The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (39 page)

Lucy wondered how old Taran was. That sounded like a great deal of thought had gone into it. Youth tends to act first and think later. For that matter how old was Justin?

“Are you only looking for Kleth, or are you looking for the Eye as well?” asked Taran.

“We intend to take the Eye back to the school or destroy it,” said Justin.

“Will destroying the Eye destroy Kleth?” asked Lucy.

“Possibly,” said both Justin and Taran at the same time, and all three of them smiled.

“No one knows for sure, and everyone has a different theory,” said Taran.

“It depends on if Kleth was created by the Eye or by something else as a place for the Eye,” added Justin.

“What exactly is this Eye?” asked Lucy.

“The story goes,” started Taran with a glance at Justin who nodded for him to continue, “that a long, indefinite time ago, something tragic happened to a powerful being. There are many versions about what that is, death of a parent, lover, sibling, or child, betrayal by a parent, lover, sibling, or child, or any number of other personal tragic events. There are whole books as well as songs about every possibility you can think up. The point is no one knows for sure. Also, there is some dissent over the type and race of the powerful being. Some say it was a god, a titan, an elven mystic, a giant wizard, or a race that has never been seen in this land. All the stories do agree that the being was female, and most of them call her Ishalla. In her pain and anguish, she wept, and her tears fell upon the seashore. After she could weep no more, she fled the shore and never appears again in any of the tales.

Hiding behind a rock formation, there was a man, a fisher by trade. He had watched the being weep, but could think of nothing to do to comfort her. He went to the spot where she wept and saw shards of ice not frozen all the way through so that water still moved in each one. He thought this odd as it was a warm night and nothing should freeze or remain frozen. Knowing they must be her tears, he gathered them up and put them in his pockets. The next day, despite the heat, they looked the same. Finding them beautiful, the man strung them together with fishing wire as a necklace, all except one. The necklace started to display magical powers, the tales are varied with these as well, and the fisher was killed by a jealous rival who wanted the necklace. The necklace became a coveted and dangerous item, violently fought over for decades before it was destroyed, and there was peace for awhile.

However, you must remember that there was one stone that the fisherman did not include in the necklace. This he turned into a ring and gave as a gift to his sister. The ring also showed signs of power. When the sister died and gave it to her son, he used it to build wealth and the next son, more wealth, and so on until an empire was built, Elicion. Decades after the necklace was destroyed, it was let slip that a ring of the same material was what gave Elicion and its rulers power. It became known as the Eye of Elicion and coveted by many until war and violence and bloodshed broke out again. There are books you can read that track both the necklace and the ring and all the violence that follows them.

Then, it was said, that it suddenly disappeared. It was shortly after this that rumors of Kleth began to appear. No one paid much attention to them until a rumor out of the rumors stood out. Someone had been to Kleth and seen the Eye of Elicion. Since then many expeditions have been launched to find Kleth and the Eye. Rulers pay large sums of money for the hope of being able to obtain the Eye and use it to further their empires. Many have died in the quest, and many have vanished while looking, never to return again. Today most people consider it a myth, but there are still many who look for both Kleth and the Eye. Some look for philosophical reasons, and some look for personal gain. Both are dangerous because a pure-hearted philosopher can be used by those looking for personal gain,” finished Taran.

“And this is what we are going after?” asked Lucy.

Justin nodded. “If we destroy it or remove it entirely, it can no longer cause violence.”

“How was the necklace destroyed?” asked Lucy.

“That’s something else we are going to look for in Kennemt,” replied Justin. “No one seems to know. There have to be records somewhere.”

“This whole things sounds like a fool’s mission to me,” said Lucy.

Justin shrugged, but Taran frowned.

“Justin, the Eye is very dangerous. Are you sure you are ready for this?”

“I think the four of us can handle almost anything.”

“Almost anything isn’t everything.”

“True. Would you care to come along for the adventure?” asked Justin.

Taran laughed, “You know adventures have never been my thing. Magic isn’t even really my thing. They are your things. I’ve always only been along for company, and you have that. I’m happy here.”

“I can respect that. Is there anything you can tell us that might help?”

