“Alone?”
“Yes, only for a short time. I would have you go out to relax in the hot springs; it will revive your spirits! I need to speak with Hagios.”
As Zoe went to go, he stopped and turned to look at Mikhahale having collected his carrying bag, “Sir.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“The dragon’s eye…”
He sat up more attentive, “Yes!”
“I did see something else.”
“Yes!”
“There were horrible things that I saw horrible things,” he looked down as he was not willing to tell more.
“Ah, yes! It is the Re'shiyth!”
The child went out and found the path that the old man had talked about. This path would lead him to the springs. Zoe opened the gate with a creaking sound and felt a cool breeze blow upon him and dance about him. A faint sound could be heard as of a whisper, “Sophia.” He looked around him to see if anyone was about, but saw none. He wondered about the voice he heard, but could not figure anything out. He felt a little comforted as a thought came to his mind. If all these things happened to me and Hagios seemingly was protecting him, then things would be favorable, but what of those horrible things I saw and the dragons and owls?
The wizard began pacing more rapidly obviously more distressed than he had first let on to the boy. He looked at his table and took his arm and flung all of items to the floor. “Confound him!” Other words were mumbled while the wizard resumed his pacing. He looked around thinking what he was to do when a presence was known to be there. The wizard turned around sharply to see a towering figure of a man looking into his eyes.
“Confound me? Blasphemous words? Is that the way a wise man treats a god? Do you not know your place?”
“Oh, I very well know my place; I think possibly it is the gods that have forgotten theirs!”
A smile spread upon the strangers face, “I suppose the lesser cannot be expected to understand the ways of the greater. Tell me Mikael, my servant, the one thing that will bring any form of redemption to this world would have been left to die by you. Where is the foresight in that?”
“That boy? That sniveling coward who is afraid of his own shadow? He will bring us out of the Beginnings. Now I know the gods are crazy!”
“Silence!” The room became black with only the light of Hagios shining, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. The light was too bright for Mikhahale, he shielded his eyes and went down upon one knee in reverence knowing he had gone to far. “Now, Mikael, my servant as you shall hence forth be called, did you call to me for a complaint or do you seek me for guidance upon what you must do concerning the child?”
Zoe had reached the pool within a short amount of time. There were exotic flowers all around the small swimming area that the boy had never seen before. All of them seemed to be illuminate showing off their bright colors. There was a small plume of steam rising from the hot spring that danced on the surface of the water that made the kid wonder what kind of place this was. He took off all of his clothes including his undergarments and placed them on his carrying sack while looking around at first being embarrassed at his nakedness, feeling the whole time that he was being watched. He stuck his toes in to feel the water. The heat shocked him as he let out a little squeal, “Ouch!” When he got over the initial shock, he put his foot in to feel the soothing warmth do its work. He was able to get in all the way at this point realizing that the water would do him no harm. He had never felt such warm water before in all of his life. He swam around the small-enclosed area enjoying the warmth of the land.
After a time, some giggling sound could be heard from behind a bush. Zoe was seized with fear and looked intently in the direction of the sounds calling out, “Who’s there?” There was no answer, so he repeated his question, “I said, who’s there?” With that a giggling noise whizzed by him with the speed of light leaving him looking about as laughter seemed to be emitting from thin air. “Ok, I’ve had enough of your games, who’s there? I demand that you show yourself!” With his last plea a small little creature stopped before Zoe’s face and giggled. A woodland sprite of no more than three inches high floated in the air before him. “You’re a woodland sprite!”
“Right you are,” another giggle, “and I saw you naked!” Off the sprite went with the speed of wind into the woods once again, dashing back and forth, and all about with giggles until she ran into the tall figure of the wizard which ended her masquerade. His face pressed into his chest with impact and slowly pealed off as she fell backwards into the man’s hands, being shaken up.
“Well, well, my little companion if you were not spying on this young lad, I don’t know what other mischief you might have been doing!” And with a wizard’s hand, he hurled the sprite into the deepest regions of the yellow forest.
“Mikhahale is everything alright?” Zoe had noticed some change that had overcome the wizard.
“Call me Mikael, as I am forever Mikael!” He stood there for a moment recalling some encounter that was beyond words, mesmerized by the light of Hagios.
“Mikael, um why are you here so soon?”
“So soon, my friend? You have been swimming for hours!”
“How can that be, I have just gotten in and only been in for a few moments.”
“Yes, I know. I have spent days, months when it seemed only like a moment’s time wasted away in the pleasure of the moment!”
The boy got out turning away from the man while he got dressed. He was fully clothed when he looked into his eyes. Mikael’s eyes seemed to soften, a gentle spirit seemed to emit from him. “Mikael, what is it?”
“You are to go from this place.”
