“We are never too old, too seasoned,

  or too great to learn.”

  - The Chronicler

  Chapter 23 : Tower of Treasures

  “Why have you brought me here?” Koga inquired, folding his arms.

  “Aren’t you going to thank me?” Mitamin wondered, a smile creeping onto his face.

  “I apologize. Thank you,” Koga replied.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “However, that doesn’t mean I’ll do anything to return the favor,” Koga retorted.

  Mitamin chuckled.

  “I do need your help. Our whole galaxy does, in fact,” Mitamin replied, walking over to a bookshelf in front of him, “And it doesn’t involve violating your morals.”

  “How does the whole galaxy need my help?”

  “Because I have received a vision. J?gumangr will return.”

  “A vision? J?gumangr? As in the mythical world serpent?” Koga inquired, his face showing his disbelief.

  “Precisely. Without the mythological part,” Mitamin replied, his tone now serious and direct.

  Koga was not sure how to respond to such a fantastic statement. Doubt filled his mind. His face must have showed it, because Mitamin let out a sigh of exasperation. Mitamin then walked away.

  “I feared as much”, Mitamin said, grabbing a leather bound book from the shelf. “Time for a history lesson.”

  “Oh, I love these!” Luminous exclaimed in excitement.

  “I hope that’s in brale,” Koga remarked sarcastically.

  Mitamin chuckled.

  “Not exactly.”

  Before Koga could react, Mitamin smacked the book upside Koga’s head. He did the same to Luminous, but she received little more than a pat. Then, the room around them began to change drastically.

  Although he was still blind, he began to sense things around him more and more vividly. Koga was now standing on a barren planet. The book seemingly transformed everything around him into a virtual reality. As Mitamin began to tell his story, the environment changed to meet the elements of the story.

  “This is Avila, a planet on the border of our galaxy. It was home to the witch known as Gishni. Gishni was a powerful Elder Witch. Some considered her to be a demigod of sorts. She was so powerful, in fact, that upon being spurned and betrayed by her lover, she turned his compatriots into giant creatures. These creatures are known as world eaters, and J?gumangr is the last of their kind.”

  “Somewhere on this planet resides Gishni’s spear, the only weapon capable of destroying this creature. This, like yourself, is one of the pieces needed to defeat J?gumangr.”

  “Me? Defeat a world eater? How?” Koga inquired, still overwhelmed by everything he was being told.

  “I am getting to that,” Mitamin responded, subtly implying that Koga should not interrupt.

  “The world eater dilemma was fixed by a group of intergalactic warriors known as ‘The Concordium.’ Some thought them to be gods. Really, they were just immortals with immense power. One by one, the world eaters were defeated by The Concordium, but J?gumangr was too great. They did not know about Gishni’s spear. The mystery of how to defeat J?gumangr remained hidden to them. They only knew that the creature was weak to electricity. Eventually, J?gumangr was defeated when Thor and Janus came together to seal the beast away in another dimension. They were not able to kill it, however, only keep it from our dimension. To this day, J?gumangr waits, longing to be freed from his prison, and consume the universe as we know it.”

  “That’s where you come in,” Mitamin continued. “Whether you know it or not, you, like your father, are a lightning wielder. With Gishni’s spear, you could defeat J?gumangr when he returns.”

  “How do you know he’ll return?” Koga reasoned. As he asked, the vision ended.

  “As I said, through a vision. The great snake will return, and it will fall upon your shoulders to stop it.”

  “And how am I to stop a snake the size of a planet with powers I don’t have, and a spear on the other side of the known galaxy?” Koga retorted.

  “Because you’re your father’s son,” Mitamin said, ending his sentence with a smile.

  “I’m not tracking.”

  “My little light,” Mitamin spoke, directing his words towards Luminous. “Can you fetch the rest of this young man’s armor?”

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  “Of course, Grandpa,” she replied excitedly.

  In a flash, she was gone, then back again with the armor. With it now in hand, she laid it at Koga’s feet. Koga was still astounded and confused as to how Luminous could do that. Like the man with the X shaped visor, she must have had a special connection to the machor.

  “So your connection to the machor… it allows you to bend light?”

  “Yes! I can manipulate light in various ways. Your ability is to control lightning, just like your father. It’s not so outlandish when you consider the machor is the code of the universe. I just access a specific element of it.”

  “I was never told that my father had this connection you speak of.”

  Mitamin smiled, drawing closer.

  “That’s because no one, save your mother and myself, knew. He kept it a secret. Allow me to prove it to you.”

  Mitamin pointed to Koga’s armor with his staff.

  “This was your father’s armor, correct?” he clarified. Koga nodded.

  “Yes,” Koga replied. “Made by the Moorish dwarves with Urunum.”

  “And what if I told you that you didn’t know even half of its abilities?”

  “I doubt that,” Koga responded, folding his arms. He had fought in this armor for years. He knew it like the back of his hand.

  Using his glowing staff, Mitamin extended it and shouted “Baraq!” As he did, a bolt of lightning shot out of his staff. It quickly struck the armor laying on the floor, and instantly assembled it, as though someone was inside of it. Mitamin then issued a warning, as Koga looked on in disbelief.

  “I’d stand back if I were you,” directing his attention to both he and his granddaughter.

  Heeding his words, they stepped away from the armor. Upon doing so, Mitamin cried “Baraq” again, with the lightning hitting its mark. This time, the armor’s outer plates came off like knives, readily shooting out as to strike an opponent. They hovered in the air right outside their point of origin, ready to obey the user’s commands.

  “I’ve never…” Koga began, circling his armor as he examined the phenomenon.

  “There are many things you don’t know about this armor, or your father, Koga Kane. I once taught your father how to use his abilities. I can teach you the same,” Mitamin offered.

