Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) (11 page)

“Elders of the
Derekites,” Benjamin began and then faltered. In all the time that he had been
traveling, he had not given the slightest thought to what he was going to say,
and now he found himself in an uncomfortable position. But words jumped into
his head, and he thanked Elohim for them.

“Elders of the
Derekites your salvation has come. Your God has sent me to free you from
slavery, and in time, He will send another to free you from your sin.”

 That was as far as he
got before he was interrupted by one of the elders. “You were sent by our God?
What is his name? How are we to know that you are from Him?”

“Elohim has sent me to
lead you out of the land of Volexa Temp and has given me two signs to show you
that He has sent me.”

Benjamin preformed his
two signs and then spoke to the stunned crowd. “Elohim has sent me to lead you
out of Volexa Temp,” he repeated. “He alone will save you from your slavery,
but I will lead you to the land that He will give you after you have left
Volexa Temp.”

“What about Heflik?”
one of the elders objected. “He won’t let us just walk out of here.”

“No, he will not,”
Benjamin responded. “Every time I ask Heflik to free you he will refuse. But…”
Benjamin held up his hand to silence the questions of the elders, “Elohim will
send signs and wonders to Heflik. By these the king will know that Elohim is
the only true God. In the end, Heflik will have to bow to Elohim and set you
free.”

The elders were
finally convinced that Benjamin was indeed sent by God, so they gave him a
place to stay. The next day Benjamin arose and went into the court of Heflik.
The throne room was filled with people, and it appeared as if there was some
sort of party in progress. Entertainers and musicians were performing before
the king, but they stopped when they saw Benjamin pushing his way through the
crowd. By the time he reached the foot of the stairs that led to Heflik’s
throne, the whole room was as silent as a tomb. For several minutes, Benjamin
stared at Heflik, waiting for the king to break the silence.

“And who might you
be?” Heflik finally asked.

“Who I am is not
important,” Benjamin answered. “Who I represent is the question you should be
asking.”

“Very well then,”
Heflik said with a yawn. “Who do you represent?”

“I was sent by the God
of the Derekites, and he commands you, ‘Let my people go.’”

“He commands
me
?”
Heflik laughed. He plucked a grape from a dish sitting by his throne before
continuing. “And why should I listen to this god? I have my own gods, the
true
gods, and they tell me to do no such thing.”

“The God of the
Derekites is the one true God who made heaven and earth and everything in them.
This is the God that commands you to let His people go.”

“I still think that my
gods are the true gods. Why should I think otherwise? Prove to me that the one
that you speak of is the true God.”

Benjamin said nothing,
but instead raised his staff in his hands and pulled both ends in toward the
middle. Just as had happened in the desert, the rod broke in two as easily as a
twig. Heflik started to speak, but Benjamin cut him off with a hard stare. Then
he fit the two ends of the rod back together, with his hands covering the crack.
When he removed them, the stick was whole.

“A clever magic
trick,” Heflik mused. “But what is that supposed to prove? I myself am
something of a magician and could do that paltry bit of magic.” So saying, he
took his scepter in both his hands and broke it over his knee. Then he fit it
back together, and when he pulled his hands away, the scepter was complete.
Benjamin faltered for only a second. He hadn’t counted on Heflik being a
magician, but the magic that Heflik could do was only a small thing compared to
Elohim's capabilities. Benjamin again took his staff in his hands, this time
circling them around the wood. He slid his hands down the staff, and as they passed
it became pure white. Heflik cowered back in his throne, trying to shield the
brightness of the stick with one hand. After several moments, Benjamin circled
his hands around the stick again and slid them down the rod. The whiteness
immediately left.

“And what does that
prove?” Heflik roared at Benjamin. “Again, just another bit of magic. Get out
of here before I have my guards throw you in the dungeon. I will not be
persuaded that your god is the true God.”

Without another word,
Benjamin made his way out of the throne room.

The following day,
Heflik was strolling in his gardens when a voice called out to him. He looked
up to see Benjamin walking toward him. Heflik had recovered from his tirade of
the previous day and received Benjamin civilly.

