The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies)

by R. Alan Ferguson

  “That is your former companion,” said the map.

  “You were right, he’s safe,” Peter said to Demala. He held out his hands and said. “I wish for Demala and me to go to the Wizard City.” the boy stood looking like an idiot by not changing his stance.

  The Wolf laughed. “You have no idea of how stupid you look,” he said.

  Peter ignored his companion’s last comment. “Why didn’t it work?” he asked.

  “I was told that to use most spells, you need to know the handle for it first,” said Demala. “I mean, when you wished for your friend, you were desperately hoping for him to go to the city, and suddenly he disappeared, so if you try and remember how you were feeling at the time, you get the handle for that power.”

  “Okay, what’s a handle?”

  “It’s like a thought or a movement of some kind, like when I see Wizards and Witches doing spells with wands or talismans, sometimes they wave them in a specific way. That must be some type of handle for a spell.”

  “But I don’t use a wand anymore.”

  “I know, that’s why I said to remember how you felt or what you were thinking at the time.

  “I was told that you were taught magic.”

  “Yeah, but I never got to that part,” said Peter.

  Well, you’ll have to perfect it as we move, for we’ve already wasted too much time here, and we don’t know if they’re still looking for us.

  “Fine then, we’ll go,” said Peter agreeing with his new companion. Now he felt his full strength coming back to him.

  “What are you doing?” Demala asked the boy, for Peter was seemed to be feeling his own backside.

  “Do me a favor, look at my ass and tell me if it looks okay.”

  The Wolf stood there looking puzzled. “What did you say?” he asked.

  “Look at my ass and tell me how it looks.” Peter suddenly realized why the Wolf looked totally astounded by his words.

  “No, no. I was shot with a magical arrow on the left cheek, and I can’t feel anything there now. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, because I don’t know anything about the stupid thing, you know,” Peter rambled.

  “If it feels all right,” said the Wolf, “then it probably is.” Demala walked past the boy and down the road. The Wolf stopped and turned to face the young King. “Are you coming?”

  Peter went after a second.

  It was then that Peter and the Wolf embarked on their first, though certainly not their last, journey together.

  Chapter Twenty

  The One He Didn’t See

  As they walked, Peter frittered with his father’s old belt. He took his dad’s old sword off and was trying to attach his own sword to it. When he finally accomplished this, he put the belt on.

  “So what do you think?” he asked Demala.

  “It looks right to me.”

  “This is a cool buckle my dad had.” The belt buckle was square with the sign of a Dragon’s claw grasping a colored globe.

  “It wasn’t originally his,” said the Wolf passively.

  “Then whose was it?” asked Peter.

  “Please don’t pursue it any further.”

  “You just can’t peak my interest and shut me down like that,” said Peter. “Come on whose was it?”

  “It belonged to King Dragdani first, it was a gift from his mother,” Demala said, looking as though he suddenly had a sour taste in his mouth.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because almost every time I saw Dragdani, he was wearing it,” said the Wolf. “And when I asked him, he told me.”

  “You knew him? You talked to him?” asked Peter getting more and more intrigued.

  “Yes, I knew them both quite well,” Demala sounded even more agitated, “unfortunately for them.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s none of your damn business, all right?”

  “Is it something to do with your name?” asked Peter pushing him further. “It means murderer, doesn’t it?”

  Demala stopped dead and turned to meet Peter’s gaze. He started toward the boy at a great speed.

  Peter threw an energy ball, which the beast dodged easily.

  The boy then tried the Cripplize spell that had no affect on the Wolf, thanks to the talisman he was wearing.

  Demala pounced on Peter with his front paws on his chest. Peter landed on his back with the Wolf putting his weight on the boy’s back, holding him down.

  “I asked you to leave it. Now will you respect my wishes, or do we have a problem?” asked the Wolf infuriated, his eyes glinting red and his usually small nostrils widening.

  Peter grabbed his paws and, using his superior strength, threw Demala off of him and flipped himself onto his feet.

  “We don’t have a problem,” he said. “It’s just that everyone is willing to tell me that I look like the great Dragdani, yet no one seems to want to tell me anything about him.” Peter brushed himself down, and without another word walked on.

  Demala walked behind him for a while, but soon got a little closer and then, as before, they walked side by side. They walked for a mile and a half in total silence.

  “I’m sorry for pushing you like that,” said Peter.

  “It’s all right. I shouldn’t have attacked you,” said Demala. “It’s just -”

  He paused for a second and then continued by saying, “It’s a sensitive subject for me and contains too many bad memories.”

  “Duh, really? I hadn’t noticed,” said the King sarcastically.

  “You were right,” said the Wolf. “About my name I mean. It did mean murderer among my people.” Demala stopped. “Listen, maybe later I can tell you everything, but only when I feel ready to do so. No offence, but I don’t really know you.”

  “That’s fine,” said Peter.

  There was a sudden yell that rose up out of nowhere; neither of them could tell where it came from, but both looked around trying to place it.

  “So you heard it?” said Demala.

  “Yeah, it’s these funny ears,” said Peter pulling the top of his right ear a little. “I wonder where it came from.”

