Ancient Prophecy (15 page)

Lattimer looked up and saw the outer fringes of the black cloud almost overhead. Looking back towards the castle, he saw that nothing of the castle remained and thousands of mutant ogres were slowly stalking after him. Wondering whether the mutant ogres still retained the ability to track their prey, he ordered his ogre to change course so they would not approach the Junction directly. By the end of the day, his ogre was stumbling from fatigue. Lattimer ordered him to stop and rest for an hour.

Lattimer sat under a tree and pondered the significance of the demon’s new army. He knew that if they ever reached Targa, all life there would be destroyed. After he felt that the ogre had had enough of a rest he rose and headed back to the cart. The ogre was nowhere to be found. Lattimer realized that for the first time in his life, he was truly frightened. The escaped ogre knew the path to the Junction. With resignation, Lattimer turned and headed straight for the Junction.

It took two days for Lattimer to reach the Junction and he had not seen any ogres during the trip. The black cloud continued to spread and he wondered if the cloud would automatically spread through the portal to the next Universe. Trembling from fatigue and fear, Lattimer gave one last glance across the Universe that he hoped never to see again and passed through the Junction.

General Gregor entered King Byron’s study, closing the heavy oak door behind him, and nodded to Prince Oscar who was perched on a long table studying a large wall map of Targa. King Byron walked behind his massive wooden desk and motioned for the General to sit.

“General Gregor,” began the King, “thank you for coming. We have had a very disturbing communiqué from General Fernandez of Cordonia. It would appear that someone was trying to influence the Presidential elections and they were using Targa as the scapegoat. A Targan military officer was intercepted outside of Kalamaar with a chest full of gold and a document indicating that President Suarez was selling the Disputed Area to us. Do you know anything about this?”

“No, Your Highness,” answered General Gregor. “Were you able to obtain the note from General Fernandez? Perhaps we would be able to determine its origin.”

“The soldier escaped without the chest,” continue the King. “The messenger who was to carry the chest to Kantor conveniently disappeared with the chest, but only after the entire village viewed its contents. I do not appreciate having Targa implicated in the defeat of a moderate neighbor.”

“Perhaps it will make little difference in the elections,” hoped the General. “After all, President Suarez is very popular in Cordonia.”

“The elections have already been held,” added Prince Oscar, “and President Suarez has been voted out of office. The new ruler of Cordonia is President Mitchel and he doesn’t have many nice things to say about Targa. I fear that the peace after our war with Sordoa will be short-lived.”

General Gregor nodded. He had a hard time adjusting to the speed with which Prince Oscar managed to get information because of his special means of transportation. “If it would please Your Highness, I have sources that I can utilize to determine more about the political situation in Cordonia.”

“I have taken the liberty of having Larc smuggled into the Palace,” interrupted Prince Oscar. “We can hardly expect the King to go out for dinner now, can we?”

General Gregor was initially shocked at Oscar’s statement, but soon realized that he was right. King Byron was one monarch who could be trusted with the knowledge of the Spiders led by Larc. “How did you manage to get him in?”

“It seems our good citizen, Larc, has a grievance to file with the King,” chuckled Prince Oscar. “Fortunately, he is the only grievance scheduled for today, so King Byron has decided to hear his story in private chambers.”

General Gregor was still smiling when the door opened and Larc entered. Larc bowed low to King Byron and Prince Oscar, his brown tunic giving him the appearance of just one of several hundred small businessmen in Tagaret. “I am sorry for my tardiness, Your Highness, but I just had a messenger arrive from the South and thought he might have some valuable information to add to the conversation.”

“And did he?” quizzed Prince Oscar.

“Unfortunately, he did,” sighed Larc. “I am afraid that Targa is in jeopardy once again.”

King Byron focused his attention on the Spider leader. “Why do you say that Targa is in jeopardy, Larc?”

“Well, Your Highness,” Larc replied, “Ali Kasim has named himself Emperor of Sordoa and has married a young, rich woman to become his Empress.”

“Why does that spell trouble for Targa? Asked General Gregor.

