90

Once the tea was brewing, Les sat at broken down table top set up on the floor. As Gunther busied himself around the kitchen, Les knew that she would normally have pondered how he, such a small mouse, could function and do what he did. But right now, she thought about what the order had told her, and whether or not she should speak of it with Gunther. They had known him after all. As she was choosing her words to begin again, Gunther spoke first.

"I take it you've met the order then." Les snapped to attention. "Well, at least some of them. They really do mean well, but they put their mission above everything else. It gets quite tiring at times." He paused climbed up to open a cupboard. She watched as he scooped sugar out of a dish and expertly dropped it into the cups below him. "I'm not sure they would have told you, but I was once a member. That is until I was changed into a mouse. They saw the explosion of light and assumed I'd died, and I let them. And to answer your question, No. I do not know that Lord Moore, but I did know one."

89

"So he conjured an image of someone and it looked like you? Why would he need to find you?"

"I'm not sure." She paused. "I think he said something about 'You shall not defeat me.' Who? What? Why?..." Les couldn't' find words to say next. She was confused, then she thought of Grant and all of the events which had happened to her and what they spoke of. Could this be related to what they had spoke of? Was that the great evil guy she was supposed to be trained up to defeat? "Have you heard of a Lord Velimir Grant Moore?" Gunther looked up and studied her face. Then invited her inside and offered to make tea to calm her nerves. Reassuring her that the house was now as safe as it had been before today's events.  

88

Her terror began to fade until she heard the faint whisper. She held her breath, afraid that something else bad had appeared near her. Then the small voice called her name, and she saw Gunther out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and stared at him wide eyed. He crept closer to her and smiled faintly.

"Are you alright?" Les blinked. "You're not hurt, are you? How much of that did you see?"

"Who was that?" Was Les' reply.

"I'm not sure, the robe and hood obscured their face. The only thing I do know is they weilded a powerful magic, and were here lookign for something or someone. Did you hear or see what? He spoke so strangely." The mouse held his chin in his small hands as he thought out loud and questioned her. "I didn't have the best vantage, trying to flee the house in case he was going to destroy it. I'm sue he didn't see me. Did he see you?" Les was torn on how to answer that.

"Yes." He looked shocked, but before he could comment, she went on. "No. I mean, I don't know. If he saw what I saw, then he saw me, just not me. It was like version of me, or a copy..." She trailed off as she thought about what she had seen.

87

Les, frightened, pulled herself back behind the tree abruptly. The Robed man started laughing a terrible laugh and Les heard clearly what he said next. "I have you now precious! You shall not defeat me!" As he cackeled out in seeming victory, A bright light flashed all around her. When it was gone, all noise had ceased and when she looked again, the man had vanished. Full of fear, dread, and wonder at what she had seen, Les wanted to run away from this place and forget what had happened. But when she stood, her legs failed her, turned to jelly in her terrror and she fell. She lay there on the ground shaking, all of her limbs numb. Her mind blank. Tears streamed down teh sides of her face even though she was not crying as she staried up at the treetops. After some time, she heard a small whisper.

86

Satisfied that she hadn't been seen, Les did her best to remain unseen behind the tree as concentrated. Still she could not understand what was being said and shouted. Nor could she comprehend why this figure would be shouting at the cottage in the first place. From this better vantage though, the sounds the figure made were full of hissing and sounded otherworldly to Les, even though, she was sure it wasn't a foreign tongue. All of a sudden, the figure pulled something long from inside it's robes and it manifested into a long staff. It glowed purple with a strange light, essence and energy as it grew and the figure, which seemed to be a man, pointed it towards the cottage. A beam of blue/black light shot towards the dilapidated doorway. After a moment, a shadowing figure emerged from within. Les clasped her hand over her mouth to keep her gasp of shock from being heard. The shadowy figure which emerged, looked exactly like her.

