Kill the Past, Destroy the World

  * * *

  The golden airship cut through the air like a blade, soaring high above the lush green mountains, forests and valleys of Lasandria. The domed magenta sky was streaked with thin filaments of cloud as the twin suns lowered toward the horizon.

  Mailyn sat alone in the rear of the transport upon a cushioned leather seat. In the cockpit sat the pilot and her personal guard. She gazed out the window as the royal transport approached the City of El Ad’dan, the capital of Lasandria. The grand golden city was a monument of exquisite architecture and design, constructed many millennia ago by a mysterious race of star travelers known as the Lasan, the founders of their civilization. The lavish sandstone towers, halls and temples, some of which were rectangular, others domed or pyramidal, were of opulent design and craftsmanship; such a far cry from the squalor of the village she had just obliterated.

  The moment she’d first set foot in the royal city all those years ago, she’d been filled with resentment at the sheer injustice of society. It seemed cruel that some should enjoy such luxury and extravagance while others had to struggle to live the most meagre of existences. The intervening years had done little to diminish her outrage at the injustice and, as she set to work following the directives of the angels, she swore that one day she would shatter this divide at the heart of society.

  Apparently it hadn’t always been like this. Once upon a time the wealth and abundant resources of Lasandria had been shared equally. In recent centuries, as society became corrupt and the people more greedy and materialistic, this egalitarianism had degenerated into elitism and exploitation. As official advisor to the king, a position of great authority in the palace, Mailyn knew that she was now part of the very institution that was responsible. But this was all part of an underlying plan; a plan from which she refused to deviate.

  The air transport entered the vicinity of the city, gliding above the streets, houses, temples and halls. At the heart of the city, towering above the surrounding rooftops stood a monolithic pylon with two smaller pillars either side linked by a stationary metal wheel. This was the great gateway: a recently constructed device that would forever change the fate of her world. Veering past the structure, the transport shot toward the royal palace, visible beyond the centre of the town. Surrounded by trees and gardens and enclosed by a tall wall, the pyramidal building was constructed in four layers and built entirely of gleaming gold. The palace had been Mailyn’s home for almost three decades now, yet in her heart she still despised it and everything it stood for.

  Ardonis is there, the angel whispered in her mind. He is waiting for you. He will try to stop you.

  “He is welcome to try,” she muttered. The guard in the cockpit looked round, clearly wondering who she was talking to. Registering her icy stare, he averted his eyes and returned his attention to the window.

  Dua-ron will waver, the voice continued. You must not let him.

  “He is a weak fool, but I know how to deal with him. It will not be a problem.”

  This is the eve of our deliverance. We have come too far for it to fall apart now.

  “It will not, I assure you.”

  The moment the transport landed in the palace, Mailyn alighted and was met by King Dua-ron. “Mailyn, it is about time,” he grunted as he strode across the sandstone hangar, his silver robes trailing behind him as he moved, jangling with gold jewelry hanging from his neck and across his bloated potbelly. Mailyn forced a smile as she set eyes on the piglike monarch; his red-brown hair and greying beard framing a rounded, pasty-skinned face, his narrow brown eyes filled with impatience. “Where have you been?” he demanded.

  “I told you, I had some unfinished business in the outer provinces,” she said, displeased at being questioned by the repugnant little man. She had raised him from a young baby and following the death of his parents had been his primary caregiver. Yet although he was in many respects her surrogate son, she felt little toward him but disdain. It was a constant effort to keep this from showing. She endeavored to smile, but as always her smiles were slight and cold. “Is there a problem, Your Highness?”

  “Yes, there is a problem,” Dua-ron grunted. He came to a stop before her, his two omnipresent guards several paces behind him, clad in golden armor with silver rifles slung across their shoulders. Dua-ron frowned. “Ardonis is here. He demands to speak with me. But I refused to see him until you returned.”

  “A wise decision,” Mailyn said. “You need my counsel. He is not to be trusted. Twisted by the Priesthood, he is a man filled with treachery and deceit.” Dua-ron’s nose wrinkled as though he’d caught whiff of a bad smell. Mailyn continued, deciding to appeal to the king’s ego; one of her primary tactics for manipulating him. “Ardonis is jealous of your adoration by the people and all that you have done for this kingdom. As such, he is determined to stop you; to steal your moment of greatest triumph. You must not let him.”

