CHAPTER 10
THE PROPHECY
“Before we confront Bellator,” Gabriel began, “before we even begin planning the confrontation, we must consider the prophecy. I will read it now…
When witch’s reign has ended
And evil ones are gone
When wizard’s staff is mended
And Dragon’s dead at dawn
When king’s mad rule is broken
And gnomes are free at last
When seer’s last word is spoken
And sword returns from past
When Fallen One reappears
And sits upon his throne
When wisest one through the years
To Dragon’s Cradle comes
When darkest fears seem so real
And no hope can be found
Lowly Chosen One revealed
Will bring the mighty down.”
When Gabriel finished reading, the room was quiet, everyone absorbed in their own thoughts. Louise finally broke the silence with a question directed to Gabriel. “You think Ben is this lowly chosen one, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yes, I do,” Gabriel answered, “and so does Marcus. I think it is obviously apparent. Whether through direct actions of his own doings or indirect actions of others that he has set into motion, Ben has been responsible for every fulfillment of the prophecy. Let’s look at each one of them...
When witch’s reign has ended
And evil ones are gone
"Ben brought about the downfall of the witch and the defeat of the snaker invasion.
When wizard’s staff is mended
And Dragon’s dead at dawn
"Venus mended Merlin’s broken staff and gave it to Ben. Actually, now that I think about it, Venus may have been the one who placed the enchantment on the staff that allows Ben to travel about with pathways like the wizards of old.”
“Ben didn’t kill the dragon,” Louise pointed out.
“No, not directly, but he faced the dragon and because of the kindness he showed to another he was indirectly responsible for the destruction of Zoltan. Moving on…
When king’s mad rule is broken
And gnomes are free at last
"I’m sure that Ringwald Stonebreaker and the events that took place in Kahzidar are still fresh in everyone’s memory, so there’s no need to elaborate here. The next part…
When seer’s last word is spoken
And sword returns from past
"After meeting with Ben on Mount Gazafar, Venus left Faerie and returned to his brothers. The sword that returns from the past is a reference to Bellator’s sword, Excalibur.”
“Where is the sword?” asked Casey.
“The sword left Camelot centuries ago. Marcus was Keeper of the sword and he gave it to Merlin when the wizard left for Earth. Although we have no idea where it is, according to the prophecy it will reappear. We must keep it from Bellator at all costs, for with it in his possession all will be lost. Speaking of Bellator…
When Fallen One reappears
And sits upon his throne
"The fallen one is Bellator and he is waiting for us to bring Excalibur to him. Do you care to guess where he waits?”
“We know he is in Jupiter with Marcus,” said Amos.
“Yes, that is correct. He is in Jupiter and even now he is sitting on the very throne that the Creator forbade him to touch. The next verse is the only one in the prophecy that is truly perplexing…
When wisest one through the years
To Dragon’s Cradle comes
"The wisest one? Who is the wisest one? I have thought long upon this matter and the Keeper and I have discussed it at great length. We thought it might be Merlin, but how? Merlin has been dead for centuries. If not Merlin, the only other person we could think of is Venus, but either way it is moot point because we do not know anything of the Dragon’s Cradle.”
“Did you say Dragon’s cradle?” Hob called from across the room. The three dwarves had quietly left the conversation and were sitting in a corner by the empty hearth. Before retiring to the Keeper’s study, Gob and Nob had pilfered some desserts from the tables. They had stashed away several pies and cakes in their sacks and were quietly consuming them while the others talked.
“Yes,” Gabriel replied. “Do you know of it?”
“Of course,” Hob answered, rising to his feet and brushing the crumbs from his beard. “Every dwarf has heard of it, though none living have ever seen it.”
“It’s on Crag,” said Nob. The pies and cakes were gone and the conversation had taken an interesting turn, so all three dwarves gathered around the table to join the others.
“What exactly is it?” asked Gabriel.
“It’s the place where dragons are born. Actually, it’s more than just a place. It’s a structure made from stones; gigantic stones, rectangular in shape, standing up on their ends and arranged in circles. The birthing stone is located in the center of the innermost circle. It is the largest stone in the whole structure and it lays flat upon the ground.”