“Hail, messenger of
the nonexistent god. What message do you have for me today? Or have you come to
send a punishment on me for disgracing you yesterday?”

“The Lord God says,
‘Let my people go,’” Benjamin said, ignoring Heflik’s taunt.

“I already told you
yesterday that I will not let my slaves go. You might as well give up and go
away. Or better yet, have your God take his best shot at me.”

“That is exactly what
will happen since you have refused to obey His commands. All of the water in
and around the land of Volexa Temp, including its main wells and springs, will
turn to blood.” Without saying anything else, Benjamin turned around and left.

Just as Benjamin had
said, all of the water of Volexa Temp turned to blood. Heflik called for all
his magicians and wizards, but though they worked night and day to reverse the
curse on the water, they could not. After a week, Heflik begged Benjamin to
return the water to its former state and promised that he would do as Elohim
had commanded; however, once the water was restored, he refused to obey.
Another plague was brought on the land of Volexa Temp. This time frogs covered
the country. After several days, the frogs miraculously disappeared, and
Benjamin approached Heflik again. Heflik again refused to set the Derekites
free, and a plague of lice struck the land. Six plagues followed the plague of
lice. Flies afflicted the country, the cattle were infected with disease, boils
covered every living thing, hail ruined the crops, locusts ate the remaining
crops, and darkness covered the land for three days. After each plague, Heflik
refused to obey Elohim.

“Thus says the Lord
God of the Derekites, ‘Let My people go,’” Benjamin said to Heflik after the
ninth plague had been lifted. Heflik sat on his throne with his face in his
hands. He was trying not to show it, but the plagues were wearing him down.

“Your God still
commands me to let his people go?” Heflik asked, raising his head. His voice
rose to a shout, “Well, I don’t care what your God says,” he swore. Then he
added, “And if I see you again, you will surely die.”

“You have said it,”
Benjamin answered quietly. “You will not see my face again. But the God of the
Derekites will send one last plague on you. The angel of the Lord will smite
every firstborn in the land, and they will all die.”

It happened just as
Benjamin had said. Every firstborn of every household in Volexa Temp died
except for those in the houses of the Derekites. They smeared the blood of a
lamb on their doorposts, as Benjamin commanded them, and the angel of death passed
over them. The next morning, cries of grief and anger arose from the houses of
Volexa Temp as mothers found their children dead in their beds. Heflik himself
was not exempt from the curse; his son died at the hand of the angel as well.
When he woke to find that his son was indeed dead as Benjamin had said would
happen, he sent word to Benjamin, telling him to take the Derekites out of
Volexa Temp. Benjamin had spread the word the night before that the Derekites
would be leaving, so they were ready to move as soon as they were told by the
king to leave.

Benjamin led them out
of Volexa Temp to the south. He was heading to the land that Derek had
originally lived in before he moved to Volexa Temp-the land that the Derekites
would take back. The whole nation marched out of the city with much singing and
rejoicing. Today was the day of their salvation! They were finally free from
slavery. But, as Heflik sat sulking in his palace, a thought occurred to him.
All of his slaves were leaving; who was going to work his fields and build his
buildings? At once he gathered his army and set out after his slaves.

The sons of Derek were
only a few miles from the city when Heflik’s army set out after them. Panic
immediately spread through their ranks, and chaos filled the camp. Just when it
seemed like all hope was lost, Benjamin walked out to stand between the army of
Heflik and the people of Elohim. He raised his rod and pointed it at the army.
Then, pronouncing the curse of Elohim over the enemy, he turned around to again
lead the people south. The nation began to crawl forward again, wondering what
was going to happen to them. Heflik and his army were steadily gaining ground.
However, as they approached the fleeing nation, the ground underneath them
became soft and sucked them downward. The wheels of the chariots stuck, so the
soldiers leaped out to chase their quarry on foot. The weight of their armor
pulled them into the marsh, never to be seen again. The land behind the
Derekites continued to turn into marsh until one seventy-five miles of the
unstable, swampy soil lay between them and Volexa Temp. This would forever be a
barrier that protected them from their enemies to the north.

