obvious pain, sat down in his solid black, jeweled chair. He now needed his black gnarled staff to stand or even walk. His crippled body was riddled with the ravages of age. Using his magic, he was able to significantly slow his aging, but he could not arrest it completely. He could not count the number of set of seasons that had passed since the time of the great fights. He was young and strong then, but now his memories were all that was left to him. The room was black except for a small fire and a torch. Above the fire an image of the great land mass hovered. There was one bright light in the image near the coast. He looked at the dwarf holding the torch and told him to go. The dwarf moved, leaving him to his own thoughts.
“I felt him, but he's still near the coast. The light has not moved beyond the mountains,” he said into the darkness.
“He is preparing to come,” a deathlike voice said, followed by an odd disjointed laugh.
“We can defeat him,” stated the old wizard.
“We! You are the wizard,” the voice said in a laughing tone.
“You seduced me into betraying my kind,” the old wizard said to the darkness.
“You wanted power. I gave you the opportunity to gain it and you took it.”
“I have over a quarter of a million dwarfs in front of the valley path. No number of men and nymphs can defeat them,” the old wizard said with his old enthusiasm.
“This one is more powerful than any you have fought against, and you are ancient. The dwarfs will be slaughtered with or without your magic. You would need to be at the fight to use the magic you possess. You know what will happen if you leave this mountain,” the voice said with the hideous laugh.
“No, what will happen?”
“You will return from whence you came: the dirt.”
“You will help,” the old wizard demanded.
“If I can.”
“If you can. If you can! If I can be killed by this dragon man, you can also be killed by him,” the old wizard said angrily.
“You are truly a fool,” the voice said, laughing even harder.
Far from the dark wizard’s cave in the coastal Barrier Mountains, an old woman sat in her cave. She had been keeping track of Terra through the fog. She knew he had started his planning and had pulled together those he needed to defeat the dark one. The fog rolled into the cave and surrounded her.
“He has contacted the humans and they are now considering their path,” the voice of the many said from the fog.
“Yes, he will soon cross the mountains,” Telsen, the last of the Solans, told the fog.
“Do you think he will call upon the core powers?” the many questioned.
“I don't know, his power is greater than I expected. He may call upon them, but he may not need them.”
“You think he can destroy the dark one without the core powers?”
“Perhaps, but I think he may need them in the end.”
“Can he control all the power he would need to summon?” the voice of the many asked. The old one got up slowly and walked to the chest, where the amulets of the Solans were kept. She opened the lid and the light nearly blinded her and pushed the fog back. She had hung one of the amulets around Terra's neck when his parents had brought him to her for testing all those seasons ago. She remembered at the time that the center of all the other amulets had a very mild orange glow. Now the glow was so bright you could barely look at it. All the amulets together were now nearly as radiant as the sun.
“The intensity of these amulets shows his magic without even touching the core powers. He may no longer need them,” the old one said to the fog.
“He will come soon to see you.”
“Yes, and he will want to know many things,” the old Solan replied.
Chapter 18 - The Many, Start to Become One
(Combining many into one may be difficult, but is sometimes needed.)
- The Time of the Draman -
Terra and Fienna arrived back at their crevice home. Dawra and Hectise, as well as the Old
“I felt him, but he's still near the coast. The light has not moved beyond the mountains,” he said into the darkness.
“He is preparing to come,” a deathlike voice said, followed by an odd disjointed laugh.
“We can defeat him,” stated the old wizard.
“We! You are the wizard,” the voice said in a laughing tone.
“You seduced me into betraying my kind,” the old wizard said to the darkness.
“You wanted power. I gave you the opportunity to gain it and you took it.”
“I have over a quarter of a million dwarfs in front of the valley path. No number of men and nymphs can defeat them,” the old wizard said with his old enthusiasm.
“This one is more powerful than any you have fought against, and you are ancient. The dwarfs will be slaughtered with or without your magic. You would need to be at the fight to use the magic you possess. You know what will happen if you leave this mountain,” the voice said with the hideous laugh.
“No, what will happen?”
“You will return from whence you came: the dirt.”
“You will help,” the old wizard demanded.
“If I can.”
“If you can. If you can! If I can be killed by this dragon man, you can also be killed by him,” the old wizard said angrily.
“You are truly a fool,” the voice said, laughing even harder.
Far from the dark wizard’s cave in the coastal Barrier Mountains, an old woman sat in her cave. She had been keeping track of Terra through the fog. She knew he had started his planning and had pulled together those he needed to defeat the dark one. The fog rolled into the cave and surrounded her.
“He has contacted the humans and they are now considering their path,” the voice of the many said from the fog.
“Yes, he will soon cross the mountains,” Telsen, the last of the Solans, told the fog.
“Do you think he will call upon the core powers?” the many questioned.
“I don't know, his power is greater than I expected. He may call upon them, but he may not need them.”
“You think he can destroy the dark one without the core powers?”
“Perhaps, but I think he may need them in the end.”
“Can he control all the power he would need to summon?” the voice of the many asked. The old one got up slowly and walked to the chest, where the amulets of the Solans were kept. She opened the lid and the light nearly blinded her and pushed the fog back. She had hung one of the amulets around Terra's neck when his parents had brought him to her for testing all those seasons ago. She remembered at the time that the center of all the other amulets had a very mild orange glow. Now the glow was so bright you could barely look at it. All the amulets together were now nearly as radiant as the sun.
“The intensity of these amulets shows his magic without even touching the core powers. He may no longer need them,” the old one said to the fog.
“He will come soon to see you.”
“Yes, and he will want to know many things,” the old Solan replied.
Chapter 18 - The Many, Start to Become One
(Combining many into one may be difficult, but is sometimes needed.)
- The Time of the Draman -
Terra and Fienna arrived back at their crevice home. Dawra and Hectise, as well as the Old
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