CHAPTER 10
Hidden Mansion
Sprawled on his back, Darek blinked. It was cold, dark and damp. He heard the loud sounds of rushing water. He ran his fingers across his shirt. It was soaking wet. He searched his satchel and found his daggers—both of them, which he found somewhat odd because he distinctly remembered losing one. Darek sat up and groaned, holding his head. He found himself in an enclosed cavern. Water cascaded down from an opening above and flowed into a running river that cut into a lightless tunnel.
Azura was lying next to him. He jostled her by the shoulder. Azura shot up, looking dazed. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and said, “We’re alive!”
“You’re lucky to have survived,” said a mysterious voice.
Darek was surprised to see a new face. Sitting on a rock, the stranger looked to be somewhat young, possibly in his thirties, but had gleaming silver hair. His long white robes were clean and bright, like freshly fallen snow. The man had a pleasant smile upon his face. Darek immediately was at ease in the man’s presence. Darek knew nothing about this man yet, by appearances alone, the man looked trustworthy and friendly.
“Let me introduce myself,” said the man. “I am Rathos. And you are?”
“A human!” Darek exclaimed cheerfully.
Rathos raised a brow. “Yes…I could tell that much…”
“No,” said Darek, shaking his head, “I mean, you’re human!”
“Yes…I’m pretty sure I know what I am. But you’re still not answering my question.”
“Oh right,” said Darek, turning slightly pink at his own excitement, “the name’s Darek.”
“I’m Azura,” said Azura, gesturing toward herself.
“Darek?” Another man stepped out of the shadows. “I’ve heard of that name.”
Rathos glanced at the other man. “Let me introduce—”
“I’ll introduce myself,” said the man curtly. “The name is Sorren.”
“Yes,” said Rathos. “This man also came from the river. I must say—it’s the first time I’ve ever seen so many people come down a river unexpectedly.”
“Ah yes,” said Sorren, “I remember now. Darek…that’s the name of the target.”
Darek blinked for a second, and to his surprise, a sword was held close to his throat. Sorren had unsheathed his blade and pressed it against Darek’s neck in an instant. Darek never even heard the sound of the sword as it moved.
“You’re the Judge everyone’s been talking about,” said Sorren icily. “To tell you the truth, I’m actually on a job to hunt down the Judges myself. What a coincidence, huh?”
Sweat poured down along Darek’s cheeks, and possibly even a few tears. He remained rooted in place, afraid to even take a step back. Azura grabbed Sorren by the wrist and twisted it, forcing him to release his sword.
“Don’t point that wherever you please,” said Azura.
Sorren looked at Azura, studying her for a moment. He turned away, picking up and sheathing his blade. He muttered to himself, “Hmm, looks like trouble. Well, there’s no point in killing him now.” He glared at Darek. “I won’t be able to get any reward unless I get off this rock.”
Rathos cut the tension by clearing his throat. “Now that we’ve had our very pleasant introductions, I’d like to ask a question. And if I’m satisfied with your replies, I’ll provide you with food and warm beds.”
Darek said, “Are you blackmailing us?”
“With food and warm beds? I sincerely doubt it,” said Rathos, beaming. “It’s incentive for the truth.” He paused. “Now, my question is…where’d you come from? Another continent? You certainly don’t seem like you’re from around here.”
“This may be hard to swallow,” said Azura, “but Darek and I are from outer space. I guessed you’d call us aliens. Whether you believe us or not…that’s our answer.”
“Ah,” said Rathos, “very intriguing. So you are like Sorren. He too has said that he does not belong on this planet. That’s just perfect.” He clapped his hands in joy. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to my master. I’m sure, as beings from other worlds, you must have many questions about our world. My master will answer all.” Rathos gestured. “He’s down the river.”
As they followed Rathos, Azura nudged Darek in the arm. “Hey, why didn’t you tell me you were a Judge? I thought you looked familiar…but I never expected to see you here.”
