Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book Three (27 page)

He found himself absent-mindedly heading for the book room, and was surprised to see it in almost exactly the same state as when they had finished cataloguing the books. He never thought he would be happy to see all these books again, but they held fond memories for him. If it weren’t for these books, he would never have had the chance to become so close to Neala.

There were hundreds of piles of books, but one in particular caught his eye. It was the pile of uncatalogued books. The ones written in a foreign language. It wasn’t a large pile compared to the others—maybe only twenty or so books. But now he could clearly read the cover of the top book in the pile: it was written in the same language as the Guardian books. He knelt by the side of the books, and began to look through the pile. Most were still written in various languages that Lusam couldn’t understand—but three were not.

Lusam collected the three large leather-bound books and took them over to the writing desk where he had done all of his earlier writing. He strengthened his light orb so he could read the words clearly, and opened the first book. It appeared to be some kind of ledger. Some of the items it listed were unfamiliar to Lusam, but many he recognised as trade goods still used today. He placed the ledger to one side and opened the second book. To his great disappointment, this too contained nothing but facts and figures, all relating to the various trade deals of some long-dead merchant.

The third and final book looked different from the other two. It was larger in all of its dimensions, and the binding was of much higher quality. Lusam placed the book before him and opened it to the first page:

Judd II—Second cycle—Seventh-day—One

Since the Empire’s retreat back to Thule, we have been making slow progress in the fight against the foul creatures of the Netherworld. Although we all mourn the passing of the mighty Guardians and their dragons, we still hold strong to our faith in Aysha.

The King has finally approved the funds to build a new outpost south of The Great Rift, and its construction has already begun in earnest. It is to be called The Sanctum of Light, and Aysha herself has ordained that a new breed of holy knights be created to man the new outpost. Rumours abound that the King’s long-term refusal to fund such a bold and expensive venture came to an abrupt end with the sudden appearance of several Netherworld creatures in the capital itself. One cannot help wonder if it was pure coincidence, or if some higher power had a hand in their sudden and inexplicable appearance, but I know it is not for us to question such things.

Judd II—Second cycle—Third-day—Two

Myself and several other monks from our order have been called before the High Priest of Aysha in Lamuria. We have been instructed to maintain absolute secrecy regarding our visit to the capital, and even instructed not to wear our sacred robes for the journey south. We will travel at dawn, disguised as simple merchants. It has been many years since I have left these walls, and I feel no small amount of apprehension at the thought of doing so again. May Aysha bless our journey.

Judd II—Fourth cycle—Sixth-day—Four

It has been over two months since I wrote in this journal. I was forced to leave it behind in Ula’ree when we travelled to the High Temple. We were sworn to secrecy regarding the true nature of our visit to Lamuria, but I feel it is my sacred duty to the future monks of this order to know the truth. We are to begin construction of a new room within our temple. Complex spells were taught to our delegation during our visit to the High Temple. Spells to be used in the construction of a strange new room within Ula’ree. We were also told to expect a visit from one of the five surviving Guardians, and he would instruct us further. On a more personal note, I was pleased to lay eyes once more on my old childhood friend, Isidro, whom I have not seen since he left to join his order at Lohlaen many years ago. He was leaving the High Temple as we first arrived, but unfortunately he did not seem to recognise me after so many years. At least he still appeared in good health for his years, far better than myself, I fear. Maybe it can be attributed to the clear air on The Pearl Isle, but whatever…

Lusam was suddenly startled from his reading by Renn’s voice.

“Are you alright, lad?” Renn asked, sounding a little concerned.

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” Lusam replied, slightly confused.

“I’ve been calling to you for a while. I thought you’d gone out alone somewhere, then I noticed your light in here,” Renn said, noticing the book Lusam was reading. “What’s that you’re reading, lad?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s someone’s private journal. I think it was written by one of the monks who used to live here. It seems to have been written just after The Great Rift was closed, and it even refers to the construction of The Sanctum of Light, and the creation of the paladins,” Lusam said excitedly.

