"No land on this ancient plane can ever be compared with the one and only jewel of the Nine Isles, the child of the moon, the country of Lunarfield_ the land of glittering rivers of diamond and gold twisting around mountains, which are all wrapped in hundreds of healing flowers. No land, as this gracious place, is beautifully furnished with white shores haunted by the spirit of freedom. This country is surrounded by mysterious forests and lakes in which lie thousands of undiscovered things. One glimpse of its silver sky astounds all mankind and leaves the world drowned in an ocean of awe .One touch of its morning breeze raised from the heart of the Heaven, caresses your soul."
"Lunarfield, the heart of Silvermoon Ocean, is where wonders were born to emerge in time and steal the hearts of generations. With all this considered, one must be watchful of the harm of the jealous hearts. Beware of the creeping whispers in the dark and do not ever forget that by the passing of the precious time, dawn will find a crack through the mist of despair to light up the darkest moment of the night. There will always be life if there is hope. There will always be eagles to fly above the hills of Lunarfield.”
Jason the Whisperer , king of the civilized lands of Lunarfield and the beautiful city of Crescent, placed the rotten piece of paper on his lap and in a daze , rubbed his eyes and tried to reach a point in his early-morning research by probing his library. Some hardly-ever-sighted expression on his face made him look more nervous than he really was as he kept mumbling and scattering things all over the room. That day was of much importance to this man for it felt like a touch of destiny and its first beams of sunlight carried a great deal of tension. The air felt like it was closing in on him as if he was trapped in an illusionary cage.
The story began earlier that day right when he accidently tripped over a bucket the maid had left on the floor of his room. As the corner of the rug was moved aside, it unveiled a piece of paper _ a page torn from an old book, perhaps_ that by reading it at once, a strong flame of hope sparkled in Jason’s heart. It did not seem to be an important document or an excerpt from a valuable book. It even lacked the name of the writer. But it was beautifully written indeed.
He was so overwhelmed that he could not remember what the room used to look like before the research aftermath, let alone how that rotten piece of a paper roll had got under his wife’s favorite Persian rug. There were times when he felt as if his mind had completely stopped working. He would stare and stare at scattered books all around until he was comfortable questioning his own existence.
Many hardships which had ruined almost half of his life were now to be forgotten, but the scars left on his soul still robbed him of his peace of mind. He was in charge of an unfortunate kingdom handed down by his ancestors like a malignant curse_ a task he thought too hard to be fulfilled by a man with ordinary powers. Young and inexperienced, he was not truly respected as a ruler, let alone a mighty heir to the throne of his father, King Robin or the Lost King.
However, the people in some ways had no choice but to obey the comprehensive laws of the Nine Isles that included seventy obligatory instructions mostly about the properties of each realm. Some of the islands under the order of a higher-ranked king were determined as two territories or more, such as the island on which were the countries of Lunarfield and Cranewood. Each country had its races of men, elves and beasts. But the dominant race was that of the Shape Shifters. Either cursed or purebred, Shape Shifters could be found everywhere throughout the Nine Realms, all respected and treated as the higher race that carried the blood of the first creations or the First Guardians. But recently, they had decreased dramatically in number and rarely changed shape where there were humans or elves. And that was mainly because of the terrors another race had caused for the public. By the rise of dark magic, the greatest sorcerer who was now the Great King of the Nine Isles, had tried to render the race of Shape Shifters through spells and foul rituals. Evil intentions changed the nature of their magic and turned those who were cast under the spell into uncontrollable undead monsters. For instance, if one was cursed to change shape and take the form of a wolf, there would be no turning back, for his soul would be corrupted as well as his body.
