Earth Magic

by Kenneth Price

  "What was that?" asked Aidan.

  "Red Robes," Elwin answered in a deeply serious tone. "They're out there somewhere."

  He nodded his head towards the night. "And they know that I am close."

  Not asking Elwin how he knew, Aidan looked at the prince. He is changing... Aidan was not sure if that realization should be reassuring or not.

  Dragging their sore, tired feet, the two stumbled on into the night. Too exhausted to go on, they at last made camp. Huddled on the side of a cliff face, the two ate a cold meal of nuts, berries and a little dried rabbit jerky. Once their meal was completed, they silently settled in for yet another cold night. Along the cliff face and out of the rain and wind, Elwin drifted off to sleep.

  --

  Elwin opened his eyes. He was standing before a mountain. Halfway up the mountain, he could see a crown. Balanced upon a pointed rock, the silver crown was almost daring Elwin to try and touch it.

  "This time, I will have you!" Struggling, Elwin started to climb up the mountain face. To Elwin, the crown had become a living thing. It was a thing, he needed to have, yet at the same time he knew he did not want it. Above the mountain, thunder cracked and the night sky flashed. Rain pelted down upon his face. Slipping, Elwin began sliding back down the mountain. Digging in his fingers, he stopped himself. "Not this time!" he shouted angrily. "You call out to me, but never let me close. This time, I will not fail." Determined, he slowly started to climb once more, carefully choosing his footing. In his dream, Elwin had climbed this mountain so many times that he knew where to find the best places to hold onto.

  Slowly, he climbed. The storm grew stronger, but Elwin would not give up. He reached out. He could not quite touch the silver crown. Just a few more feet... He reached out again. Almost there! The crown was perched just above him. But there did not seem to be a way to get any closer. He searched and searched, but he could not find a place to hold onto.

  "No! I will not give up." Elwin, pulled out his sword, reaching out for the crown. The silver blade touched the crown. He smiled. This time, he would succeed. Somehow, Elwin knew that this was only a dream, yet that no longer mattered. Reaching the crown was what counted. It was all that mattered. He was obsessed with it. Without the crown, Elwin felt sure he would die. Maybe it would be better if I did die! He nudged the crown. It rolled over the tip of his sword, then at the last moment, it skittered away. Slipping off to one side, the crown rolled off its perch. In a panic, Elwin saw the crown sliding past him. Dropping his sword, he grasped out for the crown. Eluding his grasp, both the crown and the sword fell tumbling down the mountain. Panicking, Elwin hurried after. Bouncing down the side of the mountain, Elwin hit the ground with a loud thud. Finding himself bruised but not broken, he came to his feet.

  "Torcull!" he gasped.

  Torcull smiled. In his hand, he held the sword. At his feet rested the crown. "The mountain and those who call it home cannot help you, Elwin." Torcull handed him back the sword. "You see, I am not the enemy. I can help you, Elwin."

  Elwin took the sword. Why would he give it back? A trick! "And the crown?" Elwin stared at it as it rested at the Prophets feet. He could feel it pulling at him.

  Torcull shook his head. "You do not actually want it, do you?"

  Elwin did not want it, and yet he did. "Leave me alone! Get out of my dreams!"

  Torcull stepped over the crown, putting himself between Elwin and the crown. "Let me help you."

  "No!"

  He took another step. "Why do you fight me? I am your friend."

  "You lie!" Elwin raised his sword. "Get back!"

  "There is so much I could teach you."

  "Go away! I don't want your help."

  "You are growing stronger in both mind and spirit. That is good, but there is much you must learn. If you do not let me help you, the sword will destroy you. It is a thing of madness, Elwin. It is dangerous!... Free my master. He alone can save you."

  "Never!!" Elwin sat up with a jerk.

  "What's wrong?" Aidan asked, awakening at Elwin's cry. Elwin looked down at the bruises on his arms. "Just a bad dream."

  The next day they moved on. The rains had stopped, but by midday they started to come down again. Three times that day, mountain passes that Aidan had thought would take them through ended in boxed canyons, forcing them back. To the south, Elwin feared that the Red Robes were hunting for him. So they went northwards and higher into the mountains.

  Several more days passed and they still could not find a way east and out of the mountains.

  "We’re going north again, aren't we?" asked Elwin. The mountains around them grew steeper, and the peaks have now appeared much closer.

  "Yes," admitted Aidan. "All the passes seem to run to the north. Every time we go east, it ends up being another boxed canyon, or it turns to the north. It is like the mountains are leading us deeper into them. Every time I try to go another way, we still end up going north."

