by KJ Siirila
Izasa sat on the floor in front of the fire and watched as the Mystagog drew his pictures.
“I came to find out.” The Mystagog cut him short.
“Silence, I must have silence.” He continued to draw. Izasa sat on the floor for what seemed to be hours before the Mystagog finally spoke to him.
“There’s no need to tell me why you’ve come. I know why, The Book of Elandor. Unfortunately for you creature, there will be no more riddles this day. I am tired. I must rest now. Come back another time.” The Mystagog laid down on the floor and closed his eyes.
Izasa stood up. “Do you know what I went through to get here Mystagog do you even realize the anguish I suffered to find my way to your cave?
The Mystagog sat up. “I will offer you this gremlin then be on your way. Listen closely for I will only tell you once. A mountain lion, a billy goat, a darkened castle with a moat, search the halls and you will see, the book that shall set you free.”
When he was finished the Mystagog laid back down and closed his eyes. Izasa was confused. He didn’t know what to make of the riddle he just heard. He left the cave and began his way back down the mountain. He would tell Olagh the riddle and they would figure it out together back at the fortress.
The Shaman, Queen Armad, Micael and Ovit continued on. They were almost back into the swamps of the Forest of Shadows now. They decided to stop and rest when they reached the swamps.
Micael began to make small talk with Ovit and the Shaman.
“So what will we do when we find the Book of Elandor Shaman?” Micael asked.
“We will bring it back to the Angelic Spirits in the Valley of Illumination and let them decide what to do with it.” He answered.
“Maybe, we could cast a few spells to make me appear larger and scarier.” Ovit laughed.
They all laughed.
Micael got serious and looked to the Shaman. “I want to remember my past Shaman. Do you think there’s anything in the Book of Elandor which can help me achieve this?”
The Shaman stared straight ahead and continued to walk. “You don’t remember the past for a reason Micael. You are not meant to remember your past right now. Maybe in the future the Gods will give that back to you, but for now you must live in the moment at hand.”
Micael wished he could remember anything about his past, but knew the Shaman was right. He was given this task and would complete it.
“What about the other books, when will those be found Shaman?” Micael asked.
“I’m not sure Micael. You must find each of them to find the other. We can use the Book of Elandor to find the Book of Garenon but that won’t be an easy task either. You are on the journey of your life Micael, something that will ultimately change the world.” The Shaman was trying to make Micael understand the importance of their journey.
“I know Shaman, I know.” Micael walked on.
In the desert on the other side of the Forest of Shadows Grimelda and Magella were walking along.
Grimelda had a smile on her face.
“Why are you so happy sister?” Magella asked.
“Because dear sister, we are embarking on something of greatness. When we find the Book of Elandor do you realize the things we can do with it? We could bring the sisters back from the dead I’m sure.” She grinned.
“Why would we want to bring them back? They were foolish witches. They never did anything right.” Magella shrugged.
“We may need them in the battle that will be upon all of us soon Magella. I’m sure Trovis believed when he left them for dead that they would be dead forever, but, we were left for dead many times and look at us standing here today.” She cackled.
“You are right we may need the idiot sisters when the battles begin, but for now, it’s working fine just the way it is.” Magella followed Grimelda a few more steps until Grimelda stopped.
“Why do you think we haven’t come across the brothers yet Magella?” She was beginning to wonder aloud now. “We should have surely come in contact with them by now. I think we should go back to the Midnight Mountains to the castle before we go to the Valley of Illumination. We must know what they’re planning for us.”
“We will waste valuable time if we go back to the castle now, sister. We should go to the Valley of Illumination first.” Magella added her thoughts.
Grimelda thought for a moment. “Maybe you’re right sister we should go to the Valley of Illumination first. If we don’t find what we’re looking for though, we must leave and go back to the castle in the Midnight Mountains. We can’t let the brothers have too much time to plot and plan against us.”
Grimelda and Magella began moving quickly again through the desert following the words of the Mystagog to find the Book of Elandor.
Izasa had left the mountain range and was back in the desert. He still didn’t know what to make of what the Mystagog had told him. He walked along trying to figure it out.
As he walked he heard a voice call to him. He looked further up and saw a large group of creatures coming towards him. He realized it was Olagh and ran to greet him.
They hugged and smiled.
“Olagh, my friend.” Izasa was extremely happy.
“I’m glad to find you well Izasa.” Olagh grinned widely. “Did the witches harm you in any way?”
“Those haggard beasts? They tried to, but didn’t succeed. They did succeed in finding the Mystagog though Olagh as did I.” He smiled slyly. “Come let us discuss this away from the battalia.”
Olagh and Izasa walked away from the battalia and Izasa told Olagh what the Mystagog had told him.
Olagh thought for a moment and then smirked. “Of course Izasa, I have it. It’s the castle of the ghouls. I’ve seen it.”
Izasa looked surprised. “What do you mean you’ve seen it?”
Once, I decided to go into the Midnight Mountains. I was looking for a new place to put our fortress. I realized once inside of the Midnight Mountains we wouldn’t be very safe so we ended up staying in the Forest of Shadows. I saw the ghoul’s castle though. It was surrounded by a huge moat with alligators. It’s a very frightening castle to look at in the dark Izasa but if the Mystagog says this is where the Book of Elandor is then we shall go there and find it.
