Earth Magic: A Kingdoms of Kambrya novel (The High King of Kambrya Book 1)

by Kenneth Price

  There is something in there, Elwin thought with a growing dread. Elwin could feel it. There was something too dreadful to comprehend behind its black walls.

  Silently, the black walls of the castle were called out to him. In response to the silent summons, Elwin began to walk towards it. He wanted to run away, but his legs would not heed his cry. Elwin had lost all control and felt like a puppet on a string being pulled forward.

  Stopping before the black iron gates of the castle, Elwin looked up. The craftsman who had created the gate had it designed to appear as if a black spider web had wrapped around the iron bars of the gate. The web was as dark as the castle. It crisscrossed the entrance to the castle, sealing off the gate. Elwin could look through the web into a courtyard, but he could see no way to open the gate. At the top of the web sat a large silver spider. The spider sculpture had been set with tiny black demand eyes. The statue looked down at Elwin as if it was waiting for its prey to approach. Shaking, Elwin started backing away; his legs finally obeying his commands.

  "Elwin," came the voice of Torcull. Elwin looked away from the spider. At his side was Torcull, dressed all in black. A large red ruby hung about his neck. His hair was light blond and contrasted sharply with his dark clothing and the gray landscape. Torcull looked down at Elwin with soft blue eyes. His face was flawless, and it almost seemed to glow. Elwin had never seen a more beautiful man in his life. And yet there was something terrifying about the way the man smiled.

  "It is here you must come," Torcull continued. "When it is time you will come, the choice has been taken from you. Here we will stand together. Look upon Ban-Darn and remember. It is here my Master, the Great One waits for you. You will come and together we will remove the guardian and bring the black castle back into the world, setting our Master free. If I must, I will come after you, but in the end, you will come all the same. Remember the pain, Elwin, remember the pain. There is no place you can run to that I cannot follow. Why go through the pain, when such glory and power can be ours? I can be your friend or your enemy. That is a choice you can still make. Come to me Elwin. I will take you to Ban-Darn.

  I will show you what needs to be done.”

  Elwin swallowed. Whatever was in that castle, Elwin wanted nothing to do with it.

  "Do not resist. I can be your friend, Elwin. Let me help you. Let my Master help you. The Great One can set you free. You do not understand what the sword will do to you, Elwin. It is an evil thing. The sword will use you, and in time it will destroy you. I can help you. By setting the Master free, you will free yourself of the sword. You will never be free of the swords power until you come and let the Great One set you free.”

  Elwin started shaking again. He wanted to escape. But Torcull seemed to be holding him in place. Trembling, Elwin fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. "This is a dream," he whispered.

  "Do not despair," said Torcull. "Once you have brought Ban-Darn back into the world of men and freed our Master, the Master will help you. He will destroy the sword. Look upon..."

  Suddenly Torcull's voice was gone. Elwin felt as if he had been snatched away from both Torcull and the castle. Then just as suddenly, Elwin had the strange sensation of floating high above the earth. Then gently, as if cradled in a mother's loving arms, he was lowered downwards. He felt his feet touch the earth. He opened his eyes. A new landscape appeared before him. He was now standing on a ridge high above a valley. The gray clouds were gone, and a warm sun shone down from a deep blue sky. Below him, the valley was green and lush. Flowers of every imaginable color covered the valley floor. Cutting through the field of flowers was a stream that wound its way across the valley to a large silver colored lake. Sparkling in the sunlight, the lake was in the center of the bowl-shaped valley; on the far side of the lake stood another castle. This castle was made of white marble. Sky blue flags flew above the pointed towers and above the golden colored gates. Several figures dressed in long flowing white robes stood before the castle walls. One figure that was bathed in a blinding white light stepped forward and looked up at Elwin. Unable to look directly at the figure, Elwin blinked and turned his head.

  "Do not despair," called out the voice of a woman. Elwin was filled with wonder. Her voice rang out across the valley like a bird rejoicing on a summer day. "Heed not the voice of darkness," she sang out. "It speaks falsely. Before you are two paths: one of darkness, another of light. The darkness fears you. Come to us, Elwin. We can help you. The Dark One has touched your soul, but you survived. You are the one we have waited for. You have been chosen for greatness. Prince Elwin ap Gruffydd, the Lord of Light, beckons you. Come to us. We can remove the hand from your heart. Come and see the glory of the Light." Elwin stood with his mouth hanging open.

