Lost Empire (21 page)

But when the door finally slid back open, it was not Nima who stood in the doorway. A thin man of average height wearing black leather and a green cape stood before her. He wore a huge wicker helmet that fanned down from the top of his head while covering most of his face. His dark eyes gazed at her through the thin spaces between the wicker, as if looking through some sort of birdcage, before stepping in quickly and moving to the corner of the room. He dropped into a low stance, pointing his long spear at her as men in identical uniforms began to flood the room, each taking a different position while holding out a spear of their own.

Jade threw her hands high in the air, showing she had no intention of resisting as the remaining insects took flight due to her sudden movement, many heading straight for the open door. Her eyes swept back and forth, moving from man to man, trying to get some clue as to what was going on here. But when she turned back at the last second, she caught a glimpse of a man through the doorway holding a black cloth of some kind. With lightning speed, the assailant pulled the sack over the top of her head, then used it to drag her to the ground. She thrashed about as survival instinct took over, which earned her several kicks to her side and the back of her head. The blows were so hard she curled up in a ball while rolling back and forth, hoping at least a few kicks might miss. It didn’t seem to be working all that well.

“
Be careful, you fools!” came Nima’s familiar but angry voice. “I told you not to hurt her! Jade, you must not resist. I’m here and I won’t let them harm you, but you must calm down.” Jade stopped rolling around, but not before a few more kicks got through. She heard a distinctive slapping sound followed by Nima saying, “Fool! Do you really fear a helpless woman this much?” A bit of laughter trickled through the room before Jade was lifted up to her feet and taken outside. Her hands were quickly bound with some sort of leather cord, as best she could tell.

Terror swelled up inside her as she was marched down the street to the sounds of jeers and shouts while hands swiped and tugged at her clothing. With her hands tied and her head completely covered, Jade could not remember ever feeling so helpless in her life. A gentle hand wrapped around the side of her neck and tilted her slightly. “I’m right here,” came the familiar whisper. “No one is going to hurt you, I promise. It’s just a little farther. Trust me, Jade, this is for your own good.”

She found it odd that the voice of her captor could have such a calming effect. When the strong set of arms grasping her shoulders gave a quick tug, she stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear the clicking sound of a heavy lock being opened with a key, a sound she had heard many times before, so she was quite certain of its distinctness. She was then led into a room where she could feel the crunching of hay beneath her feet as she walked.

“
Sit her down beside the others, then off with you. All of you.” Nima might not have had any true authority in the village, but it was clear she was indeed very well respected. Jade was pushed down in a soft pile of hay, where she sat motionless until she heard the shuffling of feet move away, followed by the irritated slam of a thick wooden door. Her hands were still bound, but she made no effort to free them as she waited. Her breath came in long, deep gasps due to the suffocating effect from the sack.

A hand gripped the cloth sack as well as a generous amount of hair and yanked it off. Her vision was blurry as her head whipped around, trying to get some indication of where she was. She was able to focus just enough to see Nima reach down and yank the hoods off the two others who were seated right next to her.

Athel and Jacob blinked incessantly as they tried to make their cloudy eyes function properly. They suddenly locked eyes with Jade, who began to sob instantly upon seeing her friends. With their hands still bound, all three inched toward each other on their knees and pressed together in an armless hug. Nima circled the three while untying their bound hands one at a time, then leaned back against the wall, determined to give them all the time they needed. The crying went on for some time before the three were finally able to compose themselves enough to engage in an actual conversation. “Have either of you seen— Is he with—” Jade could hardly ask the question for fear of the answer.

Jacob averted his eyes as he spoke softly. “We haven’t seen him. We hoped he was with you.”

Nima walked back over to them, rubbing a palm across her damp eyes. She looked at Jade and said, “I’m truly glad to see you reunited with your friends once more. After all, I told you we would find them. But I’m afraid there is more going on here than meets the eye, something we must discuss immediately” She glanced over to Athel. “I understand you have been going through some...changes.”

“
I need you to tell me what is happening to me,” said Athel through teary eyes. “I don’t even think I trust myself right now.” Jade gasped as she noticed her friend’s eyes for the first time, not knowing what to say.

“
Nor should you, dear. I will say this as plainly as I can. You’re about to experience a physical change, a transformation we call Aken-Duri. Needless to say, it’s extremely rare, but a few us have dealt with this before.”

“
But wait...what causes this? Is there any cure?” stammered Jacob.

“
I’m afraid there is no cure. You see, she was born with the seed, and the seed has remained dormant all this time. It’s usually awakened by intense suffering or some other sort of traumatic event.” Athel averted her eyes and looked down at the ground. There had been no shortage of traumatic events recently, and any one of them could have triggered this. Nima walked over to her and lifted her chin, forcing her to look her in the eye. “I’m not one to dance about when giving news such as this, so please allow me to be blunt. The moon is full tonight, and the transformation will be complete by morning. I won’t lie to you, this is going to be more painful than anything you have ever experienced before.”

Athel shook free, returning a hard glare through her teary eyes. “More painful than not knowing what is happening to me day in and day out? More painful than thinking I’m losing my mind just as my father did right before my very eyes? I don’t find your certainty to be threatening at all. Now that I know what this is, I’ll deal with it.”

“
Well, pain is about the only thing I can assure you of. By the time the sun rises in the morning, one of two things will have come to pass.” All three were holding their breath, whether they realized it or not. “By the time the transformation is complete, you will have learned to control it. Your mind will be no different than it is now, and your physical changes will have been limited. This is the best you can hope for.” No one needed to ask. They simply waited for her to continue.

