The Anchors of Aydreon

Chapter 11 The Kings of Jakodan
If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. – Mark Twain

On the other side of the portal Nico was warmly greeted by Benefix who held out his hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well done, my boy, well done!” Cat was standing there too, at Benefix’s feet, blinking and what looked for a second like smiling.
Nico looked around for Serah and Jian and saw them at the table. Jian was pouring out hot drinks and Serah was laughing as usual. Of Philard there was no sign.
Benefix put his arm around Nico and guided him over to the table. “Sit, sit have something warm to drink.” Once Nico was settled with Cat in his lap, he realized everyone was staring at him. “Now,” said Benefix happily, “Tell us everything.”
Nico sipped his drink. It was hard to know where to start, but he knew he had to. He had promised Chrysalis that her story would be told and that people would know of her final sacrifice to save them all. “Well, Serah took us right to Chiniak, and she got this farmer to tell us a local story that we thought would fit the prophecy. So we started walking to the place, this local cottage that had been frozen in time.”
“And here’s the scary bit,” interrupted Serah. “We were attacked by a bogbear! And we had to climb up a tree and Jian saved our lives!”
“The volcano was pretty scary, too,” Jian said, but Nico thought he detected a smile under Jian’s beard.
And so without further interruption, Nico told Benefix everything that had happened and all that he had seen and felt. Some places it was hard to admit his feelings, but somehow Nico felt obliged bare his soul, that it was important for Benefix to know the whole truth.
When he was all done no one said anything for a few moments. “Wow,” said Serah softly. Benefix got up and turned his back on the group. Nico looked over at him nervously. Had he been mistaken about something? What was wrong? Maybe he was supposed to return the ring? He had been worried this whole time that he had messed something up or not finished something.
When Benefix turned back around he walked straight up to Nico and gave him a big hug. He looked in his eyes and said, “You never have to feel angry that your parents left you, Nico. That was their mistake, not yours. But I think it is to your credit that you feel anger when you see injustice. Anger can be a good thing, you know. You just can’t let it hold you back.” Nico felt so choked up with emotion he couldn’t speak, so he just nodded his head and hugged Benefix back.
After a moment he ventured, “Prevost Benefix?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“I promised Chrysalis that I would tell her story, that people would know about her sacrifice. She suffered so much in life, I owe her that. I think that it’s the only way to really make things right.”
Benefix was thoughtful for a few moments. “You’re right,” he said. “The truth must be known. But we can’t tell people right now. They don’t even know that the planet has stopped in it orbit. For now, that has to be our secret. But I promise you, when it’s all over, people will know about Chrysalis. Do you understand?”
Nico nodded his head and smiled. “For now, I’ll have a word with Stoddard Keller and let him know what happened.”
At the mention of Prevost Keller’s name, Nico gave Benefix a funny look. “What?” Benefix asked.
“Well, its probably nothing,” began Nico, “But I overheard something just before we met the Prevost. Two farmers were talking and they thought that the Prevost has somehow sabotaged the Conveyor.”
“They also think that the Conveyor is what caused the volcano to reawaken, remember?” said Serah.
Benefix looked thoughtfully at Nico. “I’m glad you told me this,” he said finally.
Just then Jian gave a tremendous yawn. “Oh my, where are my manners?” Benefix asked. “It’s getting late and you must be very tired. Why not get a good night’s rest tonight and we can continue talking about all this tomorrow?”
Nico felt too tired to answer. It had been a very long day. He felt as if he could sleep for days. Benefix fussed about them for a little bit and finally had everyone settled in a room. Nico laid down on the bed in the room Benefix had given him and Cat jumped up as well. Within minutes he was sound asleep.
The next morning, Nico woke up feeling happy. At first, he couldn’t quite figure out what was causing the feeling but then he remembered. He was back in the Cathedral and Benefix had seemed to think that he had helped one of the sanctuaries go back to being normal. He very much wanted to find out if there were any signs that everything was getting better, so he jumped up washed off, tickled Cat around the ears a little and went off to the kitchens for some breakfast.
