Prophecy

by Gregory Cholmondeley

  “Gardening accident?” asked Versera in surprise.

  Euryale said, “Don’t ask, dear. Men get very competitive with their gardens, and they challenge each other to build and live in gardens which become outrageous the longer they live.”

  “Don’t forget the whole extreme gardening fad that reappears every few centuries,” added Saiph.

  “She’s right,” agreed Euryale. “Death by gardening accident is much more common than you might think for men. Women, of course, don’t do such nonsense. We don’t generally discuss our age; however, we typically live for about 1,600 years. It is, however, hard to determine when a dragon dies of old age.”

  She saw the confused looks on the humans’ faces and sighed. “You see, even young dragons spend most of their time sitting on their nests, absorbing magical energy and thinking. It’s why we are so wise and can remember so much.”

  Euryale seemed pleased with her explanation, but Saiph saw that the humans still appeared confused.

  Saiph said, “We tend to spend more and more of our time nesting as we age.”

  Euryale added a grunt, “Except for when we are required to host family gatherings,” and everyone chuckled.

  She continued, “Older dragons will often spend decades nesting. They achieve a meditative state where they don’t require food and live off the magical energy in their nests. These trances tend to become longer and longer, especially after age 1,300 and can last hundreds of years. At some point, the trance becomes permanent, and they die. Still, it is terribly difficult to tell the difference between a deep, multi-century trance and death.”

  “So, what happens?” asked Elisa. “Do you bury them or something?”

  “Oh, heavens, no, child,” laughed Euryale. “We leave them alone, except for occasional visits to their rooms to pay our respects and to dust them. We have several generations nesting in the back of the cave, and I am not sure which are nesting and which have passed.”

  “Wait, that’s gross,” complained Versera. “Are you saying that there are dead and dying dragons lying in rooms at the back of this cavern?”

  “And that you warehouse your aging parents in rooms and only occasionally visit to say hello and dust them? That sounds cruel!” agreed Nariana.

  “It’s not cruel, it’s just part of life, and they seem happy. Besides, geriatric dragons are generally confused and unhappy for the short periods they are awake. They have difficulty distinguishing between their trance thoughts and the real world, which makes conversations almost impossible. Senior dragons get irritable and complain that we are embarrassments because we can’t remember the dreams they had. We politely nod, tell them about their great-grandkids, give them something to eat, and tuck them back into their nests. Why, what do you do with your old people?”

  Versera thought about her grandfather, who suffered from dementia and lived in a full-care geriatric facility. Nurses had to feed and bathe him. He didn’t recognize any of his family, but she felt guilty about not wanting to visit.

  She admitted, “Well, maybe we aren’t that much different, but we can tell when people die, and we don’t keep the dead bodies in our houses.”

  Janus decided the conversation had become too morbid for him and said, “So, you were saying that your mother knew the heroes who almost fulfilled The Prophecy. What did they do?”

  Janus was not usually the sensitive member of the team, but there was a combined sigh of relief after his request. Everyone leaned in to hear about these ancient, English heroes.

  Then he added, “I especially want to hear about how their Janus created the portal.”

  Everyone groaned. It appeared that Janus was still only thinking about himself.

  “Well, it turns out that Janus wasn’t the one who determined what to do with the talismans,” explained Euryale.

  The expression of shock on Janus’ face made everyone else stifle a laugh. Nariana couldn’t hold hers, and it blew out her nose. Suddenly everyone except Janus was laughing.

  Janus was furious. “Fine!” he yelled. “Everyone keeps saying that I’m The Key and that I’m the one who is supposed to know how to solve this riddle, but I don’t. And I’m not alone. Every Janus in History has failed, and I bet that every, single, one of them felt the same way I feel. You heroes get all the fame and glory, but it always comes down to a Janus taking the blame. Why don’t you just go and figure all this out yourselves!”

