Binarius (19 page)

Kaolin and Firinne looked at each
other with curiosity.

“
All in time, little ones. All in
time.” The old woman smiled as she said it. “Kaolin, are you warm
enough now? Limbs still on? How about you, Firinne?”

They both nodded. “Thank
you…”

“
Lazata”

“
Thank you, Lazata. Wait…how do
you know our names?”

“Must be my vast wisdom of
all things
.” She smiled
again.

Kaolin and Firinne just stared at
her.

“
Firinne, I knew your Father
once…a long time ago. Kaolin, I knew your parents as well, and that
gorgeous white hair was confirmation it was you.”

They were flabbergasted. Together
they both said, “How did you…”

“
One at a time, we’ve got a lot to
discuss, and you both have got a lot to learn. We need to use our
time efficiently.”

“
Let me start from the beginning.
Long before your time, and even mine, the lands of Fia were
peaceful. Blessings to the Clandestine Guardians, they showed us
how to live in harmony with Fia and her creatures. In the
beginning, we taught ourselves how to hunt, grow, defend, build,
and carve beautiful wands to use for our spectralin. The
Clandestines came from far away lands…lands, yet undiscovered by
our people. When they came, they saw that our ways would eventually
lead to friction between the people, Fia, and her creatures. The
Clandestines had come long before our ancestors and so they knew
how to be harmonious with Fia. They came and they taught us about
our spectralin power. They taught us what it did to our spectralin
when we ate one of Fia’s creatures. They taught us that to be more
powerful, we had to live in unison on these lands, and that if we
did so, we would no longer need to carve our wands. After the
people of Fia had learned these things, The Clandestines retired to
these mountains…this cave to be more specific so that they could
watch over Fia. Centuries passed and Fia and her creatures
thrived.”

“
So where did The Clandestine
Guardians go? I mean, where are they now?”

“
Patience, Kaolin…I will get
there.” Lazata said.

She continued. “Then, the Mist of
Blacken came. It levitated across the lands of Fia. It blocked out
The Great Star and threatened our existence. No one knew where it
came from, except perhaps the Clandestines…they probably knew. The
people of Fia were scared. They had never seen such powerful magic.
So, all of the three, regal Queendoms and Kingdoms sought an
audience with the Clandestines for guidance. The Clandestines said
that we must go to battle, and so we did. We set up our post at
Castle Leviticus and The Ascension began. We fought hard, but we
had no idea what we were up against. The Mist brought in thousands
of Demogorchians. While the Demogorchians were engaging us, the
Dantalion Lords initiated the fireballs and obsidian spears. We
never stood a chance, and we didn’t know until it was too late.
After the battle, the Blacken came into every village and took
every man it could find…aptly named, The Numbing. That is how the
Desideriums came to be. It was our punishment for The
Ascension.”

“
So that ruin that we
saw?”

“
Yes, Firinne, that ruin is Castle
Leviticus, left the way that it was on the day of The Ascension.
Don’t you see? The level of barbarity that took place on that
ground a century ago damaged the energy in that area forever. Fia
cannot process such savagery, and therefore, that scene will be
replayed like a memory, over and over again, until Fia can be
healed. That is why you could not touch your father, Firinne. It’s
not really him, it is just… Fia’s memory of him.”

“
You said you knew my
father?”

“
Both yours, and Kaolin’s parents.
I was there when their mothers and fathers had an audience with the
Clandestines. Only the elders were allowed to have an audience.
Your parents never got to meet the Clandestines.”

“
So, why are you still alive, and
where are the Guardians?”

“
The Clandestines had another job
for me. I was trained by them in the months prior, and during The
Ascension. I still don’t know why they chose me. I would’ve gladly
fought next to my brothers, and sisters. So, while everyone was
making battle preparations, I was locked in this cave with the
Clandestines preparing for something else.” She locked her hands
together; cradling her abdomen.

“
What did you prepare
for?”

“
Funny you should ask. I was
prepared for this exact moment.”

“
What’d’ya mean?” Kaolin
asked.

“
I mean this moment…when you two
came stumbling up my garden path.”

Kaolin and Firinne looked at each
other.

“
You see, the Clandestines weren’t
sure that the people of Fia would defeat the Blacken, so they
devised a plan that they could fall back on. They prepared me for
the plan in case they didn’t make it through the battle. As it
were, they did not. They wanted to, but the Clandestines were only
allowed to interfere with the people of Fia to a certain
extent.”

“
Allowed? Who gave them
orders?”

“
The Ethereal Collective, I
suppose.”

“
And who’s that?”

“
Haven’t the foggiest,” She
giggled.

Kaolin made a swirling motion
around his temple. “So how did you know you could trust
them?”

The old woman sighed. “Because of
all of the things they taught me, and because of all of the things
they knew about both of you. Both of you are a part of their
secondary plan…the one they trained me for.” She looked at Firinne.
“Those books you found at Archen weren’t there by mistake, and they
were not the property of King Gryndon. They were placed there by me
so that you would find them. I too, am only allowed to interfere to
a certain point.”

“
We could’ve used your help,
though!”

“
You probably could have, Kaolin,
but you wouldn’t be the individuals you are right now if I had done
you any favors.”

“
Hang on a second.” Firinne put
her hand up. “How exactly are we a part of all of this? I’m just
trying to get my Mum out of the dungeons.”

“
Is that all you are doing,
Firinne? Really?”

Firinne hesitated.

