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Kyra stood before two great doors that seemed to reach to the sky.  These were the doors through which she’d passed some time ago, when she’d last seen Queen Anita.  When she’d had all her memories intact.  She forced her amnesia worries from her thoughts, shelving them on top of the Jolus the Malignant problem as far back in the recesses of her mind, and prepared herself for the ceremony about to commence in her honor. 
    
“Are you ready?” the pigeon asked.  Marie had seen how scared the nightmare had made her, making Kyra tell her about it.  She was going to have to face Jolus the Malignant eventually.  She was also anxious to enter the Great Hall.
    
“Aye,” Kyra replied, smiling for the first time since the nightmare.  She hadn’t said yes like that before.
    
Kyra saw a sliver of light form before her.  It seemed to quiver for a moment, like it was a living, moving thing; then it widened and bright light cascaded onto the two figures standing behind the doors: one short, one round.
    
The audience seated at the giant banquet table erupted in a cacophony of cheers and clapping, as the people of Enchantus gazed upon the Chosen One in the flesh.  Kyra now grinned, then unstoppable laughter and joy burst from her.  Everyone was just so happy to see her.
    
The banquet table was made of white marble, set up in the center of the hall for the ceremony; it seemed to seat over a hundred people, but there were a lot more as the Enchantans were now getting up and running to her, circling around her like she was everyone’s long lost relative.  But then she was.  Tens of voices hurled statements of happiness and compliments at her; she soon gave up trying to answer them all and held on dearly to Marie.
    
Marie tried her best to protect Kyra from the friendly but out of control crowd, even she was little match for their onslaught.  Finally, Queen Anita saw what was happening and saved her people from trampling over the one person who was supposed to save them.
    
“Now, now, back to your seats people.  Give her some air.  You don’t want to put our dear Kyra under pressure, she may let loose some magic upon all of you and turn you into newts!”
    
Everyone looked around to the queen and then quickly ran back to their seats.  Kyra and Marie were left alone, Kyra looking surprised and confused at the same time in Queen Anita’s direction.  The Queen gave her a wink, indicating she knew full well that Kyra didn’t know any magic, but it also hinted at the possibility that in time she just might.  As Kyra looked onto this woman who was somehow her mother with no sense of recognition, she nevertheless felt an ethereal connection between them.
    
Queen Anita stood at the head of the table and indicated that she wanted Kyra to sit right next to her.  Kyra walked to her place, with Marie in close pursuit; the pigeon took her place next to her.  Kyra waited for Queen Anita to sit, as did everyone else.  The Queen looked at Kyra sweetly and then raised her left arm, with her hand out, at her.  Kyra stared at the Queen for a moment and then sat down, much to the shock of every other member at the table, including Orcus.  Clearly nothing like this had ever happened before, and a long-held rule had just been broken for Kyra.
    
Finally Queen Anita sat down and everyone else followed.
    
“Kyra, this is King Orcus.”
    
Orcus bowed his head and Kyra reciprocated the salutation.  Even though he looked exactly like her father, she felt no stir of recognition, but she did feel that familiar sense of bonding, though not as strong, not as ethereal as with the Queen.
    
“And this is Demto, my wizard and extremely good friend.”
    
Kyra stared at the wizard’s face and gasped in shock as she realized where she’d seen him before.  Demto simply smiled at her, while Marie, the queen and the king laughed.  The rest of the people just stared in wonder and envy.
    
“I see you have already met Demto in one way,” the Queen said.  “He will be attending to you later.”
    
Kyra didn’t probe: she didn’t know what Queen Anita meant with that, but Kyra had the feeling it might have something to do with learning magic.  She hoped it did.  Right now she wanted to enjoy herself.  She looked down at the delicacy steaming in front of her.
    
“You may begin,” the Queen said.  This was heard and admonished by everyone with a whispered “Aye,” but it had mainly been directed at Kyra.  She soon discovered she was starving and began eating.
    
Before her was the largest cooked bird she’d ever seen.  If it was a turkey, it was enormous; if it was a chicken, then it just defied everything she knew.  But as Kyra looked up the table at the many people, she realized that a lot of mouths needed to be fed, and this bird would do its job.  For a horrible moment, she wondered if it was a species of pigeon like Marie.  She glanced to her right at Marie and saw her to be much larger.  This was a different species entirely.
    
She soon had a plateful of the meat and found it to have the same dryness as turkey, but tasted more like chicken.  Her drink looked like a weak wine and tasted a lot sweeter.  Within a short while Kyra had cleaned her plate and sat back with a sigh of relief.  She was reaching bursting point.
    
