Chapter Twenty-Five - Cards of Fortune

1

It was going to be another one of those days, Elwin thought as he stretched out his tall slender body. His raven hair blew in the gentle breeze as he sat before that morning’s cooking fire. The blue sky seemed endless. A mist could be seen across the mountain range that morning.

He puffed delicately on his thin bone pipe. Wisps of white smoke rose from the bowl at the end. Elwin just wanted to get this job over with, then they could return to Verant City, collect the rest of the payment and find another quest.

Was it that easy? Elwin believed that the party could find their next job at the guild, but the amount of travel that lay before them seemed daunting to say the least. He had doubts about becoming an adventurer before they reached Verant City. But the beauty and majesty of the capital had reinforced his notion that although adventuring could have its monotonous moments, it was still better than being a lowly farm boy from Salome Hollow.

Verant City had been a fantastic morale boost for them all, but after the encounter with Vask Fillius, he was not sure if they even wanted to return there. It appeared Elwin had a new mortal enemy to deal with, someone with far more power than all of them combined.

But that was the real problem, right? He thought to himself. The sweetness of the smoke rolled off his tongue. He wondered just where did the old wizard go after he disappeared? Did he hang around close by or was he several thousand miles away? The problem was Elwin knew nothing about the wizard’s real abilities. What was teleportation? Did it have limitations and what else could Vask do with magic? Just where was this wizard and when would he strike again?

Elwin had no answers. That unsettled him more than anything.

Elwin suddenly realized that he did know someone who might have some answers for him. The Elvin woman Myra-Lynn seemed to know a lot more about magic than he could ever learn. It wouldn’t hurt to ask her, he thought.

Elwin was roused from his thoughts by Rowdy who was just getting ready to go off into the town to see the last of the damaged buildings. It had been another warm morning and the sun was bright. They could not have asked for a better day. In fact, the whole week had been like that. Winter had been months ago. Now the rainy season was over. The fields and trees were all green once again.

“How long is this going to take?” Elwin questioned his Gnomish friend. Rowdy and Elwin had become friends, despite the complaining and gripping that went on between them.

“The rest of the morning at least, but I’ll need the afternoon to write the report properly. The Imperial Staff is known to be picky about these things,” Rowdy complained.

Elwin noted his sour expression over this last chore. Had Rowdy written a report for the Empire before? He wondered. Ultimately Elwin did not really care what Rowdy did that day or how he did it. He was just glad to hear that they would finally be done with this horribly boring job. He had already decided that they would not take another escort mission again, that was for certain. It just wasn’t exciting! Elwin bemoaned to himself.

But wasn’t that why they took this mission in the first place? Did they have enough trouble already just on their way to Verant City? How many things had they already screwed up?

Elwin had to admit that it was really nice having a mission that was very easy to perform. Still, he was left wondering where were the ancient ruins and old castles like in all of the legends? That was the fun stuff that was written about in the story books he used to read.

2

As it turned out Selby and Rith both decided to go with Rowdy as a solution to their own boredom. They needed to get out and do something. Emerson and Anna on the other hand, were content to hang around camp taking a final day to relax before the long journey back to the city.

It was not long after Rowdy and the other two had left camp that, Elwin decided to seek out Myra-Lynn. He wanted to pick her brain about a few things. Mainly how does teleportation work and how could a powerful wizard use it to get to him or his map?

Of course, he found her in the medical tent preparing some ingredients for that day’s work. When he came into the tent, she had not noticed him. He stood quietly for a moment and observed her as she worked.

Myra-Lynn hummed a tune to herself. It was one that Elwin had never heard before, so he assumed it was probably something from her own culture. Whatever it was, he thought it was very beautiful. He watched Myra as her hips shifted as she moved around pouring one vial into another calculating with great care. Her long-braided hair swung behind her as she crushed up herbs in a pestle.