“May I see it?” Renn asked, eagerly stepping towards the book.

“You can, but I doubt you’ll be able to read any of it. It’s written in the same language as the Guardian books.” Renn visibly sagged at the news. He was obviously very anxious to learn about the creation of his holy order of paladins.

“Would you like me to read you the passage?” Lusam asked, grinning at the look of disappointment on Renn’s face. Renn nodded eagerly, and Lusam obliged by reading the passage to him.

After he had finished reading Renn the first three entries, he paused. He very much wanted to continue reading the journal, but wondered if it would be better if he read it alone first. There was no telling what information may be contained within this book. And although he trusted Renn completely, he still felt an overwhelming and inexplicable desire to keep the contents to himself—at least for now.

Lusam closed the journal, and seeing the look of disappointment on Renn’s face, actually felt guilty for not continuing to read.

“Don’t worry, I’ll read some more of it later. If there’s anything else of interest, I’ll let you know,” Lusam said.

“Okay, lad,” Renn replied, nodding slightly. “There was something else, but you said you would explain later.” Lusam looked a little confused, as he tried to think of what Renn could be referring to, then he suddenly remembered.

“Oh, yes. It was about the Guardian books and the pedestals.”

“Yes, you said you’d discovered something about them,” Renn replied patiently.

“That’s right, I have. As you know, since reading the Guardian book in Coldmont, I’ve been able to read the ancient language they are written in. When I first touched the—actually I don’t know what to call it—green light emanating from the pedestal in Coldmont, and I found myself back here in Helveel, I noticed that I could read the name on the Guardian book for the first time, and it read:
Freedom
. Then I also noticed a name on the pedestal here, and that read:
Absolution
.

“At first it didn’t mean anything to me, but after I returned to Coldmont, it all became clear. The Guardian book in Coldmont was called:
Absolution
. And the name on the pedestal was:
Freedom
.”

“I’m not sure I follow you, lad,” Renn said looking puzzled.

“Well, at first I thought I’d somehow missed seeing the writing on the pedestal in Helveel when I first read the book here. But the more I thought about it, the more certain I became—it just wasn’t here before. I believe that for each book read, a new name relating to that book appears on the pedestal. More importantly, the pedestal then allows you to travel to any given book you have already read. You simply choose where you want to go by touching the green light emanating from the name of whichever book you wish to visit. Put simply: if you have read the book, you can travel to its location using the pedestal,” Lusam said.

“So, Lord Zelroth couldn’t follow us here…” Renn started to say, but was interrupted when Lusam finished his sentence for him.

“Because he’s never read the book here in Helveel. It’s quite possible that he doesn’t even know it’s here. Or at least I hope he doesn’t.”

Renn remained silent for a few moments, thinking about Lusam’s words carefully. “If Lord Zelroth and his Darkseed Elite travelled to Coldmont using the pedestals, that would mean he had already previously read the Guardian book in Coldmont.”

“Actually, it would mean he had read at least two Guardian books,
including
the one in Coldmont. He obviously travelled from another pedestal to get to Coldmont,” Lusam replied.

“No wonder he’s so powerful,” Renn half-whispered to himself. “If he doesn’t know about the book here, then that means he knows the location of at least one other Guardian book—one that we don’t.”

“I’m certain of it. And I’m pretty sure I know the general location of the other one,” Lusam said confidently.

“Really?”

“Think about it. It has to be somewhere in Thule, otherwise Lord Zelroth wouldn’t have arrived in Coldmont so quickly.”

“No, it can’t be in Thule, lad. The Guardians would never have have hidden a book there. The book would have been far too exposed after the withdrawal from Irragin…” Renn took a sharp intake of breath. “Oh, no… I don’t believe it. It’s been right in front of our eyes the whole time, and no one has ever realised—until now.”

“What has?” Lusam asked. Renn didn’t reply to his question straight away; instead, he paced back and forth around the room with his hands clasped above his head, occasionally contorting his face in strange ways. Eventually, he came to a stop at the opposite side of the desk where Lusam was sitting, and leant against it. He then pulled a chair over to the desk and sat down opposite Lusam.

