Happy reading!
The Feres King
Chapter 14
My heart was pounding in my chest, and my hands were sweating with excitement as I once again stood in front of the energy barrier. Curiosities, edginess, knowledge thirsty were the feelings that brought me back here.
I tried to think of something else all day, but I couldn't. These feelings won't go away until I satisfied them.
Wren – I had to sneak out so he wouldn't know where I went. He doesn't want me to come here by myself. After his scare with the protective barrier who could blame him. Someone knows I was here though. Wain. He caught me sneaking out and followed me to the hallway.
`Please don't tell anyone, especially Wren,' I begged him. He had his arms crossed and was pinning me with the most annoying stare.
`Okay but not because of my brother or anyone else for that matter. I'm pretty curious myself of what might be in there.'
`What're going to tell the others when they'll realized I'm gone?'
Don't you worry about that,' he said, just get the answers we need. And Rye, you've got two hours.'
`Why two?'
`We're leaving in three but I won't be able to stop them when they began to worry. You know. They're all shifters.'
Smiling, I pecked him on the cheek. `Thanks Wain.'
I then disappeared down the hallway.
Okay here goes nothing. I stepped through the shield. I stood still expecting something to happen. Nothing. I walked further.
It was dark but there was light. A few yard ahead of me. The chamber was a bit chilly, or was that just me because I was so psyche.
I saw where the light was coming from. There was a tiny whole in the ceiling. As I edge closer I realized that it wasn't tiny at all. It was the roof which was so high. A few steps further I froze. I just happened to see a stone altar. It was creepy looking because I couldn't help seeing images of things getting slaughtered on it. Picking up my courage I got closer. I heaved a sigh of relief. There wasn't any bloodstain whatsoever. There was a suspicious looking orb though. It resembled a feri-light but bigger, like a volleyball. I didn't touch it. I was too scared of what might happen. Just imaging, if that thing was anything like a feri-light how much energy did it contained, more alarming what would it do to me. No, I didn't touch it.
There was something else on the stone slab. Well, not a thing but an indented imprint of the medallion I carry. I was tempted to fit it in but then I got scared again.
What would Charlie say? Probably he would have told me to leave it alone. But then Wain's words rang in my ears. "...just get the answers we need." Not the best reminder but it was enough to push my curiosity over the edge.
With a shaky hand I grabbed the medallion and put it in. I braced myself for anything. It never came. Well at least not in the first thirty second. Then the room became alive.
The orb from the altar started glowing and soon lights came from every corner of the room.
I was surprised. I wasn't where I thought I would be. I was in a cave-like chamber; conical in shape and high, very high. The most curious thing, there were holes, thousands of tiny burrows which had been dug right in the cave walls from bottom to top. They made the walls looked like honeycombs. In each of these burrows sat a glowing orb just like the one on the stone slab in front of me. What the hell?
I jumped backwards when something came out of the orb near me. A figure of a person formed from it and soon I was staring into the face of a beautiful woman. She was transparent like a ghost. She couldn't have been more than forty years of age.
She smiled at me. I was too scared to return it.
Seeing my reaction she laughed. Not the normal laughter I expected to hear but an echo like one.
`Don't be afraid, blood of my blood. I mean you no harm.'
Okay! That was creepy.
`Who are you?' Was she a ghost? I asked the latter more to myself.
`My name is the Feri Queen Moira, the offspring of the Feri-King Ronan, the spouse of Feri-King Jorg, the mother of feri-King Joen and apparently now the grandmother of the Feri-king Riley.'
I froze. Somebody pinch me. Someone please tell me I'm dreaming or something.
Could it be true? Was I really talking to my dead grandmother?
She laughed again.
Is it so unconceivable that we are communicating?' She moved closer. You look so much like your father.' She sniffed like she was crying. Indeed a single tear rolled down her transparent cheek.
Can ghost really cry?
`How do you know me? Didn't you die before I was born?'
She smiled. `So young. So much to learn about the world.'
She reached up and touched my face. I barely felt a tickle. She was a ghost.
`No,' she said surprising me.
`Excuse me!'
`No. I am not a ghost nor am I dead.' I was confused. What was she saying? To me she clearly looked ...dead.
`I am trapped in the world between the living and the dead.'
She's in limbo then.
`No. I am not in limbo because I am not dead.'
God more riddles. Someone please tell me what the hell is going on.
She cackled. `You have a curious mind. It amuses me to hear you think.' God a mind reader!
`A mind reader yes; that is my gift; your father was a clairvoyant and you are something else entirely.'
`What am I? What is my gift?'
`Your father speaks true. You are indeed impatient.' She giggled.
Well, isn't that great.
`You Riley are the epitome of all the powers a feres dream of having. You are what we call the Redeemer. You have the ability to change the world and walk on the very air you are breathing from shall you wish it.'
She sat on a stone bench which I didn't see before and patted a spot beside her.
`Come I'll tell you everything you want to know, if it is within my power to give.'
I sat and looked lock eyes with hers. She understood me.
`We feri are born with all the powers and skills will need for the duration of our life. Like you have learned during these past months we feri are fast learners. We need but a reminder for all the skills and knowledge encoded within our core to emerge. That is what has happened to some of your powers. You need only to be place in a situation to be reminded of what they are.'
She was right. Well if I was to believe her. My powers, they came to me every time I needed them; the first time with Nick in the forest when I fought off Ted and Ned. What about the time I wanted to know about Alex but saw the vision of his dead mother instead. It came to me in Xell's dungeon too, and then in the Equinian hall and arena when I save that girl.
