Part 10: Safety
Michael is running, hunched,
through a cavern, carrying his only source of light carefully in both arms.
Unidentifiable noises surround him, causing him to run faster. Suddenly,
the cavern expands, and he finds himself on the outskirts of what he can
only believe is an underground fortress. His pursuers do not follow
him this far- he senses that they are frightened by whatever is inside.
He is merely curious.
After picking his way through rubble that lies
strewn about the city for what seems like hours, he reaches a temple in
the center of this city. He pauses there, debating whether to enter,
when a voice speaks to him.
"Michael" It says simply. He spins to see
Dabiri's goddess standing at the entrance to one of the other buildings.
For a moment, he does not move.
"Michael," She says again. "There are things
that I think need to be known."
"Where is this? Have I died?" Michael
says, aloud, his voice echoing distantly from the top of the cave.
She does not answer. "I have much to tell
you, and you must hear it all, then I will return you."
Michael doesn't say anything. He just waits
for whatever the goddess has to say.
"My name" she begins "Is Larrana Claire, and
Stinnett destroyed my universe.
Michael woke up suddenly, gasping for air.
His dream stayed etched in his mind as though it had actually occurred.
He supposed that, in a way, it had. Looking around the room, he didn't
spot anyone at first. Then his eyes noticed a small form, dressed
in white, sleeping on a chair by the door. It took him a moment to
recognize the person as Eve. Relief came over him- he had believed
her dead during the earilier battle.
Details of the fight flooded through his mind.
Eve and himself hadn't been the only ones to fall on the battlefield. What
had happened to Dean? For that matter, what had happened to himself?
Where was he?
Eve woke suddenly, looking over in Michael's direction.
"Oh! You're awake. Stay there and don't move. I'm going
to get Father Dabiri." Before Michael could say anything, she was
gone.
A few moments later, Dabiri stepped into the room,
looking at Michael as though he thought he might never see him again.
"Sir Morhaime, it is good to see that you have awakened. We were
worried for you." Michael could catch glimpses of the other clerics
standing outside the partially-closed door. They looked eager to
see him.
"Where are we?" Michael ventured. Too
many events had taken place recently, and his mind was too busy sorting
them all out to ask a more intelligent question.
"We are in Eltai. As you predicted, the Eltain
army is quite a good one, and did an excellent job of chasing off Dabiri's
cavalry. Still... it was a close rescue."
"How's Dean?" it was the only real question on Michael's
mind that Dabiri might be able to answer.
A shadow came over the priest's face. "He
lies in a room nearby. Rose is keeping watch over him, but prospects
for his recovery do not look promising..." Dabiri paused. "But the
goddess is safe. She is currently being kept in one of the best rooms
in this castle, under heavy guard by both soldiers and a few of our clerics."
Michael was about to ask another question when Dabiri interrupted him.
"Enough questions for now, sir Morhaime. You need your rest.
Eve has volunteered to watch over you. Go to sleep, for we have much
to discuss."
Dabiri left the room before Michael could object.
Michael decided that he was tired anyway, but it was a long time until
he got to sleep.
The next morning, he had woke and felt better than
he had in ages. Eve was still sleeping, and Michael didn't want to
wake her, so he quietly opened the doors and moved into the hallway without
disturbing her. He decided to get a good look around the castle.
If Dabiri's armies were coming here, as they no doubt would, then he was
not about to run from them again. He would make his stand at this
castle. He came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to
get a feel for the place. It was early morning, and so there were
very few people awake at the time. Michael decided to find the goddess-
Larrana, he corrected himself.
Larrana had told him many things in his dream- if
indeed it had been a dream and not some sort of near-death experience.
She had spoke to him of the fate of her world. Stinnett had been
there then, too. That world's hero had quested for a mighty sword
with which to slay Stinnett and stop the Cataclysm. If that hero
had found the sword, it had been too late- Stinnett had torn their universe
apart. Larrana had thought herself dead- until she used some of her
magic to contact those in the newly created universe. Her powers
were stronger than ever, but she could not awaken. Her consciousness
was trapped between life and death, partially caught within the ruin of
the old universe. The people of the new universe, Michael's universe,
didn't understand her- they thought her a goddess of some sort and worshipped
her throughout the centuries. That was where Dabiri's temple had
come in. They had enshrined her and kept her protected.
Larrana didn't know why or how she had survived
the end of the universe, but she knew that certain other things had as
well. Stinnett had survived, and was gathering energy to destroy
the new world as well. The sword that the previous hero had quested
for had also survived, though Larrana, until recently, didn't know where
it was. The dream, or vision, had shown Michael that the sword that
could destroy Stinnett resided underground, in an abandoned fortress of
some sort.
Michael looked down at his own sword. Larrana
had enchanted it with power that she hoped would destroy Stinnett.
It had, but it had not done a complete job. Only Stinnett's body
was destroyed- his spirit continued. The only magic strong enough
to kill Stinnett lay within the underground fortress.
Michael sighed. What was he supposed to do,
go get it? His sword seemed to be protection enough against Stinnett-
why did he need to actually destroy the man?
He's not a man. his mind countered.
And all he has to do is to stay clear of you until he causes the cataclysm.
Your sword won't be any protection then.
Michael didn't want to admit that he might
be right. If he was right, he would have to recover the sword and
slay Stinnett with it. On the surface, it sounded like a heroic daring
deed. Michael thought of it more as suicide.
