Deltora's Protector
Chapter 3 – Aiden and the Shadow Lord
The next few days were interesting to say the least. The opals Bee had suggested that he use to cure his eyes sight had worked wonders and he could see better than he had ever done in his life. To maintain his new sight he carried one of the opals around on a leather necklace around his neck. It was hidden by his new outfit, but he could feel its comforting weight. A side affect of the constant wearing of the opal was that he had begun to have strange dreams of people and places he had never seen before.
The most common dream was of a boy around his age, with dark hair and sky blue eyes. He wore a cloak that shimmered in the light and around his waist was a sword. There was much danger around him, but at the same time there was the sense of hope.
Harry never told Steven or Bee about his dreams, as they were much more pleasant than the nightmares that sometimes plagued his dreams.
The outfit he now wore was made by Bee from one of Steven's old clothes from when he was a child. His pants were three quarters and slightly baggy with dark brown knee patches that stood out against the slightly lighter brown fabric. His shirt hung down to the top of his thigh, a brownish-green colour, and around his waist, on top of his shirt, was a thick brown belt. His shirt had long sleeves which he often pushed up to his elbows where they felt the most comfortable. The jacket he wore when he went outside hung down to his knees and had various patches of the same colour as the rest of the jacket, light brown. The sleeves on that were rolled and tied up just above his elbows but he thought that it looked good on him. Around his neck he wore a red scarf, not only hiding his scar but also keeping him warm. Fingerless brown gloves adorned his hands and on his feet were brown boots that were just short enough that the end of his pants didn't touch them.
Steven, Nevets and Bee told him that he looked dashing.
The last change that happened to him was his new name. Bee had told him after he had woken that first day that they couldn't continue to call him Child, so he needed a proper name. She said she had heard the name in a dream and knew that it was his name.
Aiden.
Thusly named Aiden, the fifteen year old recovered as best as he was able to. When it was discovered that he couldn't swim, Steven had taken him out past the orchard to the Broad River and taught him. The fishes kept him up when he started to sink and after two weeks of constant practice, Aiden was able to swim like any other child his age.
Steven left after two weeks though, stating that he had neglected his duties, so he and Nevets left the orchard and left Aiden to assist Bee in the creation of the honey and cider. He didn't particularly like the cider, but the honey he loved. Queen Bee Honey, which was in high demand, became his job while he was staying with Bee. He collected the honey from the beehives and manipulated the thick, golden liquid into the containers and jars that were then sent out in crates to various locations. He added some extra ingredients into the honey to give it its taste, and Bee allowed him to after noticing his flair for cooking.
Two months after he had arrived at the orchard Aiden's dreams started to change. He saw a huge city in the middle of an empty plain with hundreds of rats running around without anyone controlling them, and in the centre of the city was a snake that rivaled the size of the basilisk back in the Chamber of Secrets. The entire city was like a nightmare, but Aiden knew that he needed to go there. There was something in the city that was calling to him, something that he needed to get. The empty plain clue had told Aiden that the place he needed to go was on the other side of the Broad River, where he could see a cluster of buildings far in the distance.
So one morning he left the orchard quietly. He grabbed a bag which he threw over his shoulder and dropped a few pieces of fruit, bread and honey into it so that he would have something to eat on his little trip. Leaving a note of the kitchen table so that Bee would know where he was and not worry, he left the house. He didn't really consider that she would be even more worried when she learnt where he was going to, as the fabled City of Rats was the source of children's nightmares.
But he didn't know this, as no one had told him, so he went on his own. The only creatures to see him go were the bees who had taken a liking to him, and the few birds that dared come near the protected apple trees.
Aiden swum the distance of the river, having come to realise he enjoyed swimming without the fear of drowning, and shook his clothes slightly as he exited the river on the other side. His clothes were drenched, but he knew that the walk ahead of him would dry them out easy enough.
The opal around his neck kept him feeling hopeful, instead of depressed and pessimistic. He could feel its slight power urging him onwards as the sun rose higher in the sky. Aiden pulled out an apple as the sun began its slow decent and munched on it happily. The city didn't appear to be any closer, but when he looked back at how far he had come, he could barely see the river at all, never mind the orchard on the other side of it. A faint stirring of unease began to appear in his mind, but he pushed on.
