The half-elf leafed through the book he was studying. He was due to take the tests to end his apprenticeship soon. He was a tall, handsome young man, just over six feet with shoulder-length auburn hair, a closely trimmed beard and eyes of an intense deep blue. 

He sat in the study at the home of Mabryl in Bluehaven, which was situated on the south coast of the land of Grosmer. With him were Mabryl’s other two apprentices, fourteen year old Tomac and sixteen year old Emmienne. 

Tomac pushed a lock of his unruly dark hair out of his eyes. ‘I think that’s the Master coming in now, Carthinal. You’d better get looking as though you’ve been doing something instead of moping around waiting for that letter, or you’ll be in trouble.’

Mabryl, his master and adopted father had sent off to the Mage Tower in Hambara asking for the young man to be considered for the tests at the next opportunity.

As Tomac spoke, the door opened and Mabryl entered, shaking his cloak as he did so. ‘It’s pretty cold out there, and it’s turning to snow if I’m not mistaken. Unusual this far south.’ He turned to his three apprentices. ‘Have you finished the tasks I set you?’ He hung his cloak on a stand by the door. 

Carthinal stood and ambled to the fire, putting a fresh log on to the flames. ‘Come and get warm, and, no I’ve not finished. I can’t settle to anything until I hear about whether I can take the tests soon. I think Emmienne has finished though. I can’t say about Tomac.’

‘Nearly,’ replied Tomac, jumping from his chair and carrying his workbook to his master. ‘I was a little stuck on the moon phases, though.’ He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘It’s complicated trying to work out both moons at the same time.’

‘Stick to it, youngster,’ said Emmienne from the window seat. She grinned across at the younger boy, the grin lighting up her otherwise plain face. ‘I had problems too, but it comes eventually.’

Tomac groaned and went back to his seat.

‘I’ve finished though, Sir,’ she said. ‘I’ve learned that new spell you gave me and am sure I can make it work. When can I try it?’

Mabryl laughed. ‘Such enthusiasm. We’ll try it tomorrow, I think. In the meantime, I’ve made what I think may be a big discovery. Perhaps the most important one for many, many years. Look.’ He put an ancient-looking book on the table. It had a red leather cover that sported a few cracks and scratches. On the front, in what had once been gold lettering, was the name Armron Filibur.  

The three apprentices gathered round.  

‘I think it may be a spell book from before the Forbidding,’ Mabryl said 

Emmienne gasped. ‘That is old. And if it is, we’ll be able to find lost spells. You’ll be famous, Sir.’

‘Calm down, Emm. It may not be the spell-book of a magister, or even an arch-mage.’ Cardinal smiled at the girl . ‘It may only have the spells we already know and not any of the lost ones.’

Around seven hundred and fifty years previously there had been a war between conflicting mages. It caused such devastation and hardship that, when it had ended, the king forbade the use of magic on pain of death. He ordered all spell books to be burned. 

Some mages, however, hid some of their books and these came to light occasionally. 

During this time, much knowledge was lost and now mages worked to try to re-discover the lost spells. If this book were to be of use, it would need to be taken to one of these mages.

The door opened and Lillora, Mabryl’s housekeeper entered. ‘Sorry to disturb you, sir, but a bird arrived a few minutes ago. I thought you should know.’ She glanced towards Carthinal and grinned, a twinkle in her eye. ‘Probably nothing important though.’

‘I’ll come and look,’ Mabryl stood and left the three apprentices to their own devices.

Carthinal picked up the book and leafed through it. He could understand little of what was written there. Firstly it was in an archaic script and language and secondly he was as yet only an apprentice and had not acquired the knowledge to understand more than a limited number of spells. 

He frowned as he tried to read the words on the page. As he lifted the book from the table to take it nearer to the light, a loose page fell onto the floor. He stooped to pick it up and realised he could read it, unlike the rest of the book, and that it was not a page fallen out, but a note that had been inserted there. He took it to the window seat and sat by Emmienne to read it.

‘What’s that?’ The brown-haired girl strained to read it upside down.

‘I’m not sure.’ Carthinal wrinkled his brow. ‘It fell out of the book Mabryl bought, but it’s not the same writing, nor is it in the same archaic script. It’s a note of some kind.’ He paused to read it.

As he read the note, Mabryl came back holding a piece of paper in his hand.

‘It’s good news, Carthinal,’ he told the young man. ‘There’s a space for you to take your tests in the next batch, which take place just before Grillon’s Day. As that’s in about five sixdays we’ll need to leave here soon to allow us time to settle in before your ordeal. What’s that you’ve got there?’ He strode to the window seat and looked at the paper in Carthinal’s hand.

‘It fell out of the book you bought,’ Cardinal replied . ‘It doesn’t seem to be by the author of the book though. It’s in a more modern script that I can read. It doesn’t make much sense though.’ He handed it to Mabryl who read it, then reread it, this time out loud.

