The Immortal Mystic (Book 5) (26 page)

“Which version talked of this meeting?” Erik pressed, eager to get to the answer.

Allun Rha shook his head. “None,” he said matter-of-factly. “In the second the champion came along with a red haired man wearing a special pair of glasses known as the Eyes of Dower. In the third, the champion came late. In that prophecy, the champion was unable to find me until after spending years in the eastern wilds. By that time, the champion had learned how to transform into the dragon form, and only then could locate my tower. However, in that prophecy it was already too late to save the Middle Kingdom. Tu’luh had used Nagar’s Secret to enslave the whole of the kingdom.” Allun Rha paused again and sighed deeply. “A great war was fought in that one. Very few survived. Those who did were only free from the magic long enough to become enslaved by an army of orcs that rose from the south.”

“Tu’luh is dead,” Erik put in quickly. “Perhaps that is why the prophecies are different.”

Allun Rha looked at Erik and shook his head. “No, each of the books talk of killing Tu’luh twice. You have killed him once, but he will rise again.”

The words slammed into Erik like a club to the head. “What?” he asked desperately.

Allun Rha held up a finger. “The thing to focus on here is not Tu’luh. It is that you came with an unforeseen companion, and that you don’t quite match any of the versions I had expected. Something you did along the way has altered the course of events that were going to unfold. That is a very dangerous thing indeed.”

“Tatev was killed by Tarthuns,” Erik said. “He is the red haired man you know of.” Erik then realized that Tatev’s glasses had not been collected in the items given back to him in the Tarthun camp. They, along with the Infinium, were now lost somewhere in the wilds. “The Eyes of Dowr are lost,” Erik said. He wasn’t as sad about the glasses as he was about how he knew Tatev would feel if such an artifact had been forgotten. His eyes teared up as he thought about the librarian. “Tatev would have loved your tower,” Erik put in.

Allun Rha stood up and moved to put a hand on Erik’s shoulder. “I don’t know what happened to change the course of fate, but I do know that I can help you stop Nagar’s Secret.” Allun Rha bent down and lifted Erik’s chin so that their eyes met. “I can also help you avoid the calamity of the four fireballs. You see, in the version where the champion came late, the champion had knowledge about the horsemen as you do now. In that prophecy, the champion had spent time studying the Infinium, and had been shown the vision by Tu’luh. The champion was able to use the magic that I have created to avert the fireballs from ever coming.”

“Isn’t that the prophecy with the great war where only a few people survived?” Erik asked.

Allun Rha nodded. “Yes, but now we have an advantage. You have the same knowledge, and we have several years of time to work with. The champion did not have that in the prophecy.”

“What happened in the second prophecy, the one where I came on time with Tatev?”

Allun Rha sighed. “You seem intent on calling yourself the champion,” Allun Rha said pointedly. “I have not determined that you are, in fact, the champion spoken of in the prophecies.”

“Who else could it be?” Erik asked. “I killed Tu’luh, I have fought to keep Nagar’s Secret hidden, and I have journeyed to find your tower. What more must I do?”

Allun Rha wrinkled his nose and smoothed a hand over his long beard. “Quite,” he said cryptically. “Very well then. Let’s assume, for the moment, that it is you. In the second version of the prophecy the Keeper of Secrets slew Tu’luh without you, but his soul was twisted irreversibly. He then helped a great necromancer revive Tu’luh and offered his own body to be fused with Tu’luh’s soul. You were able to use my magic to defeat him in the end, but everyone you know died in the final fight, including you and me. Worse than that, Nagar’s Secret was stolen by one that is known in the books of prophecy only as Aparen, and the future of the Middle Kingdom was anything but certain.”

Allun Rha paused and looked pointedly at Erik for a moment. “Does the name Aparen mean anything to you?” His cold eyes pierced into Erik’s, as if trying to reach out and search into the boy’s very soul.

Erik squirmed under the uncomfortable stare, but he shook his head. He had not heard the name before that he could recall. The wizard arched an eyebrow but didn’t press the issue.

