The Destiny of Amalah (7 page)

Thaddeus and Raynor had spent their time travelling from village to village, seeking out those with magical ability, who were either loyal to Kai or keen to see the end of Adriel. They spent their time, teaching and counselling those with ability and sending them to Amalah or Mantor, or wherever Kai needed them to be.

It took six years in all to vanquish the Amalayan Order. In the final days, the Alliance of Nations took back: Santeb; Lansten and Aradene. They then marched onto Amalah and right into Amalah City. Titus and Sarid were killed in battle but Probus, not wanting to face the inevitable mob that he knew would tear him limb from limb; fled in disguise.

The day finally came when the seven: Kai, Häkan, Garrick, Elana, Thaddeus, Raynor and Michael took the city and marched into the palace where Adriel had lived and ruled and to their surprise, he stood alone on the dais of the great hall, where he had massacred the summit leaders six years ago.

The seven approached him slowly, their swords drawn but Adriel simply stared at them, his face full of hostility and contempt.

‘Surrender Adriel,’ Kai said simply. ‘You have nowhere to go and your Order is defeated.’

Adriel threw an energy ball at Kai’s direction but Thaddeus and Raynor deflected it, sending it back to Adriel, who threw it away as though it were a fly to be swatted.

‘It will take much more than my own magic to defeat me,’ he snarled.

‘It’s over,’ Kai repeated. ‘Whether it ends in your death is up to you.’

Adriel smiled but it somehow made his features look ugly and twisted. ‘Do you lowly beings think that
I
am going to surrender to you?’

‘You have nowhere to go,’ said Häkan. ‘When – not if, we seize you, you may be spared. So if you value your hideous excuse of a life, surrender now Adriel.’

‘Why?’ Adriel snapped.

‘To face justice Adriel,’ said Michael. ‘It has been a long time coming.’

‘And who might you be?’ Adriel asked.

‘Michael, son of Galen. The man you murdered at the summit, along with my brothers and mother who you also had murdered.’

‘So why did I spare you?’

‘You did not – I escaped.’

‘Thank goodness,’ Adriel said as he breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I thought I may have shown some of that awful weakness that most humans posses, by being merciful.’

Michael was caught of guard by Adriel’s response and it was clear that Adriel’s words wounded him, he shook his head with sadness as he looked on the man who had wiped out his family. He had hoped he would see some remorse for those actions, but there was only glee and cruelty.

‘I know not what you are Adriel,’ Michael began; ‘but I struggle to believe that you are human.’

‘Yet you know it to be true,’ said Adriel. ‘I am human, I am just devoid of weakness.’

‘Do you care nothing for what you have done?’ Garrick asked.

‘No,’ Adriel snapped.

‘Then why?’ Elana asked. ‘Why the Order? Why did you cast us into war and bring about all this pain, suffering and death?’

‘Because I could.’

‘Seize him,’ said Kai, shaking his head in disgust at Adriel. ‘We have heard enough.’

‘As have I,’ said Adriel. ‘Did you really think that I would remain here in this place, waiting to be captured? Or do you think I would have contemplated my escape?’

Häkan was the first to react and he threw his dagger at Adriel but he was too late and Adriel simply smiled before he disappeared before their very eyes, leaving the dagger to carry on travelling until it became embedded into a wall.

‘What happened?’ asked Kai. ‘I heard no incantation or saw no potion.’

‘Adriel is in a league of his own,’ Raynor said bitterly.

‘So he escapes justice after all,’ Michael said quietly.

‘We will send the army out to search for Adriel,’ said Kai. ‘We will scour the nine nations. Adriel will not remain free for long, I promise you. We will not stop until he is caught and brought back here.’

‘And for now?’ Thaddeus asked.

‘The war is over,’ said Garrick.

‘What do we do with this place,’ Raynor asked, meaning the palace.

‘Burn it to the ground,’ said Michael.

‘So be it,’ said Kai.

Chapter 5

The seven stood silently, each lost in their own thoughts, all staring at the space where Adriel had been standing only moments ago before he had disappeared. Six years had passed since they had met on that fateful night in Amalah. Adriel had brought them all together but he had also torn so much of their lives apart.

Michael was the youngest of them all. He had begun as a child but now he was a young man of fifteen. Kai was the eldest of the group at thirty-one and then Elana and Häkan both were thirty years old. The others were in their twenties. They were all young but the war had given them a presence and wisdom beyond their years.

‘What now?’ Raynor asked as he surveyed the palace.

‘Now we rebuild,’ Kai answered. ‘Our lives and our world.’

Garrick nodded in agreement, as did they all.

‘Too rebuilding,’ said Häkan.

And rebuild they did. Adriel’s palace was razed to the ground and turned into a lavish garden. Memorials were held for the fallen, as were ceremonies for those who had fought.

The seven all settled in Amalah City and they began the rebuilding of the towns and villages; re-housing the civilians and building garrisons for the soldiers. With the end of the war, some members of the Order were tried and imprisoned but most escaped and led new lives in differing nations.

With most of the leadership of the nations dead, new governance emerged from Amalah City. Kai was seen as the overall leader of the army and the people. It was he, who the people of the nine nations had looked to lead them in the fight against Adriel’s and his Order. It was Kai who had led them and it was he, above all, that they trusted. The reluctant hero was chosen to be the Emperor of the nine nations and it was he who became a world leader.

Amalah City was once again the centre of the world. This time, from the heart of Amalah came benevolence. The World Council was established, which consisted of two representatives from each nation with Kai as the overall leader. Those with magical ability; were represented by Thaddeus and Raynor, who were both given seats on the council. The seers of the world were also represented and two members of each nation were elected to sit on the council and represent their needs and interests.

