“It simply means that we are able to incubate a part of our being into another living creature, causing their emotions to be aligned with ours,” Mordred added.
“Will you not grow weaker if a part of you is inside another being?” I asked.
“No,” Corbin responded as he paced around the room. “We are duplicating ourselves into them. They will have similarities to those who give them their new mind, but we choose which senses or powers to give them.”
There was silence in the room.
“Is there living proof of this curse?” My hands clasped together as they both rested upon the table.
“The Fallen Stars have brought one, my lady,” Ahmos said from across the table. “It is here in Justicia.”
“Where is it?” My curiosity ignited.
Mordred gave one last glance at Athalas; he stood to his feet and headed out of the room.
“When Athalas returns you will see for yourself,” Ahmos answered with a grin. Shortly after he had finished speaking, I heard a hiss coming from the hallway. Athalas walked in with a serpent wrapped around his neck; its head dangled on his right shoulder. The snake lay still, its eyes looking down. The snake’s dark scaly body had scratch marks stamped around it, probable signs of resistance against its capture. Under its head was a design pattern that traveled throughout the entire torso.
“I thought you brought one of the Lessers, not a simple snake…” I mumbled.
“Be patient, Nephele,” Corbin replied as he laid the snake on the floor. He closed his eyes and stood next to the snake, motionless. I saw the snake slithering, its eyes wide open. The animal lifted its body from the floor and shot a dark stare at Corbin.
Corbin mumbled words that I could not make out; his face displayed a great deal of agony. The snake’s mouth moved, lisping unintelligible words.
I shot a surprised look at Corbin.
“Watch closely,” Mordred whispered into my ear as we both watched the scene unfold before us.
“Can the curse be performed on humans?” I asked pensively. My mind was already drifting away, pondering about other ways this curse could be used.
Limbs grew forth from the snake’s body. The round-shaped head of the creature expanded into a human-shaped skull. Before long, it stood in front of us in its full stature. The body looked human except for the small faded scales that were still attached. The face had yellow eyes, a nose and an abnormally long mouth. Ahmos ran and covered the Lesser’s nakedness with a ripped curtain that was lying in the corner of the room.
“Can it speak?” I asked, amazed at the sight I beheld. I looked at the creature standing in front of me and saw possibilities for the usage of this curse.
“A Lesser is controlled in portion by the mind of those that give them a part of themselves,” Corbin said as he paced around the creature. “A part of my mind is inside him. I can control it from wherever I am.”
“Well, please let us see your power at work,” I said.
Corbin glanced at the Lesser quickly and it turned toward me.
“I will give it the ability to speak,” Corbin said excitedly.
“I serve you…no fear.” The hoarse voice that came from the creature was petrifying.
“What about its speech? Can it use words coherently?” I asked.
“Their brains are partially like a snake’s, therefore they are unable to develop full sentences.”
The Councilmen approached and bowed their heads in reverence to what they saw. Ahmos was on his knees with his eyes fixed on the creature.
“The Lessers will help us take over Elysium and hunt down the book-bearers. We must figure out a way to use the Dark Exchange to enter their minds and force them to open the books and read their pages,” Ahmos stated joyfully. His ashen eyes widened expressively.
“How come we were not informed of this curse before?” I asked Corbin. “This would have made our jobs easier. We had Isaac and Petra in our possession. We could have entered their minds and forced them—”
“The curse was just now perfected.” I was cut off. “We did not want to risk using this curse on the book-bearers,” Corbin replied as he paced around the Lesser.
“We do not yet know the extent of the hidden powers of those books. One is to wonder, what else they are capable of other than accessing the Prison?” I questioned.
No one spoke.
“Councilmen, you are all dismissed. Go now and rest,” Corbin instructed as he turned to Mordred. “Mordred, see that they all go to their rooms quietly.”
“Come, we must be off,” Mordred ordered with a grin on his face as he clapped his hands. “Your master, Mordred, will make sure you are all tucked in for the night,” he said in a snide tone.
I noticed the Lesser exiting out of the room with soft, slow movements.
“Where is it going?” I asked Corbin.
“To the garden, right behind the castle. I have ordered it to sleep there,” he replied as he approached me.
As the Councilmen marched out of the dining hall, I sauntered over toward what was left of the balcony from the attack. The balcony faced the garden that was right behind the castle. Even in the darkness, I could see glimpses of red-colored flowers and statues scattered around the landscape. I could faintly hear the flowing waterfall located near the riverbank.
“Is everything well with you, my lady?” Corbin asked as he walked up behind me.
I took in a deep breath of air and the faint smell of roses that lingered.
“So many possibilities…. My mind is trying to decide which direction we should go with this that would most benefit us.”
Corbin grunted. “That direction has already been taken care of.”
I turned to face him. “By whom?” I asked sharply.
“Me, of course. There is a greater plan that is yet to unfold.”
I was silent, waiting for him to elaborate. “You see, beyond this garden, there is an invisible wall that protects this part of Justicia from interfering with Tristar, where all the Stars and the Creator reside. This wall was built by the Stars after the fall of Lucifer. Since Justicia is the only part of Tristar that is accessible through Elysium, the Creator wanted to make sure the Councilmen would stay here in the castle. We have been thoroughly studying its defenses and…” There was an uncomfortable pause.
“And what, Corbin?”
“The day the Dark One ascends to power, we will attack Tristar through its invisible defense wall. By then, Elysium will be taken by the Darkness and our army will be numerous. We will overtake Tristar and dethrone the Creator.”
My eyes looked out at the never-ending darkness that stretched beyond the garden as my hands clasped together. “They will be ready for us. The Stars will know. The Creator knew of the day the Dark One betrayed him. His all-seeing eyes are always open,” I affirmed.
