Chapter 14
Ara dove in front of Vale and demanded, “What are you doing here? We had hoped you’d been killed.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Destor responded snidely. “I’ve actually been here the whole night. I think it was a marvelous idea to have a masquerade party. Believe me, it made getting in here seem all too easy.”
“So, now what? You’re just going to kill us here with all of these people watching? That wouldn’t be the wisest idea.”
“Watching?” the masked man laughed. “I believe they’re all too busy viewing my light show in the sky. And I know you won’t be foolish enough to call the guards over. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue? Can you imagine what I would do to this room if you were so bold?”
Ara and Vale glanced around the room and saw that Destor was right. They couldn’t put these people at risk and to make matters worse, no one suspected the danger they were in. Every single person in the room had their eyes looking through the glass ceiling. And what a show it was. The lightning was constant, only allowing the sky to turn back to black for a split second. The thunder quickly followed each bolt and was completely deafening.
“How did you survive?” Ara went on, trying to buy them more time. “We saw the blood and the signs of a struggle.”
“I departed Quale after I knew that I was outnumbered by all of the Fonnes. I realized that I would have to get the Prince at a later time. I sensed after a while that I was being followed. It didn’t take long to figure out that you two were coming after me. I killed a Vinten and hid the body, leaving my veil behind so you’d think I was murdered. That gave me the advantage to follow you for a while. Now here we are and I can assure you, Your Highness, that this time I will get what I came for.”
“Guards!” a voice from behind screamed as Lenta Benigg came running over. “Guards arrest this man. He’s the one who attacked King Vale in Quale.”
Iradt Furich overheard the ruckus and came bustling over herself, her cleavage bouncing with every step. Her ruby, singed dress trailed behind her as she pushed through the crowd to join Lenta next to Vale.
“What’s the meaning of this,” she barked, staring rudely at the purple-clad man. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Enough!” screamed Destor, just as the guards were approaching. He looked up to the sky and an enormous bolt of lightning came shooting down. It shattered through the glass ceiling and hit the spot right in front of the weather master.”
The party-goers in the vicinity were sent rebounding away from the spot where the blast hit. Shards of glass rained from the sky and Prode ran through the crowd, his arms extended. He formed a telekinetic shield that stopped the glass and slowed its descent to the ground so it couldn’t injure anyone. Only Destor Caelu seemed indifferent to his own terrifying powers.
The force of the lightning had thrown Iradt and Lenta into opposing walls, knocking them unconscious. Similarly, Vale and Ara had been thrown apart from each other and landed hard against some tables. They rose slowly fearing what Destor would do next.
Ara looked over to see Forr gathering party guests together and ushering them up the stairs. The old man moved with remarkable speed helping fallen partygoers to their feet and gesturing them to the steps. Ara felt a wave of disgust as he saw Plucid Duru get to his feet and push past the guests as he, himself ran to the stairs and out through the archway.
After he helped King Vale to his feet, he took off to the other side of the room, charging at Destor. He could feel the look of rage contorting his face. Destor saw him coming and spun around, kicking the bodyguard squarely in the chest. Ara fell to his knees as the pain coursed through his body.
“You’re so persistent and I don’t know why,” Destor said with contempt. “I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell you that this has nothing to do with you, but it seems like you’re just insistent on getting in my way.”
Ara could see that the guests had all gone and Prode had rallied from deflecting all of the glass. He raised his hands and conjured the two tables behind him to go soaring through the air at Destor, who turned to see them too late. One hit him hard and knocked him several feet onto his back.
King Vale made his way forward to check on Ara as another bolt of lightning came through the gigantic hole in the ceiling and narrowly missed the crown atop his head. Destor was already rising back to his feet, ignoring the thick blood that was oozing from his forehead.
“Your Highness, you and your friends are making this increasingly difficult,” he roared. “I’m not leaving here without the King.”
The skies opened up once more and enormous drops of rain fell from the clouded sky. Lightning crashed down on and around Ivory Towers. Wicked winds had picked up and blew through the open ceiling sending anything lightweight spinning around the room. All the while Destor’s cold eyes stared into Vale’s while Ara got to his feet.
Glancing around, Ara found Lenta and Iradt in heaps along the wall, still unconscious. Prode was bent in half, near them, exhausted at having used so much of his powers in a short span of time. And then he saw Volaticas gliding across the floor towards Destor and felt a rush of hope, realizing that they weren’t alone.
“Who in the world do you think you are?” he yelled, planting a fist hard into the side of Destor’s face.
With a wave of his hand the wind swirling through the room took a different turn and within seconds had lifted the purple villain several feet into the air. He dangled upside-down face to face with Volaticas Temed, Ambassador of Steedo. They glared at each other for a few moments as though trying to see who could make the most angered face. Volaticas’s blonde hair swirled around him as he maintained the wind funnel that held Destor suspended.
