Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux (29 page)

Kasey could see where this was going but she wanted to let it
marinate and she thought it important to let him drive his point home.

 

"What did the woman say?" asked Kasey.

"Well, at first she claimed ownership on the child and Hope only
sat silently as she spoke. The woman began to feel selfish as she spoke. She
realized to make a child endure the pain of this world just for her
enjoyment was cruel. Then she argued that by Hopes argument we should
kill our children to spare them and send them straight to heaven. Then
Hope explained to her the other side of things. Adoni is Adoni and we are
his creations. Does the clay ask the potter what he is making? Can an ant
understand the inner workings of your mind or mine? Adonis’s will is. You
can have an opinion about it if you want but it doesn’t change that it is His
will and you are likely not going to completely understand it for after all if
my God was a God I could understand, would he still be God? If I could
wrap my mind around him and fit him into a box, would he not be a
creation of mine rather than me a creation of His?"

Kasey sat in thought for a moment. Is there no bounds to this
man's wisdom? "So what you are saying is that I can try to understand
God's will which is a good thing but I will not always understand His will.
And when I don’t understand it, it does no good to disagree or continue to
question it because it is beyond my comprehension. And you are also
saying that to die and be with God is better than to live on but we live on
because that is His will because he has something for us here. So instead of
being angry that God allowed my friend to die, I should be happy that my
friend is with Him and all my friend's pain and suffering on this world is
over."

Erestar nodded, "Does that makes sense to you?"

 

Kasey smiled, "It not only makes sense. It is what I needed to hear.
Thank you."

 

Erestar sat back and folded his arms, "I will share something else
with you. I am not a Raphad."

 

Not a Raphad? Kasey scowled as she tried to understand what that
meant. "Then what are you?"

"Kasey, I am from another world and there we were simply called
giants. I was a great sorcerer and the only giant sorcerer. I was obsessed
with the collection of magi items. I ended up in a situation where I needed
to cast a spell that was beyond my experience. I tried anyway because it
was a life or death situation. Not only did it burn out my ability to use
magic, but it also created what Omar would call a worm hole that took me
to another planet."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because I know that you feel out of place here. I can see it in your
eyes. But I will tell you, you were voted as the Champion of the Kingdoms
last night. It required a unanimous vote amongst the Monarchs and the
Elder. You are very welcome and needed here."

Kasey smiled again. "Thank you for making me feel welcome King
Erestar.

King Erestar stood up, "Before I leave you I want to ask you to think
on one thing. You are going to have to choose a Kingdom to reside in and to
be their General. If you feel better suited to for Suchikos as you were once
human or Loefel Meren because you are now a Miyka, I do understand. But
please do give Philos some consideration."

Kasey bowed her head and said, "Of course." She had already
decided that she was going to stay in Philos but she thought it more polite
to wait until the ceremony this evening to make the announcement.

When King Erestar left Kasey sent for parchment and quill. She sat
at a table and started working out a ranking system for the armies, a
promotional system for gaining rank, pay charts by rank, and a list of the 11
fighting styles that she would be teaching the armies. She worked well into
the night creating battle scenarios and formations and even travel plans to
visit each one of the Kingdoms. By the time the suns began to set she had
almost a book's worth of parchment.

One of the servants came to her room and knocked to let her know
that it was time for the ceremony. She dressed in her armor and walked
from her room down the hall where the balcony was that Erestar would be
making announcements from. She sat in the room that led to the balcony
and waited for the King to call her.

"I want to introduce you to the Champion of Soterion, Kasey
Phoenix," he said. Then she got up and walked onto the balcony beside
him. The crowd cheered for her." What an odd turn of events. I was once
hated and now I am loved by many.

Kasey spoke, "Thank you for the warm welcome. In the next few
weeks I will be working with the Monarchs of your Kingdoms to standardize
the armies across Soterion and to try to ensure our safety."

The crowd cheered again.

