Activation

The Dragon of Sorrow curse begins, but will the legend of The Fisher King provide a cure?

17.

Activation

 

Heavily guarded, the royal family of Westmark spent the rest of the night and the following day protected inside the royal keep.

At first, no one thought anything was amiss when King Eleazar and Queen Aurei seemed exhausted and numb.     Who wouldn’t, in their situation?    But as the day progressed, it was apparent, even to them, that the Toi-Migg curse had been activated.

“We’ll be growing progressively weaker,”  Eleazar told his wife and grandchildren as they sat together, “That spell was activated by the deaths of Gamel, Valmiai and, I’d guess, Prince Lee’s older brother.    We haven’t heard from Lee yet, but I have men searching for him.    Arianelle, we were able to contact your parents, who know all of what has happened.”

“They’re weakening too, aren’t they?”  She asked and Eleazar nodded.

“Yes, they sent word a few minutes ago to our wizard monitoring the crystal balls.    That just confirmed what I had suspected.   We can assume that the Hutcaiah Emperor is also weakening.”

“What can we do?”   Nolen asked, his eyelids swollen from grieving over the loss of his parents.

“Well, I contacted Carn and Amala and they are returning as soon as they can find a wizard with a teleportation staff or wand.    But Carn said that he had heard of this curse and of a possible cure.   He said that he’d have to locate a specific scroll that he had seen in the library there in King’s Reach to be certain, so we’ll have to wait until he returns.”

“I hope they return soon,”   Aurei mumbled, her arms tightly wrapped protectively around Nolen as they all sat on the bed, “I wish Snoe and Aedric were here too.”

“It’s too dangerous to have all of the cursed ones in the same location,”   Eleazar told her, stroking her cheek.

“I just want what is left of our family around us,”  She said and that sent her into another bout of tears.   Arianelle stood up and hugged her grandmother.    

The bedroom door opened and Princess Aidan entered, accompanied by Victoria and Katherine.

“I found them, mother,”   Aidan announced, going over to Queen Aurei and hugging her and her niece.

“Arianelle, I’m so glad they didn’t kill you too,”   Her aunt said with a sad smile.

“Thanks, Aunt Aidan, I just wish I could have saved…” she couldn’t finish, but burst into tears, thinking of Gamel and Valmiai.

For a time the family all comforted each other, joined by the twin drow girls who had been raised by their royal cousin.

“Listen to me, all of you,”   Aurei said a few minutes later, “This is a very dangerous time.    Until we’ve rounded up the Toi-Migg group and found a way to neutralize this curse, all of you are in grave danger.    They want to kill all of the royal family and every one of you is a target.    That includes you, Victoria and Katherine, for they know you are related to us by blood.    I want all of you to stay close to each other here in the palace until we know what is going on.   I’ve already ordered the wizards to re-enchant all of our autocaster rings to teleport to the palace.”

“We’ll set up a secure room here, with magic wards to prevent any unauthorized person from entering it,”    Eleazar added, pausing to cough.

“The curse?”   Aidan asked her father.

“I’m afraid so, sweetheart.   But Carn says he might have a solution, so we’ll just have to wait until he and Amala arrives.”

Outside, the soothing sound of rain falling reminded them of the other part of the Dragon of Sorrow spell.

“I can’t believe any spell would be so powerful that it could blanket three Kingdoms in rain and darkness for a month,”  Aidan commented.

“It is one of several powerful spells,”   Victoria told them, “I looked through some of mother’s notes and she knew of four spells that could affect such a large area.    I regret to inform that I couldn’t find any mention of a way to neutralize them, though.”

“I thought of something, though,”   Katherine added, “We still have Archmage Drake’s notes in the royal library, don’t we?   He may have written about this spell.”

Eleazar smiled weakly, “That is certainly worth checking out.”

“With your permission, sire, we’ll be glad to search for it,”   Katherine volunteered, and the King gave them leave to do so.   

