The Kingdom of Eternal Sorrow (The Golden Mage Book 1) (25 page)

“Come now,” he chided gently, “you speak of yourself as though you were
merely an object to be dealt with. When I found you, you were alone,
frightened, and a mystery. I chose under my own free will to protect and teach
you. What kind of man would I be had I just left you to struggle through the
chaos of a new world without guidance?”

That was an opening if she ever saw one. Did she dare?

“Is that—is that the only reason why you took responsibility for me?”
she whispered, afraid to hear the answer, but knowing she had to ask.

Aidric stared at her, his eyes questioning, though his shoulders had
suddenly stiffened, betraying an underlying—suspicion? Understanding? However,
before he could answer, the door suddenly swung open, and Seer Etain and
another priest entered, carrying trays of food and drink. Aidric quickly turned
his attention to them, looking a little relieved, and Allison silently cursed
their timing.

“You must eat with haste,” Seer Etain commanded, his tone a bit
distracted. “Master Kiryl is most anxious to speak with you, Mage-general.”

The Seer was frowning, his forehead wrinkled with worry, as he
addressed them.

Something’s happened
, Allison mused as she half-heartily began
to eat the food the priest had brought. She had long ago lost her appetite, but
she ate anyway out of politeness. These strange priests were the last people
she wanted to offend. She watched the priests self-consciously out of the
corner of her eye, feeling their eyes burning into her.

Although they tried to remain passive, she could tell they were on edge
and longed to be somewhere else.
Is it me that has them so worried
,
or
does it maybe have something to do with that prophecy Aidric mentioned earlier?

“Perhaps we should go to Master Kiryl now,”
Allison suddenly
heard Aidric say in her mind, almost causing her to cry out in surprise.

Damn him! I wish he would stop doing that!

“Etain and Anvil are rather anxious to know what truth their master
is to reveal to us,”
he continued, oblivious to her irritated thoughts,
“and
they must wait until after our meeting as is their custom. I’m afraid they will
drive themselves mad here with the anticipation.”

“I agree,”
she replied, shoving her tray away with relief.

Aidric rose, motioning for her to do the same. Etain and Anvil blinked
at them in surprise, clearly expecting them to take far longer with their meal.

“The food is excellent,” Aidric said, “but I really do not wish to keep
Master Kiryl waiting. I know how unusual, how
rare
, it is that he would
speak directly to those who come here to seek answers. Thus, we shall finish
our meal after we have spoken to the Master.”

“As you wish,” Etain replied, clearly relieved and not bothering to try
to hide it. “Brother Anvil will take you to the Master’s chambers.”

Aidric bowed towards Etain’s companion in acknowledgment, and Allison
followed his example awkwardly, bowing deeply before she remembered that women
should curtsy. She blushed a deep scarlet and prayed that she hadn’t embarrassed
Aidric with her screw-up as much as she had embarrassed herself.

She sighed inwardly with relief as she followed Aidric’s lead behind Seer
Anvil, noting that Aidric didn’t seem to have noticed her blunder. At least
outwardly he gave no sign of noticing until she heard a soft voice brush across
her mind,
“Don’t blush so brightly, little cat. It doesn’t suit you. A bow,
a curtsy, what’s the difference?”

His words only caused her to blush more profusely, and Allison could
hear his laughter echoing in the back of her mind although he never even
cracked a smile.

“Stop reading my thoughts,”
she grumbled.

“Why bother to read your thoughts when they are clearly being
expressed on your face for all to see?”
he sent back innocently.

She chose not to honor that comment with a response,
instead, turning her eyes from a face that mocked her with its passiveness when
she knew that he was anything but, to her surroundings. Despite the grandeur of
the place’s outside appearance, the inside was surprisingly plain. The dwelling
was completely devoid of anything personal—no decorations, paintings, or any
trinkets.

The walls lay bare, merely the uneven surface of the cave, carved to
their desire. The floors were oddly marble, however. To Allison, it seemed the
only hint of human habitation in what was otherwise a natural, desolate place
that was a more fitting home to a family of bats than an order of holy men.