“Would you like some more food?” Queen Anita asked.
    
Kyra couldn’t say anything, but just shook her head, and the look on her face made her fullness clear to the Queen, who looked at the servant who had approached as soon as Kyra had finished and shook her head; the servant stepped back.
    
As Kyra felt her body digesting the vast amount of food she’d just consumed, she focused on her breathing and heard an unusual voice speaking from across the table.  The person wasn’t speaking to her but to the woman next to him.  Kyra discovered that she could focus in on conversations around the table with relative ease; all she had to do was look in the direction of the people talking, concentrate on hearing them, and it was as if the volume of their voices were magically turned up in her head, while everyone else’s voices were turned down.  She experimented with different groups of people all around the table and then came to Queen Anita.  Then she saw Demto, the wizard, looking at her.
    
“Having fun?” he said, in little more than a whisper, only she heard him as if he’d spoken aloud in an empty room.  He knew what she was doing, but he was also smiling.  She smiled back and focused again on the unusual voice that was a few people down on the other side of the table.
    
“So I watched as the man hopped the fence and crept into my garden.”  His voice sounded almost angry, deep and gravely.  “He trod over Mae’s bluebells, not watching where he stepped, and came towards the window.  I bent down, trying to hide myself further in case he could see into the sliver of light between the shutters.  The window was open and he was wanting to get an eyeful of Mae, but I was ready for him.  He approached the shutters, then leaned forward and tried to peer between in the light and it was then that I jumped up, flung the shutters open and my fist made contact with his face, his nose specifically.  I heard and felt the crack and before he started bleeding, he was on the ground, out of it.”  He and the man he was talking to broke into laughter.  Kyra let out a little chuckle; it was a pretty funny story.  “So,” continued the man, “he’s getting no feast tonight.  He’s spending the night at home nursing a broken nose.”  The two men burst into hearty laughter, a sort of laughter that only the two shared, so they thought.
    
Kyra laughed quietly to herself.  She looked back at Demto from the corner of her eye and saw he was engaged in conversation with the queen.
    
With a mischievous gleam in her eye, Kyra started having fun with her newly discovered ability.  She began listening in on lots of different conversations going on at the long table, where the conversers all assumed they were unheard.  A lot of the men, especially the ones who had finished their first tankard of mead, were talking either about girls they had seen in Enchantus, or girls around the table they had a fancy for.  Then there was the one about the queen . . .
    
“She’s a right looker she is, that queen.  What I wouldn’t give to have five minutes with her in her chambers.”
    
Kyra turned to someone else, anyone else, not wanting to hear anymore.  She looked at the queen and heard . . . nothing.  This was odd.  The queen was turned away and leaning over, talking in hushed whispers with Demto and Orcus.  But as hard as she concentrated, squinting her eyes and actually breaking a sweat, Kyra was unable to hear anything other than soft incomprehensible syllables.  So either all three of them had some special ability where they could block Kyra’s ability, or Demto had performed a spell to block Kyra from listening in.  She came to the conclusion that because they were talking in whispers, they could only be talking about her.
    
Kyra continued sipping her drink, imagining her ears red and burning. 

Dessert consisted of chocolate cake and the best custard pudding Kyra had ever tasted.  It didn’t take long for everyone to finish and no one asked for seconds.  Once the last dessert plate was taken away, Queen Anita looked at all of her people, then stood, picking up her glass and raising it.  Everyone got the message, and did likewise.  Kyra stood and reached for her glass, but the Queen stopped her by raising her hand and indicating she should wait.  Then she addressed her subjects.

“People of Enchantus, thank you all, so much, for coming here to this fabulous feast.”

There were cheers and ha-zaas for her.  The queen made the same motion with her right hand again and quieted the diners.

“Thank you also to all the people involved in making this wonderful meal and memorably occasion possible.  Thank you chefs, cooks, servers.  Please step forward and take a bow.”

There were loud cheers now from the people, as all the workers involved in the feast stepped forward and took a bow, with beaming smiles on their faces.  Gratitude made it all worth it.

“And last, but by not means least, I would like to present a toast to Kyra.”

A hush descended and everyone had their glasses raised and ready.

“This feast took place to celebrate the arrival of Kyra, the Chosen One, to the world of Aisis Lip and the Kingdom of Enchantus.  And to wish her all the best on her quest.  To Kyra!”

