Duplicitous: The Leordian Chronicles Page 4

  "I know it's a lot to take in, Vel," Leaha said, having regained her composure.

  I smiled, bringing myself back to the moment.

  "It's not that, Leaha. To be honest, I was just thinking about the man who rescued me when I first arrived. He’s missing, and I’m concerned that may have been harmed by Jaleen’s assault at the hospital. He was only there because of me," I explained as I was flooded with guilt.

  "Jaleen?" Leaha asked, obviously stunned. "The caster who attacked the people at the hospital was Jaleen? He was such a good man, and he spent so much time helping others back home. Why would he attack the people there?"

  I wanted to explain what he had divulged to me, but in her delicate condition, I didn’t want to burden her any further.

  "If I had to guess, I would say fear," I lied. "This world can be a little overwhelming. I'm sad to say that he attacked me as well, and it was I who prevented him from killing more people," I said, fighting back tears.

  Leaha walked to me and once again embraced me.

  "I know he was like a father to you, Vel," she said, running her fingers through my hair to sooth me. "Whatever caused him to snap, must have been pretty bad. Knowing Jaleen, he probably would have wanted it to be you to stop him, but I know that has to be hard."

  We were conditioned as children to know and deal with death. Be it on the hunt, or in war, our lives as casters were littered with death. It was the way of our people. Even during times of peace, we knew that it was simply a time for our enemies to regroup. Leordia City stood as the only free city, and the other factions resented it. Even if what Jaleen had told me at the hospital were true, he had been a constant voice for peace. As Headmaster of the Council of Leordia, he had offered the tribes that opposed us numerous opportunities to join with Leordia City in a peaceful union which would have allowed passage to and from the city for trade and protection, but they refused every time.

  Eventually, after Astiel's departure from Leordia City during my coronation, the tribes joined together under his rule and became a force on par with the Royal Leordian Army. I believed Astiel, and those under his rule, to be the reason we were at war; however, Jaleen's revelation about a Dark Council manipulating things from the shadows left more questions than answers; questions that I didn't need to burden Leaha with.

  "You're very kind to say so, Leaha," I replied, pulling away as I wiped my eyes. "Now, tell me more about these files," I said, redirecting the conversation away from my encounter with Jaleen.

  "Yes, the files," Leaha said, quickly perking up, much to my relief. "On the right are files which contain information about casters who have either used their abilities to destroy life and property, or are known members of Astiel's army, and thus, high-risk individuals. On the left, we have files of casters who, after arriving, vanished from our proverbial radar, and whose whereabouts are currently unknown," she said, grabbing a file from the wall on the right.

  I was astounded by the number of files in the room. It was as if everyone in Leordia City, as well as Astiel's army of tribesmen, had been transported to this world.

  "Did all of these people come here ten years ago?" I asked, watching as Leaha flipped through pages in the file she held.

  "No," She replied bluntly, continuing to turn pages. "Casters have arrived in this world randomly, and generally in different locations, nearly every day over the last ten years. The UTF has developed technology, which uses a device called GPS, to track where the portals open. The portal technology, which is used by the people of this world, works by transferring biological data between two points, a sending point, and a receiving point. The devices which allow this transfer are called a telepad, and when a caster arrives from our world, they generally arrive at a location where no telepad is present, pretty much the same as you did. We try to get to the scene quickly, as our people are generally disoriented when they first arrive, but due to the discreet nature of the UTF's existence, we are not able to be there for all of them," she explained.

  I could tell that her time here had embedded a strong sense of purpose into her. So strong, in fact, that she referred to the UTF's actions as her own.

  "This is Astiel's file," she continued, as she walked next to me, pointing at a particular entry. "This is an entry from two days ago, the day that you arrived here. Astiel personally came to New York City, and he was spotted near the location where you came through, only moments after the portal appeared. Astiel's crew often shows up to the arrival of new casters around the same time our teams do, and frequently, they initiate conflict in an attempt to persuade those who arrive to join their cause. Astiel very rarely goes himself, as we have no way of knowing who is coming through the portals, and sadly, his men almost always succeed in persuading those from our world to join them in their war against the humans here. This time, it was you who came through, and it would seem that somehow he knew it would be you. The fact that he showed up personally would indicate so, at least," she claimed, looking up to me.

  I couldn't believe that Astiel was here. His power was far beyond that of even the most matured caster, due to the twin factor. In our world's recorded history, there had only been two sets of twins born. Astiel and I were one such pairing, and our mother and her sister preceded us. In both instances, one twin was born with the innate Ether of both fetus's, while the other was born void of innate Ether, and derogatorily called an Eater, due to the nature of our ability. Both sets were also opposing in both appearance and characteristics. Like I previously said, my yin to his yang.

  My mother, Gweneth Renaud, was also a very powerful caster, and Astiel’s twin in appearance. Tall, slender and dark, except for her eyes, a pale crystalline blue. She was killed when Astiel and I were just infants. Her sister, Alexandria Renaud was an Eater and my twin in appearance. Short, curvy and pale of skin and fair-haired. Except for her eyes, a deep brown so dark they were often described as black. Alexandria died at a very young age, during a raid on Leordia City by a powerful caster from a land across the Blut Sea, Fredzberg Golmag, and her body was never recovered. All that remained of them were portraits, which my grandfather commissioned and had painted for their sixteenth birthday, showing them as young, happy girls before Fredzberg Golmag raided Leordia City.

