Chapter 80 * Fantasmal Mountain *

“Wow,” Lily stared in awe at the large research room as she entered behind Franklin. It was in a part of the libraries that she’d never visited. Tall bookshelves lined three of the four walls and there were long tables throughout, laden with a myriad of books and odd tools she’d never seen before. Here and there she saw other artifacts that Franklin must have been studying previously.

“I never even knew there was a place like this in the libraries,” she said as she followed Franklin to one of the many tables.

Franklin chuckled. “The libraries hold many secrets. There is much more than what is available to the general public or even the Fantasmal Staff.” He laid the tablet on the rockwood table underneath a large magnifying glass attached to a moveable metal arm.

“I’ve always wanted to work here,” she admitted. “Studying ancient artifacts, delving into forgotten history, piecing together epouranal prophecy, it all sounds so great.”

“Is that so?” Franklin said. “Well, you should apply for a transfer. I could definitely use a new research assistant, and I guarantee you’ll learn a lot.”

“Really? I thought those spots were hard to get,” Lilly said, trying to rein in her excitement.

“Usually,” Franklin said, “but I just had one of my assistants relocate to Acumen last week, and with all the research I’ve been doing on the Great War and the Book of War, I haven’t had time to post for a new one. Quite frankly, I could use all the help I can get, and an eager young mind like yours would be a welcome addition. Plus, I’ve already seen that you’re a hard worker.”

Lily repressed a squeal of elation. “I’ll definitely work hard, Chief Stokenshire, that’s a promise.”

Franklin moved the giant magnifying glass closer to the tablet. “Indeed, but for now, let’s take a look at this seal.”

Lilly found a nearby stool to stand on so she could be high enough to look through the giant lens next to Franklin.

“It’s as I suspected; this is definitely a language. There were words written on the seal, perhaps something that indicates how it was supposed to be used, or how it was created. We know it’s a supernal object, but not where it came from,” Franklin mused.

“Are there other supernal objects like the seal?” Lily asked.

“We’re fairly certain the Sun Stone is; it radiates a similar type of aura. I also believe the Book of War may be one as well.”

“The Book of War? Could something evil like that come from the heavens?”

Franklin looked up from the magnifying glass. “Well, to answer that, we must first answer a different question: was the Book of War always evil, or was it just corrupted at some point? I tend to lean toward the latter. It seems more likely than something evil just popping into existence or being sent from the heavens. Do you remember in the meeting, when it was revealed that animals could kill the creatures of the Book of War? She mentioned that mankind was cursed when the Book of War was created, or something to that effect.”

“So maybe something that happened a long time ago actually ended up creating the Book of War?” Lily said.

“Possibly, which means that we will need to look at the most ancient of records and epouranal writings to see if there are any clues as to what that might have been.” Franklin returned to staring at the seal through the magnifying lens. “Perhaps if I record an image of this, I can compare it to some of the other ancient writing samples I have on hand. Could you hand me that melivian over there,” Franklin pointed without looking up.

Lily picked up a small transparent cube that fit between her fingers, there was a piece of melivian quartz embedded in it. She handed it to Franklin, and he pressed an almost imperceptible button on the cube which activated the quartz within. Slowly he started moving the cube over the tablet, taking a three-dimensional image of it. When he was done, he pocketed the cube. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out a way to translate this.”

“Sir, um, maybe this wouldn’t work, but what about the Daughter of the Sun?” Lily offered.

“What about the…” Franklin slapped his head in sudden realization. “Holy moon! You’re absolutely right. How could I forget something so simple? The Daughter of the Sun can read any language. When we’re done here, we’ll take this to Her Grace and ask her to decipher it. You’ve already proven yourself an excellent assistant, Lily.”

Lily beamed at the praise. “Thank you, sir. What’s next?”

“There is still much to examine. For one thing, I’m curious what this tablet is actually made of; I suspect it’s a variety of quartz that I’m not familiar with, we should run some tests on it to find out. Also, I’d like to get an idea of how big the original seal was before it was broken, and we need to find out where the Book of War was sealed and how it was uncovered the first time. How did Multus find it? Again, looking into ancient writings may give us clues as to where the book and its seal were placed, and if we find that location, we may find more clues, similar to what happened when we found the site for the last battle of the Great War. The two places were supposed to be near each other, but I saw no indication of where the book was found when we were there. We definitely need more information.”