  "We know where your sister is," continued the singing voice. "She is here. She is safe with us, but still she needs you, Elwin. Come to her. The Dark One is searching for her. We cannot keep her hidden forever. Come before it is too late."

  "Leina?" Elwin looked wildly about as if his sister would be standing next to him. "She is in Ceredigion!"

  "No, she is here. There is a great danger. Come to us."

  Leina was in danger! "Leina!" Elwin cried out. With a start, he was awake, but the fever kept Elwin in a dreamlike state. "Leina!" he cried out again. "Leina!" The feverish prince did not feel the gentle hands that eased him back down into his bed. Nor did he hear the conversation beside his bed.

  "Is he having another nightmare?" whispered a woman's voice. The soft tone of the woman sounded worried.

  "Yes," whispered another voice. This second voice belonged to a man. "But I do not think the nightmare is his."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I fear the Red Robe or some other servant of the Dark One is invading his dreams." "How can someone enter another's dreams?"

  "There are different ways," said the man's voice. "In Elwin's case, the Red Robe did something to the prince that makes it possible."

  "Can you stop it?"

  "I will do what I can."

  "He is so hot," said the woman.

  "He will recover," reassured the man, "but the Red Robe hurt him deeply. Rest is what he needs now.”

  Burning with fever, Elwin could not hear the voices around him. "Leina!" he called.

  "Leina!"

  "You must sleep," came the man's voice. A hand rested on his hot, sweaty forehead.

  "Sleep."

  "Leina!"

  "Sleep."

  Elwin struggled to stay awake. "Leina," he called weakly. "Sleep," repeated the voice. "I will guard your dreams. Rest now and sleep."

  Unable to resist the compelling voice, Elwin drifted back to sleep. Again, he dreamed. He dreamed he was lying in a field of tall grass. Above him was a mountain peak that stood out against a blue sky. Next to him was a river of crystal clear water. Leaning over the bank, Elwin looked down into the clear water. Just beneath the river's surface, he saw a crown. Elwin reached out, plunging his hand into the icy cold water. He stretched, but the crown was just out of his grasp. Elwin moved closer, but he still could not reach the crown. He tried again, and once more the crown eluded him. Each time he reached out, the crown seemed to sink deeper into the river, and when he pulled back, the crown appeared to rise towards the river's surface. Frustrated, Elwin sat up. As he turned, he noticed that he was not alone. Standing several feet away was a man in a brown robe. Elwin thought the man looked vaguely familiar, but the man's back was turned towards him, and Elwin could not see his face. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere another man appeared. It was as if the man had stepped through an invisible door. The man was tall and handsome, and he was dressed all in black. "Torcull," Elwin murmured fearfully, and he tried sinking back into the tall grass. As if he had come through some magical hole, Torcull stepped into Elwin's dream. Surprised at seeing the brown robed man, Torcull hesitated.

  The robed man stood before Torcull, blocking his path to the Prince.

  With a menacing scowl on his face,
Torcull took another step forward. "You!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the man in brown. "You will not interfere! Stand aside, old man. The boy is mine!"

  The man in brown stood his ground, keeping himself between Torcull and Elwin. "Are you challenging me, Torcull?" Elwin recognized the voice. It was Faynn!

  Faynn? wondered Elwin confused. He led the Nightling to me. Didn't he?

  Torcull scowled. He looked past Faynn. His cold eyes fell upon Elwin. "In the boy's dreams? I think not."

  "Then be gone," demanded Faynn.

  "Meddling old man! You cannot always be at his side. And you would not dare do what I have done. The boy cannot hide from me. I will return."

  "And I will be waiting."

  "Fool! You cannot fight fate. You know the prophecies as well as I. The boy will set Beli free." Then Torcull turned and disappeared.

