The Quest For Spring

Vistin enlists the help of the wizard Pandorin to help him save the kingdom from dying.

The Quest for Spring

 

        There was silence between the two. 

        “Well,” he finally said.

        “Well, what?” the wizard asked.

        “Are you going to do something or not?”

        “Of course.”

        “What are you going to do then?”

        “You’ll see my son.  You’ll see.”

        “So you plan to leave me wondering what, if anything, you’ll do to help us? I need to know for sure.  I need to bring something more precise back with me than a vague agreement.”

         “You will just have to trust me.”

         “Go to your Queen now and tell her I have given my pledge to do all that is in my power.  I will say no more.”

         “She will want to meet with you and ask you more questions herself.”

         “I will meet with her soon, but there are things I must attend to first.”  And with that the wizard turned and disappeared into his forest home.

          The man mounted his horse and rode swiftly back to the castle.  The horse’s hooves quickly clip-clopped down the dusty brown road.   A cloud of dust filled the air and surrounded him as he approached the yellow colored castle.  It’s towering walls spiraled high into the brilliant blue sky.  The man rode over a long, narrow drawbridge as the castle’s purple banners fluttered in the wind.

        “My Queen,” the man bowed as he entered the throne room. 

        “What is your news Sir Vistin?”

        “Your majesty, the Wizard has agreed to help us in our plight, but he did not reveal his plan to me.  He said that he would come to see you soon to discuss the matter further, but that he had some business to attend to first.”

         “Very well. Thank you Sir Vistin,” she said.  Then she turned to the others.  “Let us speak plainly.  Our plight is a riddle.  We know only that something or someone is destroying our land. Neither spells nor medicine can help heal our dying fields and crops.  Soon there will a famine and many will die if our land is not renewed.  If we do not find a way to find our lost Spring, then we will forever live in a warm winter.  A warm, but dead place can not sustain our people.  We will parish unless we stop this devastation.  Sir Vistin has sought out our only hope, Pandorin the Wizard.”

        “What is Pandorin planning to do?” someone asked.

        “I do not know…” the Queen sighed, “But I am sure that he will come through for us.  Pandorin has not failed me before.”

         “Your majesty, I volunteer to head an expedition to the Northern Kingdom to see what is going on there and to see if there is anything that we can do,” Elohim the Elf  cried bravely.

        “Yes,” Queen Kore said.  “Your fellow elves will listen to you and help you.”  She looked around the room at the concerned faces.   “Zorin, you will head an expedition to the East.  Being a plainsman yourself, you are well suited for the task. And Doven, you will go to the West and Sheldon, you will go to the South. Dismissed,” she said.  

        The next morning everyone hustled to gather supplies for their expeditions.   Soon everyone had gone to their assigned places or were on their way.   Vistin awaited the wizard’s appearance with the Queen.   He dined with her that evening, but he was unusually quiet and reserved. 

        When the moon was round and full in the night sky, Pandorin the Wizard returned.   The Queen greeted warmly from the dinner table.   “Welcome Pandorin.  Please sit and join us here tonight.  Tell me what news you have.”

         Pandorin took a seat next the Queen and drank a bit of wine before saying, “I discovered that the land is dying because of an evil sorceress named Kathorn.  Our land is kept alive by the will and energy of the people.  She has cast a spell on us to make us tired and to think discouraging thoughts.  It is our dying will that chokes our land and keeps spring from arriving.”

        “Where does she live? What can we do to stop her?” Queen Kore asked.

        “I will travel to her castle at the edge of the wastelands tomorrow,” Pandorin said.

        “Then I want to go with you,” Sir Vistin said.

        “It will be a long and dangerous journey.  And I am not yet sure of how to stop her.”

        “I do not care.  I want to serve my Queen and the Kingdom of Elysia.”

        “Fine, meet me at the gates tomorrow then and we shall ride out together,” Pandorin said digging into some of the roast pheasant in front of him.   

       

        “Farewell,” Safire waved to the love of her live, Sir Vistin.  Tears were in her eyes as she watched Vistin and Pandorin ride out of the castle gates for the dangerous wastelands.     

        Vistin and Pandorin took off for hills ahead as the sun rose in the pink sky.   Beautiful vistas rolling hills and green fields unfolded before him, but Vistin was too distracted to notice them. Before the day had ended, the once rolling hills became rocky and the trees disappeared.   At the edge of the barren fields was Kathorn’s Brownstone Castle.  

