《The Five Secrets》


 War Again

    "There is honour in death, those foolish Sel say," King Goron bellowed as he walked among his warriors. "I say, serve your neid! Fight in service till shaky breath is drawn through your wrinkled lips, and your eyes pierce the air only an arm''s length in front of you; till your bones creak, and the flesh sag off it; till your mighty battle cry becomes no more than a hoarse whisper; till your arms can neither support the weight of your blade, nor nock an arrow! Our worthy sacrifice to our neid is our way of life, our pride... our honour!" He stared Gulo in the eye. The boy had become a man, a warrior. Goron let his eyes roam the faces of as many as he could. He knew them well -all four hundred and ninety seven of them- including Gulo, his younger brother. Goron trusted these warriors. He could give them his back; and give them his back, he did. Turning around in his well-bruised but uncompromised leather armor, he smiled. "We live and fight for..."


    "GALORA!" The shout of four hundred and ninety-seven elite predators sparked the blue-gold flame Goron knew burned in the chest of every Galoran. King Goron''s band. His band. He smiled again.


    Denca watched him turn after giving his iria. She had hoped to catch his eye this day. Alas, Galoros had not flamed upon that particular eventuality. She did however catch Gulo¡¯s eye, as usual. They grew up together. Back then in the citadel, they would run in the fields amidst the trees, beneath Galoros¡¯ warm golden gaze. That was a different time, a different life. A time before Goron became king.


    Two years ago, scouts reported an army marching east along the coast of the great river, Kuridis, two days¡¯ worth of travel from the Citadel by beast. They raised the Sel flag and numbered around twenty thousand: roughly three thousand vorgen riders, and infantry.


    King Goron assembled his band and rode out to intercept the intruders, the rest of his force would have to catch up, assuming his band were not enough to handle the situation. He thought to himself. Do the Sel really hope to take Galora with those numbers? They had been quiet a very long time, why now? What could that Sukkra be plotting?


    It was dawn when Goron was seen riding up alone to the Sel camp.


    ¡°I would speak with your leader,¡± his voice rang out. He rode a bragge fit for a Galoran king, an intimidating beast.


    ¡°How considerate of you to grace us with your presence, Your Highness,¡± came the toned voice of a man from the group directly in front of Goron. His voice, though soft and smooth, had a certain depth to it.


    ¡°Spare me, Lasair, you think us all inferior to your kind. What is the meaning of this?¡±


    The group parted to reveal a lean Sel in white battle regalia. His pale face and skin looked much like the others, but his white headband was dotted with the glass stones that sparkled in the morning light.


    ¡°Well, you see, you have forced my hand, Your Highness. Your people are small, your territory and resources, massive. You refuse integration, you also refuse trade ¨C the Sukkra will not be denied any longer¡­¡±


    ¡°Take your men and go home, Lasair, while I¡¯m still asking. No one needs to die today.¡±


    ¡°How about this, then? A duel. One of your warriors against one of mine¡­¡±


    ¡°What!¡± King Goron interrupted, laughing, ¡°Surely, you did not become Sukkra thinking like that.¡±


    ¡°¡­should yours win,¡± Lasair continued, ¡°I would take my men and leave and that would be the end of that. But should mine win, then you would have to accede, especially to my pending demand for access to lumber zir in your zir forests¡­amongst other things.¡±


    ¡°You have entered my lands with your troops, unwelcomed. You are hailed the most intelligent man alive so listen Lasair, I am only going to say this once more. Take your men and leave.¡±


    ¡°Goron!¡± Lasair called firmly. ¡°I am Sukkra Lasair, Sukkra, Supreme ruler of Selmerdina. You look down at me from atop your beast, you feel powerful?¡± Linking both hands behind him, he continued coolly, ¡°Know this, while your Galoros watches, your people will be destroyed, and by the time he looks away, Galora will belong to the Sukkra. Go now and make your peace, for you will be the last King of Galora.¡± Casually glancing at the river in the distance, he added, ¡°The Sukkra wills it.¡±


    Hearing those words, the rage within Goron began to struggle for dominance over his other sensibilities, but a King must rule himself first. It was a war the moment these Sel troops entered Galora.


