Translocation felt especially odd. I only knew I was outside Eh'zanko and then someplace else, dizzy and nauseous. I glanced around the room. My eyes were struggling to stay focused. A desk, bed, and locker were the only things that encompassed the room. It was extremely sparse.
"Come." Came the man's voice behind me, as monotone as ever.
I turned to see him standing by the door. I nodded and followed. Slowly. The lightheadedness wasn't something to be trifled with. I wanted to see what he had to show me, especially if it meant answers. Each step made me more nauseous. I fought through it. Eventually, this feeling would fade.
As I followed, observing the walls of stone and the various guards wielding spear-like rifles, I couldn't help but wonder where we had come to. Each one, of the different types of guards, was a race I had yet to meet, save the Amali.
"This is the place known to the Fratali as The Hovel." The man said as if he knew I was curious. "It is the resting place of the Minor One, Grammel. We had warded off the entrance to this place with various plutonic signatures and lined the walls with lead. But, that did not seem to stop the Fratali from coming to this place and setting up a place of entertainment." Though his body language did not show it, I could hear the disappointment in his voice, like a tutting father. "So, Nesbeth figured if they wanted to come here so badly, then why not have them guard the inner sanctums? These are the guards you see. They are the most devout followers we have."
We came to a large wide door. Upon the metallic door, was etched the words: When in servitude, let your candle burn bright. And a large image, like a flag also etched into its face. It looked so familiar to me, that I tried to search my memories for where I had seen it before. Then, it hit me. In my uncle's bedroom was a large black flag with the symbol of water with a group of fourteen stars around a depiction of the sun.
"You are truly astute. You have recognized the sign of the Hidden Followers of the Faceless Gods. As you can see, we are all but faceless."
The door opened slowly and revealed a large room within, vaulted ceilings and walls of emerald. There were reliefs on the walls and marble busts. A group of thrones at one end of the room.
"What is this place?" I asked.
The door closed behind us. The man walked a few paces ahead of me. "This is the Hall of Grammel's Mind. The throne room of the Minor Ones." He said, showing a little flair. "This satellite of the planet Franc once was a mining facility. We appropriated it when Grammel ran amok. But, that was well over a century ago." Then, he said, "Come, child." He beckoned me close to him. "You have many questions. I will do my best to answer them for you. Your destiny is upon you and I cannot have you without knowledge of what you shall face."
I walked up to him and nodded in acknowledgment that he should continue. I craved to learn all I could. To understand what it was Kaddyr was talking about. Why it had to be me. Nothing truly made sense. Yet.
He explained what I saw on the walls. Why the Fractions existed. Why they had been critical to keeping the balance. He extrapolated even further on the Minor Ones. Just who exactly they were. "We are the Minor Ones. Those born from the responsibility created by the Great Ones. We were entrusted with overseeing the worlds their clashes created. However, just as things were formed from destruction, so did creation birth destruction. In the end, we sealed away those most powerful. For a cause, we thought was just. Like all things we have done, time was not good to it. Our seals aged and their power has leaked from within." He paused. "Kaddyr was not the first Minor One to fall and he will probably not be the last."
I took in his words. Carefully. Making sense of what I could.
In a blink, he moved to one of the busts at the other end of the room. "Come." He said, with a wave of his hand. Immediately, I was pulled dragging my feet across the floor. "Let us begin with those that have already fallen." He pointed to the bust before him. A weird mix of humanoid and deer. "This is Ban'iel the Gardener, Lord of the Flora. He gave his life so that you may live. Your uncle Ban'iel believed you to be very special. Even over his own child, Harvey." He moved on to the next one. An elephant of a man or perhaps it was a man of an elephant. "Grammel, Lord of the Land. Once he sought to bring peace to all until the mortals' greed overtook those he cherished. In the end, it was I, who laid him to rest here." He continued on, talking about each one. Some he had good to say and others, well, he could say even less. But, I learned their names. Tiamat, Lady of the Salts. Kaddyr, Lord of the Mountains. Sorem, Lord of the Jungle. Yrh'danyr, Lady of the Breaths. Sethyr, Lady of the Night. Whisper, Lord of the Four Corners. Nesbeth, Lord of the Shallows. Lousfrith, Lady of the Lake. Yog Thalthos, Lord of the Shadows. Talanys, Lord of the Depths. Finally, he came to the last of the busts before us. "This is my bust. Rammel, Lord of the Fields. I have done more than just take an interest in you, child." He paused. "I am the Ram. Your father."