He stopped several times throughout the day to keep his strength up, ate some of the food he brought with him and drink the honey. The honey rejuvenated him and so after ten or so minute's rest he would stand and continue walking.
Even after the sun set he kept walking. His waking dreams were hinting at something he needed in the city before him, and he didn't want to have to stop to rest. He had had little sleep before in the past, and he was used to constant work, so he had no trouble maintaining his pace throughout the night.
Some time after the sun went down Aiden noticed the plain come alive. Rats of all sizes were charging out from their nests within the city and flying out along the plain to grab any food that had stumbled upon their domain. Aiden shivered at the thought of being eaten by rats, the one animal he hated more than any other, and remained stationary. The rats came closer and closer, until they were almost upon him. Aiden wished that they would go around him, and not touch him as they went by. His green eyes closed, Aiden missed what almost looked like a path being formed. The rats split in the middle and curved around his spot, running past as if there was something else that was more worthwhile of their time.
When Aiden failed to feel the first of the rats climb up his body, he opened his eyes to see what the rats were doing. His jaw dropped in amazement and cautiously took a step forward. The parting of the rats went back a step so that they were still at the same distance away. He took another, and then another, until he was satisfied that he wasn't going to be eaten.
He continued walking through the now moving plain of rats, using the faint light of the city as a guide, he walked all night. As the sun was coming up the rats started to retreat into the darkness of the nests and the sewers of the city. Aiden ate some more food that he had brought with him as he continued walking, his legs were fairly tired by now and his eyes were drooping. Figuring that he would be safe once the rats returned home, he allowed his legs to collapse under him so that he could lie on the ground. He maneuvered his bag under his head and his jacket so that it covered all of him, and he closed his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.
The bees from the orchard that had followed him the day before rested on the ground around him, keeping guard until he awoke. Aiden noticed them when he opened his eyes several hours later, and smiled at them in gratitude. A few rested upon his clothes as he stood, but otherwise they returned to the air to follow him at their own pace.
They continued with this pattern for the next two days until Aiden and the bees finally arrived at the city. The bees flew off to wait for him, refusing to go into the city, and Aiden entered alone.
There were a few rats that ran around him as if he didn't exist, but they didn't touch him, and the shadows caused by the setting sun created eerie pockets of darkness. Aiden didn't pause in his steps, he continued on, drawn by the power of the opal around his neck. Images flashed briefly before his mind's eye, indicating which path he was to take through the rat infested city. The sun was completely down by the time he reached the centre of the city. Only the very peak of the tower revealed the light from the sun before that too was extinguished.
Aiden walked into the building, his heart beating wildly against his chest from fear and anticipation. The darkness was complete within the building with only a very few select pinpricks of light coming from the few candles that rested in various alcoves and from the stars that could be spotted through the holes in the roof. But Aiden continued on.
In the centre of the building, where there was no light, Aiden stopped.
"Hello there?" Aiden cried out into the darkness, not in his normal voice but in the language of the serpents. His throat was slightly irritated after speaking, but Aiden didn't mind as he never believed that he would be able to so much as utter another sound as long as he lived.
"A Speaker, your kind hasn't been seen here for a great many centuries."
Aiden tried to see into the darkness, to see the snake he was speaking to, but the effort was hopeless.
"Why have you come here Speaker?" the snake asked.
"I was summoned here," Aiden replied. "My dreams have been filled with this city and something here is calling out to me."
"I am aware of this," the snake hissed. "My sight has been filled with your approach for several days now. I know what it is you seek, but you should know that what it is has no power."
"I know not what I am searching for Great Serpent," Aiden stated. "But I know that I must have it. Where might I find it?"
"That you must find on your own," was the answer. "Centuries ago, when I was still a hatchling, a man came before me and spoke to me in my own language. He gave into my care a trinket of great power. That power has faded greatly over the years until it died completely when this opal came into my domain."
From the darkness a light appeared, glowing near the roof. Aiden could see that it was an opal, much larger than the one he wore around his neck. He knew without being told that before him was one of the seven gems from the Belt of Deltora. He could feel his innate magic thrum in his body pleasantly as the power washed over him.
