Of Curse and Prophecy

Chapter One - Secrets Kept ~ Serin

The only sound was water droplets pattering every now and then as I walked through the cavern. It was typical of Jonal to pick a place such as this. Pitch black darkness. My eyes shifted, cat eyes proving more useful, helping me see in the dark.

A sudden rush of air came through and echoed off the cave's walls, howling above the distant crashes of the waves of the Rialos Sea. The rush chilled my bare shoulders. I silently cursed myself for wearing my usual Tribeland attire. I looked down at my sunset orange and peach dress, the halter top of the silk not covering my shoulders, arms and back. Suddenly, blue light flooded the space, breaking the walls, streaks of blue fire seeping through the cracks, casting a hue over the area long after the wave of bright light disappeared. Darkness settled once more, but the streaks of blue power stayed. Lightning strikes in the walls. I touched a vein of the glowing rock, feeling the pulse of raw energy. A simple spell, which manipulated the mineral deposits in the rock, causing them to emit light. I smiled, remembering when Master Zchenezzad taught the class how to "make rocks glow" in my first year at the Sorcerer's Globe. Of course, Jonal had tweaked it, being the know-it-all he was during our school years. He would simply determine what major mineral was in the rock, and light that single type rather than the entire rock, causing "veins" which were more potent and could emit the same amount of light with less exertion of magic.

"Well, you sure haven't lost your touch..." I murmured, knowing Jonal was here. He is the only person I know who can wield blue fire magic.

There was still no actual movement in the cave. Jon was hiding. Again, typical. I rounded a bend, finding the old ruins. The narrow path opened into a spacious cave with carvings all over the walls in a dialect I could not decipher. A sea tribe used to live in these caves, but that was long before I was born. I don't even think Jonal was born yet when this place was built, and that was saying something.This place was an old childhood spot. Memories flew past the forefront of my mind - of when the group would visit this place in our apprentice years. Jonal, Illyian, Adtianna, Dijhan, Xia, Rhinse and I. When we were hopeful for a brighter future. Before everything happened. So much has changed since then. All of us have parted ways, centuries passing without word between any of us. I had immersed myself in magical training and have since taken up the role of High Priestess, presiding over Castile at the junction of the Briseia River and the Mermaid's Tear oasis. The twins, Illyian and Adtianna had gone back home to the main capitol, the heart of Teltorra City in Talos Bay, Illyian becoming Empress of all Teltorra with the passing of her father eleven years ago. Dijhan and his lover Xia went back to Jin City, Dijhan's ancestral home, the guardian city of the Oracle in the Jewel Oasis that was sheltered in the Hidden River Valley. I had heard many years ago that their mating bond had fallen into place, and that they had celebrated it with a private wedding. I was happy for them. Rhinse... anger now filled my memories of him. Anger and guilt. It was his fault we were in this mess. Something had changed in him when I was asked to cast that spell by the Congregation. His actions had turned it into a curse. Now, he sat in his castle in the Dragonstone Mountains, running the western territory, and constantly pushing his boundaries. I still could not let go of that feeling - that I could have somehow prevented this, should have seen this coming. Jonal, however, was the one I knew nothing of. All I had heard about him was that his sprawling territory was the place of refuge for anyone. The massive Skellin Forest that runs from the northern tip of Teltorra and stops at the farmland outside of the capitol, as well as touching into the Dragonstone Mountains, is pretty much a wall that is over 2 million meters thick. Jonal is the strongest male of his generation, and has been the most powerful Fae for the past couple thousand years. I still am unclear how old he is. No one has breached the walls of Anolia, his home and capitol for generations. My spies never returned from the Skellin if I sent them.

I lingered there on the outskirts of the space, waiting for a sign of Jonal. If I remembered anything, I figured he would be using a cloaking spell. I studied the cavern. It was set up similar to a war council room. A carved rock table sat in the center, the surface defaced with centuries of wear from mineral water from the stalactites on the cavern's ceiling. I guessed that if I worked magic on the place to return it to its former glory, the rock's surface would show a carved map of Teltorra.