Words finally found me. "If you are indeed my father, why is it you have taken no interest in my upbringing or protecting me from all the tragedy I have gone through? If you loved my mother, why did you leave her to die?"
"There is something uneasy in the fabric of space when three Minor Ones rest in one place. I kept my distance because I knew Nesbeth would not let you die on his watch. Perhaps, it should have been he and I who traded places. Then, you might have been prepared sooner. Alas, that time is gone." His monotone voice irked me. "As for your mother, Ban'iel had taken restraints to protect her and you. Alas, with his death, hers also came. I had not learned of it until it was too late to bring her back to the mortal plane." He paused again. "I am sorry, child. I wish I could have done something."
"You being here now will not make up for it." I said.
"No." He said bluntly. "I can understand if you grow to hate me. But, I am here now. And, I will ensure you are prepared." Once more he teleported, this time to the front of the room where there was a group of thrones. One for each bust. There was a raised platform behind them, with nothing on it. "These are the thrones, from which we oversee. Each one bears the name of its occupant." He hesitated. I watched as his hand gripped the edge of the stone bench desk before the thrones. I could tell he was unsure whether to disclose whatever it was running at the back of his mind. His hand eased. He had made his choice. "There is but one, whose identity I had kept hidden. Her bust destroyed. Her throne vaporized. Nesbeth, Kaddyr, and I erased all presence of her from the minds of all the other Minor Ones. She, who had been our queen, the strongest of us, had in time become the destroyer of worlds. Much like Argos the Everlasting, whose very children sealed him beneath the largest mountain of Angelus. But, his children had never cared for anywhere else. And, like the mortals, in time, we too were able to gain power. We dethroned her and eradicated her, for she had broken the very tenements she had placed to guide us in keeping the balance. We three stood guard as the ones with the memory of her. The Quetzalcoatl God of Rebirth, Lillith, Lady of the Skies." He stopped once more. "You asked why I never took an interest in your upbringing or tried to protect you from your trials. It was her power that I gave to you, in order to prepare you."
"So the destruction of Eh'zanko is just as much your fault as it is mine." I condemned. I was not letting him get away with not taking culpability for this.
"Yes. I never said it wasn't." Then, he remarked. "However, your destiny shall be to either bind or destroy the Great Ones. For that, you need power."
"Who exactly are the Great Ones?" I asked.
"The Great Ones are those that came first. Those whose creations you see today. All that exists." He began, immediately continuing with their names and why they were important. L'hrad the Follower. Lestho the Hardened. A'grappa the Dragon. Esperyn the Serpent. Rhumer the Timid One, also known as Rhumer the Destroyer. Galadyn the Gallant. Hered the White. Lastly, Marthukas the Somber, their king. Each one made the planets and stars, destroying a great more. They were the reason life existed in the multiverse. But, their will was so unpredictable that the Minor Ones banded together to bind them so that the multiverse would not be eradicated. Now, that binding is weakening and originally it took all the Minor Ones to bind them.
When Rammel finished, he said something I was not expecting. "Before I send you back to where you came from, I will impart into you a portion of my power, a way to call upon my gifts." His hand began to glow red and a small beam connected it and my heart. I could feel warmth emanate from within. "Go now, my child."
Once more, I was outside the burning ruins of southern Eh'zanko.