Chapter Nine
1983 Words
Xavier and the knights stood a short distance from the wizards and witch, silent and uncomfortable. Their only distraction was Alexis, innocently playing with the two small dragons. It was several moments before M’zuzi conceded to the others and the group was ready to perform the rite. The five members of the Council, four wizards and one witch, formed a circle. The remaining conjurers: Absalom, Tavel, two magicians and a warlock, stepped back to join Xavier and the other witnesses. Chanting in unison, the five in the circle said:
One who is wise
One is change
And One who never will
One who ages
One who heals
And One who dreams good and ill
Guide us through the expanse of night
Sisters Divine, complete our guiding light.
The room seemed to expand then contract as the air thickened with a humming sound that pressed against them, making it hard to breathe. Alexis stopped her play and ran to her father. Picking her up, Xavier held her as the air crackled, and sparks burst in front of them. The air grew heavy and suffocating. Mist filled the room, and the walls of the great banquet hall vanished. Alexis huddled against her father, afraid of the sounds she heard. Her father and his companions were deaf to the high-keening wails, yet Alexis was not the only one who heard them.
An orb formed in the middle of the circle. Its pink aura cast a haze on those present. The orb flashed and formed the shape of an alicorn. It was sky blue in color with wings and accents shining with all the colors of the rainbow. The alicorn's golden horn glowed, and the auric beast took the shape of a pearl clutched in a silver talon.
The vision faded into delicate sparkles as the mist evaporated, and the hall returned to normal. Alexis lifted her head as the last wails subsided. For a moment, the memory lingered before fading out of the child’s mind. Xavier kissed her forehead, then set her on the ground since she had calmed. Alexis returned to her game with the dragons as if nothing had occurred.
“We must find the master of the Talon’s Eye,” Rhi’ana announced while the others shifted in place, unused to aligning their powers. “That is the one the Divine Sisters have chosen.”
“There is no such talisman,” a wizard in a light green robe said. His robe was embroidered with celestial objects and the gold thread glimmered as he moved. “It is only a legend.”
“Not so, Razi,” Tavel shook his head.
“Tavel?” M’zuzi turned to the younger wizard.
“He is right,” Absalom answered in a breaking voice. The vision of the scrying bowl played before his eyes. It had foretold this moment. “The Talon’s Eye is real. It is possessed by the sorceress Merille.”
“How can you be sure?” Razi pressed. “It has long been a legend, even the Dark One searched for it…”
“Razi, hold your tongue,” Rhi’ana chastised, glancing at M’zuzi then to Absalom. “We all know the legends surrounding the Talon’s Eye.”
“I don’t,” Xavier calmly said.
The witch turned to him, explaining, “The Talon’s Eye has long been considered a myth. Wizards and sorceresses have sought it for its alleged power.”
“It exists,” Absalom insisted.
“How do you know this?” Xavier asked.
“Because I made it!” Absalom’s sudden outburst echoed through the hall, silencing the others. “And I presented it to my daughter, on her tenth birthday.”
Absalom choked on his last statement as tears fell from his tired eyes. Xavier moved to his side, reacting as quickly as Akina would have. Taking the old wizard’s arm, Xavier ordered, “Kendrick, a chair.”
The knight fetched a seat from one of the long tables used during celebrations and feast days and helped the old one to sit. Absalom leaned on his staff, seemingly growing older before them. Alexis took advantage of the moved chair to crawl under the long table. The dragons followed.
“Your daughter?” M’zuzi asked, looking up at his mentor.
“Yes,” Absalom answered in a mumble.
“Then you know where to find her,” Rhi’ana said.
The old wizard nodded, but it was Tavel who said, “Centaur Valley.”
“Impossible,” Razi shook his head. “No one knows the location of Centaur Valley.”
“My sister does,” Tavel replied, unmoved.
“Then she would be the only one,” Razi sighed.
“Akina knew,” Xavier said.
“That’s right,” Park nodded. “Her Majesty and two other gypsies made it to the valley and returned with a couple centaur foals.”
“Who are these other gypsies?” Rhi’ana asked. “They could act as guides.”
“One was Habib, but he is too old to make such a journey if he even remembers the way,” Xavier shook his head. “The other is dead.”
“Are you certain the other is dead?” Barnabus, a wizard dressed in a plain, light blue robe, asked.
“I killed him myself,” Xavier answered.
Silence followed until one of the wizards stood, “What about the Centaurs?”
He was dressed in a dark blue robe with embroidered stars and worlds similar to M’zuzi. His staff, however, was smoother, knotted only on the bottom, signifying his lesser experience.
“No Zahir,” Rhi’ana shook her head. “They came to Milagros so young. I doubt they remember their ancestral home.”
“Then no one remembers,” Razi sighed.