Lily nodded her head eagerly as he said all this. “Just tell me how I can help.”

“Are you familiar with how to use the catalog?” Franklin indicated a large quartz tablet that was mounted to the wall nearby, and Lily nodded again. “All right, start trying to narrow down any viable scrolls or other artifacts from the PT era.”

Lily hopped off the stool and headed for the mounted quartz tablet. It was one of many terminals connected to a complicated quartz-based device that contained the massive catalog of books within the library. Mentus could be used to sort through the information and find what she was looking for, though it took a great deal of focus and concentration.

Excited at the prospect of helping Franklin with research, Lily got to work. “I can’t wait to tell Tabatha I’m transferring to the libraries,” she muttered to herself before remembering that she had no idea where Tabatha was. “I hope she’s okay,” she added before placing her hand on the tablet.

***

It took Tabatha little effort to penetrate the fort. She was already familiar with one of the translifts that led to the secure area, and all she had to do was use her melder abilities to override the embedded mentus that sealed the translift itself. Because she was able to manipulate the energy of anything she was in direct contact with, most mentus barriers and seals were useless against her. The harder part was getting past any guards she came across without raising an alarm.

Tabatha donned her white robe and put the hood up to make it harder to identify her visually, and she was already obfuscated in the mentant realm due to her melder status. Fortunately, the fort itself was almost completely empty by the time she reached it, except for a few soldiers who remained as guards. She moved covertly and quietly knocked out anyone she encountered as she worked her way to the detainment center where Gamdon and Foy were being held. Since there were no guardians or mind mages to deal with, the infiltration went smoothly, and soon she was standing in front of the cell that held the two prisoners.

Gamdon didn’t look surprised to see her and even greeted her casually, but Foy immediately dropped to his knee in an exaggerated bow.

“Lady Ellonous, you’re truly hear?” His tone was a mixture of elation, confusion, and fear.

Tabatha smirked. This was a normal reaction for members of Davron’s army. They were both awed by her and slightly afraid of her. Whereas with Lord Davron they saw a stoic, determined, and mighty leader, Lady Ellonous was seen as a ruthless, powerful, fierce mistress. This was mostly a persona that was highly overblown by rumor and speculation, especially because it was well known that Lady Ellonous was a melder.

She ignored the almost groveling Foy and turned her attention to Gamdon. “Why are you here?” she demanded of him.

It was clear she was not in a good mood. Only minutes ago, she’d said goodbye to the one person on Earth that she felt truly loved her in order to go to the one person on Mendala that she knew truly loved her, though the loved she shared with Davron was quite different from the mother-daughter relationship she had with Mrs. Guardman.

All she wanted to do was leave the mountain and put the past behind her, but she didn’t because Davron needed her help. He’d said as much in the message she’d received through her bonding stone just before Mrs. Guardman found her. Messages sent by the bonding stones could only be a few seconds long, so all she knew was that he wanted her to go see Gamdon, but nothing else.

When Tabatha received the cryptic message, she was torn. She knew that whatever Davron was plotting would probably result in death for her friends, and she didn’t want that, but her loyalties were firmly with him. He was the one who saved her when she was lost and alone on Mendala, and he was the one who she loved more than anyone else. It was this mindset that ultimately led her to sneak down to the fort to see what Gamdon wanted.

“Well, as you already know, we’ve been captured by the Fantasmal Government,” Gamdon said cordially. “I believe you were there to witness it; it was quite the spectacle.”

Tabitha rolled her eyes at this. “Come on, Gamdon; I don’t have all day. I knew when I saw you that there was something off. There’s no way someone as talented as you could ever get yourself captured by the idiots who run this place.”

Though she and the quickener had an antagonistic relationship, Tabatha still acknowledged that he was exceptionally skilled, highly intelligent, and without a doubt, one of the best quickeners in the world.

Gamdon bowed his head slightly. “I apologize. I know this isn’t a joking matter. I’m sure it took quite a bit to get all the way down here undetected, and despite what you may think, I am actually glad to see you. A small part of me thought that you may not come.”

“I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten Davron’s message. He said he wanted me to help you. Do you just need me to break you out of here?”