“
You can feel it all the way down
to your bones, Fir. You are a part of something bigger, something
predestined. As is Kaolin. We cannot even hope to defeat the
Blacken without the both of you.”

“
But what makes us so special?”
asked Firinne.

“
You are the last two, of the
three Spectralin Families. Sure, everyone on Fia has spectralin
families but they cannot do what both of you, do. Kaolin, your
mother, and father could not manipulate the Electrolifi the way you
do. Those pretty little, silver coated twigs of yours were made
especially for you. Firinne, have you ever seen your mother grow
crystals?”

“
Well, no, but she taught
me.”

“
She taught you because the
Clandestines told her parents how to teach you. Time has let both
of you live as normal lives as you could, given the current
circumstances but time has run out, and the Blacken knows it. That
is why it has sent its cronies after you. It is afraid of you,
afraid of what you and Kaolin are capable of.”

“
Wait, you said two of the
three…where’s the third?”

“
He was stolen from Leviticus
Castle and sacrificed by the Dantalion Lords, for the
Blacken.”

“
How old was he?”

“
Two-years-old…”

Firinne shook her head. “They make
me sick.”

“
So, how are we supposed to stand
a chance against the Blacken? I mean, it’s just the two of us
right?” Kaolin said.

Lazata shook her head. “Three… I
was instructed that at this point, I could interfere. I know I
might not look like much life is left in me, but I promise your
eyes are mistaken.”

Kaolin smirked.

“
Still, though, how are the three
of us supposed to stop this thing if a whole battle
couldn’t?”

“
After your training, you might
think differently.”

“
Training?” Kaolin and Firinne
said together.

“
Ah! Soup is ready!” While she had
been telling them the story, she had made a pot of soup and they
hadn’t even noticed. She now handed them stone bowls. “I’m afraid
you’re gonna have to sip it. I haven’t gotten any
utensils.”

Kaolin laughed. “I think the last
thing we are worried about is proper eating supplies.”

“
But I still don’t—

“
Firinne, eat your soup. I promise
I will explain the rest after. We need our strength.”

Firinne nodded and began sipping
away. She thought she could taste a hint of clarity in it;
something she hadn’t tasted in a long time.

After they had eaten, the old woman
explained that the powers of the Spectralin families had the
potential to be even more powerful than the Blacken itself. Kaolin
and Firinne still didn’t understand how, nor did they know what the
plan was.

“
So how did you survive? You said
the Clandestines didn’t make it. But you did. How?”

“
So distrustful.”

Firinne could feel the red flow
into her cheeks.

“
It’s all right, it’s good…only to
a point, though. Keep distrusting everyone and you won’t have
anything to hold onto in the end. The Clandestines hid me deep in
the cave. They sealed me in and the hiding place could only be
opened from the inside. They drugged me with Belladonna and I
didn’t wake up until the battle was over, the Clandestines were
dead, and the Blacken had gone back to its castle.”

“
That must have been awful. Waking
up to find that everyone was dead and you are all that’s
left.”

“
Worst morning of my
life.”

Lazata got up and walked over to
the door. She touched the fingertips of her hand to a torus symbol
in the middle of the door. The edgings of the door began to glow
with a light, golden color. The ground beneath them began to
tremble slightly, and the door started to open. It didn’t open the
way a normal door does, but rather it slid to the side, and into a
space carved into the rock horizontally.

The old woman turned to them with
bits of silver hair falling into her face. With a smile she said.
“Are you both ready?”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Inside Clandestine

Kaolin,
Firinne, and Mabon followed her beyond the door. At first it was a
void of black, but once Lazata reached a certain stone on the
floor, the pathway ahead, littered with foreign symbols, became
illuminated by a warm glow. Each symbol was connected to each other
and so, it was like watching a luminous plague hop across a
circuit-board. Eventually, the light crept up the walls and farther
onto the ceiling, which looked to be the entire height of the
mountain they were in. At the far end of the huge room, there was
an incline of stairs which led to three copper thrones, and three
doors.

Firinne bent down to examine the
strange symbols which were filled with light. She traced her finger
along it’s arches. The light was liquid. She could scoop it up with
her finger, but she could not keep it; dissipating in
milli-seconds.

“
What is this, Lazata?”

“
I don’t know. The Clandestines
built this place and all of its secrets. There was such a short
amount of time that they had with me, to prepare me before they
died. Consequently, I will probably never know what that incredible
form of light is.”

“
Do you think it could be
spectralin in liquid form?” asked Kaolin.

Lazata shrugged. “That’s probably
what it is, but we will never be sure. C’mon you two, we have much
to do.”

They followed Lazata through the
first door, where she then went and stood by a rack which was
filled with an assortment of weapons.

“
This is where you will work on
combat. First, however, I need to take both of you to the Epiphany
Chamber.”

Firinne and Kaolin looked at each
other. They were both feeling wary about the whole situation now.
They had gone through exactly two doors, and already the weight of
what they were being asked to do seemed impossible — no one had
asked — yet.

Two doors remaining.

The next room they found themselves
in was a round room. It was very plain, other than the massive
sarcophagus in the center of it, and just like the rest of the
rooms, it was covered in symbols.

“
Both of you will need to take
turns lying down in the Epiphanous. Firinne, do you still have the
books?” Firinne nodded, pulled them from her bag, and handed them
to Lazata.

“
Who wants to go
first?”

Kaolin looked at Lazata. “Um, what
does it do?”