The First Trinity: Three Crowns, #5

By David Heyman

To save the world, first they must find the weapons that would destroy it.

With the return of Brighthart all but assured, Victor Claye sets off with another hastily assembled team, hoping he can beat his creator at her own game. Of course nothing is ever simple when magic is involved. First they must travel into the magically tainted land of Tajikia, jump through a portal into another world and... rescue a princess? Kidnap a princess? They need to move a princess somewhere at the very least.

Find out just how many new laws this odd ensemble can break as they travel across Caer Innar, and beyond in book five of the Three Crowns!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Heyman
• Release date: May 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215078983

David Heyman

David Heyman David Heyman is a writer based in Shizuoka, Japan. Originally from London, he moved to Japan to teach English after living in Wales for fifteen years. When not educating others about the glorious (read as confusing) English language he finds time to write. While in Japan he met his wonderful and supportive wife and now spends most of his free time with her either gardening or generally being geeky together. For more information about future books from Synthetic Minds Press, author interviews and exclusive short stories, you can sign up to our monthly mailing list at https://www.getrevue.co/profile/minds_press

Book preview

Chapter 1 - Surprise!

People often react rather badly when surprised, which is understandable because most surprises are terrible. Set the mood by first warning everyone what you are going to do and avoid all that unpleasantness.

R. Gore - ‘How to Throw a Party & Not Get Stabbed’

Like everyone else in the fortress, Eric had not expected to be awake in the early avum of sunup. Yet, it was challenging to find rest when a panicked man was screaming at the top of his voice about the world coming to an end.

It took Eric a few moments to fully come to his senses and realise that he knew the voice, which suddenly made what he was yelling about all that more serious.

The mages had taken to calling back, telling Victor to be quiet in various levels of politeness. A few of the younger children could be heard adding their own cries to the cacophony of sunup.

Victor's yelling faded away, having already run by the Emerald Tower where Eric had been assigned a room. He looked out of his window, a luxury by some accounts, and caught the distant figure of Victor as he sprinted across the grounds towards the great hall.

Masters, to action! We haven't an avarium to lose! She is coming! I said, She. Is. Coming! Victor bellowed as he ran, sadly not having access to the powers of Zepha that would have made transporting such a message easy.

What are you raving on about! A voice in the breeze came to him just ahead of the Grand Master, whose form materialised out of the air.

Finally allowing himself to come to a stop, Victor took the briefest of moments to fill his lungs with air again.

She came to me. I thought it was a dream at first, but there can be no doubt she survived and claims she has a way back to this world! We must act!

She? You mean Brighthart? the Grand Master asked.

Of course I do. Who else could it be? Victor snapped.

Calm yourself! the Grand Master said, and the wind rose in speed to meet their tone.

Victor was forced to take a step back, covering his face until the gust of wind died down again.

Sorry, this whole situation has left me rather shaken. I know what we have to do but have no idea how much time we have to do it. It might already be too late if she can reach me here.

Then let us assume it isn't. I shall summon the council, and we will act swiftly and decisively. She will not be given a second chance here, the Grand Master said.

They began moving their arms in a complex pattern, leaving an afterglow of the design in the air. The markings looked familiar though Victor couldn't quite place why. As the actions finished, Victor’s body became weightless; then, an avarium later, everything blurred as he zipped across the fortress grounds, passing through solid walls before he could even cry with surprise.

When mass returned to him, he found that they had moved to the Master's tower and that the other mages had been pulled along with him in various forms of sleepwear.

What in Innar is the meaning of... Elextrasia trailed off when she realised who was standing before her. Grand Master! My apologies!

It is I who must apologise though I trust you know I would not have done something so dramatic without just cause. Mr Claye had a visitation from Brighthart, and she will likely walk among us soon, if she doesn't already.

The Masters reacted with cries of shock, alarm, despair and less family-friendly statements than befitted their station. Victor was particularly impressed by the linguistic creativity displayed by Elextrasia when expressing her concerns.

Please, pull yourselves together! We do not have time for this sort of behaviour. The Grand Master gestured towards the meeting table. Without further comment, the others found their places around it, leaving Victor and the Grand Master standing by the window through which they had 'come in'. Mr Claye, please, if you would be so kind as to relate your experience for the others.

I have just suffered through the most disturbing of visitations. Brighthart has found a way to return, and we must act now or she will surely destroy us as she tried to the first time.

The silence stretched out, the Masters looking at each other for a sign of understanding, a hint of betrayal. It was not a pleasant thought, but given what they knew of their own history there was only one way Brighthart could achieve what Victor claimed ⸻ someone from the outside had helped her.