85

The next morning, life went on as normal. So after her morning chores, Les went out to the woods as she usually would. She made her way out towards the old cottage, lost in thought. As she drew closer, her thoughts were interrupted by shouts that did not sound at all friendly. Les slowed her pace and crouched down, so as to not be seen. Hidden behind a bush, she observed a foray just in front of her destination. A tall figure dressed in purple and black robes was shouting at the house in words which she didn't quite understand. Not sure if the shouter was speaking her own language or not, Les pressed in closer to try and listen more clearly.

Softly, Les tried to step closer without being seen, and creep behind another hiding place in better hearing range. Her heart raced and she told herself she should probably go and leave this ordeal behind her. As fast as she could, she darted behind a large tree and listened more intently.

84

Sure enough, the boy was there. Watching him move and work was captivating. He would go through the movements over and over again, stopping to catch his breath and drink some water, but then he'd go over it again. Each time, adding more, or changing something, or simply re-rehearsing it until he was satisfied with what he'd done. As Les watched him from her hiding place, she wondered what he was dancing for, and how he had learned, and why he was dancing in the cavern off of her room. She had never known anyone who could dance, most people didn't even mention it for fear of breaking that law. But watching him, she wondered why it was even against the law. What about this beautiful display of artistry could merit so much as to have a law forbidding it. Les smiled to herself and had a fleeting thought that she was a rebel. Then she thought the boy were the most beautiful rebel she'd ever seen. Feeling silly for that thought, Les looked one long last time and crept back down the stair and down the hall. Suddenly, the music stopped. Les picked up her pace, as the fear and energy surged through her body at the possibility of getting caught.  

83

Les crept over towards her the wall, and listened behind it. The music was coming from down the cavern. It was louder than it had been the other day, for she couldn't hear it until she was close to it then. Les looked over at her bed, and reasoned with herself that she wasn't getting much sleep anyway, then she donned a robe and slippers, heaved her wardrobe aside, grabbed a lantern and started back down the long pathway towards the music.

Instead of stopping to place her lantern in the basin again, she kept it with her and made her way quietly through the room. The music was much louder this time, for the door was shut and not even ajar like before, but it didn't seem too loud from where she stood. For fear of barging in unwanted, Les didn't even try to open the door to see. Yet, curiosity had brought her all the way here, so she didn't want to simply leave. Up ahead, light poured from an open doorway, so Les made her way over to it. just inside was a stair leading up, but music seemed even louder here, so she stepped lightly up the stairs in her slippers. The narrow stair led up to a balcony that went round the room. Carefully she peered over the ledge.  

82

That evening, Les lay awake in bed, unable to let her mind settle after the events of the past few days. In just a short while, her boring, forgettable life had been inundated with things she had never before fathomed. She'd met a talking mouse, a strange cavern was at the end of a peculiar pathway leading from her bedroom. She'd met a talking fox, who'd taken her to meet an order of peoples who thought she was some sort of savior, and there was a reason she hadn't been given a name. Then there was the fact that no one she'd run into, during the remainder of her day had noticed her absence. Which wasn't a great surprise, she reasoned.

For hours on end, she lay there staring up at the ceiling thinking about it all. Always coming back to the boy she'd seen in the cavern, or whatever it was. It was then that she noticed the music. It was so soft and faint she may not have noticed it, had she not been thinking about his dancing. At first she thought she'd made it up to go with the memory of seeing him. But then she focused more on the sound, and less on her memory. It seemed to be coming from behind her wardrobe.

81

As she passed her brothers stand he yelled down at her. "Oy! Ye ferget sometin?" He laughed. Les didn't' see the humor in that, and wondered why that would be the question he asked.

"Ummm, no." She responded.

"You were off like a dart just a bit ago, hardly stoppin ta say hi. Get stood up?" He laughed again. "I didna reckon you could evn get a date." What was he talking about? Les had been gone at least a full day, if not more. She just looked up at him and shrugged in question. He only laughed, so she moved on. Les wondered to herself how her brother could be so daft as to think a full day could be considered just a little bit. Then she supposed that her brother had just mistaken her leaving the other day, for earlier this day and let it go.  

