STEEL BORN

THE SPIRIT OF DEATH

Niobe the Priest of Thanati - god of death, owned a secret room beneath the Temple were he was experimenting on black magic. Cush the grandfather of King Raul, had outlawed black magic many years ago because it was prophesied to be dangerous. But there were books stored away in the cellar beneath the library, they were called the f*******n books. The chief caretaker of the library was the only one alive who knew about their existence, the knowledge was passed down to the new caretaker from the old during inauguration. His workers were not permitted in the cellar, the only key to the lock was hidden in his office.

Niobe had sent a note through one of his apprentices to the chief caretaker of the library, stating that he would be visiting. The caretaker had waited all through the afternoon for the important visitor, and was locking up to go home at night haven given up on waiting, when Niobe spoke from behind him.

"Greetings, sir Handura", the chief librarian jumped, he was an old man. His father had migrated to the city when he was five, and he had lived in Worth all his life. His father had died at a ripe old age years ago, he was buried in a small grave at the place of the dead. Handura had been schooled with other children in the noble city, he had gone on to receive more training on writing and book keeping, and had began working at the city library as a young man making his way to the top.

"Niobe, you startled me... The library is closed, I had waited for you the entire day", Handura responded.

"I'm very sorry, I've been busy... I have no interest in books, I have come to see you".

"I hope all is well", Handura said beginning to reopen his office.

"Of course, is there anything wrong with visiting an old friend?", Handura had known Niobe for many years and respected him as the spokesman of the gods, but he never considered him a friend. There was no opportunity for that between the two men, their ways were very different. But Handura obliged him and unlocked his office.

"You may come in", Handura said.

Inside, Niobe hypnotized him as soon as he lit the candle on his table, "Where is the key to the cellar?", he questioned.

"It's hanging on the wall behind that book", Handura pointed. The office was a small space, there was a table littered with books and scrolls he had been sorting earlier. There were two seats in the room, one was positioned behind the table and another was for visitors in front. There were wooden shelves on the wall, the shelves made the room smaller. They contained important books. There was one window from where he views the city during the day.

Niobe went to the book he was pointing at and removed it from the shelf, it was large and heavy. He took the single key from the wall, returned to Handura and struck him on the neck with his enchanted staff, killing the old man. He took the candle the dead man had lit and went in search of the entrance to the cellar. It was located at the end of the passage opposite the door. He unlocked the entrance and went it, taking the stone stairs one after the other. There were rows of shelves filled with books covered with dust and spider web, the f*******n books. He went from row to row until he found the title he wanted. He took it and it vibrated in his hand.

* * *

Santux had convinced his parents to allow him travel to Worth. His was happy. He had been to the local market yesterday, he bought clothes and materials he would be needing on his journey. He was going to take Faro with him as promised, he gave half of the gold the Princess had given him to his parents. He had paid for a large cabin on the Ship, it contained a bed big enough for two, there was a large window through which they could watch the sea. There was a wash room and latrine. The Ship would be leaving in five days.

Today, he was helping his father fix the leaking roof to their house. He had single handedly fetched woods from the forest for the job, they were to change over half the roofing. They had been working on it for weeks now. Faro came to help sometimes.

"Santux, is there anything I can do to make you change your mind about traveling?", his father questioned. They were on the roof top finishing the work.

"No father", Santux responded, "we've been over this, I can't disobey the Princess".

"We could travel far away from here, we could go to your mother's village",

"No father, I'll be leaving tomorrow",

"What if you're not welcomed in Worth... What if the King decides to hang you... We are common people",

"That's a risk I'm willing to take... Don't forget King Raul himself is married to a commoner",

"Are you considering marriage to the Princess?", his father questioned in surprise, he knew the gold coins had come from the Princess, but he didn't know how.

"Father, nothing is impossible?".

"Alright, I will give you my blessings if you promise to return", Bogina was no longer strong enough to be frequenting the market of Worth with his wine, he now sold to anyone who would buy from the village.

"I promise", Santux said and the next day, Bogina and his wife blessed their son as he rode off towards the Wharf with Faro by his side.

There were a lot of people at the Warf, buying and selling. Santux and Faro presented their papers and were let in. Their horses were taken to the area in the Ship made for animals.

"This bed is really soft", Faro said, bouncing up and down on the bed. Santux looked around the cabin, there was a bottle of wine in the table. He opened it and they began to drink happily, talking about all they anticipate in Worth. They should arrive the city in three days.

