“I’m ready now,” Vexyna said sleepily.
“I could also use some rest,” Trulo hastily added. “Let me walk you to your room, Vexyna.”
“Thank you. That would be appreciated.”
Bidding the others adieu, they wandered slowly off across the stone slabs over the water to the resting rooms.
At the door to the first room through the archway in the corner of the large hall, Vexyna turned to Trulo and said, “There are still a great many things puzzling me. One of them is how you fit in to all this.”
“I fit in because you fit in,” Trulo replied as he swept up her hands in his. “I was trapped under a heap of rubble back in Shojiki. I’d been there for some time. There seemed to be no way anyone could help me. My thoughts kept turning to you. Suddenly, I was surrounded by this intense light. Serenity filled me as the light blinded me. When the light faded, I was out from under the rubble. I don’t know what happened, but all I could think about was you.” He squeezed her hands as he focused on the brown of her eyes. The swirl of blue was all but non-existent.
“Oh Trulo,” Vexyna said, squeezing back. “There was this point in Dilbu when things seemed pretty bad and I thought about you really hard. Some sort of light grew out of me and shot to the heavens.” She looked at him earnestly. “Do you think it is possible I somehow sent you help?”
“In my heart, I know it was you who saved me,” Trulo told her. “I found your father and he managed to get us here. He was worried about you.”
“Really? Worried?”
“Yes, he was constantly fretting about you.” Trulo ran his fingers up and down the length of Vexyna’s arm. “Your dad tried to raise you as a normal girl in the hope you might actually get to live your life as a normal girl.”
“But I’m nowhere near being a normal girl,” Vexyna said forcefully as she broke away from Trulo. “You’ve seen me. I’m not normal. Father is well aware of my genetic make-up. What made him think I could live a normal life?”
“There are always possibilities,” Trulo replied as he moved toward her. Once again, he took her hands. “By cutting himself off from the knowledge of Nogard, Lanton thought he might be able to live a simple life among simple folk.”
“You know a lot about my father,” Vexyna observed.
“We’ve had quite a bit of time to get to know each other. I know how much he loves you. He also still loves your mother.” Trulo looked thoughtful. “It’s a pretty tragic tale when you think about it.”
“Trulo,” Vexyna said wearily, “I’m tired. I’ll take this room. Where will you be?”
“I’ll take the next room on the same side of the hallway,” Trulo replied. “There is an adjoining bathroom. That means either of us can enter the bathroom from either of our two sleep rooms.”
“So, you can get to your room from my room by going through the bathroom?”
“That’s right.”
“Good,” Vexyna said with the twinge of a grin, “then you can tuck me in and tell me what you think is so tragic about my parents.”
A simple bed with a couple of blankets and matching pillows greeted them inside the small room. A light aquamarine colored the top half of the walls. A darker blue washed its way around the bottom half of the room. Light flared from a crystal set behind an opaque shield on the wall in one corner.
“Blankets won’t be necessary,” Vexyna commented. She made herself comfortable on the bed. “How do I turn the light off?”
“The crystal senses your brainwaves,” Trulo explained. “That way, it knows how much light you’ll need at a given time.”
“It’ll know when I’m sleeping? That’s weird.” Vexyna shrugged. “Why should I be so surprised? I have a friend who turns out to be my cousin, I think, who’s over two hundred years old and has machines running around inside her head.” She stretched out on the bed with her hands behind her head.
Trulo sat beside her on the edge of the bed. “As I was mentioning before, your father still loves your mother. He knew she was a Langsuyar and he knew what your birth would mean. Lanton knows now that it was his Nogard blood that made it possible for your mother to be able to bear you. No one knew she had already borne a child.”
“Din,” Vexyna said quietly. “She’s an absolute nut bar. There are volumes of unanswered questions about my half-sister.” She paused a moment and had a silly thought. “Half-sister? What’s the other half?” Giggling to herself, she added, “I wonder what her father was like.”
“I don’t know about Din’s father, but I do know your father is a man caught in a tragic situation. Think about it. Lanton knew the woman he loved was doomed to be consumed by evil. He also knew it would be his own daughter who would be charged with releasing his wife from this evil, and there is, as there was, nothing he can or could do about it.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Vexyna. “Trulo, did anyone tell you about my eyes?”
“About your power of suggestion? Yes, they told me.”
“How can you look me straight in the naked eye and not be affected?”