The two shook hands and smiled glad to see each other once more.
The ghouls after climbing over almost twenty mountains reached the largest of all of them. It wasn’t until they reached the bottom of the largest one that they saw the path stretched between the rocks. Helmog, Slothard, and Wagrim were disgusted to think they had traveled over every mountain when they could’ve walked down the middle of them. They had wasted much valuable time.
They began the climb to the top of the mountain slowly. They were weary from their journey to the Mystagog. They spent hours climbing the mountain before reaching the top. Once atop the peak, they walked into the cave of the Mystagog. They were shocked to find the Mystagog to be an old man just lying on the floor of a cave.
“You there.” Helmog spoke sternly.
The Mystagog woke up. “Yes.”
“Wake up. We are here in search of the Book of Elandor. We need to know where it is.” Helmog walked towards him. The Mystagog stepped back this time and put his hand up.
“Please stop there. I will tell you how to find the Book of Elandor.” The Mystagog walked past them and to the outside of the cave. He stood at the edge looking at the sky for quite some time before turning around. The ghouls had followed him out and stood quietly waiting for him to saying anything.
“Listen closely travelers for I shall say this only once. In a castle not far from here there lies a ball that’s crystal clear, look inside and you shall see the answer that you truly need.” The Mystagog walked slowly towards them.
Helmog stood in his way. “What in the world does that mean Mystagog?”
“I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The Mystagog had lapsed into some kind of trance and wasn’t even sure what he had jus
t said.
“Tell me what it means Mystagog or suffer the consequences.” Helmog grew angry. Slothard and Wagrim stood behind him grinning.
The Mystagog tried to continue onward to his cave but they wouldn’t let him pass. They began pushing him further until finally they had him on the ledge. Helmog, Slothard and Wagrim moved forward towards him. Just then a flash came from the skies above and soon a memory of the past hit all three of them at once. They were stunned and moved backwards. They weren’t sure what they just saw but they knew it was sent from the Gods above. They allowed the Mystagog to pass them and go back to his cave.
“What happened just now?” Helmog was still bewildered.
“I’m not sure Helmog I felt it too, so did Wagrim.” Slothard was nervous.
“We must leave this mountain and never return. We have the information we came for now let’s leave here.” Helmog began climbing down the mountain with Slothard and Wagrim not far behind.
In the cave the Mystagog laughed to himself knowing what he had just done. He created his own magic to scare the ghouls who seemed to be fearless. There would be no others coming in search of the Book of Elandor. He sat on the ground and began looking at the fire waiting for the next chain of events to take place.
Crovis and Trovis arrived back at the castle in the Midnight Mountains about a day later. Flying was so much faster than walking that was for sure. They could’ve flown through the desert but decided it best not to considering that they could have been seen easier by the enemy.
Once inside of the castle they began to search through the sister’s altar room for anything they believed would help to defeat them. They read their book of spells but couldn’t find anything that would do them any harm. They would have to join forces with the ghouls. They believed this would be their best choice, but they weren’t sure if the ghouls would be so willing. They left the altar room and headed for the main door once more, they would go to the ghoul’s castle and speak with them.
Crovis and Trovis walked quickly until they reached the moat to the castle of the ghouls. The bridge was drawn which meant either they were hiding in the castle or they weren’t in the castle. The brothers looked at each other knowing what they would do next. They flew to the tower just as Grimelda had done and entered the castle of the ghouls uninvited.
They searched around for quite some time and didn’t find much. They decided to sit down and talk believing the ghouls wouldn’t return anytime soon.
“It’s going to be very difficult to destroy the sisters Trovis. We must devise a plan that will enable us to do it.” Crovis rubbed his chin.
“We could always pretend that we had no idea what happened in the Forest of Shadows. We’ll say that when nobody returned you came to the forest to find us. Once there, you realized that the sisters were dead but you found me and brought me back here to the castle.” Trovis grinned slyly.
“I’m not sure the sisters would believe it Trovis. They probably already know what we’re up to.” Crovis stood and thought for a moment.
“Let’s go back to the castle and look into their crystal ball and try to find out where the sisters are and we’ll go from there.”
Crovis and Trovis left the castle of the ghouls and hurried back to their castle.
The ghouls were slowly leaving the mountain range in the Forest of Shadows, they were confused at what the Mystagog had told them on the peak. Helmog thought about it very deeply but still didn’t understand. Wagrim was in deep thought also when a huge smile came across his face.
“I’ve figured out the riddle. Think about it, a crystal ball, who would have a crystal ball besides the witches? We must go back to the Midnight Mountains and look into their crystal ball as the Mystagog said and the answer shall appear to us.”
“Very good Wagrim, I’m surprised we couldn’t figure it out.” Helmog began walking up the path in front of Slothard and Wagrim.
Slothard looked at Wagrim and smirked, “Once again, the great leader wonders why he couldn’t decipher the riddle.”
Wagrim smiled back at him.
