CHAPTER 37

“The undignified Lion.”

 

Raviex frowned at his Visual-C.

            “Why? What’s the matter?” asked Christine. “Is the connection here too weak?” She checked hers on her wrist but the signal was perfect and healthy.

            “No… Erik refused my call,” explained the Prince, a little unhappily. He was, after all, born in a position where people always answered to him. A refused call was not something he was used to.

            Christine smiled to herself at his slight annoyance. “Try again. He might have accidentally rejected your call or he might have been in the presence of someone.” Raviex agreed with her opinion.

            “Yeah, Raviex, it’s alright if he refused your call. I’ve refused tons of calls from girls before back at home,” blurted Kyoden. He was lying on his single bed with his legs crossed before him and arms tugged behind his head.

            The girl rolled her eyes. “I seriously don’t see the connection between your statement and the situation, Kyoden—and please! Take off your footwear before climbing onto the bed!” She was disgusted.

            “Don’t go sounding like Sonia, Christine. We only need one bossy lady in the group,” he teased, winking.

            She ignored him as Raviex’s Visual-C made a connection with Erik’s GP. A hologram of Erik was projected from Keith’s invention. He did not dawdle with his apology to his best friend and future ruler.

            “Sorry, Raviex. You caught me at a very bad time. Kaira was in my office.” It was his opening line which caused Raviex to stiffen.

            “How is she?” he asked meekly. Christine twiddled with her ponytail, trying to pretend she was not wholly interested in the conversation. It was just another one of Raviex’s call to inform Erik where they were. Kyoden observed the duo and tuned in to the conversation as well from his bed.

            Erik saw Christine beside his royal friend. He grimaced, knowing that he was to be careful as he strung his words. He was feeling drained from all the burden of lies and protecting of lies—even if they were supposedly white lies.

            “She is fine… and she believes that you live, Raviex. She is very worried about you.”

            He nodded once. “I hope my whereabouts remain a secret still, Erik.”

            “I oblige, Your Highness.” There was a touch of reluctance and dissatisfaction in his tone but his loyalty to him held.

            “Thanks,” murmured Raviex, grateful. “We’re on our way to Sage Village but right now, we’ve stopped at a small village en route. It’s the first bed we saw since we left Midas City days ago,” he added jokingly. The sky outside the windows of the crammed room was dark. It was the best lodge they could get in a small and remote location.

            Erik’s countenance changed to one of concern. “Sage Village? You never said anything about going there.”

            “I know. It must have slipped my mind about telling you my plan. The Fierell sisters were told by their master to lead me to their village. He has a lead to my quest for the Ultimate Praetor Valkyr Leo,” he said.

            “But you do know that travellers normally avoid that destination for reasons, right?” questioned Erik who was feeling uneasy.

            Raviex sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m with Sage natives. Surely, the sisters know the safest way home. It may be called the Land of Sorcery or the Land of the Living Mountains but I have, perhaps, the best sorceress in Senadon with me, too. I trust in Lorenne’s capabilities to protect us,” he assured him.

            The other did not look very convinced. “And you know that once you enter that village, no one will know how to reach you, including myself?”

            Christine recalled a tale she heard from one of her people from Mabluku who once ventured to Sage Village. It was said that it possessed such formidable sorcery that it hid the village away from sight within the treacherous Mountains of Silvongein. The only ones who knew the safest path to the place were the villagers themselves.

            Keith adopted the idea of cloaking Mabluku with invisibility from this very village. The difference was that one was by the means of technology; the other was sorcery. Sageans were well known for their secretive behaviour and their dislike to meddle with affairs beyond their mountains. It was understood that they did not appreciate those who intervened with their domestic affairs too, despite being a part of the Kingdom.

            “Erik, if you can’t reach me, it will be the same for the Valkyrians. If – no – when I make it to Sage Village, I cannot be harmed from any exterior force. It’s just that I won’t be able to contact you from there. I’m guessing the intensity of sorcery-based Sacred Energy there would most likely interfere with the communication signals,” said Raviex wistfully.

