Tiara & Tempest Read online

  “Your Majesty: We know the bearings for travel, but we cannot go through the water, or over top of it, and the winds are making steering difficult and less reliable to go around it,” one of the crew said.

  “Leave that to me,” Daven said. He then focused his own powers, and was freshly energized from the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean he drank moments before. His song was ready, and the lyrics had power when he sang them:

  Clear the Way,

  Ocean waves that rise too high.

  Make a path for us,

  As we voyage across the sky.

  Move Aside,

  Storm winds that push us from our course.

  Make a path for us,

  Set aside your awful force.

  (Refrain)

  Oceans of power…now hear my commands.

  Our journey must take us…to where the enemy stands.

  Clear the Way,

  The storm must not conceal its cause.

  Make a path for us,

  To the one who rules by evil laws.

  Move Aside,

  Poison serpents of the sea.

  Make a path for us,

  To the master of calamity.

  (Refrain)

  Clear the Way,

  Through the tempest to the ocean queen.

  Make a path for us,

  To our destination unseen.

  Move Aside,

  Let us find the one who causes blood to spill.

  Make a path for us,

  To the one who makes the oceans kill.

  (Refrain)

  Clear the Way,

  By this song’s power we command.

  Make a path for us,

  To the battleground where we will stand.

  Move Aside,

  That the wicked one may meet her end.

  Make a path for us,

  On the waters’ power we depend.

  (Refrain)

  As he sang the song, the innate potential that he had within him was multiplied by the power of the Pirovalen Ocean waters he recently drank. As a result, the waves and wind both began to die down in a sizable radius around the ship, having obeyed his commands.

  “Nice! That voice is worth more than platinum!” Prince Emerond said.

  Judith and Ovid both recorded this song in their books, and the effect that it had. Ovid was somewhat more skilled in recording the musical notes, but both of them captured the lyrics accurately.

  ~~~

  From the spirit world, Lavakara was watching, and was also impressed. Daven’s powers were proving to be a useful weapon against Victoria. Lavakara didn’t have a high opinion of singers, given what he knew of Taesa’s song and the ruin it brought by calling the sunfire creature. Yet, he saw that Daven was clearly in control of the waters, and brought no deadly side effects by asking for too much.

  ~~~

  Serafina was traveling on her own airship close behind them. She heard the man singing, and saw the waters calm down. Even better, the radius of the effect encompassed her airship, as well. This proved to be most fortunate for her, as she was unsure of how much longer she could evade the waves and the wind. Singers didn’t generally rank high with her, but the results in this case were hard not to like.

  She readied herself by drinking the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean from the vial that she carried. She was now energized with speed and strength. She also readied a sharp sword.

  ~~~

  On board the Tidal Sovereign, one light scout looked on and saw two (2) airships approaching in the distance. “Two (2) airships are approaching from the east!” the light scout said, pointing in their direction.

  “They will die by wind and water!” Victoria said. At this, she concentrated, and the blue diamonds in the tiara were still glowing brightly. Then, the waves of water rose up as high as ever and the winds blew more fiercely still, and she sent this tempest at the two (2) airships and…nothing happened to them: the waters went around them and the winds did as well. The airships continued to approach.

  “Nothing happened! The water and wind went around them! They’re still approaching!” the light scout said.

  “They will die by venom!” Victoria said. At this, she concentrated again, and the tiara channeled the special powers of the Gradaken Ocean waters, commanding sea serpents to leap from the sea at the approaching airships. Three (3) serpents leaped up, but avoided the airships. Victoria saw with her own eyes that nothing happened.

  Now, however, the airships were much closer, and Victoria could see them directly, rather than relying on the reports from her light scout, who could see at a great distance due to the Lujladia Ocean waters she drank from her vial.

  Victoria was now much angrier at her enemies, and much more than afraid – she was beginning to panic.

  ~~~

  “I see a woman standing on the deck of that ship. Her arms are outstretched,” Prince Emerond said.

  Judith held a small telescope in her hands that she kept with her. She looked out and saw the woman on the ship – it was Victoria.

  “She is wearing the tiara on her head. That is Victoria. I must warn you – she is protected by a demon, and you must not look into her eyes, whatever you do, or she will have you under her control,” Judith said. The Oath’s condemnation of demons continued to be her justification to speak out what she knew against them – there was no confidentiality provision to conceal what she had learned earlier, because the Oath did not allow, much less require Chroniclers to keep the confidence of demons or their minions.

  “Then you need to aim, close your eyes, and do it quickly,” Emerond said.

  “I can cause a lethal wound on her now, with an ordinary sword, and bring this horror closer to its end,” General Joshua said.

  “Use the Spirit Sword. Leave the physical to me!” Romana said.

  “Lower the ship to a ten (10) foot altitude difference,” Prince Emerond said and the crew complied.

  General Joshua drank anew from the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean that he kept in a vial. He was energized and had strength and speed. He readied himself with the Spirit Sword, wielding it like an ordinary sword, yet knowing that it was not going to cut flesh or draw blood.

  ~~~

  “Cannons! Fire!” Victoria shouted.

  However, the Tidal Sovereign’s cannons – as the archers who were stationed near those cannons saw and understood – were not angled or positioned properly to strike at the ships that were now near them. The archers used their bows and arrows instead.

