The Prophesy: Book 2 - The Right Hand of Destiny

 

The group moved quickly across the forest, in a southeasterly direction. The imminence of the disaster was visible everywhere, as sand geysers erupted regularly, methane and sulphur oxide gas puffed up unexpectedly.

"It's the pressure," explained Harp, as they passed by a strong geyser of sand, followed by a tremor, and the sound of a hiccup. "It is building up exponentially. I thought we had four days, but I have my doubts. We need to rush even more. Are we far?"

"Given how you travel, another ten minutes. We have covered in the last half hour a distance that took me fifteen days."

"Good! Each minute counts. I hope every dwarf is home, we will not have the time to go out looking for them."

"We are kind of homey, if you get my drift; we do not like being outside our mines. Here we are, by the way. Let me take the lead, please. We have to exchange recognition signs, so they do not meet us with weapons. Given what I have seen, my warrior brothers stand no chance against all of you."

The six moved along a barely visible trail, and reached a narrow ledge that climbed steeply up; shortly the path engaged between two sheer cliffs, to be followed by yet another narrow passage between vertiginous drops.

"That would be perfect orc country, you know," Sitar told him.

"Yes, it is; however they have not been very successful at forcing their way to our door. We have been under watch from the moment we started climbing. By the time they reach the entrance, the door is closed and invisible from the outside."

"I hope you hide the trail near it; one way to detect a doorway is to look at rock use."

"We do. The last part is a rope that is pulled up. We use knots in the rope to help us climb, since it is not near any rock face. The door is not at the cliff face, as one might expect, but an opening in an overhang. Once the cork is in place, it is invisible. To make things more complicated, we make sure the trail 'continues' in the mountain range and suddenly disappears in a lava flow. They have been following the lead for years, to no avail."

"This is an interesting trick you have found. Will you have problem with this, Rizzo?"

"I do not know, Harp. I am not a climber."

"Do not worry about it. If need be, we will teleport you inside."

"He may have problems. The Grand Hall would be better for him, because our entrance is designed to be correct for us, but certainly not for a tall human. When we trade, it is below, in the forest, not here, and certainly not in the mines. You will be the first ones admitted, if the King allows."

"He better allow. We have no time to lose with blue blood that lacks oxygen."

"Given what I learned, I will stress the fact to the King. One thing must be abundantly clear. He will ask for proof. And also, put you to the test."

"What kind of test? What would be the hardest test he could throw at us?"

"There is the Hammer of Thor, and the Shield of the Skull. These are the most difficult test he could ask. I would not be surprised it was those tests he would put you through."

"Can you describe these tests?"

"The Hammer of Thor is imprisoned in a transparent crystal; it is said only the Heir to Thor, the Master of the Underworld Forge, can get it out of the crystal prison it is encased in. The Hammer is both a tool to use in a forge as well as a weapon of war. The Shield of the Skull is so heavy none of us have been able to move it; it is said it is Thor's Shield, which he used to defeat Hydra with his Hammer, when she tried to take over his forge as her home."

"That seems more a test for dad than for us, Harp. Get dad," Paschal said.

"Who is your dad?"

"King Harold of the Wolf Throne, Pharaoh Horus of Atlantis, Grand Master of the Iron Cross, Master Weapon smith. If someone fits the bill, it is dad."

"Dad says to wait until we have confirmation of the requirements from the Dwarf King."

***

The group had reached the entrance and the rope was hanging down. Selaric climbed up the rope and disappeared in the hole, as the princes and Rizzo sat down on the grass to wait.

"Let's hope it will not be too long. I am growing tired of all these waiting games. How about we eat, at least we will not see time pass."

"Good Idea, Sitar. Here's the food."

The watchful eyes of the dwarfs almost popped out of their eyes as a buffet fit for an emperor appeared on the grass, with a long table, a silk tablecloth, seats, fine cutlery, napkins, gold cups, and crystalline jars of deep reddish wine. Naturally, Harp had put grape juice in the jars, not wine!

"Aren't you pushing things a bit far, Harp?" asked Paschal, as he looked at the spread. You could feed a centurie with that!"

"I want to make sure that the dwarfs know we are not there to rob them of their hard-earned riches. They should see the fine stones embedded in the cups and the crystals. If they have an eye for value, they will have an orgasm just looking at the jewels. Add to it the rich food, how plentiful it is, and I can bet anything they are probably digesting themselves!"

"Show off!"

"Yes, and in this case, it is needed."

The princes devoured the food at an alarming rate, rebuilding their depleted reserves. Rizzo was not the only one whose eyes wanted to leave their sockets! As the food vanished into their bottomless pit, the eyes just kept getting bigger! As they finished with a giant cheesecake, Selaric returned.

