Shadows of Atlantis- Awakening Read online

  There was only one explanation he could think of to justify his endless string of failed lovers. D'Vinid was in love, and he did not know with whom. Who she would appear as next was always a mystery, that enigmatic woman who captured his heart like no other. She would materialize periodically in the eyes of a lover, only to be replaced in the laughter of another. She was the ever unreachable, unattainable object of his desire. And try as he might to keep a steadfast heart to those he met, he always followed that abstract lover, much to the dismay of those he left without so much as a word.

  He felt she had made an appearance in the dream that had awakened him that morning. He didn't remember details, but fading portions of feelings materialized in his thoughts, and it had shaded his day in a dismal depression. Today, all he felt was guilt for his life. He had risen early and wandered around the city, imagining ways to make amends for all the anger he had caused.

  Through the passage of time, he had begun to tire of the ritual of taking a lover during Ka-Ma-Sharri. The temptations and pleasures of beautiful women were all just a part of his daily routine, and the pattern had begun to repeat itself enough that he was losing interest in the excitement of the festivals.

  D'Vinid wove in and out of crowds gathered along the busy streets. The twins followed closely. As they approached the Grand Esplanade, which cut through the rings of the city, a gathering crowd blocked all possible access across the bridges to their destination.

  Jensyn threw up his hands.

  “See,” teased Kayden, “if you would only just allow our father to get you a new hover-disc, we would be past this in a hurry.”

  D'Vinid stared at him as if he were a lunatic. “How would that help right now, Kayden?”

  Kayden shrugged indifferently.

  Jensyn rose to his toes, trying to catch a glimpse over the many gathered heads. “I think this is Prince Bavendrick's processional!” he exclaimed.

  D'Vinid shuddered. He rarely followed news of the royal family. But he knew on this day, the prince was being ceremonially sent away to join with the young princess of Og. In essence, the prince's was a path of exile from the ruling city, sharply contrasting the recent rise of his younger brother Kyliron as High King of Atlantis.

  Somewhere along the line, D'Vinid had been struck with apathy, and like a disease it had spread through his entire being, causing him to hide from the core of what he dared to call himself. But Bavendrick had always held a place in his heart, and somehow he felt compelled to watch the prince leave Poseidia. The twins seemed to feel the same way.

  They waited, quietly listening to the many conversations around them. The people had always loved Bavendrick. But this crowd sadly whispered how the prince had contracted the madness, forcing his younger brother Kyliron to take the throne instead. D'Vinid exchanged glances with the twins, knowing they may have agreed on this matter. That was what the people believed, but the truth had to be a different story. Bavendrick was more steadfast than Kyliron, and Kyliron was a master at spreading lies through the courts.

  The royal hover-carriage appeared on the esplanade, escorted by rows of warriors and priests. The crowd surged forward, waving for the prince's attention. But the curtains were tightly drawn, obscuring any view of the interior. The crowd dispersed after the carriage passed, shuffling disappointedly back to their business, their belief in the prince's ailment somehow confirmed.

  Knowing the area well, D'Vinid wasted no time swiftly cutting through small alleyways and passages to where he knew the carriage was heading. Oddly, he was growing used to the twins' company. They casually slid against the railing of a footbridge, overlooking magnificent ships waiting to take to sea from the outer water ring of the citadel.

  The bridge led to a terrace, boasting an array of arches covered in floral vines, where people could sit and watch the ships from a higher vantage point. The royal harbor lay directly below. D'Vinid had spent many an hour on this particular terrace, playing music while watching the ships take to sea along the entry channel. It was a special nook where he liked to hide.

  The procession began to board a waiting vessel. A crowd of loyal followers gathered on a closer terrace to see if the prince would at least emerge for one last farewell.

  The twins approached a small food market on a higher level, while D'Vinid leaned against a wall to watch the scene. He wondered what had happened between the princes, and why Bavendrick had not taken his rightful place as king.

  “What is it they call you these days? The Prophet Singer?” a familiar voice grabbed his attention.

  He turned to confront a hooded figure. The man wore goggles with dark lenses, the kind used for traveling long distances on hover-discs.

