Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (13 page)

“There are very few men who could have withstood the spell that was radiating from those foul beasts.” He slid down next to Tom and looked at the skeletons with disdain, “This is where your courage comes from…” Caspin put his hand on his heart then his arm, “…not here.”

Tom smiled weakly. “I understand, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t hold on. They were too strong.”

“You may not have destroyed the enemy with your small light but you gave him pause, and as you grow your light will grow as well, enabling you to give hope to others.” Caspin clapped Tom’s shoulder softly and said, “This is a great victory for you. You have shown the enemy that you do have a light of your own. Remember that in times of great darkness you may be the only one that others can look to for light.” Caspin smiled and stood up slowly. He held out his hand to Tom. Tom grabbed the outreached hand and stood.
I know I can stand now. I have friends that believe in me.

John stood. “You were very brave today. There is no shame in what happened here today.”

Cody stood next to Tom smiling broadly. “Yea no kidding, I wish I could light my sword on fire.”

Tom snorted. “It’s an easy trick I’ll show you how someday.”

“John, come over here and take a look at this,” Kristiana said.

She was standing over the skeleton that had held Aithnea. John walked over to her and the rest followed. She handed John a small chain with a rose attached to it. “Look at this.”

“It looks like the one the skeleton wore in the old library,” John said.

Tom could see that it was a rose and that in the light it had a definite blue tint to it. He looked at the other skeletons but none of them had any necklaces on. Tom counted twelve skeletons without necklaces that lay in heaps of bones and cloth. The skeleton that had the necklace was charred from the magic that had hit it. In the pile of bones Kristiana found the dagger that was held to Aithnea’s neck. Unlike the other weapons that the skeletons had this one looked as if it had been crafted recently. A sapphire was imbedded into the hilt. 

“Since you were almost killed with it I think you should hold onto it,” Kristiana said handing the dagger to Aithnea, “Keep it safe; it radiates a strong magic.”

Aithnea held the dagger close. “Thank you.”

“What was down farther,” John asked.

“
Just a room with a table and an old tapestry,” Cody said.

John started down the hall toward the door. Tom, Aithnea and Cody looked at each other with concern but as Kristiana and Caspin followed John they fell in line. 

“So Tom, how did you know how to use the fire spell?” Kristiana asked.

“
It just came to me. I think I figured that a burning sword would do more damage than a normal sword so I cast the spell for fire and touched my sword. I’m not sure how or why it worked.” He shrugged.

“
It’s good to try and stick with spells you know when in the middle of a battle,” Kristiana said, “A lot of the time you can miscast a spell and it will backfire.”

Tom nodded.

Kristiana continued the lecture, “That’s why it’s so important to study and prepare for battle.” She paused as if looking for the right words. “Imagine that you are in a battle and how it will look then plan for the best response.”

“
It’s strange but when I’m in the middle of a fight there is something in me that seems to just start acting for me. It’s as if I’m going into a rage and almost lose control,” Tom said.

Kristiana looked back at Tom studying him for a second. “I’m not sure if that’s good for you to give in to those rages they may get you into trouble one day or misfire on friends. Magic is very powerful and if we do not use our wills to control and wield it then it could control us instead.”

Kristiana walked with her hand to her chin. “On the other hand, it may be how your magic works. I know that how we use magic is similar but it’s not the same.”

Tom thought about what Kristiana said and wondered if he was in control of his magic or if it was beginning to control him. He shuddered thinking that the magic might be in control.
I need to be more careful, at least until I understand it better.

The door stood open and John slowly entered. He walked around the table examining the skeletons closely with Kristiana behind him. She moved her hand over each one. After they had passed by each one John put his sword and pistol away and Kristiana walked over to the tapestry.

Tom walked to the skeletons afraid that any moment they would wake and attack them. He shuddered remembering the fear that the other skeleton had caused.
Could these skeletons do the same?
Leaning closer he looked at the necklaces around their necks. “They’re all wearing the same necklaces, other than the color that is.”

“
Yes and look in the tapestry, there’re white, blue, brown and red roses on the men,” Kristiana added.

John walked up to Kristiana’s side. “What is it a picture of?”

Tom looking a little embarrassed said, “When we were in here earlier, I saw a man. He told me that it showed how it was when magic was in the beginning. He said that the men became power hungry and would kill their own families to gain more.”

“
What man?” John asked.

“
I’m not sure who he was but he wore a necklace like the ones that are on the skeletons. He seemed to be very old and wore a grey cloak. I was the only one that saw him though,” Tom said.

Kristiana continued to study the tapestry and John approached the table.

Aithnea walked to the table and leaned close to a vase that held four roses. “These roses look as if they are still alive…” she looked up at John, “…How could they still be alive after all this time?”

“
It must be some sort of magic that keeps them alive,” John said.

“
This looks like some sort of counsel room,” Caspin said as he approached the tapestry, “Maybe they put the tapestry up to remind them of what happens when magic becomes too powerful and goes unchecked.”

Kristiana nodded in agreement. “It makes more sense to me why they would want to take magic from the world.” She pointed at a part on the tapestry. “It looks as if they are fighting over something or someplace. It’s some kind of a map.”

Caspin stepped back and examined it from a distance. “I think you’re right, there’s definitely a border drawn under the fighting men. Look here there seems to be certain points that are highlighted or where more men are fighting. They must have been fighting over these different points.” He pointed at several different locations.

There were five points of interest that had a concentration of men fighting over them. In all of the five places there were men from each color of the rose and it didn’t appear that any group was winning the battle.

