The Prophesy: Book 1 - Cave Lupus

Dunbar had taken the watch covering matins to lauds, and just couldn't stay still. He kept coming back to that mosaic on the wall, fascinated by a figure that begged him to call to it. However hard he tried, each time he tried to access the memory, an excruciating pain hit his brain.

Finally frustrated, he took his wheel, which had been transmitted from generation to generation, for times immemorial, and began to look at it; the delicate finish it showed fascinated him. As he passed, once more, near the motifs, he felt a tug on the wheel, and intrigued, decided to follow its pull. The closer he got to the mosaic, the stronger the pull, until the gold chain became painful as it dug in his neck. Unable to move away, he had no choice but untie the chain that was strangling him. As soon as it was loose, the wheel flew and inserted itself in a motif of the ceramic tiles, which was held by one of the figurines. Immediately, a gong was heard, that woke up everyone in the palace, and brought the royals to the throne room.

The first to arrive on the site was Harp, and he found Dunbar, unconscious, on the floor right beside the wall. As he began to try and bring Dunbar to his senses, Sitar ran in, with Paschal on his heels, soon followed by Enron and the two kings, and finally by Williams, whose legendary sleeping habits made him harder to wake than a dead man.

Harp did not go into fineries: he teleported Dunbar to the river's middle, and dunked the man in it a second or two, before bringing the cold, soggy, sputtering Dunbar back to the room, wet clothes and all.

"By Merlin, what happened to me? I'm all wet!"

"You said it," replied Harp, "It's by Merlin that this happened. You lost consciousness, and however hard I slapped you, you didn't come back. I figured a cold bath would do the trick. And it did. Now, would you care to explain who tried to strangle you? We can see a deep red mark around your neck, like someone tried to use a chain to finish you off?"

The past events began to surface to the memory of the still groggy Dunbar, and he began exposing what had transpired as he was doing his watch. As he finished his explanations, he turned his eyes toward the wall and saw that the figure he had been so closely monitoring was now bright.

"I see that Hauhet is bright. And you see that wheel he holds? That is my wheel. It is the wheel of infinity, the wheel of navigators, the wheel of time. I know, for I am Hauhet, inventor of the Wheel, the Clock, and of Time itself, the Navigator between the Stars."

"Well, another one of us has found his lost identity. Only Samson, Enron and Williams need to find theirs now, according to that mosaic," stated Sitar, and bringing to their attention that only three more figures were still dark in the mosaic.

"If the motifs on the figures are indicative, I would say one is the flyer, another is the shipwright, and another is the fish." Harp said.

"That's not a fish, prince Harp," intervened duke Arnakaton. "Dad kept yelling at me it was a dolphin, a sea mammal, whatever that is. For me if it lives in water, it's a fish."

"A dolphin, you say? Like this one?" said Samson, as he showed a tiny ivory sculpture carved in the teeth of an animal. "This too is very old, and had been in our family for unknown years."

Samson's Ivory Dolphin Key

"Hey, that looks like the one held by that other figurine, there, see?" Harold said.

"Yes, indeed, it does, but I don't feel a call to put it in place, yet. It's like something's missing."

"I have a wood sculpture in my luggage that is identified as a ship, but I have never seen any like it, even during my long stay at the naval shipwright on the east coast. Maybe it would fit there, but unfortunately it's in my wagon, now in Eloise, under the guard of Queen Annabelle. Come to think of it, why isn't Queen Annabelle present? I see her nowhere in this composition."

"Probably because she is not necessary for this to unfold," answered Sitar.

"I have asked for mom to find your ship, Williams. Can you give her a visual of how it looks?" Paschal requested.

A few minutes later, a strange-looking object popped on the throne's dais, which literally flew to lodge itself in the socket that befitted it like a glove. Williams collapsed on the floor and was dunked in the river by Harp before anyone could even blink.

 

William's Egyptian Reed Boat

"Once works, works again!" Harp said, grinning devilishly, as it was Williams' turn to sputter water out of his lungs, while looking at Harp with murderous eyes.

"One day, I'll dunk you!" Williams said, "and we will see if you smile as much!"

"You can always try!"

"If you dunk me, I'll join Williams and Dunbar in the Harp hunt party!" said Enron. "Anyways, what did that bout of blackout bring to the surface?"

"Re! I now know my name is Re, the shipright that put the eyes of Horus up in the sky! We were planning on something when disaster stuck. I have yet to recover the full memory, but it seems there is a lot hidden, all over this world, about who we really are."

"I am last. What is so special about me?" Enron wondered.

"You said that his sign was flight, how do you see that?" Samson asked.

"The feather. Do you have a feather on you, Enron?"

"Well, yes, I do, it's my favourite falcon's tail feather, which he lost in a battle with a rabbit once. I had to pluck it out to let a new feather grow. I brushed it and preened it until it was as good as new. Let me get it, it's always with my pens."

A few minutes later, a long metallic container appeared beside Enron.

"Better move away from that wall, if it is what is expected, that thing could enter a misplaced eye faster than anything as it jumps to reach the keyhole. Dad, put the dolphin on the dais, there. If it is the next key, it will want to get in place too." Samson did as Enron suggested, expectant.

Everyone moved out of the way, and Enron opened the box. The feather did not rush to the assigned place but gently rose from the box, rotated and moved ever closer to the wall, until it came to rest on the alveoli that fitted its shape perfectly.

This time, Enron did not faint, but blinked in amazement, as a name imposed himself on his mind. "Hator, the pilot! I am Hator, the pilot! I can fly anything that flies!"