“I can tell you Maya is wasting her time,” said Taran.

“The only way you would know that is to know that Kleth isn’t anywhere it’s marked on the maps you have, and the only way you would know that is if you had checked all those places yourself,” asserted Justin with a look of amazement on his face. “I didn’t know you’d been looking.”

“The best way to establish adventures aren’t for you is to go on some. Since the idea of Kleth interested me and I knew you would look for it one day, it seemed the ideal adventure. Somewhere along the way, I came to my senses, and now I’m happy here.”

“Did you ever find what you were looking for?”

“No, I think I may have been close once, but I never did find it. In searching though, I came across things that let me know I was not skilled enough to complete the task so I gave it up. Happily too, I might add. It didn’t take me long to establish I had no lust for danger or death, and I believe that searching for the Eye or Kleth will lead to both. Eric once told me to be careful what I looked for because one day, I might find it. They may seem like cliché words, but after a while they began to mean something to me. I decided I didn’t want to find Kleth or deal with the repercussions of others knowing I had found it, and in deciding that, I made the conscious decision to stop looking.”

“I never knew you looked,” said Justin.

“You seemed happy at the school. I didn’t want to distract you with my lack of findings. I knew one day you would look for it. It’s not much, but I have a sense that it is in the southeast.”

“That’s at least a general direction and more than we had. I thought we’d stop off at a few major libraries in the meantime to see what we can find.”

Taran nodded, and they sat back to watch a squirrel scamper up a nearby tree.

“You mentioned not having the skills, but if you went to the school too, how could you not?” asked Lucy. She didn’t fully understand what Taran was doing living in a cottage guarding a portal.

Taran smiled sadly. “The school can teach you how to use power. It cannot give you power, and every amount of power has its limits. I have very little raw power. I am very good at healing, but not at much else. Skills that the school teaches that do not require large amounts of power did not interest me. I love horses, and I love to ride. I do not like weapons. I have a staff in the cottage, but that is all. I have no interest in potions. I do not wish to travel to other worlds. I want to be here. It didn’t take me long to get all I wanted out of the school so I left long before Justin who has power and the thirst to learn everything he can with it. I apprenticed to a wood crafter for awhile. I’m much better at it than at magic, so I stay here and make chairs and such for the people in the village. I only went to school in the first place because Justin wanted me to.”

Lucy nodded. There wasn’t much she could say to that. She had watched Philip struggle with concepts that she mastered in a matter of minutes. She did have an interest in many of the classes the school offered. Now, she understood why Taran said he didn’t have the skills to find Kleth. She wasn’t sure she was ready, but she couldn’t imagine sending someone like Philip to do what they were going to try to do. No wonder Taran sounded wise earlier. He had already had his bout of young bravery and found himself overmatched. An experience like that would tend to make anyone more thoughtful and cautious.

“I would suggest that, since you will be spending the night here, you try out some of the minor spells you know. You will notice that it will be a larger drain on your energy than you are used to. It might be better to find some of your limits now,” suggested Taran.

“Should we let Maya know that she’s wasting her time?” asked Lucy.

“No, let her be. She’s happier when she feels like she’s accomplishing something. Otherwise she would sit around fretting. Besides, you never know what she might find,” said Justin.

“Perhaps we should take Taran’s advice then,” said Lucy.

“Perhaps we should,” replied Justin with a grin.

With that, he threw a fireball at Lucy. Taran gasped and scowled at his brother. He couldn’t believe Justin had thrown a fireball at a girl, and one that seemed rather nice. Justin could have hurt her. In the split second these thoughts were going through his head, he realized how unfounded they were as he watched Lucy deflect the fireball and throw back one of her own. Justin rolled out of the way. Deciding that Lucy seemed to be able to fend for herself, he sat back and watched as the two of them had a mock battle with magic. He had to admit he was impressed. He hadn’t seen much of what his brother could do, and he’d never seen him evenly matched when it came to magic. In fact, he pondered, as Lucy grew vines out of the ground to wrap around Justin, Justin might be outmatched. Justin’s advantage seemed to be in his grasp of what he could do with his abilities. Lucy needed some more training, but Justin was beginning to look tired and Lucy still looked fresh. Once Lucy learned some more finesse, Taran was willing to bet that she would be able to out fight him. They were both smiling as they battled. Taran was definitely intrigued.