* * *

Niobe hid the f*******n book in a bag and slung it over his shoulder, he got on a horse and left the city of Worth that night. He was a desperately ambitious man like his father who had filled his mind with stories. Stories of how the father of Cush the father of Karrh the father of Raul, had stolen the throne from their family many years ago.

"Cush's father was a commander in the army of Worth, he had been greatly trusted by the King who was supposedly the great-great-grand father of Niobe and had married his daughter. He had turned the army against the Royal throne, and had poisoned the King in his sleep. He had executed everyone who remained loyal to the original Royal bloodline. My father - Igor, your great grandfather had managed to escape from Worth taking my father with him. And when my father died, I returned to Worth as a boy, married your mother, served as an apprentice to the Priest of Thanati - God of death keeping my original identity a secret. I had discovered powers that could help me reclaim what my fathers had lost, and it is harnessed in the place of death", He had told him.

Niobe had believed him because he had told him that was why Cush the father of Karrh and great grandfather of Raul, had outlawed black magic. But the story was a lie, cooked and strongly believed by Niobe's father. The truth is that a dark spirit had come to him at night when he was an apprentice and had made him promises, if he would release it. Niobe's father had died unable to achieve his goals and had passed the responsibility to his son. Niobe was now headed to the place of the dead. It was a burial place for the general people of Worth. His father and many others were buried there. He was putting on a black hooded dress, his long staff in hand.

Niobe erected a small alter outside the place of the dead using stones, he placed the f*******n book on it, raised his voice and called on the spirt of the dead. The one that had poisoned his father's mind. A stone shook in the center of the large burial place, four woods surrounded it and there were rusted chains around them tieing them together. The chains shook until they broke, the stone covering the grave broke in half and a spirit was released. It hung above the grave and laughed wickedly, then appeared before Niobe. Princess Cara jerked awake from her sleep sitting up, she was screaming, her eyes were wide with fear.

* * *

Cara awoke from a nightmare, she had seen herself many years in the future. She had been dressed by servants in a room much smaller than her present bed chamber. Everything had been smaller and in a less complicated form. The powder and colors that were applied to her face had come from a small container, even the mirror was small sitting above a small vanity table. She had been dressed in a ball gown instead of linens, the gown had been heavy. Beneath it she had been put in lighter clothings like she wears today, her foot was placed in something called a shoe, covering her entire feet, instead of sandals. A flowery hat had been placed on her head, instead of a crown. No one bowed when she came out of the small room to meet a handsome young man, huge like Santux, dressed funny and holding flowers... Flowers for me? Her parents were somewhere in the buildings, she didn't see them but she knew. She also knew that they were King and Queen of the Kingdom. She and the boy had ridden off in a waiting box that looked like a disfigured tortoise with bulgy eyes, happily. The were seated at the back, a coachman drove the box without horses. The streets they rode on were larger than the streets of Worth and there were few boxes similar to theirs moving about. The road was cemented with something dark, there were houses sticking to each other by the sides of the road. The road was illuminated by lights coming from the houses, and strange globes on long iron poles planted on a small elevated platform that demarcated the roads. They were headed to a party when people began to run helter skelter screaming, the boxes honked and some collided with the other. Cara looked through the window of their box and saw that it was raining balls of fire, their box screeched to a stop and Cara saw a ball of fire heading directly towards them and screamed.

Morinda was awakened by the scream, she was sleeping above in the place provided for servants at the outer part of the bed chamber, she almost fell down while hurrying down the stone stairs. When she got to the Princess, Cara was sweating profusely and sweating. She began to try to calm her. They were joined by Amand who had slept on a similar space at the other far corner of the bed chamber, and had been awoken by the scream...

"Go and get Queen Euria", Morinda commanded Amand with quivering voice, she was scared.

"Is she alright?", Amand questioned

"Go, now", she commanded.

Queen Euria bursted into the room later with Amand and Stud chasing after her, she jumped into her daughter's bed, and grabbed her from the hands of Morinda...

"Get her father immediately", she commanded.

Morinda sped out of the room accompanied by Amand. The King ran into the room few minutes later followed by the two Queens and Kudo. The King had been in bed with Queen Talish when Kudo brought the news. Queen Wicca had heard the disturbing sounds of running from the corridors by her bed chamber and had come out to find out what was wrong, when the King, Talish and the servants had sped past her towards Cara's quarters. She had joined the chase accompanied by her eunuch.

