Chapter 39

The Dungeons of Horath

Sani

Vella looked sternly at Kraevos as a silence hung in the air. “I’m serious Kraevos, I’m not going anywhere until you explain what the book was telling me.”

Kraevos put a hand to his head and rubbed his temples in frustration. “So what exactly did the book tell you?” he asked.

“It was telling me a lot of things about the past, about you, about this place, about how everything happened. The others have a right to know what’s actually going on here.”

Kraevos sighed, sure he wouldn’t win the argument going on, but he tried to reason with Vella nonetheless, “Miss Vella, you have to understand, time is of the essence, I can’t just sit here and tell you a story.”

“I get that,” Vella replied as she sat back down into the chair in the holding cell, “So you’d better start explaining things as fast as you can or we’re all going to get caught.”

Kraevos looked at Vella again, wishing he could sway the young woman, but he knew better. She was strong and stubborn, and as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Kraevos had been keeping his many secrets for far too long and it was indeed time that his allies learned the truth, the full truth from him. With a heavy heart, he began to speak. “Fine then, I can see that my urgency doesn’t hold weight here.” He looked to Sani, hoping she would be on his side, but instead was met with the same judgemental stare he was receiving from Vella.

Sani stepped forward and sat on the floor next to Vella and motioned to Kraevos, “You heard the lady, storytime old man.”

Kraevos waved his hands and his form returned to his original true visage before he began to speak. “I suppose at this point my cover is rightly blown anyways, so let whoever sees this have the most far-fetched tale they could imagine.” He sat on the rubble of the wall and got himself comfortable as he started his story. “What you have to know is that I am not the same man that I used to be. Back when I made these mistakes I was naive and overly ambitious. I cannot say that I have always learned from my mistakes, but I have tried to. My hubris and arrogance had led to a great many things and unfortunately, it took me a great many decades before I began to see the error of my ways.”

“Enough apologizing Kraevos,” Sani said sharply, “We’ve all made mistakes, it’s part of being human. Just tell us what happened.”

“If I must tell this, I would prefer not to be interrupted.” Kraevos waved his hands and the wall reformed behind him, the pieces of rubble lifting and piecing themselves together. He simply hovered in place above where he’d been sitting moments ago. “As I’ve already told you, my daughter Precia and I were the ones who were trying to find a way to balance magic in Surren. Our travels took us far and wide, but eventually, we ended up here in Horath. We found something that seemed to focus magical energy and allowed it to be harnessed. It was a very specific type of stone that we discovered and there happened to be a significant vein of it here. The material alone caused a distortion of colors in the sky above the deposit.”

“Needless to say we found this to be a very fortuitous discovery when we found it. We began to experiment with it every way we could think, using what wild magic we could, using the best tools at our disposal and what information we had. Our initial attempts didn’t go particularly well, to be honest. Generally, we had a horrid time even trying to remove pieces of the stone. The few times we did manage to though, the results were very volatile.”

“After a significant amount of trial and error Precia and I managed to devise a way to access the stone and that helped us to understand what was making it so volatile. You see the very stone contained magic that was potent and somehow filtered. Instead of being sullied and tainted by the workings of magical creatures and humans, this magical energy was pure and concentrated in a way that we had never seen before. This led it to be incredibly hard to harness as the concentration of energy was beyond what we could control.”

“This led to Precia coming up with an idea, to tether the stone and the energy to a person, allowing them to be a conduit for the magical energy. This meant the energy would be able to be controlled and dispersed, rather than collecting up to the point of being wild. We could balance the amount of energy if we could find people who had a strong enough affinity to magical energy that they could handle that payload. We simply needed to find individuals that we could bond to the stone in the first place, then if we could dislodge pieces of the stone and distribute them and these individuals across the land it would allow for balance within the flow of power on Surren and thus we would reach our goal.”

“So that’s a little more detailed than the usual version we all get told about you, but not much,” Sani interjected, “So what exactly have you been hiding?”

“Just let him explain,” Vella said calmly, “Go on Kraevos.”

“That is the broad strokes of what happened, yes, but the details are of course where the issues arise.” Kraevos snapped his fingers and a map of Surren appeared in the air in front of him so that he could illustrate his point. “As I said, we needed people with an incredibly strong, natural affinity with magic. Unfortunately, this was the sole focus, not on the morals, ethics, or character of the individuals that we were seeking. We also attempted to find people who we could easily settle in different parts of the continent, hoping to allow kingdoms to rise. If we had one person stationed at each point of the continent and one in the center that would be plenty to act as a conductor for the magical energy and to keep it filtered and balanced. This is actually the reason for the placements of each of the kingdoms on Surren, I myself have acted as the focus for Aroster since the start.”