  The dream faded away, and Elwin slipped into a deep dreamless sleep. When he awoke, he discovered that it was light outside. Elwin felt weak, but the fever had broken. Lying still, he looked up at the ceiling. At first, the young prince thought he was in his own bed, and that the night's events at the Dryrot Inn were just a nightmare. But he soon realized it had not been a dream, and he was not in his own bed. He was in a small, unfamiliar room. The room had one window. The wooden shutters of the window were tightly closed, but narrow beams of sunlight streamed through cracks. Huddled in layers of coarse woolen blankets, Elwin twisted his head. Taking in the small room with a glance, he saw that it was a simple room with few furnishings. Aside from the bed, he was lying on, the only other furniture was a small table with a water basin and a chair. Mounted on the white plaster wall above the narrow bed was a wooden circle with a triangle. The circle with a single triangle was the iconographic symbol of the Three Gods. Each of the three points of the triangle represented one of the three deities of the Trinity: Anthary the Father and the sun god, Epona the mother goddess of the moon, and their son Triesch the earth. The order of the Three Gods was known as the Anthary Trinity and was the main religion of Kambrya; if fact, it was the only officially recognized religion in all the kingdoms, except in Aleach and the Green. At least it had been the only religion in Kambrya until the rise of the Cult of the Severed Head.

  The only other decoration in the room was a fresco painting on the north wall opposite the bed. From his narrow cot, Elwin studied the wall art. The painting was a religious work of art meant for meditation and reflection. Such paintings were not found in castle bedchambers. Where ever Elwin was, it was not the Murray castle.

  The room was cold, so Elwin kept the blankets pulled up close to his chin as he studied the artwork. The wall painting was a large fresco of a saint and an angel. The angel had three large wings, making it a seraph angel. Studying the fresco, Elwin recognized it as the markings of St. Wallis. St. Wallis was the same man that had written the Chronicle Elwin had read just yesterday. To Elwin, yesterday seemed like a very long time ago. In the painting, the saint was kneeling before a mountain. Above the mountain was a silver crown which floated upon a misty cloud. Elwin immediately recognized the crown from his dream. I must have seen it and then dreamed about this painting. It seemed a reasonable conclusion. Still studying the painting, Elwin noticed that off to one side of the crown flew the three winged seraph. Streaming out of the seraph were three narrow beams of golden light. The beams of light reached down to St. Wallis, who humbly stared upwards towards the heavenly vision. The lines were meant to represent the saint receiving divine inspiration from each of the gods of the Trinity. I must be in the Abbey, Elwin concluded. But the Abbey is a few day’s ride from Port Murray. How could I have gotten here so quickly?

  Throwing off his blankets, Elwin carefully sat up. His head still hurt, but it was no longer throbbing. Elwin saw that new clothes had been carefully laid out. Hanging over the back of the chair was Elwin's sword. He sighed. At least he did not appear to be a prisoner. Stepping out of the bed and onto the cold stone floor, Elwin hurriedly dressed, pulling a clean blue silk shirt over his head. Dressed, he washed his face in the water basin and stretched out his sore arms. Feeling refreshed, and his dreams now reduced to hazy memories, Elwin buckled the ancient sword of his ancestors around his waist. He still felt tired and sore, but there were things to do. The first thing Elwin needed was to find out where he was and how he had gotten there. He crossed the room and unlatched the window shutters. Anxious to feel the sun upon his face, he pushed opened the window. The day was blindingly bright, and Elwin quickly shaded his eyes. The bright white light reminded him of his dreams and of the white castle. They were only dreams, he told himself. Leina is safe in Ceredigion. However, deep inside himself, he feared the dreams were more than that, and Leina was in trouble. But how was he going to find the white castle? "No!" he said stubbornly. "They were only dreams. She is safe. Father would never let anyone harm her."

  When his eyes had finally adjusted to the light, Elwin looked out over the landscape. The countryside was covered in a fresh coating of clean white snow. Winter had returned with a vengeance. Elwin moaned, wondering if spring would ever truly arrive. A cold wind blew in through the window. Shivering, Elwin quickly shut the shutters.

  "You're up." Came a voice from behind Elwin.

  Startled, Elwin jerked himself around. Standing in the doorway was a short, stocky monk, wearing the Grey vestments of the Wallisinan Order. Elwin had not heard him enter.

