ENCHANTED Book 1: Witch's Dawn

CHAPTER THREE

MORTAL REALM: TÖRLÊM

  "When I woke up, I found out that I had been in a coma for ten years and that my uncle and the other war generals were gone." he finished with a sigh and turned from the window.

  "Oh Ryan," she gasped softly, "I'm so sorry."

  "Don't be. They didn't die, at least not then."

  "What does that mean?"

  "The medallion. It stripped them of thier magic essence and immortality."

  Christi looked awed. "It can do that?"

  "Yes." His tone was somber. " In fact because it's unstable it draws power everyday becoming more powerful by the minute." Just like me.

  "Now I understand why Delterzard needs it so badly," she said then frowned in confusion. " But I still don't understand what any of this has to do with your father and the Orb of destiny reappearing."

  "I'm getting to it. Remember that I was directly beside the medallion when it went off?"

"Yeah?"

  "Well as that direct contact with the power from the medallion didn't kill me as it should have, I ended up being bonded to it instead."

  "Oh my gosh! You mean-" she trailed off stunned.

  Ryan nodded his head. "Yes I'm a part of it and it's a part of me as well. That's why it's unstable."

  "But that means your unstable as well!"

  He gave her a wry grin. " That's why my father wants me back. He wants to use my connection to the medallion to find it. But he doesn't understand that I can't control it. Only the wearer can."

  Christi moved to the seat she'd been sitting on. "Wow, that's some pretty heavy stuff."

  Ryan chuckled. "Welcome to my world."

  "So...  Do you know where it is?" She asked curiously.

  "No," he said frowning slightly. " But I've been having strange feelings lately. Feelings I haven't had for a long time." Not since the last time we faced Delterzard.

  Christi sensed his unspoken words and a cold shiver ran up her spine; she remembered those years well. "Then I think it's a sign that we've run out of time," she said in a hushed voice.

MORTAL REALM: POLONIA

  "By the gods! What kind of endless fog is this?" He spat out in frustration.

  Hours had passed since they had entered the deserted land and more passed on as they continued to wander, fruitlessly searching for an exit. It was as though the fog was a living, breathing thing. When he had spotted the place from above the king's dragon, the fog had been so thin he almost thought it non-existent. But as they dropped on the land, it had begun to thicken with speed.

  Reassuring the dragon softly with his mind, he urged him forward and continued to walk beside him. After Aranet had lost his ability to see through the fog, he had dismounted. Gazar had thought it wiser to walk behind the dragon, but eventually he needed to hold on to the dragon to be able to move at all.

  His foot hit another hard stone of many, making him swear very roundly. Pouring out his frustrations in the curses, Gazar did not sense a second presence until he heard the feminine voice.

  "Hush, servant of the dark lord. Do not profane this place any more with your obscenities, for it will do you no good."

  Gazar looked up from his aching foot and almost fell to the ground weak-kneed. His relief at hearing another's voice was that intense. But he caught himself in time when he felt her aura was not that of a mortal. "Who are you fair lady?" He ventured warily.

  She smiled at the caution in his voice. "I can sense your fear mortal. Worry not, for I bring you no harm." Her tone turned a shade cooler," Neither do I have what you seek."

   His hackles rose at the reproach in her voice. "You did not answer my question," he snapped at her.

  Her eyes narrowed at the anger in his voice. "I am Delphine, messenger of the immortals and guardian of messengers in all realms." She gestured around them and continued before he could speak. "This place is Eöegr."

  Eöegr was Polonian for lost. Gazar had never known a place like this existed in Polonia. "What sort of place is it? It is immune to magic!"

  "It is a place created by the protector of the medallion to punish those who seek the medallion for evil purposes."

  Gazar swore fouly again.

  She raised an eyebrow in amusement."It also reacts to evil. The more evil you are the more lost you become, until you die of hunger and weariness."

  He picked up her hint and stopped swearing. Cursing the place would do him no good. " How do I leave this place, please?" he asked, swallowing his pride for the moment.

  She graced him with another beatific smile. "That is the reason for my presence, mortal." With this she raised her hands above her head and began to glow brightly. "Alaistair Vardim gotch noefr Eöegr."

  The was a flash of light and when it dissipated, Gazar found himself alone in a glade near a sparkling pond. The woman and Aranet were nowhere to be found. He was about to comment on this when he heard her voice.

  "Go now mortal, your dragon awaits you at the edge of the glade. Do not return here in search of the medallion for it would mean your death. The medallion is gone to the one who will yield it, and none can say who that will be."

"Why would the immortals aid me?" He shouted at the empty space but got no reply. The whole encounter made him uneasy. What were the immortals planning? Why was their messenger in the same place he was, looking for the medallion as well?

  Anyway it seems we are too late. He knew he would have to report back to his master and he dreaded the reaction he would recieve.