The Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (Book 1)

by Joshua Hoyt

  Chapter 13:

  Tom woke with the sun shining in his eyes. He had slept so well he wondered if it had all been just another nightmare. He quickly realized that the nightmare was real as he looked at the old wood surrounding the window. He thought about the previous day's battle and of Karman’s death. The peace he felt a short moment ago fled and was once again replaced with sorrow. He lay for a little longer thinking about Karman and all that he had learned from him. His gruff smile, his bear hugs and all the other things that made Karman, Karman. A tear rolled out of his eye and down his cheek. “Tom, there’ll be many that you care for who’ll go from this world into the next,” Caspin said, “It’s important that you feel their passing and remember the good they’ve done for this world.”

  Did he see me crying? How does he know what I’m thinking?

  Tom looked up at Caspin, who watched the rising sun. “The danger lies in not letting them go,” he said. He looked down at Tom.

  He looks so sad.

  “The danger is that you continue to hold them so tight that you forget about those who remain. And when that feeling of sadness turns to bitterness, all you have left in your heart is hate and anger.” Caspin sat in the old wooden chair as the sun shone through his scraggly grey hair. He seemed to glow. He smiled at Tom softly. He patted his chest. Tom sat up and Caspin pulled his pack to him and rummaged through it. After a few seconds of searching, he pulled a wooden figurine out. “Here Tom, take this. It was a gift that was given to me a long time ago by a very close friend.” He handed the figurine to Tom. The figurine was of a man holding a child in his arms. The details of the hands and face where so well done that Tom could see the individual wrinkles carved into the soft wood surface and the creases in the baby’s tubby rolls. As Tom held the figurine he felt unnatural warmth radiating from the small carving. “It’s very special to me but I can see that in the future you’ll need it much more than I.” He sipped at his tea. “Keep it close. It will give you the comfort you need to make it through the night.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Tom said. Tom studied the small figurine and Caspin turned and talked to John about the day’s plans. To Tom’s surprise the figurine changed in his hand. He almost dropped it. The piece of wood took on a new shape and was no longer a man holding a small child, but a much larger man with a long beard holding a large hammer over his shoulder. When the wood finished changing, Tom smiled warmly at the figurine. The figurine had changed into an exact duplicate of Karman. The miniature Karman smiled back at him with one of his huge, wide mouthed grins. Tom said, very softly, “Karman, I promise I’ll not let you down.” Tom slipped the figurine into his pocket still feeling the warmth of it there when Aithnea came up to him.

  “How you doing?”

  “I’m doing much better. Caspin gave me the most amazing thing,” Tom replied. He pulled the figurine out of his pocket and handed it to Aithnea.

  She stared at the figurine and her mouth dropped open. “This is amazing, I’ve heard of these before. They were made by ancient healers who could not only heal people but the land and animals as well.”

  Aithnea looked at him in amazement. “This is very special. Keep it close. Always.” Aithnea handed the figurine tenderly back to Tom.

  “I’ll take good care of it.” Tom put the figurine back into his pocket, feeling the warmth once again.

  “Ok, it’s time that we get going,” John said. “We’ll be heading toward Darthmoth. If we hurry we should be able to reach it tomorrow night.” John looked over the small group and stopped on Cody. “You’ll need to stay on rear guard to hide our trail. Tom you’ll need to help. Aithnea you’re responsible for taking care of Kristiana and I’ll take the lead.” John turned to Caspin. “Caspin we’re honored to have you with us, and we’ll do our best to help you in your journey.”

  Caspin nodded. “It’s a pleasure to be traveling with such an honorable group.” Tom picked up his pack and Aithnea helped Kristiana up. Kristiana looked much better but she still leaned heavily on Aithnea. John looked over the group one more time before turning and heading out the door. Caspin followed, then Aithnea and Kristiana, while Tom and Cody took up the rear. Tom and Cody used large branches to cover their trail as best they could. Even after covering their tracks Tom felt that it would only take a mediocre tracker to find and follow them.

  The day grew colder and the sky turned from bright blue to dark grey as clouds moved in. Soon snow fell out of the sky making it unnecessary for them to work on covering their tracks. That was the good part, otherwise it only made a miserable day even more miserable. Caspin and John talked back and forth and John seemed to be upset by the conversation but Tom couldn’t tell what it they talked about. Aithnea supported Kristiana, talking to her softly once in a while, while Tom and Cody passed the time talking about their training once again. He felt like they had walked forever, and he didn’t have much feeling left in his toes, when John finally stopped the group at the mouth of a cave. He looked over the dismal group and said, “I think we better hole up here for the night. Tom and Cody gather some fire wood.”

  Tom cringed when he looked into the cave. Is this really a good place to camp? He shrugged. At least it’ll be dry. He studied the unwelcoming camp a few minutes longer then caught up with Cody to help gather fire wood. They found plenty of dead wood, but the snow had made most of it wet. Eventually, though, Tom and Cody found enough dryer wood that they hoped would light and headed back to the cave. John had already formed a crude fire ring and had gathered several large bushes and branches that could be put in front of the mouth of the cave, while Aithnea had gathered snow into a pan and made tea. Caspin looked exhausted as he sat on a boulder staring out the cave entrance and Kristiana, still weak, sat beside Caspin as though his very closeness might give more healing. Tom dumped the wood next to the fire pit. John lit some dry tinder and carefully put the driest wood onto the fire. He then stacked the damper pieces close by to dry. To Tom’s joy the fire started quickly and burned warm enough to bring feeling back into his toes. As he stood with his back to the fire Tom made a closer examination of the cave. The walls were worn and smooth and although at first glance the cave appeared small, it became apparent that a passage ran out from the back of the cave. The firelight didn’t reach far into the passage as it twisted and turned deeper into the mountainside.

