“But Kaltara did not destroy the city,” commented Rejji. “Instead he sealed it, imprisoning Vand’s spies inside.”
“And the elves, seeing their complicity in the fall of their ally, decided to protect the city from falling into Vand’s hands,” added Bakhai. “So they created the jungle to hide it.”
“And left the people under King Regis to guard it forever,” nodded Rejji. “That is who the Qubari are today. They are the faithful who remained to the end.”
“So it is all true,” Caldal said softly from the table. “It was not really Angragar that attacked the elves. Why have we been taught that Angragar attacked us? Surely the elves that created the jungle would know the truth?”
“Perhaps that was close enough to the truth to deal with the matter,” suggested Temiker. “Think about it. When the elves left these shores, they could not know if Angragar would fall to Vand’s people. They had done their best to hide the city, but that does not mean that Vand would not succeed in obtaining his goal. He had already done the impossible by getting two allies to fight one another.”
“But we could have been taught that it was Vandegar that attacked us,” argued Eltor, “and not Angragar.”
“To what purpose?” asked Temiker. “Vand’s ships raised the flag of Angragar when they attacked. They could easily do so again. If the elves still thought of Angragar as an ally, they would leave themselves open to being fooled again. Their teachings make perfect sense to me. They had been viscously tricked by the humans when all they wished was to not be involved in our internal squabbles. It is no wonder that there have been no relations with the elves since.”
“Did Vand’s people hate the elves?” asked Caldal.
“There is no record of anyone hating the elves,” sighed Temiker. “Not even Vand. Vand merely used the elves to gain that which he sought. By all records that I have seen, the elves were allies and good trading partners of the humans. That is why no one believed Vand’s prophecy until it actually happened. They could not imagine the elves ever attacking. They were friends.”
“But on Motanga…” Caldal began.
“Are humans who worship Vand,” interrupted Eltor. “Vand may not have hated the elves back then, but I suspect that he does now. We hid Angragar from him and halted his quest to conquer what he sought all of his life. In the very moment of his final victory, we thwarted his plan to seize Angragar. I believe Emperor Marak is correct. Vand’s armies will be coming to Elvangar when he finishes with the humans here.”
“You must all think of me as a fool,” Caldal nodded sadly. “I have fought you every step of the way in my secure knowledge that I knew that humans were evil. I can not even imagine why you risked your lives to save me.”
“Because the elves are still our friends and allies,” smiled Emperor Marak, “even if you don’t want to be. Your queen may decide not to help us, but that will not diminish our friendship towards you.”
Caldal smiled weakly at Emperor Marak.
“Some of us should get some sleep,” suggested Axor. “Tomorrow will be a stressful day.”
“An excellent idea,” agreed Lyra. “Where should we rest?”
Wyant went to put his tome back on the shelf and his hand snagged something metal. Unexpectedly, the bookshelf moved slightly. Marak caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He moved quickly to the bookshelf and pulled on it. It swung away from the wall.
“Hand me a torch,” demanded the Torak.
Rejji hurried over and handed a torch to Emperor Marak. Lyra brought another torch as the Torak stepped into the room concealed behind the bookshelf. Rejji and Lyra crowded in behind him. The Three stood there staring at the strange sight before them. There were three doors on the far wall. Over each door was a symbol. They were the symbols of the Star, the Torak, and the Astor. Over the door with the symbol of the Star, was long, slim rapier. Its handle sparkled blue in the torchlight.
“The Rapier of the Star,” Marak said with surprise as he reached up and grabbed it. “It is not in the palace after all.”
The Torak handed the rapier to the Star. Lyra smiled as she took the sword and wrapped her hand around its hilt.
“It feels so light,” Lyra remarked. “I wonder if it merely ceremonial?”
“I would suspect not,” advised the Torak. “I think you will find it a potent weapon capable of vanquishing hellsouls. I doubt that a gift from Kaltara can be broken.”
“What are the doors for?” asked Rejji. “There appears to one for each of us.”
“I am not sure,” frowned Emperor Marak, “but I would advise caution. This room is extremely small. The three of us fill it. Why would there be three more doors leaving it? It does not appear to be a normal path to anywhere. Let me try opening one.”
Emperor Marak opened the door with the sign of the Torak above it. He leaned through the door and stuck the torch through to see what lie beyond. He stared uncomprehendingly at a blank wall.
“There is room for me to step in and nothing else,” Marak reported as he stepped out and closed the door. “Let me try the others.”
Emperor Marak tried the Star’s door next. It was the same as his. The Astor’s room was also the same. He closed the doors.
“It makes no sense to me,” Marak scratched his head. “The only thing that I can think of is a hiding place, but that makes no sense. The three us could easily hide in this small room without going through another door. Even if we couldn’t, why label our doors? I am baffled.”
“At least we found the Rapier of the Star,” smiled Lyra. “We would have searched far and wide in this city and not found it if not for Wyant’s movement.”
“Yes,” Marak nodded distractedly as his mind refused to leave the mystery of the doors. “Maybe Axor or Temiker can make something of it. Let them be the only ones to know about this for now. At least until we understand what we have found. We should move out of here and let them in.”
The three servants of Kaltara stepped out of the small room. Everyone looked at them questioningly.
“We found the Rapier of the Star,” grinned Emperor Marak as he slid the bookshelf closed. “Other than that it is an empty room. Return to the entry foyer and get some sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow.”
Most of the people started moving out of the room, but Axor remained and stared questioningly at the Torak. Lyra moved casually to Temiker’s side and tugged on his sleeve. He acknowledged the Star with a slight nod and stood still while the others filed out of the room. Marak had to verbally dismiss Gunta and Halman before they would leave, but finally only the Three remained with the two mages.
“There are doors in the small room behind the bookshelf,” Marak explained to the mages. “I do not understand their purpose, but I feel certain that they have one. Take a look and let us know what you think.”
Chapter 13
The Plaza
Temiker stepped out of the small one-person room and shook his head at Axor. He closed the door with the symbol of the Star above it.
“I checked the walls for hidden latches,” frowned Temiker. “I could find none. The room does not appear to have any use. Perhaps it was a safe-keeping room of some kind?”
“I don’t think so,” replied the Chula shaman. “In our readings so far, there has never been a Star, Torak, or Astor before. Why would they need storage rooms? We must be missing something.”
“Try the Torak’s door,” suggested Temiker. “Maybe you will find something that I could not.”