THE CHRONICLES OF DAGAD TRIKON
Instalment 1 - THE BURNING OF THE AVASTHIC LIBRARY
They walked hesitatingly for fifteen long minutes through the pitch dark tunnel, Lidholon helping the vacilating steps of Esitel. Fortunately the smooth pavement on the floor facilitated their progress. As they advanced deeper into the mountain, the temperature became pleasantly cooler. The wizard was waiting for them whenever there would be a turn of the corridor or a flight of staircases. Following the flickering flame of the torch Elkaim was holding, they finally reached the end of the tunnel; it was another gate of stone, carrying formulas engraved in the language of the Avasthas. The wizard activated the secret mechanism commanding its opening and, all of a sudden, they found themselves in a large, brightly lit hall. Despite the pain and the exhaustion, Lidholon and the two Sheravalians paused to glance at the astonishing sight.
They had entered the sanctuary of the Sand Keeper, a place of great magic. The gothic dome of stone of this conic cavern radiated a mellow light; it reverberated softly on the entirety of its curved sides. Their attention went first to the limestone walls, displaying agreeable patterns of apricot and peach hues that seemed to vibrate slightly. They noticed then that the volume of the cave was filled by a fantastic multistoried wooden structure. Monumental and finely carved wooden pillars sustained sturdy beams at various levels. This structure was supporting a succession of separate floors, with flights of staircases and arched bridges linking the various elements of the multistoried construction.
They got distracted by a few silhouettes appeared before them, seemingly from nowhere. Lidholon had lost much blood; he was about to swoon and they rushed to help. From their earrings he recognized they were scholars of the House of Falkiliad, the guardians of the library and archives of the Sand Keeper. Elkaim addressed his attendants: "please bring them right now in the chamber of healing; we shall promptly see what can be done".
They passed into a much smaller undecorated rectangular room and the young soldiers were laid on thick mattresses of dried grass that released a delicate aromatic fragrance. Their armors were carefully removed. The attendants of Elkaim speedily selected unguents and oils from a cupboard and prepared ointments. Elkaim started washing the wounds of Lidholon and Esitel with a wet piece of cloth mumbling; "this is magic water from the fountain of the blessed cave of the High Lady", adding as an afterthought, "its entrance is sealed by the highest locking magic and these fiends and beasts will never find access."
Their heads were oriented towards a small monolith in the middle of the room. Fresh air was coming in from a small round window, camouflaged by creeping bushes growing on the flanks of the vertical cliff. However the breath seemed to mix with a subtler breeze coming from the stone. As they noticed this phenomenon, the Sand Keeper commented:
"This is the Sao Iambu of the Triangle Rock. I established my den here because of the presence of this magic stone. Avasthic magic deals with vibrations: the walls of the grotto, the water and the stone vibrate softly. They emit a comforting and healing energy, but you are all in a bad shape and you will need more than this."
For the first time, the Sand Keeper sounded concerned.
"You see, sorcery has entered through these wounds. I must warn you since you have enough courage to hear this. Through the lesion in the right side of your crane, Lidholon, the curse of despair has entered. It will try to rob you of a precious strength: your faith. Faith in yourself and the goodness of life, faith in the protection of the gods. And you my dear Esitel you have been hurt on the left side of your stomach. The curse of the demon who threw this spike at you is to deny you for lives to come the wealth you would have been entitled to. You will also find it hard to find men at your level until you shall be united, in a distant future, to the one you really seek. But fear not: both of you have within the powers to overcome these evil spells."
The two youngsters hardly heard him as, out of sheer exhaustion, they were floating in a state of slumber. At this point the youngest of the four attendants of Elkaim pointed at Evenyl: "look here master, this lady seems the most severely hurt."
Evenyl kept her eyes wide opened but could no longer see anything. Her tense body appeared frozen, yet it was slightly shivering. The harrowing clash before the throne of stone in which Aliskhan, Hanomkar and many other heroes had lost their lives had sapped all her strength. The horror of what she had felt and seen had penetrated deep into her, in the form of a black presence, a murmur of terror that was now lodged in her sinews. She was, in a sense affected by the unexpected brutality of evil's intrusion much in the same way as Esitel had been when she had looked at the devilish eye of Belzebseth projected through the opthalir of the flying spy. But in these days, the High Lady herself had cured the fallen Sheravalian.
The Sand Keeper immediately seized the gravity of the threat. When innocent children of goodness face the unexpected fierceness of evil, it can enter into them through the surprise of that shock. Like her sister before her, Evenyl could not hide from what had come inside her. Her hands were sweating, her breathing too fast, her breast palpitating. She felt in her nervousness the slow surge of an unbearable panic, of a dizziness in which her being would splinter like broken glass.
Evenly was a consummate warrior, accomplished amongst the guards of the High Lady, deep and penetrating, yet joy giving and fun loving. She was also a skilled combatant and a formidable fencer that could use the considerable powers of her mind to confuse her enemies. The Sand Keeper was now clearly worried to see a first rate Sheravalian fighter in that awful condition. He hastily turned towards his assistants and shouted: "there is only one cure possible. Run fast to the library and bring me back the Book of the Kavach."
The attendant hurried, climbing the staircase of the library at full speed and came back panting, holding a small red book. The Kavach was an incantation of mantric names that provided heavenly protection for each and every part of the human body. The wizard of Dagad Trikon started reading. He chanted the potent psalmody in a rhythmic tone, pausing between each name to let its power operate. He started by invoking the protection of the guardians of the four quarters of the horizons. There were specific powers to construct the protective shield of vibrations in front, behind, above and below Evenyl. A specific fearful appellation weaved the sheath of protection in the ten directions. Then the names targeted precise locations: the forehead, the eyebrows, the space between the eyebrows, the eyes, the eyelids, the nose, mouth, tongue, ears, roots of the ears, lips, lower lip, sound box, windpipe, outer part of the throat, neck etc…
The impact of the magic names on the hazy consciousness of the wounded amazon was momentous and immediate. When the wizard took the name for the shoulders she felt as if wielding a terrible sword in her hands: the might of the fighter she used to be again hardened her muscles. When he invoked the name for the arms the level of this force rose as if she was holding the thunderbolt. With the name for the fingers she felt her arms terminated by deadly pliers ready to strangulate the demons. The utterance of the Kavach gradually covered the entire body down to the toenails.
When the Sand Keeper reached the feet, it seemed to her they were radiating a faint light.
map and drawings of Dagad Trikon coming soon