  ~~~

  The Persistent was now next to the Tidal Sovereign and a hail of arrows rained down on the ship, but somehow did not land. The Clear the Way song continued to wield its deflective powers around them.

  “Now!” Romana said to General Joshua, and he leaped down on Victoria, plunging the Spirit Sword into her.

  Victoria was afraid and felt…no pain. A sudden blue streak of light could be seen emanating from where the sword struck Victoria. Both Judith and Ovid could see it from where they stood, with their quick sight. Both were drinkers of the Ursegan Ocean waters, and both could slow time and see quick moving events.

  Victoria did feel, however, as if blue eyes were now gazing upon her. She screamed: “My dream of gazing eyes was true!”

  Serafina had also approached in her own airship, from the other side, and leaped down onto Victoria, plunging a sword into her back.

  Victoria felt physical pain, and was gravely wounded yet again.

  Victoria screamed again: “My dream of the tiger’s claw has become real!”

  Serafina then withdrew her sword and swung it at Victoria’s neck to behead her, but the blade was blocked by an unseen barrier.

  ~~~

  Under the cover of darkness, some of Victoria’s dark scouts and swordfighters personally protected her from that specific type of attack, guarding her head and neck with sharp blades.

  ~~~

  In her extreme pain, Victoria thought she was nearly doomed and decided to act
quickly to continue her mission. She concentrated again; this time, to channel the special powers of the Gradaken Ocean through the tiara. By this, she called a sea serpent to rise up from the waters, but Romana reached out from where she stood on the deck of the Persistent and touched the scales of the creature as its head came high enough.

  “Strike her,” Romana said, and she used the powers of the Gradaken Ocean waters in her to send the sea serpent at Victoria. One of its teeth sliced across Victoria’s arm and she bled again, and the venom entered her. The demon, Matatirot, continued to protect Victoria, so that the venom and the sword strike did not kill her.

  Victoria screamed yet again: “My dream of the snakes has come to pass!”

  Victoria’s archers cast more arrows, but General Joshua was too quick and he ran back to the hanging rope ladder that was let down from the Persistent. He had enough lightweight armor to protect him from the few arrows that did hit. By the rope ladder, he made his own escape.

  Serafina was also quick, but was struck by an arrow. She managed to get back to her own ship, albeit with several wounds, and quite depleted.

  Victoria called out: “Master! Take me from here!”

  At this, the demon, Matatirot, heard her call for help and opened a portal. He caused the Tidal Sovereign to enter into it, so that the ship disappeared from sight.

  Judith and Ovid saw all these things, despite the speed at which they occurred, and wrote them in their books. They even saw Serafina make her strike, and they saw all the arrows from the archers under Victoria’s command. They said nothing of Serafina to anyone, but did record her presence and actions in their books, as well.

  “She’s not dead. The demon still protects her,” Judith said. She was very serious minded. Judith despised evil – she belonged to the One True God, and found murderers and demon-worshippers to be repugnant in every way. She was pleased that the Chronicler’s Oath allowed her to speak out against the ultimate evils, because her soul cried out and would not remain silent. Victoria had to be stopped, and Judith would interfere, within the confines of the Oath, so as to bring about her end.

  “She escaped! We have to find her again!” Daven said.

  “General: does the Spirit Sword now guide you to her? I saw that you struck her with it,” Judith asked, before anyone else could.

  General Joshua held up the sword, and looked at its blade. It had a blue glow with many lines of light and the lines seemed to swirl around, and then they began to orient.

  Judith looked at the blue lines of light and examined them closely. “The blue lines have direction. They are pointing toward the northeast. She is traveling in that direction. Along that path are the Trerada, Medathero and Elanatin Oceans,” Judith said.

  Romana smiled at her good friend, Judith, and said: “It’s good to have you here to join us – and to hear your voice.” Romana knew that Chroniclers could only speak under restricted conditions, and could go long periods saying nothing at all. Those long periods could even be greater than many ordinary lifetimes.

  “I must speak against demons and their minions. This cannot be allowed to go on. I took the Oath to chronicle all that I can, and never interfere, until this. I will not stand by and serve as a silent scribe as the demonic enemies of God work to destroy this world,” Judith said.

  “Neither will I be silent. By its Tenth Tenet, the Chronicler’s Oath demands words and actions against the demonic forces,” Ovid said.