  “I thought I might find you here, Prince of the Sea.” A subtly embroidered facemask covered the man's mouth and nose. This was a more modern style of revelry fashion, a disguise that allowed an Atlantean to participate in revelries anonymously. D'Vinid often walked through the streets dressed this way. Given his notoriety, it allowed him to remain unharassed.

  “Prince of the Sea.” D'Vinid laughed at fond memories of his youth. “Your mother always called me that.” He smiled toward the royal carriage as it pulled up to the ship below. “You've always been sneaky, haven't you, Your Highness?” He bowed his head.

  The man lowered his mask, revealing a dazzling smile that could only belong to Prince Bavendrick. “I had some influences as a child.” The prince threw an accusatory nod toward D'Vinid. “Seeing as how my destination is not where I am supposed to be, I'll pass on the lavish fanfare. I will leave that to my brother, the king. It's always been his strong point, anyway.” A dark look shadowed the prince's eyes. His handsome face was more drawn with care than D'Vinid remembered. But despite the worry lines, there were smile lines, and no trace of the madness. Bavendrick's eyes shone like diamonds, and when he smiled, his radiance filled the spaces around him. In this respect, he was much like his mother, Queen Dafni.

  D'Vinid patted him on the back. “So I take it you're planning on staying in secret then?” He directed his thumb toward the ship as it prepared to set sail without its main cargo. D'Vinid kept an eye on the unfolding scene below with great amusement.

  Bavendrick's eyes devoured the ship in its berth, his lips pulled tight. “I thought I would at least have one more walk through the citadel before I left these shores.” His voice was solemn.

  “What happened between you and your brother?” D'Vinid could tell the prince didn't want to talk about it the moment he asked.

  Instead, he examined D'Vinid carefully. A thought shifted his expression. “It's fitting I see you at the docks before I leave,” he mused, dangling his arms over the wall to watch the crew scurry around below. By this time, they had discovered his absence, and were organizing a team of warriors on deck. “You have always been a symbol of free will to me. If there's one thing I don't have, it's that.”

  D'Vinid bounced into a sitting position on the wall, fanning his hands out. “This is your chance. There's a vast world out here, Bavendrick. You can disappear and no one will find you.”

  Bavendrick stared at him, though his deep eyes focused inward. “You left us, D'Vinid. I don't even know where to start.” He broke his trance and surveyed the area. “But I suppose you've been right here all along. I know my brother drove you away. I think he grieved more for your loss than for our own parents.”

  D'Vinid felt a tremor ooze down his skin.

  “After our mother passed,” Bavendrick continued, “our father withered away until it became apparent he would have to step down as king. My brother seized the opportunity and took advantage of my grief.” He shook his head. “If that's what it takes to be king, then I want no part in it.”

  It had not been long since the death of the princes' mother, Queen Dafni. When she was alive, their father, King Koraxx, loved to show off his beautiful queen to the public, so they took countless trips, parading across the ten Atlantean kingdoms.

  D'Vinid's father was captain
of the royal flagship, Dafni's Enigma, which had made its mooring in the slips below, and D'Vinid had accompanied every voyage made by the royal family. He leaned in gravely. A pang of disappointment turned his stomach. Bavendrick was always the hope for Atlantis. He wanted to encourage the prince not to give up, but ultimately it would mean nothing, coming from he who had always been notorious for giving up so easily. He searched his mind for the words to say. “Whatever skills King Kyliron seems able to make others believe he possesses, you have naturally. He may have convinced the people he's a leader, but you were born to lead. Don't ever forget that. Don't wallow in the self-pity I've been stuck in since your brother turned against me.”

  The prince lowered his head sadly. “I think Kyliron is so unhappy that he feels he must destroy the happiness of those around him. He's that way with you. But you can get away from him. I have been stuck with him. In a way, I think he has been taking out his anger toward you on me.”

  D'Vinid winced. His life had been a blur of revelries since their days together as youths. He knew it was selfish to abandon the princes, who had been like brothers to him. Guilt resumed its torment of his soul.