“Father, I’m going to help them - it would be better to have more people searching.”   Aidan told Eleazar and though Aurei mildly protested as she wanted her daughter nearby, she finally consented and the girl hurried off to help her cousins search.

 

 

***

 

Eleazar and Aurei grew weaker as the day progressed, though they tried to keep their daughter and grandchildren from worrying.

By evening they had been tucked into bed and lay there weak and shivering as if they had the flu.

Aidan went back and forth between the royal library and their bedroom, frantically trying to find something in the multitude of tomes that would somehow help.    She didn’t let her parents sense her growing terror when she visited them, but smiled serenely and kidded with them as long as she was in their presence.  

As quickly as she left them, however, she was a bundle of nerves, pacing and wringing her hands as she spoke to her nephew and niece.

“They’ve got to get here soon!”   Aidan referred to her sister Amala and Carn, “Why haven’t they arrived yet?”

“Aunt Aidan, they have to find a wizard who has teleported here before and that might be hard to find.”  Arianelle tried to comfort.

“Well, they could surely commandeer an airship!”

“If there were any in the city.” 

“There has to be a way!”

“Aunt Aidan, don’t worry, it takes a month for the curse to complete.”

“I don’t intend for it to last a week, much less  a month!”  Aidan turned to stare at her nephew.    Nolen sat there with a vacant expression on his face, listening, but not participating.

He looked up after a few moments. “What?”

The drow girl came over to him and sat down, “Nolen, I am sorry, we haven’t really had time to grieve today.”

Nolen nodded, not daring to look at her, for he did not want to weep around his family.    He was expected to be strong, for now he was next in line for the Marksylvania throne. 

“Did we ever receive word about the airship of the Toi-Migg wizards?   What was it called?   The Water Dragon?”

Arianelle sighed. “Yes, they told me an hour ago that some of the tower watch in Helios’ Valley sighted a burning airship in the distance just before sunrise this morning.     They watched it for about an hour as it slowly drifted eastward.   It finally lost its enchantment not far from the edge of Helios’ Valley and crashed into the trees below, starting a small forest fire.    But it was extinguished.   The report said there were a number of human bodies about the rubble and they had burned to death.”

Arianelle shivered at the horror of being responsible for their deaths and closed her eyes to try to reclaim some composure.

When she opened them again, her aunt and cousin were glancing at her in sympathy.

“What about your parents, Aria?”   Nolen asked her, “Any word from them?”

“They were growing sicker about an hour ago, when Mattleos sent word.    Lady Mathlyn is going to come here this evening to see the body of Valmiai and to check on me.”

They smiled grimly at the news, for Mathlyn was Valmiai’s ‘sister’, as both of them had been created at the same moment, along with the other Inion Sidhe, many centuries ago.

“I keep forgetting that mother is Mathlyn’s sister… or was her sister.”

“The Inion Sidhe were all created together by Mórálach to hamper the will of God by guarding the Great Tree,”   Aidan told them, “It is so shocking and horrible to see how easily one was killed.”

“They’re not invulnerable,”   Nolen whispered, struggling with emotion, “Sadly, my mother, despite her fantastic origins, died just as easily as the rest of us.”

Arianelle leaned over and touched her cousin’s hand in sympathy.    He blinked and squeezed her hand tightly. “Our family has been haunted by grief.”

“Yes,”  Arianelle said softly, “I just don’t understand something.   My parents told me about the prophesy of that white raven that always foretold the future of Sylvan kings and queens.    Uncle Gamel was present when the raven spoke the prophetic words, and my parents told me that he spoke prophesies about all of our family.”

“Dad told me that story too.”   Nolen replied, “He said that the bird even addressed him as Emperor of the Southern Empire, which they thought was insane, until the senate proclaimed him emperor to try to make inroads with King Eleazar at his coronation.   Father rejected their offer, but he was always impressed with the prophesy having been fulfilled, at least in one way.”

