11

The sun was preparing to go to sleep when Princess Rebecca and her husband, King Turgoth, passed through the gate to the courtyard of the Utopian headquarters. They sat proudly in their carriage as they were dragged by two snow white horses. As they traversed the courtyard and headed towards the main entrance of the imposing ancient Greek building, Turgoth raised his right hand with his fingers clenched to form a fist. Dozens of Orizons dressed in white and many Sharkan warriors dressed in black returned their king’s greeting.

Despite the couple’s apparent composure, both the king and princess were exhausted. Even though nearly two weeks had passed since the terrible battle against the Demons of Tartarus, they hadn’t allowed themselves to relax for a moment. From dawn until late at night they constantly kept close to their people, consoling them for their losses, encouraging them, advising them, even assisting them with their own hands in the physical task of repairing all the damage.

Utopia had never before experienced such extensive destruction. The greatest burden lay in the hearts of the people, who were filled with sorrow and frustration over all the things the blessed land they governed had suffered. The Gods themselves had designated this land - Utopia - the centre of the Land of the White Sun.

Rebecca and Turgoth knew very well that this recent battle was just the beginning of a merciless and outright war against the forces of Evil. However, as worthy leaders, they knew they could show neither their fatigue nor their fears about the immediate future. They needed to do everything possible to keep the spirits of their people high.

As the king courteously helped his wife descend from the carriage, a young Sharkan officer ran up to them and stood at attention, smartly stomping his muddy boots on the marble floor. Although he was entirely covered in dust, the man, whose cuirass was full of scars carved by the swords and claws of the Demons, was standing upright and proud, as if preparing to take part in a grand parade. He was the commander of one of the battalions that Turgoth had called on from the Kingdom of Thunder in order to reinforce Utopia. During the onslaught by the Demonic army of Tartarus, he had been ordered to rally to help the Orizons and the Amazons in defending the headquarters.

“How are things going here, officer?” Turgoth asked.

“My king, yesterday we began the construction of fortifications, as you ordered,” he replied. “Also, the search through the ruins for possible survivors has been completed. A few hours ago we found the last missing person, unfortunately dead.”

“Even so, you managed very well here during the battle,” Turgoth assured him. “I am very proud of you all.”

“Not so well, my king,” the young man replied. “Unfortunately, we were not able to save the west wing of the headquarters, which was almost completely destroyed.”

“The Amazon leader, General Nemesis, has provided us with a full report on what happened here so we have also been informed of how bravely you defended this area of Utopia.”

“We did nothing more than our duty,” said the black-clad warrior.

“What is the final report of losses here?” Rebecca asked.

The young officer darted a glance towards her and then lowered his eyes out of respect. “My princess, we have counted eighteen dead and at least forty wounded, most of whom were Sharkans.”

Turgoth laid his hand on the officer’s shoulder. “Don’t be sad, my friend. These men fell holding their swords in their hands, like true warriors of the Land of the White Sun, heroically fighting for Good. Perhaps one day we will find them in the Elysian Fields.”

The warrior in black smiled sadly. “Yes, my king. Perhaps one day we will meet them all there and hold a great feast in the palace of the Gods, drinking nectar and eating ambrosia. Then we can finally be with the God of War, the almighty Ares, and also with his sons, Phobos and Deimos.”

“Not to mention the Goddess of Love, the gorgeous Aphrodite, and her friends, the muses with the sweet voices. And, of course, the nymphs with the transparent veils,” Turgoth added, winking at him. The two men burst into hearty laughter.

Still laughing, the king turned towards the princess, who was staring at them disapprovingly with one lifted eyebrow and her arms firmly crossed. Turgoth cleared his throat and assumed his serious demeanour once more. “Thank you, my friend. Now you can return to your service.”

The young warrior bowed, swallowing a guilty smile before returning to his men.

“Seriously?” Rebecca enquired as they climbed the stairs. “A party with Aphrodite, the muses and the nymphs?”

“Just a little joke,” Turgoth muttered without catching her eye. “Didn’t we agree that we must do whatever we can to keep their spirits high?”