Seer Anvil silently led them down a maze of narrow corridors. Shadows
flickered along the walls from the lanterns that were magically suspended from
the ceiling. The whole place had an uncanny feeling of foreboding that made her
shiver. That feeling of dread strengthened the farther they trekked down the
seemingly endless corridors. As her apprehension grew, Allison feared that she
was not just letting the dire atmosphere of the place affect her imagination,
but that she was on the brink of another Foresight attack.

“Aidric—I feel—”
she began anxiously.

“I know,”
he interrupted.
“I feel it also. Whatever it is
that Master Kiryl will reveal to us will not only greatly affect Lamia, but all
of Seni’s World.”

“How do you know?”

“You forget, I share your Foresight ability, only I have been
trained to use it effectively and not allow it to control me as it controls
you.”

“What else do you see?”

Aidric turned his head slightly to glance down at her. The look he gave
her was disconcerting, almost haunted.
“Many things—horrible visions that I
suspect you have also seen.”
Before she could get over her surprise, he
added,
“Diryan has told me of your nightmares—ah, but we are here. We’ll
speak of this matter another time.”

No doubt they would.

Before them stood a great door of the purest gold that looked out of
sorts in the dullness of the natural corridor. More of those strange symbols
were carved into its surface, set in a pattern that suggested that it was part
of an incantation or message of some sort.

“What do those symbols mean?”
Allison asked, peering at the door
curiously.

“They are words of Ti’ar, the language of magic used in all spells. What
is written on the door is a spell to ward off all that is negative. No soul
with evil intent can pass beyond this door.”

“Will I have to learn this language, or can that Linguist put it
into my mind like he did yours?”
she asked.

“I’m afraid that you must learn this language on your own. Zenas
doesn’t have knowledge of Ti’ar because any who are not mages are forbidden the
language.”

She was about to ask another question when a strange voice abruptly cut
into her thoughts, “Master Kiryl will see you now.”

She started, then realized that it was Seer Anvil who had spoken. His
voice was raspy as if with disuse, and she realized that it was the first time
she had heard him speak.

What a desolate lot these priests are,
she thought sadly.

The door groaned and screeched as Anvil slowly swung it
open, signaling that it more than likely was not opened often. They were
immediately greeted by darkness, and a faint, musty odor invaded her nostrils. Vaguely,
Allison could make out the dim, green glow of a mage-flame barely visible in
the far gloom. The darkness seemed to feed hungrily on that single light source
as if it was alive, causing her to eye the room warily. She was thankful that
she would not be going into that room alone.

Sensing her apprehension, Aidric firmly took her arm as they entered
the impending gloom, for support or to prevent her from fleeing, she wasn’t
sure. Allison jumped when the door slammed shut behind them with a boom,
leaving them to the darkness and the man who lay somewhere beyond. Silently,
they headed towards the illumination. Allison hoped that Aidric knew where he
was going. For all she knew, the room might be just another maze of corridors. She
shivered to think of being lost forever in that hungering darkness—

“Easy, little cat,”
Aidric sent before that sudden thought could
begin to feed her rising panic.
“There is nothing to fear here. There is
only the dark and us.”

Despite his reassuring words, Allison clung nearer to him until they
reached the light. She saw that they were now in yet another narrow corridor,
but unlike the others, this one was relatively short. Another dimly lit room stood
at the end, and in the center of the room, seated cross-legged on an assortment
of cushions and surrounded by a dozen or so mage-flame lit candles, was the
infamous Master Kiryl.

These people sure love to be dramatic
, Allison thought as she
followed Aidric’s lead to stand before the intimidating figure, this time
remembering to curtsy and not bow.

In the blue illumination of the candles, Master Kiryl appeared
otherworldly, as if he wasn’t mortal but a god, himself. He gazed up at them
serenely with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They seemed to glow with their
own inner light rather than being the uncanny result of reflected candlelight.