The law most to be respected compelled every new local ruler like Jason Oldfield not to ever question the doings of Godric, the Great King. He was literally the god of all simpletons who had surrendered their lands for the peace that had never come. It was said that he lived securely on the island of Caliga, protected by two magical currents of wind and a border of unspeakable death traps. Not every king in the realm dared set sails to such horrid place to discover his dark secrets, therefore requests and reports would be sent to him only by homing pigeons or sometimes bats (worked best for mages). Jason was one of the few who opposed his claim to the throne. But unlike those who evidently fought against him, he had chosen to commit to the outcomes of secrecy. He never cared much if his people referred to him as a man ignorant to everything that came upon the land, perhaps for he believed words could never change the truth which lay within his heart.
Almost all the time, he would lock himself up in his room, looking for every possibility of the existence of the treasure his father had died for. He was the only man alive who knew what that treasure was worth and what a king would be able to do if he managed to get his hands on it. It was said that long ago, an intruder from the Blue Plane or as its people called it, the ”Real World”, had crossed the Sacred Edge_ which was where the borders of all planes in the universe overlapped_ and entered the Silvermoon territory. He who had claimed to be a prince on the Blue Plain, had managed to lure King Robin, Jason’s father, into trading his young daughter ,Evelyn, for something more valuable than all the treasures of the Nine Isles combined. But surrendering such priceless treasure was not what the intruder prince had ever intended to do. So, on the promised day he escaped Silvermoon with his treasure and the young princess by his side. But that was not the end of the story. King Robin chased the traitor to the farthest side of the Realm of Winter, thousands of miles away from home. But neither the prince nor the king were ever seen again. Jason knew the story well; so well that it made him wish he never did.
He also knew that Great King Godric had an incredible dark power he had snatched from the greatest of the Undead. This mighty and yet, hateful ruler was determined to destroy just anything to make the race he had created the dominant dweller of Silvermoon. But that was not all. History was now beginning to fade from the people’s minds and hearts in a mysterious way just as it was being changed in the books. No one remembered any longer who used to be the Great King before Godric and Jason could swear by all that was sacred to him that this wretched sorcerer had something to do with it. He had ruled over Silvermoon and made sense of tyranny for ages; years that could no longer be recalled. Why should now be any different?
The harsh sound of Taurus Horn, which signaled the arrival of the king of Cranewood, chased Jason’s thoughts away and dragged him back to the real world.
The iron gates of Crescent City opened and let the colors of the dusk come pouring inside the city walls. The king’s guests arrived like eerie shadows of twilight painting a dark forest at sundown. They weren’t many; only five as it seemed. Smooth and slow, they rode on their giant dogs that growled at every movement or pair of eyes staring at them for too long. With all his grace and the fear that adorned his presence like a crown, the ruler of the neighboring country, Fredrick Miller, rode at the front on a shaggy black dog whose chest, forehead and enormous paws were painted bright red as if she had just finished off a bloody kill. The she-dog’s eyes pierced through the crowd as did those of the enemy king. Fredrick led her to the center of the city to the great silver palace of Lunarfield , ignorant of the public and the silence that slowly drowned the city.
Waking up by the sunlight and the sound of the horn coming from afar, Jason’s beautiful wife, Queen Iris noticed the changes in the room and wondered if some pointless thoughts and ideas had puzzled her husband again. In her silk nightgown glowing like a gracious beam of light, she walked up beside the king, laid her fair hand on his shoulder and gave him her sweet usual looks and smiles.
“Do you see, my love?”Said the king.”I know the end of my time is near.”
“Another nightmare!”The queen responded, looking concerned.”Dreams are not to be taken lightly, my dear.”
“Yes. But this was worse than I’ve ever had and it happened twice through the night! I saw . . . fire rising from the shattered walls of the palace, soldiers impaled, and people slaughtered like sheep, lying around, abandoned on the city streets. What’s worse was the winged monster rising from the south . . . wings that blackened the poisoned sky that burnt in flames.”
“Be calm, my love!”
“I know something’s coming our way. I feel it like my heart beating.”
“You should have surrendered to Godric when you still had time. Any reign is damned without his blessing.”
“Curse that deceitful tyrant! I cannot believe it’s you taking his side!”
Iris sighed and fell silent. She was still loyal to the traditions like many others.