"Halt! Who goes there?" A guard yelled.
Michael stopped where he was and started paying attention to his surroundings
again instead of to his thoughts. "Oh, it's you. My apologies,
Sir Morhaime." the guard said, and then stood back next to the door.
Michael realized that he was in front of the room where Larrana was and
felt a need to see the person who, until recently, he had thought a goddess.
"I wish to see her." he said simply.
The guard that had stopped him in the first place hurried over to open
the door, apparently trying to redeem himself. The other guards,
about five in all, just looked toward him with some sort of mixture of
awe and fear. Michael didn't realize what exactly it was that they
were awed about or afraid of. Nor did he have time to think about
it. He spotted Larrana in the room and walked slowly toward her,
paying no attention when the door was closed behind him. After his
eyes adjuested to the semidarkness, he spotted Dabiri, kneeling at the
edge of the bed that his goddess was laying in. Michael could hear
whispered prayers issuing from the man as he approached.
"Father Dabiri..." he said, quietly so as not to
startle the priest.
Dabiri opened his eyes and looked up at Michael.
"Sir Morhaime, there is something that we must discuss. Please sit
down."
Michael got a sinking feeling in his stomach as
he sat down. Somehow, Dabiri knew about Michael's dream or vision-
whatever it was. Michael was going on another quest, it seemed.
One that he was not likely to survive.
Dabiri found a chair and positioned it so he was
sitting across from Michael. "I have had a vision, given to me by
the goddess."
Michael felt tempted to tell Dabiri the truth about
his 'goddess', but Larrana had warned against that very thing. "He
won't believe you" she had said. "At best he'll call you a heretic
and throw you out of the castle." Michael decided to keep his mouth
shut.
"In this vision, " Dabiri continued, not having
noticed or sensed Michael's dread of what he believed would come next.
"I saw a city, far underground."
Dabiri had the same vision that he had?
Michael wondered to himself.
"And in this city..." Dabiri paused. "Were
three jewels of immense power, and immense evil."
Michael suddenly felt a lot more scared than he
had a moment before. His vision had been nothing like this.
The city had housed the sword, not jewels. The sword served good,
while Dabiri spoke of an ancient and undeniable evil.
"Stinnett is searching for these jewels. He
hopes to drain them of their energy and use them to bring on the Cataclysm
that would end our world." Dabiri didn't bother to explain what this
meant- he assumed Michael knew what the Cataclysm was and what it meant
to all of them. "If Stinnett aquires the stones, then all hope is
lost, not just for us, but for everyone and every thing now living or yet
to come. The Jewels are more ancient than Stinnett knows, more powerful
than can be imagined. With that sort of power, Stinnett could not
only destroy this world, he could prevent another from ever being created.
He could go to universes that lay beyond the boundaries of this one and
eradicate them all, leaving a monument to nothing. With the powers
of those jewels, Stinnett would become a god.
Sir Morhaime, you must retrieve those crystals before
Stinnett does."
Michael felt numb. He had been worried about
retrieving a sword- this seemed much more important. It still seemed
like suicide, though. After all, he didn't even know where these
Jewels were!
"Sir Morhaime?" Dabiri said, looking toward
Michael worriedly.
"Yes!" Michael found himself saying, before he even
realized he was going to accept the quest.
Dabiri nodded. "Very well. However,
you will not have to go alone. I will send one of the clerics with
you. Unfortunately, I cannot send more. If Stinnett were to
learn of this venture, he would have you stopped. Your sword should
protect you against direct attacks, but there are many ways to die, and
Stinnett knows them all."
A question suddenly entered Michael's mind.
"My sword... why didn't it work when I was fighting Stinnett's calvary?"
Dabiri looked at him for a moment. "Your sword
is a magial weapon, enchanted by the goddess herself... But it is
enchanted to such a degree that its magic will only work on magical creatures.
Stinnett is almost entirely magic, though of an evil sort. The horsemen
are flesh and blood."
Michael nodded his understanding and waited for
Dabiri to continue.
"The goddess could not transfer as much power to
her sword as she would have wished." The cleric said. "The
jewels are much more powerful than it is. They extend their reach
far beyond where they are located. The closer you come to them, the
more of an effect they will have- Your sword will be less and less
effective, for its magic will be suppresed by those of the jewels.
Do you still wish to go on this quest?"
Michael nodded, not trusting himself to answer.
He didn't want to go on this quest, but he knew he had to. If not
him, who? Father Dabiri? The old cleric was powerful, but he
was also old. One of the other clerics? None of them were experienced
enough- they had spent most of their lives in the temple.
"Very well." Dabiri apparently didn't notice
Michael's reluctance. "I have been praying for information as to
the whereabouts of the jewels, and if the goddess wills, I will be able
to tell you where to go when you leave tomorrow. Talk to Eve when
you get back to your room and tell her to prepare for a journey.
She's coming with you.
Michael didn't really care which cleric was coming
with him- he hardly knew any of them.. except for Rose.. and Arthur...
And Dean.... Michael realized that he might just be a little more
familiar with the clerics than he knew. He stood up and, with a few
parting words to Dabiri, left the room.
Stinnett walks down the path which no humans have
tread for centuries. He is deep underground now, searching for his
treasure. As the path gradually widens into a cavern Stinnett sees
it: The lost city of the Jewels. He has found them at last.
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