  “I certainly shall not! I only wish I could have him lined up and shot by the palace guard.”

  “That would be inappropriate, your highness. He still has his supporters, few though they are. But there are other ways we can deal with him and end his interference. My angels have told me that the days of the Priesthood are finally at an end.”

  “I certainly hope so. I have had enough of their interference.”

  “Let us go and deal with Ardonis,” Mailyn said, gesturing to the exit at the far end of the hangar.

  Dua-ron nodded, eager to get the business resolved and Ardonis out of his palace. With the guards in tow, they exited the hangar and made their way through the gleaming gold palace. Their footsteps echoed upon the checkered marble flooring as they passed down the arched corridors, lined either side by silver columns and walls adorned with gemstones, jewels and exquisite works of art. With the piglike Dua-ron in the lead, they marched up a wide stairway until they came to the second level, where a circular foyer lit by crystal chandeliers led to the palace’s conference chambers and meeting halls.

  Dua-ron led Mailyn toward the chamber at the far end of the foyer. Passing through a doorway with armed guards standing watch either side, they entered the marble-floored conference chamber, at the centre of which sat a rectangular table with dozens of chairs. The smooth gold and silver walls were hung with tapestries depicting the star-faring Lasan and their arrival upon Alanar so many millennia ago.

  Opposite the door, two figures stood by a tall window overlooking the city. The first, Ardonis, was clad in a blue cloak with a golden feather-plumed headdress upon his crown. The other man, shorter and frailer in stature, was wearing an indigo robe, his hair close-cropped and white. He was Ardonis’s senior aide; an old monk whose name Mailyn failed to recall. As they entered, Ardonis turned and with a curt nod stepped toward them, the old monk following several steps behind him.

  Steeling herself for the inevitable confrontation, Mailyn locked eyes with the High Priest. Ardonis was a tall, muscular man, somewhat ageless in appearance, his bronzed skin smooth and soft and his pale turquoise eyes piercing. Beneath his cloak, he wore the simple priestly attire of a loincloth and sandals, but his was nonetheless a regal presence—certainly more so than Dua-ron. She glanced at the monarch by her side and noted how overweight and disheveled he appeared in comparison. Although Dua-ron was only in his mid-thirties, he looked decades older and had not a trace of grace or regality about him. Ardonis, on the other hand, exuded grace from every pore of his body. He glided toward them and came to a stop, raising his left hand in the customary Lasandrian greeting. Although outwardly composed, there was a clear strain and anxiety evident on his face.

  “What is it you want, Ardonis?” Dua-ron demanded.

  “Your Highness,” Ardonis began, “I have come to beseech you to abort the gateway project. I must warn you with the utmost severity that you cannot—and must not—activate that gateway.”

  Dua-ron let out a derisory snort. “You are so predictable, Ardonis. Mailyn warned me that you would do this.”

  Ardoni
s briefly looked up at Mailyn, a look of suspicion on his eyes, before turning his attention back to Dua-ron. “I do not know what she has told you, Your Highness, but you must listen to me. You have no idea what will happen if you activate that gateway.”

  Dua-ron smiled and began pacing the opulent chamber. “Oh, but I do,” he said. “For I have dreamed of this day for so many years. The moment I open the portal, I will have turned the key and the entire cosmos will stand revealed—all of creation in the palm of my hand! I will have the ability to travel anywhere; to access other worlds, universes and dimensions. Can you imagine that power? Access to unlimited resources, the ability to make trade agreements with other worlds, to make allies and to conquer lesser worlds. Lasandria will be immortalized throughout time!”

  “I do not know what stories Mailyn has been filling your head with,” Ardonis exclaimed. “But you already have a world under your rule. Why is that not enough for you? Are you really so blinded by your thirst for power that you are willing to jeopardize everything just to secure your place in history?”