  Cody came up behind him. “I wonder if we have a little time to go exploring.” He gestured with his chin towards the passage.

  “We won’t get too far without one of Aithnea’s light spells,” Tom said.

  “Aithnea, you wanna come?” Cody asked. Aithnea looked at Kristiana.

  She nodded. “Yeah I’ll come.”

  “Don’t go too far. You never know what’s down in these old caves,” John said. Cody nodded and Aithnea cast a light spell as they headed into the passage. As usual Cody led with Aithnea and Tom following close behind. The smooth passage wound deeper into the mountain with no indication that anyone had traveled it for years. The passage continued for about a hundred yards then it bent sharply to the right. As they approached the bend Cody tripped on something and fell landing face down on the hard passage floor. Tom stooped to help him up. “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Cody said. He looked closer at the floor and said, “Aithnea can you get more light down here.” He rubbed the dust away from the floor. “It looks like stone down here.”

  “Well Cody, you’re in a cave,” Tom smirked.

  “No, cut stone,” Cody said, emphasizing the word cut. Tom and Aithnea laughed while the magic light lowered closer to the ground. Cody scraped more dirt away clearing more of the floor. Tom knelt down next to Cody and examined the floor. The stone floor had definitely been cut by tools. He stood up and looked closer at the walls. The walls were rough and appeared to have been cut naturally by the wind or water but definitely not tools.

  “This is odd, it looks like there are only about ten blocks laid down here and then it’s back
to the cave floor,” Cody said.

  Aithnea walked to the wall opposite Tom and scraped at the stone. “Look at this, guys,” she said. “There’s more cut stone over here.” Tom walked over to Aithnea and looked at the wall then dug at it where it joined the floor. The cut stone on the wall definitely connected to the ones on the floor. Aithnea and Tom cleared the wall of dirt and found that the worked stone covered a large space on the cave wall. Tom studied the wall for a moment and then scraped along the edges. He discovered that the bottom edge was not fused to the floor like he expected. “It’s a door,” Aithnea exclaimed.

  “That’s what it looks like, but how do we open it,” Cody said.

  Tom ran his hand over the entire door. “There’s something engraved in the door.” As he scraped more of the dirt away, the engraving became clearer. “It almost looks like a flower,” Tom gasped. He scraped furiously. “More specifically, a rose.”

  Aithnea tapped her chin with her finger, “Maybe it’s a key hole and we just need the key to open it.”

  Cody stepped closer to the rose in the door and examined it. “I think you’re right Aithnea.”

  “No, I don’t think so. It’s a puzzle of some sort. We’re just missing part of the puzzle,” Tom said.

  Tom felt along the opposite wall looking for any abnormalities. As he ran his hand across the wall a part of the wall stuck out oddly. Tom brushed away the dirt and dust that had built up around it. A knob with a dial of some sort stuck out from the wall. The dial pointed to several symbols around it. Tom scraped around the symbols and loosened the knob so that it could be turned. “Aithnea, bring the light over here.” Aithnea walked over to Tom and the light illuminated the symbols on the wall. “Do you recognize any of the symbols?” Tom asked.

  She looked at the dial and the symbols on the wall, “yes…” she squinted, “…well some of them.” She touched the symbols one by one, “fire, water, earth, and wind,” she pointed to the next four, “I’m not sure what these four are.”

  Tom looked back at the door. “Do you think that this has something to do with the Order of the Rose?”

  “Well there’s the rose symbol on the door.” Aithnea looked again at the engraving on the door and then looked back at Tom. “And when you read out of the book, it talked a lot about the four elemental powers.”

  “If this is something the order did then something I read may be a clue,” Tom said. “The book talked about how the colors of the roses represented each of the elements.”

  Aithnea’s face lit up and she twisted the dial. “Those other four symbols represent each of the four colors.” She twisted the dial one way and then back the other way. The dial clicked. Cody jumped away from the door as the rose turned blue.

  Aithnea let go of the dial. “Hmmm have we thought this through completely?”

  Cody smiled at her. “Do we ever. But keep going.” Aithnea hesitated a moment longer then turned back to the dial. There were three more clicks and the rose turned from blue to red then white and finally brown. A gust of warm air hit Tom in the face as the door swung open. Bright light came from the entrance. Beyond the opening a well-lit hallway ran for several hundred feet. The same cut stone that outlined the wall and floor lined the inside of the hallway.

  “Maybe we should go and get John, remember what happened last time we headed out on our own. Plus, it’s getting late,” Aithnea said.

  Cody looked at Aithnea and smiled. “Are you scared?”

  Aithnea glared. “No, I just don’t like to head off down unknown passages.”

  “Let’s just go a little ways and then we can give them more information,” Tom suggested. Cody smiled at Aithnea again and walked through the door. Tom followed close behind. Aithnea hesitated only a moment before hurrying after the boys. Bowl shaped fixtures with brown glowing crystals in them lit the passage. The floor seemed well worn despite the years of dust that covered it and the walls and ceiling were neatly made behind the long strings of cobwebs. Eventually the hallway split off into two directions. The lights continued in both directions. The hallway to the right ended with a door and the one to the left bent out of sight. Cody turned right toward the door. The wood door had a metal handle with a rose carved into it. Cody opened the door and musty air breathed into the hallway.

