DEDICATION
To the mind of the universe.
To the supreme intelligence.
To you!!!
Body and mind and spirit, all combine to make the creature, human and Divine.
Of this great trinity, no part deny.
Affirm, affirm, the great eternal I.
Affirm, affirm, the great body, the beautiful and the whole.
The earth-expression of immortal soul.
Affirm the mind, the messenger of the hour,
The speed between thee and the source of power.
Affirm the spirit, the eternal I –
Of this great trinity, no part denies.
PROLOGUE
The blood moon is a dramatic Fairytale.The city of Estriol happens to be the center of the attraction.
The motionless and the freezes time are the swift revolution transpires in the moody sky and the celestial beings cling to a new change.
The ancient tradition is a passing shadow of a season show.
The supernatural power required to carry out the rangy sacrifice is the goal of the inhabitants of Estriol.
Carelessness is the element that shatters the actualization of the full blood moon ritual that break the full bonds of the ancient tradition of Estriol.
Part four unveil the mystery of Clyde and Oswald, the true beauty of Amelia and the craving of all men.
Part five talks about the danger in the city and the preparation of wars. The race between the Titians.
CHAPTER ONE
The Blood Moon
Just at night everyone was asleep relaxing and waiting for the sun to rise in the morning. Just at that point where the clock struck at midnight, the whole city of Estriol freeze, everything stopped moving,
The wind became motionless, it felt like time had stopped working. Then a swift revolution transpires in the sky, suddenly the moon start changing "It's time" few men in garments speak in ancient language with enchanting words in a coven far away from the city.
"We have waited years for his arrival, '' one of them said. "We cannot miss this prospect" said another , the men linger with their charming words ,drums and music played endlessly, The men keeps on enthralling in a high proportion while the moon completely turns red , thunder strikes was heard out loud , the rain drizzling and another thunder strikes at the top of the oldest and biggest tree of Estriol that lives in the woods miles away from the city , the tree sets ablaze at the strike of the lightning, immediately a small earthquake took place in front of the scorching colossal tree.
Underneath was a sight of an ancient coven concealed with a well-shaped coffin, a well-shaped coffin built with crystal and diamond stones carved into it:
And in front of the tomb is a dagger sealed into it but it could Barely be seen, for it is caved with stones and diamonds, only the tip of the dagger is seen
"The blood moon is complete, it's now time" one of the men speaks in ancient language, "present the dagger before the blood moon" the sorcerer said in ancient language" What dagger do you speak off " one of the men said, with rage and anger in the eyes of the sorcerer, the edifice starts vibrating, walls start breaking out of its place with the wind stalwartly raging like a storm, the men in the room became shocked and scared
"How could all of you be so careless, I've waited years for this day to come, just when I thought everything is in place... "the sorcerer said in rage, one of the men cut him out in his words "but you didn't speak of any dagger that could be attracted to the awakening of our Lord " one of the men says
"Silence you human" the sorcerer screams in anger but then tries to calm herself, "I would go in search of this dagger you speak of great sorcerer" said one of the men,
"Would you love your fingers chopped off or your head off from your neck and placed on my plate as dinner …" the sorcerer replies, the man who tries to calm the sorcerer takes a few steps backward and stays mute.
" This cannot take place tonight for the most needed is not in place, go into the city of Estriol and search for this dagger that is built with crystals and diamond, without any future delay we must finish up the awakening ceremony in the next blood moon " says the sorcerer.
The moon clears out to its normal shape and color, the ground sealed up, and everything went back to normal as though nothing happened. The men with the sorcerer in the coven dismiss on their horses and flew to Estriol city but then they split them self, some went north, East, West, and south in search of the dagger
The sorcerer whispers to herself in ancient language and looks up to the moon enchanting.
