The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (8 page)

“
I don’t know
when I’ll be back,” said John.

Helen nodded
but said nothing. John’s words had unnerved her wholly.

They set off
as soon as all were ready. Those on horses walked them, to keep in
line with the infantry and all of the Dwarves on foot. They went on
for the remaining hours of the day, which were long and sometimes
seemed never-ending. They only stopped a few times here and there
too let their foot soldiers and horses rest for very brief periods
of time.

They went on
into the early hours of the following day and had reached the
Broader of the lands of Opredanas. They would soon be entering the
land of Humrock, were the old tunes can be heard far and wide
within the borders of that land, hummed by those chosen humming
rocks of century’s past.

“
Can’t we go
around Humrock, Delsani?” asked Eiaten hastily.

“
No,” replied
Delsani flatly. “To do so would double the time of our journey, and
time is something that we cannot afford to waste.”

“
Don’t worry,
Eiaten,” said one of the Elves. “If you like we shall sing you a
song.”

“
That is
something that I for one could do without,” Eiaten
grumbled.

John and most
of the Elves laughed, for their keen hearing had heard his
words.

They had just
past the thin boarder between the two lands and they could already
hear the rocks humming ahead. They were at least halfway through
and set up a small temporary camp to rest for what was left of the
twilight hours.

The Elves,
Wizards, Witches, Men, and even Dwarves were all enjoying the
tunes. The Elves were singing as the Elf, Tuberel, said they would.
Some of the Wizards were singing lightly, so they could not be
heard over the Elves, for the Elf voices were loud and fair,
especially compared to the voices of most of their
companions.

“
What’s the
matter, Eiaten?” shouted Tuberel. “Can you not sing and be
merry?”

“
I can
indeed,” replied the Dwarf lord. “However, I have put my mind to
other more important things. Besides, if we put down our guard, you
could put a spell on us and we would not even know it.”

Suddenly the
singing
stopped, for word of the insult
spread like wildfire.

“
I see,” said
the Elf, “We’re not good enough to sing with but good enough to
fight and perhaps even die with.” Tuberel said this without the
look or sound of offence in anyway. In fact, he was still laughing.
“If I were you, my dear Dwarf, I would sleep with one eye open. For
I am sure you have offended at least a few of these good people,
and they may decide to bewitch you to share your voice with the
rest of us. So for all our sakes, please be careful.”

Suddenly all
of the Elves, Wizards, and Witches, and Men burst into fits of pure
laughter when Tuberel had finished.

Eiaten, on
the other hand, was furious with the Elf. The rest of the Dwarves
looked worried, as they thought that the Elf spoke true. And the
last thing that they wanted was for Eiaten to be under any sort of
wicked spell.

They retired
to their tents for some rest. All accept some of the Elves that had
stayed up for most of the night.

They did not
get to the land of Kealhal until the fourth day. The sky was clear
but the land was shady. They all knew that it was the shadow of
Salith, for only it was strong enough to dull the beautiful rays of
the sun itself, which had just begun to set in front of them. What
little light had broken through was fading fast. It was then that
they had got their first view of the Macshelc Mountains, but
because of the sun, it looked more like a shadow itself.

Delsani took
a long look at the land before them and remembered the last time he
was there. There were fond memories of that once beautiful land,
which then was rich with all sorts of life. The grass and wild
trees and rare plants were the finest and brightest of any land
that he had ever seen, but no more, for now there was nothing but
darkness. And all of the things that Delsani had seen were now dry,
shriveled, and dead. He could swear that the stench of death was
all around them in that dead place. They rode on for a little
longer and then set up camp behind Veuguil forest at least two
miles away from any enemy patrol.

“
We should
get whatever we need for the assault on the fortress ready.” said
John.

“
We’ll have
to make our plan of attack,” said Delsani.

He turned to
the young Wizard that was standing next to John.

“
Euol, please
inform the leaders of the other races that we will be holding a
meeting.” Suddenly he stopped. “Where will we hold the meeting,
John?” he asked.

“
Begging your
pardon, sir, but what about the tent the men are setting up?” said
Euol.

“
Tent,” said
Delsani, surprised. He turned round and there it was a large white
tent almost ready to be raised.

“
Those fools.
What in the name of hell do they think they’re doing?” said the old
Wizard angrily. They ran over to the area of the not quite finished
tent.

“
Where is
Prince Bacnil?” asked Delsani of one of the men holding a rope, as
they started to raise the tent.

“
The
Prince left orders that he
was not to be disturbed,” said the man fearfully. “Is there
anything I can do for you?”

“
Yes,” said
Delsani, ‘there’s something you can do. You can tell me where to
find the Prince. Or I could always make you tell me. It’s your
choice.”

The man
hesitated, but then Delsani reached into his pocket and swiftly
took out his wand.

“
He’s round
the back seeing to the work being done there,” said the man, his
voice shaking. The Wizards could hear the pure fear as the poor man
spoke.

John was
surprised at his old friend; it was unlike the Wizard to threaten
anyone in that way.

They went
around the side of the tent. There were many men, but Delsani
recognized Prince Bacnil. The seventeen-year-old boy was the third
and youngest son of Leroih, the King of the men of the eastern
plains, commonly known as the Morden.

The young
prince stood watching the progress; he had a baby face, wavy long
black hair, and was as thin as a rake. John actually thought he
looked anorexic. And in the opinion of most of the Wizards, Elves,
and Dwarves, he looked much too young and green to be leading
anyone into battle. Yet the men seemed to have faith in him and his
abilities, or perhaps they had no choice. After all he was their
Prince.

“
I’m not sure
that putting up this tent is a good idea,” said Delsani to the
young man, “as it may be seen.”

