The Final Storm (30 page)
“Would you show me this remedy?” Sir Oswyn asked eagerly. “My herblore is substantial, but I know of nothing that strong for spider venom.”
“Of course,” Warriant replied.
“I am grateful to have these three back,” Thrivenbard said. “But Warriant, were there any others?”
Warriant shook his head grimly. “All of our patrols are back,” he said. “They found no one.”
Warriant summoned several Baleneers, who brought in a large table, more chairs, and enough bread, cheese, and drink to feed twice their number. After they had taken something to eat, the conversations turned to serious matters. Thrivenbard told Warriant about the growing threat of open war with Paragory. He told of the rise of the Wyrm Lord and of the release of the Seven Sleepers. And he told of Alleble gathering all its allies to make a final stand against the enemy.
“But you did not enter the forest to enlist the aid of Balesparr,” Warriant said after Thrivenbard’s tale was told.
“Nay,” Thrivenbard replied. “We did not know that such a force existed.”
“You sought Zabediel,” said Warriant.
“Yes,” Thrivenbard replied. He looked with indecision at Sir Rogan.
Warriant smiled and put his hand on Thrivenbard’s shoulder. “Ah . . . ,” he said. “You are not sure if you should speak further on this matter. For my eyes sparkle green, and Balesparr is not an ally of your kingdom. Am I right?”
Thrivenbard looked at the ground.
“I see that I am,” Warriant said, but there was no blame in his voice. “Perhaps it would help you to know that I already know something of your situation. And I have guessed even more besides. See if what I say is not close to the mark. You sought after Zabediel because he was of old the scribe of King Eliam. And in an age long before Alleble and Balesparr, Zabediel recorded a prophecy that would concern the fate of all The Realm.”
The knights from Alleble were still as if stone.
“When the Wyrm Lord spilled the innocent blood of King Eliam’s noble servant Torin,” Warriant continued, “and The Realm was divided, Zabediel, being kin to Torin, sought refuge in this forest and founded the village of Balesparr. This Scroll of Prophecy was hidden, but now Paragor has it and seeks to use it to bring his dominion to this land. Your hope, however, is that Paragor’s wisdom is limited—that he could not make full use of the Scroll without Zabediel translating the language. You came for Zabediel for two reasons: first to protect Zabediel, keeping him from falling into the enemy’s hands; and second, to learn all that you could about the prophecy so that you yourselves might use such knowledge to defeat Paragor!”
Thrivenbard was bewildered. “How do you know all of this?”
“Zabediel told us much,” Warriant replied. “But much of this we learned from our time living in many other places. You see, Balesparr is a realm made of Glimpses who have turned away from the lands where we were born. It is a refuge, a place for those weary of politics and warfare. A place where we can thrive and grow without the threat or fear of wickedness. A place where evil has no influence. But alas, no place is safe forever. Paragor found us, and we have been reminded of bloodshed. And . . . he has taken our Zabediel, the founder of all that we live and believe.”
“I am sorry,” said Thrivenbard. “Both for your loss and for my mistrust.”
“Your caution is justified in times such as these,” Warriant said. “But Balesparr can be trusted.”
Thrivenbard exhaled and shook his head. “Then I tell you this: We hoped that Zabediel could tell us how to find the Three Witnesses.”
Warriant frowned. “Zabediel spoke often to those he trusted of why he fled into the forest and why he must remain hidden until the end of his days. And while he spoke about the nature of the Scroll of Prophecy, he did not tell us what it said exactly. Who are the Three Witnesses?”
“Many in Alleble believe that when the threat of darkness is greatest, three warriors will come and lead Alleble to victory, but we do not know how to find them,” Thrivenbard said. “Alas! Ever Paragor seems one step ahead of us. He stole the Scroll of Prophecy and now he has taken Zabediel. I fear now that this mission was futile, that the lives of my comrades have been lost in vain.”
“Nay, not in vain,” Warriant said. “Your coming to Balesparr may yet yield some hope.”
“I do not understand,” said Thrivenbard.
