Wasteland Palace, Calabria
When Dagan awoke, the first thing he did was reach out into the dark for his wife. But she wasn't cuddled beside him, which was probably why he had awakened in the first place. Looking around in the dark room, he saw her standing on the balcony facing the Guerani Hills, and although she made no sound, he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. Leaving behind the warm bed, he walked across the room and joined her, slipping his arms around her and pulling her back against him.
"Do you hear the voices?" she asked softly.
Dagan didn't want to listen, but he heard the voices on the wind just as well as she could. "You mustn't let them keep you from resting, Shamara."
"They pray to gods who can do nothing but listen to them."
Dagan turned her around in his arms and raised her chin to look down into her eyes. "All that many of them need is to believe they will be helped."
Shamara came closer to him and laid her head against his chest. "It doesn't seem enough."
As Dagan stroked her hair, he marveled at her selflessness. While she felt pain at the suffering of others, he resented that his time with Shamara would be so short. They had already spent too much time indulging in their selfish desires while Camrin was growing stronger. Dagan could feel his presence, strong and evil in the hills. He tortured men, women and children for his amusement while he waited for them to come, but Dagan didn't want his time with Shamara to come to an end so soon.
Shamara's hands were on his shoulders, and she raised her face to his, inviting his kiss. As he obliged her, he was only vaguely aware that her hands slid down his arms, but he thought nothing of it until she ended the kiss as her hands covered his. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But this is our destiny."
The room spun around them so fast that he had to close his eyes, and when he opened them, they were no longer in their plush suite at the Guerani Palace. Instead, they were in the dark, dank corridors of the servant's quarters of the ancient palace of the gods.
Dagan frowned at Shamara. "Why did you do that?"
"I had to," she told him as she stepped back. "I…I had no choice. Now I must go. I think Ulfyna is calling for me."
Dagan tried to catch her hand, but Shamara hurried away into the darkness. He was just wondering what he should do when he had a strong feeling that he should return to Dagmaeus' suite. Grabbing a pitcher of chilled water, he made his way back through the winding corridors until he came to a place he seemed to recognize. Pushing against the slimy stone, he heard a click, then a door slid open. Dagan slipped into the room.
"Ah, there you are Dagan. And you have brought water! You know my every need."
"That is why he was carefully chosen to serve you."
As Dagan approached Dagmaeus he saw that an older woman was comfortably seated amongst his cushions.
"When was this determination made, mother?" asked Dagmaeus, his voice tight with censure. "I cannot remember a time when Dagan was not with me."
The woman that Dagan realized was the god's mother shrugged her shoulders as she turned her attention to him. When her eyes narrowed to slits, he turned away to pour the water into goblets. Dagan wondered if the all-powerful woman recognized that he was not the Dagan of this time and place.
"Dagan was born to serve and will serve into infinity." Queen Rahina took a sip of the water, but her eyes followed Dagan's movements. "These Guerani people are very talented in ways we do not even understand. I do not think that even they know their true potential."
"Perhaps we should fear them," said Dagmaeus with a lift to his brow.
His mother laughed softly. "They are ignorant, foolish creatures whose intelligence is only slightly above those beasts who breed on the plains. That is why they are so easy to manipulate."
Dagmaeus crossed to Dagan and took the pitcher from his hands. He swung around to face his mother. "Is that why you would use them like this object? Are you planning to fill Ulfyna with the essence of Mordraeus?"
Queen Rahina quickly stood, and Dagan could see that she was upset. "You don't understand!"
"I do! You would use her to do something you can no longer." Dagmaeus was furious. "How could you do such a thing?!"
Rahina began to pace, wringing her hands nervously as she walked. "You don't know everything."
"Ulfyna told me…"
"Ulfyna does not know everything." She stopped to look at Dagmaeus.
"You still don't understand!" Dagmaeus grabbed his mother's shoulders and shook her. "I don't care what happens! I want Ulfyna! I love her!"
"Are you willing to sacrifice her to destroy the evil that Camrin will become?" demanded Rahina. "He has powers that are an abomination!"
