Deragan Sword Prophecy: Book 01 - Kainan Read online

  “I’m sorry. What is wrong?” Arweyn took hold of her hand, rubbing it comfortingly.

  “I was going to tell him, but I wanted to wait. To be sure everything was okay. And now he is gone, and he does not know he is going to be a father.” She leaned into her.

  “We will get him back. I promise.” Alys nodded against her chest, and then looked up to her.

  “Will you tell him for me, if you find him?”

  “You want me to tell him?”

  She nodded. “Yes. He needs to know he has got to get back home safe and well. Maybe it will help. He is not a fighter Arweyn you know that.” She smiled at her in agreement.

  “It will be a great honour to tell him. A baby I cannot believe it!” she said, excitedly.

  Nine - The Chamber of Knowledge

  Kainan stood nervously in front the large oak door. His father had taken him to a special place, a place where only the King and a first born son could go, the Chamber of Knowledge. They had walked down deep underneath the castle, through some tunnels and into the rock itself. His father smiled noting the look of fear in his son’s eyes.

  “Don’t worry my son,” he assured him. “The Chamber is not a place to fear, it holds the memories of our ancestors. It will give you total knowledge, knowledge I know you seek.”

  “How?” Kainan asked curiously.

  “Inside you will see a large throne where you will sit, I will place upon your head the Crown of Knowledge. The knowledge will transfer directly to you as it has done with previous first born males.”

  “And what of my brother was Gareion able to take the knowledge in my place?”

  His father sighed, giving a shake of his head. “Alas my son Gareion, as the second born does not have the strength or the power. Gareion is of let us say, a gentler soul like your mother. The battlefield is no place for him. You Kainan are strong. This I could see from the moment you entered the great room.”

  “Then I shall know my past?”

  His father nodded and smiled. “Oh yes and much more.” He placed his arm around his son’s shoulders. “It will turn a boy into a man.”

  Kainan frowned. Into a man, what did he mean? As if he read his mind the King grinned.

  “Kainan, when you leave this room you will know everything. It will give you the strength and courage you will need to ensure that this quest is a success.” He paused for a moment, turning to his son.

  “Son, the Chamber is a great and powerful place. The crown is a guarded secret. I have told no-one, not even your mother that you are to accept the crown.”

  “But why?” Kainan asked, puzzled.

  “Because not only will you be able to know of your past, you will also receive a great gift, the power of our ancestors. We will not know how much you are able to absorb, maybe a little, enough to give you strength in battle. But it is possible and I have to warn you that if you are in anyway special and I don’t mean special because you are my son, because that goes without saying. I mean special as in a magical sense you may receive more power than you are able to control at first. And great knowledge of things that you may find yourself doing automatically without making any sense to you as to how you did it. In time you will learn how to control and use this power.”

  Kainan stared at his father.

  “Has anyone ever had all the power?” His father shook his head.

  “Not that we know. The Crown of Knowledge was only rediscovered by my father after we returned to Malgar. We were able to understand the inscriptions and my father took it upon himself to test the Crown. Then when I was of age I too took the Crown. We received the knowledge and enough power to rule, but no more. It is a legend, stories of old. But I have to warn you as did my father warn me. Do you understand Kainan? Although I have told you it is not a place to fear. If you were in anyway unsure or…” he hesitated, how was he to put this without offending his son. Reaching forward he placed his arm around his shoulder affectionately.

  “My son, I have brought you here because I believe in you. I believe you are of a good pure soul and of a good heart. But in order to take the crown of knowledge I must be sure. If you lie to me it could kill you.” His father turned to him, his face deadly serious.

  “Father, I promise you I have nothing to hide,” he reassured him.

  “Kainan, when I say pure I mean it in every sense,” he raised his eyebrow at his son.

  “I’m sorry but I don’t understand,” Kainan questioned blankly.

  “Usually I would have taken you to the Chamber when you turned sixteen years, but as you are now a man of twenty one years I have to be sure. Have you ever been with a woman?” his father asked bluntly. “Honestly Kainan you do not have to prove anything to me but it is vital to the crown that you tell the truth.”

  Kainan shook his head. “No father. I have never found anyone special yet.” His father smiled and nodded his head. It was the truth; Kainan had not yet found that special woman that he wanted to join with. Then he thought of Arweyn, she had caught his eye that was for sure, she was special, and maybe even be the one. He felt his heart beat faster just thinking about her.

  “Then the decision must be yours my son. Are you ready and willing?” his father questioned breaking his thoughts. Kainan nodded. He was scared, but he knew he had to do this. He had in one swift move brought fear and imminent destruction to Malgar, so there was no way he would back down now. His life would be meaningless if he walked away. In here was his chance to prove himself, the chance to become a Prince, a leader, to make amends for what he had done. In here he would leave his old life behind and leave this place as a Prince. Strong and knowledgeable and with the power of the ancestors within him, who knows what he could achieve. Slowly he turned the handle and entered the room.

  To the left of him was a large torch which his father took from the wall and stepped forward.

