The King smiled at the unconcealed look of confusion on the Lady’s face. Rarely did one meet someone whose face and expressions were so open. He found it quite refreshing. King Jace signaled that two chairs be brought for the two ladies to sit in so they could talk. When everyone one was situated the King’s face lost its smile. Replaced with a seriousness Raven wasn’t sure she had ever felt in her whole life. To be this man and have the weight on his shoulders, the weight of an entire world. She couldn’t imagine the pressure, but as he looked at her she was beginning to understand.
“My King and Queen, may I introduce to you Raven Crest, the Lady in White and the savior to our world.” Nada said in a strong clear voice. “I welcome you Lady Raven. I humbly request that you listen to the plight of the land of Lore and help us in our struggle to save our people.” The King asked the question so formally that that alone gave Raven pause. How could she possibly help these people? She had no idea. But she was going to do her best, she would have Nada with her she reminded herself.
Raven looked into the eyes of the Queen. She was a beautiful woman, in a dress much like the one Raven wore, only green and with embellishments. She was a bit taller than Raven and had long brown hair that fell to her shoulders. She looked at Raven with such hope, not a single shred of doubt that Raven couldn’t save them. But as she was with Nada she felt she had to be absolutely truthful with these two. Secrets wouldn’t help anything and would hurt many things.
Raven hesitated for only a second then met the Kings eyes. “Nada has already told me many things about the troubles of your world. It is a great tragedy. But as I told Nada, where I am from we do not have magic. Nada has assured me that whether I always had the latent ability or coming here has given it to me, that I do now have the ability to perform magic. She said she could feel my power with her own, but I tell you my King I have no idea how to use it. I feel its only best to say so now so no surprises will occur later.”
King Jace appreciated the honesty of the Lady. She had never used magic? So then she would have to be trained, but who would train her, so many had lost their powers, him and his wife included. As if sensing the King’s thoughts Nada spoke again. “ My King I request that I be allowed to train the Lady. I have trained so many in my time, that I believe I will have no problem training her without the ability to use magic myself.” There was no denying that Nada had been the most sought after teacher at one point in time, and she was one of the oldest of their kind. King Jace felt very blessed that Nada had offered to teach Lady Raven the art of magic.
“Thank you for your gracious offer Nada. Of course we would be honored and blessed for you to be the one to teach Lady Raven the ways of magic. She will need to be in full command of all her powers if she is to defeat the hoard.”
The hoard? Who was that? Nada hadn’t mentioned bad guys. Man, as if trying to learn magic to save Lore kind wasn’t enough now there are bad guys, well crap. Raven turned her gaze onto Nada as if waiting for her to answer her unspoken questions. Nada began speaking, staring out the window as if lost in thought. “The land of Lore is made up of many creature my Lady. Elves, fairies, ogres, goblins, dwarfs, giants, and many more. But we have always lived in peace with one another, never had there been a war or a fight of any kind. But as the land started to lose touch with the people, some of the creatures started fighting, and were angry when before there had only been happiness. The goblins went from tricksters who might make you take a little fall or stub your toe or bang your head for their own amusement to laying out broken glass for people to walk on, throwing knives into crowds to see what people would do, uncaring if they actually killed someone. If that had been the worst of everything maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad, but on the day of the prophecy, two hundred years ago, Zorn the King of the black dragons flew here to the Crystal Palace and shouted his rage to the whole kingdom. He said “King of men, your time as ruler has come to an end, I, Zorn, King of Dragons will take back what is ours and rule this land.” His coming attack took many lives, but the King’s power, along with mine and that of his men, was enough to send Zorn on his way. Since that day there have been many attacks on the Crystal palace by all manner of dark creatures, all ruled by Zorn. He hasn’t succeeded but that maybe because he is losing his powers too, we don’t’ know.”
Raven sat in silence, absorbing the story Nada had just told her. So many questions, why did the creatures turn dark, why dose Zorn think to take the rule from King Jace? How the hell was she supposed to stop a dragon? Raven met the gaze of the three people who sat with her, and taking a deep breath she began her questions. Knowledge is power, she reminded her self. The four sat there well into the early hours of morning discussing everything they knew about monsters, dragons, and the plight of Lore.
Chapter 6
A week later Raven and Nada were in what Raven thought of as her practice glen. It was a wide open space that had a little of every kind of land within it. To the east was a small river, to the north rocky mountains, to the west a tall forest of trees. They had been coming here everyday since their meeting with the King and Queen and so far they weren’t making much progress. In the land of Lore magic was control over the elements. Earth, fire, wind and water. Raven had yet to be able to create so much as a spark, not move a single tiny pebble, or any of the other small tasks Nada assured her would be very simple to do. They were both becoming frustrated with the lack of progress. For even Raven who was new to the world of magic could feel the dark presence that crept ever closer to the castle every day.