Clyde a bold, young boy of his age stays in a cottage with an old man with grown white bears that knows so much about herbs and ancient history and has looked after Clyde for years
Oswald the old man who takes care of Clyde was gifted by the gods with powers to heal and keep the city safe from witches and sorcery, Oswald visits the city cattle as steady as possible to get news and updates from the King as to know what goes in and out of the city, yes Oswald is a wizard who knows almost everything and also gets information from the seer but still not enough as he is gifted to protect the city of Estriol.
" Clyde" Oswald calls out
" Master I'm here " Clyde replies
" I'm off to the castle, take out all the herbal leaves matured for herbs in the woods for I will be back before sunset " Oswald says to Clyde with the belief that Clyde will be safe in the cottage alone. " Yes, master I will " Clyde replies to Oswald, just as
Oswald the wizard was about to leave Clyde calls him back, "master on your way home get some pumpkin, I want to prepare us dinner when your back " Oswald turns and look at the innocent young boy with a clear heart " yes boy I am going to bring in the whole pumpkin in the city " Oswald says that with a faint smile on his face as he rides on his horse to the cattle.
Clyde shuts the door as he goes into the cottage to set up his basket to leave for the woods in search of all the herbal leaves matured for Herbs." I do not know what it looks like out there in the city or the castle, hmmm, there must be huge chairs and statues, oh oh, and a large crown that won't fit into my head " he says as he looks at the mirror.
Oswald gets to the city walls and takes a quick observation then enters the city having a little thought that something had went wrong cause he saw fresh horse's footprints before main entrance into the city of Estriol, Oswald gets to the castle and goes straight to the king's court room and sees that the court members are seated waiting for the king to come in as for they all have matters to address
"Greetings great court of estriol city" Oswald says as he greets the kinsmen of estriol city," Oswald any news from the seer" the king's right-hand man says to Oswald "that is the more reason I'm here" Oswald replies to the man, just before he was about asking Oswald the wizard what it is that really brought him to the castle the guards at the courtroom entrance announce the entry of the king, the kings' men and the wizard stood up to greet the king
"Long live the great king of estriol city " they all said in chorus. The king tells them to sit down with a sign he did with his hands and walks straight to his sit," Oswald the great what brings you to the castle this early " the king speaks as he takes his sit " your majesty I am frequent in the castle as to this is like my home where I lay my head at night"
Oswald replies to the king
" Okay …" the king says to Oswald as he turns his direction towards the captain " what happened last night " the king asked "your majesty I have no Idea but the guards that were on duty last night made claims of the moon turning red" the captain replies to the king" absolutely insane by that statement" another kinsman replies to the other and looks at the king saying "your majesty it is not possible, for the moon cannot turn red " the man says
"Yes, it possibly can, have you come across a story of the blood moon " the wizard says and asks the kinsmen". In silence he nodes his head "no" the kinsmen say, the king others for silence and turns to the wizard "what happened last night " the king spoke.
" Your majesty, on my way into the city I caught sight of fresh footprints, this means there are few men who trooped into the city last night, in addition to that the moon turns red, your majesty only you and I know what that means' '. The king clears his throat to stop Oswald from completing the sentence he was about to tell to the kinsmen "Then we have to secure the city, Captain send your soldiers to the city, let them split up to the east, west, north and south and protect the people, we do not know what's coming ". The king says
" Your majesty, I shall take my leave," said the captain. At this point the court meeting is dusted with , Oswald waits until the kinsman exist the courtroom and excuses the king in private to tell him what he has to say "my lord , on my way to the castle I visited the seer " Oswald says to the king "yes ,go on" the king replies to Oswald " the seer tells me ,a soccer has taken it upon herself to awaken the sleeping god, my lord I think time has been fast spent" Oswald replies to the king .the sits quality for a moment telling Oswald to keep calm , that the guards will safeguard the whole city
The castle guard goes to the barrack and informs his soldiers to station in different areas of the city. Oswald rides on his horse to the cottage, when he gets to the cottage presenting the pumpkin the boy had requested for, Oswald sees the herbal leaves the boy had picked up from the woods and layer on the center table of the cottage then he rubs his hands on the boy's head playing with Clyde and making him feel special, "kid you did a great job" Oswald says to Clyde.
