Fantasy Revealed, Part 2

Fantasy Revealed, Part 2
By H.A. Handy
Copyright (c) 2005 by H.A. Handy

-II-

Dremor led me to the fire and had me sit beside him on a log. He motioned to one of the others who handed him a flask, drank from it, and then gave it to me. It smelled alcoholic in nature, but when it touched my lips I found it sweet and tasting like nothing I had ever had before. It refreshed me, as well as made my head spin a little. Dremor took the flask back and set it upon the ground. Cappa padded in circles on the grass, and finally came to lie down between Dremor’s feet.

“She loves you,” Dremor said happily. “I am but a mere curiosity for her at the moment.” I nodded.

“You asked why you – I will try and answer you the best I can, but Fredrik will be the one to explain everything.” Dremor inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. His eyes had a distant look to them. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was remembering or creating. What was it one of the crime shows had said? A person who is creating looks to the left and someone who is remembering looks to the right? Or was it the other way around? I couldn’t remember.

“Long ago, when we Elven race left the plane of your world, there were some Humans and some Elves who remained behind. They helped to look after some of the greatest treasures we could not bring with us. Through the years, centuries, they have guarded these treasures in case they were needed again to fight a great and powerful darkness. Some of the Elves mingled with the Humans and halflings were born. Then the halflings married Humans and most of their elvish traits were buried deep, though they had elven blood in them. You are the descendant of ours, though you are fully human.” Dremor looked at me and smiled gently, almost shyly. “And I was sent to find you, because we need the treasure you have been guarding.”

“But I don’t know of any treasure. I certainly haven’t been guarding anything.”

“Perhaps your mother knows of it. The treasure is passed from one lady to the next.”

“No, really I don’t know. My Mom died two years ago.” Dremor smiled and placed a comforting hand on my arm.

“I’m sorry. It’s all right. Fredrik will help you locate it.”

“Who is Fredrik?” The others snickered at my question, but soon sobered once Dremor had cast them a disquieting look.

“Fredrick is a human wizard who helps to look after our world and keep us safe from the arkin.” Seeing my questioning eyes, the elf with the hair for a crown smiled.

“The arkin is a name we call a great darkness that tries to over-take our world with war and destruction. It hasn’t presented itself in thousands of years, so we have had peace, but now the dark stain of it is building to the west and we need the leengolet to help drive it away.”

“The arkin rises at the call of a powerful wizard,” the blond one said joining the discussion. “We do not know the identity of the wizard yet, but with your assistance we should be able to unmask him and stop the arkin from rising.”

“Is the arkin a thing or....” I couldn’t finish my question. I didn’t know how to ask what I wanted.

“The arkin is a dark cloud, a literal substance; it corrupts people and creatures, changing them from peacefulness to aggressive things that only want to hurt and maim. It can only be summoned by magic and very powerful dark magic at that. The last time it came,” Dremor continued, “was when Merlin took the Sword, Excalibur, from its true resting place. The arkin swept over our world and nearly destroyed it. Only Avalon was untouched by the time Excalibur returned. Only the strength of Excalibur gave us the necessary force we needed to defeat the dark wizard, Huel.”

“Can’t you just destroy this arkin so it will never threaten you again?” I was enthralled by the story, especially since Merlin and Excalibur had been mentioned so easily and factually.

Dremor shook his head, “No, the arkin is a natural substance. It is in everything. It is in each person, each creature. We have a choice of being good or being evil. When the arkin is in balance we are who we are supposed to be. When the arkin is out of balance, it overtakes everything good and corrupts it, even the thoughts, into evil. We cannot destroy what is a natural part of ourselves, but neither can we let it grow by the use of evil, dark magic and let it over-take our world...our home.”

“So, where will you be taking me?”

“To Avalon, of course,” said the fellow with the ornate hair.