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Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Seven


by yatomiyuka

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“Wise decision.” None of the other pets dared to speak. “When you reach the tower, you will have to make another: the entranceway is marked not by one door, but two. Both doors look and feel the same, but only one of them will allow you to pass safely into the tower. The other...” He trailed off, and his eyes became unfocused. “I’d rather not talk about it. It’s better if you don’t know.”

     Pemero nodded. He was more afraid than he’d ever been, but he wasn’t going to back down now! It was an adventure... a real, dangerous adventure. He relished the adrenaline. “And when I get into the tower?”

     “Don’t be too confident,” Seth warned darkly. “This place has a mind and a soul. It lives as surely as any of the pets standing here. Don’t let yourself forget it. If you do make it into the tower... you will find yourself surrounded by treasures beyond your wildest dreams. However, you may take one item and one item only.”

     Don’t I remember a legend that went like this? Pemero thought frantically. If only I could remember what happened.

     “I suppose you’ll want whatever I bring out?” he asked quietly. Seth threw back his head and laughed wildly.

     “No! No, I cannot ask that. It would probably be a thing only you can use, in any case. However... if you return here safely, there is one more thing I will require of you.” At this statement, the circle seemed to draw closer; all the faces grew dark and solemn, regretful... even angry. Pemero observed this with a determined calm.

     “And that thing is...?”

     “Not until you make it back. Now, go, before the tower fades!”

     In one sleek movement, Pemero turned and leapt across the sand towards the water. It felt like sheets of pure ice washing over his paws, turning them to blocks of numb frost. He ignored the discomfort in favour of remaining focused on his goal.

     Once he reached the ocean he cleared his mind and allowed himself to float, free of the normal mental restrictions. He danced through the water; became one with it. It was a trick Jen had taught him many years ago, when she had first begun to study magic in earnest. It was natural for her, but Pemero had never been able to fully master it.

     In no time at all, it seemed, he was scrambling up the tower walls, trying to gain a foothold on the narrow ledge beside the door. All four paws set themselves into place on the wooden platform, like magnets moving across a sheet of metal. Pemero felt like he was no longer fully in control of himself, but somehow that didn’t matter. He tightened his focus on the single door.

     What was Seth talking about...? Pemero wondered. There’s only one door here!

     Seth watched Pemero struggle, his eyes glimmering in the moonlight. I hope I made the right decision in bringing him out here.

     It must be a trick. I can’t go through that door until I know I’m making the right choice...

     ***

     Lisa held the compass before her in one limp hand, allowing it to guide her through the maze of pipes. It was dark, cramped and smelly, and they had seen nothing of Pemero or his captors.

     “I’m sick of this already,” Lisa whinged. “Fyora must know of a better way to search for a lost pe—”

     “If she did, she would be using it right now,” Samila snapped, trying in vain to keep the cobwebs from her hair. “Keep moving.”

     At that moment, the sisters hurtled into a larger pipe – this one was stone, and symbols covered the walls, barely visible in the compass-light. Peonie gasped.

     “I think I know where this pipe leads,” she said urgently. “Straight to the ocean.”

     “How far?” Lisa piped.

     “Three hours away.”

     “At least we’re going in the right direction...”

     ***

     “Kail Selvar. Can you help me?” Jen whispered.

     “Dark magic is a force far greater than any pet can even begin to understand. We channel it but we do not control it; rather, we do its bidding, whether we know this or not. There is no way to stop a tragedy from happening, Jen. However, there is a way to prepare yourself and others, and a way to help recover once it has passed.”

     “Can you show me how?”

     Kail sighed. It was a lonely, distant, regretful sound.

     “I will not lie to you. I can show you the way. I can give you the tools. But I cannot do the work for you. It has to be your own.”

     Jen nodded eagerly. “I understand, Kail Selvar. What are you going to teach me?”

     “Follow me.” With a whirl of his cloak, the Lupe removed a key from one pocket and used it to open a hidden door. It swung open with a rusty, grinding creak, and Jen followed him inside.

     “It’s... beautiful...” Jen gasped. Lines of chalk in many different colours spiralled across the grey-black wall, depicting strange and amazing diagrams, some of which she had seen before, but most of which were new. Some were as fine as the gossamer strands of a spider’s web; others were stronger and more clearly-defined.

     “Read this,” Kail said absently, thrusting a huge, warped and crumbling green book into her paws. The weight was unexpected and she leaned forwards, almost dropping the thing. “It instructs you on training your mind to be more receptive... to magic, to thoughts, and to the fickle whispers of futures yet unlived.”

     She inhaled sharply.

     “You mean... I can learn to predict future events?”

     “Amongst other things,” the Lupe said quietly, absorbed in an even thicker, dustier book. “It is not so straight-forward. The future will sometimes reveal itself to you if you tune yourself to it, not the other way around.”

     “I understand.” Mind abuzz with excitement, Jen flipped the book open and began to read.

     ***

     Three hours later, Pemero still stood shivering by the tower door. He had tried everything, and was on the verge of giving up entirely and swimming back to the mainland. It’s not like I’d miss whatever’s in there, he thought irritably. I’m not interested in treasure.

     That was only half-true, of course, but he was sick and tired of being outsmarted by a building. Wait. An idea struck him... an idea just crazy enough to work. He looked once more at the resolute stone portal, and closed his eyes. Maybe the second one’s not a physical door!