"I will challenge him myself!"
"You cannot defeat him alone! The power of Mordraeus is frightening, and if he should become unleashed, he could destroy everyone. Camrin has some of that power, and should he learn to use it, you should fear him as well."
Dagmaeus frowned. "How were you planning to use Ulfyna?"
Rahina glanced towards Dagan. "Perhaps you should dismiss your servant."
Dagan would rather stay to hear her plan, but he bowed and walked back to the hidden doorway. Once he stepped into the dark, he paused for a moment, then turned to head back to the kitchens where he hoped to find Shamara. But suddenly a hand was over his mouth and he was shoved against the wall near the opening. Dagan recognized the odor, one he had associated with the boreworm on the Mars Colony. But now he realized what it truly was.
"If you want to live, I suggest you remain still," whispered Camrin fiercely in his ear.
Dagan did not move.
"The Guerani can absorb our essence, Dagmaeus! And the beauty is that they do lack the intelligence to understand what is happening," he heard Rahina say. "Ulfyna has a strong will, and I hoped that she could use that will to contain Camridaeus. You weren't supposed to fall in love with her, Dagmar! She was meant for Camrin."
"Camrin has shown no interest in her," said Dagmaeus.
"Why should he be interested in a girl who has given her heart to another?"
"Mother, perhaps you have misread the visions you have of the future. Camrin is harmless, and he and I are as close as any brothers could be..."
"Even you do not understand, Dagmaeus! How would he feel if he should ever discover that he actually is your brother?" Dagan felt Camrin stiffen, could hear the blood rushing through the other man's body and the rage that was building from deep within him. "Now he merely resents his lack of belonging, but I fear how he would react if he knew I was his mother."
"You should have worried about that when you sent Nazzar into the forest with your infant child with the hope that a wolf would devour it." Dagmaeus' was clearly disgusted with his mother. "Instead of showering me with your love, you should have spared some for your other son."
"I am sorry, Dagmar. The evil that is Mordraeus is part of him."
"Get out! I don't care why you did the things you have done. I only know that I won't allow you to continue. I am going to marry Ulfyna, and we will live out the rest of our lives together. I would not dream of using her Guerani abilities to extend my existence, nor would I use her against the brother that I love."
Dagan could hear Queen Rahina depart, but he was still trapped by Camrin. Dagan feared for Dagmaeus, but Camrin suddenly released him and stepped back. The evil in the air was thick as Camrin stood silently staring into the darkened passage toward his brother's room.
Finally the dark god said, "If you should speak of this to my dear brother, I will crush your precious Shamara like a bug beneath my heel."
Dagan didn't have a chance to respond before Camrin vanished in the dark.
"Dagan!"
Dagan stepped back into the room. He wanted to tell Dagmaeus about Camrin, but he couldn't. He feared for Shamara's safety because he sensed that the powers in Camrin had been unlocked by his rage.
Dagmaeus smiled at him. "I am going to marry Ulfyna as soon as possible. I cannot wait for the rest of our lives to continue together."
Dagan felt heartsick to know what the future held for Dagmar.
"Is this really happening, Shamara?" Ulfyna was glowing with happiness as Shamara wove tiny white flowers through her golden hair.
Shamara paused to smile at her. "Indeed, this is really happening. In a matter of hours, you will be the wife of Lord Dagmaeus."
"This is like a dream that has come true!"
If only Ulfyna knew the truth! Shamara sighed and fell silent as she continued to arrange the bride's hair. Only yesterday Dagmaeus had come to her and told Ulfyna of his plans to marry her. His father had not forbidden him, had, in fact, accepted his decision with delight. Queen Rahina was obviously in opposition, but she relented for the sake of her son's happiness.
"The day cannot go by fast enough," prattled Ulfyna. She turned to look at Shamara. "I am afraid that I will not please my lord husband."
Shamara remembered her own groundless fears, and so she smiled and patted her cheek. "Do not worry, Lady Ulfyna. You could not displease him because he is so much in love with you."