The Seer looked to be middle-aged, mid-forties maybe, though his entire
manner seemed to suggest that he was far older in experience. Raven hair so far
untouched by gray hung long and full to fall down in swirls around his knees.

He was dressed in a simple, unadorned silver robe that gave no
indication of his high status among the order. The flickering of the flames
played off eerily with the sheen of the
sholkie
material, causing the
garment to appear to be slightly glowing.

About his neck hung the same medallion Allison had seen the other
priests wearing. She couldn’t help but think that compared to this man, Seer
Etain was about as intimidating as a newborn baby. Even sitting down, he seemed
to loom over her menacingly.

With a graceful wave of his hand, the Seer motioned for them to be
seated onto the two
sholkie
cushions before him. Allison sank down onto
hers gratefully, certain her wobbling knees would have given out on her soon.

“I have long awaited your coming,” Master Kiryl began, his voice heavy
with a strange accent that made it difficult for her to understand his words. His
eyes flitted between Aidric and her so that she was not sure if he meant her or
both of them. “Even as a child, when I was but a novice here, did I Foresee
this meeting. I know the questions you have brought to us, as well you know why
it is I who must give answer to them.”

“Yes,” Aidric said simply.

“Her arrival in our world was felt by all here,” he said, fixing his eyes
onto her so intensely that Allison did not dare look away. “As I, myself, felt
the tremendous increase in magical energy by her arrival, Seni blessed me with
many visions of the near future. It is of those visions that we must speak of
in order for your questions to be answered.”

Aidric stiffened. “Then my fears are true,” he ventured. “The Prophecy
of the Six is to be fulfilled in this generation.”

“Yes, the Prophecy of the Six,” Kiryl replied calmly. “The coming of
the Golden Mage was but one of two of the last stones cast into the lake of
fate, and now the ripples it has caused have triggered that which Seni has
forewarned. The cataclysm has indeed begun, and how it will end depends upon
the path she is to follow now. Of that path, Seni has chosen not to reveal to
me. It is for her, alone, to choose.”

“As fate would have it, I have charged myself with her guidance,”
Aidric said. “Yet, of the special abilities she possesses, I know so little
that it might as well be nothing at all. You, the foremost authority on the
Golden Mage, I seek to know more of these abilities in order to properly
instruct her. Nowhere in the Prophecy of the Golden Mage did it mention that
she was to possess the ability to Soulwalk—the power which only the Natian Six
are said to wield. The prophecy merely hints towards unknown abilities, thus we
were unprepared for its manifestation. Tell me, Master Kiryl, do you have
knowledge of the power of Soulwalking that exceeds what I know?”

Master Kiryl was silent for a long while before he answered, so long
that Allison had begun to fear he wouldn’t.

“Long ago,” he began slowly, staring off into the darkness beyond them
as though he was seeing those ages past, “when Seni’s World was but one great,
united kingdom, the kingdom of Natia, Seni entrusted a book to a young Seer
named Aesir, the same Seer who is the originator of the Prophecy of the Golden
Mage.”

Allison turned to Aidric and saw surprise in his eyes. Had he not known
this? It seemed strange to Allison that he didn’t, since it was a prophecy that
everyone in Lamia seemed to truly fear.

Master Kiryl also noted Aidric’s expression with a nod and continued,
“Yes, I trust you have always believed that the origin of that particular prophecy
was lost in time or never revealed. It is what we of the Order of the
Providence have led you to believe through the ages for reasons only our
ancestors know.

“Now, this book contained all the special spells and their instruction
of a legendary mage whom was yet to be named. It is written that this
revelation drove Aesir mad. It is not clear all that Seni chose to reveal to
him, but some say that he also held the knowledge of the war that ultimately
destroyed the peace in Natia and the Prophecy of the Six, though it was never
proven. Apparently, he had not been strong enough to bear the burden of knowing
all mankind’s future calamities, and thus, had failed in his duty as Seni’s
vessel.