“Why is it called a birthing stone?”
“When a dragon’s time is upon her, she will fly to the Dragon’s Cradle so that her offspring may be born upon the birthing stone. If the newborn dragon does not draw its first breath upon the stone, it will be devoid of magic, completely powerless, and it will die.”
“I thought dragons hatched from eggs,” Casey remarked.
“No,” Nob answered, scratching his head. “Everyone knows dragons are born live.”
“I hate to rain on your party,” said Louise to Gabriel, “but that part of the prophecy has not been fulfilled and it doesn’t have anything to do with Ben.”
“Maybe it does,” said Gabriel. “Maybe we are supposed to go to Crag and find this Dragon’s Cradle. Merlin was obsessed with this prophecy and studied it often. I would venture to guess that he has safely hidden the sword and we will probably find a clue there that will lead us to it. Who knows, maybe Venus, when he left Camelot, fetched the sword from Earth and hid it away on Crag before he returned home to the other Immortals. Or maybe Merlin, before he died, figured out a way to spirit the sword away. Maybe he even figured out how to create a pathway and hid the sword at the Dragon’s Cradle himself? There are many possibilities and, unfortunately, we do not have the Keeper’s foresight to aid us, but while I don’t know what we will find there, I am certain we are supposed to go there.”
“Even so, I still do not see what that has to do with Ben.” Louise had now taken a defensive posture, with her sleeves pushed up and her hands planted firmly on her hips. Ben could tell that she was getting ready to dig in and object to anything Gabriel suggested.
“Grandma, let’s hear him out.”
Gabriel leaned back in his chair and smiled at Ben. He closed his eyes for a moment and then continued. “You know, the more I think about it, the more certain I am that that the magic residing in Merlin’s staff was placed there by Venus. I believe that for two very simple reasons. One; Venus repaired the staff and gave it to Ben. Two; if Merlin or Marcus had the ability to travel between worlds they would have opened a pathway to Zorn to save the council of Wizards. Venus would have certainly had that ability and the power to bestow it upon another as well. Now, we have to ask ourselves, why did Venus do that? What were his intentions? Given the recent fulfillment of all parts of his prophecy that we have covered so far, it only makes sense that Ben, to whom he gave this power, now has the ability to provide us with a means of reaching the Dragon’s Cradle; a pathway to Crag.”
“You think I can open a pathway to another world? Like back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house?”
“That’s exactly what I think. Why don’t we find out? It will only take a minute.”
“We can’t open pathway back to the farm,” Louise objected. “Someone might see it.”
“Hey, I know!” cried Casey. “No one is at our house, so try opening a pathway to o
ur living room.”
“Good idea,” said Ben, rising from the table and retrieving the staff from the corner near the door. “Everyone stand back. When we were stranded on that island, we found out that these holes will only open in a clear area.”
Everyone crowded behind Ben, while Amos pulled the table and chairs back to add a little extra room. Ben gripped the staff and closed his eyes. He imagined the living room inside of their home back in Atlanta, Georgia. He pictured the comfortably worn sofa and matching loveseat. He pictured the coffee table, scattered with Better Homes and Gardens and Women’s Day magazines. Finally, he pictured the leather recliner and the little side table where his dad kept his laptop and reading glasses. Once the image was firmly fixed in his mind, he spoke his command, “Open Sesame!”
The black hole popped open in the area they had just cleared.
“Come on,” Ben said to his sister. “I need you to disarm the alarm system while I grab something from the kitchen.”
“Should I come too?” Louise asked.
“No, we’ll only be a minute, Grandma.”
“Pssst,” said Hob, motioning for Ben to lean in closer, so that he could hear him whisper. “Do you have any sodas at your home?”
Ben smiled. “I’m bringing you something way better than sodas,” he whispered back.
In a few short minutes, Ben and Casey reemerged from the pathway and the black hole snapped shut behind them. Casey was carrying a plastic bag with a large flat box inside of it and Ben was grinning from ear to ear.
“It worked!” he cried. “We were actually at home!”
