The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft
AGAINST HOPE

CH AGAINST HOPE

The Blind Oracle of Adamos, Lady Fluer, had revived in the Towers of Xelusia. It was moments like these that she cursed the redundant Aetherian physiology that allowed for her to die and revive. Now more than ever, she wished she had never been changed from human to Aetherian. It was time for her to walk in the Darkness and among its shadows once again.

Her room was lavish, bedding made of silk, walls of and floor of polished obsidian except for a wall of black mirrors. She had wrapped herself in a robe, stared at her reflection, and then gone out onto the balcony to steady her nerves after the pain of dying and reviving. She was horrified by how she looked now, but it had to be. The dark energy or the magic she summoned had turned her hair black and made her scars look like filigree had been etched into her skin in india ink.

It made her feel so cold, it made her long for the warmth of the Light and its magic, but she had to convince the followers of the Shadows that she was there to fulfill prophecy. It was time to be their queen, it was time to become the Dark Oracle in every way, so they would believe in her fall and let her deceive them. Karstien of Adamos, and the Huntsman, Lord Yurieth watched her and she had sent a message to her king from the future, her most trusted that she no longer believed had ever been her friend. She could not let him touch her mind least he discern the truth, she decided to let him think some magic was a barrier between them. Her hands moved in American Sign Language revealing the details of her quarters. Lastly, she signed.

‘Tell my children, I loved them.’ Her hands fluttered through the tiny movements like a small bird before she pulled the hood of her robe up over her ebony hair and scarred face then she retreated into the Tower.

“Good evening, my lady oracle,” a familiar voice came from near the door.

“Who are you?” The dark oracle walked slowly, and pretended they had never met because she could feel they were still being watched from beyond the dark mirrors. She ran her fingertips over a table, letting the dark energy static crackle around her. “And where am I?”

“You are in the City of the Kings, in the Sacred Towers of Xelusia, and I am High Lady Naphtala, a siren seer of the House of Baalru, Lady Fleur,” Naphtala announced smoothly.

“Do not call me by that name,” Fleur snapped, she let her eyes flash an angry red with power. “It is a weak name for a weak girl. I am the Dark Oracle and your queen.”

“My apologies, my lady oracle, I am only here to serve you.” Fleur could hear the rustle of Naphtala’s and her servant’s dresses as they bowed. The dark oracle made a derisive snort.

“Very well, you may serve your queen by finding me a decent dress.” Then Fleur smiled evilly, “Bring me my other’s dressmaker, the one called Cinna. I am a queen, I will look like one.” She turned and strode toward the mirror she could barely see. Standing only a foot from the glass she turned one way and another in the oversized robe. “Go. I do not wish to wear this ridiculous tent longer than necessary.”

Lady Naphtala and her veiled servant bowed deeply and slipped out of the room. Her servant hurried one way as Prince Lucif stepped out of the observation room. Lady Naphtala bowed to him.

“My prince, it appears her transformation is true. I can sense no light left in her other than the raw magic she can wield. Our Queen will be emerging over the next few days. Be careful, my prince, she is not like your mother, she is more powerful, more dangerous. Your mother was content with her position but this new queen desires more. Do not anger her and do not let the princess upset her or you may have more than one daughter imprisoned to be bled for the altars.”

“Will she become unstable like the others?” Prince Lucif asked with concerned curiosity. For the last two hundred years, every priestess indwelled by the Siren Queen Entity had perished after going insane.

“I do not believe so, my prince. Once she is fully bound to you after the Celestial Alignment, the shadowed kingdom shall return,” Naphtala promised.

“Very good, Lady Naphtala. Your gifts have served us well. Go and do as she bids. I want our queen to be happy,” Lucif smiled.

“My blood and my soul serve the shadows.” The Pale Lady of the House of Baalru turned in a fluid movement and followed the direction her servant had gone.