    I could take this Sukkra and maybe a hundred of his troops with me, here and now, Goron thought to himself, his mind beginning to withdraw.


    ¡°No, Lasair, you have made a mistake coming here,¡± Goron said as he turned and rode away; any longer, and his actions would have been out of his hands. ¡°Damn you, Lasair! Damn you and your greed!¡± The beast bounded on.


    As soon as Goron was out of earshot, without turning, ¡°The durat-en may proceed,¡± Lasair said to the spectre beside him that wasn¡¯t there moments before, ¡°and they must not fail.¡± He continued to watch the diminishing figure of beast and rider. ¡°It begins,¡± he said, his silver hair fluttering in the dry wind.


    *****


    It had been five days since the breakdown in negotiations between King Goron and the Sukkra. Both parties seemed to be at a standoff of sorts.


    ¡°What are they waiting for?¡± Denca asked Gulo. She stood leaning against a tree. A few members of the band were uniformly distributed in pairs along the length of the enemy¡¯s camp to keep lookout. They had been monitoring the Sel camp from the cover of the greenery beyond the coast for the past five days, alternating watchers. It was first light and Denca¡¯s and Gulo¡¯s watch had just begun.


    ¡°They could be waiting for reinforcements. Those numbers are great, but not nearly enough to hope to defeat us¡±, Gulo replied contemplating from his perch on a rock beside her. ¡°But something else seems wrong,¡± he continued¡­


    Their movements are wrong. The camp is too busy. Something else is going on. Could they be buying time to complete¡­whatever it is? A weapon? Even so, is there anything to be done about it? We need our reinforcements to arrive too. They should be arriving sometime before the light fades today. With eight thousand more Galorans and the territory advantage, even with one to five odds, it should be an easy victory¡­


    ¡°What??¡± he heard Denca ask.


    He looked up at her, realizing he had zoned out again, then noticing just how intently her brown eyes were focused on him, he quickly turned away toward the enemy camp. ¡°They seem to be doing something else besides preparing for a war,¡± he said.


    ¡°What could it be?¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°A weapon, maybe,¡± then with a chuckle, ¡°or digging for buried treasure.¡±


    ¡°Goron needs to know of this¡­¡± Denca began.


    ¡°You go tell him. I will continue to watch.¡±


    Without another word, Denca bolted to relay the message. She was fast, faster than him, a streak of red and different shades of brown, and Gulo felt his fire dim a little.


    After about half a stroke of running through the trees, Denca reached the clearing that served as a base for the band. She quickly moved past several other redheaded band members, her slender ¨C but sturdy ¨C frame making a beeline for the King¡¯s tent.


    ¡°When will they get here,¡± she heard Goron ask. He was speaking with his second-in-command of the band, Darrosh.


    ¡°The advance group arrived the day before ¨C six hundred riders. The rest should arrive today, five strokes past the north, just before the darkness.¡± Now Darrosh, like all Galorans was a redhead, his tan skin taut with muscles. He was taller and had a bigger build, even than Goron, and Goron was bigger and taller than most. Yet, when you saw them both in the same place, you had to be more aware of Goron, not for lack of Darrosh being imposing, but for Goron having too overwhelming a presence, like a contained furnace.


    They both looked her way as Denca entered. Goron sat in a small stool on one side of the low improvised war table ¨C a board placed over a tree stump in the middle of the room.


    As soon as she was inside the King¡¯s tent, Denca went down on her left knee, rested her left forearm across her elevated right knee, both palms balled into fists, she placed her right forearm across her slightly bowed forehead, and said, ¡°Gouramazul,¡± by way of hailing the Galoran prime leader.


    ¡°Deburou,¡± Goron responded, indicating she rise and proceed with her message.


