Veremund inclined his head and stood up, taking the small lamp providing the only
illumination in the room besides the fire, and climbed the circular iron steps until he disappeared
from view.
Axis felt a premonition crawl down his spine and he reached instinctively for his axe. But
it was gone, buried underneath the Woods, and his sword stood propped out of his reach against
the wall of the Keep. He glanced at Arne and Timozel; both looked as nervous as he. How had
they let their swords be placed out of their immediate reach?
Ogden noticed their tension. ―Gentlemen, I assure you that there is no danger. Veremund
has simply gone to fetch one of the Icarii books.‖
Soon the four men heard Veremund shuffling back down the steps. He had left his lamp
behind, and grasped a large leather volume to his chest with both arms. He almost dropped the
volume as he reached the table; clearly it was very heavy. Ogden turned the book around so that
he could open it, squinting in the flickering light and muttering as he leafed through the pages.
The others could see that each page was made of vellum, and contained an unfamiliar
handwritten script and illuminations of incredible beauty. Whoever had written in this book had
used inks of vivid hues, and gold and silver paints glittered among the rainbow enamels of the
script.
―Ah,‖ Ogden finally breathed, his fingers tracing lightly along the lines of a page. ―Here
we are. Both the Icarii and the Avar, often so dissimilar in nature, had a shared prophecy, a
prophecy that dates back many thousands of years. All Icarii and Avar used to pray that they
would not be alive when the prophecy came to fruition. Let me read it to you.‖
He took a deep breath and began to read, his voice taking on a peculiar musical aspect.
―A day will come when born will be…Two babes whose blood…whose blood…‖ He stopped,
rubbing his eyes. ―Cursed firelight!‖ he growled. ―You should have brought the lamp back with
you, Veremund. Here, can you read this?‖
Veremund shook his head from side to side. ―Brother Ogden, you know that my eyes are
weaker than yours—perhaps the BattleAxe?‖
Axis looked startled, but Ogden waved him over. ―The words won‘t bite you, BattleAxe,
and you have a young man‘s eyes. I used to know these lines by heart, but ‘tis so long since I had
cause to remember them…Here,‖ his finger tapped the page impatiently as Axis sat down on the
bench beside him. ―The words start here.‖
Axis stared at the page for a moment, but the writing was so strange and alien that he
could not make out the words. He looked up at Ogden. ―Brother, I can‘t read this. The writing is
foreign, and I—‖
―Nonsense!‖ Ogden interrupted. ―Look! Concentrate, and you‘ll be able to read
it—you‘ll see.‖
Sighing, Axis turned back to the page. He let one finger lightly touch the page; it felt
slightly warm. He stared at the writing. The letters were strange, curved and exotic, and the
words all seemed to flow into one another. The vivid colours were distract ing. It was impossible.
He frowned and leaned a little closer, his temples throbbing in the poor light. A wave of
dizziness passed over him, and, when he blinked and cleared his vision, the writing had
somehow come into focus.
―Yes,‖ he said quietly. ―I can read it. It is very strange, but…but I can read it.‖ A strange
melody ran softly through his mind, but Axis ignored it.
―Then read it, BattleAxe, read it to us,‖ said Ogden quietly, his eyes riveted on Axis‘
face.
Axis took a deep breath, and when he started to read, his voice took on a low-timbred
musical quality, almost as if he were singing to himself.
A day will come when born will be
Two babes whose blood will tie them.
That born to Wing and Horn will hate
The one they call the StarMan.
Destroyer! rises in the north
And drives his Ghostmen south;
Defenceless lie both flesh and field
Before Gorgrael’s ice.
To meet this threat you must release
The StarMan from his lies,
Revive Tencendor, fast and sure
Forget the ancient war,
For if Plough, Wing and Horn can’t find
The bridge to understanding,
Then will Gorgrael earn his name
And bring Destruction hither.
Axis paused a moment, although he didn‘t take his eyes from the page. ―Tencendor?‖
―I will explain in a moment,‖ Ogden said quietly, placing a gentle hand on Axis‘
shoulder. ―Finish. Please.‖ Axis resumed reading.