"The king accepts to receive you in the Great Hall. Where does this all come from?" as he eyed the leftovers.

"Oh, we had to spend a lot of energy over the past few days, so we decided to have a small lunch while waiting for you."

"A small lunch, you say? I wonder what you would call a big lunch."

"In which order will we get in?"

"I will go up first, and I think Harp and Enron should follow, then Sitar. I have asked the king about Rizzo, and he admits he will have problems in the entrance."

"We'll deal with that. Sitar, stay behind, and when we tell you, teleport Rizzo to our location."

The two princes followed Selaric up the rope, proving without doubt their agility to the ever-watchful dwarves. They followed their guide along a narrow tunnel, before getting down a narrow spiralling set of stairs.

"I see what you mean, Selaric. Rizzo would have been hard put to travel these halls; he would have been forced to walk on all fours," commented Enron. "Even I, and I am not tall by any standard, have issues."

"You are tall by ours, Prince Enron."

"And you seem to forget a group of people we met not too long ago," added Harp.

After fifteen minutes, they reached the Great Hall, where the chamberlain intercepted them.

"I was expecting three visitors, Selaric."

"Prince Sitar stayed with the tall human outside."

"I see. Follow me, the king and his Council is awaiting in the Throne room."

The chamberlain led them rapidly across the Great Hall, and a giant metallic door opened majestically in front of them.

"This is unusual, princes. Usually these doors stay closed, and visitors to the throne enter by a side-door, the small one you see on the side."

"I guess seeing all that food must have hit a nerve," replied Harp.

"Or the jewels that adorned our cups," added Enron.

"Maybe. Even I saw their value. I have never seen a wine bottle made of diamond before."

"You have a fine eye, Selaric."

"I am a dwarf. I also recognize mithril on your walking stick, which makes it one of the most precious I have ever seen; and your mithril chainmail is beyond anything I have ever set my eyes on. The silk you wear is worth the ransom of a king as well. Only idiots would treat you with contempt."

"Have you told your king about this?"

"Yes, and I am sure he has had reports about your agapes outside and the bounty of riches you have left at our doorsteps. He must feel sick in his stomach from it all."

"Jealousy?"

"Most definitely, but also an awe he cannot even grasp."

By then they had reached the throne room and progressed towards the throne proper. The chamberlain halted five steps from the throne, and waited for the King to recognize his presence.

"Whom do you bring forth, Chamberlain?"

"Sire, Selaric, your ambassador to king Edward, has brought before us these people. I know not of their name, as I have not been introduced."

"Why is the king acting like he does not know who we are, Selaric?" whispered Harp.

"Protocol."

"Selaric, introduce us to your guests."

"To my left is Prince Harp of the Wolf Throne, liege lord of Prince Enron of the Elves, to my right. Behind Prince Harp is Prince Paschal of the Wolf Throne. Awaiting your good will, sire."

"I thought there were more?"

"The last one stayed with the human named Rizzo, outside."

"I see."

"May I speak, your Majesty?" asked Harp.

"You are well raised prince. My family needs to take lessons from you. Please state your business."

"First, I would like you to authorise that my bother Sitar, and our guide in the kingdom of Edward, be allowed to join us?"

"I see no objection, but how do you plan to do this?"

"Like this!"

At that moment, Sitar and Rizzo materialised to the left of Harp.

"How? What miracle is this?" uttered the king, stunned.

"Teleportation, your majesty. We are mages, and more."

"Is this how you rescued my ambassador to that good for nothing thief?"

"Yes, your Majesty. Selaric, what have you told your king?"

"Nothing yet, Prince. I believe that, had I told him what happened, I would have found myself in the pits."

"Explain, in as short as possible version, the events. Selaric. We have little time left."

Selaric recounted his rescue by the princes, what they had done to save the children of Americus, and the disgrace of the king.

"That avaricious good for nothing escaped with our stuff!" thundered the king.

"Not so, your Majesty. Harp has recovered them for us. They are in my knack pack. Please allow me."

Selaric took the sceptre and the crown out, and laid them on the ground in front of the throne.

"Well, all is fine, Selaric. Is that all?"

"No, your Majesty. Please let Prince Harp explain why he had to rescue the children of Americus."

"I was wondering about that. Please explain."

Harp undertook to explain everything, and the need to evacuate as many as possible for the sake of their safety.

"I admit what you describe fits what we observe in the mines. We were wondering what was up. However, even as king, I cannot order the evacuation of the Mines."

"Who could?"

"Thor. He gave us this place to live, and only he could order us to move."

"So be it. We will call upon Thor!"

"That is impossible. He has left this world so long ago."

"What would it take to prove to the dwarves that an individual is Thor?"

"Recovering his Hammer and handling his Shield."

"And where are these objects?"

