the pages.
“You know the belief that there is no land on the other side of the mist in the Fifling Sea?”
“Yes, we covered this down below.”
“Yes, yes… well, it’s not true. This race has come through that mist. They broke their way through, and it wasn’t easy.” He stopped on a page with rough drawings and sketches of men with wings. “You know of the legend of the First People.”
“Of course, every child learns about them in school.”
“Yes, yes,” the old man nodded. “Well, do you know the legend of the Grimstone?” He turned the page, and there was another drawing of a grand, shimmering stone, a texture unlike anything Tolan had ever seen. It was a stone with shades of emerald and onyx, with a twinkle to every side of it.
“I know not of this stone.”
“The Grimstone. Long before any of us existed, the First People knew the power of this stone, and the danger it possessed. They could not destroy it, but they separated it. Three pieces were forged and hidden throughout the land. These creatures have one of its pieces. It lent them power; their mages used it to break through the mist and enter our lands. Now they mean to invade us all.”
“They must be stopped.”
“There is very little we know about them.”
“It is time we found out. We must bring the fight to them before they lay waste to our lands. Do they know of the other two pieces or their locations?”
“I do not know. There’s no telling if they’re simply here to plunder, or to find the other pieces. Look.” Sooth-Malesh grabbed a silk bag from his robes. He shook the bag and poured the contents onto the table. Rune stones scattered about, turning onto various sides. “You see?”
“What?”
“Their mark.”
Tolan looked closer and saw that each rune formed one large symbol overall. When the stones were assembled together, the runes connected to form an unfamiliar emblem.
“Each time I shake the runes, they form the same symbol.”
“How do they do this?”
The mage shook his end. “Devil’s hellfire, if I know. Rune magic is very mysterious. But if we can decipher this symbol, we will know their name.”
“Ah,” Tolan had grown weary. “I need to warn the King. We must amass and meet the invaders head-on.”
“Tolan,” Sooth-Malesh grabbed him by the arm. “If they do happen to find the other pieces of the stone, they would be unstoppable. All of Athora will fall.”
Tolan pulled away and rushed outside the spire and down to the inner courtyard.
###
“You cannot enter!” The palace guard blocked Tolan from passing the main doors into the King’s foyer.
“I must see the King; he must know of the danger!”
“Only the High Guardsman may enter. Go see Jorrel.”
“He won’t listen to me! His logic is clouded. The city mage has seen it. We are all in grave danger.”
“The city mage? The man who saw Fire Gods in the sky, and they were nothing but comets? Or the man who saw the spirit of the King’s first wife entering the palace, but it was only fog?”
“This is different. There are signs: there’s thunder in the mist; our comrades have not returned. I’ve seen the runes in our mage’s chambers, myself. Now let me in!”
The guard refused to budge, pointing his lance at Tolan’s chest.
That was the final straw. Tolan’s patience had indeed run out. He grabbed hold of the lance and yanked it out of the guard’s hands. He swung it upside the man’s head and sent him crashing to the ground. Tolan rushed the doors, pushing them open with a clatter.
Servants and musicians ran out of sight. Tolan heard a few cries and gasps. He stormed through the foyer and into the courtyard, but there was no one about. He flew up a flight of stairs to the throne room, and thrust the doors open. The throne was empty.
Tolan spun around and rushed back down the stairs, where the guard charged him. Tolan ducked andsped down a grand hall full of tapestries and chandeliers and sconces, past the kitchen that was filled with the scent of baked bread and bubbling stews. Finally he reached the dining room.
He flung open the doors, and found the rotund King Enrille seated at a table for twenty with only his new wife and two kitchen maids, holding trays of food and wine. He’d just taken a bite out of a huge wild turkey leg when Tolan interrupted.
The King’s eyes widened, but he finished his mouthful before putting the