 

         “Magic Goblet let me see my enemy today,” Kathorn asked.  The red liquid in the goblet swirled and revealed the image of Vistin and Pandorin camping along the shore of the salty dead lake. 

         “He is my enemy?” she said in surprised.  “Why he is nothing more than a fool and a weakling.” 

          Kathorn’s fingers twitched and she cast a spell on Pandorin and Vistin, but nothing happened.  “What?  Has the old man wizard cast a protection spell in anticipation?  He may prove a bit of a challenge.”

         That is when Kathorn returned to her book of spells and flipped through it, trying to figure out a way around the protection spell he’d cast. 

 

         The next day Vistin awoke determined to gain entrance to the imposing castle before them.  Swimming was out of the question and there was not        hing to build a raft or boat out of.  With a sigh, Vistin twisted the ring on his finger.  Pandorin had given him the magic ring before they left as a means of protection.  He was told that if he twisted it around three times and thought of what he needed, something would appear to him, but there was no telling what exactly would manifest. 

       “There’s a bridge across,” Pandorin told him.

       “Where? I don’t see one?” Vistin said gazing across the Dead Lake.

       “All one has to do is believe,” Pandorin said stepping onto the water.  Surprisingly, he did not sink, but remained on the surface. 

        Nervously, Vistin followed Pandorin across the invisible surface of the bridge.  The wind whistled wildly around them, howling and moaning through the rocky crevices surrounding the lake and the castle.  Vistin glanced up at the sun, which was behind a thick layer of clouds.  Once they were across the lake, they approached the castle itself, which rose up from the brown and black rocks as if it had somehow grown there.  

       Vistin looked at Pandorin as they approached the closed door.  Pandorin waved his white walking staff and uttered some magical words.  The drawbridge slowly sank to the ground and allowed them to enter inside.  

       Once inside they heard the wind rushing through the halls.  And then the shrieks and screams started.  Vistin looked at Pandorin fearfully, but Pandorin told him they were merely tricks to scare them away.   He continued onward with the wizard bravely even though one particular high pitched banshee scream sent chills up and down his spine.  

        They climbed a very  long and steep stairway before they came to the an empty tower room.  Gray light filtered in from the small window.  In the dim light they saw that the room was not empty at all.  The Sorceress Kathorn sat on her chair made of wood and furs impatiently waiting for them to arrive.  

        Kathorn had piercing green eyes and long black hair that cascaded over her shoulders like shadows.   Her black and silver dress moved with her as she shifted her weight in her hair and leaned forward.  “Welcome brave sirs.”

       “Are you the lady of the castle?” Vistin asked.

       “Yes, indeed I am.  I am the Soceress Kathorn that you seek.  Though I do not know why you seek me out,” she cooed.

        “We’ve come to prevent you from destroying the kingdom of Elysia.  We demand our Spring back!” Pandorin replied.

         “What makes you think that I am responsible for the long winter?”

         “You live in the wasteland and you take joy in all that is withered and dead,” Pandorin said.  “And I have spies who have told me you admitted your evil deeds to them.”

         “I admit nothing.”

         “We have a weapon that you cannot possibly defeat,” Vistin told her.

         “And what, pray, would that be?”

         “We are connected to the land.  We love it and so it thrives.  You have made us all as miserable and empty as yourself, but not more.  We cast off your spell and reclaim our joy.”
        “You cannot break a spell by will power alone.”

         “Is that not all magic is?  Making your will reality?  It is our will that our land be green and fertile once again.  It is our will that our land lives.”

         “You have no magic.  You have no power.  I do not fear you,” she said standing up. 

        “I pity you Kathorn.  You have no friends, no family and no connection to the land.  Witches control the elements and are supposed to keep things in balance.  You have betrayed the very essence of your craft,” Pandorin told her.

         “No one pities me.  I am powerful and strong.  I made a life for myself and I have begun the process of claiming the seven kingdoms for myself,” she replied.

         “Death is not power,” Pandorin said creating vines out of thin air.  They wrapped around Kathorn, binding her. 

          She wilted the vines until they fell away from her.   Then she took a crystal ball as black as obsidian and hurled it at Vistin.   Vistin drew his sword and held it up.  The ball shattered against his blade and blackness surrounded them.  

          Then, out of nowhere, there was a blast of brilliant light.  It hummed and buzzed with the energy of the land.  The castle shook and collapsed into nothing around the two men.  Kathorn, her castle and the wasteland vanished.   The brown land became green and the gnarled dead trees had green leaves on them.  

          Spring had finally arrived.