  This place probably hasn’t been opened for centuries. What have we gotten into this time? The lights on the side of the walls glowed illuminating the gigantic room. In the middle of the room a large table with twelve chairs surrounding it sat. Twelve more chairs, placed directly behind the ones at the table, surrounded the wall. Tom gasped as he saw that in each of the chairs except four sat skeletons hunched over the table. Twelve skeletons were in the chairs that sat against the walls as well. In the center of the table four roses glimmered, one white, one blue, one red, and one brown. At the far end of the room a huge tapestry hung on the wall. The tapestry depicted a huge battle between men, many of whom wore robes of white, blue, brown and red. The men with the robes all had some sort of magic coming from their hands. The other men wore armor and battled on the front lines with long jagged swords. On their backs, cloaks of white, blue, brown or red billowed as they fought. Tom walked to the tapestry to study it closer.

  “It’s a marvelous tapestry isn’t it?” Tom jumped at the voice of an old man by his side. The man studied the tapestry alongside him.

  Where had he come from? Who is he? Tom scanned the room. There’s nowhere to run. The man wore a grey robe with its hood pushed back revealing red hair. The man’s white, rose necklace stood in contrast to the man’s braided red beard.

  He looked at Tom. “This tapestry tells a lot about the first days when magic had just begun in our world.” Tom, still staring at the man in disbelief, struggled to find something to say. “In the beginning there were many wars, much bloodshed. Brother fought brother. Fathers killed their own sons, all in the pursuit of greater power, all in the name of magic.” He stepped closer to the tapestry touching it. “They forgot the true purpose of magic. They forgot that they had been given the sacred privilege to use it for good. Tom, you have been given that privilege to do good as well.” He looked at Tom and whispered, “You have been given the opportunity to prove your worth. To prove that there is still good in this world. Yours is the sacred calling of truth and justice. You must stand up in the darkness and let a light show forth to the entire world that others may also stand.” The man’s eyes seemed to plead with him as he spoke, “You must correct our wrongs and make magic a thing of good once again.”

  A shiver ran up Tom’s spine as he listened to the man. How can they expect me to right their wrongs? I’m just a kid. I can’t do this, but maybe I can. Maybe people will finally respect me. He had always wanted to be special, to change things.

  The man looked over at Aithnea and Cody who stood motionless. Their eyes looked blankly ahead. “Keep your friends near you at all times they will be a great strength unto you. Trust them, rely on them and remember that you are not alone.” The man waved his hand slightly and then disappeared.

  “Wow, that’s an amazing tapestry,” Aithnea said.

  “Are you ok, Tom, you look as if you just saw a ghost,” Cody said.

  Tom stared blankly at his friends. He closed his mouth and then shook his head. He turned from them and looked more closely at the tapestry, ignoring their stares. “I saw a man. He said the tapestry told about the beginning of magic in this world.”

  Aithnea looked at Tom in surprise. “You saw someone?” Cody and Aithnea looked nervously around the room.

  “Well, I think I saw someone it may have been...” Tom stopped, thinking of how ridiculous he must sound. “Well whoever or whatever it was, he's gone now.” He rubbed his arms suddenly feeling cold. His breath formed small clouds as he breathed. A chill ran up the back of his neck as the lights on the walls flickered. His stomach churned and fear seeped into his body.

  Cody drew his sword and edged toward the door. “I think we’d be
tter leave.” Tom and Aithnea showed their agreement by walking quickly toward the door. The skeletons looked much more animated than when they had first entered the room. As Tom reached the door the first skeleton rose. “RUN!” Cody yelled. He ran down the hallway with Tom and Aithnea right behind him. The lights on the walls dimmed as Tom’s feet pounded on the hard stone floor. He felt a presence of evil closing in behind him.

  A scream chilled him to the heart and cut through the fog of his fear. He felt Aithnea reaching out to him with her magic. Tom fought the fear that drove him forward and managed to control it enough to stop. Turning, he couldn't see Aithnea behind him. Where is she? The lights were out leaving only darkness. Sweat ran down his face and back. Fear overwhelmed him making it impossible for him to concentrate or think straight. Aithnea where are you? All there is is darkness. Darkness and evil. He closed his eyes and tried to shut the fear out. Slowly, he concentrated on the light cantrip. The fear retreated a little from the power that grew inside him. He pulled on the magical force that Aithnea pushed toward him. “Mitt-lumen,” Tom spoke the words of the light cantrip and pushed the power inside of him out through his finger. To his amazement and joy, a small orange light appeared in the air in front of him just as the rest of the lights in the hallway went completely out. Aithnea stood at the end of the hallway in the clutches of a skeleton. Its jagged grin sent another chill up Tom’s back. Seeing the fear in Aithnea’s eyes his breath caught in his throat. Bony fingers held a dagger at her throat. The fear wrapped its deadly clutches once again around his heart and the small light dimmed. Tom lost concentration and control of the magic. The skeleton’s grin widened and the thing cackled. Tom shrunk in fear as he saw hope fade from Aithnea’s eyes. The light was gone.

  Tom stood in darkness, the hopelessness making it impossible for him to move. He fell to his knees and bowed his head. How could I have given up? There’s no reason to go on. The hallway suddenly exploded into brilliant light, the skeleton shrieked as it dropped the dagger from Aithnea’s throat. Tom slumped to the ground and watched in shame as John ran past him. A white sphere, hurled from Kristiana, surged over his head, slamming into the skeletons down the hall. Aithnea, now free ran toward Tom, tears freely falling down her face as she ran.

