Magic Apprentice

“Haha, I knew keeping secrets from you would be impossible.” Laughed Hecaris III. 

“I’ve come to a decision. We will do what we must to avoid a war with Sovereign. Their envoys have shown us nothing but goodwill thus far. We must take this opportunity to form an alliance. It is better we have a powerful friend than a powerful adversary.”

“A thousand praises for your wonderful judgement, Your Highness.” Kebrilio affirmed.

“Now then, how shall we persuade Somiret and Hughesin?” Folding his arms, Hecaris III moved the topic to a more pressing issue.

“Your Highness, I had always presumed your influence would be enough to sway them. Was that not the case?”

Confused, Hecaris III looked to Myron for an explanation.

“Has Your Highness ever thought of expanding Karth and unifying the world?”

Kebrilio leaped to his feet, bewildered at what the magus in front of him had just said.

“Expanding my domain to the lands beyond has certainly always been my agenda, but never the latter. My only desire is to have land for my descendants to prosper from. Should it come to it, my descendants can worry about world domination in their own lifetime.” Hecaris III mused with solemnity most had never ever seen before.

Kebrilio stared at his emperor with wide-open eyes, who was this man? He had never seen this man speak in such a manner before. 

“There’s no need for such surprise, my dear subject.” Hecaris III laughed, “Ambition is no stranger to me. My trust in the two of you has allowed me to get this far. My only hope now is that you two will aid me as faithfully as before now that you have seen my true colors.”

“Has Somiret or Hughesin pledged their loyalty to you then?” Kebrilio asked. It was confusing now, to see how his emperor spoke and acted; he needed clarification.

“No, they have always been loyal to their own philosophy and interests. All I have done is make use of those ambitions to push forward my own agenda.” Smiled Hecaris III.

“Archiereus Myron, would you be willing to peer into the future? How will the future play out?”

Silently, Myron rose to his feet, covered his face with his hands, and began to sing. A low hum could be heard as his voice carried into the night sky above. His voice was present but also distant, both at the same time. And as he hummed, the mirror in his hand slowly floated back up into the air.

Golden script appeared in the night sky before burning away. Like stanzas to a poem, the golden script would reveal one sentence at a time before disappearing and allowing another sentence to appear after.

Myron would repeat the words afterward.

“The ancient stars hath begun their cycle.

From beyond the new door the visitors hath opened.

The bugle of the War God hath begun to ring.

New visitors from within the Darkness come.

The Gospel will spread in all twelve directions.

Together, the kings of all will sit.

For a new nation of no territory.

Three holy days will become four.

Until the next stellar cycle.”

So excited was the emperor at Myron’s prediction that he stormed out from the laboratory with a smile on his face. Sauntering through the doors, the plaza, and then into his own palace, the man strolled past his retainers with none the wiser of why he was so elated.

Myron remained there in his laboratory with Kebrilio. Unlike the emperor, Kebrilio sat there on top of his cushion with nary a happy emotion on his face.

His years of study exceeded that of the emperor. And his studies in the field of maguscraft also made him a man of deep knowledge and understanding. Prophecies of the ancient past were always made with ambiguity. Never had he heard of such a straightforward prophecy before.

But he didn’t doubt Myron’s divination either. He deeply understood Myron’s character and knew that his predictions were never false, meaning there was a very good chance this new prophecy could be interpreted differently. Many, in the course of history, have attempted to interpret prophecies, but not always with success. The most egregious misinterpretation had been the one concerning the demise of the ancient Magic Empire.

“Twelve stars glimmering beyond the ecliptic.

Twelve humans

Will live on for eternity.”

The Magic Empire had twelve simultaneous rulers at the time of the prophecy. This in turn led to them each believing that the prophecy was referring to them. Immortality! Research was immediately conducted to attain such a prize, an action that led to the resistance of many. Consequentially, the Magic Empire ended up being destroyed at the hand of twelve heroes whose names were memorialized instead.

Not wishing for a similar fate to befall him or the emperor, Kebrilio began to worry.

“This is a blessing, not a curse. There is no escaping a curse.” Myron reassured him.

“If only it were that easy to not worry. To know that we are pushing for an action that will push us even faster towards destruction…I can’t foresee the future like you and so I have my doubts. And to doubt is to worry. But I have confidence that the last Karthian ruler will not be our liege. Would it be possible for you to tell me who will be the ultimate victor?” 

“There will be no ultimate victor.” Myron replied.

“But how could that be?” Kebrilio had his doubts, “And what is this Gospel?”

“You’ll come to learn it soon. The Gospel will appear in Karth soon enough.” Smiled Myron.

“In that case, would you be able to tell me who will be the one to spin the wheel of fate?” Kebrilio pleaded. He was desperate to know but also fully expectant to not receive an answer. Those capable of peering in the future had been known to be mysterious and unwilling to divulge their secrets. He and Myron had known each other for many years now, but Kebrilio knew that Myron suffered from such an ailment.

Myron smiled at him. “The wheel is far too heavy to be spun by a single person. How could it be without people such as you, me, or our liege?”

The enigmatic smile of his peer brought a sigh from Kebrilio’s lips. It was a fruitless endeavor to attempt to have the seer explain the future to him. Myron was simply going to continue being ambiguous and at best give him an answer he’d most likely misunderstand. 

Many prophecies weren’t confirmed at the time of their making, but often far in the future after the prophesied event had already happened by people who could slowly extract and confirm the truth. Sometimes, Kebrilio had to wonder why people such as Myron were called seers and not puzzlers—or aristarchs if anything. 

Either way, it was unfortunate that such an evil person was his friend.

By this point, Kebrilio’s curiosity was satisfied for the time being. Shaking his head, he stood up to bid farewell to the other.

“If you’ve the time, perhaps you’ll visit the Sovereignian dignitaries? Perhaps those youngsters will need an extra or two. I was quite proficient in the art when younger, after all.”

“Hah! You’re an old hand at the art, why the sudden interest in theirs?” Laughed Kebrilio.

Myron winked twice at his old friend, “One should not pass up an opportunity to share the stage with heroes when presented.”

It took a second for Kebrilio to properly digest those enigmatic words, but he nodded in understanding. Perhaps it made sense that he should consider taking part in the performance as well?

Kebrilio soon left the laboratory, leaving Myron alone in his lab. Striding up to the mirror, he watched as the moonlight struck it and be transformed into another series of words.

“The voice of a god spoken through a demon.

Mine enemy will accomplish what I could not.

The final chapter of the war between god and demon hath been wrote.

And Order and Chaos shalt be made one.”

The Archiereus fell silent. Despite being the speaker of a god, Myron could not confess to knowing the meaning behind the gods’ designs, only that the three youths would be fundamental to those plans. The wheel of fate was something those three would spin, and the very axis of it all would be in the hand of the one known as Elric.

Myron, however, dared not to assume anything regarding the final prophecy. The only thing he could even begin to be confident in was that Elric was a Chosen like him, but perhaps one with the power of a demon instead.

He did have a very good guess on which demon was behind Elric, actually. The God of Wisdom, Atroh Tanscadt, was known to have only one rival figure; an elder demon known as the smartest amongst the demons, Monster Rykapheus.