“TO KYRA!” everyone cried out and emptied their glasses.

Kyra sat back down, blushing and feeling hot and flustered.  Finally she was able to drink and finished her glass.  She soon regretted it as the little alcohol in the drink went straight her head and she now felt dizzy.

“Let us now adjourn to the great hall where a great fire warms the room and all who occupy it, and where tea awaits us.  Thank you again,” Queen Anita said.

“To the queen,” someone cried and everyone repeated it and stepped away from the table, making their way to their great hall.

Kyra pushed her chair back and slowly stood up, testing her legs and feeling woozy.  Marie was soon by her side, taking her arm and leading her towards the great hall.

“Did you have a’good meal Kyra?” the pigeon asked.

“Oh yes, it was excellent.  Probably the best meal I’ve ever had.  But I don’t think I ever want to eat again.”

Marie chuckled, which sounded more like a sweet soft chirrup.  “Don’t you worry a’now,” she said, “you have yourself a’some tea now and a’rest a bit, digest a’bit, and you’ll be a’back to normal in no time.”

They passed under the high archway that was now familiar to Kyra with its tapestry of stories curving round, and entered the great hall.  Most of the people were already inside.  To the immediate right was a large table set with rows and rows of teacups, while servers help large pots and poured tea for the people.  There were actually two giant fireplaces along one wall, with groups of people gathering around both of them.  As for signs of the thrones Kyra had seen when she first stepped into Enchantus Alta, there was none.

She looked at Marie.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Why, of course a’dear,” the bird said.

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Personal, eh?  Please, go a’head.”

“What are you?  Where do you come from?”

Marie’s eyes widened.

“I mean,” Kyra quickly continued.  “You’re a pigeon, a bird, certainly the largest one I’ve ever seen.  There’s nothing like you in my old world.  And with all the dreams I’ve had of Aisis Lip, I’ve never seen anything like you here, either.”

Marie’s eyes were now very wide, then they returned to normal and she nodded.  “Very well, dear.  I knew a’this would come and a’there’s no time like the a’present to find out the a’truth.  Let’s get us some a’tea first and then I’ll tell you a’bout meself.”

They soon had two cups of steaming black tea.  Kyra breathed in the vapors and was able to pick a strong scent of bergamot: Earl Grey, her favorite. 

A little away from the hearths were lots of arm chairs spread around the room, and Kyra and Marie soon found themselves a couple close to the wall.  They could still feel the heat of the fire circulating around the giant room, but were away from most of the people.

“My story is an interesting one.  In all a’truth, I know not where exactly I am a’from.  All I know is I am a’from far far west, on the other a’side of Aisis Lip.  Possibly from an island a’there, or maybe the a’mainland.  It was during Queen Anita’s a’time that I was a’born.  I can remember my a’mother and father, both a’pigeons like me.  I can remember us all a’traveling round a lot.  Perhaps my a’parents were performers, perhaps they a’told tales all around A’isis Lip or maybe they had a’simple tricks they performed, like a’magic, but still just a’tricks.  I don’t remember, a’because I was so a’young.  I remember a sickness a’hitting our group and everyone a’died.  Everyone that is, except a’me.  I don’t know why I a’survived, but survive I did.  I a’don’t remember what happened after a’that.  I don’t know how a’many days passed, and whether I a’found food or not.  But I a’just stayed where I was with a’my dead parents near a’me.  Then visitors came, a’tall men dressed in the uniforms of Enchantus, o’course I didn’t know a’that then.  They knew about the a’sickness and took me to Enchantus a’palace and it was a’there I met the Queen’s a’mother, who was then a’queen, and it was a’there I was treated and a’nourished and got better and I a’became a servant of the a’queen, and then when Queen Anita a’became queen I became her a’servant.”

Marie took a long sip of her tea.  Kyra hadn’t touched hers, but seeing Marie drink reminded her and she tasted the strong black tea and felt it sooth her, relax her.

“After all this a’time,” Marie continued, “I still know a’next to nothing about a’my past.  I’ve been a’told a few things, a’here and there, that a’there is nothing like a’me in all of Enchantus, and in all of a’this side of Aisis Lip, including all the islands.  So I a’think I must be a’from the west.  Sure, it a’could be north or a’south too, but there’s so a’much more to the a’west that we know a’nothing about.”

“Why is that?” Kyra asked.  “Why doesn’t anyone go out and explore the west?”

Marie looked at her as if she’d just asked the strangest thing in the world, then she sort of shrugged her feathers and continued drinking her tea.

