Chapter Four - Failure is Not an Option

Draziw muttered to himself in some ancient language. Why wouldn’t the stupid potion work? He was the best alchemist in the land; he should be able to come up with something. He sighed and continued working. Maybe he had the wrong ratio. Then he laughed. He, Draziw, Elenaesia’s best alchemist, have the wrong ratio? What could be more amusing than that? The best make a mistake? That was impossible! It was preposterous! Of all the crazy ideas that plagued the world, that had to be the craziest. He was perfection. And how could perfection make a mistake? It must be a problem with the elements. They must not be pure. Thus, Draziw set to work on purifying the elements and experimenting with new ratios.

~~~~~~~~

Edmund and Jessica, leading Kathryn, entered the castle and made their way to the great hall. There they saw Sir Rupert sitting on a bench, with several of the pages gathered around him. As they came closer they heard him telling tales of his former adventures.


“At that point, we realized that any attempt to face down the Ligon was futile,” he continued.
“Why was it futile?” asked a young page.
“Well, Bob,” replied Sir Rupert, “Have you ever faced a Ligon?”
“My name’s not Bob,” interrupted the page, “its William.”
“I’m sorry, William,” the old man said, “My memory fails me when it comes to names. Anyway, have you ever faced a Ligon? I didn’t think so.”
“What is a Ligon?” asked another page.
“A Ligon is half lion, half dragon, Bob.”
“I’m not Bob either,” muttered the second page under his breath. “What is a lion, and what is a dragon?”
“Oh, they don’t live in these parts,” explained the knight. “A lion is like a large cat. A dragon is a scaled beast with wings.”
“Where do they live?”
“Have you ever seen lions or dragons?”

The questions came as quickly as arrows from a string. He didn’t answer their questions however, for he noticed the trio moving towards him. He looked up at them and waited patiently for them to begin to speak. Kathryn began, after hearing the other two clearing their throats, and not saying anything.

“Sir Rupert?” she asked.
“Yes, Lady Kat?” he replied, smiling at the girl.
“Do you know about the Stone of the King?”
“Indeed, Lady, I do. But what do you wish to know about it? The entire history is long, and I do not believe that you want to hear the whole thing.”
“No,” she said with a smile. “But, do you possibly know where it is? What happened to it?”
“It was lost almost three hundred years ago. They say it is in the Amandu Mountains. And indeed, I have seen signs that it is there.”
“Do you know where in the Amandu Mountains it is?” she asked.
He shook his head sadly. “No, I’m afraid I do not know where it is. But, it is there, I believe. According to signs I have seen it is.”
“Thank you,” Kathryn barely whispered. “Thank you.” She could hardly believe it. They were going to find the Stone of the King. They were going to bring this battle to an end; they were going to prove Eldor was the king. She felt encouraged, and she felt brave. She was not going to dismiss this as wishful thinking. Once she made up her mind, it was made up. They were going.

~~~~~~~~

Bonjon looked around him in fright. He glanced at the pool of water, and up at the birds circling in the sky. Then, he saw the Duke. Orland DiCaprio stood there, arms crossed, looking sternly at him. He sighed. He knew he was done for. Why, oh why did he make that STUPID mistake? He was going to die. And as he heard the calls of the birds above, he knew how it would be. Death by drowning or by the slow pecking of the Nazir birds. Whichever he decided, it was not going to be nice.

The guards led him in chains to face the Duke. He could not bring himself to look his lord in the face. He had failed. And there was no forgiveness. Not from the Duke of the Seventeens.

“You know you’re wrongdoing,” the Duke said, not a trace of emotion in his voice.
“Yes, m’lord.”
“You know the penalty.”
“Yes, m’lord.”
“You will pay that penalty.”
“Yes, m’lord.”

Then the Duke turned and cried to all gathered. “So let it be written, so let it be done! So be it!”

The guards took Bonjon over toward the pool. They took off his chains and then him in. He felt the water closing in rapidly and hastened to push himself to the surface. There he saw the Duke and his men leaving. They did not need to stay and watch; they knew, as did all in Elenaesia, that once someone was thrown into the Nazir Pool, they did not come back alive.

Then, he saw the birds diving towards him. He closed his eyes, but they kept coming. He felt their beaks peck at his flesh; he heard his own screams as he felt it. What could he do? Stay here and let them eat away at his body? Finally, mustering all his courage, he went back underwater. He couldn’t stay underwater for long, and soon he found himself surfacing again. He felt the pecks again, as the birds resumed their attack. He felt his arms go up and start flailing, in a futile attempt to stave off the attacking birds. When he could not stand it any longer, he fell back underwater again. But it was not long before he came up, gasping for air. His strength was failing him, how could he keep this up?

The birds came diving at him again; he couldn’t stand it. He wanted to get away! His screams were futile; the birds were pecking at him above water, and underwater he could not breathe and his wounds cried out in agony.

The next morning, two knights under service of the king were sent to discover the fate of Bonjon. There was nothing but a few pieces of flesh left floating on the water. One of them turned to the other and grinned.
“Guess they didn’t like the taste of that.”
“Haha,” replied the other. “I don’t blame them.”
“Bones must have sunk. Our job's done then; he’s dead.”
“Yeah, let’s go back to camp.”

~~~~~~~~

Sir Paulo accompanied the King as they went to oversee the gathering of the army. There were, if he counted aright, five thousand men gathered here. But was it enough? They did not know the exact number of men the Duke had with him, and the Seventeens were indeed a good sized portion of Elenaesia. Soon all grew silent as King Eldor rode forward and prepared to speak. Out of the corner of his eye, Paulo saw Queen Raelle looking out from a window.

“My people!” cried the king. “A month from now, I intend to be back here in victory! The Duke of the Seventeens, Orlando DiCaprio, has challenged my kingship over you, and has attempted to attack our lands! He sent his men to attack our main commerce city of Ge’irdae. Fortunately, we were able to stop them before they could. We cannot allow this treachery to go on any longer. So, I say to you - let us ride to war against these traitors; let us put a stop to them! What say you?”
“To war!” came the deafening shout of the troops below. “To war!”
“So let it be written! So let it be done!” called the king, echoing the sacred words spoken when a major decision was made. According to Elenaesian tradition, only the king of Elenaesia had the right to speak those words. Another doing it could be considered as great a transgression as treason.
With a great shout, the host of Eldor, King of Elenaesia, rode out from Aiulindale, to meet Orlando DiCaprio, Duke of the Seventeens, in clean battle.