Arianelle sighed, “Well, that is what is bothering me.     I was told that the white raven, at the same time he foretold that your father would be emperor, also addressed him as king of Marksylvania, which of course made sense as he was grandfather’s heir.    But now that prophesy…”  

Nolen nodded, “Yeah, I know; that prophesy can’t come true now.    I thought of that too.   I don’t know how to explain it.    Maybe the prophesies are dependant on specific events occurring, and if they don’t occur, or something unexpected happens, the prophesy fails.”

Aidan sat down next to them. “It could also be that the title that was prophesized concerned your father’s family.   Maybe it could have been interpreted, instead of ‘Gamel, king of Marksylvania’ as 'Gamel, father of the future kings of Marksylvania'.    I don’t know for sure, but it seems reasonable.”

“That is completely reasonable.”  A voice said from the doorway and they turned to find Lady Mathlyn, accompanied by Katherine and Victoria. “I have beheld the body of Valmiai and retrieved Kate and Vicki from the royal library so that I might speak to all of you at once.   But first, to address the white raven’s prophesy; the words that the bird says always have something to do with the individual it speaks about.   However,  the raven speaks in general - in Gamel’s case, the words the white raven spoke meant that he had a connection to the king of Marksylvania in a way that would be clear in the future.”

Mathlyn crossed the room and knelt down in front of Nolen, “Child, I do not pretend to have the depth of grief that you are experiencing right now.     Your mother was -in a sense- a sister to me and I know that she and your father both were very proud of you.   Do not despair, for their lives will be long remembered and you have family around you to comfort in your season of grieving.”

Nolen bowed, “Thank you, Lady Mathlyn.    I fear I will have to postpone my grief for a later day, for now my grandparents as well as my uncle and aunt are in mortal danger of dying unless we can find a way to dispel the curse.”

“There may be a way, but before I tell all of you, I will wait for Amala and Carn to join us.”

“You know of a way, grandma?”   Arianelle excitedly asked her great grandmother.  

Mathlyn smiled lovingly at her, “Patience, dear child and I will explain.”

Arianelle nodded, frustrated at waiting, but Mathlyn gestured for her to come and sit in front of her.    The Sylvan girl knew what her great grandmother intended and could not help but smile.

She sat down in front of the ageless Inion Sidhe lady - who looked hardly older than any of the young people in the room, except for the deep wisdom reflected in her beautiful brown eyes.

Lovely, graceful fingers combed through Arianelle’s long silvery white hair, which had returned to its original length with the destruction of the magic comb in the church fire.

“I am glad to see your hair the length it should be.”   Mathlyn commented as she began braiding Arianelle’s hair.   It was an intimate task that the Inion Sidhe lady had done for her great granddaughter since Arianelle had been a small child sitting on the radiant lady’s lap.   Mathlyn’s dexterous fingers could weave braids that rivaled Queen Snoe’s great skill.     The thought of her mother, weakened from the curse abruptly brought tears to her eyes and a surprisingly powerful emotional reaction.    Surprised by her own feelings, Arianelle began weeping.    Instead of stopping from her braiding, Mathlyn simply began singing a familiar Sylvan lullaby that seemed to almost magically bring serenity into the room.

Victoria and Katherine sat and listened, hypnotized by hearing the song for the first time.  Aidan sat with a distant look in her pretty orange-red eyes.   Nolen bowed his head and blinked back tears, remembering the same tune from his childhood.

Arianelle reached over and took her cousin’s hands in her own which caused him to lean in closer to her, taking great comfort from her nearness.     He closed his eyes and let himself be lost in the reflective tune of the lullaby.  

Calmed by the gentle tune, they sat quietly while Mathlyn crafted Arianelle’s hair into a series of long perfect braids.

She was just finishing when Carn and Amala arrived, entering the room quietly as they sensed the mood.

As soon as she saw her uncle and aunt, Arianelle jumped to her feet and ran to them.   They hugged her quietly, and then turned to Nolen, who joined in the embrace.    For a time the four of them grieved quietly at the loss of Gamel.   Arianelle had seldom seen her Aunt Amala weep, but she cried silently over her lost brother.   The others allowed them time to grieve.    Finally the family hug ended and Arianelle and Nolen sat back down on the edge of the bed.   Carn and Amala took chairs over to join them.

