Part 7
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Minor Prophecy
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Barren, light-forsaken, ruined, the Kingdom of Thais remained in utter disarray moons after being ripped away from its place in the world. The survivors came together and sought ways to get off the miserable land, but the choppy sea prevented them from fleeing.
Demons still mysteriously crept out the nearby caves, keeping the citizens from wandering too far from the safety of the kingdom's gates. The remaining Thail people, mostly composed of those fit to have survived such extremes, such as guards, magic wielders, and mercenaries, tried their best to restore what was left of the kingdom.
When escape was deemed impossible, fortifying the city once again to help keep as many demons out, became pinnacle for survival. However, hope remained mostly shattered and gone in the hearts of the citizens. The land was not a fraction of what it once was before. Morale was low as there was no end in sight to the peoples suffering.
...
The Consort of Thais paced back and forth in the moderately restored throne room, unsure what he would say the citizens of Thais.
It was fortunate that the few magic wielders on hand could supplement the city with bread and other simple goods created from magic; otherwise, they all surely would have starved by now. There were no trees left to build ships strong enough to cross the turbulent seas. They were all very much stranded on this new hellscape.
The aging man shook and fumbled in place out of nerves from the awful predicament he was in. The throne room barely lit as wooden light torches and candles were now a scarce commodity.
The young Chancellor stood nearby, eagerly waiting for instructions from the Consort that were few and far between when given, with no advice to offer other than perhaps he should ring the steeple bells to cheer up the hopeless population.
Suddenly, in the dimness of the castle, beside the throne, the Consort formed what he thought was a brilliant idea. His eyes fixated on the empty ground next to the empty tarnished throne seat. He stood still—wondering. It was only an inkling, and he had no idea if his accidental hunch would work, since he was not a royal descendant.
"Oracle, show yourself," the Consort mumbled quietly as not to draw the young Chancellor's attention in case it did not work, so he would not appear a senile fool.
A burst of brilliant lights displayed suddenly, and filled the throne room. The presence of the Oracle appeared, gazing at the now startled Consort. Her entire being transparent, he noticed, right away.
"You have finally summoned me, Consort of Thais," the old woman revealed. "I have been waiting to be called."
The Consort waved his arms widely from delight, seeing the old woman and hearing her wise words. Surely she would have all the answers he needed for these difficult times. A way out of the ill-forsaken kingdom was what they all wanted.
"Aye! A thrill to be in your presence, Your Holiness!" the Consort exclaimed, lowering himself to the ground. The Chancellor also rushed over to bear witness. "All hope is lost. We need safe passage off these ruined demon infested lands. There must be something you can do, oh Great Oracle!"
"So it seems," the Oracle acknowledged.
"The King...the Queen...and Princess of Thais...are all gone. We have no reason to continue suffering in this fallen kingdom, oh Holy Goddess of Aia. The long royal lineage of Pendragons are no more. We ask for safe passage off the island," the Consort finished relieved over his bittersweet pleas.
The old woman sighed and poked the Consort on his side.
"Not all hope is lost. A Pendragon—a princess, the rightful heir—will return someday and unite the kingdoms once again. She will be Queen."
"You mean the young princess lives?!" the Consort asked, perplexed, but in total amazement. "We...we never found the king's body...or the child's...We have already laid Queen Alicia to rest in the Pendragon crypt. We have no more Pendragons!...At least, not that I am aware of...Are you sure about all this?"
"I cannot say more, Consort. It will all be revealed in time. She will hold proof that she is the heir to the throne...Do not let your citizens lose hope, Consort. You will need to rule what's left of the kingdom for now... It can be done. Peace will once again reign in Thais, in time."
" W-What?! So we cannot leave this cursed land? Goddess, is that all you have now?! What of the demons attacking civilians?! There's nothing here for us, old woman!" the Consort inquired desperately, almost beseeching.
"Do not worry, you will figure it out. Your duty is to the wait for the return of a rightful heir. This is all part of the prophecy. It is a minor prophecy, but one that will come to fruition. You must rule Thais until a heir returns," the Oracle revealed.
"But-but...how will this all play out? What shall I tell the citizens of Thais as we wait for this heir you speak of?" the Consort gasped, trying to sort the meaning of her words.
"That is up to you now. Those that are connected to this minor prophecy shall be aware when the time comes. I must leave shortly as there is also a task I must fulfill..." the old woman reflected, thinking she would need to forward this new minor prophecy as well to the Dreamer, to share with the knight that now watched over the young princess. She would also need to pass down the grim news that the king's body was never found.
"This is all madness, your grace! But very well...I shall heed to your commands, Your Holiness... May you have the gods and goddesses watch over these wretched plains we inhabit," the Consort finally halfheartedly acquiesced and sighed at the same time.
