by Blair Drake
Rylan fell silent and closed his eyes. His head tipped forward until his chin almost touched his chest. A snore filled the room. Jasper frowned. Was he asleep? But he hadn’t finished the story. There was no way Jasper could go to bed without knowing how it ended.
“What about the spell?” he asked.
Rylan blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. “Oh, yes. The spell. We’re getting there, believe me. I did warn ye it was a long story.” He smiled and his eyes twinkled. Jasper was pleased he’d shrugged off his melancholy.
“Tell me,” Jasper urged and settled himself more comfortably on the bed.
Rylan flipped a few more pages. Jasper waved away the dust. Rylan’s voice took on a thoughtful tone.
“I returned to my village a broken man filled with the knowledge the love of my life was lost to me. For months, I threw myself into my work, forcing myself to forget about Aeysha, forget about the life we could have had. Most nights, by the time I collapsed on my cot, I was too tired to dream, but every now and then, I’d see visions of Aeysha. She seemed so real, so close. It felt like I could reach out and touch her.”
He paused a moment, as if caught up in his memories and then slowly started again. “For three nights in a row, I had the same dream. Aeysha kept beckoning me, asking me to come. ‘Come, Rylan. Ye need to come quick.’ They were the same words each and every time. I’d wake up panting and in a sweat and then realize it was just a dream. Shortly after that, I received a note from the palace.”
Jasper sat forward. His heart skipped a beat. “Aeysha sent you a letter?”
Rylan nodded. “Yes. She begged a trusted servant to deliver the note.”
“What did it say?”
“She told me she was pregnant, that she was having my child.”
“Oh, wow! You had a baby!” Jasper replied, excited despite himself.
Rylan nodded. “Yes, we had a baby.”
“Surely the King let you marry once he found out she was pregnant. I mean, in the world I live in, it’s not so unusual for a woman to have a child alone, but here I bet things are different.”
Rylan looked shocked. “Do ye mean to tell me a lady can give birth without a husband?”
“Yes, of course.”
Rylan shook his head in disbelief. “What kind of society do ye live in? Who takes care of the woman and the child? What is her father thinking?”
“Yeah, it would take me far too long to explain. Let’s just say, there have been some advancements over the past few hundred years.”
Rylan regarded him dubiously. “I’m not sure I’d call it an advancement. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, if ye ask me.” He shuddered. “Anyway, I digress.”
He moved back further in his chair and continued. “Aeysha was pregnant with my baby, and I was overjoyed. The baby changed everything. I didn’t care I couldn’t give Aeysha the kind of life she was used to, and from her note it seemed like she didn’t either. I wanted to go straight to the King and force him to accept there was nothing else to be done but for the two of us to be married.
“Aeysha was overjoyed. She told me how much she loved me and how she longed to be my wife. But she urged me to be cautious. She hadn’t told her father about the baby yet. She asked for time to approach him, to soften the news. She hoped the thought of the impending birth of his grandchild would be enough for him to overlook my modest means and grant us a license to marry. That was what I hoped for.”
“So, what happened? Did she speak to the King?”
“Oh, yes, she spoke to him, but he refused to listen to her plea. She was thrown into a dungeon and held there for the duration of her pregnancy. I found out through the same trusted servant who brought me the first letter. When I hadn’t heard from Aeysha, I risked entering the palace grounds. I waited, hidden in the shrubbery, for two days before I found the woman I sought. I waylaid her on her way to the village and begged her to tell me what happened. She did.”
“Wow, you and Aeysha went through so much.”
Rylan grimaced. “Unfortunately, the story wasn’t over.” He sighed heavily and leaned forward, running a hand tiredly through his long gray hair.
“I was beside myself, of course. I went straight back to the King. I pleaded with him to release his daughter, to lock me up instead. But he refused. He had four armed guards escort me off the grounds and told me in no uncertain terms if I showed my face there again, I’d be put to death.”