"My master, the Shadow Lord, knows nothing of the second treasure entrusted to me. He does not speak my language, and it is only through my willingness to serve him that I guard this for him."
"The trinket given to you centuries ago," Aiden began. "Where is it now?"
"I was told when it was left to me, a snake speaker would return to claim it. I have waited many years for one such as you. If you are destined to have it, you will find it on your own."
"Thank you, Great Serpent," Aiden stated with a bow. He walked forward, the only light coming from the opal above his head. His hands grasped the opal he wore around his neck and followed its slight pull to the pillar in the centre of the room. His hands pressed against the rock and light burst forth from the centre of the pillar. The sudden brightness caused tears to spring to his eyes but even without the light he would have been able to feel a small object land in his hands.
While the spots faded from his vision, Aiden used his sense of touch to discover what he had in his grasp. There were seven stones held together by a fine chain, yet the length of the chain wouldn't have allowed it to stretch any further than around his wrist. Using his left hand he manipulated the chain so that it wrapped around his right wrist and once it was settled it magically clicked together.
Once it was connected together, Aiden felt something he hadn't felt since the first time he held his wand in Ollivanders when he was eleven. His magic, already tingling from being as close to the opal talisman, rushed through him and lit up the room he was in. He looked up to where the opal had been and directly into the red eyes of a serpent several feet larger than the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets had been. He bowed from the waist and looked down at what was now a conduct for his casting of spells.
"Such power from one as small as yourself," the snake hissed into the silence. "I have not felt anything like it for many long years. What are you called?"
"They call me Aiden, Great Serpent," Aiden replied. "Do you, perchance, also have a name?"
"The humans who lived here before I took over called me Beast," the snake declared. "You, however, may call me by my true name, Reeah."
Aiden smiled up happily at Reeah before he returned to studying his wrist. The bracelet, for that is what it was, had a chain of fine silver intricately woven around the seven black gems. Each gem was about the size of his thumb nail and oval shaped. There appeared to be no end to the chain, and no way to take it off.
"It feels different to how it should," Aiden muttered out loud. "Like it's not complete."
"The gems on the bracelet are attached to the power of the Belt of Deltora, and ever since the Belt was destroyed they have never been the same," Reeah explained. "The colour is different from how I last saw it too."
"How are they different?" Aiden asked curiously, looking up from his inspection.
"The Speaker before showed me a bracelet of seven different coloured gems before he hid it in the column. I have not seen it since then."
Aiden frowned at that thought. To him, it seemed like the true power of the bracelet was linked to the Belt of Deltora. It still had power on its own, but Aiden knew that its true power was locked within the darkened gems. He moved the bracelet so that it was sitting just under his right glove, invisible to everyone else. He didn't want any strange questions about what is was or where he had gotten it.
"Young Aiden," Reeah started after several moments of silence. "While my master knew nothing of the bracelet, I still serve him. Do not return to this place as I will follow through on his orders and kill all who enter my home."
"I understand," Aiden said with a nod. "I shall take my leave now."
"So long, Aiden of Deltora," came the parting words. "I expect we will see much good from you. Good luck."
Aiden didn't reply, he continued moving away and out from the building. He wouldn't be returning to the City of the Rats any time soon.
"You're alive!" Bee exclaimed upon seeing him several days later. Her usually red face was almost white as she looked at his wet clothes and then back at the empty plain where he had come from. Aiden nodded and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. He looked back where he had come from and saw nothing alarming, aside from the swarm of rats that left him alone. The bees from the orchard settled on his body, their buzz a comforting him in his ears.
"What in Deltora possessed you to run off like that? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? You're lucky that Steven and Nevets aren't here as they would have probably torn this place a part looking for you."
Aiden let his head drop as the reprimanding words washed over him. Parental care was new to him and he had no idea how to react to it. The fact was that he was an independent person thanks to the "care" of the Dursleys. He wasn't used to having anyone worry parentally over him.
"When was the last time you ate?" Bee then asked. Aiden's head lifted up to see a completely different expression on the woman's face. His bag had been empty for two days, and he hadn't had water for just over a day, but his dip in the Broad River had left him feeling better than he had since first entering the plain. Under his glove was the bracelet, and he planned on showing it to those who only needed to know, but he gathered that he needed to show it to Bee so that she could understand what and why he had done it.
