Chapter 2

The meaning of dreams

The dream came to him again this night. In all his years he had never truly remembered his dreams, even with a mind like his, but this dream was different, he’d had this dream every night, for the past three weeks, and he remembered it perfectly, even after the first night.

It started as it always did, with a great shadow falling over a land that was foreign to him. He could see a great battle being fought; he could see that both armies in this war were made up of the same four races. Both armies had the tall, slim, windswept archers, and the short blue trident wilding mages. Both armies let the large rock like fighters lead the charge, as the red-cloaked assassins picked off the generals one by one.

After showing this battle the dream moved on to what looked to be the inside of a castle, there was a great chamber. In this chamber he saw a warrior from each of the four races he witnessed in the battle. There was another being in this room as well as the four warriors; there was a beast in there with them, a demon of terrible power. The four warriors attacked the demon, fighting for what seemed like hours. It was at this point the dream became even more surreal, for the four warriors became him, two of the closest friends he’d ever had, one of the warriors remained the same however, the fiery assassin was still fighting alongside them. They continued to fight the demon; up until the demon’s sword was thrust through the his chest, this was the time in the dream when he woke up.

Laucian sat up in his bed, sweat pouring down his brow. He knew he would get no more rest this night, for he had tried to when the dreams had first began. Laucian rose from his bed, he dressed in his usual black trousers, and sleeveless black tunic. Retrieving his boots he left his room and began to walk down the long spiral staircase of Magon’s tower.

Laucian had lived with the eccentric mage for almost two months now, ever since he and Tanay had come to Getandor in search of Elana.

He had learned much from Magon; he could control his psionic abilities much better now. He had also found out about his true heritage. All his life he had been brought up as elven, but now he knew why he had never fit in amongst his “own” kind, it was not because he was abnormal, but because he was only half-elven. He learned that he was not actually born into house Galanodel, but rather he was the son of one of the house servants, a Miss Duskwalker, and his father was a planer traveller who had been visiting the Galanodel house.

After Laucian was conceived his father was never seen again, and his mother died just minutes after his birth, so he was taken in by the head of the Galanodel family, and raised as a son, although he was never treated as an equal to his supposed brother.

Laucian finally reached the room he was looking for. This was the room Laucian had used the most during his stay in the tower. The room was about sixty feet long and forty feet wide, and it was filled with a variety of walls, bars, ropes, nets and beams. This room was designed to test a person’s speed, agility, and stamina.

Laucian took a few steps into the room, letting the door swing closed behind him. He stood perfectly motionless for a few seconds, composed himself, and then he suddenly burst into a run, and leaped up onto the first rope.

He spent about an hour running around this room, swinging on ropes, leaping from bars to beams, climbing nets, and running along walls as if they were the floors.

He finally ended his exercise by swinging from one of the bars into a flip, and landing in almost exactly the same spot from which he started.

“It still amazes me to see you do that, and not be out of breath.” Said Stomorel in a cheery voice. Stomorel was an elven druid, who spent much of her time at Magon’s tower. She had entered the room quietly about twenty minutes earlier.

“And I keep telling you, you cannot get out of breath, if you don’t breathe.” Laucian’s replied dryly.

“Oh yes, I keep forgetting your not actually elven. What was your real father again?” Said Stomorel sarcastically.

“What do you want?” asked Laucian, who had never really liked this nosey druid. She was always trying to make conversation with him, and was always trying to find the person he used to be.

“Why must I want something? I just heard some movement and wondered what it was.”

“Well now you know, so you can leave me be.” And with that Laucian headed for the door. Much to his dismay Stomorel followed him out into the hall.

“What you doing now?” The elf maiden asked.

“If you must know, I’m going to have some breakfast,” and with that Laucian set off down the hall.

“That’s quite a pace, you must be really hungry.” Giggled the elf, who had to jog to keep up.

Laucian didn’t reply to the joke, he was hoping that if he ignored her she would go away, he wasn’t in the mood for her constant questioning this morning. Stomorel however, didn’t plan on giving up so easily.

“I like your tattoo.” Said Stomorel, indicating the intricate cross and dragon design on Laucian’s shoulder. Again Laucian ignored the elf, and carried on walking towards the kitchens. “It’s a cross of Elvin isn’t it?”

