Silver Cathedral Saga (5 page)

“Nearly
there folks,” said one of the Star-casters. “And if you are
wondering why this city looks so run down—then you can blame the
Shadow attack from the last time they invaded. They went head on
with this city, but lost. Thank the gods. Although it felt more
like a test than an actual battle they were trying to win.”

He is
young looking. At a guess, probably about mid twenties. The other
must be a little older, thought
Eleanor.

The other
Star-caster then spoke:

“The priest
is in the temple of Emae; it’s a few minutes away from here.” He
gestured to it. “They always overcompensate when it comes to kings.
And it’s a whole other extreme when the being is the king of the
gods.”

The place
of worship was the tallest building in the city, even taller than
the star tower that gave light in the night. It had a sphere
crafted from stone, and was painted like a sun. A white stone torch
held it up from the inside.

“The god of
sun, fire and light. Did you know his sacred animal is the
Firefly?” said one of the Star-caster’s again.

“I know,”
said Eleanor. “It’s the one creature you can invoke and bring forth
fire. Without following Emae.”

“Very good,
little one.” The man then thought for some time. “Eleanor… why does
that name sound familiar?” said one of the Star-casters.

“It’s the
name of the princess on Adalas,” said the child. “My mother named
me after her for some reason.”

“Ah, yes.
Of course. Eleanor Rosewood. Though little else besides her name is
known to us here on this planet. Actually, few people have seen her
who are not from her home world.”

They all
walked into Emae’s temple. Small in size, but not in height.

Christian
figured it had to do with the sun, and trying to reach out to it.
There is always reasons with the gods and temples, and it’s hard
not to notice them at this scale.

Eleanor and
Christian thought the temple looked gorgeous. Which was odd,
because there was nothing that beautiful there—except the lighting
from the sun, illuminating the structure and its wild daisies that
grew inside. As well as the gift of silver and ruby items on a
table near the entrance.

Light
seemed to be somehow focusing on this structure more than any other
place in the city, and the sun still wasn’t fully awake. It was
like stepping into a room that was stealing all the rays from the
sun, yet it wasn’t. It just felt that way.
Maybe some illusion
from Ematay, some ethereal light that could only be seen in the
temple
, thought Christian.

Both the
children could see what they assumed was a Priest, as he was the
only person inside the temple before them. He wore a grey
cloak.

“Who do we
have here?” said the Priest to the two Star-casters left, but
looking at Eleanor and Christian.

“These two
little ones… saved the city from the Shadow attack,” said one of
the Star-casters. “We owe them a lot right now.”

“To the
king we all go then,” said the old man, smiling at them after his
words. “But I am keeping an eye on you. The Cathedral is not a
playground for children.”

Both
Christian and Eleanor’s eyes widened as they heard that word:
Cathedral.

“Have you
ever seen space magick before?” asked the Priest to the
children.

They shook
their heads.

“Well,
then—I suggest you stand a bit farther back. Because this initially
sucks and imbalances the air’s current whilst I alter it to my
will. At least to begin with.”

The
Star-casters were already quite a bit further back, though Eleanor
and Christian soon joined them, awaiting the Priest’s actions to
follow.

The old man
raised his two arms, and looked at them as he clenched both hands
at the same time; he had both thumbs crossed over.

A black
began to look like it highlighted his fists, and when it looked as
if it got as bright as it was going to, he flicked all of his
fingers out, stretching them. The black energy flicked of his
fists, and turned into little specks of black dots that floated
into the air, working its way in front of the Priest.

The
thousands of specks soon forged what looked like a shadow; this was
when the priest put his arms back down to his side. The shadow was
in the shape of a circle, but now—it seemed to spiral.

“Part one’s
complete,” said the Priest. And as he said this, a raw, powerful
wind ran around the area, as if it was not sure which direction it
wanted to sweep. It went right, then left, and after a brief two
seconds the wind halted for some time, and instead, came from the
circular spiralling shadow in front. “One entrance to the Silver
Cathedral,” said the Priest gesturing his right hand for the others
to go through first. Miyah went before everybody else, and
following her was the Priest; they were both moving in closer to
the portal. Eleanor and Christian were just about to do the same
with the others.

But the
Priest—and Miyah—got sucked into the same black hole he just
opened.

The air’s
current changed yet again, but against where two people once were;
near some tall white stone columns.

“Old people
and their balance. Never ends well, does it,” yelled an unknown
voice that didn’t sound as if she yelled. It came from above, at
the top of the large height of Emae’s temple. The figure using the
painted globe to balance herself against.

This woman
stood on the wall of the temple, looking down. The open roof let
them see her as clear as the open sky.

“The Shadow
Queen…” said one of the Star-casters, knowing instantly who it
was.

Christian’s
eyes fixated on the black hole he lost his sister to. He tried to
run forward to it, though Eleanor pulled him right back.
Vigorously. “Wait. Something’s not right.” The air from the magick
portal moved around again, as if something different was about to
happen.

The other
Star-caster grabbed hold of Eleanor and Christian, and flung them
as hard as he could to get out of the way. “Run. Ematay, take them
with you. I will hold her attention long enough for you to make a
safe get away.”

“Look,”
pointed Eleanor. Shadows are coming out of the black hole the
Priest made.”

“By the
gods,” said Christian. “It’s an ambush.”

“Go,” said
the Star-caster stopping the Shadows travelling towards them
already; he had his blue star shield up as quick as he could react.
Yet because of the sun, the day, his shield was not filled with
limitless energy. It would weaken the longer he held it in reality,
but that didn’t stop noble actions or it all being in vain.

“I am not
leaving my sister. I made her a promise, Eleanor,” said
Christian.

“You have
to. Otherwise we will . . .”