The Cathedral’s cook was a firmly-packed kind-hearted woman with rosy cheeks and a bustling manner. Whenever she saw Nico she tried to feed him. “You wants fattening up!” she would always say. This morning was no different and after a much appreciated hearty breakfast, Nico walked over to Benefix’s study. As he drew closer he saw that lights were on and the door was slightly open. He could hear Benefix’s and Jian’s voices talking and after a moment overheard their words.
“So how do we get any news from the other planets if the Gateway is still broken?” he heard Jian say. Benefix gave a big sigh. Nico could hear his chair creak and knew that he had leaned back.
“I don’t know. If everyone is suddenly cut off like this, maybe they will send someone in a ship.”
“Ship?” he heard the incredulity in Jian’s voice. “Who has space travel these days?”
“Nacia Denta might. Of all the planets, they seem to still have a great deal of magitechnology…” Benefix trailed off.
Just then Serah came up behind him, “Good morning, Nico” she said brightly, “And hello to you, too, Cat!” she reached down to pet the furry blue-gray cat.
Hearing voices, Benefix got up and opened his office door all the way. “Good morning, you two!” he greeted them with a smile. “I’m glad to see you are up, we were just going to go down to my study.”
They followed him down through the sliding bookshelves to his underground study.
“Right then,” continued Benefix. “Philard tells me you have an artifact?” Jian nodded his head and placed the stone on the table.
“He said that the symbol means its from Jakodan. He also had a scroll that had the final verse on it, without any missing words.”
“I see,” said Benefix. “Did he say where he got it?”
Jian shook his head no.
“Well, let’s see what this scroll has to say.” He unrolled the scroll that was sitting on the table and they all crowded around to look.
“Too bad it isn’t all filled in. It says:
where two mountains collide
sun will be right side.
sacrifice has been with hard bone
their pride to release from stone.”

“See,” Benefix said pointing, “This next verse mentions stone. Like the first one talked about fire. I think the stone that you found, Nico, tells us that it is somehow linked to the second sanctuary. Since the stone comes from Jakodan, that is our next destination.”
“What do you think the missing words are?” asked Nico.
“Well, I think the first line refers to the place. A valley is where two mountains might be said to collide, so maybe one of the missing words is ‘valley’. Jakodan is in the north, so the ‘rising’ sun would be on your right side. I think both those lines are trying to tell us where to go. But we need to narrow that down some.”
“Last time the sanctuary was in a place that people thought was haunted. Maybe we should just ask around for local legends when we get there,” suggested Jian.
Benefix nodded his head. “Good idea. We also had Nico,” he said smiling at Nico. “He saw the place when he visited the tapestry. That helped a lot.” Nico smiled back.
“So the last two lines, will tell us what to do, like the last time, too,” said Serah eagerly.
“I agree,” answered Benefix. “A ‘some kind of’ sacrifice it says. ‘Great’? ‘Big’ maybe? Has been probably, ‘paid’ with hard bone.”
“Sounds like a battle,” muttered Jian.
Benefix nodded at him, “Could be, yes, could be. ‘Restore’? ‘Recover’? their pride to release them from stone?”
“Well, if they were in battle and lost their pride, I guess that means they lost, huh? We should look for a place in Jakodan where there was a big battle.”
“That won’t be hard,” said Jian. “The kings of Jakodan are always fighting.”
“Really?” asked Nico curiously, “What about?”
“Anything and everything!” answered Serah rolling her eyes up. “The Jakodans are a war-like people. They think that you can only gain honor by fighting.”
“By winning,” corrected Jian.
“Right, you have to win, otherwise you lose face. The spirits of defeated soldiers are said to roam the earth waiting to be released,” said Sarah.
“How does the soul of a defeated soldier get released?” asked Nico.