“I apologize for our delay, but we had some difficulty searching in the remains of Northmarch’s royal library in King’s Reach.   The books had been placed in a dungeon room during the war with Redburr and no one had restored the library yet, so they were in complete disarray,”    Carn told them after they had all gathered around. 

“Did you find anything that can help?”   Arianelle asked breathlessly, dreading a negative response.

“We found mention of something that may help… or it could simply be a fairy tale from long ago.”   Amala said with a concerned frown.

“What do you mean?”  Nolen asked and the two bards glanced over at Lady Mathlyn.

“Lady Mathlyn, have you heard of the Fisher King?”  Carn asked.

By her quick nod, it was evident that she had recently thought of the same thing, “Yes, in fact, I was going to share that tale.   But please go ahead and tell them the story.”

Carn bowed and took a deep breath, “There are several bardic songs about him, but this is not the proper mood for song, so instead I will just relate the story.    Long ago there was a kingdom on the coast of the sea that is today called the Mare Arctia.   It was located southeast of the Dwarven Kingdom in a mountainous region bordering the cold sea.    Most of the people lived along the coast on a large piece of land that jutted out into the sea.    Their ruler was a sorcerer who lived up in the mountains overlooking the sea.    Since his subjects were mostly fisher folk, he was known as ‘The Fisher King’.”

“The Fisher King was reasonably kind and fair to his subjects, but he loved wealth and power and used his considerable magic to get more for himself.    Yet most of all he loved women - it was said that his lust for women could never be satisfied.   Although he had a huge harem of extraordinarily beautiful women, there was one young woman who he could not obtain through his power.”

“Vyilyn was the daughter of Soric Potollis, the terrible master of the Necromancer’s Guild, far to the south.    Vyilyn was said to be the daughter of Soric by a succubus and was tall, dark and enchantingly lovely.    Yet none could court her, for Soric was insanely protective of his only offspring.”

“The Fisher King was determined, however, and after Soric rejected his request to marry the girl, he decided to steal her for himself.     Vyilyn loved exotic birds and her father had assembled an aviary for her.    So the Fisher King cast a shape-shifting spell upon himself and took the form of a Kingfisher bird, then flew into Vyilyn’s window in Soric’s wizards’ tower in Fedoloth.   The girl heard the quick and shrill, whistle-like call of the bird, yet it was actually the Fisher-King enchanting her with a spell.”

“Though the girl was half-demon, she was charmed by his spell and became completely enraptured with the small Kingfisher, not knowing it was in fact the Fisher King.    He seemed perfectly tame to her and she kept him - uncaged- in her room.     The Fisher King waited until Soric and the Necromancer’s Guild were gone from Fedoloth.”

“Vyilyn was alone in the room and the Fisher King waited until she was sleeping to change back into his regular form.     Seeing her sleeping on the bed in the moonlight, his lust burned so greatly for her that he took her by force, having his way with her for the whole of the night.”

“When morning came, he fled, leaving the girl violated, beaten and shamed.    The Fisher King returned to his kingdom, his lust satisfied, but he did not reckon on the scope of Soric’s power.   For several weeks The Fisher King was certain that he had escaped the wrath of Soric.   But on the first day of spring, a month to the day that he had raped Vyilyn, a mysterious girl was brought to his court.  The girl had been found wandering naked and alone in the woods at the foot of the mountains where The Fisher King’s palace was located.”

“She was tall, pale and extremely lovely, yet could not speak and seemed almost like an animal in her actions.    ‘A feral child’ his sages told him, and immediately he burned for her.     Taking possession of the mute girl, he had her cleaned and dressed in the finest gowns, then brought to his enjoyment that evening.”

“Yet as he began to have his way with her, her form changed into a great Snow Owl.     Unprotected in his bedchamber, the great bird mauled him in… well, let’s just say, in an unmentionable and very private area.”