  Dua-ron ceased pacing and stood staring at Ardonis, his body trembling with rage at the High Priest’s impertinence. “What would you know of anything?” he bellowed.

  Mailyn fixed Ardonis with an icy stare. “You are still aggrieved that the King’s men entered the temple to learn the secrets of gateway technology,” she asserted. “Technology the Priesthood had no right withholding from us.”

  Ardonis shook his head. “The Priesthood was entrusted with the gateway technology for a reason. It must be guarded and protected lest it ever be abused—as is now happening.”

  “How dare you challenge the wisdom and authority of the King!”

  “I seek only to protect our world.” Ardonis paused before continuing. “I say it again: you must not open that gateway tomorrow. I was granted a vision and I saw what is to happen if you do. I witnessed the entire City of El Ad’dan wiped from the face of Alanar in an instant! Annihilated, and every man, woman and child along with it.”

  “What?” the king spluttered.

  “There was more.” Ardonis stepped toward the king, his eyes blazing with impassioned resolve. “The gateway will unleash a horror the likes of which this universe has never known—a force of evil that will ravage and destroy this entire world.”

  Dua-ron said nothing. He looked to Mailyn. Her face tightened as she shook her head. “Do not listen to his lies, Your Majesty. He is trying to deceive you.” She let out a derisory grunt. “The people have abandoned the Priesthood in their droves. They no longer care. Ardonis is obsolete and he knows it. All he is doing is attempting to drag you down with him. He is determined to thwart you and steal your glory, but we will not let him. The angels will guide us, as they have promised. They are just beyond the gateway and they stand ready to help us; to grant us the power we seek.”

  “Angels?” Ardonis’s face creased and he stared at her incredulously. “Your angels are the destroyer of worlds. They will annihilate us all.”

  Dua-ron shifted uncomfortably. Mailyn could tell that he was wavering, but she would not let Ardonis get the upper hand. “How far the Priesthood has fallen to resort to such twisted lies,” she cried. “Dua-ron, you cannot listen to another word of this. He is attempting to twist your mind and subvert our sacred moment; our day of deliverance. You must not allow this man to steal your destiny from you.”

  “I will not,” Dua-ron responded, puffing out his chest and motioning for one of his guards to come forward. He pointed to Ardonis and his aide. “Remove these men from the palace! If they attempt to resist, they are to be locked up.”

  The guard nodded and stepped toward Ardonis. Ardonis held up his hand. “Please, Dua-ron, do not let it end like this. You must listen to me!”

  Dua-ron shook his head. “I will never listen to you again, Ardonis. Your days of manipulation are over. The Priesthood has been dying a slow death for centuries and I intend to finally put it out of its misery! Now that we have appropriated the gateway technology from you, your superstitious old religion serves no further purpose. The covenant between the Ranorian royal lineage and the Priesthood is hereby annulled!”

  Ardonis stared at the king. “The covenant has existed since the founding of our civilization, put in place by the Lasan themselves. The people will never accept this!”

  “How greatly you overestimate your importance,” Mailyn interjected.

  “Indeed!” Dua-ron scowled belligerently as he continued. “The people no longer care about you, Ardonis. Go back to your temple. Go back there and rot! The Priesthood is now dead, and your days of interference are over.”

  “Please, Dua-ron, I implore you,” Ardonis said. “This is not about you or I, or the Priesthood. This is about the fate of our people and the future of our world. You are playing with a technology you do not comprehend and cannot control. You are about to ignite a fire that will set this entire world in flames. Death and destruction on an incalculable scale—and the blood will be on your hands.”

  His face reddening with rage, Dua-ron turned to his guard. “Get him out of my sight,” he shouted.

  Mailyn smiled. This had been all too easy. She knew Dua-ron only too well, for she had moulded him from almost the moment he was born. Whereas most monarchs would have taken the time to consider the High Priest’s warning in a rational, level-headed manner, Dua-ron was a stubborn egotist whose narcissism overrode whatever shred of intelligence he possessed. The more Ardonis had tried to appeal to him, the greater Dua-ron’s anger became; and Mailyn had done her best to fuel that fire.

