Chapter 34: Chapter 34
After hearing that they have finally reached their destination, Shia stepped out of the carriage together with Lady Khailis and Prince Langrion, and they immediately found themselves in the heart of one of Sensala’s streets. Unlike the main avenue where Master Dredsell’s shop was located, however, Shia realized that they were in a different kind of street. There, looming across them was the poor man’s village – the slum area of Sensala.
When her parents decided to leave Tightwater, Shia and her family tried to avoid contact with large groups of people as much as they can. As a result, she had never travelled much into town with them, and if they did, they would always leave her behind in the caravan, just in the outer edge of the town proper.
As such, the sights and sounds of the poor man’s village were all new to her. The first time she had seen Sensala from the carriage window with his majesty, they passed by numerous extravagant shops and colourful displays set amongst the town folk’s lavish-looking houses. There was a festive and gay mood around it. Now, there was only a glum, almost desperate look in the air as men smoked by the patio and housewives displayed their laundry sheets in front of the houses. Children of all ages, on the other hand, ran and lined up at the edge of the streets, mingling with the beggars, the street dogs, and cats.
Surprisingly, not a single soul in town seemed to be aware of their presence despite the fact that their dresses looked too ostentatious for the place. Everybody continued on with what they were doing, seemingly unaware that someone like them had arrived.
“Aren’t we a little too overdressed for the place?” Shia said, beginning to feel quite ashamed at the way she looked like on that day.
“Are we? But I think my riding dress is just fine for a stroll in the valley!” Khailis replied.
“W-what?” Shia stammered in disbelief, “but isn’t this the town’s public village?”
“Perhaps that’s what you see. In my eyes, however, we are standing by the lake,” Langrion said. “This means we have just come at the right place.”
Shia felt stumped. “What do you mean by that? How come all of us are seeing something different?”
“It’s the mage’s magic,” Khailis replied. “The mage sets a different place of meeting each time, and by different, it means that it will be diverse for each one of us. To make sure that he does not get caught by the Capitol’s men, he created this decoy of shifting places. Isn’t it wonderful? Mage Silas never fails to amaze me!”
“The mage’s what?...” Shia said still feeling bewildered and unable to comprehend what she had just heard.
All of a sudden, the carriage driver who had driven the three of them there stepped down from his coach, and the carriage they had just been using disappeared from sight. The driver’s own visage spun around. Instead of the old, jovial man who seemed to be in his late forties, a young, untrimmed man with brown locks and bushy, long wisps of mustache appeared. His body was covered with a tattered robe and a large, wooden staff appeared in his hands in place of the couch driver’s whip.
“Message received,” the driver – or rather the man - said. “How have you been, young prince and miss?”
“We have been well, Mage Silas,” the prince replied.
“More than well!” Khailis beamed. “Thanks again for your help last time!”
“Ah, no need to thank me, miss. Glad I can be of service,” the mage exclaimed.
Shia can’t believe her eyes. This young man was a mage! She had imagined a mage to be someone old, fatherly, or stern-looking, but this young man who looked rebellious and easy going was a mage!
“She must be the reason for your urgent call, am I right?” the mage said looking at Shia.
“Yes. We didn’t know who else to call for help if not for you” the prince replied.
“My lady, what is your name?”
“Shia.”
“The heart in the Elder Tongue – that’s quite a lovely name,” he said looking back at her with eyes that seemed to pierce at Shia’s soul. “Tell me, what has happened to you the other night? I was not aware of the full details.”
“Umm, yes,” Shia replied. She began to pull away the ruffles from her left wrist, but she was utterly distracted as a young boy ran towards her. To her shock, the boy ran past her like a ghost! She gasped.
“Don’t worry about that. I assure you that you aren’t a ghost, miss! What you are all seeing is an illusion, well sort of. They are occupying the space, and we are the illusion for them. We are presently nonexistent in this or that world, so to speak; just somewhere in between each. I spun a small crack in the fabrics of time and space, so that we can meet in secrecy. No one from the Imperial Capitol can follow us here, unless of course they are highly skilled mages,” he explained. “Now pray, tell me, why you wanted to see me this badly?”