Rebecca wanted to say something about her husband’s not-so-successful attempt at humour but did not get the chance, as an Orizon warrior marched out of the entrance to welcome them. It was a tall woman with short, light auburn hair. She wore a white tunic on which some faint specks of the black blood of the Demons were still visible.

“Princess, king, I salute you! The members of the Supreme Council are in the conference room and are awaiting your arrival. Julia Feredini is with them, as you requested.” She glanced down at their carriage. “Isn’t Princess Leylah with you?”

Rebecca looked at her, puzzled. “No. Hasn’t she come yet?”

“None of us has seen her,” the Orizon replied.

“She was notified that the Council would begin promptly at sunset so she should already be here,” Turgoth said.

“Something urgent must have come up,” Rebecca said. “I’m sure she’ll arrive any minute now.” As they entered the hall the princess took her husband’s hand.

Turgoth sighed. “Do you think our girl is with Alexander again?”

“Probably. She told me that she wanted to go to the hospital this afternoon since the prince was to be discharged.”

“And do you think that this can justify her absence from the War Council at such a critical time?”

“Leiko’s son was hit by the leader of the Sceptomorphs - the insidious General Varta - with a dangerous new weapon, about which we know nothing at all. That was why Doctor Afterland requested that he remain in the hospital for so many days - in order to observe the progress of his recovery. Perhaps there has been a complication in the young man’s health.” Rebecca paused and turned to her husband. “You needn’t worry so much about our little one, my love.”

“How can I not worry?” Turgoth grumbled. “Okay, I certainly know that she is not a fragile little girl anymore. As she has proved in the heat of battle, Leylah is undoubtedly an excellent Orizon warrior but don’t forget that she is transforming into an oracle. That means she has begun to acquire a unique gift which she can’t control - at least not yet. So far, everything that has happened to her seems more like a curse than a divine gift. Do you remember the words of the Wise Tree? It warned us that day-by-day her symptoms could become even more intense. At any moment she may fall back into a coma and no one can predict how long it might last. During those visions she could get hurt or even lose her life.”

“Yes darling, I, too, am very worried about everything that’s happening to our child. On the other hand, bear in mind her age and the way she reacted the day we told her that she must constantly be close to at least one of us.”

Turgoth chuckled. “Oh yes! She disappeared for eight straight hours and returned with the most innocent expression in the world.”

“And the flowers? Did you forget that armload of flowers she brought us, with which she decorated the entire house?”

“How could I forget, since most of them ended up decorating me?”

“Personally, I think they suited you.” They both burst into laughter.

“Stubborn child. I wonder who she takes after?”

“Maybe the man who has disagreed so many times with the King of Gods himself, the Almighty Zeus, that he even dared to stare him straight in the eye?”

“Are you telling me that she has not taken after her mother at all? A woman who, beyond all reason and following only her heart, broke some of the most ancient rules of the Land of the White Sun?”

“Ha! I think you are getting old, my dear Turgoth! You have forgotten one of the most important events in the history of this world... Her father was the one who broke all the rules and who lured her mother and...”

Turgoth grabbed her in his arms. “So that’s it! This poor man is to blame for everything?”

“Yes, her father: a barbarian in black, a savage villain who not only dared to kidnap her mother but also to steal her innocent heart. And as if that wasn’t enough...”

Rebecca was not able to utter another word, as he sealed her mouth with a kiss.

Both of them needed that embrace so much. For a few moments they forgot the terrible exhaustion weighing on them and that brief human contact was enough to transfer energy between them, reinvigorating them to face their difficult duties for a few more hours.

“Hmm... What were we talking about?” Turgoth asked once she had detached her lips from his.

“We were saying that sometimes our daughter may behave in her own peculiar way, but that she has never been irresponsible. When Leylah is not with us, she is always with her friends, who are all skilful warriors in their own right and who know that they must notify us immediately if she falls into one of her visions. So, even if at this moment she is not with Alexander, I’m sure that she has one of her most loyal and strong companions beside her. Mo, for one, has sworn to me not to let her out of his sight even for a moment.”

