“Yes…he spoke of this when he had me taken prisoner. He said that I betrayed him…that I was a liar and a coward and was not worthy to rule.” said the King, thinking back on his time in his cell before Tyrius had arrived.
“That explains it…” said Tyrius, scratching his beard, thinking out loud.
“What do you mean?” asked one of the Elders.
“When I went to speak with the King after the orb had been taken, I was confronted by General Krauss. He explained to me that the King had gone mad and intended to unleash the Defiant One from his prison. He then went on to tell me of his desires to spread the borders of the kingdom, that he wanted me to join him in his conquest.
“When I refused, he ordered his soldiers to take me to the dungeon, but before I was taken away, I noticed a green flash in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. At the time, I was unsure of what it was, and why it left a great fear in my heart.
“But now that you mention it, that light reminded me of a description I once read of the Defiant One and the dark magic he possessed. It was said that he could spawn terrible creatures from the depths of the earth from the pure hatred and lust that consumed him. That he had an eerie green aura about him wherever he went.
"When we were leaving the palace to escape with the Elder, we passed by some soldiers. Something about them stood out to me, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was until they got closer. Then I saw it…their flesh, they were undead.” explained Tyrius.
“That complicates things…” said the Master Elder, thinking on the recent news. “He must be somehow channeling the Defiant One’s black magic from the Dark Abyss in order to use it to bring back the dead. It’s brilliant, really. Doing so will provide him with an endless supply of soldiers until he can find a sufficient power source to break the seal to the Dark Abyss and unleash the Defiant One and his minions.”
At this point the Master Elder was walking back and forth, deep in thought as he worked out the problem aloud.
“It would take an incredible source of power to unleash him from his prison…I don’t think that kind of power exists except maybe in the orb” the Master Elder said to himself, “Unless…we are wrong.” he said, before turning to the others.
Everyone looked over to him, hanging on his next words.
“Maybe the General has found another way to generate such power?” he asked aloud.
Everyone in the room remained silent while they digested what the Master Elder had just said, until finally he looked down at the crystal in his hand. He had taken it from his pocket while he was pacing, twirling it around as he thought.
“No…he wouldn’t…. he couldn’t possibly…” he said, mumbling to himself.
“What is it, Master?” asked Tyrius, finally breaking the silence.
The Master Elder looked up startled, as if he had forgotten the others were there with him.
“Gemini, how many Mystic Crystals are you aware of in existence?” he asked, addressing one of the elders.
“Only three, Master. The one you have in your hand, the one that was used to make the orb, and the final one that was used to seal away the Defiant One into the Dark Abyss, but that one was destroyed in the act – shattered into a thousand pieces.” he replied.
“Yes…but would it be possible, if someone had found those pieces, for it to be forged back together again?” he asked, leading the others on his train of thought.
“I…I don’t know” replied Gemini, “I’ve never thought of it. I supposed it could be. Why do you ask?”
“Because gentlemen…I think we have just discovered how the General plans on unleashing the Defiant One.”
They all looked around the room at one another, confused and not quite grasping what the Master Elder had meant.
“If General Krauss has found a way to re-forge the last remaining crystal, he can use it to act as his power source and eventually, if enough energy is stored within its mass, he can unleash it in a single powerful blast that would be strong enough to tear the fabric between the worlds of the living and the dead, opening a rift large enough to free the Defiant One and his horde of demons.” explained the Master Elder.
They all gasped at the news, finally understanding the implications.
“But where would he accumulate such power?” asked Tyrius.
“Only the power of the Mystics of Creation can fuel such a feat, so naturally, there are only two sources the General could use to collect the necessary power to fuel his machine – the power of the orb, or the collective lifeforce of thousands of beings that were created by the Mystics.”
“What do you mean?” asked the King, confused at the last part. “The lifeforce of thousands of beings? Like whom?”
“Like elves, your majesty, and dwarves. The first beings created by the Mystics of Creation.” replied Tyrius, suddenly aware that the dangers posed by the General not only concerned his race, but the race of others.
“Precisely, and that also means that David is in far greater danger than we at first suspected” replied one of the elders.
“David? Who is David?” asked Tyrius and the King.
“Ah…yes, I forgot. You were not there when Erin brought the boy to us” replied the Master Elder.
“What boy?” asked Tyrius, eager to hear any news involving his beloved Erin.
The Master Elder began recounting the events that Erin had informed them of during their meeting starting from David’s entry into their world and the events that led him and Erin to their meeting with the Elder Council members.
“When we heard about General Krauss being in the vision and what he had done, we felt a disturbance at the palace and had to leave right away to help in whatever way we could” explained the Master Elder. “We told Erin and David to go find Orin in West Post until we could come back to help, as we knew that he would be able to help the boy in our absence. Then we left immediately for the palace where we discovered General Krauss had taken the King and turned the Royal soldiers against the very kingdom they swore to protect. We tried to stop him, but he was too powerful. We only just escaped before we were destroyed by his dark magic.” The Elder finished his retelling and let the new information sink in.