    Rising, Denca began, ¡°Gulo thinks those Sel are up to something. He believes they are too busy for a war camp.¡±


    ¡°Did he say what they could be up to?¡± asked Darrosh.


    ¡°A weapon, he said, or digging for buried treasure, but that last part might have been a joke¡­¡± she stopped speaking, seeing the look on Goron¡¯s face.


    ¡°Gourama¡­¡± Darrosh called tentatively to Goron from just beside him.


    ¡°Denca, hand me that scroll,¡± Goron said recovering his manner and indicating to a scroll in a pouch hung on a pole just to her right.


    Taking the scroll Denca handed him, Goron unrolled and placed it on the table, overlapping the map of Galora.


    The map and scroll together, Goron confirmed what he already knew he would find. The insignia at the top of the map was not just the symbol of Galora ¨C the image of the mighty bragge. The three-eared, red-maned, light-brown-furred wildcat, was underscored by the Gourama-shida symbol. The symbol indicating the secret of the prime family, passed down only from prime leader to prime leader. Just as Gared¡¯s father had done with Gared, King Gared the previous prime leader ¨Cand Goron¡¯s father¨C had taken Goron as a fifteen-year old boy to the coast of Kuridis and said to him, ¡°Here lies the Broken Slate, first of five secrets. It is said that if ever all five secrets should be revealed to one person, he shall transcend reality and in so doing, obtain divinity at the expense of the rest of Heres.¡±


    It so happened that Gared¡¯s father believed something so tempting and dangerous should not reside amidst his people, so he hid it, in plain sight, buried deep in the earth. The only reference to its location could be found on any of Galora¡¯s maps ¨C also in plain sight ¨C but anyone looking would have to know, to know. The King Gerud was a shrewd man. He chose the location such that it was in open space and would not be affected by the expansion of his people¡¯s civilization. He and his three companions, Kuuren the Immortal Manipulator, Ynsolwine the legendary seer, and Hsharshhamroj of the Ramakhine were sworn to secrecy under Kuuren¡¯s blood oath. The Broken Slate was given to the care of Gared and his people by Ynsolwine at the end of the last war. Before it was buried, Kuuren placed a seal laced with a drop of Gared¡¯s blood on the slate that eternally linked him and his descendants to it.


    Goron felt it. He felt himself become agitated, for no apparent reason. He had felt the effects of Kuuren¡¯s seal five days ago when he confronted Lasair, but this was different. He knew¡­somehow¡­that the Broken Slate had been disturbed.


    Just then, another band member rushed in, a girl, and saluted the King the same way Denca had earlier.


    ¡°Deburou. What news, Arderra?¡± Goron said, putting down the scroll.


    A little out of breath, she began, ¡°The Sel are withdrawing. They have been withdrawing since the last stroke. I should have arrived with this news sooner but Badon had to make sure given that we are farthest from here¡­¡±


    ¡°Hardly a surprise,¡± Darrosh said, ¡°it was a bluff after all, that Sukkra¡­Unless¡­¡± he trailed off, realization setting in.


    ¡°They have it,¡± the prime leader muttered.


    ¡°Ready our riders,¡± he said to Darrosh, standing, ¡°We pursue.¡±


    ¡°Gouramazul.¡± Said Darrosh, a puzzled look on his face as he turned and strode out of the tent, Arderra and Denca in tow.


    ¡°Denca.¡± Goron called, stopping her from leaving with the others. ¡°Bring Gulo here, be quick.¡±


    ¡°Gouramazul.¡±


    Leaving the tent, Denca could see the flurry of activity. They were ready to move out, for the most part, waiting for Goron to mount and give the command. The six hundred that arrived the day before rode vorgen; Goron and his band rode bragge. Each band member had to find and tame one as an induction rite. Finding a bragge was difficult enough, but taming one, even more so. Goron had tamed the biggest baddest of them all, and it sat just outside his tent. Denca walked over to hers where it sat unattended, placed a hand on its head, and brought its forehead to hers for just a moment then withdrew before turning around and running off into the trees to get Gulo.


