The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (9 page)

From the size
and frame of this person
, John was
confident that was, in fact, a woman, and she was only a few trees
away from him. She was wearing a pearl white dress, and she had a
hood over her head that was attached to a white veil that guarded
her face. She wore no socks or shoes of any kind. Her voice seemed
louder and stronger in the few seconds that passed. John began to
walk toward her, entranced by her beautiful voice. She threw back
her hood and veil and John was amazed with the beauty before him.
He had taken only a few steps when a loud howl rang out throughout
the forest.

The voice
stopped, for the howl had startled the woman. She took a few steps
back toward the trees behind her.

She was not
as beautiful as John thought. Her eyes were cold and grey, her skin
was frost white, wrinkled, dry and cracked. Her long nails were
chipped and ragged, and her hair was tattered and as white as her
very skin. But John could not see her for what she really was, for
he was still entranced by her voice and stood there still as stone.
The leaves began to rustle close by. Someone or something was
coming their way. The woman began to retreat into the trees until
the darkness surrounded her and she could no longer be
seen.

The thing
that scared the woman away came closer and closer until it emerged
from behind the trees to John’s right. It was the Wolf Demala. The
Wolf ran to his friend’s side. He stood there surveying the
Wizard-Elf with his bright red eyes.

The
creature’s fur was white on his lower body, legs, paws, and both
sides of his face, and chest, with the slightest rings around his
eyes; however, his tail was blood red running up his back, over his
head, ears, and leading down to his light brown nose. He was a
beautiful creature. Helen thought he was cute, which made John
laugh.

“
I wouldn’t
let him hear you say that,” he warned.

Now
Demala still stood beside the entranced Wizard
King.

“
WAKE
UP JOHN!”
the Wolf howled at his friend.
But John did not move. Demala shouted again and still nothing. He
then trotted over to the King’s side and sank his teeth into his
leg. John yelled part in pain and part in shock. For Demala’s bite
had woken him from the woman’s spell.

“
Were did she
go?” asked John sounding puzzled.

“
Trust me
when I say, you don’t want to know the answer to that question,”
replied Demala.

“Try me.”

“
Fine, she’s
a Valcota a drinker of blood.”

“
A vampire,”
said John, now sounding a little distant.

“
You should
not have come here so soon John. You’re not ready yet. You’re not
experienced enough to face even one Wizard-Elf, never mind two at
once,” said Demala, concerned.

“
I don’t
intend to face both of them at once. One at a time is the plan,”
replied John confidently.

“
Don’t go in
there thinking that this’ll all go your way. Ulicoth may be still
recovering from the blow that Dragdani dealt him all of those years
ago, but he’s no fool. I believe he’s been expecting an attack. Why
else would he sit still with an enormous army that he has spent so
many years building unless he has been waiting for the right time
to release his wraith upon this world?”

“
What are you
talking about? Ulicoth’s army is no bigger than our own,” said the
King, the arrogance flowing from his words.

“
Don’t be so
sure,” said the Wolf. “Think, John. He has had nearly six hundred
years to make his army and you’ve had just two. His is forces are
ten times the size. Do the math.”

“
You’re
right. Six hundred years is a long time, but remember Ulicoth was
near death for most of it. He’s only started to recover these past
five years, and it would take him that long to breed half of the
creatures I saw and to persuade the other half, which were most
likely hiding in the mountains in distant lands, to fight for
him.”

“
Don’t be
sure. Ulicoth is stronger then you think. Don’t underestimate him,
my friend, for all our sakes.”

“
I’ve
got to go
. They won’t be able to keep
Kilamen busy for long,” said John.

“
Very well,”
said Demala, “but I still think that you’ve come too soon. After
all, there were two prophecies.”

“
Yes, I know.
Why do you think we’ve come now? We’re trying to prevent the first
one from coming true. If we attack now instead of waiting for him
to attack, we can stop him before it’s too late.”

“
Okay, just
be careful, and don’t be over confident, and never think about
putting down your guard even for a moment.”

“
Fine, but
I’ve really got to go,” said John.

“
The
n the only thing left for me
to say is good luck. And I really mean that, John,” said
Demala.

“
Thank you,
my friend,” replied John warmly. A green light came around the
King, and when it had faded, all that was left was a green vapor
slowly spreading and dispersing in the air. He had Phazed, just as
Kilamen had done, from the fortress to the once hidden army of
Ulicoth. John found that he could not Phaze directly into the
fortress, for it was protected by magic. Instead he Phazed himself
to underneath the balcony that he had seen Ulicoth and Kilamen
standing on only minutes before. John switched back to his Dragon
eyes, and with them he was able to measure the distance from where
he stood to the balcony, which was quite high up. He bent his knees
and jumped up straight up, higher and higher. In those few seconds
he could see the balcony getting closer until he was beneath it. He
stretched out his arm and caught the bottom of it, and with minimum
effort, he pulled himself up over the rail of the balcony and
landed on his feet.

Meanwhile, on
the battlefield, most of the alliance lead by Prince Bacnil and the
Dwarf Lord Eiaten were successfully pushing their enemies back
toward the main mountain. Delsani had commandeered as many soldiers
as he could call to him: Men, Dwarves, and Elves. He didn’t care as
long as it would help him to delay Kilamen’s departure. She was
walking calmly through the field trying to find the one that had
come to kill her master and killing any that would dare to cross
her path.