"As I am with him."
A short knock at the door preceded the entry of King Iator. Shamara bowed low as Ulfyna rose unsteadily to her feet. "My lord!"
"Are you ready?" he asked as he held out his hand. "My son is growing impatient."
Ulfyna turned to look back at Shamara. "I don't know how to thank you, Shamara."
Shamara watched mutely as the woman left, and when Ulfyna had gone, she hurried out of the room through the hidden doorway leading from Ulfyna's chamber. Although Shamara was not familiar with the passages, she allowed instinct to lead her, and soon she came upon another doorway, which was opening. Dagan stepped into the corridor. She didn't give him a chance to realize that she was waiting before she flung her arms around him and pulled his head to hers.
He was stiff at first until he realized it was her, and when he did, he picked her up and carried her back through the door from which he had just come. Dagan dropped her on the pile of satin pillows on the floor, and when he joined her, she pushed him back when he seemed to have grown several more hands.
"We can't do this here!"
Dagan raised his brow. "Why not?"
"This is Lord Dagmaeus' bed!" Shamara was mortified that they were even lying on it.
Dagan snorted. "He's not going to be using it tonight."
Shamara thought of the extravagant decorating that had been done to Ulfyna's chamber to make it suitable to welcome her new husband. "I guess you're right."
"I haven't seen you in three days," said Dagan as he brushed his lips against her neck. "Have you missed me as much as I have you?"
"I still don't think this is right," she protested feebly, but she fitted her body to his. "Let's be quick, because I should get back to Ulfyna."
"I don't think she will need you. Now start thinking about me, Shamara."
Shamara devoted her thoughts and energies to Dagan, and it seemed like hours later that she remembered that she should have been attending to Ulfyna after the wedding banquet. The room had grown dark, but she was warm and comfortable snuggled against Dagan. Yet she sensed that he was troubled as they lay together.
"What is happening?" she asked, not raising her head from his chest. "Is this not what Dagmaeus and Ulfyna wanted? Did they not wish to join, and having been kept from it, reached across dimensions to seek our help by drawing us here?"
"I do not know," said Dagan with a sigh. "But I do know how Dagmaeus feels. His heart is full of love for her."
Shamara sensed accusation in his tone, and she raised her head to look at him. "You do not trust Ulfyna?"
"You know the legend as well as I do, Shamara. When he goes to her bed, she will already have given herself to Camrin."
Shamara frowned. "But…but I know that she loves Dagmaeus! I have not even seen her speak to Camrin! She would not betray Dagmaeus!"
"You know the legend," he insisted.
Shamara shoved him away and grabbed the shapeless tunic that was her clothing. "I cannot believe it! I will go see for myself!"
Dagan seized her arm to prevent her from leaving. "We cannot change what will happen, Shamara."
She jerked her arm away from him. "I know that! But I want to know the truth!"
"You are truly stubborn," he muttered as quickly pulled on his own clothing. "And you are going to get us killed."
"And those many times on Mars Colony you did not drag me into danger?" she retorted. Shamara grabbed his hand. Instead of the intense power she had grown accustomed to feeling from him she felt only warmth. "What…what has happened? Why is there no power?"
"I think we used it all up," he said with a chuckle.
Shamara smacked his arm. "I really don't think it is connected with that!"
"We had better be a little more careful then. I guess we aren't immortal."
They moved quickly through the dark corridors, and Shamara could hear the noises of the festivities through the walls. In the short time now that she had been with Ulfyna, Shamara had come to realize that these outcasts from Bayman were loathsome, selfish people. They took advantage of the natives of Calabria and used them like animals for whatever they wanted. Shamara, Dagan and Ulfyna were among the favored few. Shamara suspected that Rahina had chosen the three for whatever talent they possessed that was stronger than the other Guerani people. She also realized that Rahina had been studying healing arts from Nazzar and not the other way around. Ulfyna had already surpassed the powers of the woman from Bayman.
