The Quantum Prophecy - Ryan Matthew Harker (best management books of all time TXT) 📗

glass he replied graciously, “But of course.”
“Much obliged.” The wizened old man smiled benignly.
After a few moments of silence, in which Max received his drink, Jeshux looked up and said, “They’ve been informed of the prophecy.” It was a statement not a question.
“Yes. After their arrival the witch Farewethor, who first suspected their identities, approached them. She then came back to the palace to inform me and I sent Nefarious to bring them here straight away. Upon their deliverance the queen and I greeted them in open court. After a series of questions and some discreet magical prodding the conclusion was reached that they are indeed the saviors of which the prophecy speaks.”
Max, who had followed a little of what Zakeriah had said, suddenly interrupted. “And where are they now, sir?”
“Ah. They are currently under guard. It was necessary to place the two of them under protective custody.”
“Protective custody!” Jeshux exclaimed. “Why? What happened?”
The king looked thoughtful for a moment and then explained. “It seems the opposition is more aware than we had previously suspected. There was an assassination attempt the evening of their arrival.”
“What!” Max began to choke on his whiskey.
Jeshux looked at the king. “Sefu Atarle?”
“Yes. It’s probably safe to assume that Harmony supporters have the Harashna under surveillance. After all Harmony himself was the one who opened it.”
“So Candlelite’s safe,” Jeshux mused to himself. And then to the king, “We have secured the Harashna Earth side. This effort, unfortunately, was conducted only last week. Early this morning, while we were still in transition, a group comprised of thirteen goblins, five werewolves, and two men infiltrated our camp. This group did not attack but snuck through our lines and made use of the Harashna. All of this took place approximately four hours prior to our own departure. I had to wonder at the presence of men among this group. Now it seems to make sense to assume that these men were included to act as spies.”
“You mean that they could be here, in the city?” Zakeriah looked concerned.
“Yes, your majesty. I’d say it’s safe to assume that.” Jeshux looked grim. “I want your permission to remove Absinthe and Candlelite from the city at once.”
“Out of the question!” Zakeriah suddenly grew tense. “We cannot allow such vital individuals out of our care. There’s too much at stake. Besides, I have implemented adequate security measures. There isn’t a chance in hell that Harmony or anyone else could break through them.”
Jeshux shook his head. “Do you trust me Zak?”
The familiarity of this nickname seemed to penetrate the king’s defenses momentarily. He slumped in his chair and took a swallow of wine. Then he looked up with a weary smile. “Of course, my friend, I’ve always trusted your abilities. Above and beyond that you are one of my closest friends and I have faith in you.” And then he hesitated before proceeding, “But you must understand, this goes far beyond just you and me. It has even gone further than AnEerth to include, not just another planet but possibly a whole other universe. We have in our possession the means to our salvation. We cannot risk losing that salvation, not for anything. We have here the means of keeping this salvation safe. I see no reason to chance a move.”
Max looked from the king to Jeshux but did not speak. Jeshux looked at the king for a few long seconds and then cleared his throat.
With the most formality and respect he could muster Jeshux said, “Your majesty, King Zakeriah the Wise, sire, you must now listen closely to what I tell you. You know Harmony’s strength and you know his power. You knew that if he had banded together with the other renegade mages of AnEerth that he would have become a force unstoppable. This was why you came to my mercenaries and me. This alone is why I agreed to risk the lives of my men. This is why I agreed to pursue this vile creature. And even after he had been driven from the land and we were no longer under contract to pursue him, this is why we followed him through the Harashna. I acknowledged my responsibility to keep not just AnEerth but any world safe from his evil, as you have just done.”
Jeshux lowered his voice gravely. “Let me tell you though that in this I have failed! Earth has, in its entirety, fallen under the tyranny of the warlock Harmony’s rule He has conquered and made the entire planet over in his image, just as he would have done here. And still he is not satisfied. I have gathered reason to believe that through his domination of Earth the Dark Lord has not doubled his power, has not tripled his power, has not even quadrupled his power but has in fact increased his power tenfold! And we both know that he lusts for AnEerth in a manner no sane man may comprehend.”
Suddenly Jeshux fervor subsided and it was his turn to slump in his chair. His voice softened and became such as he seemed almost to plead. “Your majesty, even now I sense that Harmony is ready to deploy his army. Do you still claim, in light of what I just told you, that you are capable of defense against anything that he may attempt? Do you still think that you are capable of assuring the Chosen Ones safety? I do not believe it is so and even now I await affirmation of Harmony’s intentions but my scouts may not return before it is too late, if they return at all.” And with this statement Jeshux went silent.
King Zakeriah was silent for some time before he rose from his seat and refilled his and his guest’s glasses. He then began to pace for some time before refilling his own glass once more and returning to his seat.
“I’m sorry Jeshux,” Zakeriah said. “But without confirmation of what you say I cannot in good conscious grant your request. As a person, an individual and your friend, I trust your word as gold. But as a monarch, as the embodiment of a people, a state, for Death’s sake an entire planet, I cannot base a decision on that trust alone.”
Jeshux expression went hard and he fought a moment for possession of his voice. “I understand. Might I request an audience, for Mr. Kimbal and myself, with the captives?”
“They are not captives!” the king stiffened indignantly.
“Have they been allowed a choice in this matter?” Jeshux watched as Zakeriah said nothing. “As I thought. What say you, your majesty?”
“Yes. I’ll grant you leave to speak with our guests. You may do so at once. I’ll send for an escort.” With a dismissive gesture the king ended the conference.
Max swallowed the rest of his whiskey as he stood up. Jeshux was doing the same but Max noticed he left his last goblet of wine untouched. Within moments the two men found themselves waiting in the hallway outside of the silver and gold gilt door.
“Well,” Max ventured cautiously. “That seemed like it could have gone better.”
“Indeed,” Jeshux replied solemnly.
“What do we do now?” Max asked.
“We wait.”
“For the escort?”
“Yes.”

