Silver cathedral saga, p.15
Silver Cathedral Saga, page 15
“It goes without saying that both your magicks will come in very useful,” replied the Fire-caster, Lauretta.
“Ematay noticed after Lauretta stopped talking that a little light shone from under her clothes. It wouldn’t have been easy to notice if it wasn’t so dark inside the Madame Mansion at this time, as they lit no candles yet. It was a little green, faint light; a little bigger than the size of a speck. Ematay believed nobody else saw this, as he noticed nobody brought attention to it except him, which he found very peculiar.
“Shall we have a drink and stretch our legs a little,” said Ematay, even though he already knew the answer. “We can’t stay for more than an hour or two, unfortunately.”
“What were you going to say again before all this ruckus interrupted?” said Ematay.
Lauretta closed her eyes for a brief second—and as she opened them every candle around the mansion they could see was sure enough lit, and with such ease.
“Woah,” said Eleanor. The marble sheen looked even more magnificent against the cascading light that bounced, glinted and glistened.
The Fire-caster then followed the others slowly.
Ematay opened two double white doors under two more columns just beyond the front entrance, which was about ten feet farther.
Inside this second door was a lit fireplace, looking intensely cosy to watch. Next to it was the most comfortable looking furniture, whilst many books laid scattered around on one high shelf that span around the entire room; what must have been four shelves looked like one.
Even with there only being one shelf that housed all these pages, there was a sea of information towering above every single one of them.
The spitting of the fire felt as if it invited them all to sit.
“Right, I’ll get the drinks for us all. Everyone get cosy. We have no idea when we next can do so.”
They all sat down as Ematay went farther down to what the children assumed was the kitchen. He left the door open to it, and noticed the wooden benches which ran through most of this room they were in now.
The floor was white and sparkled with more of a clinical look than the children had ever seen before. It looked magickally tidy as they gazed around; everything was in what looked like its place, and not a single speck of dust or crumb covered any part.
Eleanor and Christian sat down next to each other on a two seater settee, something their eyes were alien too until they saw them in the Silver Cathedral. The material had patterns of blue stars pitted on a smooth, black surface. Like all the others near it; there was a three seater, a two seater they sat on and two single ones. All with the same material.
Eleanor brushed her hand across the black material, relishing in its exquisite feeling.
“It’s leather,” said the Fire-caster as the female from Hiva Aura stroked it. “A very rare luxury on Astora. Legend has it all the furniture in this house were gifts from Starao’s parents.”
“Even Emae?” asked Eleanor.
“Yes,” replied Lauretta.
They could all hear the clanging, pottering and banging of Ematay in the background through the open door.
“That explains where the leather comes from,” said Christian.
“More than likely,” said Adea.
“You would think so,” said Oddius.
Ematay came in with a polished silver tray with all eight drinks upon it, taunting them to take one.
“If you are Edeolon Warriors from the last millennium, then wouldn’t you be like thousands of years old? Asked Eleanor, just remembering about the tales.
“Yes we are,” replied the deceptively young female Warrior of Faith.
“But you only look a little older than us,” said Eleanor.
“Here we go,” said Ematay, handing out the first.
“At the ceremony, when we officially become the Edeolon Warriors, we we’re given everlasting life; we are immortal from the ageing years—but not from physical force. We can die just as easy as you. When it comes to the Astorian anatomy we are all very fragile beings, both inside and out.”
Nobody knew how to reply to what Selphira just said, so they just looked at Ematay handing out the drinks.
The Star-caster put the tray on the small oak finished table in the centre after all the silver chalices were gone; all the furniture was placed and centred around this table, but it never looked out of place.
Christian cleared his throat after taking a sip of his milk. “Why do they call this place Madame Mansion then?”.
Ematay sat down with his drink on one of the single seater settees before answering. He chugged some of his drink down and sighed, as if he longed all too long for that liquid to trickle down his throat.
“Because Starao took in only females here at the mansion to train under her tutelage, where the first Star-casters came from. She believed the evil of men was too corrupt and could not be trusted. So her followers, for some reason, became known as the Madams of Astora. This wasn’t just her home, this was her place of training. If I show you after our drink, giving our legs a rest, I will show you exactly what I am talking about.”
Eleanor nodded to Ematay’s answer quite excited at the thought.
“And of course when Starao died many thousands of years later from the hand of a god, the Madams felt the craft should be allowed to pass onto males also. Though there was a test to pass before it all would progress any further. The portal what you all went through was a test to see if the males were good hearted enough to use their magick in the right way.”
“It is strange,” said Selphira. “We were told Star-casters are looked down upon by many. But from what you have told us—I think what they do is the most admirable thing I have heard… in a long, long time.”
“The positions of Star-casters crumbled hundreds of years ago. Mostly because other Spell-casters,” said Ematay looking at the other types in the room. “Had some kind of offensive ability to help with evening numbers and such. Star-casters are pure defensive beings of magick. We are all about protecting those who can’t do it themselves.”
