Alara Unbroken - Doug Beyer [96]
“What do you know of the obelisk?” asked Banat.
“Nothing, really,” said Zaliki. “My … kha, Jazal, was studying these prophecies before his recent death.” She indicated the documents in Banat’s hands. “They have similar elements across several races and cultures. They all mention an apocalyptic prophecy, and they all mention a spire of golden stone. Jazal’s notes indicated that he believed this edifice was here, in Qasal. Was he right? Do you know what he meant?”
Banat looked at Ruki.
“There is no golden spire in Qasal,” she said, her voice like ancient hinges. “Unless he simply means the Tower of Qasal.”
“It’s a symbol of our Cloud Nacatl culture. And now Marisi has come back to destroy it,” said Ambassador Banat. “Which will make these prophecies come true.”
“And which will trigger war all over again, among the nacatl and across all of Naya,” said Zaliki.
BANT
Aarsil the Blessed laughed uncomfortably. “I admit that I generally don’t understand rhox humor. You want to what?”
“Dig up the Twelve Trees of Valeron,” said Mubin. “I know it’s a big favor. But I—”
“It’s not a favor, Mubin.” She was angry. “It’s sacrilege. You know as much as anybody the history of these trees. Their roots are Valeron’s own. They hold inside them the very pith of our heritage. Like I said, I don’t understand this joke of yours.”
“It’s not a joke,” said Mubin. “I believe that the war effort needs what’s buried under them.”
“What’s buried under them? You mean the myth of the Sword of Asha?”
“It’s no myth.” “What?”
“Now hold on,” interrupted Aarsil’s Order of the Skyward Eye advisor. “Aarsil, this is obviously a trick—”
“You stay out of this,” said Mubin.
“Don’t talk like that to him,” said Aarsil. “Wanath has been my trusted advisor for several years now. He’s a historian and a scholar of archaeology in his own right. He’s studied the Twelve Trees his entire life. He would know whether there are fragments of a sword buried under there.”
Mubin glared at the advisor and turned back to Aarsil. His best hope was the direct approach. “Highness, I believe that the Order of the Skyward Eye has been propagating a campaign of deception across Bant for years. They’ve been manipulating our traditions, introducing falsehoods into our histories, and backing up their claims with forged documents and relics.”
“Preposterous!” scoffed Wanath.
“In particular,” continued Mubin, “they’ve obscured the part of the Asha parable that matters most to Bant’s survival against the other planes—that the holy Sword of Asha, with which the archangel slew the demon Malfegor, lies in twelve pieces beneath the Twelve Trees. We have always believed the fragments of the sword to be mythical, and simply symbolic of the twelve virtues held sacred in Valeron. But I believe that it may be literally true. I found this.”
Mubin produced a stone fragment, a relic he had taken from the ruins at Giltspire, and a prayer book, the tome given to him by the cleric who had watched over his recuperation.
“This is a fragment of Giltspire, gathered just after it collapsed. And this is a book of prayer from an Akrasan cleric. Each has been modified. I cross-referenced the changes that were made to each one, and used them to decode each other. The changes have downplayed the truth of the story of the sword, and emphasized the need for global war in times of strife.”
Aarsil the Blessed looked at her advisor.
“We’re already at war,” said Mubin, “so that can’t be helped anymore. What we can do is reforge the sword, the artifact that was erased from Bant’s records, to have a weapon against the evils that face us.”
“That is a bold theory, and a very serious accusation against the Order of the Skyward Eye,” said Aarsil.
Mubin held his breath. If she relented, he believed he could help win the war that threatened all of Bant. If she didn’t …
“I’d like you to leave, and never return to my palace ever again,” said the Blessed.
Guards took hold of the reins of Mubin’s leotau.
A smug smile crossed the face of Aarsil’s Skyward Eye advisor.
NAYA
The breeze was cool. It