Before Kyra could ask her for an answer, everyone turned to face the far wall, people turning and focusing their attention on the platform there.  Two people were on the platform: one standing, a woman, the other sitting on a chair, a man.

“Come,” Marie said, “the storytelling is about to a’begin.”

They both got up and joined the Queen, Orcus and Demto in a group of armchairs right in front of the platform.  Kyra smiled at the Queen and then focused on the woman on the stage.
    
“Welcome all to this wonderful day of celebration.  I am the bard known as Phara.  You all look like you are ready for a tale and do I have one ready for you.  Behind me sits my husband, Luke, who will accompany my tale on the lyre.
    
“I have spent a good portion of the year traveling throughout the great and wonderful Kingdom of Enchantus, gathering stories and experiences together and furthering the knowledge of my trade.  It was about two months ago that I met another bard on the northeast coast of the Kingdom in a little town called Ides.  Olaf was his name and as we sat down to dinner that night, he told me a tale that I will never forget.  I have only passed beyond the boundaries of Enchantus but a few times in my life, and not for very long.  Olaf is a bard who visited the kingdom and has traveled extensively throughout the eastern half of the continent.  His tale is one set in a land very far from here.  You are the first people to hear this from me and, except for myself, the first people to hear this in the entire Kingdom of Enchantus.”
    
Phara stepped back, looked to her husband who was ready and indicated this with a slight nod.  Then she took her place, sitting in her chair, facing straight ahead at the audience.  There was complete silence in the great hall, except from the cracklings of the fires.  Everyone watched, rapt, silent, still.
    
Luke started playing: slow, soft notes that gently broke the silence and passed out into the great hall, filling it with sound.  Kyra was overcome by the beautiful sound and had to lower her head, feeling tears spring to her eyes.  She looked up, as Phara began her tale.  Her voice was slower than before, and higher, with a lilting quality, almost as if she were singing but not quite.  Her voice hypnotized everyone in the room, and they didn’t take their eyes or ears off her until she stopped talking half an hour later.
    
“Our tale begins in the distant island of Coe, in the northeast, where there is a vibrant city known as Rose.  Our hero is a young boy of eight named Lewis.  He is your ordinary boy in every possible way, but his life is about to take a startling change.  We find him standing in an alley.  It is a small and relatively unknown alley, off the main thoroughfares and hidden amongst the smaller streets.  He is out of breath, bent over, his hands resting on his knees; his body is shaking from the exertion of running so hard and so fast from the market stall he was just at mere seconds ago.  After a few minutes, he has recovered, and slowly pulls himself together.  His left hand is open, hanging by his side; his right is bunched into a fist, holding something.  He raises his hand close to his face and begins to open it and stops, clamping down tight on whatever he is holding.  He lifts his head up and looks around in every direction, making a complete circle, then looks up onto the balconies of the three-story buildings on either side of the alley.  There isn’t a person in sight.  He listens and hears nothing but his own heavy breathing and the thumping of his heart.  He walks under one of the balconies where there is shade and almost darkness.  Here he has the privacy he desires.  He raises his hand up to his face once more, bringing it closer this time because it is darker.  He slowly opens it and looks at the small brooch sitting in his palm.  It looks so small and fragile.  The back is facing him, little more than a pin bent at an angle so it will not pierce the wearer’s flesh.  He turns the brooch over with his other hand and looks at the side everyone would see if he were to wear it.  There is a complicated metal knotwork forming a perfect circle and in the circle is a small mirror.  He can see himself in the mirror, and through some illusion, the reflection shows his entire body.  As he looks into the mirror, he sees some a flickering movement over his shoulder.  He looks closer into the mirror and his reflection vanishes, replaced by a moving picture of the merchant whose stall he stole the brooch from.  The man is walking very fast, at times running and dashing into alleyways and onto other streets.  Lewis can see the market in the distance behind the man, who is running away from it.  The man is looking for something.  The man is looking for him.  He wants the brooch back.  The magical brooch.
    
“Without thinking, Lewis lifts up the lapel on his coat and jabs it into his shirt.  He has not seen how the pin has swung lose and is sticking straight out.  It passes easily through the material and pierces his skin.  Lewis yelps, the sound echoing off the walls of the surrounding buildings.  Then he begins running.  At the tenth step he instantly stops.  In his mind he can now see the merchant looking for him, coming closer, almost as if her were running with the man.  Lewis reaches and touches the brooch; he winces as he feels the pin dig in deeper, then his fingers become wet with the blood from the wound.  Somehow he is seeing in his mind what he was seeing in the mirror before.  A word comes to mind, the only word that can explain everything that has happened to him today.”
    