  Janus could barely see from his anger as he stood up to leave, but Stavius grabbed him in a bear-hug and said, “No, dude. We’re sorry. We can’t do this without you. I don’t know if you’ll be able to figure it out or not, but you are the only one who has a chance. We need you, buddy.”

  Janus squirmed out of his embrace and stepped back to stare at his friend, but he didn’t leave.

  Then Stavius grinned and added, “But the expression on your face was classic, man! It was like the instant someone slips on a banana peel. You were so ready to hear how one of your predecessors saved the day finally, and, wham, you were smacked in the face with a pie!”

  Janus pushed him away and shouted, “You have no idea how this feels to me! I want to be a part of this. I should be a part of this, but I’m not. It’s always the heroes and Janus and never the five of us. It is so unfair. It just isn’t right.”

  He turned to leave, but the three girls blocked his path.

  “You’re right, Janus,” said Elisa. “Keys aren’t considered to be heroes, but you aren’t merely The Key. The Key would’ve stayed in the cave while his heroes went on their quest, but you came after us.”

  Versera said, “That’s right. You stole one of the talismans and played a critical role in getting the rest. That’s not something The Key is supposed to do. You are one of us.”

  Nariana added, “I think that Janus is right. He is a part of this team, and we should recognize that. I don’t care what The Prophecy calls us. I propose that in the future, we call Janus, a hero. After all, he already is one.”

  She stepped forward and reached out for Janus’ hand. The rest huddled around him as well, and, for the first time, he felt like a full member of the team. He felt like, just maybe, he really was a hero.

  Saturn started to say, “Hey, what about us? We aren’t even mentioned in any of these stories,” but Ops elbowed him in the side before he finished.

  Janus shook them off, wiped his eye with his sleeve, and asked, “So, if Janus didn’t solve it, who did?”

  Euryale answered, “Mars was the one who figured it out, but it’s complicated.”

  Everyone, except Stavius, groaned. It was Stavius’ turn to wear a shocked expression.

  Janus laughed for the first time in days. “OK, man. Now that I’m a hero, it’s your turn to be The Key.”

  Chapter 11

  The Crystal Orb

  Euryale began, “A group of heroes arrived here about fifteen-hundred years ago. They landed in a cave much smaller than this in England, near where my parents lived. The heroes managed to steal one talisman but were quickly apprehended and executed. One of them, however, managed to escape. His conjoined name was Mars, but he chose to use his Earth name, Myrddin, to avoid being found.

  “Myrddin spent the next thirty years studying the talismans and The Prophecy. He became such an expert that he was hired by the seven kings as an advisor. Myrddin instructed the kings about how to care for the relics and how to best utilize their power. Eventually, he betrayed those kings by helping a later group of heroes steal all seven talismans at once.

  “He convinced all seven kings to bring their talismans together and somehow separated them long enough for the Janus from the current crop of heroes to steal them. And, before you ask, no, I don’t know how he managed to secret them away.”

  Euryale was glaring at Saturn’s raised hand but chose to ignore him and continue her story.

  ”Myrddin and Janus met the other heroes at the cave and combined the talismans to create a device, which Myrddin had designed during his study
of the objects. He called it a magic engine. They connected this engine to magical energy, and it began to spin. Moments later, a sort of rip appeared in the air, and they could see another world on the other side. Myrddin, Luna, Venus, and Terra, stepped through but the opening closed before Janus and Mars could pass. All six of them remained here, but the four who passed through were changed. Luna, Venus, and Terra were no longer conjoined with their Earth counterparts and reverted to their original hosts, Griella, Nimenus, and Terriesa. Myrddin also seemed slightly confused for a while but eventually returned to his normal, conjoined self.”

  Saturn had been furiously taking notes with a conjured pad and pencil. His sudden scream interrupted Euryale’s story and made everyone in the room jump.

  He desperately said, “Euryale, I apologize for my interruption, but I must ask if you happen to recall the Earth names of the conjoined children?”

  Euryale glared at him for ruining the mood of one of her better stories.