“Hold up, there’s a throne in Aroster?” Sani asked.

“Yes, well, sort of, I’ll come back to that part later,” Kraevos replied. “So as I was, we selected people who had natural alignments to magic. The powers that you have seen our current leaders display actually come from the original leaders, the original bearers of the stones. We found the first Huntsmaster, Moren, of the forest first. He had an innate bond with nature and its magic in a way that calmed those around him. He used this only to create balance in the forest, and to protect his people. Thus the idea of the will of the forest was born. After that, we headed far west to the coast and found a sailor who had an immensely strong connection to the magic of the oceans. We took him in and his power became that of the ocean himself. He had traveled enough to have seen the horrors magic was wreaking in other lands and initially devoted himself to the cause. The issue was, once Surren became calm he lost his way, began to focus on his own wellbeing, his wealth over others, and became the first High Arbiter.”

“So they've all been real jerks like Aren’s dad,” Sani said, “It’s a wonder how he actually came out as a nice guy.”

“Indeed it is, Were he to have continued his line, then maybe there would be hope for redeeming Lazzure,” Kraevos replied. “Heading to the east from Lazzure to the center of the continent, I found a man named Verion Drae that I truly admired. He was a true scholar, a knowledge seeker like myself, which was quite rare at the time. When one has to worry about being killed by a moving mountain you don’t tend to put too much stock into words on paper. You see he had spent his life like I did, roving from place to place, hunting down the secrets of the world. His mind saw things that others did not, which is where the gift of foresight that inhabits the leaders of Draeton came from. He joined us eagerly, hoping to learn all he could. In my similar zeal for knowledge, I Was blinded to his cold and calculating nature that far too often ignored the consequences to others.”

“As we continued east across the continent we followed the land to the north a bit, which is where I made another of my great mistakes. There we found the earliest of the Sacrotians, the tribe of Sacros. They were wild people with an unbreakable will. They had held out against the wild magic, forming a small safe zone where it was might that ruled. They had managed to turn this inhospitable place into a free land, though survival of the fittest was the true law. It was that ruthless nature that allowed them to persevere. Even then I had my doubts about them, but my focus was simply on finding people who could house the stones and become conduits for the magical energy. That is where I met the first in Emeria’s line, Galeia Sacros. She was the most savagely beautiful person I have ever seen, like an apex predator walking among prey. Her scars told of battles won and of the harshness of the world that we were looking to bring into order. She had a large family, a brood of people around her at all times, which is how the Sacrotian line has been able to change at times, not simply containing one line, but many branches and different claims to the throne. You could tell who carried the same blood simply by seeing the fierceness and vigor they brought to life, the untamable spirit that allowed them to conquer all in their path. I have always wondered about her bloodline, but due to the nature of my relationship with Sacrotia, I was never able to investigate. You see, not all Sacrotian rulers have been able to access the powers Emeria has, even if they were suitable for the stone.”

“So does that mean that all the stones have to be inherited by family?” Vella asked.

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“Not always, there have been plenty of exceptions,” Kraevos replied. “They must be attached to someone with a strong bond, and a strong magical bloodline is one way to get them, but it is not as though there is only one line of people with a great enough bond to magic to house them.”

“Alright,” Sani interrupted, “That takes care of most of Surren, but that still leaves Chirock, right?”

“Indeed it does,” Kraevos replied, “And that of all is my biggest regret. You see I have known Graclose far longer than I have known any other being, for he is the original, the only one to ever bear that stone.”

“Whoa, so he’s immortal?” Sani asked.

“Immortal no, ageless, yes,” Kraevos said as he shook his head. “In my life, I have so many regrets, but I do not regret giving him the stone he has, what I regret came later. You see, the old man who locked away his kingdom is not the man who I first knew. When I first met him, Graclose was the kindest and most compassionate man I ever met, a friend and ally to all who simply wished to help his people, to help all of Surren. He was the most true leader that I have ever met. He did not choose to lead, it was just his nature, he inspired all of those around him to be better. There were many times in the process of establishing the kingdoms when he was the only one able to keep peace between the big egos vying for power. It didn't take long being around him to see that Precia was falling for him and he for her. Honestly, I was happy to see it, no father could ask for a better person to be with his child.”