    Goron mounted, and led the charge. Over a thousand riders dusting the coast. The Sel had withdrawn far, not too far, but seeing as they were never too far from the border to begin with, they were now close to leaving Galoran territory, heading into theirs.


    Goron and his men gave chase, but the Sel were prepared for them. They had rigged the site of their recently vacated camp with fire traps, and just as the Galoran pursuers were approaching, ignited the oils setting up an impassable terrain of fire in their path...just to buy enough time for them to leave Galoran lands. They got what they came for, it was time to leave. They would fight someday soon, just not today. Meanwhile, Sukkra Lasair was already long gone with the artefact.


    Upon returning to his tent, Goron saw that reinforcements had arrived, a messenger from Galora along with them. He brought terrible news.


    ¡°Gouramazul,¡± Bodelo, the messenger hailed.


    ¡°Deburou.¡±


    ¡°Three days after your departure, the Consecration by the mountain springs was attacked. Everyone was put to sleep by something in the air, and by the time they awoke, thirty newborns were missing, among them, Gourama-ishi ¨C the King¡¯s heir. The only one who saw anything was Dovon Jayo of the black ruby blade. He said they were shadows. Even in the morning light, they were shadows and they moved quickly. There were too many of them for him to defend against. Between the sleep infection and the zir incense that saturates our home, he was powerless to do much. Eventually, even he succumbed. He believes they came through the mountains. He also believes they were Sel.¡±


    Goron let out a long breath. His skin had turned more red than light brown, and his hairs were on end. ¡°Your work is not done,¡± he said to Bodelo. ¡°Ride back now to the windspeakers, give this message for the queen of Tenauris, ¡®The stone is moved, Goron attacks Selmerdina.¡¯¡± Then to Darrosh who stood beside him, ¡°Gather the harisch to me, commanders of thousands only.¡±


    After a century of peace, the realm was yet again plunged into war. Denca had never known war, none of them had, except for some of the older harisch who were little more than children in those days. The Galorans bear in them the fire of Galoros, yet they dread war. Possessing a natural talent for learning combat skills, they fight with unwavering tenacity. In terms of raw power, they are physically unmatched by any other race ¨C masters of combat and the art of war, but it all comes at a price. Most frightening about them is the curse of Galoros.


    After the Sel invasion, excavasion, kidnapping and escape, King Goron besieged Selmerdina. It was an odd sight. The kingdom was walled all the way around, and was so massive, so much so that it made Goron and his men seem like a joke in poor taste. Of course it didn¡¯t help that the average person within those walls was likely mentally on par with the Galoran strategist, his only advantage being that he had actually seen a war before.


    The wall, ten-men high, was merely the outer wall that indicated the reach of Sel civilization. The biggest obstacle however, was the inner wall several days beyond the outer wall. It was a testament to the King¡¯s city, Urtea, and rose thirty-men high, projecting itself away from the slope of the hill on which the city stood. The wall itself was called Urtea¡¯s Crown.


    Where the lands of Galora and Selmerdina would otherwise have met, rose mountains that began just after the coast of the great river, Kuridis, and extended far into the dead lands, effectively walling both peoples apart.


    For the first wall, the Galoran siege was faced with three options, as far as they knew: go through the wall, go over the wall, or go over the mountains.

 Tenauris

    "Stop with the haggling, Gelko. We both know I''m leaving here with that blade at no more than three-hundred kwen."


    "Milady, this blade was forged from true Galoran germerhon by the infamous smiths of Selmerdina. It is the only one of its kind in all the five major kingdoms of the three reaches..."


    "You said something like that last I was here." Teshkah complained, a scowl forming as she tried to remember. "Ah yes!" she exclaimed, her pretty face lighting up with laughter at the memory. "You said that," she paused to laugh a little, "with enough force, this blade," she pulled half a blade from its sheath, "could cut right through even one of sister Sherona''s stone fighters ¨CHa! What a joke! It snapped like a twig and she laughed at me; it was supposed to be my best effort too. At least I made her laugh. She never laughs."


