Legends of Marithia: Book 1 - Prophecies Awakening: Uncut and Extended Second Edition (15 page)

He felt a tingling as he passed the
district's flag. She stopped near the smallest of buildings, with
pink flames on its torches. The building appeared inviting and
Flarantine leaned back on the door, extending her unnaturally long
right leg from within her silky black dress. The straps of her red
heeled shoe wrapped around her shapely calf and ended just below
her knee.

Vartan smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you
for the warm welcome, Madame, but I am short on time and am just
passing through to the District of Bloodshed."

Flarantine pouted her blue lips and husked,
"Well, this
is
disappointing. I was hoping for a customer
tonight. You
do
realise that this area is enchanted, don't
you? Time slows down here. A day in the district of pleasure will
only cost you a quarter of your time. After all, we can never have
enough time for pleasure, can we?"

Vartan raised an eyebrow in disbelief and
turned to look back. The guardians in his view were moving at a
slug's pace. "You weren't joking, were you?"

"I don't joke,” she said a grin. “It's not in
my nature. Are you
sure
that you don't want to spend some
time with me, inside?" She peered over his shoulder and her eyes
twinkled. "You know... Time spent with me would not even cost you
even one of your gems. In fact, it would buy you time with me in
the future. It is said that my skills are the best in our corner of
the galaxy."

Vartan blushed and began to walk further down
the street.

Her voice called out from behind him, "Your
heart belongs to a lucky woman. True love is a rarity in these
parts. What is her name?"

Vartan turned to her and his face paled as he
watched Flarantine shake her head of hair and transform into a
perfect image of Helenia.

Approaching her cautiously, he blurted, "You
can't be serious!"

"I doubt that is her name," laughed
Flarantine heartily.

Staring at her from head to toe, his eyes
widened. "How in Marithia did you manage to look exactly like
Helenia?"

She cleared her throat and Helenia's voice
spoke back to him. "Well, darling, I am not the best in the galaxy
without good reasons. I have an ability to look inside your mind
and take the form of anyone in your memory. Whatever tempts you."
Approaching slowly, she extended her arm to lay her hand on his
shoulder and slipped her other arm around him from behind. "Don't
worry; I would never betray your trust. What happens here…
stays
here."

Vartan tensed as she lay her lips on his neck
and whispered in his ear. "Have you ever wondered what it would be
like with her? You could find out tonight, and nobody would ever
know."

Vartan shook her off gently and turned to
her. "It matters not what anyone would know, Flarantine.
I
would know. Thank you for your kind invitation, but I would never
risk losing her, especially not for pleasure. She is far too
precious to me."

Extending her arms out wide and bowing, she
morphed back into her true form and whispered, "Very well, if you
really are not interested. Enjoy your stay. But know this, I will
always be here for you if you ever change your mind. You
really
don't know what you are missing."

Vartan nodded and continued on his way. He
passed by various creatures and races from other worlds. Many
buildings were focused on physical pleasures, with diverse beings
standing in various states of undress. Their innumerable forms and
colours were fascinating, but he simply smiled at their plentiful
offers. The building playing music had caught his attention for a
few moments. He had never seen such interesting instruments or
heard such sounds in Marithia. One stringed instrument appeared to
be powered by something which was connected inside the
building.

You, come here. I have things that you
will need,
said a voice in his mind, distracting him from the
musicians.

He stopped wheeling the heavy cart and looked
around at the many traders in sight, desperately attempting to work
out who had spoken to him.

Look for the small blue flag with a red
circle,
said the voice.

Vartan squinted as he scanned the
kaleidoscopic view before discovering the described flag. He
cautiously approached the trader and fully took in his appearance.
For a moment, Vartan almost mistook him for a human being. On
closer inspection he could see the being’s brilliant white skin and
small slit of a mouth that marked him as anything but. The trader’s
eyes were closed, but Vartan could still feel his direct stare, and
it made his nerves uneasy.

