Confused, Gilmreth swung his head ponderously around, his mind fighting the affects of the long sleep. Slowly, exhaustingly, the dragon lowered its massive head back down, closing its eyes and returning to the spell induced sleep that still held the dragon in its weakening grasp. The fiery radiance faded, leaving the cavern once more in unbroken darkness. In the small pool, the fish returned to the surface, coming out of the black depths where they had fled.
-
“Yes!” Jalene cried triumphantly, the invigorating memory of the dragon’s horrid thoughts filling her with a sense of excitement and power.
She had been able to sense the dragon’s thoughts. This was the first time this had occurred. For just a few short moments, the dragon had actually awoken. “With the stone, I can break the spell completely and free Gilmreth. Of course, I will need to arrange to feed the dragon immediately upon awakening to restore his strength,” she said aloud. After that, Jalene thought, regular sacrifices at the temple should keep the dragon satiated.
She felt elated at her success. Each use of the Stone of Loraine brought Gilmreth closer to awakening. Very shortly, she would command the dragon to rise. Then her dominion would begin. With Gilmreth at her side, the entire world would be hers to command. Her every whim would be obeyed without question. A new age would dawn.
-
Moments before, when Jalene’s use of the power briefly woke Gilmreth, it interrupted Lynol’s studies. Lynol sat petrified at her table, Malcon’s open spell book lying momentarily forgotten in front of her. She fought down panic, a hollow feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach as she sensed the waking dragon. She could feel the sudden, overwhelming use of power on the mountain, far greater than anything before.
The other sorceress’s abilities, especially the magnitude of those abilities, came as a tremendous shock. Lynol had known the other sorceress was powerful, but nothing like this! Sending her mind desperately probing beneath the mountain, she sensed with chagrin Gilmreth’s decadent thoughts as the dragon stirred into partial wakefulness. For a moment, Gilmreth’s and her mind connected.
“Gilmreth is waking up!” she said despairingly, clenching her hands together as their minds touched. “I’m not ready; what am I going to do?” Her eyes glanced furtively around the room, but there was no answer to what she was seeking.
She could feel the dragon’s horrid thoughts running rampant in her mind. With shock, she saw the dim picture of a man, surrounded by blue light, standing before the dragon. Then the picture faded as the dragon fell back to sleep and the sleeping spell reasserted itself. Lynol pulled herself free of the dragon’s mind with a gut wrenching effort and sat for a long moment with her head pounding and a terrible pain between her eyes. She hadn’t been prepared for the strength of the spell the other sorceress had cast against the sleeping spell that held Gilmreth, nor the brief connection with Gilmreth’s mind.
“Malcon,” Lynol murmured with a breath of relief, as the dragon fell back into its spell-induced slumber and the pain in her head gradually faded away.
The dragon still remembered the ancient sorcerer. More importantly, the dragon still slept! Lynol knew the dragon would soon awaken. There was no longer any doubt. Gilmreth’s time of awakening was growing very near.
For several long minutes, Lynol sat spellbound. She knew that today Gilmreth had come extremely close to awakening. The other sorceress was becoming more powerful with each passing day. It was only a matter of time, possibly a very short time, before she succeeded in awakening the slumbering dragon. The dim shape of Malcon had been unmistakable. Other macabre shapes had also flitted briefly through the dragon’s sluggish mind. It was more urgent than ever for her to continue her studies. The sleeping spell was quickly losing its potency. Someday, perhaps much sooner than she had imagined, she would have to face the dragon.
There was no longer any doubt that this other sorceress, on the other side of the mountain, was indeed the one spoken of in the prophecy at the sacrificial altar. Lynol knew with frightening clarity that she had to be the Sylvar sorceress mentioned in the prophecy. There was no one else! Gilmreth would undoubtedly awaken in her lifetime, probably very soon. With growing despair, Lynol doubted if she would ever be ready to face the deadly beast.