“Our discussions over this subject have always been pointless, my Queen.” said Jason passively.”King Fredrick is at the palace gates by now while all we do is waste time. Why don’t you join the greeting party down the hall and leave me to myself? I will not take this dream lightly, this I swear to you.”
Iris kept quiet, biting her lips like a child troubled by her own mischief. She was willing to do nothing of the sort while the king simply jeopardized the life of the people by his impulsive decisions. In low spirits, she asked herself, “Will that make a change?”, and left her husband’s side.
The daylight through the dancing curtains heartened Jason with its warmth and reassurance, though of his heart only remained a wreck. That very day, he was expected to put an end to the war between Lunarfield and Cranewood that had lasted for long years of famine and many other dreadful consequences that a life-long battle could bring.
Cranewood was a vast, prosperous land with strong military forces and loyal allies that had been conquered since ten years ago by a young warrior called Fredrick Miller. From the very first time he was sighted in the battlefield, it was proved that he owned a severely cunning character and that he would not give up on his goals at any price. Thus, Jason’s fear of meeting with a man with such threatening reputation would never abate.
Both kings opposed each other in many ways. For instance, Fredrick would arrange meetings each year to chase the votes of those who were willing to end the reign of Godric and he didn’t really care if the end of his actions did not justify the means. Meanwhile, Jason would secretly send letters to faraway lands to win the foreigners’ trust for the days of hardship and war. Another problem between these two kings was the matter of the common boundary between their countries that had never been solved until that day. Since the only river on the island drew the line between Lunarfield and Cranewood, it could not be considered the property of any realm. But Fredrick thought otherwise. He wanted it to himself and for its ownership right, he had killed more than Jason was ever able to forgive.
Thinking he was being drained by some weakening fear and confusion, Jason jumped to his feet and opened the window to get some fresh air. His long, brown hair and green eyes glistening in the light of the sun. As he looked down at the landscape of the lush green garden that surrounded the main building of the palace, he saw a large black dog with a rider on her back speeding to the gates and letting out deafening howls on the stone-clad streets. By another glance, he noticed four more at her tail, running like the hounds of hell. Although one would surely mistake them for enormous dogs, a closer look would expose the traits that spoke of their obvious differences. They were battle Shucks, enormous savage war animals that could never be completely tamed. They knew no respect or friendship for men or elves, only for ruthless warriors who showed them well who the master actually was.
Furious at the sight of the monsters howling in his garden, Jason recalled what his soldiers had said about Miller” Never will he ride what shies away from war.”
He sank back in his chair and started struggling with his books all over. Just as he began to feel at ease, he heard the sloppy sound of some wings flapping in the corridor. In two minutes time, suddenly the door was pushed open and a tall, young court steward came into the room as if he had entered a bar to have as many drinks as it would take to wipe that day off his life for good. Checking each corner in a moment, he found the king in his chair, safe among his documents. Caught off guard, Jason stared back. The young steward cleared his throat and as politely as he could, said’’ King Miller awaits you, my lord.’’
’’I’m not done here. Tell him and his companions I will meet them in the assembly hall as soon as I can.’’
’’Sire, I beg your pardon. But this is no time for hesitation. The destiny of our lands and races depends on your presence in the throne room today.” Said the steward, quite bluntly.
Jason leered at him twice and rather angry, responded ‘‘I will be there as I have promised. Now leave me. And learn to knock before you enter.”
“Forgive me, Sire. I shall inform King Miller right away.”
“And close the door behind you. And William, make sure the stable boys will take care of his dogs but tell them not to chain them with the horses. We cannot afford another stampede.”
“Surely, Sire.”
“Human form till the guests are gone, William. Miller hates giant ravens flying about. Tell that to every Shifter you know.”
The door was shut and silence came again.
