The Forgotten Spell (Legends of Green Isle Book 1)

by Constance Wallace

  “It’s very interesting that the spell would choose a fish and all,” Miranda commented.

  “Well, I believe it was an ancient creature of wisdom in this particular druid’s culture. The form of the fish came with the incantation. Unfortunately, I couldn’t change it.”

  “Gee whiz, I woulda picked somethin’ with more pizzazz,” Thomas said.

  “Aye, but then ye wouldn’t be havin’ the fun of eatin’ flies.” Lamfada laughed loudly.

  Keltrain sat down at the table and motioned to Matt to come nearer. “Where’s Quert?”

  “He’s back at the stables, sir. DaGon placed him in the pack on my horse along with the map.”

  “Give me a Moment,” the wizard said, holding up his hand. Keltrain closed his eyes and mumbled a phrase in the eerie language he used before. Matt and the others looked at the wizard in bewilderment when nothing happened. Keltrain scowled. “It’s been awhile.” He closed his eyes, his brow furrowing, and tried again. This time, when the words were spoken, the owl’s box appeared under the wizard’s hands.

  “It’s Quert’s box,” Miranda exclaimed excitedly.

  Turning the object around, the wizard pushed the indentation on its bottom. The wood did its noisy dance and peeled away to expose the metallic bird perched upon his silver branch. A blue light emanated from within its body and Quert sprung to life.

  “Who...who...who is this I see?”

  “AH HOO! Quert, my little friend. Has it been so many years since our time? I believe we two are the only ones left with the ancient memory of the Fomorian lands.” Keltrain bent close to the bird’s face. Scrutinizing its workings, he checked the wings, body, and head for damage.

  “No, no. There is the one who destroys, the human who turned against the friendship of King Balorn. He remains with the knowledge, too.” The turquoise bird hopped from the silver branch and marched around the table.

  “Well, me construction still works.” Lamfada surveyed the bird with a critical eye. Scratching his chin, he examined Quert just as Keltrain had.

  “You did an excellent job, Lamfada. There’s no other craftsman like you.” Keltrain’s face changed, his normal happy disposition replaced by a somber expression. Reaching into the interior of his cloak, he dug into another pocket and pulled out the map.

  Thomas leaned to Matt, his voice quiet. “Gee, I wonder what else he’s got stored in those pockets. You think if he was able to make the map appear, seems to me he could pull out that stupid sword and we would be done and on our way.”

  Keltrain, hearing the older boy, eyed Thomas with disappointment. “Yes, if only life were that easy. But because the sword is filled with a great power and a mind of its own, its presence will always be hidden from those who try to get at it by spells. Its champion must possess no magic and be of pure heart and selflessness.”

  “Lay the map,” Quert demanded. Whistling and clicking, the bird’s eyes blinked rapidly as he peered over the edge of the document.

  Keltrain gently spread the sides apart as the Elf Queen had done the day before. Placing his hand over the center of the paper, he closed his eyes and mumbled a small sentence in the Fomorian language. The paper began to glow.

  “Is that it?” Matt asked. He grew perplexed at the simple act. Was this all they had needed? Why couldn’t the Elf Queen have done this? It certainly would have saved some time.

  “It’s only the beginning. Just wait,” DaGon whispered.

  Quert stepped onto the surface of the document and the corners of the map went rigid. Hopping to the center of the map, the bird stopped when he came to the symbol of the sword. As the bird read the runes around the outer edges, each of the words began to glow and then burst into flames. Matt held up his arm in a protective stance as the individual letters leaped from the page and slowly swirled in a fiery tornado above the owl’s head, humming loudly. The combination of Keltrain and the owl’s magic brought the map to life.

  “Holy cow,” Miranda whispered.

  Ned covered his eyes at the sight. “Let me know when it’s over,” he exclaimed.

  Suddenly a great gust of wind blew outward from where Quert stood. It wailed and screamed as it coursed down the length of the table. The force knocked over glasses and bowls, spilling the contents on the velvet cloth. Matt covered his ears at the maddening high-pitched howl. It sounded too human to him, yet at the same time very animalistic and unnatural. “What’s happening?” he demanded.