  "Sorry, your Highness," The monk apologized with a short bow. "I did not mean to startle you. I was only checking in on you and did not realize you were awake. How are you feeling today?"

  "Fine, thank you," responded Elwin with a frown. Like everyone else, the monk knew who Elwin was. It no longer surprised the prince. Nevertheless, it did irritate him. "Where am I, and who are you?"

  "Oh my! Where are my manners?" the monk asked himself out loud. "I am sorry. Of course, you do not know me. Your Highness has been asleep so long. You are in Saint Wallis Monastery, and I am Brother Partinas, the abbot."

  "How long have I been asleep?"

  "Weeks," replied Brother Partinas.

  "Weeks!?"

  "Almost a full four weeks, so just short of a month, actually. You had a very high temperature. It was touch-and-go there for a while. But late last night your fever finally broke.

  "A month!" It was hard to believe he could have slept that long. No wonder I am so week!

  "From what I hear, you are lucky it was not longer. But there is time to talk later. You must be hungry. You have been fed nothing but liquids and some gruel these past weeks. It was all we could get you to swallow.”

  Elwin's stomach grumbled on-cue. "I guess I am hungry."

  "Good. Hunger is always a good sign." The abbot's blue eyes sparkled with a warm kindness that matched his glowing smile. "If you will follow me, I will take you downstairs and have the cook fix you something. While you are waiting, you can visit with the others. Then maybe I can give you a tour of our monastery. It is ancient, you know. Some say Saint Wallis himself stayed here. Can you believe that, the holy man himself!"

  "Others?" Elwin inquired.

  Brother Partinas did not respond. He was already out the door and bouncing down the hallway. Elwin had to hurry to catch up to the overly jovial man. When he did catch up, Elwin was too out of breath to repeat the question.

  Brother Partinas never actually gave him many opportunities to talk anyway. The abbot was pleased to have a guest, something that was apparently was rare at the monastery, and Brother Partinas talked non-stop. The warm-hearted abbot went on about this and that. He talked about his order and the history of the monastery, of which he was very proud. Usually, Elwin, who loved history, would have found such a conversation interesting, but his head began to hurt once more, and it took all his strength just to keep up. Finally, the monk led him into a small sitting room with several chairs that faced a unlit fireplace. Grateful to have reached their destination, Elwin fell into a chair like a man who had just finished a race
.

  "I shall have food brought shortly," brother Partinas said. Then he vanished back through the doorway, leaving Elwin alone.

  Elwin sank deeper into the chair. Once more, his head was throbbing painfully, and he no longer felt famished. A few minutes later the door opened. Elwin looked up; expecting to find Brother Partinas returning with his food, but it was not. Instead of the smiling abbot, he saw the Druid Faynn, who entered the room carrying a tray with a single mug on it.

  "Faynn!" Elwin exclaimed, recognizing the Druid. Elwin tried to stand, but his head hurt too much. "What are you doing here?"

  "Helping you. Whether you want to admit it or not, you need it. You nearly got yourself killed once already."

  Elwin frowned. He did not like being talked to as if he were a child. "Did you bring me here?"

  Faynn nodded, "Yes." He set down his tray. Kneeling before the fireplace, he started placing wood into the hearth. "But I had help," Faynn added over his shoulder. "You are no longer safe in town. Strigiol now controls Port Murray."

  Elwin's frown deepened. Faynn Catach saved me? "Where is Count Murray? Is he all right?"

  "He is fine. Your friend Pallas reported that the Count is pretending to help the Strigiol Lord. The Count will do his best to keep any Strigiol patrol from getting too close to this monastery."

  In a short time, Faynn had a small fire going. He stood back up. "There. That is better. These old monasteries can be so drafty and cold." "Do you remember dreaming at all?" Flynn asked.

  "Some," Elwin responded. "I saw you in a dream. You and Torcull."

  Faynn nodded. "You remember, then?"

  Elwin shrugged his shoulders. "They were only dreams."

  "No, they were not." Faynn stood up and handed Elwin the mug he had brought in with him. "Here, drink this."

  Elwin looked doubtfully at the thick, dark contents of the mug. He turned his nose at the foul smell and then looked back up at Faynn. "What do you mean? Are you saying it was not a dream?"