Chapter One
The hellhounds had killed again, the precious cattle that were becoming scarce in the land of Gatsben. The hellhounds were vicious killers, usually not bothering to get near human settlements, only if their hunger or anger raged. It was becoming an ongoing occurrence lately, no one knew why, since no one really dared to get near enough to one to find out. This time it was different. Usually if a hellhound attacked a settlement, it would only be about once in every five years or so. The ongoing attacks were happening almost every day if not more. The townspeople were baffled and even the king was not sure what had motivated the hounds in such a killing frenzy. As the pack of hounds that usually did run in five or six snuck into the settlement herding cattle in the early morning hours, the hounds did not expect to have their paths stopped by a boy who herded the cattle. The boy of about fifteen held in his hand a club no bigger than he was. The boy didn't think before he had stood up to the five angry hounds. The hounds looked as though they wanted to tear the boy limb from limb; which wasn't far from the truth. The hounds were as big as a small horse, their eyes were as blue as the sky, but were very wild almost like staring into the eye of a wild storm. Their teeth might have been only as long as a baby's pointer finger, but they were as sharp as a knife's edge and dripping saliva. The boy realized that his thought of becoming a hero to the town by destroying the dogs that had done away with the cattle and terrorized the town for the last time, had been a very bad mistake on his part.
The hounds had circled the poor boy. Even though two out of the five hounds had even bothered to acknowledge that the boy was even remotely a threat to them, they circled the boy. And he waited for the hounds to give away a small sign when they would attack. He watched the dogs pace around him. The best thing for the hounds to do would be to draw his attention to the back and when he expected to be attacked from the back, the hound in front would lunge for the kill. Although the boy got smart, he backed himself into a nearby cow, and began to swing the club at the hounds. The hounds were amazingly fast though; they easily got out of the way of the club before it could even come close to them. The boy swung over and over in a futile attempt to save the cattle and his life. He swung the club for the last time as he clenched his eyes shut. He felt the club connect with something and as he opened his eyes with triumph, his victory was short lived, for the hound he had thought he had hit had in fact got hold of the wood the boy had. The boy tugged to get it away from the hound but the dog was too powerful, and with a flex of its mighty jaws, shattered the club into a thousand splinters of wood. The boy was shocked and terrified, he was now defenseless against the legendary hell hounds, the very animals that was a curse on the land, that would eat babies from their cribs! Okay maybe he had realized that his mother only told those stories to get his brothers and himself to behave when they were children, but even up against the real thing was no way to relax and banish the stories. These hounds could quite probably be more ruthless than they seemed. The hound to his left finally lunged at him. The boy covered his face with his arms and screamed in pain as the hound's jaws encircled his arm and held on. The boy yelled for help, hoping his father would hear him. The hound tightened its hold and the boy heard a sickening pop and then his arm went numb. He felt the hound dragging him through the woods. The boy couldn't believe this, the hound was actually intelligent enough to take him along with the unlucky cow they had picked. They didn't want the boy to tell his father and have a hunting party for the hounds, although the hounds would know that the party would search for the boy instead. All the thinking was giving him a headache, so he decided that if death would come for him so early, he hoped it would be soon and that it would be painless. He would have thought of more but he was too tired to care and was rendered unconscious when his head struck a rock.
It was early morning; the predawn was just setting in. That was the time that the cattle herder was roused by a sudden scream. The cattle herder bolted upright in the bed he shared with his wife. He ran into the room that was shared by all three of his youngest sons. He saw that his five- year old son was wailing in his bed with his eight- year old trying to comfort him. The cattle herder strode over and took the boy in his arms.
" Joordan, did you have a bad dream?" He asked the boy.
Joordan sniffled. " The hounds were back." He cried.
The herder sighed. Joordan had had these nightmares a few times a year. It was only last year that their eighteen-year-old daughter was mauled by a hellhound protecting Joordan.
" It was only a dream, I'll stay right here until you go back to sleep. The hounds won't get you." He patted the child's back and tucked him back in.
" It wasn't a dream, I was going to get something to drink, when I heard snarling, I looked out the window and saw Criis outside with the hounds, they took him away!" The boy started to wail again. The herder noticed that his fifteen- year old son was not in the room. He went to check the rest of the house, and when he couldn't find him, he feared the worst. Maybe Joordan could be telling the truth. And if he was, it was now time to get the king's support to go hunt these devil dogs. He sent a messenger to the palace in the morning. The messenger was known for being fast at deliveries and went on his task. As the herder gathered all the eligible men and boys for the hunt, the herder got his answer. Since the small town wasn't far from the palace, the king sent his best knights to help. The party of forty men and boys were in the forest at the first sign of dusk. The men were armed with swords, pitchforks, bows, and spears, really anything that they were able to get.
