Exiles From The Sacred Land (Book 2) (37 page)

“Stop that. What are you doing there? Let that creature go!” Morgoran let loose a torrent of essence that bashed into Dorenn, sending him hard to the stone platform. When he recovered from the fall, Dorenn struggled to breathe.

The Brae Daun Duil turned on Morgoran and seized him as he hurried to finish off Dorenn. Morgoran used his magic, and the creature turned him loose for a moment but quickly seized him again. Dorenn again felt Morgoran drawing in massive quantities of essence, but before he could loose it on the creature, it slammed the old wielder into the platform, his head hitting the stone the hardest.

“Stop!” Dorenn commanded the creature as soon as he could draw breath. He hobbled his way over to the now unconscious Morgoran. He managed to move his left arm, in pain as it was, to the side of Morgoran’s head. He placed his right hand on the other side and grasped Morgoran’s head. In the same way he turned the Brae Daun Duil, he planned to take away Morgoran’s bitterness and anger, but he found none there. Instead he found regret and remorse, and something else. He pursued the other emotion and found it wasn’t emotion at all. He captured it in his mind. Someone had influenced Morgoran. Someone had placed thoughts in his head. He probed the entity more, and it turned on him, trying to take him over, but he didn’t let it. He saw a face. It was Morgoran’s council; it was the cleric, Kerad! Dorenn dispelled the entity from Morgoran’s mind and relaxed his body. Exhausted, he let himself lie back on the stone platform.

After a time, Dorenn forced himself to get up from the cold stone surface. Morgoran was still unconscious. “Pick him up and bring him inside,” he instructed. The staff was still where it had fallen. Dorenn retrieved it and proceeded to the door, all the while warding off the bitter cold and the searing pain. Sheer determination and curiosity drove him on to the metallic door. He touched the crystal to the door on a whim, but nothing happened. He asked it to open and nothing happened. He scoured the surface for some hint of what he must do to get the door opened to no avail. Dorenn slumped down with his back against the door.

Morgoran came to and rubbed his head. “What the thunder?”

“Welcome back, Morgoran,” Dorenn said.

“Dorenn? What has happened here? The last I remember I was ready to blast you off this platform.”

“You remember fighting me then?”

“Aye, I also remember feeling the anger and control welling up in me without knowing why. It felt like when you want to eat that last honey cake and you have already eaten too much, but you go ahead have that last one anyway.” He studied Dorenn for a long moment. “I am interested in what you find behind that door, but I am more interested that you survive to see what is behind that door.” He produced the Lora Daine from his side pouch. “I will return in a moment with Kerad; he will have you fixed right up.”

“No.” Dorenn reached for Morgoran’s arm with his good right arm to stop him. “Get Vesperin. Don’t let Kerad go anywhere or come here.”

Morgoran was perplexed. “Kerad? He is my most trusted advisor. He was by my side the entire time I was cursed.”

“Just go and bring me Vesperin.” Morgoran nodded and used the dragon stone. As soon as he was gone, Dorenn struggled up to his feet. “Make certain that if Kerad ends up here, you detain him.” He searched the hideous features of the creature. “Are you still able to take the form of Melias?” The creature did not react to the name at first, but after a moment, he nodded. “Good. Don’t do it right now; stay as you are. I am sorry this happened to you, my friend. I am, however, glad I was able to find you in there and bring you back.”

A sharp crackle in the air signaled that Morgoran was back. Trendan and Vesperin were with him. “Vesperin would not come with me at first. I tried to find Kerad, but I was told he left through the portal. Vesperin finally agreed if I brought along Trendan.”

“Morgoran is back to himself,” Dorenn said. He didn’t want to say too much in front of Morgoran until he had the chance to find out why the wielder did not remember it was Kerad who betrayed him.

Vesperin mended Dorenn’s arm with a bone-mending chant, helped his scrapes and bruises, and gave him something to ease his pain. As soon as Dorenn was up and around, he had Vesperin help Morgoran.

Trendan tightly pulled the new cloak that Dorenn gave him and meticulously examined the door for an opening.

“I would imagine that any kind of magic used to open that door will fail to open it,” Morgoran said. “It is supposed to house the Tome of Enlightenment. Those already enlightened will not have an effect.”

“How are we supposed to open it then?” Dorenn asked.

“It’s a good thing we brought Trendan. He has no use of magic, correct?”

Trendan spoke up. “No, I have no magic affinity.”

“The only obstacle I can see now is that he is only a half-man. It may not recognize him as a non-magical man.”

“I see,” Dorenn said. “Only a man without magic can open the door.”

Trendan leaned into the door, and it pushed open. Inside was a vast cavern lit by colossal, glowing-white crystals. At the center of the cavern was a pedestal containing a thick, leather-bound book.

Dorenn hurried over to it and picked it up. Morgoran winced but relented when nothing happened.

“In the future, I would suggest that you never simply
pick up
anything that has been sitting on a pedestal for ages. They are usually trapped in some horrible way,” Morgoran scolded.

After wiping off the dust, Dorenn opened the book.

“Can you read it?” Vesperin asked.

Dorenn chuckled. “Actually, no.”

“Let me see that.” Morgoran stood behind Dorenn and peered over his shoulder at the pages. “I should have realized. This is the knowledge and magic given to man by Vex. The first men came from the island continent of Lux Amarou. This is written in ancient Amar. I don’t think there is a man still alive that can read or write Amar except on Lux Amarou.”

“People still live there?” Trendan was surprised.

“Very few. Most of the Amar left Lux Amarou and settled Trigothia. They held onto the ancient tongue and customs for a while, but the old language died out in Trigothia ages ago. The continent of Lux Amarou is covered in old ruins, overgrown vegetation, and other dangers. That place makes Ishrak look like a modern paradise. I have only been there once, and I never wanted to go back.”

