Shaping Magic (15 page)

“It was written in ancient Dwarven but in common language, it went like this:

Shaper of nature will come with people lost.

Shaper of earth will come with scars deep hidden.

Shaper of water will come enemy mine.

Shaper of magic will come with twins of old, to lead the fight.

To unite the four

One sleeps hidden

One defends

One is under

One is all but lost.

Find them all they must.

To fight for light

For if one cannot

Then all is lost.

The mistake will rise

And all will fall.

“It loses a little in translation, but that's basically it,” she said when she finished.

Lindon was the first to speak, “That doesn't really make any sense. How do you know that is about us?”

“If you think about it, you will understand,” Fenella said. “Look at the first line. What do you see?”

“
Shaper of nature will come with people lost.”

“Right. Aina is a shaper of nature, and where are her people. Can she get to them?”

“I guess that it could mean her, but what about the second line?
Shaper of earth will come with scars deep hidden.
Who is that supposed to mean? Yes, I know Donovan is a shaper, but what scars are hidden?”

“Donovan, do you want to answer that?” the old witch asked.

At first, Donovan didn't respond, and then he said in a quiet voice. “Lindon, not all that happened to me when I was held prisoner were to my body. There was a lot of abuse that didn't leave visible scars; many of them are hidden inside of me by what was done.”

With tears in his eyes, Lindon said, “I am sorry, my friend; I didn't know.”

“It is okay; you are the one that has helped me over come most of it, just by being you.”

“So there you go, there are Aina and Donovan plainly written in the first two lines, and now I am sure you are going to ask how about the third.”

Lindon smiled. “Who is the shaper of water and what does enemy mine mean?”

“Unfortunately, that I do not know. You will have to find them for yourself, but you must find them or all will be lost,” she said with foreboding.

Lindon looked at the old witch. “What about the fourth one? How do you know that is about me, even if I am a shaper of magic—and I am not saying I am—what does twins of old mean?”

“That's very simple. What's on your back, what do you see?”

Lindon pulled his weapons and laid them on the table before him. Both weapons were identical, every mark, every little blemish. What was on one was on the other. They were mirror images of one other. He remembered the elderly Dwarven blacksmith in the city who said they were made three hundred and fifty years ago. “Twins of old,” he whispered.

The three of them sat quietly, watching Lindon come to the realization that the prophecy was talking about him as well as Aina and Donovan.

Looking up and seeing his friends, he asked Fenella, “What about the rest? What does it mean?”

“I am not one hundred percent sure, but I believe you must search for the other races to help you in the coming battles.”

Lindon, showing his age and his naivety, said, “We already know where they are.”

“Oh so you know where to find the Dragons, do you, and of course you know how to reach the Elves. I will grant you the Dwarfs, and it’s very comforting that they have agreed to help you already. However, you really should have mentioned that you already had a Human army ready for battle,” she said with pure sarcasm.

“That’s not what I meant. I just meant that we knew where the Elves, Dwarfs, and Humans live, but I understand my mistake, and I apologize.”

Fenella was taken aback from the sincerity of the young man; she was not under the impression that Humans could be humble and to apologize. She was starting to realize why both Donovan and Aina would follow someone so young and inexperienced. There was something compelling about the young man that made her place trust in him.

“Apology accepted. What you have to understand is that this isn't the only prophecy to mention this. The others are a different, but this one I believe to be the one that tells you part of what is coming and what you need to do to fight it.”

Aina was the one to ask, “What is coming?”

Fenella didn't say anything at first. “The mistake. They are in the world again, and they will stop at nothing to destroy us all.”

Both Donovan and Aina both lost all color on their faces. Lindon, not knowing who or what, the mistake was, said, “What mistake? I don't understand.”

Donovan spoke. “Do you remember when I was telling you about the races of the world?”

“Yes, you said the Dragons were the first, the Elves the third, then the Dwarfs, and finally—”

“And you asked who the second were.”

“Right, and you didn't really tell me, only that they were pure evil, a mistake of the gods.” As Lindon said the last part, he stopped. “Do you mean to say that the second race is back? I thought it took the combined power of Dragons and Elves to finish them?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. If they are truly in this world, then we are in a great deal of trouble.”

“How do you know that it is, the mistake?” he asked Fenella.

“I do not know it for sure, but the prophecy names them, and I have never known one of Boyden's prophesies to be wrong.”

“Fenella, do you know what their true name is?” Lindon asked, not really expecting her to tell him, even if she did know.

Looking Lindon in the eye, she answered, “Yes I do, but it is not one to be spoken lightly. Names can have power. I do, however, think that it is right that you know who it is you are going to be fighting.”

The three friends waited in silence for her to continue.

“They were called the Merrow,” she finally answered.

“Do you mean those creatures we fought in the caves?” Lindon asked.

“No, those were Orks,” Donovan answered.

“What's the difference? I have never heard of either of them before.”