  “It’s the spell of the map. Quert has called for the dead Fomorian King,” DaGon replied.

  The firestorm of letters swirled faster above the owl’s head. The wailing gave way to a ghostly face, which came up from deep within the map itself. Hurtling upward, the apparition shimmered in the dusk as it hovered above the table, its eyes peering at the wizard in anger.

  Keltrain held up his hand in warning. “Hold, good King. It is I. Your friend of ancient times.”

  “WHY HAVE YOU AWOKEN ME?” the ghoulish voice yelled.

  “We have need of your sword, King Balorn. Will you please tell us where Finley hid it?”

  “MY SWORD CAN ONLY BE DRAWN BY THE ACT OF COMPASSION, AND ONCE THE BEARER IS CHOSEN BY ITS MAGIC, ONLY THAT BEARER CAN WEILD IT. BEWARE THAT NO OTHER HAND GUIDES IT EXCEPT ITS CHAMPION OR BEAR THE CONSEQUENCE.”

  Keltrain nodded his head in understanding.

  “THEN READ.”

  The King’s wispy body faded and disappeared. In its place remained the flaming words from the map, which realigned into a message. Mumbling through the Fomorian sentences, the wizard looked perplexed. “How clever Finley was,” he said after a Moment.

  “What does it say?” Lily inquired, flitting above the letters.

  “Yes, Keltrain, don’t keep us in suspense. What does the message say?” DaGon impatiently blew a wisp of smoke through the letters, dissolving the words.

  “Do ya have the sword’s whereabouts or not?” Lamfada scowled.

  “It’s a very wise move on Finley’s part,” Keltrain replied.

  “What do ya be meanin’?”

  “See here...these plain runes on the map give a false direction.” His finger followed the writing on the edge, and a path drawn to the right. “Only when the portal to the dead king is opened do they rearrange to give the correct guidance to the sword’s hidden position.”

  “Queen Onagh’s scholar, Fontinose, deciphered the map runes,” Lily said as she circled above Keltrain’s head. “If someone took him, then they wouldn’t have the correct message.”

  “Aye. Let’s be hopin’ that they don’t be findin’ out any time too soon. Or the young ones may be in worse danger.”

  “So if he was taken, then whoever has him has incorrect information?” DaGon repeated.

  The leprechaun howled a deep throaty laugh as he cackled. “They be going around in circles.”

  “Yes, without the owl, the true path remained hidden. Queen Erulisse was smart not to tell the Fairy Queen her secret,” Chester said.

  “Aye, so it be...,” Lamfada slapped his knee.

  “What did it say, Keltrain?” Lily yelled as she landed on the table in front of him.

  “Oh. So sorry to keep everyone in suspense. The course is laid out through the other half of the forest,” he said as his finger followed a line on the aged paper. “The traveler must take the old road to Fomorian Keep, and onward, out through the Elathe Bogs to the other side of ApHar Mountains. After the bogs, the road divides in many directions. An ancient white willow will be our marker. There we turn towards the sword’s hiding place.”

  “How far are we away from this Fomorian Keep?” Matt asked.

  “Probably a day or two of travel if you don’t encounter any obstacles like the Slaugh.”

  “When we reach the white willow, which way do you think we’ll be heading?” DaGon asked as he hunched down on his tail, studying the ancient map upon the table.

  “Most likely to Gwyllion Mountains. There were secret tombs laid out in the catacombs within
the ghost mountains right after the remaining Fomorian people came through the portals. I should know. I helped construct them.”

  “The tombs, eh? Does that be meanin’ the sword is in the tombs?” Lamfada inquired as he placed his small clay pipe to his lips.

  For a Moment, the wizard remained quiet. “Yes, most likely,” he finally answered. The four residents of Green Isle glanced at each other in apprehension.

  “What’s going on? Why are you afraid of the tombs?” Matt asked, seeing the looks.

  “It’s not that we’re scared of the tombs, dear,” Lily replied. “It just puts us in a vulnerable position. Open for attack. That area of Green Isle is so close to the coast. It faces Black Isle, where the Dark One was banished and imprisoned.”

  “What does that mean?” Miranda glanced at Matt. “Will we be safe?”