  The first skeleton, no longer grinning, pulled a long sword from its sheath and charged John. The two collided in a bone jarring thud. John deflected the skeleton’s sword and smashed another skeleton into the wall. It cracked loudly. Tom stood. With fear now gone and only shame and hate remaining. He pulled his sword from its scabbard and ran toward the battle. Tom yelled and allowed rage to overtake his feelings, hoping that the shame would never return. Tom slipped by John and swung his sword at the skeleton in his path. His sword hit, breaking the hard bone with a loud crack causing the skeleton to drop his own weapon. The skeleton turned on Tom lashing out with its clawed hand narrowly missing as Tom sidestepped. Tom swung again, wanting to break the skeleton into tiny fragments. You’ll pay for what you did to Aithnea.

  Arrows flew through the air, one whizzed past Tom hitting the wall behind him. He slashed out with his sword, again hitting bone. The skeleton fell with a loud clatter. Two more arrows flew into the battle thudding into the walls around Tom. A flash of hot white light screeched past Tom. It exploded a skeleton about to swing its crude axe toward his head. Tom kicked out at the skeleton that had fallen, and connecting with its head, the skeleton slumped to the ground. John rushed past Tom and engaged two more skeletons. Tom screamed. He felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned and saw a skeleton with red blood dripping from its sharp talons. He raised his sword to deflect yet another blow. Several missiles slammed into the skeleton, knocking it back against the wall. “Mitt-requiro,” Tom yelled, as he threw his own magic missiles into the skeleton, the skeleton broke into pieces and fell to the ground with a crash.

  “Duck Tom,” Cody yelled coming up behind Tom. Tom dropped to the ground as Cody jumped over him. In mid jump Cody's sword slashed out at a skeleton. The cracking noise echoed off the walls as the blade connected with the hard bone.

  Tom rolled out of the way and stood. “Mitt-flamma,” he spoke, touching his sword at the same time. His sword erupted into flame and he advanced on the skeletons once again. Cody smashed another skeleton into the wall with his sword, and it shattered into pieces. Tom passed Cody with his sword held out toward a skeleton that had made it past John. He swung the flaming sword in an arch over his head bringing it down toward the skeleton. The skeleton caught the blow with its arm sacrificing it as it brought a small dagger toward Tom’s stomach. Tom stepped to the right. The blade only scraped along his side.

  John turned, and slamming his sword, flat sided, into the skeleton’s back, knocked the skeleton forward to where Tom had been. Tom brought his flaming sword down onto the skeleton’s back knocking it to the ground. The rags the skeleton wore turned into flames. The skeleton screamed in agony as Tom jumped past it toward another. An arrow caught John in the left shoulder, yet he continued to push forward, smashing skeleton soldiers into bits of bones. He cleared his way to the archers and reigned down fury upon them. The first one fell before it had a chance to pull a weapon, and the second lost its arm as it lifted its sword against him. The skeleton tried to claw John, but another bolt of energy hit it in the chest turning it to dust.

  Tom stopped concentrating on the flame that surrounded his sword, and it went out. He slumped against the wall exhausted from the ordeal of both fighting and of keeping the magic going. Cody sat down next to him breathing hard. He leaned his head against the wall. “You’ve brought me problems since the first time I met you,” Cody said.

  “I think that you enjoy it. That’s why you’re still around,” Tom bantered back.

  Tom looked at Cody. “What just happened? I was so afraid. I couldn’t concentrate or do anything.”

  Cody nodded. “I felt it too. I couldn’t stop running.”

  John sat on the floor across the hall from the two boys looking at them. “It’s not your fault. These skeletons surrounded themselves with powerful magic. The aura causes fear to all that come near them. If it hadn’t been for Caspin, I don’t think I would have been able to face them either.” Caspin walked up to John and after pulling the arrow from John’s shoulder laid his hands on him and healed him. “Thank you, Caspin. It’s a blessing to have you with us.” John rotated his arm several times.

  Caspin nodded. He moved to where Tom leaned against the wall and pulled him from the wall. Tom winced as sharp pain shot up his shoulder and neck from the wound on his back. “They must have had some sort of poison or disease in their fingers. Your wound has already begun to fester,” Caspin said. Caspin pulled some things from his bag and mixed a pasty concoction together. He closed his eyes and held the mixture in his hands for a few seconds before spreading the mixture over Tom’s wounds. The mixture burned as Caspin smeared it onto Tom’s back, but the pain ceased almost immediately. Caspin then put bandages on the wound and Tom lay gently back against the wall.

  “Thank you,” Tom said.

  “There is strong magic in these skeletons,” Kristiana said. She moved her hand over the lifeless bones. “John, these skeletons weren’t recently animated. I don’t know of a magic that is powerful enough to keep something animated more than a couple of days.” Her brows furrowed deeper as she continued to examine the skeletons.

  Aithnea walked up to Tom and Tom looked down, ashamed of failing her. Kneeling in front of him, she picked up his hands. “Thank you for your light…” she held his hand tight, “…I know that you feel that you failed me, but it was your light that gave me hope to resist the fear.”

  Tom looked up slowly. The shame burned deep in him. “I couldn’t hold on though.” He trembled remembering the terror.

  Aithnea smiled softly then brought his hands to her lips and kissed them lightly. “Without your strength, I would have perished before Caspin blessed us with his God’s light.” She held Tom’s gaze and whispe
red, “Thank you for your strength.” She stood still smiling and walked over to examine the remains by Kristiana.

  Tom continued to look down at his hands. I don’t deserve her thanks. I’ll not fail her again. He thought as he remmebered the despair in her face as his light faded. He had been unable to save his friend this time, but never again. Caspin touched Tom’s shoulder and he looked up with tears in his eyes.