“Why can’t I do it Nada?” Raven asked for the third time that morning. She was sitting on a blanket trying to make a small pebble roll with no success. Nada didn’t have the answer, she didn’t understand it, even babies too small to walk could move small pebbles with ease so why couldn’t Raven? “I don’t know Raven. I think we are missing something. You have magic of that I am sure but you don’t seem to be able to control it the way we do, so maybe since you are from elsewhere you control it differently.” it was all she could come up with, the only thing she had been able to think of in the last week.
Raven sat in silence thinking about Nada’s words. “Well where I am from we don’t use magic but there is a lot of popular belief in psychic abilities.” seeing the look of confusion on Nada’s face Raven explained. “Psychic abilities are magic like abilities that, like here, are commanded with the power of thought. Telekinesis is the ability to move objects with only your mind, pyroconesis is the ability to control fire. Clairvoyance is like you, the ability to see into the future. There are many, many different kinds of abilities. But non of them have ever been proven to exist.”
To Nada the answer was somewhere right in front of her, she just couldn’t seem to put her finger on it. As she watched Raven once more turn red in the face from concentration on making the pebble move, she sighed and told Raven it was time for more monster lore. The King had been right, she would need to be in full command of her powers if she was to defeat the hoard, while most creatures could be killed with sword or knife, there were some who could only be harmed with magic. Dragons for example with power over water and fire, could only be hurt but other dragons or the power of lightning. And only the King from the beginning of time had ever been known to have that ability. They spent from sun up to sun down everyday trying to make some kind of progress. And while the magic may not have been going anywhere Raven had an amazing ability to remember the monster lore that Nada taught her. If only they could get her powers up to speed with her mind, Raven would be unstoppable.
Much later as the sunset in a show of pinks and reds the two women made their way back to the castle. Tomorrow they would start again.
Chapter 7
The next day was rainy one, so Nada had decided that they would spend the day in doors. She had brought her books as she did everyday but since they wouldn’t be going out into nature Nada had brought nature to her. A handful of pebbles, a few leaves, and a bowl that she set out on the balc
ony to collect some of the rain water.
As they ate their breakfast Nada quizzed Raven on the monster lore she had taught her the day before. Raven once again had no problems remembering the facts of the different creatures. Their strengths, weaknesses and powers. Where they lived, what they ate, and what they liked and disliked. These things were very important if one wanted to make friends with a race of creatures but even more important to know how to defeat the creatures of the dark that Nada knew would one day attack. But with Ravens lack of control Nada really hoped that day wasn’t anytime soon.
When they finished eating a maid came to take the empty plates and handed a message to Raven as she left. Raven handed the letter to Nada. While the spoken language was like her own, the written part of it was much different and she had, had no luck in deciphering it. Nada read the missive out loud. “To Lady Raven and Elder Nada, King Jace and Queen Vea humbly request your presence tonight at a feast in the honor of Lady Raven’s arrival.”
While the thought of a party lightened Raven’s heart she also felt guilty, “Nada should we really be going to a party when I need to be practicing? Isn’t that more important?” she really wanted to go but her duties came first, especially when she couldn’t do any of them. Nada gave her a kind smile,
“My dear you have spent every day for the last week and a half working as hard as you can to accomplish your goal, but every day when the sun goes down we end our lessons. This gathering will happen after the sun has set so have no fear that it will distract you from your goals.” Nada’s eyes took a distant look and she tapped her finger on her chin while she thought. “Now the trip to the dress maker might put a bit of a kink in our training plans, but this gathering is as much for the people as it is for you. You have spent all your time here at the palace practicing your magic and in that time the word has spread through out the land that the Lady in White has come to Lore. The people very much wish to meet their savior. You wouldn’t deny them would you?” Raven laughed, it seemed Nada wanted to go to the party as much as she did and she was right, their practices did end when the sun went down and she was sure she could talk Nada into taking the monster books with them to the dress makers so she could at least keep that part of her daily training. They smiled at one another and made arrangements to visit the dressmakers that morning.
Chapter 8
Raven felt like a mannequin, she had been standing on a slightly raised dais as the dressmaker, Gena, took her measurements, looked through fabrics and draped them over Raven’s arms sometimes rejecting things almost immediately, others lay in a pile as maybes. At this point Raven didn’t care what the dress looked like, the novelty of getting a party dress had lost its excitement about two hours ago, she was ready to be done.
As Raven held still for Gena, Nada had been going over her lore books seeing what else there was that she could teach Raven. But truth be told with Raven’s amazing memory there wasn’t much left to teach her. Only the dragons remained and that would lead Raven to many questions that Nada knew she did not have the answers to.
“You have done so well with the lore that there is only race of creatures left for you to learn, dragons.” Raven’s eyes went wide, she still had some trouble wrapping her head around the idea of dragons. Of all the creatures in Lore dragons are the ones that worried her the most. After all Zorn was a dragon. “Well oh mighty teacher, fill my head with thoughts of dragons.”