StarMan, listen, heed me well,
Your power will destroy you
If you should wield it in the fray
’Ere these prophecies are met:
The Sentinels will walk abroad
’Til power corrupt their hearts;
A child will turn her head and cry
Revealing ancient arts;
A wife will hold in joy at night
The slayer of her husband;
Age-old souls, long in cribs,
Will sing o’er mortal land;
The remade dead, fat with child
Will birth abomination;
A darker power will prove to be
The father of salvation.
Then waters will release bright eyes
To form the Rainbow Sceptre.
―There is a break,‖ Axis said quietly, ―then begins another verse.‖ He felt very strange,
almost as if he were in the grip of a dream. The melody running through his mind had become
louder, more insistent. He was thankful for the pressure of Ogden‘s hand on his shoulder, and did
not notice it tighten in shock the moment he continued to read.
StarMan, listen, for I know
That you can wield the sceptre
To bring Gorgrael to his knees
And break the ice asunder.
But even with the power in hand
Your pathway is not sure:
A Traitor from within your camp
Will seek and plot to harm you;
Let not your Lover’s pain distract
For this will mean your death;
Destroyer’s might lies in his hate
Yet you must never follow;
Forgiveness is the thing assured
To save Tencendor’s soul.
For a long moment there was silence. Then Axis reluctantly tore his eyes away from the
beautiful page. His vision blurred, then cleared again as he blinked at Ogden. The melody had
disappeared as strangely as it had come.
―I don‘t understand,‖ Timozel said, his face confused. He looked apologetically at Ogden
and Veremund. ―I was never good at my book learning, Brothers. I preferred to spend time with
my weapon instructor.‖
―Axis seems to have been very good at his book learning,‖ Gilbert muttered very quietly
to himself. Gilbert was sitting next to Axis as he read and yet as carefully as he had studied the
page he could not decipher the writing—and he had far more training than Axis had ever had.
How had Axis managed to read what he could not?
―Tencendor,‖ said Veremund, ―was the ancient name of Achar when all three races lived
together in harmony. The followers of the Plough, the Wing and the Horn. The Prophecy of the
Destroyer, as these verses were known, refers to a time when Gorgrael, the Destroyer, will drive
his forces of ice and cloud down from the north in an attempt to conquer Tencendor, ah, Achar.‖
―Destroyer rises in the north and drives his Ghostmen south,‖ Axis mused. ―Brothers, are
these Ghostmen the wraith-like creatures that have been attacking the patrols? And the creatures
made of ice that attacked Gorkenfort and Gorkentown…ice creatures of this Gorgrael?‖
Ogden nodded.
―It‘s completely ridiculous!‖ Gilbert exclaimed, amazed that Axis could be taking these
lines seriously. ―This is a heretical book, BattleAxe! You cannot listen to these words!‖
Axis turned his pale blue eyes on Gilbert. ―I don‘t care if we listen to the words of a
pox-ridden whore whose brain is riddled with the diseases of her trade, Gilbert, just as long as
they make some kind of sense.‖ He turned back to Ogden and Veremund. ―Brothers, I can
understand the reference to the Destroyer, and the troubles in the north, but the rest of it? It‘s a
riddle.‖
―I‘m afraid that prophecies tend to be a little like riddles, Axis. Easy enough to interpret
when you know the answer, almost impossible when you don‘t.‖ And dangerous, he thought,
dangerous when you misinterpret them.
―But,‖ Timozel frowned and leaned forward. ―Doesn‘t the Prophecy refer to a man who
can stop this Destroyer? The ‗StarMan‘?‖
Veremund frowned. ―And tied by blood to the Destroyer. A brother, perhaps.‖
Gilbert laughed incredulously, his pimply face scornful as he looked at the two elderly
Brothers. ―Oh? So you now tell us that we not only face some mythical Destroyer, a legend of
the Forbidden, but that we have to put our trust in his brother? If the Destroyer is born of Wing and Horn then he is one of the Forbidden himself. His brother can only be of the Forbidden too.
My friends, I think you have been too long closeted with your books. The Seneschal will not