  “Don’t let the shame mask the great bravery you showed here today,” Caspin said. “There are very few men who could have withstood the spell that radiated from those foul beasts.” He slid down next to Tom and looked at the skeletons with disdain, “This is where your courage comes from.” Caspin put his hand on Tom’s heart, then laid it on his arm, “Not here.”

  Tom smiled weakly. “I understand, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t hold on. They were too strong.”

  “You may not have destroyed the enemy with your small light but you gave him pause, and as you grow your light will grow as well, enabling you to give hope to others.” Caspin clapped Tom’s shoulder softly and said, “This is a great victory for you. You have shown the enemy that you do have a light of your own. Remember that in times of great darkness you may be the only one that others can look to for light.” Caspin smiled and stood up slowly. He held out his hand to Tom.

  Tom grabbed the outreached hand and stood. I know I can stand now. I have friends that believe in me.

  John stood. “You were very brave. There’s no shame in what happened here today.”

  Cody stood next to Tom smiling broadly. “Yea, no kidding, I wish I could light my sword on fire.”

  Tom snorted. “It’s an easy trick. I’ll show you how someday.”

  “John, come over here and take a look at this,” Kristiana said.

  She stood over the skeleton that had held Aithnea. John walked over to her and the rest followed. She handed John a small chain with a blue rose attached to it. “Look at this.”

  “It looks like the one the skeleton wore in the old library,” John said. “Did any of the other skeletons have one?”

  Kristiana shook her head. “No.” The other twelve skeletons without necklaces lay in heaps of bones and cloth. In the pile of bones of the skeleton that had worn the necklace, Kristiana found the dagger that had been held to Aithnia’s neck. Unlike the other weapons that the skeletons had, this one looked as if it had been crafted recently. A sapphire imbedded into the hilt glittered as the lights hit it. “Since you were almost killed with it I think you should hold onto it,” Kristiana said handing the dagger to Aithnea, “Keep it safe though. It radiates a strong magic.”

  Aithnea held the dagger close. “Thank you.”

  “What’s down farther,” John asked.

  “Just a room with a table and an old tapestry,” Cody said. John started down the hall toward the door. Tom, Aithnea and Cody looked at each other with concern, but as Kristiana and Caspin followed John, they fell in line.

  “So Tom, how did you know how to use the fire spell?” Kristiana asked.

  “It just came to me. I think I figured that a burning sword would do more damage than a normal sword so I cast the spell for fire and touched my sword. I’m not sure how or why it worked.” He shrugged.

  “It’s good to try and stick with spells you know when in the middle of a battle,” Kristiana said. “A lot of the time you can miscast a spell, and it will backfire.” Tom nodded and Kristiana continued the lesson. “That’s why it’s so important to study and prepare for battle.” She paused as if looking for the right words. “Imagine that you’re in a battle and how it will look then plan for the best response.”

  “It’s strange, but when I’m in the middle of a fight, there’s something in me that seems to just start acting for me. It’s as if I’m going into a rage and almost lose control,” Tom said.

  Kristiana looked back at Tom studying him for a second. “I’m not sure that’s good for you to give in to those rages. They may get you into trouble one day or misfire on friends. Magic is very powerful and if we don’t use our wills to control and wield it then it could control us instead.” Kristiana walked as she spoke, “On the other hand, it may be how your magic works. I know that how we use magic is similar but it’s not the same.”

  Tom thought about what Kristiana said and wondered if the magic controlled him or if he controlled the magic. He shuddered thinking that the magic might be in control. I need to be more careful, at least until I understand it better. The door stood open and John slowly entered. He walked around the table examining the skeletons closely with Kristiana behind him. She moved her hand over each one. After they had passed by each one, John put his sword and pistol away, and Kristiana walked over to the tapestry. Tom walked to the skeletons afraid that any moment they would wake and attack them. He shivered as he thought about the blade to Aithnea’s throat. Could these skeletons do the same? Leaning closer he looked at the necklaces around their necks. “They’re all wearing the same necklaces. Other than the color that is.”

  “Yes and look in the tapestry, there’re white, blue, brown and red roses on the men,” Kristiana added.

  John walked up to Kristiana’s side. “What’s the picture of?”

  Tom looking a little embarrassed said, “When we were in here earlier, I saw a man. He told me that it showed how man fought to control magic in the beginning. He said that the men became power hungry and would kill their own families to gain more.”

  “What man?” John asked.

  “I’m not sure who he was, but he wore a necklace like the ones that are on the skeletons. I was the only one that saw him though,” Tom said. Kristiana continued to study the tapestry and John approached the table.

  Aithnea walked to the table and leaned close to a vase that held four roses. “These roses look as if they’re still alive.” She looked up at John and asked, “How could they still be alive after all this time?”

  “It must be some sort of magic that keeps them alive,” John responded.

  “This looks like some sort of counsel room,” Caspin said as he approached the tapestry. “Maybe they put the tapestry up to remind them of what happens when magic becomes too powerful and goes unchecked.”

  Kristiana nodded in agreement. “It makes more sense to me why they would want to take magic from the world.” She pointed at a part on the tapestry. “It looks as if they are fighting over something or someplace. It’s some kind of map.”

  Caspin stepped back and examined it from a distance. “I think you’re right. There’s definitely a border drawn under the fighting men. Look, here there seems to be certain points that are highlighted or where more men are fighting. They must have been fighting over these different points.” He pointed at five different locations. In all of the five places there were men from each color of the rose but neither group appeared to be winning.

  John walked up to the tapestry and touched a point on the tapestry. “If this is a map then this must be where we are.”

