The ocean was calm. The
small boat with the two warriors had safely arrived at the kingdom. Garrett now
lay in the Chamber of Lords, where only royalty was allowed. The white wizards
had nursed Garrett back to health, but the scar across his face remained.
Deirdre sat by his side, his hand in hers. She waited for him to wake up, at
night and at day. The sun had just come up, and the rays of light filled the
chamber. The light hit her face, which lay on Garrett's chest. She awoke,
lifting her head and body off of the chair at which she had been for the past
week.
"Ugh, I
can't believe I slept in this late," she said to herself. She looked around,
noticing the exquisite architecture, from the elegant posts that held up the
ceiling to the design on the fireplace. She heard the door opening and swung
her head around to see who it was. Ivar, the new ruler of the kingdom, was
standing in the entrance.
"How is he?" Ivar asked as he approached Deirdre.
"He's stable. He should be waking up soon," she
replied.
"It's been a
long time hasn't it? I have almost missed the thrill of battle, but am also
pleased that my kingdom has yet to battle while under my leadership," the king
boasted.
"Yes, it has been a while. I wish I could say that
Kells has been peaceful, but if I did it would only be a lie," she replied.
"Garrett is not the only reason I cam here. There is something else I need to
talk with you about."
"What is it?"
"A new evil. About a week ago a dark cloud
approached Kells, carrying with it a dark aura. I imagine that it hit Reged,
and that is why Garrett is injured," she told him, with great concern in her
voice.
"This dark cloud you speak of also hit my kingdom.
And strange monsters appeared. At first we thought it was just a monster that
our summoner had conjured up, but then more came. They were Minotaurs. They
carried maces in each hand. Our army was able to defeat most of them with few
casualties, but one, he was different from the others, and I remember he was a
different color. He was a little bigger than the rest, and instead of being the
normal red color, he was black. He also wore a necklace, with a golden eye on
it. He disappeared in the thick of battle, we all thought he had fled, but we
were wrong. I was going to tell my father that it was over, but when I entered
the room…" his eyes began to water, and he took his hand to wipe the tears.
"When I entered the room my stomach sank. My father, the king, sat on the
throne, his royal cloak was bathed in red. I ran over to help him, but I was
too late. The wizards tried to tend to him, but were unsuccessful. He was
already gone."
"Oh, Ivar, I'm sorry, I had no idea. Do you have any
guess as to who the person is that might be doing this is?" she asked him.
"I…I do…" the voice came from the bed. Deirdre jumped
up and ran over to Garrett's side. His voice was weak. "Her name is Raven. She
came to my kingdom a few weeks ago seeking help. We gave it to her, and after a
week she was fine," he pushed himself up so he was sitting on the bed. "She
started visiting the libraries a lot, gaining knowledge of magic that even out
highest priests couldn't understand. After a few weeks she left, and that was
when it started. An ominous cloud suddenly appeared, and one night, ugh," he
grunted, and he grabbed his chest in pain and began shaking. Deirdre grabbed
his arm to try and make him stop shaking.
"Ugh, I'm
okay," he said as he put his hand in Deirdre's. "As the cloud appeared, so did
monsters, but they weren't anything like Maeve's monsters. These were vicious,
and purely evil. I looked one of them straight in the eye, and I saw the gates
of Hell. My troops tried to fight off the demons, but were unsuccessful. I had
my troops use all their firepower, but nothing could tear their rock-hard skin,
well, nothing but my axes. The monsters finally realized that my weapon was
able to stop them, so they swarmed me. I was unable to destroy all of them."
"But now that we're all together we should be able
to handle them!" Ivar said, tears running down his face. "I will find this woman,
and I shall do this world a favor and dispose of her!"
"We will find her. But we must wait until Garrett is
fully healed. I do not want to put him in danger," Deirdre stated with concern
in her voice. "Is there any way the white mages could somehow accelerate his
tissue re-growth so he could heal faster?"
"I will check. I think that the high mage Shara will
be able to heal him. I will check," Ivar announced as he stood up and walked
out of the room.
"Wow, he must be hurting inside. I can always
rebuild my kingdom, but I don't think I could cope with something like that
happening," Garrett told Deirdre as she walked around the room.
"He's probably going to carry those scars with him
forever. But the first thing we need to do is find that monster that attacked
his kingdom, the Minotaurs, was it?" Deirdre asked. Before Garrett could reply
Ivar entered the room, followed by a woman in a white robe, which covered her
body and face.
"You must be Garrett, I have been told of you," the
woman spoke very mysteriously, her voice echoing off of the walls. "I will use
my white magic to heal you, but it will only tend to your outside wounds. It
can mend your flesh, but cannot heal any bruises. Get ready, I suggest you
close your eyes." The woman raised both arms, her long, thin fingers moving in
such a way that they seemed to be conjuring up a spell. The silver rings on her
fingers started to glow, radiating light throughout the room. A white light
washed over Garrett. His wounds began to close up, and the scar across his face
mended together, as if it was stitched up. The light began to dim, Garrett
stood up, his body devoid of any damage. Deirdre ran over to him and wrapped
her arms around him, and he did the same to her.
"Now that we're all ready, we can go find the evils
that that witch has created!" Ivar exclaimed.
"The only problem is that we have no idea where it's
at," Deirdre said.
"I know where it's at. I can sense the presence of
evil," Shara told them with terror in her voice. "The creature is in the Caves
of the Forsaken. But be warned, few have entered the caves and came out alive."
"Do not worry, we will make it out alive, I am sure
of it. The Mystic Knight of Water will never be vanquished by evil!"
"Nor will I, Mystic Knight of the Air. I will fight
for my people, and my allies!"
"And I, the Mystic Knight or the Forest, will avenge
my people, and bring hope and peace to the lands!"
As they left the castle they obtained goods to help them with their journey. But little did they know that the evil that had plagued Rheged had been standing by them the entire time.