80

This time, as they walked, they kept a decent pace, and even spoke a little of the events that had transpired. Mostly they spoke of who was who. After Grant no one had given their names. The tall woman was called Meinir. One of the oldest of the order, having been around, since the end of King Mars reign. The squat man was actually a dwarf of sorts named Balfour. The three seers were named Berta, Agnes, and Astrid; eldest to youngest, respecively. Berta had not been a member for as long as Meinir, but it had been quite some time. Her daughter Agnes was born into it, as well as Astrid.

Les found it hard to keep up, and wasn't sure she'd be able to keep any of these name straight, nor if it would matter if she could. But Talon seemed to enjoy explaining it to her, and it was better than running along in silence like the way in. Eventually they made their way back to the bridge and parted ways. Les made her way back towards the village. It was just about passed midday.  

79

While they rode, the tall woman stared at her with soft, yet probing eyes. It made Les feel uncomfortable, but she tried to ignore it, so she was surprised when the woman spoke.

"Balfour was right you know." Les looked up at her with one brow raised. "You do have magic. Though, perhaps you are not ready to grasp it yet." Les had nothing to say to that, and no more was said until they stopped at the tree with the lamp when Talon and Les left the carriage.

Before leaving, the tall woman said that if Les ever made up her mind, and decided to come back to help or be trained, she only need call. Then she handed her a small package, smiled sweetly and then dissolved into the air. The carriage gone with her.

Les looked down at Talon. "Well that was unexpected." The two turned and started down their narrow path back the way they had come so many many hours earlier.  

78

After the news of Gunther's survival and the assumption that this was in fact the same Gunther they had known years before, the bushy haired man turned the discussion back to their deal. After some discussion about what was expected of her, Les agreed to think about it. She hardly believed her own ears, perhaps it was exhaustion and the need to return home. But they agreed to let her think about it. Preparations were made for her return home. She returned to her chamber to change back into her own clothes, which had been washed and mended, then she was led back out to the closed carriage she'd ridden in on. In the light of day, Les could see that the courtyard was in fact enclosed by enormously tall dark walls. Grant and Gilroy walked her out to the carriage. The tall woman and Talon were waiting for her inside as she bade farewell to Grant and stepped inside. Then they were off at that same agonizingly slow speed.  

77

The man raised his brows high and stroked his beard. "What do you mean you can't do magic? You're practically radiating the stuff."

"But I did the test, and nothing happened. I didn't have it."

"You did the test?" He asked, sarcasm soaking his voice. "What test is it you're supposed to have done? Who gave you this test?"

"Gunther." Les answered before thinking. As his name tumbled out of her mouth, she recalled what Grant had said about Bromney and the Sorceress, and shock returned to the faces of those around her.

"Gunther who?" The youngest seer asked.

"Gunther, Gunther? The wizards apprentice?"

"Don't be silly, Gunther died with Tatyanna." They were all speaking at once. Asking about this mysterious, but maybe not unknown Gunther.

"Gunther is a mouse I know." Les finally said.

"Could it be?" "He survived?" "After all these years?" "Where has he been." "Why didn't he come to us." They all spoke again.  

76

"I want to go home." Les finally said, looking straight at Grant. He looked back at her pleadingly. "I don't know what you want or expect from me. Like I said before, I'm nobody. I don't even have a name. Please let me go home."

Les could almost feel the sense of defeat fill the room. Then from the sofa piped in a deep voice.

"Would you be willing to make a deal?" A squat man with a bushy orange beard sat forward and looked at her through thick eyebrows. Everyone looked at him. "What if, and I'm just speaking hypothetically here. What if we agreed to give you all the training you required. While teaching you the histories and the prophecies. Then, if you still don't believe it, you can just go your merry way. You get to learn some skills, and we get the possibility of hope for a while." It was apparently that these terms had not been discussed prior to his stating them. Les thought a moment.

