The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (15 page)

“
I know how
you feel; I felt the same way when my wife died. And I know that
you probably don’t want to talk about it, but you’ll feel better
for it in the end. Only with me it was the Council that I didn’t
want to leave, for I thought that staying would make easier to live
with, but Helen, I was wrong. What I needed was to except the truth
and get on with my life. I know this will sound, cold but you need
to do the same,” said Delsani.

Helen noticed
there were tears welling in the Wizard’s eyes.

“
I’m sorry to
hear about your wife,” said Helen, “and I’m sure that it’s hard. I
mean, I know how close you were to John. Like father and son. I
think you said.”

“
Yes, he was
like a son, but the truth is that my real son came back just before
I left to find John. And he died not long after I was told of his
arrival. That is why I requested to go to John. I needed to see him
again. And it seems that John’s death has brought back old
memories. They were a lot alike.”

Helen had so
many questions to ask the Wizard, for he and John had never
mentioned that Delsani had a wife and son. But she thought perhaps
the subject was too delicate, so instead she said, “What was his
name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“
His name was
Rukril,” said Delsani. “You are probably wondering why I have never
talked about my family.”

“
Yes,” said
Helen, “and I wouldn’t mind knowing, but it’s really none of my
business. Then again, I’ve always been nosy.”

Delsani
laughed. “Where should I start? Hilana was a very pretty girl that
I had a crush on in college when we were young, and to cut a long
story short, I asked her out and she said no. In our older years at
college, we both put in applications for work experience here in
the Towers of Telian, and we both got a position. We were randomly
placed together as partners, and of course for her it was a
nightmare to be placed with someone who was not as equally popular.
However, for me it was like utter heaven, and to our surprise we
worked well together and soon became close friends. That, I
thought, was really best thing, but I was wrong. For soon after I
realized that was as far as we were going with our relationship, I
gave up on asking her out. I didn’t know that she liked me and she
was just too shy to say yes. And to my surprise, four months later
she asked me, and I jumped at the chance to be with her. Not long
after we left college, we were married and on our way to starting
our own family. News of Hilana’s pregnancy came to me when I had
just received word that the Wizard Council was offering us two
positions in the Ves-Guard office.”

“
What is a
Ves-guard? I know they are like an elite police force, but what
does the name mean?” asked Helen.

“
Ves-guard
means Vesbenel Guard, which in the common tongue means Peace-guard.
As you know, they’re the ones who enforce the laws of the city.
Though they’re also the ones who are called in by the Grand Wizard
and the Wizard Council to expel and capture Dark Wizards,” replied
Delsani at length. “And if their careers go well. They could be
offered a place on the council.”

The Wizard
was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “We were
offered the jobs, and at first I thought Hilana would decline the
offer, but I should have known better, for she, like I, had dreamed
of being in the Ves-guards since we were young, and we knew that
all Ves-guards start their careers in the office department, so we
were both happy to except. The nine months dragged by, as you can
probably imagine. The Ves-Guard office was, and probably still is.
The most boring thing in creation, though in the end we both agreed
that it was worth it.

“
The
time finally came and Hilana
give birth to our son, Rukril, and by the time he was ten, he
wanted to be a Ves-guard like us. But that soon changed with
Hilana’s death, and then he wanted nothing to do with it or me. For
he blamed me for what happened to her.”

“
I know I
shouldn’t really ask...” Once again Helen broke off.

“
What
happened to her?” said Delsani. “Well, just before Rukril’s
eleventh birthday, Hilana had taken a seat on the council and was
very happy with her new job. But I knew that she still wanted to be
a Ves-guard. The pure thrill of facing some of the most notorious
Dark Wizards that this world had to offer, there was nothing like
it. Once you’ve been there, it always stays with you. Then, only
three days before Rukril’s birthday, the Council sent for all of
the Ves-Guards who worked in the field for a very important meeting
at city hall. They didn’t say what the meeting was about. And
Hilana didn’t know. I just assumed it was another scumbag that
needed catching, so we got a close friend to mind our son while we
attended the meeting. When we got there, most of the others were
already there. When everyone else had arrived, the meeting started,
and to my horror I found out that I was wrong. It wasn’t just any
Dark Wizard; it was Varack, one of Ulicoth’s favorite and most
deadly cronies. The council had Intel that he knew the location of
Ulicoth himself, which instantly made the highest of top
priorities.”

Delsani
stopped suddenly
. He noticed that Helen
was staring dreamily out of one of the windows. “I do hope I’m not
boring you,” said the Wizard lightly.

“
What? Oh, no
not at all. I was listening the whole time. I just got a little
lost for a second. I mean, I was thinking about John. And I was
wondering was it quick?”

“
Was what
quick?”

“
John’s
death. I just need to know.”

“
I wish that
I could set your mind at ease, but I didn’t witness his
death.”

“
I’m sorry, I
ruined your story.”

“
That’s all
right. Don’t worry. I was going on and on anyway.”

“
No,” said
Helen hastily; “I want to hear the rest of the story, if that’s
okay.”

“
That’s
fine,” said the Wizard happily. “Now, where was I?”

“
You were
saying that Varack was the highest of top priorities because the
council thought he knew where Ulicoth was hiding. But wait a
minute. Wasn’t Ulicoth too powerful for ordinary Wizards and
Witches to handle?”

“
No. You must
remember that he was severely weakened after his last confrontation
with Dragdani. The council had decided that it would be best to
send Hilana out again, as she knew more about Varack then the rest
of us. We set off that very day for Varack’s mansion,” he said,
sounding to Helen sad and very regretful. “I do not wish to
describe the way in which she died. But I will say she shouldn’t
have died that night. It should have been me,” said the Wizard now
wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. “It is one of the worst last
moments that you can have with the one you thought you would grow
old with.”