“Essentially, yes. We also need access to one of the fort’s translifts,” he told her.

“Well for some reason there’s basically no one in the fort, so that should be easy, but is that all? You really just need me to get you out of this joke of a jail so you can leave? What was the point of getting captured?”

“We’re not using the translift to leave the mountain, we’re using it to bring in our army.”

At this, Foy, who was still kneeling on the floor, looked up in shock. “What?”

Tabatha also looked stunned. “Wait, so he’s planning on taking over Fantasmal Mountain? Why am I just hearing about this now?”

Gamdon sighed. “The plan was complicated and required precise timing. Since you two can only communicate briefly through your bonding stones, he didn’t want to take a chance of you coming too early and possibly getting caught. So, he waited until I had enough time to fulfill my role, or rather, for Master Foy to fulfill his role by feeding the Fantasmal Government just enough false information to make them send out their entire army.”

“So, what I told them about Davron’s plans was a lie?” Foy said, slightly confused.

“Exactly, I needed you to sound believable. That’s why I only told you that we moved up our strike to tonight but not that our target had changed,” Gamdon revealed. “Fantasma has likely emptied out the entire mountain to try and meet the perceived threat he believes is coming in an hour. With your help, we can convert one of these translifts to receive from the network near Gilmore, right?”

Foy raised himself to his feet. “Absolutely, I know these translifts like the back of my hand. I can get it done in thirty minutes, maybe less, and I’ll disable the other translifts to keep the Fantasmal Forces from coming back.” He seemed almost giddy with excitement at the prospect.

“We’ll need your aid to accomplish this though, Lady Ellonous,” Gamdon said.

Tabatha nodded pensively as she listened to the plan. With her help, it was entirely possible for them to take over the mountain and simultaneously strike a massive blow to the Fantasmal Forces. She was happy that Davron trusted her enough to hinge the entire plan on her cooperation, but she still hesitated. Her mind flashed to Mrs. Guardman, Lily, Ace, and the others still in the mountain.

“Of course I’ll help, but I have friends here and some of them have the mark, what happens to them?”

“We’ll let the creatures of the Book of War take care of the seal bearers,” Gamdon said.

“I don’t want them to die,” Tabatha said. “I know they’re stubborn idiots, but I don’t want them to die.”

“Lady Ellonous, I realize how difficult this is for you, but you must understand that those who bear the mark of the seal are a threat to our cause, and everything we’ve seen from them so far shows that they aren’t going to just give up quietly. Even if we were to imprison them, as long as they’re still alive, then they give hope to the Fantasma, and that’s a threat we can’t have. We can spare the ones without the mark as long as they don’t try to fight us, but as for the seal bearers, I see no other fate for them.”

Tabatha wrestled with her thoughts for a moment. “What if they weren’t seal bearers?” she said in sudden revelation.

“What?” Gamdon eyed her curiously.

“What if they didn’t have the power of the seal? If they couldn’t kill the creatures or seal the Book of War, then you could just send them back to Earth. They’d no longer be a threat.”

“I suppose, but how would you—”

“Don’t worry about that,” Tabatha said. “Just take care of your end; I’ll take care of mine. By the time Davron arrives, the seal will no longer be an issue and we’ll even be able to get Ashley to release the power of the Sun Stone. Once that’s done, and we have Fantasmal Mountain, I want you to swear to me that you’ll send them all back to Earth.”

Gamdon nodded without hesitation. “If you can truly remove the seal as a threat, then I swear to you on my name and rank that I will send the off-worlders back to their home unharmed.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Tabatha flicked one of the quartz bars and a high-pitched ting reverberated throughout the room. Within a few seconds, the bars broke apart and crumbled into dust.

Gamdon stepped out of the cell, looking highly impressed despite himself. “No matter how many times I see your powers, I will never get used to them.”

Foy followed, looking completely dumbfounded. Tabatha led them to the main area of the detention center where the two soldiers who were supposed to be keeping guard were knocked out by her doing. They quickly found the storage room that held their clothes, robes, supplies, and Gamdon’s quickener staff. Tabatha then removed the bracelets that sealed their adimus abilities.

“Wait here for a few minutes, I just need to go take out the rest of the guards in the fort, there are only a few left,” Tabatha said as she headed for the exit. “I’ll contact you telepathically when I’m done, and then you two can get to work.”