“You don’t
even know yourself, do you. It’s because there are no reasons to
care anymore. And I can see that on your face as I feel it in my
heart. I have to take the risk and hope that I get her back.” The
Star-caster was pulling them both away as they spoke still.

The Shadows
forced themselves onto the shield; some tried to climb, but the
caster made it grow bigger for those climbing on to fall and slide
off with ease, like rain water running down glass.

The woman
jumped down from the tall wall, but she did not fall to the floor;
instead, she disappeared into a black hole that was created where
she would have fallen a little further down in the air.

And out she
came from another that was also in the air, but not too far from
the ground. Her boots thudded as she hit the floor. Black, strong
ones with about a two inch heel on them. She wore a coat of black,
her face looking about thirty, her long, dark brunette hair almost
as black as her coat and boots.

“Looks like
your pals aren’t playing today,” said the woman to the Star-caster
she got near.

The Shadows
moved to the side now, out of this woman’s way; like they were hers
to command. She pushed both hands onto the radiant star shield
before speaking again. “You and I have something in common,” she
whispered.

The
Star-caster saw the others get away okay, which is all he was
concerned with. They were out of sight. Everything was out of his
control for now. “Oh, yeah, and what would that be,” said the
Star-caster feeling disgraced; his voice sounded faint to the woman
because of him being inside his shield, yet they could still make
out what each other said.

“We’re both
night people.” As she said this a black hole emerged from behind
the Star-caster, but inside the shield. Black ropes of energy came
out of this hole and wrapped around the man’s body.

The woman
waved—before he got pulled into the black hole’s depth and its
abyss.

“It’s so
sad that you’ll never be seen again,” said the Dark Queen in a tone
that sounded as if she didn’t care. Instead, it came across more
about gloating with what she had just done.

The
city of Sunndira fell into darkness as Christian’s screams of anger
filled the night, fighting with the will of the Star-caster, but
failed, which made him even more furious.

Though none
of the three didn’t say it, this
‘
Shadow
Queen
’
alarmed them more than the evil of
the Shadows by themselves. The moving evil had a thinking force
behind it, which didn’t surprise the children, but made the
impossible numbers only a part of what they had to overcome now.
Now there was more to fight with. Now they knew there was a master
strategist behind it all.

Concealed

Eleanor, Christian and Ematay ran out of the entrance to the city
much quicker than they came in, which at this time they were
grateful for.

Yet
something familiar happened once again.

Another
black hole appeared, and with it—more Shadows. They rushed out the
shadow portal, which looked the exact dark black as the enemies
skin, making it hard to see until they moved away from their
unnatural looking entrance.

“We’re
never gonna make it now,” said Christian.

“Don’t be
too sure,” said Ematay. He noticed the burned White Meadow. “We
still have a bag of tricks left yet.” He moved both the children in
front of him. “There. We’re all—”

“—Invisible,” said Eleanor as she noticed the caster was now gone.
Someone grabbed her.

“It’s just
me,” said Ematay. “You won’t be able to see me. So I’ll have to
quickly guide you both out of harm’s sight. Because I have and
control the magick, I can still see you, but not the other way
around. Do you trust me?”

“We’re
gonna have to,” said Eleanor.

“We will
have to hurry and be as quiet as possible. Make sure you’re
careful. A Star-casters magick is very limited during the day.” The
children both nodded, then looked at one another. Though they
couldn’t see each others heads. It was like they just turned blind.
Not partially—completely.

The
Star-caster and the two children managed to get passed the swarming
army. Although they heard the cries of others in the background;
they ran as fast as their bodies would allow them, which resulted
in surprising themselves with their own speed. It is nothing short
of amazing that the best and worst of motivations comes to beings
in near death situations.

Them not
knowing what was happening made it worse in a way. They tried to
suppress their thoughts, and cringed with an almighty
compassion.

The
three carried on running until they were out of sight of Sunndira
city; so they could become visible again, and boy were they glad
they did.

“Do you
even know where we’re going?” said Eleanor to the Star-caster.

“Yes, and
no. That’s the bad thing about us Star-casters. We normally have no
sense of direction. They just need an imagination, and to have seen
where we need to travel to. I think we take it for granted a lot of
the times. But we can only ‘star-port’, as we call it, on our own.
We cannot take others with us. It causes our magick to backfire,
and makes a bit of a boom. We wouldn’t be killed or hurt, but I
wouldn’t be able to use my star powers for a good hour. Which I
wouldn’t want to risk at these times.”

All three
of the Astorians slowed down now. They were walking through the
burnt White Meadow still. But could now see the end of it.

“So we are
walking blind here?” said Christian

“Unfortunately, we are,” replied the man.

“Hold on a
minute,” said Eleanor. “One of the Swan Knights told us a clue of
how to get to the Silver Cathedral. You know what I mean Christian,
that poem. That riddle thing he told us.”

“You’re
right,” said Christian. “But what was it again. It went something
like: ‘The silver light that lies upon kites—’”

“Kites…
KITES—no,” replied Eleanor, “it went like this:

The silver light that lies upon night

It twinkles with a radiant light

You might mistake it for a star

But then that means you’re not so far

Within this structure there are many

Although the two with jewels will help you plenty’”

“Do you
suppose ‘the silver light that lies upon night’ is referring to the
silver stream?” said the Star-caster.

“Woah,
woah, woah,” said Christian. “Remembering something I was told now.
My mother said the silver stream was from the stars energy of the
Point Defence Star System; which is a line of stars that hides the
Starao three planets from some of the others, but it bounces back
silver for reasons she didn’t know. And you could only see it at
night.”

“I think
we’ve just found where we need to go,” said Eleanor.

“So then.
We just aim for the direction of Silvarian,” said Christian. “I
know that it is just after that place.”