I am pleased to meet you. You understand my
thoughts as your mind interprets them into words of your own. I can
read your mind, so please do not bother to haggle with me. I have
some items that will aid you in your journey. Some of these
artefacts are for you, and some are for those closest to you.

“Artefacts?” began Vartan. “Can you tell
me—”

So you wish to know what I have for you, and
you are worried about giving up your treasures in exchange for
weapons of bloodshed. I told you I could read your mind - did you
not believe me? Worry not, Vartan, as I am not trying to rob you of
your treasures. After all, why would anyone want to risk their
lives here? My assistant will only take what the artefacts are
worth. They are all from different worlds and that is all I should
tell you. It is what you might call ‘fate’ that you are here to
receive them.

“What is your name? And what do you mean
fate
?”

My name does not matter. One of the
artefacts will aid you in an important decision of life and death,
another will save a life, and the last will reveal the truth behind
lies. Even my telling you their purpose can affect your path. You
can continue without them, but that decision will change your fate
for eternity.

Vartan hesitated for a moment before
answering. “You are asking a lot for me to trust you with so little
information. I
will
accept your offer to take the artefacts,
but how do I use them?”

Do not concern yourself with activating
these objects, as once they find their true owners, they will bind
to them and will activate themselves. Artefacts are not chosen;
they choose you.

The trader lifted an arm toward the artefacts
and made a noise like a bumblebee.

One by one, the artefacts gently lifted off
the stall and hovered over to them before lazily descending into a
bag by the trader’s feet. A hovering assistant grabbed hold of the
bag and glided over to Vartan. He looked similar to the trader, but
was smaller in size and visibly much younger. Vartan smiled warmly
as he took the bag with both hands and placed it in the back of the
cart. When he turned back, the assistant’s eyes opened. They
swirled purple and blue and Vartan felt unable to look away from
them.

Vartan couldn’t help but stare longer into
his eyes, and as he looked deeper he began to see a vision of
himself. He became entranced by the vision, as he did not recognise
it from his memories. In this vision, he was completely surrounded
by a fiercely raging battle, and many fires burned nearby. Bodies
met with weapons, and blood soaked the ground around him, staining
it a deep crimson. Suddenly, he saw himself flung backwards by a
bolt of lightning. It was the dark sorceress Kassina, closing in on
his fallen body with sword in her raised hands and a look of
determination on her face.

Enough!
boomed the trader’s thought,
screeching through the minds of them both, and the assistant
snapped his eyes shut again.

Our powers are not to be toyed with, my
child,
the trader scolded his assistant before addressing
Vartan again
. My apologies to you for my child’s actions,
Vartan. It was not the right time for you to have seen that vision,
if you should have seen it at all.

The trader’s son opened the laden chest and
retrieved only a few glittering treasures in return. He turned to
the side as he glided away and quietly sent a thought into Vartan’s
mind.

Remember that the journey you take can be
changed at any given moment. Changes that divert from your path
will work like ripples in the continuum of time, creating a new
parallel reality,
said the assistant.

Vartan nodded at them both and continued on,
somewhat puzzled. He left the District of Pleasure and spotted the
District of Bloodshed straight ahead of him. He felt a tickling
sensation as the district’s enchantment wore off and time returned
to its usual momentum. He attempted to clear the vision from his
mind and dissect what the trader’s son had said to him.

Kassina,
he thought, trying to make
sense of it all.
Ripples in the continuum of time?

Vartan finally arrived at the great doors to
the District of Bloodshed. Disturbingly, its flags were marked by
magical blood that fell in heavy clots to splatter on the ground
before instantly disappearing.

Interesting method of signage,
thought
Vartan as he moved to enter the building.

The building’s guardians moved abruptly aside
to allow him entry. "Good luck with your trades, sir."

The building was filled with sounds of
weapons being forged, and various languages were being spoken that
Vartan could not understand. Every now and again, he could hear his
own tongue being spoken.
Strange that some beings from other
worlds speak my language,
he thought.
Now, who shall I
bargain with today?