Prince Lucif returned to the observation room, where his daughter, Princess Demona stared hatefully at the exotic woman now sitting in a chair eating red pomegranates and white cheese.

“Lady Naphtala assures me, Lady Fluer is the one to carry our queen, that She already rest within her and will emerge fully after the Celestial Alignment ball,” Lucif smiled to himself.

His father has chosen his brother to inherit the Lord of Shadows, but the heroic sons of the House of Adamos had unwittingly aided in his coup and their own mother, the Last High Oracle of the House of Yophriel had found and raised the next vessel of the Siren Queen. Lucif chuckled at the irony that the defenders of the Light had brought about the downfall of their own kingdom.

“What is so funny, father?” Princess Demona asked, her lips made a thin line. She had not forgotten her father’s bitter words before Lady Naphtala had greeted Lady Fleur.

“I was just wondering how we could ever repay the House of Adamos for so generously aiding our victory.”

Lady Naphtala and her servant traveled quickly through the crowded streets of The City of the Kings. For 50,000 years the Royal Houses of Aetheria had dwelt in this place, but the seer and her oracle cousin knew those days were at an end. No one noticed as they slipped into the shadow of a doorway and went into the Manor of Odini. The last of the House of Adamos stood waiting with the Queen and the only remaining Lord of Odini.

“Are you sure Lady Fleur is still in control, Mina?” Naphtala demanded as soon as they were off the street. “I could feel nothing of her light.”

“Yes, she spoke to me. She says we must hurry.” Mina frowned as she removed her Baalru headdress and eye veil, “She says she can feel the Siren Queen trying to seduce her to surrender, she says to tell Karstien it isn’t as strong, but it will be soon.”

Naphtala added, “We only have until the evening of the Celestial Alignment Ball to finish this or she’ll be out of reach.”

“Why?” Karstien asked. “Daisy... I mean Fleur overcame it before.”

Yurieth answered, “Because on the next morning, they will return to Xelusia for the Alignment and to seal the soul of the Dark Queen to Fleur’s body and we will lose her soul forever. They need the Siren’s power to bind the Lord of the Shadows to Prince Lucif a short time later, if they succeed the Shadows will win. I do not know how I defeated him last time, even though his host was advanced in age, he still almost bested me. I will have my allies waiting at the Temple.”

“It will not be such an easy task this time, my son. There is a prophesy concerning the Xelusian Autumnal Day of Balance which falls on the fourth day after the Celestial Alignment. The Blood Mages and Sirens believe that the return of the queen and king means the Devourer will come to walk in our world and many worlds beyond through their son conceived on that day. The Devourer’s son will lead the Shadows to conquer the universe and consume all those who serve the Light,” Yllumina explained and Naphtala nodded solemnly.

Karstien scowled, pinching between his eyes before he spoke. “Fleur and Father once told me that if the Devourer had not been contained in the Dust Dimension, it would have rampaged through the galaxy and beyond. That the cataclysm that destroys Aetheria actually saved us all by buying us time.”

“How can the end of life in our two kingdoms save anyone,” Abrieth demanded in frustration.

It was Oren who answered, “It is simple, Protector Abrieth. We don’t possess the technology or magic to fight it. Our Tech hasn’t evolved more than a few steps in 500 centuries. The magic infused technology they use in the future is invented out of necessity because they are so few and their allies have no magic. The warriors of the future are far more advanced than we are, they even have ways of storing magic for use later and by those without magic.”

“Storing magic? That’s... that’s impossible.” The queen’s Guardian Regulus actually looked shocked for the first time in centuries and they all shared his expression.

“It’s true,” Karstien declared. “The applications are unbelievable, and I have used them. To Fleur, magic is just another form of energy, the things she and her Corps of Techs learned to do with it are...”

“Enough talk of the far future, it does nothing for us in this moment.” Queen Eonae spoke for the first time. “We need to focus on the here and now. Tell us what we must do to aid the Blind Oracle and stop the Xelusians from bringing the end of everything after they destroy our world.”

