The Origin of Mount Woe Chapter 2
The Discovery
By Nanaki
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12,020 B.C.
Vigo was momentarily blinded by the comparative darkness of the tunnel. He stumbled into the wall, then felt someone catching him. "Another brilliant move by our invincible leader?" Vigo knew the teasing voice to belong to his best friend, Karak. "Blinded by love again, I see."
"Very funny. It's fairly bright outside for a non clear day. I found hard to see in here."
"Because you had your eyes on Zeal the whole time. Admit it."
"If you tell me where she went." Vigo said, searching the area for any sign of her.
"She'll have to wait, majesty." Karak said jokingly. "Another party of explorers has returned and they say they've got big news."
"How big?" Vigo wanted know how long this would take.
"To judge by the rumors floating around here, as big as that mountain." Karak pointed out to sea, where Enhasa, the mountain of dreams, soared up out of the water. Vigo sighed and went further into the cave.
Belthasar, the head of the explorers, ran up to meet him as he approached the council cavern."Your majesty! I thought I should fill you in before you're bombarded with questions. We found a document that tells of ways to warm the air, shape the ground, and even to move mountains! Apparently, the people who wrote it at the time did not have the power to do these things. They estimated that magic power would continue to grow over the ages, but they did not know how long it would take."
"Are you saying we have the power to do these things?"
"I don't know. But there's a whole chamber full of people in there waiting to find out." Now Vigo groaned. "Another wonderful part of being king, eh Vigo?" Belthasar smiled.
"Oh yes, one of the job's many perks." Vigo took the parchment that Belthasar handed to him and strode confidently into the room. The sound of thirty advisors and other people of minor power trying to make themselves heard at once assaulted his ears. He did not even try to quiet them. He knew the noise would continue until they wore themselves out. In a few minutes, they would even forget he was in here. Glancing around the chamber, he saw Zeal standing next to her father, Maro. Maro was one of the most powerful wizards in Allegan. Vigo decided he might actually be worth talking to.
Seeing him heading her way, Zeal prepared an indifferent attitude. She was surprised to see him blaze right past her. "Good morning Maro, what do you make of this discovery?"
Maro squinted his failing eyes. "Ah, Vigo. I feel that a major change is about to take place in our kingdom. But I cannot hypothesize what those changes might be, as all the newly discovered records have not been copied yet."
As if that was a cue, a young boy with a sour expression on his face, loaded down with a bundle of parchments, stomped into the room. It looked to Vigo like he was grumbling something to himself, but he couldn't hear what. He watched the boy circle the chambers, roughly tossing sheets of paper at the advisors, who continued to argue anyway.
The boy stopped his grumbling as he approached Vigo, but his surly expression did not waver. Vigo watched amused, as he dropped the last of the papers next to Maro. On his way out, the youth stepped on Vigo's toes, doing his best to make it looke like an accident. Vigo quickly grabbed him by the collar, raising him to eye level. "And who are you, my fine young hooligan?"
After seeing a protracted period of swinging his suspended limbs wasn't doing any good, the boy answered. "Dalton, your high and mightyness."
"Well Dalton, O sultan of sarcasm, tell whoever sent you on this errand I don't want you sent on any more."
Dalton's expression brightened. "Thank you, highness!" He said sincerely. Vigo set him down, and he ran out of the room.
Vigo turned back to Maro. "Remind me to keep an eye on that one. Now, let's see just what he reluctantly delivered." Vigo picked up the scattered pile of papers and scanned through them quickly. He would read the particulars later. Nothing really caught his eye until he reached the last page. A rough map was drawn on half of it. The other half contained a drawing of a simple round stone, with lines thrust outward to indicate that it was glowing brightly. Next to it, notes were written in an apparently undeciphered language. He glanced back at the map.
"Hey!" He finally called out over the noise in the room. "Somebody get me-"
"Translations of the map page!!" Another messenger ran into the chamber. Now all the advisors turned to the last page of their handouts, and accepted the translation with interest.It was dead quiet as everyone read the message.
WE Believe that the sun stone was created many millions of years ago, when the climate began to change. It can store the infinite energy of our sun. However, at this time, no mage is powerful enough to control it. perhaps in the future, the sun stone can realize it's full potential.
"Wow." Vigo raised his eyebrows. "It can store the energy of the sun?" Just then, Belthasar walked back into the room.
"You've read the map page?"
Vigo nodded. Maro suddenly touched his temple. "I sense, young majesty, that you are about to become an explorer."
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"I must ponder'eth this turn of events." - Glenn
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