When they came to the corridor where Ulfyna's room was located, Shamara slowed the pace and they moved quietly to her door. Shamara was afraid for what they might see, but she needed to know the truth of the legend. Why would Ulfyna betray the man she loved on the day when she would finally be his wife?
She put her hand against the panel to the door, but Dagan stopped her. "Don't do anything foolish," he warned her.
Shamara looked back at him. "What do you think I would do?"
He shrugged. "I know you."
She ignored him and pushed open the panel a crack. The first thing that struck her was the odd odor, one that was familiar to her. She heard Dagan gasp, and she turned to look at him.
"I was right," he said with annoyance. "She is with Camrin."
"But…but that stench is the boreworm," she argued. "How is that possible?"
"Not the boreworm. Do you not recognize it? Although not as strong, the beasts of the Mars Colony stunk of this. They were creatures created by Camrin to stop us."
Shamara turned back to the door, and she pushed it open further so that she could peer inside. The sounds of what was happening were unmistakable, but Shamara forced back her sense of decency to look toward the bed. Ulfyna was giving herself to a man, that seemed to be her husband, but Shamara had difficulty making out his form.
Dagan whispered in her ear. "It's Camrin! Now let's leave."
"No, it's Dagmaeus," insisted Shamara.
The man with Ulfyna must have heard them. He raised his head, and for a split second, he appeared to be Dagmaeus, then suddenly he transformed into Camrin. Ulfyna cried out and tried to escape, but Camrin caught her and jerked her back beneath her.
"You will be mine, wolf-girl! I'll not let Dagmar have everything!"
The door opened and Dagmaeus walked in, and the smile on his face faded when he saw Ulfyna and Camrin together. Shamara shook off Dagan's hand and hurried into the room to Ulfyna who had burst into tears.
"You are a little late, brother," said Camrin with a smirk as he rose from the bed. "But you can have what is left."
Dagmaeus stared with surprise at the scene before him. Behind him, the door opened to reveal Nazzar and Rahina who must have escorted him. Rahina grasped the sword of her son and thrust it into his hands.
"You must kill him! He his dishonored you!"
But Dagmaeus let the sword fall from his hand. "Why would you do this to me?" he asked Camrin, his voice full of hurt and confusion. Ulfyna was sobbing, and Camrin looked from her to Dagmaeus then to Rahina. Camrin seemed to realize that he had hurt one who did not deserve it.
Rahina made a sound of disgust and seized the sword. "If you aren't man enough to do it, I will." She lunged at Camrin, but Ulfyna suddenly threw herself in front of him to stop her. Ulfyna's eyes widened in surprise as the sword slid into her, and Shamara heard Camrin grunt as the blade found its way into him. Dagmaeus seized his mother and threw her back. Leaving Shamara behind, Dagan hurried to Dagmaeus, but he was thrown back when bright light suddenly surrounded Dagmaeus and he raised his arms. The room began to rumble with the very walls shaking, and from somewhere in the distance they could hear explosions.
The door slammed open and Iator rushed in. He stopped short when he saw what had happened, but he paused only a moment before seizing Dagmaeus. "The mountain is erupting, Dagmaeus! What have you done?"
Dagmaeus was not responding, and Shamara could see that he was in great pain and sorrow as he looked upon Ulfyna.
"We must leave!" shouted Iator as he tried to pull his son from the room. "We'll all be killed!"
"This is how it should be!" cried Rahina as she grabbed Dagmaeus. "He must die with them!"
Iator struck his wife so hard that she stumbled away. "Take your foul hands off my son! I will not allow you to carry out your demented plans."
Rahina looked up at her furious husband, tears in her eyes. "You will doom us all! These creatures have to die!"
Shamara turned back to Ulfyna. She could see that the other woman was already dying, and Shamara doubted her healing powers could save her, but she reached out to her. Ulfyna grasped her hands, and Shamara could feel that life was slipping away quickly. Camrin was already dead, and yet Shamara could still feel his presence inside of Ulfyna as Rahina had wished. And yet Ulfyna was dying as well. This was Rahina's plan, to destroy them all.