“Yet things are being patched up as we speak,” said the Beast-caster Adea. “Because the king asked for Ematay to lead this group and quest to its destination. Never in all my life have I heard of a king trusting a Star-caster to do something so important. You must have made an impression on your last quest.”
“You mean the one with us?” said Christian.
“I don’t know,” replied the Beast-caster.
“Maybe” replied Ematay. “But I think it’s about time Star-casters got what they deserve in life, as much as anyone else. Regardless of our limits.”
“Well they are,” replied Adea. “There is such a stigma aimed at Star-casters now, but the story behind them are to make them more appreciated. It is a predestined magick only few can leap to and learn. Because of it’s limitations with their views, as well as their magick.”
“Hey,” said Ematay, sounding offended. “I understand people who don’t understand what I do and practice every day, but I think it is highly unprofessional of any Spell-caster to go around mocking people for what they are, what they do. And all because it doesn’t fall into their area, which people always think is all so high and mighty and perfect.”
“Oh, please. You are talking like a ten year old. Like these two,” said the Fire-caster Lauretta, looking to the only known survivors from Hiva Aura. “Why the king chose a Star-caster to lead is beyond me. But orders are orders. And we need to get on with them.”
“It’s like the world is out to get Star-casters, and all they do is protect those who need it most. It makes no sense,” said Ematay.
“Pay no attention to these hypocrites,” said Eleanor.
“Oh,” said the Fire-caster, Beast-caster and Battle-caster together. They laughed straight after. One of them shook their heads too.
“It beats being a bully because you want conditional attention for yourselves all the time,” said Christian.
“Is that supposed to hurt,” said Lauretta, “because it is more funny than offensive.”
“It should,” said Christian. “Because what you say about others is more often than not what you’re saying about yourself. Halfwits.” He spat out the last word so loud that spit went everywhere.
Eleanor moved out of the room, and saw the two stair cases either side, like a generic mansion would look. Only these stairs were much higher, and the steps, each one, was deeper. Especially for the smaller legs that Christian and Eleanor had. The floor in the entrance hallway was black and white marble, gleaming, like most of the mansion. “Come on,” she called to Christian and Ematay. “You can show us around while these prats calm themselves down.
As they went up the stairs on the left, Eleanor saw one of the Spell-casters acting, needing to be saved with the words: “Star-caster, I need your help. They are coming to get me. Oh, wait . . . you can’t help. All you can do is slow them.” The room cackled again but they were upstairs now; the children could see it affected Ematay, and he rubbed his skin which was a little darker than theirs, though not greatly.
They now saw nine doors in front of them and could see every single one at once; all the doors where in a row, but separate, nicely for the eyes to respond as they moved onto the next with their eyes. Each had some kind of symbol on the children had never seen before.
Then, the children saw something that stuck in there mind very easily:
Upon a star a child is born, inside the dark she turns from dawn; by night she becomes herself. But everything else is for their help!
The rhyme helped keep it stuck in their head, and it most certainly sounded like something Starao would say herself from just the few tales they had heard about.
“So, I guess starting at door one would be good,” said Ematay trying to push things on. “I better rush you through though. Not too much talk or history on the place as we only have another hour left now.”
Eleanor and Christian became a little confused by what he just said, but didn’t make it appear that way to Ematay. Christian asked himself in his mind how much time could nine rooms take to walk around? We’re just looking, right?
Ematay opened the first door. He gestured for them to go in first.
“There’s a huge garden… inside a room?” said Eleanor, but knew what she was looking at.
“It’s not just a plain garden,” said Ematay. “Here grows every herb imaginable that can be used in healing, aiding a being in some way. There is some much needed knowledge to get the full kick out of this room, so we will move on.” None of the three went very far into the garden, and felt sad by that very thing. The beauty of its nature drowned out some of their sadness. All three.
“I guess some of the magick in this world really does come from nature,” said Eleanor.
“Yes,” said Ematay still staring inside, but with his hand on the door handle. “You could say some of these plants work like magick in helping life. But the truth is that there is no healing magick on our world.”
The Star-caster then closed the door. It felt like they were in the mansion again, the tranquillity fading to nothing as soon as the white door hid the green serene wilderness.
“To door two then,” said Ematay as he went over to the second door from the left, opening it. They all entered again, just the same as last, not going in too far.
“I don’t know what to say to this room. If you could call it that,” said Eleanor.
“Very few people do,” replied Ematay. “It is pretty useless. Known as the space room. It’s all very superficial and pretty, but has no real purpose. Legend has it this room used to help Starao think in the darker times of her life. Her sanctuary she called the Space Room.
“Well it’s hard not to say it’s beautiful,” said Christian. The all took in the wonder of what laid before them.