He turned around to the Chancellor, now ready to make an announcement, "Chancellor, let the citizens of Thais know that we will remain here as we await for our princess to return...Sound the bell!"
"Yes, Consort, certainly" the Chancellor said obediently and hurried off.
"Er...You did say the young princess is alive, Oracle? Or is it another Pendragon we shall await for? I did not quite catch that," the Chancellor questioned as he turned back to see the old woman's apparition.
However, the Oracle was already gone.
In the distance, the sound of bells ringing loudly, as the remaining citizens of Thais gathered outside to learn of the unexpected, but hopeful news.
...
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Chapter FIFTY-SEVEN: Dreamworld
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Snowfall in the Dreamlands slowly drifted from the eternal night sky...
..
Having visited Tailor's dreams once again, the Dreamer found out the knight had made it to the village of Clearwater and had indeed been very lucky, and married a villager not long after arriving, then happily settled down.
Talia told Tailor of the minor prophecy the Oracle had shared with her, as well as the news that King Devin's remains were never found and he was presumed lost, and how a Consort ruled what was left of the once grand kingdom until the princess' return.
Reluctantly, Tailor agreed to someday tell the young princess—when the time came—the truth of her lost royal parents, the dire prophecy she was to fulfill, and the Kingdom of Thais that was still her duty.
..
After the dream ended, only quietness and sorrow remained...
The Dreamer looked over the Dreamworld from where she stood, having come to this place often in the last few weeks, looking over a chilly snow covered cliff towards the North as snow listlessly fell for all eternity.
She silently stared far over the cliff's edge, wishing to send her butterfly to find the girl and bring her through her portal. The hurt of leaving her behind would not leave her as she stood on what was the very edge of the Dreamworld, closest in proximity to Clearwater—towards the Chosen One—the daughter of her dear lost friends.
Instead, now, the Dreamer had to turn around back into the deepest parts of the Dreamlands, needing to heal and defeat the nightmares, one after another, one at a time, alone in this realm, wandering to places in the Dream where she was needed most.
...
The Sun Druid could not take it any longer. He needed her more than anything. Talia's absence drove him mad to the point of despair. Having gotten word that the Dreamer's Statue was in the Oracle's domain after Faiara fell, he went to it. His powers now too weak to apparate right into the Dreamworld as he had always done before.
Unfortunately, for the Sun Druid, once touching the Statue, the part of the Dreamworld he ended up was not close to the Tear Shrine—far from it. He found himself in the same faint tree-filled enclosure where Faiara used to begin from the Dream. Ahead of him, he saw the blackness of nightmares coming towards him. He hoped they were the ordinary harmless type of nightmare, but right away found them to be of the worse kind.
The dreaded nightmares quickly overtook the Sun Priest as soon as he set foot forward in the Dream. He immediately cursed the day the Oracle took his powers. He had already managed to go up a level and regain some strength, but it was not enough to beat even one nightmare, let alone any of the shivens, spirit guardians, and dream witches that inhabit the Dreamlands.
It pained him that once easy tasks were now difficult or impossible. He no longer felt he was up to par with his status as a Druid.
Now, he found himself on the eerie grounds, trying to escape the battle with the sinister nightmares that had formed into a mob of wild squirrels with bright red glowing eyes.
Aydan quickly cast a strong magic shield which helped shield the dark creatures out, hoping they would grow tired of viciously attacking. He waited within his translucent magical shield, wondering if they would get through and end him.
Out of nowhere, he heard the voice he wished to hear most in the world.
"You shouldn't be here," Talia warned as she cast strong dream magic, pushing the nightmares out, as well as many other twisted creatures that he had not noticed were quickly approaching. She cautiously went over to him, appearing very battle worn herself, now after several weeks in the Dream. "Are you...hurt? Where is Dameon? Is he with you?" she looked around extreme hyper worry in her eyes, wondering if her son was there as well.
"No, my love. I have left him with Trinity...Or maybe it was Leana...No, it was Trinity...Armaiti has also helped watch him lately, too...I could not stand to be away from you any longer...Even if it meant losing my life to the nightmares," Aydan said feebly, dazed, trying to recover from the rodent nightmares that had attacked him senselessly; still stretched out on the surreal luminescent grass as he tried to regain his wits back. He felt entirely useless in this realm.
Aydan looked up at Talia's distraught and watchful expression, which seemed completely uncertain on what to do over his sudden appearance. He simply lay on the dark purple grass, saddened that Talia was not beaming over his visit as she always used to be so happy to see him.
"Are you sure you are not hurt...Aydan?" Talia asked again as she approached him, still careful and somewhat reluctant with every step. However, longing started setting in after being alone for so long.