As they neared the place where they knew the hounds slept, they grew wary. The cave was small and dark, very dark and the litter of bones gave it away. The men were wondering if the herder's son had even survived the hounds and debating whether of not they should check inside to make sure. They heard the sound of moaning in the small cave and all their doubt evaporated. The men had a mage with them; he was the right-hand mage for the king. The mage conjured a light in the shape of a horse in his hand, and sent it forth into the cave. The men were able to see into the cave by that light. They saw the herder's son Criis lying in a heap on the cave floor not far from the entrance. There was no sign of the hounds. As the herder and a few of the king's knights slinked in and got the boy out, Who they could tell needed a healer fast by the way his arm laid and how bloody and bruised the boy was, it indeed was a miracle that the boy had survived. It seemed that the boy had a head wound from the matted black hair that was hiding a gash not deep, but was threatening if it wasn't looked at soon. The other men had waited and looked around for any sign the hounds would return. The men realized they had fallen into a trap when the hounds jumped out of the brush. The men had willingly walked into their own death. The hounds were now doubled in their numbers, and they seemed more enraged than they had before. The men got their weapons ready and were poised for the attack. The herder had his son in his arms; he grabbed one of the younger men from his town who had volunteered to help find him, and pulled him in the cave.
" Take Criis and run as fast as you can back to the town, no matter what you hear run and don't look back." The herder said as he put his son in the man's arms.
" But sir I came here to kill the hounds, same with the other men, I won't run!" The young man said.
" Do it boy! Do you really want to die here?" The herder stared hard at the boy who shook his head in shame. " You shouldn't throw your life away so easily." He shoved the boy out of the cave, by then the battle had already begun. There was blood everywhere, and most of it was the party's blood. There was body's of men who had fallen everywhere as well, some had been able to take a few hounds down and that helped some, but the hounds were not only fierce, but as the men were realizing as Criis had that they were also very intelligent. The young man stared in horror as he watched a knight's arm be ripped to shreds before his very eyes. The herder ran to help his fallen ally. He noticed the boy still there.
" Why are you just standin' there, run!"
The boy snapped out of the shock and nodding to the herder ran as fast as he could to the town. The men would be able to keep the hounds busy, but they hoped that none were lurking out there. They only hoped that he would be able to get the boy to the town. As the herder slew the hound with the sword that the fallen knight had wielded, he turned to see the boy off. The herder heard all the shouting and snarls from the fighting behind him. When he heard soft growling behind him. As he turned he felt dread fill him, but also acceptance that he had accomplished much in his life. If the god and goddess saw it fit for him to move on, he was now at peace. And when he turned to face the hound that had climbed the top of the cave and growled down at the herder, he smiled, he was ready to fight and die honorably. That was when the hound launched himself towards the herder.
"Tevi are you listening to me?!" Seath asked for the tenth time today. The teacher was beginning to give up on the heir to the throne. The boy was in a mood ever since his teacher in magery had left to go help in the hound problem in the town that bordered them. A few days ago they had gotten word that every man that had gone in search of the hounds had all perished. The only survivors though had been a boy who was traumatized and would not speak, and the young boy that he had been holding who had needed a healer very fast. That day there was word sent immediately to the king about the loss. Tevi had been informed, and he had been nonexistent ever since. Tevi had been in training with the high mage to control his own powers that had almost consumed him. Tevi had finally chose to hear the teacher and turned his haughty gaze at Seath, who stiffened on the inside. Tevi was the only person whom no one wanted to look at. His eyes were the strangest things that anyone had ever witnessed before. His eyes held the violet color of a sunset, and penetrated a person's being. Even though the boy was very lively and never acted his twenty years, he always held sullenness in his eyes that couldn't be explained. He held back a wince as he saw the raw emotion of sadness in those very eyes. ' It is a good thing Tarrin isn't here. She's an empath and would not be able to take the force of his sorrow.' Seath thought. He was the only person now who knew about Tarrin. ' It's a shame the boy won't at least show interest in her, she seems like a lovely woman. If you could call her a woman.' She looked more cat than anything.
Tevi sighed shifting his gaze to the clear one- inch earth crystal that hung from Seath's neck. All mages wore an earth stone. It was how they were able to get the magic of the earth to be manipulated by the wearer. Tevi never needed to use a stone. Magic seemed to be easy to control when he took it from the earth. An earth stone helped to filter the magic with it's many prisms. It also helps to control the magic more. Tevi knew he was distressing the old man with his melancholy.
