Return to Arrazuole (Part3)

Chapter Seven

         Jenna felt for sure that her lungs were going to burst with the effort needed to keep up with her strange companion.  Her leg muscles were screaming out with pain and even though the night air was clearly freezing, beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. Still, the stranger didn’t break his pace for a second. Not even when Jenna caught her foot on some invisible obstacle in the grass and pitched forward into his arms. He righted her just as quickly, then continued with his effortless sprint.
“Where are we going?!” Jenna managed to find the energy to call out before succumbing to fit of coughing.
Her companion suddenly stopped, surveying the empty park as if he had no trouble seeing in the dark. 
“This way!”
Jenna didn’t waste any time arguing, and scrambled down the steep path after his faint silhouette. Within seconds she found herself stood next to the lake, her companion staring into the dark waters.   
         “Ok….,” Jenna struggled to form words while she panted with oxygen starved lungs, “I think its time you told me what’s going on.”
Her companion seemed satisfied that they were safe for the time being, and visibly relaxed. Jenna felt her mouth run dry and stomach tighten as she witnessed what he did next!
Moving closer to the water’s edge, he carefully placed his fingertips onto the still surface.  As gentle as his touch was, ripples floated from his fingers in ever-quicker succession.  Jenna watched with widening eyes as the water quivered and quavered, its calm exterior becoming a whirling mass of colours that seemed to be falling into shapes. Her surprise only intensified as she started to recognise the shapes-faces, bodies-about a dozen of them – all staring up from the water.
As the water calmed, the scene grew clearer.  She could distinctly make out twelve faces, all male save one, arranged in a circle. They appeared to be in some sort of stone room or gallery, the light flickering strangely across the walls. Her surprise only intensified when one of the faces started to speak!
“Javai, we were becoming concerned.”  The voice came from an elderly looking gentleman, with piercing blue eyes and a long white moustache that extended well beyond his chin. “What has taken you so long?” The voice held a note of concern.
“Sarne’s shadow knights found us.” 
The concern turned into outright fear.
“Shadow knights! That means Sarne knows of our plans…..are you OK? Were you or the princess hurt?”
“No, myself and…” her companion shot her a fleeting look, “the princess…are fine. Though I would feel a lot safer on that side of the water.”
“Oh of course, of course….Hegarel, open the gateway-at once.” The elderly gentleman seemed to be addressing one of the other faces who immediately disappeared from view.
All through this exchange, Jenna had remained silent and immobile, mesmerised by the scene playing out in front of her. But something snapped her back to reality, and she began to back away slowly, her eyes never leaving the water.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Her companion stood up and turned his attention from the water to her.
“I’m getting out of here, this is just too weird!”
         “Are you insane! If you go home, there will be shadow knights waiting for you.  Do you know what it is like to have your soul eaten by a shadow knight? The pain, that lasts for all eternity? Believe me, it is not pleasant.” He swiftly closed the distance between them. “You are coming with me.”
“Coming where?” Jenna heard the fear rising in her voice again.  She was about to make her escape when she noticed the phenomenon occurring behind her companions shoulder. 
About five feet from the ground in a darkened patch of the park, next to a tree, a silver light was burning.  A ball of flame, that grew and grew, swirling like a tidal wave and cutting through the darkness.  Her companion didn’t seem at all perturbed by this sudden event, as he walked towards it and motioned for her to do the same.
“Come on, it’s open.  We have to be quick, the shadow knights could be here any second.”
“What is it?” Jenna could hardly believe she was still here having this conversation.
He looked at her as if she was a simpleton.
“It’s the gateway. Come on!”
The silvery light had now become a solid oval, around six feet high and three feet wide. It hovered a few inches above the ground. Jenna couldn’t see anything inside it or through it.
“I’m not going in there! Look I don’t know who you are, or who you think I am, but I’m really not the person your looking for.  I’m just a waitress from New York!’
Her companion’s eyes flashed with impatience as he turned to her face her.
“Believe me, there is not a single person in the universe who wants that to be true more than me. But, unfortunately for both of us, it isn’t. Now are you coming or not?” 
Jenna stared at her companion, the silver light, the direction from which they had come. Her thoughts returned to what had happened at her apartment…..
“Well?”
She had a feeling she was going to regret this….



