Diomere's Exile

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Nadia inhaled the cool, stale air coming from the darkness beyond the hole. Her heart pounded as she grabbed another spike and hammered it higher on the wall to secure the tapestry. Satisfied no one would walk in and see the hole, she moved the tapestry aside and chipped away more of the wall, gasping when she revealed the back of some type of heavy wood furniture.

She closed her eyes and reached for her a’mi, praying it wouldn’t fail her. A trickle of power came at her beckoning. She sighed, remembering all the times she’d taken the former strength of her power for granted. She pushed her a’mi into the hole, using her connection to the water in the air to check for life. She paused as her power shied away from something which seemed to give off a low hum, but dismissed it when no heartbeat or pulse vibrated the water drops. Her connection to the water in the air vanished suddenly as her a’mi failed her again, leaving her deaf and blind to what else lay beyond the hole.

Nadia blinked back tears. This slow loss of her a’mi, of a part of herself, ached like a festering wound. Inhaling, she clenched her jaw and willed away the burning in her eyes. She would not wallow in self-pity. She lifted the hammer and knocked in more of the cave wall, revealing the back of a chair. When she’d cleared a hole large enough to step through, she shoved the chair aside and grabbed a lantern, pulling the tapestry over the hole behind her as she stepped through. The light revealed a cave twice the height of the one she’d just left.

She stood between two high-backed chairs, covered in a thick layer of dust. A carpet cushioned her feet, a cloud of dust billowing up with each step as she stepped farther into the room. To either side of the chairs, light boxes hung on the walls. She pictured the symbols for all five of the elements in her mind’s eye: water, air, earth, fire, and spirit. She focused on fire, allowing the other symbols to fade. Sighing as two sputtering flames appeared on either side of a scale, she blew on the slightly larger one that pulled the scale’s arm down lower than the other side. She reached into the larger flame and formed a glowing ball, an orb that now floated above her palm in the physical world. She moved to the closest glass box and pushed the orb inside of it. Instantly, five other a’mi light boxes lit with matching fire orbs, revealing the rest of the chamber.

She whirled around to hunt for other such treasures. Across the cave, carved into the wall, twin columns stretched from the stone floor to just below the ceiling. Across the top of the pillars, a thick beam rested on the columns, forming a doorway. On the walls adjacent to either side were tall double doors of shiny gold. Those to the left were barred, and she wondered if they led to the outside.

She crossed to the gate and laid a hand against a pillar. Her a’mi jolted awake as recognition washed over her. Thuno’s gate. Etched down both columns were images of a’mi creatures she’d only heard of in stories, but unlike Diomere’s gate with its engravings of selkies, sirens, and merfolk, this gate featured elves surrounded by fairies, satyrs, tree nymphs, werewolves, and werecats. The triangular symbols for the elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water separated the mythical creatures, while the circle symbolizing spirit was centered beneath words in A’misrian across the top beam.

Light burst from the columns, spreading warmth up her arm until her entire body vibrated in the fully restored power of her a’mi for the first time in two years. She closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of home and belonging as a’mi spread from the columns and into the rock of the cave.

“The first of the Sankta Hogo-sha has arrived. To complete the joining, we must have the one bonded to the key.”

She jerked her fingers from the column and swung around, looking for the source of the whispered voice. The columns hummed and pulsed a soft blue-white glow. She stepped back, resisting the pull of her a’mi toward the gate. She’d been the captain of her nephew’s guard the last time she’d seen a gate like this. She’d watched as King Delmar and her queen sister took the newborn prince to the Gate chamber in the abandoned Gate Keeper’s palace. There the king had pricked the baby’s finger and smeared a drop of blood on a column, causing the gate to glow from within. A voice, male and loud, filled their heads, welcoming the newest guardian. The royal family of Diomere had been the gate’s guardians since the magic and non-magic worlds were closed to each other. Did King Delmar know that other gates hadn’t been destroyed?

The columns stretched up so high she couldn’t even reach the bottom edge of the crossbeam with her fingertips. Etched into the stone beam, which lay across the top of the columns, were words in the language of the a’mi. Geto Inter Sokai.

“The Gate Between the Worlds,” she read aloud.

Her a’mi pulled her toward the barred golden doors. She strained to lift the heavy beam, but it wouldn’t budge. She pushed out with her a’mi, using the tiny particles of water in the air as her eyes and ears. Her conscious flowed from molecule to molecule down a wide, dark hall. She paused at a beam of light that filtered through a tumbled pile of rocks and boulders, but the sound of rushing water pulled her farther down the tunnel. Ignoring another dark opening, she moved her conscious between water molecules toward the growing roar of cascading water until her conscious flowed into a large cavern filled with an underground lake. Water fell from a hole in the roof which allowed a few shafts of sunlight to glitter across the calm surface.

Her conscious returned to her with a snap. A smile stretched across her face, but as she turned to go find Jon and Geeta, the other doors caught her attention. She crossed the cave, her eyes resting on the water symbol etched deep into the gold. Rather than door handles, a large hand impression marked each door. She placed a hand in each of the large hand prints. The door warmed under her palms, then clicked open with a sigh of stale air. She pushed the doors open and froze in awe.

She’d found Thuno’s Gate Keeper palace.

Numerous glowing lightboxes, as well as gold chandeliers draped in webs, lit a large entrance hall. Slabs of blue-veined marble covered the floor. Blue tiles formed the symbol for water in the center. Across from her, open doors revealed a much larger room lit by a skylight and more lightboxes. Long tables led up to a raised dais holding another long table. Five tapestries hung behind the head table, each decorated with one of the five elements, the one denoting water holding the center position. She returned to the entrance hall and spun around. Twin staircases framed the opening to the hall and wound up to a balcony and hallways leading to the private wings of the palace.

She spun around and ran back to the hole that led to her room. She couldn’t wait to show this treasure to the others.