Trials (44 page)

Whispers of approval were heard again from the group of Cult leaders.

“Yet… the second destiny… shows us the end of this little girl’s life soon after reaching her twenty-seventh spring… it is the Destiny of Death.”

On hearing that, Yuzumi reacted for the first time. She looked at the entranced Oracle with her black eyes.

“She will die on a battlefield, on the great continent, beyond the seas…”

“Why will I die?” Yuzumi asked the Oracle with a voice so calm that the blood froze in Isuzeni’s veins.

“That is what destiny shows me. The reasons are impossible for me to decipher.”

“I don’t want to die,” said Yuzumi, as if becoming aware that what was at stake was her own life.

“I can only tell what I see, and that is what has been revealed to me.”

“I don’t want to die,” Yuzumi repeated, looking more somber.

“One of the paths leads to glory and absolute power, the other to death. Your actions will be what determine what leads you to one or the other, my child.”

“I’m not going to die,” Yuzumi insisted with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

“I can tell you no more,” the old man said.

“I don’t believe you. What else do you see?” Yuzumi demanded in a tone so harsh it did not allow any doubt in the answer.

“Yuzumi… the Great Oracle is a wise man, he sees nothing more…” Isuzeni put in, trying to calm her.

“What else do you see?” she demanded again, but this time Isuzeni saw the girl’s power come to life. A flash as dark as jet ran through Yuzumi’s body, and a black cloud enveloped the old man.

Isuzeni tried to intervene. “Stop, Yuzumi!” he ordered amid the cries of surprise and fear from the leaders of the Cult. “Stop her!” they cried.

The Oracle arched his back even further, and his face showed acute pain.

“Tell me what you see,” Yuzumi demanded, increasing the power of the spell she held over the Oracle.

“Marked… I see the Marked… aagh… he is who will kill you… aagh…”

“Marked? Who’s that?”

“He will… be born… aagh… this summer… in Tremia…”

“Where?”

“Aagh… in… aagh… the West…”

“How will I find him?”

“Aagh… his power… will be… as great as yours…”

“Stop, Yuzumi, you’ll kill him!” demanded Isuzeni.

“What do you see, old man?”

“A Skull… aagh… an object of power… the premonition reveals… the fate which awaits you… aagh… stop, girl… aagh… you’re consuming me…”

Isuzeni grabbed Yuzumi’s shoulders and pulled hard, breaking the spell.

The Oracle fell to the ground in a faint. Isuzeni ran to his side, knelt down and held his head delicately. His face appeared mummified; all life had been sucked out of him.

“She’s… stolen my… life… her power is enormous… and her ambition infinite… She’ll bring death wherever she goes… to all her eyes fall on… to all her fingers touch…” With a deep sigh, the Great Oracle departed.

Sadly, Isuzeni considered one of the great contradictions: the one who could see the destiny of others had been cursed by being unable to foretell his own. In some way the universe itself balanced those extremes of power which were themselves unbalanced. The old man never even imagined that this little girl would be the cause of his death. The loss of the Oracle was irreparable for all Toyomi.

“Why, Yuzumi?” Isuzeni asked her in dismay.

“I shall not die,” she replied, unmoved.

“She has killed the Oracle! What a disgrace! She must be punished!” cried the leaders of the Cult in outrage.

And punished she was. Yet the punishment, although severe, left her as indifferent as had draining the life of the Oracle. As would happen in turn when years later she did away with the leaders of the Cult and assumed power.

The Dark Lady was born that day, the day she killed the Oracle who had seen her destiny. And nothing would ever stop her.

Nothing.

From that moment on, the Dark Lady’s compulsive obsession had been to find the Marked and the Skull of Destiny. The second was already in her possession. An Object of Power which Isuzeni craved for himself, for the incredible advantage of knowing the future, and most particularly his own. Although he had to admit that in his Mistress’s case, the Skull had done nothing but show what the Oracle had already foretold. And worse still, the vision projected by the Skull had turned Yuzumi’s greatest fear into a reality that was almost tangible. It was one thing to know that one’s destiny might end in death, a very different one to witness it over and over again, trying to pick out the slightest hint which might provide the means to prevent it from happening. Isuzeni wondered whether it would not drive his Mistress crazy. She had witnessed the Premonition so many times that her obsession with preventing it might very easily turn into insanity… But it was best not to think about that…

The truth was that the Skull’s premonitions, which at first were no more than a vague echo of the Oracle’s, had materialized into a concrete vision, each time more exact and revealing. With it they had managed to close in on the Marked, but he had miraculously managed to slip between their fingers.

Until then.

He could no longer hide from the Dark Lady. The Great Empress was landing on the beach at that moment, and Isuzeni watched her in wonder. Surrounded by her personal guard of Moyuki and an aura of undeniable power which enveloped her, she advanced unstoppably. Behind her followed her army of seventy thousand men, who would take the whole West of Tremia and turn over every stone until they found the Marked and killed him.

The Premonition would not be fulfilled.

He had no possible escape, he or however many were with him.

The moment has arrived, the moment of achieving the Dark Lady’s Destiny of Glory and burying the Destiny of Death forever.

