Chapter Three

"What did you mean?"

Lucian turned sharply as if startled by the sound of Mhavrych's voice.

"Excuse me?"

Mhavrych took a few more steps toward the Eteri, his eyes locked on the pools of blue in the other man's face. He had left the frozen exile under the guise of allowing Casimir and Aegeus time to reconnect, but he had known the moment that he walked away from them that there was something else that he needed to be doing. The face of the woman who called herself Kendra, the woman who claimed to be his wife, hadn't been far from his mind, but he knew that finding out who she was and what she meant wasn't going to be as simple as just asking her. There was a reason that she was baiting him, a reason that she was teasing him and playing with him in that way rather than just approaching him. It had to do with why she had the star stone and Mhavrych knew it went further than her. He couldn't imagine why he would have given her the stone rather than keeping it to protect it or bringing it home to his parents. Even more, he couldn't understand how it was possible that he could forget not only meeting this woman but marrying her. He needed to unravel what was happening and that meant going to the person who was both closest to her and that knew more than he should. Lucian.

"When we were in the meeting you said that you knew so much because the rocks had a way of talking to you. What did you mean by that?"

Lucian looked at him with an expression that was difficult to discern. In a way, it seemed confused, but there was also happiness there, amusement that Mhavrych was coming to him.

"I meant exactly what I said," Lucian said. "The rocks have a way of talking to you, if you are willing to listen."

"What does that mean?"

"Why are you asking?"

"You know things you shouldn't," Mhavrych said. "And I believe that you know more than you're saying. You know why that woman Kendra came here with you."

"She came to help, just like the rest of the Eteri."

Mhavrych shook his head.

"No. The rest that came are warriors. She isn't a warrior. She came here for me, and you know why. Tell me."

"I believe that she has something of yours that she wanted to return to you."

The Eteri man didn't specifically say he knew that she had a star stone, and for the first time Mhavrych didn't feel as though he were lying to him or trying to avoid saying something. It was possible Lucian really didn't know what it was that Kendra was carrying or the significance it held.

"I don't know her," Mhavrych said, hoping that might encourage the man to give him more details about why she seemed to know him and how she got the stone. "I have never met her."

"That's not what she seems to think."

"How did you know about Fayat? How did you know about his link with the Order? That's something no one is supposed to know."

"I already told you. The rocks told me."

Mhavrych felt frustration and anger building inside of him.

"Stop speaking in riddles and just tell me what I want to know. No one is supposed to know that but the Order and those who entrusted them. No one is supposed to know about the link between the Valdicians and the Denynso."

"But they already know," Lucian said. "You've already met the descendant of Aida and Fayat, the one who still carries the Valdician blood. He's strong enough that he can move things with his mind but has the skills of the warriors."

"They know that a child was born to them and that the child was raised among the Denynso, going on to continue the bloodline. But the Order ended the alliance with the Denynso when they sent Aida and Fayat to the distant planet. The breaking of that link was meant to protect them."

"But it didn't," Lucian said.

"What do you mean?"

"Think of all that's happened since then. Think of all the danger that has come to Uoria and those who live here since that one decision was made. There has been division and war. Bloodshed. Disappearances. You can't truly believe that those are unrelated."

"Lucian, I need you to tell me everything that you know."

"Why?"

"I was sent here to find something invaluable, something that could destroy or defend the entire Universe. But it has been held in absolute secrecy since long before anyone on this planet lived, or generations before them. If you know that secret, then that means others may as well, and what I need to do is even more urgent than before."

"What I said in that meeting is what I know," Lucian said. "I don't know what happened before Fayat and Aida and I don't know what happened after. What I do know is that seems to be the time when the alliances on Uoria started to dissolve and things were set into motion that are now coming to a head."

Mhavrych nodded.

"Can you show me the rocks?" he asked. "The rocks that told you this. Can you show them to me?"

Lucian nodded.

"I could, but that would mean going back to the Eteri kingdom. We've only just gotten here to help Creia."

"I understand that," he said. "But Creia wants the same thing that I do. To end the danger and protect the planet and the Universe. He is fighting against Ryan. My responsibilities, my fight, started long before him. I know that he called for your help. The alliance of his kind with yours is long-running, but I need you to trust that the alliance of my kind with the Denynso goes back just as far, if not farther. I need to understand what you know, and I need to understand what link I have to Kendra. It could be instrumental in finally bringing this to a close."

