novelxo Chapter Chapter One
The air was a cold damp that was unusual for that time of year. The world had a feeling of darkness to it that even the Druid scholars could not explain.
The young druid leaned over the embers of the dying sacrificial fire and looked down into the signs left in the embers with confusion. How could it be that one would be born more powerful than him? How could it be that even the spirits could not tell if the one that would be born would follow the light or the darkness that was engulfing their world? A gnarled old man looked over the younger druid’s shoulder. As he gazed over at the dying embers, his breath caught.
“Being of an age that has seen many a strange omen come and go, I know what this thing means. I have seen this very omen before and yet we hesitate even now to speak of it. It is the mark of the Askanitowa. The immortals. This one appears stronger, faster, and smarter than most. Maybe better than any that was before and may come again. I have never seen the signs this strong before. Gods pray that he will be on our side than that of the enemy. I shall give you this task young Artitous. The child has not yet been born. Find him. Care for him. Raise him to be a soldier of the Light.”
Artitous looked up at the old man. The older druid looked a lot older than the younger man remembered. Though the younger man looked pale, he failed to tremble as he looked up into his mentor’s face. “Why should I take on this responsibility? Why should this rest on my shoulders? Why not take this upon your shoulders as you took me?”
“With the rebirth of the Askanitowa, my time here on Dracos is almost done. Soon the time comes for me to move from this to the next stage of my journey of life. You must continue where I have left off. Many will need your guidance and assistance in the coming years. The first of many will be the Askanitowa. You must take this burden upon your broad young shoulders because I can simply take no more weight upon these old ones. Know this Artitous. You will not suffer my fate. You will live forever, but that comes at a high cost for you must be a guide to the races of Dracos. It is you who must guide this soon to be newborn child from infancy to his own destiny. You must teach him the ways of the Light as I have taught you!”
At those words the old man’s form started to visibly age. Soon the old man started to cough violently and his eyes took a glazed look. It did not take long for the young Artitous to realize that his mentor was gone. The young man fell to his knees at his old mentor’s side and began to cry. The boy felt as if he had lost his best friend in the entire world. In a sense, he had.
As the young druid left on his journey to find the soon to be born immortal, a young woman by the name of Tasina Thalin was preparing the bouquet of flowers she would wear in her hair that evening during the Beltane’s eve festival. Her home lay on the bluffs overlooking the Great Sea and shores beyond. As you looked off those bluffs and over the sea a soul would believe that they could just lift off and fly to that great paradise that lay hidden on the other side. The site of a sunset off those cliffs could bring tears to the eyes of the most hardened of hearts. Not even sea birds would spoil the site of those sunsets. Only the gods themselves had this kind of view.
The view was only matched in beauty by the young Tasina. Her face was compared by many of the local boys to those of the great goddesses. The bloom of her cheeks compared to the pale roses that grew in her small flower garden. She had the body that the gods put on Dracos to taunt and tease men but was never to be possessed.
As Tasina finished dressing her hair, she felt the eyes of the young Lord McCryden on her. Moving up her body and down she shivered as she saw the Lord looking at her. “Please leave here, my Lord, or I shall be forced to summon my father and brothers to defend my honor. It would not go well for you to have your best warriors facing you in combat now would it my Lord?” The man scoffed and looked at her in the eyes, “Your men folk would not stand a moment against my noble blood. Not for a moment. Besides I think that you may have enjoyed having my eyes upon you for it took you longer to respond this time. Remember Tasina. I always get what I want!” At this he strode away and Tasina continued to prepare for the festivities.
As Tasina stepped from her porch to head to the festivities, she stopped for just a moment to observe the sunset over those cliffs. After a moment with a smile on her face she proceeded to the town of McCryden for the ceremonies. The young lord had just won another of his vile battles and wanted the entire population of the village and the surrounding area to celebrate his great victory over his defenseless neighbors during the traditional Beltane festival.
The festivals would not be a total loss for her though, she thought. At least the elves would be present. Their presence to provide the blessing of the coming season of growth was as much a part of Beltane as the weddings. The elves were famous throughout the land as healers and farmers. Their skills with the healing arts and with husbandry were matched only by their skill with the bow. No other race of people could come close to their true sight and truer aim. To be compared to an elf in archery or healing was indeed a great compliment. At least, that is, if you were not an elf.
