by F M Andrews
“The battle was long and hard but in the end we won and Zail was forced off world. It was impossible to destroy him. We built barriers and prevented him coming back, but we underestimated him.
“With all his new found power he discovered the key to travel between all worlds and was systematically draining each new world of any talent they possessed. He also found that emotions such as fear, desperation, and anger enhanced his own talent, amplified it if you will, and it wasn’t long before he was actually creating misery across the worlds just so that he would have enough power to overthrow us and return home.
“Eventually he became so strong that we could not stand against him and he defeated us. Only I escaped.” Her voice broke and she clasped her hands tightly, taking several steadying breaths before continuing. “I spent a long time in the wilderness, jumping between worlds, always running. He had discovered that I still existed and he was hunting me, but I was always looking for ways to save my home world. Fortunately, I discovered that, just as fear and despair enhanced his powers, joy, love and happiness enhanced mine, so I travelled from world to world looking for these things, or where necessary, working to create them. I began to find many worlds he had ruined and worked hard to bring peace back for them as a sort of atonement to the evil I had helped to create.
“This became our pattern. We were locked in perpetual battle, neither of us strong enough to destroy the other but every now and then, one or the other would have the upper hand.
“The last battle was over a thousand turns ago and it was fought on a world near Feld, but there were no winners. Zail was severely crippled but so was I. In fact, I was so badly injured that I thought he would capture me. If this should ever happen he would drain all my power and that would be ...” she paused as if she was searching for words, “the end, really. I was so concerned that he might find me in my helpless state that I shattered my talent into shards and sent them to other worlds for safe keeping and to ensure that he would never be able to use them for himself.
“I was desperate, searching for a place to hide, lick my wounds and recover, when I stumbled upon Feld, and here I am, hiding in the best place possible, a place of peace and joy and, most wonderful of all, a place where Zail’s powers can’t penetrate beyond the boundary to look for me.
“I have been quietly waiting, growing stronger and stronger, hoping that I would have enough time to collect my power from the other worlds before he found me, so that I can once again commence the battle I have been dreading.” Fenrick reached out and took one of Errin’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Of course Fenrick would know, Turrin thought, and a half remembered conversation from what felt like so long ago[CL10], as he had nodded[CL11] on Fenrick’s lap by the fire, replayed in his mind as well as the overheard mumblings in the night back at Tanzrin.
Errin gave Fenrick a grateful look and continued. “But now, it appears as if my time is running out. These trolls would have been sent by him, in frustration, because he cannot see past the barrier. He will keep sending nasties to Feld in the hope that I will come out and do something about them and, in the process, show myself, or in the hope of breaking the boundary so that he can see in. He knows that if he, himself, should cross the boundary, he would lose all his power and that is something he would never contemplate.
“Although I would have liked more time I can’t afford to be defenceless if he is threatening Feld. I need to bring forward the retrieval of my power, to be able to prevent him destroying this world, which he will inevitably do searching for me.” Once again she looked down at her hands and quietly added, “He must be running out of places to look.”
A heavy silence hung in the room as each person processed the vast amount of incredible information in their own way.
Salassan was the first speak. “Well, it seems to me that if we want to survive, we need to do everything in our power to help you.”
“Excuse me, sire?” someone asked in a tentative voice.
Turrin was so focused on Errin, Fenrick and Salassan that he had quite forgotten there were others in the room. With effort he refocused on the nondescript courtier who had spoken. He was seated on the couch next to Fenrick and appeared quite uncomfortable, fidgeting with the lace at his cuff and taking furtive glances around the room until his eyes finally lighted on the King.
“Sire, I am just wondering what this has to do with us?” He looked around the room once more, possibly hoping for support. “I mean, if Errin just leaves, goes to another world?” He lifted his hands, palm up as if offering something, maybe what he thought was a solution. “Then this Zail person will stop bothering us and it won’t be our problem anymore. Feld would be safe.” Noticing the stunned expressions on the faces of those in the room he ended lamely, “Won’t it?”
Errin was the first to recover. “Oh, Belssan, the only one brave enough to ask what everyone was thinking.” She bestowed a beautiful smile upon the, now red faced, man. “If only it were that simple, but unfortunately I am the only thing that can keep him in check and without my power, sacrificed to me by so many, there would be nothing to stop him. He would become so strong that he would find a way to crush Feld as if it were a mere bug; no, let me rephrase that. He would squeeze it slowly to get the maximum pain and sorrow out of it he could and then he would discard it without a thought. Sadly I am the only thing in all the worlds that keeps him from doing this to every world in the universe.
“If I were to leave without gaining my full power he would defeat me in a heartbeat and I would be destroyed before I had a chance to defend myself. I can only match him if I have all my power back and, although I wish it were otherwise, I need your help to do this.”
