Chapter 21 - Truth No More

“Gabriel please,” begged Shalynnda.

{I’m leaving right now,} he replied, {If my hunch is correct then the Klidz should be about half way back to this city. I will fly over the mountains and come in from the west. Once I have made sure Shahira and the others are safe, I will return. But I must warn both of you. If the king knew I was in Lendoren, then he may also know that I have told you about her. I worry about your safety as well.}

“We will be fine,” Lenora said in a tone that didn’t make Gabriel feel any easier about the situation, “Just return Shahira to us and we will make sure she is safe.”

The look exchanged between Gabriel and Lenora spoke volumes. Neither trusted the other. Without starting an argument, Gabriel wordlessly peeked out from the door.

{There are several Klidz just outside of the castle,} he said, {If I open the door they will see me.}

Lenora said several words in her native tongue, and gestured towards him. “No one will notice your presence,” she declared.

Assuming she knew what she was talking about, Gabriel walked outside and took to the air.

Just in case Lenora hadn’t considered him being seen in the air he headed north as a diversion. When he was sure he was out of sight, he cut westward and poured on the speed. In less than a minute he had curved back over Lendoren; and Lendoren was crawling with Klidz.

‘Crap. They’re moving house to house.’ Gabriel thought to himself, ‘They must be looking for Shahira. What’s so important about her? Lenora said that the Klidz had never killed a centaur, yet they send a few thousand of their best warriors to kill a girl who was supposedly dead already. Or were they for me? The messenger said “kill the creature, and the white centaur it protects.” Okay, since I’m nowhere to be found, they’re settling on killing Shahira. Time to put a kink in their plans.’

Gabriel picked a lone Klidz solder on the far southern side of the city. If he could gather the majority of the Klidz there, then he might be able to find Shahira and the others and smuggle them out of the city.

‘Yeah... and flying monkeys might come outa my butt too.’

Diving directly above the isolated Klidz he had spotted, he landed about ten feet in front of it. The solder immediately brought its spear to the ready, and spun around to face away from Gabriel.

‘Huh?’

The solder turned in several different directions, always keeping its spear pointed directly in front of it. Its two antenna, which it kept somewhere within it’s protective shell raised up. They were slender rods nearly four feet long that danced and wavered in the air. It looked to Gabriel like the creature was ready to receive radio signals.

‘Why doesn’t it see me? Don’t tell me one of their best warriors is blind! This is some kind of trick.’

After a few more seconds the Klidz retracted its antenna and continued walking directly towards Gabriel.

“Ah,” it clicked, “Tracks of the creature. The king will-”

It never saw Gabriel’s fist.

‘It saw my footprints, but didn’t see me. What the hell?’ Then it suddenly dawned on him, ‘Lenora’s spell!’

Gabriel grabbed the still flinching carcass of the Klidz and tossed it on the rooftop of a nearby house. He then took to the air and searched for the king. It didn’t take long; the king and several of his guards were just outside the castle located in the middle of the city. Gabriel landed several yards from the group and quietly walked up towards them.

“... me if the creature is spotted,” the king finished saying.

“Yes sir!” the guards replied in unison, and fanned out across the courtyard.

The king turned and entered the castle alone. Gabriel was tempted to stay with the guards and take them out before following the king. But the castle was big and sprawling and he had concerns about loosing the king once they got inside.

The moment they entered the castle Gabriel was overwhelmed by a terrible feeling of dread. It washed over him like something physical; permeating his clothes and entering every pore of his body. He could smell the stench of death in the air and taste it on his breath. His stomach wrenched in knots and felt like a cold stone numbing his gut. This was a horrible place, and Gabriel knew he was going to die here.

‘Is this was it was like for you Shahira? Was every day like this?’

The king walked on seemingly heedless of the situation. Gabriel was frozen with fear; knowing that one more step would surely bring instant death.

‘I don’t... want to die... Just... want to... go... home. Want...’

His mind focused on home. His friends; they were the only family he had. Why hadn’t he settled down? Gotten married? Had kids? Fallen in love?

‘You can’t,’ he told himself, ‘You gave up that option when you took the job.’

The thought angered him. ‘Why not? Shela and Scott are happy, why can’t I be?’

The little voice of common sense echoed in the back of his mind, ‘Because you’re a monster, and she’s a centaur.’

The remark was too personal. Fear flared into anger, and anger gave way to rage. ‘If it’s a monster they want, then I’ll give them one they’ll never forget. Where is that oversized cockroach?’

He had lost sight of the king in the few moments he had stood there. Ignoring the fear he headed deeper into the castle. There would be death here and Gabriel would be the one doing the killing.