  “It came from the woods over there,” said the Wolf.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve been in this form for over two thousand years, so yes, I’m sure.”

  “Fine, but I think we should go and see who or what that was and see if they need help, don’t you?”

  “No,” said the Wolf. “My mission is to deliver you to the Grand Wizard, and that’s what I’ll do.”

  “How did you get to work for the Grand Wizard?” asked Peter. “Did you, by any chance, swear to follow the orders of the person who runs the Wiz-Wit cities?”

  “Yes, but how did you know that?”

  “I don’t know how, but there’s a lot that I know that I never knew before,” said Peter confidently. “As you swore to obey the person who rules Cayer-Huld, and Uracade, well, in case you’ve forgotten, they both belong to me. Therefore, you obey me, and I order you to follow me into that forest.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t have to take orders from you until you enter the city gates. Until then, you have to do as I say,” said Demala.

  “I see,” said the boy. “You said that your mission is to bring me back?”

  “That’s right.”

  “So no matter where I go, you’ll have to follow me to find me and take me there, right?” said Peter. The young Draga-Wizard-Elf shot off in the blink of an eye.

  “GET BACK HERE! WE HAVE TO GET TO THE CITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” the Wolf howled after him, though it was pointless. The teenager was already gone. “Damn Wizards,” the Wolf ranted as he followed.

  There was another yell, and another. It went on continuously. The Wolf followed Peter’s footprints through the tree line and into the black forest.

  In no time at all, Demala could see Peter again. He was running to the bottom of a cliff were there wa
s someone dangling from the edge. The person looked and sounded like a boy. And as the Wolf saw him, the boy lost his grip and fell, just as Peter arrived at the rock face in time to catch him.

  The fallen boy suddenly sounded older then he looked, for he had quite a deep voice, but was just half the size of Peter.

  “Are you okay?” Peter asked him.

  “I could’ve handled it on my own,” said the strange boy. “We Dwarves can handle ourselves.”

  “You’re welcome,” said the young King.

  “What is that Wolf doing here?” said the Dwarf, taking out a small axe he had tucked in his belt.

  “He’s my friend and guide,” replied Peter. “Why? Is there something wrong?”

  “It is forbidden for it to come to our land.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be leaving soon,” said Peter.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s too late. The fact that it is here and you brought it here means you both must come with me to see the Lord of the Dark Halls,” said the Dwarf.

  Peter did not know who this Lord of the Dark Halls was, but the title did not sound very appealing, so he decided to decline.

  “I’m sorry, too, but we’re going now,” said Peter, turning and walking away.

  “It’s all right, Drago, we should go with him,” said Demala. “We can hide out there for a few days, and if Ulicoth’s people are looking for us, with any luck they’ll pass us by.”

  “If you’re sure that you’ll be safe. He doesn’t exactly sound like a fan of yours,” said Peter.

  “You can talk to it?” asked the Dwarf anxiously. “What was it saying?”

  “He said that it would be better for us to go with you.”

  “I will tell Lord Eiaten that the both of you followed me of your own free will, but I doubt that’ll make any difference in the Wolf’s case, though I think it would be better for you both if it would let me bind his jaws with this rope.” The Dwarf detached a small piece of rope from his belt.

  “That’s not acceptable,” said Peter firmly.

  “Eiaten will not allow this creature to breathe if he walks into our home freely,” said the Dwarf, sounding concerned, though Peter thought that the concern was probably for himself rather than Demala. The question on his mind was what would this Lord Eiaten do if one of his people let that particular Wolf walk into their home freely? However, he thought it wise not to ask.

  “It’s all right,” said Demala, “I’ll allow it.”

  “But we don’t know if Eiaten is working for Ulicoth,” said Peter.

  The Dwarf looked startled at the mention of Ulicoth’s name. That was the one word he did understand.

  “That name must never be mentioned in our lands, never,” said the Dwarf as his voice shook.

  “It’s just a name,” Peter remarked.

  “That name can destroy anything that hears it, even the very air itself. Lord Eiaten will hear of this; I swear it.”

  Peter looked at Demala as if to say, ‘now can we walk away?’

  “That’s all right. We’ll just play along,” the Wolf said in answer to the boy’s look.

  Their host looked on in anticipation.

  “He says he’s willing to let you tie his mouth,” said Peter.

  “Good,” said the Dwarf. “And you both will wear these blindfolds,” he said to Peter as he pulled from his pocket a large cloth that he ripped in two.

  Peter was about to tell him to “get lost,” until Demala gave a short cry to remind him to go along with it.

  “Fine,” the boy said reluctantly.

  How long they walked they were unsure, for they couldn’t see the path. Their new guide had tied their blindfolds tightly. Peter was very nervous. He didn’t like feeling defenseless, though he knew they had no choice but to follow the Dwarf if they wanted to stay hidden from his enemies. He was also a little nauseous. Whatever the rag had been used for before he was not exactly sure, though his blindfold smelt very strongly of a mixture of rotten eggs and what he thought might have been the sweet smell of blood. The smell made the boy want to heave, but he did his best to fight the feeling.

  After what seemed like half an hour’s walk to Peter (it was really three hours), they stopped.

