The Lost Mage (37 page)

“The Council realized that the little girl, whose name was Arialia, was the universe’s attempt to balance out the evil acts of the dark mages of Korgiza. And they realized that something had to be done.”

“Does that mean they were going to kill her?”

“They weren’t sure. It went against their nature to kill something so good, but she was actually doing a great deal of harm. They spent months preparing a shield around the group that was selected to go to her.”

“A shield?”

“Yes, something that would allow them to think with their logical minds, not the heart and emotions that were so affected by Arialia. When they were ready, they went to the village. To their surprise, Arialia, who was now all of six years of age, met them and said, ‘it’s time, isn’t it?’

“Well, they weren’t at all sure what she meant by that, but they said ‘yes’. Arialia nodded, went to her parents and gave them each a kiss. She told them it was time for her to go, but that they could look for her in the light. She then turned and walked out of town. The stunned mages followed behind. She walked for days, never stopping to eat or rest. The exhausted mages kept up as best they could. As she traveled, she began to glow even more. With each hour, she glowed brighter until it became hard for the mages to even look at her. Eventually, they came to a large field. It appeared to have been farmland at one time, but there was nobody tending it now and grains and flowers grew side by side.

“Arialia waved at the mages. Then she turned and ran into the field. The glow intensified until she finally just seemed to break apart into light fragments which attached themselves to the branches and stems of the plants growing in the field.”

“She … exploded?”

“Well, that’s not exactly how the mages described it. What they said was, one minute she was there, glowing brightly, and the next, she was gone and all that remained were these light fragments. But there were hundreds, maybe thousands of them. In fact, an Arialia Strand is now one of the most coveted relics in the realm. It provides perpetual light without needing a fire. They’re guarded most closely by the Mage Council and the penalty for stealing one or even for entering the field without permission is death.”

“This story doesn’t sound good. I mean the child died or exploded or something and people are killed for even going in the field. I don’t get it.”

“It’s about balance, Nora. We’re not zealots looking for evil; we’re looking to maintain balance. You can’t have great good without evil or great evil without good. We just want things to stay balanced.”

“Wow, those are some killer, pardon the pun, bedtime stories. Here, we try to make children feel safe and comforted.”

“What could be more comforting than knowing that the Council is making sure that extremes that would cause great harm don’t happen?”

“Geez, I don’t know, maybe believing that everyone will live happily ever after? That’s the way we end our fairytales.”

“That’s not a very realistic view.”

“Yeah, but what’s wrong with letting children keep their innocence for awhile. They don’t need to know about all of life’s hardships right away, do they?”

“In my realm, we like to be prepared.”

“Well, I guess your society is more practical than mine.”

“Why all of the sudden interest about how we treat children in my realm?”

“I’ve realized that I made some assumptions about your society based on the fact that you look like the cover of a romance novel. I just figured your world was the way it was described in those.”

“Nora, how could those books possibly describe my realm if none of the authors has ever been there?”

“They can’t. I was wrong and I’m sorry. I’ve realized that, so now I want to know what it’s really like. Or at least I did until I found out that you fill children’s heads with stories of evil massacres and starvation that happened because someone was too good. I mean, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“But they’re not just stories, they’re history. Remember, if lessons are not learned from history, the dragon will fly over again.”

“Yeah, if you’re going to stay here, you should use try to use our version. Remember? Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.”

“Ah, yes. You’re right. I’ll try to remember that.”

“Good, because that whole dragon thing, well it’ll make people wonder about you, you know since we don’t have any dragons here.”

“That you know of,” Darakin said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh, you!” Nora gave him a playful hit in the arm.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on top of him. “It’s too bad we’re out in public.”

“Aye,” came the muffled reply.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

After enjoying their picnic lunch, Nora suggested that they walk around the park. Darakin, eager for something to do, agreed.

“So, do they have pirates in your realm?” Nora asked as they walked.

He chuckled. “Is this more from your romance novels?”

“Yes,” Nora said, flushing red with embarrassment.

“Well, you’ll forgive me for saying so, Nora, but pirates don’t seem at all romantic. They attack innocent ships and they kill, maim, rape and plunder. Why would they be the topic of a romance novel?”

“Perhaps the authors have romanticized it a bit,” she said reluctantly.

“I would say so.”

“So?” Nora prodded.

“So what?”

“Do you have pirates in your realm?” Nora repeated the question.

“Not really.”

“No?” Nora was truly surprised. Romance novel settings aside, she imagined that in a medieval type realm pirates would be running rampant over the seas.

“Think about it. Mages are forbidden to use their skills for criminal activities. Without a mage to summon winds to guide their ship, how would the pirates be able to prey on other ships?”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that and it made sense. “Well, what about royalty and nobility? Do you have those?”

“Yes. And a nasty, political lot they are. I avoid dealing with them if at all possible.”

She laughed. “Sounds the same as political people here.”

“I imagine that the inner drive that causes a person to seek political power is somewhat universal.”

Nora switched her focus from romance novels to fantasy novels. After all, those books also influenced how she pictured Darakin’s world. “Okay, so what about elves. And dwarves? Are there any of those there?”

“No. Those are creatures of legend.”

“But so are dragons and you have those!” Nora exclaimed.

“In
your
realm, they’re not real. In mine, dragons are unfortunately very real. I’m sure there are realms out there that have dwarves and elves, but there are none in mine.”

Nora let the subject drop. They spent the rest of the sunny afternoon wandering around the park.

“What’s that?” Darakin pointed to a building.

“Oh, that’s the entrance to the zoo.”

“Zoo?”

“Hmm. I guess you don’t have zoos. They bring animals from around the world and display them here so people can see them without having to travel.”

“They display animals? In what? Cages? It sounds pretty barbaric to me. Why not let them stay in their environment? Animals are here as part of the life cycle, not for the amusement of humans.”

Lordie,
she thought,
he’s an animal activist. Next thing he’ll be spray painting mink coats.
Aloud she said, “I suppose it must seem cruel to you and it used to be. But nowadays, they set them up in very large areas that mimic their homes. Most of them seem pretty happy.”

“Humph.”

“Maybe we’ll go in someday and check it out.”

“No offense, Nora, but it doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy.”

“Fine, no zoo.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes while Nora racked her brain, trying to come up with something to entertain them.

“Hey! Let’s go to the video arcade. There’s one just outside the park.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s full of games. I’d love to see you play a video game.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Just ‘cause. I think it might be funny.”

“I’m glad I’m a source of amusement for you.”

Nora laughed and hugged his arm. “Don’t be mad. I think you’re cute and charming.”

“Humph.”

“You keep humphing.”

“Humph,” he said again and laughed. “Fine, show me to this arcade.”

They left the park and crossed the street to the arcade. Darakin looked around in amazement. “It’s like a fair, but inside a little building.”

“You have traveling fairs?”

“You needn’t sound so surprised, Nora. We do have entertainment in my realm, too.”

“Of course you do. I’m sorry.” She looked around. “Ooh! Look at this one.” She pointed to a video game called Mortimer, the Dragon Slayer.

“Who is this Mortimer?”

“Nobody, it’s just a name they made up for the game.”

“Oh.”

“Now, look. These are the controls. This one makes you jump; this one is to thrust with your weapon.”