     Gradually, he allowed his worries to fade into the background and become inconsequential. It was easier this time. As he did so, he lunged forward – not physically, but mentally – and found himself lifting away from his body.

     Oh, wow! This is amazing!

     A second, barely-visible passageway had appeared in the stonework. Pemero placed an imaginary paw over it and it simply faded, leaving his path into the tower clear.

     From the beach, Seth gave a mental cheer, though his face remained impassive. It had worked – so many times before, they had sent clueless pets to their doom; burnt offerings to the cause. Only a handful had survived: those who stood around him now with solemn gazes fixed upon the sand. Now, finally, Pemero had solved the riddle. Once he emerged from the tower, he would become the fifth member of the team... and things could move forward.

     “At last,” he whispered softly, so that none of the others could hear. Not one of them seemed happy about this in the slightest, but it didn’t matter what they thought. They were merely stepping stones for Seth to use on his road to glory.

     Golden walls engulfed the cub, and he felt younger and smaller than he had ever felt, dwarfed by the sheer beauty and magnitude of what he was seeing. The walls were rounded off, making the room more like an enormous tube than anything else, and assorted treasures were scattered everywhere like forgotten toys.

     This is the Tower of Dreams, Pemero thought reverently. Only a mere handful of pets are blessed enough to see this, to have this chance. A majestic winged sword lay on the ground before him. Stacks of the various paintbrushes he had demanded as a young child. Rare healing potions. Sacks of codestones and dubloons five times as tall and thirty times as wide as he was. A plushie he had wanted as a hatchling cub. All of this he sidestepped and walked on. I can’t let myself be distracted by the material. There are things far more valuable, far more unattainable...

     As he moved, the tube changed colour and became narrower. Here, the walls shimmered with sky blue, there a metallic green or sunset-magenta. Everywhere he looked, he was greeted with sights that made him ache with longing. A rainbow of potions – this one advertising courage, that one power, another labelled with happiness. All of the bottles were tiny. Again, he moved on. These are things I already have or can earn the hard way, if I want them.

     Time lost all definition in the Tower of Dreams. He might have wandered for weeks on end, gawping at the treasure, or it may have been mere fleeting moments. It all came down to the same thing. He had reached the end of the tunnel.

     This is it. My last chance to take something away with me. If I turn back, I might get thrown out... or worse. I don’t know how this thing works, and I’m not so sure I want to find out. Upon a pedestal sat something which looked like the essence of hope, all the wishes he could ever make combined into one simple thing. Even when he looked back on this moment later in life, he would be at a loss to fully describe the effect it had had on him.

     It was a staff—carved from seven different coloured gemstones, each representing an element, and bound together with metal rings. Strange, intricate designs had been drawn into each different stone. At one end was a sickle-blade of blue metal. At the other was a rounded stone darker than obsidian. Pemero was transfixed by the way the stones seemed to move... as if they were alive. Having seen nothing else he truly desired in the tower, Pemero reached forward, as if to take the staff from where it sat... but a voice inside stopped him, mere millimetres from it.

     It could be a trap. Be careful, Pemero... think about this.

     A splintering sound, like ice cracking under pressure, came from behind Pemero. He whipped around, paws held up defensively, to see that a fault line had emerged on the floor of the tunnel. As he watched, it spread in a perfect circle, almost as if it had been designed that way, and the better part of the tower broke free. There was no splash, no upheaval of earth. It just... sank.

     Pemero dug in desperately as the remaining platform tilted, becoming almost vertical. The staff remained in place, although nothing appeared to be holding it to the plinth.

     I’ve been given a final chance... and I’m going to take it!

     With a great effort of will, Pemero swung upwards and felt a black paw close around the cold stone of the staff. As soon as he grasped it, he was plunged into the water of the ocean, where the tower had been standing mere moments before.

     *

     A black shape seemed to appear in the waves up ahead.

      Seth grinned wildly... until he saw what Pemero was holding in one clutching paw. What is that? he wondered furiously. He wasn’t supposed to get anything! The tower was just an illusion! An illusion!

      It looked like a staff of some sort... but it was glowing like a beacon in a wild and beautiful rainbow of colours. Somewhere in his memory, Seth recalled one such staff... but it was no more than a legend, and that staff was nothing any mortal pet could have wielded, even if it had been real.

     “Pemero! You made it! Congratulations!” Seth called out. This could put a dent in my plans... but it’s only a slight setback. Perhaps I could even turn it to my advantage!

     *

     Daylight had never looked so wonderful.

     “This is it!” Peonie said. “Just like I remember!”

     All three Faeries stood and peered over the edge of the vast cliff.

     “Well... I don’t remember that.”

     Lisa flapped her hand impatiently. “According to the compass, they’re somewhere very close, and straight forward... along the beach.”

     “Right. Fly after me, sisters!” With a grand sweep of her fiery wings, Samila dove from the tunnel mouth and turned to face them, hovering. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

     As one, the three Faerie sisters flew in a slow arc towards the ground, following the guide of the compass.

To be continued...

 
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Other Episodes


» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part One
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Two
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Three
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Four
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Five
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Six
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Eight
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Nine
» Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic - Part Ten



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