Trulo shrugged and said with a grin, “After all these years of peering at them through those shaded glasses of yours, I guess I built up an immunity. Qrxyn said I’d be impervious to your gaze because you have no desire to bend my will.”
“No desire to bend your will, no; I might help you straighten it out, though,” Vexyna dribbled out with her eyes like slits. Her eyes popped open quickly and she stuttered, “B-boy am I ever tired.” She forced a yawn. “Good night, Trulo. Get me up in a little while.” Closing her eyes, she relaxed into the pillows, but kept her chin tilted slightly up.
“Part of your power of suggestion comes from your mother. When the part of your spirit that came from Langsuyar was bound in the candlestick, you lost your ability to control your power of suggestion. Now that you are whole again, you should have complete control of when you use that ability. Sleep well.” Trulo touched her gently on the cheek before softly pressing his lips to hers for an immediate response. For both, it seemed a painfully brief moment. Then he was gone.
Sleep came swiftly to Vexyna. At first, it was a dead and dreamless slumber. Eventually, Vexyna ventured through several dream phases. They began with chaotic images that frightened her, then moved into gentle colors and feelings. Finally, she found herself sitting on a branch in a familiar tree.
Looking around, Vexyna could not find one thing out of place. It was Shojiki just as she remembered it. Something was odd about the lighting. Across from her in his usual perch sat Trulo.
“Trulo,” she said imploringly, “Awful things are happening.” For some reason, her vision was going askew. When she tried to look at Trulo, his image appeared to elongate, bend, twist and snap in half, with one half disappearing upward and the other half vanishing downward. Vexyna pressed her eyelids together tightly. Everything was normal again when she reopened her eyes.
“Vexyna,” said the image of Trulo. “I love you.”
“I love you,” replied Vexyna. She found herself crying.
Wiping away her tears, she noticed her dreamscape had changed yet again. This time, it was a dark and fiery sky greeting her. Bizarre flashes of colored lightning lit the sky in spasmodic bursts. Brilliant red patches could be seen burning their way through cracks in the ground.
Laughing caught Vexyna’s ears. She turned to see a massive throne built of human skulls. Upon the throne sat a huge woman. Vexyna had never seen a woman of her size. Oddly enough, the big woman had demure facial features and these made her rather fetching. It was the woman who had been laughing. She began to laugh again once she noticed Vexyna was aware of her presence.
“Oh, ho ho ho,” said the woman laughingly. “I am so lucky to have two daughters.” Her look turned serious as she continued. “I have one daughter who is desperate to find a way to destroy me without having to take my place and another who is just a pawn in the plans of others.” Pausing a moment, she tilted her head slightly to one side before saying, “You cannot escape f
ate. One of you will take my place. One of you will die for my amusement.” Laughter again poured forth from her throat as her image blurred and Vexyna’s scenery changed.
Adjusting to her new surroundings, Vexyna saw an elaborately carved four poster bed. The sheers draped from the poles were red. A small glow emanated from within the sheers. On the bed inside, Vexyna could see the outline of a slender woman. “Give me your power,” insisted the woman who was writhing on the bed. “With your power, I could control her. I could keep her fed and never be bound to that throne. Or if a daughter is required to take her place, we’ll get you to produce offspring. You should be able to produce many children.” A finely manicured hand thrust out from the sheers on the bed and pressed itself against Vexyna’s stomach. Vexyna felt something growing inside her and watched in horror as her stomach expanded.
Pushing herself away from the outstretched hand, Vexyna toppled backwards into an awaiting chaise-lounge. Searing pain shot up her spine and she thought her bottom half would rip apart. Eyes rolling back in her head, Vexyna screamed, “Nooo!”
A familiar voice said, “That’s a noise I haven’t heard in quite a while. Still having nightmares, Vexyna?” Opening her eyes, Vexyna saw her father standing at the foot of her bed.
Before answering him, she gave a quick glance around the room. It was the one Trulo had left her in. The dreams were over. “Yes, more nightmares. But now the nightmares seem to be making sense. They appear to hold some of the answers I’ve been looking for.”
“Be careful in the dreamscape,” warned her father. “You’ll learn more about that in your study of magic. Freshen up, then come out into the main hall for some breakfast.”
After taking care of her business, Vexyna joined the others in the great hall.
Food was piled on tables here and there about the room. Vexyna grabbed a silver plate and helped herself to some refreshment before finding a seat beside Trulo.
“Good morning,” she said before she thought about it. “Is it morning?”
“I’m not sure myself.” Trulo grinned. “Time loses all meaning here.”