Seath sighed. "Tevi, " he said gently. " You need to stop mourning, it is good to for some time, but you are beginning to become ill." He said as he noticed the dark circles and red eyes of the small boy. Seath placed a hand on the boy's bony shoulder. It seemed to have gotten smaller over the week.
" Boy have you been eating?" Seath asked angrily. Glaring as he took in the boy's smaller frame.
" Some." Was the reply as Tevi looked back out the window at his brothers jousting with their weapon's trainer."Tevi I swear, if you don't get out of this sulk. I'm gonna beat you until you wish hell hounds had gotten you!" Seath threatened.
Tevi actually laughed. It was the first time in a week, and it made Seath laugh as well.
"You beat me? I would like to see you try! Old man." Tevi teased. He turned back around and his eyes were warmer than they had been a few minutes before.
" That I will! Little one." Seath countered. Seath only laughed harder as Tevi leveled a playful glare his way. Tevi was short for a young man. His younger brother of fourteen was taller than him, but that did not hold him back. Tevi trained with the rest of them in weapons, and even if he could only carry a small sword that didn't make him less deadly.
" Then lets have the weapons talk for us." Tevi said standing up. He unsheathed a pretend sword.
" Heavens boy you know I would lose." Seath was very glad that Tevi was back to normal.
" So you admit defeat?" he asked dramatically putting away his "sword".
Seath held up his hands. " I admit defeat to the gallant lad in my wake!" he said with dramatized fear. The boy only bairly came up to his chest.
" Good, then I shall not harm thee." The boy joked. He only wanted to make Seath feel less obligated to worry of him. Let his father worry, if he even cared. Tevi bowed to the old man.
" I shall now take my leave." He said and gathered what Seath had been trying to teach him, and left the room.
'That boy will worry us all one day.' Seath thought as he watched the boy shut the door to his chambers. He fingered his crystal as he sat in thought.
Tevi hated when people worried about his frailty. He wasn't frail, but no one believed it. He hated the fact that he was smaller than everyone was, but he had made up for that by becoming a mage. He wasn't a high mage like his former teacher, but he was close to one. When he got to his room, he tossed the books on the chair in the other room that was more of a sitting room to entertain guests that he never had, and went out the glass two-door that entered into a porch overlooking the palace gardens. The gardens were beautiful this kind of season. His mother use to love to help tend the gardens. Her favorite flowers were the fairy wings that when they blossomed, looked like two fairy's holding out their wings. His mother always smelled of the pink flower. He loved the smell of his mother, the smell of a sunrise he always thought.
Tevi shook his head. Why was he thinking of his mother at a time like this? He turned towards the woods on his left. He was going to look for his only friend; besides Seath; who lived in the surrounding forest. Her name was Tarrin and he had met her when he was little. He was about eight at the time, and had been in the woods chasing after squirrels, since the outside lessons with Seath; who was a historian then; when he came across her. She was in the teenage years of about thirteen and was a strange sight for a prince. She had her hair cut short, to her chin, and she looked very feline. Though only her hands and feet looked more animalistic and her nose was shaped like a cat, she sounded and acted human; she became his friend after she had caught a squirrel for him. He understood how it was to be different. He told her how people seemed afraid of him because of his eyes. Tarrin didn't seem to mind them. She was also a mage. She was a mage of nature though. She helped things grow, and planted things that would help with medicines.
She would never speak of where she had come from, no matter how many times he asked; she wouldn't reveal anything. She always seemed sad in those days. Tevi thought it must be from how different she was, and seemed to live out in the woods alone. She had been injured he could tell when he noticed her bleeding side. Tevi insisted he go and get her a healer, she convinced him not to, seeming very nervous about the thought. Seath then caught up with Tevi and saw Tarrin. His eyes bulged and Tevi could feel the energy the crystal Seath used to gather enough to attack Tarrin. She got into a defensive stance; than passed out from how much blood she had lost. Tevi lost it and began to accidentally thrash Seath with lightning bolts. Luckily Seath had enough time to place up a kekkai to protect himself. Seath calmed the boy down and both raced her to a healer mage, which was Tevi's trainer, the High Mage Burkk. When Tevi knew that she would be fine he began to become his cheerful self again. They have stayed friends ever since then.
As he entered the forest to go to their meeting place, he noticed some of the foliage had changed. She must have been expanding her garden. He turned the bough of trees and pushing them aside, found the little garden that Tarrin worked on. Tevi couldn't find her anywhere.