  “Kainan, I am going to pass onto you as my first born son, and as my father did to me, the eternal flame of Malgar. It was a gift from a great wizard hundreds of years ago, a gift that would ensure Malgar would always be kept warm and out of darkness. Now there is no need to be afraid, the flame will not burn you; just hold out your hand.” Kainan did as his father asked; there was a slight tremor in his hand as he held it forward. His father held out his hand and pointed his finger.

  “Illumanartry,” he whispered and there on the end of his index finger appeared a flame. Kainan gasped astonished.

  “Stay still Kainan, I promise this will not hurt you.” Kainan nodded as his father reached forward with his burning finger and touched Kainan’s index finger with the flame.

  “Illumanartry espario callamentora.” As he said the words, the flame transferred onto Kainan’s finger, Kainan stood amazed; he had no idea what to do. It seemed unbelievable that he was standing here with his index finger on fire, yet it did not burn.

  “Light the torch Kainan,” his father instructed. Kainan reached forward and lit the torch.

  “Now just wave your finger slightly and think it out. You do not need to speak the words.” Kainan nodded and did as his father instructed. In an instant the flame was gone. He looked at the end of his finger but there was nothing, no sign of the flame. No burn marks, nothing.

  “Now try and relight it. The word you use is Illumanartry. Again you do not have to speak the word only think it, but really feel it Kainan. Really feel what you want it to do.”

  Kainan took a deep breath. He would give it a go, but it just seemed crazy. Holding out his hand he pointed with his index finger, quickly glancing at his father, the King nodded at him. He thought hard and within seconds his finger was alight. Kainan jumped, his hand wavered outstretched. He was not sure if to shake it out or blow on it. It was unnatural. His father began laughing at his shocked face.

  “It’s alright my son, it will not burn you. Now remember what I said to put it out?” Kainan nodded and took a deep breath and thought, and the flame was gone.

  “Father I cannot believe this.
How is it possible?” His father’s chest rose and fell proudly at his son’s surprised face.

  “I know, I felt the same when my father showed me. To be honest we do not know how it works, we just accept that it does. But believe me Kainan it will mean you will never be without a fire. And I am sure before this journey is over you will see and maybe even do far greater magic than this.” Kainan raised his eyebrow and watched as his father placed the torch into a large vessel in front of them. It immediately caught fire, sending the flames roaring around the room along a series of channels cut deep into the wall.

  He gasped. It was magnificent. The room was indeed a huge chamber, with inscriptions carved into the walls all around the room. Kainan’s eyes lingered on a dragon with green wings. It was set back away from the rest of the inscriptions. Something was drawing him to it; it almost seemed to glow at him.

  “Over there Kainan.” The new Prince took his eyes off the dragon and looked to where his father was pointing. It was a shrine cut into the rock with his family emblem carved into it. Again it was the dragon with green wings, but this one was different. It had the two swords crossed in front of it, and on a shelf above it sat a crown.

  “There my son, the Crown of Knowledge.” Kainan stared at the Crown. It was funny he had imagined it to be a fine golden crown, encrusted with precious stones, but it was not; it was made entirely of crystal. The crown was skull shaped and it sparkled like a star set against the deepest darkest night, it was awesome. Turning, he looked to the centre of the chamber. There in the middle was the throne his father had told him about.

  “Father if you have only lived here since the Great War how is it that the chamber is here? It looks much older than the rest of the castle and we seem to have walked a long way underground?”

  The King smiled he was glad his son was taking such an interest.

  “The chamber has always been here through the portal, as has the land. Long before my time, Groundlings always lived here on Malgar. Our world goes way beyond the boundary. In times long ago we were an Empire, our lands were vast and our people many, but something terrible happened. We don’t know what for sure; all we know is that our people fled in a hurry. Beyond the boundary of the Crystal the lands are very dark and dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all knowledge and scrolls of this time are missing. All we know is what has been handed down by word of mouth and as you probably know things can get changed or added too. I have spent most of my life trying to find the hidden scrolls. I have searched this Chamber from top to bottom.”

  Kainan listened intently as he continued. “After the darkness came the Groundlings left leaving nearly everything, in a great urgency. Only a very small number of Groundlings were able to come through the portal. They, along with a handful of other races came through the small portal in the cavern, the one you found. The cavern was sealed and the Groundling’s built a new city on Zyon. They and the others, the Gardiners, the Elves, all took some land of their own and they lived there peacefully for hundreds of years.”

  “What happened to all the other people, those that were left behind? If you say we used to be a great Empire there must have been thousands?” Kainan could not quite comprehend how they could have just left thousands to perish. The King looked at Kainan’s pained face. He could see what he was thinking.

  “My son, I don’t know what happened to the others. No one does. It was so long ago, we believe near on five hundred years. All I know was that a thousand or so souls passed through the portal to Zyon, and from that thousand are the descendants that you see here in the City of Malgar. We still lost many more when the Gorzars grew too powerful and tried to destroy us all. Then after the Great War the King, your grandfather, decided it was time to return our people to Malgar. He re-opened the portal but they discovered the lands were still dark. The Faerlings agreed to help them; they are an incredible race of people Kainan, generally a peaceful race, unless provoked. The leaders of their people, the royals possess great powers, both in magic and healing. They live in another world to ours, but are connected to Zyon.”

