Chapter Twelve
The next several days passed by quickly. Andrew was up early to help Jonah on the farm. His mornings would pass in difficult but satisfying farm work, his afternoons in the company of Yoar.
Yoar taught Andrew useful skills that he didn't know, like how to ride a horse properly, and how to shoot a bow. Bows and other weapons were not used by the villagers to hunt, but they still had need of them for self defense. Dangerous animals from the nearby rainforest would wander into the village on occasion. Yoar also taught him a few of the more simple magical spells that he knew.
Andrew taught Yoar some judo, which to him was a very exotic fighting style. And Andrew reveled Yoar with tales of the 'mythical' Earth; machines that could think, bombs that flattened cities, and other 'fantastic' tales.
Andrew's evenings would be spent at one of the many local taverns more often than not. He didn't drink much, but enjoyed looking at the fascinating beings who passed through the village from all corners of the Realms and beyond. He also very much enjoyed the fantastic tales that they brought with them.
Andrew saw dwarves, goblins, pixies, and more. Beings with extra limbs and facial features, sentient plants. Bands of vampires, packs of werewolves, translucent beings. Creatures made of metal and stone. He got to see astonishing and wondrous life forms that weren't in any fantasy tale on Earth.
There were no laws about minimum age to drink in this town. If the bar tender thought someone was too young, he would simply ask him to leave.
Andrew was very popular with the crowd, having been the only human in the region in hundreds of years. Often, he and another traveler would sit swapping tales of adventure from distant parts of the Realms, and stories of human cunning and technology, for hours on end.
The simple townsfolk crowded around, thirstily drinking in every word.
Andrew suspected that this had a big influence on the bar tender's decision not to kick him out for being under age. He was just too good for business.
Every morning, Jonah and his family, along with much of the village, partook in the ritual of the Lighting. They would go outside, carrying their crystals, one per family. When it was time, the Great Crystal of the Realm of Green was raised by the Priests of the Light. A great green beam of Color became visible overhead, on its way to the central Prism, where all the beams combined to create the Light.
This was the cue for each family to raise their own private crystals. They would try to angle it so that its beam would be directed towards the Prism.
The day after the great rainfall, Jonah honored Andrew with the Lighting. He handed Andrew the crystal, a large, clear, green shard. "This crystal is the pride of our family. It gives off such a beautiful and radiant Light."
Andrew took it and raised it to the sunlight. The light filled it, and made it glow brilliantly. It felt warm in his hand. A clear green ray was visible, emitting from the crystal, and travelling in a westerly direction, towards the Prism.
"How is it possible for the beam to hit the Prism precisely, so many hundreds of miles away?" Andrew asked.
"If one's intentions are pure, the beam will bend and hit the Prism," Jonah answered.
Not a day passed that Andrew didn't think of Katy. The image of her fearful face as she was carried away by Blue's minions was frozen in his mind. He thought about what she could be going through at the hands of the tyrannical Blue. It was a constant pain inside him.
But Andrew knew that to attack Blue alone, or even to just try and infiltrate his undersea compound without aid, was a death wish. As much as it killed him to not act, he would need patience.
When the feelings of despair and hopelessness began to overcome him, Andrew would pet Bella, and her magic helped him feel better.
Every evening Andrew showed the rainbow card to all the travelers that he met. He hoped that one, just one, would recognize it. But the days passed, and none did. Andrew wondered if he would ever find out who the creator of the book and card was.
Until one day, ole' Greybeard the dwarf showed up in town. Greybeard was even older than the town of Cassara itself, which was quite unusual for a dwarf, but not unheard of. He was wont to say that he had had more adventures than the number of whiskers in his beard. There was nothing that he loved more than a good, swashbuckling adventure. The more danger and risk involved, the better.
It wasn't long before word got to Greybeard that there was a human in the village, who had trekked through the Great Rainforest and lived to tell the tale.
Greybeard sent a message to Andrew which said that he was to meet him in the Cracked Goblet pub in the evening.
Andrew looked forward to the meeting all that day as he worked the fields, hoping that because Greybeard was very old and well traveled, he might know something about the mysterious rainbow card and its creator.