“Before his guards killed the beast, she spoke with the voice of a human, “For what thou hast taken, that which hast harmed shall be taken from thee.    Thou art cursed for all eternity, and thy land shall also be emasculated.””

“His injuries would not heal and he endured terrible pain.    Though he had the best of his wizards to attempt to heal him, the wound to his… private region… would never completely heal.   As a result, he could not engage with any of his harem.    It was devastating to the lustful man and it is said that he nearly went mad.   He took to sitting alone at night on one of the fisher folk’s docks, fishing gloomily, for what else could he do.”

“Moreover, his kingdom seemed to whither as he did.     A terrible gloom came over the kingdom and all the plants withered and died.   Terrible sicknesses decimated his population, killing two-thirds of them.     Desperate for an end to the curse on their master and their land, his servants went throughout the world searching for a way to heal him.”

“One servant even dared venture into Fedoloth seeking a cure.   It was at the time of Yesh’s ministry there, and desperate to help his master, he approached Yesh one evening as he was healing the sick.   The servant waited until all the other desperate people finished coming to Yesh, and then told him about his master.”

““Faith is the catalyst of God’s healing,” Yesh told the servant of the Fisher King, “While you may believe; your master remains consumed with his own lusts.    His kingdom suffers even a greater fate, yet only he can end it.    Tell your master that he must come to faith in me, and I shall then be able to heal him and, more importantly, heal his land.””

“The servant hurried off, returning as quickly as he could to The Fisher King.   By the time he arrived, the king had wearied of all the attempts by his wizards and sorcerers to dispel the curse and heal him.   The words of Yesh seemed to open his eyes and he acknowledged his responsibility to his people.”

“Immediately, the Fisher King left with his servant, both of them wearing humble sackcloth to reflect his repentant heart.    But the journey back to Fedolth took some time and they arrived in Fedolth on the day that Soric Potollis had Yesh flogged and crucified.”

“Risking detection by Soric, The Fisher King drew near to the flogging site and beheld Yesh’s silent suffering.    Soric was so focused on his cruelty that he did not recognize The Fisher King in his peasant’s garb.   When they dragged our Lord away to be crucified, it is said that the Fisher King remained behind with his servant, mopping up all of Yesh’s blood with one of the white linen robes they were going to present to him as a gift.    They wrung out the blood into a solid gold chalice that The Fisher King had also planned to give to our Lord.”

“It is said that as they watched Yesh die from afar, The Fisher King’s heart was stricken with pity for the crucified man and he wept bitterly.  When Soric’s Necromancer’s reanimated Yesh’s corpse as a zombie, The Fisher King and his servant kept the Necromancer wizards from abusing him.    His protection of the zombie amused the Necromancers and they mocked The Fisher King and his servant, abusing them greatly.    Yet the wizards thought it would be even a greater mockery of Yesh for him to have followers when he was just a zombie, so they let The Fisher King and his servant remain close to the zombie of Yesh.”

“For three days they guarded Yesh’s corpse, and much of the city came to see the pathetic end of the great Yesh and laugh and mock at the devotion of his two ‘disciples’.     Though he was humiliated and ridiculed, The Fisher King protected the corpse of the Lord until the power of God restored life into him on the third day.”

“For his act of kindness and humility toward Yesh, The Fisher King was healed of his affliction and the curse on his land broken.   Yesh is said to have told him, “For your faithfulness toward me, I shall remake you into a holy man and you shall be granted the power to heal those afflicted as you were.     But only those who seek your aid in holiness shall find you and receive your healing power.”    Then Yesh blessed the gold chalice that The Fisher King had caught his blood with and said, “This vessel shall be for the healing of kings and queens and of nations.    They that find you shall be worthy of this cup, but you shall keep it holy and be its guard for all of time.” “

“The story says that as soon as Yesh spoke this blessing, The Fisher King vanished with the golden cup.    His servant took the blood stained robe of Yesh back to his master’s kingdom, but The Fisher King was gone.     The legend is that any king or queen stricken by a powerful curse that threatens their kingdom as well, can find healing and break the curse by one of their servants seeking for the Fisher King’s castle.    It is said that this castle exists near to where the need of healing is located, but that it is a mystical place that only the most pure can enter.   A sign of the nearness of his castle is the presence of the colorful Kingfisher birds suddenly appearing in the vicinity.”