“Fleur wishes to do what was done the last time the moons and stars and planets aligned like this,” Yllumina said simply.

Yurieth ground his teeth, speaking through them. “So, she wants to ignite a war?”

“Yes, my son,” Yllumina answered quietly. “And her death is the spark.” Yllumina’s calm words slammed into the Huntsman’s soul like lightning.

Yurieth swallowed repeatedly as Karstien shook his head, arguing, “There has to be another way, grandmother.”

“No, Lord Karstien, the war was coming, the Xelusians are already planning a coup,” Regulus revealed.

Yllumina nodded, “Fleur plans to set Xerxes and Lucif against each other on the day after the Celestial Alignment Ball.”

“Your stepdaughter plays the game well,” Queen Eonae observed. “They both obsessively desire her power. Xerxes will not allow Lucif to keep her once he knows she dwells in the Towers of Xelusia. Lucif will be forced to try to flee with her to Xelusia.”

“So how do we rescue her from both, or do we help Xerxes rescue her and then snatch her back?” Karstien asked, as Abrieth nodded on his right.

Yllumina shook her head, “We can’t. To guarantee the war, Fluer wants to be killed in her room in the Tower.”

“Her blood can be drawn before, but the traces of light and dark magic can’t be duplicated. The morning after the ball, when the King sends his forces for her, the Xelusians will discover her ashes, her blood, and the remnant of the expended magic.” Naphtala explained. “The room is obsidian. It will appear as though she was attacked and incinerated so she could not be revived, or her body magically preserved for the Siren Queen.”

“She intends to set the blame on Demona, so Lucif will take her home and you can stow away on the Royal transport. Serapha is already on Xelusia at the Temples.” Yllumina explained, she paused when Abrieth gasped, favoring her younger son with a sympathetic look.

“Are... are they bleeding her?” Abrieth asked in a shaky voice.

“No, they would only imprison her. They are going to use her blood to seal the Lord of Shadows to Lucif after they sealed the queen to Demona or another. It has to be familial blood,” Yurieth said quietly, “We have to get her away from them.”

“My Lord Yurieth, you seem intimately familiar with the secrets of the Blood Temples,” Lady Naphtala observed.

They were all staring at him and Yurieth shrugged, “My mother asked me to retrieve a few books for her from there after Fleur came to our time. I may have read them on the flight home.” His silver eyes held his mother’s golden ones. “I do not like secrets.”

“Fleur was afraid they will take her back and wanted to know how they would do it to stop them, if she doesn’t succeed in dying the night of the ball. A wise oracle plans for all contingencies.” Yllumina responded calmly, looking straight at her grandson. “Even against hope.”

Karstien gasped, he looked horrified by what Yllumina just revealed. “No. She wouldn’t. It can’t be.” A flick of blue white flame appeared over his hand and darted away. He bolted after it.

Yurieth and the others looked at each other for a moment then followed quickly leaving Yllumina behind. Karstien had opened a crate in a vacant room.

He was panting in horror. “It’s here, she actually sent it back and I didn’t know.”

“She sent it with my brother,” Oren said quietly. “I was to give it to Yurieth. It is to be detonated in the Temple City as close to the gate as he can place it.”

The others looked into the transport box at the glowing device, everyone could feel the strange magical energy emanating from tech they had never seen.

“What is it?” Regulus demanded, stepping between Queen Eonae and the object.

“A weapon,” Karstien said darkly. “It’s code name was Against Hope. It is a temporal implosion device.”

He pulled a flickering heptagonal shape off the outside. “This is one of the storage devices I told you about, this one contains temporal energy. The enemy existed in a pocket dimension as a living nebula that fed on the biomass of the worlds in our dimension. The War Oracle created this device so that if we failed in battle, the Dust Dimension could be sealed and it inhabitants trapped in slow time, like insects in tree sap. She called it ‘Against Hope’ because it would only buy us another ten thousand years or so to prepare. She refused to believe that we had only once chance to stop the Devourer from emerging. So, after my father’s death, she built us a second chance because she vowed as a mother that our children would survive.”