    Gelko the merchant cackled along. He was a spry old man, smallish with deep facial lines and a jovial manner that made him seem likeable. His shop was located at the heart of the Shelangri market, the biggest market on Heres. The market was a trade monster. Anyone could buy and sell in the Shelangri market; anything and anyone could be bought and sold in the Shelangri market; anyone, and anything could be lost, and...or found, in the Shelangri market. Deuran, the capital city of Tenauris, boasted the largest economy in the world thanks to the Shelangri market. It was rowdy and loud, as markets tend to be, but despite the noise, it was also a place of whispers where word traveled faster than beasts and boats, or never traveled at all. One did not survive here by being nice, and Gelko thrived.


    "That was unfortunate, milady, but this is different. Just look at it! The stone alone is priceless ¨Cthat rare shade of deep blue¨C and the blade... have you ever seen such white? Milady this is nothing like the last one..."


    "You''re saying this one would cut through and not break?" she asked, squinting at the little man. Teshkah unbelted the snapped blade ¨Csheathe and all¨C and let it drop to a wooden crate at her feet. A pair of arm-guards caught her attention as her eyes wandered Gelko''s wares. She could tell by the cost note beneath them that the pair cost fifty kwen.


    "You know better than I that this is a piercing weapon, milady, not a cutting one. I shall make you my best offer in light of the last...exaggeration." He said that last part with a coy smile. "I shall give you this blade for four hundred and fifty kwen ¨Cno more, no less¨C and should you at a later date be less than satisfied with it, then you could trade it in for any other blade of your choice in my shop ¨C I believe this is fair."


    "Hmm..." Teshkah pondered, pouting and fingering her chin. "Even those?" she pointed to the floor at the back of the shop with a smirk on her fair face, one eyebrow raised. "What? You thought I didn''t know about those? So?" she pressed, leaning forward, down and closer to the smaller tan man. Close enough to his head of thinning black hair to smell the stench of sweat underneath that of polished germerhon and perfume made from the wild tasic flower, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief.


    "Of course, milady." Gelko said, a stiff smile crossing his lips. "For you, anything." He knew from her raiment that she was a Tenauri priestess of the fourth order. He just hadn''t anticipated that she would be able to sense the material of the two blades hidden in the pit beneath floorboards at the back of the shop. Last time she came in plain clothes, so he had assumed she was merely one of the temple''s voluntary retainers training with sister Sherona of the first order to become a windspeaker. No loss; four hundred and fifty kwen is more than I would have got for a dark blade anyway, he thought as he raised his eyes to meet hers, and deepened his smile.


    "Very well, here you go." She tossed him a pouch that clinked and chinkled as he caught it. "That''s five hundred kwen. I''ll be taking these matching arm-guards too." The leather arm-guards were adorned on the outer forearm part with thin metal plates that were as much protective as they were decorative, and of the same white as the blade she had just obtained, encrusted with a blue stone of the same shade as that of the stone set into the guard of the blade''s hilt. So, abandoning the destroyed blade, she slid the newer longer pointy one into its sheathe that now hung on her left hip. She fancied the arm-guards just as much as the blade and thought, not bad for one hundred kwen a piece, as she slipped them on, each middle finger through a corresponding hoop, a perfect fit. She turned around and left, cheerfully skipping in the direction of Deuran''s grand temple.


    Gelko was a man of trade. He had obtained that white blade from a Ramakhine boy at the cost of a bed and a hot meal, just the day before; he was immensely pleased when a priestess showed up at his shop with her heart set on that blade. The Tenauri priestesses were known for their eccentric tastes, and deep pockets. It was the one privilege allowed them by the High Reishen, priestess of the zeroth order, and queen of Tenauris.