They both made dinner together and ate together before going to bed "master what does it look like outside the woods and cottage", Clyde expresses his feelings and thought towards
"Hey kid, the world out there is beautiful, come on get some sleep, we've got a lot to do in the morning" Oswald says to Clyde with a sigh Oswald says to Clyde with a sigh of relief and says to himself, "this won't last for long, telling him the truth would help him stay calm and know who he" Oswald says to himself and goes to bed.
CHAPTER TWO
The Sight of the Gods
Oswald wakes up the next day with a smile on his face ,turns to talk to Clyde but was shocked that he was not there ,he calls out to him but Clyde was nowhere to be found ,he suddenly goes to the backyard to check if he would see him there but he wasn't ,"Clyde my boy where are you " Oswald calls out to Clyde while he walks down into the woods but then looks behind a tree and sees him sitting helplessly "what happened ,why did you leave the cottage so early …. And here…" Oswald says to Clyde, Clyde looks at him and tries to leave him there but then he asks him "who am I?"
Oswald turns and looks at him without words out of his lips " say something, who am I " Clyde speaks to Oswald with a high turn voice, suddenly the weather changes., the cloud darkened as Clyde speaks to his master Oswald, it felt as though the heavens were to swallow the earth.
Oswald looks up to the sky and looks at Clyde, shakes his head "son come with me … let me show you something, Oswald calms Clyde down and takes him back to the cottage.
Oswald and Clyde both got to the cottage and sat down by the corner, Oswald says few enchanted words on the cottage and Clyde could see memories from the past, because it is the same cottage Clyde's mom lived with her father. then starts to tell him the story of his parent.
It was a sunny and beautiful day, Amelia a true beauty and a hunger of every man that sets their eyes on her, Amelia goes into the woods searching out for herbal leaves in the woods, taking a sweet gaze of at the leaves and praising the gods for their wonderful creation "oh my i wonder what a god would look like'', Amelia says starring at the leaves in her basket. Amelia stands on her feet to tries her possible best to be quick and leave the woods as her father maybe seeking for her presence already at the cottage but then Amelia heard a strange noise and huge shake on the ground, the birds sitting on the trees all ran away, at first she began scare as she thought to herself she has never heard a sound as loud as that ever in the woods but she keeps calm and stays put to finish up all that she was doing in the woods, but the she turns around to take a few more leaves but then she stumbled upon a large pearl. Amelia takes her time and analyzes the pearl she had seen on the floor because it has not been all the while she has been coming into woods , to add to that she and her partner is the only one that comes into the woods to pick up herbal leaves, so she wondered but Amelia liked the pearl," what a beautiful pearl but I wonder where it came from , it has not been here all this while ,well I'm keeping it and am going to make a fine jewelry out of it " Amelia says to herself. Amelia takes few steps to walk away from the very last spot she was standing to pick up herbal leaves and leave the woods but then hears a man's voice groaning in pain, Amelia tries to get hold of herself, at this point she became scared but she tries to overcome her fears and takes few steps towards the direction where the sound is coming from, the more steps she takes the louder the man's voice becomes. Amelia murmurs to herself " father is going to kill me if I get myself into trouble, Amelia you can go back quietly without any complaints to father" after saying rethreading words to herself yet Amelia could not stop but to help feed her fears of what she could see if she takes more steps. Finally, Amelia stops and sees a man lying helplessly wounded on the ground " oh my …, what happened to you and how ….in these woods '' Amelia says to the wounded man lying on the ground
The man who laid on the ground finally sees someone coming to his aid, then he faints, his eyes slowly shut down, his body too weak to move a muscle. Amelia had to carry him all the way to a safe place where no one would see him.
Amelia goes back to the cottage and hurries up to leave back to the woods, where she left the man, she helped in the woods " Amelia my child where are you off to in a hurry " Amelia's father asked her standing at the door." nowhere father, i felt like having alone time in the woods mixing the herbal leaves" Amelia says to her father in shock and shivering words.
