The Oracle of Avalbane

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Zach

     I dreamed I was flying high above Avalbane again. Now, the shadow cloud I had seen before was fully formed and moving fast over the land. In the clouds were creatures—I wasn’t sure what they were, not human but human-form, with long, black worm-like hair and gray skin. Their arms and legs looked like scaly tree limbs. They opened huge mouths full of razor sharp teeth and screamed. I cringed in agony at the evil sound. Everything below me was dying under the influence of the evil creatures—all the beautiful trees and flowers looked as if they had been shredded by those horrible teeth; all the water had turned black and murky.

I fell through the cloud and could once more see the sun, although there was a dirty haze over it. Somehow I knew I was over Faelindell. Long lines of people with carts loaded with goods made their way to a huge storehouse. Those pushing carts were Elves, Witches and Wizards, and what I guessed were Wood Nymphs. These looked similar to elves but were smaller, their skin was varied hues of brown, and their hair appeared to be made of leaves. I turned back to see where they were all going. This storehouse was the largest building I had ever seen. The blue-green Faery from the Market was directing the people to unload their carts in the warehouse. I cringed with humiliation and revulsion when I saw her. How had I ever thought she was beautiful?

Looking to the west, I saw a large palace in the sky. It sat on a cloud, like it had no foundation on the earth. At first I thought that was cool, but then I felt the evil emanating from it. As I looked closer, I realized it was made of some silvery material that had turned black with tarnish. I knew then it must be Orla’s palace.

     Suddenly I was back over Camthalion and I landed in Silma Taurea with relief. I ran into the castle, anxious to tell Faelnir and Elanor what I had seen so we could fix it. But they weren’t there. Instead, the flame-colored Faery sat upon a throne in the Great Hall.

     “What are you doing here?” I asked, shocked and more than a little upset.

     “I am Maeve and I am Stewardess over Camthalion now. All the Elves answer to me.” And then she laughed. Her laughter was full of malicious pleasure. “Since we won the war, each kingdom now has a Faery Stewardess.”

     The strength suddenly went out of me and I collapsed. The only time I’ve felt worse was when I realized that I’d been poisoned. The despair was overwhelming. I looked out the window and all the trees were bare—the silver green leaves that had fluttered in the soft breeze were gone as were the magical lights. The river below was green sludge and the water falls had stopped flowing. I realized that it was deathly quiet—all the soothing enchanted sounds of Silma Taurea had been quieted.

     “What happened to the Oracle?” I managed to ask.

     “Dead,” said Maeve shortly. “And all magic is banned, punishable by death.”

     I knew I needed to wake up; tell someone before it was too late to stop Orla, but I couldn’t do it. I was just too tired, and in too much pain. Gratefully, I sank into oblivion.

       In the next dream, I was flying again, this time into the sunrise. The heavy feeling of evil was gone and I breathed a sigh of relief. Now I was following a huge creature with the body of a lion and wings and head of an eagle. The word gryphon came into my thoughts. He carried a sleeping girl in a sling. We flew higher and higher. The sun peeped over the horizon and I was blinded—not just by the sunlight but by the reflection of something huge and shiny. Eventually I could make out a mountain made out of pure clear ice. I circled around it and realized it was a giant crystal. Its jagged peaks were so high that I felt breathless. And it was really cold. I shivered and wanted to fly away, but I was too curious.