Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Fifty-Six

There was one more room in the small cottage. A bedchamber. There were thin mattresses covering the floor. Drayce did a count in his head. There wasn’t enough for all of the members of Hanelle’s family. Likely some of them shared.

He glanced over at Lillia. He had a good guess as to what she was thinking. She looked deeply disturbed after Hanelle’s warning. Deep down he knew that he was being selfish. He knew that he wasn’t a glowing paragon of wise decisions. He wasn’t even sure himself what was driving his determination to get this sword. That was either troubling or respectable. It wasn’t because of Zathrian’s word. Non have that man’s soul. It wasn’t necessarily because he wanted to control his power. His power still terrified him.

So, why?

The fact that he didn’t know himself, was disconcerting to say the least. And he had dragged his best friend and wife along for the deadly ride. Was it the magical pull from the sword’s enchantments? It very well could be. But that felt wrong to Drayce. It felt like he was just passing the blame of his choices off to ambiguous enchantments. Even if he felt the pull, he still had choices.

Lillia collapsed onto one of the mattresses and leaned against the wall. She looked exhausted. He empathized. He noticed she looked pale, grey bags under her eyes. He felt a stab of guilt. He sat down next to her, leaning against the wall himself. He gently took her hand.

She looked at him and tried for a smile. She didn’t quite meet her mark. Caelum sat in front of them.

“We have a decision to make.” Caelum said grimly. Drayce nodded in agreement.

“You want to know why I want to go after this sword?” Drayce asked. “I don’t know. I can’t even tell myself. It just seems right. I know that sounds absurd, But I think this sword is going to be vital to our success.”

“If we live that long.” Lillia said quietly, not looking at either of them. She didn’t say it with malice, just resignation. Drayce pressed his lips together. His stomach knotted even more with guilt. She assumed that they were going ahead no matter what she or Caelum said.

“But,” Drayce forced out. “I’ll leave the decision up to the two of you.”

They both stared at him as if he had a third eye. “What?” Caelum asked surprised.

“You and Lillia can decide what we do next.” Drayce said. “I’m sorry for being so forceful.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Caelum spoke up. “Something occurred to me as Hanelle was talking us.” He picked at a loose string on his pants. “Why has no one come back from looking for the Well? No one ever? They couldn’t all have been successful. Even if a group found it and were attacked, it seems an impossibility that no one has ever come back to tell the tale.

“That true.” Drayce considered.

“What about the enchantments and the demon?” Lillia pointed out.

Caelum shrugged. “I could be wrong, but what if no one has come back because they’re not Mystics?”

“I can’t be the first Mystic to go looking for it over the past centuries.” Drayce said in a low voice.

“True, but you’re the Mystic from the prophecy. What if the sword is the object from the prophecy? That would at least partially explain your inexplicable drive to retrieve the sword.”