Capítulo 41: Hidden Knowledge
Light cuts through the curtains of Lioth's bedroom. She lays down on her bed, her body hidden under a puffy blanket from the neck down.
A few servants clean every cranny of the extravagant bedroom filled with paintings and expensive jewelry, a clear distinction made between the two since all gold and jewels were kept in the same place, while the paintings plastered every free space on the walls.
There were a few bookcases filled with thick leather books.
Sitting next to the princess there is an elderly man wearing the robes of the church. But by the intricate details of gold and silver, as well as the three yellow suns tattooed on his face, the first and largest one on his forehead, second at his crown, and the third at the back, it meant he wasn't a common priest.
Not a single hair on his face, not even eyebrows. The iris of his eyes was a light yellow.
He placed his hand on Lioth's forehead and light emanated from it, after a few seconds he raised it and observed closely if the young lady reacted. But after a few seconds, he leaned back and wrote something in a leather parchment.
The guards at the entrance salute as Edel enters the room, his heavy metallic footsteps heard meters away by the old man.
"Leave us," he says walking up to the priest and everyone else exits the room "Prime Priest" bowing lightly, he stands at the feet of the bed, sparing a glance at the sleeping princess.
"I'm afraid there is nothing else I can do here, no matter how many hours I try to lift any curse put on her, I feel nothing that the Light can fight against" his old weary voice is soft "If I was made aware of exactly what happened to her, I may have a clue on how to help her"
Edel remains silent as he and the old man exchange looks, once the Prime Priest realizes the High General won't budge, he snickers "Your loyalty on the King, blessed be he, is admirable. But I suggest you rely more on the church in matters of the unknown, just as the king has in the past"
The Prime Priest stands up and heads to a nearby desk where his satchel bag is resting, a few scrolls poking out of it.
"Fine, but this can't be heard by anyone else. If it got out to the rest of the church, I would consider it treason" his warning given, Edel went on to tell the events of both Eversmile and the feast.
"Impossible" the old man whispers as he turns around and hastily puts the satchel bag over his shoulder "You must come with me immediately, to the sanctuary of the city"
Edel takes a moment to decide but nods to the Prime Priest as he exits the room. The High General follows his actions but goes first to the barracks, the guards and servants going back inside the room as soon as he leaves.
Once he reaches the stone building he walks inside a large room with a wooden table in its middle, the walls decorated with the most detailed maps of Gerados, bookcases filled with scrolls, parchments, and papers, just like the large table.
Adrel is sitting on a large chair at the head of the table, taking a nap by the time Edel enters the room, but quickly waking up and standing up when he does.
She moves to a nearby pile and begins to move scrolls from one place to another. A scowl on her face.
"Bag," he says as he walks up to one of the largest piles of parchments, Adrel rushes and grabs a satchel bag, giving it to her knight "When I return, your task better be done, or you won't eat for three days" rolling a few parchments into scrolls he fits them inside the bag and secures it over his shoulder.
"Yes, my knight" Adrel mutters between her teeth as she steps away and lightly bows, forcing herself to do so.
Edel nods at her and leaves the room, but still hears her kick a nearby wall as he exits the barracks.
With the waving of a hand and simple order, a few of the guarding soldiers secure a few horses and they all follow him as he trots to the main gates on top of his black stallion, stopping when his eyes fall on the young archmage who stands on the mage trap with a blue cloak and the madwoman next to him.
"G-General Edel" Das bows as Ann hides behind him "I'm leaving back to Eversmile, to see if it sparks any new memory within our guest"
"If it doesn't, don't come back with her," he orders turning his ride to the now open gates and exiting the palace grounds. Nothing quite revolting for him as the sight of the mage so early in the morning.
With his five guards, Edel trots in the streets, the busy inhabitants move away at his sight, some out of respect, others, fear.
It takes a little bit of time, but eventually, he reaches the sanctuary of the city. Close the walls separating the better and worse parts of the city, there is a large circular stone sanctuary. A golden sun made out of steel resting atop of its dome.
The less wealthy citizens mix with the rich at the large entrance of the sanctuary, everyone walking inside its halls to kneel in front of the Lightbringer and receive his blessing.
There are two lines, those that enter, and those that leave. A decorated steel brazier in the middle of the two lines with fires that must never die.
Edel steps down from his horse as he moves his hand to order the guards to stay behind.
Walking inside the sanctuary he doesn't distract himself with the many statues, luxurious symbols made out of silver or gold. But can't help it to glance at the image of the Lightbringer. Who almost seems to be always be looking at you, judging you, seeing who you really are no matter where are you standing.
"Please, follow us" a priest motions Edel to come with him as a few other priests join.
Edel is taken past the worshipping halls and deeper into the sanctuary. Where he is led to a stone stair that goes deep underground, a few torches providing lackluster light.