“I apologize,” he scowled. “I’m guessing that no one told you. I control the winds in this kingdom.”
“Keep it,” smiled Destor Caelu, from beneath his maroon mask. “I’ve got something much better.”
He struck Volaticas back with a quick spark from his hands. This distraction freed Destor from his suspension and he quickly hurled jolt after jolt of energy at the man in the golden-yellow robes. They were low energy and it was clear to Ara that Destor was toying with him. But, Volaticas was powerless to stop the brunt of these attacks. Every time he would attempt to conjure a blast of wind, he was shocked. Finally he lay still on his chest with Destor standing over him.
“What do you want?” he managed to grumble.
“It’s about time,” laughed Destor. “Not once have any of you asked me what it is that I want. Maybe if you had asked, this wouldn’t have had to be so difficult on you and the others. All I want is King Vale.”
“Vale, Vale, Vale,” Prode’s voice rang out. “He’s all anybody ever wants. But, he can’t do this.”
Ara turned to see Prode lift his hands and as if by magic every shard of glass from the ceiling rose from the floor and hovered in mid-air. They circled around Destor for a moment, who realized too late what was happening as every fragment raced towards him.
Destor’s eyes became large as he jumped back trying to avoid all of the glass. He was too late. Bits of his robes pulled and frayed as they were shredded by the bits of glass. When he landed on his feet, Ara watched him realize that the glass had caught his skin in several places and that he was bleeding from his arms and face. He stomped towards the young King, electricity crackling at his fingertips.
“Do you know what’s wrong with you?” Destor screamed as the blood poured from his half-covered face. “The problem is you’re willing to be King of Eliantar, but you’re not willing to take any of the responsibility that comes along with it. You’ll let your brother and friends risk their lives for you, rather than just hand yourself over.”
“Enough!” Ara bellowed as he slammed his fists down hard on Destor’s shoulders causing him to crumble to his knees. He screamed out in pain as he collapsed, unconscious. Dozen
s of members of the Royal Guard burst in seconds later. They rushed down the steps grabbing Destor and dragged him to his feet.
“Take him to the dungeon,” Vale yelled. “We can catch up with him in a moment. Thank you, Prode. We couldn’t have done it without you.
“We need to check on Iradt, Lenta, and Volaticas and make sure they’re okay,” Vale glanced around.
Moments later the Ambassadors were coming to. Ara had called for more members of the Royal Guard to sit with them as they woke up from their unconsciousness. Prince Prode had been set out to retrieve Plucid from whichever hiding spot he was in.
“We’re going to go pay Destor a little visit,” Vale called out to the guards as he and Ara exited. “If they’re able, make sure the Ambassadors meet me in the Regulation Committee chamber in thirty minutes.”
As they passed back into the castle’s foyer, Ara commented, “I never noticed a dungeon in my time here.”
“It’s not exactly on my house tour,” Vale said blandly. “Follow me; it’s at the very back of the entrance hall.”
When they’d reached the end of the large vestibule, Ara and Vale stood face to face with a seven foot tall statue of Queen Jenneka. The statue was beautiful, carved from a rich white stone. The queen stood holding a trelamna in one hand and a book of Eliantar law in the other. Her face looked kind and sweet, with her long hair falling freely, framing her face and a magnificent crown atop her head.
Ara glanced at Vale, who stared at the statue for a moment, looking rather sad. Than he stepped up onto the large white stone block the statue was on. He grabbed a hold of the stone trelamna and jerked it upwards. The Queen’s whole arm moved with it and with a deep rumble the statue began to move.
Ara noticed a seam that ran right down the middle of the statue. The seam grew as the statue split apart, sliding on their respective sides of the walls. Where the complete statue had once stood, was now a steep, dark staircase going down. Without a word Vale began to descend the cold steps and Ara followed.
They didn’t speak as they walked for several minutes down the steps. It was impossible to see in front of them, save for the few torches that were sparsely placed along the black walls through their descent.
Ara felt the temperature get colder and colder as they went further down. He also became keenly aware of a rotten stench, like air that hadn’t been breathed in a thousand years. He was beginning to see why this wasn’t on Vale’s house tour. He was certainly glad that this place existed for a place to put Destor, deep beneath the bowels of the beautiful castle, but also felt a bit concerned with its presence. The idea that this place had been here all along beneath Ivory Towers gave Ara chills.
At last they came out through an archway. Ara could see that he was at the top of a large round room, much like the ballroom, but more sinister. As he descended the last dozen steps, he looked around to see that in place of walls, there were large metal bars. The center of the room was simply a gravel pit with no distinct features. Unlike the staircase, the dungeon was lit with dozens of torches, making the eeriness only slightly better. When they stepped onto the stony floor, a guard ran over.