“Lad, it all makes perfect sense now,” Renn said, still resting his hands on top of his head. Lusam was about to ask what exactly Renn was talking about when he began to explain.

“No one ever understood how Lord Zelroth had gained so much power. Many theories have been put forward over the centuries, but none have been proven—or even agreed upon—but now, I think you have just uncovered his secret.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite follow you. I thought you just said that the Guardians would never have left a book in Thule, so Lord Zelroth couldn’t possibly have one there.”

“I did—but I was wrong, lad. Let me try to explain. After The Great Rift was finally closed, Afaraon quickly destroyed the Thulian forces stationed here. Our armies crushed the Thulian soldiers, forcing them to flee back to Thule, or die here. The King, however, wasn’t content with simply letting the enemy retreat back to Thule. Instead, he pursued them remorselessly, right to the very heart of Thule, killing and destroying everything as he went. Their government soon collapsed, and their country fell into anarchy. Local warlords sprung up overnight, taking control of small pockets of land, and they fought amongst themselves for the scraps left behind by our forces.

“The King ordered an outpost to be built in Thule, and the location chosen was Mount Nuxvar. Thousands of Thulian slaves were used to build the outpost, and once it was completed, its barracks contained over twenty thousand troops. At first it was used to put down any potential uprisings, or overly ambitious warlords that might raise their heads a little too high. After a while, it was also used by the church. The High Priest of the time had somehow got it into his head that it would be a good idea to try and convert the people of Thule to worship Aysha instead of Aamon. His plan met with little success.

“Thule remained in chaotic upheaval for over a century. People starved by the thousands, and plagues ravaged their population. Unfortunately, the plagues didn’t discriminate between peoples, and little more than a century after its construction, Irragin was abandoned. Its occupants were wiped out by one of the many infections, and our leaders declared it a lost cause. Thule was no longer considered a threat to Afaraon, and the church’s attempt to convert its populace was viewed as a complete failure. The cost of maintaining an outpost so far away was deemed unnecessary, and at the time, potentially deadly, as the previous occupants found out to their cost. Also at that time, Afaraon faced another potential threat from a land to the far north. So the attention of the King, the council, and even the High Temple was firmly focused north, and not south towards a broken continent.

“Irragin was forgotten, but not for long. One of those warlords took control of Irragin and renamed it Azmarin. That warlord was Lord Zelroth. His rise to power was incredible. Within five years he had killed all of the rival warlords. Within ten, he had established his control over the entire continent and formed the beginnings of the Thule Empire we know it today. His movements were watched carefully by our spies, but none of them ever discovered the source of his power. He also seemed to be more focused on rebuilding the society of Thule rather than being any particular threat to Afaraon. With the new threat looming from the north, it was decided that we couldn’t start a war on two fronts, so Lord Zelroth was left to do as he willed.

“Looking back now, it seems like a lost opportunity to rid the world of a tyrant, but you have to understand, Afaraon was a mighty nation back then. One man was no threat against the thousands of magi we had. Once The Great Rift had been sealed, and the Netherworld creatures contained or destroyed, we had easily crushed the forces of Thule.

“What no one knew, of course, was the fact they had just given him access to one of the Guardian books. It seems that by keeping the locations of the books
such
a secret, it actually worked against us in the end. If we had only known Irragin contained a Guardian book, it would never have been abandoned. But I guess the same could be said about this place, or even Coldmont for that matter.”

Lusam tried to imagine a time when Afaraon was so powerful. A time when magic was commonplace, and the constant threat from the Empire didn’t exist yet. He remembered what Renn had told him, about how the Empire had secretly been killing newborn magi in Afaraon for at least two centuries, and probably much longer than that. How the
Hermingild
had been formed to protect newborn magi and their mothers. And how his grandmother had in fact been his mother’s
Hermingild
, and not his actual grandmother at all. Then another thought struck him.