Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux (23 page)

 

“Of course I do, he is the rightful ruler of the Universe,” he said.

 

They reached the castle. King Erestar beckoned for Misia and
Tifus to follow. He waited for them to catch up.

“I know that you are the one who brought the Sword to
Soterion. And from what I know it was a perilous journey,” he said as
Kasey could see Ischus approaching from within the palace out of the
corner of her eye.
Ischus told him all about me.

“It was but I learned much,” she said.
“So I hear,” said King Erestar as he turned to Ischus.

 

Kasey raised an eyebrow to Ischus. Then she looked to King
Erestar and said, “And what did my dear brother tell you.”

 

King Erestar laughed, “After given the proper persuasion… he
told me everything.”

 

“Oh now did he?” She looked at Ischus with a half-smile.

King Erestar interrupted her glare and said, “I hope you don’t
mind but I have taken the liberty to prepare a feast for you and your
team.”

Kasey knew that this was a big deal. The Raphad were a very
personal and private race and for them to offer to host her in their
home and to eat with her was a big deal. It was a sign of trust and invite
to friendship. Kasey nodded. “Of course, I am deeply honored.”

A guard brought the rest of the team to the palace. They went
to the table which was five feet from the floor. There had been special
chairs made for each race… even the Nepsah. King Erestar and Queen
Hope sat together on the floor with legs crossed.

The others sat. Kasey was seated between Ischus and Misia.
Tifus sat beside Misia. Including the large amount of Nepsah there were
53 people in attendance. A large beast had been roasted and was set in
the middle of the table. As Kasey began to fill her plate she asked, “I
have always wondered, where do the Raphad find their food?”

Erestar laughed, “That is a very good question, we get our food
from a continent west of here. There are large beasts that roam to the
south.”

“Interesting,” she said.

 

Suddenly King Alagaar stumbled into the room. “I thought I
smelled cooked meat. Who are these? Not more guests are they?”

 

King Erestar whispered to Kasey, “It seems he had lost his
memory of you and the fight between you two, but I told him you won.”
Kasey nodded to King Erestar.

The Daqad King started filling his plate with the food prepared
on the table. He noticed that everyone was quiet and looked up. He
looked around the room at those gathered. “Does everyone really
expect me to be that sore of a loser? I would not have added myself as
the last challenge for the Champion if I didn’t think that someone was
capable of beating me. Did I expect it to be a Miyka? No. A woman?
Absolutely not. But from the looks of what she did to my armor she is
no average female Miyka."

King Alagaar turned his gaze from the crowd to Kasey as if
expecting a reply.

 

King Erestar spoke first. "You don’t need to reveal anything you
are not comfortable with revealing," he said.

King Alagaar added, "But with reports of flaming wings and
strength that could best a Raphad, I will have to say that my curiosity
needs some satisfying."

She looked to Misia. "I don’t think it will hurt."

 

Misia shrugged.

"I am from another planet called Earth. I was a human, what
you would call an Adam. I passed into a world known as Musterion
through a portal on Earth. There I was transformed into a Kalat. I lived
there as a Kalat for several hundred years. I was one of their nobles.
Then I met the Shepherd. There He is known as the Master. He lifted the
curse of the Kalat from me in return for a life of servitude to him. He renamed me Kasey Phoenix...”

There was an awkward silence for a moment and then King
Alagaar slammed his fist on the table and let out a boisterous laugh.
"You were a Kalat? I have heard Kalat have been known to best even
Raphad! Now I feel a little bit better about myself. I have never heard of
this earth but I have been to this Musterion you speak of. It is where I
learned the 'rock song'." King Alagaar removed his gauntlets to reveal
rock clusters on his knuckles. "See? I have been there. The Daqad there
taught me to sing the rock song and I brought it to my people. Before
that, my people did not know how to get information from rocks. This
Musterion... there is much to it. I did not realize it was also a bridge to
other worlds."

King Erestar rubbed his chin. "I would be interested to explore
this Musterion."