“Why do you keep following me?” asked Laucian, as he spun around to face Stomorel. By this point he was starting to get annoyed with the curious druid.

“I’m just trying to make conversation,” replied Stomorel, “You know, it’s called being polite, you might want to try it some time.”

“Well I’m not in the mood to be polite, so why don’t you just go away, and leave me be.” and with that Laucian turned from Stomorel, and started off back down the corridor.

Again Stomorel was jogging in an attempt to keep up with Laucian. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

If Laucian were able to draw breath, at this point he would drawn a deep one, and let out a long sigh. At this time Laucian called upon an ability he assumed he had inherited from his father. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, suddenly there was a cloud of dust by Laucian’s feet, Stomorel, having never seen him do this before just watched in amazement as the cloud began to rapidly grow, within a few seconds the cloud had filled the corridor for twenty feet in each direction.

Stomorel began to cough uncontrollably and started to run back in the direction she had come from, in an attempt to get out of the cloud. Laucian however just continued walking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Now that was just rude.” the voice came from somewhere in front of Laucian, then a few more words could be heard, and a gentle breeze was felt by both Laucian, and Stomorel. This breeze cleared away the dust in the corridor at a swift rate. As the dust dissipated Stomorel’s coughing ceased, and she turned to see who had cast the wind spell. Laucian however just carried on walking, without even a break in his stride.

“Are you okay Stomorel?” asked her mysterious saviour.

“She’s fine.” answered Laucian, “There isn’t enough dust to actually choke a person.” Stomorel’s expression went from that of relief after dust had cleared, to one of miss trust when she saw who it was who had cast the spell. She had never trusted Tanay, the Viperian sorcerer. Tanay looked almost human, with only a few tell tale differences that gave away his true heritage.

Tanay was Laucian’s travelling companion; they had met a couple of years earlier in Krondmare, and had become great friends almost immediately after they had met. This was one of the reasons Stomorel tolerated Tanay, that and the fact that Magon seemed to trust him, but Stomorel still had her doubts about him, she still couldn’t bring herself to trust a Viperian, not a member of that sinister, devious race.

Laucian’s pace never slowed as he walked past Tanay and through the door at the end of the corridor. Tanay turned to see where Laucian was heading.

“Hmm time for breakfast,” Tanay then turned back to Stomorel “Care to join us?” Stomorel just stared at Tanay suspiciously, then without saying a word turned and walked back down the corridor, away from Tanay, who just laughed to himself before he followed Laucian into the kitchen.

“I see you’re up early again,” said Tanay, as he walked over to the stove, where Laucian was serving himself some stew. “Looks like Magon was expecting you’d be having an early breakfast today.”

“It would appear so. There is stew and fresh bread, and more than enough for two,” explained Laucian as he went to sit at the table in the middle of the room.

“Is that your way of asking me to join you for breakfast?” chuckled the sorcerer as he too helped himself to some of the stew. “Have you spoken to Magon about the dreams?”

“No, not yet, you’re the only person who knows about them.”

“Then how did he know to have a meal prepared early this morning?” Tanay moved over to the table, and took a seat across from Laucian.

“Well you know Magon; he always seems to know more than he lets on.”

“Was it the same dream?”

“As it always is.”

“Do you think it means anything?”

Laucian stood up and took his now empty bowl over to the water basin, “The only thing this recurring dream means is that some all knowing power doesn’t want me to sleep.”

“I thought you of all people would believe that dreams have meanings behind them.” Tanay finished his food and took his bowl over to be washed.

“You have me confused with a seer, I’m a psychic, there is a difference.”

“Is there?” came a voice from by the cooking pot. Both Laucian and Tanay span around to see who else was in the room with them. “Oh brilliant, you ate my breakfast.” Tanay looked around in disbelief, as there was no one to be seen. Laucian just shook his head and walked back over to the table.

“Sorry about your breakfast Magon.” said Laucian as he sat back down at the table.

“It’s not you who should be sorry, I expected you to be up, I just didn’t expect our reptilian friend to be up.” came the voice again, as he spoke Magon began to make his appearance. The first thing to appear was his beard; it was long, grey, and looked as though it hadn’t been brushed in years. Next came the rest of his head, he had long grey hair, and bushy grey eye brows. His nose was long and slightly pointed, on which he had perched his glasses, and perched they were as one of the arms and hooks were missing.