"You're saying that you'll teach me things like... to fight and" The man cut her off.

"Aye! To fight, to command, to wield a sword and a bow, then to read the histories and even a bit of magic."

"I cannot do magic."  

75

Choosing her words wisely, Les told them she had seen a dragon and a wizard, and roughly what had gone on until the end of it. When she finished they all sat silently. The tall woman had the hint of a knowing smile on her face. Grant looked positively beside himself. The angled faced man snorted. Then the eldest seer jumped up onto her seat pointing a finger at Les' face.

"She doesn't believe!" She proclaimed.

"Berta!" The other two gasped beside her.

"I can see it. It's written on her face, you don't need powers to see what's right in front of you." Les wasn't sure if that last part was directed at her, or a comment about how she looked like she didn't believe. The old seer was right. Les did not believe. She had only ever known a peaceful existence, and couldn't grasp the notion of a great evil plaguing her land. She had never seen an army come against a people in real life. The first discourse between wizards she had even heard about was when Gunther told her of Tatyanna and Bromney. That too, was just a story to her.  

74

They all looked so tired, as if they'ed been up the entire night. The angled faced man was the last to sit. He took the armchair opposite to where Les was sitting. When everyone settled in, Grant looked to the tall woman and she nodded and spoke.

"Would you mind telling us what you saw in your vision?" Les was confused. This woman was the one who made her see it. When Les didn't speak, the woman spoke again. "I did not expect your vision to come on so strong. Nor did we think it could last as long as it did. Would you mind telling us what you saw?"

"You don't know?" The tall woman shook her head softly.

"I do not see the visions. I merely let the one it's meant for be seen. When I touched your head, you would have seen a truth or a fated possibility. Please, tell us what you saw." The woman spoke so lightly, not demanding or obtrusive, but Les was still hesitant.

"I saw many things." She didn't want to lie.

"Go on." Les wasn't sure if she wanted to tell them what she saw. They might perceive that she was the armored figure, and that she was meant to save the people. She knew they would come to that because, in her own mind she had come to that conclusion too.

73

Still clad in the same clothes she'd worn the night before Les crawled out of the massive bed and made her way over to the tray that Gilroy had left her. She took her time eating to her fill, doing her best to procrastinate. She straightened her hair in the mirror and adjusted her clothes. A small part of her hoping she could just go home if she took too long. But there was nothing else for her to do, so she met Gilroy in the hall and walked with him to the library.

Waiting for her was the three seers, the tall woman, Talon, grant and three others whom Les had seen the night before. There was also a man with dark and angled features that Les did not recall. They were all seated around the room talking among themselves when She entered with Gilroy. Grant greeted them with a smile and led Les to a chair in one of the seating areas. Everyone else made their way over and seated themselves nearby. Not believing that this small meeting could possibly prove more useful to their cause, Les sat silently and watched them.

72

When Les opened her eyes, she lay in the bed that was in the chamber she had changed in. Les sighed and thought about the visions she'd been given, or had seen. She wondered what it meant. The figure she saw wasn't necessarily her. They were clad in armor. And the events passed like events do in dreams, not relative to time or reality. Les tried to remember what else she had seen before that, and failed. All she could really recollect was the part with the dragon and then the wizard. Regardless of what she had seen, she still didn't see how it had anything to do with her. As she lay there thinking, she wondered how long she had been away from home. There was sunlight streaming through her windows, and she'd slept at least twice.

There was a knock at the door and Gilroy entered and cleared his throat. "Oh good you're awake." He said and put a tray down on a table. "There is a small gathering of the Order with the Lord of the house in the library who wish to speak with you this morning. After you've eaten, you will meet me in the hall and I'll escort you down."  

71

The same tall woman who had asked her if she'd help moments earlier was now moving away from her seat and making her way to the center of the room. She was even taller than Les had originally supposed. Standing next to her, Les felt like a child. When the woman moved her hand to place it on Les' forehead, Les drew back.