"Come inside child," Bee ordered. "You are going to eat whatever I put in front of you and then you are going to go to bed as I know you wouldn't have slept properly on the entire adventure of yours."
Aiden ducked his head again and walked inside the house. The bees left his clothes and returned to where they normally went in the orchard. Aiden waited in the kitchen for something to do, but upon spotting him Bee ushered him to the table where he sat down gratefully. Bee placed a full plate of meat and vegetables in front of him with an expression that said "you had better eat all of that or else".
The boy's eyes went wide but he gave eating his best shot. He figured that what was before him was something that Ron would eat easily, but he would only be able to eat maybe half of it. This was proved when his eyes began to droop and the arm him head was propped up on became his pillow. When Bee came to check upon him a few minutes later she found him fast asleep with his fork resting in his food. Shaking her head with a fond smile, Bee took the plate away and manipulated Aiden to a semiconscious state where she could direct him to his room without carrying him.
It was close to a week before Aiden was allowed to leave Bee's sight for longer than a few minutes. In that time Steven had returned and been regaled with the tale of Aiden's adventure to the City of the Rats. He had not been impressed in the slightest and had suggested that Aiden's behaviour was indicative of a feeling of restlessness. The result of that was that Aiden was allowed to leave the orchard and join Steven on his rounds and to learn of the dangers of the land.
Aiden was excited, not that he was ungrateful to Bee, but he couldn't see himself spending the rest of his life making honey and cider. His dreams also seemed to agree with him as several images would flash past his mind's eye, not long enough for any detail but with enough clarity to know that his destiny was something far greater than an orchard keeper.
In the end he hadn't shown Bee his bracelet, choosing instead to keep it hidden. Eventually he would start to show people but for now it would be his little secret. The less people who knew about it the less chance there was for the Shadow Lord to discover him.
The day he was to leave Aiden was treated to a large breakfast and given a large backpack full of "proper food", spare clothes and other necessities that Bee believed he would need while he was out of his sight. He was also given a small dagger that he could stick into his belt and use to defend himself when it was needed. Steven had promised him that during their trip he would teach him how to use it properly, and in the future they would get him a sword once he was comfortable with the idea of carrying a weapon.
"Now, you behave yourself," Bee told him tearfully. "Don't run off on Steven and make sure that he knows where you are at all times. If you get lost you wait for him to find you. Steven, Nevets, you take care of my Aiden now, you hear me? I want all three of you to return to me safe and sound. No excuses."
"Yes mother," Steven replied with a smile. "We'll see you again in a few months."
Aiden smiled at her reassuringly and walked forward to hug her briefly. She was in tears when he let her go and allowed the bees to have their farewell. Aiden laughed silently as he felt the bees settle on his clothes and bare skin. He gently shook them off and scurried over to stand beside his "older brothers". Nevets was interesting to be around, and while the wild man didn't speak often, he always managed to put a smile on Aiden's face and Aiden always felt protected and safe around him.
"Good bye mother!" Steven cried, and Aiden could faintly here Nevets in his voice. He smiled himself and waved behind him and bounced excitedly as the caravan started to move. The buzz of bees followed them as they left the gates of the orchard. Aiden, while apprehensive of what lay beyond the gates, knew that it was his destiny to go out to meet it. His distant future lay with his friends back in England, but for now he needed to do his part in this land. Deltora was now his home…and he had to protect it.
That night Aiden dreamed of a man, a boy and a wild girl. It was the first clear dream he had had since receiving the bracelet. He sensed that the boy was important in the future of Deltora but didn't know how. He had seen him before in previous dreams, but never as clear as that night. The man was more than likely a guard of some description as his behaviour in the dream indicated that he was very protective of the two younger children with him. The girl was strange, but there was the sense of freedom about her that Aiden envied. It was like she didn't care what others thought of her and did whatever she pleased.
When Aiden awoke he knew that he needed to keep an eye out for them.