He moved quietly through the stalls,
observing the strange weapons being manufactured and beings
inhabiting the building. There was an abundance of merchants and
traders who all watched the large cart behind him closely, like
predators stalking prey. Vartan couldn’t help but halt and take
notice of one particular trader, who was not at all interested in
his heavy cart. The trader looked quite relaxed and at ease with
his surroundings. He sat quietly and smoked a large pipe, blowing
puffs of smoke in shapes of beasts unheard of in Marithia. He wore
a hat made of beautifully painted and varicoloured feathers that
encircled his head, and wore what looked like dried warrior’s paint
on his face. As Vartan looked closer, he could see the dark scars
of many battles on the trader’s muscular arms. This appeared to be
no ordinary trader, but a battle-hardened warlord.

This is exactly the kind of warrior I
need,
thought Vartan.

Behind the trader, Vartan saw row upon row of
intricate weaponry and armour of various sizes. A large red bird
stood far back, perched on one of the rows of heavy axes, watching
him closely out of the corner of its right eye. The man placed his
pipe down and made a strange noise that sounded like drums, and the
bird screamed out, took flight and burst into flames. Vartan reeled
back instinctively and crouched down, ready to avoid its hot, fiery
path. The flames suddenly disappeared as it landed on the trader’s
forearm, its heavy talons digging into the leather gauntlet
specially created to hold its weight. The phoenix cocked her head
and looked directly at Vartan with an inquisitive look. It squawked
into the ear of the trader, who listened intently to the bird’s
message. The trader burst into heavy laughter and turned to Vartan,
who was still crouched down on the ground. The man pointed beside
him to a large chair covered in various furs.

“She wondered why you would prefer to sit on
dirt, when we have a chair prepared for guests. The trade chair is
a lot more comfortable than dirt, we can assure you.”

Vartan smiled and puffed, "That does indeed
did look very comfortable." He made his way to the chair, and
overcame his embarrassment to speak. “I’m sorry about all this, but
I have never had the pleasure of visiting She’Ma’Ryn before and
this is all quite new to me. My name is Vartan, and I come looking
for your finest weapons and armour. We fight to save all living
creatures on our planet that have not already fallen into the grip
of darkness, and we need all the help we can get. Can you help
us?”

“She’Ma’Ryn? Is
that
what your people
call this place? The spirits told me long ago that you would seek
my guidance, although I will be honest and say that I did not
expect someone so young to be here today. I suppose that one’s
years spent living do not reflect a measure of our souls or
strength of character. You and I are actually not so different from
each other, Vartan—we were just born in different realms. I am
Makya, which means ‘eagle hunter’ in my world. Allow me to show you
a short glimpse of our history.” He inhaled a deep breath of grey
smoke and blew out a whisky-coloured planet that was circled by
three moons. “Unlike your world, which still flourishes with riches
from the earth, ours was bled dry over many thousands of years of
carelessness. Much like your world, we are no strangers to war and
suffering. Weapons became incredibly intricate and complicated over
centuries of battle, and ultimately evolved to be more
destructive." With another breath, he blew out a hazy warrior who
ran in fright with his weapons held high in the air. A light flew
fast and hard to plummet deep into the warrior’s flesh. He clawed
at his skin to get it out. Suddenly, his entire body violently
exploded into thin air.

“How did that... is that even possible?”
Vartan asked.

Makya nodded to the phoenix, which flew among
the rows of weapons until it grasped one of them with its claws and
flew it over to where Vartan sat. Vartan caught the weapon as it
was dropped down to him, and was surprised by its weight. It was
almost the size of his arm, but was as light as a feather.

“Bring it up to your shoulder, and take aim
without hesitation at the object I throw in the air. To use this
weapon, you simply need to turn the runes at your fingertips to
activate it. Beware of its power when you fire it, as there are
enough charges within to dispatch ten of your enemies if you are
able to hit them accurately."