The Exodus Sagas: Book IV - Of Moons and Myth (41 page)

Temple of Haddius, Ruins of Mooncrest

“
There can be
no worse fate
for those of divine origin
than being forgotten
forever
.”
---words from the teachings of
Jouvihr, last High Priest of Haddius, Temple of the Sea. Circa 1606 B.C.

The blue light from the braziers cast no heat, but
lit the chambers
with an unearthly glow. Water dripped slower than it should, the walls moved
as if they were made of living stream
, and when water drops hit the floor it sounded as if a thousand stars twinkled at once. Following the blue guiding illuminations, Saberrak Agrannar walked down stair after curling stairway, deep under the Temple of Haddius. The waters parted before him, and when he turned to check on his friends, the waters had sealed quietly behind them
as they passed
. The air was heavy, everything was moist and wet, and then they reached the bottom.

A spanse of waves circled like a storm under a bridge with no supports. Deep dark water rippled beneath, and on a round dais at the end of the gray stone, stood a man. Green steel chains held his ankle
to a central steel pillar
, his feathered wings
were an off blue, and his
robes were torn dirty and barely white. He was at least three feet taller than Saberrak, nearly two men tall, yet his body was emaciated and thin. Bony elbows and knees protruded his tattered robes, his long beard
was frazzled
like vanquished seaweed, and his wings had feathers
that curled up like dried leaves.
His eyes emanated sorrow with their effervescent blue stare, betraying his sincere smile at seeing his first visitors in over two thousand years.

“
Is that who I think it is
?” Shinayne whispered.

“
And who would that be then
?” Zen had his warhamer and shield up to the ready at the edge of the bridge.

“It is Haddius, Ruler of the Oceans.” Saberrak huffed knowingly, how he was not sure, but he knew. His eyes were misting blue to match the being he walked toward, just like the eyes of Annar when he had freed him. He glanced back, all four of them followed slowly.

“It cannot be, my eyes see five strangers, but I feel to know one of them. Who are you, minotaur?” The voice was a rasping whisper, dry and old.

“I am Saberrak Agrannar the gray of Unlinn. We seek the mines of Kakisteele and to rid this place of the curse that holds it.” He stood a few feet before the tall immortal being, looked up, and flared his nostrils.

“I see a beast, I smell a beast, yet I hear the voice of my long lost brother in your words, Saberrak of the spirit of Annar. How did you find me?” Haddius looked down and tried to spread his wings, feathers falling like forgotten dreams from his shoulders.

“We did not, this was the only sealed temple, and the dead chased us.
It was luck and lack of options.
We had no choice but to enter.”
Gwenneth spoke truthfully, yet she felt an awkward focrce from this man that held no trace of the arcane.

“Ha, luck she says, the wielder of mighty magicks from my fathers’ moon, and she says luck, she does, she does.” Haddius laughed and dust showered the air from his mouth. “There is no luck, the fates were banished by God, as were so many of his children and grandchildren, even his immortal guardians. There is but curse, purpose, and lies left in this world, Gwenneth Lazlette.”

“And destiny, faith, and love? What of them, great Haddius?” James spoke up, kneeling now before this old winged being. His hand was glowing blue like the surrounding waters, the eyes of the man chained, and
so were the eyes of
Saberrak.

“Ahhh…destiny? Gone with the sister of Seirena and Megos
,
forgotten with She
who cannot be named nor remembered, taken by Yjaros, cast to the stars perhaps.
Her temple is but black slag adorning these mountains, her eyes see no more the fates of mortals or immortals.
As for love, seek the temples of the serpent queen, my sister Vasentanessa. Faith, you wear faith on your chest, a symbol of Alden that protects you no more than the cloth it is sewn into, James Andellis.” Haddius coughed and more dust flew through the air, it had been so long since he had spoken.

“Annar is free, he has gone to join
the others, and he arrived up there.” Saberrak looked up to the grand ceiling hundreds of feet above. “I know, I felt it and saw it. So, how do we free you Haddius?”

“Me? Ha! There is no freeing me. How you freed Annar, I will never figure, but my curse is beyond you. A
nnar would lose his immortality and strength
to a slave, were he freed. My mother
Seirena
, her eye was taken so He could see all life
as she did, and He placed it as His third in His own forehead
.
” More dust fell from his eyes in an attempt to actually mourn.

“
My father
Megos
, his hand
was
removed so that God could use the magicks of the world
and moons
. Solumet
, my brother and the oldest of us children,
was kept in the dark like the second sun, forever in shadow
s that no one can find.
My forgotten aunt, her voice was taken before she was removed from the memories of all and imprisoned, and then her beloved was cast into hells eternal. I protected them
all
, I ordered
my brothers
Vundren and Siril to
leave here and
guard Alden
in Heaven
beyond the white moon
. I thought I could calm God’s anger as I could calm the seas.”

Haddius choked, by dust or sorrow, none were certain. “A
s my father held
Marthentine
from the darkness of Gimmor, God
a
nd H
is people laid waste to the city of temples, and his curses have been ever since.
The Knights Soujan were murdered and cursed, and I sit here eternally staring at the salvation I shall never feel. For my part, I am damned for assisting my Carician family. Only the sensation of water on my skin can free me, but that sense was taken by Yjaros
when I was chained by his Nochtilian children
. I can help you not, and you will never free me.” Tears of dust floated from his blue eyes as the waters around them roiled and tossed with sorrowful anger. Seas of mighty depths and crashing waves whipped and circled around them all on the dais of stone, much like the storm that surrounded the ruins above.