He follows the priests until he reaches a large and deep corridor leading somewhere so far away, that it was barely visible. He never knew something so large was kept beneath the sanctuary.
It's a long walk, on the stone walls of the corridor there are murals depicting the seven feats of the Lightbringer, and without anything better to look at, Edel watches them as he goes to the other end of the corridor.
The first one depicts him fighting against an army of one thousand agents of the night. They, barely human, with horns, and protruding spikes, against him, wearing only a modest cloak and wielding his mythical sword, Shadowsbane.
The second depicts him fighting against the two gods of the wild, Krallen and Fanzaghne. Towering beasts of fur dressed in the bones of slaughtered humans, their minds corrupted by the Night.
The third depicts him carrying Pferd, the pegasus god who had his wings stolen by Greif, god of savagery, who stood at a mountain peak looking down on the Lightbringer.
The fourth depicts him beating Tauschung, the demon of games, in a contest of hnefatafl. The demon holds a blade against his neck with one hand while the Lightbringer holds the chains forcing humanity to be cowards.
The fifth depicts him fighting against Albatraum, the mage who cursed humanity with disunion, so they would never join and face the Night together.
The sixth depicts him walking away from Chaos, the demon who commanded Night's army and was the vessel for humanity's fear of the night, both him and Chaos badly wounded.
The seventh and last one depicts him slaying the black dragon Todvonallem, or known for its shorter name, Night. Granting him the power of the eternal fire and stopping the Evernight from shrouding the world in darkness.
Finally, Edel reaches the end of the long corridor, stone gates with the image of the Lightbringer on them waiting in front of him as the priests move forward. Their eyes glow yellow as light erupts from their hands and the eyes of the Lightbringer shine in response, opening the gates.
Inside there is a large dome as big as the sanctuary on top, with its walls covered in many other murals going into deep detail of the Lightbringer's deeds and feats, they must be hundreds of years old, if not more.
In the ground, many squares, and in the middle of the large dome, stands the Prime Priest. Above them hangs a large orb of light that illuminates the entirety of the place.
"Come, what I will show you today is something, not even the King has laid his eyes on"
The words of the old man make Edel doubt for a moment, but figures he could simply tell the King later about whatever he is shown here.
The other priests leave the place closing the gates behind them and leaving them alone. Once Edel stands near the Prime Priest, the old man smiles.
"Do not worry, if the King doesn't know about this it is because he ordered us to only bother him with important matters, I have already ordered a message to be sent to him at once"
"Good," Edel says glancing at the room "What is this place?"
"I have no idea" the old man chuckles "But I suspect, it is a place to keep the knowledge of the past"
"A library with no scrolls or books?"
"Not traditional ones" the old man points at one of the murals at the top of the dome "Why don't you take a closer look at what is depicted on the walls that surround us?"
Edel eyes suspiciously at the Prime Priest for a moment before obeying, and he notices that while he initially thought it was the Lightbringer, these were not his tales.
The man on the walls was not the Lightbringer, but someone else. A bulky man crushing the skull of a giant serpent, a large hammer on his right hand, and wearing only a pair of pants, his hair long.
He glances at the Prime Priest, who encourages him to keep looking.
The man on the murals is depicted battling a pack of beasts that look like monsters out of nightmares, with big manes and large horns. Another mural shows him carrying a mountain on his back.
And so the murals show him doing all sorts of incredible acts that only a god should be able to do, but there is only one god left alive, the Lightbringer. So who is this man?
"Curious, isn't it? What is doing an idol near the sacred murals of the Lightbringer? Well, we can't tell for certain, but we do know for sure is that this sanctuary has belonged to the Light for centuries, but not always"
"Then why keep it? Why don't just get rid of it like the many idols of the savages on our borders?"
"Because of that," He says pointing at the last mural on the walls, the one at ground level and closer to them.
It is the largest one of them all, and it shows the man kneeling on the ground as fire burns all around him, the body of a woman in his arms, and the sun directly above them, but obstructed by something.
"In reality, this is not just an idol, it is the tale of Machtig, the ruling god of the savage's pantheon north-east. But is not the exact same tale, there are some minor and major differences from the stories. Mainly, he doesn't fail at the end"
"Fail in what?"
The Prime Priest points at the mural before the last one.
It is an image of Machtig facing the woman, who wields a bow, and behind her, an army. But not quite right, there is something off about them, making Edel squint and walk towards it to get a better look.
"In the tale of Machtig, he defeats the King of Madness and brings forth the summer to let humans farm and prosper, but in these murals, he either fails or success too late... and is not in a fight against a king, but a queen..."
Edel is now a few feet away from the mural and confirms with widened eyes that the army behind her are not common men. They are skeletons and corpses following her.
"...of death"
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