“It is said that Aesir raved for days, ultimately lost in his madness. Fearing
that he would harm others as well as himself, his brother Seers confined him
within a mage barrier. Yet, he somehow broke free and disappeared, the book
along with him, never to be seen again. He did, however, leave behind a scroll
containing the verse we now know of as the Prophecy of the Golden Mage. He had
written it before his visions drove his sanity away.

“There in that book lies the answer to all the questions you have of
the power she wields. In all the millennia that have passed, the book has never
been found, yet visions I have had have shown that the book still exists—where,
I cannot even begin to guess.”

“So it’s hopeless to know exactly what she is capable of doing?” Aidric
asked flatly.

“Not entirely,” Kiryl replied. “In our archives, our ancestors left
documents which recount some of the ravings of Seer Aesir. One such document
speaks of his ravings concerning the book, which he had allowed none to see. He
spoke of offensive spells of such great destructiveness that it drove fear into
the hearts of the Natians, who had yet to experience war or the sight of great
magicks. It speaks of spells that had the power to break open the earth and to draw
flaming boulders from the Thrones. It also speaks of an amazing ability which
allows a mage to move freely throughout the world in spirit form. This ability,
of course, is Soulwalking. Alas, the spellbook is lost, else the spell could
have been a most powerful weapon in your struggle against the Mihran king,
Roderick.”

“Wait a mi-depth!” Allison burst out. “Are you saying that I have the
power to make my spirit to travel
outside my body
? We actually do have
souls
?”

Her question seemed to disturb Aidric, though he only
raised an eyebrow to show his displeasure. If Master Kiryl was also bothered,
his expression gave no indication.

“Have you no spiritual beliefs, child?” the Seer asked, fixing her with
those eyes that mirrored the flames around him.

“Of course I do,” Allison said in a small voice. “It’s just that I—I’m
not as—sure about the existence of my god as you people seem to be about yours.
I believe, but sometimes I do have my doubts.”

Although he accepted her answer with a nod, his eyes were openly
disapproving. “Indeed, we
do
have souls, child,” Master Kiryl said
firmly. “I know not of your deity, but I assure you that Seni does exist as
surely as we now sit in this room.”

Allison stared down at her hands, feeling somewhat ashamed by her
words. She felt that she had offended him, but what really bothered her was
that Aidric looked even more upset by her words. “I didn’t mean to be—if I
offended you, then I’m really sorry. I have a bad habit of saying things I
shouldn’t.”

“You are not of our world and could not possibly share our beliefs,” the
Seer reasoned. “Thus, I took no offense of your words. Tell me, why is it that
you find it so difficult to accept the ability to Soulwalk when you have
already used it once before?”

Allison’s head shot up, and she stared at him in sudden fear. The
thought of having that kind of freaky ability frightened her, and she had hoped
to keep what she had done earlier from him lest he suggest that she try to do
it again. Apparently Kiryl had other plans.

“H-How do you know I’ve u-used it before?” she stammered.

“That is of no importance,” he replied offhandedly. “What
is
important is that you
have
used this ability, and you must continue to
use it.”

“But—but—I don’t know how I did it!” Allison cried. “I was
sleeping
,
and I thought that it was a dream. When I called out to Aidric with my warning,
I had no idea that he actually heard me!”

“Then you must learn,” Kiryl said sternly, ignoring the
hysteria in her voice. “It is prudent that you discover the power you hold within—this
I have Foreseen, for you are indeed the third sign Seni has sent us in warning
that the melding of the two worlds is near. It is our duty to protect all Seni
has wrought, and our failure means the destruction of all mankind.”

“Please,” Allison pleaded, her eyes beginning to swell with tears, “I
don’t understand any of this.”

Aidric took ahold of her right hand and squeezed it reassuringly, but
even that seemed to comfort her little after hearing Kiryl speak of her “duty”
in matters that she didn’t understand.
This is madness
, she thought
frantically.
The end of the world—prophecies—magic—it’s all madness!

