The Terral Gate

Chapter 9

The light that quickly invaded the cave where Lodi, Gerberkan, Mim, and MJ had spent the last 24 hours was unsettling for everyone. They stumbled out through the mouth and Abram stood with Ahnah at his side. Gerberkan took in a deep breath of the brisk morning air, laughing at how much better he felt. Abram was quick to talk to the group.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Better!” said MJ, who had regained some of her strength and was finally examining her hand as her vision became less blurry. Her mark was still there, but it had faded substantially. Mim was noticing the same thing.

“Are we still not cured of these?” her voice contained disappointment.

“It appears as though the ritual has only partially healed you. I’m afraid it takes too long to prepare again right now. It is irrelevant, though. You have a much greater purpose.” Ahnah handed each of the 4 the gloves they had been wearing when they arrived, but had removed before participating in the ritual. Abram continued, “I’ve imbued your gloves with as much restorative energy as I can. This should help keep the darkness at bay for another few days, but I can offer no more-” he stopped and fell victim to a coughing fit. Another elf came forward to support him and walked him away. Ahnah took over this part of the conversation. After watching Abram safely return to his tent, she turned towards the group with a proud smile.

“You see, it was prophesied that you would come here!” Ahnah received mixed reactions to this. “I was captured by the Purists on my way to find you. Well, I didn’t know it would be you in particular,” she nodded towards MJ, “but I knew I would find the group.” As she led the party, now joined by Gallus and Darwin, away from the mountainside she pointed at the sky in the distant Southeast. The dark cloud over Loralay Mountain was not only visible from here, but it seemed to have doubled in size and tenacity since the day before. “The Terral Gate is going to open. The threat grows with each passing moment.” Ahnah’s smile had faded and she spoke with a solemn tone. “We do not know what caused this, but the legends speak for themselves.” Darwin slowly nodded, but Ahnah judged that not everyone had made the connection. “We cannot allow the gate to open! The elders in Tre’Hearth have been protecting a prophecy and an invaluable ancient relic.”

“Tre’Hearth is our people’s largest city. Druids, mostly,” MJ explained to her group before turning to her sister, “but what’s the prophecy and how could it involve us?” Ahnah slowly shook her head.

“It is not my place to say. I can only give you the next step, which is to go to Tre’Hearth and obtain the Ryndal Shard.”

“Wait, I’ve heard of that! So it’s real?” Darwin exclaimed. He turned to his friends. “They say that Tre Ryndal, the druid who founded the giant tree city of Tre’Hearth, was only successful because he had discovered a powerful magical crystal shard as old as the world itself. He claimed it was touched by the terral gods and the travelers he drew to see it helped establish Tre’Hearth.”

Ahnah confirmed Darwin’s account without skipping a beat. “The elder druids have been charging it with energy, handing it down through the generations. It could be the single most significant artifact in existence.”

“And you want to give it to us?” Gerberkan asked what the rest were thinking.