The Descendants Book One: The Broken Scroll (13 page)

They had entered another world, or so it seemed.  The moonlight that reflected off the surface of the pools shone brightly everywhere within the confines of the landscape.  They could see as clear as day, which was an incredible sight and lightened their spirits greatly.  The paths were well lit, and for a long time they traveled smoothly along a linear road. 

“This is just the beginning,” Egan grunted when Davin implied that he found the Wading Pools’ difficultly to be sorely overrated. 

Much to Davin’s dismay, Egan was right.  The pools multiplied quickly and soon their road was no longer clearly laid out. 

When they stopped to rest for a few minutes, before tackling the maze in front of them, Davin pulled out his canteen and bent down to fill some water in it.  Still admiring the spectacle of the seductively enchanting place, he didn’t pay much attention his activity.  Egan cried out just as Davin put the tip of his canteen into the water.  Davin jumped, nearly knocking himself into the pool. 

Davin gave him a skeptical look.  “What is it?”

Egan walked to the water’s edge and picked thick and wide-pedaled, white flower that that grew along the banks of the ponds. 

“Because of this.”  He held it up.  It seeped some sort of gray, gooey substance and let out a pleasant fragrance. 

“The Self Heal, as it’s called, cures all kinds of cuts and infections.  It’s also used as cologne.  But it poisons the water in these pools, making it undrinkable.” 

“Oh,” Davin said, empting his canteen back into the pool, “alright then.  That’s why this place is so dangerous.  No good water to drink if you run out.” 

“Exactly.  We will spend the night just a little further down.  The difficultly of navigating the Wading Ponds gives one good advantage.  They make ones who doesn’t wish to be found hard to find.”

Davin couldn’t help but wonder what gave them a better chance of making it out alive.  Egan just said the last time he was here he almost didn’t make it.  If that was the case, why would he risk it again?  After all the effort he’d put to keeping them alive until now, it didn’t make any sense. 

The pools began to take on much more peculiar sizes and shapes as they journeyed deeper.  Some were long, but not wide.  Others were just the opposite.  Several were circular or oval while others had no determinable shape at all.  The worst kinds were the ones that wrapped around the paths and the trees like winding snakes.

The path was becoming less clear and several times they had to back track quite a ways.  Sometimes the path would turn them straight around, and they couldn’t even tell which direction they had just come.  Truly, this was a maze that did not yield its secrets easily. 

Davin felt like they were traveling in circles.  The look of concentration on Egan’s face told him he wasn’t far from the truth.  After finally gathering the right path on the third try from a particularly nasty four way split, Egan began to speed up.  This seemed like good news until they were stopped suddenly at another split. 

Egan turned to Davin.  “I believe this is the right way.”  He pointed to the path that veered off to the right.  “But I am remembering less about this place than I thought I would.” 

“I’m so glad to have you as our guide then,” Davin said. 

They traveled down the path Egan’s mentioned and they found themselves in an area where the water was overflowing the banks of the pools.  The ground was saturated and every step was a muddy, squishy mess.  For the better part of the evening they trudged through.  Egan finally stopped sharply when he saw there was no longer a path in front of them.  Water was covering everywhere they could see.

“This does not look right.  I had a feeling
this wasn’t right.  Damn the Ancients,” he cursed, kicking a tree next to them.  Davin stared at the frustrated man in front of him and his mood dropped even further. 

“We have to go back?” Davin asked, hoping faintly Egan would say no. 

“Yes, and we’ve drained our evening going this way.  We have to return to the junction we were at earlier.”

“It’s fine,” Davin said, not sure exactly how to encourage the man and not really wanting to, “we’ll make it back.”

They made their way back where they came from and onto the soggy path.  Davin didn’t try to talk to Egan anymore on their way back, he still looked grumpy.  A growing thirst was making his throat sore and his legs weak.  He wondered if Egan was feeling the same way. 

Finally, the junction point came into view and both men breathed a sigh of relief.  “Start gathering up any fallen branches you see for a fire, Davin.  We will not venture much farther tonight.” 

Davin nodded.  They started down the only other path and followed it for a short time.  Davin noted that the ground seemed brighter than before. 

He looked up.  It was because the moon was at its pinnacle and everything was receiving the fullest amount of reflection.  The pools glowed mystically with the light from the moon.  As the water rippled slightly, the light danced smoothly on the trees around them.  It made Da
vin feel as if this secret place was now inhabited by otherworldly beings. 

Finally, the winding path opened up into a circular area with a solitary tree in the middle of it.  The area was about twenty feet in diameter and had no pools.  Paths fed into the clearing from all the way around. 

Davin’s heart sunk.  He dropped his arm load of wood.  “This can’t be good,” he said.

Egan smiled.  “On the contrary, this was exactly where we need to be.  We are somewhere in the middle.  This will be good enough.  We should be safe to relax.”  Egan did seemed relieved to be where they were, which caused Davin to breathe easier. 

They moved about with very little conversation.  Egan started the fire and Davin wandered about gathering more wood for later.  Before long they had cooked and eaten the meat from Egan’s pack.  They sat and relaxed, taking the opportunity to rest their tired bones.  Davin was chewing on some berries. 

“What now?” he aske
d.  “We’ve been out here for five days and I still don’t what we are doing.” 

Egan sighed, as if relenting at last.  “Did you think to consider there might be some logical reason why you are being left in the dark?”  He waited, Davin shrugged.  “I’ve
been testing you, Davin.  And so far you have failed, miserably.” 

Davin’s attitude fell away as he became confused.  “Oh…wait.  Really?
” 

Egan let out a gruff laugh, much more amusement with himself than Davin was. 
“No, of course not.  If you were being tested you’d know it.” 