“Um…” Darek cleared his throat. “That’s because I’m not really—”
“Oh!” Azura sounded like she remembered something important. “Oh yeah…I see how it is. Judges are supposed to hide their identity.” She winked. “It completely slipped my mind.”
Darek knitted his brow. “What? No…I didn’t—”
Patting him on the back, Azura smiled. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I know. You’re not a Judge.” She winked at him again.
“Uh…right—exactly…or not…” His face buried in the palm of his hand, Darek felt confused. He wasn’t sure if she really understood. Curious, he said, “Do you know much about the Judges?”
Azura shook her head. “Not much. We learn very little about Judges at the Academy. All I know is that the Judges have always been our allies. But because they’re intended to be a secret to everyone else, only Archlords and the Overlord ever get to see and speak with them.”
They’re allied with the Heroes? Darek was bewildered by the concept. During the trial, being labeled a Judge was almost a criminal act in and of itself. When his best friends had come to rescue him as Judges, he had mixed feelings about their intentions. But now that he listened to what Azura had to say, being a Judge didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Then again, with Sorren intending to kill him, it would be too dangerous to continue carrying this title. How could he possibly clear up this misunderstanding when no one seemed willing to listen?
The trip through the woods took a good half hour before they came upon a large villa. A mansion stood up on a hill by the water. Torches were lined up in several rows that lit up the dirt path on the way to the iron gates.
Darek stamped his wet shoes on the dry ground. His clothes, completely soaked, were even starting to smell funny. Darek arduously flung out the excess water, though he wondered if it would make a difference at this point. He couldn’t wait to dry up. Keeping his arms close to his chest, Darek groaned and glanced around. Aside from the light from the torches, the whole place was shrouded in darkness.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“This is the cavern,” Rathos replied. “It may seem strange, but the forest is underground.”
Azura couldn’t believe it. “How can anything, especially trees, grow underground?”
“This cavern was formed long ago when large rocks fell across the ravine. The trees were already here before we built the mansion.” Rathos lifted one of the torches high and walked up to the tree trunks. “How this forest continues to exist makes it a bit special.”
The light from the torch radiated over the forest and revealed its form.
“They’re white!” Darek was shocked at the sight.
“These trees stay white in the darkness.” Rathos led them up the hill toward the castle doors. “There is never much sunlight here. However—well, I guess it’ll be easier to explain if you just saw it. It is almost time anyway.”
Rathos blew out the torch. Darek caught a fleeting glimpse of several wolves running down the hill, blowing out torches as they went until all the flames had been snuffed out. Everything turned pitch-black.
Darek felt very uncomfortable. “Wolves? What’s going on here?”
“They are friends,” said Rathos. “Be at ease. They are not going to harm you.”
“But they’re wolves! Are you sure it’s safe? I don’t like how this is—”
Azura silenced Darek with a wave of her hand. She could see faint glowing lights twinkling about. “Glowing bugs?”
Rathos chuckled. “It’s quite amazing isn’t it?”
Darek
snorted while restraining a laugh. “Glowing bugs aren’t that amazing.”
“We call them Sun bugs,” said Rathos. “They are a rarity on this planet. They have a special adaptation for their survival.”
The Sun bugs buzzed all around them. A few hundreds lights became several hundred thousand. Their faint glows grew stronger and they attached themselves to the ceiling of the cavern. They littered the ceiling like stars in the night sky. Over a short period of time, the light grew so strong that the entire cavern became fully illuminated with a bright yellow glow.
Unable to hold back his astonishment, Darek’s jaw dropped. “Never saw that before.”
“It’s beautiful,” remarked Azura.
They watched as the forest became immersed in the light; the white leaves on the trees became green. The cavern, once dead in darkness, was now alive in the light.
Azura turned to Rathos. “How does this happen?”