  Bavendrick absently reached into his shoulder bag and produced a long-stemmed rose. Its petals were blood red and seemed to glitter in the sunshine. His eyes clouded over as he ran his fingers between fat thorns. “I am going to tell you something I have not told anyone.” Bavendrick searched D'Vinid for permission to reveal his secret.

  D'Vinid shifted his posture to depict interest.

  “I don't think my mother was human,” Bavendrick lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I think my father trapped her here. She did something to me that saved me from our father. But Kyliron,” he shook his head darkly. “Our father corrupted him. This morning, I had a long walk through the palace. As usual, I found myself at my mother's shrine. I sat and prayed at the tree. There I asked my mother to uncover all of the dark secrets that threaten our home. My eyes were closed, and I had many visions. When I opened them, this rose had appeared at the base of the tree. It compelled me to bring it along on my journey as a memento of my mother's shrine. But at this moment, I think you should take it. You were in my visions too, D'Vinid.”

  D'Vinid raised his hands as if the rose were scalding hot. “No! I can't do that. This is Watcher magic!” An image from his dream flashed in his head, that of Bavendrick kneeling in front of a tree holding a red rose. He shivered and backed away slowly.

  When the Fates formed into marked chains of coincidence, the Watchers, those masterful fate-weaving beings, were often at work. But they had never done him any favors. D'Vinid thought that if he lived life in utter simplicity, he might escape their notice. Being a tool of the Fates was not something he aspired to, unlike the praying masses who begged the mysterious Dreamtime creatures to guide their lives.

  “It is the Watchers who run Atlantis. Remember that, brother.” Bavendrick offered the rose again with a smile.

  “And it is the Watchers who will destroy Atlantis,” D'Vinid retorted. “Just as they destroyed Lemuria. Don't you see when their experiments become corrupted they destroy everything and start over again? I think we're heading for that soon.”

  The prince thrust the rose at D'Vinid again more forcefully. “Then give it to your Ka-Ma-Sharri lover. Whoever you choose this night, she will have something special. I would like for this to be my last wish before I leave these shores.”

  D'Vinid cursed under his breath, knowing this would catalyze something he would not be able to stop. A dizzy spell sent his head spinning.

  Bavendrick took a step back, seeing an orange glow flash in D'Vinid's eyes. The air shifted.

  His eyes still radiating, D'Vinid reached out to take the rose. He spoke, but Bavendrick did not recognize the voice as D'Vinid's. “The rightful heir shall take his place as master of the greatest task. For he is born to lead the people, rise against the father's sins. He shall return to free this land. Against his brother he must stand. There are those born to fight this cause. Look to them and heed nature's laws.” The light faded from his eyes and D'Vinid observed the rose in his grip. “Oh, no,” he spoke feebly in his own voice.

  “The Prophet Singer speaks.” Bavendrick watched him carefully, unsure what he had witnessed.

  A prince's departing wish or not, no amount of persuasion would ever give D'Vinid the desire to touch Watcher magic. He would have to be rid of it as soon as possible. The Watchers were spinning their fate-weaving webs around him, and this made him exceedingly uncomfortable.

  The twins approached.

  “Since when do you keep company with these troublemakers?” Bavendrick laughed, raising the goggles to frame his winning smile.

  “Since their father decided I was a valuable commodity for his revelries. They are my escorts.”

  The twins shrugged at the same time. Jensyn answered, “I'd say since he decided to disappear a few times after father summoned him to play at our court.”

  “That's what patrons deal with. If your court diva fails to attend, you simply adjust,” Bavendrick chuckled.

  The twins bowed informally, recognizing the prince with ease. “That's precisely what our father has done. Our escort services are the adjustment,” Kayden claimed with a snicker. Everyone found the comment amusing except D'Vinid.

  Jensyn spoke up, flipping his hand cordially, “You probably don't need to be told, Your Highness, but you are welcome at the Aello estate whenever you wish. Wherever you go, we are loyal to your symbol, not to the high king's.”

  D'Vinid cringed at the remark. The present circumstances couldn't be more distant from their youthful hopes and expectations. They were not friends anymore, and now Bavendrick was leaving. D'Vinid could accept his own exile, but Bavendrick's was another story. Slowly but surely, the new king was erasing his past, choosing to forget all those who once held him in the truest regard. He began to wonder if it was Kyliron who possessed the madness, and somehow Bavendrick was being blamed for it.