“So is there a way we can get there by Lora Daine and bring one of the people back who can read this tome?”

“Not likely. A Lora Daine is limited by distance; not even the biggest and best one in Draegodor could go that far, and even if you could, no Amar would step foot over here.” Morgoran shrugged. “We can take it back to Ianthill at By’temog. He used to be pretty good at reading old languages. I don’t know if his knowledge goes back this far, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Dorenn shut the tome. “No, I would recognize some of these words if Ianthill could read this.”

“I would postulate that absorbing someone’s essence doesn’t automatically give you all of their thoughts and abilities. It would also stand to reason that even with all the essence you absorbed, those wielders who still live might know things you still do not. It doesn’t automatically give you the sum of their experience either. You must be careful not to lean on that knowledge too much.”

Dorenn nodded. “Let’s go back to By’temog and talk to Ianthill then. Give me a moment while I go take care of the Brae Daun Duil.” He hesitated. “Before I go, what happened to King Occelot?”

Morgoran chuckled. “Thankfully your spell didn’t hold long. He reverted back to himself shortly after you changed him. We slipped away during the commotion.”

Dorenn nodded before exiting the chamber. Outside, he looked around for the Brae Daun Duil. “Melias?”

The creature lumbered over to him.

“Fly to Lux Enor and tell the master that I have the tome and will be there soon. Tell him that I have defeated Morgoran and that I know who the betrayer is. Have him tell Kimala to continue as planned. Do you have all that?”

The creature nodded.

“You are sure you can still speak in the form of Melias?”

The creature nodded.

“Go, fly, and I will be there as soon as I can find a way to get there without raising suspicion.”

The Brae Daun Duil took flight and flew off into the cold, snowy night.

Chapter 22: Dragon’s Orb

Vesperin awoke to bright light all around him. When his eyes adjusted, he could see a small white structure with a golden door a few paces away. He picked himself up and made his way to the construction. It appeared to be no more than a well-crafted and intricately-carved golden door in the middle of a white marble box that would take no more than eight paces to walk completely around, which he did. After a few moments’ hesitation, he opened the golden door and entered. Vesperin was surprised to see the room inside was enormous. It was much bigger on the inside than the outside. Gold and white furniture, placed meticulously throughout the room, complemented vast paintings and tapestries of bloody scenes of war in a strange kind of opposites attract sort of way. The vibrant colors of the tapestries and paintings, especially the red, broke the monotony of the white and gold.

Vesperin tried to look at all the scenes in the room, but before long, he noticed that someone was sitting on one of the divans. Her golden hair and white and golden robes, coupled with the brightly lit room, hid her from his view at first.

“Hello?” he called out.

“Aye, I know you are there, Vesperin. I was letting you enjoy my artwork. Are they not beautiful?”

“They are very beautiful, if not a bit morbid. Scenes of war and death, I mean.”

The woman turned on her divan to face him. “Do you not recognize me? This is my work all around you.”

“Loracia?” Vesperin fell to his knees and bowed to the floor.

“Rise, my cleric, there is no need to be so formal here.”

Vesperin rose. “Forgive me, but what is the proper title to call you? Goddess, maybe Your Grace, or Your Majesty?”

“You may address me as Loracia. I may be a goddess to you, but I consider myself a mother and a healer before a goddess.”

Vesperin still felt very nervous and awkward.

“Relax, my cleric, sit.”

As if she could sense his apprehension, her words soothed him, and all the tension drained from him. He sat down on the divan opposite Loracia.

“Impressive room,” he said.

She looked around as if trying to figure out what he was referring to. “It’s my inner sanctum, hidden from the rest of the realm of Venifyre, hidden from the other gods.”

“Oh?”

Loracia smiled, and Vesperin thought he would turn to ash at how sweet and sincere it was. Loracia’s features were almost too stunning to look at for long. A beauty so intoxicating, it was nearly painful to take it all in at once. “You see, I am going against my husband’s wishes by bringing you here. He would be furious if he found out. He has instructed us to all stay out of the affairs of the world, but we have found that directive to be impossible to uphold. We all love our creations so.” Her voice had an ethereal quality to it. “Besides, I happen to know Vex breaks his own decree and interferes almost daily. There is a lot happening at the moment.”

Vesperin giggled in spite of himself.

Loracia was also amused. “I understand. You are drunk on the light of this place.”

“Is that what it is?”

“I am afraid I do have that effect on your kind when in my presence.”

“You are the goddess of life! I can feel it everywhere.”

“Oh, yes, you would. I am sure more than others. I must remember that. Forgive me, Vesperin, but when I brought you back that day at Signal Hill, I had to alter your life force permanently.”

“I have thanked you in my prayers, but now I have the opportunity to thank you in person.” He stood and bowed deeply. “Thank you, my goddess.”

“You are most welcome. Now, sit back down, and I will get to the point. It may be a bit difficult for you.”

Vesperin complied and made himself comfortable.

“I am afraid that I brought you back for a selfish reason. My husband, Vex, sometimes needs a little help, a push, if you will. I do love him dearly, but he does not work well when it comes to matters of life and death. The secret is that Vex, or Fawlsbane Vex as you may know him, has always had trouble creating life. He needs me to keep life and death running smoothly.”

Vesperin nodded.

“Look at me droning on,” Loracia said. “I can see I need to be more direct.”

“This all comes down to me somehow?” Vesperin asked.

“Yes, but not only you. The task I ask of you I do not ask of you alone. It takes both sides of the coin to make it whole. One half will never make a whole; you need the other.”

Vesperin felt sedated and lethargic. “What is happening?” At first, Vesperin did not recognize the woman dressed in white robes walking up to them from behind Loracia, but as she neared, he could see her face clearly. “Fayne!”