"In this throne room, prince, behind that tapestry depicting Thor fighting the Hydra in his Forge."

"Then, King of Dwarves, I call upon Thor to be here!"

Harold had kept tab of the exchange from his tent, and materialised in thunder and a blinding flash of light.

"Dad, you are such a show-off!" piped Harp.

"Why, thank you, a compliment from the king of show-offs!"

"May I present to you Harold, King of the Wolves, Horus, or Thorus as your ancestors called him, Pharaoh of Atlantis, Great Grand Master of the Ironsmith, Master of arms, and more important to me, my dad!"

"Welcome to my humble Court, God of the Forges. I believe you are who you are, but the ritual must be followed, or doubts will subsist, and we are known for our stubborn attitudes."

"I understand that. Let us proceed; as my son Harp has explained already, every minute counts."

Figure 3: Thor's Hammer of War

The drapery was rolled up, revealing the Hammer encased in the crystal. Its weight was considerable, and no non-magical human would have been able to lift it, even if it had been freely set on the ground. Harold walked to the crystal and touched it with his right hand. He began pushing down, and the crystal gave way to a syrupy substance. A few minutes later his hand firmly around the handle, he pulled the very heavy hammer out of its crystalline prison and set it on his right shoulder as if it was feather light.

Everyone witnessing the event felt a shiver at the power Harold displayed. A deathly silence descended on the cavernous room.

"Next, my Shield," said Harold in a nonchalant tone. He placed the Hammer gently on the floor, but the weight was so considerable the tile shattered. "Oh, sorry, I have damaged your throne room." He then proceeded to take the shield from its hanger and slide his left arm inside the straps, tightening them and gripping the handle. He then recovered his Hammer. At that moment a huge gong was heard across the mines, marking the return of Thorus to the realm of the dwarves.

Figure 4: Thor's Shield of the Skull

"I, Horus, hereby order the evacuation of these mines. In accordance to the Prophecy of Atlantis, I have returned to lead our allies to safety. Converge to the Great Hall, bring what you can, but most important, bring your weapons and your will to fight. Jewels are of little value in a battle for life. King, I have to return to my army. Follow my sons' guidance. They have proven their worth many times over." Harold vanished as noisily as he had come.

The dwarf king immediately ordered all to get ready and to bring what they needed for war. Their liege lord had called them to duty! The dwarves organised themselves in huge squares of a hundred men to a side, with the children and the sick in the middle. As soon as a group formed, they were teleported to Eloise, where the sick and disabled got distributed to the proper people to be taken care of. Once the decantation was done, the troops were sent to increase the Eastern army. Ten times, this was repeated before the mines were empty of inhabitants.

"Do we have everyone?"

"No, my family is waiting for me, right there. Can I go get my sword? It is in the treasure room."

Sure, may we follow you? Maybe the dwarves will still save their jewels and treasures, notwithstanding what dad said. Everything went faster than we thought, so we have some spare time."

The four princes followed the king in his treasure room, where he donned his armour, and took his battle-axe.

"Do you think there is enough place for that under Eloise?"

"Yes, Harp, and more. What surprises me is the lack of books?"

"Ah but there is a library, where we have our most ancient texts, written in runes. My eldest son, when he is not practicing with his axe, or mining for stones, has spent time reading them. I found little interest in dusty tomes, but he seems fascinated by our origins. It is right through that door to the right."

"Well, Harp and I will handle the jewels; Paschal and Enron the library. Young man, is there a book of Prophecy in there?"

"Yes prince Sitar. I will indicate it to the princes before they move anything."

"Thank you. By the way, that armour, is it yours?" replied Sitar, pointing at the diminutive chainmail and the rather disproportionate war hammer.

"Yes."

"Put it on, you are on a war footing, and no warrior worthy to stay alive goes without his armour and weapons."

The prince quickly conformed to his directives, before guiding Paschal and Enron toward the library.

Figure 5: Dwarf Prince Thorsten in full armour, in the Mines

"This is the book, prince Paschal. I cannot read it well yet."

"Keep it with you, we will look into it later, when we have more time."

With that Paschal and Enron quickly materialized boxes and ported books and scroll by the thousand. As each box filled, it landed into the vaults below Eloise. The same process was occurring in the treasury room, under the awed eyes of the king.

"One last question. Do you have an armoury?"

"Yes, it is in the room across the hall. Follow me."

"Enron, Paschal, we are almost done. We'll meet you outside with the king and his family."

"OK, we are almost done here; I am just doing a quick check for hidden caches. Two minutes at most will be required."

"I have done that, Sitar, while you were finishing the last box. There are no hidden caches here."

Sitar and Harp moved to the armoury, and Sitar whistled. "Well, I am glad I asked. This will add to our reserves. Let's get to work."

