Power Awakens

Servants brought finger food and cold iced drinks for the King and his guests and for a while everyone was silent as they pondered on what Olef had told them. Petrek felt keenly that he didn’t want to leave his son when it was obvious now he would have a hug influence on the world. He also felt what could only be described as a pull towards the Marcel Scriptures, he knew in his heart he had to read what those pages foretold for him and his son. By understanding every part of the prophecy hopefully he could best protect his family. This would mean a long journey to the Tongsai Monastery and that meant time away from Jaac and Kaitlin. He was torn but knew fate had him in its grasp and he could not ignore the call.

King Arem cleared his throat and brought Petrek out of his contemplation, “We have explained quite a lot to you this afternoon, but as you can imagine there is much more you need to learn, firstly we need to know where you stand? If you do not wish to join us in this battle, you are free to go.”

Petrek and Eddick both managed to look confused, surprised and intrigued all at the same time.

“Jaac’s pull on the LifeMatrix is so powerful it can be felt by most Profent level Majees, his aura overpowers all living creatures within a few leagues of him and it can be felt by all the creatures of the dark one., now he has reached puberty. They are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, it is fortunate that this latent power has only just begun to manifest itself and one of our close allies was on hand to send Jaac to us.” Arem continued. “We need to protect Jaac until he is strong enough to protect himself. He will stay here and be apprenticed to Nuthay, who is on his two-year secondment to Northern Bruk. Nuthay is the most powerful Majee in Bruk and he is also one of the Inner Circle and one of the Chief advisers to King Herrick of Bruk, the other boys will be apprenticed to the appropriate Guild Master, Nuthay will decide whom this afternoon. But I will need a decision off you both before you leave this room.”

Eddick turned to Olef, “Olef, I don’t mean to appear too dim, but what exactly is a Nexii, what does it mean? I need to know facts before I commit myself to a life changing commitment.” Eddick tried to make light of the situation no matter how hopeless.

“In simple terms Eddick, a Nexii is a point in the LifeMatrix that affects all other life forms around it. The LifeMatrix links all Life forms that have an Electromagnetic aura these impact and interact with each other. Some Life forms have a stronger aura and effect life forms around them more than others.

A Nexii has an extremely strong effect on the surrounding life forms. Generally, if you could see the LifeMatrix as a sheet stretched taught between two tables, if you put a number of small pebbles spread evenly across the sheet you would see very small dents in the sheet. This is effect of normal life forms on the matrix. If you put two or three heavier pebbles on the sheet you would see much deeper dents and some of the others pebbles would change where they are, they are affected by the presence of the stronger or heavier pebbles. If you placed a heavy stone on the blanket, assuming that the blanket was securely fastened to either table, you would see a significant impact on every pebble on the sheet. This is similar to the impact that Zeetek had on people around him.

Jaac in comparison, when he has fully developed would be like putting a boulder onto the centre of the sheet. He would affect everything around him. Unconsciously, his life-energy and aura would interact with all other life forms for leagues and leagues around him, possibly even further afield. This connectivity to other life forms would allow Jaac to draw energy and power from these life forms without causing any harm or damage to them. He would have the ability to manipulate Majee at a level which has never even been thought of before.

He may have more power than all the Sorcerers currently on Cromus combined. Obviously, we would like Jaac to be on the side of Balance rather than Evil. A Nexii doesn’t necessarily have to manipulate Majee, it may be Rudjow or it may manifest itself in another way. True Nexii are difficult to predict. Saying this, impossibly strong readers of the Probability Matrix, can predict the impact of certain Nexii types and with a reading of the many different probabilities, they can draw a most likely outcome of key events. However, this becomes further complicated by...”

“Enough, Olef, enough,” said the King with a smile as he turned to address Petrek and Eddick, “Olef tends to take a long time to explain something’s that are really simple, and a short time to explain something’s very complex. There will be time for questions later, right now we need a decision. Will you join us?”

Without even thinking both Eddick and Petrek blurted out “Of course, Yes, your Majesty”

Petrek continued, “We are your vassals and your men, just tell us what you need. My Son is everything to me, if this is the right thing to do for him and it helps to protect him, then I will support it until death. I swear it on Baln, with my life.”

Eddick echoed Petrek; “I swear it on Baln, with my life”

The king looked at both men and with an almost imperceptible movement of his right hand, he addressed them in a relieved voice, “Good, good, I am glad that is settled”,

Petrek noticed the small movement, and for the first time noticed that the Personal Guards had moved closer and were only now putting their black crossbows back to the resting position.

“If we said no” Petrek asked the king, “Would we have left alive”.

In a weary voice the king responded “This is a very serious business Petrek, many thousands of lives are dependant on what we do here, knowing half of what you have just been told is enough to get you killed. If you said no, I could not allow that information to leak outside this room.” The king rubbed his temples, stress that had been visible only now dissipating from his face. “In time I think you will appreciate why. I will have to promote you to Lieutenant in order to carry out the duties I have for you and your brother Eddick will have to be sworn in as a Captain of the Royal Guard, I’m sure King Donnay of Dublain would be ok if you joined my Royals for a time, Donnay and I get on really well and he is also a member of the Inner Circle, although the other two Kings of the Isles are not. I will send him a letter today, explaining, in code of course, what is happening.”

“It has been a long day gentlemen and I wish to retire, I will leave you with Olef to fill in any gaps on the briefing and to outline your first mission on the business of the Inner Circle. You will find it aligns to your current mission in the Westron Mountains and the Tongsai Monastery with just a few minor deviations. I take it that will be the first place you wish to go Petrek?”

Petrek looked relieved that he wasn’t going to have to fight with the King over the importance of him reading the Marcel Scriptures, having only just sworn fealty to him. “Yes my Liege.” Was all he said.

“Good Night Lieutenant, Captain. I trust I can leave you in Olef capable hands.” With that the King of Northern Bruk left the room.