Sentria: The Knight Prince (Book 1)

Chapter Four: Godlike

"Look." Eldwyn pointed to his right.

"The Mirror Lake..." I said, enchanted by its glistening glory. In the middle of the meadow was the lake we had been searching for as if preserved in time by the trees that wrapped around the area like a wooden dome. The Mirror Lake had water like metallic glass, sharp and gray, and yellow lilies gathered around it as if they were giving praise to its elegance. I walked towards the shimmering body of magical water, transfixed by its strangeness. At its edge, I turned back to Eldwyn.

"This is your vision, knight," he said, holding his hands behind his back.

I looked at the water and saw my reflection in fragments. It was stunning, but there wasn't anything else happening. No visions or messages and I grew impatient.

"It isn't working," I said to him.

"You must allow time for the unexpected to unfold."

I stared deeper into my reflection. I looked more pale than normal, and my hair had never looked so raggedy. I nearly looked like a wild relic myself. Then, something happened. Like giant hands were grabbing me and holding me in place and I couldn't look away even if I wanted to avoid it. The mirrored water swirled in fractals and I saw images in varying triangular shards that slowly rose up towards me. In them I saw my horse racing through the Western Valley, a black brick tower being built by an invisible force, Cardoth castle burning in flames, a young and beautiful witch reigning from her kingdom in the clouds, and a bejeweled gold crown being placed upon my head.

The hands released me and I fell back, hitting my head against a rock and I blacked out.

I woke up to Eldwyn's face close to mine as he kneeled over me. He had moved me away from the lake and placed what felt like a bundle of leaves under my head as a makeshift pillow. I sat up too fast and felt lightheaded and had to close my eyes again.

"Ow," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"That looked painful," he said.

"It was." I opened my eyes and exhaled.

"What did you see?"

"I...don't know. I saw my horse in the Western Valley and I saw so much more. A tower, a witch in the clouds,  Cardoth Castle aflame...what trickery was this, relic?"

"The Mirror Lake shows you things to come and things to change."

"All I wanted was to find was my horse..."

"Fate has chosen you for something greater. If you've seen all these visions, then you have been chosen for a grand plan. There's an ancient tale of the Oblivion Witch who promises the destruction of all things. Maybe that was her you saw."

Eldwyn stood up and helped me to my feet. I still felt lightheaded and I held onto the relic's shoulder for support.

"...I want to go home." My voice sounded childlike. I was so disoriented that I couldn't feign toughness. "Take me to the Western Valley. That's where I saw my horse. Focus...do whatever you have to to teleport us away. I don't wish to be here any longer." It had all felt too much. Those images danced around in my head at frightening speeds and I couldn't put them together. I just wanted to bathe and rest in my comfortable bed. I never asked for any of this.

"As you wish, knight," said Eldwyn. "To the Western Valley." He took a few steps back and closed his eyes. He started whispering under his breath and his words grew louder as time went on. "Bronte, auk em sawa! Bronte, auk em sawa! Em sawa! Nust alvey! Nust alvey!"

Eldwyn made a large circle with his finger and a portal opened up next to him. It didn't make a sound. It seemed almost normal, like he had just opened a door to another room. As if all the laws I had come to know hadn't been demolished; there was just a new patch in the fabric of time.

"Come, knight. Before it closes."

Together, we crossed the portal's threshold and stepped into a flat wood with decaying trees all around us.

"We made it!" said Eldwyn.

But as I looked all around us and knew that this was not the Western Valley. I've studied the region and I've seen it in map books many times. This was not the beautiful region of Summerland. This was some place else.

"Something is amiss..." I said. The plant life around us rustled in the cold wind. I took out my sword and crouched low in an offensive posture. "Stay on guard."

As soon as this was said, twenty soldiers clad in copper and spiked shoulder guards emerged from the trees on horseback with their spears raised to us. I knew the symbols on their chest all too well: the sandile coin. We were in the northern region of Askeran. They were Cardoth soldiers and we were in dire trouble.