False kings and jealous gods

Без названия, Часть 1

      To Olli with love

Thank you for inspiration!

The prophecy of Nhali, the goddess of Al Maak (written by the first Great priestess Nhallika in the year 125 since the beginning of the world creation)

Sad and uneasy the destiny of Al Maak. [...] After my death trees will drop their leaves two hundred and fifty times and the disaster will come. The planet will change and a lot of alive will die but something will survive and it will give new sprouts. Life will be revived by one of my daughters. [...] But several thousands of moons will pass and invaders will come, and they will be angry and aggressive, and many of my children will be killed. But they will not be able to stay for long on my planet, because the world will be at the edge again. And in that case it will be up to me to resurrect again. And I will be coming back to my world to establish order. My will be done. 

PROLOGUE

Yakko had seen this dream so often, that he learned it almost by heart. He knew, where he was and who was around, although all the faces were covered with hoods. It was one of the grandest mysteries of Al Maak, because for the first time in a thousand years the three of the most powerful artifacts - the crown, the shield and the great goddess' ring - were gathered together for an ancient ritual. The fourth object was missing, but it was supposed to be lost forever and that is why not so important. The priests believed, that the ritual could be conducted without the sword.

Yakko stood behind the fair-haired girl, who was sitting on the stone throne, and he held above her head the crown Auay, and he was its keeper. The girl wore a simple white dress with a golden embroidery on its hem and collar, and her long hair lay right on the dirty floor of the cave. She was very beautiful and each time Yakko sincerely feasted his eyes on her, admiring every trait of her perfect face. Her fate was predicted long before the birth of this world and he was just a pawn in this difficult many-centuried game, that the powerful forces played.

So, the high priest, a tall man with a head deeply hid in his hood, stepped forward, holding the magical ring named Emblue in his hand. The girl, whose eyes were looking at one point without winking, got up, took the ring, put it on her finger and in a muffled voice, as if it were not hers, spoke the words of an ancient prophecy, that finally was meant to come true. Then Yakko solemnly put the sparkling crown Auay on her head and the new born queen's eyes burst into flame, blinding everyone around...

At this moment Yakko always woke up and that is why he did not know, what happened next, but this time something unexpected happened. At the point when he was ready to put the crown on the girl's head, one of the brothers, having stood unnoticed in the very distant unlit with torches corner, came forward. There came a common whoop of amazement, because everybody saw a long sword in his hands. It was the Skewing sword, that was supposed to be lost forever and now one of the priests had it!

- You have forgotten about a small detail for our ritual, - he said and held the sword so, as if he was going to pierce the girl's heart. Yakko knew, why everyone kept silent. They all remembered the full, true ritual and, according to it, the girl was supposed to die. But among them there was her defender and he couldn't let that happen.

- No! - he cried, stepping forward and covering her with the shield named Holguer.

- No? - the priest asked in wonder. - But isn't the goddess supposed to die? Off with the false kings and jealous gods!

With these words he hit the shield with his sword and to a common astonishment it cracked with a terrible sound into two halves (and the same happened to Yakko's heart, who was ready to burst into tears).

- Show your face, brother! - the high priest demanded, but the man with the sword shook his head.

- Show your face, brother! - all the present persons mentioned together and at once they dropped their hoods, exposing their faces. Yakko glanced at them, recognizing many of them.

- Show your face, brother! - the girl demanded as well, shooting her hand with the ring out. It blazed and the priest couldn't dare disobey this order. But when he dropped his hood, Yakko woke up, breathing heavy.

- It's impossible, - he whispered, repeating every detail of this dream and trying to understand, who might be under that hood. He didn't see the face of a man, who had brought a long lost sword to their ritual.

- It is impossible! - Yakko whispered again, understanding, what it might mean for all of them.

Had this so long asleep mechanism been launched and did they have little time left? Damn, he had been preparing for it all his life, but now he felt like a silly boy before his first initiation. His hands shook and he lost his breath. And why had he been chosen for this trial? Yakko hoped so much, that he would avoid this cup, like many of his ancestors had avoided it!

However, having drunken water, Yakko settled down. He had taken an oath, which tied his hands and feet and he had to obey it, no matter, what he wanted. The main thing was not to quail in the most important moment and he hoped very much, he wouldn't do it...