“
I hope you
won’t mind me asking what you meant?” asked Helen shyly.

“
Helen, you
don’t need to be nervous about asking me questions. You won’t
offend me in any way. In fact I should’ve talked about this a long
time ago, if you really don’t mind me going on and on about my
past.”

Helen shook
her head. “I’m glad that you trust me enough to tell me
this.”

“Thank you.”

He stopped
and waited a few seconds again and then said, “Let’s just say that
the curse that killed her was for me. You see, she threw herself in
front of Ulicoth’s curse to save me. And when I returned, I quit
the job that I loved so much. I knew that I loved Rukril more, and
he would need me in the coming days. However, after Hilana’s death,
Rukril never forgave me. He blamed me for her death. I denied it,
although I knew that he was right. It wouldn’t have happened if I
had been paying attention.”

“
I’m sorry to
interrupt you again, but did you say Ulicoth’s curse killed
Hillana?” asked Helen, who looked more than a little shocked by the
revelation.

“
Sorry, I
seemed to have gone passed that,” Delsani said. “Ulicoth was in
Varack’s hideout at the time we attacked. As a result we were taken
a little off guard, and when Hillana and I were fighting the
Wizard-Elf, I thought I saw someone moving behind me. I blocked a
curse and quickly turned to deal with whoever was there, but in a
split second I saw there was no one. When I spun round to face
Ulicoth again, Hillana had been knocked to the floor, and Ulicoth
shot a curse at me. It was in that moment that Hillana jumped in
front of it and I lost her.

“
Ulicoth was
still there, and I fought him as though I were possessed with a
demon. The rage I felt had no boundaries, though he got the better
of me.”

“
How?”
interjected Helen, who was
on the edge of her seat and looked completely enthralled in the
story.

“
He was
losing. We both knew it, but he was sly and shot the floor, which
threw me off balance, and that was when he hit me and gave me
this.” Delsani pointed to the long scar on his nose.

“
I always
wondered how that happened. I asked John, but he said that you
would have to tell me.”

Delsani
smiled. “Yes, he knew how to keep a secret.”

“
Yeah, trying
to get gossip out of him was like trying to wrestle an elephant,”
Helen laughed.

Delsani laughed aloud.

“
Could you
please continue,” Helen asked.

“
Of course.
Rukril grew up quite fast after that, and his childhood dream of
becoming a Ves-guard was long gone. To deal with the pain of her
death, he worked so hard in college that he had the top grades in
his class. He was offered a position in the college, so he became a
trainer. But he didn’t stay there long, for he wanted to leave
behind not just me, but the order itself. And so he travelled north
to the Wizard settlements beyond the great mountains and joined the
order of Terlejurl. The last thing I had heard of him was that he
had worked very hard and was granted a position on their council.
Do you know what the worst thing was when I found out how well he
had done?”

“
No,”
said Helen
sympathetically.

“
The
worst thing was that I never
got a chance to tell him how proud I was of what he had done with
his life, for the night that he had returned, he was found outside
the gates to the city. He was so badly wounded that he died before
I got to the hospital. But they told me that he had asked them to
tell me that he was sorry.”

Helen could
see that the old Wizard was fighting back tears, but she said
nothing.

“
The
y also said that on his way to
the hospital he had given them a letter explaining what had
happened with Ulicoth and why the other Wizard orders had joined
with him.”

Helen
suddenly jumped up from her chair walked to the wall to her right.
She put her hand on the wall and said, “Wardrobe and drawers
please.” And a wardrobe and a chest of drawers appeared. She opened
the wardrobe and took out the suitcases that sat neatly inside and
began to take out all of the clothes that were hanging and floating
in the wardrobe.

“
What are you
doing Helen?” asked Delsani in wonder.

“
I’m packing
to leave,” she replied firmly, as though she thought he might try
to stop her. But he did not. He sat and stared at her and said with
a chuckle, ‘I didn’t think my story was that bad.”

Helen laughed
and said, ‘It isn’t. It’s just, here I am feeling sorry for myself
and forgetting that I wasn’t the only person to have lost someone
in all this.” She was now struggling to get the floating clothes
out of the closet. It seemed that they did not want to
leave.

“
Would you
like a hand with those?” asked Delsani, who already had his wand
ready.

“
If you
wouldn’t mind,” replied Helen gladly.

“
Of course I
wouldn’t mind helping the Wife and the Son of the King.”

After the
cases were all packed and ready to go, Delsani asked most of those
who knew John and Helen to join them in the main hall to say
goodbye. It turned out that everyone who worked in the towers
turned up to see their Queen off. Even King Bacnil was there with
his cousin.

“
I came to
say goodbye and tell you that when you’re gone from our world, not
to worry about anything but your Normal life. And if anything was
to go wrong, you will be alerted without delay and will be more
than safe. I will send as many well-armed warriors of Men as I can.
Including me and my cousin of course,” said Bacnil. “Hide them
well, my friends, with as many of your magic tricks as you can,” he
said to Delsani and Jaucal.

Hadnim
(Bacnil’s Cousin) was not too happy to hear that, for he did not
like the thought of having to protect a Wizard-Elf. He now despised
them all, good or evil.

To Helen’s
surprise, Jaucal wanted to return with her and Delsani. He said
that it would be better to have two Wizards to do the dislocation
spells, so they would spilt the chances of anyone breaking the
spells. And if one were captured, it could not be removed without
the other, which would make it extremely difficult for Ulicoth or
anyone else to find Helen or the child. Helen agreed, so back to
the Normal World they went as soon as Helen had thanked everyone
for seeing her off.