The weapons disappeared in a giant flash and rematerialized at the rear of King Harold's army, in carts designed to be horse-drawn.

"Are there any dogs?"

"No, we have no animals in the mines. It proved too dangerous for them."

"OK. I think we are done. I spotted your crown on your throne. It got moved with the rest under Eloise. You can have it back whenever you want, but given your helmet, it would be more an embarrassment than anything. We are at war, not on parade grounds. Let's get out of here."

"Could you close the entry?"

"If it pleases you, but given what we expect, nothing will be left of this place shortly."

The king found himself at his entrance, below the overhang. He saw the rope speed upward and the cork of rock get in place. His home was now inaccessible.

"We will first hop to the old College of Magic campus, and then, your majesty, move you and your family to Eloise, where Queen Annabelle is waiting for you. Once you are assured of the situation there, she will send you to dad. Prince, what is your name?"

"Thorsten."

"Little thunder, an appropriate name. You will meet our little brother, prince Ian. He is with mom. Off we go."

In the blink of an eye, they materialised within the ward still protecting the Campus.

"Rizzo, you were of great use. We will meet again. For now I will send you to the new campus so you can resume your studies to become a mage."

"Thank you, Prince Harp, it has been a pleasure. I will inform my friend of your efforts for the children of Americus."

Harp sent Rizzo off, and then turned to the king of Dwarves.

"According to the Prophesy of Atlantis, a dwarf is to join us creating the protection detail for Ian. I believe your son, Thorsten, is the one. I sense there is more in him then meets the eye. We will meet very shortly, as the events leading to the Fulfilment of the Prophesy speed up to their conclusion."

"We will be ready, and my son even more so. I will see to it!"

"Do not push him, king. Protection does not always mean the use of weapons," replied Sitar.

"I have heard everything! Sitar, Montue, the God of War of Atlantis, considering there might be other options than slicing up people!"

"Bite me, Paschal!"

"Are you ready?" asked Harp, looking at the royal family.

"Yes."

The family vanished from the campus to find themselves in a simple room, where Annabelle was busy tickling a wolf.

"Ah, here you are. Follow me to your apartments. We will have ample time to chat later on."

***

"Let's do a quick walk around, in case something got missed."

"Good idea Harp. Maybe some of the plants found here could be transferred to the botanical garden," suggested Enron.

"And let's not forget the salmon tanks. I completely forgot those when I moved things. We could add them to the Aquarium, since it has the capacity to produce brackish water."

The selected plants and installations were moved to their new location in Eloise, with a quick note about their origin, what they were, and how to care for them in a satchel near each element.

"Have you taken a look in the village at the entrance, Paschal?"

"Yes, it is made up of soldiers and mages. The 'shops' were only for show. What gave them away was the total absence of children."

"Fine, I will have no qualms to let it get vaporised when this place finally breaks down."

"Well, how do we proceed without getting blown up ourselves, Harp? The situation is becoming critical! Look at that geyser of rocks beyond the shield. If we were not inside, we would have been roasted."

"I noticed. And the moment we move the orichalque, the ward will collapse."

"What if we took our source of energy within the knots these black mages so valiantly created? What would be the delay?"

"Let me think, Paschal. Your suggestion has merit."

After a few minutes Harp mumbled and opened his eyes.

"It might gain us a few seconds, three at most. See, if we supply the energy for the ward from the biggest node, it would begin to drain it, but the moment we remove the orichalque, the nodes, all of them will go critical; however, since the ward will be plugged to the mother node, it will have to blow before the nodes trigger their strings of explosions."

"Will we be able to cross the ward? It would do no good to be inside whether it blows or collapse."

"True, Enron, but the orichalque is outside the ward, under our feet. We do not need to be within the ward to move it."

"OK, what size of hole do we need to lodge the orichalque?"

"It won't be a hole, Sitar, we will do dual transport, moving the crust under the new Campus as we move the Orichalque in place, one replacing the other. The result will be the same as if we had taken the orichalque out without putting the basalt in place. A good part of what has been holding this place together was the bound of orichalque for this type of location."

"OK, you two, less theory, more practice. I just felt a tremor underfoot."

"OK. Enron on watch; Sitar as back up, in case we have issues; Paschal with me. We got orichalque to save!"

Paschal and Harp began the delicate process of moving the orichalque to Lava Flows. Harp decided to begin in the middle of the mass, counting on the force lines to binding the rock's field to the knots to hold it in place while they proceeded with their painstaking task. Harp established a one-way drain from the pocket while Paschal did the same under the college, moving the basaltic substrate right from under the college. At first, the process was done atom by atom, but as the princes established a modus operandi, they widened their channels until it was about the size of a circle measuring sixty feet in diameter. Thousand of tons of rocks moved both directions as if on a giant conveyor belt. Both boys were careful to rebind the incoming material to the surrounding substrate.