“Then what will you do?” Gamdon asked before she could leave.

“While you work on the translifts down here, I’m going to disable the ones in the transportation corridor. That will block all entrance into the mountain. Once I do that, I’ll take care of the seal bearers. I should be back by the time you finish the translift.”

Gamdon bowed his head again. “Very well; good luck.”

Tabatha threw up her hood and left quickly.

***

“We’ve got less than an hour before Davron’s supposed to attack,” Bernie chimed. He looked nervous. He hadn’t decided whether he would actually go on the battlefield if they were called.

Becky, who was sitting next to him, noticed his trepidation and decided to take his mind off of things by switching subjects. “So, I’ve been wondering this for a while; how do you know what time it is? There are no clocks anywhere. Plus, it seems like there are time zones. How does anyone keep track with all the instantaneous transports around the world? Is it another adimus thing?”

“It’s done with mandorian quartz,” Bernie said succinctly, still looking listless and distracted.

When he didn’t elaborate, Becky prodded him, her tone slightly playful. “I don’t know what that means.”

Bernie finally turned to face her. “What? Oh, well it’s complicated. I’m sure you don’t want a long explanation.”

Becky chuckled at this. “Okay, I guess I deserve that, but I was thinking since we’re probably going to be here a while, I need to start learning mentus and everything else about this world. I have to know what I’m doing if I’m going to help Jandor and the others. Plus, now that I can really focus on it, everything seems a lot more straightforward.”

Bernie nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Realizing Bernie wasn’t going to get there himself, Becky huffed and added, “So, I thought maybe you could teach me.”

“Me?” Bernie said, clearly confused.

“Yes, you’ve been here ten years. You learned mentus and all sorts of stuff, right?”

Bernie shrugged. “Well, wouldn’t you rather have someone like Ben teach you? He’s been here longer and he’s a lot smarter than me.”

Becky wrinkled her nose at the suggestion. “No way. I don’t need him talking down to me like I’m some idiot. I’d end up punching him.”

“You punch me all the time,” Bernie chuckled.

Becky punched him in the arm.

“See!” he laughed again.

Becky grinned. “So will you teach me?”

“Sure, I guess. I’m not much of a tutor but that doesn’t matter, you pick up stuff quickly,” Bernie said.

“So, tell me about mandorian quartz,” Becky asked again.

“Oh well it’s—"

Bernie was interrupted by Jandor’s approach. “Hey, have you guys seen Mrs. Guardman?”

Becky looked around. Most of the members of their group, plus Lori, Sherrilynn, and the three guardians, were all present. The only ones missing were Mrs. Guardman and Tabatha.

“I bet she went looking for Tabatha after we finished,” Becky concluded.

“I thought that too, but it’s been a while,” Jandor said nervously.

“Can’t we use mentus to find her?” Becky asked, turning to Bernie.

Bernie shook his head. “All the rooms on this floor are shielded for privacy. We’ll have to just look around.”

Becky stood. “Hey guys, Mrs. Guardman and Tabatha haven’t come back. Does anyone know where they are?”

“I thought I saw Tabatha heading for the translift a few minutes after the meeting ended,” Alice revealed, “but I haven’t seen Mrs. Guardman.”

Becky felt alarm bells going off in her head. “Let’s look around for her, just in case,”

No one objected, and they started filing out of the room to search the long corridor. It wasn’t long before Terri shouted from a nearby room. “She’s here!”

Everyone rushed into the smaller conference room where Mrs. Guardman was hunched over in a chair, apparently asleep. Terri was on her knees in front of the matriarch, feeling her pulse.

“I’m not sure what’s wrong with her,” she said desperately as the others entered. “She’s alive, but she’s not waking up.”

“Let me try,” Alice stepped forward. “Mittius Resepco Guardman.”

Mrs. Guardman’s eyes fluttered open slowly. “Tabatha…”

***

Franklin looked up from his research when he heard the double doors swing open and saw Tabatha strolling into the lab.

“How did you get in here? This room is sealed,” Franklin said.

“Most mentus seals can’t hold up to my abilities. Maybe if it was made by a guardian, but that flimsy thing never stood a chance,” Tabatha said flippantly. “Where’s Ace? I thought he’d be here?”