Rathos explained, “The rocks that make up the ceiling have many tiny cracks in them. This serves several purposes. While it is difficult for sunlight to come through, raindrops will flow quite steadily down. The cracks also serve as a way for the Sun bugs to go back and forth from the surface. The Sun bugs rest outside on the rocks during the day and bask in the sunlight. When evening comes, they return to the cavern to feed on the leaves of the trees. The trees are then fully nurtured from the sunlight and rain. Though it was never intended to truly work like this, it’s amazing how they can take a situation like this to their advantage. They have created a symbiotic relationship to overcome their problems.”
“You know a lot about this place, don’t you?” asked Darek.
Grim-faced, Rathos said, “Well, I have lived here for a long time.”
Upon reaching the top of the hill, they met a small pack of wolves, which were guarding the entrance. When they saw Rathos, they nodded to him, welcoming him back. Rathos opened up the front door and the others followed him down the main lobby.
Though Rathos may have called it a mansion, Darek would have more appropriately termed it a castle. The entrance hall was enormous and the inside of the building was full of many twists and turns that never seemed to end. In spite of its impressive size, the inside of the castle was rather ordinary. Simple paintings of black and white shapes, monotonous doors, and identical torches were all placed in a simple repeating pattern. Because everything was so similar, Darek felt like they were walking through the same hall, over and over again.
“Rathos,” said Azura, “I want to know…were you the ones that attacked us in the city?”
“You are perceptive.” Rathos answered, “Thedes, one of our wolves, was in charge of that. He was eager to bring you here—by force. I had nothing to do with it, but I must apologize all the same on behalf of all the wolves here. It was not a good first impression.”
Darek studied him for a moment. “So you’re a wolf too?”
Rathos glanced back and smiled. “I can become one, yes. We are human, but we have the ability to transform. I believe the terminology would refer to us as werewolves, though we never considered ourselves as such.”
After what seemed like an extremely long detour, Rathos stopped in front of a large scarlet door. “This is the room where my master resides. Please be respectful.” Rathos opened the door and brought them inside.
Aside from the throne that seemed to have a spotlight shining down upon it, the room was as black as a cloudy night. Immediately upon entry, they could feel many eyes watching them from the shadows. Darek knew they were not alone. He clearly heard the soft snarls and growls that echoed all around.
Rathos gestured to the large chair before them. “Here is our master.”
Darek examined the seat. A young boy was sitting upon it, stroking the fur of a black dog that rested peacefully beside him. The throne was so big that the child barely took up any room on the cushion. The boy looked no more than seven years old. His blond hair was neatly combed to the left side; his clothes were formal and clean, consisting of a neatly ironed suit and necktie. His mature style of clothing did not match the youth of his body.
Darek tapped Rathos on the shoulder. “Is your master a dog? That’s kind of ironic.”
The dog sat up and growled at Darek. His fur shot up and the length of his body stretched out as he stood on his hind legs. It was not a dog at all. It was the same black wolf he had met in the city. It seemed to be able to shrink and grow in size.
“Oh no, it’s him again!” Darek tried his best to appease the wolf with short apologies and incessant bowing. But everything he did only served to infuriate the black wolf even more.
“I cannot stand such insolence any longer!” The black wolf said to the boy beside him, “Please, Master—I beg of you—let me tear that raggedy boy apart. Such filth is not fit to live! Give me the order and I will end his miserable life.”
Aware of his mistake, Darek said, “The boy? Isn’t he a little young to be the master?”
“Calm down, Thedes,” the young boy told the wolf. “It’s all right. You should really control that temper. It’s not good for your health.”
“Greetings travelers,” the boy raised his voice as he addressed the group. “You may call me Merdon. Welcome to my mansion.” He paused. “Then again, I suppose I should welcome you to our planet of Kedaro as well. I’ve heard from a messenger sent by Rathos that you are not of our world.”
Azura stepped forward. “I am Azura of the Legion of Heroes.”
Sorren bowed down humbly. “I am Sorren from the Assassin’s Guild.”