‘“When Kalhera descends from the mountains, and orcs once more roam the land,

When impossible beasts occur and the Never-Dying man is once more at hand.

Then the Sword that was lost must once more be found; only it can destroy the threat

And kill the immortal mortal to balance out his debt.”

‘It does seem a strange thing to write,’  Tomac said, ‘and it doesn’t make a lot of sense either. How can Kalhera descend from the mountains? She’s a god and the gods don’t come down to Vimar.’ 

Mabryl turned the page in his hand and saw some more writing on the back. 

‘This says it’s a quotation from something the writer heard and wrote down. The author says he visited the Oracle on Holy Island and this was what he was told the Oracle said earlier in the day to no one in particular. Only the attendants were present.’ 

He replaced the paper in the book on the table and turned to Carthinal. ‘We must take this to a colleague of mine in the Mage Tower when we go. She’s working on finding the old spells, I believe, and this may be of use to her. The loose note may be a prophecy if it came from the Oracle, but who knows when it was made? It could be that it was centuries ago, or yesterday; and it could be referring to a time well in the future or even in the past. I think we should ignore it for now. Lillora told me our lunch is almost ready, so I suggest we go to the table before she gets mad.’

The three apprentices forgot all about the book and the note as they enjoyed the housekeeper’s excellent cooking and after the meal they returned to their studies. 

Mabryl gave them all tasks to complete and went out again, taking the book with him.

<<>>

Duke Danu of Bluehaven had trained at the Mage Tower in his youth. He had some talent for magic, but with the death of his elder brother in an epidemic, he had to take over the duties and prepared to become the duke one day. He had never taken the tests to end his apprenticeship, but he retained an interest in magic and still practiced it in a small way. ‘To keep my hand in,’ he told people. 

Today he sat in his study going over the accounts of the duchy when a knock came at the door.

‘Arch-mage Mabryl to see you, sir,’  his butler said.

‘Send him in.’ Danu rose from his seat and clasped Mabryl in a hug. ‘You’ve not been to visit in some while, my friend,’ he scolded. ‘Busy with your three apprentices, I suppose.’

Mabryl smiled at his friend. ‘Yes, they keep me busy. Carthinal’s ready to take his tests and become a full mage now.’

‘Is that so?’ Duke Danu raised an eyebrow. ‘Doesn’t time fly? Hardly seems any time at all when you took that scruffy little urchin off the streets. Everyone thought you were mad, you know–taking a street child to be your apprentic, then adopting him? Well, we were wrong. He’s turning out all right.’

‘Considering his background, yes. He still has his faults and I can’t say there weren’t times when I agreed with you I’d done the wrong thing. He still needs to control his temper better and his good looks don’t help him to control his baser instincts. Girls, and older women too, flirt outrageously with him, and he enjoys it a little too much! But I didn’t come here to talk about Carthinal. I’ve made a discovery and I want your opinion.’

 He pulled the spell-book out of a bag at his side. ‘I’m going to take this to Yssa at the Mage Tower when I take Carthinal. She’ll be the best to decide how important it is.’ He handed the book to Danu.

The duke whistled. ‘This is important, Mabryl. I can’t read it, but it certainly looks like a spell-book to me. It’s old and could easily date to before the Forbidding.’ He picked up the note that was still between its pages. ‘What’s this?’ 

‘A little note that was in the book. Carthinal found it. It doesn’t seem to belong to the book though, and I’ve thought it could be a hoax; someone putting a seeming prophecy in an important old book.’

‘Maybe, but I don’t think so. Some research I’ve been doing suggests that Grosmer is about to face some danger. This may be a prophecy about that. I would suggest you take it to Rollo in Hambara when you go. His library’s much more extensive than mine and he can find out more. I’ve been in touch with him about this possible danger so he knows a little of what I suspect.’

‘I don’t know Duke Rollo,’ Mabryl replied. ‘He may not believe me. I’ve heard he’s a suspicious man. I think there is a possibility this note is a hoax even if you don’t. I’ll need to prove that I’ve come from you.’

‘I’ll write you a letter to give to him.’ Danu ambled to his desk and lifted his pen. ‘I’ll also give you this.’ He picked up a small statuette of a trotting horse, about three inches long and two high that sat on his desk. ‘It’s one of a pair we found in our adventuring days. He has the other. He’ll know I’ve sent you when he sees that, especially if you ask him about the other one. Now, go and sit by the fire and I’ll get some wine for us to drink while we talk about other things.’

The two old friends spent the afternoon remembering past times and gossiping about the goings on in the city of Bluehaven as the afternoon passed into evening and the duke’s work lay unfinished on the desk.

If you would like to find out more about this prophecy and what it means, click on the book title in the sidebar.

(This was supposed to be scheduled for next Tuesday, but WordPress, in its wisdom, has decided I should post it now! So this is next week’s post early.)