Ancient Prophecy (31 page)

With Alex and the dragon out of the way, the Black Devils noticed that Jenneva was missing. As if under orders from the Dark One himself, the Black Devils turned and raced back up the mountain path towards the castle. Sarac saw his men returning and smiled, confident that his foes had finally been vanquished.

Sarac’s smiled faded as he saw Lattimer round the bend and wave at him.
Sarac, you are in danger. The witch is missing. I think she has come to imprison you.

Sarac wheeled around and saw Jenneva sitting on Kaz, concentrating on her spell. The Dark One hurled a projectile at the female mage, but Kaz deftly slid sideways avoiding the missile without jostling his passenger. Sarac prepared to toss another spell at Jenneva when the sky split and an enormous flash of brilliant light enveloped the castle. The stone blocks of the castle radiated an intense white light that was as blinding as the sun. The Black Devils halted on the path as the castle burst into a red flash and the very foundation of Mount Kalas rocked and swayed.

Sarac was tossed to the floor of the tower as the structure turned an icy blue and a freezing cold wind swept through the castle and down the path. The mountain trail turned to ice and the Black Devils slipped and lost their footing, clamoring to grab a handful of the mountain before they slid into oblivion.

With another wave of her hand, Jenneva watched the Dark One’s sanctuary turn brown as dust and all of the surrounding plant life withered and died. With a final touch of the Binding Spell, the castle turned deathly black and slime oozed from between the stone blocks.

Jenneva had Kaz maneuver around the castle to the path that approached its front door. The Black Devils were in disarray as they fought for a handhold on the pathway that was now an aqueduct for the flowing slime. Kaz hovered again as Jenneva cast a spell on the pathway. The Black Devils knew what was coming and they scrambled for safety. A few managed to gain entrance to the castle, while most of them went screaming down the path. A few tried to magically attack Jenneva, but most were smart enough to know that there wasn’t time for anything but escape.

Jenneva finished her incantation and the path erupted into a thousand showering meteors. Those magicians who chose to attempt an attack on Jenneva were thrown into the air along with tons of rock and soil. Those who managed to escape were now starting to retaliate against Jenneva and her unicorn and Kaz quickly soared away from the mountain.

Alex and Wyka joined the retreat and the four fighters glided over the Boulder Mountains and settled near Egam’s cave. Alex quickly jumped off Wyka and ran to Kaz to help Jenneva dismount. Jenneva passed out, her strength depleted, and Alex laid her gently on the ground. After he revived his wife he lifted her head and carefully fed her the elixir she had prepared for this moment.

“Is it done?” Alex queried.

“Yes,” replied Jenneva. “Sarac is imprisoned until one of the possible branches of the prophecy is fulfilled. Get me to Egam’s cave where we can rest for the night. In the morning we will start our search for the children.”

“Why did you destroy the pathway if Sarac is locked up in the tower?” inquired Alex. “You could have been killed confronting all of his magicians at once.”

“Sarac is imprisoned,” answered Jenneva, “but people may still enter and exit his castle. He will be issuing orders to his unholy troops and I wanted to make it a little more difficult for his Black Devils to get in and out of his prison. Besides, I didn’t allow them enough time to react. Hopefully, we killed quite a few of them today, but I fear that he will just create new ones as he needs them.”

“And the ones he creates, will be looking for the babies,” sighed Alex.

“Yes,” conceded Jenneva, “we will just have to find them first.”

Oscar and Yorra swept over the Grakus coastline and the Prince guided the unicorn towards his villa, which was perched on the side of a mountain overlooking the craggy coastline. The building had a very modest exterior as the bulk of the residence extended into the mountain. From a distance the villa appeared as not much more than a well-kept artist’s home and the people in the only village within walking distance believed it to be just that.

Yorra set down on the path where it widened as it approached the home and Oscar ran to the door hoping to find Callie and the baby safely inside. He quickly raced through the house and verified that Callie had never arrived. Laden with despair, Oscar retired for the night and slept fitfully, tossing and turning. By the time the sun rose, Oscar gave up trying to ease his exhaustion and mounted Yorra for a ride into the village.

