CHAPTER EIGHT - THE WEIGHT OF PROPHECY

After sending Tai'ree off to change into less formal clothing and an order to meet him at the main gates in an hour, Mahado headed for his own quarters, his mind churning over possible reasons why shadow creatures would suddenly be making an appearance in this world. He had checked the spells he had placed in the Shadow Realms several times over the last few weeks; he knew they still held the creatures that had been imprisoned three thousand years ago.

That meant the creatures appearing now were not ones that had been involved in the Shadow Wars. Mahado wondered what had calling them to attack the real world once again. It had been the Dark God's influence that had opened pathways that had allowed the creatures to pass beyond the Shadow Realms last time. He knew there were other beings in existence that were as powerful as Zork Nechrophades but he wondered why they would have chosen this moment in time to exert their power.

He had no doubt at some point this new threat would involve Pharaoh and Mahado was beginning to worry about how much aid he could truly offer now that he was trapped in another world. He was sure there was a way; he was just unable to see exactly how he was going to accomplish it.

Mahado simply knew that, for now, he would just have to trust in the gods to help him find the proper path.

Quickly changing into his traveling clothes Mahado let his thoughts shift to his next move. There was one person who might have some of the answers he needed - it was simply a matter of finding him.

Obviously skimming his thoughts, Coeremar asked skeptically across the link, "Do you really think he'll be here?"

Mahado shook his head. "I'm not sure." Picking up his wand, he headed out of the suite as he continued, "If Massheldalio is going to be anywhere, I'm sure here is where he will be."

"If he is still alive, you mean." Coeremar pointed out.

"Yes." Mahado answered reluctantly. He had not heard from his former student in over fifty years and Massheldalio had been well past middle age even then. Mahado had nothing more than a hunch that his old student would still be around. He was certain the Royal Magicians would have been able to tell him if there was a Dark Sage within the city but Mahado was unwilling to let them know he was in search of a particular one.

"It seems odd that Ciorstag did not mention anything regarding attacks on the borderlands." Coeremar commented thoughtfully as they walked, echoing a worry that had crossed his mind when he had heard the messenger mention the attacks on the Summer Lands.

"I'm guessing she deemed the message she received to be more important. I will ask her about them tonight." Mahado replied as he stepped onto the plaza before the main gates.

He quickly spotted Tai'ree standing to one side of the massive oak gates but glancing up, he also noticed the dragon that guarded the castle had repositioned himself on the outer wall and was watching Tai'ree over his shoulder. Mahado had a suspision someone had informed the dragon that the former ky would be leaving the grounds and he had taken the best viewpoint to keep an eye on her while she was in the city.

Mahado let a mental sigh slipped across the bond as Coeremar commented, "That will make it difficult to move without someone being aware of your actions."

"It will but it is not entirely unexpected."

Coeremar chuckled. "Some things never change."

Gesturing Tai'ree to join him as he passed her, Mahado gave his new student an approving nod as he looked over her attire. She had managed to dress plainly and had attempted to bring her hair under some control with a thick dark blue ribbon. There was not much Mahado could do about people recognizing her but he figured she would be enough out of place dressed like this that it would take a moment for someone to realize that she actually was the ky of Alcalsar. And by the time they did Mahado would have already moved her along.

As he studied her out of the corner of his eye, he was amused by the fact she did not seem to know what to do with the wand and he watched it travel from one hand to another as they headed through the gates.

Finally deciding on what his first step would be with his new student, Mahado asked, "Which question would you like me to answer first?"

Clearly surprised, Tai'ree had to think a moment before asking, "Where are we going?"

"We are looking for an old student of mine."

"Why?"

Smiling slightly, Mahado turned to watch her reaction and said, "To ask him about your dragons for one thing." The answer caught Tai'ree off guard and she missed a step, forcing her to jog slightly to keep pace with him.

"My dragons?" She said incredibly.

Mahado nodded as he took his bearings and adjusted his path through the crowded streets. "My student may have some knowledge as to why you dream of them."

Tai'ree frowned. "Why would he know more about them than you?" she asked.