  Koga had taken in a lot these last few minutes. Powers, events, and circumstances he did not think possible. The feeling, however, was nothing new. He had spent his whole life coming to accept the unacceptable. It was almost an expected ordeal at this point. Thankfully, he had many years to prepare him for it.

  “I would, but my mission, the people I protect, they need me,” Koga insisted. “I need to get back to them.”

  “Now, more than ever,” Mitamin countered. “Unless you are prepared for what is to come, you can’t help them. The snake will kill them all. Kill us all, in fact.”

  “But they think I’m dead. I need to let them know I’m okay,” Koga retorted.

  “And you can. But not now. They must be kept in the dark until you return. I’m sorry, but if you are going to save them, then you need to leave them to their own conclusions for a time.”

  “Well can you at least tell them I’m alive?” Koga wondered.

  “We can’t communicate using the interweb,” Luminous reminded him.

  “And I can’t leave the tower again. What I did to save you was a special case. One I cannot repeat for quite some time. I’m sorry,” Mitamin explained.

  The situation was far from ideal, but Koga could see the logic behind their reasoning. If this threat was so great, he had little choice but to prepare for its arrival. He hated that his comrades had to remain in the dark regarding his fate. Still, it would only be for a time.

  Mitamin clearly knew what he was talking about. Koga could sense no deception from the man, either. More than that, Mitamin knew his family. He knew his father. Not the man Gar had made out to be a god in human form, but just a man. A man Koga had wanted to know for so long.

  During his time here, Koga could learn more about himself, and more about his family. The prospect excited him. Perhaps he would have questions answered he’d never dreamed of having answered before. Given the information that had been provided, he had answered one on his own.

  “The tower…” Koga began.

  “I’m sorry?” Mitamin asked, confused.

  “When I was a child, I was saved by a lightning bolt crashing through the roof of a castle tower. I wasn’t saved by fate…” Koga thought aloud.

  “You saved yourself,” Mitamin said, finishing the thought. “The pieces are all coming together. Must be a good feeling after a lifetime of questions.”

  Koga had made up his mind.

  “I’ll undertake your teachings.”

  “Yay!” Luminous said excitedly. “I can’t wait to help!”

  *

  After some much needed rest and a good meal, Koga was ready for his first training session with Mitamin. Wearing simple apparel much like Luminous’, he exited his room and made his way downstairs. Luminous met him there.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied.

  “Good answer,” she replied peppily. “I’ll take you to where we usually train.”

  Leading him out a large, wooden door, the two walked outside. It was dusk, and the skies above them were beautiful shades of blue, purple, and amber as the suns set. The forest around the meadow in which the tower sat was lit up with the lights of tiny, woodland fairies. The multiplicity of their colors created a beautiful, picturesque background.

  “May I ask you a question?” Luminous began.

  “If I may ask you one in return,” Koga replied.

  “How are you able to see without seeing? Hear without hearing? I know many of your senses are gone. Grandfather told me.”

  “I use morgath, an element of the machor, to sense the world around me. It comes from one’s inner energy,” he explained.

  “Wow! I’ve heard of morgath before, but I’ve never seen it practiced. You’ll have to teach me to use mine!” she replied with interest.

  “Perhaps I will.”

  “What were you going to ask me?” Luminous continued.

  “I’m not sure how to ask this, but, Mitamin is your grandfather?” Koga inquired, given they had two very different complexions and features.

  “I see why it might be confusing. You see, I call him grandpa, but he’s really my great, great, great, great, great, greeeeeeaaaaat grandfather,” she replied, counting on her hand how many times she used the word “great.”

  “How is that possible? He can’t be older than fifty,” Koga imagined.

  “Well… I can’t tell you… oh, I probably shouldn’t, but I really want to. I trust you. You see, the greatest treasure the tower holds is the Star of Creation. It’s what keeps grandpa alive to guard the tower. On occasion, it also gives him dreams and visions. That’s how he knew to come save you, you see.”

  “I haven’t heard of it. What is the Star of Creation?” Koga inquired.

  “I really shouldn’t talk about it. Grandpa would not want me to. Not because we don’t trust you, but because its supposed to be a secret from everyone. Please don’t tell him I told you about it,” Luminous pleaded.

  “You have my word. I owe you and your grandfather a great deal, most of all my thanks. I won’t betray your trust,” Koga reassured her.

  It was after that touching moment that a bolt of lightning came crashing into Koga’s left side. It hurled him past Luminous and onto the ground a few meters from her. In the meadow in which they stood, Mitamin stepped out from behind a tree, holding his staff.

  “No need to thank me. After we’re through training, you won’t feel that grateful.”

  “Grandpa!” Luminous cried. “Why’d you do that?”

  “This is the first step in a lightning wielder’s training,” Mitamin explained. “To control lightning, one must first conquer it.”

  Koga hurt all over. It felt like he had just had his body thrown into a light socket. This attack did not provoke him, however. He knew all too well what kind of training this was like: trial by fire. Gar and Master Chang had always been harsh teachers. Ones that made you respect the power you were going to one day wield. He stood to his feet, and faced Mitamin.

  “Again.”

  “What? That’s crazy, Koga!” Luminous cringed. Mitamin smiled.

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Mitamin affirmed.

  “Grandpa, there’s got to be a better way than this. Teach him like you taught me,” she continued, her compassion shining through her words.

  “I’m okay, Luminous,” Koga replied, reassuring her. Mitamin also nodded, indicating everything would be alright. She looked between the two of them.

  “You both are crazy. I’m going back inside,” she finished, zooming in a flash of light back to the tower.

  “Now,” Mitamin began ominously, “where were we?”

  “Bring it,” Koga motioned, taking a defensive stance.