A strange feeling came over Isuzeni, and he shivered. He looked around in surprise, trying to find where it had come from.
It must be the wind,
he thought
. The climate is different in this land, and I’m not used to it.
He looked at the armies disembarking and when he did he felt that strange sensation again.
No, it isn’t the wind, this has an arcane origin. Magic is being used around me, somewhere very close to me.

“Beware!” he said to his two Dark Priests.

Both tensed at once and took hold of their skulls, the objects of power which helped them to enhance their death spells. Isuzeni preferred to use his staff; the power in it was greatly superior to that of the skulls.

“Can you feel it?” Isuzeni asked, looking at the sky and closing his eyes.

His acolytes imitated him.

“Yes, Master, I feel magic… But I can’t tell where it’s coming from,” Cenem said.

“It’s not here, Master, I feel it far away, being invoked in a very distant place. It can’t hurt us,” said Narmos.

Isuzeni raised his staff above his head and made several circular movements as he cast a spell.

“We’re being spied upon, that’s what’s happening,” he said, deeply troubled.

“Spying?” said Narmos. “Who, Master? Nobody knows we’re here.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Isuzeni said. “I’ll cast a spell of great power to follow the trace of this magic to its source. Let’s see who is being so curious… next we’ll find whoever it is, and they’ll die.”

At that same moment, at the other end of the continent, in the highlands of the West, a woman with a face lined like parchment and silver hair raised her hands and conjured in haste in a hidden cave.

“By the three goddesses, let the vision vanish without leaving a trace!” she exclaimed, and immediately cast a spell with ancient words of power.

“Only just, Missie, only just!” snorted Amtoko, shaking her arms.

The panther growled in reply to her mistress.

“This man with the slanted eyes is very powerful, very powerful indeed. He felt us watching, and it takes a great amount of power to manage that. I hope I stopped the spell in time and that he wasn’t able to track us here. No, he wouldn’t have had time, I’m sure. Otherwise…”

The panther went up to her and roared, as if to make it plain that she would defend her from that man and all evil.

“I know, my faithful friend, I know you’ll protect me. But we face great dangers, dangers unlike any other we’ve ever fought against.”

She looked around at her secret chamber inside the great cavern which was her home. Age-old runes decorated the walls, together with bearskins and skulls of different wild animals. She lowered her gaze and looked at the representation of the three Norriel goddesses engraved on the floor, presiding over that most sacred of places where Amtoko carried out her most secret rituals. There, under the protection of the Goddesses, she was safe from all evil. They would never find her —or would they?

She looked into the small pool of black water she was leaning over: the Mirror of Visions. Its surface, which until moments before had seemed a great mirror and which she had been using to spy on the enemy, using her most precious power, clairvoyance, was now once again the surface of a pool. As long as she did not use it they would not be able to find her. But the enemy would be now paying attention to her magic. Amtoko knew that. She would have to keep her wits about her, or else the slant-eyed sorcerers would locate her.

She pondered about what she had just witnessed in the Pool of Visions and she was frightened, so frightened that it made her soul shrink. What she had feared so deeply and had been praying would not happen, was already there. Endless evil, the same evil which was bringing infinite suffering and which was searching for Komir to kill him, had arrived in Tremia, was landing at that precise moment with an unstoppable host on the coasts of the far east. The horror that yearned to conquer the world and subject it to its maleficent power, sinking it into darkness and absolute terror, was already in Tremia.

It’s coming. This evil will soon flood over us, bringing unfathomable pain and horror to all peoples, including ours. The Norriel are in deadly danger.

A spasm of terror ran through Amtoko’s frail body, but the Silver Witch recovered after a moment. She patted her beloved panther and overcame her fear.

“It’s time to act, my friend. We must do whatever is in our hands to deny the evil this destiny craves. As long as I live, I’ll fight for my people. I won’t let it destroy us, I won’t allow it.”

“Norriel we are, and Norriel we shall die,”

The panther roared, catching the fighting spirit of her mistress.

“And the first thing we must do is warn Komir. His destiny is already here and is coming to find him. To kill him.”

I have the good fortune to have great friends and a fantastic family, and it’s thanks to them that this book is now a reality. I cannot put into words the incredible support they’ve given me during this voyage of epic proportions.

I would like to thank my good friend Guiller C for all of his support, unwavering encouragement, and unbeatable advice. This saga, not just this book, never would have existed if not for you.

Sara M., who has supported me, helped me, taught me, and most of all, put up with me with infinite patience for thousands of hours—thank you for having been here by my side, and thank you for all your selfless work and efforts.

Roser M., for the lectures, the commentaries, the critiques; for everything you taught me and all your help on a thousand and one things. And for being such a great guy.

The Bro, who—as always—supported me and helped me as only he can.

My parents, who are the best in the world and have been an incredible help and support to me on this and all my projects.

Guiller B, for all your great advice, ideas, help and, above all, support.

Olaya Martinez for being an exceptional editor, a tireless worker, a tremendous professional and, above all, for her encouragement and excitement—not to mention everything she has taught me along the way.

Sarima, for being an amazing artist with exquisite taste who draws like an angel. Visit her web page:
http://envuelorasante.com/
.

 And finally, many thanks to you, the reader, for supporting a new writer embarking on his first work. I hope you have enjoyed the book. And if so, I would very much appreciate a review and a hearty recommendation to your friends and acquaintances.

Thank you so very much.

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