The Legend Of The Wizard's Apprentice (Book 1) (21 page)

For from the shadows
,

The tree of life, shall be reborn.”

chapter nine

TREE OF THE ELDER WITCH

It was a nice and sunny morning in the little clearing and everyone was just waking up. It had been a night that they would never forget, that was for sure. How many people could say that they defeated even one vampire? But this group had defeated nine of them. If anyone else outside of their party knew about the battle there would have already been stories and songs telling of this great and heroic event. For this was the stuff of legends, and every great legend started from just one act of heroism. Too bad that no one knew about it; Kerwyn kind of liked the thought of being a hero in a legend or a bard’s song. Looking around the clearing you would never know that just the night before, such a deadly battle had taken place. There were patches of burnt grass and piles of scattered debris, but there was nothing other than that to show that vampires had been there. Shaking his head Kerwyn walked over to his master.

“How are you feeling today, Master? Hopefully all of your wounds have healed,” said Kerwyn.

“Ah Kerwyn, I feel fine other than I’m getting far too old for fighting like this. If I was in my hundreds I would be all for it, but since I’m older than that, this amount of spell casting and fighting is taking its toll on me. Once this is all over I’m going to sleep for a week and be warned that anyone who wakes me will regret it, ha! Ha!” Kerwyn joined in on his Master’s joking and laughed along with him.

“It feels good to laugh again, Master. There has been so much happen in the past while that I have almost forgotten how to laugh,” said Kerwyn once the laughing had come to a stop.

“Yes, Kerwyn, things have changed very fast. The evil that is taking over the land needs to be stopped or all laughing in the world will be nothing more then a memory of better days,” Master Sernett said again with that concerned look on his face.

“Aye, I agree with ye, Master Sernett. The merriment of the land may be a dying thing. It looks like we are the only force in the forest that is prepared to do anything about it. I just hope that the Dark Master is stopped before the evil spreads too far. It’s much harder to stop a mountain from falling than it is to stop a pebble from rolling. That’s what me Mum used to say anyway,” stated Durin going back over to get the rest of his camp gear cleaned up.

Kerwyn looked over at his master smiled with him as they shared another one of those moments where it was good to be alive.

“Ok everyone, let’s get going. We have another long day ahead of us,” said Master Sernett.

As everyone was packing up and starting to move out, the harpy from the day before flew over head and shouted down at them in its dirty gravelly voice, “I told the Forest Mother that you were coming. I told her and she is expecting you. You’re all going to die.” Cackling, she flew off, heading back to the old tree at the fork in the road.

“Can I shoot her now, Master Sernett?” asked Baldred

“No, you still can not shoot her. She is just a crusty old dirty bird,” answered Master Sernett.

Walking on, they did not encounter any other creatures on the path. They heard a few creatures going about their normal daily routines deep within the forest; but nothing out of the ordinary happened further.

As they crested a hill they saw an immense tree that the elves would have been proud of. There, in the center of another clearing, was the oldest oak tree that Master Sernett had ever seen. It was the most majestic of trees and had golden coloured leaves that sparkled with a crystal effect. The tree almost gave off its own light in the glowing sun. The tree was still in great health and was still growing and must have been many thousands of years old.

“It must have something to do with the forest witch’s magic,” Kerwyn thought to himself. Also, upon closer inspection, the clearing was free of any evil or twisted plants and vines of any kind. It looked like the forest witch, Druantia, kept her realm the way she wanted it kept. Walking towards the big tree they saw movement coming from the base of it and a few short minutes later, a satyr came running out to greet them.

“Welcome Master Wizards and friends. My master is inside waiting for you. I am Pan and I will bring you to meet her,” he said.

Kerwyn was looking at the half man and half goat creature thinking about something that he had read from Master Sernett’s big books and then he asked, “Excuse me, Pan, but are you
the
Pan of legends? I have read of a Pan satyr throughout all of my readings and Pan was instrumental with many stories involving great heroes of long past.”

Smiling, Pan said to Kerwyn, “Master, all satyrs are called Pan after the great first Pan of legends. My other given name was He-Who-Eats-Grass in the common language. I think I prefer Pan. In my native language it translates to Ebretaaas. So, to be clear, I am not the same Pan that most people think about even though I am flattered that you would think that I could be the great one.”

“Pan?” asked Master Sernett before turning to follow him, “Why did the harpy come and warn the forest witch that we were coming? Also, I noticed that the great tree has some blemishes on it that I hadn’t noticed from farther away. The leaves look wilted and as though they are soon going to fall off the tree for winter. Is everything all right with Druantia?”

“Ah, Master, you have very attentive eyes. Please come this way and you will see for yourself,” said Pan as he walked towards the hollow at the base of the tree where he had come from.

Entering the tree was like walking into one of the Elvin great halls only this was much more elegant. You could tell the owner of this place had spent a lot of time making it perfect in every way. Where the elves had their trees with natural beauty, this place was etched and shaped to the finest detail. Each of the grand carvings was so detailed that one would think they looked alive. There were wall tapestries depicting mighty battles and beautiful kings and queens. It showed a snap shot in history and just like everything else in this place; all was perfect.

There were beautiful chandeliers and silk coverings on all the tables and chairs. Kerwyn was shaking his head and thought to himself that all of this was inside of a tree. There was no human palace that could match the beauty of this place. Pan saw the look on their faces and said, “When you live as long as Druantia has, you really pay attention to all the little details. She has had a very long time to look at things and make them... perfect.”

