“Terror-ray-mo-toos?” Matthew asked. They were in a small cell, with little light.
“Terraemotus. It means Earthquake in Olim Tempor.”
“And you’re not speaking English because…?”
“Because I just deciphered runes that were written there millennia before you were born, and spoken millions of years before that. But I am terribly sorry that I mixed up the languages. It must be sooo frustrating for you!”
He smiled and was about to make a come-back when suddenly a voice spoke in the darkness.
“Vade, dum licet!” It demanded.
“Safia?” Matthew asked.
“I hear it.”
“Vade, dum licet!” It commanded again.
“Safia,” Matthew hissed. “What’s he saying?”
“Oh so now you want-”
“Vade, dum licet!” it insisted
“Um you know what… I’m not altogether sure we should have knocked on that door.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because that guy’s saying we should ‘Go while we can.”
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“Ite dum potes.” The voice said.
“Oh,” Safia repeated, downcast.
“Well?”
“Go, while you are able.”
“Oh great. Tell him we don’t know the way out.”
“Thanks Matthew. Geez, I would be lost without you!” Then to the voice she said, “Quam viamire?” then under her breath to Matthew, “Which way to go?”
“Ego don’t teneo.”
“He doesn’t know.”she translated.
“He doesn’t know. Great.”
Safia smiled. “That’s my line.”
“Quises?” the voice asked.
“Mihi nomen est Safia. Hoc Matthew. Vos?”
Safia didn’t bother telling Matthew what she had said.
“Hopesum.”
“Hope?”
“Plane.”
“Safia?” Matthew asked.
“Umm.Well, clearly, this is Hope?”
“Clearly?”
“His word, not mine.”
“Hope?”
“Well, it stands to reason, that if fear became a monster, so did hope. Or perhaps, the people created Hope to fight off fear. Itan?” she asked the voice.
“Itan,” it answered.
“Yep.”
“Itan... means Yes?”
“Good boy,” she said with a grin. “You’re learning.”
Matthew smiled. “But that doesn’t solve how where going to get out of here.”
“My dear Matthew. Have you forgotten why we’ve come. To slay Metus!” she said, unsheathing the sword at her hip, and waving it about. “Or at least,” she said seriously, resheathing her sword. “Put him back in his cage. That is where you’ve been keeping him haven’t you, under the maze, in the middle of nowhere?” she said, turning to Hope.
“Safia you’re speaking English, he doesn’t understand English.” Matthew said.
“Oh I think he does. I think he was testing us. You can’t lie in Olim Tempor, Matthew. He wanted to see if he can trust us.”
“True,” the voice said, walking into the light, revealing a young boy. “I didn’t know if you could be trusted. But I think you can. Hope runs deeply through both of you. “
“A boy!” Matthew said, but was instantly silenced by two twin glares.
“That’s not his real form, you idiot! What part of millennia didn’t you get?”
“Oh, umm, sorry.”
“No apology necessary,” Hope said. “Anyway, you were right for the most part, Domina Safia, but the maze isn’t really where I keep him. The maze is a cover. On each planet there is a certain spot where I can hide this prison. Every year the maze changes its spot, a new place each year. Unfortunately, this time he escaped. A flaw. He locked me down here,” he said spreading his arms. “And began…recruiting.”
“The Nightmare League,” Matthew said, catching on.
“Actually, their official name is “The servus per somnum exterreri solebat.”
“The servant to nightmare.” Safia translated.
“And that’s not at all creepy…?”
“No,” Safia said thoughtfully. “But how are we going to get out of this?” she said waving her arms to encompass the cell. “I assume it’s got some hidden magic, if it can keep hope in.”
Hope smiled. “You forget, I am just a symbol of hope. Of those now long dead, no longer even a memory. I am just a left over soul, just as Metus is. I cannot do anything to his magic, now he has escaped. I am no longer surrounded by hopeful people, who give offerings of hope to the entrance. No longer do couples walk through the mazes, or swim in the sea. Only the deranged and the bloodthirsty visit now…I am running out of power. If you two weren’t so amazingly hopeful, so… so… plenus spei.”
“Full of hope,” Safia whispered.
“Yes! If you two weren’t so hopeful, so blessed, I wouldn’t even be able to maintain this form, and be just like Metus’ bodiless shadows, the Nameless Whispers. You are both blessed by the gods! Benedictus es Dis!”
They smiled and looked at each other, and Hope watched as the tattoos slowly grew to cover their faces.
YOU ARE READING
Elemental
FantasyWhen teenage assassin Matthew follows a strange man, his world is turned upside down - starting with his banishment from the kingdom. Who is Drake, and just what secrets lie beneath his hood?
