“And I should believe this because?” prompted the high priestess.
“It matters little now whether you believe me or not,” sighed Aakuta. “You asked me not to make you choose between me and your father, but here we are. That is exactly the position that I have put you in. I am sorry.”
“You really do love me?” Lady Mystic asked with tears in her eyes.
“I do,” Aakuta smiled thinly.
Lady Mystic rushed over to Aakuta and kissed him. He rose and hugged her just as a loud knock sounded on the door. Lady Mystic broke the embrace and answered the door.
“You are ordered to the throne room,” declared a soldier. Seeing Aakuta through the open door, he continued, “Your presence is also required, Aakuta.”
The soldier disappeared, presumably to summon others. Aakuta crossed the room nervously and shut the door.
“I am sure this will be about the alarms,” Aakuta stated. “Fix your hair. You don’t want your father seeing you looking like that.”
Lady Mystic nodded and ran into the other room and brushed her hair. She smiled warmly at Aakuta as he opened the door for her. They climbed the stairs together and entered the throne room. The room was packed with military officers, mages, and other high officials. Even Clarvoy, the spymaster, was there. Fresh scorch marks and blood marred the floor, and it was obvious that Vand was in a foul mood. The doors at the rear of the room slammed shut and everyone fell silent.
“This temple was attacked tonight,” Vand declared. “A large group of our enemies came onto our island, entered this most sacred temple, and stole away with the elven king. You cannot imagine how angry this makes me. What is worse is that it is now clear that these invaders had inside help. That is something that I will not stand for. I want those that are responsible to step before me.”
No one moved, and Vand’s face grew darker by the second. Clarvoy approached and knelt before Vand.
“You Clarvoy?” Vand shouted with rage. “You would do such a thing?”
“I would never knowingly harm you or your efforts,” Clarvoy answered with a steady voice. “I offer myself up only for my lack of discovering the spy within your midst. Had I acted better, the elven king would still be captive.”
“This is true,” nodded Vand, “but you are not the one I seek. Get up.”
Clarvoy rose, but he did not move back to his previous position.
“There is another loss that we suffered tonight,” Clarvoy stated. “The mage from Raven’s Point was also taken from us.”
Vand’s dark eyes immediately glared at Aakuta. He waved the spymaster away, and Clarvoy returned to his station.
“How were your interrogations going, Aakuta?” scowled Vand. “Did she give up the secret of the air tunnel before she fled?”
“This is the first report that I have had concerning her disappearance,” replied Aakuta. “As for the air tunnel, she has told me nothing so far.”
“So far?” shouted Vand, causing everyone in the room to cringe. “Do you expect her to tell you more now that she is gone?”
“I suppose not,” Aakuta replied, his eyes staring at the floor before him.
“You suppose not?” Vand mocked Aakuta. “You would have no more success in getting anything out of her than I have getting something out of you. Lady Mystic?”
“Yes?” bowed Lady Mystic.
“Your demeanor tells me more than Aakuta’s words,” Vand said, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints. “You know who is responsible for this, don’t you?”
Lady Mystic did not answer. Her eyes dropped to the floor and her breath became ragged.
“Speak,” shouted Vand. “Tell me that Aakuta is the spy. Tell me!”
Lady Mystic spoke so softly that her breaking voice was inaudible.
“Tell me!” Vand shouted louder.
“It was Aakuta,” snapped Lady Mystic as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Aakuta moved swiftly to salvage what he could of his life. His arm came up and pointed at Vand, but nothing happened. Vand glared at him and then grinned broadly.
“You cannot attack me when I have a room full of mages,” sneered Vand. “Do you think they would allow you to hurt me?”
Aakuta looked around the room and saw over a dozen mages with their arms pointed at him. He understood then what had happened. Vand had been ready for the confrontation even before Lady Mystic spoke. Vand had his mages surround Aakuta with inverse shields. The dark mage would be incapable of sending a spell outside the shields.
“You already knew,” Aakuta said accusingly. “Why did you subject your daughter to such agony? Have you no heart at all?”
“Heart?” sneered Vand. “I have not believed in such petty emotions in centuries. As for my daughter, she had a choice to make as to where her loyalties were placed. I would have been sorely disappointed if she had not betrayed you.”
“So now you know the truth,” Aakuta said. “You should also know that you can not win the coming war. Why throw away this empire that you have built up? If you go to war against Khadora, you will lose it all. Be happy with what you have.”
“Khadora is only the beginning,” sneered Vand. “My armies will march over the length and breadth of the entire world. Before I am done, Kaltara will kneel before me and beg for mercy, but he will receive none. Just like you will receive none. Take him behind the throne room,” he ordered his guards.
The soldiers seized Aakuta, but there was nothing he could do about it. The mages kept their inverted shields around him, and he saw no victory in scratching the hands of the guards. He let himself be dragged out of the room. When he looked back, he saw two soldiers escorting Lady Mystic. She did not look as though she wanted to witness what was coming, but she had no will to fight it, either.
Aakuta knew where he was being taken. He had wanted to see what was inside the secret chamber ever since he had heard about it. Now he was going to get his chance, whether he wanted to or not. As the guards halted in front of the chamber’s door, Aakuta hurriedly erected his own defensive shields inside the inverted ones that surrounded him.
Vand opened the door to the chamber. Hot arid air instantly flowed through the door, immediately parching Aakuta’s throat. Vand gave the order and the guards shoved Aakuta through the doorway. The door slammed shut behind him.
Aakuta immediately felt his shields being battered. He looked around what he thought would be a chamber, but it was not a chamber. It was a place, massive sprawling wasteland from horizon to horizon. Aakuta shook his head to clear his vision. The plains were far too vast to exist within the confines of the temple. The mountains would dwarf the temple and make it appear insignificant.
Aakuta licked his lips and rotated slowly. There was no door behind him. No walls around him. Where the door should have been, was a crude arch made of rough stones. Aakuta walked through it, but he merely came out the other side. Then he heard the laughter.
Aakuta whirled to face the sound, but all he saw were mountains, dark, black mountains. Volcanoes erupted to the right and to the left, and lava flowed freely down the sides of the towering peaks. He felt his shields begin to shrink. His first impulse was to strengthen the shields, but he knew that he would merely waste his energy. The battering was relentless and there was no escape from his alien prison.
“What are you?” asked a booming voice. “You come to me like a man, yet the smell of fear is not strong upon you. You serve Kaltara, yet you do not even know him. What sort of creature are you?”
“Who are you?” Aakuta asked. “Show yourself.”
“Answer the question,” countered the booming voice.
“I am a man,” replied Aakuta. “I am called Aakuta.”
Suddenly, the black mountain in front of Aakuta moved. The ground trembled and huge rocks fell away as the mountain shattered. In place of the mountain was a huge black beast with spiked horns upon its head. Its eyes were red like the lava, appearing molten and constantly flowing in one direction or another. Its snout protruded from below the eyes and curved, sharp teeth filled its cavernous mouth. It had long claws extending from its hands and feet.