            “It’s exactly what I fear, my Prince. I worry if I do not hear from you for a while too long,” admitted Erik. “Please be careful. Keep safe.”

            “I will try,” Raviex smiled.

            As the thread of connection broke, a fairly odd silence befell on the trio in the room. Christine inhaled slightly as she stood up from sitting on Raviex’s bed.

            “Where are you going?” he asked, startled by her abrupt leave.

            She lifted her shoulders. “It’s late... and we should rest. Sonia wants us fresh for our last stretch of the journey to Sage Village.”

            “Oh… right,” he muttered. Rising to his full height, the Prince saw her to the door before giving her an affectionate hug and a peck on the forehead to bid her good night. Turning around, Raviex found Kyoden staring at him with an arched eyebrow.

            “Why are you looking at me like that?”

            “You did not even bother to explain?” Kyoden was direct.

            “Explain what?” He, on the other hand, was not.

            The Haikenese shook his head. “The paper cannot hold in the fire for very long, Raviex. That’s what we, the Easterners, always say. She was waiting for you to tell her who ‘Kaira’ was.”

            “I will tell her about Kaira when the time is right. Besides, I’m sure she met her before back when we were still children,” he tried to give himself an excuse.

            “That was then. This is now. My advice is to come clean,” suggested Kyoden. “Girls are princesses, you know. You must treat them like one. Even if I was with multiple girls before, I made sure I dated one at a time. None of them like the thought of sharing a lover with another. Trust me; it will turn ugly if this continues.”

             Raviex knew he was right, but with the lecture coming from Kyoden, he couldn’t help feeling sceptical. “What about Sonia? She’s a girl. Shouldn’t you treat her like a princess as well?”

            “Of course not,” he replied flatly. “She’s not in the princess category. She’s the evil witch in fairy tales.”

           

            “He said that!?” raged Sonia. The mountains echoed her yell, magnifying her already thunderous voice. “KANESHIRO!”

            Shenjoon whistled. “Wow, she sounds really mad.” In order for them to enter Sage Village, they were compelled to follow a path of a mountain range, namely the Silvongein. There were numerous—the brave fools, as Sageans called those who challenged their guardians in the goal of exposing the secrets Sage Village though they were warned of the hazard —who slipped to their deaths or mysteriously went missing in these mountains.

            Kyoden winced. “Raviex, you idiot, why did you have to go running to Christine and repeat what I said?”

            “Sorry, I thought it was funny, so I shared what you said with Ryn. I didn’t know she’d tell Sonia,” Raviex apologized.

            “Girls share stuff with each other, okay? Especially when they’re close. Guys stick together. There are things which stay with us and cannot go to the girls!” he chided.

            The Flamese and the Prince stared at him in disagreement.

            Kyoden sniffed. “I hate people who are in love. They are insensitive and unsympathetic.”

            Two seconds later, the two other males in the group watched on as Sonia pulled Kyoden down on the collar to her height and growled, “So I’m a witch, eh?”

            He sucked in a deep breath. “What I’ve said, I will not deny… Yes, you are a witch.”

            Raviex and Shenjoon immediately shifted away from him. They could feel a deathly vibe from the elder Fierell sister. I can’t believe he admitted to it! Raviex wondered if she really was a witch because the clouds suddenly darkened and the strong wind blew even fiercely.

            “Sonia, something’s wrong!” warned Lorenne. A staff instinctively materialised in her hand.

            “I’ll deal with you later,” Sonia ensured Kyoden menacingly.

            Christine’s senses, which were trained to be as sensitive as a professional assassin‘s, were vigilant. From the moment she sensed something abnormal in the atmosphere; her daggers were already by her side. They were currently hundreds of feet of the ground, scaling the waist of a mountain. There was absolutely no room for carelessness. One slip and they would be free-falling to their deaths.