"I know many things but I do not know it all."

He waited for another question but Tai'ree was clearly distracted by the sights around her. She was attempting not to look too obvious as she tried to take everything in. He wasn't surprised. He doubted she had ever had the chance to simply walk through the streets without a contingent of guards surrounding her.

He smiled. And they certainly would not have taken her through the parts of the city he planned on passing through.

"You mentioned three dragons when we met." she said absently. "Why do you believe they are not the same ones?"

Mahado shook his head. "I am sure they are not the same. I cannot imagine them appearing in any other color or shape than what they are, dream or otherwise."

As they moved past the second ring wall, Mahado felt Coeremar shift outward just as he sensed a familiar flare of magic across his senses.

Stopping, he glanced at Coeremar and asked, "Can you tell where that is coming from?"

Coeremar turned slowly in place, his eyes closed as he concentrated on the flare. Even after several millennia sharing the same body, Mahado knew he could not beat Coeremar when it came to tracking magic of a certain type.

Amusement flowed down the link as Coeremar's came to a halt facing them, eyes snapped open as he nodded toward a point behind them. Turning, Mahado found a purple arrow shaped out of magic pointing to the left glowing just above the arch they had just passed under. As he looked at it, the arrow slowly faded, starting from the end up to the tip. A little further down to the left Mahado could just make out a second arrow appearing that pointing toward the pass point through the third wall.

"I don't think finding him will be a problem." Coeremar said with a smile.

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Following the arrows down and across the last section of the city still within the walls, they soon found themselves by the river, on the opposite side of the castle from where the royal docks were. The merchant docks were twice the size of their royal counterpart and were the true heart of the Kingdom.

Mahado knew that here Coeremar would have difficulty separating one magic from another as the dock magicians kept the ships under control as they moved quickly in and out from the piers stretching out into the river. It was this blending of magic with the practical that gave Alcalsar its power- for without its magic users Alcalsar would never have been able to gain and keep its vast empire.

It was also a good place to hide if one was a user of magic.

Slipping off of the crowded street and down a narrow ally that sloped down towards the river, Mahado found an arrow pointing straight up. Stopping below it he glanced up and down the ally but found no convenient way to go up.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Tai'ree asked.

Before Mahado could answer, a shadow suddenly crossed over them. Looking back up, they found the castle dragon staring down at them.

"Rennar! What are you doing up there?" Tai'ree exclaimed. The green dragon gave an annoyed sounding grumble then launched himself off the roof.

Tai'ree frowned and glanced curiously towards him. "I wonder what he was doing here."

"The captain of the guard probably ordered him to keep an eye on you while you were in the city." Mahado shook his head then announced, "This way." as he walked to the other end of the alley.

Tai'ree gave him a confused look. "Don't we need to go up?"

"No. We were stopped so the dragon could find you. He would have lost sight of you when we reached this ring."

Looking a little lost, Tai'ree simply said, "Oh."

Turning to the right when he left the alley, Mahado saw a sign for a tavern swinging slightly in the breezes coming up from the river that was attached to a pole capped with a stylized arrowhead. A little amused, Mahado walked over and pulled open on the heavy brass door handle. Without pausing to look around the interior, knowing exactly what he would find inside, he made his way to a table set in the back corner where a single figure sat.

Leaning his wand beside one similar to his own, Mahado settled into the chair beside the heavily cloaked old man nursing a mug of ale.

"Hello Massheldalio."

Piercing blue eyes, barely visible under thick grey eyebrows, looked him up and down as a smile slowly shifted the man's grizzled beard and mustache. "I find seeing you unchanged hard to accept, even though I knew to expect it." he said softly, his voice rough with age.

He turned his gaze to Tai'ree, who had settled carefully into the chair beside Mahado, her eyes wandering all around the interior before settling on the sage. "So, you have taken the ky as your new student." Massheldalio stated with a nod. Raising the mug, he gave her a little salute and said in a gravelly voice, "No surprise there."

Draining the mug, Massheldalio set it carefully back down and, leaning carefully back into his chair, announced, "What is it you require of me, master Mahado?"

