by Randal Sloan
All hadn’t gone as planned, however. Somehow, the Queen had escaped and although he had caught up to the party, it had been too late. Not even Lord Vipero’s allies had been willing to take on the monastery where she’d taken refuge, so Lord Vipero had been forced to try to find and kill the Royal Prince using his own resources. One had been a pack of hellhounds he had “borrowed” from one of his allies. That pack had not returned, meaning not only had they not been successful, but he’d been put in debt to the sorcerer who had claimed them.
He’d left other traps out there for the boy, but so far nothing had happened. One of those was something he’d left behind on the wizard island, the one place he could never return. Not even with his great power would he be able to overcome the wards that had been reinforced over the centuries by many of the greatest wizards that had ever lived. But his little trap could still be keyed to the one he sought from afar and he had done so a couple of years ago. He still had hopes on that front; the boy should be coming of age now, which meant he would be brought in for training.
Despite his lack of belief in the Dark Masters’ prophecies, Lord Vipero had been taught them well. What he had just felt matched exactly one of those prophecies his allies feared the most. It was probably just a coincidence, but it would bear watching. He knew they would be well aware of what had just happened; he hoped they didn’t do anything stupid in reaction.
Lord Vipero was not wrong about the Dark Sorcerers. In the mountains of Agansti, the magical occurrence was not met with joy but with fear. Lord Melthevis, the head of the Dark Council, was the first to feel it and he knew exactly what it meant. He’d hoped their convert would have some success in his campaign, thereby finding a way to change the Prophecies from being a tool of the Light to one supporting the Dark.
Opening his book of the Dark Prophecy, he looked for the latest quatrain. That’s what I thought, it matches exactly.
He sat there for some time, cursing the timing of the events of the Prophecy. He was not ready! He had to find something, something that would turn this event to the cause of the Dark. There were dark sorcerers who had dedicated their entire lives to similar pursuits, all to no avail, but he needed to find a way. There had to be one.
Hearing a knock on the door, Lord Melthevis, was furious. He’d left word that he was not to be disturbed. Throwing open his door, he flung a powerful spell at the fool who dared disturb him, slinging him across the room. It was that stupid weasel Ulrik.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“You’re being summoned before the Dark Council to see what you intend to do about the magical event,” Ulrik told him with a smirk. Lord Melthevis knew Ulrik had designs on his spot as head of the Council. He apparently felt this incident would fit right into his plans.
“Tell them that I’ll be there shortly.” He pointed to the book in room behind him. “Unlike you, I’ve been spending my time studying the Dark Prophecies.”
Ulrik gave him another smirk, but he did as he was told. That was another thing — Ulrik didn’t believe in the Dark Prophecies. The fool! Time and again they’d come to pass; wishing it wasn’t so wouldn’t make them go away. He waited until the man turned away; then he waited a few moments more to let them know they did not demand anything from their Master.
Finally he took his place at the head of the room, once more showing his anger instead of fear. He held the book of Dark Prophecies up.
“Lord Vipero has failed us,” he told them all. “As I warned you, the Dark Prophecies are not that easy to circumvent. I want to know what you’re going to do about it.”
Thus entailed a lot of shouting and finger pointing, no one willing to step up to face him. Finally, Ulrik stood up, shouting above the crowd, “Why don’t we send an assassin team?”
That was what Lord Melthevis had been waiting for. This was the perfect solution. The others would know he was still in charge. Ulrik had always been a troublemaker, so it would be a good way to be rid of him.
He pounced on the fool. “My idea exactly,” he told the man. “Gather your team. As soon as they leave the Wizard Island, you’re to go to Callidore and not return until the boy is dead.”
He turned and walked out of the meeting, smiling. If the fool was successful, he would have him killed before he could return. If he failed, he’d at least be rid of one of his problems. Now, about those Prophecies, he at least had a plan. He intended to go visit the man who’d studied them the most. There had to be a way around the current dilemma.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A Trap is Sprung
JAILYN AND HER friends had gloried in their magical experience, the magical power reverberating back and forth between them. The group sharing drew them even closer to each other than before. They were so distracted they didn’t even notice when Carisa gathered her group to leave, still laughing at the four seated on the ground. Carisa had no idea of what she had missed, her lack of magical vision leaving her totally in the dark.
Jailyn also missed the young dragon who was watching them from his cave on the mountain above them. With his dragon sight he was able to see her and her friends, and he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. Between her natural beauty and the glorious beauty of the magic surrounding her, he found himself quite smitten by her. Of course, he’d known that the first time he saw her. He had no idea how to explain it, how a human could affect him so, but he’d found himself thinking of her almost constantly since their meeting.
The four slowly came back to themselves. Finally, reality hit and they found themselves running late for their appointment with the Masters. Not a good way to make a first impression; more importantly, they’d been warned not to waste the Masters’ time.
“We’ll never get there on time,” Kelsey complained, knowing their little trip was her fault. The sweet rolls she’d packed were completely forgotten.