  Kainan frowned.

  “You mean there are even more worlds?” The King nodded.

  “The universe is vast Kainan, there are worlds beyond worlds; some we know are connected through portals, such as ours and Zyon.” The King shrugged. “It may be that on the other side of Malgar, in the dark lands, there are portals to other worlds. We just do not know. To get to the Faerlings you have to find a portal on Zyon. The Faerlings through their power are able to change the access portals. This is why we are never sure how we can find them. The Faerlings gave us the gift of the Ardor Crystal and drawing on its magic and power they used its energy to build and run our new city. It took over ten years to build this castle and the city.

  We knew of the existence of the Chamber of Knowledge that was thankfully discovered in an old scroll my father had. When my father rediscovered it he became the first Dermock since the evacuation to take the Crown of Knowledge. The scroll speaks of the risks involved, but also of the knowledge contained within it. My father decided it was a risk worth taking; then when I turned sixteen I also took the knowledge. And now my son, now it is your turn.” He took a pause for breath. Then placing his arm around Kainan’s shoulder he continued.

  “There are now two portals into Malgar from Zyon. The one you came through in the cavern and the large portal on the other side of the great forest. The large portal is the one we used when we moved back to Malgar and built the city. It was created using the magic from the Crystal. The large portal was closed again to ensure the safety of Malgar when everyone had been brought through, and the small portal was re-opened to enable us to visit Zyon when we need too. There are still some things we cannot grow on Malgar,” he paused, scratching his head as a thought suddenly occurred to him.

  “What is wrong?” Kainan asked, sensing a sudden change in his mood.

  “Nothing.” He removed his other arm from around his son’s shoulders. Kainan looked at the concern that had suddenly spread across his aging face.

  “Father please tell me, something is wrong.” he begged. It was all he could do to keep his own panic in check.

  “It just occurred to me then as I spoke. Without the Ardor Crystal the magic spells and enchantments may fail.”

  “Magic spells?” A frown of perplexity creased Kainan’s forehead. His father nodded.

  “Yes. When the Crystal was put in place not only did it serve to give us our warmth and our energy, but the Faerlings also created a magic spell which stopped the Gorzars and Dark Elves from crossing through the portal. They also created a spell to protect us from the darkness. If you can imagine, it is like a giant bubble covering us, protecting us.” His father raising his hands began moving them in a circular movement to demonstrate. “Kainan we still do not know what is out there.” His father, clasping his hands behind his back tried to hide his true concern.

  “Has no one been through the boundary to find out?”

  His father shook his head. “No. It is far too dangerous. We have had enough of death Kainan. The Gorzars and Dark Elves are merciless, they killed women and children, they have no souls. I will not send our people through the boundary to their deaths. We lost so many during the war and even now our numbers have been slow to recover.”

  “Who are Dark Elves?” Kainan asked. No one had mentioned Dark Elves before.

  “Dark Elves are despicable creatures Kainan. They work on the side of evil. A large group of Elves were cast out of their city after creating acts of great evil and horror near on a hundred or so years ago. They live deep underground in the catacombs in the far north of Zyon. I believe they are still quite a strong force, but thanks to the Faerlings they have been kept under control by the spells created with the Crystal.”

  “How does the magic work?”

  “I am not sure how the magic works entirely. All I know is that if a Gorzar or a Dark Elf tried to come through the portal they would disintegrate instantly.” Kai
nan thought for a moment. Then his face turned ashen.

  “That is what they meant, the Gorzars.” He looked at his father. “They said we would all have to return to Zyon and that we would not be able to hide down here anymore.”

  “But how could they know all of this?” the King asked puzzled.

  “I don’t know. Maybe who ever helped Marianna take me is still here?”

  “A traitor amongst us?” The King shook his head. This he didn’t want to believe.

  Kainan nodded feeling guilty and miserable. It was all his fault. He immediately choked off his emotions and took a deep breath. Reaching out to his father he placed his hand on his arm squeezing it.

  “I’m so sorry for what I have done to you and to the people of Malgar I will make it right again. I promise.”

  Sighing, his father shook his head. It broke his heart that Kainan blamed himself for this desperate situation. How could it be his fault after he, the King, had so easily believed that his son, his first born was dead, without even checking that the baby had the royal markings? His wife had been so distressed, that no one had checked. They had believed what Marianna had said to be true. No. None of this was his fault. If it was any one person’s fault it was his. He just thanked the spirits that they had returned his son to him.

  “Kainan you have nothing at all to be sorry about. None of this is your fault and do not ever feel that it is. You were forced into doing what you did, you had no way of knowing what they had done to you or where you had come from. This is how destiny has decided things should be and we will deal with each and everything that it throws at us.” He patted Kainan’s arm. “You are back where you belong and that is all that matters. Now come, we have no more time to lose. They may know more than we first thought. I will tell Lord Detaine to send a patrol to check on the portal by the edge of the forest just in case the power does fade and it re-opens. Now my son, go and sit down on the throne.” He ushered him forward.