Gabriel and the king had not entered the castle through the main entrance. This was a corridor roughly ten feet by ten feet and went about thirty feet into the castle before rounding a corner to the right. As he rounded the corner the wave of fear and anger instantly subsided. The feelings of death disappeared and the castle didn’t have such a menacing appearance. A short distance ahead he could see the king crossing a narrow walkway with sand on either side of him. As the king got mid-way across the sand, two large dune-worms rose up and oriented on him.

“Down,” was all the king said. The worms hissed loudly in protest and retreated back into the sand.

Once the king was down the hall a bit, Gabriel flew over the walkway bordered by the sand and continued following the king.

“I find it almost amusing,” came a hauntingly familiar voice from up the hallway. It sent chills up Gabriel’s back.

The king stopped then turned through a doorway to his left. “What do you find so amusing?” the king asked.

Gabriel crept up next to the doorway. ‘Where have I heard that voice before?’

“I find it amusing that three women whose combined intelligence couldn’t surpass a rock can evade the most powerful army in the world.”

“And I find it interesting,” replied the king, “That the most powerful wizard in the world would neglect to inform me that the creatures who killed my son can fly.”

‘Wizard?’ thought Gabriel, ‘Informing the king about me?’

There was a moment of silence followed by a clicking sound that the amulet translated as laughter.

“You didn’t know,” chuckled the king, “You didn’t know they could fly.”

Gabriel heard footsteps; the sound of hooves walking on stone.

“Derit,” the voice said, pausing slightly for effect, “Those creatures your laughing about were created for one purpose: To destroy everything I’ve ever worked for. They can obliterate worm pits single-handedly and kill entire royal families in less time than it takes to eat a meal. And you have the gall to stand there and think this is humorous?!”

“Lord Kennek, I had better explain to you the larger problem I have with these creatures.”

‘Kennek!’ Gabriel almost exclaimed aloud, ‘That’s the wizard Shalynnda spoke of!’

“First, we have no way to mount an aerial assault, and from speaking to your people I know that nothing in this world can fly. Secondly, these creatures are extremely fast. It traveled from Lendoren to my kingdom in only a few moments. Third, all of the creatures from my world that can fly are able to do so for long periods of time. The creature I encountered this morning could very well be the same creature that attacked king Nukkew.”

‘Damn you’re good,’ thought Gabriel to himself.

“You mean it could all be the same creature?” asked Kennek.

“It’s probable,” said Derit, “The creature spoke to my men in our own words. I must assume that it is wearing the translation amulet from my son Wikki.”

‘Damn, you’re really good.’

“And yet I saw it attack your castle,” said Kennek, “Does it not worry you that it is in your own city?”

“Tell me Lord Kennek,” Derit said, “How many people in my city are dead because of this creature?”

There was a few moments of silence.

“None that I can see,” said Kennek.

“Interesting,” noted Derit, “This creature was confronted by my best troops and a castle full of my most trusted guards. And yet not a single member of my kingdom has fallen, correct? Don’t you find that a bit... odd?”

“What's your point?” asked Kennek, his voice agitated.

“My point is that I do not know what motivates this creature. It destroys entire worm nests, but even when taken prisoner by my own guards it did not kill. I was hoping you would enlighten me.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” said Kennek angrily, “That stupid bitch created it to kill me!”

‘Huh?’ thought Gabriel, confused, ‘Who’s he talking about?’

“Then it appears you have a very serious problem,” the king replied coolly.

“No Derit we have a very serious problem,” Kennek retorted, emphasizing the word ‘we’, “Without my magic you will start aging again.”

“You would go back on your promise! Correct?” the king hissed.

“Not at all,” Kennek replied in a tone that exuded confidence, “At least not intentionally. I can’t keep my word if I’m dead, correct?”

There was a moment of silence, “Correct,” answered the king.

“Besides,” Kennek continued, “I want to see the day when Derit the Eternal crosses the word gates and claims his entire world for his own.”

“That was another topic I was going to bring up with you,” Derit said, “I had presumed that the creature had come through the world gates. Are you sure that the creature was created by your goddess?”

“SHE IS NOT MY GODDESS!” screamed Kennek. The force of the blast threw the king out into the hallway and slammed him into the far wall; nearly hitting Gabriel in the process.

Gabriel instinctively drew back his fist to attack the king but remembered Lenora’s magic.

Through the archway walked a large well-muscled centaur stallion. His coat was raven-black, as was his hair. Instantly Kennek’s attention was focused on the archangel standing in the hallway. The face that met Gabriel literally stunned him.

It was the telepath.