As Enron said his magic name, the matching figurine shone brightly. Suddenly, the dolphin began to swim the air, and moved to take its rightful place in the mosaic, to the amazement of the onlookers. Finally it set itself into the dolphin-shaped hole and the mosaic was complete! Everyone looked at Samson, waiting for the revelation of his secret identity.

"I hear Yamm, vastness, seas of stars, currents of dust, flow of voids. I feel vastness of insurmountable distances, calls of worlds unseen, unborn, dying. This is incredible! I know I am missing some powerful tools to complete my task. What they are, I have no idea."

"We all feel the same, Samson. I feel incomplete, like I must do a quest for those things I need to accomplish a task, but there is a pressure building within me telling me we have little time left," Williams completed.

"All this confirms our previous feelings that we have something important to accomplish, but that the window of time to accomplish it is growing narrower by the day." Paschal said.

"This is nice, but we need to rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day." Harp suggested.

Everyone, except Williams, in charge of the lauds to prime watch, retired, tired. Prime was way too close for comfort, and everyone dreaded the upcoming teleportation schedule. And the debate as to where to move Thebe was still not resolved. No one could seem to come with a viable option, as moving that amount of rock and mortar would definitely have some impact at both ends.

***

As expected, prime came too early for everyone, but discipline prevailed, and Paschal was put to contribution to indicate how to safely dismantle the fortifications while the debate on where to put this city raged on.

Finally, Harp had enough and said, forcefully, "Let's analyze the problem logically! We need to establish what is needed and see where we can find the appropriate conditions! What are these conditions?"

"First, solid ground. We cannot move that into a bog!" Sitar said.

"Second, very little or no life!" added Enron, "I do not want to crush defenceless life forms, and I include trees!"

"It must be as far south as possible! I do not want to redo that exercise every ten days!" completed Samson.

"It need not be habitable, since we do not intend to occupy it for a while, if ever." Harold muttered, tired as he was.

"Any more conditions?"

No one seemed to find any, so the hunt for a proper emplacement began.

"Solid ground is everywhere, but without trees or inhabitants, that's more restricted. And we forgot to mention relatively flat, since I do not intend to level a mountain to place this one in its stead!" Harp said.

"Roars is relatively empty, but has forests and mines spread all over the place, so it's not viable." Samson began as he counted on his fingers. "Wyvern is very hilly, and has active volcanoes, we do not want to put anything there. Xipihas is inhabited rather densely, as are Lee, Acadia and Arcadia, and have a dense forest cover as well. Ypres is farmed, and would probably not appreciate that kind of impact on its farmlands. Jacobson is very mountainous, with old volcanoes that covered Lava Flows with thick layers of lava. Hey, that might be the place. Lava Flows is sparsely populated, the lava flows cover vast flat fields, there is next to no vegetation as the lava is very hard to cover with trees and extremely acidic in nature. And it is one of the most southern duchies!"

"Who is the duke?" Enron asked, "During the bloodbath in Elven Woods, the duke was murdered by a competitor for your seat, Samson."

"He wanted the king's ass?" Arnakaton asked, "Isn't that naughty?"

The naivety of the question brought a smile to the face of the royals. Harp kindly explained that there was an attempt to overthrow the king, and that the duke being a supporter of the Crown, was killed by those that wanted to cause trouble.

"Like my dad?"

"Yes, like your dad." Turning towards Enron, he continued, "I'll be going shortly to Lava Flows, with Paschal. We will try to find the flattest, most likely emplacement, make sure it is evacuated of all life forms, and mark the area so that when we are back, we can all start porting the city's walls and the castle piece by piece. Paschal should be back soon, I hope. The day is progressing, and I still need to bring Bjorn back to his people. In fact, I'll do that right away."

"Be safe son, they might have changed their view about us over the past nineteen thousand years."

"I doubt it, dad, these big foot guys probably evolve at the pace of mountains. But I will be careful. We will be accompanied by a centurie of wolves."

"As for who is the duke, it's a young pre-teen, about half of Enron's age, which probably doesn't even know his dad is dead yet. I, oops, Enron will have to name a regent until the boy reaches enough maturity to exercise power with due sagacity. We sent a wolf mail, but the travel to Lava Flows, at best of times, is treacherous. Too bad we didn't know how to port things then."

"Missing power, dad? Ask and you get it back!"

"Hey, can't I even make a slip of the tongue in my old age?"

"No, only bite it!"

***

Harp quickly had a centurie of wolves under command of Greywolf ready to port to the last known emplacement of the Trolls. Bjorn, again well fed by his god Montue, was willing to follow Harp to hell and back as ordered by Sitar.

"I have a visual from a wolf that is in the vicinity of where you last saw your people. He says he has not seen any this summer yet, which is worrisome, since summer is coming to a close. However we will start from there, Bjorn. I will port our friends first, and they will verify it is safe for us, since we are a lot bigger than they are. Is your group ready, Greywolf?"

«Yes, Harp.»

«The anchor wolf and his pack are expecting you. They have found a clearing. Porting in three, two, one, now!"

Harp ported the wolves in packs of ten, because the clearing was small, and Greywolf quickly dispersed his unit in a defensive circle. Spotting a boulder that would give him a clear view and let him give Bjorn a safe port he quickly climbed on it and signalled his readiness to anchor Bjorn and his family's teleportation to the site. As soon as the family of Trolls, or, as the Ancients named them, Bigfoot, was safely ported, Harp followed using the eyes of Greywolf as anchor.

The wolf pack and Greywolf began exploring the woods for traces of Trolls, in ever expanding circles. Harp quickly enrolled the neighbouring packs as well, and it became apparent that there were no trolls in the vicinity, for over fifty miles in all directions. It also became apparent that the tribe could not have moved north very far, as a thick layer of ice blocked passes, and glacier tongues descended deep within the valleys. The wolves themselves had begun a southerly migration, following their staple food as it moved ever further away.