Turrin just kept staring at Errin. It was all falling into place now. How she didn’t age, how she knew royalty, how she could heal bodies and hearts and how she knew everything, but at the same time he felt as if he were losing His Errin. The Errin that tucked him in at night, the Errin that knew what he was thinking and the Errin that gave wonderful hugs that made him feel safe and loved. How could she possibly be both Feld’s saviour and His Errin?
The King interrupted his thoughts. After giving Belssan a considered glance he turned his attention back to Errin. “It is obvious that we really do not have much of a choice if we want to survive ,and so of course we will help you in any way we can. We are in your hands now. Please let us know what we can do.” He waved his own hands to include everyone in the room.
Dissan nodded in agreement and sat back as if ready to receive instructions. “We are yours to command,” he said. The room now took on an air of business-like activity as if, once the decision to do something had been made, there was no time to be wasted.
“The most important thing is to retrieve the shards of power that I have hidden on other worlds. I placed all my power into four shards and sent them to four different worlds where they could find a host. The shards are designed to attach themselves to someone who would make the power within each of them grow through love and kindness, happiness and joy, although I fear that there may not be much of this left in these worlds if Zail has become strong again.”
Errin took another shuddering sigh and Turrin could see that even the thought of another battle was taking its toll on her.
“We do have a large problem, though. Zail can detect my presence if he is looking in the right direction at the right time. At the moment he cannot see me, as I am hidden behind your boundary, but I can only conduct the magic necessary to retrieve these shards from outside of its influence. To minimise the time I need to spend exposed beyond the boundary, Fenrick and I have come up with a plan.” She leant forward, gathering everyone’s attention.
“If I myself had to use my talent and go to each of the four worlds to collect the shards I would be so exposed that Zail would be sure to detect me. The answer is to send four surrogates instead, one for each shard, and if I send them all at once, I would only be ‘visible’ for a very short time, hopefully
so short that Zail will not notice me.” She sat wringing her hands for a moment before adding. “But unfortunately this plan also has its pitfalls.
“The shards will have become bonded to their hosts now and cannot be separated without my help, so whoever we send to retrieve them, must also bring back their hosts. This will require the use of power, magic, talent, whatever you want to call it, and sadly this is in short supply in Feld. In fact it is only very recently that there have been four people with enough talent here, alive at the same time, and one of these is still much too young for the responsibility of this task.” She hunched her shoulders against the weight she must be feeling pressing down upon them.
“We had hoped that we had more time to allow these youngsters to grow into adulthood. As it happens, these four would have all been extremely powerful wizards in the days before the wild magic and once they pass the boundary they will have to learn to control this power very quickly.” Errin shook her head as if to banish a particularly nasty thought. “If only we had just ten more turns, they would all have been adults then.”
She sat back into her comfortable chair, took a sip of her drink and continued.
“None of the chosen are aware of their talent. We have kept an eye on them but not told them anything about all this, and we are going to have to be very diplomatic when we approach them and their families.” She turned to Salassan then. “Perhaps a letter from you explaining the situation and officially asking if they would be prepared to help might be a good idea?”
Salassan nodded.
Dissan, who was absently tapping his two fingers on his chin in a subconscious gesture he often used when thinking, looked up at Errin. “How do you know that these people would have been powerful wizards?” Turrin strained to hear the answer as he was also fascinated by this question. Errin’s gaze swept the room, inviting all to listen.
“It is common knowledge that every child, at one turn of age, is tested to see if they are a Guardian, to see if they can block magic.” She raised a questioning eyebrow and received nods from all present in affirmation. Turrin knew of the small sparks of wizard lights encased in glass balls that were held in testing halls throughout Feld. It was always ensured that no Guardian was in the vicinity when the child was shown these balls. If the light went out the child was a Guardian but if the light remained they were not. Every family fervently wished that their child would ‘quench the light’ as being a Guardian was a very prestigious position, one that ensured they would always be respected and would always have a secure livelihood.
Errin continued. “Although we all know that some children can quench the light, what is not so well known is that if a child has the potential to become a wizard the light grows stronger. The brighter the light, the more powerful the wizard.”
She had them now, everyone was intently listening, watching her face closely. “Something that is also not common knowledge is that every child’s testing is recorded. Now, as you know, Fenrick is always traveling throughout Feld and he has made it his mission to call into these halls and take note of any child who has shown exceptional powers. As a result, we have found our four. But there is only four, we cannot afford to lose a single one. These four have the future of so many worlds in their hands and they are not even aware that they are so special.” She sighed and took another sip of her drink. “Fenrick has been keeping an eye on our four as they grew up and he has assured me that all of them are up to the task. Now it just remains for us to collect and train them. I think Upper Hull would be the ideal venue for this as it is close to the boundary, but not too close.”
Dissan sat upright and clasping his hands together addressed Errin. “Right, now, what would you like us to do?” There was a general mutter of agreement in the room as everyone understood that it was now time for action.
Errin turned to Hexrick. “Could you please find us a map?”
Hexrick looked inquiringly at the king who motioned to top draw of the cabinet, under the large ornate mirror.
