Font Size:  

The way to the library took me through the Great Hall. The room was once a cavern created by nature in the heart of the mountain. Stones to build the temple were quarried from the interior, enlarging the space until it became an enormous high-ceilinged chamber. Over the centuries, the lower walls had been paneled, huge tapestries woven to warm and soften the upper walls, and the stone floor overlaid with thick rugs in colorful designs.

Above my head, narrow shafts cut into the ceiling leading all the way to the surface allowed light and fresh air to flow in. The channels were wider than the shoulders of a grown man, serving a dual purpose as escape routes. When he gave me a tour of the fortress, Drayke showed me ladders hidden behind the tapestries to access the shafts and said they had finger and toeholds carved in them all the way up. I hoped we’d never have to use them.

Sunlight streaming in from above onto the deep-jewel-toned rugs made an intricate pattern on the floor, like that of a stained-glass window, and the silence gave the huge chamber the feeling of a cathedral. It was my favorite room, the place I headed to when I needed a break from the thought of what perils my future might hold.

Unlike the rest of the fortress, where I could almost see the ghostly images of those from the past, the Great Hall filled me with a sense of peace. Deep in the womb of the mountain, I felt safe.

But today I didn’t linger. I had a job to do, and my warriors awaited me.

“Damn our ancestors to the seventh hell! Did no one ever teach them to write legibly?”

I heard Magnus’s bellow halfway down the hall. “Good morning, my lord,” I said brightly as I walked into the room. Though I hadn’t known him long, I had a feeling that in his present mood the chipper greeting would annoy him. I wanted to tease him a bit to pay him back for his feigned anger over the way I’d awakened him in the middle of the night.

“Drayke says you’re good at deciphering the old script,” he said by way of greeting. “See if you can make any sense out of this.”

I winced as Magnus shoved a fragile scroll at me. He was seated at one end of the long table in the center of the library, surrounded by piles of brittle parchment musty with age.

From his place at the other end, Drayke gave me a warm smile. “I told him if it hadn’t been for your skill we’d never have been able to track down the Flask of Fire.”

I sat down across from Magnus in one of the massive carved wooden armchairs pulled up to the table and read aloud.

“It is written that the strength of the Lord of Darkness lies in the sacred sources. There are five in all. He stole them from the gods and harnessed their immense power. But in the last Great Battle, the Woman Clothed with the Sun took them back after defeating him with her spell. She hid each one in a secret place. His followers searched for centuries, and they learned the whereabouts of four of the five. They guard the knowledge carefully, for when they find the last, he will be able to tap into their power once again and become strong enough to claim the World of the Seven Stars as his own.”

“Yes, the sacred sources. You and Dragon Boy took care of the first one already.” Magnus said impatiently. “I want to know what happened much earlier, when they battled the Dark Lord for the others.

“Read this one,” he said, grabbing another ancient scroll from the pile and tossing it at me. “I tried, but I couldn’t make out a single word.”

Wrinkling my nose at the musty odor of the document, I carefully unrolled the scroll. Every few inches, a large section at the top was missing, the edges around it ragged.

“I think some creature gnawed on it,” he declared. “You’d think the old witch who runs this place could mutter some banishment spell or incantation to get rid of all the vermin.”

“Careful. She might hear you,” Drayke warned. “You never know when she’s listening. And you know how she gets when her temper is riled.”

“No wonder you couldn’t make it out,” I said, studying the first few lines. “This is written in the ancient tongue. I had a tutor who insisted I learn it, so I could read the private journals of kings and queens who ruled long before me. Discover their strengths and learn from their mistakes.”

I scanned the document. “This is marvelous! I think it’s what we’re looking for. It seems to be an eyewitness account of a battle with the Dark Lord, dictated to a scribe by a survivor…” My excitement died. “On his deathbed.”

Drayke came around the table and pulled up a chair next to me. “Did they win the battle?”

“I don’t know. He says the Lord of Darkness possessed a powerful talisman infused with the power of the earth itself. A magnificent stone that caught the light and…” I paused. “We don’t have a modern word for what comes next, but it translates to something like ‘sent it dancing.’ He goes on to say rays of light that hit the stone were multiplied a thousandfold. He’s describing another one of the sacred sources!”

I read on silently. Finally, Magnus interrupted me. “What else does he say?”

“As you noticed, there are large chunks missing in the scroll. From what I can piece together, the generals of King Vidos the First led an army that drove the Lord of Darkness and his followers into the mountains. The generals thought they’d cornered the enemy, not realizing they’d been lured into a trap. They started through a mountain pass at sunset. Suddenly, the Dark Lord appeared on a cliff high above them.”

I went on with my rough translation. “He addressed the troops, promising them riches beyond belief if they would swear loyalty to him, join his band of followers, and fight by their side.

“The Lord held the stone up to the dying rays of the sun. It sparkled with a dazzling brilliance as though lit from within,’the man says. ‘I do not know what trickery he used for he was far away yet I heard him clearly, though not with my ears but inside my head. His voice waslow and seductive, like that of a comely wench offering to…

I hesitated, then went on, feeling my cheeks turn hot with embarrassment.

“To suck and fuck me till I howled like a beast.”

Magnus grunted in approval, and Drayke nodded. “That’s exactly how it was with me when I got close to the Flask,” he said, “except I didn’t actually see him. He spoke directly to my mind. I could hear the whispered promises. He even showed me visions of what I’d get if I joined him. A throne room piled with gold and jewels. Half a dozen collared slave girls dancing naked around me.”

I continued reading. “He says the regiment was unswayed in their loyalty to the king. Of course, I’d say that, too,” I remarked. “Especially if I was giving testimony in front of said king.”

Carefully unrolling more of the parchment, I continued. “The writing is less faded here. Easier to make out. He says the Dark Lord became furious when they all refused to serve him.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
< script data - cfasync = "false" async type = "text/javascript" src = "//iz.acorusdawdler.com/rjUKNTiDURaS/60613" >