“Who were these good magiciansand why didn’t they just kill him?” Tanya asked.
“Who they were is notimportant,” Kalina declared, “but the reason they didn’t kill Saracis because they were not capable of killing him. Sarac surroundedhimself with a hundred Black Devils and there were only three goodmagicians. The hundred Black Devils’ job was to provide Sarac withshields to protect him.”
“The three magicians wereKirsta, Jenneva and Egam,” Fredrik interjected. “Kirsta and Egamdied in the battle, or so the Black Devils say. They still searchfor Jenneva this very day, but most believe she died during theCollapse.”
“You know very much for aCollapse child,” Kalina said.
“I learned many things fromspying on the Black Devils in Trekum,” Fredrik saidproudly.
“Well,” Kalina continued, “youare correct, except Egam did not die in the battle. It was thoughtthat he was dead, but he survived that battle to supposedly dieduring the Collapse. Anyway, to get back to the story, they wereunable to kill Sarac and he was slowly killing them, so Jenneva didthe only thing she could think of. She created an empty Universeand banished him and his hundred Black Devils to it.”
“But I heard that Sarac is theDark One,” objected Fredrik.
“And so he is,” confirmedKalina. “You see, Sarac did not possess the knowledge of creatingand collapsing Universes, so he was trapped. Only Jenneva knew andshe would never let him free. Some of the Black Devils who wereleft behind organized under a sorcerer known as Mordac. Mordac wasan assistant to Sarac and schemed to bring him back. He amassedthousands of followers and began looting temples and libraries tofind the knowledge that would free Sarac.”
“Was this Jenneva foolishenough to write the information down?” Tedi asked.
“No,” replied Kalina, “but shedid not invent the information. She learned of it in old scrollsand there was a volume called the Book of the Beginning that alsocontained the information. It was this volume that Mordac sought.Again the Black Devils caused thousands of lives to be lost throughwars and murder, but eventually Mordac and the Black Devils weredefeated by the Targa Rangers and everyone thought the threat wasover.”
“Who are the Targa Rangers?”inquired Arik.
“The Rangers were an elitefighting force conceived and organized by Alex Tork,” Kalinaanswered. “They fought for Targa which was a large country north ofhere. By all accounts, they were the finest fighting force everassembled in the history of the world, but we are getting offtopic. Two Black Devils out of thousands survived, Dalgar andAurora. By a quirk of fate, these two Black Devils were the onlytwo to have read the Book of the Beginning in the extremely shorttime that the Black Devils possessed it.”
“Perhaps fate decreed thatthey should be spared,” offered Niki.
“Perhaps,” Kalina grimlyagreed. “They used their knowledge to open a Junction to Sarac’sUniverse. The story is unclear here, but somehow they got this newknowledge to Sarac and he opened a Junction to Alutar, the GreatDemon. The Mage had imprisoned Alutar for over a thousand years andthe Demon’s freedom triggered a prophecy. According to the AncientProphecy, Alutar chose Sarac to become the Dark One. This madeSarac immortal and guaranteed him rule of the entire world. Therewere a couple of twists in the Ancient Prophecy, though. Saraccollapsed the Universes and brought darkness and havoc to the worldin preparation for his armies, but Alex and Jenneva managed toimprison him in his castle before he could conquer the world andthat is where he still exists today.”
“What does all of this have todo with the sword?” Tedi asked.
“The twists in the AncientProphecy,” explained Kalina. “The sword before you is the Sword ofHeavens. It is older than the oldest mountain range and it is tiedto the Ancient Prophecy. It is the sword that will kill Sarac andend the Darkness. There are two conditions that have to be metbefore Sarac dies with this sword and neither is assured tohappen.”
The children looked in awe at the swordand there were quite a few red faces around the fire.
“The first,” Kalina detailed,“is that the seven missing gems must be restored to the sword. Eachof the gems represents one of the original Universes. Until allseven of the gems are restored, the Sword of Heavens is just asword and will not kill Sarac. The second twist is that the Swordof Heavens must be wielded by a descendant of Sarac and only afterthe ancient kingdom of Alcea is ruled by its rightfulKing.”
“I have never heard of Alcea,”declared Fredrik.