  “It means we leave now.” Keltrain rose from his chair. “For our travel to Gwyllion Mountains must be done quickly, before any of Bera’s spies can detect our true direction.”

  “So you decided to come with us?” Chester whinnied with happiness.

  “It’s my duty, as the old friend of the Fomorians. I don’t think, as a gentleman wizard, that I would be able to live out the rest of my life in peace if I didn’t help the legendary four conquer the Black Warlock.”

  “It’s almost night, Keltrain,” Lily interjected. “Shouldn’t we wait until the morning?”

  “No better time to start than under the cover of darkness. Besides, I have it on good authority Bera contacted the Water Wraiths and is trying to bargain for the Wand.”

  “Gee whiz, I thought at least we would be able to rest before headin’ out. When are we supposed to sleep?” Thomas groaned.

  “Restin’ ye did at Queen Erulisse’s Castle,” Lamfada chided. “Dinner ye be restin’. Now it be time for ye to be brave, Thomas lad.”

  “I told ya I wanted to stay home. My feet hurt too much to continue,” Ned said, his voice whining slightly.

  “Prepare the horses, it’s time to leave,” the wizard gently commanded, ignoring the younger boy. With a wave of his hand, he sent the table and chairs, dishes, and pots into nothingness.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Matt frowned. He watched as Lamfada argued with the wizard. Keltrain had insisted that the leprechaun accompany the group, but the leprechaun was stubborn. He didn’t want to go any further, away from the safety of his cave. He loudly proclaimed his neutrality and refused the wizard’s request. Matt wondered if it really mattered whether he came or not. He didn’t agree with the wizard about the importance of the leprechaun’s presence. Sure, he could make doorways into the rocks, but how would that even help in the great scheme of things? In his opinion, Lamfada should be allowed to stay behind.

  It took about ten minutes of persuasion on the wizard’s part before the leprechaun finally gave in. Mumbling and groaning, Lamfada gathered his four green Shetland ponies and supplies, and followed behind Chester in the procession out of the garden. “Aye, ye be draggin’ me into a quarrel I be done with a long time ago,” Lamfada muttered.

  Keltrain tied his blue robe with a braided silver belt he found in his top pocket. When he placed the fabric cord through the sheath of a dagger, he met Lamfada’s eyes and stared at the leprechaun for a brief Moment. “That quarrel never ended,” he replied matter-of-factly. “You live in this world just like the rest of us and hiding out in your cave doesn’t ultimately protect you from its destruction, my friend.” The wizard drew out his dagger, examining it. Matt noticed the blade in the soft glow of the setting sun. The same Fomorian markings that were on the map also decorated the hilt. Keltrain saw him looking at it, and quickly sheathed it.

  “You still have the gift from—” Chester started to say.

  “There’s no need to speak her name,” the wizard interrupted. “Her memory has long since gone from me. Let’s not bring her into the conversation and spoil a good evening.”

  “Aye, who be hidin’ now?” Lamfada retorted.

  The wizard turned away without answering. Matt followed along with his friends as Keltrain directed them through the outer perimeter of his courtyard. There was a stiffness to the wizard’s back that hadn’t been there before. Perhaps the words of the leprechaun had affected him. It was only after several minutes that the wizard finally answered the leprechaun. “I don’t hide. I just choose not to pursue that battle for the Moment. There’s a difference.”

  “Not pursuin’ or hidin’, it all be the same to me.”

  “It’s in the past. The very far past. Let’s not speak of it again, shall we?”

  “Hmmm. One day, ya be wantin’ to finish it. It be comin’.”

  The sun was below the horizon as the caravan of friends filtered out of the wizard’s protected garden. Matt was relieved in a small way that they had finally settled on a direction. The sooner they found his brother, the sooner they could get back home. Following a worn path along the side of the river, they continued their course single file. Matt remained lost in thought until he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

  “Matt, I can’t find Sonya.”

  “She got to be somewhere around here. I saw her in the cave.”

  He remembered the cat hiding in the shadows in Lamfada’s house. Had Sonya decided it was too risky to be seen? Or did she just abandon Miranda? Either way, Matt felt some satisfaction that the cat had vanished.