She wondered how this other sorceress had learned so much about sorcery. Lynol once before had touched that other's mind as she worked her spell on Gilmreth. Lynol had sensed the greed, the selfishness, and the utterly self-centered personality of the other sorceress. Lynol found it hard to believe that anyone could hold such feelings.
“If only I had someone to teach me,” she said plaintively, realizing the near futility of the impossible task before her. This was tantamount to anticipating failure. She had to find a way; she couldn’t fail. She was a Sylvar!
The other sorceress was extremely powerful if she could break through Malcon’s spell so easily. How could she ever hope to match her awesome power? Perhaps later on tonight she would learn more. For tonight was the full moon her vision had spoken of. She knew that, without some type of help, she stood no chance against Gilmreth and the woman sorceress. If Gilmreth awoke anytime soon, Lynol feared her own life would be cut terribly short. Lynol tried to calm her breathing and take her mind off what had just happened. Why was this burden on her shoulders? Why did she have to be born a Sylvar?
Forcing herself to return to her studies, she worked on a spell that was supposed to make plants mature overnight. Speaking the incantation and grasping her amulet, she used the fingers of her right hand to weave an intricate pattern in the air that was supposed to connect the energy patterns to encourage plant growth. Once the weave was complete, she focused her mind on the small tray of carrots in front of her, willing them to grow. She felt the pattern shift to the plants, and the plant leaves shimmered briefly, turning a brighter green. She watched expectantly for a moment, but nothing else happened.
“Is that all?” she said to herself. Disappointed, she closed the sorcery book dejectedly with her left hand. She had expected more, to see the plants actually start to grow and even form carrots she could eat.
Some spells seemed to work easily, and every so often, there was one that didn’t seem to work at all. It was as if Lynol didn’t have the power or ability needed to make the spell work. How could she ever match the abilities of the other sorceress if even this simple spell and others failed to work properly?
Lynol leaned back despairingly, wishing she were someone else. Without meaning to, she started to cry. She felt the task before her was impossible. After each failure, she felt more despondent. Helpless tears streamed down her cheeks. Lynol wished her mother were here, to hold her, to comfort her. She felt so alone. She wiped the flow of tears away with her left hand, but they refused to stop.
Outside her open window, the sun was falling to the west, sinking into a misty jagged horizon. The whole landscape of Firestorm Mountain was bathed in soft, fading light, with gradually lengthening purple shadows. Lynol’s quiet sobbing slowly faded as darkness set in.
Hours later, Lynol stood upon the porch gazing nervously at the waiting Sylvar Stone. It was barely visible behind the garden in the full moonlight. In another hour, the moon would be directly overhead, casting the full strength of its reflected light upon the mysterious monolith. Her father was asleep in his room, unaware of Lynol out on the porch. Lynol took a deep breath, looking toward Firestorm Mountain in the moonlight. The mountain was silent for the moment and covered in semi-darkness. Lynol shuddered, knowing what slept beneath.
In the past several months, Lynol had pushed herself, studying and working on her sorcery spells. She’d made a lot of progress but was still less than a fourth of the way through Malcon’s sorcery book. She had been forced to skip some pages because she didn’t understand the purpose of what the spells were encouraging her to accomplish.
Many of the spells she couldn’t get to work, like the plant growth spell earlier. She was evidently doing something wrong, but she had
no idea what it was. Only the fact that she was a Sylvar had driven her to continue. Many times she felt like giving up, but she knew if she did she would be letting her father down as well as generations of Sylvars through the ages.
In the distance, a dim rumbling came from Firestorm Mountain, sending an icy shiver up Lynol’s back, the aftermath of the sorcery used on Gilmreth earlier. She shivered, pulling her light jacket tighter around her. She could hear a few crickets chirping loudly in the dark confines of the garden. Lynol gazed around speculatively, wondering what the night would bring.
Gilmreth still slept beneath the mountain, but on several occasions before tonight Lynol had sensed dark terrifying thoughts emitting from the cold heart of Firestorm Mountain. These had only been flitting dreams dwelling in the sleeping mind of the dragon. However, tonight had been particularly alarming; for a few short heart-stopping moments, the dragon had awoke. She had actually been able to see into the dragon’s mind!
