Sentria: The Knight Prince (Book 1)

Chapter Four: Godlike

Our footsteps sounded louder without our conversation to distract from the echoing tunnels of the Jade Cavern. We may have left the well filled with jade stones, but my thoughts concerning the death of the Titans at the hands of the Marbury family wouldn't let me be. It was hard news to hold; I knew that war was necessary and with it came losses, but the Titans were peaceful beings by all accounts. They were gentle giants who were pure of heart. They didn't deserve to die out that way.

"Tell me of your gods, knight," Eldwyn said, breaking the quietude and taking me away from my own thoughts.

"I thought that you only believed in one god," I said.

"That's what I believe, but there are many truths in this world and I'm here to learn them all."

"Fair enough." I took a deep breath and said, "There are twenty-seven of them, but I can tell you about the ones from the beginning of creation. Muros is the god of war and the first to walk the realm. At the beginning of time, he waged war against Cinnai, the god of greed, who wanted the realm all to himself, but Muros couldn't defeat Cinnai's hordes. Their battle lasted for eons and nothing changed until Muros found Isla, the goddess of peace, in the Western Valley. They had a child, Danos the Valiant, who grew up with fire in his heart, but he was raised in Isla's embrace and learned to balance his peacefulness and his fury. With those ideals at his disposal, he outwitted Cinnai and cast him to the northern regions of the Cardoth Kingdom."

"That was a mesmerizing tale," said Eldwyn.

"Danos is my idol," I said, picturing myself as a young boy, acting out his many adventures. "I use him as my source for inspiration. Whenever I feel low, I think of his lightning sword cutting down legions of Cinnai daemons and it brings me to my feet."

"Did Cinnai die?" asked Eldwyn.

"No, gods cannot die. They change form over time. Sentria praises Danos, Stargon praises Muros, and Cordath praises Cinnai in all their greed. All twenty-seven realms have their patron gods. We've tried for centuries to find peace with the family Solice, but they will not fall in line. They are Cinnai reincarnated."

"Keep hope alive, knight. As long as time rolls on, so too does the unexpected hand of fate."

"You're filled to the brim with quotes, relic. Did your master teach you all of them?"

"Most of them, yea," he said with a laugh. "But sometimes they just come to me like a lightning bolt."

That didn't make much sense, but most of his words were like puzzle pieces that didn't fit neatly together.

"Did you—" suddenly, I heard a low rumble, as if the tunnels were inside of a beast whose stomach ached, and the relic and I froze in place. "What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing good," said Eldwyn. "We need to move."

The rumbling grew louder from behind us, and we turned to see the jade crystals falling towards us as the tunnel collapsed in on itself.

"Run!" I grabbed him by his collar to pull him as we ran through the tunnels frantically. We were wild with fear as rocks started to rain on us. 

Up ahead, we saw the path crumbling toward us and we turned down another path to escape it. I saw a light up ahead and I pushed myself harder to get to it. I was running low on stamina and the tunnel was closing in on us, but the light beckoned me to forge ahead. Right at the end, we dove out as the tunnel as it closed behind us with one final crash! and we landed on the soft bed of grass.

"We did it." Eldwyn smiled at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Not without great pain." I got up to my feet and pulled Eldwyn up with ease. He was smaller than I was. Lithe, but somehow he didn't seem all that weak. Perhaps it was his magicks or his spirit that curtailed the signs of fragility.