“Well, will I be tested?” he asked, still feeling a little lost. 

Egan sobered.  “There is no doubt you will be.  I might as well tell you now.  There are two attributes you must have above all others to reach your full potential as Descendant.   If you are lead by passion alone, you will be impatient and unable to produce logical actions, which will cause distraction.  Driocht requires immense concentration.  It takes patience and concentration together to fully access the power of our kin.  These are key skills you need.” 

“Why did you not tell me this before then?” 

“Because you kept bothering me about it.  It was kind of annoying.” 

Davin rolled his eyes.  “Fine.  I apologize.  I will work hard at that then,” he said awkwardly.  “The sooner we can go find Roland the better.”

Egan feigned confusion.  “What is this we you refer to?   I have no connection to Roland.  And not even the most powerful Ancient ever known could take on an entire army on his own.  You need to start acting like we are on the same side.  This isn’t going to be over in a couple of days.”

“You must care about an innocent man being treated so unfairly?  Roland did nothing wrong.”

“He may not have,” Egan admitted, “but what I’m concerned about is bigger than that one man.  That’s what you should be concentrated on.” 

Davin try to open his mouth to say something but no words came to him.  He knew there was truth in what Egan told him, but he didn’t want to think about anything but Roland and Deverell.  He decided to leave it alone for now. 

“Tell me about our ancestors.” 

“Yes,” Egan nodded.  “There is much you need to know.  I forget that you weren’t raised with our history teachings.  This tale will teach you about Driocht too.  They are one in the same.  I must start with the story for you to understand the magic.”

Davin shrugged. 
“I have a question first.  Why did you kill that man, the governor from Daust?”

Egan smiled weakly.  “I was wondering when you might bring that up again.  Strangely, even that is connected to this story.  Just listen carefully, and you will understand.”

Davin adjusted to sit cross legged with his chin resting in his hands.  Egan backed up against the tree.

“This tale is not one you would consider happy.  It is fraught with death and evil and I don’t like to recall it.”

Egan cleared his throat and Davin waited patiently for once.  This was something he didn’t want to miss. 

“The Ancients were the first beings ever to exist.  They were around at the beginning of time.  No one knows or desired to know how they came into existence.  As far as we know
, they’ve always existed.  They were here thousands of years before man came to be.  They were not creatures of supreme intelligence at first, but during their initial, solitary time on the earth, they had the time delve into their minds and achieve a higher plane of understanding.  In other words, they discovered the powers of Driocht and others gifts within them.  Control of the elements, life and death, deceptions of the mind, heightened senses, greater speed and strength were at their command.”

Davin stared distantly as Egan spoke, remembering his dream and imaging himself surrounded by his ancestors.   The bright moon and the reflecting pools and shadows scattered around them only made it easier for his imagination to run wild. 

“The time finally came when man and Ancient lived among one another.  There were only two kingdoms then, that of man, and that of Ancients.  The Ancients resided in the place you know as the Ancient Forest.  It had a different name then, but I don’t recall it.  Both races had good relations and all was peaceful in the world.

For a long time this was seen as good.
  Their powers helped them and man flourish.  They were respected as higher beings among men and were even requested to serve as enforcers of the law. 

But
as with all power there became those who craved it, who became obsessed with it.  They were obsessed so much that they began creating new powers for themselves, powers that the others considered to be corrupt, a misuse of the mind.  It was during this time that these Corrupt Ones became arrogant.  Why should they interact with such inferior beings as humans?  So they stopped and began to treat humans as enemies.  They sought to control all of man, using their powers to do so.”

Egan paused to make sure Davin was still listening.  Davin’s eyes were wide and his gaze didn’t falter. 

“The Ancients who kept their minds true became known as the Purists.  These Purists tried their hardest to bring the Corrupt Ones back from their perverse mind set, but to no avail.  Matters only became worse with time.  The harsh debates became more violent and soon fighting began to break out.

Thus, the War of Purity erupted.  It was a civil war between Ancients.  Families were ripped apart and brother fought against brother.  The war lasted only a short time.  In t
he end, the Corrupt Ones overpowered the Purists with their newly acquired magic.  The Corrupt Ones had won, for the time being. 

With the remaining Purists having fled the land, the Corrupt Ones had reign over all the world of man.  They ruled them with an iron fist.  Humans rose in resistance, but the armies of men didn’t stand a chance.  The world began dying out, just as the Purists had. 

Feeling that there was nothing left to accomplish, the Corrupt Ones soon began working on a new task, to create a world separate from this one.  According to the stories, they succeeded.  But no one who has studied the lore is sure what this actually meant.  Nevertheless, their skills were masterful.  This alternate realm would be their home where they could continue to hone their dark powers and wait for men to repopulate the earth.  Then they would return and reign again. 

All was not lost though.  The remaining Purists had set two plans of their own in motion.  Through much toil, they’d managed to strip away the
essence of their dead bretherns’ powers, and sealed them within small holding devices of their own design.  Through these.” 

Egan held up one Driocht orbs.  Davin gasp. 
So that was where the magic came from
. 

Egan continued, “Each one has its own power.  The Purists planned this.  They wante
d to be sure that their Descendants had the strength to rise up and fight if need be, finish what they couldn’t. Or so it is believed. 

The other small victory they achieved was when they learned about the alternate realm the Corrupt Ones had created.  Already in a weakened state, they used the last of their strength to seal it off and lock the Corrupt Ones there.  This was the final stand of the Ancients.”

Egan took a deep breath and rested his voice for a moment.