Elwin found it almost hypnotic as he watched her, arms folded and leaning against the tent pole. She looked unlike any woman he had seen before. He was sure that it was not just because she was an Elf.

Her hourglass figure was slight. She was boyish in many ways, yet she still seemed so feminine and delicate to his eyes. He could not help but find her attractive. Maybe it was her flat chest that made her seem boyish he thought. She was similar to Anna in that regard. Elwin felt that Myra was just right. She did not need ample cleavage to look beautiful. Maybe her slim profile just fit her frame better? He thought.

Myra stood maybe an inch or two shorter than Anna, who seemed very short as it was, but that only seemed to add to the exoticness that she exuded. Elwin watched her hands as she worked. They were so small and child-like, with bluish veins just below the surface of her white marble skin.

Today he noticed that Myra was wearing breeches of a deep forest green colour. This was also unusual in Elwin’s mind. He was still getting use to seeing women wearing what was essentially men’s fashion.

Verantian women usually wore dresses. They were heavy in material and almost always hung down to the ground or at the very least below the knees. He had heard that this was true of women in almost every kingdom in Gaia.

Elwin’s own mother always wore dresses whether she was cooking, gardening or doing anything else around the household. This was something that Elwin never question because it was like that all over Verant. Every woman in his home village wore dresses.

So, when Anna joined them on the road, she was wearing men’s breeches just as Myra did now. Anna claimed that dresses were simply no good for travelling. She needed something that protected her legs better and freed up her ability to move. At least Elwin could appreciate that notion.

Dresses were usually worn in two layers as he understood it. Back home the women always wore a tough coarse outer layer mainly for warmth as well as modesty. But sometimes they would wear a silkier inner layer that was smooth against the skin and prevented chaffing of the delicate flesh of the upper thighs and cleft between the legs. If a dress was too short than a woman had to be careful how they sat, never cross legged or her womanhood would risk being exposed for all to see. Underwear was not a typical fashion worn beneath a dress, but men sometimes wore underwear when in breeches to prevent irritation.

Elwin also realized that these were country bumpkin type styles and modesty rules. When in Verant City he had seen all manner of dress. He saw men wearing togas, especially at the bathhouses. Full-length tunics were also popular among the men. Made out of coarse wool or leather they hung down to about the knee. Modesty rules were very relaxed in Verant City, especially for men who’s clothing sometimes left little to the imagination.

Yet in the city even women were often exposed in ways that surprised Elwin. Quinn for instant wore a beautiful expensive dress that night in the Crassidio, but it left her arms and shoulders completely exposed! A farm girl would never wear something like that! He had thought at the time, but even he got use to such sights after only a week in the city. Elwin surmised that women usually did not wear breaches or trousers because it accentuated their legs and buttock in ways that were immodest.

Even now as he watched Myra work, he could see the slenderness of her legs that could not be seen if she was wearing a dress. He also admired the way the breeches clung to her buttock.

Suddenly Myra-Lynn finished what she was doing and turning to leave the tent. She was lost in her work and had not paid attention to her surroundings in the slightest. She walked right into Elwin, not knowing he was there and spilt a bit of liquid from the open jar in her hand onto his boots. She gave a high-pitched squeal as she was jolted from her own thoughts that had completely encompassed her.

“By the Gods, my Lord, you scared me!” Then realizing that it was Elwin she suddenly went red in the face. Elwin thought she looked terrified, like she might breakdown and cry. “Elwin? I’m so sorry! I’ll clean this up! I’m so sorry!”

“No, no,” Elwin replied. Before he could stop her, she grabbed a nearby cloth and got down on her knees as she tried to mop up the spilled liquid.

“You must think I’m so clumsy!” She laminated.

“It’s entirely my fault,” He said as he knelt down to her. “It’s alright Myra really. I shouldn’t have been spying on you like that. I should have said something when I walked in.”

“You were spying on me?” She questioned with great surprise.