Tyrius and the King stood dumbfounded with the realization that there was a boy from another world who could somehow wield the orb. Tyrius never expected that the one from the prophecy would be so young, or that he would be from a different world from their own. He didn’t even know there were other worlds. This was all a shock to him. He sat down and rubbed his temples, trying to process the information he was just given.
“Where is Erin now, do you know?” he asked suddenly.
“We can only hope she found Orin and has been lying low ever since” replied the Elder.
“I must go to her. She probably thinks I am in trouble, or worse. I have to let her know I am all right and help her and David in whatever way I can” replied Tyrius. He stood up and walked toward the Master Elder.
“We must go to West Post so we can find Erin and the boy” he said.
“Ah…yes. We must. But at last, our powers are dwindling, my young apprentice. We do not have the strength we once had, and our age, I fear, is finally catching up to us. We cannot go any further, I’m afraid. I can send you and the King to wherever you wish but follow you we cannot. We will stay here with the Mystics and enter into our own long-awaited rest.” said the Master Elder regretfully.
“What do you mean, Master? You’re fine, you just need some rest” replied Tyrius, concerned.
“We have felt our powers waning for some time now, and it seems we have discovered the source. The Defiant One weakening the seal to the Dark Abyss must be draining our life-force faster than it normally would. We knew this day would come eventually; after all, we are mortal just as you are, but we were given this gift and look at all of the good we have done with it. Now our time has come…we will fade away, and our powers will be reborn in others of your choosing. It is up to you to seek them ou
t and train them in our ways…that is, if the world survives the coming storm.
“Go now, your time has come to lead your King and your people without our guidance. This is why I chose you to be by our side, so one day you could carry on our legacy and have the wisdom and the knowledge to do so” he finished and slowly placed the crystal back in Tyrius hands.
“Both of you hold on to the crystal, we will gather what’s left of our powers into its core. With it, you can travel back to West Post so you can find Erin and the boy and together bring peace back to our land. Goodbye my dear boy. You have always made me so proud!”
As he finished, the other elders gathered near the Master Elder and began focusing their energy on the task at hand. Suddenly the view of the temple chambers passed from sight and the King and Tyrius found themselves rushing through the strange tunnel of light once again.
Almost as quickly as it had begun, it was over, and they found themselves back in the familiar forest of the Outer Woods just outside the wooden gates of West Post. When they recovered, they quickly crouched in the brush as they noticed the Royal soldiers standing post near the gate to the town.
Tyrius knew that if he were to find Erin, he would have to get past those soldiers first, and he was tired of playing games. He quietly told the King to wait and he stood up and began boldly walking toward the soldiers. With the stone in his hand, he felt its power surging through his body.
“Halt! Name yourself!” shouted one of the soldiers.
Tyrius kept walking towards the soldier, uninterested in his feeble threats. The first soldier rushed at Tyrius with his sword drawn and ready to attack. Tyrius simply threw up his hand and the soldier was flung backward into the outer walls, knocking him unconscious. The second soldier, alarmed at the sudden escalation, charged at Tyrius, determined to take down the unexpected threat.
Tyrius quickly sidestepped to dodge his attack and placed his foot behind the soldier’s left leg. He shoved the soldier over, causing him to fall backward into the air. In mid fall, Tyrius swiftly dropped his elbow square in the soldier’s face, crushing his nose and slamming him to the ground. He immediately followed with a staggering punch to the soldier’s forehead, knocking him unconscious.
Tyrius wasn’t in the mood for games. He had to find Erin, and nothing was going to stand in his way.
Chapter XXII
David awoke as the sun peered through the curtains at the window by his bed and slipped onto his eyes. He slowly stretched and let out an enormous yawn, happy to have had such a wonderful night of sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept so well.
Ever since Rex had defeated his uncle and won back his right to the throne he had been treated like royalty. His room was vast with the softest mattress and pillows he had ever slept on. It seemed like sleeping on fluffy clouds, he would just sink in wherever he lay. The thick velvety blankets were warm and soft and complimented the inviting colors of the room.
His room was equipped with a large cedar chest next to his bed to store his belongings and a dark cherry oak dresser filled with clean clothes to wear. The walls were painted a nice light crème color with a dark brown trim near the top and bottom to complement the polished wooden floors. He thought he could really get used to this.
The stewards brought him his breakfast in the morning and anything he could possibly imagine eating whenever he wished. Dinner had been served in the large formal dining room that was furnished with elegantly carved, yet still comfortable, chairs; all of which were evenly space around a large matching table. The table was topped with cast bronze candle sticks that sported lightly scented candles and was lined with fruit bowls intermittently spaced around the table.