And so it was with a light heart that she left that day to attend the Beltane ceremonies. Now Beltane was a sacred evening to the druid people. It was their belief that Beltane was the day the spirit world blessed the earth and those woman who were eligible to bear fruit. With that belief in mind, it was also the day that most of the druid weddings occurred. It was also customary that the newlyweds consummated their unions amongst the villagers of their town so that there would be little doubt as to the purity of the bride. But not all the couples going off this night were married. And in some of those couplings, one or the other was not a willing participant. Thus, was the case of the young Tasina and the Lord McCryden.
Tasina had mistimed her arrival to the festival. The young Lord had already had an eyeful of the traditional ceremonies and had also gotten more than his ration of wine in his belly. Seeing Tasina enter into the firelight, several of the unwed men called out to her to join them at the fire for the festival with suggestions of what waited her there. Laughing she quickly and firmly turned each down as she moved in search of the elves that walked amongst the men and women that lay upon the earth. Seeing an elf walking in the distance, she moved rapidly in the elf’s direction. She made it a few feet before her path was blocked with the bulk of Lord McCryden. Already naked, the Lord grabbed her and pulled her into the wood. Amid the screams and sounds of the festival, the screams for help and the pleas of young Tasina were unheard by the others at the fires. As the Lord forced his will on her he leaned down and whispered into her ear, “I told you, I always get what I want.”
Artitous walked into the town of McCryden about midsummer, not even sure why he did. This little town did not even appear on most of the better maps of the region. Surely the Lord of the World would not be born here. Yet something told him he was in the right place. As he walked along, he stopped and stared at the primitive huts and hovels these people called homes and nearly ran over the now very pregnant Tasina. She held her head downcast, ashamed of her present condition and refused to meet the gaze of the poorly built young man standing over her steadying her after their collision. As their hands touched, both looked into each others face in amazement. Artitous realized that the woman before him was the one he sought.
“Follow me and ask no questions!” whispered Artitous. “Move quickly before it becomes too late.”
Artitous grasped the young woman’s hands and led her away to a secret place in the groves outside the village and there tended her during the final days of her labors. It was after her disappearance that the young Lord McCryden decided to check up on his unwilling lover. Not being able to find the young woman, inquires revealed that a stranger had taken her away from the village and that the fruits of her Beltane tryst were soon to be born. At this the young Lord became enraged and killed the man bearing this unfortunate news.
The lord called his most loyal warriors into his keep that evening, amongst them was Tasina’s father. Together they shared a feast that would have sustained many outside that room for many days and then the Lord called a quick pause. Standing he told them to find the woman, Tasina Thalin, and destroy her. If she had already born her child, it was to be destroyed as well. Preferably before the child’s parentage could be determined. Having given his orders, he told them that the warrior who brings the head of the woman to him would receive a large reward for his troubles. He then dismissed them to complete the evil task laid before them.
Her father knew where to find the young woman and immediately ran for the groves that concealed the hovel where she hid. Upon arriving he found his pregnant daughter in the care of the young druid. After excusing himself the druid left the two to discuss what he assumed would be a close family matter and headed for the schools of the local druids. The girl’s father begged the girl to run. He relayed that the lord of the village had offered a great reward for her and her child’s demise. He begged her to run to the druids and beg for their protection for none would harm one protected by the druids. “You must leave here! Go to the great Groves. The druids there will protect you and the child. I know this was not your fault but now is not the time for arguments. We must go now or we will never get out of here!” yelled Tasina’s father.
At hearing her father’s words the girl ran. She ran as fast as her condition would allow her toward the shelter of the druid woods. But her flight was in vain, for as she progressed down the trails she was overtaken by the lord’s men. Greedy for the lord’s reward they charged the young woman hoping to take her there on the spot. But as they moved closer a bright light flashed and blinded the fighters. Taking this miracle for what it was worth the frightened young woman ran for all she was worth to the only place she knew she would not be found.
It took her two hours but finally she arrived at the cave. She had never been inside and as far as she knew no one but the druids had ever really entered the cave. But enter she must. If she were to remain outside, she would surely be caught and destroyed. She looked at the mouth of the cave, and she gasped in awe at its great size. The mouth of the cave was large enough to swallow her and an entire army in a single bite. The horsemen would not even have to lower their lances to enter this large fissure into the depths of Dracos. The darkness filling that hole in the earth seemed to swallow all the surrounding light. It seemed to pull all the light and heat from the very sun. She was gripped by fear as she approached the great opening.
