Page 20 of Ruins of Magic
The crowd gasped and the whispers began again. The old man smiled before speaking which set Arion on edge. “There are three trials you must pass before reaching the throne room.”
“What are the trials?” he asked.
“The ancient scrolls do not say. Only that they will be revealed to the one of true heart. Do not expect easy tasks, Arion. These will be designed to test you in every way imaginable for they are born of evil and dark magic in place to break the light within you.”
“Is that all you know?” Arion taking a few steps forward and not realizing he had breached the barrier until it was too late. Luckily Valaria still clung to one arm and for some reason Garron was still holding his hand, probably so he could see the old druid and hear what he was saying behind the barrier. Neither had let go of him since he first showed them the hidden village.
“That is all that is written,” the man said.
Garron sneezed hard, removing his hand from Arion’s to cover his mouth. “Ah man!” he exclaimed the second the village around him disappeared and he realized he had lost them all. Fumbling around he couldn’t see or feel anything.
“Point me in the right direction to Keptra,” Arion said trying to ignore Garron who kept waving his arms out in front of him like a blindman trying to feel his way around.
“Arion we mustn’t. It’s too dangerous,” Valaria pleaded.
“Don’t you understand? I have to do this,” he said, begging her to realize that.
She slowly nodded. “Okay, but we do it together.”
“No, I can’t ask that of you. It’s too dangerous.”
“Then it’s too dangerous for you too,” she said stubbornly.
“As I’ve told you before, you’ll need these two along your journey. It is so written.”
“See it is written,” Valaria said smugly.
“Taneth is going to murder me when we get back,” Arion said begrudgingly.
With some final warnings, they were ready to leave. Arion reached out and caught Garron as he stumbled over an exposed root and suddenly the village was shone to him once again.
“Weird! You were there and then you weren’t. Now you’re back,” he tried to exclaim. Valaria laughed at him.
“Come on. Looks like we have a new mission,” Arion told him.
“We’re going to Keptra?” Garron asked.
“Yup,” Valaria confirmed.
Garron shook his head. “The Duke of Chellgar is going to be so angry when you don’t show, and Taneth will have us all thrown into the stocks.” Letting that sink in a minute, he shrugged. “Well, okay, let’s do this.”
Chapter9
They were pointed east and without further ado the three friends headed off on a new adventure.
“You guys don’t have to do this,” Arion told them once more.
“We know. We know,” Garron said. “Geez, you sound as if you don’t want us to come along.”
“You know that’s not it. I just feel like I’m asking too much from the both of you.”
“You heard the druid. You are going to need your best friend and the love of your life. To be clear, I’m the best friend,” Garron said. “You’re cute enough I suppose, but really not my type. I prefer the female variety.”
Arion shoved him and shook his head. “Shut up. He was just a senile old man.”
“If you believed that, then why are we heading towards Keptra and not back to the knights?” Garron asked.
Valaria remained quiet, and Arion had no good answer to give. He wished he knew what she was thinking, and he also wished he could explain, even if only to himself. Something was pulling him do this. He couldn’t put it into words, but he knew it was his destiny to fulfill this trial.