“I’ve been having trouble keeping track of what day it is, never mind what time it is, for several weeks now,” Vexyna admitted.
“That’s the life of an adventurer,” commented Trulo between bites of his breakfast. “Free as the breeze. Not tied to any clocks or calendars. That’s how Aliyah chose to live her life.”
“Aliyah,” Vexyna repeated slowly. “Where is she with all this going on? All this sort of adventure is right up her alley.”
“Even now, Aliyah quests for sacred artifacts on behalf of Exuthron,” Qrxyn informed them. “Aliyah has been working for the Avatars of Dazartan for quite some time.”
“Sacred artifacts? What kind? Like Grandmother’s candlestick?” Vexyna was curious.
“Various relics exist amongst many islands and across all four continents. Each of these objects carries with it awesome magical forces. An example would be the Chalice of Ranboon. It houses teleportation and dimensional travel capabilities.” Qrxyn went briefly back to his meal before continuing. “One must always be wary when one comes in contact with items such as those. Some even have the power to reshape people’s bodies.”
“You mentioned something about needing a holy artifact in order to summon the Tiger’s Triangle,” recalled Vexyna. She looked questioningly at Qrxyn.
“Aliyah,” Phantasmine said with a start. She had been happily nibbling on a piece of cheese when the name struck her oddly. “What is her heritage? That name is passed along only one bloodline that I am aware of. Do you deny that fact?”
“I do not deny Aliyah’s bloodline, but the time for that revelation is not yet at hand. Please keep that to yourself. The time for settling past differences will come. Do not let your guilt run your life,” Qrxyn admonished Phantasmine.
Silently, Phantasmine returned to her breakfast as Vexyna and Trulo sat wondering what the exchange between Phantasmine and Qrxyn had been all about.
“Where are we going from here?” Vexyna asked the room in general. “And who is ‘we’ going to be comprised of?”
“I’m afraid I’d be little more than moral support to you,” Trulo confessed. “I wish I could be of more help, but I’m purely human. I have no special abilities. I’d only get in your way.”
“I must attend to things here,” Qrxyn stated flatly.
“You and I shall return to Illusia,” Phantasmine said between bites of a piece of meat pie, “to check on Doctor Deathbrain’s progress.”
Vexyna looked at her reclining friend and couldn’t help teasing, “Keep eating like that and we’ll have to let out your robes.”
“Oh, I know,” agreed Phantasmine. “But after not being able to really taste or feel anything for so long I just want to devour it all.” Her eyes darted around the room at the men. She smiled slyly to herself before her look turned to one of disappointment. She realized all the men present were either relatives or already deeply in love with someone else. Phantasmine sighed. Then she thought of Raj. An image of his tanned face and gleaming white smile popped into her head. She saw the curves of the muscles in his chest. Yes, she thought, he will do quite nicely. Wiping bits of excess saliva up the sides of her mouth, Phantasmine pushed the last piece of meat pie slowly between her lips. She chewed and swallowed it with great satisfaction. She almost purred, “I suppose I will have to increase my amount of physical exertion.” Her voice was back to normal when she said, “Actually, my brain is capable of monitoring my intake and ensuring whatever is consumed is used in its most useful capacity.”
“There are still many things I need to know before I leave Nogard,” said Vexyna. “When will I receive more lessons in magic? Who will be my teacher?”
“Your lessons will take place as you journey,” Lanton told her. “Experience beats reading every time.”
“Teachers are all around you. It is up to you to discover what it is they are teaching,” Qrxyn cryptically intoned.
“Great,” Vexyna shot back with her lips curled into a sarcastic expression. “Thanks for being so clear on all that.” A sip of water interrupted her questions. “Doesn’t Din have to bear a child before she can assume her place on the Throne of Life? There’s supposed to be a daughter to carry on and take Din’s place, right?”
“That is so,” Phantasmine acknowledged. “Either you, or Din, must bear a child in order to open the Seal of Release on the Throne.”
“Me? Don’t look at me!” Vexyna stated flatly with her palms outstretched in front of her. “How much time does a Langsuyar-in-waiting have to collect energies for the Throne of Life?”
“A daughter of Langsuyar begins her collection of glandular secretions once she has come of childbearing age,” Qrxyn explained matter-of-factly. “From then until she becomes pregnant, she is free to gather energies for Dacreel. After the child is born, it is said the new mother is driven to the Throne of Life by the tormented voices of all of the people she has drained.”