“
Of course, if things don’t go quite so well, a large portion of your mind may surrender itself to a completely primal state. In other words, you will essentially become more animal than human. You will have all the instincts of any other animal, the need for food, water, and the irresistible urge to hunt, but you will most certainly lose basic human abilities such as reading and language.” She glanced back over at Jade and Jacob but continued speaking to Athel. “You will forget all about your former self, and you will have no memory of your friends here.” Athel’s blank stare was death itself. A slight twitch in her cheek, combined with a single tear streaming down her face were the only indications she was even alive.

“
There is no way it’s going to end like this!” Jacob shouted. “After all we’ve been through...after we’ve come so far. There’s simply no way. I won’t have it.”

“
I’m afraid you have little say in the matter, Jacob,” said Nima with a touch of sadness. The harsh edge in her voice was long gone. She wasn’t saying these things to be cruel, but simply stating the facts. The more they understood the situation, the better equipped they would be to deal with it. A light knock came at the door. “I’m so sorry...but it’s time.”

“
What do you mean, it’s time? Time for what?” snapped Jacob just as Athel began to rise. She gently pushed away his protective hand from her shoulder and looked him squarely in the eye. Nima moved swiftly to open the door.

Athel ran her fingers through his spiky hair and whispered, “It’s OK, Jacob, I’m not afraid anymore. I believe everything happens for a reason, and if this is to be my destiny, then so be it.” His face twisted in rage as he looked over her shoulder and watched as men carrying chains began streaming into the room. She quickly placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her instead. “No matter what happens, I only ask one thing from you.” Her eyes were clear and her voice was calm as she spoke. “Please, remember me as I am now.” She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek before turning toward Jade.

Jade cried as the two embraced, all the while whispering words of encouragement to her friend, who had proved to be impossibly brave. Athel drifted over to the group of men with her head high and fingers clasped behind her head in a silent surrender. A heavyset man with the same wicker helmet they all seemed to be wearing grabbed her arms and wrestled them down behind her back. He began wrapping the chain when he was struck suddenly on the side of the head. Nima’s eyes blazed angrily as she shook the tingling from her open hand. “Not here, you fool! Show some respect; her friends are watching.” She rolled her eyes over her shoulder and shuddered at the man’s insensitivity.

They all funneled through the doorway and slammed it shut behind them. The clicking of the heavy lock snapping shut seemed to echo off the wooden walls, but the long silence that followed seemed much louder. Jade and Jacob sat in near blackness as the lone lantern danced with a sickly flame, making ghostly shadows flutter along the wall. They stared helplessly at the thick door that had just swallowed up their friend, possibly to never return as they remembered her. The only thought that seemed even more gut-wrenching to Jade was the fact that she still had no idea where Eric was, or even if he was still alive. It was almost more than she could bear.

****

Morita and Zhou moved swiftly through the silver halls as servants scampered to get out of their way. The few who weren’t able to move in time dropped down to the floor with their faces pressed flat across the cold tile. It was clear to them that the normally calm siblings were in rare form this day, spurred on by something urgent—a dangerous scenario indeed. As it was, the two were extremely unpredictable on any given day. But when they were this visibly shaken, it was more than advisable to avoid them all together.

At least when the family was still whole, their mother and father, although still suffering from the same curse as the rest of the family, had a sense of morals and were able to control these two—to some degree, anyway. All but a handful of the servants had no idea what had become of them, and certainly no one outside the temple. All anyone knew was that authority seemed to have shifted down to the cursed children, a reality no one was comfortable with.

Through the silver hall and up a red tiled stairway they moved with a sense of urgency. Morita was the first to barge through the thick wooden door, her brother following closely behind. The startled creature in the room spun about in surprise as the two barged in without any notice. The odd creature’s head was similar to a monkey’s, with large pink ears and soft dark eyes that seemed to glisten with constant wetness. Its hunched body seemed thin and broken as is limped across the room using three limbs to hobble along while holding its left arm flush against its chest. The sickly arm was smaller than the other and clearly underdeveloped, as it constantly gripped its thumb. Its gray-feathered body puffed out like an angry songbird who had just shaken off a spring shower. It wore a circular glass mask around its dark wet eyes, strapped around its head with a black band. The sad-looking creature gurgled and grunted as it limped toward them.

The square-shaped room had the same red tile flooring as most of the other rooms and halls, but the bright yellow walls were a sharp contrast to the much darker floor. Thin gold and silver chains hung from tiny hooks in the wall and streamed down until almost touching the floor. They shimmered in the light of multiple clear spheres which held the blue glowing creatures, each one hanging from a gold-colored chain of its own, attached directly to the red ceiling. At the room’s center was a large object covered with a yellow canvas.

The limping creature hobbled up like a faithful dog and began cooing and gurgling while its dark eyes looked even larger behind its glass mask. Zhou turned up his nose at the pathetic beast before turning toward his sister. Once again she would be asked to communicate with a being whose idea of words more closely resembled the moaning of a dying animal. He always found it odd she was even able to decipher the random clicks and groans of some of these beasts, even the mindless sounds produced from his own father at this stage of his life.

Morita paid him no attention while looking down to the sad creature. “Hashiki,” she purred, as if speaking to a beloved pet, but all the while her unnatural yellow eyes flared with impatience. It was clear she was trying to remain as unimposing as possible. If the creature felt at ease, it was far more likely to give information freely, information they needed right now. “Am I to assume that father has already spoken to you about this disturbance he felt recently?” The creature gurgled and popped as it drew in on itself with shame, hunching its shoulders while staring at Morita’s feet. “I assure you everything is fine. Such actions are not forbidden. In fact, this is the sort of initiative I expect from you now. Father is...well...slipping, to say the least, which now means you will need to take on even more responsibility.”