Oscar entered the village inn and ordered breakfast. While he waited for his meal, Oscar opened the locket that John Secor had given him as a gift. On the inside of the locket, John had painted a portrait of Callie and Oscar fought back his tears as he gazed at the picture. He realized he would gladly give up his riches and his kingdom just to have Callie back with him. He left his locket on the table as he ate his breakfast in silence, oblivious to everything around him.

The food and coffee revitalized Oscar and he mentally promised himself that he would not give up the search until he brought Callie or her body back to the villa. When he had finished eating he spoke with everyone in the inn and showed them the picture of Callie. No one had seen her and he left to canvass the entire village.

Once again he mounted Yorra and headed down the trail to the coast. He rode along the coast road searching the beach and surf for wreckage that might belong to the
Princess Lidia
. Several times he spotted debris and stopped to check it out, each time verifying that the wreckage was not from a Targan ship. When he reached the first village on the coast he dismounted and opened his locket. Methodically, he canvassed the entire village asking about shipwrecks and inquiring about any stranded women or children.

By sunset he had covered five leagues of coastline and three villages and there had been no sign of Callie or the baby. He acquired a room for the night and finally got some decent sleep. The next morning he was up at sunrise and back to searching for his lost family.

After several weeks of searching, Oscar was no closer to finding his family than when he started looking. He was also not the same person as when he started his hunt. Oscar didn’t cry anymore, nor did he laugh at the tavern jokes or performers. He didn’t smile or scowl, but went through each day like some lifeless animated doll performing a well-rehearsed play, stopping at each piece of sea wreckage, questioning every villager.

The first spark of life that returned to the Prince of Targa was in a tiny fishing village well down the coast of Grakus. An old fisherman stared at the locket that Oscar held forth and rubbed his jaw.

“Well, I can’t say that I ever saw a woman as beautiful as this one,” the old fisherman drawled. “I ain’t seen her, that’s for sure, but I did hear tale of a netter rescuing a damsel from the drink not long ago. Might be her. Might not.”

Oscar immediately perked up. “Which fisherman? I need to talk with him. Where can I find him?”

“Don’t really know,” pondered the fisherman. “He’s not local, you know. Not from around here. He comes in about twice a year to buy supplies. He likes the quality of netting material that Jacob has.”

“Where can I find this Jacob?” Oscar asked impatiently.

The old man turned and pointed to a shack just down the coast. “Jacob’s is that building right there, but he gets a lot of customers in from all over the place. Don’t know if the netter said anything about the woman to him.”

Oscar thought frantically as the old fisherman turned towards his boat. He reached out and grabbed the old man before he could cast off. “Wait!” Oscar cried. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a large gold nugget. “You can share this gold with Jacob if you can describe the netter to him and he can tell me where to find him.”

The gold nugget was more money than the old fisherman had ever seen before and his eyes lit up. “What if Jacob don’t know where this netter lives?” he asked.

“The gold is for me finding the woman,” replied Oscar. “If you and Jacob can’t point the way to me, then there is no gold. If you try to cheat me and send me on some fool’s errand to get my gold, I’ll come back for you.”

The old man looked queerly at Oscar and finally nodded. “Fair enough, stranger. I won’t cheat you and neither would Jacob. Let’s go earn some gold.”

The fisherman led Oscar to Jacob and questioned him about the netter. Jacob remembered the man, but could only be vague about his home port. All Oscar could find out was that the netter was named John and was from one of the Pebble Islands. Oscar gladly gave up the gold nugget and rode Yorra up the coast and away from the village. Once he was clear of people, Oscar instructed Yorra to take to the air. Within a couple of hours they arrived over the first of the Pebble Islands. The island chain was sparsely populated and the villages were tiny.

Oscar thought about how he should approach John the Netter. Jacob and the old fisherman did not really know John well and it was not clear to Oscar how John would react to someone claiming the woman he had found. The Pebble Islanders were a curious bunch and didn’t have much use for outsiders or laws. John might have rescued a damsel in distress or he might have claimed a prize from the sea. Oscar intended to leave with Callie either way if, in fact, it was Callie, but he also wanted to make sure that he didn’t walk into a trap.