“Other legends claim that it is only the heir of a stricken king or queen that can enter the Fisher King’s castle to borrow the chalice of healing and then only after many trials that must be overcome.   Then they take the chalice to the dying monarch and press it to his lips,  giving him a drink, and - the stories claim- the king (or queen) will be immediately healed and the land restored.   After this, the chalice will vanish and return to the Fisher King’s castle.”

 

Arianelle, Nolen and Aidan just glanced at each other for a few moments as Carn’s tale ended.    Finally Arianelle cleared her throat and hesitantly asked, “That is just a fable… isn’t it?”

“No,”  Mathlyn replied, a distant look in her lovely brown eyes, “It is not a fable at all.    I was there.”

Her words sent chills down their backs.    Although they all knew that the great Inion Sidhe lady was many centuries old, to hear her recall the time of Yesh was awe inspiring.   They all looked at her, anticipating what else she’d say.    Smiling at the memories, she spoke, “Most of what Carn has told you is precisely right.     King Braen - that was the Fisher King’s name- actually arrived the evening before Yesh was taken by Soric, but there was such a massive crowd around Yesh that he decided to wait for an audience with him until the following day.”

“Braen spoke with us - those of us who were followers of Yesh- and he was very interested to meet him.    We told him about the Lord and we could see that he was deeply moved and willing to follow him.     I remember seeing him mopping up the blood of our Lord from the pavement after Yesh was flogged.   How grief-stricken he was!    He was there watching with the other disciples when I took Yesh’s mother away at the Lord’s command.      I did not see Yesh meet with him, but I imagine that the story is true.”

Everyone looked in wonder at the Inion Sidhe lady - as youthful in appearance as her great granddaughter.

“How incredible, grandmother,”   Arianelle commented after they all took it in, “So do you think we could find The Fisher King and heal my parents and grandparents - and the Hutcaiah King as well?”

Mathlyn shrugged. “I would say it is possible, my dear, but I am not sure if the Hutcaiah Emperor would have faith in God.   If he doesn’t, then he may not be healed.”

“At least we could try, though.”   Arianelle glanced back to her uncle, “Uncle Carn, how would we go about finding The Fisher King’s castle?”

The bard looked at Lady Mathlyn, who shook her head.

“Well, sweetheart, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that.”   Carn told her.

“We will see if there is any more information in the royal library,”   Amala reassured her niece, who seemed crestfallen upon hearing Carn’s reply.

“But we don’t really have time.”  

Amala smiled sadly. “I know, but what else can we do?    Where would you begin?”

“We need to share this information with Prince Lee,”   Nolen said, “He’s going through the same thing we are - a loss of a brother and his parents cursed.”

“If the Hutcaiah had not persecuted the Toi-Migg, then none of this would be happening!”   Arianelle snapped, jumping to her feet and then pacing around the room.

“You can’t blame a whole race of elves on this evil,”  Carn said gently, “The Toi-Migg were as ruthless and wicked as the Hutcaiah.”

“I wish we’d never heard of either one,”   The Sylvan princess mumbled, “What are we supposed to do now?    We can’t watch them die!”

“Patience, child.”   Mathlyn said to her, “You shall see; a way will be opened for us to save them.”

“Just as a way was opened to save Gamel and Valmiai?”  She countered, “I’m sorry, grandmother, I didn’t mean to be hateful… I need to get some air.”    Without waiting for permission, she hurried out of the room, praying that none of them would follow her.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...much less than a month!" You can remove "than."
"'How incredible, grandmother,' Arianelle commented..." I don't know if this was intended. Arianelle is speaking with Mathlyn, her great-grandmother. ? Arianelle also calls her "grandmother" in the final paragraph, as well.