"I mean you no harm, I assure you." The woman said with a warm smile. Les did not move, nor did her face change from a scowl as the woman's large hand touched lightly to her forehead. Then everything went white. It was if a bright burst of light filled her vision. Then a series of images flooded her. The moved and changed like images might in a dream. Les saw many things in this vision. Some of them were events touched on by Grant earlier, some Les didn't fully comprehend. They passed by in shadow, like sand on the wind. One showed her a great dragon looming off of a mountain, then it was over a small village that resembled her own. She saw a figure resembling a wizard casting spells. There were armies crowding the village. The people crowded together. Then from the sky came a figure in armor. The figured wielded a sword and the armies turned to flee. There was a jumble of light and chaos then everything went white and faded into black.

70

The only thing that drew their attention from Les was when a tall woman stood from her seat.

"Will you not help us?" She asked with pleading eyes. Les, uneasy as the center of attention was losing her patience with them.

"Help you? I don't even know what you want my help with." Les breathed out more vehemently than she meant to. A few of the faces looking back at her drew back as if they were offended. "All I've been told is that I'm supposedly a person from a certain vision, and I'm going to be horribly disfigured if I do help you. I don't really fancy being maimed. I am not anyone. I'm not especially good at anything specific, and I can't save you. I don't know where I am, I don't know who you are, and I'm extremely tired." Les could feel the scowl on her face and huffed audibly. The members of the order looked back and forth at each-other then back to her. Grant started at her, his smile had vanished from his face.  

69

Les knew the Seer was trying to help, but her words did not console her. Les felt light headed and her vision began to spin so she closed her eyes in an attempt to block everything out. She stood there for some time, focusing on breathing. The room erupted with sound. Everyone around her seemed to being saying something to her, or one another, but she did not hear any of it. All she perceived were loud muffles of sound floating about her. Someone close to her was trying to hold the attention of the room, but was failing. There was too much noise, too much chaos. The voices grew angrier and more determined to make everyone else see their own point. Les didn't want to be here anymore. She didn't understand what was happening, or why she was needed. Hesitantly, she opened one eye and took a small step backwards. No one seemed to notice. So she opened her other eye and began to turn, hoping that she could just leave. But no sooner had she turned around, than the entire room returned to silence. Les turned back around, startled by the change in volume. Each and every eye was on her.

68

Grant looked crestfallen at the news. And there was an audible breath sighed out by the throng, as if they'd been holding their breath in anticipation of what she would say.

"There's still time." Another of the three piped up. "I'm certain it could be her. She meets many of the qualifications. But it's hard to tell because she looks so, so... "The seer struggled for a word. Then the third and eldest of the trio spit in. "Perfect." The other two looked at her hard. "She isn't maimed or disfigured. She doesn't have battle scars. But she hasn't fought in battles yet. I believe it is her, just a might younger and unscathed." A few of the order looked pained and others looked worried. Les did not like the sound of becoming disfigured and maimed for whatever cause this was. She wanted to turn and run away from it. Then the second seer took her hand and patted it gently.

"Not everything is set in stone dear. Disfiguration and maiming aren't for sure. That's just one option for the future. Fate isn't decided, some fates can even be avoided."

67

In floated three beings no larger than a pet cat each. All three shone like stars in the sky. They seemed to twinkle as they came around Les and Grant. Then they stopped between them and their audience. As soon as they stopped, the light dissipated and three short women stood before them. They had friendly faces and round plump bodies, but had grown to twice their floating sizes. They stood about two and a half feet tall and had shimmery wings that looked as if they wouldn't hold their bodies off the floor. No one in the room spoke. But the three stood studying Les up and down for a long while. Then they flitted around her, getting closer looks. When they stopped again, they huddled together and whispered among themselves for a short time, occasionally peering back at her. When they had finished the thinnest of the three stepped towards Grant and looked up at him. He bent down close to her to listen. In the softest voice Les had ever heard, that could still be heard by all, the seer said. "It could be her. But she's not ready. She has not the look of experience. But it looks like her, only not quite."