"We'll talk to Creia," Lucian said. "I'll tell him that I can put another of my warriors in command and they are authorized to act whenever and however necessary. I'll bring you to the kingdom and show you the rocks and return as soon as I can."

"Thank you."

 

Later that evening Mhavrych and Lucian walked out of the room where they had met with Creia. The Denynso king followed, his face drawn.

"Thank you for your understanding, Creia."

"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?"

Mhavrych nodded.

"The Valdicians are at the core of all of this. They are the source of the destruction. What's happening now isn't new. They've taken their time and they've seen challenges and opposition, but their plans are coming due now. Everything that's been happening -- it's not accidental. It's not coincidental. This is all connected and unless we address every thread, we'll never prevail. The Universe is going to fall to them."

"Go," Creia said. "Do what needs to be done. Trust that I will do my part here."

"We'll come back together soon," Mhavrych promised. "Aegeus and Casimir will return soon and we will meet on the battlefield on Penthos."

Creia gave a single nod and Mhavrych and Lucian rushed away from the building, into the growing darkness. For a moment Mhavrych considered guiding the Eteri toward the tunnels, but he hesitated. He had been using them too much. He had been relying on the ancient form of traveling too heavily and had become careless. Though he wanted to believe that he could trust Lucian, if even just so that he could follow him and get the information that he needed, Mhavrych knew that he needed to be cautious. He needed to protect himself and the rest by avoiding the tunnels and the portals as much as possible.

As they had discussed, Lucian used a thick strap to wrap around his own waist and then around Mhavrych's, tying the two men together. He then took hold of Mhavrych with one arm around his chest and rose up into the sky, beginning to fly toward the Eteri kingdom. It would take far longer than moving through the portals, and it would leave Lucian exhausted, but it would keep the planet more secure.

 

Mhavrych's waist stung from the strap biting into him and his muscles ached from trying to hold himself up while they flew by the time that they finally made it to the kingdom. He couldn't wait to be free of the Eteri man and to be able to move on his own. He hated the feeling of being helpless and not being able to control where he was going or what he was doing. When the ground was beneath his own feet again, he removed the strap and took several long strides away from Lucian so that he could feel the emptiness around him.

"Where do we go now?" he asked.

"I need some time to refresh myself," Lucian said. "You are welcome to come to my home with me."

"No. I'll stay here," Mhavrych said. "Meet me back here when you're ready."

"I will."

Mhavrych tried not to feel frustrated or angry toward the man for not continuing on with their mission immediately, reminding himself that Lucian had flown the entire way across the planet and would need a chance to rest and rejuvenate himself. Mhavrych walked around the clearing where Lucian had left him, looking at the lush plants that surrounded it and feeling the cool breeze. The air was softer here than it was in the Mikana kingdom and Mhavrych filled his lungs with it, letting it release some of the tension inside of him. He followed the sound of water to the edge of a tiny creek and knelt down to fill his palm with the crystal water. Bringing it to his lips, he marveled in its cool sweetness, feeling almost instantly refreshed and re-energized by it.

"Why are you here?"

Mhavrych saw the reflection and heard the voice before he saw the person standing in front of him. Her image shimmered in the water and he could see tiny flecks of pink fluttering to the surface of the creek as it swept by. He lifted his eyes to her as he straightened, not wanting to move too quickly in case she decided to run from him again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "You were in the Mikana kingdom."

"So were you."

"But why did you come back?"

"Why are you here?"

"Lucian brought me," Mhavrych responded. "I need him to show me something that he knows."

"But you already know," Kendra said. "You already know everything that you need to."

Mhavrych shook his head.

"No," he said. "I don't."

"Yes, you do. You know who you are. Trust yourself. Because everyone else trusts you."

"I don't understand," Mhavrych said. "Who are you? Why do you say that you're my wife? How do you have that star stone?"

"Because I am your wife," she said matter-of-factly. "And you gave me this stone."

"But I don't even remember meeting you."

"You will."

"But I'm here now. You can give me the stone."

Kendra shook her head.

"No," she said. "Not yet. It's not time yet. You said that you would come for it. You haven't come for it."

"What do you mean?"