“So, after the daughter of Langsuyar’s child is born, this daughter becomes Langsuyar and gets stuck on the throne?”
“In a nutshell.”
“No children, no screaming voices in the head.” Vexyna looked for confirmation from someone among the group.
“You haven’t drained anyone,” Trulo put forth. “You wouldn’t have any voices in your head.”
“Let’s stick with the ‘no children’ thought, shall we?” Vexyna zipped back at Trulo. Her mind flashed briefly back to the pain in her dream. Nope. Definitely no children, she thought.
Putting down the fork she had been picking at her salad with, Phantasmine said, “Wait one moment. Allow me to summarize the plan as set forth by the elders of Nogard. Vexyna was conceived to seal the Throne of Life with the Light of Nogard. To seal the Throne, the reigning Langsuyar must be removed. Removing a Langsuyar from the Throne means breaking the Seal of Release and that can only be done once the daughter of Langsuyar has borne
a child. In order for this plan to continue, we must somehow get Din impregnated.”
“No doubt the other side will try to do the same thing to Vexyna,” Qrxyn agreed.
“Count on me to be extra-vigilante to make sure that does not happen,” Phantasmine said quickly with a bit of a glazed look in her eyes.
“Your grandfather would be appalled at your behavior,” Qrxyn chastised Phantasmine. “Have Illusians lost their dignity?”
“Look,” Phantasmine said, leaning toward Qrxyn, “Grandfather has not been fleshless for over a quarter of a millennium. I have. This abstinence was bound to cause a backlash of overindulgence. It will subside in time.”
“Don’t let your excesses get either of you into trouble,” Lanton warned.
“I have it all completely under control,” Phantasmine said confidently. “Once we have finished eating, we will board the Senomar and depart for Illusia. Doctor Deathbrain should be preparing what we will require to further our quest.”
“What would you do without all your technology?” Qrxyn asked quizzically.
“What would you do without all your magic?’ Phantasmine shot back. “I have finished with this food.” She pushed her plate across the small oblong table resting in front of her seat. “Now I will freshen up. Vexyna, come aboard Senomar whenever you are ready to depart. I need not remind you that this may be the last time you will ever see this place. Be absolutely positive you are ready when you ask to leave.”
Vexyna nodded her understanding of the situation.
“Understood,” said Phantasmine as she rose from her seat. “Gentlemen,” she said to the three men, “one way or another, you will see me again. We have much unfinished business.”
“Indeed we have,” agreed Qrxyn, “and we shall.”
The men nodded to Phantasmine.
She exited the grand hall and made her way across the stone courtyard to Senomar.
“Vexyna,” Lanton said, “every father has said this to his daughter at one time or another, but please be extra careful with any extra-curricular activities you may find yourself caught up in. Losing your virtue could mean the end of all of us.”
“I know, Dad,” Vexyna replied. “But what with everything that’s been happening lately, who’s had time to think about boys?” She shrugged at her father as she smiled and winked at Trulo. The swirl of blue in her eyes had swallowed up the brown. Getting up from her seat, she sashayed over to where he was sitting. Without warning, she leaned over and pressed her lips tightly against his.
Trulo’s eyes widened as he took in Vexyna’s kiss. He found himself paralyzed.
Vexyna’s hand slid through the hair on the back of Trulo’s head. With a handful of hair, she kept his face immobilized. Her tail sprang forth and slithered its way into him to discover the bliss for which she was longing.
A feeling of buoyancy filled Vexyna as her vision became flooded with light. The flashing of her amulet was lost in the brilliance of the light. After her vision cleared, she glanced quickly around the room. “What…? What happened?”
“You succumbed to your darker half,” Qrxyn told her. “Your father and I used the Light of Nogard to free Trulo from your grasp.”
“Trulo, no!” She dropped to her knees beside him.
Resting his hand on her shoulder, he said, “It’s okay. I’m fine. No harm done.”
“But there could’ve been harm,” she said. She looked up at him dolefully.
“You need help controlling your cravings,” Lanton said to Vexyna. “Keep in mind your cravings will always increase whenever you are, um, stimulated.”
Attention focused on Qrxyn, Vexyna asked, “Grandfather, is there anything else you wish to tell me before I depart?”
“Ask the Illusian doctor for gland supplements,” Qrxyn responded.
“I beg your pardon?” Vexyna blinked at her grandfather.
“At times, you will be racked with cravings. The artificially produced supplements will keep your thirst at bay. Do your utmost not to give in to your thirst. Drinking too much will lead to madness and the ruin of all of our well-laid plans.”
