Power Awakens

A few minutes later the boys, Mathus and Nuthay were discussing the incident with King Arem when Olef and Lem entered with Mort and Ainy. “Ok we are all here,” said Arem “I assume Olef, Lem, that by now you have heard what has happened, it appears the enemy hasn’t learned the significance of all four boys and is continuing to target Jaac as the sole Nexii. This still gives us the advantage.”

Mathus sighed, “The Lyvengedds or Undead are invested with the essence of the target from a Necromancers memory of the targets Lifesignature. The Lifesignature must have been seen on the Matrix in the past when they were searching for Jaac. Once the Lifesignature is given to one of the Lyvengedds they can locate their prey anywhere on the planet and they never stop until the targets life force is obliterated. They could have been searching for months or years for the location of Jaac, which is probably why we have had no other attacks, as the enemy is not sure of his exact location.”

Nuthay continued, “These creatures haven’t been used since the War of Attrition, but now they have resurfaced, no doubt they will be used again. It maybe that they have been followed here or that others are already on the way. We just need to be more vigilant and bide our time. Once they secure Jaac’s location there will undoubtedly be more attempts on his life. And once they learn of the other boys, which they will eventually, then they will also be targets. I fear that we will not have much time to finish their training. It is well that their advancement is beyond all normal expectations, but we still need to speed up their training and deploy them in the field.”

King Arem looked at Jaac and Tem “It appears you two have broken all our records on the speed of advancement in both Martial and Majee training. Jaac, Nuthay assures me you are ready to use your Majee now, which is absolutely incredible as it has been less than two years. Tem, Mathus tells me you have already reached Profent Level in skill and speed, you are just lacking experience. To my knowledge, nobody has ever even approached that level of skill before they were at least in their mid twenties.”

King Arem shook his head. “ It is an impressive array of young men I see before me. Mort, Olef tells me you absorb and remember in detail everything you see or hear, he also says that your ability to analyse problems and provide solutions is almost as good as his own. I think he may be underestimating you on that one; Olef was never good at recognizing someone who has a greater ability than himself.” King Arem smiled fondly at his head steward. “As for you Ainy, you seem to have an unnatural ability to intuitively strategize about almost any situation again it’s the experience you lack.”

King Arem stood and moved towards the window as he continued ”Nuthay, Mathus we are following what the Nexii Prophecy tells us, now we have an idea what these particular lines mean.” As Nuthay started to recite the prophecy all four boys moved closer together, unconsciously needing the support of their friends.

“The one that is four shall be trained in the arts

In War, Rudjitsow, Majee and Knowledge

The four that is one shall surpass all boundaries

In skill, speed, strength and competence

The one that is four shall defy all attacks

From demon, and group, Undead, and alive

The four that is one shall prevent and prevail

From chaos, disaster, and murder”

When Nuthay had finished King Arem turned to directly address the boys “We understand now that the term one that is four or four that is one, is referring to all four of you being The Nexii, not as previously thought a single being. If only we had a copy of the Kistor Cycle.” The frustration was evident on Arem’s face at the loss of the text. ”Apparently the first six lines are becoming clearer, as your progression is nothing short of miraculous. The sixth line is also becoming clearer, you have been attacked by a demon, we believe this is the Demolt, you have been attacked by a group of Bhagwatis, the Group and you have now been attacked by the Undead. What the ’alive’ reference may mean we do not yet know. The eighth line is intriguing and also a little disturbing but our scholars are still postulating on what it may mean. The next paragraph I can’t recall in full, perhaps Olef can help”

Olef looked up from the floor where he had been focusing his eyes to concentrate on what his King was saying. Sitting up he said “Of course your Grace, Well now it says,

’The kingdoms shall fall with Nexii or Not

Without Nexii there, all kingdoms shall die

Diversions, deceit, and treachery abound

Part of the Nexii must find a way

The four that is one must protect the light of the earth

From trickery and deceit, it must not be diverted

The one that is four must loose the unmaker, the pain giver, and the absorber

From the place that is light protected by the many

The Nexii must pursue to the end

In the land of life the gates are opened

The four now three must follow into the abyss

In pain and torment and into the land of the lifeless

The three again four shall prevail’

Olef cleared his throat and continued with a nod from the King, “We know what a few of the words mean, the Kistor Cycle is much clearer. The words that we do know are the Unmaker, we believe that this is one of the four legendary Majee invested swords. The light of the earth may be a reference to the Liphus Crystal, but we aren’t sure, and the gates are opened must refer to the Gateway, although the land of the lifeless could mean a great deal of different things. It could be a reference to some sort of desert, it could even mean the Planet Mortuum, but we have discounted that because the Gateways are forever closed to Mortuum and to go there would be to encounter certain death at the hands of one of the Morfesuc.”

Nuthay interrupted Olef “There is another line that is equally worrying later in the prophecy. ‘Beware the devourer, it is covered in lies, be not deceived or the universe will fall’. It is clearly talking about the end of the whole Universe but it is so hard to see it’s meaning. Mort, you need to learn all the prophecies, with your memory you may be able to do some cross-referencing that we may have missed. All the ancient texts are at your disposal.”

“Some of the other paragraphs are even more cryptic” King Arem’s frustration was turning to anger “These two paragraphs are the here and now, or at least we expect them to happen soon, years, maybe months but we must gather the meanings of the rest of the prophecy so we can prepare. I must protect my kingdom and the whole of Bruk. I will triple the guards on all the gates to Mank and find out how the Lyvengedds managed to get past the current guards.” King Arem managed to regain his composure. “Ok boys, off you go back to your training, make sure you are more vigilant than ever. I will discuss matters further with Olef, Mathus, Nuthay and Lem. They will tell you in due course what to expect.”