When Earth Arises
Disclaimer: All characters from Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, The Immortals, The Lioness Quartet, etc. belong to Tamora Pierce. I do not own them. Or characters from Dragonballz, which belong to Mr. Toriyama...anyway
Thought for the Day:
The best substitute for brains is silence.
Chapter Fifteen:
Numair nearly choked on the tea he had just sipped when he heard the young girl's words. Setting his cup down, he knelt down in front of her and grasped her shoulders.
"You are certain of this?" he whispered. She nodded, twitching slightly in his gentle grasp. Kitten whistled shrilly from where she perched on Daine's lap, as Briar and Tris looked at each other in concern. Numair released Evvy, and leaned back on his heels with a tired sigh as he look at Daine.
"We should have seen this coming," he commented. "At least thought of the possibility." He looked at Evvy. "Where are they weak? If I take you to the lower levels, can you pinpoint the location?"
"I think so," she said uncertainly.
Numair led the way down the dark stairways into the seldom visited bowels of the great castle. Evvy followed close behind, with Tris and Briar behind her. Numair held a globe of light in his hand, but as they reached the ancient dungeons, which nobody used anymore, it proved to be deficient. Before the mage could summon more light, Tris let loose a crackle of lightning that zipped around her body in a crazy pattern. Numair blinked at the increase of light, then bowed slightly to her.
"Thank you, m'lady," he said. Before she could retort at his use of words, he turned to Evvy. "If you will be so kind as to lead the way, m'dear?" She nodded, and confidently made her way through the dark hallway. The mildew and musty smell reminded her of her home in the Prince's Heights in Oldtown Chammur, and she shuddered slightly, grateful that Briar had found her and rescued her from that horrible life as a thukdak. Without even thinking, Evvy turned into a connecting passage, and froze at the sight that met her eyes. A large room with a strange pattern that decorated the floor lay before a broken entrance to what looked like an ancient temple. A sword lay in the center of the pattern, blackened as if it had been burned by an intense heat. Her entire body tensed as she felt the weakness in the stones.
"Here." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. Numair observed their surroundings with a sigh and a resigned look.
"I should have guessed that one as well. With as much power that when into the Gate of Idramm, it's a given that there would be some repercussions to the castle. Not to mention the earthquakes nearly ripped the entire country apart to boot."
"What is a Gate of Idramm?" Tris asked curiously. The mage pointed to the pattern on the ground.
"That. It is an extremely powerful spell, that will summon all the magical creatures, good and bad within a certain distance, depending on the amount of power put into it. This one was created by a powerful mage named Duke Roger. He was King Jonathan's cousin. He was killed by the Lady Knight, but brought back to life by her brother. Duke Roger had put a spell on himself called the Sorcerer's Sleep, which allows a mage to hover between the realms of the living and dead, if he is powerful enough, and it also makes it easier to be called back into the realm of the living." He looked over his shoulder at the weather witch. "Alanna killed him a second time, at this very spot."
Understandably, the three shivered as a chill ran up their spines. Evvy gave the other three a sidelong glance, then crept a few steps out onto the pattern of the Gate.
"Can you feel it?" she whispered, her eyes intent on the stones that surrounded the sword in the center of the room. "Can you feel that power?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Gohan lay in a hazy world of pain, vaguely aware of Duke Baird as he moved around the room. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt such pain. He saw the cloudy features of the healers face as he moved up beside the bed, before drifting off into the darkness.
Son Gohan
The teenaged demi-Saiyan looked around him, seeing only eternal darkness, unable to pinpoint the location of the voice. Suddenly, before him, a mist began to take shape, and soon become a dark figure cloaked in a long robe.
Who are you?! Gohan demanded, unable to speak, but somehow realizing that he could communicate mind to mind.
I am called Gainel. I am also known as the Dream King, came the reply. He vaguely remembered Piccolo saying something about this being. It was something important, he should remember…
An evil arises within Tortall, the figure went on in his mysterious, wispy-like mind voice. You must rid us of its evil…destroy it before it devours that realm and this realm. Before it becomes strong enough to move on to devour your realm as well. Before it becomes unstoppable.
But how? he cried out. I thought you were a god! Can't you do something, or at least this Mithros I keep hearing about?! The next sound could only be described as a bitter chuckle.
It veils even the eyes of Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess. Chaos herself does not see the evil in this creature, and she is the very essence of evil. You are the one who must destroy it. The two young ones will show you the way. They will lighten the path for you.
And Piccolo? he demanded.
Ah…the Namek. He will prove useful in his own way, I think. As for the other three, the young plant mage, the weather witch, and the stone mage…they are but pawns. I did not draw them here. The evil did. Now you must stop them, at all costs. Before they consume the Black Mage himself. Stop them…
The voice trailed off as the figure before him faded to nothing. Gohan's eyes flew open, and he sat up with a gasp.
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Oooo…and the plot thickens! Have you noticed that whenever you are writing a story, it tends to take a life of its own? A lot of what I write just comes to me while I am typing….I'll have a basic story line, and then I get all these ideas…lol….anyway, REVIEW!!!