Warriant explained, “When Paragor invaded this place, he made bitter enemies. He murdered hundreds of our Glimpses, stole away more than just our leader, but the refuge that defines our way of life, as well. We can no longer hide from the troubles that confront the rest of The Realm. Paragor seeks to overthrow Alleble and enslave the free Glimpses of The Realm, and Alleble calls to all its allies to fight back. As first vanguard of Balesparr, I offer you three thousand Baleneers. Will you have us?”
Thrivenbard grinned and extended his hand. “Yes, Alleble will have you!”
“Excellent!” Warriant exclaimed. “I must go now to the barracks. We must prepare for war!”
A
ntoinette pushed the Paragor Knight halfway back up the hallway so she could see better and then ripped his helmet off.
“Owww!”
“Aidan!” Antoinette cried, hugging him. “It’s really you!”
“Yeah,” Aidan replied, bewildered by the sudden turn of events. “It’s really me. Antoinette, I was looking for you in a cell. What are you doing running around—” Then Aidan noticed a very old Glimpse stepping out of the shadows. “Who’s he?” Aidan asked.
“This is Zabediel. He was in a cell near mine.”
Zabed looked at Aidan very suspiciously. “A Paragor Knight from the Mirror Realm?” asked Zabediel. “Can thou be trusted?”
“I’m an Alleble Knight,” Aidan said. “I took this armor from a Paragor Knight so I could move around unnoticed within Paragor’s army.”
“When did you return?” Antoinette asked.
“Not long ago. I was with Robby fighting Count Eogan, and all of a sudden I just kind of got pulled in on The Thread,” Aidan said.
Zabediel moved toward Aidan, staring at him as if he was studying him.
“The Thread? Oh, I don’t care how you got here . . . I’m just glad you came,” she said.
“I had to come,” Aidan replied. “It’s my fault you got captured, isn’t it? I asked you to look for Robby’s Glimpse.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t tell me not to follow Kaliam’s orders. It is I who placed many in danger in my quest to find Robby,” she said sadly. “But I found Robby’s Glimpse. He’s Kearn!”
“I saw him too. Do you know where he is?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure, but I think Kearn just disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Aidan asked.
“Yeah. One minute, he was there in my cell, and the next—gone!”
“That’s what happened to me,” Aidan said excitedly. “But that would mean that Robby is . . .”
“Someplace in The Realm,” she said.
“Antoinette, we have to get to Alleble,” Aidan said, taking her hand and starting down the hall. “I’ve got to talk with Kaliam. Come on, I have two dragons I left on a balcony below.” They ran back the way Aidan had come, taking odd turns, and spiraling ever down.
“Wait!” Zabed’s strained voice came from behind. “I . . . I must rest.”
Aidan and Antoinette would not go on without Zabed, so the three rested.
Antoinette sat with her arm around Zabediel’s slight frame. “Even with your dragons,” she said, “I don’t know how we’ll get past Paragor’s forces.”
“Easy,” Aidan replied. “We’ll just fly above them.”
“Aidan, you don’t understand. We might get by Paragor’s ocean of soldiers, dragons, and catapults, but he’s set free terrible monsters also: giant wolf creatures called the Seven Sleepers and a powerful dragon called the Wyrm Lord. Oh, Aidan, you have no idea what he can do!”
“We have to try. I have something . . .” Aidan reached into his armor, unbuttoned a flap on his tunic, and pulled out the scrap of parchment he’d found in the Blackwood. He held it up and showed Antoinette. “King Eliam led me to this scroll, and Paragor wants it. I don’t know what it says . . .”
“The Scroll of Prophecy,” whispered Zabed. He gently took the piece of yellowed parchment from Aidan’s hand. “These are the words of King Eliam the Everlasting, uttered prophetically at the dawn of this world.”
Aidan and Antoinette stared at the old Glimpse. “How . . . how do you know that?” Antoinette asked.
Zabediel smiled. “I know, m’lady Antoinette, because I was there when King Eliam spoke these words.”