Victor was surprised that they hadn't all leapt upon him as their traitor. Masters, please. You are not the only ones capable of this act, and if what I saw is true, another force has been working against us, connected to and corrupted by the void. We must face this with absolute trust in our council and friends, or she will use that to break us.

You expect us to trust you? Elextrasia asked.

There was a potent pause, and while Victor was about to answer, the Grand Master stepped forward and said, I'll answer this.

They turned their gaze, hidden behind the mask of their rank, directly upon Elextrasia. Despite not being able to see their expression, the Master of Pyriel squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable with this newfound attention.

We will give Mr Claye our trust for the simple reason that he has clearly acted in our best interests on multiple occasions, despite our less than welcoming behaviour. He did not need to bring the boy here. He certainly didn't need to return with Merillis and was under no obligation to share his visitation with us.

They swept a glance over the mages. Only Fella and Merillis were able to meet their leader’s gaze, the others finding their own shame in how they had reacted to Victor.

Given the severity of these events, we will give what he has to say a fair hearing, and then we will do all that must be done to ensure that monster is removed from Innar once and for all.

There were mumbles of acknowledgement as though seven of the most powerful mages living were naughty school children receiving a scolding from their head teacher.

Well then, now that we are agreed, please tell us what we need to do, the Grand Master said, glancing back towards Victor.

Thank you for your kind words, Grand Master. Victor looked over at the others. For the most part, he seemed to hold their attention now. There is only one thing that Brighthart ever wanted; the three crowns. Why she wanted them, not even I was privy to that information. Still, I saw first-hand the destruction that she was able to unleash on a whim with just one of these artefacts.

While we are all too aware of the legends around this Brighthart person, said Master Tertz, our histories are a little muddied on certain details. I think I might be speaking for everyone when I ask, what in Innar are the three crowns?

The muttering and comments that followed confirmed that Tertz was indeed not alone in his confusion.

Victor was surprised, to say the least, and it took him a few avarium to compose an answer, giving the mages time to quieten down again.

Are you aware of the trinities? he started, needing more information to find out just how out of their depth they all were.

Of course, we understand the fundamentals of the alignment of the nine Sources, Tritania said, our library might be incomplete, but it is not empty!

This drew a few light-hearted chuckles from the Masters, and Victor took it in his stride.

This isn't just about the alignments. It's about how they first worked together to create the crowns.

This brought silence back to the room until Tertz asked what they were all thinking. When you say 'they', who exactly are you talking about? The original nine of our order or... He hesitated, unsure if he actually wanted an answer now that he was about to say it out loud. ...someone else?

Victor held back the first answer that came to mind since they didn't have the time for this to devolve into a fight. When this was all over, if they survived, he would be checking through just how much knowledge they had lost over the cycles. The first nine were never creatures of this world. I'm talking about the nine god-like beings from whom the realms of Source get their names. They are the ones who crafted the crowns and given our current situation, the crowns are perhaps the only thing strong enough to stop her.

The Masters took this information surprisingly well, considering Victor suspected it rocked a significant part of their understanding of the world.

What makes Brighthart so strong anyway? There are eleven of us ready and able to fight her, including two Seram if you count the donkey, Korgen said.

A fair question and one I'm afraid I do not have the answer to. Out of all of us, Bellus, the one with his powers intact at least, would be the least likely to die from the encounter. She not only survived the binding, a spell that combined eight of the nine Sources, but apparently thrived within the void. Brighthart was unusually gifted back when I first knew her. I shudder to think how powerful she is now, Victor explained, the words sounding heavy and defeatist to his own ears but it was the truth.

The Grand Master understood this too, adding, So we need the crowns to have the advantage. How do we obtain them?

That's the tricky bit; truthfully, I don't entirely know, Victor confessed, and the room exploded with sound. But I know where to start! he bellowed over them all, bringing some order back to the meeting.

You probably should have led with that, Elextrasia said, unable to resist getting in that jab.

Perhaps you could learn to let people finish speaking, Victor shot back, and the two glowered at each other until the Grand Master stepped in again.

When you are both quite done, perhaps you could tell us where we must go?

Victor took a deep breath, calming himself. Yes, of course. The doorway to the first crown can be found on the borders of Tajikia. This is where we finally ambushed and trapped Brighthart last time; when she was, or so we believed, defeated, the survivors hid the crown she had possessed nearby. There is a secret doorway which we must open to gain access to the crown. Victor stopped when Tertz put his hand up. Yes?

What do you mean by doorway? Should we expect some sort of magical floating door in the middle of nowhere?

"There is a micro realm; I believe it was created for the sole purpose of hiding and protecting the crown. The doorway to this realm is in Tajikia or, at least, it was back then.