  “And I’m not going to stand still! Set your course northeast along that path,” Prince Emerond ordered, and the crew of the Persistent put the ship on the northeastern course that was indicated by the blue lines on the Spirit Sword.

  ~~~

  Lavakara was still waiting in the spirit world, unseen by the others. He decided against using the opportunity to strike at Victoria, as he did not wish to reveal his presence just yet. Nor did he wish to be so close to the Spirit Sword, lest it be used to strike him. He did not trust General Joshua as an ally, even if they shared a common enemy.

  CHAPTER 24: Hidden in the City of Myth

  Hidden below the ground of the city of Thalkalana was a cylindrical room, over one hundred seventy (170) feet in diameter and one hundred fifty (150) feet deep. A stone spiral staircase wound around the walls. No one walking across the top of the room could see into it, as it was covered by a layer of stone, or that is how it appeared to those above. However, to those below, it appeared as clear as glass, and could be seen through. Thus, those standing in the room could see those above.

  Inside the room were extremely ancient men.

  Serfex-Pavaden-Agrotto was already three hundred seventy-one thousand two hundred ninety-three (371293) years of age. The waters of the Ursegan Ocean flowed through him, enabling him to slow down time such that he could live to this age. He had been in Thalkalana for the previous two hundred thousand nine hundred seventy-four (200974) years, studying its secrets. Yet, he did not know them all. He knew not, for sure, who had built the city, though he suspected the city itself was on the order of twenty million (20000000) years of age, based on calculations that were, he admitted, based on interpretations of evidence he had found in the tombs of the ancient kings he had explored in the surface of the city.

  Also with him was the ancient mathematician, Nov’Talod, who was ninety-thousand twenty-three (90023) years old. He, too, drank the waters of the Ursegan Ocean, and had been in this city since he was fifty-five (55) years old.

  They had seven (7) great colossal warrior statues with them, each one hundred (100) feet tall. They knew the secrets of the colossals, for Serfex had been the one who caused their petrification.

  “I shall awaken the army soon, when their time of petrification must end, for the coming war,” Serfex said.

  “The outsiders are clever. They will seek the colossal warriors’ weaknesses, and find them, and exploit them. When they learn the source of the colossals’ power, they will attempt to separate them from it,” Nov’Talod said.

  “The outsiders will not be able to cut the colossal warriors off from the waters that are within them, unless they were to breach the skin, which is metal underneath the stone,” Serfex said.

  “Metal can be melted with focused heat, and that heat is plentiful, even in the present day, after the inferno. The tempest, indeed, makes the skies darker, yet the suns are still sufficient to burn, if they can be focused. Properly cut crystal will give that focus,” Nov’Talod said.

  “When the stone of petrification breaks away, the metal skin will prove most capable. Only at the proper angle and intensity of violet light will the metal skin rupture. Yet, the greatest suns are blue – the so-called Sky’s Nine (9) Kings,” Serfex said.

  “An auxiliary force will be needed. The outsiders have a fleet that can travel between the worlds, and weapons that can strike with power at distances measured in the trillions (1000000000000) of miles. They even have thinking machines that drink light that can learn and discover, and that will find answers,” Nov’Talod said.

  “If their power is so great, then where is their conquest? Is it not long overdue?” Serfex asked.

  “There may be other worlds they wish to seize first. Upon taking their resources, they will be more amply provisioned to strike here and take the wealth, leaving this world in ruins,” Nov’Talod said.

  “Thalariveth is utterly indestructible. Have no doubt whatsoever of that. The lenses that see beyond this world have shown me many things, such as great stones that have approached. Yet, they were annihilated by our suns. Those same suns are a barrier to the invaders’ fleets. They cannot approach us in full force, lest their fleets be likewise eliminated. Only a few can arrive, through narrow ways that allow only a person to pass,” Serfex said.

  “You should not depend on one (1) or even (2) defenses. What we have seen of them, they are clever. Some are, no doubt, hiding on the surface, among the masses,” Nov’Talod said.

  “If they reveal themselves, they will be struck, for the powers of
the oceans that flow within the elite shall overwhelm the outsiders. Their weapons are no match for the oceans’ might. This world is unique its placement – it towers over every other in the powers that are here,” Serfex said.

  “How can you be certain? You would need proof that every other world in existence is inferior, and that every subset of the other worlds that might join forces to strike here is also inferior. The number of such subsets is two (2) to the power of the number of worlds, less one (1) for the empty set. Hence, even if there were only ten (10) other worlds, that would require all ten (10) to be inferior, as well as all requiring all forty-five (45) pairs of worlds to be inferior when combining their strengths. Also, all one hundred twenty (120) triplets of worlds would have to be inferior when combining their strengths. Also, all two hundred ten (210) quadruplets of worlds would have to be inferior when combining their strengths. And the example goes on. Do you have proof of all of those as being inferior? And are there only (10) other worlds?” Nov’Talod asked.

  “You count everything, but discount what truly matters and cannot be counted. There are higher powers,” Serfex said.

  “I assure you: all things can be counted. If a thing exists, it can be counted. The greater it is, the more ways it can be counted. Even the oceans, in all their might, can be counted. The areas and depths of the ocean, the purity of the waters, and even the effect that an ocean has on those who drink of its waters can be counted. Some can bend light or darkness further. Some can spend more time in the world of spirits. Some can summon animals from a greater distance. We can compare and measure and learn,” Nov’Talod said.

  “You have absolute faith in mathematics. You cannot fathom a world beyond it, or where it is less than supreme. When mathematics fails you, you will have nowhere to turn, and the terrible fear you will feel at such a seeming impossibility will kill you. Look beyond mere numbers. They are indeed useful tools, but you must not have faith in them,” Serfex said.