Aidan’s mouth fell open. “But that would make you—”
“Older than time,” Zabediel said with a laugh. “And so I almost am. I am in the line of Torin, Pureblood, the firstborn in all The Realm! I walked with King Eliam when all things were safe and beautiful, and I heard him speak the fate of this world. It was I who wrote his words down in the most ancient of tongues, and I alone of living Glimpse-kind can read all of what is written here.”
“What does it say?” Aidan blurted out.
“Such knowledge is a heavy burden to bear. It is because of this that Paragor ripped me away from my wooded refuge and subjected me to agonizing tortures. Ye see, this is but the final piece of the Scroll of Prophecy that Paragor now commands. He stole it from the heart of Sil Arnoth, the firstborn tree of all The Realm. But old Arnoth was more clever than Paragor supposed. Even in death, he would not relinquish it all. The longer portion that the enemy now holds is incomplete. He suspected this for a time, but I think—thanks to my own efforts and to Aidan’s—Paragor is now content with what he has. And we must hope that he will continue to believe that.”
“What do you mean?” Antoinette asked.
“The Scroll of Prophecy tells many things,” Zabediel explained. “For Paragor it tells what his itching ears want to hear: how final victory over Alleble might be achieved. He is wise in his cunning and well-learned in ancient tongues. Between what he was able to decipher on his own and what he was able to torture out of me, Paragor has unleashed the Wyrm Lord and the Seven Sleepers. They are a bane to this world, and two thirds of the final disaster that Paragor longs to visit on all Glimpse-kind.”
“Two thirds?” Aidan said. “I don’t understand.”
“No,” Zabediel said, holding up the parchment and smiling grimly. “And neither does Paragor. For he does not know what is written on this, the last part of the prophecy. And he does not realize how the end he foresees could be his own.”
“Will you tell us the prophecy?” Aidan asked.
“I will,” he replied eagerly. “For, unless my wisdom is far astray, the prophecy concerns you both.”
Aidan and Antoinette stared at each other and then back at Zabediel.
“‘Hear now, you called ones of the King,’” Zabediel read from the scroll. “‘Hear King Eliam the Everlasting’s prophecy—in its entirety—as it has not been spoken since the beginning.’”
Aidan and Antoinette lost all sense of where they were when Zabediel began to recite the prophecy from memory. The walls of the passage peeled back, and the flickering torch blazed anew and became a distant sun rising over a pristine green world. All was serene, but a bruised sky on the western horizon signaled a storm was coming.
Laugh and be glad, realm from my hand.
Wind and trees, sing songs.
Mountains rise and smile at the sky.
My children, grow and be strong.
Gifts I have given thee, and gifts will I give
To the firstborn and all of your kin.
A path of light I have laid out before thee,
And the greater prize, choose from within.
Alas, my children, among thee,
In the darkness, a deed will be done.
Covetous wyrm ire will burn like white fire,
And innocent blood will run.
Wind and tall trees will fall silent.
Mountains will scowl and shudder.
The sky will turn black and
My children will weep
For the realm torn asunder.
From Torin’s Keep, the dragon will fly,
Swift on the wing, away from my eye.
Into the deep forest where
The first wolvins dwell,
He will teach them his secrets and
Persuade them to lie.
No forest will hide, the blood-red stain
Of their unfortunate choices.
And though they lay quiet beneath the boughs,
I still hear their voices.
Traitorous wyrm! I see from afar.
The whole realm groans around thee.
In the Shattered Lands your
Consequence stands
Entombed beneath a molten sea.
I will call the Seven, out from their den,
And though they beg and weep,
A sepulcher of trees will be their doom,
And evermore they sleep.
From the sorrow, new hope will spring.
Glimpse-kind will fill all the lands.
Alleble will be my beacon.
Seven fountains where the waters dance.
All will know of my kingdom,
And I will watch over all.
From near and far and the Mirror Realm,
Many will answer my call.
I will choose my favored one
And give him the sword of the pure.
Yet his loyalty like a castle wall