Not to be outdone, Darek patted himself in the chest and said, “You can call me Darek. I’m a…delivery boy.” He felt a little bit embarrassed with his simple title but added as much as he could. “But I’m also currently the most-wanted criminal in the galaxy…”
Merdon coughed so as not to laugh too loudly at Darek’s self introduction. But he fixed his mood to become quite serious shortly after. “Well, as impressive as your titles sound, they have no meaning here. We have never heard of other worlds or other peoples. But you all do sound very distinguished in your backgrounds.” He brushed his hair back. “Rathos has probably not told you much of anything.”
“No, he only told us to speak with you,” said Azura.
“Then there is much to talk about,” Merdon said solemnly. “Does my appearance startle you? Do you wonder why I, a mere boy, am considered the master here?”
Darek flushed red because he was the only one who made the mention. “Not at all! It’s unusual to me, but I don’t think it’s anything that startling. You just look a little young.”
Merdon shook his head. “No, no, there’s no need to apologize. I find it only natural that you would think that way. After all, you would not have known how old I truly am.”
Darek began, “What do you—”
Scowling at his own hands, Merdon hissed, “Cursed! This planet is cursed! We have all been cursed! I may look like a boy, but I have…” He slammed his fist against the armrest. “I have already lived more than one hundred years.”
“A hundred years?” Darek studied the boy from head to toe. The boy had the appearance of a six-year-old. “Impossible…”
“Immortal,” said Sorren. “When you become immortal, you always stay the same.”
Merdon eyed Sorren curiously, amazed that he knew of such things. “You are correct. We are all immortal. Most of everyone on the planet, or what’s left of them, has become immortal, cursed with these bodies that never age.”
“Cursed?” Darek said, “How is that a curse? Living forever would be pretty cool!”
“You would think so,” said Merdon. “But there are other permanent side effects.”
“What kind of side effects?”
“Lack of appetite. Stomach cramps. Insomnia. Infertility. Just to name a few. Though it may sound mild, together, they really make life miserable. Not to mention…I can’t grow anymore. It’s a little depressing to remain a child my whole life.” r />
“Infertility? You mean, you can’t…um…”
“Reproduce. Our population stays the same for the most part.”
“How did you all become immortal?” Azura asked, sounding skeptical. “I’ve heard of them in myths and legends. I find it very hard to believe so many could be gathered in one place.”
“Sadly, even I do not know how such a thing came to be.” Merdon lowered his head in grief. “It all happened on that ill-fated day. I remember it all too vividly. The day seemed to begin ordinarily enough—but soon all of that changed.
“That day I was woken up by the alarm clock at the usual time to prepare for school. My parents would always be waiting for me at the dining table, but that day was different: my parents were still asleep in bed.
“School was a short walk away. I skipped breakfast and left. I was not allowed to walk to school alone, but I didn’t care; I was going to be late. However, on the way to school I was met with a sight of horror that I would never forget: people lifelessly sprawled on the streets, vehicles slamming into each other, angry mobs, and widespread panic. Left and right, people would suddenly fall down and die. The government tried to control the situation. Calling it an epidemic, they quarantined whole cities and called the best scientists to research a solution. But in a few days, even the governments of the world perished. No one ever found out what happened.”
“How horrible…” Darek wiped away a tear. “I’m so sorry about your parents.”
“My parents are fine,” Merdon said flatly. “They currently live in the capital.”
Sounding confused, Darek said, “Huh? But you said—oh, never mind. So you really don’t know anything about it?”
Merdon shook his head. “No. This is all I know: billions of people died and those that survived became immortal. Even the emergence of monsters began happening then. The only conclusion I came up with is that it could have been some kind of mutational virus, or—dare I call it—an evolutionary step.”
That explains the mountain of skeletons we found at the old city, thought Darek.
Merdon continued, “But that is something of the past. Even though it still pains me to remember it, I have gotten over that incident several decades ago. There is nothing I can do to change the past. What are important to me are the present and the future—which is why I invited you to my mansion.”