“You!” they both said to each other in unison.

‘The nightmare! This IS the nightmare!’

Gabriel unloaded his cocked fist into the centaurs face. It was like punching a concrete wall. Gabriel screamed in pain as Kennek tumbled backwards across the room.

Gabriel was tossed onto his back as the king kicked his legs out from under him. Gabriel returned the favor by knocked the king on his back with his left wing. Both Gabriel and the king kipped up simultaneously. The king stepped in and slashed upwards across Gabriel’s chest with the serrated edge of his upper arms. He also crossed his middle arms and grabbed the hilts of two daggers he kept just beneath his carapace. Gabriel grabbed the two arms where they crossed with his left hand and kicked the king in the chest.

The king skidded backwards across the stone floor on his bony plating. Unfortunately, his two arms were still in Gabriel’s grip. Dropping the two limbs on the floor Gabriel walked into the room where Kennek and Derit had been talking.

The room was a library. Or it had been at one time. The wooden shelves that once lined the walls were splintered and broken. The woodwork that spanned the ceiling had been partially destroyed; its intricate carvings now mauled beyond recognition. Books, scrolls, and loose papers were haphazardly heaped in the center of the room. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Kennek was just getting to his hooves next to the opposite wall of the room.

{I don’t quite get the reason for everyone being a centaur,} growled Gabriel as he stepped around the pile of books, {And the death of Elena was pretty convincing. But you’re wrong about me wanting to kill you Kennek.}

“You... you knew about the child?” stammered Kennek, his face slowing reshaping into its original form.

{I’ve had this theory brewing in the back of my head. I’m betting that if I kill you this whole nightmare will stop and I’ll wake up. So no, I’m not simply wanting to kill you Kennek,} Gabriel paused, the near berserk rage overtaking him, {I’m looking forward to it. And even if it doesn’t work, even if I’m trapped in this god forsaken place for all time, I’ll still have the satisfaction of ripping your lungs out with my bare hands!}

Kennek fired the lightning bolt just as Gabriel leapt at the centaur. The shot fired under Gabriel and hit the far wall behind him; causing wood and rock to shatter in all directions. Gabriel came down with the ball of his foot smashing into Kennek’s nose.

Kennek yelped in pain, covered his face with his hands, and reared; kicking wildly with his front hooves. Gabriel dodged the hooves and kicked Kennek in the one place a centaur stallion would never want to be kicked.

Kennek bucked onto the floor, screaming in agony.

{That’s just the tip of the iceberg Kennek,} Gabriel yelled over Kennek’s cries of pain, {And it’s nothing like the past three months of hell you put me through!}

Gabriel brought his heel down on the side of Kennek’s front knee. There was a sharp ‘snap’ as bone splintered and joints dislocated.

There was a whizzing sound, and a dagger embedded itself in Gabriel’s neck. He instinctively spun around and saw king Derit in the entryway.

“There is no antidote for the poison on that dagger,” hissed the king, “You will be dead before-”

Gabriel rushed the king, punching him in the mandibles as he flew back up the corridor.

Shalynnda’s emotions were in turmoil. She knelt down on her bed to keep from keeling over.

“What do you see?” asked Lenora, concerned.

“His emotions, his feelings, they are overwhelming,” Shalynnda replied, visibly shaken, “He is overcome with grief and fear.”

“Fear?” asked Lenora, amazed, “What would someone like him be afraid of?”

Shalynnda concentrated. Gabriel’s thoughts were so familiar yet so alien. Things that would panic her he found great joy in, and what she found commonplace he found terrifying. “He thinks so differently from us. The way he moves. I can see Lendoren as if I’m standing on top of an invisible mountain; I can rise higher and higher up through the clouds. The wind is like a great storm; it tosses me about like waves in the ocean. But then I can see above them. I see that the clouds look the same on the other side except that they are the brightest white you can imagine. It is quiet up here, I am all alone. Above me the world is as blue as the ocean, and a light so bright you can’t look at it shines down on all the clouds.”

Lenora was amazed. She had once read of a visitor long ago from the north telling of how they once saw the clouds part, and the oceans above them were blue.

“I can understand why that terrifies him.” Lenora remarked.

“Actually that terrifies me,” said Shalynnda, “Gabriel finds it joyous beyond measure.”

“Oh,” was all Lenora could reply.

“Fruitpickers,” Shalynnda said.

“What?”

“He’s frightened of Fruitpickers,” Shalynnda said, closing her eyes and concentrating. “I see him in the wood across from my home in Lendoren. Shahira is next to him. Fruitpickers from all over the city have come to share a brightening with her. I can see Dewdrop standing just out of reach of my wings. She shows signs of intelligence and knows I can kill her with them. I have to get Shahira out of here, they’re going to kill her if I don’t.”