After his head appeared the rest of Magon’s body began to come into view, he was quite tall, by human standards, he was thin, and wearing a long sky blue night robe, with many different coloured patches covering lots of small holes which had been made from the general wear and tare from the well used robe.

“You look amazed that an old mage can use magic.” Magon chuckled.

“It’s not that, I just find it odd that a man feels he should have to walk around his own home, invisible.” replied Tanay.

“Well I heard someone stealing my breakfast, and I thought it may have been burglars.”

“Burglars? Ha, we all know that it would take an army to penetrate these walls, and not even the craftiest of thieves could make it past your magical defences.” Tanay retuned, laughing heartily.

“Well I have had a long time to make those defences.” Magon adjusted his glasses, and looked at Laucian, who had now sat at the table, with his back to him and Tanay. Magon then turned his gaze to Tanay, and with a nod of the head indicated the door.

“Yes, well, I have to go and get my things ready, I’m setting off to see Nasgaroth in a few hours.” said Tanay, as he walked towards the door. There was a long silence after Tanay left the room, Magon slowly walked towards the table, and sat down directly across from Laucian.

“With all the magic you know, with all the knowledge you posses, why don’t you fix your glasses? Why do you wear a robe which is in tatters?” asked Laucian sombrely.

“Sentiment, when you have lived as long as I have you begin to cling to your past, you try to hold onto the good things in your life, the happy memories.”

“Just how long have you lived?”

“Long enough to know when a friend is troubled.” Laucian just quietly laughed at the comment, “What’s so funny?”

“You have known me for less than two months, and yet you call me friend.”

“You don’t call me friend?” Magon leaned back on his chair; he adjusted his glasses, which had slipped off his nose.

“To me a friend is someone I can trust implicitly.”

“Ah, now I see, you feel you can trust me, so I’m your friend, but you don’t think that I’ll be able to trust you.” Magon sat up straight now, with a large grin on his face, Laucian thought that he looked like a child who had just outsmarted its tutor in some logic puzzle. A slight grin found its way onto Laucian’s face as he looked at Magon, and he chuckled to himself.

“You know, I think that could possible be the first time I’ve seen you smile,” said Magon with a reminiscing tone. The smile quickly disappeared from Laucian’s face and was replaced by his usual emotionless expression.

“So why are you up so early?” asked Magon who had decided that he had best try to get to the point of the conversation.

“I couldn’t sleep” was the simple and direct answer he received.

“Like you haven’t been able to sleep for the past three weeks?”

“You know about that?”

“Of course I know, I know everything that goes on in my tower.”

“Then how come you thought it were burglars eating your breakfast?” It was Magon’s turn to chuckle now, and he promptly re-adjusted his glasses as they slipped from his nose again.

“So anyway, are you going to tell me about this dream or not?” asked Magon, deciding that he had best get down to business. Laucian however was still unsure if he wanted to talk to Magon about it, he had told Tanay, but he was his best friend, he had only known Magon for less than two months, how could he know if he could really be trusted?

“Now come on Laucian, have I given you any reason not to trust me?” Laucian was again amazed at Magon’s seeming ability to know what a person was thinking, even though he always denied being psychic.

Laucian decided that he had nothing to lose by telling Magon what he had been dreaming, it’s not like it actually meant anything, and so he explained the dream to Magon, and how it had occurred every night, always exactly the same.

“Well, where do I begin,” Magon re-arranged his glasses, which had again slipped from his nose. His face had now taken on a more serious look, one that was not often seen on the old wizard. “I’m not sure that there is much I can do to help you with your sleepless nights, I cannot stop dreams, but maybe I will be able to help a little with the meanings behind them.”

“Do you believe that all dreams have meanings?”

“Oh no, not at all, a couple of nights ago I dreamt that I was an apple, and that a man picked me from the tree and took me to market.”

“You have strange dreams old man.”

“Yes I know, but what I’m trying to explain is that my dream had no meaning, it was all part of my mind, and therefore doesn’t have any real reason behind it. Reoccurring dreams however do generally have a meaning; there is a purpose behind them.”

“Then what does my dream mean?”

“Well how should I know? I’m a wizard, not a seer, there is a difference.” Magon laughed, and nearly fell from his chair as he tried to catch his glasses as they again slipped from his nose. “Now, seriously, I cannot be sure about what your dream means without looking into it, I do have an idea about why you are seeing the war of the elements, but I thought there would be more time.”