Gwenneth waved her hand and concentrated, some water flowing through the air from the waves around them, and she guided it over the immortal man known as Haddius. She let go, dumping the water over his wings, yet it turned to steam and dust before it landed. Haddius looked at her with a stern stare, and she smiled embarrassingly back. “I had to try the obvious, sorry.”

“I told you, I cannot feel the water, I have no sense of touch. It is of no use.” Haddius closed his eyes in futility.

“This storm you make with your anger, it is the same as the one around the ruins of Mooncrest, is it not?” Shinayne asked as the furious waters quelled a bit.

“It is, I must rage it all the day in memory of my misdeeds.
At night, I bring the rains. M
y tears for my lost family.
Why? You think you have a way to free me? Do not waste your time, highborne Shinayne, I have tried everything.” Haddius sat in front of them.

“So, who guards this place then, down in me mines and---“ Zen covered his ears as the clanging began, echoing loudly throughout the watery chamber.

Saberrak had two hands on his enchanted axe, swinging wildly into the green steel chains and column.
Blow after blow, mighty swing
s
of his steel into these restraints, the noise was deafening. He looked down, not a scratch. He dropped the axe, pulled on the chain with all his might. His eyes hurt from the strain and the blue, his legs pumped forceful steps, and he bellowed out a roar louder than a giant. Nothing moved.
He caught his breath, picked up his axe, and looked to the ankle of Haddius.

“Do not think it, minotaur. I have tried, it will regrow before the chain comes loose. It is a curse, and despite my lack of feeling, I do not wish to make vain attempts at severing my appendages to prove a point. After two thousand years, I have tried everything, trust me.”

“Just a thought, that was all.” Saberrak sat and huffed at the chains
, then tossed his axe in front of him.

“To answer your question, Azenairk Thalanaxe, one of the Gimmorians guards your sacred forges. She was placed there for all time by God, to keep the curse forever as a remi
nder to mortals of H
is power. It is also a reminder to all immortals to never again partake in the forbidden love of our people. We cannot love you in the flesh, and we cannot kill one another. It is written in the---“

“Primalus D
efectus, the holy scriptures of the Heavens. I studied them as a child, in the Aldane Church.” James commented.

“Yes, Altestan and the worshippers of Yjaros made certain that all would know, in many ways. Here, Arabashiel, keeper of curses, resides below. Though you five may be powerful indeed, she is an immortal of the moons, what you woul
d call a
Goddess
, akin to me
,
but stronger
.
S
he
is
Gimmorian, bred of Yjaros and She that is forgotten, not of Seirena and Megos like myself of lesser Carician blood.
She cannot be killed.” Haddius sat, closed his eyes, and the others sat with him.
“I am weakened, a prisoner, with only an angry storm to summon and rains of sorrow to let fall. I wish I could help you.”

Hours passed in lonely thought and depressing attention to the waves that crashed
abive the underground sea
. Hopelessness set in, radiating from a God that had been chained in misery, and it seemed that nothing would change it.

The elven swordswoman thought of Lavress, how long it had been since she had seen him or kissed him. Years, but not millennia like the longing Haddius must have for his loved ones. She could not fathom centuries alone as he had endured.
Shinayne
suddenly
stood and paced, she thought hard while everyone sat and rested before Haddius on the stone bridge. Her aquamarine eyes lit up and she approached the trapped immortal.

“Great Haddius, you say
you feel the loss of your brothers
, when to conjure your storm, and when to make the rains for your family?”

“I do
, I must do these things, it is my curse.
”

“You said you
see and smell
Saberrak, but you feel Annar inside of him?”

“Yes.”

“Yet you cannot feel with your hands nor body, not the water, not sensation or pain, nothing?” Shinayne smiled and drew out Carice and Elicras.

“No, I cannot. I have immersed myself too many times to count, the water, my tears, it is but dust to me, forever. And forever I am chained as heat to the desert.”

“Why are your blades out, Shinayne, what are---“ Gwenneth was cut off.

“Saberrak, you and James grab that chain. Do not pull until you hear my blades hit one another. Gwenneth, summon as much water as you can hold
from that sea
, when t
hey pull, you dump it on the entire dais
. Zen, I need you to pray, one of your poetic and rhythmic prayers. Maybe stomp a bit in time, make a song or steady peaceful pace
for me, but keep it in time with the blades
.” Shinayne backed up from Haddius, then tossed Carice to him. He caug
ht it with a flick of his wrist
.

She held Elicras out on guard toward Haddius, then drew her other longblade from across her back. She nodded to James. “Give him your sword, James.”

“Why does he need two, I mean what are you trying here elf? Is this---“

“Just do it, please.” Shinayne pleaded with her eyes. She looked to Haddius as he took the griffonblade he was offered, his blue eyes confused as he held two blades, and then he
looked to the elf. Like an opening flower to the sun, he
smiled to Shinayne.

“
My brother
Siril and I used to do this dance, when we were alone, so many thousands of years ago. What is it called again?” Haddius stepped forward, chain jingling behind him.

Shinayne bow
ed. “From the lost Viala
of Simnorr on the island of Kilikala, it is a
Simnorri kata we are about to perform, together
, you and I
. When I do this, I can feel and see and touch almost any
thing, and so can Lavress, no matter how far away he is. I have felt trees, air and wind, even
calm cool ponds when we
meet this way.
But, you must do as I do, follow me perfectly, and close your eyes Haddius.”