“And who is a descendant ofSarac?” quizzed Tedi. “I think most people would deny it if theywere.”
“Very good questions,”admitted Kalina. “The Children of the Prophecy whom everyone seeksare the descendant of Sarac and the rightful King ofAlcea.”
“Are you sure it says the Kingof Alcea and not the Queen?” Niki queried.
“So, for these two people,everyone who is seventeen is to be killed?” Arikquipped.
“If Sarac has his way, yes,”Kalina responded. “You can see why it is so important to the DarkOne to find these children.”
“Sure, it’s important to him,”remarked Tedi, “but what does that have to do with us?”
Kalina looked at the faces of thechildren around the campfire before answering. “Because the Swordof Heavens will be inactive until touched by one of the Children ofthe Prophecy,” she stated.
Silence fell over the group as thechildren all glanced at one another. For almost five minutes no onespoke as each person was lost in his own thoughts about what theyhad witnessed and what it might mean to them if they were the onewho had set the sword off. Eventually, Garth interrupted thesilence.
“You will see now,” he began,“why it is important that we do not split up. Any one of you couldbe one of the Children. Any of the others could provide adescription of the other four and make the Dark One’s work easy forhim. The fate of the whole world lies in the hands of the people inthis campsite. None of you can walk away from this and hope to leada normal life as if none of it has happened. You must all train tobe as skilled as you can become, both in the arts that I can teachand in those that Kalina can teach. Together we can restore Lightto the world, though it will be no easy task. Are weagreed?”
“Can it really happen?” askedTanya. “I mean, the great Jenneva did not have the magical skill tokill Sarac and the great Alex Tork did not have the military skillto destroy the Black Devils. How can you propose that five childrencan do what the great people of the last age failed todo?”
Kalina looked at the young girl who wasprobably still wrapped in remorse over the loss of her uncle. “Whocould fail to try?” Kalina quipped. “Would you live in a world offear and hatred and never embrace hope? Would you live and die inDarkness without ever trying to see the Light? Because others havefailed before you, do you curl up and die with your insignificance?Your uncle saw the Light in his lifetime. What do you suppose hewould have given to allow you to see it in yourlifetime?”
“I know that I am not one ofthe Children whom you seek,” stated Arik, “but your goals are whateveryone’s goals should be. Whichever of you is the one, I offer tostand by you until the Dark One is vanquished.”
Tedi nodded vigorously. “I agree. Arikand I know our parents well and they could not be related to theDark One, but our fathers would be the first to urge us to acceptthis challenge. I, too, will stand by the Child of the Prophecyuntil the Dark One is vanquished.”
Garth smiled at his two pupils. Overthe past few weeks, they had shown themselves to be excellentstudents with strong skills, although he never told them such, butnow they were showing that they were men of substance, aswell.
“Do we know whether the oneamong us is the future King or the descendant of the Dark One? Nikiasked.
“Does it matter?” snarledFredrik. “Is a child supposed to carry the sins of his father justfor being his son? Whichever one he is, he will be doing the worlda great service and I will pledge my support. My parents were poor,but good people. I cannot fathom them being of the stock of theDar
k One and my wildest imagination cannot conceive of them beingroyalty, but I join with you until the end. There is nothing for meto go back to and Kalina offers much to learn. Count mein.”
“I know I am not really a partof this group,” Tanya smiled sheepishly, “but I have nowhere to go.I can fight and if it involves fighting the Dark One, I can fighteagerly. If you will have me, I will pledge you my support untilthe end.”
Everyone looked at Niki who was bitingher nails. She suddenly looked up at the silence and reddened. “Iknow my fate is to be a queen,” she said. “It has always been myfate, I know it. I did not know my parents and it is possible thatthe country I am to rule is this Alcea. Are you sure the prophecyspecifies a King?”
Kalina just nodded sadly, but Garthcaught Niki’s attention. “Perhaps,” he began, “you are destined tomarry this King of Alcea.”
Niki blushed but she quickly looked atthe three boys and smiled. “Perhaps you are right, Garth. I onlyknow that I am to be a queen. I have nowhere else to turn, so Iguess I will go with you.”
