Emperor of Legendia

They entered the trunk just to find a ladder at the very beginning of the entrance. Marco steadied himself as he was about to step into the large hole. He climbed down into a circular hollow stone room. Zulfain merely jumped in. The door above them vanished and everything darkened. Next, a blazing fire lit across the room’s opening on its own. Marco and Zulfain slowly approached the opening on the floor. Marco was enthralled to see a series of spiral wooden staircase drowning deep into darkness. As they stepped down, a fire lit in succession on the sidewall after they completed each loop of the stairs. Zulfain trotted behind Marco. Drenched in sweat, Marco atlast reached the ground; a vast ground. A queer fresh air blew past Marco. Marco froze on his tracks, gaping with the utmost amazement. He gaped at the size of it; the length, breadth, height, all remarkably huge. He could spot gold and crystals across the ground. Huge sections of rooms scattered all over the place. Marco simply followed Zulfain now. He was dubstruck by the vastness and the beauty of this place. He passed a pond, in the middle of which stood a crystal fountain, spring water gushing from there on its own. Colourful tiny fishes jumped in and out of the water. Zulfain drank some water from it. Marco followed Zulfain and knelt down and drank some himself. The taste was familiar. “So this is where Zimon used to fill the water from and give during the battles.”, he said.

“True.”

Marco spun around, bewildered, almost falling into the pond. “Who said that?”

Marco looked at Zulfain and said, “You don’t speak, do you?”

“No... no. It’s me!”

Marco followed the voice to a metallic door in the middle of the floor with no walls by its perimeter to conceal. The door had no knob or keyhole. But it had two metallic eyes camouflaged with the iron body of the door.

“I’m Jordur.”, it said.

“Oh... you... are a door... right?”

“Yes, ofcourse! No... actually I’m a horse.”

Marco frowned confusingly.

“Ofcourse I’m a door... what a joke!”, Jordur gave an echoing laugh.

Marco snorted.

“You must be Marco right? I expected to see Zimon with you.”

Marco’s expressions faded away, “Well... he’s no more alive, Jordur.”

The eyes widened on the door. It stood there for a while in silence and suddenly disappeared leaving an open spot ahead of Marco, from where shone gleaming light of silver and gold.

“Is that true, Marco?”, came a sharp hiss.

Marco turned to his left to see a long snake approaching him. Marco skipped a heartbeat. Its fangs were distinctly visible underneath its green eyes. It reminded Marco of the ancient serpent. He was shocked at the length of the snake. Zulfain didn’t even bother to flinch; as if the snake did not exist.

“I am Kamli. Tell me, do you speak the truth?”, the snake repeated.

“Sadly, yes.”

Kamli closed its eyes and stooped low, “So the Dark Lord is defeated.”

Marco looked confused, “Yes...”

Kamli stared at Marco for a while then said, “Son of Troswood Hymes and Eulbethra Hymes with no siblings and an Irasian by birth.”

Marco was taken aback, “Are you a predictioner or Lord Zimon mentioned about me?”

“What do you think?”, Kamli slithered towards the pond and looped it’s body into a mesh of circles with just the head popping up from the middle. “I am the King of snakes and the Ruler of the Crypto Mounts. Some myths talk about me as the ancient demon of Crypto. I can appear and vanish from the treasures whenever I want. I’ve roamed these mountains for the past seven hundred years. Whenever somebody enters here, I feel his presence. I found this treasure place, but it was of no use to me. I have no greed or use of wealth and magic.”

Like a non-stop music, Kamli went on without waiting for Marco to react, “During my first hundred years, I met a man called Gru Leveropsis Zimon, the founder of Legendia. He wasn’t the king then. He was young and wise, in quest of learning wizardry. Unusual for me to bond with humans, I was inclined towards him... there was something different about him... it sparked a preternatural bond in us. We shared our knowledge and insight of magic. He learned quick and swift; a talented man then. When he was at the verge of completing wizardry, he found Legendia. Bored of holding the secret about treasures within myself, I decided to share it with him. I revealed the location of this place and advised him to build a tunnel connecting here and Legendia. He vowed never to disclose it except just the successor, which I although reluctant to it, agreed in the end. My decision proved to be even more delightful when I met William... my favourite human of all times. Now it’s in my nature that when I see anybody, I have a vision of his past. I have the ability to assess what’s in a person’s heart... and this man, William was the purest of all.”

Marco breathed a huge amount of air for a long, long time before saying, “Pardon me... there are so many things to digest right now... but let’s go back a bit behind... you said you advised Lord Leveropsis to build a tunnel?”

“Yes... not only advised, but we made it together! Just the two of us... using magic, we cut out huge masses of rock and apparated them outside mountains. There are fake mountains built out of those rocks alone. It took us five years to complete this task. We finally routed the path straight to the bedroom and enchanted it with a spell... the entrance seals itself should anyone try to break in. I see you had a difficult time to find the withered tree.”

“Yes”, Marco sat in front of Kamli and narrated everything though the snake already knew.

“Cleverly done, William.”, Kamli acknowledged, “He wrote the letter that way because he wanted any other person reading it, to believe everything that he wrote.”

“Yes if anyone else would have read it, he might be perhaps strolling in Cromp Tyounts forever.”

“No... Not only that.”, Kamli said calmly.

Marco gazed with confusion.

“He wanted the outer world to believe about his and Perth’s brotherhood. While you on the other hand, would have known the truth from me... he had asked me to tell you about it.”

“I don’t... understand you.”, Marco stammered, “Why would he want to tell that to the outer world? And if the book went into someone else’s hands, how would I have met you?”

“The answer to your second question is... I would have come to you!”

Marco stared blankly at Kamli; his head spinning. ‘So it was actually possible for Kamli to approach him and reveal the location!’, Marco thought. But he was more interested in his first question.

“And the answer to your first question is...”, Kamli paused, “The story Zimon, that is William, wrote to you... is a fake?”

“What?”, Marco gasped.

“William was not the son of Alen and Beatriz Zimon...”, Kamli said, “Crypus Crevol was!”