The Three Thorns (23 page)

“Only if you indulge them, so keep your eyes front, and don’t look to the walls or mirrors. Dark spirits like to linger in dark areas. They attack with the only thing they can use,” Cecil explained.

“Which is?” asked Tommy.

Cecil frowned, tapping his chubby index finger at his temple. “Your mind, dear boy.”

“Do not worry too much about them, dark spirits rarely appear in large crowds anyway,” Ariel reassured.

Pushing through the half hexagram-shaped door, Ban Pan led the group into the Stained Castle toward another set of doors.

“That’s the room,” Cecil whispered, pointing. Without replying, the troll marched ahead of the group along the ivy-infested marble hallway until he reached its end. The rest followed him, taking their steps slowly and cautiously.

Ban Pan didn’t notice anything unusual until a loud snore startled him. In order to get what looked like a sluggish and scruffy faun awake from his slumber, the sour-faced troll took one heavy breath and covered his mouth, then positioned his humungous nose over the faun’s head.

“Watch this,” the troll whispered.

Ban Pan’s nose sounded like a trumpet when he blew it, covering the faun in troll snot.

Yelping out of his deep sleep, the faun chastised Ban Pan, poking the uncouth troll in the chest with its small horns. Tommy and Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh at the comical sight.

“I thought that might get your attention,” Ban Pan joshed.

Cecil and Ariel shook their heads at the troll’s rude behavior and tried consulting the snot-drenched guard. Its ears were not pointy like a normal faun. Instead they curled up at the tips, much like a piglet’s tail. The faun guard was less hairy and smaller than a usual faun.

“Are you a baby faun?” Ariel asked.

“Ha! How dare you? I am twenty years old, though you wouldn’t know that, would you? Typical ignorant nymphs,” he ranted.

“Where is everyone?” Cecil asked.

“They are waiting for you latecomers inside,” the faun moaned.

“I don’t hear anything,” Ariel added.

“That’s because they have used the silencer spell, silly. Surely you didn’t think a meeting as important as this would be without one, did you?”

“They could have at least informed us first,” Ariel said.

“Well, if you all weren’t so late,” reminded the faun. “Wait one moment and I will open this door for you. Stand over there,” he instructed, urging the group to step aside. He then took a golden key that hung from a chain around his neck and carefully positioned himself a few feet away from the wooden double doors.

“What are you doing?” Cecil asked.

“Opening the door, dummy,” the faun snapped, mumbling numbers under his breath and shuffling his hooves in sync with every count.

“You mean those doors in front of you, right?” Sebastian muttered.

“Hush! I’m concentrating, human. I’ve never met one of you before. You smell terrible.”

“The doors are over there you little–,” Ban Pan growled at the same time the faun lifted the key over his little head and turned it counter clockwise to unlock an invisible door above him.

“It’s an illusion, so we don’t get any unwanted visitors,” the faun said proudly, gesturing for each visitor to enter the room. Ariel walked through first, followed by Tommy and Sebastian, then Cecil and lastly Ban Pan.

The room was marvellous. Dusk beamed through the massive windows that lined the left wall from floor to ceiling, showing lands afar and glorious oceans boarded by greenery and snow-covered mountains. The Stained Castle’s left side rested on an enormous cliff side, which was visible below the windows.

“That’s a long way down,” Tommy whispered, walking past rows of different creatures. Elves, pixies, nymphs, trolls, white witches, warlocks, wizards, sorcerers, knights and fauns all conversed, murmuring so Tommy and Sebastian couldn’t hear. No other human inhabited the room.

Tommy caught sight of lurking spirits from the darkest corners of the ceiling. Smiling faces soon changed to devilish grins and nightmarish frowns, turning aggressive in nature. Tommy’s multi-colored eyes glowed brighter toward the spirits. When he looked to Ariel and Sebastian, their faces suddenly transformed into angry creatures he did not recognize.

“Eyes front, boy.” Cecil’s voice quickly distracted Tommy’s mind from the spirits.

Ariel appeared normal again as she led the group to a panel of politicians sitting behind a high table at the end of the marbled room. Struggling to concentrate, Tommy rested his eyes upon a royal panel of five peculiar creatures that glared down upon them from an elevated table that exhibited a symbol of a two-headed snake entwining a crown.

