Sunday, December 05, 2004

Chapter 8

Sitting in her bed, in the room's red darkness, Evaila watched the Blood Moon's rising in the ridges. It was still a strange view, that red disk in the bleak skies, giving everything its unnatural red glow. Though it was beautiful - in fact, one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. Mil'garion had no moon, or, at least, no visible one - it was day all the time, as if the whole world was ever presencing a glimmering dawnbreak. Only the Earth had a moon - but nothing like the Underworld's.

The angel raised from her bed and covered her naked body with a black dress she'd in the closet. She couldn't sleep, and wasn't feeling as staying in bed waiting the slumber. She didn't know the castle, though she was there for some months. It seemed a good time to take a walk through it.

She left the room, walked to the end of the hallway and descended the stairs, heading to the cathedral. Narayan shouldn't be there at that hour, she thought, and probably he wouldn't mind if she went there without him. She found no one in the corridors, as if everyone was sleeping.

A cold chill traversed her as she crossed the heavy door's threshold and entered the wide cathedral. It was impressive, no less magnificient than the great ivory temples of her homeworld. The high ceiling was sustained by titanic columns made of obsidian, as the walls, the floor, the ceiling itself. The cathedral was illuminated only by the moon's red light behind the great colored window; the torches stuck in the collumns were not lighted.

She stared at the mettalic throne and approached it. Touching its cold surface made her remember the day she'd arrived there, and the man who used to sit on it, misterious but somehow friendly.

Her thoughts were suddenly cut by a loud 'click' sound made by a small mettalic button hidden in the throne that her fingers touched by accident. A wooden panel on the right wall slided down, revealing an unknown passageway for some hidden place. For a moment she stood still, staring at the dark hallway she had in front of her eyes. She imagined Narayan had many, many secrets. But a secret place inside the castle...

A sudden rush of curiosity stroke her. What could possibly be in the other side? Slowly and silently, she approached the opening. She knew she had no right to enter. If he hadn't shown it to her, he must have his own reasons, and she had nothing to do with that. However... what was he hiding?

Curiosity was strong and won the fight. Looking around to be sure that no one was watching her, she crossed the threshold the wall revealed and descended the stairs into the darkness.

It wasn't a room, but a long and dark corridor, with no doors nor windows. No ornaments of any kind. She walked through it, until she founds a rusted iron door at this end. It was closed. For a moment, she thought of going back. But it was just a thought. The following moment she was pushing the door.

A wide room appeared. It must be still a part of the castle, for its walls were too made of black obsidian. It must be underground, though. There were no windows. The room was illuminated by two torches placed in the wall of her left. Below the torches there was what seemed a study table, some crystals and strange artifacts left on it in a disorganized fashion. Large bookshelves filled with ancient books, dusty scrolls and scattered papers covered the other walls. At the center of the room, there was another table, this one smaller. Another artifact was placed on it.

Time itself vanished as she stared in disbelief at what was laying in that table. It was a weapon - a long spear, made of some kind of strange metal, that seemed both silver and steel. It's edge had not only one blade, but three, shaped like a cross. It had no ornaments of any kind; still there was an eerie aura involving it, surrounding the artifact with some kind of dark energy.

The Destiny's Edge. Evaila recognized it almost immediately. She could remember see it drawn in the pages of some old books at Mil'Garion's Archives. A legendary weapon made - according to the ancestral legend - by Nitramneadh, the God of the Dead, capable of release an unimaginable power in the tower with the god's name. Legends said the one who owned the Edge was given an unmatched power and an immortal army. She never expected to find it there, in the heart of the Underworld. In fact, she never believed such a thing could really exist.

"You can believe in your eyes. It is real", said a voice behind her.

She turned immediately to see Narayan at the door's threshold, looking at her with an impenetrable expression. Caught, she thought. She had been caught in a forbidden room, with a forbidden artifact. She stood silent, wanting to say something but having no courage for that.

Narayan entered the room and closed the door. He walked to the table and grabbed the spear. A somehow bitter smile was drawn in his lips. "The Destiny's Edge. Norcross gave it to me some years ago. Think he found it somewhere in Earth."

He made a pause and laughed. "Of course, he had no idea what this thing is. For him, it might be just another weapon. If in his dreams he guessed that this was the legendary Destiny's Edge, I've no doubt that I'd have to fight his entire warhost inside this castle's walls."

He turned to Evaila, who remained silent, afraid of his reaction. He looked at her and smiled, bitterness away. "You weren't supposed to know about this yet. But whatever. Everything that happened so far today wasn't supposed to."

"What... what are you going to do with that? Who are you?", asked Evaila with some hesitation, trying to find a way to escape.

"Chill out", he said, knowing she was affraid of him then. "I said I wouldn't hurt you. I always keep my promises. You don't have to fear me."

"Do you even know what do you have in your hands? That -", she pointed to the spear hanging in his hands. "If that is indeed real, so are its legends..."

Narayan returned the Destiny's Edge to the table. "I know that. I know the power I have. And I understand your confusion, your fears", he said, turning to her. "I own a weapon that probably could finish the Underworld, and I do nothing. So, I must be working with the Underworld, planning to use this weapon against the Earth and Mil'Garion. Is this what you're thinking?"

"I... I don't know...", she replied, confused. "You... you've been the only one who cared about me since I came here... I don't want to believe that... but I don't know..."

"I am not with Norcross and the others. But there are somethings that I simply cannot avoid."

He sat on a chair next to the study table. "I've just arrived from the Warlords' Council. Norcross revealed his intentions of launching a full-scale invasion on Earth. He slained every warlord who opposed him. The others gave him their warhosts. He proclaimed himself Emperor."

"What?!", Evaila asked, caught by surprise.

"Before the next moonrise, the legions of the Underworld will be overruning the Earth. And believe me, together under Norcross' rulership, they have power more than enough to do that. I don't know if even the angels could stop them this time. Norcross has been workin' on this for almost two thousand years."

"It can't be!", she exclaimed. "There must be some way to stop them... You! You can stop them! With that!", she pointed to the Destiny's Edge again.

"No, I can't. Not yet", he replied, raising from the chair. "I'm coming with them. I'm supposed to help, as the most powerful necromancer the Underworld have... and you're coming with me."

She was about to complain about that, but Narayan was fastest than her. He approached her and put a finger in her warm lips softly, looking into her deep blue eyes. "Trust me", he said, almost a whisper. "I am not with them. But Norcross can't know that now. I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to stay with me. Can I count on you..?"

He let down his finger and his hand. Evaila looked at him, without understanding. He said we was going to cooperate with Norcross, but he had a plan... what was he thinking? Asking was pointless; though she didn't know him well, she knew him well enough to be sure that he wouldn't say nothing more then.

He asked her to trust him. She shouldn't; but there was something inside that was saying she could trust him. "Yes", she said, without thinking, allowing the voice inside her to speak. "I trust you."

2 Comments:

Blogger Linisuen said...

Excellent stuff! I'm intrigued.

December 17, 2004 at 8:05 AM  
Blogger Linisuen said...

What happens next???

January 10, 2005 at 5:50 AM  

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