Cythera Chronicles: The Shadow Prophecies, chapter 2

Katerei was worried. Throughout the last week, reports of the shadows had increased. People were starting to be injured, although luckily no one had died yet. But each day, it was getting worse.

Wolmark, Sya, Avatara and Katerei were gathered at a table in the Alraeican Tavern. They were, of course, discussing the shadows.

"This is a serious issue," Wolmark was saying. "I’m not sure what we can do about it, though. Nobody seems to ever have heard about these before, and nobody knows how to kill them."

"Well, of course not. If they had heard of them, then the prophecies would have already come true, and there’s no record of it anywhere," Katerei reasoned.

Avatara frowned. "Yes, but we really need to do something. Yesterday somebody was seriously injured by one of them. I’m not sure how they attack, though..." He turned to Katerei. "Has there been any mention of them in Catamarca?"

Katerei shook her head. "Not as many incidents as here in Cademia, but yes, there have been some. Apparently, the shadows are beginning to cover a larger range of land."

"I wonder how far they’ve gone," Sya said thoughtfully. She glanced at the other three. "If it keeps up like this, we should probably send some people to Pnyx, Land King Hall, and the other cities to tell them. Plus we might get some extra information."

Wolmark nodded. "Good idea." He sighed and looked out the window at the gray sky. "If that’s what we have to do, I sure hope this rain lets up." It had been raining for nearly three days straight, and the sky was a continuous shade of gray or black.

Sighing, Katerei stood up and walked over to one of the windows. The rain was falling steadily. She watched the rain for a moment, then turned away and closed her eyes. A shadow will fall across the land... Was that what it meant? She shook her head vaguely and turned to Avatara, Wolmark, and Sya.

"I’m going back to Catamarca for the night," she said. "I’ll be back tomorrow."

They nodded and Katerei left the quiet Tavern. Once outside, she opened a portal to Catamarca and stepped through.

*

Late that night, Violet entered the Alraeican Tavern, looking tense. She walked over to the table where Avatara and Wolmark were still sitting. Sya had already left.

Wolmark looked up as Violet approached. "What’s wrong? You don’t look happy."

Violet grimaced. "No, I’m not. A young child was just attacked by a shadow in Odemia. He’s near death. Word is spreading throughout Cythera and people are getting very worried."

"That’s it," Avatara declared, standing up. "We’re doing something about this now. Wolmark, can you go get the other Ronin? Violet, go to Catamarca and get Katerei. Tell her to bring that book she has. Meet back here as soon as you’re done."

Wolmark and Violet nodded, then quickly left the Tavern. Avatara soon followed.

*

Ten minutes later, Wolmark returned with the other six Ronin. Other than Brianna, the Tavern was empty.

Within minutes of them arriving, Slayer and Moonshadow entered the Tavern. "Avatara told us to come here," Moonshadow told the Ronin as she sat down next to Flynn.

Brianna looked around. "Well, I might as well go get the Scribe. I don’t think he’d want to miss this." She stood up and left the Tavern.

Talos entered the Tavern then, followed by Talm and Indigo. Talos looked around. "Quite a crowd. How many people is Avatara bringing, anyway?"

Slayer shrugged. "He told me to expect a lot of people."

As if to prove this point, Sya, Katze, Sideline, Ferazel and Brink entered. Sya grabbed a chair and sat down next to Slayer. "Looks like I missed something important," she commented. "So, what are we all here for?"

"It’s about the shadows," Indigo replied.

"Well, I knew that, at least," Sya grinned. "What about them?"

"You’d have to ask Avatara, I guess. He seems to be the one organizing this," Brink shrugged. "Anyway, why are you so cheerful today?"

Sya just grinned again.

"So, who else are we waiting for?" Leandra questioned, breaking the silence. "Avatara, of course, but anyone know who else he’s bringing?"

Her question was answered as Avatara, Rogan, Brianna, and the Scribe entered. Avatara glanced around. "Everybody’s here except Violet and Katerei. I hope they get back from Catamarca soon, but for now we’ll have to continue without them."

He sat down at one the tables and sighed. "Well, by now I expect we all know about these shadows."

There was a murmur of assent.

"Violet told us that a child in Odemia was recently attacked. He is apparently near death. These shadows have got to be stopped before they do too much damage to the people in Cythera."

Sasha stood up. "I agree. But I also can’t help remembering what it said in Katerei's book- that only one person could stop them. So, what can we do about that? We have to figure out who the person is, find them, and get them to come help us."

"That’s true," Flynn said, nodding. "But the person might not be anywhere near Cythera." He stopped and looked at everyone gathered there. "And I’m sorry to bring this up, but we have to consider it as a possibility- that person might not even be in the same time frame as us."

