Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy (29 page)

Surprised by the weight of the thing, Steve hefted it in his hand. Unlike the jorii, this object didn’t appear to be generating any heat. Quite the contrary, it was cool to the touch. He held it up to his face, studying it closely. Was this carved out of a single piece of crystal? Cool! These guys really had a knack for working with precious stones.

Holding the Bakkian out in front of him, Steve looked questioningly at the Kri’yans. “So what do I do? How do I open it?”

Kri’Entu stared at the strangely quiescent piece of crystal. What was wrong? Why wasn’t it working? The spell should have been activated once contact was made. Were they not the
Nohrin
?

At that moment Sarah leaned over her husband’s shoulder and ran her fingers along the raised image of the griffin embossed onto the surface. Suddenly there was a flash of golden light, illuminating the entire Antechamber. Finding themselves unable to let go of the crystal shield, Steve and Sarah watched with amazement as several seams appeared on the surface of the crystal. The center, which had the griffin on it, parted right down the middle and swung open. An iridescent golden light escaped from the heart of the crystal shield, bathing both husband and wife with an eerie glow. A soft female voice started to speak:

The shimmering light withdrew inside, reverting back into an unblemished crystal once more.

Sarah’s mouth was gaping open. “Okay, I can see how that might pertain to the two of us.”

Steve snorted. “’Seek ye not the protector’s wrath’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Well, you can get a temper if you’re provoked.”

Steve harrumphed. “What’s the ‘darkness’ refer to?”

Kri’Entu tapped his fingers absentmindedly on his chair as he held a silent conversation with the queen. She nodded to the two of them.

Go on
, her eyes said.
They need to know
.

How much do I tell them?
His eyes inquired.

Everything
, was the response.

Knowing that some type of communication was going on between the two silent monarchs, Steve and Sarah nervously eyed each other, waiting for them to finish.

Taking a deep breath, the king faced his two guests.

“
There have been disturbing reports coming from the north,” the king explained. “A dark
wizard
from Ylani has found a way to steal jhorun.”

“
Say what? How?”

“
No one knows. They have captured three of our spies and returned them to us, their jhoruns stripped away from each of them.”

“
Can’t your wizard replace the stolen jhorun?” Steve asked.

The queen sadly shook her head. “He has been secluded in his workshop working diligently on a remedy. Thus far, no luck.”

“
Maybe their jhorun will return in time,”
Sarah
suggested.

“
The first spy was returned to us over three years ago.”

Steve whistled. “I take it losing your jhorun is a bad thing?” Seeing his wife’s horrified look, Steve hastily added, “No offense to your majesties. We have lived the majority of our lives without jhoruns, so I don’t know how you people would react to losing one.”

The king held up a hand and stared hard at Steve. “I said stolen, not lost. Our spies reported seeing this dark wizard wielding their own jhoruns against them.”

“
How does your son fit in to this?” Steve asked.

“
Mikal restored them,” Kri’Entu said simply.

“
What?” Steve exclaimed. “How?”

“
The closest we can approximate,” Ny’Callé said, “is that Mikal’s ability, his jhorun, is enhancement. It was quite by accident that we discovered this.”

“
Indeed,” the king agreed. “We had consulted Shardwyn several times about Mikal’s lack of a jhorun. Ye see, a Lentarian child’s jhorun first manifests itself around their fourth birthday. We did not discover what jhorun our son had until last year.”

“
What happened?” Sarah wanted to know. “How did you find out?”

“
Mikal was curious about the land to the north, so he was talking to one of the people who had their jhoruns taken from them. Tristan. Ye met him before.”

Both Sarah and Steve nodded.

“
While talking with Tristan,” the king continued, “Mikal evidently asked what type of jhorun he had that the wizard stole from him. Tristan told him what his jhorun was, which was being able to temporarily summon small daggers. Since at that time Mikal did not know the nature of his jhorun, he wished Tristan could have his jhorun back so that he could see a demonstration. At that moment, for a span of a few seconds, Tristan was able to conjure a small dagger.”

“
Is it fully restored now?”

The king nodded. “Tristan reported that after that initial conversation with my son, his jhorun was fully regenerated in about three months.”

Steve stood up and started to pace. “So, let me get this straight. This dark wizard guy, he finds some way to steal the jhorun from a Lentarian.”

The Kri’yans nodded.

“
And your son has the ability to restore it. My question is,” Steve paused a moment, “does he restore the jhorun so that both the original person and the wizard have it as well? Or does your son somehow restore the jhorun to the original person, thus stealing it back from this bad wizard?”

The queen spoke. “I do not know how he does it, but he is actually taking them back from the dark wizard.”

Sarah leaned forward. “Are you sure?”

“
Quite sure,” the king said darkly. “There have been five attacks upon him. Since he is protected by the strongest jhorun at our disposal here in the castle, I believe it will only be a matter of time before they try a more daring scheme to lure him out of the castle.”

“
I’ll take that as a big ten-four,” Steve muttered.

The king stared matter-of-factly at Steve. “Will the two of ye protect our son for us?”

Sarah moved to stand next to her husband. He took her hand in his. Addressing the king, Steve nodded. “Your majesties, we will do all we can to keep him safe. You have our word.”

With tears of gratitude in her eyes, the queen rose and faced both of the newly appointed Nohrin. She couldn’t help it. She embraced Sarah in a tight hug. “I, we, thank the two of ye. A thousand times over.”

The king stood up and extended his arm. Steve grasped it.

“
Ye honor us with yer courage.”

Grinning sheepishly, Steve shrugged.

Releasing Sarah, the queen caught Steve’s arm as he tried to sneak by her and pulled him into a hug as well.

Patting her awkwardly on the back, Steve plastered a smile on his face and waited to be released.

“
Tristan.” The king was staring at the darkened corner of the Antechamber.

Tristan appeared yet again out of the shadows. When had he returned, anyway?

“
Sire.

“
Please escort Kre’Mikal here.”

“
At once, sire.” Tristan melted back into the shadows, and from the far reaches of the chamber they heard a door open and then close. A servant girl then materialized out of the shadows, a different one this time, holding a large platter with four goblets on it. She stopped by each person in turn. Both Steve and the king each took a goblet. Sarah and the queen declined with a smile.

“
So,” Steve said, absently patting his pockets, “your son’s jhorun is enhancement. So he can pretty much do the same thing as a jorii, right?”

The king was in the process of raising his goblet to his lips to take a drink when he froze. “How are ye aware of the jorii?”

“
Because we happen to have one with us,”
Sarah
explained. “When we were going through his grandparent’
s house, we found their safe.”

“
The same type as yours,” Steve said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the fake stone wall.

“
Did ye find a large quantity of jorii in their possession?” the king asked carefully.

Steve nodded. “Yep, a whole sack full of them. We didn’t learn about what they were
until
we met up with the first people we saw here. They hadn’t seen one of them before, either.”

“
Speaking of which,” Sarah interrupted, “we need to send word back to them to let them know we arrived safely. They were a tremendous help and we wouldn’t have made it this far without them.”

“
I will send word immediately,” the king
assured
them. “Who are they?”

“
A young man by the name of Kornal, and his wife-”

“
Nilhanu,” the king finished for her. “He has the ability to find a certain species of fish, and if I am not mistaken, his wife’s ability is the
enhancement
of local pontal.”