«Guys, how far done?» asked Sitar.

«Half.»

«Speed it up! There has been numerous tremors, and their frequency and violence is increasing!»

«Can you stabilize things?»

«I have been patching cracks as fast as I can for the last ten minutes. Enron, forget watching these fools; they are way too busy trying to run away to constitute a threat. Help me with this.»

«OK.»

Enron and Sitar joined forces in attempting to keep things from blowing up prematurely. A quarter of an hour later, Harp informed them of progress with a terse «Seventy-five percent.» followed, ten minutes later by «Ninety one percent, five minutes to completion. Ready to disengage on countdown!»

As the minutes ticked by, Sitar and Enron began sweating profusely. Cracks expanded at an alarming rate, and they could no longer keep up.

«Disengagement and immediate teleportation in one minute.»

«Disengage in five four three two one Now! Teleport!"

The four princes disengaged as the ward overloaded rapidly. It became white hot before beginning to bubble outward. A few seconds later, it exploded, tearing open the side of the mountain in the process.

***

Barely a fraction of a second after the ward vanished, creating a heat wave that set every single piece of combustible matter on fire for a hundred miles around, the mountain itself detonated in a cataclysmic explosion that sent a hundred cubic miles of matter into the atmosphere, rivalling the Krakatau. Game over for the Dungeons of darkness, but it was only the beginning of the cascade of events that followed. The sound wave travelled around the globe, waking up people on the Eurasian continent.

As each node detonated, releasing energy of incalculable magnitude, the earth cracked, shook and trembled. Earthquake after earthquake shook the western coast, sending giant waves across Pacifica, and washing the western coast of any life form. The mountain ranges rose by a few hundred feet, while new ones were born out of the sea. An entire section of the western seaboard jumped a couple of miles north, tearing open the dam that had kept Death Valley dry. As the sea rushed in to fill the in the gap, the trench deepened, exposing the Earth's mantle to the frigid waters of he ocean. The contact between the icy water and the molten core, much hotter than lava, resulted in a build-up of pressure that widened even more the gap between the coast and the inland parts of what once was Americus. Valleys sank to abyssal depths while mountains rose out of nowhere.

Yet the nodes continued to detonate, and detonate, and detonate again, each triggering their own catastrophe. Dormant volcanoes exploded both on land and in the sea, adding to the mayhem as the process moved both further south and north along the coastline.

Glaciers suddenly slid down mountains like giant sleds on water, crashing into bays and jumping off cliffs like kids at a party, to come crashing down below. They too contributed to the ocean's fury, which lashed back at everything with waves easily five hundred feet high.

The roar of the battle between the elements would travel for days around the globe, as ash would cover most of Americus, killing whole herds of animals, forced to breath shards of glass as the ash came cascading down. The sea itself became even more toxic, as radioactive sediments that had settled down were suddenly thrown back in suspension, and the Glows, that had marred the shoreline, were washed to sea by the tsunamis that kept smashing the coast. A huge cloud of radioactive particles was sent into the atmosphere, adding their deadly punch to the destructive power unleashed by magic recovering its true form.

***

The devastation was not limited to Americus' western coast. Giant waves came crashing to shore along the entire rim of Pacifica, drowning island, erasing some, and overall, wiping life along the coastline. Wave after wave came in, tearing everything for miles inland, breaking the ice cap into giant icebergs covering thousands of square miles, and removing arable land in lowlands right to barren rock.

Yet things continued to worsen: the violent earthquakes unsettled a fragile equilibrium, and other massive earthquakes occurred around the entire Ring of Fire. Volcanoes erupted in a chain reaction, and propagated ever further away. Even the rotation of the globe was affected and its axis of rotation swayed, increasing the seasons' variations and therefore impact on life. The time of day shortened by a full minute, not that anyone would give a damn about a missing minute.

Another consequence was more powerful tides, as the rotation of the moon was now out of sync with the earth's rotation by an added interval. The wobbling globe also brought the moon further north and south of its usual orbital range, complicating things further.

The tidal waves travelled the oceans of the world, first reaching the Indian Ocean and then the Atlanticus Ocean, sill fifty feet high. The waves circumnavigated the globe three times before settling down. Everywhere, coasts showed severe leaching. Civilization, life, had been set back by a magnitude unseen since the Great Cataclysm that had set into motion the current world.

***

The shock reached the Elvin kingdom after an hour, as the first tremors were felt on the western range. The amplitude, dampened by distance, nonetheless shook everyone awake. Yet, the deep, blood red moon told them something terrible had happened. Few knew of the tragedy that had played out on the west coast and was propagating around the globe, killing millions.