“King Vale, the man has been locked up,” he announced as he kneeled.
“What have you done to prohibit his powers?” Vale asked. “He was capable of disabling many people upstairs with a mere thought. I want to make sure that he can be held down here.”
“Sir, his powers are over the weather and there is no weather down here,” the guard explained. “He isn’t able to conjure winds or rains or the like without the sky. He is still able to produce electricity from his hands, but we are working on that.
“Your Majesty,” he whispered now. “His powers are unlike anything we’ve seen. No Elite that we know of can do anything close to what this man has shown that he is capable of.”
“Very good soldier,” Vale said, ignoring the last comment and stepping over to a portion of the prison where a large number of soldiers stood.
Ara followed the King, trying to stay upright on the floor of pebbles. Walking seemed a bit difficult when the floor was so unsteady. He glanced around at the cells and noticed with curiosity that it was in fact only one large cell. It wrapped from one side of the staircase, all the way to the other. It was about fifteen feet deep, creating a great deal of space, especially for just one person.
As they approached where the guards stood, Ara saw Destor behind the thick bars glaring out at the guardsmen. They stood with their bows and arrows pointed directly at him. They looked fierce and angry, just begging for a reason to fire and put the man out of his misery.
“Your Highness,” one of them called. “We have our arrows aimed for his skull and chest. If he tries anything while you interrogate him, we’ll shoot to kill.”
“Unacceptable,” Vale said, adjusting his crown atop his head. “Should he try and assault me with his powers, I request you shoot at the limbs. That should be more painful than death, I think.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” Destor hissed as Vale stepped forward. “I know that you’re not willing to kill me. You need me alive to find out why I’ve been trying to take you. So, let’s just drop the charade. I won’t speak, you won’t act, and it’ll only be a matter of time before I break out of these confines.”
Ara glanced at Vale who didn’t flinch. His stare was unwavering. He couldn’t determine what the emotion was on Vale’s face. It wasn’t anger or fear, but looked to be more like pity. Not pity for himself, but rather his would be assassin. And then Ara saw the smile spread across Vale’s face.
“As you wish,” Vale casually said. “How’s this for a charade? This prison has not been used in years and years. It is only maintained by my security staff once a year. For you to be down here behind these bars speaks more volumes about the crimes you’ve committed than you even realize. I may not be willing to see you murdered, but I assure you that I do not require your information. I may request it, but if not, I have no problem keeping security down here at all times so that you spend the rest of your days in this cell.
“I ask this once and only once before I leave you in this prison forever,” Vale went on. “Why did Scurus Subo attempt to kill me and why do you follow in his footsteps?”
The look of confusion on Destor’s face was so obvious that even his veil couldn’t hide it. He thought over these words for a moment before he looked the King in the eye and slowly gave his answer.
“I do not know this Scurus Subo,” he said quietly. “I have no associates. My reason for taking you is mine alone.”
“What has Sorpa Veneficus offered you in exchange for killing me?” Vale demanded, ignoring Destor’s excuses.
Destor cackled, “I do not answer to Sorpa Veneficus. I do not answer to anyone.”
His cold voice sent a chill down Ara’s spine. He could see that Vale felt the same and that the King was beginning to run out of questions. Things were only becoming more confusing. Ara stepped forward next to Vale to assist.
“When we first met you, you spoke of necromancy in Quale,” he began. “You knew we were in search of Sorpa. Why would you misdirect us if you weren’t working with her?”
“I shall not deny that I knew the purpose of your quest,” Destor replied. “I had been tracking you for some time, and eavesdropping over your conversations at night, which is how I knew where you were going. However, I assure you that I was doing no favors for the corpse woman. I merely wanted to get you into the open so I could take the young Prince. It’s amusing to me that you were so focused on where you were going, you didn’t notice that I was following you the moment you left Castle Village.”
“Why not just kill me and take Vale when you first met us?” Ara inquired. “Why drag this out?”
“I couldn’t risk passersby seeing me,” he replied. “You were doing a wonderful job of avoiding towns, but I knew if I could get you to Quale, which was still completely abando
ned from Grim, I would have a better chance.”
“Having no one see you has really worked out very well for you,” Ara laughed. “By tomorrow morning all Elites will know your name and what you were trying to do.”
When Destor did not respond, Vale grabbed Ara and began leading him toward the staircase. The guards didn’t move from their positions as they held their weapons aimed directly at the man in purple.
“We don’t have time for this right now,” Vale whispered. “We need to get up and meet with the Regulation Committee right away.”
Ara nodded and the two began ascending the stairs. When Destor called out they both turned around in surprise.
“Your Eminence,” he yelled with a mocking tone. “I may not be working for Sorpa Veneficus, but having overheard your conversations, I hope you’re prepared.”