Was it true?
`Yes it was true. All of those times you were thinking of were exactly what I was referring about. All, except one.'
`Which one?'
`The one when you found Susan. Riley, normally your father should be telling you this but the gift of clairvoyance is a burden that can give it's bearer a trouble mind. I am not like him in this regard. I am more of a direct approach woman, just like you.' She giggled.
The gift you displayed when you found Susan was more than a simple vision. I believe it was the gift of omniscience. The power to know every present you chose to see. Only the strongest of Feri had ever possessed it. And it is a clear sign that you are indeed the Redeemer. I dare say you should be wary of this power because it comes at a price.' When she saw the look on my face she smiled. But do not listen to this old goat. I am just your crazy grandmother, whom has been locked away in a crystal ball for an eternity.'
I laughed along with her.
`Can I ask you a question?'
`Go ahead.'
`I supposed all of these orbs contained the essence of a feres in them. My father's orb must be somewhere in here too. What happened to you, to my father, and the others? Why are you trapped in the world between the living and the dead?'
She glimpsed at her orb on the altar. The she turned to me.
`It's a long story. One which saddens me to be reminded of, but I guess it is time you learn your history too.
`Before the arrival of humans, Targeten was crammed with Feri. We lived simple lives, gathering, hunting, fishing and rearing our young in peace. We knew the Human realm existed but we never tried to make contact because we were not adventurous by nature. We had long lives; some would say we were immortals. I would disagree of course but counting the length of our existence and the short lives these others had lived who could blame them to think otherwise.
`We remained unchanged for millennia. That was until they came. They called themselves the Gods but we knew who they were. Like us they have long lives too and wield powers which resemble so much like our own. They came through the barrier from the Human realm. They told us they were refugees and that they had been evicted from their homes. That was something we knew to be the truth. So we took pity on them and welcome them with open arms into our midst.
`That was a mistake that we are paying for ever since.'
`Who are they really? You say they came from the Human realm. Not so
long ago, I lived in the Human realm too. How come I never heard of them?'
`Oh but you know of them, Riley. They were Gods there too. They divided their world in sectors and each of their most powerful families ruled them with iron fists.'
`So they are the whole pantheons of Human Gods?'
`Yes.'
WOW! Okay wow!
`Wow indeed.'
`What happened next?'
`They did not come alone. They brought their human servants with them. Those poor creatures were malnourished, mistreated and abused. We felt sorry for them. Some of them escaped from the Northlands where The Gods live to our side. In trying to help them we began a war that would last for an eternity.'
`Did you fight them?'
`Dear boy I was not alive during those times but sure, our ancestor fought with everything they had. But it was not enough. We had powers but so did they. In addition they had devious minds and knowledge in warfare from causing quite a few back in the Human realm.'
`What did our ancestors do?'
`Few sacrifice themselves by relinquishing their powers and lives so that the chosen, the redeemer would be our champion, fight for us. We succeeded too but at a cost. We Feri drew power from the collective. Our powers are somewhat link, like a thread in a spider's web. We weaken that connection when we created the Redeemer. And the Northenders, that what we called them here, took full advantage on that. Even with the Redeemer, we were losing. Our people were dying. If we did nothing soon all of us would die. So our elders came up with a solution. They created the feri-lights and the Memoria, which is the orb I reside in by the way, and hid them in this Memorium.'
`Memorium?'
`That's where you are now, my dear. This is the Memorium. It is larger than you think too. In fact the entire core of this mountain is the Memorium. That is why we build this fortress here so we could guard it well.'
`Grandma, you said that everyone was trapped in a memoria, why are my not trapped. And my father, he wasn't in a memoria before I was born.'
`The Redeemer fought well but he was not able to save us from our faith but he did manage to save us from the Northenders. The Humans who escaped the Northenders, they wanted to help us but they too were in danger, so the redeemer gave them abilities to fight for themselves and for us. And it was decided that five Feri with exceptional abilities to stay behind to help the Redeemer in his duties. But of course, without the collective strength of our people they couldn't last an eternity fighting the enemy alone.
`So when their times were near, they bred with the Humans to keep the legacy alive. My mother was a witch as your grandfather was an eagle shifter and your mother was a wolf shifter. Why do you think your could relate to them so easily.'
`So basically what you're telling me is that all Magelings and Changelings are the dependents of the escapee humans from the Northlands.'
`Yes they are. And they've been our greatest allies.'
I was about to asked another question when my grandmother interrupted me. "I am sorry for interrupting you dear, but you really must go now. Your friends would be looking for you soon.'
`You read my mind didn't you?'
`Sure but I was very discreet.'
We stood up and she accompanied me to the entrance. I had more questions of course but she was right. It was time to go.
`Oh! One more thing before you leave; the Targs, they are very angry at us for disappearing on them. So be aware that you will have to tame them before you face the Northenders. My advice is to rally them all. Get their supports. You are going to need them.'
`Exactly how do I do that?'
`Be their King of course. Speak like a King, walk like a King and take decision like a King. You have to grow up one way or another.'
Did I just get served by my living-dead grandma?
`That my dear you said it not me.'
She laughed before she returned to her Memoria.
As I crossed the energy field something else came to mind.
Did I hear her right? Did she just say I have to fight the Northenders!
...
End of chapter 14