"Dagmaeus, you must come with me now!" shouted Iator, shaking his son in an attempt to drag him from his lethargy.
But Dagmaeus did not seem able to move as he stared at the woman that he loved dying in Shamara's arms. The walls of the palace were crumbling around them and explosions seemed to be coming from everywhere. Iator tried to pull Dagmaeus from the room, but he was too strong. Rahina suddenly drew a dagger and stumbled toward Dagmaeus, but huge stones dropped as the ceiling caved in, driving her back, and the room shifted with the floor splitting down the middle dividing it with a molten lava stream. Rahina was trapped on one side of the room with Nazzar, Shamara and Ulfyna while Dagan, Dagmaeus and Iator were on the other.
"No!" shrieked Rahina was frustration, gripping the dagger like a woman who had lost her mind. Shamara wondered if she had, indeed, lost all ability to reason.
"Help me, Dagan!" ordered the king who could not pull Dagmaeus from the room. "We must save the prince!"
Dagan seemed to be torn, and he looked back toward Shamara. She and Ulfyna were trapped, but Ulfyna was dying and Shamara would not leave her. Shamara knew as well as Dagan that he had to save Dagmaeus or their future would be lost. With one last glance that told Shamara how he felt, Dagan helped Iator drag Dagmaeus from the room, leaving Rahina and Nazzar behind with Shamara and Ulfyna.
Rahina laughed hysterically as she stood at the edge of the molten river, still gripping the dagger. "It is done! You cannot hurt anyone now, Mordraeus! You will die here today with me, as Camridaeus has, as Ulfynaeus will! You will all die!"
Nazzar went to Rahina, and Shamara was horrified to watch him seize the wrist of the hand that held the dagger, then he swung her arm back so that she drove the dagger into her own heart.
"You cannot change what will be, Rahina." Nazzar took her hands in his own. "I cannot let Mordraeus die this day. I will serve him well as you never did." Lightening streaked past through the window before thunder accompanied a massive shaking of the ground. Shamara knew that she was watching Nazzar drain the essence from the other woman, the being known as Mordraeus, and when he had finished, he dropped her lifeless body into the flow of lava. Then with one last malevolent glare, he leapt across the crevice and ducked out of the room, even as the floor began to shift again and the slab they were on tore away from the wall.
"You must go. Save yourself," whispered Ulfyna. There was blood on her lips, and Shamara could see the spirit slipping from her eyes. "I only wish I could have told Dagmar how much…how much…"
"He already knows how much you love him." Shamara didn't stop to think. She grabbed Ulfyna's hands tightly as she had seen Nazzar do. "And he will know some day, Ulfyna, that you did not betray him. You will be with him again."
"No, you must not!" moaned Ulfyna, and it was the last thing she was able to say as her spirit began to leave her. Shamara closed her eyes to concentrate. Somehow she would do this! She could not let her go!
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the castle. She was still holding Dagan's hands, and they were on the balcony overlooking the hills. The light from both suns barely managed to penetrate clouds that had formed over the mountains.
Dagan was blinking down at her, also coming back to awareness, and when he realized they were no longer in the past, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. "You are all right!"
"What happened?" asked Shamara. But even as she asked it, memories of thousands of years seemed to come flooding back to her. Now she remembered everything that had happened to her since the moment that Nazzar left her behind with Ulfyna. She had barely managed to escape the sinking palace, and fearing Nazzar, she remained hidden in the hills for many days.
When she had emerged, the 'gods' had gone, and because of their displeasure beams of heavenly light destroyed the land. Shamara knew the truth now. Calabria had been all but destroyed by the fleet sent by Bayman. That anyone managed to survive the brutal assault that left the planet almost uninhabitable, was a miracle.
"I cannot believe I left you behind," murmured Dagan as he framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. "Can you forgive me, Shamara?"
She smiled as she put her hand to his cheek. "We are here, aren't we? Together again, you and I, as well as Dagmaeus and Ulfynaeus."
"We need rest, but we have no time. Camrin is out there. He has returned."