  "If Astiel is here, there is no one who can stand against him," I proclaimed, horrified as I remembered his power and determination during our last encounter.

  "Although there are Leylines here, it doesn't appear that his connection to the Leylines of our world has transferred to this world," she said, closing the file. "He's still more powerful than any of us alone, but we travel in teams, and though we've lost some of our men to him when we have faced off, we've been able to push he and his men back. My question, Vel, is if he did know that you would arrive in New York City and was spotted near the scene around the time the portal opened, why didn't he captured you himself since you are the only person who can stand against him and his men without fear of death?" She asked rhetorically, placing Astiel's file back into the shelf.

  "I don't know, Leaha," I answered, even though I understood she didn’t actually need a response. "Lucas Wright was the man who saved me from drowning; maybe he didn't want to make a scene that would alert more people to his presence?" I pondered aloud.

  "How would you have drowned?" Ethan asked, joining our conversation. "We sent a team to the coordinates where the portal which brought you here opened, and it was in the middle of central park, nowhere near any water. Was there water near you when you awoke?" He asked, obviously concerned.

  “Yes of course. Lucas claimed that he rescued me after I appeared and dropped into a lake, and shortly after we went to the hospital,” I was quite confused, and sadly, it was a feeling that I was becoming used to.

  The UTF's records showed that I had arrived at a different location than where Lucas rescued me from the lake and that Astiel had been there awaiting my arrival, but never showed himself to me. Leaha and Ethan walked away, discussing the same issues, inclu
ding details that were beyond my ability to understand, when I heard the door open behind me.

  "Majesty!" I heard familiar voices ring in unison, behind me.

  I turned just in time to see three of my beloved captains kneel inside the doorway. Regali Astor, Grimaldi Wenot, and Seles Finne were among the most powerful casters in Leordia. They also were my friends. Though I had seen them just two days prior, it felt like it had been an eternity, and I felt tears of joy streaming down my face.

  I was becoming the most unbecoming queen in Leordia's history, but I didn't care, these were my friends.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Mahnon, and the Dregs of Humanity

  Regali, Grimaldi, and Seles led me out of the file room, to allow Leaha and Ethan a few moments to speak alone. We walked along a twisted hallway, and as we walked, we passed rooms on either side which were labeled according to their contents. Regali explained that many of the rooms were storage for different types of weapons that the people here used for combat, while others housed materials needed for survival such as food and water. We came to a large room with glass windows, and inside, I could see many people moving about wearing white clothing, not unlike those worn at the hospital. Seles explained that these people were the among those who had created the giant machine, which was housed in the center of the room, to draw Ether from the Leylines. I stopped for a moment to look throughout the entire room, and I noticed that beyond the large machine that she had pointed out, there were a group of much smaller machines, modeled into human form.

  "What are those, beyond the larger machine?" I asked out loud, bringing my face so close to the glass that it began to fog from the warmth of my breath.

  "Tho.." Regali started but was quickly interrupted by Seles, who grabbed my hand and dragged me into the room.

  I heard Grimaldi laugh aloud, and follow us into the room, taking a moment beforehand to appease Regali by patting him on the shoulder while wearing a smile on his face all the while. As we walked to the back of the room, I smiled to myself, grateful to see that not much had changed during my friends time in this world. Regali was an upstanding, hard-nosed protector of the people, like the big brother everyone wished they had. His need to protect those weaker than himself had earned him more than a few scars, although they didn’t detract from his handsome appearance.

  At just over six feet tall, and every inch well muscled, the scars should have made him intimidating, but his boyish good looks saved him from that fate, and they instead added character to a charmingly youthful face. He kept his dirty blonde hair clean cut, but not militant, allowing his pale blue eyes a chance to be the star of the show. Grimaldi was light hearted and seemed to never grow up, though he was second to none during a battle. Unlike Regali, Grimaldi was actually quite slender for a warrior. His height and lithe moves made up for what he lacked in bulk. Unlike Regali, his short hair was now cut in a militant fashion very similar to Ethan’s, and it was as black as the night sky. His dark skin tone allowed his vibrant blue eyes to stand out. And then there was Seles; She had always been a take charge, show the boys who's boss kind of girl. She was by far the youngest of my captains, reaching the rank at fourteen, but she was gifted with a memory that allowed her to call upon any invocation she had ever heard and made it her own, instantly. Her ego was the stuff of legends, and stealing Regali's thunder was a favorite past time for her. It was a well-deserved ego; however, as she was a fierce warrior despite her fragile appearance. At only five foot three, and no more than a hundred and twenty pounds, Seles had to work very hard for her tough as nails reputation. It probably didn’t help that she had a long crown of vibrant red hair and dark blue eyes presented on a flawless porcelain complexion. This deceptive appearance often worked in her favor, though.

