Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

Mallik’s folk, Antoinette thought. “This is not good news.”

“Did you think I meant good news for you?” Kearn laughed.

Antoinette ignored the slight and asked, “Why the Blue Mountains?”

“I would not expect you to understand my master’s strategy,” Kearn said. “Your Sentinel, Kaliam, saw firsthand the devastation at Clarion. And he knows full well that even now the Wyrm Lord is being nursed back to the strength he wielded of old. He knows the walls that surround Alleble will fail under the withering heat of the Wyrm Lord’s breath. So to whom would your mighty King turn to have the walls of his city rebuilt? The Blue Mountains, of course. Should they be allowed to fortify King Eliam’s walls, our conquest of Alleble would be… delayed. Paragor will strike first, and the Blue Mountain Provinces will go the way of Clarion!”

“King Eliam will go to their aid!” Antoinette said defiantly.

“He may,” Kearn replied. “This too works to our advantage. You see, King Eliam will know nothing of our attack until it is too late. Alleble’s forces will not arrive in time to stay the damage we will do to King Brower’s stoneworking equipment. They will have no way to transport their precious blue granite, and Alleble’s walls will remain vulnerable. Then the true strength of Paragory will be unleashed, and Alleble will fall!”

“Kern, you seem so confident,” Antoinette said skeptically. She twisted at the silver ring on her finger. “Do you really think it will be that easy to defeat King Eliam and his allies?”

“War is never easy,” Kearn said. “King Eliam has daunted Paragor at every turn. But the advantage is ours now… in numbers, strength, and strategy. We will win.”

Kearn and Antoinette stared at each other in silence as if the war between Paragory and Alleble were being waged in their gaze. With a flourish of his cloak, Kearn turned to leave the chamber.

“Wait!” Antoinette called to him.

“What is it, Lady Antoinette? I have duties.”

“Tell me something before you go,” she said, seeking his eyes with her own. “Why did you take my Book of Alleble?”

Kearn immediately looked away. “I did no such thing.”

Antoinette ignored his response. “You’ve been reading it, haven’t you?”

“Do not be absurd,” Kearn replied. He opened the chamber door and was halfway through. “What in The Realm would lead you to believe that?”

P raise to the King that you have returned!” Farix exclaimed as he helped Kaliam with his dragon steed in the pens behind the Castle of Alleble. Farix looked among the other riders: Mallik, Nock, Oswyn, King Ravelle, Thrivenbard, Trenna Swiftfoot, and a few braves from Yewland he did not recognize. “Where… where is Sir Aelic?”

“I wish I knew,” Kaliam replied. “He was grievously wounded and seemed near to death, but Oswyn’s skills may have delivered him from that dark door. Yet, Farix, in the midst of treatment, Aelic vanished!”

“You mean, he has gone to the Mirror Realm?”

“I do not know. I need to seek our King’s wisdom on what this might mean.”

“Go, then, to the King’s chambers,” Farix said. “For he is looking for you also. Much has transpired in your absence. More of our allies have come, seeking refuge within our walls. Acacia and the other small realms closest to us.”

“Any word from the Blue Mountains?” Mallik asked.

“Nay. But that is not unexpected. They will be bearing slabs of blue granite and an array of equipment. It will take some time for them to transport such things.”

“True, but please bring word when we hear from them.” Kaliam turned to leave, but Farix stopped him.

“There is one other thing. Our citizens have begun to speak in whispers about the war. They are asking about the Three.”

Kaliam stared. “The Three Witnesses of Legend?”

“Yes,” Farix replied. “Naysmithe and others have been gathering. They are convinced that the Three are abroad.”

“I really need to see King Eliam,” the puzzled Sentinel said, and quickly took his leave.

Several anxious hours later, King Eliam’s throne room doors opened. Brilliant white light spilled into the hallway and Kaliam emerged. He seemed to be staring into a distant place that only he could see. He walked right by Lady Merewen, who had been waiting for him.

“Kaliam!” she called, and hurried to catch up. “Were you going to simply pass me by?”

He stared at her for many long moments before recognition dawned on him. “M’lady Merewen! Prithee, forgive my lack of courtesy. I… my mind was in another world.”

“What?”

“The Mirror Realm,” he said to her. “And perhaps, in coming days, all of us will be looking there as well.”

“You speak in riddles,” Lady Merewen said.

“I only echo the riddles spoken to me by our King.”

Lady Merewen took Kaliam’s hand. “Come, my Sentinel. Dark halls lit only by torches are no place to discuss such mysteries. Allow me to bring you to a brighter place where light may be shed on all that is unknown.”

Kaliam mumbled an agreement and Lady Merewen led him past the throne room doors on the right and then left at the next hall. A moment later, she stepped over a threshold and into a passage. From a distance it looked like a solid wall, for the stone inside blended wholly with the stone on the outside wall. At last, they passed through a pair of tall, arched doors that groaned of many years with little use as they moved them.

They entered into a glad green courtyard bathed in the golden light of the late afternoon sun. Tall white statues of fair maidens and strong warriors stood at the openings of flagstone paths that wound their way through a maze of blossoming hedges. Vines with tiny pink, purple, and blue flowers clung to the stonework, benches, statues, and walls, filling the courtyard with sweet smells and a feeling of safety.

“I’d forgotten about this place,” Kaliam said. “This courtyard brings peace to a troubled mind! I do not recognize the shrubs or the flowers that grow here now, but I would wager they have some curative potency. We best not let Sir Oswyn know of this place, or he may dig up all the plants to discover their secrets!”

Lady Merewen laughed. She led Kaliam along one of the green avenues until they came to a small fountain where many of the paths met. The water trickled happily down its three tiers, and its music joined that of the songbirds and the whispering wind.

For a long while, they sat on a stone bench near the fountain. “Now, tell me what troubles you.”

Kaliam inhaled deeply and began. “I brought Fury to the King… and the news of Aelic’s strange disappearance.”

“Mallik told me what happened,” Lady Merewen said. “Do you think Aelic still lives? Could he have gone to the Mirror Realm?”

“I do not know. But if he has, his twin, Sir Aidan, will come back to The Realm! If this is so, I would like to know when and where he will appear.” Kaliam sighed and rubbed his temples.

They sat and listened to the trickle from the fountain for a long time. At last, Kaliam said, “We are living in a time when legends come to life. First, the Wyrm Lord is freed. Then, the Seven Sleepers are called from their long slumber. And now, I learn that the three ancient heroes are real as well!”

“Who are they?” Merewen asked. “How will we know them?”

“My very questions to King Eliam,” the Sentinel explained, again rubbing his temples. “The King put his mighty hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Kaliam, a time will come when all in The Realm will know the identity of the Three Witnesses, for a Herald will proclaim their arrival. So it is written in the Scroll of Prophecy.’”