Karstien staggered backward and dropped to his knees overcome by grief and guilt. “By the light! We sacrificed all of you to buy our future... We created the Dark Dust Dimension.”

Yllumina’s light glowed comfortingly but Karstien couldn’t be comforted. They had lost worlds and billions of living beings to the Harvests. She put her hand on her bereft grandson’s shoulder. “If she did not build it, if we do not use it, all will be lost. She is making the ultimate sacrifice, so we won’t fail now. So, you will have a chance then, the future still isn’t certain. You will lose then if we don’t succeed now. Don’t let it all be in vain.”

“In Vain! Grandmother, we lost billions! I won’t lose Fleur too.” Karstien surged to his feet and grabbed her shoulders roughly. Abrieth started to step forward but Yurieth’s arm stopped him from defending his mother. The future king’s voice growled, “You will save her, grandmother. I will not return to the future without her!” Then he turned and stormed away.

“Find a way, mother,” Yurieth added and turned to follow his nephew.

The rest of them watched Lord Oren pick up the glowing item. He placed it back in its slot. One by one, they all left except the queen and her protector. Eonae stood with her hand on the edge of the box looking at the glowing beauty that meant the end of her world. A tear fell down her cheek.

“It is hard to believe that something so lovely could be something so terrible.”

Regulus stepped forward and touched her arm lightly, turning quickly Eonae hugged his neck and wept into his shoulder.

“Shhh, do not weep, my sealed one,” He murmured.

Looking up at him with sapphire eyes made crystalline with tears, she whispered. “I will weep. My son... our son, yours and mine, shall live and carry the Sacred Flame to another world while the children of our people perish. I can do nothing more to spare them... When my father told me, I was to marry the King, I did not know he was cursing me.” Her voice had turned bitter.

Gently, Regulus wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “Your curse is a blessing to us all. Your heart, your hope, your strength, without you, the king’s madness would have consumed our people. Do not doubt yourself in this last hour.”

Her words whispered against his neck as he kissed her forehead as she confessed, “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

“Nor I, without you. I am your protector, sealed and honor bound to be by your side. I would have spent my life there, even if you never loved me,” Regulus admitted again. “But it was a dangerous game you played telling Xerxes that Xeus was his. You would have been put to death and I would have been forced to do it. Why did you never tell me before?”

“Because he wasn’t safe until now. And... and Fleur made me promise to tell you before the end.” Eonae admitted. “I love you, Regulus.” She was silent for a moment, running her fingertips over his armor before she stepped away. “We must find a way to stop her from sacrificing herself, perhaps we can give her back what we will lose.”

“I agree, my queen.”

As the night stretched on, Karstien and Yurieth sat quietly in Lord Odini’s empty library, Abrieth stood staring out the window.

Yurieth asked softly, “Did you really lose so many?”

“That is the conservative under-estimate as Fleur would say. She felt their deaths, every time, every world... It almost drove her insane.” Karstien clenched his fists, not looking at his uncles. “You don’t know what it was like, but you will... and then... then you will understand why Grandfather did everything he will do. I can only pray that Fleur doesn’t find out the truth, it would devastate her.”

“Did my father really make her?”

“My father thought so, he tried to figure out but it did not change how much he loved her.” Karstien seemed to choke on the words. “Or how much we all loved her.” He stared at his clenched fists.

Yurieth thought about how troubled Karstien was, and how infuriated the young king had been when Adamos had referred to Fleur as a weapon. Yurieth admitted that watching Fleur lay waste to the warriors of his enemies had been thrilling and terrifying, but Yurieth had regretted the shot that killed her the moment his arrow left his bow. The horror of feeling her death had torn his soul in half. It was so much worse than when Roserae and the girls died. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his hand over his heart again.

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