Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) (37 page)

Many years passed and the dragons had gathered underground, while Lowan ordered the wisest among them to study the secrets of the book. Finally it had been done and new dragon eggs had been created. The prince had up to this point never seen one before, because no one knew how to create them, as the knowledge was lost over the centuries. Normally it would have taken five hundred years until a dragon would hatch from the egg, but this generation was particular and Lowan succeeded in accelerating the process enormously. 

After just two hundred years the first dragons lived in the upper world. The number of born-again grew rapidly, and from the few that once existed, huge tribes began to populate almost the entire continent. Only on the day of birth the prince once again shared his memories with me, and he showed me the malformed monsters, which Lowan had created. Without his father neither the prince nor anyone else could achieve what they all were dreaming of.

The weak born-again fell in thousands, when the dragons eventually returned to the surface. So died dragon after dragon, the more years passed. Hardly a dwarf was born in these times, and the few of them who were still alive, were now subdued by the born-again who they once helped to conquer this world. 

It was the blood of the humans, which would now be the downfall of the dragons. Only a few remained, among them many of the lowanian generation, which very soon was known as a new type of white dragons. The prince lived in seclusion back in the castle of his ancestors and waited for the day on which he would finally be able to decrypt the book, until the day that changed it all.

“Give me the book, Marko. It is time to create more dragons. Once again, some of our best have fallen victim to these barbarians” said Lowan as he walked into the top tower.

The prince was completely immersed in the writings of the old ancestors, but he found no evidence of the old language, which now no one was able to speak.

“Another lowanian generation? Don’t you think that you have lost enough of your honour already? Do you want to be the downfall of our people?” said the prince and stowed away the scriptures, in front of which he sat.

“What else is left? Should we simply die and do nothing?”

“No. There is still a place where I can uncover the secrets. A place that I did not wish to return to, but it seemingly can’t be prevented. My father told me of it, and as you know, I mistrust every word of this traitor. But now where nothing more remains but these words, I think that that it is time to follow their call,” replied the prince and he took the book into his hand.

“Your trips around the world, secret scriptures and old languages have brought us here in the first place. We have believed for too long that someone would once understand this book. Our attacks against the dwarfs have been the doom of both populaces. The born-again formed a new world from the ashes of the old, and now they have become the rulers. Do not believe that there is still a future for us, especially not in a book,” said Lowan and left the prince alone.

So many years had he not seen the surface of this world, and the light of the sun blinded him when he rose from one of the tunnels. The number of the tribes of the born-again amazed the prince, but his gaze was directed only to the horizon where the temple of the High Council could be found. But as much as he searched and as much as he hoped that his father had not lied to him, so he could not find the tomb of the ancestors. Desperate and alone, he sat on the steps of the temple where he had seen his father such a long time ago.

“You were right, father. They were the future. This book is thus the last treasure? If that is so, then I will have him no more. Take your book back and give me nothing but time. I will prove that the dragons are not dead and that the born-again can fall,” he cried out over the sea, and he wrote a last sentence into the once so holy book of his culture. 

The book disappeared, and it was his way to protect his people against Lowan and he hoped that one day a different person would find what he was not able to. At this moment I understood the feelings of the prince and the power of the humans, of which he was so overwhelmed. All that remained to him was his dream of once becoming the king of all dragons and to be the most powerful being of the planet. And even in our time, in which he had achieved all this, there was no one who could truly witness any of it. He was not guided by madness, but by sorrow and despair.

“Now you have seen what happened in my time. Are you still convinced that you would have acted differently than I did? Do you really think that we are so very different?” he asked and touched the red-and-black sand under his feet.

“No, but I would not have acted like you have. I would have never killed my father. Again and again I have blamed myself for his death, so much so that in the end I was convinced that I had killed him. But in reality, I have tried everything to save him. My own life I would give just to see him again.”

“That is how you see this world, as a tragic game beyond our influence? Do you believe that you are completely without guilt, just because it wasn’t you, who dealt the final blow? Many of your contemporaries die, even in this very second, but you stand here and do nothing to prevent this. Are you not to blame for this? I have always known that I should have done more to be stronger - more determined. Today I look back on the world that I lost and my father is to blame for it.

So many centuries in which he watched the world disappear, because he believed that it was fair and was correct. This book, the last treasure of the gods, was only an example of their comedy. They gave it to us not so that we survive, but so that we perish at their knowledge, just like they themselves could hardly bear it. For me it was at the time no mistake to leave the book behind, it was the only correct action. And yet I have to blame myself for the obliteration of my people because of it. I was too weak to stand against the given law and was too naive with my trust in Lowan.

My own father chose your side, and he gave up his power and his status to be as you are. He died, not through my hatred alone, but through that of a whole kind. It were the death screams of the dragons that pulled him down into his grave, and it will be the same cry of humanity, which will bring my kind back to life. 

At that time on the square you chose very specific words, which showed me for the first time that we truly are the same person. You said that you would bring back the dead into this world. That you would fight, so that the people who died would receive a new life. We have the same goal, Albus,” he said and I saw a smile on his face.

I could almost see the young prince that I had accompanied in my visions, but I felt that he was no longer the same. He got up from the ground and stopped the lights of the crystals by clenching his right hand to a fist. When he opened it again there was a small glowing ball hovering above his palm, which pulsated full of force.

“This is the secret, the fifth element. From these crystals anyone can be given eternal life. This is immortality. I have sacrificed much to get what you can see here, but I do have destroyed even more. My words are final and they should show you the difference that separates us, and that it is more than mere belief.