Mhavrych could hear footsteps coming toward him and Kendra started to back away from the creek, her hand coming up to grip the starstone around her neck again.

"Come find me," she said softly. "Follow me."

Before Mhavrych could ask her what she meant or take a step to follow her, Lucian emerged back into the clearing and she disappeared back into the thick forest behind her.

"Are you ready?" Lucian asked.

 

Mhavrych stalked angrily into the palace, not pausing when he saw the startled look on his mother's face.

"You said that the portals were sealed. You told me that there was no way to go back."

"Mhavrych, what are you talking about?" Galadriel asked.

"You told me that there was no way to control movement through the streams. That there were only the portals that have always existed, and they were the only way to travel."

Galadriel and Vyker exchanged glances. He could see the unsure, unsteady expression on his mother's face, the expression that came when she questioned how much she knew about her husband's kind and planet, and how much she didn't. She had lived the majority of her life on Earth in a time countless years ahead of the time she lived in now. Though she had worked hard to learn the ways and the history of the man who she devoted her life to and the new existence that she had chosen, there was so much that was different here and she had discovered this world in a time of fire and upheaval, throwing herself into it well before she understood any of it. This left her often feeling as though she was at the mercy of her husband and had to rely on him completely to tell her what was happening and how to respond. Now was one of those moments and Mhavrych could see it. She knew something, but she didn't know what she should say.

"What's happened, Mhavrych?" Vyker asked.

Mhavrych looked at his father and took another step toward him.

"My entire life you've told me that the only way that we could travel through the streams was in the specific ways that the portals existed, and that there was no way to manipulate it. You told me there was no way to decide where to travel except to the set points of the portals and that you couldn't travel to the same moment more than once. You lied to me."

"We didn't lie."

"Yes, you did. None of that is true."

"We didn't lie, Mhavrych. We guarded you. It isn't safe to play in the streams. They can be dangerous and manipulating time can cause disaster that you weren't prepared to face."

"But you thought I was prepared to be Protector. You thought I was prepared to defend the entire existence of the Universe."

"I didn't know the streams could be used that way until I was already an adult," Vyker said. "When I was younger and even when I was searching for the stones, I didn't know. I trusted what Rilex told me."

"When I met him, he told me the same," Galadriel said. "He said that we couldn't move through time in the traditional way but could only use portals to bring us to specific points."

"But you knew that wasn't true."

"What do you mean?" Vyker asked.

"You traveled through the streams and were always able to determine when you returned here. You came back at the moment that you wanted to. Mother, you traveled from here to Earth and back several times. Never did you have to worry that you were going to miss years and never be able to recover them. So obviously you were manipulating the portals so that you could travel to the moment you wanted to."

"I didn't know what I was doing," Galadriel said. "I traveled however and wherever they were going to bring me. I didn't have any control."

"But he did," Mhavrych said, looking at his father. "You had control and you knew that you did."

"Not until I was older, Mhavrych. I didn't realize what I was doing then. And when I did, it was because I was being faced with the reality of just how dangerous it could be. You have an incredibly important responsibility."

"One that I can't fulfill if you don't give me all of the information and skills that I need. You don't know what's been happening."

"I know more than you think you do. I was there. I've seen the things that you are just learning about."

"And you couldn't stop them. I have to," Mhavrych shouted, slamming his fist into his chest. "Too many people have died and there are so many more that could be decimated."

"That isn't your job," Vyker said intensely. "Your duty as Protector is to find the crest and bring it back here to be restored."

"I've found it," Mhavrych said.

"Then where is it?"

"It's secured on Uoria."

"It needs to be brought here," Vyker demanded. "The streams are at risk until you do."

"No," Mhavrych said, shaking his head. "There are more star stones that need to be found."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I've seen them. At least one of them. And even when I find it, that's not enough. I have been helping Casimir and Aegeus my entire life. I have known their fight since I was a child. But you never told me that it was my fight all along. You never told me where it all began."

"You didn't need to know."

"How can you say that? How can you expect me to protect something when I don't even know what I'm protecting? Do you know what they did to him? What he survived?"

Galadriel's eyes widened.

"Aegeus is alive?"

Mhavrych started to back away from them.

"I have to go," he said.

"Where are you going?" Vyker asked.

"Back."