Vale stared at Destor for several seconds before turning and continuing to march up the steep, black stairs. Ara stayed rooted to the spot, unsure of what to say and confused about the sudden words of caution from Destor.
“Why would you help us now?” Ara asked.
“My goal was to capture King Procer,” he responded quietly. “Be that as it may, I do not wish to see a world ruled by the undead. From the sounds of it her power could destroy us all, whether she realizes it or not.”
As Ara walked from the dungeon towards the Regulation Committee chambers, he thought over the evenings events. Destor Caelu had admitted that he was trying to kidnap Vale, but would not say why. And then he offers words of wisdom for confronting the corpse lady. It was all too bizarre. Ara couldn’t wait to get back to the castle after they had captured Sorpa and find out more from Destor. He was fascinating to say the least.
He ran as quickly as he could up the dark stone staircase and through the castle’s foyer. He made his way up the several flights of steps, covered in blue carpets to the fifth floor. The castle was dark, darker than he had ever seen it. He had to hold onto the golden handrail as he ascended. A couple of times he glanced at the walls along the staircase and could barely even make out the rich tapestries that adorned the castle.
It gave Ara a chill to see this place so cold and dark. It was as though Destor’s mere presence created a cloud of darkness here.
When he reached the fifth floor, he found it just as depressing. Save for a few torches along the wall, the castle was dark. He supposed that the attendants had better things to do tonight with all of the chaos than keep the entire castle well lit.
The thick blue carpet felt soft beneath Ara’s feet as he slowly made his way down the narrow hall, careful not to bump into any tables. In the darkness, he could see the silhouettes of many large busts and vases atop the elegant tables on either side of him. At last he could just make out the enormous wooden doors to the chamber. He pulled hard on the metal ring to pry one of the doors ajar.
His boots clicked loudly as he walked across the marble floors through the giant columns to reach the Committee. This room was as dark as the others with only a few torches lit to offer any light.
As he walked through the chamber he saw that all of the other members were already in their seats. He glanced at their faces, as he sat next to Vale. They all shared the same look of fear and concern. Volaticas and Iradt looked as though they wanted to speak up, but given the grave look on King Vale’s face had thought better of it. Forr and Lenta looked utterly beaten as if they knew the situation was much worse than they had thought, and they were running out of hope. Plucid looked, as always, terrified as he sat in his chair with his eyes on the floor. Prode’s face was unreadable. He sat there with a blank look on his face, staring at the floor as though trying to rationalize in his own mind what had just happened.
“After our last Regulation Committee meeting,” Vale began, his voice filled with sadness. “We learned that Scurus Subo, my would-be assassin, was working for a woman named Sorpa Veneficus. Sorpa has the ability to raise the dead as slaves and threatened my mother shortly before her untimely death.”
The officials in the room had their eyes and ears on King Vale. They listened with intent as he told the story of leaving the castle to search for Sorpa and being diverted by Destor. They sat aghast at the attack in Quale as well as the faked death of Destor in Steedo.
“Yet after all of that, you don’t think he works for Sorpa Veneficus?” Volaticas asked when the story had ended. “What are his reasons for trying to kill you?”
“We…we don’t know yet,” Ara answered.
The small group burst into conversation, all speaking at once. Clearly they were not happy with the lack of information on a random lunatic trying to kill the King, especially one with such dangerous powers.
“So, who is the enemy then?” Iradt demanded as she adjusted her burnt dress on her corpulent body. “My problem with this whole story is how do we know that this Sorpa is the villain when all we’ve seen is this Destor Caelu trying to kill Vale?”
“Because one of the guards found the journal of Opo Scoloos,” Forr burst out. “He was in league with Sorpa to raise an army of dead soldiers and overtake the world. What’s worse is that Sorpa Veneficus is trying to free the dark god Skarsend from his prison.”
The room was silent for a long moment. Plucid Duru put his head in his hands, clearly wishing he could be anywhere but here at this moment. The rest of the Regulation Committee sat deep in thought, surmising what they thought might be the best course of action.
“We will deal with Destor later,” Vale announced. “Sorpa Veneficus must be dealt with immediately. Clearly she is more dangerous than we had originally perceived.”
“When do you plan on going after her?” Lenta asked.
“Tonight,” Vale said amidst the shocked gasps. “Ambassadors, please leave the Ivory Towers as soon as possible. Ara, be ready to depart in one hour. Assemble the Royal Guard. We will be riding out to the cemetery in Tacia.”
“What do you hope to accomplish with all of this?” Iradt asked. “You’re going out there on some witch hunt. Wouldn’t it be wise to finish questioning tonight’s attacker first?”
Vale thought for a moment and answered, “This woman, Sorpa Veneficus, she drove the one man my mother was supposed to trust against her. She has threatened to destroy the world that we know and love to build her army. We will do what must be done to see her stopped.”