Northern winds blew most of the ash south of the kingdom, but, nonetheless, there were odd occurrences of red snow and blood rains. The temperature dropped considerably lower than was usual, even with the upcoming glacial age. Ice descended deeply south, freezing every river and lake in the kingdom. The fine dust did not do as much damage within the Elvin population. Crocodile priests were forced to hibernate everywhere, and their hunters had to spend the worse winter in their memory in the forests, fishing through several feet of ice, or hunting through several feet of snow. The orcs were not better off, and resorted to widespread cannibalism to survive.

The elves fared much better than their foes. They had stores of food, were well sheltered, and the royals used magic to supplement what could not be reaped from a failing natural system. Even the Trolls did better; they were given food as needed by specially designated Preserve keepers.

The regrouping of the population in a smaller area was continued amidst the hardship. Harold decided to use the terrible conditions to move as many animals into herding farms, and to feed them as needed. Since the orcs, hunters, and crocodiles were off the map for a while, the units dispersed and began searching for every animal that could be effectively salvaged. The Eloise zoo took the appearance of a giant open-sky ark, as every animal found was quickly moved to a giant pen mimicking as closely as possible its environment.

Everyone contributed in one way or another to the care of the animals. Even Ian, who was nearing his first birthday, helped by carrying food to his friends the stripped horses, which had been rescued from the upper plateau right in the middle of a blizzard of unheard of proportion. He could be seen, in his birthday suit, carrying bales of hay on Silver Moon's back, as the brave stallion did his master's every bidding.

Spring was late that year, brief and wet, as not a single day of sunshine could be had. The growing season seemed to be compromised and the reserves were getting low.

***

The princes had implemented Harp's idea for finding crocodile hibernation nests, and were very successful. The Hunters had to forage ever further afield, and constituted perfect training objectives for the growing children, anxious to contribute to the war effort rather than be mouths to feed. There were some losses, mostly in those that were too stubborn to listen to their training officers, but, overall, most had fun at the expense of the Hunters, and came back to their home bases with wide grins, sometimes covered from head to foot with blood and guts to be shown proudly to their siblings.

As the forays circumscribed each nest's location, the princes would travel to the potential nesting place, study the Hunters, and then suddenly flood the area by pushing the river or lake ice below. Given the Siberian conditions, putting the Hunters' fires out and flooding them insured the death of those who were left to guard the nesting area, and of the crocodiles. The crocodile and Hunter population within the Kingdom took a dramatic drop. It did not go to nil, even if the princes tried hard to reach that goal, but it got close.

Getting rid of the orcs was another matter. Albeit the princes had managed to get rid of huge armies up north, they had had no luck at all at finding their reproduction areas, or, for that matter, even understand how their society was organized. This ignorance bothered the royals and wild speculations were floated around during dinnertime. Multiple expeditions were mounted, in an effort to at least find an abandoned nest, but nothing could be gained.

The known passes leading into the kingdom were booby-trapped, and set to trigger a magic web, should an orc or a crocodile priest cross the borders. Even the most ludicrous paths were so equipped. Harp had learned how agile the orcs were and considered any surface short of water susceptible to carry one. The rivers themselves had traps triggered by crocodiles, especially open waters like lakes and calm rivers that seemed to invite a crocodile to use it to progress further.

Since no one was sure where orcs would come from, further defensive walls were constructed, creating a series of defence lines extending from the upper reaches of the north to the south, in Roars and Lava Flows.

"Aren't you overdoing it, son?" asked Harold.

"If an orc pees on a tree, I want to know it right away, where, and even how much."

"Paranoid?"

"No, pissed."

"What about black mages?"

"Most of them are dead. And the only one I have a firm signature on is the Minotaur. I am almost certain he died, but, since I cannot be sure, I have also set triggers for his signature around the kingdom."

"What about that Edward fellow?"

"If he is not dead, he is tougher than steel. I have his signature as well, and I have set up a long distance alarm for him along the crests of the mountains circling the kingdom."

"Let's hope none of them will find the tunnel we used to get in here."

"That is one thing I need to do. We have not revisited the place, and there were many intriguing things. Maybe a visit is due."

"Yes, son. Why not do it in a few days?"

"OK."

***

Meanwhile, the dwarf prince had been studying hard under the constant supervision of Annabelle. At first, he was a poor horseman, falling off at the slightest unexpected move from his horse. Good with an axe, he was terrible with a bow, and barely passable with a lance. The legionnaires undertook his education in the arts of throwing weapons, from knives to the throwing spear. He also learned to use a short bow, as a long bow was too tall for him. He missed his target nine times out of ten, but persevered. Even his use of the battle-axe came under scrutiny, and after Sitar had disarmed him a dozen times, he finally admitted he had things to learn from the princes. He laughed at battle staves, but quickly changed his mind after getting trounced by a child half his size.