“Well, you were busy. I didn’t want to disturb you,” Elwin admitted. He held her hand still and took the rag from her. “It’s not you fault Myra, really! I’ll clean it up.”

She relented, but Elwin still thought she looked anxious. She seemed to hide her face out of fear or some female instinct that he had yet to grasp.

“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I should’ve had a stopper on the bottle. It was stupid of me to have it open like that!”

“Listen,” Elwin said. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “I take responsibility for startling you. It’s my fault, alright?”

She sighed and nodded.

“Good!” Elwin said. “Now there was a reason that I was here. I assure you that I don’t just spy on unsuspecting women for no reason!”

Myra-Lynn chortled at his comment.

“I thought after our talk last night, that you could help explain something to me,” Elwin said to her.

“Alright,” she said giving him a nervous nod.

“The old wizard that I told you about,” Elwin said. “I never told you, but he escaped by using some kind of teleportation magic. I’m not sure what it was, but he just disappeared.”

Myra-Lynn appeared to relax a bit. “Well, that sounds like teleportation. But that’s not easy to do. Only a very powerful wizard could do that.”

“I understand that,” Elwin replied. “But what I want to know is how powerful is that spell? How far away could he go? Could he find me again, like he did in Verant City?”

“Well, I’m not really sure about that. I mean, with something like teleportation, if he’s powerful enough... Like if he’s a Grand Master? Then he could go anywhere as long as he knew the destination.” Myra sat on the ground curling her legs beneath her. “As for following you... knowing where you are? Only if he has someone or something watching you, could he know that.”

“So, you think I’m safe here then?” Elwin asked.

“Unless you’re being spied upon, as you have done to me,” Myra said. A sly smile crept onto her face. “Then you’re probably safe here.”

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“Good,” Elwin said. He sat down on ground next to her. “I’ve been worrying about that for some time now. I know so little about magic.”

“Most people don’t understand it,” Myra commented. “Most people think that wizard’s just snap their fingers and things happen. It’s not like that. The thing of which you speak is hard to do. Not just any wizard can do it. I know I can’t, my magic is not powerful enough.”

An idea suddenly came to Elwin. “What about fortune-telling?”

“What about it?” Myra asked confused.

“Well, do you know how to read cards?”

A broad smile crossed her face. “Of course, I have a deck of fortune cards that I brought with me from home!”

“Could you do a reading for me?” Elwin asked.

Myra’s eyes lit up. “Really? You want me to do your reading?”

Elwin nodded.

“It would be an honour!” She said blushing.

“Could you do it now?” Elwin asked. This was amazing good fortune he thought. He had been desperate to know how his cards would turn out after seeing his brothers.

“I have sick people to attend to, but I can do a quick three card layout right now if you wish?” She said getting more excited. Her eyes looked like they might pop out of her head. She could not stop smiling. Elwin admired the way her cheeks dimpled when she smiled. She stood up. “Please Elwin, come to my tent and I’ll tell your fortune!”

3

Myra-Lynn led him to her modest tent. Along the way she explained that when she first got to the town of Domara, they had given her a cottage to stay in, but during one of the earthquakes, the cottage was damaged. A large crack appeared in one of the main walls and she fear to stay there any longer. She did not mind sleeping in a tent since that’s what she had been doing along her entire trip.

Elwin had to admit that she had a finely crafted tent, much better in quality than the ones he and his friends had. Myra said that it was Elvin made using light strong materials found back home. It was not much bigger than the ones they had and could sleep two people with a bit of room to spare. Elwin also found out that Myra was a bit scattered. She had items and clothing strewn about the whole tent.

“I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed as she tried to hide some of the dirty clothing and clear a spot on her bedroll where they could both sit down. Elwin watched on as she stuffed a dress and other breeches into her sturdy backpack. “I don’t usually have people in my tent. It’s a privacy thing!”

She quickly hid a few embarrassing items like her diary, dirty rags, mirror and make-up things.

“I wouldn’t know,” Elwin commented as he came in and found a place to sit down. “We all have to share our tents.”