Shalynnda looked at Lenora with a look of rage that made her blood run cold. “Why is everything in this world trying to kill me?” she growled, “Why are the Klidz so obsessed with killing this one girl?”

“Shalynnda, snap out of it,” Lenora said. Instead, Shalynnda grabbed Lenora by the throat. “Why don’t you fight? Why don’t you run? I can’t save all of you! Don’t you realize that the Klidz are feeding your people to the dune worms!?”

“Shalynnda!” yelled Lenora, “Stop it!”

Shalynnda jerked away like she had just grabbed a hot coal, a look of shock and disbelief on both faces. For a few moments neither of them spoke as Shalynnda regained her composure.

“Are you okay?” Shalynnda finally asked Lenora, seeing she was holding her neck.

“I’m fine,” said Lenora, “But are you okay?”

“I... I can’t stay here Lenora. I can’t stay in this filthy place another night. King Derit has tapestries in his castle, of people in the worm pits.”

“Now calm down. Where will you go?” Lenora asked, “Gabriel is going to bring Shahira here. Don’t you want to be here when they return?”

The look on Shalynnda’s face slowly turned from despair, to anger, to grim determination. “I am not going to just sit her in this shack while some child risks his life to save my daughters for no other reason than because it’s the right thing to do.”

“You can’t go out there,” said Lenora sternly, “The death worms will be out before you return.”

“There are only two worm pits left. One to the east, and another to the north. With the southern pit destroyed Lendoren will be safe for the next few days.”

Lenora looked shocked, “How do you know there are three worm pits?”

Shalynnda thought back absently, “I don’t know. Gabriel saw something... I can’t tell. But I can feel that it’s right. We’ll be safe.”

Lenora wondered what Shalynnda’s use of the word “we” meant. Was she expecting her to come along as well? Or was she referring to herself and Shahira? It didn’t matter. She was coming even if Shalynnda objected.

“But before we go I want a look at those tapestries.”

Lenora cast an ‘ignore’ spell again and the two mares returned to the castle. Surprisingly security was very light in the main corridor. They came to the spiral staircase and stopped.

“How do you think we’ll get down once we’re up there?” Lenora asked.

“We’ll just have to walk backwards,” Shalynnda replied, taking the stairs three and four at a time. The steps were so narrow that only a third of their hooves would fit. It was also a spiral staircase which the two women found nearly impossible to navigate. Getting back down was going to take quite some time; which was exactly what Lenora was hoping for.

Once at the top of the staircase they squeezed into a corridor barely wide enough for one of them.

“Look,” said Shalynnda, indicating the tapestry in front of her.

“Keep walking. My rump’s still in the stairwell.”

Shalynnda walked to the end of the corridor and into a small circular room. The room’s walls were lined with various tapestries; all depicting significant events between the centaurs and the Klidz. Shalynnda pointed to the one she had initially motioned to. It was the one depicting several Klidz emerging from the obelisk with several centaurs offering bowls of fruit.

“There we are,” she said, pointing to two figures in the tapestry, “That’s the day king Derit arrived.”

Lenora stared silently at the figures in the tapestry. There figures were crude, but she recognized several of the people in the scene. With the exception of Shalynnda, she was the only one of those people still alive.

‘Why has such evil befallen our world?’

Lenora’s thoughts were cut short by Shalynnda’s gasp. She turned to find the priestess transfixed, staring at another tapestry. Lenora turned and examined it as well. The scene showed the kings elite guards with their spears surrounding a large hole in the earth. Out of the hole, several death worms were depicted killing several centaurs. But the one thing that Lenora immediately noticed made her gasp in fright as well: One of the centaurs was completely white.

“Derit said no one witnessed the attack,” whispered Shalynnda, “Nobody found any trace of her.”

“This tapestry’s been altered,” Lenora noted, running her hand lightly across a bare spot on the fabric, “See how it’s wrinkled in this area? Stitching has been removed. Did Gabriel change it?”

Shalynnda closed her eyes and concentrated. “Gabriel came in through the window,” she said, indicating the window at the end of the chamber, “He’s looking for the world gate. There aren’t any visible doors, but the last room he was in he discovered that the tapestries hide the exits.”

Shalynnda moved towards the first tapestry they had looked at. “He notices the world gate in this one. It looks familiar; like something in a story he once saw.”

She then moved towards the altered tapestry, “He notices that the dune worms aren’t attacking the Klidz, only our people.”