“I know that symbol.” Sebastian whispered into Tommy’s ear.

“Children of Abasin. You have returned to us…at last,” announced an older faun on the panel.

“Where is the third of the Brotherhood?” asked a lady dryad. Ariel and Cecil looked to one another and frowned.

“He is with his protector, as you requested,” Ariel muttered.

“Brotherhood?” Tommy asked.

Whispers and chatter increased amongst the large gathering of civilians at Tommy’s sudden outburst. The dryad politician raised her hand to appeal for silence.

“Yes child, the foretold Brotherhood - the offspring of our last King,” the dryad continued. “You are that offspring. The first born of three.”

“And the others?” Tommy asked, before Ban Pan sneakily pointed to Sebastian behind Sebastian’s back. “This is wrong. You’ve made a mistake, we’re not brothers or Princes,” Tommy tittered nervously. “We’re not anything.” Sebastian nodded his head in agreement whilst still in shock, staring back at his supposed brother.

“The Council does not make mistakes,” the elf politician insisted.

“I find that hard to believe,” Sebastian muttered in a snooty manner, fixing his huge glasses from sliding off his nose again.

“This can’t be real. He can’t be my brother,” Tommy persisted. “It’s impossible.”

“Not to mention improbable,” Sebastian giggled.

“We have followed the three of you since birth, make no mistake of it,” the elf added sternly.

“But, surely not him?” Tommy gasped.

Sebastian’s cheeks grew redder by the second when the embarrassed boy retorted. “You think I would want
you
of all people as my brother?”

Hovering in between them, Cecil quickly prevented a physical conflict, pushing the children away from one another. “Boys, hush now,” Cecil commanded.

Forcing his hand, Tommy pushed the pixie aside to invade Sebastian’s personal space in an attempt to intimidate him.

“Do you find something wrong with me, posh boy?”

“I can’t find anything right with you. You’re nothing but a cowardly little bully,” Sebastian yelled.

Tapping both on the side of the head with his stick, the pixie snapped, exerting his authority that echoed across the room.

“Enough!”

The gathering muttered and whispered once again.

“We should have been told this before,” Tommy cried out in frustration, unable to look Sebastian in the eye. A strong grip of emotions made his eyes water.

“Not until you were ready, child,” said the faun politician.

“We’re ready now. We need to know the truth if you want us to help. You do need our help, don’t you?” Sebastian asked, speaking as loudly and as clearly as he could.

The brave boy approached the creatures that sat on their seats like the judge and jury of a courthouse. The panel of politicians fell quiet for a moment and glanced at each other in silent agreement. All five of the panel nodded before the eldest of them, a troll, broke his silence.

“That is why you have been brought back,” the troll began in his deep and soothing voice.

“Tell us everything,” Sebastian muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the troll.

“Since the beginning of the new world there has been conflict between our kind, the civilians, and human kind. That conflict ceased when your Father fell in love with a Royal civilian. Your Mother was an elfling. Their love was forbidden by our laws but it gave the new world of Abasin hope for peace between the two kinds. So it was permitted. It wasn’t long after your parents were ordained King and Queen that there was outrage from certain civilians for having a human as their King. To prevent another war, your parents turned to an ancient cherub for help and made a pact with it to end the on-going feud between humans and civilian creatures. The cherub, Sowl, offered great magic that had the power to bring world peace in the form of a very formidable spellbook. Because of their love for Abasin, to spare it, your parents were deceived into abdicating their throne in exchange for this book. In turn, Sowl craftily offered the throne over to your Father’s brother on the condition he honored the new world’s peace treaty. Seven years went by peacefully, nevertheless, Saul’s heart became embittered and consumed by his own pride,” explained the troll politician.

“He craved more power and sought to reign over both the humans and civilians by giving the new world its first collective government and solitary King. But the humans rebelled to Saul’s dictatorship, bringing Abasin its first dark war. The humans were not prepared. This dark war eventually wiped humanity off the face of the new earth. Once Saul had broken the peace treaty between civilians and humans, a curse of mutation fell upon him and all who served his corrupt monarchy. This curse can be broken by the powers that reside in that spellbook,” the troll continued.

