Page 18 of Ruins of Magic
Valaria gasped.
“All six must be activated by a wielder before he can come to full power, but the chain of events has begun, and we must prepare. Your people await your orders, your majesty. Come, follow me.”
“Wait!” Valaria said. “What if it’s a trap?”
“It must be. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, but I have to see it through. If there’s even the slightest chance that I inadvertently set off this chain of events, then I need to own up to that and make it right.”
“That’s admirable, Arion, but what if he’s lying?” she asked.
“I know that’s a possibility, Valaria, which why Garron is going to take you back to Taneth and see you safely to Chellgar. I will go with the old man and get to the bottom of this.”
“No, we need to stick together,” she insisted.
“Taneth will be really pissed if we don’t get back soon. I’m surprised he’s not already looking for us,” Garron said.
“Your friends may come along,” the old man said. “For they are as entrenched in the prophecy as you are.”
“We are?” Garron asked.
“Yes. Arion’s true love and his most loyal friend are mentioned many times throughout the prophecy.”
“His true love?” Valaria asked with a smirked.
“She’s just a friend. We’re, just friends,” Arion quickly defended.
“That means I’m the loyal friend. Cool!” Garron said entirely ignoring the awkward glances between Arion and Valaria. “Still what about the duke? And the knights? They’re waiting for us. We’re already on a journey. We definitely should not detour.”
“They’ll get over it,” Valaria said. “If there’s any chance at all that this man is telling the truth, then we have to see this through.”
Chapter8
With the decision made, the three of them set off through the woods with the old druid man. It wasn’t long before they came across a village. There were houses in the trees and people everywhere.
“Are they all druids?” Arion asked the man.
“Yes, of course.”
“Who?” Valaria asked.
Garron turned around in a circle searching but seeing nothing.
“The people in the village. Straight ahead,” Arion told them.
“Arion, there’s nothing there,” Valaria said.
The old man sighed. ”As you know, princess, while your father does not actively hunt down our kind like many of his predecessors, he still maintains that magic is banned from Gavalon. That does not bode well for our kind. We are a peaceful people who wish no harm on anyone. For our safety, our village is cloaked. Only a person of magic can see it. Take Arion’s hand and he can show you.”
“I can?” Arion asked. He was still uncomfortable with everyone telling him he was a druid. He feared what that would mean for him when they returned to the village of Gavalon.
Without hesitation, Valaria reached for his hand and thread the fingers together. The moment they touched, her eyes were opened to the village before them with all the activity and people Arion had mentioned.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly.
“I want to see,” Garron said quickly grabbing Arion’s other hand. His eyes were also opened the moment they touched. “Cool! I see it.” Then he let go of Arion’s hand. “And it’s gone.” Taking his hand once more he announced loudly, “And it’s back!”
“Will be able to see once inside the village? I mean without Arion’s aid?”
“I’m afraid not. However, we do have a rarely used serum for guests. It will allow you to see past our shields for twenty-four hours without holding on to Arion the entire time”