  A high-pitched scream rippled through the terraces. “Run! Run!” the voice insisted, stunning everyone into a sense of panic. People started running confusedly, unsure from what they were fleeing. A woman came into view, flailing her arms and screaming at the top of her lungs. “They're coming! Hurry! We must all run!” Dark circles rimmed her widened eyes. Deep lines made crevices on her face. The color of her skin was faded in the daylight.

  The twins leapt onto their hover-discs and began zooming away. D'Vinid stayed with the prince and continued to watch. “She has the madness,” he muttered, his eyebrows knitting together as he straightened himself to see what was coming. He flipped his feet over the wall and hopped to the ground as a pack of grey-clad wolf warriors flooded into the terrace courtyard.

  One of them pointed at the maddened woman, and another overpowered her with predatory agility. With a single movement, he pulled her into a chokehold and quickly rendered her unconscious. They cast their steel gazes around the courtyard at the citizens who had not run away as the woman had warned.

  “Check all of them.” The wolf leader's eyes fell on D'Vinid and Bavendrick, who had already replaced his disguise.

  “Leave now on your hover-disc.” D'Vinid whispered toward the prince with a wink. “I will create a distraction.”

  Bavendrick seemed more concerned with the woman they had so easily robbed of her consciousness. “What is he doing with her?” he muttered.

  “The warriors have been rounding up people who have been taken by the madness,” D'Vinid answered quietly. “Didn't you know this?”

  “No,” the prince answered grimly.

  One of the warriors approached them. “Lower your disguise,” he ordered.

  Bavendrick glanced toward the woman. “And if I don't, will my fate be similar to hers?”

  The wolf warrior snarled. Bavendrick took a step toward him fearlessly.

  “Do not challenge me, citizen. I am activated under the highest authority.” The warrior reached for a sword
at his side. Bavendrick lowered his mask, and pulled the goggles off. Anger swarmed in his eyes.

  The warrior drew his sword and turned his head back to the leader and shouted. “He's here!”

  Bavendrick glared at the sword. “Be careful, warrior. I am still your prince and superior. That makes me of the highest authority. And I don't like the way you have handled this situation. She may have the madness, but she is still a citizen of Atlantis who deserves to be handled with care.”

  The leader of the pack approached him. “Your Highness, I must insist you return with us to the ship. We have been ordered by the king to make sure you depart in time to reach your betrothal for Ka-Ma-Sharri.” There was almost a sadness in the warrior leader's voice as he spoke.

  “I am ready.” Bavendrick turned to D'Vinid and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. With a smile, he nodded. “I will not forget our conversation today, brother. Do not forget me, either.”

  “How could I?” D'Vinid bowed and raised his voice for all to hear. “You are the true King of Atlantis.”

  Bavendrick laughed and called back as he was pushed farther away. “Then let us change places, Prince of the Sea. You can be the true king in exile, and I shall wander the streets, free as a bird.” He bowed, copying D'Vinid's signature flare of the hand, and stumbled toward his chosen path.

  By this time, the people around began to realize it was Bavendrick the wolves had been searching for. They crowded around the terrace trying to catch a glimpse of the ill-fated prince. Some of them began shouting as the wolves pushed him. “Leave us our prince!” one of the women exclaimed. The others agreed in a wailing chorus.

  The twins circled back on their hover-discs, blatantly hovering off the road mounds, wearing identical scoundrel grins. Two of the warriors peeled off the pack escorting Bavendrick, scrutinizing the twins' blatant disregard of the law with calculating menace.

  D'Vinid watched with growing delight at the unfolding scene. Being on foot, the wolf warriors could not move as quickly as the trickster twins, though they intended to try and find a way. Jensyn and Kayden circled around the terrace, bouncing off walls, doing sloppy flips and daring turns while shouting: “Long live Prince Bavendrick! Conclaves rise! Conclaves rise!” Together they zoomed off in another direction in a flurry of color. Their shouting could be heard echoing down the corridors as they faded into the distance. The gathered crowd exploded into raucous applause.