King Erestar spoke of how Kasey had formed a team in the
Gauntlet and even bested King Alagaar in combat. He said that to him and
all of the other Monarchs she was the obvious choice for Champion. He
explained that Kasey would choose the generals of the other Kingdoms and
train them in the Kingdom that she chose.
"Kasey, have you chosen a Kingdom?" he asked.

Kasey nodded, "Yes, I have chosen Philos as my home Kingdom."

 

Erestar smiled and announced for those who couldn’t hear, "She
chose Philos."

 

The crowd which was majority of Philos went wild with that bit of
news.

Kasey spent the next few days in the castle making plans as to
where she would go, who she would speak to, and what she would speak to
them about. An Aristocrat was assigned to help Kasey with the
pronunciation of names of high ranking officials of different Kingdoms.

They began traveling from Kingdom to Kingdom. Always she was
presented with some noble to make one of her generals. She never chose
these nobles. She needed someone who was a natural leader and not part
of any political system. Kasey would check the gossip mill when she got into
town as to who was of most influence and who was a Patriot not to the
King or Queen but to the country. She always ended up choosing low-born
men. She spent a year first in Philos training at different locations
throughout the Kingdom but becoming acquainted with the people of her
own Kingdom. Then she went to Caelsis where she picked Sebastian, leader
of the Alexandros Magi warrior class, as her general. This took some weight
off of Kasey for she had already trained Sebastian. She spent a year in
Caelsis where she continued her training with the Alexandros. She then
traveled to the Emerald Forest which was more tribal so she trained the
chiefs and anyone who would learn to fight. She spent a year there. Then
she spent a year in Marasimlah where she learned much about Daqad
culture. She chose the King as her general which unsurprisingly found no
resistance. There she trained the King and his army. Then she spent a year
in Suchikos where she found another follower of the Shepherd. She chose
him as her general.

The last Kingdom that she visited was Loefel Meren. It was a
beautiful mountain Kingdom with cascading waterfalls. She had to walk
through the commoner’s district to get the nobles district. Crowds formed
in the streets to cheer for her. Kasey knew the social climate in Loefel
Meren and could feel the tension between the noble houses and the
commoners. King Erestar had educated her on the history of Loefel Meren
and she knew that deep in the roots of this beautiful Kingdom were
conflicts and tensions that she did not want to step in. The King and Queen
were loved by the people but the noble houses were hated. Is they walked
up the mountain towards the noble district King Erestar grilled her on what
he had taught her.

“Remember the new standard of history. Everything happening
before the Battle of Epher is BE and the numbers get larger the further you
go back. Conversely everything that happened after is Post Epher (PE),” he
instructed.

Kasey waved a hand at the commoners as she spoke to Erestar,
“Yes, on earth we have a similar standard of time.”

Erestar then said, “It had all started with unfair taxation. Since 936
B.E. (Before Epher) the Miyka had ruled as the noble race of Loefel Meren.
In 765 the Miyka created a heavy tax system for the commoners to follow
while the Miyka followed a light taxation system. This started 7 years of
civil war in Loefel Meren and it was a bloody war. Then finally a treaty was
signed but the Yaarma left to return to the Emerald Forest.”

They were greeted by Miyka guards at the gates to the noble
district. The guards let them through and gave them an escort.

King Erestar continued. “Now since then much had happened to
cover those wounds. There was the Coughing Death in 334 B.E. and a 12
year war with Suchikos. And though those wounds are covered with the
fresh memory of plague and foreign war, there is tension between the
commoners and the nobles. And then there is you… you have no House to
claim to. The Miyka don’t know why but they can’t trace you and where
you came from. They find this unsettling. Also there is the fact that you are
loved amongst the commoners here for you reputation for being nothing at
all like a normal Miyka.”

Kasey laughed, “Sad that it’s such a good trait.”

Erestar nodded, “Only about 30% of the Miyka race are arrogant,
stuck up, and have a high sense of self-worth. The others are nice and
warm and friendly. But the ones that are nice are the least outspoken. And
as they say on Earth, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil.”