66

There were people of all shapes and sizes, some that seemed too short to be human, and others seemed inhumanly large. One looked like he had bark rather than skin, and leaves rather than hair. A few had unnatural skin and hair colors. Les had never seen so many different types of beings before, neither together nor separately. Les looked around amazed. Everyone sat silently watching them. Waiting for something. Her face began to burn. She wasn't used to so much attention. She felt out of place and ill prepared to be here. She wondered if they were waiting for her to say something. She had nothing to say. She still didn't fully understand what was going on. Then Grant stepped forward and addressed the room. His voice booming loudly so that all could hear him.

"My friends. I want to thank you for gathering on such short notice. As we all know, times are troubled. And the people will soon be in need of hope. Brought here today, by one of our own order is the one we have long discussed and hopefully, been waiting for." He looked over at Talon and gave her a slight nod. She returned the gesture. Then he scanned the room looking for a specific face. "Where are the seers?" As answer to him, the lock tumbled in the door behind them and it once again opened inward.

65

He seemed to be signing his name, and instead of ink, the letters shone with light. When he dropped the pen, the writing shimmered for a moment and went out. The writing was gone, and the door had returned to normal. But there was a loud clank of a lock turning and the door opened slowly inward. When the doors pushed aside enough, Grant led Les inside a great round chamber with high stained glass windows. Around the perimeter of the room stood an outlining of chairs looking into the room over long tables. There were at least 50 chairs, Les thought, some of them were occupied. Some persons stood around the room conversing. All of them stopped and looked as Grant and Les entered. The silence was thick. Les caught her breath. After a moment, and without any beckoning, those about the room turned and went to sit in the chairs. Nearly half the seat were filled when all the movement ceased. Les had never seen some of these creatures before, for not all those seated appeared human. She peered Talon having sat in a seat to her far right in the room, but even she was not the strangest of the members of the order present before her.  

64

"I understand that this is all very hard to digest. It can't be easy to hear that you're meant to do great things when you don't even have a name." She sat with her head in her hands, staring at the floor. He spoke softly beside her. "If I hadn't grown up here, knowing all of this, I may not have believed it right off either. But the danger of this evil is real, and we'll need all the help we can get." There was a hint of desperation ringing in his voice. Then he raised his head and took a deep breath. His air of cool returning to him as he stood. "Tell you what. You come with me to meet the seers, and a few of the others, hear what they have to say, and then you decide what you'll do. If you don't want to believe it still, then we'll deposit you back into your life and you can go on as if none of this ever happened.

After some time of chewing it over in her head, Les agreed and followed him down the halls again.

He led her to a grand doorway and stopped outside it. There were no handles on the outside. Just a Pen attached to the door by a silver chain. Grant picked up the pen, and though there was no ink well, he began to write on the door.  

63

Les sighed and took his hand to stand. They left the library and began to walk through the halls.

"We have here, in our order a seer. Her mother was also a seer, like her mother before her. Each of them has seen the same vision. Though they each see it from a different view. These three visions together tell a prophecy. I can let one of them tell you exactly what that is, but essentially, we believe that the person depicted in these visions is you. I didn't mention it earlier, but there is great unrest in this land by the magical folk. An evil is building and they can all feel it. There has been a negative flux in their power and someone needs to squelch it. This great evil was also foretold in other visions since the time of King Mawr. Possibly even before that." Les stopped walking.

"I can't squelch a great evil." she said, incredulously.

"There are those who believe you can."

"But they're wrong. I can't. I'm not anyone. Who's to say I believe any of what you're telling me. Even if I do, I don't believe that I'm whoever you're looking for. I can't be. You've got the wrong girl." Les had started back stepping the way they'd come. Grant gently took her elbow and led her to a bench down the hall.