The Dreamer went right through his protective barrier. It hardly served as any sort of defense, she noticed immediately—his shields used to be impenetrable compared to hers. She took notice that the Sun Druid's dark brown hair had grown out longer, giving him an edgy scholarly appearance, as she inched closer. Talia pulled at her own longer lose red strands of what were formerly her bangs, behind her ears.
When Talia was close enough, Aydan grabbed her hand and pulled her down beside him on the grass. She raised her staff and cast an even stronger shield over them to repel and keep the nightmares out. She lay her head to rest on his broad shoulder and breathed in the familiar radiant warm scent of sol and magic on his robes; oddly real even for a man who had painfully deceived her, especially after being in the unreal confines of the Dreamworld for so long.
There was so much Talia wanted to say, but hardly any time to even begin. And there was also so much she could no longer share with him, and lying was out of the question.
They remained awkwardly quiet, searching for something to say that might heal things between them after so much had gone terribly wrong.
Their magic shields would not hold for long and their son would need to come first if the conversation were to be kept short and meaningful.
"How is Dameon?" Talia asked first, after a moment of peace. It pained her that she even had to ask about her own son.
"He misses you very much, my love...I have assured him you would return soon, but I have underestimated the nightmares in this place. I do not know what to tell him anymore."
"Aye, I miss him as well...I have been watching his dreams every night," Talia said mildly, not wanting to become grief-stricken again. "It's almost as though he is here with me, but it is not the same..."
"Aye. Young Dameon mentions his dreams often, my love. He has made the distinction between the Dream and reality. He is a clever boy, our son," Aydan said carefully. "I wish nothing more than to tell you everything, my dearest Dreamer..."
The Dreamer held on even more firmly as the Sun Priest spoke about the mundane daily events of going from Aveyond to the High Realm and back: Dressing their son, feeding him, trying to teach the boy to be strong over her absence, entertaining the boy with magic when he would get bored, cleaning after him (incessantly cleaning, over and over again) as he loved to go outside and play on the warm grass fields, disciplining him after breaking a rare artifact in the Sun Temple, making sure he prayed daily to the sun gods, and putting him to bed every night. It seemed rather uneventful to Aydan, but meant everything to Talia, wishing she could hold their boy once again.
After sharing all he could think of about Dameon, Aydan went for her hand, pulling it gently to his lips. The prickly feel of over-grown facial stubble pressed into her palm.
"Scruffy-faced lug," Talia insulted under her breath, causing the Sun Druid to smile widely, and her to half-smile and unwillingly titter, before falling silent again.
Their hands opened and pressed together. Almost each of her fingers decorated with a powerful ring—her Priestess Ring and some magical spell rings, except for one. He noticed she no longer had his engagement ring on.
"Have you seen my ring? I looked for it, but could not find it," Talia said before he could ask. Her pale hand still pressing affectionately on his larger sun-bronzed one.
"I have not seen it since our engagement, my love. I will look for it. I promise," he said, detecting she was becoming aloof.
"...Since, since, the wicked love potion you gave me...Since the lies!" she rasped spitefully, anger slowly overshadowing their much needed time.
"My love, please forgive me," Aydan begged. They sat up suddenly. He kissed her after not having for so long. His sincerest apologies did not matter at all as her anger was still etched across her expression and she crossed her arms.
In the distance, the nightmares were heading towards them again.
The Dreamer's strong defense shields were fading as the nightmares swept forth within sight. The Sun Druid's shields were already completely gone.
After a moment, she pulled away completely and nodded 'no.' Before he could say anything more, and the nightmares could attack them, the Sun Priest suddenly found himself in the Oracle's citadel again, beside the Dreamer's Statue. He pressed it again and again to go through, touching its cold stone surface.
The Dreamer would not let him pass.
He would have to try again tomorrow. It was now early morning and he needed to get Dameon and then go to Aveyond for the day.
The Sun Druid took a powerful magic book with him to learn stronger defense spells.
...
Aydan returned the following day as well. Again, the nightmares attacked. Once more, the Dreamer arrived and cleared them. Her shield would last a bit longer since she had already battled many nightmares in the enclosure and had blessed the land the previous night, making it harder for the dark creatures to wander back within.
He brought her supplies this time, notably food: haunches, cheese, bread, apples, junberries, and even wine. Talia immediately pulled out a cold haunch and started devouring it to the bone after being away from solid food for so long.
Again, they lay on the Dreamland grass and spoke mostly about Dameon, all while both avoided any mention of what happened in Thais, or any discussions of the future of the Demon's presumed return.
They rested on the grass, perfectly mindful the nightmares were watching from afar.
"My love, how long will it take...to vanquish these nightmares?" Aydan suddenly asked, fearing the answer.
Talia shrugged, but then sat up. Her hands grabbed at the soft peculiar dream grass. She closed her eyes taking in the Dream, sensing all its dangers.
