The grand, black doors lined in gold opened. Passing through a Great Hall and then through a series of corridors, another large door, also lined in gold, awaited Izanami, Zane, and the General. Four armed guards in uniform, two on each side of the door, saluted the general. The doors opened and exposed the Royal Chamber. Seeing the massive doors opening, King Cornelius stood up from his throne in excitement.
“Ah, my Kyros, so your suspicions were true!? Are these really the children you told me about?” King Cornelius spoke with much excitement.
“Indeed, Your Highness. These two young mages are of Red Mage Warrior rank. I introduce to you Izanami and Zane,” General Kyros spoke courteously.
“Great Mages, I humbly ask that you show me your divine mythological powers before we begin our dealings,” King Cornelius spoke. Izanami and Zane looked at each other in astonishment. Zane motioned for Izanami to show the king the Arts of the Red Mages. The king already seemed to know who and what they were, so the secrecy was broken.
“Before I do anything, I want to say something,” Izanami spoke up.
“Of course, Mage; enrich me with your words,” King Cornelius said in a royal tone.
“First things first – the Arts are neither witchcraft nor divine. I don’t know how much you may know about our people, but let me say this – we cannot make things disappear, levitate anything with our minds, we cannot control people’s minds or manipulate them in any way; all that is folklore,” Izanami explained. As she finished explaining, Izanami looked about the room. There were candles lit around the King’s throne. She reached out her hand and a small amount of fire began flittering above it. “Not very impressive yet, since the source was small, but just wait and see.” Soon the insignificant flame became larger, burning magnificently just above her hand. She cupped her other hand as she passed the fireball to it, and back to the original hand. “As you can see, the fire is not burning my flesh since I’m focusing the energy just above my hand. What started out as a minuscule flame is now a deadly weapon, by channelling my internal energy source to increase the fire’s energy. Manipulation of the elements is the primary skill of a Red Mage, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
Clapping with child-like excitement, the King said, “Very good, Mage! Very good! Now, let us discuss why your appearance here in Alexandros is so fortuitous, and why you were brought to me. For centuries, our kingdom of Crescere and the barbaric kingdom of Burmeka have had… tensions. Crescere is a fruitful, prosperous land, whereas Burmeka is a frozen wasteland. We have agreed to trade with them to ease tensions, but it is clear they want our land. They are not as advanced in technology as we are but, recently, they discovered a “new” weapon that we simply cannot fight against.”
“What kind of weapon?” Zane asked.
“It is an ancient weapon that has not been seen in this world in a thousand years. It is a strange, black pendant that unleashes evil power which destroys anything or anyone in its path,” the King explained.
Sighing heavily, Izanami replied, “Sorry mister, but you and your kingdom are out of luck. Our village was destroyed by such a pendant and our abilities are rendered useless in its presence.”
“Ah, yes, there is truth in that; but you do not know the entire truth. You see, according to the Mural of Light, there was a young Mage, over a thousand years ago, that encountered an enemy who possessed such a pendant. So, perhaps, there is a way to defeat the enemy that is somehow shown by the mural. If you wish, I can have General Kyros take you to it. But, this is my request – I wish to revive the Red Mage Army to put a stop to Burmeka’s plans. That pendant is pure evil, and I do not want destruction and bloodshed of innocents.”
“How do we know that you will not just use us Mages to get the pendant for yourself? Besides, our main objective right now is to find and rescue the young Mages that were taken from our village.”
“Yes...I understand how you must feel, especially knowing what happened before the Era of Shadows. But, please, young Mages, I don’t want to see my kingdom in ruin. If you agree to help us, we will help you with your objective, and share all the information we have discovered about the Red Mages,” the King said.
“Looks like we don’t have much choice if we want to save the young ones. For now, let’s trust this king. What do you think?” Zane whispered to Izanami. Izanami nodded in agreement.
“Alright, we will join your cause. I don’t know how you expect to revive the Red Mage Army since there are five tribes scattered throughout the world. It is not even certain that the four other tribes still exist. Furthermore, even if they did, Red Mages aren’t as powerful as they used to be in the past, since we are serving our punishment from the Great Purification,” Izanami warned.
“I see… Well, perhaps our research can serve you better,” the King said. King Cornelius sat down on his throne. The meeting was over. Before leading them out of the Royal Chamber, General Kyros whispered something into the King’s ear. The King nodded. Leaving the Royal Chamber, Izanami had so many questions. Perhaps this Mural of Light would answer some of them. What other findings or documents had this king discovered? Why was it that these outsiders knew so much about them - almost more than they knew of themselves? Had the Elders, and her teachers, been deliberately keeping information from the Mage students all this time? It would appear so... So many questions, with so little time. The more time spent in Alexandros, the less likely it would be that the kidnapped Mages would remain unharmed.
“Rest for a while, Izanami, Zane. Later, I will take you to the Mural of Light, show you all the documents we have found, and plan a course of action. Tonight, I’ll send out some scouts to see if they can find word whether the young Mages you are looking for are, indeed, on their way to Burmeka. If they are, they will most likely be going to the capital, Kandal.”
“Red Mages have been used as weapons and manipulated by men before. Who’s to say that won’t happen again?” Zane said.
“I won’t let that happen,” General Kyros said in a serious tone. "I hope, in time, that the two of you will come to trust me."
“What about your loyalty to the King, if he should demand this of the Mages?” Izanami questioned.
“My primary loyalty lies elsewhere…”
Chapter 15