    Upon reaching the temple grounds, Teshkah noticed a boy walking the garden terrace and trailing a finger along the balustrade. He could not have marked any more than ten years. His clothes were notably Ramakhine ¨C a loose-fitting long grey shirt and tight-fitting dark brown trousers that flowed into high-necked, brown, flat-soled boots. The contrast of the boy against the terrace projected an image of loneliness and deep sadness in the fading daylight. The Deuran temple was a massive, domed, white structure. Its estate comfortably included the queen''s residence as well as residences and facilities necessary for the training of several hundred priestesses and retainers. Teshkah was almost sure as to why the little boy was there, pacing. She walked the white, paved terrace floors which were just wide enough for two walking side by side, to where he was headed and sat herself down on the stone parapet blocking the path of his trailing finger, four balusters away. At first, he had stopped pacing and simply stood there awkwardly disturbed by the intrusion. But then, just before he turned around to silently continue trailing in the opposite direction, and putting some distance between them, "Your sister?" Teshkah asked aloud to the boy''s hearing.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    With a heavy shaky sigh, he turned his back to the balustrade and let himself slide down to sit on the pavement beside her feet. He then covered his face with both palms and said, "My everything," as the sobs finally broke free from his childish lips.


    Only girls touched by the goddess may become priestesses and serve in her temples. Teshkah wasn''t originally from Tenauris. She was born on a farm in the kingdom of Lisora as an only child to a farmer and his wife. She had been sailed to Tenauris from the third reach, a week before her thirteenth marker, a day after she suddenly screamed and collapsed in the fields.


    She remembered it all too well ¨C being pulled into the birxx, the too many voices, the fear, the lonely path, the token upon the pedestal at Ramak''s altar ¨C she still dreamed it some nights.


    The priestesses had taught her that when a girl touched by the goddess reaches her age of assumption, the divine energy built up within her begins to resonate with the fundamental rules. Whenever and wherever that happens, the girl''s soul is immediately pulled into the birxx, the marble of unreality, to protect her mind from the madness the voices bring. This however, leaves her body a vulnerable unconscious lump. In Teshkah''s case, she had remained unconscious for a month. Her parents had been encouraged to return to Lisora after several days spent anticipating her recovery in the temple. The goddess did not discriminate. Any girl child anywhere could be touched. It was known throughout Heres, and some even prayed for it. By the time Teshkah had recovered, there was no one familiar to soothe her tired soul. That however, was the least of her concerns given the things she saw and then knew, about things normal people knew nothing about, neither could they comprehend.


    *****


    "Sisters," called Sherona, "word upon the wind is that the first secret has been moved, taken from Galoran lands by the Sukkra." Sister Sherona was one of the older priestesses. She had recently marked her sixty-eighth, and had a comfortable sophisticated manner about her that still managed to appear strict all the time. "He also took from them something they value even more, their future, the heir to Galora, along with several other newborns." She paused to give her words time to produce meaning in the minds of her sisters. "As was to be expected, the people of Galora are already at war. We all know what this means. What do we do?"


    All the priestesses of the first and second order in the capital had received a summons from the queen. They had convened, not at the temple, but at her residence, in the Hall Without Windows.


    "The pact binds the five kingdoms," Sherona continued, "ideally, all remaining kingdoms would band together to overrun Selmerdina. However, he took hostages, and having obtained a second secret, may not even be on the second reach anymore."


    "ihtewowh shiewoier sdhie eieryerhn saoixcn sokcniok eiryknd geiowq k dfh eioq oie."


    "mk o ioei iowhc knkal keowi nmelw o ieyht la oiei oieuyoij aoiealm."


    "jeio iowuwa eiowu fowiz...not a concern for us." Deurah said, a soft plea in her voice. She also was of the first order, but in the rule of mind. "The Ascension requires all five secrets and we have one he will never obtain even if he manages to obtain all four of the others. This is not our war...not like the last one."


    "Even so, the trust has been broken. We shall not ignore this. Sister Tasifa of the first order shall go," the queen said. "She shall observe and report. Sister Tasifa, you leave for Selmerdina tomorrow. Sering la Tenauris."


