The Destiny of Amalah (89 page)

Rakan and the others knew that it was now their time to begin; they looked at each other once and nodded. The six of them stood tall, all in black and covered with the black cloaks that Maddox had given to them. They wore their hoods down and the cloaks fastened around them at the neck. Rakan held the dagger that Adriel had given to him and he gripped it tightly and then made his way into the temple. He strode powerfully and meaningfully into the temple and made his way to the centre until he was standing inches away from the glowing pebbles that were laid on the ground.

Rakan looked at his friends and then at Salwar and then he extended his right arm out until his palm was over the rocks and then he took the dagger and put it against his left palm, he sliced open his palm and let the blood spill onto the glowing rocks and pebbles and as it flowed, the pebbles glowed even brighter for an instant as Rakan’s blood was drawn into it. Rakan put his left arm back by his side, still holding the dagger and he kept his right arm out.

Then it was the turn of Rufus, who strode to where Rakan was; he too took the dagger in his right hand and turned to face the pebbles. He outstretched his left arm until his palm was also over the glowing rocks and he too sliced his palm open with the same dagger. Rufus winced with pain and he watched with morbid curiosity as his blood spilt onto the glowing rocks and made them glow even brighter, just before his blood disappeared into the rocks where Rakan’s had gone. Rufus put his left hand by his side as Rakan had done before and then Waldon entered the temple; he did as Rakan and Rufus had done and then, he was followed by Kenaz who was followed Bryce and then Luxor.

Once the six men were in the temple, the red symbols that Adriel had daubed onto the outside of the monoliths began to slither and make different shapes to the ones that they had been drawn in. As they changed shape, Adriel began to chant; quietly at first but as he finished each monolith his voice grew louder and more powerful and as his voice grew, the symbols became alive; they snaked around the monolith and then began to seep out of the stone and turned into red masses.

The red masses stretched to the next stone and before long, they encircled the Henge. As the circle of red settled, it spun around and around creating a whirlwind and soon, after a few minutes; the outside of the temple was now engulfed in the powerful red whirlwind and no one – not even Adriel, could see what was going on inside. The six men were aware of Adriel and what was going on around them but they mostly ignored the whirlwind and focused on what they were doing.

The six men placed their left palms over the other so that they were touching. Rakan had the dagger now and he looked at each and every one of his friends before he drove the dagger through each and every palm until the dagger was pointing through the last one. They all grimaced in pain but they kept their hands still and steady and they watched as their blood spilled; it trickled down the diamond dagger, which was now also glowing and spilled onto the rocks and made them glow even brighter than they had before. Salwar began to chant again and the lightening rods continued to increase, as Salwar continued to chant softly, Rakan spoke over him:

‘I Rakan, servant of the mighty god Salwar; swear my allegiance to you and offer my blood to you. I Rakan become brethren to you: Rufus, Luxor, Waldon, Kenaz and Bryce and I share my blood with you. My blood is your blood and my life is your life.’

‘I Rufus, servant of the mighty god Salwar; swear my allegiance to you and offer my blood to you. I Rufus become brethren to you: Rakan, Waldon, Kenaz, Bryce and Luxor and I share my blood with you. My blood is your blood and my life is your life,’ Rufus said, solemnly.

Waldon, Kenaz, Bryce and Luxor followed Rakan and Rufus and when they were done, they remained in a circle, surrounding the rocks with their palms pinned together by the dagger. Salwar moved from where he had been standing and stood behind Rakan and Luxor and when he spoke they understood him.

‘Rakan, Rufus, Luxor, Waldon, Kenaz and Bryce; you are my princes’ of darkness,’ he said, as he placed his hand over theirs but a few feet above them. ‘My will shall be done and it shall be done through you and I will reward you all beyond that which this place on earth may offer. You are now Azari – power over death to you, princes’ of power and darkness. People will know of you and they will fear you and flee from you. You have offered your allegiances to me and given me your blood and now I take it,’ Salwar said.

