Page 9 of Legends of Sorcery
They knew enough to keep their mouths shut. With Callia stable and comfortable, the King personally escorted Zallon and Arion back to the House of Magic. It was a quiet journey. Valaria could barely contain herself from asking questions along the way.
The moments they were inside the House of Magic, the inquiries began.
“Father, there must be some truth behind the legends of Ryze. There simply must be,” Valaria insisted.
“All myths and legends stem from some historical truths, child,” Zallon said.
“I knew it!” Valaria said excitedly.
“To understand this sort of magic, we must dive into the legends of sorcery.”
“The what?” Arion asked Zallon having never heard him speak of something like that before.
“It’s the myths of how magic came to Gavalon, Arion,” Zallon started. “A long long time ago, this area was filled with pure magic. The people of the land could channel it and Gavalon grew and prospered. We revered those that could use magic, but then the darkness rose.”
“A dark and sinister magic? The kind I felt on Callia?” Arion asked.
“Far worse I’m afraid,” the King said. “Famine and plagues crippled our lands. This was many years after the fall of the evil sorcerer by the name of Ryze who split Amaria into the six kingdoms we know today and vowed to return to exact his revenge. Many thought it was his return and the attacks against people of magic, the druids, began. As the people’s fear rose, the king at the time was forced to act. He drove the druids out of Gavalon holding them personally responsible for that dark period in our history. As the plagues ran their course and the drought ended, they cheered the King for his victory against evil. Decades later, one of my predecessors discovered evidence in the ancient scrolls that the druids were one of our last lines of defense in the battle against Ryze, but by then they had been eradicated from Gavalon.”
“That’s how the unicorns came to be,” Valaria added. “I love that story so much. Unbeknownst to the king, before the druids were forced out of Gavalon, they transferred their powers to the stable horses. It was too much for the beasts to contain and so the magic concentrated into a magical horn. It’s said that the unicorns will band together to protect our kingdom when Ryze comes again.”
Arion snorted. “That sounds like a silly story told to silly little girls at bedtime.”
Valaria’s temper immediately rose as she stood to square off with Arion, but her father interceded.
“Settle down, princess,” he warned her. “Arion, all bedtime stories and tales are riddled with at least some truth.”
“According to the ancient texts, that’s an accurate portrayal of what happened. It’s why the unicorns are so prevalent here in Gavalon and allowed to roam freely. They are our first defense against evil sorcery,” Zallon added.
“That’s why the first attack would logically be against the unicorns. So that means dark magic has returned to Gavalon,” Arion pointed out. “Could that be why Callia is so sick?”
“It’s as good a hypothesis as any right now. I took a vial of her blood to test in the lab,” he confessed.
“I will reach out to the other kingdoms of Amaria and warn them to be on the lookout for anything strange in their lands,” the King said. “Come along, daughter. We must leave them to run their tests. It’s only one beast, so very likely we are just jumping to conclusions, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
Arion stayed by Zallon’s side as he worked late into the night running tests against the unicorn’s blood. Potion after potion told them nothing.
“What’s going to happen to her?” Arion finally asked the question he most feared the answer of.
“I’m afraid I do not know,” the old man admitted. “Now tell me what happened to you?” he asked nodding towards the dried blood on Arion’s ripped pants.
“It’s nothing just a scratch.”
“Scratches lead to infections. You know better than that. Let me see it,” he said. Shaking his head, he reached for some bottles and quickly concocted a liquid serum that he rubbed on the cut.
Arion hissed in pain but didn’t complain.
“You’ll be good as new by morning. Now back to work.”
Shortly before sunrise they both headed off to bed for a few hours sleep, only to be awakened far too soon.
Arion rose to answer the banging at the main door. Garron was there there looking frantic. “Four more unicorns collapsed in the fields,” he said the second Arion opened the door.
Together they ran to wake Zallon and tell him.
“This is bad, this is very bad,” the old wizard kept saying.
“What do the legends say? I mean, how did we defeat Ryze the last time?” Arion asked.