The next few weeks Aiden and Steven and Nevets sold their stores to passing travelers and when there was no one on the road Steven and Aiden came up with a new method of communication. Aiden would use his hands to talk, much like he had seen deaf people communicate back in England. He didn't know how they spoke, so together he and Steven came up with new meanings for various hand positions. They had a great laugh memorizing and determining what position meant what.
One day Aiden asked about the Shadow Lord.
"Not much is known about the Shadow Lord," Steven explained as they were eating lunch. "No one knows where he comes from, but there are rumours about his beginning. He isn't a native to Deltora, that's for sure, and no one knows his original name. There is a tale, one of the Tenna Birdsong Tales that the Jalad were famous for. I'm not much of story teller but I will do my best.
' One dark night, a great storm raged on the wild west coast of the Land of Dragons, but the people of the that territory went to their beds without fear. They were far away from the furious sea, safe and warm in their strong white city built by magic. They slept peacefully, knowing that the great amethyst of that was their talisman protected them from harm.
So only the fish and the birds of the shore heard the crash as a boat with a broken mast and a tattered grey sail marked in red was blown onto the treacherous finger of rock that stretched deep into the silver sea.
The people slept on as that boat splintered in the waves. They slept on as its sail was torn to rags by the wind. The people slept as the rain ceased, and the moon sailed out from behind the clouds.
But when a drenched, cloaked figure crawled out of the sea and sprawled half-dead upon the shore, a shiver ran through the white city, and the people woke. The storm had passed, but a shadow had fallen on their land, and they knew it was far more dangerous than any storm.
As one they rose from their beds and moved to the centre of the city where the great amethyst lay on its table of stone. They stood together, every man, woman and child. And their minds met.
Far away, the sodden figure on the shore, groaned and flinched. Rage mingled with fear and shock as he felt the banishing spell take hold of him, felt his limbs begin to tremble and his heart go cold. Someone wanted him gone. Someone was daring to defy his will.
He was a mighty sorcerer, but he had been sadly weakened. The banishing spell was strong. He knew that he could not resist it for long. He refused to be driven back to the sea, which had stolen his magic staff and almost taken his life. He closed his eyes, summoned all that remained of his strength and took himself from the place of torment, took himself north, instinctively knowing which way to go.
When he opened his eyes he was in a rocky place, and mountains towered above him. The agony of the banishing spell had not merely weakened, but had gone – gone as if it had never been – for the people of the marble city were satisfied. The shadow had lifted from their territory. Where it went after that was no concern of theirs.
The sorcerer straightened his shoulders, and smiled. He turned to survey the land that he would make his own.
And crouched before him was a dragon, vast and terrible. Its green scales glittered in the moonlight. Its eyes were like great, flat emeralds, and steam drifted from its dripping jaws. The sorcerer felt its power, and knew that he could not destroy it.
So he tried to bargain with it. He offered it all the treasure his dark magic could provide if only it would serve him.
The green dragon's eyes narrowed. 'Dragons are servants to no man, sorcerer,' it hissed. 'We are servants of the land. And the land has no use for you. Begone!'
It breathed fire, and the rocks sizzled. The sorcerer felt the heat sear his flesh, and his robes began to smoke. He removed himself from the dragon's sight, retreating deep into the mountains.
The dragon did not follow him. And so the sorcerer learned that the depths of the mountains were not dragon territory, and that there he was safe.
In a dank cave he rested, and grew stronger. The foul things that skulked amid the rocks were no threat to him. they fawned upon him, drawn to his dark power.
The sorcerer was safe, but he was content. Rage burned within him. he left he cave and prowled the mountains from one end to the other, waiting his chance to swoop down upon the land. On the way he met more foul creatures, and also men and women – the ragged groups of bandits and killers who haunted the mountain deeps.
Rejoicing in his wickedness, these desperate souls gathered around him and followed him, willing him to triumph. The sorcerer despised them, but he took them and used them for his purposes. They told him everything they knew of the land they hated and the people they preyed upon. They showed him all the secret ways that led down through the mountains into the Land of Dragons.
But their secrets were no secrets to the protectors of the land. Every way the sorcerer tried was guarded by dragons, and no dragon would let him pass.