  "These, my queen, are the UTF's love children," she explained, looking back at Regali, who had followed behind Grimaldi, secretly happy to let Seles have the glory of explaining things.

  "Love children," I asked confused, reaching out and touching the metal men.

  They were cold, and as I stared into the void of this inactive machines eyes, I got a chill. I didn't know why, but there was something ominous about them.

  "Yea, that's a good way to explain it," Grimaldi interjected. "Ever since this behemoth was created to draw Ether from the Leylines, these scientists have worked non-stop shifts to develop these. They call them Etherbots!" He exclaimed, bursting out in laughter.

  "Calm yourself, Grimaldi," Regali interrupted with a stern voice. "Most of what he said is true, though they refer to them as Dregs," he said, still staring Grimaldi down.

  "Dregs," I said aloud, lost in my own thoughts as I ran my fingers down the very realistic arm of the Dreg nearest me.

  "There are so many, and anything that is created can be recreated indefinitely," I said, repeating a phrase that I had heard my father say, time and time again while teaching Astiel and me to smith our own steel.

  "The people of this world hope to create a false personality, called artificial intelligence or AI, to power the Dregs one day. They intend for them to be able to harness the Ether gathered from the machine behind us, Mahnon, and act as pseudo-casters," Seles said. "Mahnon was developed by two of the lead scientist here, Alfred Mahnon and Felix Rivera. During development, Alfred died from unknown causes, and though our facility was on lockdown for weeks because he appeared to have been murdered, I personally headed the investigation and I never found any proof that his death involved any foul play. Somehow, despite Alfred’s death, Felix was sadly able to finish their work, and he named the machine after his partner, and thus, it has been called such ever since. They claim that its intended purpose is to aid us in subduing and apprehending Astiel and his ever-growing army," she stated, somberly.

  I could tell my captains were as apprehensive as I about the implications of being able to create a limitless army. The thought was chilling, indeed.

  "Well, we heard that the HUGE supply of Ether that Mahnon was projected to have gathered over the last three years was insignificant, thanks to your unique abilities, Queen Velareedra," Grimaldi said, looking to lighten the mood.

  While he was correct, if it became possible for the people of this land to create artificial casters, it could shift the balance of power in this world and create a force which could easily subdue neighboring lands and lead to conflicts between countries who's beliefs, views or culture were different than their own. These Dregs represented the potential for the kind of overwhelming power that no one should control, much less a governmental body.

  "For now, let's head to the lounge and get some food," Regali stated as he walked back toward the hallway, clearly able to see my distress.

  A meal sounded like the perfect distraction, so I nodded to indicate my agreement.

  "That's a great idea," Grimaldi said with a smile. "You must be famished by now, Majesty," he said, following behind Regali.

  "If I had my way, I'd destroy all of these man cans now," Seles said as she passed me.

  I took one last look into the Dreg's eyes, making peace with the idea of artificial humans because it seemed that with the capabilities of this world's technology, anything was possible.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  An Impossible Decision

  My captains and I enjoyed a meal together, which consisted of a fowl called a turkey, as well as sides known as mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. They were delicious, far more so than the meal that was served to me the night that Lucas brought me to the hospital. During the meal, we discussed many things, ranging from their time in this world to their roles within the UTF. I was surprised to hear that Grimaldi had been captured by Astiel's men when he arrived, only a year ago, but had managed to escape from their prison camp. He explained that, while they were treated relatively well, Astiel's men subjected them to death duels with human, non-caster captives for sport. The guilt of the blood on his hands was clear as he spoke, and as his queen, I absolved him of his guilt, as was my duty. Seles and Regal
i had arrived nearly five years ago, and both had worked to blend in with the people of this world until Ethan and the UTF "reached out" to them in a similar fashion to how they had me. They were met by Leaha in the room that I was taken to and she explained the situation to them, effectively converting them as operatives for the UTF.

  "So, I'm guessing these three have fully explained what we do here?" I heard Leaha's voice ask, as she and Ethan walked into the room, making their way to the table with their hands clasped, like a clam protecting a pearl.

  Ethan released her hand and walked ahead of her slightly to help her be seated into the seat across from me, taking his own seat beside her.

  "Yes, though there is still much that I don't understand, but I get the gist of things," I answered, smiling at my friend.

  "Will you join us then, Vel?" She asked, boldly. "With you by our side, we may stand a chance at capturing Astiel the next time he shows himself, and end this war for good!" She proclaimed, confidently.

  "I believe that what you are doing here is good, and very much needed to protect the people of this world," I answered, leaving room to finish my thought. "However, Astiel's issue, at a base level, involves my succession of our father's throne, and that is a personal issue that he and I must settle alone. Truthfully, it would be a fate far worse than death to lose one of you because I was unable to protect you," I concluded as I remembered the power that he had displayed on the battlefield.

  Though he had lost his connection to the Leylines upon transversing worlds, an encounter with Astiel could easily result in the loss of one or more of my captains, even if I were present.

  "We understand your position," Ethan chimed in. "Leaha told me that you are a very proud warrior, skilled in many forms of combat, and very protective of those you care for; However, we are all prepared to fight, and bring this war to an end," the expression on his face showcasing his sincerity.