It was the galaxy, moving, in real time. They could see all the planets: From Mercury to Amaranth, the last named planet known to them. It was hard to spot the worlds moving, but there was movement going on in some way; all their eyes picked up on it after a short while. The blackness that was filled with space covered a lot of the room; visual renderings of the planets, stars, asteroid belts and sun merged to create the very universe a massive amount of life lived in. Albeit—not particularly together. That always seemed to be a work in progress, but never felt like it moved closer to closure, to the finish line, and it frustrated the educated ones that knew about all these worlds.
They all sat on the floor in-between Earth and Mars, gazing upon the lustrous colours spanning around the room. There was space enough to hold the galaxy at a close enough zoom to see some detail of each planet, though not to true scale, clearly. It wasn’t small, but at the same time it wasn’t galactic. Still, there was so big of a space to believe you were a very tiny speck of the universe if you entered, alone or otherwise. Eleanor touched planet Earth, her hand moving straight through, disappearing through the globe as if it wasn’t there. Although she knew Earth existed—unlike Earthlings about them.
“How could Starao have all this? I thought she was just a Star-caster,” said Christian.
“She was the original star-caster, yes. But she could always do far more than any other today. She only taught the basics, of which she believed would build a good foundation Astorians could live on and with.” Ematay looked at their own planet, so far away from Earth. “Her journal says a lot of what’s in here. About them being gifts from her mother, the queen of the gods, on the day she was born. You could say she had a lot of help to begin with as just one god can craft limitless items from their own bodies, which grow straight back after anyway.”
“You said she got killed by a god though?” said Eleanor looking at Earth, seeing all the beautiful blue saturate the world.
“And she did. By Heedian, the god of disguises. From an order of Emae the king. He became saturated with jealousy as time passed when Remor would give more attention to her half mortal child than her full god ones. There was always a feud between Emae and Remor. Even before Starao. But us mere mortals don’t know the full story of such a thing. Only what has been written down, and we don’t even know if any of it is truthful and accurate. It was written that Heedian took the form of her mother, Remor, and visited Starao here in her own home. She was overwhelmed with happiness when she saw her; as she had not seen her mother or father since birth. At around the same time—Emae killed the father when he found him at Stonebridge village. The king of the gods was disgusted by the father of the half mortal.
The devious god Heedian stabbed Starao. She died, bleeding to death in her own home.”
“How . . . tragic,” said Eleanor.
“It really is,” said Ematay, looking as if he felt some sorrow after he thought on the words he just said. “But her legacy still carried on with us Star-casters.”
“I bet she is glad, wherever she is in the afterlife, of what she has done. She gave Astorians hope again, before any of these offensive Spell-casters arrived here on Astora from Amaranth. Then everything changed yet again.”
“How did the Spell-caster come to exist here anyway. I know they originated from Amaranth, but how did they become a part of this world, here,” asked Christian.
“A Master in each area came from Amaranth: A Battle-caster, Beast-caster, Fire-caster, Water-caster, Earth-caster and Space-caster; they were all sent to live in the Silver Cathedral not long after it was built, and began teaching future soldiers. They usually have to start young, about your age, or they will become tired too easy. Using magick takes a strain on the older people. Starting young, it builds up some kind of natural counter measure somehow. The best Spell-casters were the ones who started the youngest. They usually have a great amount of stamina or power.”
“We never hear that much of space magick. Why is that?” asked Eleanor.
“Space magick has caused some tremendous accidents and disasters. We’ve had entire crowds disappeared through black holes—never to return again. It is the most dangerous of all magick. The only ones who use space magick now on Astora and Amaranth have their own rules about Space-casters… they are Priests. The people who hear direct words of the gods more frequently than others. They are the ones who have the best chance of utilising space magick. Like the Priest who tried to send us to the Silver Cathedral in the temple of Emae in Sunndira.”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that,” said Christian.
“I didn’t,” said Eleanor. She continued to look at the faded yellow, the almost white of Earth that made up the deserts; she gandered at the green lands she could see at this angle with some ominous brown starting to creep in, with a cluttered lot of clouds cascading across slowly, very slowly. Specks of white spread around the planet from where she viewed it.
“What a beautiful planet,” she said to herself.
“It may be beautiful, but a lot of people in it aren’t. They don’t live like we do. We couldn’t be more different from them. Earthlings care only about the wealth of coins, and power; yet we merely use it to survive or get by. My impressions by them where not a good one many years ago.”
“You’ve been to Earth?” replied Christian.
“I led two lives for some time in the past. But not anymore. One of them I am afraid I cannot tell you about. But it took me to many places, and dare I say it . . .” Ematay looked around the place before he said the next thing on his lips. “Many worlds. But that is not to leave this room at this time—do you understand?” said Ematay, sternly.
“We would never do anything to make you angry on purpose,” said Christian.
“We promise,” finished Eleanor.
“Good. Whilst we are here, we might as well pray and gather our strength. I assume the rest of the folk are doing the same downstairs as I speak; well, if they are wise and think ahead. We will need our strength and power to survive what is to come next.”
