Chapter 4
Jason Walker, the Grand Duke of Caberton, walked through the Court of Heroes, looking up at the faces of the friends he had lost. Looking at the brave, smiling faces still sent twings of pain and grief through him, even five years after the war with Maldor concluded. His eyes, as always, came to rest on Ferrin. The Displacer's head sat beaming under his arm. Even with the sadness, that image always brought a smile to his face.
How odd that humor and grief could intermix. How could two opposing emotions coexist?
Some guards cried out, confusing Jason for just a second. After looking about wildly, he finally located the source of the commotion. It wasn't difficult, because people were crying out as Jason's torivor, Lurky Two, engaged a cloaked and hooded figure. A sword flashed into Lurky's hand, and the stranger drew his own blade.
"Call off your guard, Duke Jason," the man said. "I would hate kill a torivor. They're fascinating creatures, and it would be a real loss. Plus, Rachel would not appreciate all her hard work going to waste."
Jason was taken aback. This guy spoke so calmly about facing down a torivor. And he thought he could take Lurky! He was still not a master swordsman himself, but he could see that this man was comfortable with that sword of his. In any case, jason did want anyone getting killed on his watch.
"Lurky, back away. But be ready, just in case," Jason ordered.
The torivor lowered his sword and backed away two steps.
"Still keeping up your guard, I see. Very wise. Not many nineteen-year-olds would be so cautious or forward thinking," the man said.
"Not all teenagers have fought the world's last wizard and lived to tell the tale," Jason replied.
"It's an experience that more could do with. It would shape them up, I think. Get rid of the others who couldn't, I hope." The man started laughing, and he sheathed his sword with a quick thrust to the side. Jason thought he saw a hint of red light. "And to think that I would run into the great hero, Jason, himself! Well, I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Afterall, I did wait for you to emerge from those tedious meeting before approaching these magnificent statues."
"You were waiting for me," Jason said cautiously.
"Yes," the man said, inclining his head. With the hood pulled low, it was hard to read him. "The man chosen by Darian the Seer to save Lyrian should be present for the dawning of a whole, new age."
Lurky Two walked to block Jason from the gaze of the other man. Guards were drawing closer to the spectacle, concerned. Nobles and peasants in the square were forming a morbidly curious circle around them. Normally people were scared of getting anywhere close to a torivor, but the prospect of duel with one drew their attention.
The man reached into his cloak and drew out a heavy chain. He let one end of it fall with the loud thump onto the ground. A wide smile stretched from ear to ear as he spoke again.
"Jason, what if I told you that I could break the barriers between Lyrian and Earth? What if I told you that you could see your dearly departed friends again? If I could promise you that, what would you be willing to give?"
The absurdity of the man's proposal threw Jason off for a second, but he quickly regained his wits.
"No one can bring back the dead. Not even the greatest wizard. And no one has any control over the portals between our worlds. We could only send back Rachel because of darian's information. Also," he swallowed before continuing. "If she were to come back, and we both stayed here… Rachel and myself, I mean, something bad would happen."
"I know, that is a possibility," the man admitted, his smiling lessening. "But still, if you could see them all again, what would you do? Come one, I really want to know."
This guy was a creep! And how did he know so much? Or was he just really good at playing along. Maybe he was a Displacer who escaped Galloran's victory and wanted revenge. Maybe he had been working up to something like this for a while. If that were the case, he might be relying on his severing ability to save him in a fight with Lurky Two.
If that was how he expected to best a torivor, he was sorely mistaken.
Jason finally decided to answer him honestly. "If I saw them again, I'd probably give them all hugs and thank them for their amazing friendship and their sacrifices."
"And Rachel?"
That kind of stung to think about. "Her most of all."
"I'd like to see that," the man said, sounding excited. "With your leave then, Grand Duke Jason Walker, allow me to reunite you with your lost comrades!"
He hoisted his chain and with a flick of his wrist got the chain over his head. He spun it immediately, The sound of the spinning chain was a heavy hum. Jason took a reflexive step back and reached for his sword. He never needed it with Lurky Two always nearby, but now he wanted something comforting at hand.