“Ah, yes, yes,” Shia said, still feeling a little shaken at what she had just seen. She proceeded to pull away her sleeve. “This mark here appeared after I had a strange dream last night. I thought it was visible to everyone, but so far, only I and his majesty can see it.”
The mages eyes seem to widen at the sight of the mark. “Pray, child. Did you talk or see anyone in that dream of yours?”
“I did...” Shia began, “I talked to someone, but I cannot see who it was. He called me by another name.”
“Did he call you Freya?...” the mage asked.
Shia, Khailis, and Langrion’s head all hung in astonishment, but it was Shia who exclaimed, “How did you know?”
“If that is the case, the Ancient Evil has awakened indeed. The final battle must be closer than I thought!” Mage Silas exclaimed. He turned to Shia and got down to his knees in a knightly fashion, “Goddess Freya, I am humbled to see you again in this lifetime! As always, I shall serve you with all the powers the gods have placed upon me!”
Khailis cried out, “goddess what? What do you mean by that?!”
“Goddess Freya – you mean the Goddess of Light?!” the prince said in amazement.
“Mage Silas, what do you mean? Who’s Freya?” Shia said, feeling apprehensive at the mention of the name she had been called in her dreams.
“You, my lady... You are Freya, the Goddess of Light. You were the one who had imprisoned the Ancient Evil to bring peace into the world a very long time ago, and you are the sole key to his liberation. That is if you surrender to him, and he succeeds in taking your life away for a thousand and one time!” He began to clutch her tattooed wrist. “Seeing this mark right here means that the Ancient Evil has already found you, goddess... Now, you must make haste to kill him!”
“What?!” Astonished, Shia breathed in, “w-who is this Ancient Evil?”
“Why, it is the person who had marked you as such for himself; the one spoken of in the prophecy who will break the earth in his reincarnation. He will bear a similar mark when you meet him – an inked mark of a heron in flight! ”
“Y-you don’t mean to say-”
“I do. It is none other than the Demon King of the ancient prophecy. You must kill him this time, goddess! You must kill him for good, or he will be the one to destroy you, and the prophecy will be fulfilled!” Mage Silas roared.
Nobody dared to speak a single word. Even their breathing seemed to have been temporarily suspended based on what they have just heard.
After several, seemingly stifling minutes had come to pass between all of them, Shia began to pull her wrist away from the mage in a more violent way than she would have wanted. “Ah, I-I see... I-I think I would like to go now. I don’t feel well...”
She strode towards Langrion and took his hand into hers. “Come on, let’s go...”
“Goddess, you must hear me out -” the mage said, coming closer towards her.
“N-no need for that... I-I’ll call on you soon...” Shia tugged in at Langrion’s arms while he stood there, seemingly stoic.
“He’s right, Shia,” the prince replied. Shia looked up to see his face turning pale white, but his voice remained firm, “you must tell him the truth... Tell him you have already found the Ancient Evil.”
Shia tugged at his wrist harder that she thought the veins in her hands might burst out. “I don’t want to hear another word from you! Khailis, let’s go!”
She did not know how she had managed it, but she dragged his majesty’s arms with her and walked towards the direction opposite the mage.
“Goddess- !” Shia could hear the mage’s voice trailing off behind her.
She did not want to hear another word from the mage, so she looked frantically around for any way, anything that she could use as an exit.
As if by some miracle, Shia suddenly saw something quiver in the air. She blinked and looked again. It was still quivering as if a string was vibrating somewhere.
Shia began to reach out at the vibrating string in the air, and as she did, it began to tear itself, opening up a hole that overlooked a valley.
Suddenly and to everyone’s surprise, Shia began to step into the portal of the world overlooking a quiet, peaceful valley, away from the mage’s pleading voice, and hurriedly called to them, “Let’s go!”