Jesse had been looking down off the little plateau and back down toward the wizard compound. “I believe if we take the path to the left, it will be a bit of a shortcut. What have we got to lose? We’re already late.”
And so the four plunged down the other path, a path that brought them back into the wizard compound in an area they’d never been to before. Unfortunately for them, there was a reason that area was avoided. There was a house along the edge of that path, a house long abandoned. It was a small house, the size reserved for a Master’s Assistant. No one lived in it due to the dark magic it still contained after its last occupant had left some twenty odd years before.
Later the Masters would admit to themselves that they’d just gotten lazy, and perhaps a little preoccupied, because they should have gathered together and cleansed the place of its dark magic. Instead it had been left alone all those years, and within the depths of the house, the magical trap Lord Vipero had left behind remained active. That trap was the one he had sent magical instructions with the signature for a certain young Prince and the command to trigger should he come near. It still wouldn’t have worked, but the magic of the one the trap was looking for had been supercharged. Even with all the work done to hide that magical signature, what was there was enough in those few moments to trigger his trap. It was almost successful.
Corrie’s own magic was still burning with renewed strength, so his sense of danger was running wild. It was so strong that he couldn’t pinpoint which one of the group was the one at risk. He hung back just behind the three, which meant he was the one that sensed when it started to go wrong. He tried to call out, but there was just no time. He intended to throw himself in front of the danger, pushing his friends off to the side, but he wasn’t the first to reach it. Instead, the dragon Gavr’iel appeared out of nowhere to thrust himself between them and the trap Lord Vipero had left.
All of them felt some of its deadly power. Gavr’iel was the closest, so he took the brunt of it, but being a dragon, its effect on him was minimal. Corrie caught more of the magic, but after all, the trap wasn’t aimed at him, so it wasn’t fatal for him either.
Jesse and Kelsey caught just the edge of it, but the magic of the trap was aimed at a signature that the two of them both reflected to some extent. Interacting with the magical overload the two were still carrying, the magic strike caused a merging of their powers for a tiny instant. Later, they would find that the bond they had already started to develop for each other had become stronger. Both collapsed, their bodies temporarily in shock.
Jailyn was the furtherest away and so suffered the least effect. In addition, Jailyn’s magic was so strong that even untrained it sprung forth, surrounding her and her friends, blunting the remainder of the attacking force. The backlash of the failed magical attack reached across the kingdom to strike Lord Vipero, knocking him to his knees and leaving him with such a vicious headache that he had no idea what had just happened.
The results of that explosion of magic rang like a bell across the island, sending Master Ashcroft running across the compound yelling for healers to accompany him. He was the first to reach the four and he let out a sigh of relief as he realized they were still alive. By the time he reached them, Jailyn had rushed to Jesse and Kelsey, her worries about them causing her to ignore the weakness she felt. She barely noticed the dragon Gavr’iel looking over her shoulder. Once again, her untrained magic reached out to her friends, stabilizing and protecting them until the healers could arrive. She was so preoccupied, she barely noticed she was pulling magic from Gavr’iel, although he gladly gave it to her.
Because of his youth, Gavr’iel didn’t understand the significance of what they were doing, but in a miracle foreseen by the one who penned the Prophecies, a bond was developing between the girl and dragon. All he knew was that for some reason he cared deeply for this one and would do anything to help and protect her. Jailyn herself was too distracted by her worries for her friends to understand, and she could only extend her gratitude for the moment, still consumed with her concern.
Master Ashcroft quickly reached the group, pulling up in astonishment at what he saw in front of him. Finally regaining control of himself, he pulled Jailyn into his arms as the healers took over and administered their art to Jesse and her other friends.
“They’re going to be fine,” he told her as her tears flowed. “We have some of the best healers in the world on this island.” He waved a hand in front of him. “Use your sight, see their auras are still bright.”
Finally hearing his words, Jailyn blinked her tears away and did as he said, a huge burst of relief lifting her spirits. Still she worried; she was so very new to all this magic stuff and didn’t understand most of what had happened.
“We’ll fix everything,” he went on, his own wonder at all that he had seen still leaving him stunned and a little breathless. But he knew he could help her a little more. Using his spirit affinity, he carefully soothed her anxiety
The aftermath of all the magic flowing and merging was that when the magic flooding Jesse and Kelsey returned to a more normal level, their own magical abilities returned to that which they had inherited at birth. Unknown to them, when they were young children the true magical signature they carried had been switched between the two of them by a magical exchange spell. It had been done by a group of monks who not only had the second sight but also had a strong ability in magic. That spell had already begun to wear thin; after all, as the two learned to use their magic they would return to their natural affinities.
When the Master finally looked up from his niece, he immediately saw the change in the boy. He could only stare in shock. We’ve found our Prince! That thought echoed strongly in his head as he gathered his scattered thoughts. Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense.
Still, he could only wonder what it all meant.