"We will have to move further down south, Bjorn. It is apparent that your people have followed your tracks in an effort to escape famine. Let us hope they haven't fallen into unscrupulous hands."

The wolves moved rapidly south, with a group of wolves leading them in an arc, constantly searching for any traces of the remaining Trolls. Finally, a wolf found a cave that had protected them in their migration, and informed Harp it had not been visited since spring. Harp felt a sinking feeling as they progressed further and further south. As sext approached, a group of wolves informed the lead pack that they had spotted some of them moving south over two moons ago, trying to evade hunters.

Harp sped up the group's movement, increasing their jump rate as they tracked the last passage of trolls through the huge conifers of redwoods. A giant cave bear tried to interfere, but Harp was in no mood to play nice and sent the bear flying right across the river they were following.

"Montue friend mad?"

"Montue friend very mad. Wolves say hunters in area. If they harmed your kind, they will feed your kind!"

"Why flatfooted tried to interfere?"

"You mean the bear? He sees us as impinging on his territory, and I have no time to reason with that old grumpy male. He won't be bugging us any time soon."

The tracking progressed rapidly, and they found they were gaining on the Trolls by the minute. At nones, they were less than an hour behind, and expected to see the group any time soon up in the hills or below near the river.

«Quarry of prince of wolves sighted!» informed the wolf pack leader on which's territory they were now tracking the trolls. «Group moving up hill to escape hunters!»

«Us?»

«No. Evil two-legs. One wears black robe and very dangerous. He hunts with mind!»

«A mage. Well, well, we'll see if he has better luck than the last one that pissed me off!»

The group quickly moved up to have a better view of the situation. It was apparent that the trolls were getting tired of the pursuit, and would soon be cornered between the hunters and a vertical cliff face. The hunters were still two miles behind their quarry, but they seemed to know they had cornered the Bigfoot group, as they seemed to progress slowly, probably taunting the poor Trolls by delaying the inevitable. Harp decided to move his wolves between the hunters and the trolls, to create a buffer force. He studied the hunters and began assessing their position, weapons and tactics, while surveying the nature of the terrain the hunters would have to cross to reach the Trolls.

"Bjorn? I will teleport you right beside the leader of the group that is running. Can you convince them they must go down and take that narrow gorge there, to the left? The hunters expect them to continue climbing and are planning on encircling them on that little plateau, to the right. By taking that ravine, the group will outsmart the hunters and give us a better fighting chance, once they realize they have to follow them into the ravine to corner them. Tell them not to stay below the ravine's lower exit once they have finished climbing down but to follow that side ravine there, that climbs out further south. It is imperative they move out of the way before the hunters reach the top of the decline. I will teleport you slowly so do not be afraid. I just do not want that mage to detect me."

"Montue God friend knows hunting better than us. I will convince."

"Fine. Get ready. Greywolf, you will accompany him with twenty wolves. I will keep the rest with me, along with the wolf packs we collected along the way. We will split in two, a group to the left of the ravine, another to the right. I want them to enter that ravine! Once they are in it, I will begin collapsing its sides on them. That should keep the mage way too busy to ask where the hits come from."

Harp slowly teleported the entire group right in plain sight of the climbing Trolls, and, a few minutes later, was satisfied to see the group move towards the ravine's top, and begin to quickly descend.

Harp kept an eye on the hunters, who were tracking the Trolls. They were still ten minutes from the change of direction the trolls took when Greywolf signalled they had reached the bottom of the ravine and were now following the river to the ford and would begin climbing out shortly. Harp thanked Greywolf for his progress report, for he had lost sight of the moving trolls once they had reached the lower reaches of the ravine.

«The hunters have noticed the change of direction of the trolls, prince of wolves. Right now they are stopped.»

«I will move the first hundred wolves to their rear, blocking retreat. Get ready for teleportation. It will be slow.»

«We are ready.»

Teleportation went without a glitch, and totally undetected by the Black Mage.

«Let's get their attention! I will amplify your howls so they hear a horde, not a hundred. Let's give them reason to move into that ravine!" Harp focussed, and created a sound funnel that would use the cliff to create the impression there were wolves everywhere.

«Ready? Howl! Again! Again! Give them the howl of the hunter that has found his prey!»

The forest and the mountains resonated with the powerful, bone-melting sound of wolf howls reverberating across the mountains, bouncing from cliff to valley to cliff and back. The result was as expected! The hunters quickly decided to follow the trolls.

«They are moving again, as planned, Great Hunter!»

«Stay on their heels, but out of sight. The Black Mage cannot hit what he cannot see!»

«We are climbing out, Harp. We should be halfway up in a few minutes. The Trolls climb a lot better than us, and are helping us in the difficult parts.»

«Once everyone has reached the halfway point, inform me. I will close the trap on the hunters at that point.»

«Most are already past, I am last, with Bjorn. We verify no one is left behind. Ah, we just reached half-point, marked by a section that is a little less steep.»

«Thank you. Let the fun begin!»

The feeling that Greywolf felt from Harp sent shivers down his spine, he who had killed so many times to feed his family he had lost count. The expression used by the leader of the wolf pack on which they were resonated in his mind: Great Hunter, and that fitted Harp perfectly.

«Last hunter in trap, but mind hunter not entering.»

«I see, the fucker knows something is not right. Well, I won't give him much of a choice he will get in that hole!» Harp said, with a vicious smile on his face. He teleported himself to the lead wolf's location, and could see the Black mage trying to scan the area for a target. Harp noticed the sun was out and supplied them with nice shadows.