Another is rumoured to be guarded by an ancient order of knights. However, both the order and the city within which they dwell was lost to us even back then. Some used to say that the oceans of Innar claimed the city, others that they had taken it into the sky and hidden themselves away from the world. The third crown, however, is even more of a mystery, and I have spent cycles trying to solve it.

Do we need all three if they are as powerful as you suggest? Merillis asked.

Possibly not, but if she knows where they are, we need to remove them from her reach more than obtaining them all for ourselves. Knowing how she was in those final passes, I cannot imagine the devastation she would unleash with their power.

Well then, let us begin with what we do know. Mr Claye, I would like you to lead one party to Tajikia since you know what to look for there. The rest of us shall see what we can find about your lost city. Perhaps our combined efforts will reveal something you could not see alone, the Grand Master said.

I would like to go with Bellus and the woman. Perhaps Merillis would care to join me too since speed will be of the essence.

Yeveka, Merillis said. Bellus's friend is called Yeveka. Of course, you will have to ask them, but I am willing.

Good. Everyone else, we have no time to lose. I want every scrap of information you can find about the knightly orders of Innar. Use every spell at your disposal. Scour through every book we have to seek them out. Failure is not an option, the Grand Master announced, and there was clearly no room to argue.

The meeting at an end, the Masters departed from the room, save for Merillis and the Grand Master. When the others had all left, Merillis left his seat and walked over to Victor.

Should I open a door for us to the Amethyst Tower then? he asked.

Victor nodded, and when the Grand Master raised no objection, the mage began pulling the power to him, linking the two places together in his mind before tracing the shape of his forming doorway with his fingers in the air.

The whole process took him less than ten avarium. Once finished, both he and Victor walked through, leaving the Grand Master to go about their own research into the second crown.

Chapter 2 - Getting The Team Together

Travel via magic has not always been publicly accessible. For a long time, only the most skilled practitioners could safely use such doorways, trusting in the focus of their minds to take them to where they wanted to go. Luckily, thanks to archanics, we no longer have to worry about stray thoughts sending us inside a mountain, assuming you can afford to use such devices.

F. A. Raway - ‘Travelling in Style’

The doorway took them from one tower to another. However, Merillis had been considerate enough of their guests to not bring them directly into Bellus or Yeveka's rooms.

Instead, Victor and the Master Mage were within arm’s reach of an incredibly ancient wooden door. It appeared darkened from fire marks, warped and worn from the passage of time, yet otherwise fully functioning. Flaking paint suggested that something might have been written here once, though the words were lost to the ages.

Merillis reached out and barely had time to move his hand away from the first knock when the door swung open, revealing Bellus and a frustrated Yeveka sitting on her bed.

What are you... Merillis started but was cut off when Bellus waved them both into the room.

Right on time. I told you they would be here soon!

Yeveka looked unimpressed by his proclamation.

Would one of you mind explaining what in Innar is going on and why he barged into my room telling me I had to start packing? she asked.

Er, sure. We were hoping you would join us on another, um, adventure, I suppose is the simplest way to put it, Merillis said.

I assume it will be full of danger and weird magic stuff again? Yeveka asked.

Most likely, yes, Victor confirmed. If you prefer not to join us, I would entirely understand, given the creatures we might be fighting.

Oh no, if it gets me out of this place I'd face a starving pack of liphers. Hells, I'm bored! And the weather is all wrong, the sounds are wrong!

Well, that confirms that. How about you, Bellus? We are going to get the crown where we ambushed Brighthart before, Victor said.

Of course, that's why I was here, trying to tell her we needed to get ready. One thing though, how are you planning on keeping those two alive if we do come across one of her beasties or even Brighthart herself?

The latter? Well, we could run or die. As for the former, I can provide a limited ward, given the lack of time for preparation.

Excellent! Bellus cried out, causing Merillis to wince in empathy for anyone who had still been trying to sleep. Let's go get a magical hat thing!

Yes, yes, it's all terribly exciting but do try to keep it down, please, Merillis said, raising a finger to his lips.

Bellus nodded solemnly, his mood changing like the tossing of a coin, and Merillis turned back to Victor.

You said we will be going to Tajikia? It might be better if I take us to the border; things are still too volatile there, and I'd rather we all walked out of the doorway with our limbs in the right places.

A sound decision. Since we are all in good health, it shouldn't be more than a couple of passes for us to get to the portal. Do you know the town of Tamerwick? Victor asked, and Merillis shook his head. It's to the weir of the border, barely a length away by the main fork in the river Yeole. Victor attempted to describe the location since none of them possessed a map at this time, and opening a doorway