Prologue Part Three

One year previous to the main story.

~Xander~

"Xander!" the king's voice booms, calling for his only son. "Get in here"

I rush to do my fathers bidding. As I walk through the door into the council's war chambers, I notice more faces than I was prepared for greeting me. All of the heads of the guild are present too.

"It must be serious" I think. "Otherwise it would just be father and I"

"Xander" my father speaks, breaking my train of thought. "I fear the kingdom is in grave danger. Our spies within the Demon Lords ranks have reported that he is now setting his sights on Everaya. The Seers guild has just informed me that now is the time to seek. I have tasked them with gathering all knowledge of the Fellstar prophecy but I believe you should be the one to seek. With your unique blend of abilities I believe you are the ideal person for the task.Don't let me down, Son."

It is easy to see the stress this new has put upon my father. His once bright green eyes are dull and tired looking, his golden hair dishevelled. Overall it seems to have aged him in the short time he has known it. Even noticing all of this, shock ripples through me as my fathers words sink in.

"Father, I will do my best. Not only for you but for our kingdom." I state, believing wholeheartedly that I can do this. Afterall one of my unique skills is the ability to find lost things. "Where and when do I start?"

"You start now. Head to the Seers Guild headquarters. They will inform you of the next steps."

"Yes Father." I say as I bow before leaving the room.

"Finally he is trusting me." I think as I move quickly to do his bidding.

****************************************************************************************************

As I enter the headquarters of the Seers Guild I am blown aback by the sheer lack of people within its halls. As one of the main guilds it stands to reason that it should be bustling with people.

"Prince Xander! You're here!" A voice rings out through the not so empty hall.

Searching for its source I am greeted by the sight of a young woman, glasses slightly askew, with fiery red hair spreading haphazardly around her oval face.

"Aaaah!" she squeals as she seems to trip on either nothing or her own feet, the numerous scrolls that were once in her arms now scattering across the marble floor around her. "My prince, I am so sorry. Please excuse me. Your father, that is to say the king, ordered a rush on all things relating to the Fellstar Prophecy and because of this and well frankly the lack of seers, I have been rushing around in an attempt to have everything prepared before you got here. Which now I can see was a waste of time as I'm not even half done and you are standing right here."

I laugh to myself as the young woman babbles on.

"It's fine." I say. "No rush. By the looks of it, it will take me a while to read all of the ones you have here. So if you will just allow me to pick these up, is there a place I can set up to study?"

"Y-y-yes" She says and points to a small nook just off the main entry. "I've put all the others there, but please let me pick these up. The chief seer will punish me if I allow royalty to do any of the manual labour."

"How about we work together? I insist. Your boss can't punish you for obeying the order of a prince now can he?"

Her face lights up at finding this obvious loophole, and we work together to gather up the scrolls before heading to the nook.

"I'll be back in a bit" she says. "There should be a note somewhere around here with instructions from the Chief and your father." She says gesturing at the now overflowing desk, before moving quickly off to finish her task.

Sighing I resign myself to hours of sifting through before something shiny catches my eye. Reaching down, I pull out a golden, star shaped pendant. As I gaze at the ruby in its center I feel myself pulled. Almost as if a Leaper is attempting to transport me out of the realm. Dropping it out of fear of being dragged into the unknown, I pick up the scroll closest to me and begin to read.

"I may as well learn all I can before reading the instructions" I think to myself. "At least that way, they should make sense." I push all thoughts of the pendant out of my mind for the moment and settle in to do the task set out before me.

****************************************************************************************************

Stretching out, I sigh in relief. Having been hunched over reading old scrolls for several hours, the only thing of note is that I need to use the pendant to find the heir. Reaching for it, I am once more overcome by the feeling of being tugged out of this realm.

"Maybe, I should go speak to an Enchanter" I think. "They might be able to tell me if this thing has any ability to track the heir or not."

My mind made up, I wrap the pendant in the fold of my cloak in an attempt to distance myself from the odd tugging feeling. I turn to leave, my strides confident in my decision.

********************************************

"I swear" I say, layers of exasperation coming through in my voice. "Everytime I touch the bloody thing it feels as if I am being pulled off realm"

"Well your highness, I am sorry to say I feel no such thing when I touch it." The head Enchanter stands there, rubbing his short white beard. "I don't know what to tell you"

"Well, can you just get a Leaper here to enchant the damn thing anyway. You have nothing to lose if it doesn't work."

"Okay, but don't blame me if nothing happens."

Sighing in frustration I follow the man to the workshops.

"Esmeralda, you're up. Need you to enchant this here pendant for the prince."

"Sure" Esmeralda says as she walks up, a definite sway to her hips. "Your highness, I would do anything for you" Her voice is almost a purr.

I stand, tapping my foot. "I need this done as soon as possible. I'm not quite sure exactly where it is leading to. Is that a problem?"

"No, your highness. Shall I also enchant something else for a return trip? Just in case?" 

"Please." I say handing her a small coin from my pocket. "This will have to do."

"One moment then please." Esmeralda says before walking over to a wooden workbench and the waiting head enchanter. As I watch her eyes glaze over a hazy shade of blue, as do the head enchanters, a sure sign that their energies are aligning.

A short time later their eyes return to normal.

"It should work if it is meant to do so" they say in unison before shaking their heads as if they needed to clear each other out.

"The coin just needs to be tossed into any body of water to create a portal home." Esmeralda informs me. "Good luck."

"And the pendant?" I ask.

"Just do whatever made you feel that tug." the head enchanter states with a shrug of his shoulders.

**************************************************************

After leaving the enchanters guild hall, I quickly head to the market to gather the supplies I think I may need.

"Who knows where this thing may lead me?" I think as I walk. "For all I know this could all just be for nothing. What if the Fellstar line has died out?"

Stopping at both food and weapons stalls, I make my way back towards the palace.

"I should leave from the privacy of my own rooms, no need to make people panic by seeing their prince simply vanish into thin air. Royalty, after all, does have a certain way of doing things. Jumping is undignified except in times of great urgency and with what Father said we do not need the general public panicking." With these thoughts I quicken my pace back.