  “You may take your blindfolds off,” said the Dwarf.

  With a feeling of relief and great pleasure, Peter took his off and then Demala’s. Then he took his first look around. The light from the sun shone into the clearing in which they stood. It blinded Peter as his eyes tried to adjust after the darkness.

  There were trees, but they were at least seven meters away in every direction, and when he looked down at his feet, he saw that there was no path to speak of, just the greenest grass he had ever seen in his life. When he looked to where he Dwarf stood, he saw a vast mountain but no door. He found this quite intriguing. There were other mountains connected to it, but they were only half its size.

  “You will both have to wait here with a guard while I talk to the Lord of the mountain,” said the Dwarf.

  “Sure,” said Peter, looking dazed at the sight of the massive mountain.

  Their guide walked up to the rock face leaned toward it and whispered something to one of the rocks. There was a loud crumbling, grumbling sound and a chasm opened in the rock face about three and a half feet in length and five feet in width.

  Another Dwarf stepped out and looked at their new guests. The two kin talked, and then the guard walked out while the opening closed behind the first Dwarf.

  It was not long before he returned, and Peter and the Wolf were joined by the two Dwarves, one guiding them and the other keeping up the rear. The passage in which they walked was dark, so dark that Peter couldn’t see anything with his ordinary eyes and kept smacking his head on the low ceiling. His Dragon eyes kicked in about ten seconds after they entered. Demala, being a Wolf, could see perfectly, for his eyes adjusted as soon as the entrance closed behind them.

  At the end of the long tunnel, there was only a faint glimmer of light.

  “I wish there was more light in this place,” Peter said to himself, though it was loud enough for some of the people in that great hall to hear him. That was very bad, because as he said it, all of the torches that lined the walls and sat upon the long thick columns which stood throughout the massive hall lit up, as if someone had ignited them all instantaneously. In fact, someone had, so Dwarves knew there was a Wizard or Witch present.

  “You bring a magic user into our home,” said a Dwarf at the top of the staircase. The boy and the Wolf could not see the landing at the top, as there was a very strong light blinding them. They could see what they thought was the outline of a throne.

  “I’m sorry, father; I didn’t know what he was,” said their guide.

  “That’s all right, Dayen. They’re lying, scheming things, and they would do or say anything to save their own skins,” said Lord Eiaten as he slowly walked down the steps to meet them. His once-dark hair was almost gone except for a few strands that were not yet overrun with grey. But he had gained experience that comes with long life.

  “State your name, boy, and tell me why you were trespassing in my lands,” demanded the Dwarf Lord.

  “My name is Drago, son of Jastark.”

  The Dwarf nodded, and the others gasped.

  “Yes,” said Eiaten, “The resemblance between you and the old King Dragdani is uncanny. I just wanted to see whether or not you were one to be trusted. But don’t think hose names will save you. However, you did save my son from falling to his death, and for that I owe you a great debt.”

  “No,” said Peter, “I saved your son because he needed help. I would never use that to sway favor. What kind of person would I be?”

  “By the gods, it’s true,” said Eiaten laughing. “You look like the great Dragdani, but you sound like your father, ha, ha. I will not kill you. I can tell just from what you’ve said that you are a good person. And besides, I for one hope the Second Prophecy will come true, for if not, then this is hell an
d there will never be hope for any of us. Yet you travel in the worst company.” The Dwarf was now looking at Demala.

  “Whatever he has done to you is in the past. Remember, he did a lot worse to my people than to yours,” said Peter defensively.

  “And how would you know of what he has done. You have only set foot on this world for just over a week,” said Eiaten.

  “How did you know that?”

  “If you don’t mind, young Drago, as Lord of this mountain that we are standing in now and leader of the people you see before you, I will ask the questions,” said the Dwarf with a certain amount of power that did not scare the boy. However, Peter did have respect for the old Dwarf.

  “That’s fine, but please allow me to ask just one thing,” the young King said.

  “I believe that was a question, but go on.”

  “Will you remove my friend’s muzzle?”

  “I am sorry, but I cannot be sure he can be trusted,” said Eiaten truthfully.

  “Then I take full responsibility for him until we cross your boarders,” said Peter with hope in his heart.

  “That is a very big responsibility, for if he were to attack anyone in my lands, you would be put to death in his place. And understand there’s nothing I could do to stop it. That is one of our most concrete laws, so you better be sure of what you’re saying and that you can trust your charge,” said Eiaten.

  “I am and I do,” said Peter in response.

  Dayen reached down and untied the rope that bound Demala’s jaws.

  “There, it is done,” said the Dwarf Lord. He turned to face his people. “We have a very special guest with us. A King, and I know that he may belong to those with whom we have cut all ties, but he is different than the others, for he is not from this world, and I place my trust in him. So please, let’s celebrate the coming of the one who has seen us before seeing Bacnil, Avelan, and Jaucal.”

  All of Eiaten’s people cheered and shouted in pure joy at seeing a new age, along with new hope, coming for all.

  “Bloody Wizard’s, always take on more than they can handle,” said the Dwarf Lord. “Have either of you eaten?