«Let's see if he can deal with that kind of magic! Do not be scared, your shadows will leave your body and grow, grow and grow, and give the mage something else to worry about, as each of your shadow will have enough opacity to create its own shadow. He will see your shadow as huge real wolves. Let's have some fun!»

The wolves, forewarned by Harp, disregarded the sudden loss of shadow, and saw with interest them leave their body and progress towards the unsuspecting mage, growing exponentially as they moved away from their respective owner. The mage finally took note of their presence, and began firing powerful bolts of light at them, expanding considerable energy, to no avail. The flashes of light only seemed to sharpen the edges of the shadows, making them look more real, more opaque.

Harp was impressed by the power the Black Mage was expanding, and figured he needed to enter the battle himself. He set himself on all fours, and used his own shadow to create a terrible-looking mix of wolf and human form, before attacking the mage by jumping from an impossible distance.

As his shadow got near enough to bite, Harp did so and found he had nothing to bite! This was also a shadow that was projected from somewhere else! Harp's hunting instinct took over and he began to rapidly trace back the tenuous mind link that joined the shadow to its sender. As fast as thought, he followed it through space and found himself in a dark cave lighted by black candles, indicative of the use of evil magic. In the center of the room was a person, sitting in the high concentration Blue lotus position, focussed on a crystal skull of power.

Projecting his own wolf shadow in the cave, Harp projected a powerful spell that began to fissure the crystal skull as a high-pitched, powerful sound resonated in the cave. The surprise on the face of the Black mage was total, for she, and it was a she, Harp noticed, had neglected to block her trail as she projected herself to guide the hunters to her preys.

«Who are you? Stop what you are doing! This artefact is irreplaceable!»

«You will no longer need any artefact, for today you lose your magical core! It is the last time you mingle with me, Meagan! You have invested too much of yourself in the Skull, and its destruction will leave you less powerful mage-wise than a krill!»

«Who are you? I demand to know!»

«I am no fool. You will know when the destruction of your core is complete and I have imprisoned it for eternity within the center of that black hole that powers the skull, and ejected you to the eternal void where you shall forever drift!»

«You cannot do that. No one can!»

«Ask that to your lackey which I disposed some time back! Have you ever wondered what happened to that demon you conjured and that took control of Marlin for you? Yes! I felt your attempt at controlling him, and your total failure in doing so. You were always a poor sorceress, then and now!»

«You know me?»

«I named you, didn't I, while you are still struggling to put a name on me!»

As the destruction of the crystal skull progressed, Meagan's magic core collapsed into the enclosed black hole, eliciting ever more desperate efforts by the doomed sorceress to escape her fatal destiny. Her body was frozen still, as her mind was totally absorbed by the losing battle. Finally the skull exploded into a fine crystalline dust, much finer than the finest sand, and Harp stopped the sound.

"Who are you?" said an old voice that betrayed the real age of the person now crumpled on the floor.

"I am Merlin, the one you betrayed at Lancelot! Evil then, evil now, but less powerful than a krill you are. I told you then, I tell you now, Meagan: Cave Lupus! Since you are now unable to use magic to regenerate your body and move around, I will do you a last favour, before returning to my body. I will move you to your bed. Eat lightly, from now on, Meagan, your body will degrade exponentially as the days go by. If you value the beauty of life, ask that they bring you to a rose garden so you can at least die in a beautiful setting. I am sad this had to be your end, but it is of your own choosing that you decided to serve the dark. I never hated you, whatever your beliefs on the matter. Evil is your nature, and evil you will stay until the end, but, like goodness is not of the good's choosing, evilness is not of the evil one's choosing. One must learn to accept these facts. May your last days be in peace, but for some reason, I know that your condition will trigger a violent reaction within your entourage. Unfortunately, you will not be able to keep it secret, no more than the devil lackey's condition could be kept secret. Your days as grey eminence of the Order of the Dark are over. I wonder what you offered that mage for him to sacrifice his soul to the devil? Certainly not your beauty, even when young you were ugly as a sin!"

With that Harp teleported the pathetic residue of a once powerful sorceress to her bed, before extinguishing the candles and returning to his body. As he emerged from the trance, he heard the lead wolf worry about his condition.

«I am back, I disposed of the Black Mage, an old acquaintance of mine. Let's rid the world of the hunters.»

A quick survey of the ravine showed a number of unstable boulders the size of houses ready to fall off the top and roll into the narrow passage. Harp did not hesitate, and quickly sent them rolling down. The cries of pain and terror echoed in the ravine as the rocks cascaded down with ever-faster speed. Finally, silence fell, as the last rocks could be heard smashing against the far down wall of the gorge.

«Would you join the Royal Canine army? Food, shelter, but a risky life awaits you,» offered Harp to the wolves that had served him so well.

«We were waiting for your request. We accept.»

«Think of your dens. I will first send your family behind our lines, to join the other wolves.»

Harp quickly proceeded to the transfer of the pups and females to Solon, where they would join the other wolf families. He then transferred the wolf packs to Thebes, where they replenished the thinned up wolf army. Finally, he ported the trolls up the mountains of Mistral, along with the wolves. That had accompanied Greywolf and Bjorn.

«How many trolls do we have in all?»

«Four times my paws» said Greywolf.

«So few, so few!» as Harp mentally converted the number to eighty.

"Are there any more trolls that they know of?»

"No, I asked where the others were, they got captured and killed. We are what is left of us."

"This is a tragedy. I will set a barrier around your new lands, but as I told you before, you may need to move again, depending on what happens. I will be back for you that day."

"We trust Montue God friend. We will stay here, waiting."