    "Sering la Demur Reishen," chorused all the priestesses in the hall, in perfect unison.


    Teshkah had been eavesdropping just outside the door. She had not yet mastered the wind aspect, so she had had to struggle to maintain the channel, but she had heard enough. She was about to turn and sneak back out of the queen''s residence when she caught a shadowy movement in the corner of her eye. In panic, she turned around sharply and was immediately confused. Darkness in the form of a man had promptly placed a hand over her mouth and she felt cold germerhon flash across her neck. She tried to speak but instead felt pain and heat flow freely where just a moment before she had felt cold. Her hands reflexively moved to her neck where they met a deep sticky gash. The solid hand of darkness tightened over her mouth and its other hand began repeatedly stabbing her midriff in quick succession, leaving flowing pain and heat in the wake of each stab. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized she was dying. By the goddess, if I''m going to die, I would at least know who killed her, she thought. Reaching out to her attacker''s face hoping to unmask the fiend, she tried to claw at its face, albeit, surprisingly weakly. Her slippery fingers simply slid off the dark form as its hand over her mouth escorted her bleeding body to the floor, its dark hollow eyes never breaking contact with hers.


    Teshkah''s eyes abruptly snapped open and she discovered she was in her room, soaked in a bed of her own sweat, her heart racing. A dream. A dream. A dream. She heaved a deep sigh and simply continued to lie there hoping her heart would win or lose the race at some point. It didn''t.

 Darkness

    As soon as the Galoran king was out of sight, Sukkra Lasair turned and started the walk back to his tent. He had been expecting Goron to show up, just not alone. I suppose one disrespect deserves another in response ¨C we did invade his lands afterall, he thought.


    "He could have killed you, and quite a few more of us if he was reckless enough," Rolin said, moving up to keep pace with the supreme ruler. Rolin was second only to the Sukkra in all military matters.


    "Yes, my friend!" the Sukkra breathed. "Exciting, isn''t it!" He flashed Rolin a full-toothed grin. "I mean, the chance of that happening was significantly low, but there was still the possibility that he would have succumbed to his passions and ripped through the lot of us." The Sukkra continued to grin, but then he stopped walking and turned to place a white gloved hand on Rolin''s shoulder. "Do you see it, my friend? The End? Each event leading up to the next, and the next, on and on." He shivered from exhilaration "Stay alive long enough Rolin, and you will be very entertained." His grey eyes reflected the thrill of the moment...or were just crazy as he turned and continued to walk, leaving Rolin in stunned silence.


    Sukkra Lasair had learned an approximate location of the first secret from the shivak, and having seized the initiative, the Sel army had bought themselves a few very valuable days to locate and retrieve the Broken Slate. However, the land mass to scour was still quite massive, which was why the Sukkra had brought twenty thousand for the purpose of digging up a relic no bigger than a wheel barrow. Well that, and to draw out the Gourama and anyone else that could interfere with the durat-en mission.


    The shivak, a special unit founded over a hundred years ago by the then Sukkra for the purpose of studying and understanding everything extraordinary that may gain or deny the Sukkra any advantage, had had the fifth secret in their possession since it was given to Selmerdina by Ynsolwine at the end of the last war. They had studied it, and they had learned from it, the dark arts.


    The shivak operated outside of Selmerdina''s military. They had eyes and ears reaching far and wide throughout Heres. A source in the Shelangri market had revealed to them the time and location of the Galoran Consecration, and it hadn''t come cheap. The durat-en had then received instructions; on the morrow, they were to proceed, and most importantly, not fail.


    Sukkra Lasair moved a flap aside and walked into his tent.


    "Welcome, supreme ruler," he heard a voice say as he entered. It was as the sound of wind whistling through a hollow wooden bulk, accompanied in the background by the sound of swishing water.


    Without breaking stride, "Kezir, I presume?" the Sukkra asked as he walked to a pitcher on a table and poured himself a cup of blue wine.