“The False One refused your Father’s request to abdicate the throne in trade for the spellbook, believing he could have both,” the elf politician added.

“In order to hide the spellbook, its spells were transferred into each of you. When Saul found out the spellbook could no longer be used by anyone else, he ordered your deaths as a way to end his curse. Consequently, your Father instructed us to cast you into the old world for your own safety,” explained the troll in his husky slow voice that almost sent his own panel nodding off. “So great was Saul’s jealousy that he unleashed his wrath against humanity, who had shown allegiance to your parents and their efforts for peace. Sadly, both Saul and your Father were played against one another by the ancient cherub,” the troll explained seriously.

“
What
is that?” Tommy asked in a fearful tone.

The faun politician quickly cleared his throat and broke the sudden silence of the court.

“He is an immortal being that governs all sorcery and magic. Sowl is no ally to anyone but himself. Be warned; he knows you have returned. He will try and stop the Brotherhood at all costs from bringing Abasin peace. He may try and tempt you like he tempted your parents, but do not deal with him, or you will end up accursed like your Uncle, or with a similar fate that befell our King and Queen,” the faun politician warned.

“What happened to them?” Sebastian asked.

“Saul ordered the public execution of your Mother. Your Father went missing soon after the dark war had begun. Some say he escaped Abasin to follow you into the old world, others claim he was exiled to the Barronlands of this earth. No one truly knows,” the troll said. “I am sorry.”

Tommy stared down at his feet, unwilling to look up at the Council further whilst Sebastian wiped a tear from under his large glasses.

“What is it you want from us?” Sebastian asked.

“You have tremendous magic inside you. Soon, you will be able to use that magic to fly, change your appearance, adapt to strenuous conditions, and even go through time. You will advance further than any before you,” the elf said.

“So, you’re waging your bets on this spellbook to overthrow the King?” Sebastian asked.

“Not exactly,” the dryad interrupted. “It is foretold that your Brotherhood shall defeat the False One together and uncover the Shield that can save the new world.”

“Shield?” Tommy asked curiously.

“Can we not just kill him?” Sebastian asked.

The five politicians looked at one another and shook their heads.

“The threat to Abasin is more grave than that. There is a Shield of Life that has been lost since the new world began. If it is not found in time, all will die, both the evil and the good. Our bodies are failing too,” said the faun.

“If no one has found this Shield yet…how do you know it’s real?” Tommy asked.

The troll politician sighed. “Because, we civilians were the ones who lost it. If you don’t help us, no one will be able to stop the False One. He will take those he sees fit to serve him and leave the rest destitute. We cannot make you help us. The choice belongs to the three of you. But know this; the three of you must become as one. Should one of you decide to leave, the rest of you will fail. Your combined power is the only chance Abasin has against Saul’s dark magick,” the troll said.

“So, where is this spellbook?” Tommy demanded.

“Your parents hid it from Saul. Fortunately they placed a tracking spell upon one of you. That means the spellbook will track down the one with the tracking spell upon him,” the dryad explained.

“I wonder which one of us it is?” Sebastian whispered to Tommy.

Sebastian noticed Tommy twiddling his fingers and biting his lip while he gave serious thought to such a heavy burden.

“Are you sure you have the right people? I mean, what if there’s some kind of mistake here?” Tommy asked.

The faun was the only one to laugh from the panel before he gathered himself. “You are the children of the true King. We’ve been keeping a close watch over all three of you, every day of your lives,” the faun insisted, leaning forward over his chair to look Tommy in his unevenly colored eyes.

“If we say yes, what do we have to do?” Tommy asked.

The troll smiled, giving both boys a warm look. “Once the third child of Abasin arrives, your assigned protectors will take the three of you together to a hidden sanctuary. There you will meet two of your own kind, the last remaining humans in Abasin. They have been allocated by your Father to teach you the magic you will need to search for the Shield.”

The troll politician spoke out softly and caringly, treating each boy with a sense of respect and courtesy that the other members on the panel failed to show. “I commend you, Children of Abasin, for your willingness to help.”