"Tarrin?" Tevi called. Looking around.
"Tevi there you are. I was wondering when you would come to see me." He heard behind him.
He turned and jumped on her. Tackling her to the ground.
" Don't you get enough of this when your brothers do this to you?" Tarrin said she struggled to get him off her. Tevi rolled off her.
" But you're my friend! You should be use to me doing that!" He said laughing. He looked around at her garden. " Did you plant anything new that is from your land, I've never seen these plants before." He held up the pink flower that was in the shape of heart.
" I found them while I was away." She stated. Tending to the garden. " I heard about Burkk, I'm sorry." She said looking over at how Tevi changed his posture. He grinned and pretended like he was okay, but she could feel the pain and sorrow he hid. She could also read people. She was able to see their auras and read the changes in the colors. His was always a striking blue, that would change to a stormy gray when he was upset, she could feel it now as well as see it.
"What can ya do?" Tevi smiled stupidly and began to laugh.
" Who will teach you now?" Tarrin asked, changing the subject. She found a weed and quickly pulled it out.
" Well, my father did mention to Seath about sending for a new mage. I think that he sent for them already." Tevi crouched next to Tarrin to look more closely at the herbs she had planted this year.
" Don't worry, I'm sure that they will be just as good." Tarrin said. She smiled at him to make him feel better.
Tevi smiled in return. He knew that Tarrin would understand and would always make him feel better no matter what mood he was in. That's why he loved her as the older sister he never had. He then felt a calling for him. He knew that his father was looking for him. He could pick up on when people needed him at certain times. That was the advantage of the king being a mage as well, but not good for Tevi who was called like that no matter where he was, good thing he was not as developed as Tevi.
" I've got to get back, it seems my father requests my presence." Tevi said. He tackle- hugged Tarrin again, and then ran as fast as he could back to the palace.
'I wonder what father wants to speak with me about? Whatever it is, it probably isn't good. He always finds something to yell at me about or scold me about.' Tevi thought. He remembered to block what he was thinking about. His father was a very powerful mind reader and could easily pick up what other people were thinking. That was why Tevi's family had stayed kings for a long time.
Tevi entered the throne room, as his father was finishing off with the treaty to deal with the hellhounds. His father knew when he had slinked into the room. The king's penetrating gaze found Tevi's and held him. Tevi smiled weakly and waited until they were finished. Tevi could tell his father was not particularly happy with him. As Tevi recognized the men speaking with his father to be the villagers that must have lost loved ones during the hound attack in the woods; they seemed to be satisfied as his father signed the paper that had been brought to him. The villagers bowed low and left the king and his middle child alone. The room was big enough to hold over a hundred loyal people. Tevi never cared for the court processions so never really knew how many people attended it. The banners of the blue wolf snarling tacked to the walls always made Tevi feel uneasy as a child and still he did not like the look of them.
"Tevi, why do you stand so far away from me? Come address me as you should." The king said in his low voice that never betrayed if he was angry or not.
Tevi walked to the throne until he was in front of him and bowed as low as his small body would let him.
" You have requested my presence your highness?" Tevi said without coming up from the bow.
The king sighed. " Teverald, you do know that you represent the kingdom and you will rule soon don't you? Why haven't I seen you courting any of the women?" He asked clearly beginning the same argument that he always did.
" As I've said before father, I'm just not interested in the women at court, that's all." Tevi was not feeling like going through this all over again. He straightened to stare his father in the eyes. King Zylon seemed immune to the violet eyes that no one wanted to look at
"Did you forget that you had classes today as well? No you just flitted off again into the woods. What do you find so interesting in those places I will never understand." The king realized that he had stood up, and quickly sat back down. "I have found a replacement for your mage teachings. High mage Klona will be your new teacher, she is on her way here. She should be arriving any day now. You will treat her with respect." The king said sternly, his cobalt blue eyes piercing Tevi with great force. Tevi noticed his father's turquoise earth stone was glowing a faint yellow around the edges. That was bad news for Tevi. His father was about to lose his temper.
" Yes father." Tevi bowed again and quickly left the throne room, glad to be away from the pressure of the energy building up to smother him, and all the tapestries that seemed to remind him of his father every time he saw them, and seemed to stare at him hungrily as well. His father's dark hair and beard that always seemed untamed helped along in the comparison of a wolf that was the mascot. Tevi was intrigued, and curious about the mage. So father had found a replacement? And a woman? She must be some woman if she is a high mage. Tevi couldn't wait to meet her.