"Be back before sunset and make dinner" Amelia's father says to her while taking a few steps into his workshop at the back of the cottage. Amelia leaves the cottage and back into the woods where she left the man she saw in the woods, she starts mixing up leaves she got, Amelia lifts the man's head and urges him to sip a little bit of water, ", pls have some" after giving him a little sip she then gives him the herbal medicine she had made for him.
The man groans in pain as he tries to lift head, " Rio, my name is Rio …" he tries to introduce himself to the beautiful maiden that offers him help " we will get to that after you have been treated " Amelia cuts his words short while talking to him, Amelia gives him the herbal medicine to drink while they talk.
Afterwards they get into conversations, Amelia keeps on visiting Rio after he has been treated, time passed Rio began to know the saint of her perfumes and understands her moods, also vets comfortable with her presence each time they meet but then Amelia's father became suspicious is Amelia's movement, " she is always going into the woods picking up herbal leaves and spending a lot of time in there, I wonder what she does in the woods", Amelia's father wonders to himself staring into the woods.
Amelia gets back to the cottage at sunset, dust off dirt's on her sandals, comes into the cottage through the back door, Amelia takes few steps to the dining table drops her bag on her work table but as she turns to take a cup of water, Amelia was frightened by the looks of her father, Amelia screams out loud and slums on the floor in fear but she holds unto herself as though it is just her father there " you frighten as though you are doing something wrong" Amelia's father say to Amelia as he. Stretches his hands to help her, " oh father …." Amelia takes a deep breath with her hand on her chest, " where are you coming from " Amelia's father asked her,
"The woods …father" Amelia replies to her father " you better say something else because i don't believe that , Amelia you've never been these busy in the woods not even when the soldiers of Estriol city goes to war "Amelia's father responds to her sharing his thoughts, Amelia sits her father down and explains to him what had happened days back and how it all started but then Amelia tells her father about her feelings for the man she has been helping " now I understand why you sneak out at night and tip toe in the morning "Amelia's father says to her and also tells her he is comfortable with the choices she makes as long as it's not going to hurt her "yes father", Amelia replies delightfully to her father and hugs him
"I would love to meet with him, the man you speak of " Amelia's father says to her while looking into her eyes, "yes father I would when is time "
A warm morning Amelia twists herself to the comfort of her bed, wakes up and stretches herself on bed looking at the sunset " it's time to get my day started " she says to herself. Amelia goes downstairs and goes straight to the kitchen to get a cup of water then she hears a knock on the door, she was surprised because no one comes knocking at the cottage door, but then she decided to go check, to her surprised was Rio standing in front of her, goosebumps went through her body, immediately Rio hugs her but Amelia was still in shock
"What are you doing here " Amelia says to Rio as she pushes him to outside, behind the cottage walls
" My love I have come to see your father " Rio says to her
" my father , your insane, why all of a sudden you want to meet with my father " Amelia replies to Rio but immediately Rio tells her how much he loves her and that he want to love her freely without any objection from her father , he kept explaining himself until a man clear his throat " would you take the young man inside the cottage already, young lady" Amelia's father says to them but Amelia stood in shock for a moment , she wasn't expecting her father to be standing there ears dropping, meanwhile Rio stood up to Amelia's father and introduced himself properly
They all went inside the cottage and sat down for some time in an awkward moment, Amelia and her father looked at each other, while Rio looked at both of them gaze after gaze but then Amelia's father broke the silence. Amelia's father asked Rio what his intentions are towards his daughter and what good would she be to him, but Rio tells Amelia's father that she not some pumpkin sold in the market, immediately Amelia's father sat down properly and was comfortable with the man that's talking in front of him, Amelia's father approved him and gave his daughter Amelia to Rio but told him if anything should happen to her, he would kill him.
" Clyde my boy that's it about your mom and dad " Oswald says to Clyde, but Clyde was not satisfied, he wants to know what happened to his parent that made him end up with the wizard " what then happened to the both of them Clyde replies to Oswald.