She looked into the great hole in the earth. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and a wonder beheld her. The natural features of the cave inside looked to be carved from the finest of the glassmaker’s wares. Crystal clear were the columns that held the ceiling high above her head. Everywhere she looked, there was the glass, glowing in time to the rhythm of her heart and the movements of the child deep within her. Slowly she moved a little into the cave.
“Come in Child!” said a voice from inside the depths of the cave. “Come in and let me see you. Bring your mother with you. Well, being that you have not yet been born I suppose that you will be unable to leave her behind but come on, come on I have run out of patience many years ago and am now running out of mercy. Hurry now.” To Tasina he cried “Woman! Enter already. People will question your upbringing lingering in doorways so! I have many a guest within the cave already that does not know you of yet and may believe you have come for their dinner!”
“Please sir. Do not let them harm me!” cried the frightened Tasina. “I meant no harm coming here I simply wished to hide from those who would do me and my child harm.” Falling to the floor she huddled at the feet of the man in the throne of crystal and wept tears she figured would be her last. “You spoke to a child, my Lord. But my child is not yet born. Why did you speak so?” The lady’s sense of curiosity getting the better of her.
“Do you see the lights around you, Tasina?” asked the man on the throne, “Do you notice that they move with the child inside you at this very moment?” Tasina simply nodded her head to each of the questions. “It is your child that will be able to control the magic that has for so long lingered in this cave of glass. It will be he that will change the world around us to his liking not to ours. Yes, yes woman, I said he. I know a great deal if you care to learn. Come into the light and gaze upon the one who has come to see to the safety of your child and to you, if it is possible, and to see that he changes this world for the better. I could definitely use the help having been a young man once myself I think I know how a young man may think.”
She forced herself to take the few steps closer to see the man on the throne. What she saw was not at all what she expected. The man before her was younger than she figured. If he stood, he would have reached a height of about 6 feet and a half. The man looked well built and very lean with muscle rippling when he moved. A small bull would be adequate description of him, if a bull could be said to be handsome. In face he was always sought by those of the fairer sex, being what they deemed beautiful. The dark hair of his head streaked at the temples with grey gave not the image of age but of wisdom, and the hair of his beard and mustache was as dark as that on his head, again with only a small strip of grey going from the lower lip down his chin in an almost straight line. Tasina stared in disbelief at the man on the throne. This surely was not the man who had just addressed her and why was he in the white and brown of the druid order?
“My lord,” began Tasina, “I mean no offense but how should I call you? I am Tasina and your servant. Your look is much different from what I had envisioned from the sound of your voice. Please give me your protection my lord. I have no where left to turn and you the only hope for my child.”
“Young lady, never give your full name to one you have just met. It gives them some great power over you. As for what to call me, just call me Arty. That is close enough for response and far enough for safety. Never let your mind create for you images. If the sound of a voice can create a picture that will stop you cold in your tracks than what else could the sound of a voice do? Maybe distract at a critical moment? Maybe allow a small error in judgment that would not normally have been made? Be careful about what power you allow others to have over you and your thoughts. That will be the first of many lessons that I will give you and your child in the arts of defending yourself.” Said Artitous.
The days passed into weeks and the man who would be a teacher found himself learning from the woman he was supposed to be teaching. Slowly he noticed that a touch of the hand that lasted for a moment now seemed to linger. Its break seemed to leave him less full somehow. Like some small part of him was missing. Used to being alone the druid did not notice at first that he waited with anticipation more and more every time she was far from him. Finally he was very strained to be far from her with worry for her safety and her condition. It was not just the druid that noticed these things. Tasina found herself longing for the lessons in magic, fighting, and wrestling just so she could be near the dark stranger. Letting him hold her down for long moments wondering what it was she wanted from him looking down at her.
One day, Tasina walked in from the stream in the sixth month of her pregnancy. She would usually be in the robes closely tied about her, but today for reasons unknown to her, she left the robe untied and it highlighted instead of concealed the curves of her bosom and shape of herself. Artitous saw her walk into the cave and could not help but stare. Noticing his look upon her and realizing that he would not take her by force, said to him, “Arty, you stand and admire and yet do not try to take the advantage that I offer. I have only been one time with a man and it was not of my choosing. I now wish to give myself to the one I choose. Arty do you not realize that the one I choose is you?”
Artitous stood there not believing his ears for it was what he longed to hear. The woman before him had fallen in love with him. Him! If she only knew, he could not be what she wanted, he thought. He told himself in a million ways that this was a fool’s thing he was doing. And yet the fool’s thing is what he did and the two found themselves inside the chamber that Artitous used as his bedroom. Tasina moved into the chamber later that very day and the two lived from that moment as man and wife by the laws of the druid people.