    "Indeed, Your Supremacy," the figure responded from the shadows, "your sharpness is most impressive."


    "My authority is even more so, Kezir. I forbid you to conceal yourself in my presence." The weight of the Sukkra''s words carried, though they were spoken casually.


    "Durat semal soridal, Sukkra..."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Are we not alone?" the Sukkra interjected impatiently between sips. "Would you reveal yourself otherwise?" His eyes remained locked onto the position of the dark form.


    The figure in the shadows stepped forward. Having the appearance of being completely shrouded in an utterly black mist, Kezir reached both hands up and pulled back a hood. This motion was apparent because the black mist simultaneously dispersed, revealing a person in a deep red robe. Kezir''s eyes were black ¨Ceven the whites¨C and a network of protruding blood vessels extended from the corners of those eyes, and faded into the smoothness on both sides of a pale hairless scalp. Kezir stood half a head shorter than the Sukkra, two paces away. Head bowed, featureless hands linked in front such that they disappeared between the sleeves of the robe, "Moreshe Sukkra," Kezir said, in deference to the supreme ruler.


    "Why have you come, Kezir?"


    "Another one has been brought in. Her parents had been hiding her unconscious body for nineteen days. Fortunately, a neighbor desiring a reward, secretly notified the public office of the shivak. We may have an exact location within three days."


    "Excellent!" The Sukkra pulled a wooden armchair to the center of the tent and sat in it, facing the entrance to the tent. "Is she awake yet?"


    "Supreme ruler, this one is different. The girl awoke a day after an incursion by patrol guards into her father''s house where she was found laid up in a back room. She has been with us three days now, and has been awake for two. Breaking her is taking...longer."


    "Out with it, Kezir," the sukkra said, lowering his cup.


    "She seems to be somewhat able to manipulate the progression of time, and using that power to protect her mind, she endures. If the Tenauri have a trained priestess with that ability, it would be a terrible inconvenience."


    "She is of no value to us if we cannot break her," Sukkra Lasair said, dismissively. "All of it, fate, gods, priestesses, they all exist for my enjoyment," he said, smiling and sipping from his cup. In a blink, before the cup left Sukkra Lasair''s lips, Kezir was gone.


    *****


    Dalan, the smith''s boy, eagerly watched the Sukkra''s procession. He admired the Sukkra immensely and would that he were worthy from birth to be a potential ruler candidate. Word of the Sukkra''s arrival had spread throughout the capital along with news of the current war status with Galora, and potentially, the other four major kingdoms.


    "If only Keri were here, Dalan," said Fiurra as her eyes misted over.


    "Come now Fiurra, don''t cry. Keri''s just sick. She''ll get better. Remember when Illa got sick and they took her?"


    The little Fiurra nodded, blinking away tears. Dalan''s younger sister was her closest friend. They had both marked their ninth in the later part of the past year. "She got better," Fiurra said, sniffling.


    "That''s right. She got better and they brought her back. So save the tears and stories for when she gets back. Here, take my hand. We''re going up on the roof for a better view."


    That made Fiurra perk up some. She had been counting the days since Keri''s collapse. Twenty-seven days since her friend suddenly started crying in the middle of a game of bica, and pressing her small palms to her ears. The frightened Fiurra had run off to get Keri''s papa when the crying suddenly ceased and her friend fell freely to the floor.


    "Fiurra, look!" she heard the excited Dalan say.


    They had run up a flight of stone steps and could see the entire parade of vorgen riders. Fiurra had learned that vorgen were horses with bull''s horns. They were war horses. From up on the roof two buildings away from the procession route, Fiurra could see not just the white procession, but also the masses that lined the roads, cheering and bearing witness to the Sukkra''s return, and the secret with him.


    Meanwhile, leather-strapped to a stone platform in a torch-lit underground room of the main shivak building, Keri continued to resist waves of psychological attacks from the fifth secret, Darkness. Her eyes wide open, glowed black, and the room pulsed rhythmically, ever so slightly as she stared down her relentless invisible adversary.