Downstairs, in the throne room, three noble men_ each seeming to have an important sort of duty_ stood waiting in dignity and pride. One was the king’s closest friend and attendant whom people knew as Commander Conrad Blacksmith _a blue-eyed, blond-haired officer wearing the normal light green uniform of the court men and a medallion shaped like a fierce water dragon. On his left, another officer stood welcoming the queen of Lunarfield as she walked to the throne swiftly and full of royal grace like a swan upon the surface of the water. There was no sign of agitation on her face, contrary to what she felt inside. She had learnt well the only lesson her grandmother had ever taught her and kept it like a torch in her heart when emotions blocked her sight: a plausible mask serves a queen well. She rarely_ or it’s better saying "never"_ took part in what her husband did as a king . Having done her best so far not to let their child follow in his father’s footsteps, she was fortunately successful in keeping Prince George’s head bent down on his books and lessons. Moreover, there were two full-time teachers named Alexander and Delsa who kept their watchful eyes on him at times when the queen was in temporary absence.
George wasn’t allowed in throne room that day, but that would not stop him from hiding somewhere behind the giant statues in the hall or behind the massive curtains after dusting his tutors with the Obsessive Sleep Potion he had made himself the previous night.
He was a smart, young man whose passion for invention and novelty had made his father call him the “little warlock”. But he hated to be called that and he hated the way the throne room was built and decorated. Being an elf was a better choice, if he ever had the option. Evles were much more elegant and wiser than savage mages and warlocks. And given their history of passionate appreciation of the beauties of forms in nature, they were obviously better builders and decorators than the tasteless architects who used to work for his grandfather. And of course, he had never seen an elf with red hair as his own. It always made it harder to stay camouflaged out in the halls that were all painted white and dark blue. But there was more tension in the room that day than there were guards heeding the colors. Nobody was apparently concerned about the little eaves dropper behind the round belly of the goblin statue by the white stone pillars that led to the throne. The windows let a huge amount of light in the hall, but still it was dark and dreary like it was never meant for the living.
While the shadows of the pillars on both sides of the throne room started to shrink at the light of midday and the autumn sun reached above the palace, cold seemed to stick like pitch to the spot where three strangers from Cranewood awaited the entrance of the king. They were silent and still in the dark like a queue of owls that stood vigil up a tree deep into an endless night. Unlike his guards whose faces could be seen and assessed by the king’s proud and intelligent advisor, Commander Blacksmith, Fredrick’s face was covered in the shade of the pillar he stood by. But his gray eyes shone in the dark like cold fire from across the hall.
After some long minutes, the figure of William, the steward, appeared at the bottom of the staircase to announce the king’s presence. The strangers stepped into the light and with their eyes fixed on the other side of the hall, waited for the king to descend.
“Welcome, my lord."Jason said, walking to his guests, slowly and apparently confident “I trust you have come a long way from the safety of your castle to the throne of your alleged enemy.”
“And such a long time I have waited to meet with him, my King,” Said Miller, with false respect. His voice held a tone of bitter sarcasm.
Keeping his pride, Jason calmly confessed, “Forgive my delay. Some errands do take more time than what we expect.”
“Ah, so you have found things to attend to that are much more important than the matter of our wars?”
Breathing heavily, Jason walked up to his advisor and kept silent, which meant Conrad Blacksmith was now to speak in his stead.
Calm and collected, the commander replied” We are hopeful that the end of this meeting will be the end of our wars. The sooner we solve this problem, the better.”
“Which is why we have come this far, Mr. Blacksmith.”Miller answered with impatience and certainty.
His short black hair, light gray eyes and pale skin gave him an odd look in his plain uniform. He was unarmed, but still, because of his aggressive attitude and sturdy figure, he was feared just as he was in the battlefield.
“As your king’s greatest advisor, commander and close friend, “He said to Conrad.”You should know better that Diamond River belongs to Cranewood. When dividing this island in half, according to our calculations, and yours as well, it was counted as a part of our share of the territory. We have agreed on this before, still your villagers keep ignoring our warnings.”
“My King, “Said Conrad,” Some of our villagers are truly poor and cannot rely on anything but their nets, and where else can they do their fishing? We are even willing to pay you taxes so your soldiers will let them be.”