"I contacted the canines of this region, they are foxes and coyotes mostly, smaller than wolves. They will warn you of danger, and team with you to protect your families. The equines, which are very small, because wood and them do not go well, have also accepted to contribute to your protection to the best of their capacities. Please refrain from considering them as food."

"We obey Montue God."

"Thank you." Turning to Greywolf, Harp said, «Ready for teleportation back to main camp, we should be just in time for supper. All this has delayed our departure by a day. Gods propose, Necessity disposes!»

The wolves quickly arrayed themselves in order ready for teleportation. A few minutes later they were back in Thebes.

***

"Well, son, your short trip west took the whole day!"

"I know dad, but unforeseen issues popped up. Remember that mage that had taken control of Marlin, which we so summarily disposed of? Well, I had felt a familiar tug when we got the bastard ravaged, and I found out today who it was, as I dealt her the final blow to her long carrier in service of the dark. I also found out there are eighty Trolls left out of the five thousand or so we rescued when we crossed the land bridge nineteen thousand years ago. I have brought them closer, so it will be easier for us to protect them. As for Meagan, she is degenerating fast, and will be dust in a few weeks, I'd say. Regretfully, her last days will not be peaceful and quiet, as her grip on the Dark has not been without creating her enemies."

"Anyways, son, we did not wait on you, Paschal and Sitar went to Lava Flows and levelled off a field for the teleportation of the city by section. All is ready. Food, rest, and tomorrow morning we do what we had planned to do today."

"Any more insights from our newly enlightened?"

"No, Harp, only minor ones. However, before teleporting the mosaic and the building, Paschal told us we need to recover our little keys. He says they have not yet finished their role. We will do that tomorrow morning, just before beginning the teleportation of the castle."

"I think so too. These little objects have travelled through time for a reason, and I sense it was not to simply create a light show."

The royals returned to their apartments in the palace, while Greywolf integrated the new recruits in the wolf army, replenishing those units that had suffered the most losses.

The next morning, the teleportation went on schedule this time. Paschal and Sitar had worked well, giving each marker a unique signature so they could teleport the proper segment of the city in its place and in sequence. As each marker disappeared, crushed by the mass of the teleported material, the signals became clearer, and the most delicate parts of the process were undertaken.

The last part was the palace and its necropolis, as this was the biggest piece, and yet the most complex to move. The royals took an hour-long break and used this time to recover their keys from the mosaic, which returned to its dull color as each key fell in the hand of its legitimate holder.

The royals bounded into a single mind an hour after sext, and readied themselves for the teleportation of the palace. Each occupied a strategic location around the palace, far enough to let the teleportation of the necropolis go as planned as well without being caught in the field.

Harp was in charge of the whole operation, as Great Grand Master Mage. After verifying that everyone was in perfect resonance, he began building the field around the grounds, grabbing deep below the palace to include the deepest layers of the necropolis. Simultaneously, a shimmering wall of energy appeared in Lava Flows, a sphere of energy that dug as deep as the one encircling the palace.

«Ready to port on count of three!»

Everyone acknowledged and Harp began the countdown.

"Three two one Port!"

The air shimmered, as it seemed to become very hot, and then suddenly the palace vanished, to be replaces instantly by a circular plate of lava that fitted perfectly into the vacated hole. The whole process was so smooth not even a breath of air was heard.

«Transfer complete. Verify positioning.»

«Positioning perfect!»

«Disengage!»

Each one recovered its independence of though process, and the army began to move south and west along the road leading to Ra. No trace of Thebes could be found on its previous location, as even the earth bonded to seal the fissure that marked the emplacement of the energy sphere used during teleportation. Reaching Ra took them the rest of the day, and they rapidly crossed the bridge to find themselves across the river. Once this process was done, the village in Ma got evacuated, and what was left of its inhabitants joined the royal army in Ra. The royal again practiced their policy of burnt land, and teleported the few houses down to Solon, as further help to the farmers of Ma that had been displaced.

***

The next few days were relatively quiet, as the orcs had to either move further south or further north to cross the rive into Ra. It took three days for the army to reach the fork of the road leading to Edom. The further south they moved, the more apparent it became that Ra was evacuating intensively southward. In fact, a few questions revealed that most people that were not invaluable to the defence of Alamein and Gdansk were also taking the road south. This had unforeseen consequences, as the royal army had to navigate its way through roads packed with refugees.

Fortunately, the road to Edom was clear, as most refugees from that segment of Ra had elected to move into Astor at their border point with Ra, reported a few lost souls they met on their way. Within two days, the royal army reached Edom's border and collected the units and able-bodied fighters in the border posts on its way towards Edom's capital, still a couple of days away, as the hilly terrain was again beginning to hurt their progress.

Then the problems began in earnest. Orcs were everywhere, and were harassing the column, hindering its progress towards the first bridge they needed to take, one leading into Ra' upper northern reaches. The further they progressed, the harder the resistance was, as the number of orcs increased with every mile. It was impractical to shield the entire length of the column that now extended several miles, therefore only advanced units were offered protection as they rammed into the orcs.

The boys were kept busy day and night, taking shifts, one protecting a unit while another use telekinesis to throw huge boulders at the orcs. Everything short of mountains went flying in every direction, falling on the offending enemies like raindrops in a thunderstorm.

The most difficult task was taking the bridge crossing into Ra. Orcs figured out they could hide under it and withstand the bombardment, so its underside and infrastructure was packed tight with them.

«Can't use rocks there, Harp, We need that bridge. Keep the further end clear. I'll see what we can do from here. Sitar, throw rocks at the far bank, make it impractical for them to reach the underside using the steep bank.»

