Читать книгу The Return of the Ancient Ones - Gary Sr. Caplan - Страница 6

Gideon glanced over his journal after he finished writing another entry. He had been thinking about many things, about his heritage, his mixed lineage, and why he had been hidden on another world, even made to blend into that society. Ragan, one of his mentors, had called the world Kara, but which he called Earth. Gideon was working in one of several of the Order of the Platinum Griffon citadels in Calendor Province, where he shared an office with another squadron wing officer. The units here were completing joint training with the Order of the Horn, Order of the Owl, The Grey Legion, and the Order of the Shield. Over the year, such joint training with different orders or militant groups was part of the normal training for the more regular members of most orders.

For just a moment, Gideon shuddered, recalling relatively recent events when he and some of his companions had confronted an extremely powerful dark entity called Nossus-Thoth, during the battle in the Greenway region. It had been several weeks since the Lord of Chaos and Entropy Nossus-Thoth had been summoned by the Darkspawn leaders and had succeeded in breaching on to Illúmaril. During the battle, great releases of energy had then been sent in a wave across the land to stir anew the Unlife. Gideon learned that, originally, the negative energy force, referred to as the Unlife, had seeped across during the second age, which had started the presence of the undead. Earlier, the leaders of the dark lord’s forces that had arranged for the arrival of Lord Nossus-Thoth had succeeded in gaining new territory by using the ruse of attacking uprisings of undead and other forms of the Unlife that at first appeared to be enemies of all the peoples of Illúmaril.

Gideon had taken a shower earlier in the nearby officer’s quarters. Now using a mirror behind the office door, Gideon looked at himself, wearing the blue trimmed silvery grey uniform of the Order of the Platinum Griffon. He had allowed his blond hair to grow neck length and had used a cord to bind it back. His blue eyes looked down over his clothes at the wrinkles. Gideon was tall and muscular; he was lean and fit, every inch an officer. He had earlier taken off his imbued chain-mail shirt and now wore one of the shirts he had purchased in the city of Mindon more than a year and a half ago.

Gideon had developed strong muscles and other enhanced traits after his plunge into the Pool of Tetherin and later the nexus or source water of that pool. Even before that, however, he was strong and healthy; he had practiced martial arts and had been working on a doctoral degree in archaeology before he returned to Illúmaril. He noticed after his bath in the mystical pool’s waters that he had been augmented in many ways. The nexus of the Pool of Tetherin even triggered hidden memories and a transformation of sorts. He had developed some Alor traits, or what he liked to call his Elven side. His ears seemed to retain more of a human quality outwardly, but his face, nose, and eyes had been altered. The waters of the pool had caused a transformation internally as well. His many-times-removed noble aunt, the Herendal Faiella, whom he had met in the city of Andrim, did the final alteration. She removed a spellweave that she used many years ago to allow him to blend in when he was originally placed on Earth and hidden for his safety.

Gideon had recently returned from a trip to the seacoast. He had needed to relax after the small war he had found himself involved in. So he went to a beach that had been recommended and swam and even wave-surfed using a board he had designed and constructed by an Alor shipwright in the city of Andrim. Gideon thought back and recalled when he was joined by two of his Elven friends or, as they called themselves, Alor. The Alor reminded him of the elves of the old Norse legends he had learned about while in school. One of his closer friends, actually more of a girlfriend, Laurelin Leaflock, had earlier given him an Alor-style name; she called him Finelen and he eventually adopted it and added it to his own name. Alor customs were different and courting relationships moved very slowly. Gideon was still learning the norms involved with the virtually immortal Alor society.

He recalled a few short visits during his relaxation time on the seacoast of Lindorien from, among others, some of his mentors, including Ragan the Red, one of the senior Tauri, and Lord Talmor, one of the greater Guardians. They wanted to make sure he was safe and feeling in better spirits. Others came to visit cautiously and inform him that it appeared that the Valharri now knew there was a scion of the ancient high king or aharonthal, Lith-Gilad, but few of the enemy had evidently gotten more than a glimpse of him, as his armor and helm obscured his features easily enough for a partial view at best.