He entered the Cracked Goblet and looked around for Greybeard. There was a stout dwarf dressed in a worn traveler's cloak, sporting a large, unkempt, grey beard, sitting near the wall. Guessing correctly that it was Greybeard, Andrew approached him. "Are you the dwarf Greybeard?"
"Aye, I am," said the dwarf in a deep voice, with what Andrew guessed was a dwarfish accent. "You must be the human everyone is talking about. Sit, make yourself comfortable. Do you want something to drink? It's on me."
He sat. "I'll have a small flagon of beer."
Andrew's usual crowd began to form nearby. The drinks arrived. "Now, let me hear of your adventures! Hiked through the Great Rainforest alone, you did? Fought off a Umlenzi swarm, yah say? Tell me, I want to hear everythin'! Oh I jus' love a good tale of adventure. Start from the very beginning."
Andrew recounted his tale from when he had been drawn to the book in the library so many days ago. When he told Greybeard about the card, Greybeard asked, "may I see it?"
Andrew showed him the silver card. "I think I might know what this is."
Andrew's heart leaped in his chest.
"But first, I want you to finish your tale."
He continued the story, until the part where he arrived in Cassara.
"Wish I could've been there," Greybeard remarked. "Oh, I haven't had me'self a proper adventure in ages!"
Greybeard downed his third flagon of strong ale, and went on to ramble about the nature of adventure itself. "It seems to me that the adventurous types get less and less, dwindling as the years go by. Take humans, for example. Long gone are the days of swashbuckling pirates, of chivalrous knights, and their kind. Now, people are content to lean back on their couches, and make do with watching synthetic substitutes."
"Yes, but isn't it better this way?" Andrew asked. "People don't put themselves in danger so much anymore."
"Better is subjective. Muvar endé gilar nu rend kandé."
"What's that?"
"That's an old dwarfish saying. Loosely translated, it means 'what's life without a little risk.' Dragons, sea serpents, and many other so-called 'mythical' creatures left the Earth, when they saw that there was none left to challenge them."
"Can they be brought back?"
"Who can say? Perhaps if a human was to challenge them in the Realms and best them in a fight, they would return."
"Why?"
"For that would prove that humans still have fight in them, and that they haven't lost their backbone completely. But who can know for sure? 'En rayn fengé, en rayn mongé, nar morwen kife herwé lenn oge. The sun rises, the sun sets, and man knows not his loss.' In other words, to most humans, nothing seems to have changed. But in reality, much has been lost from him. Now, let's have a closer look at that card of yours."
Andrew handed the card to Greybeard. He took it and held it to the light, examining it from various angles. Then he folded it into what was roughly a prism. The card became transparent. The light shone through and created a small, but beautiful, rainbow.
"Yes, the design has changed somewhat s
ince the last time I came across one of these. But there can be no mistake, that this is the sign of En Garnvair Kuné."
"Who?"
"Teltibane, the Mighty One."
"Who is Teltibane?" Andrew asked.
"Teltibane," Greybeard answered. "Is a very mysterious figure. There aren't many who know the answer to that question for sure. Some say that he does not exist at all. Others say that he is the Creator Himself, in corporeal form. But I know for certain that he exists, at least. A good friend of mine once met him, centuries ago."
"So did he find out what he really is?"
"Whether or not he is God or angel in human form, or merely Man, I cannot tell yah. But I know for certain that he is the true ruler of the Kingdom of the Light. King Banarganian is merely a puppet, and a ruler in name only."
"So can I find Teltibane in the capital city of the Realm of the Light?"
Greybeard chuckled. "It ain't gonna be as simple as that, to find the most elusive man in the Realms, to the point where many believe his existence to be myth."
"So you mean that I should give up?"
Greybeard took a long sip from his fourth flagon of ale. "Are you sure that you really want to find him? There may be other sorcerers who can return you home."
"No. He is the one who started all this, and he should be the one to end it. And I need to stop him from luring more human children here. Moreover, if he is the true ruler, and turns out not to be evil like I thought, then he will probably be the best person to turn to, to help release Katy from Blue's clutches. Besides, he will know what the cryptic words 'you have been chosen' mean. He holds the answers. I need him."
"It will be hard," said Greybeard. "To travel to Teltibane."
"Fine."
"It will be dangerous."
Andrew gazed steadily into Greybeard's brown eyes. "I am willing to see this through."