Corvan could only stare across the table at Tsarek, his mind whirling. After all they had been through, how could Tsarek turn against him now?

  The man ran his hand gently down the lizard's spines. "It has been a long time since I have seen you, my friend." He put a hand under Tsarek's jaw and raised his head. "You are in great distress. Rest a moment and then, as promised, I will take care of your need." Tsarek sank down to the table, curled up in a circle and closed his eyes without looking in Corvan’s direction.

  The man turned his attention to Corvan. "So, at last we meet."

  Corvan glared at him. Tsarek had led him into a trap and this man was his captor. He had nothing to say to him.

  The man leaned forward. "It may help if I tell you about myself and the history we have in common. My name is Kael, and I am the grandson of the last great leader of the Cor council." He grimaced. "At least, my grandfather was a great leader until he became deathly ill. That is when his courage turned to fear and his fear to desperation. To save his own life he made a deal with those who possessed the skill to turn lumien seeds into the Lifelight, the purest and rarest essence of lumien vitality. It is a potion so powerful it can reverse aging and cure all illness.”

  Kael leaned back in his chair. “In order to obtain the Lifelight my grandfather gave the Makers full access to the lumiens in our capital city of Dubok Kholm. That first time, nobody noticed the small number of missing lumiens and the city rejoiced when my grandfather recovered. My grandfather was stronger than before, he looked younger, and the people of the city admired him greatly. Only my parents knew his miraculous recovery was from receiving those first two drops of Lifelight.”

  Kael looked to the painted faces overhead. “Over time, my grandfather became even more fearful of aging and death. It could have been a side effect of ingesting the Lifelight, but his bitterness and anger grew exponentially until he made a new deal with the Makers for a full vial of the Lifelight. This time it would cost most of the city’s lumiens, but he cared only about himself and his plan to cheat death forever.”

  Kael sat up and looked directly at Corvan. “Our lumien’s dwindled and the city grew darker. My parents understood that once my grandfather got his hands on vial of Lifelight, he would become incredibly strong, and his greed would only increase. My father waited until the completed vial of Lifelight was being delivered to my grandfather, then attacked the Makers and stole it. The Makers fled and to keep them out of Dubok Kholm, my father used the water controls to flood the lower levels of the city. As the waters rose, war broke out in the Kholm between my father and his father. Many died on both sides and in the end, my parents and loyal members of the royal family had to flee across the bridge to Bandur.”

  Kael pushed his chair back from the table, the scrape of its legs echoing across the floor of the chamber and Corvan realized that everyone else had left the room.

  “My grandfather and his guards attacked the city of Bandur. My parents both died at the outset of the attack. I took the vial of Lifelight and fled with my companions into the city of Rozan. This time we sealed the gates connecting Bandur and Rozan, but my grandfather was so convinced the Lifelight had been hidden in Bandur, he tore the city apart in an attempt to find where it was hidden. After a prolonged battle, my grandfather’s forces were greatly reduced, and he was forced to retreat to his own city, taking most of Bandur’s lumiens along for his personal use. Bandur collapsed the bridge, then fell into a civil war that consumed the rest of the lumiens and destroyed what was left of the city. With the gates to Rozan sealed it appeared that the rest of the Cor was safe, but we did not count on how devious my grandfather had become. We did not know that he had discovered the physical location of the dream chamber of the council of the Cor. Sometime after the battle for Bandur, he secretly cut his way inside the chamber. His goal was to take over the council by killing its present members then controlling all seven cities through his puppet leaders in order to locate and retrieve the Lifelight.”

  Kael got up from the table and walked toward the glow of the pool. When he reached the base of the closest statue, he turned back to the table.

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  “When we learned of his plans for the council chamber, I turned to the only person I believed could help me prevent my grandfather from taking over, the man knew as Jokten.” Kael glanced at Tsarek then looked directly at Corvan. “Jokten ruled Kadir and was on the council of the Cor. I told him about my grandfather’s secret entry into the dream chamber and asked him to warn the council. Instead, Jokten found his way to the Kholm and used the entry to steal the hammer and the scepter. He took them, along with his own son to the surface world. He sent us a message that once my grandfather finally died, Jokten would bring his own son, the hammer, and the scepter back to the Cor, reestablish the council and then life in the Cor would return to normal. It was a foolish move that enabled my grandfather to deceive and destroy the council, plunging the Cor into a civil war that still rages."

  Kael came back to the table, but Corvan just stared down at its polished surface. Tsarek had called Jokten his past-father. Was the son Jokten had taken to the surface his missing grandfather?

  Kael pointed a finger at Corvan. "No doubt your own grandfather told you about the wonderful deeds your family performed to save the Cor. The truth is, Jokten was a renegade who refused to work with the others for the common good. His actions opened the way for my grandfather to use the council for his own evil plans. The Great Destruction spread to all our cities. Your family shares the blame for that.”

  Corvan's face flushed in anger as he blurted out, "My grandfather never talked to me. He died in a mining accident when I was a baby."

  The man straightened up. "So that is why you are wandering about the Cor without any real purpose. It’s a good thing Tsarek brought you to us on time." He walked behind Corvan's back, his voice dropping low. "But you do have a purpose. You are here to undo the damage caused by your family and to help me restore order to the cities of the Cor."

  Corvan twisted to face him, as much as the ropes would allow. "I'm here to rescue my father because your people, your Rakash took him."

  "My Rakash? No Corvan, I would not permit that to happen. The Rakash are being created by the man you may know as the Gatekeeper." He pointed to the curtained side of the room and raised his voice. "These are my people, the last remnant of the royal family of the Cor." Kael rested his hands on Corvan's shoulders. "They are also your family, son."

  Corvan twisted away and slouched in the chair. "I'm not your son."

  The man spoke in his ear. "If you don't even know why you are here, how can you know to which family you belong?"

  Corvan gripped the edge of the table, and his knuckles went white. "I'm here to take my father home."

  Kael came around the table. "Your father is home. This is where his family is from and this is where he must stay."

  Corvan gritted his teeth. "That’s not true. My father belongs at home with my mother."

  Kael returned to stand behind chair. "Yes, we need to talk about your mother. She must be worried about the two of you." He smiled. "Should I send my Rakash to bring her down here so we can all be together?"

  Corvan tried to jump to his feet but sprawled on the table, his ankles tied tightly the heavy chair. He pushed himself upright and glared at the man across from him. "Leave my mother out of this."

  Kael’s face grew somber. "I wish that I could." Tsarek stirred on the table and the man ran a hand down Tsarek's spine. Corvan's anger flared. If there were a lumien in reach he would eat its seed right now and defeat this man.

  "I think we must accept the fact that your mother will eventually come looking for your father. She loves him very much." He shook his head. "Personally, I would be happy to see her, but my grandfather would take out his wrath against her." Sadness filled his eyes. "I truly do not want to see your mother hurt."

  "Then let my father go so he can return to her."

  "I can't do that."

  "You mean you won't."

  "If he were to return to the surface now, he would die in a very short time. Come with me,” Kael said, looking past Corvan and waving someone forward. A moment later the ropes around Corvan’s ankles went slack and fell away.

  Corvan pushed the chair back, stood to his feet, and followed Kael over to the pool. The man stepped in close to the low wall and pointed down. Corvan squinted against the light.

  A man's body lay submerged in the bright fluid. His eyes were closed, and white tubes emerged from each nostril, out of the fluid and hung in a metal stand clamped to the side of the pool.

  It was difficult for Corvan to see past the bright glimmer on the surface of the gatekeeper’s elixir but as he watched the submerged body took a deep breath; the chest rose, and his father’s face broke the surface.