*****

For many days activity at the Empire State Building had been at a peak of frenzy. Troops and other various military personnel were busy bringing the mad sorcerer’s army to combat readiness. Earlier in the week Harmony had given the go ahead to move forward with the beginning stages of his military operation against AnEerth.
Little did McAriicoys or any of the mercenaries in Jeshux camp know but the morning Harmony’s forces infiltrated the Complex not all of the infiltration team crossed through the Harashna. Two goblins had been instructed to remain behind and, under the protection of magic giving them invisibility and stealth, they had done so.
Sneaking about the two goblins acquired bits and snatches of information gleaned by listening to the conversation and gossip of the soldiers. In this way they were able to learn about the prolonged chase and failed attempts to capture the werewolf Candlelite. They were especially interested to hear about the most recent attempt where the werewolf had seemingly been in complete custody when out of nowhere a large animal, reportedly a bear of some kind, had charged in and scattered the Commander General’s troops. The goblins were surprised to learn that as the following confusion ensued the werewolf had leapt astride the great bears back and rode it through the Harashna. What came as an even bigger and more interesting surprise to the goblin observers was the detail that even though this Candlelite was purportedly a werewolf, he was described at the time of all of this as being in the form of a man. The two goblins did not pretend to understand these tales as everyone knows a werewolf is a werewolf and cannot be confused as being anything but a werewolf. They then fell to listening in on the meeting in front of the Harashna. Here they heard the Commander General lay out his plans for returning to AnEerth and his expectation that a force be sent to the lord Harmony’s demesne for reconnaissance. Although this news was a little disturbing both of these bent creatures knew that the lord Harmony had little to fear from these pathetic soldiers. After the departure through the Harashna of the Commander General and his men the spies took to following around the one called McAriicoys. It was through these observations that they were able to learn about the new preparations for the perimeter defenses. Now this knowledge was very disturbing indeed and in order to avoid what would most certainly be definite capture the goblins learned everything they could about the new defenses and then hightailed it away from the Complex before they could be implemented.
Upon their arrival in the broken ruins of New York City they were well received by their brothers and brought forth immediately before the Dark Lord. After their reiteration of all they had learned they knelt groveling in supplication until Harmony sent them away.
The vile sorcerer was immensely pleased with the thorough efficiency in which his servants had gathered this information. One thing bothered him though, the story of the so-called Candlelite who was both a werewolf and a man. Harmony, unlike his minions, was well versed in the tale the prophecy told. The confirmed report of this Candlelite’s miraculous escape through the Harashna upon the back of a bear was most disturbing and the implications were not lost on him.
But no matter for with Commander General Jeshux out of the picture and back on AnEerth he chose to again shelve the matter of the werewolf and his bear. This was an opportune time to deploy his army and take for his own the facility of the Harashna. Once this was done he could use his magic to augment the Harashna, transforming it to gargantuan proportions and thus allowing his forces more convenient access to AnEerth.
Less than a few weeks after the return of his goblin spies, as he was overseeing the preparation of a great new weapon of technological achievement, Harmony was brought news that four mercenary soldiers had been spotted roaming the ravaged streets of his desolate city. He gave the order that these men should be captured post haste and then returned to the task at hand.
The mighty warlock had spent many years supervising the research, design, and construction of this new weapon and was greatly anticipating its completion. Within just a few short days the first prototype would be assembled and ready for its preliminary battery of tests.
Both long-range projectile device and wide circumference devastation machine, this new weapon was in essence a gun and a bomb