  John pointed to a mountain with a cave in the side of it. “Can you tell where the other ones are fighting?”

  Kristiana shook her head from side to side. “It will be impossible without a key of some sort. We have no reference other than where we’re at now and it doesn’t appear to be very accurate as far as natural landmarks.” The group continued to look at the tapestry, moving around to get different viewpoints.

  Caspin stopped and then stepped closer to the tapestry. “Look at this man.” He said as he pointed to a man on the map. “He doesn’t have any apparent markings. He seems to be standing apart from the others.”

  “Who do you suppose he is?” Aithnea asked.

  Caspin leaned in even closer. “I’m not sure but he appears to be praying or maybe he’s blessing them.”

  “Maybe he’s just on all of their sides or maybe an observer,” Tom asked.

  “I don’t believe that he would be on all of the sides, so he must be an observer,” Caspin said.
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br />   John walked to a chair against the wall and sat down. “Maybe the real question is what do we do with this new information about the order, and what does it mean to us?” John looked at the skeletons at the table. “Who are they and what are they trying to tell us?” They looked at John and then back to the tapestry each deep in thought. After a few minutes John clapped his hands on the arms of the chair. “I think that the best thing to do at this time is to rest for the night.” Aithnea and Caspin reluctantly turned from the tapestry and nodded in agreement as they walked toward John.

  Cody stood. “I’m not sure about all of you, but I think that I would feel safer at the cave entrance than down here with the dead.”

  John yawned and looked at Cody. “The only problem with that plan is we would have to guard two entrances.” John said as he gestured at the skeletons. “On the other hand if we stayed here we could close the outer door and only have to worry about ghosts and skeletons.”

  “I think we could remove the skeletons from the room and then barricade the door,” Caspin said.

  “That sounds good to me. Is anyone opposed to the idea?” John said. No one objected. “Ok. Cody, Tom and I’ll remove the skeletons,” John said as he moved toward the first skeleton. “While Caspin, Kris and Aithnea go and grab our gear.” As they left he said, “Don’t forget to close the door behind you.” John dragged the chair and skeleton out the door. Tom grabbed another chair and dragged it out trying to keep his hands as far away from the skeleton as possible. By the time they had removed all of the skeletons, the others returned, walking uneasily by the skeletons lined up along the wall in the hallway. John closed the door and secured it with a chair. Tom lay down but couldn’t fall asleep as he replayed the day’s events over and over in his head. He wondered about what the man had said about him being a light for others, and how he would need to stand up. He worried about his lack of courage and being unable to face the skeleton. How he’d backed down. If Caspin hadn’t shown up when he did Aithnea would be dead right now. He thought about Aithnea and his feelings for her, how they had grown so close over the years. He worried about the changes in his life and the power that grew in him. Would he be able to control it or would it take control of him? Tom finally fell asleep, dreaming about skeletons and magic.

  Aithnea gentlely put her hand on Tom’s shoulder and shook him awake. “It’s time to get going,” she said softly.

  “Yeah, you can’t sleep all day you know,” Cody said. Tom rolled onto his back and sat up rubbing his eyes and yawning. The rest of the group had already gotten up and packed up the gear. Kristiana, John and Caspin had pulled chairs from the wall and were now sitting at the table talking. Tom stood and Aithnea handed him some bread and water. Tom took the bread and smiled at her, longing to hold her in his arms once again but too shy to actually do it.

  Aithnea smiled back and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Good morning.”

  He blushed slightly but enjoyed the kiss. “Good morning Aithnea.” They stared at each other for a moment longer before Tom grew self-conscious of Cody watching him. He stood and packed his gear before joining the others at the table.

  “There’s no reason to get aid from Archelaus until we know exactly what we’re dealing with,” John said.

  “We need to get supplies and advice. He may already know something about all of this,” Kristiana said. “He has more resources than we do and a huge library that may shed some light on this.”

  “Archelaus has always been able to aid my brothers.” Caspin jumped in. “He will be able to aid us on our journey.”

  John lowered his head. “I just don’t think that we should trust him with this, not yet. I have a nagging feeling that we shouldn’t.”

  The three sat in silence for a few moments. “Let’s search the rest of this place. Maybe it will give us the answer we need,” Caspin broke into the silence. John nodded in agreement and Kristiana consented. The three stood and Tom grabbed his pack and put it on. John moved the chair from the door and with his sword drawn, opened it but nothing jumped out at them other than the eight skeletons lined mutely along the wall. Tom kept his distance as he walked past them down the hall, still worried that they would rise up like the others had. He let out a sigh of relief when they reached the intersection and no longer felt the skeletons empty sockets staring at him. The group turned down the hallway to the left. The hallway continued for about a hundred yards with the same odd lights glowing on the walls. At the end of the hall a metal door with an iron handle blocked their path. Kristiana waved her hand over the door and nodded to John. He slowly put his hand to the handle and pulled the door open.

  Tom had his weapon out and readied himself for something horrible to burst through the door. To his relief nothing crashed out from the room and the group entered. Five tapestries hung on the walls around the circular room. They seemed to show the five different areas that the big tapestry showed only this time there were no battles. The door opened onto a platform that had four steps going down to a single chair in the middle of the room. The raised area had a circular table with twelve chairs spaced evenly around it. Opposite of the door, hanging on the wall, an arrangement of four roses hung: blue, red, brown and white. The roses shimmered lightly and seemed to be alive. John and Kristiana slowly walked down the steps toward the single chair in the middle and Tom walked toward the first tapestry to his right. The tapestry was of a mountain with a cave in the side of it. As he studied the tapestry, images flooded into his mind and he saw the hallway, the room with the table and the twelve chairs around it, along with the other twelve chairs around the wall. The images continued to come to his mind and he saw the circular room he now stood in. He blinked and backed up with his mouth dropping open. “Wow.” The others looked at him.