It was refreshing being treated to such luxurious standards after having been out in the wilderness and fleeing for their lives for the past week. But as much as David enjoyed the new standards he was being treated to; he knew it was only temporary. They were only staying here as long as it took for Rex to convince the council members to agree to send the bulk of the army off to help return freedom back to the Northern Kingdom. They seemed to be a little more hardheaded than he remembered.
It had only been two days since his uncle’s defeat, but already Rex had made some important changes to help prepare for the coming conflict. He ordered that the soldiers begin more active training in order to prepare for the coming battle. He felt they were all too soft from going so long without any major conflicts. Most of the younger soldiers hadn’t even been in a real battle. This greatly concerned him.
His community was settled by battle-hardened soldiers who would strike fear in the hearts of any enemies they encountered. Those men were warriors. Some of the men who stood before him now weren’t ready for such a conflict…he was determined to change that.
He also decided to increase production from the local smithies and shops to prepare more gear for his army, providing extra weapons and armor to help with their campaign in taking back the heavily fortified city of Eldergate.
He named a new council head after having found his uncle’s most trusted advisor reluctant to accept the change of rule. He was also the one who benefitted the most from his uncle’s policies and had become quite wealthy from his relentless support of them, even when they didn’t benefit the majority of the people.
He filled the vacancy with a man named Taylor Cuthbert. He proved to be a trusted advisor and was also a childhood friend of his. He made sure that Taylor supported his desire to rid the growing evil from Eldergate before appointing him Council Head, knowing that his vote would hold more weight in the council than the others.
He needed a two thirds vote in favor of his campaign in order to get approval to send his army down the mountain and across the plains into the Northern Kingdom, but Taylor assured him that if he gave him a couple of days he would be able to get their approval. It had been two days and still the vote hadn’t been settled on the matter. He was growing impatient, and time was wearing thin.
When David had finished with his hot meal of poached eggs and crispy bacon, he decided to make his way down to see if Rex was up and moving. As he walked into the corridor that led from his room down to the hallway, he ran into Orin who was also coming out of his room just down the hall.
They walked together down the long, carpeted hallway and veered to their right once they reached the end. The walkway consisted of a rectangular series of halls that overlooked the main floor of the entrance hall with small jutting balconies sporadically placed throughout that provided an overlook to the space below. The hallways all led to the enormous stairway in the center of the chamber.
As they walked down the halls towards the main stairway they passed elaborately decorated corridors on their right that stretched far into the castle, housing untold numbers of guest rooms and private studies, most of which were empty this time of year. The other hall consisted of the castle staff’s living quarters and were occupied year-round.
Most of the walls, no matter where they looked, were decorated with colorful oil paintings and portraits and were lined with gold-plated sconces supporting large candles that were replaced every night to keep up the clean, well-groomed appearance of the castle.
At the end of each hallway a large window sent light stretching down each corridor – the surrounding mountains and rolling green hills visible through the clear glass.
They finally reached the grand staircase that split the castle in two, reaching the middle floor from the main floor of the entrance hall, and leading all the way up to the third and final floor.
They took the stairs up to the third floor where a large meeting room stood before the King’s private chambers. As they walked through the double doors, they could see the council had already been up and were in the middle of a heated discussion. Rex stood in the far corner, looking out one of the back windows, turning to greet his friends as they walked through the doors. The council members barely noticed their entrance.
“There you are you lazy goats!
” he bellowed with a sheepish grin. He walked up to David and Orin, arms open wide, and gave them both a grizzly squeeze. David thought he felt his bones popping under the strength of the enormous arms around him.
“Hey, Rex, good to see you too.” said David carefully testing his now aching shoulders. He could see Orin grimace in pain beside him, shaking his fist at the large barbarian before whacking him on the back of his head.
Rex only laughed. Rex and Orin had grown extremely close over the past few days, and if David didn’t know better, he would have guessed they had been lifelong friends.
“Has there been any development with the council’s decision?” David asked eagerly.
Rex turned to look at the council with contempt in his eyes. “Nah, some of these men are too set in their ways, especially when it comes to sending our people off to another land to fight someone else’s war – at least, that’s how they keep framing it. They keep reminding me that our fathers created this haven separate from the other kingdoms so they could live in peace after their wars in the past. They don’t like the idea of going back to war” he said.
“Don’t they understand what’s happening down there? If the Northern Kingdom remains in the hands of General Krauss, he will soon aim to take control of the surrounding kingdoms too. No place will be safe, not even here. Not to mention, if he somehow succeeds in releasing the Defiant One from the Dark Abyss, the world as we know it will cease to exist!” David exclaimed.
“Don’t you think I tried to tell them that?” he replied, clearly frustrated with the whole political game.
David Bishop and the Legend of the Orb Page 20