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? Had this been his plan all along?

Tsarek moved forward and the man leaned over the table and ran his hand gently down the lizard's spines. Tsarek sagged, his head drooping.

"It has been a long time since I have seen you, my friend," the man said softly. 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 sat back and turned his attention to Corvan. "So, at last we meet."

Corvan glared back at him. Tsarek had led him into a trap and this man was his captor. This man might even be the owner of the black band and was seeking to capture Kate as well. He had nothing to say to him.

"I think it might help if I tell you about myself and the history you and I have in common. My name is Kael, and I am the grandson of the last great leader of the Cor, the last Cor-Van." He grimaced. "I hesitate to even call him that now for my grandfather was a great leader only 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. A potion so powerful it can reverse aging and cure all illness but only at a great cost to the rest of the community."

Kael leaned toward Corvan. "In return for the Lifelight my grandfather gave the Makers full access to all the lumiens in our capital city of Dubok Kholm. That first time, hardly anyone noticed the small number of lumiens that vanished, and the city rejoiced when my grandfather recovered. My grandfather was much stronger than before, he reappeared before them looking younger and full of vitality. All the people of the city admired him greatly, except for my parents. Only they knew his miraculous recovery was from receiving those first two drops of Lifelight. They were afraid of what might come next, and rightly so."

Kael looked to the painted faces overhead. "Wisdom is proven by our actions and over time, my grandfather became even more fearful of aging and death. It must have been a side effect of consuming the Lifelight, but his bitterness and anger grew exponentially along with his desire for more. Secretly he made a new agreement with the Makers for a full vial of the Lifelight, but my father overheard and discovered the new deal would cost most of the city's lumiens. It was clear my grandfather cared only about himself and his plan to cheat death forever. An incredibly strong and fundamentally evil Cor-Van would be the end of everything."

Kael sat up and looked directly at Corvan. "As the lumien's dwindled, the city grew darker. My father could only watch and wait until the completed vial of Lifelight was being delivered to my grandfather, then he attacked the Makers and stole it away. The Makers ran 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 a few loyal members of the royal family escaped across the bridge into Bandur city."

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

"My grandfather and his guards attacked the city of Bandur on the night of deepest dark. My parents died at the outset of the invasion." Kael stopped, shook his head, and sighed heavily before continuing. "I took the vial of Lifelight and fled with my young companions into the city of Rozan. The gates connecting Bandur and Rozan were sealed, but my grandfather was so convinced the Lifelight had been hidden in Bandur, he tore the city apart to find where it was hidden. After a prolonged battle through the broken streets, my grandfather's forces were greatly reduced, and he was forced to retreat to his own city, taking most of Bandur's lumiens for his personal use, to sustain him until he could find the Lifelight. Those who in Bandur who had survived collapsed the bridge to the Kholm and tried to rebuild but it was too late. They began to fight amongst themselves over the remaining lumiens and fell into a civil war that destroyed what was left of the city."

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.

"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."

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Kael pointed across the room to a small single door. "I turned to the only person I believed could help me prevent my grandfather from taking over, the man you knew as Jokten." Kael glanced at Tsarek then looked directly at Corvan. "At that time, 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 life in the Cor would return to normal. It was a foolish move that fully enabled my grandfather to deceive and destroy the council, plunging the Cor into a civil war that still rages, what we all refer to now as the Great Destruction."

Kael strode back to the table, but Corvan just stared down at its polished surface. Tsarek had called Jokten his past-father and that could only mean his own grandfather was the son who had been taken to the surface for safekeeping.

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. He was able to exert his influence over all the cities. Your family shares the blame for the ongoing hardships we now bear in the aftermath of those terrible times."

Corvan's face flushed in anger, and he blurted out, "My grandfather never talked to me about the Cor. He died in a mining accident when I was a young boy."

"So that is why you are wandering about the Cor without any real purpose," Kael said as he drew near. "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 never have permitted that to happen if I ruled Anamir. The Rakash are being created by the man you 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 paused and 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. Your not my family."

The man leaned over him and 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 to his own family."

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

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

Kael reached his chair and pushed it back under the table. "Yes, we need to talk about your mother. She must be worried about the two of you." He gave a weak smile. "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 across the table, his ankles tied tightly the heavy chair. He pushed himself upright and glared at the man. "Leave my mother out of this."

Kael's face grew somber. "I wish that I could." Tsarek stirred on the table and the man reached out to lay a hand on the lizard's head. 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 again by him."

"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 next 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 to run out over the surface to 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 air hissing in through the tubes. The man's chest rose; and his father's face broke the surface.

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