«The issue is there are orcs on both banks, and we cannot see the nearest one's condition from our vintage point, Enron. I suspect there are as many rats on one side as on the other, and I don't dare use rocks in close quarters, our front units are too close!»

«I know, Paschal, and the superstructure isn't worth a used shoe string, so we can't use it to look at the situation. In fact, I just saw a crossbeam fall in the river because there were too many orcs holding to it.»

"We need a bird's eye view of the situation, Enron." Harold commented, as he stood beside the Regent, watching the rain of rocks lapidating the orcs across the river in Ra.

"Why didn't I think of that?" exclaimed Enron. "Let's see if I can get into an eagle's brain and use its eyes!"

Enron closed his eyes and searched the area for a bird of prey. He wanted that type of bird because they had high manoeuvrability during flight, and sharp eyes. It took him several minutes to locate a nest of Royal Eagles, high up on a dead tree, some miles behind their lines.

It became apparent quite fast that flying without vision was impossible, and that if he took control of the eyes, he would have to take control of the flying as well. The bird itself was uncooperative, not really understanding what was expected, giving new meaning to the expression birdbrain.

Frustrated, Enron finally decided to learn to fly an eagle. First things first, get to the ground, without being spotted by orcs, who would not hesitate to jump on food falling from the sky! The eagle wasn't hearing of it, and finally, Enron decided to get his taxiing lessons in the nest and the branch fork it was on. To get a feel of things, he stripped, and took the position of a sitting eagle, before trying to walk. Enron's eagle walk on the ground, between the wolves, would later launch a new fad in dancing styles: the Eagle Dance, which had even the wolves howl in laughter.

The next step was a quick glide from one tree to the next. It almost ended the flying career of Enron's bird plane, as he collided with a branch on landing. Fortunately, reflexes took over, and the talons gripped the swinging branch for dear life!

It took several near misses before Enron noticed that the eagle's eyes were bi-focal, and that the lower part was able to see very minute details far away, while the upper part was for close up vision. Once he noticed this fact, he also became aware that the eyes were able to look in different directions at the same time, giving him a near circular vision, with optional binocular vision when the eyes were looking ahead. This realization made him aware that, as he closed in on a branch, he could bring his eyes to create a precise map of the space ahead, and give him remarkable capacity to see depth. From there, landing became a lot easier.

The next fun was learning to really fly. He quickly learned that forcing the body up with the simple strength of the wings wouldn't get him far, as he would tire considerably, quickly. Further trials and errors brought to light other secrets of eagles' flight. The tail feathers were used both to stabilize and govern the direction of flight; curving the long feathers up on one side while pushing the matching opposing feathers on the opposite side made for fast curves; extending the wings increased support, while folding them cut it and allowed for dives. The ultimate secret to flying was using the air to buoy the body using updrafts to climb and glide from one updraft to another.

Meanwhile, below on earth, Enron's arms mimicked every single movement of the bird in flight; even his hairs rose and fell on his body as the bird's feathers were ordered to do so. The elves, horses and wolves watched, fascinated by the silent mimic of an eagle performed by Enron. The last lesson Enron learned was to reduce drag by tucking the feet as close as possible to the underside, reducing the cross section that collided with air.

Finally feeling secure in his ability to take off, fly the bird, and land it intact, Enron took to the sky and began studying the ground below him from an altitude of a mile. He soon realized he had to work hard to keep his attention on what he needed to see, as his eyes were constantly attracted by furtive movements of rodents, mice, rats, rabbits, and other eagle food.

He quickly moved towards the river and saw the long snake of his army along the road, but also the huge number of orcs around them, skirmishes occurring everywhere along the length of the column, and orcs concentrating on his rear, probably to attack the rear guard. He memorized the situation and estimated the orcs would be in position within thirty minutes.

Moving towards the front, he quickly saw the work of Harp, whose rain of rocks left bloody spots where once orcs stood. He stayed clear, not wanting to be hit by friendly fire. The bridge appeared in front of him, dark, and crowded with orcs. The far side of the river was being bombarded constantly, and orcs continued falling into the river, either because the rock surface they were holding suddenly let go and plunged, or they got it by falling rocks, either Sitar's doing or the fracturing of the river bank under the repeated assaults. Enron also got a clear view of the near side of the bridge, and saw that the orcs were densely packed, having figured they would be safe from the rock falls there.

He relayed the images to Paschal, which immediately demonstrated to the orcs that their assumptions were wrong by deluging their highest concentrations with boulders bigger than houses. Harp was also happy to listen in to the transmission from Enron as it gave him much better precision to hit orc concentrations than just hitting the banks randomly. Sitar hitchhiked on it as well to fine-tune his throws so his biggest rocks fell less than two feet away from the bridge.

Harold and Samson decided to enter the dance and began throwing smaller bits of rocks across the bridge, one doing the top, and the other the bottom. Hundreds of rocks, no bigger than a fist, began a horizontal flight from the river's bed to the orc concentration hiding under the bridge or on top of it. Even a two-ounce piece of rock, thrown at two hundred miles per hour, can kill. This was amply demonstrated as the orcs began to rain into the river from the bridge. If boulders are rare, the smaller the piece of rock, the more of them there are. The two kings literally sanded the bridge clean of orcs.

Enron released the eagle, which took off for its nest at speed, wanting out of the area as fast as possible. The column resumed its progress and quickly took the now cleared bridge, crossing into Ra to head towards their first objective, the dam that kept the lake feeding the river they were crossing.

«Williams, Yamato, Dunbar! There is a concentration of orcs on our rear. Here is their position relative to yours. Douse their ardour!» Enron projected as he sent the three dukes a map of the area as he remembered it from his over-flight. The sudden arrival of a hailstorm composed of bits of granite no bigger than marbles but falling at speeds sufficient to make their surface glow took the orcs by surprise, given the sky was cloudless and nothing foretold of a sudden change in the weather!