As soon as the beautiful map had been rolled out on the low table before the couches and glasses used to weigh down the corners, everyone crowded round. Turrin’s view was blocked by Hexrick’s large shoulders and no matter how much he squirmed and squinted he could not get a better view.
Errin orientated herself to the map and pointed. “There is a young lady here in a small village called Eastrim in the province of Rill who is extremely talented but she comes from a family of note and has lived a very sheltered life.” Errin looked at Salassan. “It would be good if we could send a royal escort for her so that her family will know she will be safe.”
“Yes, of course,” Salassan replied, still pondering the map.
“Her name is Hezrill and she is the daughter of the Lord Chancellor of Eastrim.”
Errin’s fingers danced over the printed towns and provinces, eventually coming to rest on another small town, this time on the coast.
“This one is so young,” she sighed. “He is only ten turns old but hugely talented. He is the seventh child of a fisherman down here in Safehaven in the province of Tex and his name is Lutex. It would do the family a great honour if a senior knight was sent to collect him.”
“I will gladly do this,” Hexrick said as he sat back absently scratching the stubble on the back of his head. “It’s odd; I have always wanted to see that part of the world, but never quite got there somehow. I hear it’s beautiful.”
“You just want to go because it has the best beer and oysters in Feld,” Dissan laughed.
Hexrick looked hurt, then nodded. “That too. Can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind.” He smiled smugly.
Once again Errin’s fingers walked the map, this time stopping near the Eastern boundary. “Next comes some real trouble. They come as a package, their talent will only work if both of them are present, they are twin girls named Emarick and Elarick, from the province of Rick and they are ... how can I put it?” Errin’s gaze swept upwards looking for inspiration before pronouncing. “They are wild, there is no other word for it.” Errin turned to Hexrick. “I think that these girls might need someone like you, someone who will be able to control them.”
Hexrick lifted his hands up in front of his face, palms outwards, waving them from side to side as if to ward off incoming trouble. “No thank you. I never understood women, and I never will. Beer and oysters are much more to my liking.” And that was the end of that.
Fenrick cleared his throat and all eyes turned his way. “I think I can handle this one; however, I can’t guarantee that they won’t be tied to their saddle by the time I reach you. Last time I met them they talked me into taking a shortcut through a swamp and left me in the middle, up to my waist, until that evening when their father came searching for me. I was lucky he did because all the girls had told him was that I would probably not be back for supper that night because I had got a little held up.”
The picture this conveyed in everyone's mind broke the tension causing a round of quiet laughter.
“Is that everyone accounted for then??” Salassan inquired, looking down at the map.
“Not quite, we have one more and his one is a bit different.” Errin said hesitantly. “The last person is right here in this room.” There was a collective gasp as everyone looked at everyone else. “I wish it were otherwise but, as I have told you, we have been searching for a long time and these four are our only hope. Salassan, the fourth person is your son, Prince Myssan.”
Chapter Eight
Turrin felt Tilli jump.
Myssan’s dark head snapped up upon hearing his name. Of course all had assumed that it would have been Dissan, the eldest and a well-respected knight in his own right. No one would ever have thought in their wildest dreams of sending the quiet, shy, studious Myssan anywhere near anything remotely dangerous.
For a long moment the room was quiet. Myssan sat staring at Errin waiting for her to tell him it was all a big joke whilst the rest were staring at him, waiting for his r
eaction.
Finally, in true Myssan fashion, he blinked before asking the most unexpected question. “Would I really have been a wizard?”
Errin nodded. “Yes, you would have been a great one. You would have rivalled Rill in his heyday. You have so much talent that it is going to cause quite a problem when we pass the barrier and you will only have a very short time to learn to control your power before it will be needed.”
Turrin could not see Myssan’s eyes but his shoulders straightened and his head was held a little higher and Turrin thought that this opportunity might not be such a bad thing for the younger prince. It might just be his time to shine.
Errin smiled reassuringly at the young prince. “We will take you back to Upper Hull [CL12]with us and I will begin training you straight away. You can then help me train the others when they arrive.”
Salassan was sitting, quietly looking at his youngest son as if drinking him in before he was gone and no longer part of his everyday life anymore. It was Errin who snapped him out of it.
“In the meantime, Zail will be throwing everything he can at the Boundary to try and break it, to see what it is hiding. We will need a very strong military presence to protect it. Every Boundary outpost should be on high alert, augmented with a troop of knights until this is over, and there should be a patrol between outposts to ensure that there is no way anything can get through.
Dissan quickly scanned the map once more. “I can do that within a moon. I will send the runners tonight.”
“Good,” Errin said briskly. “We will have to act quickly. Winter is fast approaching and even now we will have to take the long way home as the passes will be closed. If I can have everyone assembled in Upper Hull in two moons’ time we should be ready to go by mid-winter. With a bit of luck, Zail will not be looking our way then. He will not be expecting that I would make a move during the snows.”