Story of Irrats

The story told by Alex was quite a stretch for a fantasy aplenty.

The Great Master who created the Lace had two sons: Oel and Irr. The first son, as you know, founded Oeldiv, the land in the center. The second founded Irrat, the frontier of the Order before the face of the Boundless Chaos. The representatives of two clans of the Lace are direct descendants of the Great Master, while all others are his creations. And only a few of the Master's descendants possess his legacy: knowledge that gives them the power to work with the very fabric of being and alter the structure of the Lace. This knowledge includes both creation and destruction, and that’s why only the best of the Master's descendants are allowed to acquire it.

The Sa-Maste Clan has ruled the Dark Edge for thousands of years, resisting the power of Chaos, remembering the prophecies, and following the teachings of the Great Master. 

I'll begin with Garbor the Terrible, so named for his incredible cruelty and intolerance. He was feared and hated, but no one dared to rebel against him. 

The king had three sons: Angrew, Mabert, and Xaval. The first heir was Angrew, the eldest brother. He was followed by Mabert. As for the youngest, Xaval, he had almost no chance of getting the crown. 

The young prince had an independent personality and didn't want to spend his life in the shadow of his brothers. He disowned his family and his land and disappeared somewhere in the Lace, stealing a precious artifact. This, however, was not discovered until much later. Mabert also left Irrat after his brother to seek new knowledge in other worlds. But he left with his father's blessing and swore allegiance to the Dark Edge.  

Angrew stayed with his father and did what a crown prince should do. He was said to have the talents of a ruler. With his kind heart, bravery, and justice, he won the love of the people of Irrat. 

Once, while visiting one of the vassal worlds, he met Lady Flavia of the Haighwerg Clan. He fell in love with her and decided to marry her. Unfortunately, the Haighwergs were descendants of the Demons of Chaos and worshiped the Living Void, and their clan was an enemy of Sa-Maste. Naturally, Garbor objected to this marriage and forbade his son to even see his beloved. The result was the opposite of what was expected. Blinded by passion, the prince secretly married Flavia and used every means to see his wife. 

When Garbor found out, he became furious. He disowned his eldest son, banished him from the country, and proclaimed Mabert his sole heir. 

 Nevertheless, Angrew would not go along with his father's decision. With the support of his wife's relatives and the nobility, who were dissatisfied with the king's autocratic policies, he started a rebellion to overthrow his father. He was on the verge of success, but eventually he and other rebels were captured and executed. Flavia managed to escape at the last moment. Shortly after these events, Garbor died. It was rumored that he died because of Angrew's curse. 

So Mabert was crowned. He was received with suspicion, but due to his wise policies and a certain tolerance, he finally won the respect and even the love of the people. For the first time in many years, he established relations with the second branch of the Master's descendants - the Children of Light of Oeldiv. He even married one of them, Lady Velda, who had the gift of foresight.

Two children were born to his family: Teimur and Tefana, twins. As the years passed, the children grew up. There was peace and harmony in Irrat. Even the Haighwerg family seemed to settle down. 

Once, on his way home after visiting the vassal worlds, Teimur got into a magnetic anomaly – something that could happen even to an advanced Lace Bug. He would have died, but he was saved by someone who introduced himself as Knight Walter of the Middle Worlds. Filled with gratitude, Teimur brought Walter to Irrat, called him his brother, and let him live in the palace.

Walter was young and handsome, full of vitality, and seemed to be the knight without fear and beyond reproach, as they say. Princess Tefana fell in love with him, and King Mabert didn't object to their marriage. Soon the young couple was expecting a child. 

On the night that Tefana gave birth to her son, Queen Velda turned to the threads of Fate that stretched to infinity, and saw something that struck her to the very heart. 

She couldn't keep the secret, so she came to Tefana and told her everything. It turned out that Walter was the son of the executed Angrew and Flavia. He also had a daughter with the vampire woman Alva on his homeworld. He had not come to Irrat by chance, but to take revenge and take the throne. He wanted to end his father's clan and even destroy the Lace. Only Walter’s own son would be able to stop him – if the child could survive the first three months of his life, which would not be easy.

Unfortunately, Walter overheard their conversation. He burst into the room, killed his wife and son, mortally wounded Velda, and fled. The queen had yet time, before she died, to tell the whole story to Mabert, who came running at the sound. 

The king was inconsolable. 

Teimur, full of rage and thirsting for revenge, followed his enemy. He left home as a young man and returned two days later, old and decrepit. Within hours, he died at the hands of his father. But Walter did not go unpunished either. Teimur's magic didn't kill him, but his face was disfigured forever. 

Mabert put a fabulous bounty on Walter's head, but none of those who went searching for him returned. Grief changed the king; he became like Garbor. He executed every stranger who entered Irrat. It was a hard time for Irrat. 

After a while, horrible rumors spread around the Dark Edge: about the breach in the Shield and the growing power of Chaos, and about the mad mage who called himself the Faceless Destroyer and spread terror and death everywhere. 