John walked up to the tapestry and touched a point on the tapestry. “If this is a map then this must be where we are.”

Tom looked at the point it was a mountain with a cave in the side of it. “Can you tell where the other ones are fighting?”

Kristiana shook her head from side to side. “It will be impossible without a key of some sort. We have no reference other than where we are now and it doesn’t appear to be very accurate as far as natural landmarks.”

The group continued to look at the tapestry, moving around to get different viewpoints. Caspin stopped and then stepped closer to the tapestry. “Look at this man; he doesn’t have any apparent markings. He seems to be standing apart from the others.”

“Who do you suppose he is?” Aithnea asked.

Caspin leaned in even closer. “I’m not sure but he appears to be praying or maybe he’s blessing them.”

“Maybe he’s just on all of their sides or maybe an observer,” Tom asked.

“
I don’t believe that he would be on all of the sides, maybe he was just an observer,” Caspin said.

John walked to a chair against the wall and sat down. “Maybe the real question is what do we do with this new information about the order and what does it mean to us?” John looked at the skeletons at the table. “Who
are they and what are they trying to tell us?”

They looked at John and then back to the tapestry each deep in thought.

After a few minutes John clapped his hands on the arms of the chair. “I think that the best thing to do at this time is to rest for the night.”

Aithnea and Caspin reluctantly turned from the tapestry and nodded in agreement as they walked toward John.

Cody stood. “I’m not sure about all of you but I think that I would feel safer at the cave entrance than down here with the dead.”

John yawned and looked at Cody. “The only problem with that plan is we would have to guard two entrances…” looking at the skeletons, “…on the other hand if we stayed here we could close the outer door and only have to worry about ghosts and skeletons.”

“I think we could remove the skeletons from the room and then barricade the door,” Caspin said.

“
That sounds good to me. Is anyone opposed to the idea?” John said.

No one objected.

“Ok. Cody, Tom and I’ll remove the skeletons,” John said. “Caspin, Kris and Aithnea go and grab our gear and close the door behind you.”

John walked over to the first skeleton and dragged the chair and skeleton out the door. Tom could hear the footsteps of Kristiana, Aithnea and Caspin fade as they walked down the hall. Tom and Cody each grabbed another chair and began dragging them out of the room.

The others returned, walking by the skeletons lined up along the wall in the hallway and John closed and barred the door with a chair.

Tom lay down but was unable to fall asleep as he replayed the day’s events over and over in his head. He wondered about what the man had said about him being a light for others and how he would need to stand up. He worried about his lack of courage and being unable to face the skeleton. How he’d backed down and if it hadn’t been for Caspin, Aithnea would be dead right now. He thought about Aithnea and his feelings for her, how they had grown so close over the years. He was confused about how his life was going and the changes that were happening to him. He worried about the power that was in him. Would he be able to control it or would it take control of him? Tom finally fell asleep, dreaming about skeletons and magic.

Tom was awoken by Aithnea’s gentle touch and soft voice. “It’s time to get going.”

“
Yeah, you can’t sleep all day you know,” Cody said.

Tom rolled onto his back and sat up rubbing his eyes and yawning. The rest of the group had already gotten up and packed up the gear. Kristiana, John and Caspin had pulled chairs from the wall and were now sitting at the table talking. Tom stood and Aithnea handed him some bread and water.

Tom took the bread and smiled at her, longing to hold her in his arms once again but too shy to actually do it.

Aithnea smiled back and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Good morning.”

He blushed slightly but enjoyed the kiss. “Good morning Aithnea.”

They stared at each other for a moment longer before Tom started to pack his stuff and Aithnea walked to the table. He finished packing and joined the others at the table.

“There’s no reason to get aid from Archelaus until we know exactly what we’re dealing with,” John said.

“
We need to get supplies and advice. He may already know something about all of this,” Kristiana said. “He has more resources than we do and a huge library that may shed some light on this.”

“
Archelaus has always been able to aid my brothers.” Caspin jumped in. “He will be able to aid us on our journey.”

John lowered his head. “I just don’t think that we should trust him with this, not yet. I have a nagging feeling that we shouldn’t.” 

The three sat in silence for a few moments. “Let’s search the rest of this place maybe it will give us the answer we need,” Caspin said.

John nodded in agreement and Kristiana consented. The three stood and Tom grabbed his pack and put it on. John moved the chair from the door and with his sword drawn, opened it. There was nothing behind the door other than the eight skeletons lined along the wall.

Tom kept his distance as he walked past them down the hall, still worried that they would rise up like the others had. He was relieved when they got to the intersection and no longer felt the skeletons with their empty sockets staring at him.

The group went down the hallway to the left and turned right at the corner. The hallway continued for about a hundred yards with the same odd lights glowing on the walls. At the end of the hall there was a metal door with an iron handle. Kristiana waved her hand over the door and nodded to John. He slowly put his hand to the handle and pulled the door open.

Tom had his weapon out and was ready for something horrible to burst out of the door when it opened. To his relief nothing burst out from the room and the group entered. There were five tapestries hanging on the walls around the circular room. They seemed to show the five different areas that the big tapestry showed only this time there were no battles.  The door opened onto a platform that had four steps going down to a single chair in the middle of the room. The raised area had a table that was also circular in shape with twelve chairs spaced evenly around it. Opposite of the door, hanging on the wall, an arrangement of four roses hung: blue, red, brown and white. The roses shimmered lightly and seemed to be alive.