“Where to, when? How am I to get there?”
“You will know the place when you arrive. You are to leave at once and your means of travel will be of your own effort.”
“But how could I possibly…”
“I have no more to say, you must be off at once!”
Chapter 3
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~Robert Frost~
Without any more words from the newly named wizard, Zoe was sent on his way without food or water. Beyond that, the boy didn’t even know what direction to go. He tried a number of times to get more information from the wizard, but to no avail as Mikael the great wizard marched back to his dwelling and secured himself in with a spell of some sort that bound his doors allowing for no entrance. All attempts to break down the door by Zoe failed leaving the boy at the foot of the door wondering in complete bewilderment.
Zoe sat for a moment thinking what was to be done, but nothing could be thought of that might bring a satisfactory answer. Truly what was he to do? There was nothing to do but head away from the wizards dwelling. Knowing nothing about the land, the boy decided to head back the way he had originally come, around the Yellow Forest.
As he started out, he noticed a huge blue boulder that marked his journeys start. The enormous rock was intriguing to the child as it had many intricate markings o
n it, almost as many at the wizard’s chair. He examined many of them until he came upon a scary thing for this child, his own image! He was shocked to think that even this rock was foreboding of some event that he would be connected with. He continued to examine the boulder for some clue as to what he was to do. The image of the boy was set between two suns upon a path. The boy turned around and saw that there were two paths before him, one in a southeasterly direction and the other directly north between the two suns.
A very strange feeling overwhelmed the boy as he felt the rock was watching him. He turned around to see nothing having changed, but the ominous fear of being watched was still upon him. He again turned his attention to the yellow woods before him and the two paths. One path was well worn with travel as it seemed to be the main path leading southerly; the other was overgrown and dark having a fearful look to it upon which few traveled. This path seemed to be the one all of the gods wanted him to take, but there was no way Zoe was going down that path, not with a million setting of the two suns!
Defying the gods, Zoe went down the path most traveled by hoping that he was taking the right way. After he had been on the path for some time, he wondered if he were going to come upon the choice again. Would he ever again in his life have the choice placed before him to choose between the two paths? He realized that life would forever be a choice between two paths that do not afford an opportunity to go upon both.
A wizard’s curse seemed to be upon the land. He continued to go in the direction that led away from the two suns, but he continually seemed to find himself by the blue stone that marked his journey. He had tried the path leading away from the two suns many times, but to no avail. Every time the exasperated boy found himself standing were he had started. He didn’t understand how the gods sent him back to the path toward the two suns; nevertheless as he progressed onward, he inevitable found his way to the same place by the blue stone.
“Blast that wizard! How am I to go on a journey, if he won’t let me beyond his own magic?” Just then something whizzed by the boy’s head and circled around him twice and sped off into the distance. Zoe stood still not knowing what strange creature might be about. Stillness mingled with silence made for a long ten seconds before the return of the creature. This time the creature was almost by, but the boy had swung his hand up and nixed the creature, sending it into a spin straight into a tree.
The creature rammed into the tree with great force and fell into the bush about twenty paces off from the boy giving out a yawl, “Ouch!”
Zoe ran over to see what creature this might be. He peered into the bush and saw nothing, yet suddenly out whipped the little pixy that had caused him some embarrassment earlier. She hovered before the boy looking a little angered at first then she whipped by him several times and laughed out, “Te, he, I saw you naked!”
The boy had no time for this and sat down on the blue rock placing his face in his hands as a depression swept over the child. The sprite could see that the boy play had left him and wondered at the curious emotions he now had. She came close by, “Are you angry at me?”
“Leave me alone,” he said as he shifted his body to put his back to the fairy.
“Yippee! Is this a game?” she cried out.
“Stupid sprite!”
The fairy then realized that the game was not going as intended, but still wanted to play along. “Why do you want to be left alone?” the sprite now thought the answer was the game afoot! No reply came. The sprite whizzed around for a time and came to the side the boy was now facing. “How am I to play if you do not play with me?”
“I don’t want to play, don’t you see. I am alone out here with no one but a stupid fairy. And I don’t even know which way to go, so just leave me alone!” He again turned himself in the opposite direction from the fairy.
The persistent fairy whizzed around again putting her entire body in the boys face forcing him to look at her. “Silly boy, didn’t you read the blue destiny stone? It will lead you the way. Te he, I saw you naked,” and with that the fairy flew off into the distance whizzing through the obstacle course of trees in the dense forest.
Zoe watched this playful behavior for a short time and then looked again at the blue stone. This time the story had changed a little--the path upon which his image was found seemed darker than before. The two suns were no longer high in the sky and two sets of eyes seemed to be watching him upon this dreaded path. He was now even more fearful of the idea of going upon this dreaded journey. He turned around and looked at the looming voyage ahead and felt a pain in his gut as every part of him said not to go, yet the blue stone was leading him on. He swallowed his fear and took the path least traveled by hoping that the destiny stone would not lead him astray.