"Get me the Priestess of light at once", the King commanded when he saw his daughter. Queen Euria was dousing Cara's scalp, forehead and face with a towel soaked in the bowl of cold water Morinda was carrying. She was beginning to calm, but she was still physically disturbed. The Priestess of Light arrived to find the King pacing by the bed, and the three Queens sitting by the Princess on her bed.

"Leave her alone", she commanded the Queens, they obeyed at once. She performed some incantations and by the time she was done, the Princess was fully awake and stable.

"What did you see", the Priestess questioned, they all listened attentively as she narrated her dream.

"It was all so... So real, it felt like I was there... Houses were borning, a man fell out of a balcony covered in flames", Cara said as she quivered. "Then, we were crushed", She began to cry.

"Do not cry like a weakling my Princess... You are the Princess of Xion and will one day be her Queen... No one must see you cry", the Priestess commanded as Cara wiped her tears.

"Yes you were there... That was not a dream, it was a return of memories... Remember the Prophecy... This could only mean that the time of the apocalypse is near... More flashes will come, I will pray to Aura, she must show you what must be done to avoid this impending doom... This is the reason for your return", the Priestess said. She prepared a cup of medicine using materials she fetched from her bag, and hot coals on small iron stove brought from the kitchen. She gave it to the Princess.

"This will help you sleep, you will be better by morning... The first episode is usually the worst, the following ones will not be as bad and may not come by dreams... Relax my Princess, all is well", she finished as Cara drank from the small cup she had been given.

The Priestess left and the remaining Royals followed after the Princess slipped back into sleep, except her mother - Euria, who chose to sleep by her daughter. Dream or memories, she was having none of it and would watch over her daughter.

* * *

Niobe took one look at the dark smokey form before him, turned and ran. His hooded dress didn't allow him and he fell, face on the ground. He turned around, shifting backwards as the form hovered above him...

"Why are you afraid?", the spirit questioned.

"Go away... Get away I command you", Niobe responded. The spirit laughed, his voice echoing in the silence.

"But I can't, you have released me... You shall be my chosen, together we shall rule this world... Won't you like to be the emperor of the world? Beginning from Xion".

"I am the true hair of Xion". Niobe responded stubbornly.

"Then let me help you get her back, and not just her, but Saduza, Jiro and all the empires of the world across the Oceans".

"How do you intend to do that?",

"You must let me in, remove the cloak of fear, my dear Niobe and you shall rule with me".

The Priestess began to arise from the ground, the spirit stretched out his hand and examined Niobe's face, when he had fully arose. Niobe opened his mouth to speak, the spirit went into him through his mouth. He staggered from the force with which it had happened, his eyes was shut, when he steadied and opened them, they were bloodshot.

* * *

Santux arrived in Worth three days later, there was a carriage at the Wharf waiting for him, it was sent by the Princess, and Amand stood by it. Two soldiers were by the Ship questioning young men coming out of the Ship,

"Santux Bogina?", they questioned Faro, Santux was behind Faro, towering over him. "I am Santux Bogina", he responded before Faro could decide how to respond.

"You must come with us". The soldiers commanded.

"Is he your servant?", the other soldier questioned when they noticed Faro was coming along.

"He's my companion".

Santux and Faro where led into the carriage, Amand was holding the door open, he entered after them. They were excorted to the Royal city by the soldiers, they were given a chamber at the visitors quarters. The chamber was larger than the entire house where both Santux and Faro were raised. There was a large bed, a small dining table surrounded with chairs, fire was burning in the huge fireplace, the room was considerably warm. There were two rocking chairs by the large window and the view was superb - it was a flower garden filled with different colors of birds. They stood transfixed for sometime, watching. There was a wide fur rug on the floor. An entrance led to a walk-in closet, there were numerous new clothes hanging from ropes by the sides, sandals of different styles were arranged at a corner.

Santux noticed everything was in his size.

Another entrance led to a large wash room, with a large bath tub built into the floor. They had never seen anything like it, they had been raised in a world were water was poured on the body during baths, rather than swimming in it. There was a vanity table, and the largest mirrors they had ever seen. There were rows upon rows of towels and bath robes hanging at a corner.

They had been received by two female slaves, who were standing side by side in the room watching, amused.

"Will you like something to drink sir", one questioned. "Or a bath?", the other added.

"Wine will do", Santux said.

"I would like a bath", Faro said, admiring the long black breasts staring at him.