***

The battle for Edom was far from over, as two more bridges needed to be taken in order to break Sodom's encirclement, one below the city, and one representing the top of the dam.

Enron figured that the help of birds to scurry enemy positions was too good to be neglected from now on, and, since wolves and horses were now in the impossibility of feeding them information from the ground, he would do some spying himself. However riding a horse and flying were incompatible. Realizing this fact, Enron called for an early halt as they neared the first bridge over the Jordan, and this time took control of a falcon that happened to fly over the column's rear, looking for mice or rabbits disturbed by the thumping of the army on the move.

His experience with the Royal Eagle proved extremely valuable as he quickly managed to take the bird's controls and prevent a headlong collision with a looming boulder at ground level. He pulled himself out of the nose-dive and used the acquired speed to do a spiralling candle climb, he rapidly reached a comfortable altitude and proceeded to orient himself.

Spotting the first bridge, less then two miles off from his advanced units, he took a first pass over the bridge to notice it was not currently occupied by orcs, a questionable strategic error. He decided to fly over the river itself, between its banks, in order to assess the situation. What this pass revealed sent shivers down his spine. The river was overflowing with corpses of orcs and an occasional crocodile. To produce that amount of cold cuts, there must have been a raging battle upriver!

Gaining altitude, he then veered east to survey the road leading to the dam. It too seemed unguarded, but to have been intensively used. A more careful examination revealed quite a few bones sticking out of the tall grass on the sides. He perched his bird on a tall overhanging branch and studied what he saw. He spotted crocodile skeletons, recognizable by their strange head, and quite a lot of orcs. It became apparent that some form of fest had occurred along the road, and it downed on him that he was surveying the usual post-battle residues of orcs winning some advantage.

Proceeding further north, he reached the dam to a spectacle he has come to expect from his flight low over the river. The orcs and crocodiles were fighting like mad, falling on either side of the dam in a ferocious free-for-all.

As he spiralled, high up over the dam and the lake, he began to discern a pattern. Orcs held the dam and the southern shores of the lake, while the crocodiles held the lake and their hunters held the upper, northernmost shores of the lake. Could this be of use, he wondered.

Finally, he took off across the lake for Sodom, and noticed rapidly that it had been under siege for quite a while and was encircled, on land by orcs, and on water by crocodiles. There was a running battle, but not between the city and its besieging armies: The raging battle was between orcs and priests! An occasional catapult would throw a rock at either camp, the moment they came within range.

Having gotten what he was looking for, Enron turned the bird back on its track and began to survey the lake from above in further detail. What he saw gave him food for thought. A train of crocodiles ran from the northern shores right through the lake to the dam. Only a tiny portion was trying to lay siege to Sodom, almost all were moving to the dam to confront the orcs. Moving further inland, Enron quickly followed the trail left by the crocodiles across the mountains and through a narrow pass, which he had never heard of. Unfortunately, he could not cross the pass himself, because he reached his maximum flying altitude before making his s way to the top. Resigned, he brought back the falcon, and released it over his column where he had taken him.

After such a long flight, it took a few minutes for Enron to regain his composure. Deciding a quick telepathic meeting was in order to get suggestions as to how to proceed, he immediately called for a telepathic conference of all commanding officers not currently involved in skirmishes.

«What is the situation, Enron?» Harold questioned.

«The road to Sodom is relatively clear, we have only a thin layer of orcs keeping us from entering. The road to the dam is also open, but I wonder about one thing.»

«What is that son?»

«Is it worthwhile to take the dam? We take it we find ourselves on a narrow ledge, between crocodiles on one side and orcs on the other, and at both ends. Is that position so vital we actually need to occupy the dam? We would be like the finger between the hammer and the anvil, and for what gain?»

Everyone gave thought to the proposition, and finally, Paschal spoke up.

«I think Enron is right. Let's take Sodom, evacuate them as fast as possible, and get out. Let the orcs and crocodiles beat on each other. I do not expect the orcs to understand our intention of leaving them the battlefield so they can deal with the crocodiles in peace. They are too dumb to see further than short-term gains, so we will need to drill a passage in their ranks to get the Sodomites out of their hole.»

«What about Ur? Babylon is but a stone throw away from Sodom. What do we do?» Williams asked.

"I suggest we do a sweeping arc movement: storm Sodom, get everyone out by mass teleportation, turn west, cross into Ur, and storm Babylon, get everyone out, exit and enter Baal and Baalbeck, clear it up, and turn south, leaving the area to the orcs and crocs, all in a continuous sweep. No nitpicking, no fancy strategies.»

«What if we find some other buildings dating from Atlantis? Remember, we founded these cities, and I would be surprised they would not harbour some unknown guidance leading us to our ultimate mission.»

«Harp's move is interesting, but Sitar's worries about missing a vital element of our mission is also valuable. What can we do to reconcile the two goals?» Enron asked.

«What's the size of each city?» asked Harold.

«Let's see. Sodom is about the same size as Thebes; Babylon is a third of that, but the population is spread across three urban centers. This will be more difficult since we will actually need to take three cities of equal importance and evacuate them to clear up Ur's population. And remember, Ur's population is ferociously independent!»

«To the point of wanting to end up in orcs' stomach, Samson?»

"Maybe not quite, but almost, Harold.»

«Why not do a repeat of what we did in Thebes?» Williams suggested.

«You mean teleport the entire city? We had time to cut it to pieces for teleportation, Williams. We do not have that luxury.»