“I knew you could do it,” said Gabriel. “I knew it.”
“Hey, um… what’s in the bag?” asked Hob. The dwarf could see a white and green package poking out the top of the bag, but he could not tell what might be in it. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
“Krispy Kreme donuts,” answered Casey. “We were supposed to bring them with us when we drove up from Atlanta, but we forgot and left at them at home on the table.”
“Won’t your parents miss them when they get back home?” asked Louise.
“After a week away? I don’t think so. We’ve got a dozen here, so that will be one and a half donuts a piece.”
The donuts were a tremendous hit. Everyone raved about them and the three dwarves wanted to know how to make them. When Casey explained that they were purchased at a place that made them fresh every day, the dwarves produced several sacks of gold from their belts and begged Ben to open a pathway to the place where the donuts were made so they could buy some more. After Ben promised to get them some later, the dwarves quieted down and Gabriel picked up where he left off.
“That Ben can open pathways between worlds is an exciting discovery, but we have yet another riddle to solve.”
“What riddle is that?” asked Amos.
“How can Ben open a pathway to Crag without ever having been to Crag? For that matter, how do you dwarves know what the Dragon’s Cradle looks like if no living dwarf has ever seen it?”
“To be perfectly honest,” answered Nob, “we are not certain how it looks. The tale of the Dragon’s Cradle and what it looks like has been passed down through many generations, so I don’t know how accurate the description we gave you really is.”
“Do you have any maps, drawings, or paintings of Crag in your archives at Dwarvenhall? Something with enough detail that Ben might be able to use it to open a pathway there?”
“I’m not sure, but we might. The only way to find out would be to go and see.”
“Before we trek all the way to Dwarvenhall,” Amos interrupted, “don’t you think we should find out if Ben can open a pathway to a place he’s never been?”
“You’re absolutely right,” said Gabriel, rising from his seat. The elf walked over to the bookcase where he had retrieved the case containing the prophecy and ran his fingers across the books on the top shelf. He pulled a fat black leather bound book from the middle and began flipping through the pages. “We need a map and a drawing of a place that Ben has never visited. It would be good if we could perform such a test from here to somewhere in Faerie, but I do not want to risk being discovered by Bellator until the appointed time. Therefore, we will try this.”
“What is it?” asked Louise, looking at the open book that Gabriel had laid upon the table. Across both pages was a neatly drawn and very detailed map. There were hills, mountains, valleys, swamps, roads, rivers, forests, fields, and villages, all carefully drawn with excruciating detail and meticulously labeled in tiny elegant elfin script.
“Wow,” said Ben, “what a cool map! Look, there’s Castle Twilight!”
In the center of the page on the left side, where Ben was pointing, was a miniature replica of Castle Twilight. The drawing was exact, all the way down to the portcullis on the river gates and the mysterious Faerie Oaks that surrounded the castle.
“Where are we going?” asked Hob. All dwarves have a love of maps and are skilled beyond measure in the art of topography. However, the craftsmanship of this map that Gabriel had produced would rival any dwarven map and all three dwarfs crowded around the table to admire it.
“Here,” Gabriel answered, pointing to a place in the upper right corner of the opposite page.
“The West Gate?”
“Yes. If he is able to do this, then why not open the pathway to the very place that we need to go?”
“That makes sense, but is this enough detail for him to go on?”
“No, and that’s where we need your help. While Ben is studying the map and familiarizing himself with all of the landmarks and directions, I want you three to take this piece of parchment and create a very detailed drawing of the West Gate and the area around it. Here’s a quill and a bottle of ink.”
While the others waited, Nob took the quill and, with input from Hob and Gob, began to put an image to paper. Soon, after much squabbling about the proportions of the gate, Nob laid the quill down and announced that they were finished.
“Let’s see what you have,” said Gabriel. “Amos, come look at this with me. You have seen the West Gate. Tell me what you think.”
The big man loomed over the table to examine the picture. “Wow, that is very good, guys! I did not know you had any talents other than eating.”
“Ha-ha-ha,” Hob replied. “Very funny. So, when are we leaving?”
“Right now,” Gabriel answered.
*****