Several times recently, Lynol had awoke in the middle of the night from chilling nightmares, finding her protective blankets thrown off on the floor and her entire body covered in a cold sweat. Her ongoing nightmares were of Gilmreth awake and on a killing rampage. She dreamed the deadly dragon was destroying everything and everyone, and she was powerless to stop him.
Each time during her studies when Lynol cast a spell that failed to work, she felt the near hopelessness of her task. Just like earlier tonight when she had cried, letting her emotions get the best of her. She prayed feverishly that these nightmares weren’t a premonition of the future. She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm.
There were also rumors circulating in Galvin of a mysterious woman who had come to power in Draydon, bending the leaders of the town to her will. Traders passing through Galvin claimed she had used her powers of seduction, sleeping with certain town leaders to rise quickly to her lofty position. These same town leaders now served her every whim, their eyes glazed over with passion and desire.
Supposedly, a massive stone temple was being built in the center of the town, but for what purpose the traders had no idea. Draydon was no longer a good place to go, and most traders were starting to avoid it. Too many people had gone to Draydon, but very few managed to come back out.
Lynol was afraid to contemplate what the temple might signify. On numerous occasions before tonight, she had sensed a significant shift of the energy lines, as if some powerful force was bending them and using them for its own sinister purposes. Lynol knew it was this sorceress using her powers to control what was happening in Draydon. This other sorceress seemed so powerful and knowledgeable. It made Lynol feel even more helpless.
Lynol had finally told her father about the other sorceress. She also explained what she could sense of this other sorceress’s abilities. Her father asked numerous questions about how Lynol knew all of this. Lynol explained how she could use her mind to search out Gilmreth and how she could feel when someone was tapping into the energy currents necessary to cast a spell.
Lynol went on to tell her father the other sorceress was trying to wake Gilmreth. He had been furious at this news. That Gilmreth was destined to someday wake was part of the prophecy, but to discover someone would dare to awaken the dragon on purpose was beyond imagining. Lynol didn’t tell her father about the prophecy at the sacrificial altar. She knew that would frighten and concern him even more. For now, that little trip would remain a secret.
Her father, after talking with Lynol, had taken a long walk outside. Lynol knew he was disappointed she hadn’t confided in him much earlier and had been keeping secrets from him. When he had returned, he acted as if nothing had happened other than to encourage Lynol to work harder on her studies.
Several times a week, she made the short trip to see Dresdia and Kalvin; both were highly interested in her progress with sorcery, imploring Lynol to demonstrate some of the spells she had learned. Kalvin had been strangely silent recently. Lynol suspected he feared for her safety. The prophecy at the site of the sacrificial altar had frightened him. It had scared her also when she finally accepted that she was the Sylvar sorceress mentioned.
With Kalvin’s knowledge of the stories he had heard from his father and Damon, she knew he understood the future that awaited her. Kalvin also had very deep feelings for Lynol. He hadn’t broadcast them out in the open, but nevertheless Lynol knew they were there. Lynol strongly suspected his summer crush had turned into something more, something much more! It made her feel excited and tingly inside, but it also frightened her a little.
Dresdia had really been impressed when Lynol had used her abilities to get WhiteStorm to follow her around, allowing her to lead him about, and getting the colt to run and stop on command. Dresdia was thrilled that her father, under Damon’s encouragement, had decided to keep the rapidly growing colt.
The Gor’s garden, as well as their own, was resplendent with unusually heavy growth, as Lynol had woven a spell encouraging plant growth as well as healthy plants. This spell, while slower than the one she had failed with tonight, had worked flawlessly. The produce they were reaping from their gardens was nearly four times normal, with much of it being traded at the Mystol’s store in Galvin.
It was all Lynol and her father could do to keep their garden weeded and harvested. Lynol still hadn’t found a spell that would allow the vegetables to grow and not the weeds. She had developed a very definite detestation of weeds. They seemed to grow even faster than the vegetables!