“
I think
we’re a safe distance away from any danger,” said the Prince in his
childlike voice.

“
Is that so?”
said the Wizard. Delsani then walked forward until he was at the
edge of the forest. “Well. Then, I would ask you to draw your
attention to the cleft yonder.” the Wizard was now pointing far
across the extensive field before him. When Bacnil followed the
Wizard’s steps and looked, he could see a dark cleft standing tall
and proud.

“
Well,
can you see it?” asked
Delsani.

“
Yes, I can
see it,” replied Bacnil.

“
And would
you say that if the tent was up and you were standing on that
cleft, you might be able to see the very top of it?”

For a few
seconds the Prince stood there staring at the cleft. He turned and
looked at the tent, which was almost fully up. “Take the tent
down,” he said to the closest man to him.

It was at
this time John noticed that the clear sky had gone and a black
cloud was hovering overhead. His eyes turned green again, and he
walked until he was clear of the trees and then looked toward the
fortress. He zoomed in on it and could see that one of the doors
high up on the left tower was open, but only because he could see a
very dim light coming from inside. He zoomed in further on the door
and could see a balcony, and on it he could see two dark figures
standing there. He could see that they, too, had Dragon eyes. He
could also see the color of their eyes, which shone like four
beacons in the darkness of that forsaken land. The eyes of the
figure to John’s right were purple, and the other set of eyes of
the figure to his left were yellow. John knew that the purple eyes
belonged to Ulicoth, and that the yellow eyes belonged to Kilamen,
for this he had read in the scrolls of Thoucil, which she had
written after her first encounter with them.

John became
aware of a very faint pounding noise. He thought that it sounded
like marching, as though whatever it was coming his way. He also
noticed that he could feel
a slight
tremble in the ground. He zoomed out, but he could see nothing in
front of him.

Delsani then
came over to him. “What’s wrong, Jastark?” he asked.

“
The
y know we’re here,” replied
the King, “and there’s something else, I can hear what sounds like
an army marching this way, but there’s nothing
there.”

“
This land
has been claimed by Ulicoth and is completely covered by the shadow
of Salith,” said Delsani. “Use the Light of Yeluilat.”

“
What about
it?” John asked.

“
It will
penetrate the shadow and show us what is hiding behind
it.”

The marching
drew ever closer. The tremble in the ground was now heavier,
louder, and worse, nearer.

John took the
sword from its sheath he held out in front of him and shouted,
“YELUILAT!” A blinding light burst from its blade. John was the
only one that was not affected by its light. No one else could see
a thing, for the light was so strong.

The King
could see the marcher now. “BETWEENS (former Men turned by the Dark
Lord Salith), LORES, AND GOBLINS!” he shouted. And they were very
close to them and getting closer with every passing
second.

The blade
slowly dimmed, and the others got their first look at Ulicoth’s
army. To them it looked as though his army was the same or perhaps
a little smaller than their own, and that filled their hearts with
hope.

Prince Bacnil
threw on his helmet. “To arms,” he shouted as he jumped onto his
horse. If not for the seriousness of the situation it would have
looked and sounded ridiculous, a skinny, fresh-faced, inexperienced
young man with the voice of a fourteen year old expecting an army
to trust him with their very lives. Most, but not all of the men
stayed with their prince. The rest of the army ran to John and
Delsani.

“
Archers,
take your places and ready your bows,” shouted Delsani. The Morden
archers formed two lines. The front line got down onto their right
knee. Both lines of archers fixed their arrows to their bow
strings, which they drew back ready to go at the first command. The
Elven archers who stood only ten feet from the men did the
same.

Suddenly, a
long bright yellow light appeared. When it faded, they saw Kilamen
standing not far ahead of Ulicoth’s army. They knew that it was
she, as they could see her bright yellow Dragon eyes glaring at
them.

“
Go
now,
Jastark,” said Delsani. “We will
fight this battle. You have your own battle to fight. Go now before
they draw to near.”

“
I should
stay and help,” said John.

“
No,” said
Delsani, “Ulicoth has seen you, and now knows that there is other
Wizard-Elf. He has most likely guessed that you have come to kill
him. And in his weakened state, he is probably no match for you.
That’s why he has sent Kilamen to find you before you can get close
enough to harm him. Run into the forest and then Phaze up to the
fortress and bring the Second Prophecy to light.”

John nodded.
‘Okay,” he said. “Be careful my friend.”

“
And you
watch your head. Be extra careful,” said Delsani. “Good luck, your
majesty.”

John smiled when he heard his true title.

“
Now go
before it’s too late,” said Delsani. “We’ll try and keep Kilamen
busy as long as we can.”

Chapter Four

As John ran
toward the forest, he could see the tree line, which was now not
too far ahead of him. He picked up speed and was running faster
than he had ever run in his entire life. If he were to blink he
would have missed his entrance into the forest. Before he knew
it
, he was in the middle of the woodland
when he abruptly stopped, his feet skidding on the ground, which
was riddled with old twigs, leaves, fallen acorns, and chestnuts,
and pine cones.

The forest
was dark, darker then it had looked from the outside. John looked
up, but he could not see the clouds above, though he could clearly
hear the clashing of metal and the shouts and yells of those
barking orders, not to mention the unnerving screams of the first
wounded of the battle that was being waged just beyond the borders
of the trees. Then there was the sound of a twig breaking and a
sweet soft voice calling to him through the woodland. There was
nothing else in his mind now, not the sound of the battle being
fought behind him, not even the sound of the wind gently blowing
between the trees. He looked in every direction, but there was
nothing there. He gripped his hand around the handle of Yeluilat in
case the shadow was hiding something else. He was about to draw the
sword from its sheath when he saw someone standing in front of
him.