Kasey shook her head, "I imagine the tunnels would be too
small for you. Also, if you were to enter and come back out you could
only be there for several minutes and then 150 years has passed when
you re-enter Soterion. Or you could end up in the past. Or you could
take a one way portal and not be able to find a way back. I would
caution anyone wanting to enter Musterion to make sure they plan
wisely."

Alagaar laughed as he took a bight of a large chicken leg. "And
with that knowledge, I won’t make a return visit. I could consider myself
lucky."

King Erestar looked deep in thought.

 

Kasey gave him a concerned look, “What troubles you?”

Erestar laughed, “My size. There are many things that my size
limits me to. I was wishing there was a way to change my size when I
really needed to. It is something I have searched for and found no real
answer to for years.”

Kasey nodded, “I am sorry you have not found something.”

King Erestar shrugged, “On to other subjects. A decision will be
made tonight as to who the champion is. King Alagaar and I have voted
and we did vote for you. I believe the other monarchs will also. As to the
Elder, I’m never sure what he will do.”

Kasey smiled. “Two monarchs down!” She raised her glass to
the others and they cheered.

King Alagaar cleared his throat as he drank the Trundleberry tea
being served. Then he pulled it away inspecting it. “Bah! Faerie tea, I
don’t trust it. Erestar, where is the ale and the wine! I’ve looked all
around this castle and haven’t found a drop.”

King Erestar laughed. “It appears that we are fresh out,” he said
with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

 

“Fresh out?! You are a King, you are never fresh out. I had heard
that you do not drink ale or wine. Too good for a drink?”

King Erestar shook his head, “We don’t for many reasons. Did
you know that King Migdahla (my predecessor) was drunk when his son
murdered him?”

King Alagaar grumbled, “That was a nasty business.”

King Erestar nodded, “Indeed. And in order to lead one must
have a clear mind. I stay away from it so that I am not tempted to overindulge.”

King Alagaar shrugged, “You should carry some for guests.”

King Erestar laughed and turned to Kasey very obviously
wanting to change the subject. “Kasey, something King Alagaar and I
discussed was the fact that you created your own team. This was not
expected but it definitely showed leadership and initiative.”

King Alagaar nodded his head, “And you took me down! That is
impressive too. I have sparred with hundreds of people who could not
best me.”

“Like those initiates that you killed?”
I can’t believe I just said
that.

 

She had taken him off guard, “What? I didn’t kill anyone.
Besides all initiates were told the danger of the Gauntlet.”

Kasey shook her head, “But not that they might be killed by one
of the judges. When I came up on you there were two dead bodies on
the ground in front of you.”
King Erestar cleared his throat, “They are alive.”

She jerked and looked at King Erestar, “Alive? One of them had
had their head knocked off!”

 

King Alagaar seemed even more confused, “What is she talking
about?”

 

King Erestar sighed, “Kasey, they were brought back to life.”

 

“By who?” asked King Alagaar.

 

“Me,” said King Erestar.

 

“So I did kill two people, but you brought them back to life?”
asked King Alagaar.

 

King Erestar nodded.

 

Kasey looked away.
Poor Laberos. I tried to save you.
“How?”

 

“I prayed to the Shepherd,” said King Erestar.

Kasey stood up and tried to compose herself the best she could.
She had tears in her eyes though. “I am sorry, I know this looks rude but
I need to excuse myself.”

King Erestar looked concerned, “Are you ok? I am sorry if I said
something offensive. If you need to be excused I understand. A room
has been prepared for you. It is on the second story and your name is on
the door.”

She nodded.
It’s just not fair. It’s not fair.

 

She left to her room where she spent the rest of her night trying
to sort through the anger, the grief, and the guilt she felt.
12
Out of the Frying Pan

Omar, Sasha, Bogdan, and Nekar followed Alora
through the tunnels of Musterion. It had been two days since they had
left. “Are you sure you know where you are going?” asked Omar.

She just keeps going straight. She hasn’t turned from this tunnel
once.
As if reading his mind Sasha nudged him, “Is she lost?”

 

Omar nodded, “Either that or personally wasting our time.”