Also hard on the dwarf prince was the lesson in obedience. He had had his way with everyone in the Caves, but this was no longer the case. His furious attitude got to Harp one day, and he cornered him in the royal apartments.

"Prince Thorsten! I have had it about your attitude problems! Adjust or ship out!"

"Who do you think you are to give orders around?"

That did it. With a flick of a finger, Harp sent the prince smashing against a far wall.

"This is who I am! I am your liege lord, ass hole! We are trying to teach you skills you will need to survive, but you have been putting a stubborn head every step of the way. You want to know why we try to get you to obey? It is not to humiliate you; it is so you can become an effective team member! If you act like a stubborn ass when one of us gives an order because he has the best idea, you put not only your life in danger, but ours as well! Get it? To lead properly, you also need to understand what it means to obey! Even dad knows when to obey an order from one of us, when to relinquish leadership if one of us seems to have a better grip on the theatre of operation than he does. It has happened often enough during this campaign! And, contrary to your habit, no one tries to second-guess or undermine the one in command! We stand united, and that is what has kept us winning battle after battle against insurmountable odds! If you want your place amongst us, you play by our rules. Is that clear? You will have a chance to prove yourself in command, when we consider you have grown up out of your childish attitude! Meanwhile, shut the fuck up!"

The king of the Dwarves had been listening to his son getting a dressing down from the diminutive Harp, and wondered when his son would blow up. He was getting ready to walk in the room, when he heard Harp again.

"Do not even consider touching that axe if you want to keep your head on your shoulders! I have killed enough blue blood in the past year to fill a pool with! A prince would only add to my trophy collection!"

The king walked in the room silently looking at the two figures, one sending fiery daggers with his eyes, and the other as cold as an ice pick. As he was going to talk, he heard his son utter the most horrible thing ever!

"You aren't even a prince, neither is your dad for that matter! You are a farm boy and your dad's only an ironsmith! You do not have a drop of blue blood!"

To his horror, he saw Harp's eyes turn fiery white, as he looked at his son with contempt.

"So, from what I gather, you lacked oxygen at birth? Is that why you are such a dimwit? Or is it because you climbed the ladder of society to such a height, you needed air and forgot to bring it up with you? Let me tell you something! 'Blue blood' is a measure of how dignified you are, your sense of leadership, your respect for the needs of others, of your social conscience. You lack all of this: you are selfish, centred on your belly button, more intent in proving your so-called superiority by acting up than by doing! Look at how you act with others. Consider what you did with that Prophesy book we took out of the library! You have been hoarding it and refuse to let any of us look at it, even if you cannot make sense out of it. Maybe it contains something important we need to know, but no, Mister Prince Thorsten will not let us even touch it! You know what? I have more blue blood than you will ever have! I am Merlin, of the Royal family of Atlantis, my body is six, but my mind carried seventeen thousand years of knowledge! I share the conscience of the Wolves, which date some forty million years, and can access all their life experience! I share the conscience of the Equines, the horses if you wish, for just about the same amount of time! I know the side of predator and the side of prey! I have hunted, killed with my bare teeth billions of times; I have done the same with my hoofs, and fallen to the teeth and claws of numerous hunters! I have died countless times, in many ways! I have been born as many times, and carried to fruition my offspring both as wolf bitch and as mare! I have died countless times in childbirth! I know by heart the family tree of every canine and equine on this planet! Do you know that Silver Moon, if you look only at heredity, carries more 'blue blood' than your entire line? He is the proud descendant of one of the first horses to ever roam the prairies of Americus, of leaders of the Herd! Yet he is unassuming, and does his part with Ian, protecting him against accidents? Not only does that stallion have more 'blue blood' than you, but he also acts the part better than you ever will! Silver Moon is a born leader; you act like a born ruler: you hide behind others to carry out orders because you are too cowardly to do what must be done yourself! From your attitude, I think your dad must be Edward!"

Thorsten was shaking violently from the verbal assault, and his dad saw he was about to do the unthinkable.

"Son, do not move a single muscle! Do not, under any circumstance shame me further by acting out on your temper, or so help me the divinities, I will behead you myself! It is either your pride or your life!" thundered the king. "I have had enough of your cockiness, your indiscipline, your lack of respect for others!"

"But mom "

"Your mother will have no word to say in how you get raised. She has been meddling too much, letting you get away with everything. From now on, I, and only I, will deal with family issues."

"But "

"Shut up! One more word out of you and I personally spank your bare ass in front of everyone! Is that clear? No, do not answer! You understood me perfectly! Your attitude almost cost me my honour! Do you know the cost of assaulting your liege lord? Death, son! And believe me, even if Prince Harp had not done so, I would have killed you on the spot! I would have tried to wash my honour in your blood, for what good it would have served me! To forfeit a bond of this kind, especially when it is so ancient, is a crime of such magnitude I would have personally disposed of my bloodline! When we are done, I will deal with your mother! I have enough of you, already, and I will put my foot down. She has failed me miserably by not educating you properly. She will take her role as mother seriously or you will find yourself an orphan! You will guide us to that book of Prophesy, right now, and if you know what is best for you, it better be intact and accessible!"