As Tasina came closer and closer to time of her delivery, Artitous made a surprise announcement. Tasks have forced him to take a trip that should last no more than a few days. He would finish his task quickly and return to take care of Tasina and the child. Tasina was warned with feigned harshness that she was not to have the child while he was away.
Several hours after Artitous had left the cave, Tasina felt the first pangs from her belly. The boy inside her had finally decided it was time. Tasina staggered to the cave in misery looking for the safety of her bed. It was not to be for as she entered the cave she fell to her knees and the ends of her labor came.
After what seemed an eternity the child was borne into the world and what was once a marvelous cave of glass now looked as any other cave. The magic that had lived there was no longer there. The child muzzling onto his mother’s breast was another story though. For it seemed as the child, now content with a full stomach, was glowing. The magic had moved from the cave to the child. His mother looked down at the sleeping child and smiled.
Tasina realized that she had nothing to care for her child and must return to the village that stood above them. It was a risk she felt she had to take. She needed the things a child newly born would need and desire. She was not going to fail him, and the things she needed lay in the village where she was born.
Taking the game paths that had brought her to the cave what seemed like so many years rather than months ago, she finally reached the village. Keeping the hood of her cloak high over her head so none could see into its depths, she quickly moved to the home of an old family friend. Tasina knocked at the garden door as she had so many times in the past when she was growing up. The old woman who opened the door looked at the cloaked figure before and said, “What do the druids want of an old woman? Be away with you. Do you not remember the ban placed upon your order put into place by the Lord of the manor? Leave this old woman be before both of our heads are forfeit.”
Tasina threw back her cowl and the old woman’s face exploded with delight and recognition. “You know me then old spinster? Surely you have some room for me by your fire for a small while? I sought you out for a reason my oldest and dearest friend. So must I linger in the doorway or are you going to invite me into your home?” The old woman responded immediately, “Child! Child you are back home where you belong! Those fools have finally let you leave. Come in, come in. Come join me by the fire and tell me of your adventures since you have been gone.”
At that the two women walked into the house and the two spoke at length of what had befallen the young Tasina. The woman called Margas gasped at the mistreatment by the lord of the manor and Tasina’s voluntary exile from her home. She laughed at the introduction to the druid in the cave and marveled at the girl’s new found skills. Margas agreed to give Tasina all that she had requested including the sword of her late husband that she no longer needed nor desired. “Take the blasted thing if you want it child. It has never been of any use to me and my husband has no more need of it since he perished. Now tell me where you stay and I will bring you more to help you as I can gather it without raising suspicion.” Said Margas.
With a few brief instructions to Margas, Tasina took her bundle and headed back to the cave where the creatures of the air, land and sea waited her return and had watched over her sleeping child. Margas waited until Tasina was out of site and rapidly left her house on an errand of her own.
After traveling about an hour, Tasina turned to the sound of pursuit. She knew that fleeing would only bring them to her child and so decided to make a stand there on the path. Setting her bundles down she drew the large two-handed sword given her by the old woman.
The first man down the path saw her and immediately charged expecting an easy victory over this small frail woman. Tasina spun suddenly and her blade flashed before the man’s eyes. The warrior stopped in his tracks looking at the woman before him with a blade in her hand. Laughing he called to his comrades, “Come and see the Amazon woman! She thinks she can swing that lizard sticker in her hands does she. Take care there now; I would hate to see that pretty head of yours get damaged before I present it to our lord McCryden.”
With that the first warrior was told to just get on with the deed so they could get home and enjoy the rewards offered by the Lord. The warrior swaggered toward Tasina. He had not even drawn his sword by the time he had reached the length of the blade. Tasina struck with the speed of an experienced swordsman and quickly struck the man down before he cleared the sword from its scabbard. Seeing their friend fall two warriors tried to take her from the sides and a quick roll by Tasina found both their blades buried to the hilt in each other. As quickly as a fox Tasina moved from tree to tree and warrior to warrior. But slowly Tasina tired from the battle so soon after her labors bearing her son. The small wounds she sustained slowly wore the little she had left from her and soon she fell to those who attacked her.