The old
Wizard knew he would soon cross paths with her. He knew that he had
to try and buy the Wizard King enough time. Even if it resulted in
his demise, it was the only way. He could see her walking closer to
him, but again she stopped drew her hand up slightly. Delsani could
see yellow energy building up in her hand. The energy then took
shape and became round and hovered only a few centimeters above the
palm of her hand. He could clearly see the ball of energy swirling
round. She threw the energy ball at an Elven warrior who had run at
her, hitting him straight in the heart, killing him instantly. She
laughed at him, just as she had done so many times before, as he
fell to the muddy ground.

One of the
men then came running toward her
with his
sword held high, but before he could get near her, she put out her
hand again. There was flash of yellow light, and the man’s sword
disappeared from his hand and appeared in hers. She swiped low and
cut straight through the man’s stomach. She spun the sword round
between her fingers. Now the blade was pointing behind her. She
shoved it into the throat of Eiaten’s youngest son, Paril. Then hit
him in the face with her right elbow, pulled the sword back out and
threw it up.

The sword
flipped round. She caught it with the blade the right way up. She
did not keep the sword for long, though, for she threw it at
another man who was charging at her. It went right through his
chest. She stood there in front of her latest victim looking
around, wondering whether so many would be so foolish to attack her
if they knew who she was. And then it came to her. They were all
decoys.

Delsani could
see the expression on her face.
Now
, he thought,
now it’s time.
His sword was already in his right hand. He reached into
his pocket with his left and took out his wand then calmly walked
toward the Wicked Wizard-Elf.

John went
from the balcony into a great dark room.
Ulicoth must’ve decorated this place,
thought the King. The floor was grey marble. The
ceiling was red, and the walls were purple. On the walls were
shields, swords and other different and strange weapons.

He was deep
into the room and could see a number of flags of all different
shapes and sizes. There were a few that he recognized, but he had
only seen them in books and scrolls. They were the flags of the
other Wizard orders that exist in their world. The flags were
forming a square around a symbol that had captured John’s complete
and undivided attention. It was the flag of the Dark Lord Salith.
That flag was considered to be the ultimate sign of evil throughout
the lands of Dorminya. It was scarlet, and in the middle was the
Symbol of Salith, which was oval-shaped. The edge of it was silver,
and in the middle was a silver skull with only the top set of
teeth. Its eyes were dark and glittery blue in the area that
surrounded the skull.

John could
see a bed in the distance, and on it was Ulicoth resting silently.
He walked toward him and drew his hand up. An energy ball began to
build form in it. John then did the same with his other hand
getting ready for the onslaught.

But before he
got any closer, Ulicoth awoke.

“
I have been
waiting for you John,” he said.

John was not
surprised to hear that his enemy knew his Normal name. He knew
Ulicoth had spies everywhere. He was, however, surprised by
Ulicoth’s voice, as it sounded ordinary and refined, even friendly.
He had expected it to be wicked and cold.

“
And how did
you know that I would be here?” asked John.

“
Let’s just
say a little traitor told me,” replied Ulicoth with an impious grin
on his face.

Little traitor
,
John thought.
Who could it be?
The first name
that sprang to mind was Demala. “The Wolf had told John that
Ulicoth was expecting him.
But
then why warn me of it. It doesn’t make any since.

Ulicoth
sat up and slowly got off
of the bed. He stood up. John noticed he was hunched over slightly,
and his hood covered the top of his face just as Delsani’s had done
when he appeared at the Stark residence. Ulicoth was wearing cherry
red robes. On his chest holding his robes together was a broach. It
was the Symbol of Salith and was exactly the same in shape and
color as on the scarlet flag. He was also wearing a ring on his
left index finger. It was silver and looked like the skull of a
Lore warrior. The old Wizard-Elf’s face and hands had bulging
purple veins and were wrinkled and bony, and his skin was chalky
white.

Ulicoth
was now looking at the
energy in John’s hands.

“
You will not
need those,” he told the Wizard King.

“
I think I’ll
hold onto them for now,” replied John firmly.

“
Don’t be
rude, John. After all, you are my guest.”

“
Guest,” John
snorted.

“
Do you
really think that you would’ve got this far without my help?” asked
Ulicoth. His voice had suddenly changed; now it was cold and
menacing. “After all, it was I who told Kilamen to go down to join
my army and kill as many of the attacking force as she liked. She
loves the smell of the fear that comes from a battle, though she
likes killing even more. And it was I who saved you from the
Valcota in the forest. It was I that took away the protection spell
on the balcony, or you would have been blown to tiny little pieces
as soon as you touched it. And I am the one allowing most of your
friends to live. One word from me is all it would take for the rest
of my army to show themselves and destroy them all and end this
foolish, pitiful, and predictable attack.”

“
What do you
mean, the rest of your army?” asked John.

“
I have spent
over six hundred long years building the largest, strongest force
that this world or any other has known. And you and your idiotic
Wizard’s Council thought that you could build an army to match it
in just two.”

“
So why
wait?” asked John.

“
Because of
you,” said Ulicoth. “You are the one that I need to help
me.”

“
I’ll never
help you.”

“
Come now,
John. You are being rude again. I only have your best interests at
heart,” said Ulicoth. The Dark Wizard-Elf had again changed his
voice. Once more it sounded kind.

“
That’s
strange. In all of the things I’ve read of you, in none have I ever
read of you having a heart,” said John. If the King could spit
poison, each word surely would have had enough to kill
instantly.

“
The
re is heart of body and heart
of mind, and I do have both, despite what history says, or rather
doesn’t say, though it is also true that I usually use the former
and never the latter. But we, John, we are kin. There are only a
few of our kind left. We need to work together to protect ourselves
from those who would sooner see us all dead than let us have even a
faction of power in this world. Why not disperse the energy and sit
down?” implied Ulicoth.