“All the benefits of this river belong to me, Mr. Blacksmith, and how do you expect me to leave a military line in the hands of your villagers? We own the right to claim our privacy.”
“But not the right to slaughter innocent people!” Said the queen in an astonishingly firm tone.
“Punishment is required to keep a country safe from crime, my lady. I suppose you’re well acquainted with the concept.” Miller answered, bluntly as if it did not matter which one of them he spoke to.
“Well, true, if you consider a simple misunderstanding an abomination.” Commander Blacksmith responded.
“Gentlemen!”Jason broke in, protesting.”We all know the reason of our poverty is not just a river! The people of Cranewood need the benefits of the river, so do we. But what if everything taken from us would be restored? Why can’t there be someone to rise against the cause of all this?”
“There is no such person. I for one did my part but those cowards out there fear to even look a little further from where they are.”Said Miller.”You, Jason? There was nothing you could do either. We have no troops, we have no money and Godric has both. Only one choice remains: stand down. “
“Stand down and let Silvermoon burn down to ashes? What’s the next race to be wiped off or mutilated? Elves or us? It doesn’t matter! The same fate awaits us all.” The king exploded with anger.
“How did Godric become the Great King?”Conrad broke in.” He stole from the Undead leaders, united their forces and took advantage of their power. It’s ridiculous that the rest of us watched it happen and didn’t learn a thing.”
“It’s not possible to apply his ways, Commander. You know better.”Miller commented, sternly.
“Well, not his ways or intentions, but his strategies. Use his power against his own. And the only thing that gives us this ability is union. I know that his cannot be expected to happen overnight. But it will happen if we make it. A forest grows from a single sprout, my kings.”
“And it takes a hundred years for it to do so.”Miller’s sarcastic comment cut him off.
But Conrad had not started to finish without making his point” We are the two greatest kingdoms among the Nine Islands. If we manage to unite somehow, there is hope that others will join us too. Let us end our wars and make a truce. Fighting each other will not help us even the smallest bit to take out the enemy.”
“A truce on our terms does sound appealing, I should say.” Said Miller, staring at Jason with a smirk after a slight pause.
“What are your terms?”Jason asked, quite calmly.
Fredrick’s smirk froze on his face. He definitely expected more resistance from Jason, but the king of Lunarfield didn’t seem to have prepared anything against him.
Everyone kept quiet. Heavy thoughts in the air were closing in on the royal council. Fredrick too, was tired of battling .Moreover, he could not afford to pay for any more expenses caused by the damages of the war, nor could he agree to make peace so easily, allowing his enemies of late to take him for a simpleton.
Therefore, having assessed his ideas, he finally replied, “There will be a truce. The villagers of each country will be allowed to take turns using the river. While it’s time for one country, the other must keep away and if the rules are broken, so is the truce. There will also be a new set of laws your country will have to obey to make complete peace with our kingdom, including the Law of Hosting; we’ll make sure the proud dwellers of Lunarfield will remember the fact that guests are gods. Our agreement along with the rules will be recorded in the pact we shall both sign, Jason. Only under these circumstances, will I make peace.”
Jason was stolen of will, as it seemed.
“Another silent death for us and the people.”He thought to himself.
Conrad took a glimpse of his king from the corner of his eye and spotted a helpless agreement. He looked down at the marble floor and breathed deeply to absorb the king’s decision.
“Very well. “ He said, finally looking up at Fredrick.”We’ll have the court scribes arrange the documents and we shall sign the truce on your terms. But do not forget that no man, elf or Shifter from this land dies at your hands unless they are found guilty by Lunarfield’s Court of Defiance. You will travel to and leave this country safe as of now, but do not think for a minute that I will let you live a day longer if you harm the people for any reason without the Court’s decision. “
Fredrick’s smirk stretched into a grin as he said” There’s no need to worry about any of that.”
He reached into the pocket of his dark blue leather uniform and grabbed a neatly sealed paper roll as he continued” I always come prepared.”