He took the dagger from their palms quickly and they let their bloodied hands fall to the side as Salwar kept his hand above them and over the rocks. Salwar kept his hand still and the rocks began to rattle and as they shook, the glow that had been present, began to ascend towards Salwar’s hand and when it reached there it entered his palm and illuminated it. The glow continued to flow upwards in a steady stream towards Salwar.

When Salwar received the energy, it made his whole body illuminate and it seemed to empower him even more. When all of the energy from the rocks had been released and had entered Salwar’s body, he put his hand down and looked into the centre where the rocks were. They were no longer glowing anymore; now, they were a dull grey and some were cracked open and charred around the edges. Salwar looked at the six men and then up at the skies.

‘They have not come,’ he said to himself.

He was slightly surprised but it mattered not to him, Salwar was going to do whatever he wanted, until he got what he wanted and only the gods could stop him. The whirlwind around the temple began to dissipate and when it had completely disappeared, Rakan and the others looked out and saw Adriel staring back at them. Adriel held their gazes for a while and then he tuned away, slightly disinterested with them and that which was happening in the temple. The six men turned to look at Salwar and when he had eye contact he spoke.

‘Go now,’ he told them. ‘Adriel will take you back to the mountain top. Do not fail me,’ he warned them.

‘We shall not,’ Rakan promised his master.

The six men left Salwar in the temple and went to where Adriel was. They stood surrounding him, waiting to go back to Equer. Adriel closed his eyes and began to chant quietly; so quietly that the others could barely hear. As Adriel continued to chant the blue flame that had brought him to Equer and back surrounded him. He extended his arms and the blue flame surrounded Rakan and the others and then they began their journey back to Equer.

At first, there was silence as they travelled westwards to the mountain but Adriel soon broke it.

‘The cloaks you possess wield great power,’ Adriel said to them all.

‘Indeed they do,’ Rakan replied.

‘Does he who made them have power too?’

‘Yes,’ said Rufus.

‘Yes he does,’ Adriel said, agreeing with Rufus. ‘I think that he may even have more power than you,’ Adriel said, looking directly at Rakan.

‘Perhaps.’

‘You do not seem concerned by that,’ Adriel said.

‘I am not,’ said Rakan.

‘You should be. The one who made those cloaks, either possesses great power, or can wield it.’

‘He is an old man.’

‘A powerful old man all the same.’

‘He is of no threat to us.’

‘Yet!’

‘Adriel, you do not even know the man I talk of. He is an old man who lives on a mountain in a cave. He remains there most hours of every day.’

‘Even though he is a man who keeps much to himself, I am sure a man who knows such secrets and secret magic’s and makes incarnate things is very powerful; and is a man who could jeopardise whatever plans you intend to execute.’

‘I doubt that,’ Rufus said dryly.

‘Even if he is not threat, consider this, the cloaks you wear wield great power,’ Adriel began. ‘They give you a great advantage, but I wonder, will you have the same advantage if such cloaks fell in to the hands of the palace and the guard? I think not.’

‘What do you suggest we do?’ Rakan asked.

‘Kill him, it is the only thing you can do.’

‘I will not,’ Rakan said vehemently objecting.

‘You have to,’ Adriel said; ‘and Salwar agrees with me. It is so commanded.’

Rakan gave Adriel a murderous look. ‘He is an old man who lives in a cave, what could he possibly stop us from doing? The armies have left for Parades and Lansten and we will be leaving for Amalah shortly; he could not possible stop any of us.’

‘Salwar agrees with me, it is to be done Rakan and you are to be the one to do it,’ Adriel said, with a small self-satisfied smile.

‘No,’ Rakan said, with the same defiance.

‘No?’ Adriel said curiously.

‘No!’ Rakan replied.

‘You still dare to defy Salwar?’

‘There is no need to kill the old man.’

‘Need is irrelevant,’ Adriel said flatly. ‘What is relevant is that you will not do as Salwar has asked. I will tell you one more time Rakan and think very carefully before you answer – kill the old man.’