Chapter Eight

         Mokanishyo paced impatiently across the cavernous cell, the sound of the icy water slapping the damp, stone floor penetrating deep into his brain.  As he watched the blue tinged light that had penetrated his frozen prison recede back into the glacial walls, he knew he had lost another day to this place.
Hurling himself onto the rickety, iron frame that served as his bed, he draped an arm over his eyes and imagined himself far away from this place. His mind wandered back to his previous life-the studies, the extravagances, the girls…..how had he allowed this to happen to himself? He had always been so careful.  Though his sentence had been totally unfair! But the new regime had to prove they were being tough on crime, especially on rouge mages.
A sudden clamour outside his cell snapped him back to the present moment.  Heaving himself upright, his curiosity led him over to the wrought iron bars that stretched the eight feet that made up the height of his cell. Casually wrapping his arms around the bars, he rested his forehead against the freezing metal as he attempted to ascertain what has caused the noise.
The corridors were badly lit, with no light from the outside world reaching them. The only source of illumination, an occasional candle carried by a warden.  Still, just to his left, Mokanishyo was able to make out the bodies of two wardens, clearly embroiled in some sort of dispute.  Scattered around their feet were pieces of what looked like armour, though ancient looking armour at that.
“Watch yourself!” hissed one of the wardens. “Take this to the isolation wing-now. And make sure no-one sees you!”
“Why do I have to go?!” replied an equally angry voice. “It was your idea anyway.”
“Just do as you are told, we may be searched any minute.”
Mokanishyo smiled as he greeted the wardens cheerfully.
“Good evening gentleman, pleasant evening is it not?”
The wardens’ heads jerked in the direction of Mokanishyo’s cell, as if suddenly realising they were not the only inhabitants of the prison.
“May I help you gentleman with something?,” continued Mokanishyo as if this was a perfectly normal situation. “You appear to be struggling under the weight of that armour. I would be more than happy to lend a hand if….” he swept his hands encompassley around his cell, “I wasn’t stuck in here. Though of course, if you were to open it for the time being…”
         “Yeah, and I should just give you the keys to the gates of the prison as well, you know – so you can stretch your legs a bit before bedtime.” The first warden to speak came over to his cell, apparently unimpressed.
Mokanishyo placed his hand over his heart and said mockingly,
“Your trust in me is truly touching.”
“Get back to bed mage, and forget everything you’ve seen here.”
The warden was about to rejoin his colleague when Mokanishyo’s voice, deadly serious this time, stopped him.
“Ah, well, that’s where we have a problem. See, I have a very good memory.”
The warden’s eyes clouded over.
“Did I hear mention of a search?” Mokanishyo asked innocently.
“What do you want, mage?”
“For now, nothing, though I do hope that, in the future, my co-operation will be-duly noted?”
The warden grimaced slightly as he forced out the words,
“Duly noted.” 
Satisfied with the outcome, Mokanishyo made a show of returning to his bed, listening to the wardens attempt to continue their activities quietly this time.  He had no idea what they were up to, nor did he really care. Though he had learned early on that in this regime, knowledge could often be the difference between life and death.  Whether this would prove worth knowing about it, he had yet to found out. But one thing was for sure.
He was going to find out.