Lucy panted as Justin tried to turn her to stone. She reversed his spell, rolled to the side, threw a bolt of lightening at him, and became invisible. Justin dodged the lightening, put up three images of himself, and waited for Lucy to attack so he could follow where the spell came from. They went back and forth like this until both were panting hard and they called a mutual truce.

“How do you feel?” asked Taran offering them each a drink.

“Tired,” Lucy acknowledged, “But not too much more tired than I would be normally.”

“True,” said Justin, “Remember we were well rested and well fed when we started. We had energy to drain.”

Lucy nodded. She knew that might become important in the near future. While they had been sparing, Gavin had come back from checking the horses to watch. He looked from one to the other.

“I suppose both of you are too tired to spar with me now,” Gavin said, looking somewhat disappointed.

“There isn’t a good reason to do anything other than sit here and enjoy this drink,” said Lucy, and she meant it. She had no inclination to spar with Gavin after that. She was tired enough that her reflexes would be slow and Gavin would make minced meat out of her.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Justin, toasting Lucy.

“I’ll spar with you,” offered Taran.

“I think I would enjoy that,” said Gavin, looking surprised, but pleased. He was always interested in testing his skills against a new opponent.

“I hate to get too out of shape,” said Taran, and he went off to get his staff while Gavin began to stretch out.

“I thought Taran said he didn’t like weapons,” said Lucy.

“He doesn’t,” confirmed Justin. “Not liking something is no reason not to be good at whatever that something is.”

“Is he good?”

“I wouldn’t trust him near a sword; he’s rather like you with a mace. But with a staff, let’s put it this way, I’m interested to see how Gavin does against him.”

“But Gavin always wins.”

“Exactly,” responded Justin with a grin.

Lucy decided this little match might prove to be one of the more interesting sparring sessions she’d seen. She refilled her glass from the pitcher and ate a bit of fresh bread that Taran had brought out with the pitcher. She made herself comfortable as she watched Taran return with the staff and begin to stretch. Since Justin had mentioned Gavin’s proficiency with weapons earlier, she felt Taran had been warned. What he did with that warning was up to him. Perhaps he was simply looking for a challenge. Lucy knew that was one reason she enjoyed sparing with Gavin and also one reason why she enjoyed sparing with magic against Justin.

“Do you have a preference on what weapon I use?” asked Gavin.

“Not at all, pick what you wish,” Taran responded nonchalantly.

Gavin raised an eyebrow in Justin’s direction as if asking for permission or instruction, Lucy wasn’t sure which. Justin shrugged.

“Rules?” asked Gavin.

“Justin, do you feel up to healing or are you too tired?” asked Taran.

“I think, between Lucy and myself, we can patch you up. Don’t kill each other though,” responded Justin. “I’ve never had an interest in trying to raise people from the dead, and I’m rather fond of both of you.”

“You heard him,” said Taran taking a fighting stance with a smile.

Once again, Gavin looked askance at Justin, and once again Justin shrugged.

“I like to see Gavin unsure about a fight once in awhile,” Justin whispered to Lucy. “It hurts him to be overconfident in every situation.”

“I think right now he’s more worried about hurting your brother than losing,” replied Lucy.

“Yes, and that puts him at a disadvantage in a fight. He needs to learn to get over that.”

Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and luckily she didn’t have to. Gavin selected a sword and began to spar with Taran. Lucy could tell that Gavin started out slowly, testing Taran. He was fighting under the assumption that Taran was the less skilled competitor. At once she understood what Justin had been talking about. It might be true that while at school no one could beat Gavin in a fair fight, he couldn’t walk around outside of school assuming that he could beat everyone he came up against much less that everyone he came up against would fight fair. Taran grinned, and Lucy could tell he knew what Gavin was doing and he was going to continue to let him do it. Being underestimated was always an advantage if you knew how to use it.