Rise of the Godking

Daneel found himself in a dark, musty stone passage a moment later.

The elf was waiting for him, those blobs of light below his ears being functional, for once, illuminating a small area around them. Alex seemed to have gone looking for the exit, and sure enough, before he could even say anything, he returned and said, "This way. Its just a single corridor; it seems to lead out into the south-west island."

With a nod, Daneel gestured at Alex to lead the way, and soon, they were climbing a few steps that led them to an iron gate that easily swung open when a bit of force was applied. It had been oiled recently, which meant that this was a passageway that was constantly maintained, so with caution, they continued on their way, ready to deal with anyone who might see them coming out of a place that should normally only be accessed by the beggar king.

In his hands, Daneel still had the two objects that the man had given him. After the teleportation, the system had sent a message saying that it was scanning both of them, and soon, he knew that he would have all the answers he needed. 

At the moment, though, it was imperative that they get out of the city. Daneel had been quite thorough in disguising himself while going about his tasks…but he didn't want to give any chance for the master of the one he had killed to find him, and take revenge.

Magic was still an unknown quantity in this world, so he was unsure whether there might be something tying him to the body. True, Mors had helped hide the signs that were left on the woman, but he decided to not take any risks, at all.

"Alex, let's get out of here. No one might suspect us, but I don't want to stay in this place. We can talk after getting somewhere safe. There is one last loose end…but I'm confident that he'll take care of it."

Of course, he was talking about the fact that the identity he had used had been seen by the leader of the guards near the library, where he had teleported to. There would be no guard inside once people were finally let into the library, and even though he couldn't think of any foolproof manner in which the matter could be handled, something told him that the beggar king might be more than suited to deal with situations like these.

With a curt nod, Alex began to lead them to the exit teleportation matrix that was present on every island. On the way, they paused so that they could put on their disguises, again, this time donning new identities that they hadn't used before, and soon, they joined the queue of people that were all leaving at the same time.

Daneel was quite surprised to see so many, but he found the answer behind their presence by eavesdropping on a few whispered conversation nearby. Apparently, the fake rebellion had scared many of the people in the city, so they had decided to leave and come back when things were quieter.

The good thing was that the beggar king knew the truth, so he hoped that the man would step in to do something. He caught himself, then, and saw that he was caring so much even about people that he didn't know, at all…and again, his weakness was exposed to him, while at the same time, the urge to go through the data that had been given to him to find out more about the people on all the islands around him came to life.

He controlled it, though, and kept a neutral face while they shuffled closer and closer to the teleportation matrix. The guards waiting there looked disapprovingly at all of them, as if disgusted that they were leaving because they didn't trust the capabilities of the security force of the city to keep the peace, but no altercations occurred, and everything went smoothly.

They traveled through three islands in silence. Both of them seemed to have taken Daneel's suggestion that they speak only when it was safe to heart. At least, that was what Daneel thought, at first, before noticing that Alex seemed to be lost in thoughts of the past, while the elf was pondering about something seriously for the first time.

He wanted to know more about what was on the minds of his companions, but before that, he began going through the information he had obtained with so much difficulty. He had asked the system to transmit it all to him right after taking that first step on the first island they had arrived in after leaving north-east Marillein, and since then, on the journey, he was lost in his own mind, looking through everything that Noraldin had collected in his highly eventful life.

The more he saw, the more he was battered by thoughts and feelings that he had known would be stirred, but had hoped he would be able to control. There were pockets of good here and there, true, but there was also too much suffering, too much pain, too much blood being shed on a daily basis as if that was how the lives of so many were destined to be for as long as they lived.

He also found the reason behind the man's actions, and although he didn't really agree with the justification…he could understand it. Indeed, Noraldin had witnessed thousands of people dying, himself, as a warning that he should keep such a thing from ever happening again.

The tale was both simple, and sad. On an island called Hertoy, a rebellion had occurred, much like in Graiton, leaving a band of people who truly cared for their countrymen in charge. They had gone all out to improve the quality of life of those who followed them, and as the beggar king, then, had still been youthful and naïve, he had thrown everything possible behind these leaders and given them everything that they wanted.

The problem was that in the long term, those that were in charge of collecting crystals did not see it as a profitable venture. If enough investment was made, it would have given returns in 5 to 10 years…but all that the family in charge cared about was the present.

The number of crystals that the island needed to deliver had begun to dwindle, and when word reached them of the loan that they had also had to take to procure the machines, they had been livid. They had punished the beggar king, too, and because of another problem that arose because of the actions of these leaders, they had immediately sent a force ordered to kill each and every one on the island as a lasting warning to anyone else who might even think of doing anything similar.

Inspiration. This was the secondary side effect that they had sought to kill in its cradle. When word had spread of this island, others had also started to hope that something similar might happen for them. If the same was to be replicated in all the islands under the control of the family…there was not enough wealth available to make it happen, and besides, there was no reason, at all, to move away from the pain and death filled process that was present now for something that would benefit the people of the islands, whom the mainlanders didn't care about, anyway.

There were many, many more horrific tales that Daneel went through, so finally, on the fourth island, when they came to a halt, he actually bumped into Alex who had seemingly just snapped out of his thoughts, too.

Looking up, he saw that it was a barren place with a few rocks here and there, and walking forward, he chose a spot where three boulders were placed in a triangle, almost like chairs that could be used to sit on.

When he took a seat, the others arrived and did the same. His head bent, he decided to go through the rest before speaking…but before he could do so, the elf spoke gravely for the first time, making both Alex's and Daneel's eyes snap in his direction.

"Before we do anything else, there is something that we need to talk about, Dan. I know the condition that you set when I joined you…but this is something that pushes me to ignore it, as it deals with our future as companions. If you do not give a satisfactory answer, I will have to leave, right here and right now. I saw the body, and I couldn't help but notice that she died due to a magic attack. We Forn Elves have very strict rules regarding magic, one of which specifically talks about not casting magic freely under the eyes of someone who can study it. So tell me…are you a mage even though the ability is supposed to have been neutered in all the residents of the islands? Or is there something else here I don't see?"