Chapter 7

Beren's Vison

Beren stood in the bedroom of the Zealan High Priest, and examined the chest at the foot of the bed. The lock had been rusty, and his magic soon finished it off. Hastily opening the chest Beren saw three old cloth bags. Opening the first he found a scroll. Without the characteristic blue glow, he deduced it was not magical. It was merely meditation mantras. In the second bag he found various wooden trinkets, at least he presumed they were magical.

Beren opened the third bag, and it there was a loud whoosh as a ball of yellow light hurtled past the sorcerer. It stopped in mid-air above Beren's head, and began to hum. Beren stared into it, and there was a loud flash of light.

Beren was floating in a great white cavern. There were great pillars on either side of him. He saw three tiny fireflies floating around him. They were concentrating on his face, and he was certain that he could hear whispering. Then, all of a sudden, there was a flash of white light.

At first Beren's vision was very blurred. Then finally he saw he was standing in a square room which was fairly dimly lit. Before him was a tall, thin man dressed in grey robes. Behind him were several warriors, dressed in green and with some strange symbols on their tabards that Beren did not recognise.

The robed figure spoke, "Once again, Felicitar, Dolores and Timyra, I bring thee the shield of the Lesser Gods. Will you give me your powers?"

The torax headed god to his left came to life, "No, Sargon-Poh. I regret we cannot allow your request."

The statue of the woman finely dressed woman behind him spoke to him cheerfully, as if he were a scolded pet, "Dear High Priest, we ask you to cease your quest for power. There is no need for…"

"Enough!" yelled Sargon-Poh, daring to interrupt the god in mid-sentence. "if you will not give me your powers, then you shall not be able to use them!"

He took out a blue shield, and held it above him, and began to chant, "An Jux, Thuo Felicitar, Thuo Dolores, Thuo Timyra! An Sanct Por!"

"No!" said the final god, a small, thin man, with fear in his voice., "I did not believe that this could be done! NO!!!"

He crouched on the pedestal, and placed his arms over his head. Sargon-Poh's chanting echoed through the room, and Suddenly three yellow forcefields fell over them.

"Now," said Sargon-Poh, "to be rid of them forever... "Kal Vas..."

"My liege," said a voice behind him, as warrior behind Sargon stepped forward. "You cannot destroy the gods. You only said you would imprison them until your need was over…"

"Silence Dnumed-Nagirrek! You are but an initiate in the Order of the Three."

"Aye milord," said Dnumed, "but 'tis dishonourable to do the ultimate punishment."

"Be quiet fool!" said Sargon, and he began to chant again.

"No! I cannot!" said Dnumed. He drew his sword, and lunged for Sargon-Poh. The other three warriors responded swiftly, drawing their weapons too.

"Fool," muttered Beren to himself. "He should have confronted the priest before this…"

Beren himself remembered the way disobedient sorcerers were destroyed by Malchir, the now-dead master of Morgaelim isle.

Dnumed swung wildly with his sword, but he sliced into Sargon, and the shield fell to the floor with a loud smash. It stood upright for a few seconds, and then there was a loud thunder, and both Sargon and his three henchmen were knocked to the ground. Earthquakes started, and Dnumed picked up the shield and fled.

Beren felt dizzy, the earthquake had not affected him, he had remained standing, and somehow invisible. Yet all went white. When his blurry vision came to he saw the cave the adventure had began in, with the large double doors to the tunnel that had led to the Castle. But the doors looked new, and through them there emerged a small unit of men dressed in green tabards, with the symbol of a blue shield with three symbols on it. These were the same type of warrior as those who had stood behind Sargon-Poh at the ritual. They carried evil looking spiked shields, and cruel looking longswords. Their faces were hidden by steel helms, and they looked quite imposing. Behind them came two trolls, each carrying a large staff. Then, with a cry, a group of twenty of the Tenebraen guard, whom Beren identified by the uniforms they still wore to this day, charged into the cave in formation. The green uniformed warriors stood aside for the trolls, who pointed their staffs at the Tenebraen guards, and the first rank fell dead instantly.

The green Zealan warriors charged, though they were outnumbered by the Tenebraens. Many of their number fell, and yet they fought on. Then the trolls pointed their staffs again and the dead Zealans rose from the ground to begin the fight anew. One of the Tenebraen's decapitated the Zealan attacker, and he fell dead, and did not rise. Still, despite this weakness being found, more Pagan warriors succumbed to the mystic powers of the trolls.

At this point there was a loud rumbling in the cavern. Lithos, the Mountain King appeared.

"Live ones! The time has come for you to die."

The earth shook, and both Pagan and Zealan were knocked off their feet. The Zealan warriors soon stood up again in a straight-line formation. It was at this time that a pile of debris fell from the roof of the cave onto the Zealans and trolls. The Zealans were killed instantly. The trolls groaned, and lay still under the pile of debris.

The door closed, and the Earth shook once more.

"This day is yours, Live Ones! I claim these shells as my own! Begone now, for no Pagan shall ever need to enter the Zealan lands while I reign supreme over Earth."

With a shake the flesh of the dead Pagans and Zealans alike vanished, leaving skeletal remains. The door was locked, and Lithos vanished.

Beren saw what followed, the troll clutching the key who had survived. The titans feasting upon the powers of the trolls, leaving the unintelligent barbarians that had roamed the lands near Tenebrae. He also saw the mountains and sea level rise in the Zealan lands. He saw the deaths in the Zealan capital, the Earth swallowing it up instantly, he saw the ocean cover the empty land… except for one pocket. Hydros and Lithos spared but one pocket of land. Beren could see the green land, fresh and clear, and he could just about make out a few huts…

Then the vision ended. The ball of light flew away, leaving Beren comatose on the floor.