Crown of Daelin

Chapter 7: Sadly, I Do Not Meet Gandalf

The running. The searing flames. The cruel laughter. It started out as the usual, but when the crimson eyes appeared, my dream shifted so suddenly that my vision went fuzzy. When my eyes had readjusted, I found myself in a dark room, similar in appearance to a cave, but instead of it being dank the atmosphere was humid with little oxygen. Blazing braziers lined the walls, casting an eerie red light across the floor. These fires seemed different than any that I had ever perceived before. They seemed to be too lifelike, their flames curling in unnatural patterns, and hissing louder as I became nearer to them. They seemed too red, too evil.

"Have you found it, then?" On my left were the figures of two humans. One kneeled next to a set of stone steps that lead up to a mounted platform. He appeared to be an ordinary man , dressed in rugged gray armor. The emblem on the right side of his breast was a shining red flame curling around black dagger. The second was seated upon a throne of gold and red that rested on the platform. His face was entirely bathed in shadow, and I could not make out his features. Even though he was sitting, I could see that he was of small stature. But what stuck out most of all about him was a circlet crown that was formed by glowing flames that danced upon his dark hair. His hands were pressed together in his lap as if in thought, and his head was bowed down.

"N-not exactly, My lord. We have a start...the crown is, needless to say...difficult to locate. No one has seen it in well over two hundred years." The kneeling man stammered out a reply to his master's accusing question.

"I am aware of that! And it does not matter. I do not care what it takes. Bring me the Crown of Daelin! And you know the consequences if you should fail." And while he said this, the one on the throne did not look up to address the man, as if the man was not worthy to be looked upon by the seated one. The voice of the one on the throne was strangely a bit more high-pitched than I had first imagined. The kneeling man got up, quickly bowed and flew from the room.

"And once I have it, I shall have no more need of unreliable minions. I can destroy the entire kingdom of Kaerosa by myself." With that, he brought up his head and locked his eyes with mine. Eyes, that were a deep glowing red, the very eyes that had haunted my dreams for weeks on end. They were the eyes of Cainan Shade, and the eyes of the enemy.

I woke screaming, and I wasn't exactly sure why. It was only a dream, wasn't it? But something inside of me told me that it definitely wasn't the case. I threw off the covers and slipped on a pair of slippers I found in the closet. I dug through the drawers in my dresser and found a candle and a match, and lit the candle. After I had blown out the match I dashed down the stairs, and almost ran into Zoe and Rob, who were running up the stairs.

"Danny! What happened? Are you hurt? Is the hobo from Moscow trying to climb into your window?" Under other circumstances her comment would make me laugh, for it was an inside joke we had shared for some time, but now I couldn't make any sort of sound. Soon the noise of echoing footsteps coming up the stairs signaled the approach of Adam and Rose, who were deep in conversation.

"It can't be...he's not serious, is he? The whereabouts are pure myth, aren't they?" Rose shook her head in denial as she paused for a breath.

"It just can't be." Adam looked at her with sad, concerned eyes.

"We don't know, Rose. It could be. We both know that what we saw wasn't just a dream."

I pulled myself together enough to speak.

"What is it he's trying to find? If he's going through this much trouble to find it..."

"Wait, what? Who's trying to find what? What's going on? No one is making any sense!" exclaimed Zoe. I had almost forgotten for a moment that Zoe and Rob were still in the dark, figuratively as well as literally.