Phara pauses here for a few seconds and then whispers the word; everyone hears it: “magic.”
    
“Lewis is running now, running for his life.  In his mind he sees the look in the merchant’s face and knows that man will stop at nothing to get back what he stole.
    
“There is no organization, no strategy to his running.  Lewis just runs, zipping down every third street, turning left, turning right, turning left, then left again.  Finally, he sees in his mind that the merchant has stopped and is bent over, choking, out of breath.  He falls to the side of the street and does not get up for some time.  When he does, he slowly walks back to the market and takes over from the man he quickly put in charge when the brooch was stolen.  He had high hopes for that piece of jewelry.  There was something special about it, he could tell.  He was about to keep it for himself when that boy just came out of nowhere, grabbed it, and ran.  And now he will never know.
    
“Lewis is now free of his attacker, but he does not slow.  He changes direction, now knowing exactly where he is going.  He runs until he reaches a specific house on a specific street and there he enters his home.”
    
Phara takes another pause here and the music changes slightly, slows and is more of a tranquil piece, indicating that the tale is reaching its conclusion.
    
“His mother and father are there, eating lunch.  Lewis reaches under his coat and pulls the brooch free, the pain instantly stopping.  He peeks beneath the neckline of his shirt and looks at what he expects to be a deep and bleeding wound, but he only sees a small drying patch of blood and no hole in his skin anywhere.  Whatever was there before has now somehow healed.
    
“Lewis walks up to the table and deposits the brooch beside his mother’s plate.  She stops eating, puts down her fork and looks at the brooch.  She is shocked and looks at Lewis in amazement.
    
“‘How did you ever find it?’ she asks.  Then she sees the blood on the pin and says: ‘Oh.’  But before she can say anymore, Lewis interrupts.
    
“‘I know that this is very dear to you, mother.  I know even more now; now I sort of know why.  But I heard you talking about how much you cared for it with father.  And today I saw it on this stall in the market, and before I could stop myself, I snatched it up and ran away.  I ran hard and long until I couldn’t run anymore.  And then I looked in it and saw the merchant was chasing me.  I knew then that it was special.  Magical.  So I put it on, only it pricked me and then I could see what it saw in my mind; I could see the man looking for me.  So I ran away from him, far away, until he gave up and went back to the market, and then I came here.’
    
“His mother looked at him, then at the brooch, then she looked at her husband who had yet to say anything, but there was still no response from him.  She turned her chair and wrapped her arms around her son, hugging him hard, then she held him by the shoulders at arm’s length and looked into his eyes.
    
“‘What you did was a very brave thing.  But stealing is wrong, it’s something you shouldn’t do, you know that don’t you?’
    
“‘I know that,’ he said, ‘but it’s yours, it belongs to you, not that man.  I knew that, which is why I took it.’
    
“She looked to her husband and he spoke for the first time.
    
“‘Do you think he’s the guy who originally stole it?’ he asked her. 
    
“‘Could be,’ she said.  ‘Why don’t you go find out?’
    
“He nodded, then looked to Lewis.
    
“‘Was it the man who sells all the different things?  The one who has no two things the same?’
    
“‘Yeah, that’s him,’ Lewis said.
    
“‘Take the brooch with you, you might need it,’ Lewis’s mother said, as she threw it to him.
    
“His father left and Lewis looked at his mother.
    
“‘So what’s going to happen now.  Is everything going to be okay?’
    
“His mother took him into her arms once more.  ‘Yes, yes, everything’s going to be fine now.’”
    
The silence that followed was abrupt and at first unwelcome.  The audience could have listened to the bard until dawn and still be left wanting more, but Phara was done and the music had ended.  The silence continued, then someone far in the back began a solitary clap; soon the hall was in an uproar of loud clapping and cheers and whistling.
    
“This was all that Olaf told me,” Phara said, once everyone had quieted down.  “Perhaps there is more, and perhaps one day I will meet him again and he will tell me the rest of the story.  Or perhaps one of you will meet him?”
    
There was more clapping as Phara stood, took the hand of her husband who also stood and they took a bow.  She mouthed the words thank you over and over, knowing she couldn’t be heard over the noise if she tried.
    
“That was pretty amazing,” Kyra said.
    