In fury he turned away from the Land of Dragons, telling himself that he must wait. He ordered his followers to lead him through the mountains to the other side. The land there would be his first domain. His followers whimpered, but he snarled and burned their minds until they did his will. So they led him to a place where he could see the beautiful green land that lay to the mountains' north.
Then the sorcerer found that this land, too, was barred to him. No dragons guarded its borders, but the very air was magic, and morning, noon and night there came a sound that repelled him, and pierced him to the bone.
Now his fury and hatred were so great that his heart was burning like a coal in his chest.
He swore to own the lands which had defied him. he swore to own them, every stick and stone. He swore to tear out their hearts. He swore to crush their people under his heel, and force them to call him master.
Raging, he returned to his den in the west, and his followers stumbled after him, for by now they were slaves to his will, and were his creatures, body and soul.
For years they served him as they plunged deeper into dark magic, as he gathered knowledge of his prey and made his plans. He made them crawl before him, and treated them like beasts, but none of them dared leave him. they kept company with vile monsters of the rocks, living only to do their master's bidding. And they watched in terror as his power grew.'
It is said that he only has one true enemy, and that is who he was fleeing from when he washed upon the western shores. I think that he needed to feel superior to others so he came to us where he believed that there was no resistance. We were, and still are, simple folk. I'm aware that the world beyond our island has moved on, but we're happy where we are."
His audience was in awe of his story. He asked Steven where he had heard the story before.
"I met a Jalad several years ago who lived to tell stories," Steven said with a smile. "He was a fabulous story teller and I did my best to remember the exact way he told it. That particular story he called The Tale of the Sorcerer. There are several others, but that one is one of the more prominent ones in my mind. I've always wondered that if Deltora wasn't as cruel as they had been, we might have had a different history. Hatred and evil will breed hatred and evil, did we create this evil that now plagues us? By the time any of us realised that this evil was inevitable, it was too late."
Aiden asked if anyone had ever left Deltora's shores.
"Some do," Steven admitted. "They never return though, I don't think that they survive though. From what I can gather the world is very different out there, few of us would be able to adapt to it. No one has left since the Shadow Lord took control fifteen years ago, he wouldn't let them. We had waited too long. His creatures control the oceans, and that's one of the reasons why I find it hard to believe that you were rescued by an animal. They kill all who cross their path, and those that don't, well, they don't last long surrounded by predators of the ocean variety."
Aiden turned his attention to the forgotten mug of honey in front of him. The story of the Shadow Lord in his early years was strange. The brief mention of a magic staff was telling, as powerful wizards had used staffs to control the flow of their magic until they discovered ways to make the staff smaller and more powerful. That was when wands had started to become popular and altered so that anyone with even a hint of magic would be able to use it.
He also knew that Voldemort had been raised in an orphanage, and as a half-blood in Slytherin, even one with Salazar Slytherin as a decedent, his life wouldn't have been pleasant. It made him wonder, that if prejudice and hatred hadn't existed, or if people had been a little more open-minded and welcoming, then maybe the Dark Lord Voldemort wouldn't have come into creation.
"Come on Aiden," Steven stated suddenly. "It's time to get a move on. I want to reach the Broad River Bridge by nightfall. There are usually some good camping spots there."
Aiden nodded and lifted himself off the ground. Quickly dumping what he had used in the correct box, he climbed up to where he sat at the front of the caravan. His bare feet swung slightly as he waited for Steven to lock the van and step up to his spot. He hadn't worn shoes since he started driving around with Steven, preferring to leave them in the caravan. He had grown up with Dursleys rarely wearing footwear, as all of Dudley's things had been way to big for him. He wore them for school but that was the extent of his footwear use.
"On to the Broad River Bridge little brother!" Steven stated jovially. Aiden smiled at his exuberance and silently sung along to Steven's songs.
"Once there was an Ol-io,
Jolly-wolly Ol-io,
Once there was an Ol-io,
Fearsome as could be!"
I said to that Ol-io,
Jolly-wolly Ol-io,
I said to that Ol-io,
You don't bother me!"
Colly-wobble Ol-io,
Jolly-wobble Ol-io,
Colly-wobble Ol-io,
You don't bother me!"
Next up in Deltora's Protector:
Chapter 4 - Grey Guards and Raladin