“As time went on we all became obsessed with our own pieces of Surren. There was already a divide brewing between the different leaders that neither myself, Precia nor Graclose could keep from beginning to fracture. Blind with ambition I didn’t allow this to stop me. We pressed forward just hoping that at least if magic was balanced we could then deal with politics. My ignorance allowed me to miss how this divide would only continue to worsen once each of our stone bearers had more power at their disposal.”

“When it came time to finally do what we’d sought out, place a stone on each leader, bring a larger piece to act as the filter and the center of the kingdoms, it was Precia who had taken the lead. You see my daughter had a stronger connection to magic than even I do. We had constructed a device to help us extract and bind the stones and given her talents, it was on Precia to bear the burden of this process. In our focus and hubris, we ignored the singular rule at the core of magic, nothing is given freely, there is always a price. As Precia set about the binding ritual to send the central stones to each chosen location and to bind the stones to the rulers we found that the power flowing was just too great. It was more than any person’s physical form could handle. As the ritual began she had so much magic running through her that she began to pulse like the heart of the world and by the time it finished she simply flickered out of existence. There was no body to bury, no form to even hold. I was just left with the crushing realization that it had been my fault, that everything I had done was what led to my daughter’s death.” As Sani and Vella watched, tears began to pour from Kreavos’ eyes. He leaned forward, putting his head into his hands as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“I’m so sorry Kraevos,” Sani said as she stood and placed a reassuring hand on his back.

Vella on the other hand sat, taking in what she’d just heard, piecing it together before she spoke, “But that’s not all, is it Kraevos?”

Sani turned back to Vella and shot her a look, “I’m sure that’s plenty, just let him be.”

“It’s not though,” Vella replied, “I know it’s not Kraevos, the book told me so, be honest.”

Kraevos wiped his face and stared at Vella for a moment. It was only a short time ago that he’d met this young woman, but her growth in that time had been significant. She was right, that wasn’t all that there was to the story and it wasn’t even all that was relevant to them now. “No, no, she’s right Sani. There is more I have to say.” With a heavy sigh, Kraevos tried to collect himself. “As much as I wish to wallow in my grief, I have had hundreds of years to do so, and frankly I don’t deserve to do so right now.” Kraevos stood and stretched for a moment to regain his composure.

“After Precia’s death, I was lost. I was not there like I should have been for these people that I had just thrust this power upon. No person is ever really ready for this sort of power, at last not without forethought, guidance, and help. Instead in my grief, I was barely there on the best of days. The only one of us who could have helped to hold the kingdoms together was Graclose and he was broken by Precia’s death. He finished what had been asked of him. He took the stones to each kingdom and created the throne rooms and such. After that though, he secluded himself and locked away his kingdom, making it so he would never have to deal with such loss again in his life. He just couldn’t go on as the same man after watching the love of his life fade from the world. Every time he looked at any of us he would just be reminded of what he lost.”

“The only one of us who handled things as we’d hoped was Moren, the first Huntsmaster. He handled his power by barely using it, by relying on his people, and by balancing the magical energy as best as one could in the forest. It is he who proved my arrogance. If I had taken the time and care to choose individuals like Moren and Graclose, then the kingdoms and all of Surren might have been better off. Instead, I had one individual I could trust and one broken king in a mountain along with a constantly bickering grouping of other rulers. I could have seen these outcomes if I had taken my time, and truly weighed the morals of each individual.”

“After this, the kingdoms began to form. Each spot with a throne room became the center of civilization, each one having a person with the powers of a god at their fingertips. Each throne distilled and controlled the magic around it, allowing these beings to feed off the raw power coming through. I did what little I could bring myself to do and finished Precia’s vision halfheartedly. I went to Aroster as originally planned, but didn’t do what I should have. You see there were supposed to have been two mage academies. One in Horath to train mages to help Surren and another in Aroster, to send mages out across the whole of our world to help people on the other continents. Instead, I simply sat in Aroster and let the harbor that you now know form around me. My negligence allowed the academy here to be twisted and warped by those who took it over and abused the knowledge within.”

At this point even Sani, who had been trying to be sympathetic to Kraevos had to relent, “I can see why you don’t like to talk about this, you kinda screwed up big time,” she said, trying to break the serious tone with sarcasm.