‘No,’ Rakan replied instantly.

‘I was hoping you would have come to your senses by now. You may not have to do my bidding but you have to do the bidding of the mighty Salwar. You say that you will accept no consequences of defying him, that in the end your will is your own, but it is not and you must understand that,’ Adriel told him. ‘
All of you
must understand that.’

Adriel stared at Rakan and Rakan stared back, but his train of thought was broken by a feeling of discomfort. Rakan shook his head and wondered where the feeling had come from – it was coming from everywhere within him and as he realised that, his discomfort grew and then, as suddenly and intensely as it could have been, the discomfort turned into pain – mind numbing, excruciating and nauseating pain. Rakan’s friends looked on with grave concern as Rakan fell to the floor groaning in agony and his body turned red and then a deep purple. Everywhere in his body was screaming in pain and there was nothing he or any of his friends could do to stop it.

‘What are you doing to him?’ Luxor spat.

‘I am doing nothing,’ Adriel said, smiling a cold smile as he looked down at Rakan. ‘This is Salwar’s doing.’

‘How?’ Rufus asked.

‘You gave him your blood and he holds it within him.’

‘So?’ said Waldon.

‘You offered it to him and he took it, that blood may not be in your body anymore but as your blood flows through Salwar, it remains connected to you. You see Rakan’s blood is quite literally boiling. His blood boils in Salwar, therefore it boils in him.’

‘Stop this,’ Bryce shouted.

‘It is not for me to stop, it is for Salwar to stop; when he is convinced that all of you – especially you Rakan; understand that as far as he is concerned – choice is not a word that you may use, or something that you have the luxury of.’

Rakan was now writhing in agony as his blood boiled throughout his body. His skin became dark red now and the whites of his eyes were covered with bulging blood vessels that were boiling and ready to burst.

‘You will kill him!’ shouted Luxor

‘No – Salwar will not kill Rakan this time, but I am sure Rakan wishes he would.’

Rakan could not move now, any movement he made was an involuntary one. He was aware of Adriel’s voice talking at him and he was aware of his friends but above all, he was aware of the pain that he was in. To him the pain was indescribable; he had never known pain like it in his life and it grew worse, as each long second passed.

Rakan knew his blood was boiling, he could feel it bubble inside of him; he did not need Adriel to tell him what was going on inside of his body. He felt the agonising pain and he wished for death every single second but death would not come to him and he knew it.

“I am truly bound to Salwar,” he thought to himself.

The pain continued for a short time after, although to Rakan it seemed like an eternity. Although his blood had eventually stopped boiling, Rakan still needed time to recover and so he lay on the floor, his arms now still and by his side. He took a few deep breaths in and tried to focus, it hurt him to look anywhere, which made him constantly close his eyes. His friends, who had been by his side, gave him enough space to gather himself together.

After a while, he turned on his side to rise to his feet and Luxor and Rufus helped him up. Rakan faced Adriel and saw that the old man was clearly enjoying himself. Adriel was smiling at Rakan and his blue eyes glinted and shone brilliantly.

‘I taught you much when you were at Lansten – you and Rufus, and I also taught you when you went back to Amalah, but this is the most important lesson you had to learn and I truly hope for your own sake – that you did. So tell me Rakan – will you kill the old man?’

Rakan looked at Adriel and remained silent, he simply stared at him. Rakan was thinking; he could not go through the pain that he had just suffered but he did not want to kill the old man and more than anything –he did not want to be bound to Adriel, or Salwar, if this was the power they had over him. Rakan could not think of a way out and so he continued to stare at Adriel with his own cold hard stare, until Adriel challenged him once again.

‘Well?’

Once again, Rakan did not answer; he continued to stare back at Adriel. Thoughts rushed through his mind and none presented the answer. Rakan knew he was stuck for now but be vowed to one day find a way to free himself from Salwar’s power and he vowed that one day, he would get even with Adriel for deliberately putting him in this situation. Adriel was about to ask Rakan for the last time when Rakan spoke.