Nada paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Honestly Raven not much is known to us about dragons, they are very private creatures that do not share the world of man as the rest of Lore dose. They live high in the mountains where men cannot reach, only coming down on a rare occasion. When Zorn had attacked the Crystal Palace it had been the first time a dragon had been seen in almost three hundred years. But I will share what I know. There are four different kinds of dragons. Black dragons that live in the mountains to the north, green dragons that live to the east, blue dragons that live to the west, and white dragons that live to the south. Black and white dragons are the most powerful with control over water and fire. Blue and green dragons have only the control of fire. Each clan has their own king, as Zorn is the King of the black dragons. We do not know who the other kings are or even if they are still with us as no one has seen them. But at one time in my long ago youth I did have the pleasure of meeting a very kind green dragon during my travels who was generous enough to share some information with me. First dragons can not be harmed by man made weapons or magic. In fact the only way to even harm a dragon is for him to be attacked by another dragon or being attacked with lighting magic. No one in the realm of Lore has had the ability to control lightning magic since the first recorded King, King Sin. Also dragons are very tricky creatures because they have two forms, their dragon form and their human form.”
Human form? “ You mean they can change into human? Seriously? How in the world am I supposed to know if I meet one?” Nada smiled “ My friend told me that the only way to tell who is a dragon in human form is to look at his eyes, their eyes are the same color as their dragon. Black dragons have black eyes, blue dragons have a blue so vivid they almost seem to glow, the same with green dragons, white dragons on the other hand while they have blue eyes, it is such a pale blue that they are almost white. No other creatures in Lore have eyes such as these.” This information made Raven feel better, well at least she hadn’t met a dragon and missed it. It would be hard to miss anyone with eyes like those.
“None of this information is commonly known so they would still be able to blend with the day to day life. To my knowledge its only myself and the King and now you who have such knowledge. Make good use of it.” Nada told her sagely.
As the sun began to wane in the sky their trip to the dressmakers was finally over. Their items were being packaged and sent to the palace within the hour so Raven and Nada quickly returned to start getting ready. Two hours later then sun had almost set and Raven was waiting for the escort that Nada had told her would arrive to escort her to the festival.
A knock on her door came a moment later and Raven opened it to see a tall man with green eyes and brown hair standing before her. He looked so much like the king it was uncanny. This must be the king’s son Eron. Her suspicions were confirmed when the man bowed to her and said “ Lady Raven, my name is Eron, Royal Prince to the land of Lore, it would be my honor to escort you to the festival.” as he finished he straightened back to his full six and half foot height and smiled down at Raven. She returned his smile and took his offered arm. They spoke of trivial things as they made their way towards the rotunda but when ever he looked at her she saw the hope in his eyes and she imagined she was going to be seeing a lot of that tonight, she just hoped that the people of Lore hadn’t put their hope and faith into the wrong person.
Chapter 9
Eron led Raven to the throne room, and once again she failed at trying to keep her mouth from gaping open and her eyes on where she was going. The throne room looked completely different and she noticed things that she hadn’t had time to notice the first time she had been there. Above the center of the room the ceiling raised into a large dome that was made completely of glass. She could see the stars clearly, it was a beautiful sight to behold. While the candelabras where still there large swatches of the royal colors of blue and silver decorated the room adding color and whimsy. Along the right wall was table after table of food and drinks for the guests to help themselves. And the people, there were so many people and all different kinds. Thanks to Nada’s teachings she was able to tell who was what and how best to speak to them. She was saved from having to make small talk because as soon as those gathered realized she had arrived a path was immediately cleared that led Raven and Eron to the dais where the King and Queen sat waiting.
As they passed the innumerable guests they all looked at her with hope, some even had tears in their eyes. It was a very humbling experience. The King and Queen rose from their seats as Eron led Raven to the King’s side. All t
hree royals stood smiling at Raven and then as one turned and walked off the dais to stand in front of the group of guests. The King’s voice could throughout the room as he said “ My people, the Lady in White has come at last. Lore has hope for the future once again.” The words were simple but the impact was not. The crowd cheered so loudly that Raven was afraid that the glass dome above them might shatter.
The King turned back to Raven and as he did the room became quite once more. Then he bowed to her, and as he did so, so did every other person and creature in the room. Raven was awestruck. The King righted himself and escorted his wife back up to the dais to stand next to Raven, and he spoke once more to his people. “These are hard dangerous times for everyone, the hoard attack without warning or provocation and with our magic all but gone we have few defenses against them. The arrival of the Lady in White is a blessing and we gather here tonight to honor her.” There was another round of room shaking cheers and then the party started in earnest.
The King turned to speak directly to Raven “Please my Lady go and meet the people of Lore, eat, drink and make merry for your arrival is cause for celebration for everyone in the land. Those who could not be here today are have their own festivals to celebrate your arrival.” The King and Queen then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Raven thankfully caught sight of Nada to her left and went to stand beside her, grateful for a familiar face in a sea of strangers. Nada took her around to meet what Raven thought was surly ever guest there, she seemed to know everyone. The party lasted well into the night and Raven had the time of her life. She also discovered that by meeting the people she was here to save that her confidence in her mission was elevated even with her lack of magical ability.