If any enemy forces were after him, it seemed he was a lower priority than they originally believed. Few of the enemy still alive saw him, and reports indicated that the Urshkaar soldiers who might have seen him had not long afterward died fighting undead, which had turned on them. Probably no one other than the Darkspawn Valharri, Lady Vasha, and Nossus-Thoth, the Lord of Chaos, even had an idea what he looked like or even what his mystical aura might be. And Vasha had not gotten up from the battle, and Nossus-Thoth had been banished by the Sword of Order Gideon had wielded during the battle.

Once Gideon got to the Order of the Platinum Griffon’s Citadel in northern Silmir Province near the border with Calendor Province, he was presented with encouraging private messages from those individuals and other powerful people who wanted to help guide him to a recovery of his heritage. The Alor, the most ancient and wisest people of Illúmaril of course would cautiously approach Gideon, being who he was, a direct descendant (albeit a distant one) of the ancient high king Arel Lith-Gilad.

In the office with him was Kol-sphenate Lorien. Lorien was a senior captain and leader of one of the Griffon regiments. Lorien was an Alor with platinum-blond hair and blue eyes. He was not wearing his armor. Since they were in garrison, he wore the Order’s uniform, emblazoned with an embroidered Griffon with wings spread on the shirt, and platinum colored trousers. Gideon was presently in command of a squadron wing under Lorien in the Order of the Platinum Griffon. Gideon heard he was up for a promotion and would be the same rank as his friend Lorien soon enough.

Lorien walked into the office as Gideon was finishing reading some reports and reading equipment and supply requisitions. “Have you heard?” Lorien asked. “A Quellien crystal fragment was found by the White Council; it now appears that the Valharri and their allies obtained some of the source crystal.”

“From what I have learned from Tauri Ragan and others, that’s not good,” Gideon replied. “Although from what I heard and from rumors, I am not sure, but Mordru may have split his crystal and given a piece to one of the Valharri or one of the other Darkspawn leaders.”

“I’ve been wondering myself and have heard similar things,” Lorien said. “Some wonder if one of the Valharri retrieved a portion of the Quellien crystal that the wizard Mordru was using, and they also wonder how many or what size crystal he had access to. But that’s enough speculation. Let’s leave that up to the White Council, or the Lords Assembly, or the Leaders of the Orders.”

Gideon nodded. He was still worried, at least to a degree, that someone or something may have located him. “What do you think the odds are of someone coming after me, since I’m a scion of Lith-Gilad?”

“From the eyewitness reports I’ve read and those with whom I’ve talked,” Lorien replied, “few if any actually got a good look at you. After all, your face was partially covered by your armor and it was not traditional Order of the Platinum Griffon-style armor. If others are looking for you, they have taken their time and have probably not traced you here, or some attack against you would have transpired by now.”

“You’re probably right,” Gideon said. “Ragan eventually told me he and the other Tauri took care to disperse my aura and anything else they could think of to limit my exposure. For the most part, even the Chaos beasts that saw me ended up dead by the end of the battle.”

“Yes, if the Valharri planned your death, you would have been directly attacked by now. That means they have poor or limited information about you,” Lorien replied.

Gideon had a faraway look on his face as if he was remembering. “Only the Valharri Vasha recognized me in the end, and she is still in a state between life and death, according to Lord Nimmeral,” Gideon said. “The few Urshkaar warriors or wizards with her who did see me to a degree probably did not recognize the significance of the Sword of Order and probably thought me just some Elven lord, as she had just been battling Ragan the Red.” Gideon recalled his friend and mentor fondly. He was a Tauri, an archmaster, and a senior council member of the Red Lodge. As an honorarium for being one of the senior council members of one of the Great Lodges, he was called “the Red.”

“You know we have just finished strategy meetings for the Order,” Lorien said. “I think it’s about time for the evening meal. Let’s go. Your time here will be cut short, as you will be heading back to Tyl University to continue your studies.”

