ROTU: Chapter Thirty-Four

"My men have reported that negotiations with the Drakéis are complete," Ralian said as he met Drasúl in their mountain base. "Now our armies have grown considerably, so when you are ready to act, we will form a plan." He eyed Drasúl's rugged and tired appearance. "You are leaving to search for the Lair again?"

"Yes."

"Then you've had another dream of the light warrior?"

"He appeared last night. I think he has blended his energy with the black dragon to defeat me. The pressure from within is getting stronger. I will not return until I have found the Lair."

"We have found an entrance to the Inner Realms," Ralian said. "I may not be here when you return."

"I will find you," replied Drasúl. "The time has come for us to take the upper hand. After I find Darkone, I will learn the secrets the Legion of Light hid from those on the planet long ago, and we can grow our armies even further."

"This is assuming you will survive your visit."

"I will."

Later the same day, Drasúl entered the Sơn Đoòng in Vietnam for the fifth time since the Cinak revealed it as the location of the Lair. He explored the paths within the deep cave, teleporting at different points, until he came along a trail that he had not found before. The path narrowed and led further underground, then opened into a small marshland.

Fog drifted toward him, masking sections of the trail. He continued forward until the swamp ended at the edge of a rocky terrain leading up to a blackened stone cave.

"Should I come to you or will you find me?" Drasúl called into the darkness before him.

A deep chuckle reverberated through the cave walls.

Drasúl shivered as the sound reached him.

"I have already found you, Mysteis of Vejar, otherwise you would not be able to see the path."

Drasúl took an involuntary step back as two red and yellow eyes appeared in the middle of the cave before him. Black smoke whipped violently around him. He winced in pain but kept still.

"Only those who wholly desire to seek my power appear here," said Darkone in a smooth low voice. "Is this what you seek, Mysteis?"

Drasúl nodded once but found he could not speak as the black smoke continued to swirl and tighten around him.

"Your body is weak. The magic of those from shared dimensions reduces the flow of power within you. I would claim the odds are not in your favor for surviving the transformation I offer. Is death what you wish?"

The smoke around Drasúl disappeared. He coughed hard and inhaled deeply. "My wish is to possess the power to overcome the poison within me," he replied forcefully. "What is the price?"

"Each time my power activates from within you, your soul starts to disappear as I take over." Darkone chuckled. "Many claim that it feels as if pieces of you are drowning slowly. When you die, you become completely bound to me."

The eyes of Darkone narrowed as they studied Drasúl. "I see arrogance within your heart, Drasúl. You may think that you will be bound to no one, but to embrace the power of the dark means that you are bound to the dark. There is always a payment required for borrowed energy."

"It matters not what my fate is upon death," replied Drasúl. "It only matters that I gain what I am due in this form."

Darkone replied with a deep throaty growl that turned to a chuckle. "And yet, death is just a change from one form to another."

"The quality and power of this form is all that matters now."

"Very well. Drink from the pool and you will either find what you are seeking, or you will die within the Lair."

The eyes and black smoke faded.

A red glow appeared along the edge of a path leading deeper into the cave. The path widened into a larger area rich with crimson plants and black trees outlined in a red pulsing glow.

Drasúl walked around the pool that stood among the trees. The skeletons of those seeking power but failing to survive the transformation riddled the ground. He kicked a skull away from the side of the pool and knelt to study the dark liquid within it.

He suddenly jerked his head up as he saw an old woman out of the corner of his eye at the end of the cave's path.

She watched him with an intent gaze, the golden glow in her eyes contrasting the dark surroundings.

"You seek your doom, Drasúl," Fern stated. "To drink from the enchanted pool of Darkone is to seal your own destruction. Darkone does not reveal whole truths. His power is accompanied by an increasing desire to activate it more and more within you until he consumes you."

Drasúl smirked. "I will find a way to thwart his plans just as I have found a way to cheat death before."

"You speak in blind arrogance, just as the Javens before you."

"You know not what I am capable of, witch." Drasúl sneered. "I will find a way to stop the consumption, just as easily as I will find a way to kill you."

"You have been warned then," Fern replied. "Your fate is your responsibility."

Drasúl's eyes flashed as he turned and sent a silver-blue blaze of fire at Fern.

The fire hit the side of the cave wall as Fern disappeared in a golden wisp of light.

Ralian, Thron, Rastier, and two other Avehkal journeyed into Brazil through the night, their appearance well disguised beneath their hooded dark clothing. The team reached their destination—the Iguazu Falls—just before dawn.

"We are getting closer to the entrance," Ralian stated. "I can already feel an increase in my power that is connected with the realm."

Rastier stood with his back to the others as the team rested, staring at the falls before him in silence.

"What is it?" Ralian asked as he came to stand beside him.

"Are you not tired of fighting, Ralian?" Rastier asked quietly.

The others in the group became silent.

"For years we have lived in desolation—banished to darkness," Rastier continued. "Now that we are finally free, we seek to continue the fight that chances us to imprisonment once more."

"I'll do whatever it takes to return to our home," Ralian responded.

"We do not have to assist Drasúl in overtaking the surface," suggested Rastier eagerly. "We could just find our own land and begin there."

"My brother would find us, Rastier," said Ralian. "He would not allow it."

"Could we not work with him?" asked Rastier. "Perhaps we could keep our clans separate and still remain at peace."

"We would be deemed outcasts," Thron said. "It would not work as you hope."

Ralian seemed to consider Rastier's words, but then abruptly turned away. "No. My brother should pay for what he did to us."