Lily stepped down from the stool she was standing on to access the catalog, a confused look on her elvish features. “He’s not here.”

As Tabatha approached the two of them, comprehension seemed to dawn. “Oh, so he gave you the seal? I thought he’d never hand that thing over.”

“I don’t understand,” Franklin said with some trepidation. He could tell something wasn’t quite right. Tabatha’s demeanor seemed off.

“Well, the energy that thing radiates is like a beacon; I can sense it from anywhere in the mountain, so I followed it here,” Tabatha explained. “Oh well, this’ll be a lot easier to deal with here than trying to get it from Ace.”

Franklin stepped in Tabatha’s path as she headed to the table where the seal was. “I’m afraid I can’t let you have that. I promised Ace that I would keep it in my care until I was done with it.”

Tabatha sighed in exasperation. “I don’t have time for this.”

Before Franklin could respond, Tabatha grabbed him by the collar. Using her melder abilities to temporarily strengthen herself, she flung the aged librarian effortlessly across the length of the lab. He crashed into one of the massive bookshelves, and it came tumbling down, burying him in books and smashed wood.

Lily screamed, but Tabatha quickly grabbed her by the arm. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t get in my way.”

With that, Lily felt the life force drain from her and she dropped to the floor unable to move, though she was still conscious. With her two obstacles taken care of, Tabatha stalked purposefully toward the dormant seal.

“Okay, this time I’m ready for you,” she said as if psyching herself up. In truth, what she was attempting was highly dangerous for her.

She laid her hand on the tablet and started to focus. The seal reacted to her touch and began to glow brightly.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tabatha said through gritted teeth.

Her aura became palpable as she started to channel her own energy into the stone.

***

“So do you think she left the mountain?” Jandor asked once Mrs. Guardman finished explaining her last exchange with Tabatha.

“I’m not sure,” Mrs. Guardman said. “I don’t even know how I ended up falling asleep.”

“Tabatha’s a melder,” Ace explained. “She can manipulate the energy and even life force in just about anything. Since you don’t have any resistance, you didn’t stand a chance.”

“We have to find her.” Mrs. Guardman stood. “I need to convince her that she belongs with us.”

“Well, I don’t think she could’ve left the mountain,” Pathos said. “The quickener caves aren’t functioning and no one’s going to let her into a translift without authority. So maybe—”

“Aargh!” Ace doubled over, clutching his chest in pain.

“Cal!” Alice rushed to his side, trying to determine what was wrong with him. She used healing mandamus, but it didn’t stop the pain and he dropped to his knees in anguish.

“Seal!” Ace managed to grunt through the pain. “Something…happening…seal!”

Jandor instinctively looked at his hand and the golden symbol, which usually only appeared as a sign that the Book of War, or its creatures, were near, was now flashing ominously. A quick glance around showed the same thing for all the other seal bearers.

***

Tabatha was also screaming as she seemed to be doing battle against the power of the seal. It was radiating a golden light and the table beneath it was shaking. Her hand felt like it was being burnt but she didn’t pull away despite the pain that was wracking her entire body. She’d only ever fought this hard one other time in her life and this seemed a lot worse.

Lily, who could barely move, was watching helplessly. “Tabatha,” she said weakly. “What are you…” but her voice was so small, it couldn’t be heard over the melder’s anguished screams.

Tabatha could tell she was slowly losing to the seal. She thought that it would be easy. Even though the seal was said to be of supernal origin, it was broken. Surely that meant that it was vulnerable and didn’t have as much power. She realized as she tried to drain the seal of its energy that she was wrong. Even in its broken state, the seal was far more powerful than anything she’d ever tried to manipulate. What was worse was that the seal’s energy seemed to have a negative impact on her, as if poisoning her. The more she fought, the more it felt like some part of her, deep down, was being drained of life.

I can’t lose…I won’t lose, she repeated to herself over and over again. She was determined to destroy the seal once and for all.

She closed her eyes and summoned all of her strength, tapping into the deepest parts of her mind and psyche to find something that could overpower the seal.

I need more.

And then it was like something inside of her awoke, a part of her she didn’t even know she had. It felt like there was a ferocious beast offering her reserves of raw untapped energy.