“Go ahead, Lorien. I’ll join you in a few minutes,” Gideon replied. “I just want to finish this report.” Lorien got his evening cloak and headed out toward the closest of the citadel’s two officer’s mess halls. As Gideon finished his report, he continued to ponder things and wondered what he had really gotten himself into. He even felt for a moment as if someone might be watching him.

Each day, a few individuals were always watching Gideon, scrying or remotely observing him. He was watched to make sure he was safe. Individuals in the White Council took turns observing. Now, one of the Tauri, Jondar the White, was observing Gideon, dressed in his traditional teaching robes, indicating he was an archmaster. Like all the Tauri, he was strongly built and appeared like a typical Alor. Jondar thought he sensed another scrying him, but he knew members of Herendal Faiella’s family also took time to scry on him as well for his security. Jondar leaned back and entered a meditative state for the duration of his watch. He also wondered about the anger he had recently seen Ragan the Red display about interference with his Lodge business. It was not normal for a Tauri to display that level of anger.

Another was observing Gideon in a scry-proof sanctum as he watched many other things and prepared his projects. Dressed in a dark gray robe, the Tauri Grandmaster Lugion of the Black Lodge was completing one of his quellium alloy devices. He appeared as one of mixed lineage between an Alor and an Eldren and had a short-trimmed, black beard. “So, it seems they all wonder still where the Quellien crystals came from,” Lugion said, as he continued to manipulate and spellweave and merge the energies of the Quellien fragments into the metal. The rumors that Mordru had split his crystal or that he might even have had more than one are quite prevalent. Why, there is even some evidence I planted to support such rumors, at least partially. After all, I obtained the Quellien crystal cluster and will soon be completely finished my crafting with the portions I kept.

“There are members of the White Council who seem very sure that the Valharri have obtained a crystal as well,” Lugion said, as he laughed softly. He was by himself in one of his sequestered and spy-proof crafting facilities. The White Council also received a crystal to essentially balance out the one given to the Valharri. They could use it to clean up the remaining undead or directly decrease or even halt the seepage of the Unlife; however, they probably will discuss and debate what to do until it’s past the optimum usage point.

“Now, as for the boy Gideon Finelen, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, as he will probably be needed to deal some sort of incapacitating blow to Lord Dormas with the Sword of Order that only a descendant of Lith-Gilad can wield. The problem is, I see in his mind that he is bent on finding out more of his heritage and exploring some dangerous ancestral lands,” continued Lugion in soft tones, speaking to himself. “Some are even encouraging him to do so.” Lugion thought, Fortunately, I still have time to see how I may help my brother Nimmeral and the others prepare this scion of Lith-Gilad for his potential to aid Illúmaril. A glow globe began to hum with another warning as Lugion saw that yet another member of the Twelve had recently restored its power.

“Now that most of the Twelve are awakened, that will only complicate matters,” noted Lugion. “I wonder if Lord Adon will be up to the challenge of dealing with the ramifications of this occurrence. He still seems as if his head is in the clouds at times. I will need to find a way to balance the Twelve. We cannot allow them to become too powerful, especially since Dormas is not here to keep them or their master in a more orderly line. They will, as in the past, autonomously seek power and lands for themselves. With no oversight, they will most probably attempt to call their lesser brethren or even the greater Ancient Ones. There are so many variables here, with the potential to increase the presence of Chaos, and none of us can allow any Ancient Ones or Lords of Chaos to return to power.” However, I will find a way to use this unfortunate awakening of the Twelve to my advantage, thought Lugion. I must walk a fine line to further my ambition to gain a permanent place and be elevated to an Erradan Lord.

“Gideon Finelen may have what is needed to deal with Dormas when the time comes. Assuming that the boy’s own temperamental attitude does not get in the way,” Lugion said with a chuckle, as he began to concentrate on completing his crafting projects. Lugion too had Tauri, or teaching business, to attend to and those teaching tasks had kept him from completing his special projects sooner. “I will have to finish later, but I can stop at this point. Such devices as I am now crafting could be used against the Ancient Ones if necessary.” Grandmaster Lugion sealed his crafting projects and placed nondetections and sealing barrier spellweavings on them before he left.