Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

“Nay, my friend,” Kaliam replied. “For once, it is you who have gone off track. Zabediel was one of Torin’s kin, in the direct line of the firstborn Glimpses. To him has been given unnaturally long life. By the word of King Eliam, Zabediel is yet alive.”

Looks were exchanged around the room. No one could fathom anyone, aside from the King, of course, having lived so long.

“Zabediel was pleased to record the King’s ideas and his decrees,” Kaliam went on. “He did so for many years. But at one point, still long before Alleble came to be, the King saw into the future of The Realm. And what he saw Zabediel recorded on a single sheet of parchment.”

Sir Oswyn nodded as if he knew something of Kaliam’s tale.

“This scroll remained in King Eliam’s keeping,” the Sentinel continued. “Even as Alleble was founded and many things in The Realm were born and grew, the scroll was safe. But when The Schism occurred, Zabediel, fearing for his own life, sought refuge in King’s Forest. And the scroll… well, the King hid that away, for he knew what could happen if one of ill intent knew its contents.”

“The Scroll of Prophecy!” said Sir Oswyn. “That is the parchment you speak of!”

“Yes,” Kaliam replied.

“But that is just a legend,” Jarak said.

“As were the Wyrm Lord and the Seven,” Nock said. “And yet they live and breathe-I have seen it.”

Jarak fell silent.

“There are many legends in The Realm,” Kaliam went on. “Legends laughed off as harvest tales or children’s lore. But even the most far-fetched stories can often be traced back to a kernel of truth. I do not know how much of the legend concerning the Scroll of Prophecy is to be heeded, but this much is known to me: It will help us identify the Three Witnesses.”

“I don’t understand,” Jarak said, pinching the end of his tapered red beard. “Who are these Three Witnesses you speak of?”

“Mighty champions,” said Sir Oswyn. “Bold-hearted warriors with magnificent weapons. It is said that these three will come to Alleble in its time of greatest need and defend us from the threatening darkness.”

“We have our mission, then!” Baldergrim exclaimed, his gray eyes intense and turbulent like a storm about to break. “Let us go and get this scroll. And then we might match Paragor’s living legends with our own!”

“We cannot,” Kaliam replied. The chamber became utterly silent. They waited for Kaliam to explain. “Paragor has it.”

“You mean that is why he cut down the Ancient One?” Boldoak asked. “That is what he stole from the hollow at Sil Arnoth’s center?”

Kaliam nodded.

“What would Paragor want with such a scroll?” Sir Rogan asked, fingering the sharp edge of his axe. “Does it not tell of his demise?”

“I do not know if Paragor’s demise is a certainty, my friend,” Kaliam said gravely. “Some say the Scroll of Prophecy does not tell the way things must be in the end, but rather the way events might unfold for good or for ill. The destruction of Alleble could be foretold or the way that our end could be brought about. It could be that the prophecy tells both how the Three Witnesses may be found-and how they might be defeated. In any case, Paragor went to great lengths to get the scroll, and now he has it.”

“Is all then lost?” Trenna asked, her eyes large and dark. “For you said our mission is to King’s Forest, not Paragory.”

“We yet have hope, Lady Trenna,” Kaliam replied. “For the Scroll of Prophecy was written in a very old language-the same as The Stones of White Fire that surround the Library of Light. Paragor studied long in that place, and I believe he would be able to translate some of the scroll, but not all. And there is only one being left in all The Realm who still speaks that old tongue.”

“Zabediel,” Sir Oswyn said.

“Does Paragor know about Zabediel?” asked Nock.

“He may,” Kaliam replied, shaking his head angrily. “Somehow our enemy has discovered many secrets of The Realm! He learned of the Wyrm Lord, the Sleepers, and now the Scroll of Prophecy. I have often wondered how! It could be that he shrewdly pieced together bits of truth from old legends. Or, perhaps he has employed more clever traitors than we ever imagined. It has even entered my mind that perhaps, on the night of the Betrayal… perhaps Paragor saw these things when he looked into the first scroll of Alleble. Ah! It is maddening!” Kaliam sighed. “In any case, we must assume that Paragor knows of Zabediel.”

“Right then,” Sir Rogan said. “Our mission is to find this eldest of Glimpses before the enemy!”

“Yes,” Kaliam replied. “Tomorrow the twelve of you will take flight over Pennath Ador, but you must enter King’s Forest on foot. Find the hidden village where Zabediel now dwells, and bring Zabediel back to Alleble. We must learn the mysteries of the Scroll of Prophecy-and keep Paragor from learning them himself!”

“Do you like the sword?” Kaliam asked Robby as the two stood on the balcony overlooking the seventh fountain.

The long broadsword rang when Robby drew it from its sheath. He carved the air with wide two-fisted strokes. “It’s perfect,” he said. “The weight is exactly what I like, and the whole dragon emblem thing is cool.”

“Indeed it does seem to fit you,” Kaliam said, admiring the blade. “I thought so when Kindle first showed the sword to me. The dragon on the crossguard, as I said in the ceremony, is especially appropriate given what you did with Splinter. That was one bad-tempered wyrm!”

“Well, I think she and I have an understanding,” Robby said with a laugh. “At least I hope so. I’ll be on her back, high in the sky, with just one flying lesson!”

“You are a natural, Sir Robby,” Kaliam said. “And the way Splinter has taken to you, she will not let you fall. Remarkable, really… the way she responds. It is a singularly unique ability.” They were quiet for a few moments. The two knights stared out over the sleeping city of Alleble. They listened to the hypnotic rush of the fountains.

Inwardly, Kaliam debated. He wanted to-no, needed to-ask Robby a question, but he was afraid of the implications of the answer. King Eliam knows what he is doing, Kaliam reminded himself. Then he took a deep breath and said, “Sir Robby, when you passed through The Door Within, did anything strange happen to you?”

Robby laughed. “The whole thing was strange!”

“Yes, I suppose it was,” said Kaliam. “What I mean is… did you hear or see anything that troubled you?”

Robby’s smile disappeared. “I… I don’t really know what I saw,” Robby explained. “There were scenes all around me, images of things. They weren’t from my world, I can tell you that.”

Kaliam nodded thoughtfully. He waited a few heartbeats before asking, “Since you have been here in Alleble, have any of these visions come to pass?”

Robby hesitated. “No… I don’t think so. First, there was a terrible storm-worse than the ones that blow in off the Gulf where I used to live. Then I saw an army and a forest. The last thing I remember-wait, yeah, that’s right-there was a battle, and it was in front of a walled city.” Robby pointed at Alleble’s walls. “It might have been Alleble. I’m not sure. And in the middle of the fighting, some kind of thing with great big claws started tossing knights around like toys.”

Kaliam stared out at the fountains and imagined a battle raging. He imagined the coming of the Wyrm Lord and the destruction that ancient horror could cause. He looked at Robby and smiled grimly. Aidan, Antoinette, and now Robby-all of them seeing visions as they passed between worlds. Captain Valithor had been right all along. And now Antoinette is in the hands of the enemy. And where is Aidan? Is he too now a captive of Paragor?