"As has Nazzar."
A knock at the door preceded the entry of Larya into the room with a tray of food. They were both very hungry, and after eating, they asked Larya to find Apolo for them. Shamara was anxious to tell him what they had learned and regretted that her mother could not hear the story.
Apolo arrived only moments later. "Larya told me that you needed to see me."
"What is happening to that mountain?" asked Dagan from the balcony.
"There was a minor eruption last night from the volcano that has been dormant for thousands of years," Apolo told him. He looked down at Shamara who had come to greet him. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "Dagan and I must go as soon as possible. Have Lord Duo assemble his men to escort us to the mountain."
"I can't do that. Duo has decided to take a retreat."
She sighed. "I had forgotten." Shamara had heard his prayers and despaired that they would not be answered.
Apolo grabbed her arms and lead her to a chair. "You are pale and trembling, Shamara. What has happened?"
Shamara folded her hands on her lap. "You will not believe me, uncle."
"Why don't you try telling me?" He dropped to a knee beside her.
Dagan came to them and sat beside Shamara. He put an arm around her. "What we have to tell you may shake your belief in the gods."
Apolo did not respond. He waited for them to speak.
Dagan began. "Long ago, a ship arrived on Calabria from Bayman. Their landing was difficult, and as a result, they lost their means to return to Bayman. On that ship was Rahina, Iator, and a number of their followers, people who had fled Bayman."
"They did not come alone," continued Shamara. "Inside of them, they carried entities who had immense power."
"The gods!" said Apolo in awe. "The gods came from Bayman?"
"They were not gods," interrupted Dagan. "The were parasitic beings without form who needed a host to survive. For many years they coexisted with the people of Bayman, but when the technology of the people of my planet made it possible to detect them amongst the populace, they feared what they did not understand and undertook to destroy their race."
"Iator's brother had been infested by a particularly violent entity that had great power, and Rahina was able to trick him and kill him. But in doing so, she took the entity into her where she was able to contain it. She convinced Iator to take the survivors from Bayman, and he really had no choice but to do so, knowing that his wife and son were infested. Shortly after they arrived, Rahina gave birth to another son who carried the genetic material of the creature she was hosting in her body."
"That child was Camrin," guessed Apolo.
Shamara nodded. "Camrin did not come into his powers until he realized that Rahina was his mother. He has the power to transform his shape."
"I do not know the exact relationship my sister has with Camridaeus, but I know that Ryana has been in contact with him," Dagan told Apolo. "I have seen her change her shape."
Apolo looked at Shamara. "How can this be possible? You are talking about something that happened thousands of years ago!"
Shamara took his hands. "Do you not yet understand? For many years you carried the essence of Ulfynaeus inside you, passed to you from your mother. When I was born, you passed her into me with your breath of life."
Apolo was stunned speechless.
"That is not all," Shamara continued. "This all began when I took pity upon her and drew Ulfyna into me. When I did that, I also took the essence of Camrin."
"Camrin! Are you saying that Camridaeus was inside of me too?" Apolo's face became white.
Shamara shook her head. "For a very long time, Ulfynaeus and Camridaeus coexisted inside of our ancestors, Ulfynaeus controlling Camridaeus. But when your grandfather lay dying with only Dax and Valerya at his side, he took both their hands. Ulfyna escaped into Valerya."
"And Camrin into Dax," murmured Apolo.
"I'm sorry," said Dagan. He knew of the pain and suffering Dax had given his children.
Apolo looked at them. "That is why Dax took my mother into him. I never understood why she referred to a beast living inside my father. Now I do. When she died, Dax was weakened and Camridaeus was able to gain control over him." Apolo covered his face with his hands. "I always thought that when my mother died, I had lost my father as well. He was never the same."