  "Are we lost?"

  Aidan was silent. He stopped walking. His head dropped. "Yes. I don't know how it happened. It should not have happened. I am an Elf! But I guess I am not a very good one.

  My parents would be ashamed. I'm sorry, Elwin. I have let you down."

  Elwin put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's okay. You will find us a way out. And this is still better than running into a Red Robe."

  But how long until they find us? thought Aidan. Every night we hear them calling out to each other. They're hunting us like wild animals!

  Elwin pointed down a narrow pass. "Let's try that way."

  Aidan looked. "It goes north."

  Elwin laughed. "They all go north."

  Once more, night settled over the mountains. Elwin and Aidan were no better off than they were the night before or the one before that. They were still lost, and the rain kept coming down. It seemed as if it would never stop raining. From the south, a scream like cry echoed through the trees. Elwin's blood went cold. Then another cry answered farther to the west.

  Elwin looked into the darkness.

  "They won't find us." Aidan tried to sound cheerful and reassuring. "We cannot even find ourselves!"

  Elwin smiled weakly. "You know that it is me they want."

  "If you are suggesting that I should leave you here, you can forget it. It is bad enough that I have gotten us lost."

  Elwin smiled again. This time, it came a little easier. "Let's not stop yet."

  Aidan nodded. He too wanted to keep far away from the monks. A few more hours passed when Elwin came to a sudden stop. "What is that?" he asked pointing up ahead.

  With a startled jump, Aidan looked up. His eyes narrowed, trying to pierce the rain and the dark. "It looks like some type of building or house." "Do you think someone lives out here?" Aidan did not have an answer.

  Casually, they moved closer. The idea of a warm house with a fire was too much to pass up. In front of the house was a small stream and what remained of a bridge. The bridge looked worn, old, and unsafe, so they waded across the cold, gurgling stream.

  The house's windows were dark. It appeared as if no one was home. Once closer, they saw that the door was hanging from its hinges and part of the roof had collapsed inwards.

  "It's a ruin," Aidan announced feeling disheartened. "No one has lived here for a very long time.”

  Just past the ruined house were more buildings, all of which looked abandoned and ancient.

  "This was once a small village." Elwin pointed out. "Isn't that a street?" "It looks like it was paved at one time," added Aidan.

  They came up to another house. One side of the stone wall had fallen in. Elwin pushed open the door. It came off its hinges, crashing to the floor. "Deserted. This whole village is deserted and has been for a very long time too."

  "I wonder who lived here?" Aidan gazed through an empty window. "I think it was more than a village, this town appears a fairly big. The streets and buildings just keep going. It looks more like a city."

  Elwin nodded
in agreement, “But where are the walls? What kind of city would not have any walls? And why would anyone build a city so deep into the mountains?"

  Aidan sat down on the remains of a stone wall. "I don't know, but I think we better stop for the night." Glancing over his shoulder, Elwin looked back down the dark street they had just come up. He was always afraid that a Nightling was just behind them. A part of him wanted to push on, yet another part wanted to get out of the rain. "Okay, we’ll stay."

  Aidan led the way deeper into the ruined city until he picked out a house that still had most of its roof and all of its walls. "This one looks promising."

  The doors and windows were gone, but inside it was reasonably dry. Feeling the comfort of being inside, Elwin leaned up against the stone wall. "I'll take the first watch."

  Without arguing, Aidan curled up in a corner and closed his eyes. "Will you be okay?"

  Elwin nodded, "Yes, I am fine, Aidan. I can't sleep anyway. At least not yet."

  "You are still having those dreams?"

  "Yes." Elwin had awakened several times during the last few nights, crying out. Torcull would not leave him alone. There has to be a way to keep him out of my dreams. Maybe Faynn could teach me some way to stop him. Elwin knew if Faynn did have a way, it would mean using magic. Yet, even if it did mean using magic, Elwin knew he would try it. He would try anything to keep the dark Prophet out of his dreams.

  Aidan lay back. "Just wake me if you need anything."

  "I will."

  Closing his eyes, Aidan fell quickly asleep. Alone, Elwin felt the night close in. Hugging his knees, he listened to the wind whispering through the empty streets of the dead city and the rain gently falling on the ceiling above him.