“Because the Empress is a woman known to us,” answered Larc. “She is a beautiful young girl with long, flowing auburn hair. The Empress of Sordoa is Aurora, although Ali Kasim knows her as Miriam Rakech. I would suspect that Ali Kasim does not have long to live.”

“Can she really get away with it?” asked General Gregor.

“I think so,” stated Larc. “There has been a resurgence of the Black Devils in both Sordoa and Cordonia. There is also a new group in both countries called the Servants of Sarac which is composed of people who do not have magical abilities. Both Aurora and Mitchel of Cordonia have strong support from the people, probably through bribes and intimidation.”

“So, the Black Devils are supporting Mitchel, as well,” pondered the Prince. “Are you aware that Mitchel has won the election in Cordonia?”

“No,” answered Larc, “but I am not surprised. Mitchel is one of Sarac’s Inner Circle.”

“Mitchel is a Black Devil?” gasped King Byron.

“I thought the Black Devils had been eradicated by the Rangers in Tor?” asked Prince Oscar.

“For the most part they were,” declared General Gregor, “but not all of the Black Devils were in residence at the time of the attack. Two notable absences were Aurora and Dalgar.”

“But someone from Sarac’s Inner Circle would indicate that Sarac has found a way back to this Universe,” postulated the King.

“Yes,” admitted Larc. “Remember that the Book of the Beginning was found at Tor. If Aurora or Dalgar had read the book before we attacked and then left the castle to retrieve Sarac, it would explain why they were missing, as well as Mitchel’s sudden appearance.”

“A Black Devil running Cordonia...and soon Sordoa,” sighed King Byron. “We are indeed headed for trouble even without the problems associated with the return of Sarac. We need to get Alex, Jenneva and Egam back here. Does anyone know where they are?”

“Alex and Jenneva refused to say where they were honeymooning and Egam has not been seen since the wedding,” answered Prince Oscar. “Perhaps Lord Habas will be able to shed some light on Egam’s whereabouts. I have asked him to join us when he can on another matter that Larc brought up.”

“What is this other matter?” asked the King of Targa.

“It involves Continental Shipping, Your Highness,” explained Larc. “We have been using some of the profits from the freight business to obtain items to stock one of our other ventures, the Pawn Shop. The shipping business has been very good and I decided to take some of the gold and have it fashioned into jewelry which would appear old and valuable. I thought it would help present the appearance that the Pawn Shop is an establishment that deals in stolen goods. There is an excellent jeweler in Trekum who has performed this service for us before and we used him again. This time, however, he became very indignant and strongly suggested that we were trying to cheat him.”

“What would lead him to believe you were cheating him?” queried the King.

“It seems that ninety percent of the gold we took to him was not true gold,” replied Larc. “It was unworkable and his attempts with strong acid to clean and purify the metal actually caused the metal to disintegrate. It did not help matters any that the gold we used to pay him for his service also turned out to be fake.”

“This presents a whole host of questions,” interrupted Prince Oscar. “Where is all of this fake gold coming from? What is it made of? And why is there so much of it in circulation? That is why I thought Lord Habas should look into the matter.”

“Well,” questioned King Byron, “I fail to see why the circulation of false gold in Sordoa would have any bearing on the current topics. Why did you suggest that Lord Habas should join us?”

“Well, Father,” answered Prince Oscar, “I think that every aberration of any size that we encounter is worth checking out. If someone starts spreading large quantities of false gold in Targa, it could destroy our economy and make our ability to increase the size of the army to combat these other problems very difficult.”

Just then, the large oak door opened and Lord Habas entered the study, his long gray robe swirling as he shut the door and grabbed a chair to join the conversation. He bowed to the King and Prince and placed his chair next to General Gregor. He looked quizzically at everyone, wondering why the conversation had stopped and realized that everybody was waiting for him to speak.

“Sorry, Your Highness,” the Royal Magician began, “I must be late. Very peculiar this metal you gave me, Prince Oscar. I have checked and rechecked and I cannot identify it. It looks like gold and it feels like gold, but it is definitely not gold. I have matched its properties against every known metal and combination of metals and I could not reproduce it if I tried. It is slightly harder to work with than gold and requires a little less heat to melt, but the most striking difference is its dissolution in a certain type of strong acid.”

“Is there any other way to detect it?” puzzled General Gregor.