  Saturn pleaded, “Please just tell me if Janus’ Earth name was Artorius.”

  The old dragon was shocked. “Why, yes, it was. And, of course, I remember their names. Janus’ host’s name was Janian, and his Earth visitor was Artorius. Terra’s names were Terriesa and Anna, Venus’ were Nimenus and Vivian, Luna’s were Luella and Morgana, and Mars’ names were Altars and Mordred. Why do you ask?”

  “OMG!” screamed Stavius and Janus. “Morgana, Vivian, Anna, and Mordred? Those are all characters out of Arthurian legend. Are you talking about King Arthur and Merlin?”

  Euryale looked surprised and answered, “Well, yeah, I was going to say that Myrddin changed his name to Merlin shortly after that. However, I don’t know whether Artorius became a king on Earth. He was only thirteen years old when I knew him, after all.”

  Stavius was still trying to comprehend that he was talking to a dragon with memories of meeting King Arthur and Merlin, and he couldn’t speak. Janus, on the other hand, had no problem forming questions.

  He cried, “Wait. First, you said your mother met Myrddin, and now it’s your grandmother. Which is it? How did Janus manage to steal all seven talismans? How did they put them together? How did they connect the engine to magical energy? And why didn’t it work? You aren’t telling us anything useful!”

  The boy had jumped up while saying this and was now inches from Euryale’s gigantic nose.

  The old dragon drew back and complained, “I can only remember what my ancestors knew. My grandmother didn’t meet Merlin until several years after the magic engine was built, so she couldn’t know the answers to any of those questions. Their magical engine, however, did cause a considerable ruckus for several years, until it finally exploded. Holes would appear in the air from time to time, and all sorts of items and creatures fell or walked into them. My grandmother’s sister flew into one, and we never saw her again.

  “You are right that both my mother and grandmother knew Merlin. He lived a very long time for a human and became almost a part of our family. He said that my great-aunt arrived safely on the other side and assured us that he was taking good care of her. It had to be terribly frightening for her, after all, since there were no other dragons in that world.”

  Euryale looked sad as she shared that last part. Dragons might warehouse their elders when they become ancient, but they apparently still cared about them.

  Saiph said, “It was impossible to predict where and when those air holes would pop open or what would fall through. We still blame air holes when we lose something, and we call someone an air hole if they say they’re going to show up on a date but don’t.”

  Juice had walked into the room and added, “My family thought Uncle Jerry had fallen through an air hole. It turns out he just went up to Canada because he heard there was excellent gardening up there.”

  Everyone just stared at Juice in disbelief until he said, “What?”

  Versera said, “You had a dragon uncle named Jerry?”

  Juice simply replied, “That was just his nickname. Nobody could pronounce his real one.”

  “I can understand that,” chuckled Sera, whose formal name is Alnilam. Saiph and Juice’s children had wandered into the room to see what was going on.

  Nariana turned to Euryale and complained, “So, you’ve shared some fascinating stories, but none of this is useful to us because none of your ancestors were actually there.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t be any more help, but none of my ancestors were there, and neither were the gods. They sometimes ask us to store their memories for them, but this happened so quickly that Myrddin and the others were gone before the gods arrived,” sighed Euryale. “It’s too bad you don’t have Merlin’s crystal orb.”

  “Excuse me,” said Janus. “What do you mean by crystal orb?”

  Euryale explained, “Oh, Merlin somehow created a crystal orb to store his memories. Human brains are not built to store hundreds of years of memories, and, as I said, Merlin lived a long time for a human. You could talk to his memories if you had his crystal orb, and it still worked, but it is ancient and surely long lost.”

  “Um, what did it look like?” asked Janus as he reached in his bag for the granite cube.

  “It was a crystal orb!” yelled Euryale with frustration. “It was a clear, ball about four inches in diameter, and made of clear crystal!”

  “Oh, I was hoping it was a granite cube with big letters on the sides,” groaned Janus as his fingers dropped the cube back into his rucksack. He suddenly felt utterly embarrassed by his question.