Marie just beamed at her, nodding.
    
Kyra watched as Phara and Luke took a final bow before the queen and then left the platform.  She took a long drink of her tea, savoring the taste.  She almost choked on it when she saw Queen Anita stand and ascend the stairs to the platform.
    
“Thank you all again,” the queen began.  “Thank you all so much for coming this evening.  The tale I am about to tell is sadly not fantastic or as enjoyable as the last one we heard.  It is a true story of the history of Aisis Lip.  Specifically about one . . . man, if you want to call him that.”
    
Dread began to crawl up Kyra’s back.
    
“While I am reluctant to tell it, you all need to hear.  The man is Jolus the Malignant.”
    
Queen Anita paused after saying this, knowing there would be some reaction from the crowd, and there was.  A murmuring began to build, until people were outright shouting at each other, voicing their distress and distaste for that name.  Queen Anita looked at them with sadness.  They knew so little about the man, only that he was an evil, a cancer upon this land that had threatened it once, was stopped, and was now threatening again.  They needed to know the truth, what had really happened in Aisis Lip’s past.
    
She raised her hands, imploring them to quiet down and listen.  “Please, please,” she said in a normal tone of voice.  The message passed quickly through the crowd, for this was their queen after all.  Soon there was utter silence again.
    
“Thank you,” she said.  “I know this is not someone you want to hear about.  But you must, for your own sanity.  To defeat what you fear, you must first understand it.”
    
She took a breath, and when she saw she had everybody’s eye in the room on her, she began her tale.
    
“We begin in a time long, long ago, when everything was very different from now.  It is not known how this all came to be, what triggered its existence, and what triggered the existence of the people to grow and propagate, when Aisis Lip was in its earliest infancy.  Perhaps we will find some answers to these questions in our future.  For now, you will have to go by what I know and can tell you, what I have been told by my mother and my family, and what has been recorded for generations; what we believe to be the true history of Aisis Lip.
    
“As close to the beginning as we know, there were two races living across this vast land, not very large in number, but nevertheless significant and existing amongst themselves.  There were the Enchantans: a people of average stature, with a brownish complexion, whose descendants we all are; and there were the Mesolans: a much taller race, almost one a half times our size, with a pasty pale, almost white complexion.
    
“The two races lived separately, isolated; one on each side of the Great Continental Mass, and for millennia they lived as such, increasing their population, understanding and learning about the land upon which they lived.  They explored very little, rarely venturing outside the vicinity of where they lived. 
    
“Then something happened.  It is not know exactly what, but some instance triggered a change within the Enchantans and a new group of people was created, distinct from its ancestors.  Perhaps it was a group of the Enchantans who made to decision to explore, contrary to the people as a whole, and found a different area of the continent to live in, with specific conditions that led to the creation of this new race.  Bear in mind this is thought to be taking place over many thousands of years.  Perhaps even tens of thousands; we simply don’t understand enough to know for sure.
    
“The new race was a short one, about half the size of the Enchantans, and they were known as the Ewlaps.  What is most certain about them was their inability to settle down in any one place, but would traverse the Great Continental Mass from place to place.  One interesting detail about their people is that the men always wear very long bears, growing them throughout their lives.”
    
Queen Anita looked around at the men in the audience.  They were all clear shaven, their cheeks and chins as clear and unblemished as the women.  She smiled at how their own custom was so different.  She wondered if any of these Ewlaps might exist somewhere across the great continent, or perhaps another similar people, who subscribed to the same custom.
    
“Life went on for these three races: the Enchantans and Mesolans on each side of the continent, with the nomadic Ewlaps traveling all around.  The races very rarely met, and when they did they soon went their separate ways, keeping much to themselves.  It is believed that around this time the old saying “Once in a blue moon,” was conceived.  A unique phenomenon occurs once every five hundred years in Aisis Lip: a comet known as Aloha travels near to our moon and its tail casts a blue haze across the moons face, creating the illusion that the moon is blue.  During the rare event, which it is thought to last about a week, it was greatly celebrated by the three races, but was soon forgotten.  The saying was an indicator to the people who study our history of just how rarely the races came together.  Incidentally, Aloha is due come round again within a decade or so, it is thought.
    
“Many millennia later.  Some historians say even millions of years, though I find it hard to believe that so much time could have passed.  But a long time later, in the northeastern part of Aisis Lip, where the land of the great continental mass meets the sea, something altered this world for then until the present time.”
    
