Chapter 8 - The Twelfth Secret

It was 13th of Eirm'Haiir, the eighth day of the week, Zamanira, a day of rest for all the dominions.

In Igorus' home, Kaeda was tending to her newborn son. She was feeding him, changing his diapers, dressing him; in other words, doing everything a mother does for her baby.

"Ohhohmhm! You're so adorable!" Kaeda said to her little one.

Voidanos gazed into his mother's eyes, smiling in that innocent, infantile way, full of baby giggles.

"Mommy loves you so much! Do you know how much Mommy loves you? A xhuguxhugu," Kaeda cooed, tickling his cheek with affection.

Igorus stood in the kitchen, chopping potatoes in preparation for a hearty family lunch. He wore a white cooking apron, calmly busying himself with the meal.

"Love, could you bring me the baby bottle? It's in the bottom drawer of the dresser in the bedroom," Kaeda called out.

"Of course, darling, right away," he replied, leaving the half-chopped potatoes behind as he headed to the bedroom.

A knock was heard at the door.

"I'm coming," said Kaeda as she rose from the couch, leaving the baby gazing around with curiosity.

It was her two sisters, Ueda and Luena, who had come for a visit. Ueda, short-haired, brunette, with chestnut eyes, wore a classic pink dress with white stripes along the hem. Luena, long-haired, also brunette, with striking green eyes, wore a sky-blue dress with the same white-striped hem. Both of them beamed at their sister as she greeted them at the door.

"Oh! Come in, come in! Welcome," Kaeda said happily.

"We came to see the little sweetheart who was just born. Is your husband around?" asked Ueda, glancing around the room.

"Yes, my husband's here. He's in the other room looking for the baby bottle," Kaeda replied.

"That's wonderful. Then it's good to finally be here," both sisters said in unison.

Meanwhile, Igorus stood thoughtfully in the bedroom, having just found his son's bottle. His eyes lingered on the top of the dresser, where a few small, empty brown vases were placed.

"Love! Did you find it?" Kaeda called out.

"Yes, I'm coming," said Igorus, pulling his gaze away and walking toward his wife.

"And then? That colleague of mine at work said my dress was a little too big. I told her, that's just the fashion, you don't understand these things," Ueda was saying in the middle of her chat with her sister.

"People are just envious, nothing you can do about it," Luena replied.

"Of course, that's how it always is, sister. If you wear what you like, the dominions will be on your back about it," Ueda added.

"Would you ladies like something to drink?" asked Igorus as he entered the living room, baby bottle in hand.

"Take care of your son first, give him what he needs, then you can ask us," Ueda said with a laugh.

"Of course, of course, that goes without saying," Igorus answered as he handed the bottle to his son.

"What would you like to drink? We have beer and wine in the kitchen if you'd like," Kaeda offered.

"No, no, don't trouble yourself. We just came to see this beautiful little fellow here," Ueda said, playfully tapping the baby's nose.

"Have a lovely day," said Luena as the two sisters began to take their leave.

"Thank you for coming. Take care, goodbye," said Kaeda together with Igorus.

"Goodbye," the sisters replied.

Silence settled over the house once the sisters had gone. Igorus and Kaeda looked at their child, who was peacefully sucking on the bottle.

"Do you think lunch is ready?" Kaeda asked.

"It needs a little more time," Igorus replied.

"Were you with Kaies yesterday after work?" Kaeda asked.

"Yes, he invited me for a coffee since his shift had ended early," said Igorus.

"And how was he?"

"He's fine. He doesn't really have any responsibilities besides work," Igorus answered.

"He's still single, isn't he?" Kaeda asked.

"That's the way he's decided it. You know how childish he is in the head," Igorus replied.

"Hahaha, true. Whoever takes it upon themselves to deal with him is bound to find trouble," Kaeda said, laughing.

Igorus smiled, watching his wife's laughter. Then his eyes drifted toward the wall opposite the table. Hanging there was a painting: a long red carpet stretched out, and on either side stood twelve dark suits of armor, each holding a sword in its grasp. He fixed his gaze on the painting, too much so. It was as if he lost himself inside it, as though he were standing upon that very red carpet. And then...