The path was uneven leading into the heart of the Yellow Forest. He kept his head down watching his steps at first feeling insecure slipping on the rough terrain. Not only was the ground treacherous, but the mere fact that Zoe was entering the Yellow Forest was enough to bring terror to him. His, once thought of, father had told him stories of the Yellow Forest, terrible stories, stories that frighten young children in the night. The Yellow Forest was a den of thieves; a dwelling place for monsters, where demons had dominion. This was no place for a young boy finding his fate. Even worse for the boy, darkness was upon the forest and little to nothing could be seen. A fearful thing for a child of thirteen.
At one point in the midst of the darkness, Zoe stopped in the middle of the path listening to the sounds of the forest. As he squinted his eyes, he could hear a variety of noises: crickets, night owls, howling beasts of the night, but the one distinct noise that he did not hear was the fairy. He was surprised as the fairy had been present for the whole of the trip making merriment in immense laughter, keeping with him whizzing about. Now silence, not even a fluttering of a wing. Zoe became nervous fearing for his own safety while wondering about his only friend. What had happened to the young sprite?
The quiet noises of the forest became still as Zoe listened beyond the normal sounds. He could hear a creaking sound. At first he wondered what this might be, then his mind came upon the source—twigs or branches rubbing back and forth with some force. He listened intently to ascertain the direction the noise. The sound took a moment to distinguish for the young boy. He felt no security upon his distinct belief that the noise was coming from directly above him. He slowly bent his head back and looked straight up into the darkness above. He could see little as he peered into the night. Then as if blinking he saw darkness turn to light in the form of two bright lights which appeared to have life. Then another set of lights equally spaced apart were above the child. He became terrified about what he was seeing as he body started shaking in fear. Zoe's attention was taken from the sight of the four peculiar lights above with a splattering noise which fell from above. He looked just to his left and saw a thick, slimy substance which still had a slight steady flow from above.
He again looked above when a sudden rush of figures came down upon him; he let out a scream of terror, "Ahhh!" He covered his face with his arms to protect himself from the giant gnashing teeth that he saw streaming down towards him effortlessly. The creatures were only two in number but were fierce villains of man folk as they prefer the tender meat of humans. They streamed down by him and towered over him causing his heart to stand still as he stared at them transfixed upon their beastly figures. They were slightly hunched having some form of hump on the back which the child could see. These creatures were terrifying enough with out the things his saw upon the hump. On each hump there were little bumps of some sort that had tiny life forms inside trying to escape. It appeared that they might have been victims of these vile beasts trapped eternally within the creatures.
The monsters towered over the child looking ravenously hungry, and Zoe was the desired aim for their meal. Then within an instance the fairy came spurring about and whizzed about the two creatures causing some confusion. Then one of the creatures shot a slimy substance from his m
outh and pinned Zoe to a nearby tree making it impossible for him to move—all he could do was fearfully watch. The second creature sped up the trees as a cat might climb a tree with agility and speed.
The fairy was now the one unsure as what to do. She continued to speed around and whiz by the one creature that remained on the forest floor, until the fate of the fairy came to an end. The creature that had climbed up the tree came down with similar speed and fashion caring some type of contraption, a box with glass sides of varying color. The monster placed the box in a small clearing and stepped away. The contraption began twirling about flashing with brilliant colors filling the forest the radiant beauty. Until the fairy came dashing by and was suddenly unable to maintain flight. A foggy substance came darting out of the box, grabbed the fairy in mid flight and returned to the box having trapped the fairy within. The fairy found herself captured inside a fairy trap designed specifically for young sprites! The fairy was disoriented at first but then found what the nasty creatures were about.
“Ha, Ha, He, He,” one laughed out showing his cruel pleasure in having captured the little creature. He picked up the contraption and shook the container causing anguish and disorientation to the sprite.
Zoe was angered and struggled with his bonds, “Stop it; stop it!” Zoe was in no place to make demands but his anger was enraged that the creatures would be so cruel to the small fairy.
The two creatures came close slinking along as they dragged their bodies leaving a trail of slime behind. When they got close to the child, the one holding the jar put his face in Zoe’s and spoke in slow broken raspy words, “You friend?” shaking the jar as the creature spoke.
The wretched stench of his breath was too much for the young boy; he turned away letting out a gasp of disgust as he wondered how this could be his destiny—to die as food for these depraved beasts. He spoke unable to look at the creatures, “What do you want? What are you going to do with us?”
Where Dragons Haunt (The Diaspora Book 1) Page 2