Myra dug through her backpack until she produced a deck of cards.

“What makes you interested in fortune-telling?” Myra asked him once she had the deck in hand. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you don’t look like the type who would put faith in such things.”

“Most people don’t trust the readings, I know,” Elwin said. He sat cross legged before her. Myra took the cards out of the box they were in. “But a while back this druid did a card reading for my brother and she was so upset that she threw us out of her home.”

“Really?” Myra said. She seemed genuinely interested.

“I wanted her to do my reading, but she refused,” Elwin added. “I wanted to see how mine turned out verses his.”

“That’s strange,” Myra said. She handed the deck of cards to Elwin. “Can you shuffle these?”

Elwin did so. When he handed them back to her she said. “Let’s see if we can give you a better reading!”

She turned over the first card. It was the knight of cups. Once again Myra blushed. The card depicted a knight holding aloft a chalice. At his feet were three women dressed in fine clothing.

“What?” Elwin questioned. “Is it bad?”

Myra laughed. “The knight of cups? No silly, you’re loved by women. You must have many admirers!”

Elwin relaxed a bit. It did not seem like a bad card.

She flipped over the next card. It was a major arcane card. “The griffin,” Myra said breathlessly. “It means great inner strength. You’re a passionate person. This means power, action and courage. You’re either a great hero… or when combined with the knight of cups… a great lover!”

Elwin rolled his eyes as Myra shifted uncomfortable. “Why don’t I feel like either of those things!”

“This is a fortune, Elwin,” Myra reminded him. “This could be more about who you will become, instead of who you are now.”

“I know, but it’s nothing like my bothers reading at all,” he said.

“Everyone gets a different reading or at least they should,” Myra said. “The problem lies in not knowing how far into the future this fortune might be. Maybe your brother got a reading that’s far in the future?”

“Hmm,” Elwin said. “I never thought about that.”

“Remember, fortune-telling is dodgy at best so don’t put too much faith into it,” Myra pointed out.

“Oh, I see. You don’t think I would be a great lover?” Elwin teased.

Myra-Lynn looked horrified. Her face was flush once again and she tried to fan herself with her hand. “Ah, let’s just move on to the last card before making a final judgement, shall we!”

Myra flipped over the third and final card in the reading. It was the fifth card of the major arcane, the emperor. It showed an old man with a long flowing white beard sitting upon a throne. In his hand he holds a sceptre and wears a gold crown. “Two major arcane cards usually means great power!” Myra proclaimed.

“My brother got three,” Elwin said casually.

Myra looked shocked but said nothing about it. “The Emperor is a card of authority figures. It can mean protection and aid from a very powerful source. It can mean receiving orders from someone powerful who expects them to be obeyed without question.”

“Could that mean the assignment we’re on?” Elwin asked her. “It is an imperial mission.”

She shook her head. “Doubtful,” she said. “To look at all of these cards together is to see the bigger picture. My best guess is that something is going to happen that will make you a great hero. Maybe something that gets recognition from high powers or leads you to a woman, perhaps a future wife.”

“So, would you say this was a bad reading then?” Elwin questioned. He leaned back to consider what she was saying.

“I don’t think so,” She replied. “I think this is a very good fortune. I would be very glad if I got this for a fortune myself.”

Elwin nodded. He liked it. She was right it did seem like a great fortune. But it still didn’t explain what was actually going to happen in the future.

4

“Tell me about your brother’s fortune,” Myra said to him. “Do you remember the cards he got and in what order?”

Yes, I remember it clearly,” Elwin replied. “The first was sister moons, the second was the world and the last one was strange. What did she call it? You know what, she didn’t actually say, but it was a man being struck by lightning.”

Maya quickly shuffled through the deck. “Was it this one?” She showed Elwin a card.

“Yes, that’s it!” He said. “She got really upset when she saw it.”