“Each of those versions sounds horrible,” Erik said. “If that was all you had to look forward to, then why not send someone to look for me and find me sooner?”

Allun Rha smiled. “That is exactly what Lepkin, and all of the Keepers before him, were doing.”

“But you knew it was
me
right? I mean, the prophecies described who I was so you knew who to look for didn’t you?”

“No,” Allun Rha said. “As I said a moment ago I am
still
uncertain that it is you. In fact, there is no description of the champion other than that it is written to describe a young person who has the blood of a dragon. So, while naturally that meant I was looking for a Sahale, I had little else to go on. I can see you are a Sahale, and you have come here to present yourself as the Champion of Truth, so you will be treated with the full consideration each candidate is to be given. While you stood at the edge of my village I used my powers to search your soul in a way much like you use your power to discern between truth and evil in others.”

“You have the gift?” Erik asked.

“I use what is common among Sahale, but it is slightly different than the power you trained in.”

“So if there is no description, and you still are not convinced that I am the Champion of Truth, could it be that perhaps I am not any of the boys described in the prophecies?”

Allun Rha nodded. “The books of prophecy are extremely vexing. But, let us not concern ourselves with them. You are here. You have the gift, and you have already done enough to prove that you are the champion foretold in prophecy. You slew Tu’luh, as you said. You also have uncovered the danger beyond Nagar’s blight, which is the four horsemen. More than these, you have a good soul about you, even if you are a bit hot-headed. You are not the one I expected, but you are the champion, and by the gods if you aren’t we have no time to find another candidate who will be as ready as you are now.”

Erik wasn’t sure how to take what Allun Rha was saying. It felt backhanded and yet, Erik couldn’t deny that the man was right.

Allun Rha snapped his fingers and the blue circular stone floated over to them. He reached out and touched it. Immediately beneath the first appeared a second stone that slowly separated away toward Erik. “You step on that one, I will use this one,” Allun Rha instructed. The two stones descended to the floor. Erik stood and stepped onto his while Allun Rha got ready upon his own stone. The two of them shot upward at an alarming rate, yet Erik did not feel off balance in the least. His hair waved in the wind created by the hurried ascent, but the stone felt as stable as the floor he had just been on. They rose up beyond the chandelier, until they hovered only a foot or so away from the ceiling. Allun Rha pointed around them and Erik saw narrow windows that allowed them to see out from the tower.

“This village has been completely shielded from Nagar’s Secret,” Allun Rha said. “I have perfected the power I used at Hamath Valley, and now I have devised a way to protect all of the Middle Kingdom. Moreover, it will protect us from the fireballs known as the four horsemen.”

“How?” Erik asked.

“To understand that, you must know that the horsemen come when a people are beyond saving. There is something out there, beyond this world, that is so powerful that it can destroy worlds. That is what happened to the Ancients. Their world of Kendualdern was destroyed in a terrible war, the likes of which would make even your darkest nightmares piss themselves with fear.” The bearded man turned to Erik and held a finger in the air. “But there is hope.”

Allun Rha looked up and the ceiling parted over them. The stones flew up and out from the tower. The two of them soared around the village and hovered down to about street level as they wove between the workers in the field.

None of them stopped their work, or even looked up to acknowledge them.

“Can’t they see us?” Erik asked.

“Not this time,” Allun Rha said. “Just as my tower was shrouded in a veil when you arrived, so are we now. They can neither hear nor see us. Look at them, and tell me what you see.”

“I see farmers,” Erik replied quickly.

“Not with your eyes, boy. Look with your gift.”

Erik summoned his powers up and looked at the man nearest him. The man was bending over, aggressively hacking at a section of clay to break up the soil. His hands were dirty, as were his simple clothes. The man stood after a few whacks and then leaned upon the handle of his tool as he surveyed his work. That is when Erik sent his power out. He searched the man’s very soul, and found it to be absolutely pure.

