The Great Training Begins

As quickly as the sleep found me it deserted me the same and I awoke to a startle. I was still a little groggy and it seemed as if a thousand light bulbs were all shining ahead of me, twirling and swirling and dancing all around me. And then everything snapped straight.

“Welcome back to the world of the living boy.” Rasped Fryll, “You’ve been asleep for quite a while, I apologize but there were matters me and Calminaion needed to discuss and I figured that after a long journey you would need the rest. Especially for today.”

“What do you mean, especially for today?”

“Well my boy, I’ve made a decision, I’m going to train you. We can’t have a Cerediron running around who doesn’t know how to use his powers.”

As he said those last words Fryll walked over to a chest in the far corner of the room, apparently the lights were a way of travel here, because we no longer were in the library study room, but now in a great hall surrounded by tall stained glass windows that glowed greens and blues, with candles of every shape and size lining the perimeter of the room. There were no doors in nor were there any ways out that I could see. Probably to make sure that we weren’t disturbed, or I give up and try to leave. As I was taking in the sudden grandness of the room, Fryll rustled through his chest and with a great “Aha!” he pulled out a bracelet unlike anything I had ever seen before.

It was golden with what looked like silver grain within it similar to that of a tree. It was round and simple but yet it had a dull green glow; and had an engraving of a small dragon with ruby eyes that seemed to stare right into you upon the faceplate.

“It’s called the Dragon’s Force. It’s an enchanted bracelet that will aid us in your training, here stick out your hand.”

And so I did, I was expecting Fryll to unlatch some hidden clasp and put it on me but the most curious thing happened. As if on cue the bracelet unwound itself and in the shape of a dragon flew around the room and surrounded itself around my right hand.

“Now then the dragon’s force is something of great value. First off it will only bond with one person and one person only during its phase. That’s you. The second thing that makes it special is that it will not come off until an eternity has passed. And Third...”

“Wait an Eternity?? What do you mean? I’ll be wearing this, the rest of my life??”

“Boy just listen and let me finish, all will be made known to you in due time. As I was saying, thirdly it grants the wearer the ability to live for an eternity. That’s what is truly remarkable about it and what is crucial for your training.”

“You’ve got to be kidding, I have everlasting life?”

“No everlasting life is life that last forever, you on the other hand have a life now for at least an eternity. There’s a difference.”

Thinking on this made my head spin. I think Fryll may have lost a few marbles along the way, but hey maybe there’s a reason for all of this.

“Alrighty boy, now that you will live for an eternity, and I’m Immortal, we can begin. First Lesson: This place is special, time doesn’t flow in a straight line as you are used to, and rather it is like a soup all jumbled up into a big ol’ mess. What I want you to do; is to find a way to the Hills of Teneheldrin when the tree at the very top bloomed. Fetch me that blossom and bring it here and your first lesson will be complete.”

“Ok? Now how am I supposed to do that?”

“Well now, if I told you everything what would you learn?”

“I don’t even know where to begin!”

“You begin with that book; in it are some pages about this place, use those pages to make your path. I have business to attend to but I leave you a companion.”

Reaching into his cloak, Fryll pulled out a small smooth pebble not much bigger than a quarter. Blowing on it and whispering an unknown word in a foreign language the stone seemed to take a breath and slowly grew until it was about a foot high, had two legs, and what could only be described as a strange little head.

“This is Demeythos; he will join you on your journey and provide anything that you need, other than the solution.” With this he turned to leave, but not without turning and saying with a glimmer in his eye, “Paper and ink are in the cabinet over there. You will need it.”

With that Fryll disappeared into a cloud of small specks of light that fluttered into the air and dispersed.

So there it was, I began a journey in school, left school, only to find myself about to take the hardest class I’ll ever know, wearing the Dragon’s Force, granting life for an eternity, and of course on top of all of that; a pet rock. I thought things couldn’t and wouldn’t get any stranger but they did.

Fryll was right when he said that within the book I’d find the pages that would help lead me on the path, the only problem was I had no idea how to create the gateway.

“I figure you don’t know how I’m supposed to make a gateway to here?” I said as I pointed to the book.

Demeythos looked up at me, made a cooing sound and hobbled over to the closet full of the supplies that Fryll pointed out before he left.

“Maybe you are helpful and not just a, rock.”

As I walked over and opened up the cabinet and began pulling out sheets of paper, pens, and pencils of all shapes colors and sizes, I didn’t notice the new page that was being created within the book.  The page that explained everything about how to make a gateway, I finally took notice of it after a few rough attempts at trying to “create” a gateway of some sort to no avail.

On the page in the book, it showed a wall covered with sheets of paper that seemed all patch worked together to create a massive door. The curious thing though, was that it seemed like the door was opening from the papers. In that moment I knew what I had to do.

I started pulling sheets of paper, taping gluing, drawing, inking, coloring, the doorway that suddenly became clear in my mind, and what seemed like days finally came together. As I put up the last sheet of paper, the doorknob, it seemed as though the room shifted a bit. Then as I knew what would happen I grabbed the handle and pushed the new doorway open.

Turning to Demeythos, “Come on boy, it looks like we have a tree to find.” And so began the quest to find the impossible blossom.