            “Do not activate your Skyglide lest your life depends on it. Conserve your Sacred Energy!” ordered Sonia. Her retractable silver spear extended in her hand, ready to strike. Their eyesight was limited by the gust of windstorm. Like the auburn-haired girl, Sonia tied her hair into a tight bun to keep them in place. The winds were slashing at their cloaks, threatening to rip them apart in malevolence.

            “Err… Raviex, is it me or are the mountains moving?” asked Kyoden, dumb-founded.

            “No, the mountains are moving,” confirmed Christine. The tremor became more prominent as the giants of nature altered in position. The shifts caused a roar deafening to the ears. It was all they could do to stay put and not fall of the mountain which they were on. The stretch of mountains sunk or rose, retreated or moved forward. Not one was stationary.

            “Yexi, watch out!” Shenjoon shove his unaware wife out of the way as a rock tumbled from the top. Yexi looked aghast at her near casualty as the rock crashed onto her previous spot, shattering into smaller pieces.

            “Thanks,” she uttered.

            “Always tell me when you are meditating. You have to let me cover you,” breathed Shenjoon, grateful for the close call as well.

            “What on Senadon is going on?” exclaimed Kyoden.

            “The mountains are rejecting us!” shouted Sonia to the group.

            “That’s impossible. We’re natives. The guardians should know they are our guests,” Lorenne mulled over the unexpected situation. “Unless…”

            Yexi finished for her. “You have uninvited guests.”

            A Valkyrian war craft dramatically appeared from the corner of their mountain, causing a wave of dread to wash over the group of seven.

            “Duck!” Sonia screamed.

            Just as all of them dropped to the ground, a line of laser beam swiped above them, missing them by inches. Christine smelled singed hair in the air. It did not help that the mountains were unstable. To their utmost horror, the war craft shot its laser beam vertically at the mountain they were on, intending to plunge them to their deaths.

            Lorenne shrieked as she became the first to fall off the side of the mountain. The rest soon met the same fate as the rocks cracked and gave way beneath their feet. The Valkyrians were more than determined to kill them, firing bullets after them even as they fell.

            It was the instinct of survival which drove them to activate their Skyglides but the vicious wind kept them from good manoeuvre. Being the most clear-headed one, Sonia extended her silver spear and struck it into the body of the mountain, instantly halting her fall. She hung onto it with both arms. While her spear was able to support her, she didn’t know how long she could support herself as her muscles strained from the fighting against the gravity. She could not afford to think about others then. She had to save herself first.

            A metallic arrow shot from below, a titanium rope trailing from its tail. It encircled itself around the shaft of Sonia’s spear. “Thanks, Sonia!” Kyoden’s voice was heard, his body dangling in mid air with the rope as his only hope for survival.

            “Oh, don’t thank me. I didn’t really mean to save you, Kaneshiro! Maybe I should cut your rope, huh? I’m an evil witch anyway,” said Sonia through gritted teeth. Her fingers were sweaty, which was something worth for her to worry.

            “You don’t mean that,” laughed Kyoden nervously.

            “Shut up, Kaneshiro, I’m trying to think of a way to get us out of this bloody mess!”

            Sonia felt her heart skipped a beat as her fingers slipped from her spear. It was her blunder which would cost her life. The world around her whirled around as she fell.

            “Gotcha’!” mumbled Kyoden as he caught hold of her right arm. He gave a forced smile. Beads of sweat flowed from his forehead. “Hold on! Don’t let go of me!”

            She cast an anxious look at him and the rope. “I’m too heavy. Your rope can’t support both of us!” she argued, “You’ll fall along with me!”

            “No, you listen to me! We will survive this! This is a rope of titanium. It will not fail us. So, you will shut up now and think of a way to save us!”

            Sonia was flabbergasted by his overtaking of authority. For once, she felt relieved she was not in control.

            Meanwhile, Shenjoon had taken hold of Yexi. “Yexi, bind yourself to me with your sash.” She did as told and hurriedly wrapped her silk sash around his torso. It would have been a ridiculous task if she weren’t using her Sacred Energy.