Rastier's hopeful expression fell. He remained silent as the group made their way into a hidden passage beneath the falls.

They continued into the tunnels leading deeper through the Earth, slowing when the temperature swiftly cooled.

Ralian smiled. "We are here." He reached inside his cloak to retrieve a hand-sized amber crystal. His eyes began to glow with a soft gold light as he held the crystal before him and spoke the language of his ancestors. He dropped his hand as the crystal began to spin and the stone's golden amber light sketched a large diamond shape before the group.

Ralian's grin quickly faded when Tau stepped through the portal as soon as it formed, followed by a dozen Lumaña warriors.

The Lumaña and Avehkal readied their stances to attack, but Tau lifted his hand for his warriors to hold back. He stepped forward, his frame standing at least two inches taller than Ralian. His expression softened. "Are we to do this again, brother?"

Ralian's gaze hardened. "That depends. Are you going to betray your own kind again?"

Tau straightened his shoulders. "You are the one who betrayed your people, Ralian-ka. You determined your own fate with your banishment, and you continue to create the same now by joining forces with Drasúl."

Rastier looked from Tau to Ralian and lowered the spear he carried. "I do not wish to fight anymore, Ralian," he said. "I do not want to spend the remainder of my life in banishment."

"Do the rest of you feel the same?" Ralian asked his warriors, his eyes still upon Tau.

The other two Avehkal shifted uncomfortably.

"Their silence carries their truth," Tau stated.

"I will do whatever you ask, Ralian," said Thron as he defiantly lifted his chin.

Ralian remained silent.

Tau watched Ralian closely for several moments. "You are still not ready," he whispered in disappointment. He looked to his warriors, who had surrounded Ralian's men. "Bind them and bring them home."

The Avehkal did not resist as their hands were clasped in metal binds behind their back.

Later that evening, Tau visited Ralian where he sat alone in the corner of a cell located in the caves of Asteria. A gold light repeatedly trailed the edge of the walls and corners of the cell, working to prevent any power from surfacing inside the prisoners.

"If Drasúl unlocks the portals that the Legion sealed centuries ago, you know that he will release the Naztak and the Vok, Ralian-ka. Then there will be no humans for Drasúl to rule. Who do you think he will seek to rule then? He will come looking for more power and then you will be his opposition. You know that the Naztak do not differentiate between sides. War will cease to end."

"He is searching for the Lair of Darkone as we speak," Ralian stated in a bored voice.

Tau's eyes widened.

Ralian chuckled. "You will not be able to defeat him then."

"Why do you remain loyal to him? Do you not understand that what dwells on the surface, will also affect the Inner Realms? If he drinks from the pool of Darkone, then his hunger for power will never be satiated. Once he is consumed completely, all will vanish here."

Ralian jumped up and moved to the front of the cell. He glared at Tau through the bars. "Good," he stressed. "Then maybe you will finally experience the hell you subjected your own brother to all these years." He sneered as hate filled his stare. "Listen well, Brother. I did not return to win the rule of Asteria. I know now that your influence here has grown too strong for me to win our people over. My only wish is for you to experience the same pain that I endured during my years in Rastar. So, I will remain loyal to Drasúl despite his foolishness to show you what it means not to betray someone, as you did me…and as you did our mother."

Tau's expression fell. He stepped back from the cell. "Our mother?" he whispered.

"You abandoned her in her illness just to gain power and status among our people," Ralian spat. "I could do nothing in your absence as a child!" He shouted. "I watched her die while you were gone and for that reason alone you will never be representative of what one should be most loyal to, despite the views of our people."

"A leader does not put his personal pain before his duty, Ralian-ka. He is needed by more than just his family. However, I admit that I did not know how quickly her illness would spread."

"You can tell yourself whatever you want." Ralian dropped his gaze and smirked. "Why do you care what happens to the humans, anyway? Do you not remember how they once tried to imprison our own kind simply because we were different than they?"

"That was before our time," Tau replied quietly. "I assist them because we can relate to their stage in evolution. Their barbaric nature is certainly not foreign to you."

"I wanted control for different reasons."

"The desire behind your reasons is still the same as theirs. Feelings of inadequacy are reflected through a desire to control the very thing that elicits fear."

"I will escape here, Tau. With his new power, Drasúl will find and come to free me. You will not be able to defeat him."

"It is not our job to defeat him."

Ralian smiled knowingly. "She will not be powerful enough to overthrow him. You know of the dangers she faces if he launches the full effect of Darkone's power."

"You underestimate the power of the planet you are on, Ralian-ka. You have signed your death warrant if you side with Drasúl, no matter if you are my brother or not. If Drasúl succeeds in allowing in darker forces that threaten our people, then you will have the same fate as my enemies on the battlefield."

Ralian turned away. "So be it." He glanced at his brother over his shoulder as a portal suddenly formed at the back of the cell.

Tau's staff was before him, the amber stone at its tip lighting the area with a bright glow. He turned his glowing gaze to his brother.

"You, Thron, and any others are free to return to the surface if they so choose. As I said, part of being a leader is that you must rise above your own needs to help others. I will not allow you to bring darkness to my people no matter how much I wish to have things back to the way they were between us long ago."

"After what you have done to me, that could never be."

"Then you are free to go."

"I'll see you in battle, Brother, and we will finish what we started long ago. But, this time our fates will be reversed."

Tau watched his brother in silence. His brow furrowed in disappointment as Ralian stepped into the portal and disappeared.

***