The four students were taken to the island infirmary, where the healers insisted they all get rest. Corrie was actually the slowest to recover due to his proximity to the trap, and so he received the most attention once everyone was stabilized. He now slept a natural, albeit forced, sleep. Jesse and Kelsey were pretty shook up too, and the aftermath of their magical powers rearranging themselves left them quite a bit out of sorts. Even Jailyn, while not injured in the magical explosion itself, had overly stressed her own young body and needed rest.
So the healers put up a dome of healing over the four and left them sleeping. Master Ashcroft was told in no uncertain terms to leave the four alone and he knew the instruction of the healers was correct. He slipped out, leaving them sleeping, although he intended to keep a close watch on them.
All four were asleep when a special dream was sent to the group. A few of the Masters of the Church of the Most High had an ability that was shared by very few others. Their evil counterparts had some similar ability, but they didn’t consider it of much importance. Even more so, the Master was one of the strongest to ever weld that power, and that meant for the current turn of the wheel the side of evil was going to have one less weapon to fight the workings of the light, not that they were out of the fight. After all, they had darkness on their side and not all of the darkness was known to the Light. Some of that darkness was hidden away and it was quite dangerous.
But for the current cycle of time, Master Dacanay was by far the strongest in the art of dream walking. When he felt Lord Vipero’s trap trigger, he slipped into the semi-awake, semi-dream state of a Dream Master and when the healers placed them within the sleeping spell, he pulled the group of young people into his dream bubble.
The four found themselves in a beautiful meadow on top of a high plateau that seemed to look out over the entire known world. A crystal stream flowed across the meadow and in the distance graceful deer leaped and bounded across the very green grass. Nearer to the four, a swarm of astoundingly beautiful butterflies fluttered among the brilliant wild flowers that sprang up to wave gently in the refreshing but slight breeze.
Mesmerized by the wonder of it all, Jailyn’s thoughts snapped to the forefront as her pack of hellhounds suddenly appeared. “Mistress!” Big Boy called. “We’ve been invited to join you in this dream world. Isn’t it just perfect?”
Then he caught sight of the deer. “We’re off to play. But call when you need us.” Seeing her look, he added, “Don’t worry. We won’t hurt the deer. We often play together in the dream world.”
Leaping over the stream the hounds bounded away as the deer rushed across the meadow in a display of speed and agility, leading the hounds on a merry chase. Jailyn and her friends watched as the deer ran in gigantic circles, the hounds always staying just out of reach.
“They do indeed often play here,” a gentle voice told them. “The deer could easily escape and the hounds at times could probably catch one of them, but they do it just for the fun of the chase.”
They turned to see a monk standing there with them, his demeanor displayed across his face in a pleasant smile and somehow he carried an aura of peace about him. Seeing the questioning look on Jailyn’s face, he went on, “Yes, I called you here. It’s time we spoke.”
The Master gestured in front of them and his young apprentice appeared in their view. It was as if they were looking in a window and the young monk was sitting in a deep meditative state. He glanced up with a smile.
“I wanted to introduce you to my apprentice, Kynin Searle, who I will be sending to join you in a few weeks. Kynin will be assisting you in your quest, which we’ll discuss in a moment.”
“But first, a little bit of explanation would be in order, I believe. I am Master Dacanay, the currently chosen leader of the Church of the Most High, and I’ve brought you here to my dream world so we can talk without interruption. Amongst other things, I’m a Dream Master and the world you see around you is a construct of my mind. For example,” he waved his hands and the four were now dressed, not in the gowns of the wizard infirmary, nor the gray of novices, but in full wizard robes, robes that reflected the powers of the wearer as was the wizard tradition.
For the first time Jailyn was able to see the powers of her friends and she was shocked and amazed. No
longer were Kelsey’s and Jesse’s abilities hidden by the odd mixtures they had carried before. Kelsey wore a bright blue robe that matched her combination of air and water affinities. Jesse wore a purple robe that matched his combination of earth and fire, and also, she suddenly realized, royalty, something that puzzled her. Corrie’s robe in some ways matched hers, a combination of colors that reflected a broad range of affinities, but where her robe was hemmed with a purple thread, something she didn’t understand, his robe was hemmed with a golden thread that matched his spirit affinity.
Master Dacanay smiled at their reactions, but then he continued. “Now that the four of you are ‘awakened’ to the magical world, it’s time to talk of your destiny. Kelsey and Jesse, we owe you our apologies for involving the two of you in our spell of deception, but it was necessary. If we had not acted, Lord Vipero would have found young Jesse and removed the line to the throne we must protect at all costs. You see, Jesse, you are the son of King Gregory Agansti III and should rightfully be on the throne of the Kingdom of Callidore!”
He stopped, allowing the four to digest the monumental information he had just given them. For Jailyn, suddenly everything she had seen around Jesse made sense, as well as the care Elder Radcliffe had shown the boy. The Elder had obviously known. That’s the reason for the purple of his robe, she realized with a smile.
Jesse just stared in disbelief. How could that be true? But something about the Master told him that the man spoke the truth. He had never considered himself special, just another orphan of many, much like his friend Jailyn. I have no idea how to rule a kingdom, he thought as a burst of apprehension shot through him.