  Aidan sat up. He looked around. The Elf was no longer in the house, but outside among the ruins of the city, and Elwin was nowhere to be seen. "Elwin!" he called out. His voice echoed through the city, but no one answered. Rising above the rooftops was a full moon. Big, round and bright, the moon lit up the night. Aidan looked up. "That is strange," he said to himself. "There should not be a full moon for another two weeks. I must be dreaming."

  Aidan climbed to his feet and started walking. "Maybe I can find Elwin. I'm sure the house was around here somewhere." The streets were deathly quiet. This must have been a beautiful place to live at one time, Aidan thought as he walked. But now it is just a place for the ghosts of a forgotten time. Even the surrounding woods and mountains seemed strangely quiet as if the silence came out of respect for the now dead city. Aidan turned a corner and walked on. In the moonlight, he could see patches of brightly colored paint on a few of the buildings. Once this city was full of color and life. That must have been a long time ago. It seemed sad now. Along the wide streets, he could see places where marble slabs were sticking up through the earth. Streets of marble? I wonder what could have happened to all the people? He could not see any signs of a battle or any other catastrophe. It was as if the people had just vanished.

  "Hello, child of nature."

  Startled, Aidan jumped. A child stepped out of a building. "I have been waiting for you," she said.

  Aidan stepped backward. Then seeing it was only a child, he asked, "Who are you? Where are your parents? Do you live here?"

  The girl smiled and pulled back her long black hair. "I am one who never was, Aidan."

  "'One who never was'? ... How do you know my name?" There was something different about this child. Aidan suddenly felt uncomfortable and exposed.

  "I know many things." A sad smile appeared across her soft childlike features. "And I knew you would come here, so I have been waiting."

  "How? We did not even know that we would be here. We are lost, and if it were not for that Red Monk, we would not have come here at all." He looked around. "Where is Elwin?"

  "He is safe. At least for now." With large black eyes, she looked up at him. "Even the darkness plays a role in the universe, Aidan. But once they have let the arrow loose, who may say where it will fall."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "The three eyes of the Buachaille grow nearer. The time of Sian is at hand," she said, ignoring his question. "The path before you grows narrow, and I cannot always be here to guide you and your friends. The three will change, or all will die. But how will they change, and into what?"

  "You're not making any sense."

  "I have come here to help you find that which you need; to find that which you have lost. You have been brought here for a reason, Aidan JaRe of the Hawk. You and your people have been without their wings for too long."

  Aidan's face became pale, and then he turned angry. "How do you know my spiritual name!? Only the wise ones know it! Answer me!"

  The girl turned and started down the street. "Come with me, Aidan JaRe. Time is something we have little of."

  Frustrated, angry, and confused, Aidan followed.

  "There," she said, pointing at a round house. "In there you will find what you need."

  Aidan looked at the house. Amazingly, it was in perfect condition. It was as if time had not touched it. All around it were remains of the long abandoned structures, but the roundhouse stood as if it had been built just yesterday. Painted a brilliant yellow with a bright red door, the house stood out against all the grayness around it. Encircling the house was a well-kept garden of brightly colored flowers. A large porch stood before the rounded doorway.

  "Is this where you live?"

  When the girl did not answer, Aidan turned around. "What is this...?" the words froze upon his lips. The girl was gone. Taking a deep breath, he placed a foot upon the first step of the porch. On either side of the porch stood white marble statues of tall warriors. Aidan had to look up to see their faces. As if they were looking for something, the stone statues stared off into the dark ruins of the city.

  Trying to ignore the statues, Aidan placed a hand upon the red door, pushing the door gently, it silently swung open. Inside was a large room. The room had the feeling of a living thing, a thing of immense age. There was also a sense of waiting. The house had been waiting for something. For me? It made no sense, but Aidan felt as if the house had been waiting centuries for him. Don't be foolish.

  He stepped inside. At the center of the room was a stone altar, with a single white candle, its flame giving off a golden light. A soft breeze blew in through the door, making the candle flicker, and light danced across the walls. Apprehensively, Aidan approached the altar.

  Nervously, he glanced around. Except for the altar, the room was empty.

  Like a living thing, the house moaned. Aidan could feel it breathing. I should not be here.

  Lying beside the candle was a silver chain. Attached to the chain was a hawk feather that had been cast in silver. Almost without thinking, he reached down and touched the chain. A cold chill ran up his arm. A gust of wind rushed in through the door. Feeling dizzy, Aidan steadied himself against the altar.

  The house seemed to sigh, “Free.”