"Know ye not that we were destined to be the Eleven Kindu, the firstborn dragons that ever drew breath?" said Izidra, looking at her right hand. Thus, we returned to the earlier scene.

"Yes, we're aware," said Kaies, while Igorus nodded in agreement.

"Verily, ye are no dragons, yet an essence of our kindred flame abideth in you. But this availeth little. What ye encountered but erewhile was a key, one that hath guided thee unto this threshold, a gate of the Arch of Sizran." Izidra said in her calm voice, now fixing her gaze on the two brothers.

"The Arch of Sizran? There's more than one?" Igorus asked, his curiosity burning.

"It's remarkably similar to the necropolis of gates near the kingdom of Marubor," Kaies observed.

"Within those gates are sealed the pure powers of the dragons, locked away for the ruin they would wreak. We have learned to ascend, to shape new forms befitting life and reason. Therefore were we constrained to cast our savage nature aside, and bind it within the gates." Izidra explained.

Igorus and Kaies listened intently to the Kindu, not daring to interrupt.

"In sooth, within those gates lie our very powers, the powers of the Kindu. Yet more grievous still, our souls were shackled therewith. We possess no bodies of flesh, only semblances wrought within those prisons. And the cause of this is truth most dire: there were not eleven Kindu, but twelve."

The two brothers were shaken by what they heard. Time seemed to slow; every twitch of muscle felt sharper, heavier, and the chamber itself grew more bewildering than it should have been.

"Twelve Kindu? All our lives we were taught there were only eleven, the eleven ancient dragons who created the dominions," Kaies said in disbelief.

"So, ye call yourselves Dominion... hmm..." Izidra said, intrigued.

"If there are only eleven gates, then..." Igorus began, but his words trailed off.

"Then the twelfth Kindu might still be alive," Kaies finished the thought, though even he could hardly believe the words spilling out like a waterfall into that lake of mystery. Igorus turned to his brother, frightened and uneasy, the weight of this realization pressing heavier with each passing second.

"Tis sooth. The Twelfth Kindu endureth still. Our curse hath long plagued this world, even unto this age. The cause of our undoing, our death..." Izidra said, her voice carrying a faint tremor of unease.

"What?" Kaies whispered in disbelief. His mind refused to process it, something so simple to hear, yet impossibly heavy to comprehend within the walls of knowledge he had always trusted.

Igorus was left speechless. He could only stare at the Kindu, horror etched across his face at what he had just heard.

"You weren't killed by demons?" Igorus finally asked, breaking through the ice of fear that had left him paralyzed.

"De... De-what?" Izidra replied, confused.

Igorus and Kaies exchanged glances, startled by the fact that Izidra had no knowledge of demons, and that the whole story they had been told was nothing but a colossal lie.

"The Twelfth Kindu? Who is she, and how did she kill you?" Kaies asked, his curiosity burning, bracing himself for an answer he could never predict.

"Alas, I wot not. Each time I strive to summon her image, to grasp her name, she slips like mist from my mind..." Izidra began to cough.

"Lord Izidra!" Kaies reacted in alarm.

"Each time the gender of the Twelfth Kindu is spoken, it seems to trigger an effect on you. At the very least, we know it is a woman," Igorus said.

"That is all I know for the nonce as well. Her spirit, (khoohff), her presence burneth with exceeding strength; yet we, the Eleven Kindu, can but place our hope in another. Perchance in Uanamangura. And one thing more, Igorus..."

Igorus listened closely to what Izidra had to say.

"The Twelfth Kindu... She is the cause thy son is Uanamangura." Izidra declared.

"Huh?!"

The news struck him so suddenly that Igorus didn't know how to react. The sounds of the room, the tension in his muscles, his vision, even the feeling of his skin, everything went numb. The vision he had seen only minutes earlier, his son transformed into a monster, echoed into the emptiness that now consumed his heart.

"My son... She has sealed my son's fate?" Igorus asked himself, his voice flat, repeating the words like a machine, devoid of emotion, stripped of meaning.

Kaies looked at his brother with boundless pity.

"Igorus..." he whispered, his voice heavy with sympathy and sorrow.

