Chapter XLI: Unexpected Delays and Battle Plans

Blackheart awoke in the middle of the swirling sands, his eyes slowly opening to the golden flicker. He rose slowly to his feet, struggling to see clearly what was in front of him. The others were slowly stirring to, each of them rising up to see the towering citadel known as Cion Sky….the home of the twelve Watchers. Great golden walls rose up all around the place and they could see, far off within the center, the great dome of Cion Sky itself. It was still a good distance away from the outerwalls they lay next to….but it was far closer than they had been before. Blackheart grabbed his sword and looked down at his amulet, which had begun to glow intensely. He glanced back at the others who were almost all on their feet now, although Gobudo wasn’t among them. His eyes met with Thyrus’, “It worked.”

The sound of clapping was heard as he turned to see Baen standing before them, hands locked together, pursed lips turned up at the ends to make a smile. “Congratulations, my very good heroes…you have arrived.” Blackheart went to move but found himself frozen, the others, save Adelia, were stuck in the same state. “You see, though, that we have finally reached the great battle grounds, which means I can toy with you no longer and you all must die. Though…there is another way….”

Adelia reached for her sword and brought it out, brandishing it threateningly. “Stay back.”

Baen strode towards her, his cloak falling away to reveal the gaunt face, the short white hair, the burning orange eyes that flickered and sparked like real fire. He was a pathetic looking miser of a man, dressed in dark black armor and a cloak, and yet there was so much power in him. “You cannot defeat me dear…..you have failed….I must say, the assassin really took a unique approach to dealing with you.”

Adelia’s eyes narrowed, “What assassin?”

Baen shook his head, “I do not quite understand it myself. I did not expect Forte to go about bringing you here, I expected him to kill you, though he did magnificently, manipulating you all and bringing you to me… and he is merely mortal.” Baen laughed.

“Forte?” Adelia’s eyes narrowed in confusion as Baen began to move through the statues of her allies.

“You don’t know him, but he is a very skilled man. He manipulated all your minds and tried to find ways into your heads.” Adelia’s eyes widened as Baen sent the thought into her head, “You’ve heard the voice……now you know who it was.” Baen watched her, realizing she needed further explanation. “He thought that he could lie to you and tell you prophecies and secrets, posing as some superior power so that he could manipulate you and drag you here. He was right. You all thought that the voice was a help….it wasn’t….it was a trick!” Baen smirked.

Blackheart opened his mouth, “What voices? I never heard any….”

“Of course you didn’t,” Baen hissed, “You aren’t worth bothering with. There were certain people crucial to keeping quiet. One was Adelia, keeping her on track was key in dragging you all to me. Gobudo was another one, though it’s funny that he died, since the secret he held would have ruined everything. It was almost too perfect, but such is life sometimes.” Baen turned as Blackheart struggled to move. “Tsk tsk, rogue. Don’t bother trying to fight me, you’ve already lost.”

Adelia found her voice again, “Why would you need to drag us here? I saw your mind…you have everything…”

Baen cocked his head, “Really, dear? I don’t have all I desire. There are two things that I still lack. One was your hand, but you seem unwilling to give into my will. Thus, I decided rather than to just steal the other thing I desire, I would use you and all your friends here to help save me time and also help get you to come around to allying with me.” He smiled.

“What are you talking about?”

Baen had reached her now, her body freezing slowly, a numbing feeling crawling all over her like a thousand insects. “You have felt it, haven’t you? Come now, I saw you all those years ago, you had amazing power and potential…..you still do. You felt an uneasiness in my thoughts, didn’t you?” Baen saw the flicker in her eyes and smirked, “You were right. There was something wrong with my confidence…it was all fake. There was one key piece that I still don’t have. You see…..when I was first on Azurat, I went to the home of those blasted orcs to find the first key piece…but he no longer had it!”

Adelia tried to resist, but it was too late, “What do you mean?”

Baen’s eyes flickered and Adelia felt the stab of pain roll through her head, “Yes…the orc leader did think that I had obtained the piece, for it was me who had slain the foolish orcs….but the orcs had kept everything secret…..they hadn’t even told their servant goblin of what had occurred to them on their travels.”