“What happened to Aeysha?” Jasper asked, transfixed.
“She gave birth to baby girl in due course. Aeysha named her Willow. I was kept abreast of developments by the trusted servant woman. I was overjoyed to hear about our daughter and was relieved both mother and baby were all right. And then I got word the King took one look at his granddaughter and flew into a rage.”
Jasper frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“Apparently, the child looked just like me, with hair as black as the night. The King couldn’t stand to be reminded of me, the lowly village healer. He stole the baby from her mother and ordered one of his men to take our baby away.”
Jasper gasped. He couldn’t imagine any grandfather reacting that way. “What happened to her?”
Rylan’s expression filled with sadness. “I don’t know. I didn’t become aware of this until weeks after it happened. By then, it was too late. There were a lot of rumors, but no one could tell me for sure where the baby was taken or who accompanied her. She was lost.”
“Have you ever seen her?”
“No.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
Jasper absorbed the sobering news in silence. “What about Aeysha? Did you get to speak with her again? Did she know anything about the whereabouts of your child?”
“This is where the story gets even sadder,” Rylan replied. “Two days after the King removed our baby, Aeysha threw herself off the rooftop of the castle. Apparently, she climbed three flights of rough-hewn stone stairs, tripping several times before she reached the top. She raced to the highest turret and jumped to her death. Word was, the King ranted and raved for the best part of a month. By that time, I’d been told what happened. I was devastated. I was angry. I was desolate. The love of my life was lost to me forever, and no one could tell me the location of my child. Then I was summoned to the castle.”
Jasper started in surprise. “The King wanted to see you again?”
“Yes. Once again, he met me in the great hall, but this time, he did all the talking. My arms were held by two burly guards and the King raged like a madman, totally out of control. Then he spoke in a language I couldn’t understand, and as he did, all the torches on the walls went out, and the room was plunged into darkness.”
Rylan paused and his breath came fast. It was as if he was back in that great hall again. When he continued, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“The next thing I knew, I could barely stand. My body was wracked with pain. As if by magic, the torches flared back to life, illuminating the room and everyone in it. The guards stared at me in shock. I looked down at my hands, my arms, my feet. I was staring at the body of a sixty-year-old man. The King placed an evil spell on me. He aged me far beyond my years. He declared I’d live out the rest of my life a lonely and broken-hearted old man.”
Jasper stared at Rylan in shock. “Do you mean to tell me you’re not really as old as you look?”
“Yes. I was barely twenty-one when King Defyron cursed me with that spell. Time rolled forward. Nearly eighteen years have passed since then, but still, I’m far from the eighty-year-old ye see before ye.”
Jasper’s gaze remained fixed on Rylan as he struggled to take it all in. His head spun from the revelations. It was too much. And there was still the unanswered question: What does all this have to do with me? He cleared his throat.
“Thank you for sharing your story, Rylan. I’m touched you did, but what is my part in all this?”
Rylan regarded him steadily. “Remember when I
told ye I recognized ye from yer picture?”
Jasper nodded cautiously. “Yes, but we both know you must be mistaken. I live on a different planet in the twenty-first century. You live in a parallel universe in the seventeenth.”
Rylan shook his head and flipped over to the very last page. He tapped the old paper. “There’s been no mistake. Here, see for yerself.”
He turned the book around so Jasper could see the pages spread open before them. Several charcoal drawings filled the space. They depicted a nightmarish battle scene. Three-headed monsters on horses brandishing weapons. Birds with sharp beaks and evil eyes attacked from the air and snakes too numerous to count.
There were bodies everywhere. On the ground, writhing in agony, their faces contorted with pain. Blood poured from their wounds. It was a shocking scene and one that blew Jasper’s mind. In the middle of the melee sat a youth on a pure white horse who held a sword up high. Jasper peered at the picture closely and then gasped, shocked all over again.
It’s me.