"I hold also further tidings of the Twelfth Kindu, and of her dread design: to set Uanamangura and Bakabali at strife. Uanamangura is fated to be heir of the dragons, bearing the deepest spiritual kinship with us. Though he, or she, may not wield Draken, yet shall they command all other forms of energy. Even now Uanamangura abideth within our legends, a hero foretokened of the new world. But Bakabali, he is the sworn adversary, wrought either by another nation I cannot name, or perchance some realm unknown. From what thou hast told me, it hath been thirteen thousand years since our passing. Most like, it hath taken her all these long ages to fashion a perfect Uanamangura." Izidra said.

"But how is that possible? Why Igorus' son, of all children?" Kaies asked.

"There is a great likelihood, Igorus, that thy son possesseth the true affinity for this destiny. The form of the energy-bearing organ differeth from soul to soul. This, I deem, is the very cause thy son was a perfect vessel for Uanamangura." Izidra explained.

"There's a very dangerous illness that affects newborns. Could it be that the Twelfth Kindu failed to create Uanamangura, and as a result, the infants die?" Kaies asked.

Igorus, struck speechless, stared at his brother intently. What he had just heard stirred an intrigue far beyond the ordinary.

"Yea, what thou sayest is most like to be true. The Twelfth Kindu bringeth a dread disruption upon the mother, and upon all who dwell about her, in the hour she seeketh to fashion Uanamangura. If she falter, swift death falleth upon the babe. I wot not yet the whole cause, yet I deem it lieth in the strife of natures, Draken and thy energy, set one against the other, being powers contrary. Moreover, she wrought many trials upon dragons, striving to forge a soldier meet for her dark design, yet never did she prevail." Izidra said.

"Kaeda mentioned that after the birth, she experienced a moment of confusion," Igorus murmured, his voice faint, still reeling from all he was hearing.

"It was the 12th Kindu back then, not the manifestation of your son's power," Kaies said urgently.

"Damn it! We must find out who it is!" Igorus shouted in fury, his wings spreading as he prepared to fly toward the gate's exit.

"And how, then, wilt thou seek her? Tell us, Igorus, by what means thou shalt find her?" Izidra asked, her voice now taking on a grave tone.

Igorus stopped and turned to look Kindu straight in the eyes. He didn't know what to say, nor how to act, but in that instant he realized that the path he was about to take was reckless and foolishly thoughtless.

"The sooth cause wherefore I did summon thee hither, is for that I wot the way whereby she may be found." Izidra said.

Both brothers widened their eyes in surprise.

"Deep within the Guhojre forest, by a vale of blood-red trees, lieth another key to one of the gates. There also may Kindu Skorona be found. Strange it is, that I speak again his name, that stubborn, wayward wight. Yet beyond the sea that girdeth the divine isle there dwelleth a hybrid, Alfons by name. He alone holdeth certain knowledge of the Twelfth Kindu, as my sight revealeth. Great cause is there to believe he hath looked upon her, for he hath walked this world more than three thousand and five hundred years. Skorona shall teach thee the path to meet him, cloaked from every gaze. But thou must abide thy time, eight years in patience." Izidra said.

"Eight years?" Igorus asked.

"The island's barrier weakens every one hundred and thirty-eight years. Its cycle of renewal ends in eight years' time," Kaies explained.

"Yea, verily. Thou must do all in thy power to betray naught of what I have spoken, and to remain unseen. Else shalt thou stir dread and draw upon thyself those whom thou wouldst not endure to face. It is amongst us still. Now, go forth, for thou mayest depart." said Izidra, extending her left hand, pale as snow, her nails dark as night. In the next instant, the entire chamber vanished, and the two brothers found themselves once more upon the dominion-lined road, just as it had been before they passed through the gate.

"I cannot believe the kind of situation we've been thrown into. It was truly—"

Igorus cut himself short when he saw Kaies, whose face bore a look graver than usual, marked by a faint trace of anger. The sight startled Igorus, but his brother quickly changed his expression, shaking his head slightly.

"F-Forgive me. It's just... all that information was difficult to absorb, and I was only thinking..."