Kalina smiled grimly. It was not thestrong commitment that the others had given, but perhaps that wasas close as Niki could come. “Okay,” she confirmed, “ we are all inthis together, then. The first thing we need to do is createuniforms like Garth’s. We will all dress in black leather with manypockets. The boys will grow beards so they look older. Tanya, youwill get a black leather cap to replace your brown one. I thinkwhen you let down your hair by removing that cap, it will unnerveyour audience enough to make them forget they were questioning yourage.”
“We will get rid of the wagonand no longer be gypsies,” Garth added. “The wagon would cause usto move too slowly and leaves tracks which are too readable. Tanya,you will join Arik and Tedi for instructions. Fredrik and Niki willalso get instructions from me so they will be useful in situationswhere magic would not be a good idea.”
The boys looked enthused, but Niki wassadly staring at the ground. “What is the matter?” Tanyaquestioned.
Niki looked up at Tanya and gave a weaksmile. “All of the boys here knew their parents,” Niki mused. “Thatmeans that the Child we have with us is the descendant of the DarkOne.”
Garth caught her eye. “Your logic isnot as good as it appears,” he interjected. “The descendant of theDark One whom everyone seeks was the child of the Empress ofSordoa. The child was born in the year of the Collapse.”
Niki caught her breath at theimplication. Garth had not said the son of the Empress of Sordoaand all of the boys knew their parents. A chill ran down her spineand she shivered. Who would accept the daughter of the Dark One fora queen and how could she possibly kill her father? Niki threwherself into Tanya’s arms and cried.
“What of this King of Alcea?”Fredrik asked. “What do you know of him?”
“He would have to be descendedof the royal line of Alcea,” Garth explained. “Alcea was a veryancient country that grew and took up a large part of thecontinent. Somewhere along the line, its name was changed to Targa.In the royal line of Targa would be a descendant of John Secor, agreat painter who never assumed the throne. In the years before theCollapse, Mordac murdered King Eugene. King Eugene’s heir was JohnSecor, but he refused the throne. In a compromise, Duke Whitleybecame King Byron. King Byron’s adopted son was Prince Oscar Dalek,who was married to John Secor’s daughter, Princess Callie. So therightful King’s daughter married the actual King’s son. The childof their marriage would be the rightful heir to the throne. Theyhad a child who was lost when the ship they were on was sunk in theSordoan Sea. He was born in the year of the Collapse.”
“Wasn’t Oscar Dalek the boymerchant who became rich by creating a private army to deal withbandits?” Tanya asked. “Uncle Boris used to tell stories ofhim.”
“The same,” chuckled Garth.“Oscar Dalek became the richest man in the world with schemes whichalways benefited the other party. He started Targan shipping on theTarga Sea with a new type of boat he designed. He had the GreatCanal built and he introduced his mother to Duke Whitley who wenton to become King of Targa. That is how he became aPrince.”
“Sounds like quite acharacter,” Tedi grinned. “Someone should have had him sell land ina peat bog for Sarac’s new home.”
“How did the Empress of Sordoaget involved with Sarac?” Arik asked. “I mean, Sarac wasn’t royaltyor anything, was he?”
“No,” Kalina explained, “Sarachad a plan to take over the four great nations of the continent byreplacing their rulers with his own people. The Empress of Sordoawas none other than Aurora.”
Niki started crying again and Tanyahugged her.
Kalina continued as if she hadn’tnoticed. “Aurora befriended the Sultan of Sordoa and eventuallythey were married. She already carried Sarac’s child before themarriage and the Sultan believed it was his own. Aurora convincedthe Sultan to declare himself the Emperor and her the Empress,which he did shortly before she killed him and took over thethrone.”
Niki broke out in hysterics and Tanyashot Kalina a foul look. Kalina eyed Tanya directly and continued.“Everyone who is involved in this party has a right to know thesefacts, Tanya,” Kalina lectured. “Niki is getting hysterical for noreason. If she does not wish to hear this information, you may takeher for a walk.”
Tanya tried to raise Niki and take herfor a walk, but Niki refused. “I have to hear it sometime,” Nikisobbed. “I might as well hear it now.”
