The deafening roar of the waterfall filled the air. General Kyros had led Izanami and Zane to the secluded location where the Mural of Light could be found. They stopped walking when they reached the pond at the foot of the waterfall.
“I hope the both of you don’t mind getting a bit wet,” General Kyros said.
General Kyros entered the pond, followed by Zane and then Izanami. The water was not very deep, but was ice cold. The General disappeared through the waterfall. Izanami and Zane looked at each other, then followed him. Behind the waterfall was a dark, musty cave. General Kyros was waiting patiently for them. There was a torch in a holder attached to the cave wall. He tried to light it with some matches. When that failed, he tried his pocket lighter. Once again, he ended in failure due to the excess moisture from the waterfall. Everything was drenched in water.
Izanami could see that, on both sides of the cave, there were ledges that seemed to run downward and levelled off deeper in the cave. She shut her eyes and concentrated. The conditions were nearly impossible to create a combustion reaction. Still concentrating and shutting out the world around her, Izanami extended her arms to the side. When she opened her eyes, General Kyros and Zane were staring at her. A soft glow was now lighting the entire cave. Beginning at the ledges near the entrance, a powder-like phosphorescent substance that had settled on the surface of the ledges over time was alight, and illuminated a trail down into the cave.
“Why is this place called the Mural of Light if it is in darkness or, at best, a dim light?” Zane asked.
“It is not called the Mural of Light merely for its location, but for the wisdom it can offer. Even in the darkest of places, it lets the light shine through,” General Kyros explained.
“How can the light shine through? This place is so dark that nothing can shine through,” Izanami said.
“Perhaps, in time, you will be able to see for yourself, young Mage,” General Kyros answered.
On the cave walls, there appeared the familiar ancient text that Izanami and Zane were accustomed to seeing in their village. Occasionally, some type of hieroglyphics also appeared on the walls. The text and hieroglyphics were extensively damaged from erosion. They still needed to venture further into the cave to reach the mural.
General Kyros turned around and said, “Are you both ready to see the wonders and wisdom of the Mural of Light?”
General Kyros turned around and walked further into the dimly lit cave. The path ahead now forked into five separate paths. General Kyros led Izanami and Zane towards the path second in from the far left. After walking down the lit path for some time, the phosphorescence ceased. The darkness, again, closed in around them.
General Kyros placed his hand on the wall and whispered a phrase that Izanami and Zane recognized immediately. It was the ancient language that was associated with the Red Mages of the past. A spark formed on the wall and rapidly leaped across and into the darkness. A small fire began to burn, though it did not create much light. But, soon it began to grow and transformed into a bonfire. The bonfire lit up an open room. Instead of looking around the room, Izanami and Zane were staring at General Kyros.
“Wha… what was that? How were you able to use elemental manipulation?” Izanami demanded, astounded.
“What!? No, I can’t... I’m not... a Mage, this is just a trick of our modern knowledge,” General Kyros said with a stutter.
“And how can you know our ancient language? That language has been dead for thousands of years, and only people directly associated with the Arts of the Red Mage are taught it these days,” Izanami argued.
“Well, as I explained before, the King and I have been researching Red Mages, and their culture is a part of it. There are many mechanisms within the cave for ease of access, that’s all I did. As for the language, it does not matter if a language is dead or not. A language is made up of different patterns and structures. Languages are no more than a complex puzzle that can be decoded,” General Kyros defended himself.
Interrupting their conversation, Zane called out, “Hey, Izanami, check this out!”
Zane was standing at the other end of the room. Izanami finally looked around her and noticed that the ceiling was high and the room fairly wide. The Mural of Light, in front of Zane, stretched across the entire width of the back wall.
Izanami walked to the far side where Zane was. She gazed at the Mural in amazement. The detailed artistry was outstanding within the carvings on the stone wall. Oddly enough, the carvings had not eroded over time, as had the etchings on the walls closer to the cave entrance.
“So, what’s the importance of this woman!? She is appearing everywhere around here!” Izanami exclaimed. One of the main features of the Mural was the female warrior, whom she had also observed at the library in the city and in the castle.
“Very little is known about her. However, from our research, the King and I have determined that this area may have been a part of an ancient kingdom called Maldaylia, and that she was a princess who lived there over a thousand years ago. There is an importance surrounding her, but we cannot conclude what it could be,” General Kyros explained.
Izanami began reading the text on the Mural. She had some difficulty understanding it because the dialect was slightly different from hers. Perhaps the dialect used on the Mural predated the dialect that was now being passed on to the current generation of Red Mages.
“Well, I’m not sure what this Mural is trying to say. From what I can understand, it is speaking of a duality between light and darkness. Two possible paths, but no distinct instruction on reaching the end of either path. Or, perhaps it’s not so much of a message, but a history lesson. Maybe it is a combination of both - a message and history lesson,” Izanami said.
“That’s what I’ve concluded as well, Izanami,” Zane said.
“So, neither one of you knows what the true meaning of the Mural could be?” General Kyros said with disappointment.
“What were you hoping that we would be able to tell you?” Izanami replied.
“Well, Crescere and Burmeka have a lot of tension between them right now. At this moment, Burmeka has a weapon that we cannot fight against, even with our new technological developments. This is the Mural of Light – I was hoping it could bring some ‘light’ to our situation. I don’t want any more innocent people to die,” General Kyros pleaded.
“Well, I’m sorry that we cannot help. But, you said that there are documents regarding Red Mages. Maybe Izanami and I can find something that you and your King didn’t,” Zane said.
“Yes, I will make sure that both of you have access to our research library in the east wing of the castle. While you are reading through the documents there, I will make preparations for our scouts in the hopes of locating the younger Mages that were taken from your village,” General Kyros said.
Once back at the castle, Izanami stopped at the entrance and stared into the eyes of the statue of the warrior princess.