Then Mabert remembered his responsibility as the keeper of the Shield, and threw everything he had into the fight against the Faceless, but the mage was elusive. 

Once, however, the Faceless Destroyer himself came to Irrat's palace, somehow slipping past the guards and magical defenses. He appeared before Mabert and his assistants and identified himself as Walter, son of Angrew and sole heir to the throne of Irrat. He gave them an ultimatum: either Mabert would abdicate the throne, or the Lace would be destroyed. 

"So that’s how it was," Alex finished his story. "Since that day, for more than ten years, the Edge has been in a constant state of war. As you can see, the Lace still exists, though it looks a bit shabby. Actually, not long ago, the forces were equal and we were able to hold the armies of the Destroyer at bay," Alex paused and took a sip of coffee. "Now I understand that we have underestimated the danger. No one believed. We put too much hope in the Shield and the integrity of the Lace," Alex's voice became hoarse and he cleared his throat. "I can't bring my family back to life. But we must stop the Destroyer."

He stopped talking and turned away. I remained silent, giving him some time to cope with his feelings. When Alex looked at me again, there was no sign of pain in his face.

"Tell me about the Keys," I asked. "What are they?"

"They are the seven artifacts of the Great Master, scattered throughout the different worlds of the Lace. Each of them contains a bit of the primary magic and protects itself. Only a few people know where the Keys are kept. Some of them even have a personal attachment to them. For example, Helyswort. The person for whom this sword is not meant will never receive it. Actually, it’s possible to find a way, with a great wish; it’s very dangerous, but..." he spread his hands, "but we have nothing to do with it. Well. Getting the Keys is not everything. One also has to find the place of the Primary Power, the point where the Master has begun to build the Lace, and there, by placing the Keys in the right order, one can set the system in motion. But even that’s not all. The use of the Keys is only possible for the one whose clan ascends to the Great Master through both Oel and Irr, and who carries the piece of Chaos within."

 "That sounds almost unreal," I noticed. 

"I don't want to test if it's true!" Alex objected. "And I don't want to give the Faceless a single chance, even for a trial! So I decided to get the keys myself."

I ran my hands over my face and collected my thoughts. 

"Okay. Let's suppose you collect the Keys. The Destroyer can send an assassin to kill you, and use the Keys himself. Is that real?"

"It’s possible," Alex agreed. "But as far as I know, if we act in the right way, we can use the Keys to defeat ourselves."

I shrugged.

"It's too vague. Do you know how to do it?"

Alex shook his head negatively. 

"No. No one alive today knows. Perhaps old manuscripts hold the answer. Merlin, if he is still alive, could tell us which ones we need." 

"If he knows it himself."

"You underestimate the Keeper of Knowledge!" Alex exclaimed.

"Sorry, I don't know him."

I stood up, stretched, and walked around the room. 

"Okay, what do we have? If we assume that Helyswort and Esterlior are the Keys..."

"Yes, they are," Alex confirmed.

"So we and the Destroyer have a tie so far. Now it all depends on who reaches the next Key first."

"Unfortunately, he is one step ahead of us," the Prince said gloomily, "he has the Ring of the Great Master."

"Will it work without the other six?"

"No."

"In this case, it's too early to worry. Where could the rest of the Keys be?"

"Well," Alex began to curl his fingers, "two Keys are considered lost, there is no information about them in our library. My wife, Victoria, knows of one more Key. But where is she now?"

He took the crescent-shaped gold pendant from his pocket and began to twist it in his fingers.

"I can't get in touch with her," he said, and glanced at me challengingly. "She's alive! I know it!"

I remained silent. What could I say? 

"Haighwerg knows he will never get the Key without her help," Alex added.

"I don't understand why," I began. 

"Victoria never had the Key itself," Alex explained. "She is the keeper of the secrets. The knowledge of the Key is passed down in her family through the female line. Vic learned it from her great-grandmother, and the next Keeper will not appear until after her death."

"I see," I nodded. "Didn't she tell you anything about the location of the Key?"

"She couldn't, even if she wanted to. There is a complicated defense system."

"So Haighwerg has no chance of getting that information."

 "That's out of the question," Alex confirmed. "If only... Oh no! He will never force her to do that!"

"Do what?" I clarified.

"The Key is completely out of reach, unless the Keeper herself takes it from the secret place."

I thought that aHighwerg, whom I knew as Norn, could talk anyone into anything. Still, I didn't want to think of the worst.

"Okay, we'll deal with that later," I said. "There are three more Keys. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

Alex scratched his head and smiled slyly. "Remember what I’ve told you about Xaval, the third son of Garbor?" he asked.

"And?"

"He was one of the priests of the Eye of the Great Master, or the Eye of Chaos. It was the most powerful Key kept in Irrat. When he escaped from the Edge, he took the Eye with him. By the way, this is what I was looking for last time."

"Are you saying you know where it is?" I asked. 

"Oh, yes," he confirmed. "I think we are going to visit Xaval tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

The last of the Irrats smiled enigmatically. "It's important to get the timing right."