Kalina nodded and resumed. “When Saraclearned of the Ancient Prophecy, he sent his Black Devils toassassinate Aurora and her baby. The assassins did manage to killAurora as she was running away with her baby before the crowdclosed on them, but the baby disappeared. Nobody knows if the childwas male or female.”
Niki looked up at Kalina. “You meanSarac tried to kill Aurora and the baby and Aurora tried to savethe baby?” Niki asked.
“As misguided as Aurora was,”Kalina explained, “the Sordoans loved her. Alex and Jenneva werethere to save Aurora’s baby and they helped to kill the magicianassassins that Sarac sent. The Palace Guards tried to take Alexbecause they knew he was a Targan Ranger. Then the crowd attackedthe guards because Alex tried to save their beloved Empress.Somehow, in the commotion, someone grabbed Aurora’s baby anddisappeared.”
Niki sat up and wiped her eyes. “Well,”she stated bitterly, “that is reason enough for him todie.”
Everyone looked at Niki and saw thehatred in her face. If she had been the weakest member to pledgesupport before, she now looked like she would be willing to ripSarac apart with her bare hands.
Garth suddenly sat upright and cockedhis head. “Everybody gather their gear and saddle a horse. We areleaving immediately. If you can’t get it together in two minutes,leave it. We are about to have company, Dark Riders to beexact.”
Garth leaped to his feet as the lastwords left his lips. He quickly wrapped the Sword of Heavens andraced to the wagon to select which items he would be taking withhim. The whole camp followed his lead and ran silently gatheringtheir belongings.
Chapter 14
Young Warriors
Tremors of fear and determination rangthrough the campsite as the gypsies and the children prepared toevacuate the camp before Wolinda and the Dark Riders arrived.Evidently, the magic display given off by the Sword of Heavens wassufficient to alert the witch, Wolinda, who was leading the groupof Dark Riders. Events of the day had been sufficiently unusualthat no one had thought to question Garth on how he knew the DarkRiders were approaching and everyone scrambled to secure the thingsthey each wished to bring.
Garth rummaged through the wagonselecting the items he did not wish to leave. He piled up severallong lengths of rope and several quivers of arrows before reachingfor the heavy canvas satchel. The satchel was divided into twocompartments and Garth was relieved that the children had notthought to search through it. One side of the satchel held a largenumber of Lanoirian Stars that he had purchased from a source inOngchi the last time he was there, but the other was packed withdeadly myric quills. A touch to
the point of one of those quillswould have meant instant death to the children who touched them,something he would cover in his next lesson. He had purposelyexaggerated the two minutes that it would take the Dark Riders toarrive so the children would not dawdle. He knew they had closer toten minutes, but that was still cutting it close when it came tofleeing from servants of the Dark One.
Tanya appeared at the back of thewagon. “Is there something I can do to help you?” she asked. “Inever unpacked my belongings and Arik has already shown me thehorse that I will be riding.”
Garth stared at the young girl whoenjoyed dressing as a boy. He handed her the coils of rope. “Useone of these to create a lead for the two wagon horses. We will betaking them with us. Then secure the other coils to my horse.” Sheturned to go and Garth reached out and held her arm. “Do you haveany fighting skills?” he asked.
Tanya looked up at the imposing gypsyand grinned. “More than any of your boys. Uncle Boris oftenbartered for lessons for me. I can handle myself with sword, knifeand bow, although I do not own a bow.”
Garth reached into the wagon andgrabbed three bows and handed them to her. “Take these and chooseone when you have time to test them out. The large one willprobably not be suitable, but we will take it anyway.” He alsohanded her a quiver of arrows before she left.
Garth shook his head in amazement athow things had developed and bent to complete his task. Within twominutes of his warning the group was ready to go. Garth smiledbroadly as he called for the assemblage to mount up and ridenorthward. Kalina took the lead on her beautiful white mare thatlooked suited to leading a grand parade down the street of a greatcity during festival time. Niki and Tanya rode behind Kalina, withFredrik and Tedi behind them. Arik pulled in alongside Garth at therear, as Garth looked back over the campsite and the wagon that hadbeen his home for so long.
Kalina kept to a strong pace as shekept her eyes on the path for a good spot to stage an ambush,something that Garth had instilled in her repeatedly over theyears. Garth was busy playing with the leads on the two sparehorses.
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