The king grabbed his son by the collar, lifting him off the floor, and walked out of the living room headed for his son's bedchamber. Harp silently followed the king. As they walked down the hall, the Queen met them.

"What are you doing to my little treasure? Drop him this instant!"

"You, lady, keep quiet if you want to keep your head on your shoulders! Get into the living room and wait for us. I will not tolerate any, and I mean any lip service from you! Get out of my way! Now!"

The Queen had never seen her husband so furious and good sense prevailed. She obediently moved aside to let them pass, but began to follow them to the prince's room.

"I said the living room! What part of these instructions didn't get through to you?"

The Queen, trembling, ran back toward the living room, shocked.

The king kicked the door open, smashing it to pieces, and dropped his son on the floor. "Get the book! Now!"

A trembling prince dug under his mattress and took the book out, shaking violently. The king snatched it from his hand and gave it shakily to Harp such was his rage at his son's attitude.

"Thank you, sire. I will forward this to our linguist."

"Follow me, Prince Harp, I want my son to tell his mom what he did in front of you. It's time she learns who he is! You! Stop shaking like a leaf in the winter, and walk ahead of us!"

The three returned to the living room, where all the king's children had assembled around their mother, crying in fear.

"Shut up the lot of you. I want you to listen to Thorsten's confession, and I will explain to you what might have happened if things had taken a turn for the worse. Start talking! And do not try to downplay your stupidity! My axe is still sharp enough to dispose of you if you begin to lie."

Thorsten began exposing what had happened earlier in minute details, to ever growing eyes from everyone. Once this was finished, the king exposed the consequences of betraying an oath of fealty. Finally, he set the law of the land, or more appropriately, the law of his household. There would be no more escaping consequences due to being a royal; in fact, each member would be held accountable at a higher standard than most. Looking at his wife, he said, in an icy voice:

"I hope you understand what this means! Any attempt at undermining my efforts at fixing the disaster you have created, and your head will adorn the park! You have failed me for the last time! Retire to your room to think about your failures!"

The Queen, white as a sheet, left the room. As some of the children tried to follow her, the king bellowed, "Where did I say you could leave? Get your asses back in here if you do not want a hiding!"

"Your Majesty, may I retire?" asked Harp.

"One moment, please. I have yet to hear Thorsten ask for forgiveness."

"Given the circumstances, Sire, I doubt they would be sincere; he would ask under constraint, not because he really felt sorry for his actions. Let things cool down. Maybe, one day, or in another life, he will ask and truly put his heart in his words. Until then, sadly, he will not be ready to play his role. Let us hope he grows out of his childishness quickly, Sire, because time is short."

"Yes, I think you are right. Just looking at him, if he asked me for forgiveness now, I would feel like someone slapped me in the face. You may retire, Prince Harp. May I praise you for your patience."

"It's not patience, it's more I know we need him for the Prophesy, or he would have lost his head a long time ago."

With that, Harp left the royal suite with the book and brought it to the study he shared with his family, to find Paschal drawing a map on the worktable.

"What are you up to?"

"I have revisited the west coast and compared the before and after memory of it. I am drawing the change, as it would appear if we had the Eyes of Horus. It was not easy because there are still many eruptions, and the entire magic field is severely destabilised. There are huge gaps in it. I visited were Port was, it washed out to sea, as every village we checked on. The sea has cleansed the continent for a hundred miles inland, sometimes more. There are huge icebergs strewn everywhere, thrown on dry land, or cornered in the Inner Waterways. And this is the most important change: if you look at this map, the original, and that other map, which I am completing, you notice the biggest change of all: the sea has invaded the inner valleys, which were wastelands anyway due to the Great Cataclysm. The Glows and Forbidden Forests are now destroyed, buried deep within a new oceanic trench. In a way, all this is a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"Yes, it's like the Earth disposed of its dead areas and buried them below the continental crust."

"At a huge cost!"

"Yes, the cost in life was drastic, Harp, but consider how these people lived! How they died of horrendous burns at the mere breath of a northern wind! In a way, the black mages' folly rendered us an immense service. They have unwittingly given orcs and crocodiles a setback we would not have dreamed; they blew themselves up; they triggered a cleansing of Nature we would only have hoped for. In other words, Harp, sometimes bad things must happen in order for good things to come about."

Figure 6: Western Coast, before Catastrophe

Figure 7: Western Coast, after Catastrophe