Merdon got up from his chair and clapped his hands together. Sprinting out of the shadows, a wolf hurried to Merdon’s side, bringing a huge scroll in its mouth. Merdon grabbed the scroll and threw it on the ground. It unraveled, revealing a large map. “This is the map of the continent, it will help me explain some things.” He pointed to a black dot near the northern edge of the continent. “This is Duraskull, our capital. It is the only city that exists today. Most of the immortals live there, though it is not mandatory. The ones who live there do so because they want to relive the past, a world of life, though it is merely an illusion. In the entire world, the population only amounts to around ten thousand.”
“Ten thousand,” Darek repeated, lips trembling. “Out of billions, ten thousand survived?”
Merdon nodded. “It is even hard for me to call it a city since the population is so low. It is more of a town than anything else. Now aside from those that live in the city, there are several others who prefer to live alone or within small groups. They, like me, have built mansions in different parts of the continent where they live in general solitude. However, all the immortals, regardless of where they live, must gather at the capital for special occasions.”
“What kind of special occasions?” Sorren asked.
“Once a year we have an annual celebration to celebrate the…demise of our previous civilization.” Merdon scrunched his face and abruptly kicked throne in a fit of fury. “Excuse me, but I get angry every time I think of it. It’s mandatory to go. I only go to show my face so they don’t get suspicious of my hatred for it.”
“They? Who would you be speaking of? The population?” Sorren pressed Merdon for answers, for he was inexplicably interested in the subject.
“The elders,” Merdon replied. “The elders were the first immortals, the ones who existed before the great change. Their ages are unknown, though I suspect some of them to have lived over six hundred years. When that fateful day happened and every last living human passed away, they took charge and established a government in which they rule over us. The elders explained what happened to us, how to use our new abilities and acted as if they were our saviors in a moment of crisis. They created our organization known as the Immortal Alliance.”
“From outcasts to rulers,” Sorren remarked.
Merdon agreed, nodding. “All they desired was power over us and we willingly gave it to them without a moment of thought. They do as they please and force labor over the lower classes. I would try to revolt, but few would aid me. The populace has been disillusioned for years. To attempt a violent takeover would not be so simple. Contrary to human beings, who have a limited life span and grow weaker after a certain point in time, immortals gain more power and strength as they age. Nearly all the immortals, save for the elders, have lived about a hundred years. Even if we confront the elders, the might of my small group cannot hope to overpower the five of them. Still, we must wait for the right opportunity. Our group here intends to overthrow them at all costs, which is why we need your help.”
Intrigued, Darek said, “So that’s why you’re out here in the middle of nowhere? You guys are using this as some kind of secret base for your rebellion?”
“Not quite,” Merdon replied. “This is sort of a secret base. But the reason for our location was because of a human village nearby.”
“What?” Darek scratched his cheek. “I thought you said only the immortals survived.”
“Yes, that is what the immortals believe. But, by luck or destiny, we discovered a remote human village here several decades ago. Since then we’ve established ourselves here and relocated them in order to hide them from the elders. Who knows what they’ll do when they find out some humans survived.” Merdon smiled wryly. “And that is where you come in.”
“I don’t get it.” Azura said, “What do you mean?”
Merdon said slowly, “To put it simply, you can be an…experiment.”
Darek grunted, “I don’t like the sound of this.”
Sorren asked, “Why us?”
Merdon explained, “Several reasons. For one thing, you make for a good story. You dress modernly and understand technology that we cannot, which helps to explain that you are from other worlds. If we gathered a few of the natives from around here, the village might get discovered, and we cannot accept that great a risk without knowing how the elders would respond. We cannot afford to lose our chance of restarting the human civilization.
“And secondly, we are curious as to how they would respond. A human has not walked inside the walls of the capital for a hundred years. If a human arrived, would they kill them since they have no place in the society, or would they be glad to see a new face and accept them as they are? This is something we do not know. If they accept you, we may in time reveal the other human tribes that live around here and work together to rebuild human life. Even if I do not trust the elders, they may no longer be in control if such a thing happens.