Flying high above the Princess Fimella was on her way back to the Valley of Illumination when she looked down and saw the witches headed in the same direction. “This cannot be good, what would the witches want in the Valley of Illumination?” She was questioning there antics aloud.
Down below Grimelda sensed that someone was watching her so she stopped and whispered to Magella. The Princess fluttered in the air above waiting to see what they would do next.
Suddenly, the Princess felt her wings stop working and she began falling out of the sky. She landed in the middle of the witches below. They both looked down at her and smiled.
Grimelda leaned down and picked her up. “What do we have here? It’s a little fairy Magella.” The Princess was unconscious from the fall and had no idea who had just found her. “I’ll just put her snuggly in my bag until I can figure out what to do with her.” She took the Princess Fimella and put her inside of her bag.
“What do you think the fairy was doing Grimelda?” Magella asked.
“A little spy sent from the Valley of Illumination I assume.” Grimelda smirked.
“I guess it’s good we caught the little bug then isn’t it?” Magella laughed.
“Yes I believe it’ll work to our advantage to have her. We’ll make her help us find this tree the Mystagog spoke of.”
Grimelda and Magella continued on through the Forest of Shadows preparing to enter the Valley of Illumination in search of the Book of Elandor.
The Shaman, Micael, Ovit and the Queen Armad walked further into the Forest of Shadows. The Queen Armad flew high above them to warn them of any danger but so far there had been none.
“Where will we go once we enter the Midnight Mountains Shaman?” Micael asked.
“I’m not sure Micael. There are many mountains in the Midnight Mountains but I believe that we can find the one the Mystagog spoke of. There aren’t any large bodies of water in the Midnight Montains only one large lake that surrounds a group of mountains.” The Shaman walked side by side now with Micael and Ovit while they chatted.
“I am not afraid of the Midnight Mountains.” Ovit chimed in.
“I’m not either anymore Ovit. I am excited about it. It’s definitely a necessity that we find the Book of Elandor before the others do.” Micael smiled.
“And we shall Micael, we shall.” The Shaman walked ahead of them now.
Not far behind the four travelers from the Valley of Illumination was Izasa, Olagh and the battalia. They were also moving quickly so that they could search the castle of the ghouls. Olagh wasn’t sure he believed the Mystagog’s words but trusted what his friend Izasa had heard.
“We will have to be very careful once we reach the castle Olagh.” Izasa said in a concerned voice.
“Don’t worry Izasa the ghastly ghouls won’t discover us.” Olagh smiled.
“At the pace we’re going we should be entering the Midnight Mountains within a day or two. We have to ready the battalia to be prepared for any enemies.” Izasa walked steadily.
“We will leave the battalia at the base of the Midnight Mountains and adventure north into them ourselves Izasa. We wouldn’t be able to bring this many creatures into the mountains without someone noticing.”
“I agree Olagh the less attention we draw to ourselves the better.”
Olagh and Izasa continued onward with the battalia to the Midnight Mountains.
In the Valley of Illumination, the Angelic Spirits wondered what had happened in the Forest of Shadows. They hadn’t received any word yet from the Queen Armad or the Princess Fimella. The Angelic Spirits were unaware that the witches were about to enter the Valley of Illumination with their hostage the Princess Fimella.
The witches entered the the Valley of Illumination carefully. They were surprised at the amount of light that was readily available considering they had never been here before.
“We must be careful now sister.” She
whispered to Magella. “We must try to go unseen; therefore I think we should cast a spell of glamour and make ourselves look like myrmidons.”
Magella nodded and then moved in close to her sister. They both began chanting a spell, when they turned back to face the light they looked nothing like they did a few moments before. Grimelda had become an amazingly beautiful younger woman with long blond hair and blue eyes. Magella was a raven haired beauty with memerizing hazel eyes. They laughed when they looked at each other.
Princess Fimella was waking from her slumber and poked her head out and looked around. She spoke softly.
“Excuse me.” She said.
The witches looked down and smiled. Grimelda pulled her out slowly and held her in her hand.
“Hello there little fairy how are you? You’re very lucky that my sister and I found you when we did.” She smiled.
The Princess Fimella was confused the last thing she remembered was falling out of the sky in the Forest of Shadows.
“I’m sorry but how did you find me?” She asked.
Grimelda held her close to her face. “My sister and I were foraging for food in the Forest of Shadows. We were walking along when we saw you lying on the ground. We picked you up and made sure nobody harmed you. Do you have a name fairy?”
“It’s Fimella. Princess Fimella.” She said groggily.
Grimelda and Magella looked at each other and grinned.
“Princess Fimella?” Grimelda asked aloud. “We are honored to make your acquaintance. I am Gardenia and this is my sister Marigold.” They smiled at her. “We live here in the Valley of Illumination also.”
The Princess Fimella felt there was something very strange about these two sisters but they appeared myrmidon and harmless. She would be very careful until she felt strong enough to travel to the Angelic Spirits.
“You can travel with us until you feel better Princess Fimella, and possibly show us some areas of the Valley of Illumination we have never seen.” Grimelda smiled and the Princess Fimella was slowly placed back in her pocket.
The sisters looked at each other smirking knowing that they had found something that would only help their journey be much easier.