Alexis half-listened from her place under the table. She crawled around the table legs as the two dragons chased her. Suddenly, the dragons froze, growling at one of the chairs. Alexis wondered at the sudden transformation of her playmates as smoke curled from their nostrils. Then she heard the song. It was only a hummed melody without a source. It was so soft that Alexis might have wondered if it was real or an echo from her mother’s lesson. Instead, she sang the song her mother had taught her while feeding the swans.
Follow the path to Travers you come
Now see three where once was one
Adventures wait at every turn
And knowledge waits to be learned…
To the west lies a route to centaur lands
Surrounded all by shifting sands…
“Alexis!” Xavier called.
“Yes abu,” Alexis answered, crawling out from underneath the table, forgetting the humming that elicited her song. She then ran to him. He caught her and held her for a moment as the small dragons followed, each turning to growl at something under the table before joining the royalty.
“Alexis, where did you learn that song?” Xavier asked.
“Maya taught it to me,” Alexis answered. “She said it was an old gypsy song.”
“Habib,” Xavier said under his breath.
He gathered Alexis in his arms, turned and carried her out of the banquet hall. The knights and wizards followed him through the kitchen and outside. There, he released Alexis. She ran ahead with the dragons to play with the gypsy children. Xavier found Habib and took a seat near the old gypsy. Despite his growing impatience, Xavier remained silent and waited for the gypsy to acknowledge him. That much he knew from Akina.
Habib, according to his custom, puffed on his pipe as he twisted a length of rope. His eyesight was not as good as it used to be, but his hearing and mind were sharp. Knowing the King was anxious, Habib set the rope down to look at the clear, blue sky saying, “Beautiful day, Maysa.”
“Indeed,” Xavier nodded, “truly a day to sing and dance.”
“Luyu, gypsies prefer the night,” Habib answered, thoughtfully stroking his beard. “Better for singing.”[1]
“Gypsies know a great many songs,” Xavier prompted. It was gypsy custom to speak rather obtusely, but he aimed to steer the conversation to the topic of his choosing.
Habib considered him with a smile and said, “Does Maysa have a particular song in mind?”[2]
“Yes, a song about Centaur Valley,” Xavier nodded.
“Mhmm, yes,” Habib nodded. “That is an old Odessa Mangena.”[3]
“What is Travers?” Xavier asked.
“Travers is a crossroads. Gypsies call all crossroads travers, but the one in the song is unique. That one is magical and the lands it leads to are equally special.”
Xavier waited for the gypsy to continue.
“Travers is a place that will take one in any direction of the four winds.”
“Is that even possible?” Park suddenly asked.
“There are a great many secrets in this world,” Habib answered with a shrug. “It would not be wise to simply dismiss something because it sounds unbelievable. Remember magic used to be much more common in the world than it is today.”
“Akina once mentioned that she traveled to Travers. That’s how she found the fairies and the centaurs,” Xavier said.
“Yes, I was with her, but she was the one who found them. I never journeyed to the Valley.”
“How can one get to Travers?” Xavier asked.
“Now that be the trick,” Habib answered. “If I remember correctly, we always came to it from the East. There is no direct route. It be on the Southern Continent and you must travel through the kingdom of Harleigh. Know it?”
“Yes. I do.”
Habib nodded and continued, “You must travel to Crawford—you remember that place, don’t you? Good. Follow Koukalaka to the south. When you reach the border of Lyndall you turn west, into Firth, carn marks the place you enter.”[4]
“And the western path leads to Centaur Valley?”
“Eventually,” Habib nodded. “There’s a trick to entering the valley, if memory serves. It’s all in the song.”
“Do you know the song?”
“No,” Habib shook his head. “It’s an Odessa Mangena. It is only sung when you need it. If it is not needed, it is not sung and if it is not sung then it may be forgotten. Akina was the one chosen to remember such songs. Anka guard her soul.”[5]
“No one else knows the song?”
Habib shook his head.
“No one except Alexis,” Xavier stood.
“Taught it to Alexis, did she?” Habib nodded. “She must have known you’d need it.”
They watched Alexis, her cousin and the other gypsy children chase a rambunctious Cadmus around the camp.
“Alexis!” Xavier called. She left the others, running to him. “Alexis, do you remember the song your mother taught you, the one you sang under the table?”
“Yes.”
“Will you sing the rest of it?”
“Now?”
“Yes, it is very important that we find the place in the song.”
“Can I come?” Alexis asked.
“No, it’s best you stay here,” Xavier shook his head.
“I want to go,” Alexis stamped her foot. “What if you don’t come back?”
“Alexis, I’ll come back.”
“Maya hasn’t.”
Xavier stared into his daughter’s eyes. She still believed her mother would return. Quietly he said, “All right, you can come.”
- Writer