“More time for what? What is this war you speak of?” Laucian was now more confused than he was before he had decided to speak with Magon about the dreams.

“I’m afraid I cannot say any more at this time, but this matter will require more reading, and that could take some time.”

“Then what am I suppose to do while you do this reading?”

“Well my suggestion would be for you to go to see Nasgaroth with Tanay, I’m sure he would welcome the company.”

Laucian leaned back in his chair; he stared at Magon for a few moments. Laucian was sure that Magon knew more than he was letting on in this instance, but he didn’t know why Magon was holding back this information. “Perhaps some time on the road will take my mind off these dreams.” He said, knowing that there would be no point in trying to gain any more information from the old wizard.

“Well you had best get a move on my young friend, Tanay is wanting to set off quite soon.” With this final suggestion Laucian stood, gave Magon a respectful nod of his head, and walked over to the door.

Laucian opened the door to find himself face to face with Stomorel, who looked slightly shocked at the door opening; she still had her arm outstretched towards the handle. Laucian took a step back and to the side, barely looking at her as she walked through the door.

“Ah, my dear Stomorel, would you like to join me for breakfast, I was just about to make some stew, since someone ate mine.” Laucian did not react to the obvious joke Magon was making towards him, and just walked through the door and headed to prepare for his forthcoming trip with Tanay.

The room was dark; it had large stoned walls, and no widows. The light for this room was supplied by two torch‘s, one at each side of the large wooden door which stood in the centre of the eastern wall, a fire in the hearth, which was directly opposite the door, and there were some lit candles on a blood stained alter to the north of the room. There was also a large wooden table in the centre of the room; it was very long, with five chairs on the sides, and a large elegantly carved chair at the head.

There were two men in this room, the first was a tall, broad shouldered man, who was wearing a suit of black armour that covered him completely, many skulls decorated this armour, and the helmet had large bat wings on the side. The second man was much shorter and slimmer than the first; he wore a simple robe, in a deep patterned green.

“I have news from the spy my lord,” said the shorter man.

“And what might that be Deventis?” asked the larger man.

“I have been informed that the psychic has been having the dream,” replied Deventis. The armoured man now walked over to his alter.

“So Magon is now aware that the time is at hand”

“Yes my lord.”

“This boy who is having the dream, he must be killed, he could be troublesome if he is not.”

“My spy tells me that he will be on the road shortly, travelling to see one named Nasgaroth.”

“Will he be travelling with his usual companion?” the man now turned to look at Deventis, although through the darkness he could not be seen too well.

Deventis took a deep breath before answering, “Yes my lord.”

“Go, send the three to me, and then go and tend to the king.”

“Yes my lord.” Deventis bowed low before turning and leaving the room.

The man now sat in his chair at the head of the table, and waited for the three to arrive. He did not have long to wait before there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Enter.” The door opened, and three women walked in, the first of which wore red trousers and a low cut red top, she had pale skin, and her hair was long and rich blond in colour. The second two had ebony coloured skin, with long white hair, the clothes they wore were identical to then the first had, in all but colour, their clothes were black.

The first of the women walked over to the table and hopped up onto it just in front of the man, and leaned close to him, the other two stayed standing at the other end of the table.

“You sent for us, Markus,” said the first woman as she leaned even closer to the man in the chair.

“You will refer to me as either General Markus or my lord.” he replied, as he pushed the attractive woman away from him. General Markus now stood and walked towards the fire. He laughed to himself as he walked, even though he had sent these three to assassinate many people, he still always found it odd to see two members of the evil subterranean race of the graws answering to a surface elf.

“I do apologise, my lord.” The elf now stood from the table, “What is it you wish of us.” she asked.

“I wish you to travel to Getandor. The psychic known as Laucian, he will be on the road between Magon’s tower, and the dwarven mine in the Hardrock Mountains. I want him eliminated.”

“When are we to set off, my lord?”

“Immediately.”

“Then we will take our leave.” The three now began to walk towards the door.

“Aluthana, there is one more thing.”

The elf turned to face General Markus, “And what is that my lord?”

“Laucian will not be travelling alone; he will be with the young sorcerer Tanay, Deventis’s son.”

“And what do you wish me to do with him?”

“Kill him.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 - Cloak and Dagger