If you join me, then you can be a dragon, a member of an immortal caste, a king among kings. But if you decide to act as my father did, then I will not rest until the last human has disappeared from the face of this planet. I will destroy all of them before your very eyes. Submit to my dominion, and save your people or face me, and perish with everything you ever cared for.”

I looked at the ball in his hand, and as clean as it appeared, so dark was its energy. It was a soul, the source from which possibly everything was created. It was this energy that trapped the spirits of the people and anchored them in our world. Once again I had to decide, and again there was no real choice. To me it was clear that he would never allow humanity to survive, but it would be enough time to give me a chance and finally stand against him.

“At the beginning of this journey my answer would have been quick. Becoming a member of the most powerful class on this planet? Finally being part of something big, which can influence everything? Of course I would have joined you. 

Today I understand what it means to be human; to be weak, directed by greed and the hunger for power. We distinguish ourselves not through our motives, in that you are right. But what distinguishes us, is not our strength, our conviction or our number, it is our solidarity in the fight against a greater evil.

If you turn against this world, you should be ready to fight. We will find a way to stop you, and even the dark magic in your hands is powerless against us,” I said, and the prince closed his hand.

The light returned to the large crystals on the ceiling of the cave, and the prince said simply: “So be it.”

He turned around and went on: “Once I would have thought of you as a great fighter, a hero. Today, I think of you as a fool and a dead man. I will show you the side you chose.”

With a simple clapping of his hands we were back in the ancestral hall. Again he tried to intimidate me with his power, but this time he did not stop at this point. Isaac was kneeling bound on the ground, while Lucia held her blade at his throat. Mel was standing next to them and it was obvious that his power in this place would soon no longer be sufficient. He was just a spirit and his connection grew weaker every second, the farther he was from the window to his world.

“The human spirit is weak and easy to influence. As soon as I order it, your friend dies. Another value-free life would be gone, no more wasting space on this planet. But what if he could be like us? My father saw potential in these creatures; he saw them as our heirs. Is it then not reasonable to assume that this man could be more than the first glance suggests? I propose to you a trade. As I find, an absolutely fair exchange. Fifteen years from this day until my anger will burn the earth under your feet. Assemble yourselves, develop, and show me your, oh so invaluable enormous strength.

Perhaps then finally a warrior is born, who can stand against me. A brother of my own blood,” the prince said to me and sat down on the throne.

I walked towards Lucia and looked into her eyes. Jasper had trusted me, because he had given up on the security that the prince had promised him. He believed that I could be better than the rest of us.

“Another war? Many more deaths? Why? We recognize the power of the dragons, and we know that we have only one possibility to win, as long as you’re alone, prince. But should you use the book in order to create new dragons, we would be falling like the dwarves before us,” I said in the hope that the prince would not make the same mistake as Lowan did.

“You spoke of the unity of your people, their power of a united spirit and now you kneel down before me in their name? Perhaps I have judged too early. Lowan made the mistake of not knowing what he did, but I am in possession of the solution. The dragons will rise again and they will compete against the born-again. And then at the end, you all shall join my father in death.”

I winked at Isaac, and Lucia and Mel now knew that I was going to do something, but it was too late for them to act. Fire surrounded my body and I ran towards Lucia and grabbed her hand so that she would drop the weapon. Mel was too weak in order to defend himself against me, and he backed off, full of fear. I loosened the shackles of Isaac with my power and lifted the weapon from the floor. The curved blade glowed with a bright red, and the prince was still sitting on the throne without any emotion.

“Is this your choice? A futile attempt to kill me? Did I not tell you that you are not capable of doing so; to even hurt me?” he said, stood up and walked slowly towards me.

He lifted up his hands scornful, and with every gesture he asked me to attack him. But even as he stood right in front of me, he had no fear of me. Lucia lay on the floor and I saw her crying out in pain, holding her hand that still trembled in shock. Again I had to injure her to prevent her from further damage.

“Do it, if you think that you have the power to do it!” said the prince to me, and so I stabbed him with all my strength, but the blade broke on his armour.

The glowing tip of the blade fell to the ground, and nothing more than a blunt sword remained to me now, against the arguably most powerful being on this planet. The prince laughed in my face and he looked over to Lucia. As he clenched his hand, I knew what he planned and so I tried again to hurt him. Again and again I stabbed at him, but as much as I heated up the blade, so I missed the force to put it to good use.

“I am too weak,” I said, and the prince passed me without even looking at me.

He stopped and held his clenched fist over the body of Lucia. His gaze met me now and I was sure that this would be the punishment for my actions.

“The choice I granted you was fair and you still decided to kill me. Now you will learn what it means to suffer,” he said and was just about to open up his fist, when Magnus called out to him from afar.

“You really ought to take the old man more seriously,” he said and held the book in his hand.

Magnus winked at me, and as much as I wanted to believe that we had finally won, so it did not change reality. The prince directed his fist in one swift motion in the direction of Magnus and dismissed from it all the power he had accumulated. A large explosion tore the entire wall behind Magnus to pieces, and only when the dust had settled, I could see him again. He stood there, almost unharmed, and still firmly clasped the book. Behind him nothing more than a deep way down through the tunnel of the dwarves remained.

“I thank you, Jacob. My mistake ends here and now. I remember more and more of everything that you and Isaac have experienced. These memories should not belong to me. Back then, when I lost my wife, everything that I wanted was to find the solution to the puzzle. But as I came closer to this solution, I realized that it was outside of my power to bring my wife back. Isaac has a dream that is much nobler than mine could ever be. Protect him and help him to achieve what he dreams of.