Queen Anita could sense that the crowd knew what was coming, and there were a few gasps when she uttered this statement.  She let then quiet down and then got to the main point of her tale.
    
“It was on a dark and cloudy day, with the rain falling, that it happened.  As these sorts of things always do,” she said smiling again.  She got a few smiles and forced laughs from the crowd, but they were mostly scared.
    
“The heavy rain was drenching the sands along the coast.  At one spot along this beach was a lone white rock, sticking right out of the sand, about the size of this platform I stand upon.  It was here that a great explosion tore through the sky and a sudden rip developed through the very fabric of reality.  I know this is a hard concept to take in, and I still have trouble understanding it.  But the wizards of our past documented this and swear that it is true.  The hole that tore through our reality was from another reality, another world, another place, not Aisis Lip.  This was how Jolus the Malignant forced himself into our world, upon this white rock.  It is thought that the hole closed up behind him, trapping him here forever.”
    
Queen Anita paused for some time, letting this sink into the minds of her people.  She knew this was a form of torture for them, but they needed to know.
    
“Jolus the Malignant wasted no time and began creating his army straight away, using the natural resources around him.  Using his powers, he is able to bring together natural elements, like mud and water and plants, and create creatures, monsters, forming their shape and then using his magic to give them life.  He worked relentlessly and his army increased greatly in number; with these minions, he created his castle and his kingdom.  Time passed again, and the races, because of their extreme isolation, knew nothing of his existence.  When he was finally ready, he set off to battle and conquer all of Aisis Lip.
    
“The first population Jolus the Malignant found were the Mesolans, and they put up a surprising fight, perhaps due to their size.  We know so little, it is hard to tell.  They managed to wipe out a third of his army, but his minions were the more powerful, and eventually eradicated the Mesolans completely, it is thought.  In fact, there is only one man in the entire kingdom of Enchantus who knows anything about the Mesolans and that is Demto, the wizard.  We don’t have time to go into this now, but if you wish to know a little more about this enigmatic race, I’m sure if you catch him when he has a free moment he will be happy to inform you.”
    
Queen Anita nodded towards Demto as she said this, and he nodded back, knowing that no one would dare ask him for fear of what he might do to them.
    
“With his first battle, Jolus the Malignant was victorious, nevertheless, he had suffered some heavy loses, and took time to regroup and prepare himself better.  It was at this point in time he stumbled upon the Ewlaps by sheer accident in their significantly smaller numbers than the Mesolans or the Enchantans.  More correctly, it is thought, the Ewlaps stumbled upon him along their travels.  Jolus the Malignant found them to be such a pathetically weak race, in his view, that instead of destroying them, he simply enslaved them, integrating their population into his now smaller numbers, and to this day they remain his slaves.
    
“It was at this point that the Enchantans somehow got word of this new evil spreading across Aisis Lip.  They knew their time was limited, and with their large focused numbers, they quickly built up their defenses.  It is thought that they were more advanced than either the Mesolans and Ewlaps put together, at least in technology, and this was how they were able to prepare themselves so well and with such speed.  Their army was soon ready.
    
“The resulting immense clash between the two powers was the largest and bloodiest battle this world has ever seen, and hopefully will ever see.  It is remembered and recalled to us now, down the generations, as the Bloody War.  As most of you probably know, that day the Enchantans were triumphant, defeating Jolus the Malignant and his army of monsters.  It was a long hard struggle, many Enchantans died, but by the end of the day, at nightfall, with only a handful of the creatures left, and Jolus the Malignant standing defiant, victory was declared.  He was banished to his distant kingdom on the shore and with a magical power now long lost to us, a great mountain range was raised from the ground and surrounded his kingdom, imprisoning him.  A fortress was build to guard him and a king appointed to watch over.  It was in this fortress that the last known living Mesolans stood and protected the rest of Aisis Lip.  Whether they are alive now, remains unknown.
    
“The Ewlaps were never set free, for so little was know of their existence (as is now), and no one knew they were enslaved and trapped within Jolus the Malignant’s lair.  It is thought that he killed many upon his angry, defeated return, but kept the rest to be his personal servants.
    
“Time passed once more, as Jolus the Malignant was thought finished and unimportant to the people of Aisis Lip.  In time, Enchatus’s defenses rusted and rotted, while their armies ceased to exist.
    
“And that is how the Kingdom of Enchantus stands today, helpless and relatively defenseless, while Jolus the Malignant grows yet more powerful.  Time and knowledge is no longer on our side, and everything is now up to the Chosen One.”
    