Kai turned the army into the Emperor’s Guard and Häkan and Garrick were appointed joint Guard Commanders and they too sat on the World Council. Michael had grown into an acutely intelligent young man and Elana and Kai were proud to see that he had become a gentle soul, whose honesty and loyalty was absolute. Michael became aide, and then chief advisor to Kai.

During the war Garrick and Häkan had met and married women. They had both been separated from their women during the war and they were glad to be finally reunited. Thaddeus and Raynor met women and married within a short time and they too settled into family life.

Within the first year of the war ending, Elana gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who she and Kai named Amara. The young couple were ecstatically happy and celebrated with their friends and the nation of Amalah, who in turn celebrated with them. Not long after the birth of the princess; Garrick and his wife Sarah gave birth to a son and called him Rakan and once again the seven friends, their families and the people of the City came together to celebrate the birth of the new child.

Kai and Elana with the help of their friends, the council and the people, restored the nations and brought the world back to peace, prosperity, safety and security and as a sign of their gratitude, the people of the nations built the palace in Amalah City for Kai and Elana. The young couple, their child and Michael lived happily in the place they now called home. Garrick, Häkan and the royal advisors and council members, lived in grace and favour homes on the outskirts of the palace.

The people had built a magnificent palace for the Emperor comprising a main rectangular body of four walls. Each corner was joined by a circular tower with conical spires, except for the northwest corner which held the Keep. The main building housed thirty luxury bedrooms, kitchens, lounges, meeting room, a chapel and stables. The inner castle was united to the main castle by three long rectangular walls and was surrounded by the main grounds and it held a large and lavish great hall for dining, banqueting and exquisite parties. There were luscious and luxurious furnishings and fitting; as well as a fine collection of paintings and art.

The entrance faced south and the main reception hall had black and white tiled floors that also ran west to east of the corridors. The west wing was home to the emperor’s study, his advisors office and offices for the council: and the east wing was home to Garrick and Häkan, who were joint Commanders of the emperor’s guard, and the Crest Room where the council held their meetings.

Life in the world went on as usual and three years later, Kai and Elana had another baby girl and called her Ellora. Months after, Garrick and Sarah had another boy and named him Kalon, but Sarah was much weakened by the birth of her son and died shortly afterwards, leaving Garrick a grief stricken widower with two young boys to care for.

Kai, Elana and their friends remained with Garrick through his bleakest hours and it was a full year before he was able to pick up the pieces of his life and carry on. To Garrick; Rakan and Kalon were all that was left of Sarah and he loved them with all of his heart and for them and for her, he returned to life and began to live it to the full once again.

Family life returned to normal but Michael – he had not married yet; he had met women who were more than willing to share their lives with him, but Michael could not give any of them his heart and even though he had not yet settled down, he was happy and content with the way things were – as were they all.

No one had seen Adriel since he had disappeared that day in the old palace. The Emperor’s Guard had searched the nine nations but to no avail. At first, they thought he was hiding but as time passed, Adriel was assumed dead.

‘Do you ever wonder what became of Adriel and the men in his Order?’ Kai asked his friends one day as they sat drinking mead in the Guard Commanders’ room.

‘Everyday,’ said Michael.

‘Sometimes,’ said Garrick.

‘I hope he is dead,’ Häkan said flatly. ‘Given that we have hunted high and low for him, I am optimistic that was the outcome.’

‘And his Order,’ Kai asked.

‘Dead, scattered, imprisoned,’ said Garrick.

‘What troubles you Kai?’ Michael asked.

‘Adriel’s return,’ said Kai. ‘His return, or the return of his Order.’

‘But we are at peace now,’ said Raynor; ‘and your Guard outnumbers any Order that could ever be created.’

‘And I want that peace to last,’ said Kai; ‘for my children, for our children…sometimes I think that…’

‘It will last,’ Garrick said confidently. ‘Those dark days are behind us my friend. The world over, no one wants to return to what we endured.’

‘I surely hope so Garrick,’ Kai said, his voice betraying a tone of melancholy.

‘What do you have in mind?’ Michael asked.

‘I don’t know! A gathering or a celebration of some kind. Bring the people of the nations together once a year; here in the City,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘It sounds silly I know but lately, I have been thinking of the future.’

‘It sounds like a marvellous idea,’ said Häkan, nodding slowly and then smiling at the idea.

Soon after, Kai, Michael and the others created the Celebrations. In his time, there were barely two million people in the world and he sent emissaries to all of the nations to spread the word of his celebrations. It was an invitation for all of the nations and all of the people, to come together in Amalah so that they could celebrate, dance and eat and drink to the peace that they had created.

In the first year, hundreds of people from all of the nations came, some brought food and others brought drink, while others came and danced and sung and entertained and all got to know something about their fellow nations and the people who lived in them. Each year the celebrations grew bigger, the hundreds turned into thousands and then the thousands into hundreds of thousands and then into a million and more and the world came together in Amalah every year.

Each year the celebrations were held in the city of Amalah, they began in the castle and spread throughout the city: oh how I loved them, they really were the good old days and back then I truly enjoyed living among you. No matter where or when I was, I always made it to the celebrations; they were spectacular and a truly festive event. Kai had built Utopia, or something very close to it – that is how it was back then under Kai’s reign all of those years ago, I still marvel at that man, I marvel at many humans!

When Kai’s daughter Amara came to reign, the celebrations lasted a whole week, they started in the palace and extended throughout the city, there was plenty of food and drink from all of the nations, there were magnificent fireworks, shows, plays, martial arts a showing of the guard and their physical skill and prowess; there were displays of swordsmanship, magic, fortune telling, singing and dancing and art. Every nation contributed something to the celebrations and it truly was a spectacular event.