Kraevos forced a chuckle, “Yes, that would be one way of putting it I suppose,” he replied. “My mistakes, though not directly catastrophic, have set Surren on this path for many years and through many conflicts. It is only now that I am paying the price. You see as I learned and tried to repent for my mistakes I started the Wild Order. I was hoping that this group could help to restore some of the balance of power that had been lost. For a while I had thought that this goal was going well, that is until Emeria shattered the balance of Surren. I can only wonder what led her to do this.”

“Does it really matter right now?” Vella asked, “We can look into her motives later, for now, the present is the only focus.”

“You’re not wrong,” Kraevos replied, “Though later that information could prove important. Simply ending one threat does not mean danger is gone and stability is found. Even if we solve the problem that is Emeria, we must wonder if she acted alone.”

A silence hung in the air as each of them was forced to ponder what Kraevos said. After a few moments, Sani broke the silence, “I have a question actually,” she said.

“By all means, ask away, I am an open book at this point,” Kraevos said. He chuckled and pointed to Precia’s tome, “Though I suppose I shouldn’t use that term as we have a literal one in the room, don’t we?”

Sani laughed, but then her face turned serious as she asked her question. “So if the stones and thrones are what keeps magic under control, what will happen if and when we kill Emeria?”

“The stones must always be bound, though it is not as though one unbound second will unravel our balance. It is more like the flow of water. An unbound stone and throne would be like a stream beginning to overflow, at first a mere nuisance, but given time a true danger. If the stone is unbound for too long, Surren will plunge into chaos once more. That is in fact why we are here. So that I can do what is necessary to not only remove the stone safely from Emeria but to bind the stone to a new person. That said, the person in question must have a strong affinity to the same kind of magic as Emeria.” As he finished his sentence, Kraevos turned his head down, hoping the next question wouldn’t come.

“So what the book said was true,” Vella said. “It’s me.”

“Yes Miss Vella, unfortunately, you are correct. In order to end the conflict with Emeria and sever her connection to the bloodstone, it must be bound to you,” Kraevos replied coldly.

The room went quiet again as each of the three tried to figure out what to say next. Again it was Sani, pulse racing, who broke the moment. She began ranting out, “Not a chance! I won’t let you do that to her! I mean if she did that she’d have to go back to Sacrotia, she’d have to give up her whole life!” She turned to Vella, “You don’t have to do this, I’ll take the stone, we’ll figure it out.”

Vella sighed, “You couldn’t.” She looked Sani in the eyes, showing her friend that she was not afraid. “That’s why you were so odd about my magic when it was awoken, wasn’t it Kraevos? You knew that it meant I would be the one to take the stone, I’m the only one who can.”

“It was as if fate was smiling upon me Miss Vella,” Kraevos said, looking at Vella. “Though I do not deserve it, you are my chance at redemption. I have spent this whole trip, hoping to find some other way, but there is none. You will bear the stone and have the burden placed upon you to right the wrongs of so many of us. That book chose you for a reason Miss Vella and I believe it is because Precia knew you, knew it would be you someday, helping all of us. I have no right to ask this of you, and yet I must. Miss Vella, will you bear the bloodstone and redeem this unworthy man’s dream of a free and united Surren?”

Sani looked at Vella, not even sure what to say, hoping for some answer to spring to mind. Her mind went blank as she watched Vella, staring at how sure she was, how brave she was, and how willing she was to do what needed to be done, even given the cost.

“I’ll bear the stone,” Vella replied, her conviction unwavering. “If there was going to be another answer, you would have found it. What kind of person would I be to say no? I can’t turn my back on the rest of the people I know and love. I would be asking all of them to suffer if I said no. No matter the pain, no matter the cost, I’ll do it.” Kraevos looked at Vella and again tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t tell if it was his mind playing tricks on him, if it was real, or it was simply what he wanted to see, but as Vella spoke it was as though he was watching Precia say the words, stand for what was right and make her choice for the greater good. This was the same leader he had seen in Graclose when he was young, the same passion for others he had seen in his daughter. “Even if the other Sacrotians bearing the bloodstone have been monsters, that doesn’t mean I will be. You said it yourself Kraevos, my magic is the same type, but an opposite pulse to Emeria. I’ll take that for what it is and change what it means to bear the bloodstone.”

Trying to regain his composure and failing badly Kraevos looked at Vella and all he could manage to say was, “I know you will.”