The stranger whirled about and launched the end of his chain right at Ferrin's statue. Jason yelped with shock and anger; he did not want the legacy of his friend, one of Lyrian's heroes, being tarnished in any way. But the chain did not even lay a scratch on the Displacer's likeness. No, instead, it merged with it!
"Now for the prestige," the man laughed.
With a burst of speed, he rounded the torivor and took Jason by the crook of his right arm. Jason felt first a wave of cold wash over, quickly replaced by a warm, pleasant feeling. And then he was assaulted with memories of Ferrin. Images of them training together, laughing together, speaking high above the temple of Minniamon, and more. They all flooded in.
Lurky Two pounced, blade flashing. The stranger's sword shot from his scabbard and intercepted the torivorian steel. A haunting musical note sounded all around them. The lurker proceeded to hack and slash, trying to get at the stranger, but his own sword kept parrying and blocking of its own accord. More notes sang forth from the clashing swords.
"Ferrin, your friend desires to see you," the man said calmly.
"He's dead," Jason began saying, but then he stopped and his eyes widened.
From the chain, mists began to pour out, and from the mists arose a figure. One that he recognized immediately. A man with well formed arms, a broad torso, and mischievous grin formed in the air and landed lightly on the cobblestone. He quickly transformed descriptive, colorful mist into tangible flesh. Ferrin was back, dressed in plain clothing, and looking both happy and now confused.
"Jason? Is that really you?"
"Is that really you," Jason asked aghast.
"Yes it is," the man with the chain laughed. "Unfortunately for the moment, Ferrin's presence here is only temporary."
Ferrin spun about and asked, "Who in the names of the thrice-blasted wizards are you?"
"What? No prongs?"
"Not the right context," Ferrin answered, obviously unsure if he had missed a joke.
"What have you done," Jason asked.
"I spiked my Presence into the Echolands, the world of the dead that connects Lyrian with other worlds. Including Earth," the man added with great emphasis. "Ferrin is still for all intent and purposes dead. He will have to return to the Echolands. However, I can open up correspondence between your many worlds if I can get to the heart of it all."
He reached into a pocket and withdrew a scroll that was too large to have simply been resting in there. Jason took the whole man in and sized him up with a new kind of appreciation. This man was not a wizard from Lyrian. He knew about Earth. And the magic he used was very different than what Maldor or Rachel had done. His eyes came to rest on the scroll, and the man tossed it to him.
Jason easily caught the scroll one-handed.
"I'll swap places with Ferrin for a bit while I take care of some stuff in the Outskirts," the man explained. "In the meantime, take that scroll to Galloran, please. You'll all want to read it together."
"And why do you think we'll go through with this," Jason asked. "You come out of nowhere, cross sword with a torivor, bring my friend back from the dead, supposedly-"
"Hey," Ferrin protested.
"And now you are handing me a scroll and saying that I need to read it in the presence of the king of Trensicourt. I don't even know who you are! It feels like a trap."
"Wonderful! Maldor taught you well, even with the short meetings that you had with him," the stranger congratulated. "You can call me the Tscheapwhetzar for right now. Strange name, amazing things can happen! I promise that what I have just tossed you will not cause any harm to anyone on Lyrian. What you will learn about can harm you. And that is why I am here."
"You're being cryptic."
"Jason, if I told you everything, how would you ever learn?" The Tscheapwhetzar laughed and said, "Now, toddle off. The real test begins. Catch up with Ferrin as quick as you can!"
With that, the man gave a tug on the chain and vanished in a puff of mist. Everyone in the square looked to each other. Ferrin approach and gave him a shrug.
"I swear it's me. Look!" Ferrin popped off his head and tossed it high.
A smile spread across Jason face as a cold feeling blossomed in his stomach. He was certain this was his friend, but what was in his hand felt heavy. Not a physical weight, but something more. He had not felt like this since the war, and that was not helpful.
"Come, Ferrin," Jason said, glancing at the chain merged with Ferrin's statue. "I think we need to take this to Galloran immediately. Something is going on and we need everyone on board for whatever is coming next."