“Which way is the temple?” he called out.
“The large building on the right side of the square,” Rejji answered.
“Get ready to run,” ordered Marak. “As soon as we show which direction we are going, the others will try to close in on us. My men will open a path for you to run through. Don’t worry about touching their dead; just get the door open for us. Now!”
The Khadorans turned as one and charged the portion of the semicircle that blocked their path to the temple. Shrieks filled the square, as the intent of the humans became known. Halman and Gunta stopped short and turned to face the curve of the semicircle as the hellsouls converged on them. Marak continued onward and started slashing at the thin line of hellsouls with his long sword. Rejji raced through the gap created by the Khadorans with Mobi on his heels. Mobi halted on the steps of the temple and turned to face the square as Halman and Gunta slowly backed their way towards the temple.
Rejji shouted as he opened the door and Marak signaled his men to fall back as he continued to slice through the hellsouls. As soon as he felt his men pass him, Marak turned and ran. They dashed through the door and Rejji slammed it closed.
“Anybody get cut?” questioned Mobi.
They all shook their heads.
“Wasn’t that a little risky?” questioned Rejji. “We could have been trapped in that block.”
“Not as risky as you think,” answered Lord Marak. “Their swords are a lot shorter than ours. They could not cut us unless we made a mistake.”
“They are also slower,” added Gunta. “And now they are about fifty fewer in number.”
“At least fifty,” Mobi grinned. “And they are afraid of us now. I like that feeling much better than last time. Dumo will like you Khadorans.”
“If the other Qubari fight as you do, Mobi,” smiled Marak, “Dumo is a fortunate chief indeed. Let’s rest a minute before we go to the mural.”
“Did you scream to scare them?” asked Rejji.
“The screaming by itself would not scare them,” explained Halman. “It breaks their concentration and causes hesitation if they are not expecting it. When put together with a change in posture, such as us advancing rather than defending, it can cause great uncertainty.”
“And being uncertain is not the best feeling in a pitched battle,” added Gunta. “They fled back to the square where they were more comfortable, but that in itself gives them a new feeling of being defensive rather than aggressive.”
“They are not so afraid that they will not attack us again,” interjected Lord Marak. “It is just enough to make them wary. What we must avoid is allowing them to surround us. That is why I stopped mid-block so they only had two approaches to us. If they had had four, we would have been in serious trouble.”
“Will we do the same thing to get out of the city?” asked Rejji.
“No,” answered Marak. “Always do the unexpected. I think we shall try to sneak out at night.”
“They will be hard to see in the night,” protested Mobi as he lit a torch.
“So will we,” smiled Marak. “And the Sword of Torak does warn of their close presence as the staff does. Let’s worry about our departure when the time comes. I am ready to see the mural.”
Rejji led the group past the stairs and through the large room with the altar. He opened the door at the end of the hallway and went to the far end of the long table. Mobi caught up to the group and raised a torch high above his head. Lord Marak stood staring at the mural for a few minutes.
“That is Lyra, the Star of Sakova,” declared Lord Marak.
“You know her?” quizzed Rejji.
“Yes,” nodded Marak. “She is around our age and leads the Sakovan people, far south of Fardale. I visited with her not long ago. This makes me more curious than ever. It indicates that our three lives are intertwined in one fate. Mobi, what is the name of your god?”
“Kaltara,” Mobi answered. “Have you heard of him?”
“Indeed I have,” nodded Lord Marak. “Kaltara is the god of the Sakovans.”
“So we have Lord Marak flanked by two people who have been chosen by this god, Kaltara,” posed Gunta, “yet in Khadora we have many gods and don’t take any seriously. This does not make sense.”
“Perhaps,” murmured Lord Marak as he wondered what god the Chula worshipped.
Very few people knew that Lord Marak was actually half Chula, and none of them were in the room. As he rolled the riddle around in his mind, Marak was struck by the fact that Lyra was only half Sakovan and had never heard of Kaltara before entering the Sakova. He had recently been told that Rejji was half Qubari and also had never heard of Kaltara. He mentally nodded at the strange parallels developing.
“Gunta,” ordered Marak, “check out this entire building for exits and I don’t mean street level doors. Halman, search for rope, lots of it. We will be leaving tonight via an unorthodox exit and then sneaking out of the city, hopefully undetected. The rest of us will be in the library. Join us when you are done.”
The two Khadoran shadows left the room and Lord Marak nodded to Rejji that he was ready to leave. Rejji led the way back to the entrance hall and turned left towards the library. The volume of books and scrolls present in the library stunned Lord Marak. He walked around the room, inspecting the shelves of books and settled on the floor near the only shelf that was not entirely filled, figuring that the shelf would be the most current works.
“I will start here,” announced Marak. “If you find anything about Sakova, or Star of Sakova, or Torak, or Astor, shout.”
Rejji and Mobi split up and started going through the books. After a while, Gunta and Halman arrived and Lord Marak instructed them on what to search for. They searched for hours and hours and grew tired and frustrated, as they could find no mention of any of the terms. The search extended into the night and finally Mobi called them all together.
“I have found a scroll that mentions you,” Mobi stated.
“Read it to us,” requested Rejji.
Mobi nodded, “The great evil, having been cast out of the land, shall seek to return and destroy all that is good. Persistently, it will seek out the weak and the strong until it finds the perfect host. It will devour this host and empower it to deceive and destroy. This host will rise in the form of a man and seek to take power from those Kaltara has appointed. The good and the holy will renounce this man and throw him out of the kingdom and consider the matter completed, but that will be the beginning of turmoil. For this great evil will rise and deceive allies to wage war on one another. He will raise himself above men and declare that he is god. Great multitudes will waver in their faith and follow the evil, and they shall build a great temple unto this false god and they shall declare the evil the highest god of all.”
Seeing the Mobi was having a hard time reading and holding the torch, Gunta took the torch from Mobi’s hand and held it aloft for him.
“Kaltara will become angered and strike out at the multitudes. He will rent the earth and cause the sea to swallow the faithless. Kaltara will scatter the survivors to the far shores of the world and rebuke them to return to the faith, but the great evil will resist. He will find a new home and flourish once again. The people of this new home will flee in desperation and burn their ships and sear their minds to eliminate their return and their fears. The great evil will devour all that exists in his home and yearn for more. Eventually, the magics used to sear the minds will fail because of intermarriage and the evil will be summoned once again. This will be known as the Time of Calling.”