“Child, know you not of the Prophecy of the Six?” she heard Kiryl ask,
distant as if he had spoken from a memory.

Her mouth was suddenly dry, and when she answered him, it
was all Allison could do just to get the words past the huge lump in her
throat. “I know some, Master Kiryl, but only the little that Aidric tried to
explain to me. I didn’t understand any of it then, either.”

“Then we shall ease your confusion,” he said. “Know you any of the
history of the kingdom of Natia and what befell it?”

“No.”

“Then we shall begin there.”

The Seer folded his hands and laid them onto his lap as if the story he
was about to tell was a long one. He stared deeply into her eyes for a long
while, maybe trying to read what lay hidden within, until Allison cast them
down nervously.

“You flee from the truth,” he commented after a few seconds of
uncomfortable silence. Her hands suddenly became very fascinating. “However,
truth is what you seek, thus the chaos that I sense within your soul. Listen
well, Allison McNeal, for within the words I shall speak, you will find the
answers your soul hungers for.”

Allison raised her eyes and blinked at him stupidly, more confused now
than ever.
Truths—what truths? And, did I even tell him my name…

“When Natia was the sole kingdom under the Thrones,” Kiryl
began, “mankind lived peacefully, and war was a word which had never crossed
their lips. This kingdom stretched far across the lands, its populous numbering
greater than anything you could imagine. However peace, as we all know, cannot
last among mortals, especially in a kingdom so great.

“As it happened, twin sons, Reznik and Rhan, were born to
the king, possessing unusually powerful mage abilities. Both brothers were
ambitious and held greed for power within their hearts. They grew up rivals,
and when their father was killed while on the hunt under suspicious
circumstances, though it was never proven that his sons were responsible, the
battle began for the throne.

“Understand that this was a time before the existence of Mage-fields. Now,
you may ask where then did mages draw their power from? Every living thing
consists of energy, thus constantly expelling energy. It is from this residual
energy in the air that a mage drew from. Mind you, none were more powerful than
the weakest of present-day mages, so you may well imagine the stir the birth of
the twins caused. Power such as they were capable of wielding was simply not
seen, thus they were greatly feared, more so when their father died.

“Factions quickly developed within the kingdom, those who sided with
Reznik and those with his brother, eventually dragging Natia into a civil war. Thus,
the kingdom split into three nations—Marzina, Masia, and Jadwiga. Reznik held
power over Marzina and Rhan over Masia, driving their personal forces against
each other, a savage slaughter of men who knew nothing of fighting for a throne
which each thought was rightfully his and his alone.

“Then there were those of Jadwiga, who chose to side with none,
horrified by what had become of their peaceful kingdom and wanting nothing of
war. For a year, they hid in their homes in fear as the swords clanged and the
very world seemed to rock on its foundation as the twins cast spell after spell
against each other. Many innocent lives were lost in the chaos, in battles, or
from starvation, for many feared to leave their homes. This war threatened to
destroy all of civilization.”

Kiryl paused in his tale and looked pointedly at Aidric. Aidric stared
back, unmoving, unblinking, and for the life of her, Allison could not figure
out how he could maintain such a steady composure in the presence of this
priest.

“This,” Kiryl continued, “which I am to speak of henceforth, not even
you, Mage-general, have knowledge of.”

“Why does that not surprise me,” Aidric replied dryly. “Today I’m
learning that there is indeed much your order has chosen to keep hidden from
the whole of mankind.”

“All for good purpose, young one, I assure you,” Kiryl said
undauntedly, choosing to ignore Aidric’s accusative tone. “Now, to my
tale—finally, in desperation, those who sought peace sent six men into the
wilderness far beyond the borders of the three nations, away from the madness
that was spreading like a plague hungry for flesh to devour, to meditate and
plead to Seni to deliver them from their torment. When the six men returned
after a half-moon, the Jadwigans were shocked to discover that they had
undergone a tremendous change. Seni had answered their prayers, but not as they
had expected.