  “What was it Tom?” Cody asked as he hurried up to him.

  “When I concentrated on the tapestry images came into my mind and I could see inside the mountain and the rooms,” Tom said.

  Cody walked next to the tapestry and looked at it for a few minutes while the others watched. “I don’t see anything.” He hit Tom softly in the shoulder. “You’re just imagining things.”

  Maybe he’s right. Tom looked back at the tapestry studying it again. The images came back just as they had before. “It happened again,” he said.

  “Don’t worry we don’t think you’re crazy,” Cody said with a drawl.

  Kristiana glared at Cody. “It must be something with the different energy that’s in you. It seems that whatever makes you, you,” Kristiana paused then said, “Also allows you to see things that others don’t.”

  “So it seems that we’re in one of the places that the order of the rose fought for in the other tapestry,” Caspin said. He walked up to the next tapestry. “Look at the next one. See if it allows you to see it as it really is.” Tom walked to the next tapestry and studied it. The tapestry had a picture of a meadow with a small lake in the center of it. Tom stepped back in shock. This picture showed the meadow just the same as the one that he had seen in his dream many years ago. The meadow looked the same with the clear lake in its center and trees surrounding it. Even a fawn with its mother stood at the edge of the lake.

  “This is the meadow from the dream I had when you first picked me up,” Tom said.

  “What are you talking about?” Cody asked.

  “When I left the orphanage, I had a dream about this meadow. It seemed so real. The dream was very peaceful until...” Tom trailed off as he remembered the feeling of horror when the darkness came.

  Kristiana stepped toward Tom. “What did you see Tom.”

  Tom turned and looked at her in surprise. “I just saw it get dark and then the meadow began to die. The meadow had been burned by fire.” He stopped, remembering the dream clearly. “The pond turned from crystal clear to blood red.” Kristiana looked down, deep in thought. He turned back to the tapestry and studied it again. Images flooded into his mind once more. The trees opened up and a pat
hway appeared beyond them. He felt like he was there. He followed the path, which led to a spot completely roofed with tree branches. Where the sun light could not penetrate. The same odd lights hung on the trees that lined the hallway of the cave. A table set up with twelve chairs around it sat in the center with the same four roses in the center of the table. Twelve chairs stood around the edges of the trees as well.

  He flashed back to the pond and another opening in the meadow appeared that led to a beautiful waterfall. A room made by the water falling on all sides in a circular shape formed in front of him. A single chair sat in the center of the water room and a table that wrapped around the edges sat on a platform above it from which four steps led down to the center. Twelve chairs sat behind the table and there were five tapestries hanging from the ceiling behind the chairs.

  Tom explained the images that he saw to the group and walked to the next tapestry. A person, of no definite features to distinguish it as a man, woman or human for that matter, filled the tapestry. Tom studied it, but he couldn’t get a clear picture. The shape seemed to be continually changing. The longer he studied the tapestry the less clear it became, and he finally gave up looking at it. “This one is very strange,” Tom said. “The image keeps changing between different humanoid shapes with no distinct features.” Tom shrugged and Caspin encouraged him to move to the next tapestry. The tapestry formed a cloud sitting on top of a mountain with a valley far below. Tom studied the tapestry for a long time. Images came into his mind of a path that led up the side of the mountain. Next, an image of twelve pillars in a circle supporting a giant round stone appeared. Inside the twelve pillars a single chair stood in the middle with four steps leading down to it. The image looked the same as the others except for the cloud that formed the walls. Tom explained the images to the group and walked to the final tapestry.

  This tapestry formed an open volcano where a pool of lava stood out as the focal point. He looked at the tapestry and images came once again. He saw a path that led into the center of the volcano. The images were similar to the others except that they all took place in the center of a volcano with lava flowing all around. After he finished looking at this tapestry, he explained what he had seen. Kristiana pointed to the tapestry of the non-descript person. “I understand all of them but this one.” She pointed to each one as she spoke and then back to the first, “Earth, water, air, and fire, but that one I don’t understand.”

  “Maybe it’s the individual who wields magic,” Aithnea said.

  “I had thought of that, and that may be exactly what it is, but all of the other tapestries point to a specific place.” Kristiana looked at the other tapestries. “Why would they then have the fifth one if it’s just inside the particular person?”

  “It may be the internal battle that a person must wage between himself and the magic within him,” Caspin said.

  “Yes, but once again it doesn’t point to a particular place,” Kristiana said. Tom walked back to the tapestry and studied it once again. He tried to force images to come to him but became so ill that he nearly threw up. He walked away from the tapestry and bent over.

  Cody hurried to his side. “Are you ok?”

  After a few minutes Tom stood upright. “I’m fine. I think.”

  John walked up to Tom and patted him gently on the back then looked up at the others. “Now that we have seen these tapestries let’s compare them to the bigger one in the other room.” The companions followed him back to the other room and they each turned a chair towards the large tapestry. They examined the tapestry for a long time. Tom could now see the images from the small tapestries clearly on the large tapestry and saw the different men of the order fighting over each place. The only one that he did not see was the fifth one, of the person. He saw men fighting around the mountain, in the meadow, in the sky, and around the volcano. Then he saw it. Two people fought each other in the center of the tapestry. They were identical in every aspect and only fighting each other. They have no face. Are they men or women, or human for that matter? “Look there,” Tom said pointing to the dueling pair.