«Who said to cut it? Let's teleport everything in a single block, from life to buildings to garbage dump if necessary!»

«Before I say you fell off your rockers, Williams, I'd like to know how you would do this? We have limited powers, if you do not remember.»

«Harp, are you forgetting something? You explained to us that the magical core of each of us is due to the presence of a certain type of stardust in our body, and that each one's power level was determined by the quantity of the dust we accumulated. In fact, if I followed your logic, it might explain why babies have little or no magic but as a person ages and accumulate more of that stuff, they gain power. Since magic attracts magic, the more powerful you are in youth, the more powerful you will be in your old age.»

«That sums up the process, yes, but where are you going with it?»

«What if we involved every member of the army into the conscience needed for the teleportation? What would be the gain?»

«Harp, he's right! Think of it: what is the total power of the collective when we merge? Is it a simple sum, a multiplication or an exponential growth?» Sitar questioned.

«I had not given thought to the progression ratio, but it is certainly greater than the sum. Let me think this out, give me a few minutes.»

«While you are thinking things out, I'd like some assistance with protecting the rear. We are getting skirmishes from orcs catching up on us!»

«Coming up, Dunbar.» Sitar replied.

***

Far away from this impending battle, as the sun was peeking over the high mountains upon which his kingdom backed its eastern defences, King Edward XXIV was having a meeting with his privy council, for what that was worth. He had selected them for their ability to lick ass, and obey orders, not for their brain cell count!

As the meeting drew to a close, a messenger came to the king and whispered something to his ear. He dismissed the messenger, and told the privy that the next meeting would be held in a month. They had their orders, and they knew what to do.

"Herald, let the visitors in!"

The visitors were three. One we know already, as the Dream Weaver, Shane Borealis. The other two, were unknown to the king.

"So, Shane, you asked for an urgent meeting? It had better be good, I had planned on hunting today!"

"Yes, your majesty. May I introduce the two persons with me?"

"Please do."

"The uniform of the first reveals his profession as the Royal Astrologer. He took over from his predecessor that fell off the telescope, while cleaning the lenses. May I introduce you to Grand Master Astrologer Nostradamus?"

"Fell off? Fell off or got pushed off?" asked the king, smiling at the idea of someone being as crocked as he was. "What was the old geezer doing up there anyways? Isn't that the work of apprentices?"

"No one knows, there was no witness to the fall, sire," said a cold voice that immediately told the King who had done the deed.

"Cold snake, eh? Needs to be one to know one. And who is your second guest, Shane?"

"This one is from the Magic Mountain. Sire. I know you distrust mages, with good reason, but this one has important news for you."

"The order of the light has changed its clothing?"

"Do not insult me, King!" thundered the Mage, "Or I might keep the information I have to myself! I am from the Dark, and we both share a common master: Power and a Greed for it!"

"How refreshing! For once the foul mouth I smell isn't one that tried to be my toilet paper! But who said I couldn't have the information extracted from you?"

"I have felt the claw of the Banished One, do you really think that any fire would even touch me? Mind you, King, it is the first time that one of the Higher Order of the Dark is referred to as refreshing, usually we are felt as burning!"

"Anyways, what is your name?"

"On this plane I am referred to under a name of legend, Minotaur. It reveals more than it should to those who know the legend."

"Please be seated."

"I will refrain from doing so, unless you want to sacrifice a piece of your furniture!"

The king, which had been looking, intrigued, at the veiled figure in front of him, gazed down towards the proffered chair, and only then noticed the marks of forked burns in his carpet, leading right to the mage.

"You are one hot character, do you know that?"

The mage exploded in laughter, and his mask instantly burned to ash, revealing the true face of the individual in front of the king.

"Interesting! Very interesting! A bull's head, nostrils throwing flames, horns to make a hunter salivate with envy. I wonder if the rest of your equipment befits the head?"

"More than adequately, King. But aren't you repulsed by my appearance?"

"I've seen enough in my life not to be phased by you. Crocodile priests are no paragons of beauty, and I've seen them in action."

"Ah, these aberrations!"

"Do not judge them, Minotaur, for, as far as aberrations are concerned, you have no lesson to give!"

Pursing his lips, revealing canines that would put a sabre tooth lion on the run, the mage replied, with an evident lack of grace, "Maybe you are right."

"Let me deal with the astrologer first, then we can talk."

Not waiting for an answer, the king turned towards Nostradamus and asked, "What did you have to say to me?"

"The comet that came out of the Wolf Constellation has changed its orbit and is returning early. We have not yet been able to establish its new periodicity, but we know this planet is now its closest point to the Sun. This is bad news, very bad news, sire."

"How so?"

"Comets usually have unstable orbits, and periodically, one or another collides with another planet or falls in the sun. That this one now considers us as one of its focal point means the risk of it falling on us had multiplied by a considerable amount!"

"Is that all?"

"For now, but we are tracking it closely, and it is passing within the asteroid belt with that new orbit, more than likely disturbing other astrological object! What these objects will do once the comet has passed them and changed their orbit is unclear at the moment."

"May I ask for a confirmation of what I just heard, King?"

"Yes?"

"You said, astrologer, that the comet emerged from the Wolf Constellation?"

"Yes."

"Is that a frequent occurrence?"

"No. The last time it did, was at the beginning of the Great Cataclysm, if our dating is correct."

"And the last message of my predecessor, Meagan, were these mysterious words: "Cave Lupus! Cave Lupus!" and death took hold.

The king, albeit not literate by a far fetch, nonetheless blinked and looked at Shane.

"It means Beware of the wolf!"

***

Here ends book I: Cave Lupus; pick up the action where it stands in the next book of this series: The Right Hand of Destiny.