“The other thing is that you are capable of handling yourselves quite well. You might make for good spies. If the experiment is something of a success and they accept you, we’ll need you to do a little investigation in the restricted areas of the castle. I believe the elders are hiding something—something that could cause uproar in the populace. So the more capable you are as fighters, the better off you will be. Rathos has told me that the girl, Azura, has bested my strongest warriors easily. He also told me how Darek has potential, judging by the way he managed to hurt Thedes.”
“Rathos, how could you have told them such a thing?” Thedes’s face flushed red through his fur. “That little worm was practically begging for hi
s life! He only grazed me by luck!” Amused, Rathos just smiled back silently at Thedes.
Sorren ignored them and said, “So basically, because we are strangers, you feel more at ease using us, especially when you are expecting something bad to happen.”
“Your wording concerning the matter is harsh,” Merdon said, “but true. We must consider failure as a possible option. It would be of no consequence to us and we can have another attempt at a later date. If we were to get directly involved, it’d be the end of our little operation here.”
“You know, you can just be honest with me,” said Sorren. “I don’t care about your reasons. You don’t have to lie about your desire to help humans. You don’t have to try to get us to sympathize with your cause. We just need a reward. Whatever your plan is, it has nothing to do with us.”
Merdon shook his head. “Think what you will. But I sincerely desire to see humans repopulate the world.” He paused. “But I see that you in particular just want to know what you’ll get out of this. That’s fine. If you want a reward, I’ll be quite reasonable about it. Especially since there is a chance you might not make it…”
“Good,” Sorren said, “then this is our situation: we are trapped on this planet. Do you have any method of space travel?”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Darek interrupted their conversation. “What good is a reward if we might not make it? What good is a reward if we’re dead!”
Sorren shrugged. “I don’t see a problem. Just don’t die.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Darek shouted, “You make it sound so easy when it’s obviously not! We’re dealing with powerful and dangerous immortals here! Telling me not to die is like throwing me off a five-hundred-foot cliff and telling me not to break a single bone! I don’t even know why I’m letting you speak on my behalf! If these are the circumstances, I want no part of this!” He began to storm out of the room, but Azura blocked his path.
Azura said slowly, “Darek, I understand it sounds unreasonable. But we need you. We have to work as a team. Don’t you want to get off this planet? I don’t know when or if anyone will come looking for me. This could be our only chance.”
Darek shoved Azura out of his path.
“Such a coward,” Sorren said, snickering.
Darek looked back, glaring at him. He bit his lip, fighting the urge to say something back to him and proceeded to exit the room.
Rathos squeezed Darek by the shoulder. “You are welcome to stay at the mansion for as long as you like. Let me show you to your room.”
Darek bowed his head in appreciation. “Thank you.” He followed Rathos out.
“So,” Sorren continued his conversation with Merdon, “do you think you can help us?”
Merdon quietly thought for a moment. “Is there anything specific we can help with? Our society in the past was never concerned with space. We have no knowledge of space travel.”
“How about power? Do you have energy—like electricity?” Azura asked. “Darek has a teleportation device. We just need an ample supply of electricity to make it work.”
Merdon said, “Electricity is something we can do. We have artifacts for that.”
“That’s the option we’ll take,” said Sorren. “But before we’re in full agreement, I must ask, how can you trust us when we say that we’re from other worlds? We could be lying to you.”
Merdon said, “Since there’re only about ten thousand immortals who live on this planet, we know them all by name and face. When the fall of mankind occurred, my group and I have searched through this planet and have found only a few last vestiges of pure humanity. The ones who survived were the ones who lived in isolation. These small tribal communities are uneducated and primitive. Although, when we first found you, we had hoped you did come from this world.”
Sorren nodded. “I see. Then I accept your mission.”
“That’s great!” Merdon beamed. “I didn’t think you’d accept. You must be confident.”
“That is not the case.” Sorren shook his head. “There is just no other way. When there is only one right visible way, you take that way, regardless of how hard it may be.” Sorren gestured toward the map. “Now, if you will, please tell us the details of our mission.”