All the fresh vegetables Damon and Aldin were now bringing in twice a week had pleasantly surprised Tohm and Gwen Mystol. Damon and Aldin had explained the sudden influx of vegetables as the result of planting much larger gardens than normal.
From what Lynol had overheard from her father and Tohm, Addison’s hate was also growing from jealousy as business at the Mystols was booming from lower prices with the influx of fresh vegetables from the Gor and Sylvar farms. Addison had been voicing his complaints regularly at the village tavern. Fortunately, the lower prices and the sudden abundant food discouraged anyone, other than his closest cronies, from siding with the belligerent man.
Lynol had finally demonstrated her abilities to Dresdia’s parents so as not to worry them about the sudden, abnormal growth of their garden. Aldin hadn’t been too surprised, only nodded and smiled as if he had been expecting this. His wife, on the other hand, had been shocked, and it had taken several days for her to understand that her garden crops were growing at nearly four times their normal rate.
Kalvin and Dresdia had also acted surprised, not wanting their parents or Damon to know that they already knew about Lynol and her abilities. Kalvin had just smiled, knowing taking care of the garden would be even more work for him, but he knew it was for the better. It gave them more money to put back as well as helped the people in Galvin. The Gors had promised to keep Lynol’s abilities a secret lest the village people learn of them before she was ready to reveal herself.
-
Shaking herself out of her reverie, Lynol stepped off the porch and walked slowly down the moonlit stone path toward the beckoning Sylvar Stone. The full moon seemed to cause the dark stone to glow with its own inner transcendental light. The moon had almost reached its zenith, making the remaining snow on the mountains to the west shine and glisten with its reflected light.
Reaching the massive stone, Lynol walked slowly around it, her passing rustling the tall protective grass. Lynol contemplated what she was about to do. The vision had haunted her nearly every waking moment for two long months. It seemed to become clearer with each passing night as the time for the rising of the full moon neared. Was it truly a vision, or had it been a product of her imagination, of her desire to learn sorcery? Had Malcon Sylvar somehow left her a message, perhaps a way to deal with Gilmreth? She hoped so. If Gilmreth was about to awaken, then all of her hopes might lay with a sorcerer dead for many long generations.
Glancing upwards, she saw the moon was nearly overhead. Walking back to the front
of the stone, she stood next to the handprint, waiting and wondering if anything at all was going to happen. She stepped back, startled, as the handprint suddenly took on a life of its own, becoming covered in a bright, eerie blue glow. The glow slowly spread until the entire stone was alight with a brilliant blue radiance, lighting up the entire area of the stone ruins.
“This is it,” Lynol spoke, feeling nervous. Steadying herself, she stepped forward, pressing her hand determinedly against the cold glowing imprint. Visualizing the image of Malcon Sylvar, which was imprinted in her mind, she softly said his name aloud. “Malcon Sylvar.”
She didn’t know what to expect if anything. She knew her entire future might be decided by what happened next. She waited expectantly, praying that her vision from several months back would reappear and tell her what to do. Malcon Sylvar was her only hope of survival.
The Sylvar Stone began to shudder and vibrate. Lynol jerked her hand away from the handprint and the glow around the stone brightened even further. It seemed to pulsate. A sudden, chill wind blew across the scattered stones, whipping the grass. The crickets in the garden became eerily quiet. Lynol held her arms across her breasts, shivering at the sudden, unexpected chill.
The massive Sylvar Stone itself began to change. An opening suddenly formed magically before her, part of the stone itself seeming to vanish, and she saw steps leading down deep into the ground disappearing into the darkness below. The chill air seemed to be drawn toward the opening and down into the darkness.
Lynol’s eyes widened. She stared in stunned amazement at the doorway which now stood invitingly open before her in the fading glow from the Sylvar Stone, which abruptly died away. The chill wind died down and was gone. With burning curiosity, Lynol looked down at the captivating steps, the first few dimly lit by the pale moonlight.
Gilmreth the Awakening Page 20