Naaros Rising (cont')

Chapter One

The sun set behind the blunt heads of the Durncrag Range, and night spread her cloak across Sommerlund. The fiery orb still had the traversal of the Darklands before it; and beyond there, the Drakkarim awaited the first light of dawn that they might curse the name of Kai.

But let us return to Sommerlund, where a day of work has come to a close. All have set their burdens aside and turned to their beds, saving the scholars and the worriers. And the Kai Lords, of course; but that was to be expected.

Lone Wolf and Sun Star, two of the three Supreme Masters of the Monastery, sat talking in a chamber high in the Tower of the Sun. They spoke of the demise of the Tyrant Sejanoz eleven years gone by, and the claiming of the Bhanar Autocracy by neighbouring Chai. They spoke of the Cener Druids and the prevention of a second--and final--Great Plague; of Vashna in Maakengorge, and his long-dead siblings; of Ixia and the Deathlord; of all things past, in an attempt to relate them to the present situation.

Lone Wolf set aside the heavy tome that he had been leafing through, finally reaching the end of his patience. Sun Star glanced up at him from a delicate scroll spread out on the littered table before him.

"There is nothing here that will help," the elder Kai announced, running a hand through his lank hair. "Nothing that can shed light on what happened last month. Have you found anything?"

Sun Star coughed before speaking. "Nothing to explain the behaviour of the Lorestones last night. Could you make out anything from The Book of the Magnakai?"

Lone Wolf set his palm down over the cover of the ancient book he had set to the left. "No. Our founder may have encountered similar activity in the jewels while he possessed them; but if he ever made mention of it, then the script has faded beyond my ability to interpret."

There was a long silence, during which time the Supreme Masters looked to the empty third chair.

Sun Star coughed again. "So. . . have you decided who you’re going to send out to find them?"

Lone Wolf cocked an eyebrow. "You speak as if Autumn Rain had failed already."

"I did not mean-"

The Master held up a hand. "I know, Brother, and I share your concern; but we must give Supreme Master Rain a while longer. If no word arrives by the time of the Feast. . . then I will think of a candidate."

Sun Star leaned back. "Still you will not go yourself?"

Lone Wolf smiled slightly. "You know that I cannot. Someone must find an answer quickly, and…I know of none better to ask than the God."

Sun Star’s eyes widened. "You will go ahead with the communion then?"

"I. . . believe that I have sufficient power now."

He doesn’t sound very sure of himself, the younger Kai Lord thought. Then, What if he isn’t? What if he can’t do it? What happens then?

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