  The palace guard marched toward Ardonis, rifle drawn. Ardonis nodded in compliance, briefly turning to the ashen-faced old monk standing behind him. “Come, Jarado. We have done all that we can here.” He looked up at Mailyn, his face darkening with a look of contempt. “But I swear, this is not over yet.” He clearly knew that she was the masterminding element behind all of this. Their dealings over the years had been strained, for while she had been able to manipulate Dua-ron and everyone else so perfectly, Ardonis had somehow been able to sense her true intent. Not that it mattered, for it was far too late for him to do anything about it.

  As the two men were led out of the hall at gunpoint, Dua-ron let out a satisfied grunt. “I almost wish he had put up more of a struggle,” he said. “I would have taken great pleasure in locking him up and conveniently losing the key.”

  “You can forget about him now, Your Highness,” Mailyn said. “You stood firm and refused to allow his lies to derail you. You will never have to worry about Ardonis again. Now, I suggest that you turn your attention to the future. For the hour is very nearly at hand; the hour of our emancipation.”

  “I have awaited this moment for so many years,” the king said, a lascivious glint in his small brown eyes.

  “And your patience is soon to pay off.”

  “Yes, but there is much still to do. I must go and check on Lian-andon’s progress. He was apparently having problems with the gateway’s encoding system.”

  “I am certain he will figure it out. He is our finest scientific mind, after all. Even so, I will stop by the science ministry myself in a little while.”

  “Very good. I will tell him to expect you.”

  Mailyn nodded and the king took his leave, strutting out of the meeting chamber with his guard in tow.

  She strolled to the window, the sound of her high heels against the marble floor reverberating through the room. Outside, the sky was darkening. Evening was drawing in and with every second the hour of their deliverance drew closer. The sorceress stopped at the open window and gazed across at the city rooftops, lit by the last light of the suns. Her eyes settled upon the gateway at the heart of the city. The stark metallic pylon, dwarfing the surrounding metropolis, was soon to be activated; the means by which the angels would finally be freed.

  She could sense them, just beyond the boundaries of this universe, ready and waiting to pass through the doorway the moment the key
was turned. All that remained for her to do was to ensure that gateway encoding system was locked into their dimension at the time of its activation.

  We are coming, Mailyn, the angels whispered in her mind.

  “I know,” she whispered, continuing to stare out the window as a white dove flew by and landed upon the balcony on the palace’s lower level. She watched as the bird sat perched upon the ledge, alert yet serene. She had always loved birds. As a child she had envied them, often wishing that she too could take to flight and fly away, leaving her problems and this tortured world far behind.

  As she watched the graceful bird take to the air once more, soaring high above the city, she experienced a momentary flash of doubt. Was she really willing to do this; to let the angels loose upon her world? They told her that they would cleanse the impurity, destroy the unworthy and heal her world, assuring her that certain sacrifices were necessary. But what if she was wrong? Both Altan and Ardonis had warned her that she would be the catalyst of an unimaginable catastrophe.

  As ever, the angels were aware of her thoughts. Cast aside your doubt, Mailyn. We have been working toward this moment for many years. The time of our release has come. Your world needs us.

  “Many people will die,” she said.

  Those we deem worthy will be spared. The rest deserve their fate.

  “They do…”

  Look at what this world has done to you, and to so many other innocents. This society is broken, corrupt and unjust. The only way forward is to bring it to the ground and rebuild from the beginning. Your world will be reborn and can begin anew. That is our promise to you, and our gift.

  Mailyn knew that things could not go on like this. There could be no rebirth without death and her world was about to be burned to ashes by the fire of the angels. She knew that in all likelihood she would be among the first to die, but that mattered not. She was ready to embrace her fate. All the greatest, noblest souls lived lives of sacrifice and she had always known that she would be no different. Her death would mean something and ultimately her life would count.

  Mailyn stood for some time, lost in her thoughts as the stars gradually appeared in the indigo sky. Night had fallen, and it would be the last night of the Lasandrian kingdom.

  It is our time, Mailyn, the voice echoed. The time of the angels. We are coming. We are coming home.

  * * *

  EXCERPT FROM THE KEY OF ALANAR