“She kinda looks like you.” Zane said from behind Izanami.
Izanami turned around and said, “Don’t be stupid, Zane. But…”
“But what?”
“Well, I dunno… I feel like I know this woman, or that I’ve met her. It’s weird…”
“There’s something else, too. What is it?” Zane asked.
“Remember what the Grand Elder told us back at the village – that I’m the next Warrior of Light and you are my earthly guardian? Well, the way things are looking now, maybe it is true. I’ve been denying it but, if it is true, there is so much responsibility that comes with that,” Izanami spoke quietly.
“Try not to worry about it too much, Izanami. If you are the next Warrior of Light, I think you will be able to carry out whatever it is a Warrior of Light needs to do. But that’s not what’s really bothering you, is it?” Zane said.
“Well, I’m just worried about the village and everyone. I wonder if the other understudies are okay. Santo was injured badly, and we left them at an awful time. And then there
are the younger Mages that were kidnapped…,” Izanami’s lip quivered.
“I’m sure everyone is fine. That General guy is using whatever these people have so that we can rescue the younger Mages. All we can do right now is go through the documents at the research library and hope we can find some information on that pendant, and anything else that may help us. Sound like a plan?” Zane said.
“Yeah…,” Izanami answered sombrely.
The door to the research library was made of a thick, heavy metal. Two guards stood at their posts on each side. The library, itself, was a closed room and not very large. Loose papers were scattered all over the tables. Shelves were overloaded with journals and thick books. Because of the lack of windows, the heavy metal door, and the two guards outside, a feeling of secrecy loomed over the room.
Izanami flipped through some of the papers on a table. They were notes made by either the King or the General about a document they were analyzing. She verbalized her present thoughts out loud by saying, “I wonder why this king is so interested in the Arts, and Red Mages in general? Is it just for personal curiosity, or does he have a hidden agenda?”
“Yeah, I dunno. But right now there is not much we can do. We are at their mercy for now, so let’s use their resources and help get those kids back,” Zane replied.
Meticulously reading through the documents, Izanami noticed that most of them were written in the dialect that she was familiar with. Only a select few were written in the dialect that the Mural of Light was written in. Interesting phrases kept appearing. One phrase that Izanami came across numerous times was ‘Warrior of Light’, which appeared consistently in documents that described times of great despair. Out of all the historical documents and journals Izanami and Zane read through, there was no mention of a pendant that rendered Red Mage abilities useless.
“There’s nothing here that we didn’t already know about. You’d think that, since that warrior princess lady appears in so many places around this city, something would be written about her, but there’s nothing. So why do these people erect monuments of her? I just don’t understand any of this,” Izanami ranted.
“Well, let’s just keep looking through everything and maybe we’ll get lucky and find something,” Zane said.
“Zane, do you think looking for something about that pendant will actually help us?” Izanami asked quietly.
“Why do you say something like that all of a sudden? Did you forget what happened? Our village was discovered and the Arts were completely useless. An enemy has emerged – one that we cannot fight with the skills we have now, so we need to search for an alternative. I don’t think we will find an effective defence made by the outside world, so we need to search within our own,” Zane fiercely spoke.
“Outside world, our world… what’s the difference? We all live on the same world. Even though we have been secluded from everyone else, there was a time when Red Mages lived freely among everyone else… as one,” Izanami whispered.
“Izanami, what’s gotten into you?” Zane questioned.
“Stop referring to everything like it is ‘us’ and ‘them’. If that man in the red leather trench coat has a pendant that unleashes a great evil power, then everyone could be at risk. Not just the Mages and the people of our village, and not just the people of this society. Everyone is affected. It’s all connected to the Flow of Life,” Izanami emotionally said.
“Um… I’m sorry?” Zane was not sure what Izanami meant.
“WAIT!” Izanami shouted.
“What is it?” Zane asked.
“I remember Santo saying something about a weapon that rendered Red Mage’s abilities useless during our first day at the training grounds. Why didn’t I think of it before!?” Izanami said.
“Yeah, I kinda remember him saying something like that. It was when the Elder of White Heka was giving us a history lesson, right?” Zane said.
“But it doesn’t really do us any good to just know about its existence. Santo didn’t mention if anyone knew what happened to that weapon, or if it was destroyed, or … is there even a way to destroy it?” Izanami said.
“True…so, what are we going to do?” Zane asked.
“I’m not really sure. Think of everything that has recently happened, beginning with our village being attacked. It is one big puzzle, but the piece we need seems to be missing. So, at the moment, we cannot make sense of the puzzle,” Izanami stated.
“Yeah, I feel like there is something missing as well, but right now our main priority is to get those kids back,” Zane replied.
“Well, I suppose we should get some rest then. If General Kyros’ scouts do find out that the younger Mages are headed to Burmeka, it’s going to be quite the trip to get there,” Izanami said.
“Why do you say that?” Zane asked.
“Well, I was looking at a map that was hanging in the Throne Room when we were speaking with the King, and it appears that Burmeka is to the very far north of this kingdom,” Izanami explained.
“Hmm… the terrain might be a bit rough and dangerous then. I’m not sure what to expect,” Zane said.
“The uncertainty worries you, doesn’t it?” Izanami said with concern.
“Yeah, the only experience we’ve ever had before was just in our training. Real life is completely different from the situations simulated on the training grounds,” Zane explained.
The heavy metal door was opening. Izanami and Zane turned around when they heard the creaking metal gears move. General Kyros entered the research library.
“The scouts I’ve dispatched out have sent back a message. They have confirmed that their sources heard that a strategic group of individuals were being held captive within Kandal, the capital of Burmeka. Tomorrow, we will leave at first light. I’ll lead you to your sleeping quarters now,” General Kyros said.
Chapter 16