Ill-Fated: A Journey to Death (Dark Times saga #1)

The First Encounter

A moment later, Mandarin recovered from his shock. “I cannot get involved in this. I have to prepare to subdue the uprising.” Mandarin decided, “I must proceed to the next part of the defense.” Phew, dodged that bullet.

Mandarin immediately went to the Library of Ancients which had the second largest book collection of the island. The first one was the Vault of Scrolls. The mystical storehouse of knowledge where every book ever written existed protected from the effects of time or nature.

Magic could not find it, Nature could not harm it and even time had no effect in the Vault. Its location was a secret hidden among the riddles spread throughout the island. It was enchanted by the power of three wizards, a rare spell. It required three wizards to cast the spell together. In all of the island’s history, no spell was more powerful than the power of the three wizards. It could counter even the irreversible spells. Ah, I thought, so close yet so untrue. There was one irreversible spell unbreakable by the three wizards’ spell. My paranoia had prevented me from writing any of my secrets anywhere which is why I knew this fact and his unawareness of this one spell was why Mandarin was so weak now. He was nothing when he compared himself to me.

In the library, Mandarin found the tome he was looking for: Secrets of Time. It was written by someone under the imaginary name ‘Elder’ and it did look new among the others, most of which were centuries old. As if on instinct, Mandarin checked the name of the author and froze. The author was an old wizard, old and most likely dead, with the penname of ‘Elder’. Coincidence? Mandarin questioned himself. Possibly, his own mind responded, but still be careful. If they are the same…

This unfinished thought made Mandarin hurry in reading the book completely. A part of him insisted that the unfinished thought was true and being aware of the blessing of great instinct, he knew it was true. He now had a slight hint of whom he could be dealing with. These rebels have a very powerful leader, he thought. Mandarin knew now the increase in danger of the rebels. They would be trained by someone more powerful than him. This made him a bit angry but there was also a sense of joy in him. More knowledge and more experience meant very old age and older wizards could not kill younger ones. If the servant was correct of a bad fate of Mandarin, Mandarin was sure that this wizard would not be able to teach his followers very much before the duration is over. I was impressed as I saw that he learned quickly. He had also a small insight in the mind of his enemy.

An hour later, Mandarin put the book down and smiled; for he now knew what he was looking for. The first item was the Water of Life, the enchanted water which allowed revival of one person moments after his/her death. After that it was Elixir of Power, which increased a person’s skills for a day, hidden in the Dark Forest and finally the fabled Book of Time, locked away in the depths of the Cavern of Time.

The first two were easy to obtain. Their locations were known to Mandarin but the exact location of the Book of Time was unknown. This ‘Elder’, he thought angrily, had never completed the map to the labyrinth of the Cavern of Time. Outside, there was rain pouring down on the city. I thought smugly, he had completed the map. But if Mandarin had noticed carefully, he would have seen the torn end of the extendable map.

But he had also found a special note in the book which was of very heavy relevance with Mandarin’s current situation. It was an incomplete quote. Mandarin’s eyes gleamed as he read it and his heart rate increased in anticipation. He looked through all the other books but he could not find the quote anywhere else. Mandarin’s heart was filled with despair as he read my note:

“Fate cannot be changed. No journey or attempt to change a fate has ever been successful.

For history is the witness that what is in one’s fate does happen to him despite the minor deflections. Unless …”