Chapter XLI: (Cont.)
“What are you talking about?” West’s voice was angry, he couldn’t handle not having control of himself.
Baen’s head slowly turned towards West, “What I mean is, they were robbed of it.” Baen reached into his cloak and revealed a long golden tube with a large center which had an empty socket in it. On the end of the tube, he slid the second key piece, a long rod of a strange glowing blue crystal. “You see, these are the key pieces I had…and despite Adelia’s little trick on me back at Maximure University….”
Adelia winced as everyone gasped. Baen smirked, “You didn’t tell them?” Baen laughed. “Our dear little Adelia is a prodigal child…and it is there that I met her….it is there that we first came to meet, and it was there that forces tried to stop me…..but they failed.”
Adelia came to a realization, trying to ignore the looks of her betrayed teammates, “But if Forte was really on your side, then who was the red flicker in the University?”
Baen smirked, “Forte was very crafty, wasn’t he? He knew that whoever had tried to stop me was clad completely in red and it made it all the more believable for him to ride into your minds and have you believe that it was the same figure that had intervened at the University. But Maximus, the Watcher, had no power to help sway your choices anymore, my dear. He was too busy trying to stop me…..”
West glanced around, “Is anyone else just as confused.”
Baen sighed, “Let me explain then, for our slower gentlemen. Maximus tried to defeat me at the University, aiding Adelia and believing that the secret would remain safe. But I was able to defeat him and despite Adelia’s struggles, was able to read her mind as to Cion Sky’s location. This was but a simple trick. I knew that if I shrouded myself in darkness so that no one could find me, the Watchers would begin to suspect foul games afoot. But I did it anyway, making a perfect gamble. The Watchers thought that since I knew the current location of Cion Sky, that I would go there without question. I knew them far better than they thought, however. They, exhausting their powers, shifted the location of Cion Sky to here, thinking that when I went to the other location, I would have failed in my mission, having been unable to find their lair. To try and make it seem like they hadn’t moved Cion Sky, they tried to search me out, as if they had no idea what I was planning. But the mental channels go both ways, and as they pretended, I slid into their own minds and found where they had decided to rebuild. Even the Watcher’s powers have limits, and having moved their entire home exhausted all of them. So now they remain weak enough for me to defeat them all. As for Forte, Forte obviously knew all this through his extensive studies, and travelled to Orumon, invaded the Al-Khara, and then rode through time and space to manipulate all of you.” Baen smirked and caressed Adelia’s cheek as she glared at him, “But back to my original thought. I had two key pieces and the location of Cion Sky…but I still needed the third which was stolen and I also desired Adelia’s hand.”
Adelia felt another pain roll through her head, making her body buckle, though she could not control it, the pain surging through her and making her cry out. And then she saw the location of the third key piece and all was clear. Her eyes opened slowly, “No….”
“Yes,” Baen hissed. “The orcs were robbed as they travelled the wastes….robbed by the Vasu warriors. The Vasu had stolen the third key piece, a magical item that was given to their great shaman…..the piece that Blackheart wears around his neck. Gobudo knew what the item was…but had kept it a secret because Forte had manipulated him and told him to. Had Gobudo broken the silence, all would have failed.” Baen turned and sneered at Blackheart, watching the amulet glow.
“But I thought it was an amulet that guided men’s minds!”
“In a way,” Baen hissed. “The amulet desires to return back to Cion Sky, just like all the pieces. Thus, it steered the fate of its bearer towards Cion Sky. You wondered why the Vasu shaman was steered wrong by it all those years before….it wasn’t because it was the right decision for the shaman, but it was the right decision for the amulet. The amulet knew that one day you would bring it back to Cion Sky and has guided your decisions along the path to where we stand now ever since.” Baen smirked. “I really must say it was a stroke of luck. I had crushed the Vasu horde that you had sent after me while you and Adelia fled back to Azurat, from where you had begun your great journey. The amulet wasn’t with them either, and thus I was baffled. Up until your fight with Vigile that is.” Baen walked over to Blackheart and stared into his eyes, victory flaring up in the orange flames, “I saw through my Xul’Nue’s eyes that you had the amulet around your neck and I knew exactly how to get it here.” He pulled away. “I would kill two birds with one stone. I would allow you to travel all the way here, thinking that you had to stop me, and at the same time allow you to all bond with the lovely Seph girl and her to bond with you.”
“But why?” Adelia tried to survey Baen’s mind, but it was cut off once more.
“Because when I then did this,” Baen drew his sword and brought it to Blackheart’s throat, “You would give in rather than let him die.”
Adelia winced as the grating thoughts began to echo through her mind again, “I know you love him and that despite the feelings he does not share…you do not want him dead. Give in to me or I shall slay him here and now.” Adelia struggled, looking from Blackheart to Baen over and over.