Legends of Arkn

Ch. 12 - Castle of Glass

"Take me down to the river bend. Take me down to the fighting end. Wash the poison from off my skin. Show me how to be whole again."

The General murmured the poem beside Phan. They'd stopped at the base of the mountain pass, the rocky outcropping slowly giving way to green grass growing from jet-black soil. The valley stretched out before them, flat and green and refreshing.

"What is that, sir?" Phan asked.

"It's a poem of Old Arkn," said Chaz to Phan's other side. "Supposedly it contains clues to find boundless treasure, ultimate power, or endless youth, depending on the legend you hear. I've sung it a handful of times, it doesn't pay that well in this part of the world. As I recall, it usually fetches me a fair price in Port Shinoda."

"Fly me up on a silver wing. Past the black where the sirens sing. Warm me up in a nova's glow, and drop me down to the dream below."

Joh finished the second verse as he stepped up beside the General.

"It's not a legend," he said. "The clues are real, you just have to know where to look for them."

"The river bend was the ford where we turned up the mountain pass," said the General. "The silver wing was the smaller range we crossed, which runs off Mydas Ember and is known for its ancient silver deposits."

Joh kicked the dark soil, and nodded at the ground. "This volcanic soil, the black. Listen."

The group ceased conversation. A low whistle and moan filled the air.

"The peaks and valleys channel the wind," said Duke Robert. "This area is known in Old Arkn as the Valley of the Sirens."

"And the Nova's Glow?" Phan asked.

"Ah, well, that one's the real trick and usually the part people miss," said Joh. "Stand back."

He walked forward from the group, hands flashing out in their intricate, circular motions. The hairs on Phan's neck stood straight up as energy crackled in the air. Joh stopped ten yards ahead of the group. His hand motions became more wild, almost erratic, but tracing the air in a rhythm.

"The nights goes on, waiting for a light that never comes," he shouted. "We chase the sun, waiting for a light that never comes."

He clapped his hands above his head. White light erupted from his hands, bathing the valley in a blinding flash that somehow didn't hurt Phan's eyes. The murmuring moan of the wind grew high and higher into something closer to a shriek. Then the light flashed and receded.

Phan starred, hardly aware of his jaw hanging open.

"The night gets darkest right before dawn," said a man standing before them.

He wore a simple white robe, with a grey shawl wrapped around his shoulders. One hand held a long ornate staff with strange runes scrawled across it, one end planted in the ground. His head was clean shaven, his beard cut into a short, fiery red goatee. Calm, gentle eyes regard the group of soldiers.

"What can't kill you makes you more strong," Joh said, bowing to the newcomer.

Phan suddenly realized the valley around them had changed. Still green and full of life, it was now dominated by a single tower, rising more than a dozen stories into the sky. It looked as if it were made of ice or maybe...

"The Castle of Glass is real?" Chaz asked, equally slack-jawed.

"Kenji, Joh," said the newcomer. "It's been a long time."

"Master Phoenix," said the General.

"Call me Dav, Kenji," he said. "None of that 'Master' business among friends. Speaking of, who are yours you've brought?"

Introductions were made. When they reached Chaz, Dav cocked an eyebrow at Joh.

"Is he the one, Joh?"

"I think so," Joh said. "He has the power, I just don't know how strong it actually is."

"May I?" asked the Phoenix. He motioned toward the edge of the valley, a hundred or so yards from where they had stopped. "Kenji, kindly ask you people to retreat over there."

The General nodded. The soldiers trotted away, leaving Phan, the General, Duke Robert, Baron Bradd, Joh, Chaz, and their new old friend.

"Stand here," he said to Chaz, motioning for the other man to step forward. "Joh, if you'd be so kind to protect the others."

"Protect, what?" Chaz said, looking like he might run. "What are you doing?"

"Focus your power, bard," said Dav.

He reached back and punched an open palm straight at Chaz's chest. The bard staggered back, glancing down wide-eyed at his chest. A glowing orb of light pulsed, floating partially out of his chest.

"Focus your power," Dav said.

He pumped a second strike forward. The sphere grew brighter.

"Stop," Chaz said. "I don't know what you think I can do, but I can't."

"Focus."

"Stop."

"Focus."

"No!"

"FOCUS!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Chaz shouted, throw his hands wide open. A shockwave buffeted Phan and the others, even through Joh's protective incantation. Phan glanced back to see the rest of the soldiers knocked from their feet, falling into heaps of dazed bodies. He glanced back to Chaz and gasped. The poet's skin glowed, a faint golden hue that emanated off him like a low flame.

"The Nova's Glow," said Joh, his eyes wide in wonder.

"He's the one," said Dav, panting slightly.

"I'm the wha-" Chaz started. He stopped as he stared at golden energy rippling over his skin. "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything," said the Phoenix. "Other than push you to unlock your power. You can control that, eventually. And you'll need to, for what's ahead."

"Kenji, Joh," he said. "We need to get to Wakefield. I've had some worrying reports from Duke Markus and we'll need his soldiers for the battle to come."

"How does he know?" Phan stammered.

"Why am I glowing?" Chaz shouted.

"We're one step closer to the edge, Kenji," said Dav. "This is no time to take a break."

"Mount up," shouted the General. "We ride for Wakefield!"

"Guys?" Chaz shouted, still aglow. "Joh? Phan? Anyone going to help?"

Then the glow receded and Chaz staggered. Phan caught him, as the soldiers gathered their gear, hauling one another to their feet, their leaders already sending out scouts and heading north.

"What the hell, man?" Chaz said, glaring after the others. Joh glanced over his shoulder and smiled at them.

"I don't know," Phan said. "But I think you're a very important person, Chaz, whether or not you know it."