Yorra set down on the first island and Oscar left her hidden as he walked into the village. He didn’t want to try to explain how he had ridden a horse to the island. Hopefully, everyone would assume that he landed his boat on the other side of the island. There was no inn in the village as no one really traveled through the Pebble Islands, but like remote villages on the mainland, there was always one house that would accept visitors if any should arrive. Oscar rode straight to the waterfront and inquired about John the Netter. The fishermen were not very forthcoming about their knowledge of John, even when Oscar assured them that he meant the man no harm. Seeing that he would get nowhere with the fishermen, Oscar headed into the village and sought out the visitor’s house.

An old grandmother type woman welcomed him into the house and asked about his business in the village. Oscar explained that he was searching for John the Netter and the woman continued working over her stove as if Oscar hadn’t spoken. Finally, Oscar produced the locket and confessed that he was looking for his wife and baby who had been shipwrecked and that he had heard that John had rescued a woman. The old woman sat down and took the locket, eyeing it lovingly.

“She’s a right handsome woman, she is,” smiled the grandmother. “I know the John that you want, but you won’t find him here on this island.” She stared into Oscar’s eyes as if measuring his honesty and worth. Finally, she broke out in a smile. “I believe you, son,” she chirped. “I’m a good judge of people and I can see the heartbreak in your eyes. You love her dearly, you do. The John you want is a good man and if he has your wife, she’ll be properly cared for. I can tell by the way you asked, you aren’t sure of that. John has his own wife and while she isn’t the pretty you have, he loves her dearly too. The western most Pebble is where you need to go. You tell John that Sarah sent you and he won’t be wondering if you’re there to kill him.”

Oscar hugged the old woman and thanked her. He pressed a gold coin into her hand as he left and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He leaped onto Yorra and the unicorn shot into the air. Oscar hoped that John the Netter had indeed found the right woman as Yorra carried him across the sea. It was beginning to get darker as Oscar and Yorra set down on the last of the Pebble Islands. Again Oscar hid Yorra and walked into the village.

The village was a little larger than Sarah’s village, but still it was small by Kingdom standards. Oscar bypassed the docks this time and sought out the visitor’s house. The petite woman who answered the door was clearly flabbergasted as she welcomed Oscar into her house.

“Dear me,” she exclaimed, “I don’t know as what I’m to do with you. Don’t often get visitors here. I suppose you’re looking to spend the night? Of course you are. Why else would you be standing there? Come in, then. Sit down, now.”

Oscar was confused by the woman’s reaction and couldn’t get a word in as she fretted and mumbled to herself. A small boy came into the house and the woman grabbed him and instructed him to get his father.

Oscar fondled his necklace and called to Callie.
Callie, I love you!

There was no reply to Oscar’s Mind Speech and a moment later a tall muscular man with a dark beard entered the house and gazed at Oscar.

Oscar rose and greeted the man and began to speak, but the woman interrupted as she whispered to the man. “I don’t know what to do. Heavens, I would never have expected...“

The man put his arm around the woman and comforted her. “Don’t you worry none, Abigail. I’ll bunk in the boat this evening and you can share the room with our other guest. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“Excuse me, “ interrupted Oscar. “I don’t want to put you out. I can sleep outside. I really don’t mind, but there is someone I need to talk to first and I was hoping that you could direct me. I’m looking for John the Netter.”

The couple glared at Oscar and the man spoke first. “What does a Kingdom man want with John the Netter?”

Oscar produced his locket and held it out for the couple’s inspection. “Sarah told me that John was a decent man and I believe that he may have rescued my wife from a shipwreck.”

The man picked up the locket and peered at it and then gazed at Oscar. “It’s a nice locket, but how do I know she’s your wife?”

Abigail walked over and looked at the locket. “Heavens, John, sometimes you can be a little too protective! Do you think the young man would carry around a picture of a stranger?”

Oscar was elated. He knew he had found John the Netter and he knew that Callie was the woman the fisherman had found.

Oscar ran and embraced John and thanked him profusely. He spun and kissed John’s wife and ran into the visitor’s room and knelt by Callie’s side and kissed her. John and his wife started to follow Oscar into the room, but when they saw Callie’s reaction to seeing Oscar, they retreated to the kitchen and left the couple in privacy.