The Elderien Chronicles

The prophecy

He looked down on them both and then crunched, his bones cracking as he did. He slowly took Alastair's face in his hand and looked at him.

"You have grown thinner over the years. Perhaps life hasn't treated you well?" The old man said and Cara watched as Alastair sobbed.

"Master..."

"You should not have come back here Alastair." The old man said and stood up, walking away from him.

"I know, master Orion. But I just need you to take her in. She is a mage and she needs your wisdom." Alastair said and Orion looked at Cara.

"You risked your life to bring her to me. Who is she? Your daughter?" Orion asked but Alastair did not reply. Then, he directed his gaze towards Cara.

"What is your name, child?"

"Cara."

"And you are a mage?"

" He says so." Cara said and looked at Alastair.

"Hm." Orion added and walked away.

"Throw Alastair out of this city..."

"But master Orion, the judgement was passed!" Blaize objected. But Orion continued

"...take the child to the Inyens. They will tell us what we need to know about her." Orion added and walked away.

The other mages bowed and grabbed both Alastair and Cara, drifting them apart as Blaize stood still, boiling in anger. Alastair, on the other hand, was quite happy. That was not the way he had thought the hearing would go. What happened along the way? Why did Orion change his mind?

The mages threw him outside as ordered and he stood up. He sighed as he walked away. Cara was finally safe. She was right where she belonged and not with him. He could not teach her anything.

But as he walked away from the keep, he realized he still had even more questions about who she was exactly. He had gotten tired of guessing. He needed definite answers as he was not going to get them by himself. He needed help, he needed to pay a visit to an old friend; Enya.

A friend was not the precise term Alastair could have used to describe the relationship between himself and Enya. She was a seer using dark magic he had met when he went into the dark ways. They had a cordial relationship along the way but he knew she was crazy, and unpredictable. So, when he took a detour towards the location of the cave where she lived, he knew he had to be in his best state of mind.

She had a lot of tricks up her sleeves as she did not like being disturbed.

Alastair walked into the cave, the rancid smell of something dead hitting his nose. He sniffled as he continued to walk through the dark cave, his legs stepping on crunching bones as he did. He could not believe that was the kind of life he was ready to go into. Greed, a worm on the soul, ready to consume anything it encounters, until a shell of a person is left in existence. He was glad he had not fallen into the trap.

When he could no longer walk through the darkness, he casted a spell that made his hand burst out in flames, using it as a torch, but suddenly, a large spider jumped at him. Alastair quick shot a stream of fire at the spider, burning it at the spot. Enya had decided to play her game early.

He walked on.

He did not walk for long until he saw a barrier which he easily penetrated. There she was, Enya, a hag now. She looked even uglier than the last time he saw her. But he forced a smile.

"Enya. It is so good to see you." He said

"Alastair. After many years. You have grown. Tell me, Alastair, how do I look?" Enya asked

"As beautiful as ever."

"Do I still look young?"

"Ofcourse you do. You look as as supple and beautiful as you did when you were twenty one. Remember those days?" Those were days before he was born but it was always effective in calming her nerves. You do not want to tell her she's ugly!

"What brings you here?"

"I need information."

"On who?"

"On a little girl."

"Cara?" Alastair was almost surprised but then he remembered who she was exactly. She was one of the best seers in the kingdom, but people do not patronise her for her price was costly. She requested a human life in exchange for information. That kept her young. For her to look that way, she must have had a rough few years. But Alastair had found his way around her fee.

"The girl, Cara, is a special child." She said and suddenly gasped, her eyes turning white as she looked at the roof. She froze, like someone who had died.

"What do you see? Alastair asked her.

"Her destiny. She will usher the entire world into a new era. But how that turns out, whether for peace or for destruction depends entirely on you, Alastair."

"On me? How?"

"She has the Phoenix within her. It chosed her to be its master. And then, there is something else seeking to corrupt her. A dark presence, a powerful demon."

Asmodeus! It had to be him.

Ofcourse, it made perfect sense. Asmodeus had abandoned him when he was not powerful enough to exert his plan, but he had merged himself with Cara instead. How did he manage that?

The Phoenix, on the other hand was a creature of legend. It was said to be the first born of Leviathan, the first of the dragons created by gods. There has never been a documentation of the Phoenix having a lord and as for Leviathan, only the gods were worthy enough to ride him.

"I need to stop Asmodeus. How do I do it?"

"You must drive him out of her body. Perform an exorcism. Teach her all she needs to know about the power inside her. Nurture her to bring peace to our world. If Asmodeus wins, he will bring destruction to us and he will use her to do it. You must take her to the Isle of Mist. There, you will find what you need to drive him out.

But to do so, you must level up."

"The isle is nothing but a myth. No one knows where it is. I am not the mage I once was. I am no longer a Dragonlord. I lost everything. She's safest with the Mages. They can teach her."

"The Mages cannot understand the magnitude of power she has within her. She has a Destiny of being the most powerful mage the world has ever seen or it's most powerful conquerer. And it depends entirely on you. The mages you hold in high esteem will know of this truth and when they do, they will try to kill her. They will not take chances. You must get her out of that place Immediately! Go to Rheina and seek out the sailor who 'dances with the sun.' He shall take you to the isle. Now, go!"

And that was how a simple 'fortune telling' took an unexpected turn for as Alastair dashed out of the cave, Cara was being led into an old building with a bath at the centre. As the mages led her inside, she could see three blind women inside the bath, swimming as they snarled when they sensed their presence.

"Who is the child?" One of them asked Orion who took a look at Cara before he answered.

"She is a new one. A mage. She was brought in by Alastair. She has to be special for him to do that. I want to know who she is exactly." Orion said to the women who snarled again.

The Inyens were three seer sisters that served the Elderien's keep. They offered insights, except at the time when they could not see the destruction Alastair would bring.

"We see nothing!" They replied in unison. Cara was tensed.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"This child's future blinds our sight. We cannot see what she is capable of. She shines too bring for us to predict her future. In another event of uncertainty like sixteen years ago, she must die."

The women said again but then, they suddenly stopped.

"Demon! There is a demon inside her! It is Asmodeus! You must kill her right now!"

The women screamed in unison as the Mages suddenly took defensive stance against Cara. She did not know what to do. She just stood in their circle and watched as the mages braced themselves to kill her. So she had turned out to be evil afterall?

Why did that not surprise her?

"Kill her." Orion slowly ordered and the mages hurled at her.

But that at moment, a Powerful telekinetic wave blasted all the mages there away from her. Alastair dashed inside, grabbed her hand and ran off with her. He had taken a secret pass into the keep. He was amazed that it was still there even after all those times.

"Alastair, you came back." Cara said and smiled.

Alastair sighed as they tried to get out of the keep, but more mages had joined the fight. Alastair quickly knocked down a mage and grabbed its spear, throwing it at the one who was in closest pursuit.

Turns out, it was Blaize.

He caught the spear and threw it at Alastair, sending a powerful energy blast along with it. But Alastair redirected it and shot it at a nearby building which exploded immediately.

That was a necessary distraction and as Alastair used a powerful surge of his power to propel them out of the keep, he could see mages getting ready to follow.

How long could he run?