  His friends all laughed, but Euryale swung her face toward him and excitedly said, “That’s the box in which he stored it! Have you seen it?”

  Janus quickly withdrew the granite cube from the sack and showed it to Euryale.

  “You mean this?” he asked with a trembling voice.

  “There are the answers to all your questions!” shrieked Euryale. “Just open it up and see if it still works.”

  The others were no longer laughing. They were looking at Janus with amazement and respect. Janus, however, was wondering how he could open this thing up. He had studied it for weeks and came to the inescapable conclusion that it wasn’t a box. It was a solid block of granite.

  He whined, “Guys, I’ve been trying to figure this thing out ever since we got here, and I’m stumped. I’m sorry. How can you expect me to build a magic engine out of the talismans and save the world if I can’t even open a stupid box?”

  Janus was back to feeling crushed by his inability to solve any problem. He was used to being the best magician around for his entire life, and now he couldn’t even open a box!

  Elisa walked over to him and soothed, “You know, you don’t have to do this alone. You are a part of the team. Perhaps we can solve this if we all work together.”

  Janus sniffled a soft, “thanks,” and handed her the cube.

  An hour later, the gods had become bored and left, and the dragons had wandered off to prepare a snack. The seven humans were still utterly stumped as they sat by themselves in a circle around the small, granite block.

  Versera suggested that maybe it had seams that were illuded. But Staven turned off his ability to see illusions and confirmed that it was just a block of granite. Then Elisa suggested that Merlin had formed the cube by wrapping clay around his crystal ball and then transformed it into granite. This possibility caused quite a stir until Ops pointed out that there was absolutely no magical energy emanating from the cube. Someone, or something, would have to be maintaining the spell, or else the block would revert to clay.

  Ten minutes later, Stavius wordlessly jumped up and ran out of the room.

  “He must really have to pee,” laughed Nariana.

  “I hate when that happens,” grumbled Saturn, and everyone laughed with Nariana.

  Then, Saturn hurried out of the room after Stavius and everyone roared with laughter. The unexpected distraction from solving the granite cube riddle felt like a deep breath of fresh air. The entire group w
as rolling on the ground with uncontrollable laughter by the time Stavius returned.

  “What did I miss? What did I miss?” he asked in a panic.

  “Nothing at all,” said Janus. Then he added, “Do you feel better?” and everyone howled again.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Stavius. He was utterly perplexed. “I was just getting a rock.”

  “I’ve never heard it called that before,” laughed Ops and everyone doubled over again.

  “You guys are insane. Lend me your necklace, Versera,” grumbled Stavius. He was slightly upset that he was the cause of their laughter, but he was mostly angry at missing out on whatever was so funny.

  Versera took off the necklace she always wore and handed it to Stavius.

  “What are you doing, Stavius?” she asked, between giggles.

  “Watch and learn,” said Stavius. Then he handed the limestone rock to Janus and asked, “Janus, would you please transform this rock into clay?”

  Janus casually waved his hand, and the limestone rock turned into soft, malleable clay.

  Stavius flattened the clay and dropped Versera’s necklace on top. Then he folded it together and rolled it into a ball.

  “Hey, I want that necklace back, and it had better not be muddy!” warned Versera.

  “Don’t worry, I have complete faith in Janus,” answered Stavius, as he squared the ball into a cube and drew an S on the top.

  “OK, Janus. Now remove your magical transformation,” said Stavius.

  Janus waved his hand again, and everyone’s eyes lit up with comprehension. Stavius’ clay cube was solid limestone. He handed the block to Versera, who passed it around to the others.

  “That is incredible, Stavius,” marveled Ops. There is no magical signature nor need for anyone to maintain the transformation spell because there is no spell. This is just a chunk of limestone with a necklace inside.

  Janus began, “So if I transform this block into sand…”

  Stavius completed his sentence, “Versera will get her necklace back with no mud on it.”