"...If I remain here, without leaving... a half dozen years or so...That is if there is no further devastation in the world, such as war or Ahrim—" she trailed off unable to speak the fiend's horrid name. "...Venturing out will only prolong my duties...Perhaps, eleven, twelve, thirteen years? I'm not sure...I have not decided how I will divide my time yet."
Aydan uttered nothing in response. A solid lump formed in his throat. It was not a long time for them as immortals, but Dameon was mortal, and that meant his entire upbringing.
"...I...I see now why Vesipia, the former Dream Guardian, asked us to kill a nightmare all those years ago when we entered her kingdom," Talia began, her voice fatigued and sad. "It was only one nightmare and Vesipia was so worried about waking up if the nightmare was not stopped...Dreamer Vesipia was very much weary from her duties. It took all four of us to kill it, and yet, she was so grateful when we ended it...Just one measly nightmare...To have killed and healed nightmares all on her own for many lifetimes...I have simply underestimated her efforts to keep the world safe from them.
"...Dreamer Vesipia looked at me with much admiration and I did not understand why back then," Talia remembered fondly. "I suppose I have her job as payment for our destined encounter...We only met the Guardian's mind...Her Sleeper's body rested elsewhere...Buried to keep her from waking while the fairies watch over her body...But to be here so long and alone...I can now very much relate to her...I suppose I shall share the same fate as her and be buried alive after growing restless..."
"No! I will never allow that to happen, Talia! EVER!...This is your kingdom now, my love, and I shall not ever let you be unaccompanied or become defeated by your own dreamer duties...I will never allow the gods to give you such a fate," the Sun Druid said sharply, lifting Talia's hand and pressing it to his lips.
"It is not something we should be worried about right now, Aydan. It is a privilege to heal the world as it sleeps...You should know, being a healer yourself, Sun Priest," Talia retorted back carefully; her eye-brows raised from astonishment, trying to not stir anymore ungodly defiance she was perceiving from him. The same unruly defiance she had seen during their meetings with the Oracle.
"Well, I suppose I should be indebted to Guardian Vesipia as well for stepping down and allowing you to assume her position. Had you not become the Dreamer, we would have never met...Dameon would not exist."
"Aye, tis true. We would not have our bratty son," Talia warmly reflected, but suddenly recalling more of her first and only meeting with the then-Dream Guardian. "Aydan...there was something else she shared...It troubles me to this day. Someonereleased that nightmare in Vesipia's Dream...Vesipia warned us about corruption: of 'a dark force lose in the world'...I believed the nightmare to be Lord Zorom and the Dark Priest's doing at the time, but I do not believe they were powerful enough to manifest such a powerful creature...It was a unicorn nightmare, of all things. I doubt either of them ever met real unicorns..."
Aydan looked pensively at the stream of water nigh, with the sparkling light of far away stars and clusters coming through from the depths of the Dream. The sacred water twinkled eerily.
"...You have not spoken very much about the wicked Prince of Candar and his dark priest, my love. Some time ago, you mentioned he toyed with death and attempted resurrecting a wolf at your school. Perhaps, he was stronger than we give him credit?...It's highly impressive he brought a demon back to life and attempted to control it...That would have required incredible skill and inconceivable power—"
"—Highly impressive?! HIGHLY?! LordZorom was a fool!...The wicked thug and his shadowy miniondeserved what they got! Zorom is responsible for the many that have perished...And so am I for not thwarting his evil plans!" Talia growled and began lamenting once more, her voice strained with hot anger. She wrapped her arms around her legs, holding tightly, her heart beating rapidly, and trembling from rage of her own failures. Enrage too, that Aydan declared that Zorom's powers were 'impressive.' It was the last thing she ever wanted to hear from anyone close to her.
"My Beloved, I am sorry...I did not mean to upset you. However, it would be a way to deal with the Demon when he one day returns...We have been fortunate that he has not shown himself in moons...To simply control it as Zorom attempted to... It wou—" Aydan suddenly stopped, realizing this was a delicate topic for Talia and she could very well send him away if he continued.
"Anything to do with the Demon, should cease to exist," Talia gritted firmly. She covered her face, red from anger, but also unable to reveal to the Sun Druid that it was no longer really their concern to stop Ahriman. Still bound by her secret of the Chosen One, there was nothing to add to the conversation. She grasped her staff firmly and pulled it beside her; the trauma and the weight of her failed endeavors crushing her still.
Aydan went to her, wrapping his arms around her tense position, comforting her, his face buried in her bright red hair, knowing their time would end soon.
"My love, have you forgiven me yet?" he gently whispered again in her ear, after a moment of peace, once her shields were about to expire.
Talia would again nod side-to-side for 'no', her face still hidden in her knees; forcing away the truth of the Chosen One away at the same time.
Once the nightmares were within reach, she sent him back to the High Realm.