Kyra felt every pair of eyes turn on her and she shrank into her armchair, trying to appear as small and insignificant as an insect.
    
“That is the end of the tale,” Queen Anita continued,  “and the end of the feast.  I thank you once again, one and all, for coming, and bid you a safe trip on your way home, and a comfortable sleep tonight.”
    
There was a loud round of applause and some cheering, and then everyone began leaving.
    
Kyra drank the rest of her cold tea and watched as Queen Anita stepped down from the platform, talked briefly with Orcus and Demto, and then walked towards Kyra.  She stopped when she reached her, looking down at the girl.
    
“I hope that was informative for you Kyra, since it was mainly for your benefit.”  There was a cold and hard demeanor to the queen as she said this.  Kyra could tell she was thinking about the troubling times ahead and what Jolus the Malignant could be planning.
    
“Please come with me, I wish to show you something,” she said.
    
“Of course,” Kyra replied without hesitation and stood up to follow her.
    
“Do not worry about seeing her to bed tonight, Marie, I will attend to it.”
    
“Yes my queen,” Marie said.

Queen Anita led Kyra down a corridor of crystalline walls, stopped at a specific point, and breathed on the wall.  Soon an opening formed and she passed through; Kyra followed and watched as the opening closed behind her.  She was still trying to get used to this system of opening and closing doorways with a single breath.

She looked around the room and found it to be nothing special, compared with everything she’d already seen in the palace.  Then she saw the floating podium and the big tome resting on it.  It was open to a specific page.

Queen Anita motioned for Kyra to go up to the book.  She did so and looked down at the page.

KYRA, THE CHOSEN ONE

she read.  She looked up at Queen Anita in shock.
    
“This is Aisis Lip’s most sacred book, a text that is unique.  These are our Scriptures.”  As she said this, she tapped the book delicately.  “The Scriptures tell us how we should lead our lives, how they have been led in the past, and what they will lead to in the future.” 

She took a breath and let Kyra take all this in.
    
“As you can see this is a special chapter, and it is about you.”
    
Queen Anita put her hands on Kyra’s shoulders.
    
“Kyra, I have known, as have many people, for a long, long time, ever since this chapter was written thousands of years ago; that one day you, the Chosen One, would come to us.  To rid us of an evil that we wouldn’t stand a chance against.  That day is today, and you are now here.”
    
Kyra thought about this.
    
“But then why did Marie know to come to my world and get me in particular.  It could have been anyone on that . . .” she struggled in her memory for the word: “beach.”
    
“Ssh,” the Queen spoke, “do not think about this now.  In time you shall know.  But not now.  Read the passage.”
    
Kyra had seen that quick look of sadness and what looked like fear.  She didn’t argue but read the passage. 
    
When she was done she looked up at the Queen.  She was smiling at her, finally happy that this weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and that Kyra now almost knew everything there was to know.  But Kyra wasn’t smiling, there was a look on her face that the Queen couldn’t decipher.
    
“Queen Anita, I have something I must tell you.  When I rested this afternoon, I had a nightmare and when I awoke, apart from discovering the great change in my room . . .”
    
“Yes, my dear, the copy of your bedroom was created so you would not feel too uncomfortable, and after your rest it was thought that you would be ready for the change, for your mind would have had time to process all that had happened and all that you had seen.  Why, was this not the case?”
    
“Oh no,” Kyra continued, “that worked out fine, it just came as a shock at first.  A problem I have had since I awoke, which has yet to change is that my memory of my old world is completely gone.  Whenever I try to remember something from there, it’s like it’s not there anymore, like my mind has been cleansed of it.  You saw how I had a problem just then recalling the word . . .” 
    
Now Kyra looked at the Queen in fear.
    
“I can’t remember.  I can’t remember anything!”
    
The Queen took her into her arms and held her close.  Kyra hugged her back, shivering now.
    
The Queen did know and was unsettled by all this.  This wasn’t supposed to have happened.  Had Demto made a mistake in the spell he’d done, when he bewitched the room?  She would have to talk with him, for this was simply not right.  No wonder Kyra hadn’t recognized Orcus when she’d seen him, as Queen Anita had expected her too.  Could Jolus the Malignant possibly have anything to do with this?  No, his magic was surely not strong enough for that, was it?  She didn’t actually know, for he’d never been a threat in her time; little was know about his abilities.
    
She would have to send Kyra to Marie and then consult with Demto immediately.  This did not bode well at all for Kyra.