  “Yes, there’s the fifth element,” Kristiana said getting up from her chair.

  She walked up to the two figures. “They’re identical and they’re fighting only each other. Caspin are these markings familiar to you at all?”

  Kristiana pointed at some markings on the people. Caspin stood next to her. “Yes they are familiar to me. The one means ‘of God’ and the other means ‘of man.’”

  “Ok, so the fifth element definitely represents the struggle inside the person.” Kristiana shook her head. “I still feel we’re missing something.”

  “I think as we go to each place there’ll be more clues to this riddle,” John said. John walked over to the part of the tapestry that showed the mountain fight. “We’re here.” He said as he pointed at the mountain. “How do we get to these other places?” He asked pointing to the other scenes.

  Tom sat studying the tapestry. The others continued discussing the different possibilities, but he didn’t pay much attention to them. The longer he sat the more his eyes wanted to close. He jerked. He looked around. Where’s John and Kristiana? I must’ve been asleep for quite a while.

  Cody walked up to him. “Oh you’re back with us. Kristiana said to let you sleep. I think she was hoping that you’d have another one of your dreams.”

  Tom looked at Cody for a second trying to focus and gain his bearings. “No luck there, but I did get some good rest without having to listen to you snore.”

  “My snoring ....” A scream pierced the air from the hallway. Tom jumped out of his chair turning toward the door. Caspin ran across the room and started out the door when John appeared, carrying Kristiana.

  “What happened?” Caspin said.

  John gently put the motionless body of Kristiana on the floor. “I’m not sure,” John’s voice shook, “We were studying the tapestries in the other room looking for a clue when Kris screamed. She sat in the chair in the middle of the room not moving at all.” Caspin chanted under his breath and placed his hands on her arms, sweat ran down his face and Tom could see the strain in his face as he held onto Kristiana’s shoulders. His hands clenched tighter, and then he fell almost to his back.

  Breathing hard Caspin said, “Her soul is not here and I can’t reach her.” Caspin looked up at John. “You’re her counterpart, reach out to her and try to find her.” John grabbed Kristiana’s hand in both of his and bowing his head he closed his eyes. After what seemed like an eternity John and Kristiana both opened their eyes.

  After a few moments Kristiana spoke, “I now know what the chairs are for. It seems that whoever sits in the chair will have to undergo a trial of whichever element they’re in at the time.”

  John sat next to her holding her up and comforting her. Kristiana still shook from the experience and had a lost look in her eyes. She took a deep breath and continued, “I went to another plane in which I underwent several tests that related to the earth element.” She looked up at John. “I didn’t get very far in the tests. I think the test got interrupted to soon.”

  Caspin brought her some hot tea. “Drink this it will help you feel better.”

  Kristiana smiled as she took the warm cup. “I was lost between two realms. I don’t remember much other than darkness and heaviness. John saved me. He reached me and brought us back because he is connected to both this plane and to me through our bond.” The companions watched Kristiana for a few more moments, and then she rose with John’s help. “I think I need to rest for another day and in the meantime we can decide what to do with this new information.”

  They discussed their options for several hours. Caspin and Kristiana both wanted to go to Archelaus with the information but John felt that it would be better if they continued on their own. Eventually they grew tired of the discussion and set up camp in the same room they had the night before, once again blocking the door with a chair. The next morning John didn’t
feel good about leaving the skeletons in the hallway so they were all moved back into the room. The companions closed everything up as they had found it and headed toward Darthmoth. They had not yet come to an agreement but felt that it would be a good idea to restock in Darthmoth. Maybe by then they could reach an agreement about what to do next. Tom and Cody took rear guard again. “Why do you think John is against taking the information to Archelaus?” Tom asked.

  Cody looked ahead at John and then back to Tom. “I think John has never been used to the idea of following Archelaus.” Cody paused scratching his chin. “Before they ever joined up with Archelaus, they were with Karman for a long time.”

  Aithnea looked over her shoulder at them. “According to Kristiana, John has been against joining with Archelaus since the beginning,” she said.

  “Why would he be against Archelaus though?” Tom asked.

  Cody hesitated. “Well I heard that Archelaus at one point had supported a group of witches. The rumor is that he funded them against the counsel, hoping that he would be able to take control, but they were eventually found out. Archelaus denied it all and supposedly walked away from the group.” Cody looked at them for a second then continued, “Karman then approached him in secret hoping that Archelaus would still want help taking control of the counsel. Karman hoped that Archelaus would reform the counsel and make it better, less corrupt.” Cody shrugged. “Archelaus agreed to Karman’s terms. But I think John has always seen Archelaus as power hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to get his own personal agenda met.”

  Aithnea stopped and turned. “So, Karman knew about Archelaus when he joined with him?”

  Cody replied, “It’s just a rumor that I’ve heard. I’m not sure that it’s true.” He shrugged and started walking again. “Personally I’ve never felt like Archelaus would do anything other than help the resistance. Karman was careful with him because Archelaus felt the only way to change things was through force, and Karman still hoped for a peaceful resolution.”

  Concern crossed Tom’s face. “Maybe we shouldn’t trust him then. What if he uses the knowledge to gain greater power, or worse, what if he’s still in league with the witches and they use it?”

  “Kristiana’s worried that if we don’t use his help then we won’t be able to find enough information to make what we know useful to us. She also says that Archelaus has a lot of resources that we’ll need to figure the riddle out. On the other hand, if we hide this information, Archelaus may turn against us,” Aithnea said.

  I always thought Archelaus was a good man. What am I supposed to think now? I have already chosen him. What can I do about it now?