“So, this card is usually called the Nergal. And it’s not really a card you want to see,” She replied. She studied the three cards that Elwin had remembered. “This is tough one,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that this could mean. One thing for sure is that it’s a powerful destiny.”

“Rith?” Elwin questioned sceptically. “A powerful destiny? That just doesn’t sound like him.”

“This fortune could be twenty years from now,” Myra pointed out.

“Yeah, but… Come on. I mean you’ve met him,” Elwin replied. “A powerful destiny… I find that hard to believe.”

“What exactly happened?” How did you end up at a druid’s place anyway?” Myra questioned. “I want to know everything, do not spare me the details.”

So, Elwin did just that. He started with entering the city of Golden Meadows and see the devastated condition it was in. Then he went over the events at the tavern. They drank, they ate, they listened to a bard perform. The crowd got drunk, it got hostile and then when some men cornered Emerson at the bar, Elwin explained the mayhem that ensued. There was a lot to cover and Myra pressed him about the details.

“Something here doesn’t make any sense,” Myra said to him. She wanted to pause the explanation so she could go over something again.

“What do you mean?” Elwin asked.

“You said, towards the end of the fight that this huge man charged your bother and ended up killed by the war hammer that Rith had braced for the attack,” Myra said, repeating something Elwin had related. “It had a spike on the end, right?”

“Yes,” Elwin said.

“Did you actually see it happen?” She questioned.

“Kind of,” Elwin replied. “I mean I was in a fight myself, but everyone saw it.”

“Why would a trained warrior run into a spike like that? Why wouldn’t he sidestep at the last moment or bat it away?” She pondered.

Elwin shrugged. “All I know, when we rushed out of there, the spike on the war hammer was covered in blood and the man was dead with a hole right through his neck.”

“I want to come back to that,” Myra said to him. “What happened next?”

Elwin explained how they hurried out and the bard that was fighting with them said he knew a druid that could do healing. Then he explained how Rith woke up suddenly healed and went on a rant about how the druid did nothing and he somehow healed himself. After that he had his cards read.

“Is it possible that Rith has magical power?” Myra asked.

Elwin shook his head. “I have known my brother his whole life, he had never shown any signs that he has had any sort of calling for magic or religion. Usually that starts about eight years old for humans. He’s almost seventeen now.”

“Never had his cards read before?”

“Not that I know of,” Elwin replied. “There was no one in our village who could do such a thing.”

“Yet, he miraculously kills someone twice his size and heals himself in the same night?” She questioned.

Elwin shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. That’s what happened as far as I know.”

“Magic can heal… And magic can conceal,” Myra explained.

“What do you mean?”

“Consider this,” Myra said. “What if this man ran into the war hammer, because he couldn’t see it? Because it was hidden by magic. Then it makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“But Rith is not a sorcerer,” Elwin insisted.

“You need to consider the possibility that he may actually be one and the powers are just coming out now,” Myra told him.

“I just don’t believe it,” Elwin said shaking his head.

“What if it’s divine?” Myra questioned. She tried for another angle that could also be a possibility. Maybe it was something Elwin was more willing to believe. “Have you been to a temple or had some sort of religious experience recently?”

Now that got Elwin thinking about the tomb of the Fire Lord. “Yeah, we have. In Verant City.”

“You need to contemplate the likelihood that it’s not a coincidence,” Myra said to him. “There is something going on with your brother and it’s not natural. What did he say to you when he regained consciousness in that hut?”

Elwin explained what he was able to understand from Rith. About going within himself, about some black pearl in his mind pulsing red and touching it and being instantly healed.

Myra was shaking her head. “That’s not how magic work,” she explained. “Magic doesn’t come from within. Its external. You draw the power from the life force that surrounds you. The spells, chants, staffs and wands… they just help to channel the power and focus it.”

“I see,” Elwin said. “So, it can’t be magic?”

“But divinity can work in a variety of difference ways,” Myra said. “However, I’ve never heard it described as a black pearl or coming from within either. I suppose it could be possible.”