 

Alora turned around and glared at them both.

They continued through familiar scenery throughout the day
until they reached a section of tunnel that took a dramatic decline. The
hill down was sharp.

She turned and eyeballed the wagon that Bogdan had brought.
She stalked over to Bogdan. “Its several days walking down that hill. But
with that wagon it could be as little as a day. It levels out at the end for
enough time to come to a rolling stop.”

Bogdan shook his head, “We need weapons and equipment.”

Alora argue, “You really don’t. There is no life down there and a
good 25 yards from where I’m thinking the wagon will stop is the portal
to earth.”

Omar said, “Bogdan, we don’t need the weapons. We can take
them all out and secure them in duffle bags. I believe from what is in the
wagon and my invisibility device we could easily hide the bags from
others. And I can't take days more of this.”

Bogdan shrugged. “Alright. But remember it was against my
better judgment.”

They began to take all of the equipment out of the wagon and
stuffed them into the empty duffle bags that had been packed in case
the wagon stopped working. Then Omar secured the invisibility devices,
even his, to the bags. The wagon was pushed to the edge of the
downward slope and then everyone but Bogdan got in. Bogdan pushed
the wagon from behind and then jumped in. Omar had taken two other
items from the wagon: one that would measure the speed and distance
they were traveling and the other would attach to a vehicle creating a
barrier so that wind didn’t get in your face and eyes and g-forces don’t
act on your body. As they went down the tunnel Omar gauged that they
were going 120 mph.

They traveled for hours going down the slope with twists and
turns. About 4 hours into their journey Omar fell asleep next to Sasha.

 

As Omar woke he could feel that the wagon was coming to a
slow stop.

 

“The portal is just down this way,” said Alora as she led them
on. Bogdan secured his invisibility device to the wagon leaving it there.

“I can teleport us back to the weapons when we come back
through,” Omar commented to Sasha. She gave him a warm smile.
How
quickly my world has become hinged upon her opinion.

Alora and Nekar were off to the side speaking to each other in
hushed tones.
Those two are planning something… scary.

 

Omar turned his attention to Sasha. She was speaking to
Bogdan on theories of how to try to revert him to his original form.

Omar wandered ahead, he was anxious and in a hurry to move
on. He followed the tunnel which gradually turned to the left. As he just
got out of view of the others he saw a tunnel off to the right. Omar
looked in to see inside an archway that had a dazzling light emanating
from it. The light had shifting colors something similar to the Aurora
Borealis. It was beautiful, amazing, and inviting. Omar stepped closer to
it changing the views on his monocle. It gave off more energy than a
portal. So much power was coursing through the archway, it was
astonishing that it didn’t explode everywhere but was contained only
within the archway. Omar reached out and let his fingers run through
the light. The energy ran through his body. He felt a severe pain running
through his arm and he looked at the teleportation device which was
glowing the same color. Omar screamed out in pain. It was as if he had
grabbed a hot wire, he could not pull his hand out. The others came
rushing in and grabbed him pulling him away from the archway.

Once he was separated from the light there was no more pain.
Alora shook her head. “That was very stupid for a man said to be earth’s
most brilliant scientist.”

Omar shook his head, “It was almost like the light beckoned to
me. Do you know what it is?”

She nodded, “It is a vein of energy. The energy that fuels the
portals of Musterion. There is a portal behind this archway that leads to
the core of Musterion. The core is where the portal to earth is.”

Omar rubbed his head, “How do we get through the archway?”

Alora responded, “I will go through and switch a valve which will
temporarily disable the flow. You will have but a moment to get through
until the flow of energy starts up again.”

Then it clicked in Omar’s mind that a Katken was the only one
who could get them to the portal because she would die going through,
but Omar had learned that Katken have 9 lives.

Alora backed away from the archway and then ran towards it
and jumped in the air passing through. Several minutes went by and
then the energy stream stopped revealing Alora and a portal behind her
on the other side. They all passed through the archway quickly and then
the flow of energy began again.

“How many more lives do you have?” asked Omar.