Is this the true power of a melder? she thought to herself.

Because melders were so rare, it had always been hard to learn how to tap into and control her abilities, even after Davron started teaching her. She always felt there was more to her than even she knew, but she had no idea how to access the full breadth of her unique powers. Now, it seemed like this struggle had finally unlocked her full potential, and she could feel a different, more potent source of energy within.

Latching onto this hope, Tabatha embraced this new source of power and a dark aura radiated from her. She finally felt herself overpowering the seal’s defenses. The entire room was shaking, and books fell from the shelves in response to the epic battle of wills happening.

“I’ve got you now!” Tabatha screamed triumphantly as she felt her own energy finally seep into the seal and she began to drain and manipulate its power. The golden light of the tablet began to wane as Tabatha’s stronger and more potent aura wrapped around it. With one final roar from the melder, the seal exploded in a blast of golden yellow light. Only a small piece remained in her hand.

Tabatha dropped to her knees, panting, still clutching what remained of the seal, as she smiled triumphantly. She’d done it. The final remnants of the once powerful seal were gone.

Lily stared at her, tears in her eyes, but she could barely move. “Tabatha…”

Tabatha turned to where the elf was desperately trying to reach out to her, only barely able to process her surroundings in the aftermath of the heated battle. Lily recoiled with a squeak of fright when she saw Tabatha’s eyes. They were black, completely devoid of any color. It was the first time Lily had ever been afraid of her.

Slowly, Tabatha seemed to come to herself, the light returning to her eyes, and her breathing becoming normal. She still felt the latent energy she’d summoned coursing through her body. She felt more powerful than ever before.

“Tabatha…” Lily was struggling to push herself to a sitting position. “What…did you…do?”

Tabatha slowly rose to her feet. She was a little unsteady, but she was rapidly recovering. “I had to do this,” she said. “You’ll understand soon; this was the right thing to do, but I don’t have time to explain. He’s coming.” She put a hand on Lily’s head and the small elf passed out.

***

Ace was on the ground, pale and panting. His robe, which was previously mentant-blue, was now stark white. Terri was leaning over him, a small vile in her hand. She tipped the contents into Ace’s mouth before putting a compress soaked in cooling medicinal herbs on his head.

“Is he okay?” Alice asked furtively.

“From what I can tell, he’s not hurt,” Terri confirmed. “Whatever happened to him wasn’t physical or adimus related.”

“The seal,” Ace panted finally. “I think someone tried to do…something… to it.”

“Didn’t you give the seal to Chief Stokenshire?” Karmandrian asked. “Maybe he’s doing something?”

“That doesn’t explain why it impacted Ace and not the rest of us,” Becky countered.

“Well, he’s been walking around with that thing for forty years,” Pathos said. “He seems to have some kind of connection to it that’s much stronger than the rest of you.”

“Whatever it was, it was definitely malicious.” Ace stood and Alice rushed forward to help him. “We need to go find it now. Something’s very wrong.”

“He said he was going to the libraries,” Karmandrian started for the door. “I think I know where.”

***

Karmandrian led the group to the same research room he’d visited days ago when they first learned of the reemergence of the Book of War.

“What happened here?” Alice said in awe.

Several tables were broken, their instruments scattered on the floor, and a few of the massive bookshelves had fallen over.

“Chief Stokenshire!” Karmandrian jumped over the myriad of debris to quickly reach the other side of the room where Franklin was still knocked out, slumped against a bookshelf.

He used mandamus healing, and Franklin slowly regained consciousness. By this time, several others had reached them, while the rest were searching the lab for indications of whatever happened.

“Chief, are you okay?” Karmandrian asked.

“Wasn’t Lily with you?” Alice called. “She’s not here.”

“Neither is the seal,’ Ace added.

Franklin pushed himself into a sitting position. “It was Tabatha,” he said quietly, though his voice carried.

“Tabatha?” Becky repeated. “Tabatha did this? How? Why? What’s going on with that girl?”

“Okay, we definitely need to find her,” Jandor said. “She’s gone too far.”

“She may have taken the seal to force us to go home,” Ace offered.

There was a sudden slam as the double doors to the lab shut on their own.

Ben, who was closest to the door, rushed over to pull them open. “We’re trapped.”