No, it couldn’t be. This book was hundreds of years old and belonged in another world, on another planet, even. There was no way he could be included in it. It must be some mistake. It had to be someone else who bore a remarkable resemblance to him.
He peeked again and was filled with a chilling foreboding. The young man looked exactly like him, right down to the small mole on his left cheek. Jasper’s mind spun, his thoughts in turmoil. What’s going on?
“Now do ye believe me?” Rylan asked gently, sensitive to Jasper’s shock.
Jasper shook his head slowly back and forth, still numb with disbelief.
“Somehow, my forefathers foresaw this happening. I guess they wanted to do what they could to help me when the time came. It’s all recorded in this book. It talks about the curse and what I must do to dispel it. There’s a map that will lead us to a cave deep in a forest where ye’ll find a golden stone. The stone is the key to breaking the spell.”
He tapped the book. “It says it all in here. We’ll search for the stone together. Ye are a special young man, Jasper Walker. Do ye see that? Ye’ve been sent here to complete a special mission and let me tell ye, ye have arrived just in time. Remember the crowd that gathered around me earlier?”
“Yes.”
“I already mentioned some of what they said was right. I’m a healer losing my powers. It’s been happening for some time. Part of the curse is that, in the end, I’ll have no power at all and won’t be of any use to people in the village. If I’m no longer a healer, who am I? I’m nobody.”
Jasper opened his mouth to protest, but Rylan staved him off with a raised hand. “I know what yer going to say, boy, and having ye come to my defense warms my heart. But the truth is, I am losing my healing powers and with them, my place in society. Oh, sure there will be some people who remember all I’ve done for them and their families, but there’ll be just as many who rejoice in my fading light. To be powerful in any way is a heavy burden—jealousy abounds. Every day, I get a little older and weaker, and soon there will be nothing left for me to do but die.”
He moved closer, and the expression in his eyes intensified. “I need ye to find this golden stone, and I need ye to do it quickly. Only then will my power and my life be restored. I will return to my full strength and once again take my rightful place as a respected man and healer in this land. The love of my life is lost to me forever, but my role as a healer is my very essence, my identity.
“I was lucky I managed to heal yer wound, but it was a trifling thing. I haven’t been so lucky with some of the more challenging ailments that have come my way in recent times.
“Only a few days ago, a woman died in childbirth, along with her unborn baby. She’s the wife of a very important man in this village. Once upon a time, I would have been able to save them. This time, my powers weren’t strong enough to do what had to be done. It’s one of the reasons the villagers have turned against me. It will continue to get worse as my powers desert me. It’s part of the curse. Ye and only ye have the power to break the spell cast upon me.”
Jasper stared at Rylan in confusion, his head in a spin. “H-how? How can I do such a thing?”
“Do ye trust me, Jasper?”
Jasper held his gaze. Despite his misgivings, he realized he did. “Yes.”
“Then everything will be right.”
Chapter 5
That night, Jasper’s dreams were filled with images of evil kings and a beautiful woman with long blond hair.
She held a baby in her arms and begged him to help her. Though a ferocious storm blew around them, the baby slept on, oblivious. Then a man in a long black cloak shrouding his face approached from behind, and his claw-like hands snatched the infant away. The woman screamed in agony, and Jasper’s heart contracted with icy fear. The next moment, she climbed to the top of the castle ramparts and hurtled herself into the abyss. Her anguished screams melded with his.
He woke with a start, his heart pounding. Sweat glued his hair to his face. He swiped at the longish blond strands and peered into the dimness. A sound across the room drew his attention. Rylan stood near the fire. A large black pot hung from an iron stand, and every now and then the healer gave its contents a stir. The air was filled with a smoky smell Jasper associated with barbeque. His belly growled, and he realized it was a long time since he last ate. He had no idea how long he’d been in this other world, but it was long enough for him to feel like he’d skipped at least a meal or two.
As if reading Jasper’s mind, Rylan half-turned toward him. “Good morning. Yer awake at last. Breakfast is ready, boy. I hope yer hungry.”