Kasey cocked her head at King Erestar, “How do you know what
they say on earth?”

 

Erestar smiled, “Omar told me. He has said it before.”

They approached the palace now. It was beautiful. The palace was
made up of a series of connecting towers with a waterfall flowing from
under them.

“Kasey,” said King Erestar, “my point is that because the Miyka
don’t know you they may see you as a threat to their structure.”

 

Kasey nodded, “I get it. I will watch my step.”

King Erestar smiled at her bluntness. Erestar bowed to Kasey. “I’m
sorry but I cannot fit in the tower. I will wait outside for you.” Kasey noticed
that there were little to no accommodations for other races here.

Kasey was taken to the middle tower where there was an elevator.
She and Misia were lifted up to the top level of the tower. Outside of the
elevator Kasey was met by Queen Elizabeth who hugged her.

At this point Kasey was not accustomed to such personal informal
actions from Monarchs. She stiffened a bit when the Queen hugged her.
Thankfully the Queen didn’t react negatively to her reaction to being
hugged. She didn’t even seem to notice. She grabbed Kasey's hand, "Come
with me, I would like to talk to you where there are no prying eyes." She
acts as if we are childhood girlfriends who have not seen each other in
years but know each other very well. Kasey found this very disarming and
out of place for a Queen who had been around for hundreds of years and
ruled a Kingdom in such turmoil.

As they followed Queen Elizabeth Kasey could hear Misia stifle a
giggle. Kasey looked over and Misia was watching her reactions to being
treated as a long lost friend by a complete stranger.

She took them to a secret passage that led to an open room with a
door guarded by two lions that had four feathered wings each. They were
either very still lions or very lifelike statues. They did not move as the
Queen took a key and opened the door to a grand library. There her
husband King Magus sat in the distance rubbing his head and pouring over
maps and ancient tomes.

Queen Elizabeth put her finger to her mouth and whispered, "Let
us talk quietly in here as my husband studies. He has pounding headaches
these days. He hears a knocking sound that he cannot get rid of and he
knows it’s all in his head but it will not go away. It causes him tremendous
headaches."

They followed her to a desk at the end of a hallway where the
Queen searched and found a dusty old tome that looked as if it was about
to fall apart.

Queen Elizabeth put the tome on the desk and began gently
turning the pages until she found one that was labeled "Origins of the
Malakadam".

She smiled at Kasey and Misia, "I’m sorry to have been so informal.
Kasey, I have kept my eyes on you since your presence on Soterion was first
reported. I had to pry it out of Ischus but he did tell me where you are from
and that you arrived with the Magi. I have had spies lent from Queen
Ariana watching you for years now. I know all about the Phoenix Collective
and I think what you are doing is Revolutionary. We have fought the Kalat
for so many years that I think that we have forgotten that they are merely
curse Miyka. I was there when the Elder cursed them in the Creators name
but the curse was simple... that they would wear the visage of their dark
souls upon their appearance. Their tremendous strength came from their
rage at being given such a curse. That is why Kalat have such short
tempers."

Kasey knew a lot of this but Misia seemed captivated.

Queen Elizabeth pointed to the book, "But what really fascinates
me about you is what was said by some in the Gauntlet. That you and Misia
had wings." She pointed at several sketching in the book of Malakadam
with wings. One was of a Miyka and the other of a Gabad. She read the
book out loud, "The two primary sub races of Malakadam come from the
dragons. To create the first Miyka the Creator used the dust of the earth
and a rib from Miykal. To create the first Gabad the Creator used the dust
of the earth and a rib from Gabriyl."

Kasey wore a look of astonishment as she mouthed the name,
"Gabriyl". That is the purple dragon that teleported all of us from
Musterion to Soterion.

Then she pointed to sketchings of two different Miyka. One had
skin-bound wings and the other had feathers. "Now the wings, they came
from the dragons that we descended from but the feathers belonged only
to special Miyka who served the Creator. They were known as a gift from
Him."