Quickly they performed the butcher’s work with Tasina’s own sword. Covered the severed head in burlap and placing it inside the game pouch of the senior man of the group that was left; they headed up the path to the castle. After the time it took to get back to the castle it was of little consequence to them that a cart bore a body from the castle. All that was on all of the minds of these men was the reward. They had survived and brought in the elusive prey. Surely it would be a great reward. And the fact that seven of those that left did not come back just meant more for them.
The warriors walked into the main dining room of the castle and were greeted like heroes by the Lord of the manor. “Take wine my valiant warriors! You have been the best and most faithful of my men and now you deserve your reward. But before that, please tell where your companions are? Surely this child could not have slain seven of my most highly trained, best armed men? They turned traitor and you dispatched them must be the solution to our question then, so drink. Drink! Drink and receive your reward!”
The warriors did drink then and laughed. It did not take long for the poison put into the wine to do its work and the Lord said to the corpses around his table and to the head in his hands, “You now have your reward. Your eternal reward.”
Margas ran from her home as Tasina left headed toward the keep of Lord McCryden. At the gate she told the guard that she had come to claim her reward for the capture of Tasina Thalin. The guard laughed and asked her, “Then where was her prisoner? Do you have her hidden in your tunic? How about in your basket? In your bonnet maybe?” The old lady waited for the barrage to end and demanded once more entry to the Lord. The guard finally relented and brought the elderly woman into the presence of the Lord McCryden.
“My Lord McCryden,” Margas began, “I have found the location of Tasina Thalin and the boy child she claims is yours. Speak your reward and I will tell you where to find the mother and her newborn son.”
“You will tell me what I wish to know woman. I will give you what is coming to you when I am satisfied that you are telling me the truth and I am not listening to another old wives’ tale. Prove to me that your story is legitimate.” Said the Lord.
“How about the fact that I know the child is yours? This comes straight from her mouth. She resides in the old druidic cave down by the shore. I would not enter yourselves for she is armed, but she has to exit sometime.” Said Margas.
“Well done, my faithful fief. I may have had use for your skills at ferreting out the truth, but alas you have turned on the daughter of your best friend, what is to make me believe you will not turn on me?” said the lord.
“I have done as you asked. What is to happen to me?” asked the very frightened Margas.
At that question the lord drew his dagger and threw it into the heart of the old woman. “Guards! Clean up this mess and get the men ready for the chase. I want her head brought back to me.” Said Lord McCryden. The guard replied, “I took the liberty of sending the men just after the statement by the woman my Lord. What is this that the child may be yours? Is that true? How can that be true? It makes no sense.” The lord looked at him and smiled, “So you heard that awful rumor did you?” The lord turned and plunged the dagger just recovered from the old woman into the chest of the guard and kicked him from the podium. “Someone come in here and clean up this mess!” screamed the lord.
An older man sat watching the lord placing the pike into the earth and walked away. He wasn’t known to those who watched him stand there by the road. He said nothing as he left the village heading toward the forest. He continued until he came to the path on which she had died and followed it down to the entrance to the cave. The sight as he walked in was a miracle in itself. There lay the child, radiating a light that filled the cave. As he looked around, he saw for the first time the fabled cave of glass. The source of a great deal of power that had for centuries gone unharnessed, that is until this day. A person looking up into that face would not recognize the young druid sent to find the Lord of the World. He appeared to be an old gnarled dwarf, whose stocky frame would almost seem natural in a subterranean dwelling such as the cave. Slowly he picked up the child from the stone ledge where he was so carefully left and the young druid suddenly felt all the power and wonder in the child flow from the child into him and back again. The child looked up at the old face Artitous was wearing and smiled as if he knew what was really hidden there, the child drifted off to sleep. Unbidden the druid received a glimpse of the future of this child. The child’s and druid’s response was the same, an unholy wail that would rend the souls of any who could hear.
This child would be the strongest druid ever. The magic in the cave of glass reborn in one child. He was destined by the stars and heavens to be unparalleled in strength or magic. The only question left to the two sitting holding to one another was whether or not the child would side with the good or the evil sects of the druids. This child would either save the world or destroy it. But could it be that saving the world of Dracos also meant its destruction? This child would live no normal life whichever way he chose. No, this child would have to deal with the temptations of his gifts. He would have to survive many trials until the final days. His passing could destroy Dracos as we know it. It was for these reasons the druid did what he thought would be the best. He brought the child to the home of Toirin and Roseper Talis, the rulers of the elven people, to be raised. He also told the elves to expect a tutor to arrive for the child in a few days, a gnarled old dwarf who was a close friend of the druids.