“You would not have heard their name before; it was removed from all languages before Humans inhabited the world.”

“Who were they? Did something happen that caused them to turn evil?”

“I will tell you the story, as it was told to me through the generations,” Fenella said. “When the earth was created, the gods looked down on their creation. Seeing the beauty they had created, they wished to share it with more than just themselves. Each god was tasked with creating different creatures to inhabit the earth. One was given dominion over the air; he created the birds and seeing the majesty of their flight, decided to create the Dragons to watch over the world from above.

“The second god, seeing the beauty of the first god’s creatures, tried to outdo him. He created the creatures of the oceans and waterways. Like the first god, he wanted a sentient race to watch over the world, not from the sky but from the water. He created the Merrow, but he made a critical mistake in their making. He made them beautiful, almost beyond belief, but he didn't give them the self-restraint to be able to function in the world, and anything that they thought was not up to their standards—which was just about every creature—didn't belong in the same world as they.

“At first with just the Dragons and the Merrow as the sentient beings of the world, they kept most of their predigests to themselves. The problem started when the third god decided it was time to bring his vision of beauty into the world. He created the animals of the world from the horse to the smallest of insect and to watch over his creations, he created the Elves. Now they were beautiful in their own right, but to the Merrow, they were far beneath them and as such did not belong. So little by little the Merrow started to kill off the smaller animals, but soon they started to go after the Elves. At first only a few went missing but soon more and more would disappear. What the Merrow didn't count on were the Dragons. From above, they saw what was happening and warned the Elves.

“When the Elves learned what was happening, they fought back. Their god had given them a grace and speed that allowed them to learn how to fight very quickly. Soon the Merrow were encountering resistance, and with the Dragons’ help started to push the Merrow back. Seeing that they were losing, they decided to use their powerful magic, so they took the Elves that they had captured and changed them into the foul creatures that you fought.

“With the Orks on their side they started to regain some of the ground they had lost. At about this time the god Gal Nola decided that he would join with his fellow gods, and he created the Dwarfs, but unlike the first two, he didn't strive for beauty. The Dwarfs were made for battle—not with speed but with pure power. He made us short but stocky and gave us the power to work with stone. With our help, the Elves and the Dragons were able to completely route the Merrow. We drove them from our world, killing them and their offspring, but what we didn't realize was that the Merrow and some believed with their god's help, gave the Orks the ability to reproduce and grow and an extremely fast rate, and we were never able to completely eliminate the Orks from the world.

“The three races spent many years scouring the world looking for any signs that any Merrow may have survived, but no trace of them was ever found. Thinking that we had eliminated them, we carried on with our lives. At first, everything was good between the races, but before long the Dwarven people started to feel out of place and soon started to look for a place they could call home.

  “The Elves didn't want us to leave, for they had become accustomed to our help. We would have no problems doing the kind of jobs that the Elves didn't want to do, but for us, it was not our home. We were a guest in theirs, until one day the entire Dwarven nation packed up and left for the underworld; under ground, we felt most at home so that is where we moved. The Elves felt betrayed by this, not realizing we didn't leave because of them, we left only because we wanted a home of our own.

“When the last god finally decided it was his turn; he created the Humans. He gave them the ability to reproduce quickly, but to balance that he shortened their life span to mere decades, instead of the centuries and eons of the other races. He also gave them a craving for life, one that would allow them to explore the world and to always try and improve themselves. Instead of enjoying the life they have, they seem to strive for something more and a curiosity that seems to lead them into trouble more times than not.
”

“And you think that the Merrow are the ones in the prophecy?” Lindon asked.

“Yes, but they are not the same as when they started. Sometime during their battles with the other races, they began to change. It was said that their disdain for all other life changed them from beautiful creatures of light. They hunger to consume all life as we know it and with the Dragons missing and the state of the Elven empire, it falls to you three to fight them.”

“How are we supposed to fight these creatures when it took the combined forces of the Dragons, Elves, and the Dwarfs to defeat them?”

“That I do not know, Lindon, but if you don't somehow manage it, all life will end and only darkness will prevail in the world.” The grim tone of her voice left no doubt in Lindon's mind that if they did nothing, her prediction of the world would come true, but for the life of him, he could not see how he could do anything to stop it from happening.

“Darkness has fallen and these old bones need their rest; you are welcome to pull up a floor and sleep for the night. I will not be here when you wake; I have told you all I know. Now it is up to you three to prepare the races for what is to come.” Her statement was final.

They brought out their sleeping rolls and despite the unease in their minds, fell into a restless sleep.

Lindon awoke in a cold sweat. Still trembling from his dreams, he looked out the small window and saw that it was still dark outside. The magical sun had not yet risen, and the moon was still shining its faint glow. He quietly got up from his bedroll. Seeing his friends still sleeping, he made his way to the door. Once outside, he buckled on his swords and walked down a pathway toward a small pool of water.