Jasper nodded and scrambled out of bed without further encouragement. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he noticed his cheek felt as good as new. Whatever else Rylan might be, there was no doubt he was still a gifted healer, even with his diminishing powers.
Jasper had never believed in whimsical tales of magic. Regardless, there was no other way to explain his healed cheek, and it didn’t seem to matter accepting he’d time traveled went against every rational thought… The truth was, he was here on the planet of Ardhi in the year 1675 and it was real.
What other explanation is there? I’ve been swept into a vortex through time. He wondered how he would get home in time for his eighteenth birthday. His final exams were only a week after that. He needed to get home before he missed those events.
Rylan had talked long into the night the evening before. Why did the ailing healer believe Jasper could break a spell that had held Rylan captive for almost twenty years? The exact details of how Jasper was to accomplish this remained unclear. Sure, there was a picture of someone that looked like him on a battle field, mention of a cave in a forest, and then something about a golden stone…it was all so confusing. He hoped more information would be forthcoming.
Jasper took a seat at the rough-hewn table standing against the far wall. A moment later, Rylan set a bowl of steaming stew in front of him.
“Eat up, boy. This will give ye strength. God knows, we’ll both need it.” With that dire warning, Rylan on the bed nearby and began to eat.
Jasper picked up the crudely fashioned implement beside his bowl. Taking his cue from Rylan, he held the bowl up close to his mouth. He didn’t dare ask Rylan what was in the stew, and he honestly didn’t care. He was hungry, and the food was good. He ate until the bowl was empty then looked around for more.
Rylan chuckled. “That’s the way. I like someone with a healthy appetite. Pass me yer bowl, and I’ll refill it.”
Jasper did as asked, and when Rylan returned to the table with another steaming serving, he murmured his thanks and set to work on the food again. Rylan broke a hunk of bread off the loaf that sat on a plate between them and handed it to Jasper.
“Use this to soak up the juices. It’s the best part.”
Jasper took the bread and grinned. “It’s good,” he said, indicating the stew. “What is it?”
“Crocodile stew. One o
f the villagers trapped it on his way home from a hunting trip. I healed his broken arm a couple of months ago. He shared some of it with me.”
Jasper faltered on the lump of meat in his throat then forced himself to swallow it. He’d never eaten crocodile before, but it was tasty, and the vegetables accompanying it filled the emptiness in his belly, leaving him replete.
After Rylan finished eating he gathered the bowls and pushed away from the table. The old man’s injuries had completely healed overnight, and he was no longer favoring his leg.
“Right then,” he said, oblivious to Jasper’s silent observations. “Let’s get these cleaned up and then we’ll be on our way. We have a long way to go. The sooner we make a start, the better.”
Nerves jumped in Jasper’s belly. “Where are we going?”
Rylan turned and stared at him, his tawny eyes intense. “We’re going to find the golden stone. It holds the power to break the spell. The stone is the key and part of my destiny.”
Rylan’s voice shook with fervor and Jasper was filled with a sense of unease.
What if I’m not up to the task? Despite what Rylan said, until a short time ago, he was no one special, just a teenager getting on with his life. Turning up for school each day and doing his best to stay focused. Counting down the days to term break. Now he was a would-be hero in another time, expected to tap into some kind of magical power inside him and find a stone which would break the spell and restore a man’s life to its former glory. Just the thought of it all made his head spin.
“What will happen if I manage to find this stone and break the spell?”
“It will be as I’ve told ye. I’ll return to the way I used to be, and my powers will be restored. I’ll take my rightful place in society and devote the rest of my time to healing the hurt and the sick. It’s my destiny, what I was born to do. Until the curse is broken, I’ll continue to fade away. Look at me! A wizened old man! Soon I won’t even be that.”
The responsibility for making it all happen weighed like concrete in Jasper’s soul. Once again, he was beset with doubt.