  The wind grew louder. Without trying, he felt himself sinking into the meditative state of his Atman. As if carried on the wind, he went deep into his center. Never had he been so far into his center, and still he went deeper. The wind changed. There were voices in the wind. No, not voices, sounds. The cries of a thousand hawks filled his head. The room around began to spin faster and faster.

  "No!" he cried, trying to escape his own center, but he could not. Like a hand holding him, the wind pulled him deeper and deeper. The hawk's, cries grew louder. Then suddenly both the wind and the sounds were gone. He was no longer in the room but outside. He blinked. The city had changed, no longer was it in ruins. Under a hot sun, marble streets stretched out in several directions. Aidan was standing at the cross section of a great city. Beside him was a fountain of green marble carved in the shape of a great bird. From the bird's open mouth, water sprayed into the air. Along the white streets, brightly painted buildings and homes stood tall and straight.

  "Where am I?"

 
; People with sun-darkened faces and straight black hair started to gather around him. He did not know who or what they were, but he was aware that they were not any race that he had ever seen before. Their eyes were large and black. Why are they staring at me? What do they want? A man came up close. He did not look like the rest. He was a human, but there was madness in his eyes. In his hands, he carried a crystal harp. He pointed at Aidan and started to say something.

  "What?" asked Aidan. He could see the man's mouth moving and his wild gesturing, but there was no sound.

  "What is happening?"

  More of the strange beings started to gather around him. "Why can't I hear you?"

  Still talking, the man with the harp pointed towards the north. The people turned away and started walking back into the city. There is a hint of sadness in their eyes that had not been there before. What did he say to them?

  For a moment, the city became blurred, and then it was back again. It looked the same, but now everyone was gone. The fountain was dry and leaves blew across empty streets.

  The city had been abandoned.

  Why did they leave? What happened?

  Again, the city became blurred, and now Aidan was back in the ruins. He looked into a bright blue sky. It was the bluest and clearest sky that Aidan had ever seen.

  At his back were the remains of a fountain. A large stone bird lay off to one side. Its wings were broken off, and its beak was cracked from years of neglect.

  High above the treetops, in the clear blue sky, circled a hawk. It cried out, and Aidan felt the cry echoing through his head. "No!" he shouted.

  As if answering Aidan, the bird of prey cried out again. Growing dizzy, the world around Aidan began to spin. The sky rushed towards him, and the wind howled in his ears. Aidan blinked and suddenly he was Aidan no longer. With an amazingly sharp eye, he gazed down at the world below. Tucked up against the Gobhair Mountain, he saw the ruins of a city. It had been a large city once.

  Among the remains of the city, he could see an Elf standing beside a fountain. A silver feather was clutched in his hand. Strangely, the hawk thought that the Elf looked familiar, but that was impossible since he was a hawk and the other was an Elf. As a hawk, he had nothing to do with such creatures. With strokes of his strong wings, he left the Elf and the ruins behind. Racing over the treetops, he followed a narrow stream until he came upon a valley. There the stream joined with a river, turning east he followed the river. Meandering along the valley floor, the river cut its way through fields of flowers and deep, green grasses. Spotting a mouse scampering for cover, the hawk was filled with an urge to fill his empty stomach, swooping down, he aimed at his pray, then at the last moment, he rose back into the air. For some strange reason, he felt as if he were not truly a hawk. But that is impossible. I have always been a hawk. He soared through the valley. Below, the river was a silver blue line that shimmered in the sunlight. Then the valley came to a sudden end. The river turned into a lake, and the valley floor rose steeply until it met a tall cliff face. A boxed canyon. But why should that bother me? Not stopping, he flew up towards the cliff and then along its base, until he saw a narrow cut in the side of the cliff. It was no more than six feet wide. For some strange reason, the hawk knew that it needed to find out where the canyon leads to, he entered it. But why should I care, it thought as towering walls of stone cliffs raced past him. Moments later, he emerged on the far side of the cliff where he discovered a steep sloping meadow that angled away from the cliff. At the foot of the meadow was a winding road that led up to a city of man things; a city of tents. The hawk could not understand why the man things lived in such small confining places. Beyond the tent city was an immense grassland as flat and as wide as the sea. Now that is a place where one could soar, yet there was no place for one to perch or build a nest. Not understanding what it was that he had discovered, yet at the same time knowing he had found what he was looking for, the hawk turned and flew back into the canyon. Racing now with the joy of freedom beating in his heart, he flew faster and higher. Then far below he saw the ruins of the deserted city once more. At first, he ignored it. But something pulled at him.