Jian responded, “According to Jakodan beliefs, a soldier has to be buried under the three special stones in order to pass on peacefully. The first stone is from his King. All soldiers carry this stone with them when they go into battle as a sign that they are doing the King’s will. The second is from the Prevost, but any holy man can place one. The last stone is called the “Glory Stone.” It’s kept by the King. When a soldier is killed, the King, or sometimes the General, can decide if he died an honorable death. If a soldier has all three stones in his monument, he can go on to the next world. That’s why its very important to the Jakodan military that all missing soldiers are found and properly buried.”
“Didn’t Philard tell us that the stone we found had the symbol of King Chelten on it?” asked Nico eagerly.
“Yes,” said Jian shooting a look at Benefix. Was it just his imagination or did Jian frown every time he heard Philard mentioned? “If we have the King’s stone then it would seem that there’s a soldier somewhere looking for peace.”
“That makes sense,” said Nico. “There could be an unhappy soul buried at the site of the second sanctuary and that unrest is what’s causing the problems.”
“Flash floods in Jakodan, getting pretty bad, I hear,” said Jian.
“Knowing the symbol belongs to Chelten, helps narrow things down a bit,” said Benefix. “But Chelten’s kingdom is vast. We need to narrow our search down a little. Let’s take a look at the Jakodan tapestry.”
“You want me and Serah to go to the Museum?” Nico asked.
“That might not be wise at this time,” Benefix said.
“The ring,” Serah whispered, “Remember you don’t have it anymore!” She poked him in the arm.
“I took the liberty of requesting that the Director bring the Jakodan tapestry here. I wanted to take a look at it myself.”
Serah goggled at him, “R-r-really? Did he let you have it?”
Benefix didn’t answer her right away but got up and walked over to a large covered easel in one of the corners. A magi-globe on a tall stand was arranged to shine down directly on the easel. Benefix passed his hand over the globe and it lit up and then he removed the covering. The Jakodan tapestry had been laid out on the easel. They all walked over to look.
“I remember drawing this one,” Serah said. “The mountains seem to be looming over the valley. And the colors are funny, deep purple and dark brown. You’d expect the grass in the valley to be green.”
“Look, there’s a river running through it,” said Nico pointing to the tapestry. And then it happened again. It seemed to Nico as if the water in the river were moving. Was that actually a small drift of snow moving down the mountain slope? He felt as if he were being pulled into the pages of the book and the next thing he knew he was standing in a valley. Two huge gray mountains encircled the low-lying area and a sapphire blue river burbled and sang its way by him. The air felt cold to Nico and he could smell the frosty tang of snow. It was like a real place to him. As he turned slowly he saw something that made him halt. Off to the right of the river was a huge stone structure made up of hundreds of round gray river rock piled up in a giant mound. He squinted at it. As he took a step toward it to get a better look, he suddenly stumbled forward, Jian just catching his arm before he fell through the tapestry. “W-w-what?” he asked gasping. “What was that?”
“Gee, Nico,” laughed Serah, “You don’t have to look that closely!”
“No, I mean what happened to me? It seemed like I was there, at that place,” said Nico pointing to the valley in the picture, “Only, only it was different somehow.”
“Are you okay?” Serah asked suddenly worried. “You look pale. Did it happen again? Like last time at the museum?”
Nico nodded. “But it was even more real, more vibrant somehow.”
“Maybe you’re getting better at this,” grinned Serah.
“What was different?” asked Benefix. “Tell us what you saw. It could be important.”
“Well, when I was there, I saw a mound made up of stones.”
“Stones like this one?” asked Jian, picking up the stone from the table.
“Yes, exactly like that,” answered Nico.
“Barrow,” said Jian looking at Benefix. Benefix nodded.
“What’s a barrow?” asked Nico.
“It’s a place where they bury soldiers who have died fighting in battle,” answered Serah.
“That settles it, Jakodan is our next destination. They are the only ones who bury their dead in a barrow,” said Benefix.
“All of us?” asked Jian, jerking his head in Serah’s direction.
Serah correctly interpreting the gesture interjected, “Yes, all of us. Don’t go thinking that you can just leave me behind!”