            “Tao-Yang Energy Armour!” commanded Shenjoon. Instantly, a golden aura enveloped him to increase his defence. “Tao-Yang Energy Cloak!” This time, his strength soared through levels.

            Knowing this was the only way to rescue them; he powered his Skyglide in the direction of the mountain and swung a fist into the rocky wall with all his might. He held back the excruciating pain and swallowed a groan as his body hit the wall in momentum, knocking the breath out of him. Ramming in the second fist nevertheless, to gain a firm hold, he could not imagine what it was like to do this without the help of the Tao-Yang Energy Armour.

            “Shenjoon!” cried Yexi who had clung to his back. It wouldn’t do for her to see her husband so badly hurt for their sake.

            “I’m okay, Yexi,” he gasped, though it was an obvious facade. “I’m doing this so that you can sing to me to sleep again tonight. I don’t want any of us to die. Not now…”

            In his ears, he heard her sob.

 

            “Raviex!” shouted Christine. To her bewilderment, one second she saw him falling beside her and the next, he disappeared.

            Raviex felt his body hit a solid surface. The landing made him nauseous and disorientated. He thought he was a goner but a soft echo-like chuckle alerted his mind.

            “Yes, you are not dead… yet!”

            He rose to his feet, grasping onto Letaikno as he experienced a shockwave of Darkness Sacred Energy.

            “Look at you. You’re weak--”

            Raviex witnessed a fading blur in confusion and the next moment, he experienced an immense shove in the stomach. The strength of it did not seem to belong to a normal human. He was certain it had broken a few of his ribs. What frightened him more was the fact that he could not lay his eyes on his attacker.

            “You’re defenceless--”

            The voice was strange, as though its owner was far away yet very much in the vicinity of him. There was that fading blur again. Where---

            An agonizing blow landed on his back. He collapsed to the ground. What was going on? Where was he? Who was the attacker?

            “And you want to be king,” the assailant sneered. “You have no idea just how feeble and frail you are… just like your father.”

            At the insult of his father, Raviex retorted irately, “He was not weak!” Enraged by his provocative words, he ignored his pain and stood up, burning to strike Letaikno at the offender. But there was no one in the vast white space.

            “The game doesn’t work that way, foolish Prince. In this space, I am in control. Now, how about we invite your little girlfriend to join us, hmm?” he proposed mischievously.

            “No! Stay away from her!” he bellowed.

            “Aww… you didn’t say ‘please’!”

            Raviex’s blue eyes widened in terror as a hooded figure appeared with Christine struggling against him. “Let me go!” she screeched.

            “Ryn!”

            “Raviex!”

            “The Royal Couple, I see,” he sniggered. “Don’t worry, I will let the two of you unite—in hell!”

            The figure grabbed at Christine’s throat and threw her at Raviex who was rushing to her aid. “Didn’t I tell you I will unite the two of you?” he goaded. With a swipe of a hand, he flung Ryn off Raviex as if she was a rag doll. The violent blow knocked her into unconsciousness.

            He bent down near his head. As Raviex lay indignantly on the ground, he saw within the hood and saw a mask of a snake which concealed a pair of devilish eyes and partially the face of the person. “What did I say, Your Highness? You are useless. You can’t protect the one you love. You can’t even protect yourself!” he scoffed at him. “You have barely seen a part of my powers.”

            Raviex swung a defeated punch at him but missed miserably. He got onto his four and attempted to fight back but was kicked at the side, sliding a few feet away.

            “No matter how you try, you cannot beat me. If you live through this, I want you to remember how I humiliate you,” he hissed.

            “WHO ARE YOU?” roared Raviex in bitterness and anguish.

            “I’m glad you asked,” he said in pseudo sweetness.  “I am Lazachus Valkyr. At your service, Your Highness.” Smirking, he snapped his fingers.

            All of a sudden, Raviex found himself back at the Silvongein, falling.