait up!” yelled Aya.
“This air has driven Hyatt mad!”
“It’s nice to not be the one who everyone is screaming at,” said Hiromy in a sleepy, yet excited, voice.
He ignored their comments and continued to run as he followed the golden glow. The coldness of the room was now long forgotten, replaced by an eager hunger to discover who or what was calling to him. He reached an opening on the wall with an arched top. In his haste, he paid no mind to the fact that same Onaga insignia from before had been painted beside the entrance in black paint.
The long corridor that he followed afterward weaved and rose up and down in an uneven path. When it came to an end, Falcon stood in a long, rectangular room. Ahead of him were sets of stone steps that led up to a podium. On it were seven human-sized crystals standing against the wall. They looked strangely similar to the same crystals that he had seen back in K’vitch a few weeks prior. One of the crystals had been used as a self-imposed prison by Shal-Demetrius; the other ones had been used to suck the energy from the kidnapped children.
Is there someone in those too?
“Careful, Hyatt. I don’t like the feeling of this,” Sheridan said.
Falcon paid him no mind. The golden trail led him to this spot. He was meant to be here; he could feel it. But why?
Faith walked up to one of the crystals and put her hand on it. There were visible cracks on it.
“These look a lot like the one back in K’vitch,” she said, echoing Falcon’s own thoughts. Carefully, she swiped away the layers of dust that covered the crystal. She staggered back, seeing what appeared to be a person’s face inside it. He had some type of strange black hat that ran down its sides and covered his chin. Or was it a she? The thick crystal layers distorted the person’s features, making it difficult to tell the sex. Their skin was a deep green. They had a wide nose that seemed to cover most of its face. A thin, wicked smile was spread across their lips, almost as if they were glad when they were trapped.
There was a plaque above it that read Vaenadia the Defiler.
Aya wiped away the dust of the second coffin-like crystal. This one revealed a wrinkled dark face. Their skin was the darkest shade of black Falcon had ever seen. It almost looked as if they had been burnt by black fire, or as it was most commonly known, scorching death. The thought of that fire ability caused a heavy weight to befall on his chest. It had been that very same fire that had reportedly ended his brother’s life all those years ago. The plaque above this black figure was too scratched to be fully read. Falcon made out the letters Xe, but anything beyond that had become a dark blur.
“I don’t believe it,” said Aya. She wiped away the dust of yet another crystal. This one was much larger than the other ones, about five times the size. In it rested a stubby man with easily the largest belly Falcon had ever seen. Besides the beady black eyes and gargantuan stomach, it was difficult to see much. The plaque above it read: Hapaphon the Devourer.
“Pheeewwwww!” said Sheridan. “This guy puts the Emperor’s gut to shame.”
“Hey!” said Hiromy, sounding slightly offended. “That’s my dad you’re talking about.”
Sheridan put his hands up. “Sorry.”
For a while Falcon was afraid Hiromy was about to go on one of her crazed rants, but she just pouted and went back to investigating the crystals.
“Are they dead?” asked Faith.
“I don’t think so,” said Falcon. “They’re in a deep sleep.”
“How would you know that?” asked Aya. Her voice dripped with doubt.