Outer Rim – Sector 4572 – Planet 15 (Uncharted World)
To exile elves to a desert world. How creatively brutal.
I was forced to bring 50,000 elves from what used to be our worlds with me—5,000 of which were my household guards, and the rest my retainers and other civilians. And I have brought them to their death, just as I had anticipated.
Our kind thrived on temperate worlds. We could survive a tropical world and do a bit better on frost worlds. But deserts… we were not created to live in deserts. Our skin cannot endure intense heat, our lungs fail with the humid air, and our minds weaken at the lack of green grass and trees.
1,452 had already died in our miserable march to find water. Hundreds more were missing due to the sandstorm. All of us were severely fatigued and on the brink of collapse. We had brought tents, which had proved useless against the ever-present strong desert winds and gusts.
I carried the corpse of my young daughter with me. Aelfwin was as fair as her mother, who had died the first week we were on the forsaken planet. She quickly followed, and she had been dead for thirteen days.
My young son, my one and only heir, was also at death's door. My brother carried the sleeping boy on his back. Whenever he wakes, he spends his time crying for her dead mother and sister.
"My lord, Eryndor!" someone shouted behind the cloud of sand. The wind made it hard to figure out where the voice was coming from, and all I could see around me were shadows and silhouettes.
The one who called finally got near enough for me to see. It was one of my scouts.
"My lord… we have found something," the scout himself looked pale and weak, his lips dry and cracked.
"Water?" I asked, unable to hold my excitement from spilling out into my voice.
The scout's face darkened. "No… my lord… we have found a burial site… pyramid shrines. In the hundreds. I think it can accommodate five thousand or more for the night."
I was sorely disappointed we had not found water. Our water stores were almost empty. But the discovery was a decent consolation. Our women and our sick could finally have their rest. Not to mention, the presence of these shrines meant the world was not uninhabited after all.
"Well done," I said.
"There is more, my lord…" the scout said, and I began to notice his restlessness.
"What is it?" I said, anticipating bad news because of the worried face of the scout.
"In the biggest pyramid… my lord… we have found an artifact," the scout answered.
I huffed. "You are thinking of loot, soldier? I would exchange a mountain of silver for a single well right now."
"No!" the scout eagerly shook his head, "You will have to see it for yourself, my lord Eryndor."
Our large procession continued onwards, now not aimless, guided by the scouts. It took an hour more before we finally saw the large silhouette of the massive pyramids. The scout did not exaggerate. They had found a necropolis.
If these were similar to the shrines I had known, each of them could accommodate more than a hundred people.
"Elendil, how is Eldoril?" I asked my brother as the women and the sickly were escorted inside the shrines.
Elendil sighed and stared at me for a moment. "He is dead, brother."
The words hit me like a stone. My son did not look dead, looking peacefully asleep for the first time. But elves did not decompose, and my brother would not make such a terrible joke.
"Since when?" I asked.
"Just before we arrived here." Elendil's lips quivered.
I sharply inhaled, every bit of me shaking. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as I tried not to cry. I was their lord. They looked at me for strength. I could not show weakness.
Still, the tears threatened to fall.
"My lord… shall you see the artifact—" the scout halted as soon as he saw my face.
"Find worthy crypts for our dead, Elendil." I wiped my eyes and mustered the last of my resolve.
I forced myself to go along with the scouts. I would need a distraction to prevent myself from breaking.
We went deeper into the necropolis. Buried in the sand were stone paths between the shrines. Statues of alien creatures were propped at every corner.
Finally, we reached the biggest pyramid. It stood at the center and was the most intricately designed. A tomb befitting a founder or the civilization's greatest king.
We went inside, and right behind the entrance was a grand room. Chiseled pillars supported the ceiling. The walls featured curious engravings depicting several scenes of daily life and battles.
Empty chests and empty pedestals littered the place, as graverobbers had clearly gotten there first.
There was another room. A bluish glow emanated from it. I glanced at my scouts, and they nodded in confirmation.
"That is where the artifact is, my lord," one of them said.
A large crypt awaited inside the room. On top of it was a leather-bound book. A glowing gem was embedded in the cover. A decent find, but I had seen much more impressive things. I had done my share of pillaging and had encountered many interesting artifacts.
"We could not touch it. We get electrocuted each time we try," said the same scout.
That explained why the graverobbers had not confiscated it. But if it were untouchable, then I had gone along with them on a fool's errand.
With that said, I was not keen to return so soon and face my sorrows. I obliged with my scouts' unspoken request to have a try at it.
I was merely going through the motions until I felt my skin crawl. With every step I took, the heavier my legs became, until I was standing right in front of the artifact, and it seemed like gravity had doubled.
I swallowed nervously before I raised my right hand. Anticipating the electric jolt, my fingers slowly neared the book.
Then… I touched it.
My confusion grew when I saw bluish energy flow into the veins of my hands. I waited for pain, but only felt soothing coldness as it climbed higher until it reached my head.
[You have found Codex Novus – the keystone of Galactic Power]
[Do you wish to claim it?]
Codex Novus. The base form of the Codex Imperium I knew so well. The foundation of empires. Priceless… worth a million worlds.
Yet I could not find joy in my heart nor excitement. Only the burning urge for vengeance. Those who had exiled us here will pay.
[You have claimed Codex Novus]
[Initial Codices Unlocked]
[You have acquired Codex Fundamenta]
[You have acquired Codex Custodiae]