  “I haven’t seen her since we came into Keltrain’s garden. Do ya think she got scared and ran away?”

  “She probably wants to remain invisible. If you remember, she did the same thing at the Elf city. I’m sure she’ll show up when it’s convenient for her.”

  “What if she doesn’t? She may get hurt or somethin’ worse.”

  Matt blew out a heavy breath. “Miranda, we don’t have time to search for her.” He tried not to sound angry, but the words came out stronger than he wished.

  “I don’t wanna leave her behind. She has to be around here. Will you help me look?”

  “We don’t have time,” he stated again. He knew she was worried, but he didn’t care if Sonya was found. He disliked the cat immensely. He touched Miranda’s hand and brushed it with his fingers. “We’re only going to be delayed if you keep hunting for her. I’m sure she’ll show up sooner or later.” He watched in aggravation as she shook her head and continued to call out Sonya’s name. After several minutes of watching her, he was glad when DaGon insisted she stop.

  “If Sonya wants you to know where she is, she wouldn’t have disappeared. I’m sure she’ll surface down the road, just as she did in the cave,” the dragon bellowed.

  Tears welled in Miranda’s eyes as she relented and silently fell into step beside Matt. Her head bowed, she watched the ground beneath her feet, refusing to look at him. He worried about the effect the cat was having on her. “It may be good she’s gone. Remember how upset DaGon became when he saw her?” he commented quietly.

  “But she was my responsibility. I promised I would look after her and all.”

  Matt watched as three large tears rolled down her cheeks and fell to the ground. Where they touched the dirt, small white flowers bloomed. He wondered at the magic of Keltrain’s garden and his friend’s uninhibited compassion. “I think that cat is nothing but trouble. Lily mentioned she betrayed them in the past. What if she does something to jeopardize our attempt to rescue Toby, Caitlin, and George?”

  Miranda didn’t reply.

  “Miranda?” Matt grabbed her elbow. It saddened him to see her upset.

  Shaking his hand loose, she turned to him. “She’s not bad Matt, I just know it.” Stifling a sob, she ran ahead to Thomas’ side.

  Matt watched her go. He wondered why he couldn’t make her understand the danger of trusting the animal. Sonya had already proven she was unreliable. Disappearing without a word did nothing to make him think otherwise.

  “Miranda’s vision will be clearer soon,” DaGon stated, seemingly to echo his thoughts. “Sonya’s a creatur
e of habit. Nothing has changed about her. You’re right to protect her from the poison Sonya brings with her.”

  “What did she do to betray all of you?”

  “She was the instrument which caused much hardship for many in this world.” Venom filled DaGon’s voice. “I would have slain her where she stood, if Miranda hadn’t stopped me.”

  “She doesn’t sound like a very nice cat at all.”

  “I’ll only tolerate her presence for the sake of Miranda and Lily. The first time I suspect any treachery from her, though, I’ll destroy her.”

  The abrupt appearance of a Dyrad halted their conversation. She touched Keltrain’s shoulder and motioned for him. Matt couldn’t hear what she said, her words low and inaudible, but whatever it was, it caused a look of worry to pass over the wizard’s face. Keltrain nodded in understanding as the wood spirit slipped back into the cover of the trees and disappeared.

  “What did she say?” DaGon asked.

  “Apparently the Slaugh are traveling back to the west, towards the Elf castle. This should buy us time. Although she also mentioned that they have seen other things moving in the forest along with the Slaugh. We need to be careful.” Keltrain motioned for the fairy. “Lily, we’ll need your beacon to guide us. I want to try to make the Pillars of Bally Mote by tomorrow night. Can you light our way?”

  Covering herself with her orb, Lily hovered in front of the caravan, her glow softly washing over them. The magic light illuminated the surrounding forest and cast shadows upon shadows, as the last of the sun’s rays were swallowed by the distant horizon. Quert, resting on the outstretched hand of the wizard, squawked and took flight, his metal body disappearing into the blackness of the trees.

  “Gee whiz, where’s that bird goin’?” Thomas inquired.

  “He’s scouting our way ahead,” DaGon replied. “Now that we know Bera is looking for you, we need to be very cautious.”