“Not really,” declared Lord Habas. “Most jewelers would not think of using such a strong acid to clean the metal and I couldn’t think of anyone else who would even have a reason to. I can’t even imagine why this jeweler used the acid.”

“Actually,” interrupted Larc, “the jeweler in question uses a number of acids on the pieces he creates for us. The reason is because he is trying to create a new piece, but have it appear to be centuries old. I do not believe that the false gold would have been discovered any other way.”

“So, we really have no way of knowing the extent of the circulation of this false gold or even how long it has been around,” stated General Gregor.

“Not entirely true,” admitted Larc. “I have my people checking gold all over the continent. We know that, at least in Trekum, the false gold appeared only recently. This jeweler has done work for us before and he never detected a single piece of fake gold, this time it represented ninety percent of what we sent him. So far we have found none of it in Lanoir, rare occurrences of it in Targa, but an enormous amount in both Sordoa and Cordonia.”

“And that just happens to coincide with Aurora and Mitchel taking power in those two countries?” speculated General Gregor. “That is more than just coincidence.”

“Yes,” added Prince Oscar, “and I think I know where the gold came from. Lord Habas, were you privy to discussions between Egam and Jenneva about other Universes?”

“Certainly,” exclaimed Lord Habas, “we talked for many hours discussing what might be found in these other Universes. I think I see what you are driving at but there is no way that I can answer your next question. The fact is, we have no idea what to expect in those Universes and even if we did, you would be suggesting that someone has been to one of those Universes and returned.”

“That is exactly what I am suggesting,” admitted Prince Oscar. “One of Sarac’s Inner Circle just won the Presidential election in Cordonia. Do you know where Egam is right now?”

Lord Habas sat staring at the Prince, his mouth hanging open in an expression of disbelief. “Then travel is possible,” he exclaimed. “Yes, Egam, Jenneva and Alex planned on going to another Universe, the elf Universe. Now that we know travel is possible, I am sure that we will not be able to contact them. Nobody knows the location of the Junction and if Egam found it, they are gone.”

“Okay,” summarized King Byron, “it is obvious that Sarac is planning once again to destroy Targa. We need a plan that will stop him. Oscar, I want Doors in Kantor and Trekum and I want them to be made available to Larc’s people.”

“That has already been taken care of, Father,” replied Prince Oscar.

“Good,” continued the King. “Larc, I want all of your people set up to test for the false gold. Compile a list of everywhere it is found. Sarac may think he is clever bringing in gold from another Universe, but that gold is going to enable us to trace his operations. General Gregor, I want Captain David Jaynes to be temporarily reassigned back to the Rangers. I want him and half of the Rangers up near the Cordonian border and I do not want them to be seen. Send Captain Mitar Vidson with the other half of the Rangers down towards the Sordoan border with the same instructions. If we have extra sets of Doors available, I want each set of Rangers to take one with them wherever they go.”

“Egam did leave us with enough extra sets of Doors to handle that and more,” declared Prince Oscar. “I’ve got several sets in Dalek. I think we should try to get in touch with Ali Kasim and General Fernandez. Perhaps we can forestall the war long enough to expose Sarac.”

“I am not sure that will work,” considered General Gregor. “If Ali Kasim has fallen for Aurora, he will not be open to reason and approaching him would show our hand. Alex could get to General Fernandez, but he is not available and I don’t think the General will talk seriously to anyone else.”

“John Secor might be able to get to him,” suggested Prince Oscar. “At least I know that John can get to President Suarez, they are quite close friends. Perhaps Suarez may still have access to General Fernandez.”

“It is worth a try,” supposed King Byron. “We should have daily meetings on these problems until we get an effective plan. This means that we need some excuse to get Larc access to the Palace without him being connected to it.”

“Commerce makes the greatest cover,” suggested Prince Oscar. “I think it may be time for the Royal Palace to start buying food supplies through a distributor rather than directly from the farmers. We can arrange for the distributor to give better prices to the farmers that the Palace does. That way Larc can come occasionally to check with the cooks to see if the supplies are fresh and adequate. Of course, while we are making this switch, he will be needed almost daily to make sure things get off on the right foot.”