"My mother told me that Dax loved your mother," said Shamara as she put her hand on his arm. "She must have known that her death would give Camrin power, and she tried to strengthen Dax by pouring her essence into him, but they failed to contain him. She did succeed in hiding Ulfynaeus from him, because while Ulfynaeus never realized her own power, she also carried an entity inside her, the one that is inside me now. Camrin never knew whether you or my mother carried her, so he had to wait until the power manifested itself before he could know. That is why he did not dispose of my mother when she was born. He hoped to regain her power." Shamara put her hand on Apolo's arm. "Camridaeus made one last effort to regain Ulfynaeus, but you protected me."
"What became of Camrin?" asked Apolo. "Are you going to tell me that he no longer exists? He must have died with my father. What of the madman running about the Guerani Hills claiming to be him? Who is he?"
"I believe that he found another host," said Shamara. "The one known as Quatre Winner. Somehow he was able to pass into him during the time when everyone was distracted. I am quite certain that the message written in the cave on Mars Colony was not old, that Quatre Winner must have carved it himself."
"Our experiences on Mars Colony were created by Camridaeus," finished Dagan.
Apolo looked at Dagan. "What about you? How do you fit into this?"
"My ancestors have carried Dagmaeus within us," Dagan told him. "I have vague memories of helping Dagmaeus to escape the palace. We wandered for many days as the volcano ravaged the land. After a few days, a fleet from Bayman arrived hunting the last of the parasites that they realized had gone to Calabria. They killed both Iator and Dagmaeus."
"I will guess that Dagan drew out his essence."
"I had little choice," said Dagan. "Nazzar forced me to perform the ritual, and the people of Bayman could not detect it because of my Guerani blood. They took some slaves back to Bayman, and most did not last long. Nazzar and I were separated until relatively recently when he came to court to take me away."
"Nazzar is carrying the entity that was Mordraeus," concluded Shamara as she took Dagan's hand and was glad that she felt the power the came from within him. But she felt his shame as well. "You are not to blame for anything that has happened, Dagan."
"Nazzar has been responsible for our visions and our trances." Dagan looked at Apolo. "I did not realize that Nazzar was anything but an old man teaching me to control my powers, when all along he has been attempting to draw Dagmaeus from me and to use me to find Ulfynaeus and his son."
"We have not seen him since our marriage, a marriage he tried to stop," said Shamara. "He has gone into the hills, to reunite with Camridaeus and to await our arrival."
"If you think I understand any of this," said Apolo with a shake of his head, "you are as cracked as Nazzar or whatever his name really is. You speak as if you played some role in the events in the sacred hills."
Dagan and Shamara looked at each other before turning to Apolo. "We were there, uncle," Shamara said.
"For whatever reason, Nazzar has used Dagmaeus to return to Calabria. For many centuries, the people of Bayman avoided Calabria and have only recently begun to trade here," pointed out Dagan. "I remember reading the histories of the two planets. Because society in Bayman was more advanced, they had no reason to trade with Calabria until Trey came into power. Nazzar had been very much in favor of my marriage with Shamara until our actual arrival on Calabria when he must have come to realize that she is the host of Ulfynaeus. Since then he has used his powers to keep us separated because he realizes that we are the only ones who can stop him."
"What do you think he wants? I cannot believe that such a creature is merely interested in retrieving a son that can only live vicariously through another individual."
"We won't know the answer to that question until we find him," pointed out Shamara. She put her hand on Apolo's shoulder. "Can you put together a force that can escort us into the mountains? We need only to be protected from Camrin's followers. I suspect we will not have to worry about Camrin until we reach our destination."
"What is your destination?" asked Apolo.
Dagan answered. "To the ancient palace of the gods. I am quite sure that Nazzar is headed back there."
"The place does not exist!" snorted Apolo. "I have spent considerable time looking for it and have found no evidence of it. A volcano eruption completely covered it, if it ever existed at all."
"We will be able to find what remains."
Apolo stared at Dagan incredulously. "You know the location?" He threw up his hands. "Of course you do, or rather Dagmaeus does."
"We need to leave as soon as possible. We don't really know what Nazzar is going to do."
Shamara looked at Dagan. "I'm not sure we know what we are going to do to stop him."
And she wondered if they had enough power between them to do so.