“I’m sure Doc Deathbrain will be able to help,” Vexyna replied. She frowned. “I thought I would be able to withstand attacking Trulo. I thought he was immune to that sort of thing.”
“You must have consumed more fluids than we thought from Phantasmine,” Lanton observed. “That would explain an increase in the madness.”
“There also appears to have been an odd increase in the pheromone levels in this room,” Qrxyn commented. “That would also be a contributing factor to your breakdown. No one is safe from your need once your lust grabs hold.”
“Exuthron’s grandchild was behaving like a rutting fourteen-year-old,” Lanton commented. “That’s probably where the increased pheromones came from. It may not be wise to allow Vexyna to continue to travel with Phantasmine as long as Phantasmine is in such a state.”
“Unfortunately, we have little choice at this time.” Qrxyn coughed into his fist. “Phantasmine is Vexyna’s best means of getting where she needs to go. Of course, I do not agree with the mode of transport. Genetically engineered vehicles with nanobot brains should be unheard of. It is unnatural. I cannot understand what has happened with Exuthron’s offspring.”
“Perhaps if he or his son were more attentive to the needs of their people instead of always being off in some distant land on a quest for this or that, his offspring might not have gotten out of hand with their technology and their attempts to play god,” Lanton suggested.
“But they did get out of hand and they had to be dealt with,” Qrxyn responded. “The time will come again when the children of Exuthron must stand trial for what they have done. Few of them remain because they were born too close to the Heart of Sin, an evil incarnation of Dacreel’s gigantic heart. When Exuthron used the Holy Sword of Virtue to plunge his Light of Dazartan straight into the Heart of Sin, it weakened Exuthron greatly, but also changed the Heart of Sin into the Crystals of Change.”
“Hold it a moment!” Vexyna interrupted. “Are you saying the Crystals of Change are really all shattered pieces of Dacreel’s heart?”
“Yes, that is precisely what we are saying,” her father replied. “Exuthron was too weary to travel, so he set up camp in the ruins of the castle that had housed the Heart of Sin. That is the castle that became Illusia thanks to the Crystals.”
“For a long period of time, Phantasmine lived solely through one of those crystals,” Vexyna informed the men. “Do you think they could’ve affected her in any way?”
“That is a possibility, but we will have to deal with that when it happens,” Qrxyn said.
“You mean I’ll have to deal with it when it happens,” retorted Vexyna.
“More than likely nothing will happen,” her father tried to reassure Vexyna. “Is she using the crystals for anything now?”
“Yes,” Vexyna informed them, “she has one embedded in her brain. It was how her essence and memories were transferred to the nanobots that compose her brain.”
“Even though the crystal has served its purpose, it is still embedded in her skull. Correct?”
“Correct. I think she’s still using it the same way she has for years,” commented Vexyna. “It would be hard for her to give up being able to do all the things she could do with the help of those crystals.”
Sighing heavily, Qrxyn lamented, “What a mess. Enough chat. Go, Vexyna. Be strong. Be well.” He held up his hand and waved at her.
Vexyna gave quick hugs to her father and Trulo, then turned and ran out of the great hall.
Quickly rising from his seat, Trulo excused himself to the other men and ran after Vexyna. He caught up to her halfway across the courtyard. “Vexyna!” he called. “Wait! I must speak with you.”
Walking back towards Trulo, Vexyna asked, “What’s up, Trulo?”
“Last night,” Trulo said, “I had a strange experience and think I might have, um, that is to say, you and I….”
Trulo was at a complete loss for words.
“What are you trying to tell me?” Vexyna could not understand Trulo’s blathering.
“Last night in my room I heard your voice whispering to me over and over again to go to you. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I succumbed to the call.”
“What exactly happened once you finally answered the call?” Vexyna was intrigued.
“Animal passion,” Trulo blurted before hanging his head in shame. “I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Vexyna reassured him. “Nothing happened between you and me last night.”
“It was a dream?”
“Sounds like it to me.”
“I was so worried I might have gotten you…” His words trailed off.
“Not to worry. It was only a dream.” Vexyna happened to notice that Senomar was set in pastel pinks overtop its usual pastel blues. “I must go now. We shouldn’t get too close anyway. I’m dangerous, even if I do love you.” She walked away from him and up the steps inside Senomar.
Before the entryway sealed, Trulo yelled, “I love you too, Vexyna! Please, come back to me!”
Chapter 17: The Traveler Returns