Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- Zaphaniea -

Drake sat soaking in the tub as the heat of the water suffused his weary bones. The sound of water echoed softly in his ears as the spells inscribed in the glass sheet on the wall and ceiling, pulled the liquid up its smooth surface, filtered out the dirt, disposed of it in small drains along the side, and then reheated the water and rained it down on him.

It hadn't taken the prince long to wash up, but the lure of the water had kept him from leaving its warm embrace for quite some time.

Underneath the softly falling liquid, Drake stared blankly out over the hot tub carved into the rock using earth magic. The prince wanted to banish the negative thoughts creeping through his mind, but ever since they'd arrived in this safe house, a sense of foreboding had overtaken him. Somehow, he knew there wasn't going to be anyone at the base, or worse yet, that there was going to be a lot of dead people instead.

Of course, Drake knew such a thing shouldn't be possible. For security reasons, the base was located almost a hundred and fifty miles from any civilization, and it wasn't mentioned in any of the Imperial records. The only people who knew its location was the Imperial family and the elite guards themselves. And there was no way Vackzilian could get that information from any of them. Still, the feeling persisted, and whether it was his innate sixth sense or his internal pessimism, the prince wasn't certain.

Leaning back, he let the water rain down on his face and stared up into the pulsating lights of the water gems. Trying to dispel the imaginary images of death and mayhem his mind constantly fabricated, he searched for something else to think about; however, the only thing that came to him was his earlier conversation with Alf. Which was something he'd rather not dwell on. Still, it was better than seeing visions of the people he'd grown up with crushed and mutilated by Vackzilian's blood oaths. So, turning his mind to the religious discussion, Drake dived into it.

Running the argument through his mind, it only took the prince a few moments to discover several holes in Alf's logic. Of course, the young High Lord could probably explain them away, like most religious fanatics could; however, there were two questions above all the others that kept running through Drake's mind.

The prince sat up and pressed his hand against the glass, turning off the water. If God was all-knowing that meant he could see the future, and if he could see the future, that meant he had to know the pain, the suffering, and the pure ludicrousness of it all. If his nature was supposedly pure love, why would he ever create any of this, to begin with?

And secondly, if the devil actually existed, and he was the reason for men's suffering, why didn't God just erase him and his angels from existence or lock them up at least?

Suddenly, a horrifying scream echoed throughout the safe house, followed moments later by the sound of crushing rock.

The prince exploded from the water as more screams filled the cave, and the sound of what could only be described as drums beating against rock shook the earth. The rumble increased in volume and Drake jumped out of the hot tub, grabbed a pair of shorts, pulled them on, willed himself invisible, and threw open the door.

A thick cloud of rock dust rushed in, and the prince coughed as it clung to his wet skin. Covering his mouth, he made his way out into the haze, and the world shifted hues as he channeled energy into his eyes.

Drakovian scanned the area, desperately looking for the others.

There!

In the main room of the cavern, Alf lay prone on top of Olivia. Using his body to protect her, the young High Lord's hands glowed as he formed a charged shield around them. Meanwhile, the maids huddled together on the opposite side of the room, trying to protect themselves with large metal platters.