“So, it could have been the Gods stepping in to take control?” Elwin questioned.

This time Myra was the one shrugging. “I don’t really have an answer to that. Was there anything else? Something the druid might have said that seemed strange?”

Elwin thought about that for a moment. “Well, she said something to us,” Elwin told her. “She asked us if we were wydring. Have you heard that word before? She said something about a shared destiny? I don’t know.”

“Wydring,” Myra said. “That’s an old word. It’s not used much anymore and I have only heard it used a few times. She’s right though. The original meaning of the word is a group of individuals brought together by destiny to preform a task. But I’m sure if that would apply here. It’s usually only used to describe someone who is God Touched.”

“God Touched?” Elwin was a bit confused.

“By the Gods,” Myra said in shock. Her mouth agape she said. “What if your brother is God Touched?”

“I don’t understand,” Elwin said shaking his head. “What does that mean?”

Before she could explain, there was a sudden and powerful earthquake.

5

It was the strongest earthquake they had experienced yet. As the ground shook, a strange deep rumbling sound filled the air. It lasted over a full minute. People came rushing out of tents looking around timidly. Even the locals, who had grown accustomed to the earth shaking occasionally, knew that something more was going on this time.

“Is everyone alright?” Myra-Lynn called out as she emerged from her tent Elwin was right behind her. Together they rushed over to find Anna and Emerson.

“Yes, that was frightening!” Anna declared.

Myra-Lynn looked around and saw Elwin staring off into the distance. “Elwin is everything alright?”

Elwin’s light brown cloak was flapping in the strong breeze that came down from the north.

He stood like a statue. He did not answer. He could not answer.

His eyes were transfixed on an unusual sight. He stared up at the mountain range miles away with its jagged peaks that had been shrouded in mist all morning.

He suddenly pointed to the one in the center nearest the town.

“Do you see that mountain there?” He asked.

Everyone looked up, but they seemed bewildered.

“Was that peak always free of snow?” He questioned.

They all stared closer at it. Indeed, the once white peak was completely barren.

“Never!” Myra replied breathlessly. She began shaking her head, her mouth open with terror as she made the profound connection. It was not mist that surrounded the peaks. In a shocked voice she added. “And mountains aren’t supposed to smoke like that either!”

“I think I know why they are having so many earthquakes here…” Elwin concluded.

The bottom of his stomach felt like it was falling out as the gravity of what he had just discovered began to hit him like a tidal wave. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode. His bodies shook with raw unchecked energy.

They all had the most pallid expressions. They simple could not comprehend what they were seeing. It was inconceivable!

“This can’t be happening!” Emerson muttered under his breath. His feet were motionless in fear and his mind was frozen with horror.

“Our friends are in town!” Anna exclaimed as the shock began to sink in. “Rith, Selby, Rowdy!”

“We must find Mayor Ashborn! These people have to get out of here!” Elwin stated.

“And go where?” Emerson questioned.

“Anywhere but here! Only the Gods know! If they unleash their fury upon this place, anyone staying will surely perish!” Elwin was mobilized by the adrenaline and dread that was surging through his head.

It suddenly hit him. The words that Emery had said to him, when he pulled him aside to talk privately. Emery had told him how there was going to come a point where he would have to decide if he was going to step up and be a hero or run for his life.

Elwin, don’t be weak. Those words were ringing in his ears now. Emery told him to step up and lead, embrace it even. People were depending on him.

He understood everything clearly now.

Don’t let the fear and danger make you second guess yourself. Emery was far wiser than Elwin had given him credit for.

Elwin started to walk towards the town.

The other three followed closely behind all the time watching the mountain peaks looking for any signs that the summit might be blown to pieces at any moment.

Elwin prayed to the Gods that they were misreading the situation. Maybe it would not be as bad as it looks? He told them this as they picked up the pace and rushed to the southern gates.