“Yes, you are right. On the other hand, the situation cannot go on for much longer. We will have to find ways to help her so that she can begin controlling her gift.”

“That’s what we should do. Tomorrow morning then, we will go - all three of us - to consult the Wise Tree.”

* * *

Rebecca and Turgoth entered the large circular hall of the headquarters, around which twelve high arched windows unfolded. It was covered with an imposing dome painted the colour of the sky with a golden sun in its centre.

The floor was paved with white and blue marble slabs and in the middle stood a mighty round wooden table, upon which was engraved a detailed map of the Land of the White Sun. Around that table the whole leading team of Utopia was gathered: Lord Leiko and Lady Felicia; the greatest scientist in the land, Doctor Afterland; one of their most important teachers and best warriors of all time, Bull the Minotaur; the Amazon General, Nemesis, and the Centaur General, Hunter. Joining them on this occasion was Julia Feredini, one of the leading Orizons who lived among the humans on Earth.

Rebecca hugged and kissed the women while Turgoth shook the hands of the men. Then, in an atmosphere highly charged with emotion, they took their seats around the table - everyone, of course, except General Hunter, who, being a centaur, was forced to stand.

“Dear friends,” Turgoth spoke first. “Today, we had planned to make a final assessment of losses throughout Utopia. However, not only here but also on the planet of humans, the pace at which events are unfolding is escalating. For this reason we have invited Julia to outline the prevalent situation on Earth before we make some decisions about how to proceed there.”

Taking turns, everyone present provided evidence of the damage in the sectors for which each was responsible. After a while, Turgoth calculated the total level of destruction and for a few moments everyone remained frozen in horror. They had known that the losses were great, but now the numbers more than confirmed the nightmare.

Unable to stand the heavy silence a moment longer, the king’s voice resonated through the Conference Room, strong and decisive:

“My friends! Since the Titans hold part of the Sacred Flame, they can open another gate at any moment and can once more send their armies of Demons to attack us. For the foreseeable future therefore, we will not have the luxury of dealing with anything other than the reorganisation of our military units, the repair of the fortress walls and the reinforcement of the infrastructure related to our defence. Currently, Utopia is significantly expanding in order to be able to receive all the armies of the Land of the White Sun kingdoms. This constitutes one of the main issues to be addressed at our next War Council...”

Rebecca rose to her feet and motioned to him that she wished to say something. Registering her expression, Turgoth realised that something was wrong.

The Princess of Utopia scanned all the faces around the table before speaking.

“My dear companions and friends. Recently, we took part in one of the greatest battles ever undertaken in the Land of the White Sun. We confronted a sneak attack by the demonic forces of Tartarus - those horrible beings that serve the Lord of Evil, the merciless Cronus. We fought with all our might to defend the fortress of Utopia against creatures that have never respected any rule of war and that are motivated only by an insatiable desire to tear our flesh apart and drink our blood. Despite being outnumbered, we managed to eliminate most of them and repel the rest, chasing them back down into the dark world to which they belong. But alas, we were not able to effectively defend the Sacred Flame and our enemies managed to remove a portion of it and take it with them. This is a terrible fact for which I, personally, must assume full responsibility.”

They all stared at her in astonishment, none more so than Turgoth, since she had not warned him that she was planning to make such a statement. The king was about to say something, but Lady Felicia spoke first:

“Rebecca... my princess, none of us will ever accept that you are even slightly responsible for the loss of that part of the Flame. We all know that no one else fought as hard and heroically and risked as much in this battle, as you and our brave king, Turgoth. If some blame should be shouldered then it ought to be shared by all of us.”

“I am in complete agreement with Lady Felicia,” General Nemesis said. “I believe that the Titans would never have managed to take part of the Flame if they had not used means that, due to our temperament, make our stand against them more vulnerable. We were betrayed by someone we firmly believed was one of us - the young Amazon Larisa, whose body eventually turned out to be nothing but a shell within which the sordid soul of General Claudia was nesting.”

