Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 41 (edited)

Chapter 41

"I think we are in for a war," Gullveig declared. "And not just with those twins."

She waved her hand over Mirror again. The view cruised across the land until it came to the southern plains.

"That is hallowed ground, blessed by the Aesir. No magic can penetrate that stronghold." Gullveig flashed a mischievous smile at her sister.

"I told you, Mirror sees all. Nothing can be hidden from it."

The image rolled forward across the bridge and up to the black fortress wall, then it flowed straight through it into the courtyard. It scrolled on up to the mansions front door and then through it. Gullveig was right, Mirror could see all, and the view worked its way through the mansion until it came to the great dining hall.

Tiberius was slouched in his armchair, clearly asleep. A black cat was curled up on his lap, also asleep. Twenty-two druids sat at the table. All were still and staring at the four druids standing at the head of the table. Mirror zoomed in on the four leaders. They all wore swords strapped to their sides, the emeralds in the cross guards glinting in the torch light. Hella gasped in shock, she had seen those emeralds before but they weren't part of any weapons. She frowned at the druids as she tried to recall where she had seen those jewels before.

"If the twins form an army out of the Passus and they chose to join forces with this lot then we are in big trouble. Hopefully our third coven member will arrive before any conflict starts."

Hella looked up at her sister. "Third member? Who?"

The witch worked her magic and the image in Mirror changed again, it took a lot longer to refocus this time.

"Where is that city? It seems strangely familiar to me."

"Well it should," said Gullveig, a faint hint of mocking in her voice. "It is a city in Midgard, called Glevum. It is the twin to Elysium city."

Mirror showed scenes of a young girl kneeling before an altar, blood flowing from her wrists, three men in trench coats seized her and dragged her out of her house. A crowd waited outside. They cheered and took pictures as the girl was dumped into a van.

"Her name is Sophia," said Gullveig. "She is a witch of great power and will be a great ally to us. We must assume that she will appear in the very city centre. That is where they do the executions in Glevum. We must move swiftly and be ready and waiting."

****

Tina leaned against a crumbling wall as she watched her brother work. She was wearing highly polished silver armour. A grey cloak hung from her shoulders, a very tight pair of grey leggings ended in highly polished black boots.  This is either brilliance or madness, she thought.  Titus was also wearing silver armour and a thick grey cloak. He had cropped his blonde hair very short. Titus stood on top of a crumbling lump of masonry yelling commands at the top of his voice. The twins had been recruiting the Passus for over a week now. Fifty of them stood in a cleared space, and all of them wore silver armour and held swords and shields. They moved as one unit in response to Titus's commands. The plan was to make the Passus into an honour guard and then march up to the fortress in the mountains. Titus was weary though, he wanted the Passus to be combat-ready just in case the fortress's occupants turned hostile and they needed to defend themselves.

The Passus didn't speak or make any sounds but they were very good at following orders. As the training had progressed the Passus had returned to something much more human, muscles and flesh returned to bones, hair had regrown but their eyes remained lifeless. "Pair up and prepare for combat!" Titus bellowed. The Passus silently split into male and female pairs and they faced-off against each other. Tina peeled herself off the wall and drew her twin blades, facing up to her brother she said,