The Derekites entered
the land of Magessa and wiped out all of its inhabitants that did not serve
Elohim. Because the elves and ogres of the forest and the orcs in the mountains
all served Elohim, they were allowed to stay. After Magessa had been conquered,
it was split into three districts called Rampön, Belvárd, and Gatlon. A temple
to Elohim was built in the center of the country to remind the people who had
brought them out of slavery and who they served.

******

By the time Senndra came back to reality,
the temple had vanished from sight. The plains on the ground had been replaced
by mountains that were covered with forest. The thick trees masked from view
what Senndra knew was there: orc cities. These cities were a somewhat unusual
occurrence because many orcs still lived amongst the humans in Magessa. With
only a few exceptions, this was something that the elves and ogres of the
region would never consider. They traded and interacted with the humans on a
regular basis, but they lived entirely separately in their own cities.

Legend said that orcs were very messy and
brutal creatures that looked immensely different from humans. The legends were
very wrong. In fact when orcs lived amongst the humans in their cities, they
did not draw much attention because of their incredible similarities. They
looked almost exactly the same as humans, except their hair was thicker and
their bodies were typically more muscular. Due to the similarities of humans
and orcs, when individuals of the two races married, their offspring could be
mistaken for either race.

The forest flew underneath Senndra and
soon Saddun came into view. It was easy to mistake it for a city because that,
in effect, was what it amounted to. The academy was arranged in a very sensible
order, not meant for beauty, but efficiency. The dragons circled over a large
field in the middle of the campus, and Senndra could see that a large group of
cadets was gathered there.

“It looks like the entire academy turned
out to meet us,” she thought. “There’s several thousand of them down there all
lined up in nice little rows.”

The dragons circled lower, and gradually,
Senndra was able to make out the features of the people on the ground. She
heard a command come from below, and the entire army came to attention as the
dragons landed.

******

Josiah stood several paces in front of his
soldiers and watched the approaching dragons as they circled toward the parade
field. His men were arranged in five groups with the captain of each group
standing in front of his squad. All of them were standing ramrod straight,
keeping the strictest military bearing. The sun was out again in full
brilliance, and Josiah could see sweat on the faces of several of the closer
cadets. They had worked until midnight the previous day and had risen at six in
the morning to finish their work. They had labored hard, and despite the fact
that more tasks had been added, they had finished an hour and a half before
lunch. Josiah had allowed them to nap until the noon day meal, staying awake
himself so that he could rouse them. Of course he hadn’t stayed up by himself,
but had the company of Cirro. Again they fought, and again Cirro beat him.

The dragons came in toward the field in
single file, landing in rows that stretched from one side of the field to the
other. There were at least one hundred dragons in the group, each with one
rider, and they lined up in five rows. Several of the dragon riders remained
aloft on their steeds, and it became evident that they would not stay, but
accompany the dragons back to the academy in Belvárd.

Josiah had seen a dragon each year since
he joined the academy, but the sight of the huge beasts still amazed him. The
dragons ranged in size from eighty to one hundred feet long and were every
color imaginable, most of the colors being represented by several shades. Their
claws and teeth, Josiah knew, were razor sharp and could cut a horse in half
with ease. As they stood in rows, with the sun glinting off their scales, they
looked intimidating. The riders dismounted, unstrapped their saddle bags, and
formed several rows. One of the instructors advanced from the group and
approached the grand admiral of Saddun. The two men saluted each other and
began to converse in voices that Josiah could not hear. When they finished,
they made their way back to the cadets that had just dismounted their dragons,
and the grand admiral began to speak. Josiah couldn’t make out any of the
words, but he had a good idea of what was being said. It was most likely
something to the effect of how glad they were to have visitors and how
accommodating the people would be. Finally he finished and made a motion to
Josiah. Josiah stayed where he was, and ninety-seven of his soldiers lined up
behind him. Since he had gotten stuck with the job of escorting the visiting
cadets around the campus, he had decided to make it a one-on-one thing. There was
one guide for every visiting cadet, and this guide would show their charge
around the campus for the first day.