“And we were also deceived by the devious General Varta, who moved among us, changing forms,” Lord Leiko added. “Even Felicia and I failed to realise that this vile creature had taken the form of Alexander - the form of our own child!”

“This is an issue that we exhausted in the previous War Council and there is no point in discussing it further,” Turgoth said. “All these events belong in the past. Our priority now must be to decide what we are going to do moving forward.”

“The king is right,” Bull agreed. “Let’s move on to our next issue, which is the situation on Earth.”

Rebecca motioned to Julia Feredini, giving her the floor.

“Things are much worse on the planet of the humans,” Julia said. “As I informed you in our last meeting, lately there has been intense Sartani activity in many parts of Earth. Now, however, the Devil’s servants have taken unprecedented action across the entire planet, scattering destruction indiscriminately.”

Once she finished her report, a deafening silence dominated the circular conference room.

“How can these terrible things be happening? Can’t we stop them?” Bull enquired, clenching his fists on the table.

“We have managed to thwart several strikes and have saved the lives of thousands of people,” Julia continued. “But we do not have the ability to predict or prevent everything. The Sartani have changed their methods, transgressing all the rules and...”

“I don’t think we need to discuss this any further,” Turgoth interrupted. “It is obvious that the Sartani are causing a huge wave of terror in order to invite the hordes of Sceptomorphs to Earth, as Princess Leylah revealed to us and as has been confirmed by the Gods. If this occurs then these dark beings of Tartarus, who feed on the energy caused by fear and other negative emotions, will not leave a single human alive. I therefore propose we activate all of the Orizon units on Earth in order to track down and arrest - or even exterminate - every member of the Sartani organisation before it’s too late.”

“With all due respect, my king,” Doctor Afterland intervened politely. “The Sartani are not Demons. We can’t just pull out our swords, cut their heads off and send them back to Hell. There are some rules of engagement - those established by the Gods thousands of years ago - which, at least until now, no Orizon has broken. Moreover, we must consider that killing or imprisoning all the Sartani members means that we will make thousands of people disappear from Earth overnight and...”

“For me the Sartani are not humans,” Turgoth shouted angrily, banging his fists on the table. “Those vile scum have sold their souls to the Devil and that makes them nothing more than Demons who hide under human skin!”

Everyone stared at the king, momentarily stunned by the outburst. It was the first time they had heard him shout without a sword in his hand and without being faced with at least a dozen enemies. Rebecca laid her hand gently over his, which was gripping the arm of his chair so hard it was making it creak.

As if waking from a dream, Turgoth looked around, apparently bewildered. Then, after taking a deep breath, he spoke more calmly.

“My friends, forgive me for the tone of my voice. Doctor Afterland, please conclude what you wanted to say before I so rudely interrupted you”

“I totally understand how you feel King Turgoth,” Doctor Afterland said. “We all know that you lived for many centuries among humans and this is why you care for them and love them so deeply. None of us can blame you for getting angry with those who are so terribly harming the planet... I just wanted to point out that the disappearance of so many people at once would definitely create even greater chaos than that which is currently prevailing on Earth. It is known to all of us that the Sartani are driven by their passion to manipulate the human masses and that they desire nothing more than to lead them to wretchedness, misery and Evil. Consequently most of them hold positions of power and authority and, particularly during this time, they are among the most important, powerful and famous people on Earth. For this reason, eradicating all the Sartani means that we have to wipe out thousands of people, including business leaders, directors of multinational banks and global financial - even charitable - organisations, not to mention eminent scientists, famous journalists, military personnel and clergymen as well as members of virtually every government, including several heads of state.”

“But if we begin eliminating them one by one, then surely the humans will think that we are the terrorists and the representatives of Evil on Earth,” Julia Feredini pointed out.

“So there is only one way to avoid such a major misunderstanding,” Rebecca said, rising to her feet again. This time her face shone and her voice was full of strength and decisiveness. “We must reveal ourselves and tell the whole truth to the people of Earth!”