"I was hoping you might have come across some mention of three dragons during your studies."

"Her dragons? No, I have not."

"How did you know about them?" Tai'ree asked.

"Someone from the castle has already consulted with you." Mahado stated knowingly.

"Yes, and I had no more information now then I did then." Massheldalio shook his head. "And I have been quite thorough in consulting the records here in the Capital. There may be something at the Library but I sincerely doubt it. The closest to her dragons that I know of are the ones that you mentioned once, long ago."

Not surprised by that Mahado shifted his thoughts to more pressing matters. "And the message from the north?" he asked, knowing Massheldalio would have already learned of it.

"Ah, to that I may have some knowledge to pass on." The old magic user slipped a hand into a pocket and pulled out a small sliver of a green gemstone that was riddled with cracks and scorch marks. Mahado reacted instinctively, jumping to his feet and backing away while gathering his magic for a defensive spell before he realized he could sense nothing from the stone.

"This is something you are familiar with?" There was no surprise in Massheldalio's voice but his body language betrayed a sudden unease as he held the shard out.

"Where did you get this?" Mahado reached out and carefully picked the shard up from Massheldalio's hand.

"It was in a small chest containing artifacts from before the formation of the Empire over two thousand years ago. According to the records keeper, it may be far older than any story of man on this continent. There was also a shattered sword within the chest he referred to as the Sword of Kings; though he said no King of Alcalsar has ever dared touch it, believing it to be cursed."

Smiling slightly Mahado said, "And the records keeper let you leave with this?"

Smiling back Massheldalio answered, "He did not say I could not."

Mahado shook his head. "I seem to remember having a discussion with you in regards to borrowing pieces of history, Massheldalio."

"You did and I made sure I listened carefully to what you had to say, Master."

"As it passed from one ear to another?"

"Exactly."

Mahado gave Tai'ree a stern look of warning when he realized she was attempting not to giggle at the sudden turn in the conversation before turning back to ask in a more thoughtful voice, "What else did the chest carry?"

"Not much I could make sense of- scraps of a strange parchment with a script I did not recognize, a small ring with a blue gemstone and a medallion with an insignia that reminded me of the one the Dain of the Wabaku wears."

"The insignia of the Dain? That's odd." Coeremar said as he leaned over Mahado's shoulder to look at the crystal..

Tai'ree shifted to glance over at him. "Why is that odd?" she asked.

Intense curiosity sparkled in Massheldalio's eyes as he gazed at Tai'ree. "You are able to sense Master Mahado's partner." he stated.

Tai'ree shrugged, her face blushing slightly in embarrassment. "Um, yes."

"Does that mean anything to you?" Mahado asked.

Massheldalio shook his head. "No. Chaos is the only other one you've mentioned who has the ability to sense Coeremar without aid. Seems like a fact worth remembering" The old sage tilted his head. "Is it the magic she carries that allows her to sense him?"

"Possibly. I hadn't considered that." Mahado responded then handed the shard back. "Why do you think that has something to do with the attacks in the north countries?"

Holding up the shard, Massheldalio answered, "This was wrapped in a record that was included at a later date. In it is mentioned a prophecy by a seer during the time of King Lasdaraman that predicted a time when the shadows would come alive and of a war of Kings that would be heralded by the return of the creatures of darkness."

"A war of Kings?" Mahado asked with a sinking feeling.

Massheldalio nodded. "It is, according to the prophecy, a final war between the King of the Sun and the King of the Moon." Mahado watched a frown cross the old sage's face. "I may not have translated it correctly. As far as I could read it, it claimed that they are destined to battle one more time for the fate of the worlds- that the war would take place not just in this world but in another as well."

"Oh, that's not good." Mahado heard Coeremar mutter behind him as he reached up to rub the headache that was suddenly centered in the middle of his forehead.

"I would be correct in assuming then that this information is both helping and not helping?" Massheldalio asked.

Mahado let out a slow breath. "It simply confirms what I was hoping it would not."

"The Shadow Wars have begun again." Coeremar stated grimly across the link.

"And we're stuck on this side of things."

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Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up!