Shalynnda gives each tapestry a quick glance, “None of them do.”

“Did he touch this one?” asked Lenora, pointing to the altered area.

“No. He heard the king’s guards coming up the stairway and shoved them back down the staircase. He follows them and comes out into the king’s hall,” Shalynnda looked up at Lenora, “And that’s when we first saw him.”

Lenora looked up at the top of the tapestry. A wooden dowel was threaded through fabric loops sewn onto the hem. She reared up on her hind legs and pulled the dowel off of the two stone supports it was in.

“What are you doing?” asked Shalynnda, shocked that her most trusted friend would do such a thing.

“When I was a girl I tried sewing a picture for my father. I continuously messed up and started over and by the time I got it the way I wanted it the fabric I had used looked like it had been trampled.”

Lenora rolled up the tapestry on the dowel until the wrinkled fabric was at the top of the picture. She then turned it around and held it up to the window. As she expected, she could make out a faint outline where the embroidery had been punched through the cloth.

“Someone took a figure out of the picture, and replaced it with another,” she said, running a fingertip along the outline made by the holes. She held her finger in place and turned the tapestry back around to see where she was pointing. It was a Klidz guard. Turning it back around, she examined it again. “It looks like they originally embroidered someone in this spot, then took them out and replaced it with a guard.”

“Too far away from the center of the picture,” Shalynnda offered.

“Possibly,” Lenora skeptically replied, “possibly.”

Gently unrolling the tapestry Lenora placed it back in its holder.

“I think we should leave,” offered Shalynnda, suddenly feeling uneasy about being in such a confined space. But as she turned to head up the hallway Lenora gripped her arm and stopped her.

“Shalynnda,” Lenora said dryly, “You know how much...”

Lenora stopped and composed herself. Shalynnda saw the same look of determination sweep over her queen’s face that only moments ago she herself had felt. Even her posture changed.

“Priestess Shalynnda,” she said, her voice full of that world-famous stubbornness, “We will leave. We will all leave.”

“Yes, my queen,” Shalynnda replied. It had been a long time since she had seen her queen assume the command she had been given.

Kennek writhed on the floor in agony. Had he been able to concentrate fully on his injuries they would have healed at a phenomenal rate, but his mind was fogged by the pain. Even as he lay there the threat of having his lungs ripped out echoed throughout the castle.

King Derit slowly got to his feet. The creature had broken his jaw as it passed by and he was missing two arms. He staggered over to the wall a few feet away, picked up his two severed limbs, and slowly walked over to where Kennek was laying on the floor.

“Where is it?” said Kennek after a few moments.

The king hissed something unintelligible, and Kennek noticed that Derit couldn’t speak.

Kennek concentrated and repeated several words that Derit’s amulet didn’t translate. As Kennek chanted, the king watched as the stallion’s injuries quickly disappeared. He then got to his hooves and walked over to Derit. Continuing to chant, he placed the kings severed limbs back into the sockets that they had been torn from. In less than a minute the king was whole.

“Thank you, my lord,” the king said as he flexed his middle limbs.

“Where is it?” Kennek growled again, “It saw me. It knows me! It cannot find the three women and tell them I’m alive!”

“My daggers are coated with a most deadly toxin,” Derit clicked, “It kills on contact. The creature is surely dead by now.”

“Bring me the body,” Kennek commanded, “I want to show that stupid brat just how ignorant she truly is.”

“Yes, my lord,” Derit said. He bowed and exited the room.

Kennek stood for a few moments along to collect his thoughts.

“Lord Kennek,” Derit shouted from inside the hallway, “Come quickly.”

Kennek came up the hallway to where Derit was standing. It was the area of the corridor where the walkway narrowed, and the two worms were buried just beneath the sand. The left half of the hallway was covered with blood and body parts, and one dune worm was scraping the walls and floor, searching for scraps.

“The worms got him,” said Kennek, grinning.

The king was not convinced, “I’ll have my men kill it and make sure.”

“No,” Kennek said, “You need to get out there and find those mares. They must never be seen again.”

“As you wish, m’lord,” Derit replied, and continued walking up the hallway past the dune worm.

“And Derit,” Kennek said after him.

“Yes, my lord?” said the king, turning and looking back.

Kennek was silent for a moment, looking almost sad, “I can’t afford to have my entertainment with the white centaur any more. When you find any of them, kill them, burn the bodies, and bury the remains out in the forest. Leave no trace.”

“As you command, lord Kennek,” the king said, and continued walking.

Kennek walked back through the library and deeper into the castle. He couldn’t wait to break the news to that stupid brat about the death of her latest creation.