Chapter Nine

         Swimming through a sea of lights, that swirled in an eternal kaleidoscope around her, Jenna felt her body lose any sense of weight or mass.  For what could have been seconds, minutes or hours, she floated on in a world where the laws of time and space did not seem to exist, pulled along effortlessly as if by an invisible current.
Just as suddenly as her strange journey had begun, it ended.  A blinding white light burst forth from far away in the distance, roaring towards them like an insatiable fire.  From somewhere deep in her mind, Jenna was aware that her companion still had a tight hold on her arm.  As the light grew ever nearer, she wanted to scream, but couldn’t make her voice work. Her muscles were beyond her control, so she mentally braced herself for the imminent collision….
Darkness.  The light had vanished.  Jenna gradually became aware of her own body again, and gingerly tried to move first her arms then her legs, breathing a sigh of relief when she found she could. She was still surrounded by darkness until she realised this was due to the fact that her eyes were closed tight!
One eye opened, slowly followed by the other.  Jenna didn’t know what exactly she had expected to find, but this had certainly not been top of the list.
In front of her were a dozen or so people, all men, accept one.  A beautiful woman, stood slightly back from the rest, wearing an old-fashioned but exquisite dress.  Her long hair flowed down around her youthful face, and her sparkling eyes stared straight at Jenna.
She looked as if she hated her.
“Javai, thank the stars above you have arrived safely!” A man, so old he could have been in his hundreds, moved awkwardly forward. He was covered from the top of his chin to the ground at his feet in a heavy black robe, embroidered with strange symbols that Jenna didn’t recognise.  “You had us very worried.”
Jenna’s mind began to whir into life again, and she realised this man was addressing her companion, who until now, had stood silently by her side.
“We had some unexpected guests.” 
“Yes, yes, most unfortunate business….” the elderly gentleman shook his head, as if speaking to himself.  “Which only goes to show that we have no time to be complacent.”  As if noticing her for the first time, he turned his head towards her and gave her a fatherly smile. “Your majesty, I apologise for the abruptness of your journey here. It is not how we planned it.” He motioned in the direction of a circular, carved wooden table with a weathered hand. “Please be seated, both of you. It has been a long night no doubt.”
The consent appeared to apply to all the other individuals in the room as well, for they began to take their seats also.  As she moved towards an unoccupied seat, her eyes took in the rest of her surroundings. 
She was in some sort of vast, stone chamber, the only light source being candles that cast eerie shadows along the floor and walls.  Apart from the table, which took up most of the space in the room, the only other furniture was an elaborate, golden font brimming over with water.  Along one wall was a framed, faded parchment.  It was at least ten feet long and six feet wide.  As she looked closer, Jenna could make out the faint outlines of rivers, mountains, and towns, and it suddenly dawned on her that she was looking at a map.  In the very centre, a grand building presided over everything, with gilt lettering delicately painted underneath it, but time had taken its toll, and Jenna was unable to make out what it had once said.  In the far right corner, a large chunk of the frame and map were missing, with unmistakeable scorched patches on the remaining parchment, as if some time in the past someone had tried to burn it. As she continued to absorb her environment, she became acutely aware that all eyes were on her…..
“She doesn’t look much like a princess.”
The voice belonged to the woman, who was leaning back into her chair looking decisively bored. 
“Appearances can be deceptive Arriarna, you of all people should know that.”  The man in the black robe spoke again.  It seemed he was in charge of this gathering. “All that matters is that generations of Allamar blood flows in her veins.”
“What are you talking about?” Jenna heard her voice before she even realised she was speaking. 
A shadow passed over the old mans face, and his eyes tinged with sadness.
“Eighteen years ago, our Kingdom was ravaged by a bloody civil war.  Led by some rebellious knights, whose sworn duty it was to protect the Kingdom and the Royal Family, the citizens of the various realms were encouraged to rise up against each other.  Yes, they were problems in the Kingdom…..many felt that the aristocracy held too much power and were liable to abuse it…”
An indignant snort came from the direction of the woman. The man ignored her and continued.
“…but they were exaggerated to suit the purposes of the dissidents.  Many innocent people-men, women and children-lost their lives. But by then it was too late, the Knights had grasped power and retained it through fear and violence. Their last act was to rid the Kingdom of their only rivals-the Royal Family. The King and Queen, their son-in-law and their daughter. The Princess Oryarko.”
“What has this got to do with me?” Jenna’s voice was wavering.
“The Princess was with child. On the night they raided the palace, the Princess bore the child, and was able to smuggle the child out of the palace-before sacrificing her own life.” A deep sadness descended over the room…
“The child was bought to the Uripideus-a group of mages with extraordinary power. We created a gateway to another world, to protect the child until the time was safe for it to return.”
Jenna heard a roaring in her head.  As if she was beyond understanding, the man leaned forward across the table and spoke to her softly.
“That child was you.”

Return to Arrazuole (Part4)  (E) a new york waitress discovers her destiny.... #1453387 by tag2412