“There is no evil in him,” Erik said astonished. He sent his power out again, but saw the same results. He then turned his attention to a woman not far away. Her energy was as pure as the man’s. In fact, no matter how many people he studied, they all appeared to lack any mal intent whatsoever. Erik had never seen anything like it. Even Lepkin and Marlin, as good as they were, could not compare to the people of this village. “What is this?” Erik asked.

“This is paradise,” Allun Rha said. “No pettiness, no greed, no envy or lust, no hate. Here you will find only compassion and honesty. It has been so for the last several centuries, since I founded the village after the battle of Hamath Valley.”

“Every person who lives here is like this?” Erik asked, still unable to believe it.

“All except for you and me,” Allun Rha said. “I was tainted by Nagar’s blight, but the large crystal you saw in my tower suppresses that and keeps me safe. Still, there is a bit of darkness left in me.”

“Can I become like these people?” Erik asked.

Allun Rha shrugged. “Perhaps one day you will, perhaps not. That will be something you decide in a year from now.”

“A year from now, what do you mean?” Erik asked.

“Come, let me show you something else,” Allun Rha said as he changed the subject. The two of them floated to a nearby house. At Allun Rha’s insistence, they stepped off from their stones and slipped into the house. In the back of the large room sat an elderly couple. They were talking and happy, while a young child played on the floor in front of them. “These two have been married for nearly sixty years,” Allun Rha said. “They have never once had a single argument, nor has either betrayed the other or in any way belittled or demeaned them.”

Erik looked at the couple and saw that they were, in fact, locked arm in arm sitting together as they watched the child. Both had genuine, large smiles across their faces.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is still sadness here in the village, but it is only the sadness that comes with death, or sickness. But there is no problem here caused by humans unless those humans come from without our wall.” Allun Rha puffed up his chest and folded his arms as he smiled at the couple. “Every couple in the village is like this one. They know an unbounded happiness. The younger couples work in the fields during the day, providing for both the young and the old who are not able to work. The old watch the young in the homes, and everyone is provided for. No one is left wanting for food, shelter, or family here.”

“Sounds perfect,” Erik commented.

“It is paradise,” Allun Rha said again. Then his smile disappeared and he sighed. “Unfortunately, I can only remain within the confines of the village. For me to go beyond the walls is to lose the protection of the crystal. That is something I cannot do.” The wizard then turned to Erik and placed a hand on his shoulder. “That is why I need you. I will train you, and teach you how to use the power I created. You will then be able to conquer that evil magic kept within Nagar’s book, and you can show the people of the Middle Kingdom how to achieve the same happiness that the people here have found.”

Allun Rha snapped his fingers and the two of them were again back in the tower, sitting together upon the couch.

Erik glanced around nervously.

“You’ll get used to it,” Allun Rha said.

It occurred to Erik then that he had not seen Jaleal while they were out and about. “Where is Jaleal?” he asked.

“The gnome?” Allun Rha gestured at the floor. “He is downstairs. You may go to him if you wish, but Delfin and Adori are taking turns keeping him company and explaining some of the things I am explaining to you.” Allun Rha stood and motioned to the door. “I can wait here if you want to go and speak with him.”

Erik was about to stand, but then he remembered Salarion. He shook his head. “No, we don’t have the time. Teach me to use the power.”

“Why the rush?” Allun Rha asked. His voice was not stern, but there was an edge to it that had not been there a moment ago.

“Do you know Salarion?” Erik asked.

Allun Rha arched a brow. “Not personally, but I know
of
her. Nagar’s daughter is an enigma unto herself. Why do you ask?”

Erik rubbed his hands together and leaned forward on the couch. “That is why we need to hurry. She has the book.”

“You crossed paths with her?”

Erik nodded. “I thought she was a friend at first. She helped me escape from Demaverung, and then later on she helped me escape from a Tarthun camp, and she even helped Jaleal heal from wounds that should have killed him while he was inside some sort of cocoon.”