They followed Pan through the tree and walked towards a set of winding stairs that looked as if they wound all the way to the top of the tree.

Climbing the stairs was a little daunting as the side railings were open and exposed the main hall all the way to the ground. The old wooden stairs were built right out of the tree itself the same way the elves had worked their magic on their trees. Or maybe the trees had done it themselves to please their inhabitants; Kerwyn never really did find out.

As they climbed, there were doors and landings every so often and Kerwyn thought that these must be where the bedrooms were. They continued to climb all the way to the top where the stairs levelled out and there, in front of them, was a huge double door that led into the witch’s study and bedroom. Again, everything was extremely ornate and everything was... perfect.

“Master Sernett, why are we meeting the witch in her bedroom?” whispered Kerwyn, “I am surprised that we weren’t being introduced in the main chamber.”

“Hush Kerwyn, there is something amiss here so please have patience. We need to find out what is going on here. Have you noticed that everything is too...
perfect
and that nothing is out of order; almost like the place hasn’t been lived in for years.”

“Oh no, Master Sernett, my master does live here and she has many servants. We do our job really well as our master expects us to maintain her house to a certain standard and when that standard isn’t met she becomes upset and we do not like seeing our master upset,” said Pan overhearing their conversation. Then he added, “Sorry Masters, I didn’t mean to intrude on your conversation but satyrs have very good hearing and I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.”

Master Sernett looked quickly at Kerwyn and made a face to say
please be patient and stop asking questions as we are being overheard
.

They entered the room in silence and came up to another door that must lead into the witch’s bedroom. The satyr opened up the door and stepped into the room asking for them to wait until he let his Master know that he has arrived with guests.

In a few moments Pan returned and beckoned them inside. There, lying upon a bed was a frail old woman. She looked to be in poor health and had patches of grey hair missing and was almost as pale as the silk sheets that she laid upon. Taken back by her appearance and her frail condition, Master Sernett could not help himself as he walked quickly to her side and laid a hand upon her head. Closing his eyes he channelled the One Power into her to try and give her strength. Kerwyn not understanding what was going on just looked on in confusion. The rest of the party looked at each other; none of them understanding what was going on. Here was the great and mighty forest witch, Druantia, lying on her deathbed.

“Kerwyn, please come here. You need to talk to Druantia before she leaves us,” said Master Sernett.

Kerwyn rushed over to his Master’s side and Druantia raised her frail hand to beckon him closer. Kerwyn bent down over her bed so she could whisper into his ear.

“You have finally come. I have been waiting for you for a very long time. I have been lying in this bed like this for the past one hundred and fourteen years. I did not want to leave this world without talking to you first. I have been maintaining the tree for almost a millennia and my time on Alberic has come to an end. I needed to speak with you about your destiny.

You are to play an important role in the survival of this world. Whether for good or evil, you will be the key. Inside of you are three beings of power. The first is you, the second is an evil being that wants to see you destroyed along with this world, and the third is Mother Nature. She is there to help guide you. She cannot intervene directly as that is the rules of the gods but when you need aid never forget that she is there for council. The evil inside of you will take over if you let it, so always be vigilant. The world is in the most danger that it has ever been and you will be very important as to how the world will turn out.

The prophecy is real and it has been there since time began. I can explain only a part of it as I can read life, not death.” Closing her eyes, she recited the prophecy:

“The bearer of the staff, Must accompany you,

Even though it will spell your certain doom.

The Creator of Life must pick up the staff
,

And cast in death, Life’s renew
.

In death there will come a time for rejoice
,

For from the shadows
,

The tree of life shall be reborn.”

“The first part is talking about you and Master Sernett. Master Sernett is the Bearer of the staff and he must accompany you. I cannot speak for the next part, but the Creator of life is you, Kerwyn. He who brings sentient life to that which had none before. Then there is the part about the Tree of Life being reborn, which pleases me greatly as we are presently in the Tree of Life and yes, Master Sernett, I see the look on your face: it will die with me.

The tree and I are connected as one. Neither the tree nor I could live without the other. We were connected at birth by the gods. The only beings that are older than I am are the dragons, specifically Fafnir, who was here in the forest long before the elves and fairies and the younger races like Cyclopes, humans and dwarves were born". She looked at each in turn and made sure they knew that she was acknowledging each race and how important they were to her.

“Now I will charge you with this, Kerwyn: it is the acorn from the Tree of Life and it will only grow when the time is right. I will also tell you to seek out Fafnir and he maybe able to give some clues as to the other parts of the prophecy and fill in the rest of the missing knowledge. But a warning I will give you; Fafnir hasn’t been seen in a very long time and you must remember, never to turn your back to a dragon. They have been known in the past to change sides.”

Turning to her Satyr she said, “Pan, they and the all the staff can rest here for up to a month but after that you must all journey on because after that this tree will die and be inhabitable. And this land will turn just like the rest of the evil in the forest, as I will not be here to keep the evil at bay any longer.”

She turned back to Kerwyn and took his hand in hers and said, “I have waited long enough to speak with you, Kerwyn, and I have passed onto you everything I can. For the sake of the land please heed my warnings and survive for I am so very, very tired and now I can go to my final resting place. Farewell, Creator of Life; you are more important to this world then you ever could know.” As her last words were spoken, she dissolved into smoke and dust.