Brink looked around warily. "He’s right. I really hope it’s not true, but it is a possibility. Is there much we can do until Katerei and Violet get back, though? They’ve got the book, anyway."

Just then, Violet poked her head through the door. "You called?" She walked in with Katerei, who was holding the leather-bound book.

"Oh, you’re here finally," Avatara said.

"Sorry, we got delayed," Katerei said and sat down next to Ferazel. She dropped the book onto the table and started leafing through it.

Ferazel leaned over her shoulder. "What are you looking for?"

"The page I was reading when Violet came to get me. It’s about the chosen one- you know, the person that can stop the shadows."

"We were just talking about that," Talm said. "Flynn pointed out that the person might be in a different time period than we are. Makes it awfully difficult to get to that person..."

Katerei didn’t seem startled. She was quickly scanning over a page. "Here it is. Listen-"

Only the one can stop the darkness, but they cannot do it alone.
Ten will retrieve the one,
One will help the land,
Which in turn will help the one,
To conquer the dark one’s band.
Ten, set out, and retrieve the one
Using the words of reverse
Find the one, get the one,
Return the one using the verse.
Train the one, prepare the one,
But when the time draws near
Let the one do it alone
The one is Cythera’s seer.

"It’s a riddle," Katze said. She grinned in spite of the situation. "It would figure."

Katerei nodded. "Some of it makes sense. The second line means that ten of us will have to set out and retrieve the chosen one. The person will help Cythera, then we’ll have to help them- but what about these words of reverse?"

Sideline shrugged. "Maybe you have to say it backwards or something. Or maybe they’re written backwards."

The room fell silent as everyone thought about that. Katerei leaned over the book and studied the riddle. Words of reverse...

Suddenly the lamps began flickering, and then they sputtered and died. A quiet, serene voice came out. "Palindromes."

Trinias sat straight up. That voice sounded familiar. "Lemni?" he asked.

A light flickered, revealing a small child standing there smiling slightly. She held up the lantern. "Sorry. The lights have a tendency to do that when I come around." The girl walked over to the table Trinias was sitting at and set down the lantern. "Hello, my friend."

Trinias grinned and gave Lemni a small hug. "I’m so glad you came to Cythera again. So, what was that you said about a umm...palin...um..."

"Palindrome," Lemni repeated. "The words of reverse- it is actually quite simple if you think about. Palindromes are the same whether you say them backwards or forwards, so therefore you could say them in reverse." She looked around expectantly at the group.

Sideline raised an eyebrow. "I think that makes sense. But how are we supposed to figure out what the words are?"

"I cannot help you with that," Lemni shrugged. "I came back to Cythera because of these shadows. However, I know nothing of this incident."

"Didn’t you say you were the shadow child?" Trinias queried. "You’re sure you don’t know anything about these shadows?"

"Unfortunately, no. Through all the years I have been about, no mention of these has ever been heard. I will stay and help you for as long as I can, but I do not know what the words are or where to find them."

Brink was looking thoughtful. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, then turned to the group. "Has anyone ever looked above the door of the Alraeican Tavern?"

"No, why?" Wolmark said, surprised.

"Because there’s writing up there." Brink shrugged. "It’s too high up for me to read, but I know it says something."

"Well, it can’t hurt to check," Slayer reasoned. "Brink how high up is it?"

"Hmm...about ten feet from the ground."

Flynn looked around. "Lemni’s probably the lightest, and Ulf is the tallest. You two, come outside."

The two followed Flynn and Brink outside into the chilly night air. Brink pointed. "Right up there."

Flynn nodded. "Ok, Lemni, you’ll stand on Ulf’s shoulders and see if you can read it, ok?"

Lemni nodded and Ulf picked her up, setting her onto his left shoulder. Lemni peered at the scripture and frowned for a moment. The writing was very old-fashioned, although she was used to this, and the harsh weather over the years had worn some of it away. "Ok," she called down after a few minutes. "I’ve got it."

"Good thing," Brink commented as Ulf set the small girl back onto the ground. "It’s freezing out here." The four quickly went back into the warm Tavern.

"It’s definitely a palindrome," Lemni reported. "It goes, ‘Avicenna al mijar rer rajim la anneciva."

"But is that the one we’re looking for?" Violet asked. "The book Katerei has was probably written a long time before the Alraeican Tavern was built."

"Yes, but I was reading a page farther on while you were outside." Katerei grinned. "And guess what it said?"

Brink groaned. "Don’t tell me we went out in the cold for nothing!"

"But this just confirms it," Katerei replied. She raised her head slowly and looked around at everyone. "So...I guess this is the spell that’s going to help us find the chosen one."

[This message has been edited by moderator (edited 03-26-2002).]

Ambrosia Software Web Board: Cythera Chronicles: The Shadow Prophecies, chapter 2 - Ambrosia Software Web Board