THIRD BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺. 𝘈 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴.
Two sides of the same coin are brought to the light...
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Ezril was waiting for them at the top of the grand stairs the moment they got back. The High Priestess' face was back into its hard expression. Xanthy squinted. It was darker than usual, though.
"Come with me," the High Priestess turned without waiting for them to catch up. Xanthy glanced at June, shrugged, and followed Ezril through the altar room. The High Priestess offered her hand in Xanthy's direction. Her soul port. Xanthy unslung her Temple-issued device and pressed it into Ezril's hands. The silence of the altar room was filled with the clicks from dials being turned.
Ezril did the same for June's soul sport before fiddling with her own. Xanthy stared at the Keijula squiggles. What did they mean? Xanthy shook her head and reached out to the soul door. The soul port in her fingers glowed.
Xanthy stepped forward into the war room where everything remained the same compared to when she was last here. The mirrors still haven't reflected anything. The maps still glowed in their various, eerie light.
An egg-shaped orb standing on a pedestal in the middle of the room caught Xanthy's eye. Huh. That's new. Ezril led them exactly to that gem and stepped into the pedestal. Xanthy stopped at the foot and gazed up at the High Priestess. What was this about?
Ezril spread her fingers atop the orb, the insides of her palm being tinged green from the faint glow pulsating from it. A wall of light erupted from the orb, spreading large enough to rival the maps hanging by the walls. Instead of showing Xanthy anything, a single, breathy voice blared from the screen and filled the room.
Peltra is down! Yin Alora and Xai-Ren are destroyed. The Pixies are gone along with the Frachdal family. The Riogener has deserted its subjects. There's a message for the Virtakios: Come to Lanteglos. Message from the Death Knight. A message for the Virtakios: Come to Lanteglos.
The message looped again and again. Ezril gathered her fingers to the tip of the orb and the wall of light vanished. The silence that followed was deafening as Ezril slowly faced Xanthy and June. "That's what's being announced to every kingdom right now," the High Priestess tucked her hands inside her sleeves as was her habit. "Not only does it say that one of the heavily-fortified territories has fallen, it announces to everyone that there is someone who had the Virtakios among us. What do you plan to do?"
Xanthy's throat was dry when she swallowed. The message still rang in her ears. There's no way she could process all that that fast.It's like someone slapped her, handed her a basket of butterbread, and told her to jump off a cliff. She's just processing that someone slapped her, in a way. "I-I don't know," Xanthy's fingers twisted a lock of her hair. Not very professional, yeah.
Ezril stepped down the platform, the orb's glow growing fainter behind her. "This could be Cardovia or Synketros's doing. We have to be careful."
"There's no doubt about it," June's eyes never strayed from the orb. "This is Cardovia's scheme. They even involved the Death Knight in their mess."