In his most reasonable tone Jian said, “Well, we don’t need you to keep the ring, and you’re not from Jakodan. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”
“You still need my help,” Serah protested. “Just because I’m not from Jakodan doesn’t mean I don’t know a lot about them. They have all kinds of weird customs and rituals you have to know about or risk horribly offending them and getting thrown in jail.”
Benefix and Jian exchanged a long look. “Besides, if you are really worried about me getting hurt, you won’t send me back to the Museum, the Director is going to kill me when he finds out about the ring.”
“She has a point,” said Benefix trying to keep from smiling.
So it was decided that Serah would join the company going to Jakodan.
“Let me show you a map, Nico,” Benefix said and he took out his magitech map that showed all the things going on in the world. Nico saw that Storla, the capital, was situated almost in the middle of the continent like Medford. To the east were the Kravik Mountains, the longest mountain range in the world. They were honeycombed with mines; metal was the primary export of Jakodan. Between the two ranges ran the Albo River. “Not as long as the Flumen,” Benefix explained, “But a major hub in the continent and it’s used to help transport goods. Its political and economic worth is what most of the battles among the kings of Jakodan are about.”
“The mountains all have different names, depending on what King you are talking to,” Serah was telling them. “Each King thinks he owns them and so gives them different names after sons and wives and things. If you don’t know the correct name of the mountain, you can horribly offend a King!”
Nico thought that was very strange. He had only recently been given a name. What if everyone he met wanted to call him something different? That would make things very confusing, he thought. He looked down at the sleeping cat in his lap. He had been stroking his warm, soft fur. “What do you think of your name?” he thought as he petted the kitten. Suddenly the word “Bartholomew” came to mind.
“Hey, Benefix,” Nico interrupted.
“Yes,” Benefix replied looking mildly surprised.
“Oh, uh, sorry to interrupt,” Nico said, “But have you ever thought that Cat might actually be Bartholomew? I mean, that that’s his real name?”
Benefix looked at Nico as if seeing him under a new light. “That’s a fine name for a cat. Would you like to call him that?”
Nico nodded happily and went back to petting him. Bartholomew began to purr.
“Are the Kings of Jakodan strange about their pets?” Jian asked Serah looking pointedly at Nico.
“Not that I know of,” laughed Serah and she bent over to pet Bartholomew too. “Hello Bartholomew,” she said in a kitty voice.
In the meantime, Jian spoke quietly to Benefix. “Can we use the portal to get to Jakodan? I feel like time is moving, even if Aydreon is not.”
Benefix shook his, “News out of Jakodan is bad. I met with Kent Frantip after you all had gone and King Chelten is still holding him hostage in the Cathedral. He wants his “blessing” on his next campaign so he can call it a “Holy War.” Kent is known as “The Noble” among us Prevosts, you know and would do anything to help keep the Kings happy, but he just can’t bring himself to agree to this. Anyway, I’m afraid if I sent you all to the Cathedral, you’d never get past the lines of soldiers. Kent had asked for aid last week before the vote and I was considering sending someone to help with negotiations. In fact I’d already sent a message to King Chelten about someone coming. I was thinking of sending Christoph, as kind of an ambassador of the Prevost. But now I think I will send you.”
Jian groaned, “Me? An ambassador?”
“Naturally, Chelten thinks you are going to deliver good news and so he’ll be eager to meet with you. This will get you to Storla quickly and might make it easier to find out what’s going on.”
“Ok,” said Jian, “But how do we get there?”
“He’s sending his airship to take you to Storla.”
Serah stood up quickly when she heard this. “We are going to get to ride in King Chelten’s airship?” she asked incredulously. “This is fantastic!”
“What’s an airship?” asked Nico.
“Well, you know the Kings of Jakodan think they are just at the top of the magitech ladder. One of their Magitechnicians invented this kind of hot air balloon for King Chelten. It can fly across vast distances without needing to refuel. But it moves kind of slowly,” Serah admitted.
Jian suddenly sat down and put his hand over his face and sighed. “Flying?” he asked. “Really?”
Benefix laughed and patted him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry Jian, it won’t be so bad.”
But Nico felt excited about the chance to fly through the air and couldn’t wait to begin.