“He will never expect an attack from inside of his kingdom. All those that have approached the wall thus far have perished, but we have an advantage that he is unaware of. There is one inside Tristar that has sided with us.”
“Do not be a fool. How can he side with us without the Creator knowing? He knew about those that had taken Lucifer’s side. He knows of the one that will betray him…”
“Not this time,” he said, enraged. “We have covered our tracks well. I cannot divulge the secret of how we kept our source hidden, but know this—we will destroy the Creator.” A soft grin stretched upon his face.
“Once they hear of the destruction that has come upon Aloisio and the other kingdoms and villages, they will wonder who was responsible for such doing. When they discover that we were the ones that brought such destruction, they will give in to their fears and will surrender to us,” I affirmed.
“Nephele, they will fall. We have powers that no one can stop. We will gather the five books and we will defeat the Creator.” He placed one of his hands on my shoulder reassuringly. “His body is beyond the invisible wall. The Dark One sleeps in the Wastelands of Tristar,” Corbin said.
I saw the Lesser taking a stroll in the garden. It roamed around, stopping to admire all that surrounded it. The creature crawled onto the dirt and curled up into a ball, falling sleep.
“Not a very comfortable way for one to rest, do you agree, Corbin?”
“Not to us, but he doesn’t mind sleeping out,” Corbin said, staring at the Lesser. “I best be off,” he declared, walking back inside the dining hall.
Thoughts rushed through my mind faster than I could bear. I needed to know more about the powers of the creature that slept in the garden. I looked up into the moonless sky; stars were hidden behind the gray clouds that hovered above me.
Endless…endless possibilities,
I kept on thinking.
“I see that you are still awake.” I glanced over my shoulder and caught sight of Adawnas walking in my direction.
“And I see you are not yet in bed.” My face turned away from her.
“I apologize for my absence during tonight’s meeting. I heard it was most eventful.” She walked over to where I was standing.
“Where were you during the meeting?” I questioned.
“I had some errands to run,” she responded coldly. I ignored her insolent response completely. My mind was occupied, thinking about the Lesser.
“Do you know about them?” My heart beat faster at the mention or even the thought of these creatures.
“The Lessers?” she asked as she looked up into the sky. “Indeed I do. I have not yet seen one though.”
“They could change our fortune in this war. Imagine the Lessers and the Shadows fighting together.” I pointed to the Lesser that slept in the garden. The creature seemed to have some sort of blending ability, causing it to be almost invisible.
Adawnas gasped; her eyes widened, captivated with amazement.
As quick as shadows, we drifted from the balcony down to the garden. The Lesser was curled up, sleeping near one of the water fountains. I admired him, intrigued by every detail of the wondrous creature’s body. To know that it was a part of Corbin’s mind inside of it, causing it to breathe and roam about, was mesmerizing.
Without warning, the Lesser coiled itself upward and let out a ferocious growl. It stood on all fours and focused its bright yellow eyes on Adawnas and me. I noticed the remaining scales that were on its skin raised throughout its entire body as it growled.
“I suppose despite having human features, you are still a mere animal,” Adawnas said, approaching the Lesser.
“I watching.” There was a low hiss behind the words that proceeded from its mouth. “I watch this.” It pointed to the castle.
“Watch it?” I asked the creature.
It walked toward the darkness ahead of us. “Enemies there. Many strong.” Its neck twitched and its legs wobbled as it walked about, pointing in the direction of the invisible wall.
“Do you know what lies beyond the darkness?” Adawnas tried to touch the Lesser, but it deviated its head from her hands.
“Yes. Desert places…sleeping ones.” It continued to make its way toward the obscure landscape. I heard water splatter when its feet touched the riverbank.
“Where are you going?” I asked it. “Are you unaware that we must stay here in the castle for now?”
“Enemies approaching.” It screeched loudly. “Approaching from the darkness.”
“Enemies,” Adawnas muttered. “But beyond the darkness, there is only one enemy that could be coming.”
I heard faint voices in the air; the wind’s chill grew colder. From the darkness, small dim lights appeared. They shone bright in many different colors, flying around like a flock of birds in the sky. They gathered together as one and then exploded into thousands of smaller particles, scattering themselves in the air, and then they rejoined each other and took the shape of a phoenix.
In all my years of existence, I had never seen a sight so…unexplainable.
From behind the phoenix, a shadow rapidly approached. As it drew closer, the illuminated creature gazed at me with inviting eyes.
“Who are you?” I asked the enlightened being.
“Eldon—one of the gatekeepers from Tristar.” At the sound of every word, the light particles glistened, exuding many colors.
Suddenly the unexpected: a loud explosion took place. The shadow collided with Eldon, causing a great cloud of smoke to rise. Growls and roars resounded like clanging cymbals. The Lesser was agitated; it stumbled around the garden, howling loudly. The battle between the shadow and the lights was intense. The illuminated cloud of smoke formed by their ongoing collision continued to fall into the river and out again several times.
“I shall leave this place,” said a voice from inside of the shadow.
“Return to your resting place. You shall never be permitted to cross this border.” Eldon flew around the shadowed being, scattering small particles of light. From the moving shadow, a face appeared. It was Lucifer.
“My lord,” I muttered in shock.
“What is taking you so long for my awakening?” he shouted as he combated against Eldon.
“Away with you, Lucifer. Go back to slumbering in the Wastelands. Your spirit may move about freely but your body will remain imprisoned forever,” Eldon shouted.
“Let him through,” I yelled as I released pain. I was tossed with brutal force against the water fountain. Adawnas ran in my direction.
“I won’t be locked in the Wastelands for long, Eldon. Nephele, where are the book-bearers?” His voice was echoed in the atmosphere. “My spirit cannot endure transporting itself like this much longer, I need a body of my own!”