" We are leaving first thing at sunrise, once you get into the castle, I will explain everything"
" Really" Clyde says to Oswald happily as he hugs his master.
CHAPTER THREE
The dagger One
The castles General comes down to the barrack after the meeting in the courtroom and informs the soldiers to be alert of their duties "Whatever that has happened has to do with the protection of the castle, we must stay alert always to ensure the city walls are safe" the captain says to the soldiers in the barrack,
Immediately the king's right-hand man walks into the and tell the captain to ensure the safety of the castle most especially, and guide the city gates with the castle's best soldiers as that's the orders of the king " whatever the moon as turned to, it offspring lies inside the city walls" the king right hand man says to the captain and walks away.
Oswald and Clyde. Prepares their bag and other things and head to the castle but Oswald heard a sound and it's a lady's voice coming from the backyard of the cottage meanwhile Clyde was upstairs, steps outside to check who it might be that's singing in his cottage, Oswald opens the backdoor and looks around but didn't see anyone there, Oswald steps back inside the cottage and act though it's his imagination playing tricks on him, he snaps it off his mind and continued with what he was doing. Few moments later Oswald hears same sound, a ladies voice this time the voice is louder as though its signing from the inside
Oswald took no chances and enchanted the cottage, he made all the past memories and activities done in the cottage visible as though they were alive , Oswald locks the door Clyde was in upstairs and looks around the room, Oswald sees a lady behind his past memories trying to hide away but he caught her with a spell and made it look as though time had stopped, he walks up to the lady and takes a very close look at her " you , sorcerer, what do seek in this cottage " Oswald says to the lady
" I only wanted to. To see the boy…" the sorcerer says to Oswald in an ancient language meanwhile Clyde hears sounds of chattering plates on the floor from where he was locked up but heard no idea he was locked up, he tries to open the door and go see what's going on downstairs but then finds out the door is looked, Clyde bangs on the continuously, screaming for Oswald to unlock the door for him to come downstairs and see what's going on, but no response,
"You shouldn't be here" Oswald tells the sorcerer and wonders why and how she could locate their cottage " you are the wizard of estriol city… you are the great, well I only came here to send my greetings never knew you had a boy" the sorcerer says to Oswald while giggling ".
Greetings not accepted … you may leave " Oswald says to the sorcerer
" Not until…" the sorcerer immediately enchants few words at the wizard, Oswald falls backward and slums, Oswald faintly unconscious, he tries to stand on his feet.
The wind blows heavily, heavy sounds were heard, now the sorcerer comes out in her true form and attacks the wizard, Oswald was unable to hear a thing only sharp sounds were heard as he was regaining consciousness.
"Where is the dagger…" the sorcerer speaks loudly in anger and tries to lift Oswald off from the ground, but Oswald was able to stand his ground and cast a spell that pushed her to the wall, then he held her by the neck " what dagger are you talking about " Oswald asked while he held her neck so tight that she could barely talk, the sorcerer hits his hands as she please for a release.
"Talk you demon" Oswald insist, " what demon is greater than a man that keeps the truth far from a boy who has stayed with him for years" the sorcerer says, " that's not the answer witch" Oswald yells at her with a lot of temper, the sorcerer refused to tell her intentions towards the strange dagger she mentioned and why she came looking for it at the wizard's cottage but then Oswald held her by the neck and starts casting spelled in an unknown language. The sorcerer starts burning up, her skin pills off gradually, the sorcerer became scared as though her life is threatened, quickly she distracts him " oh, the boy…" she says, immediately Oswald loosens his grip on her as a result of the shock that Clyde may truly be there. The sorcerer takes advantage to escape from the wizard, before Oswald could turn back and finish her up, she vanished into thin air a d everything stopped as though nothing happened.
Oswald catches his breath and cleans up the whole mess then immediately unlocked the door after erasing the spell he casts on the cottage.
Clyde comes downstairs and looked around, suspicious of the thing he sensed while locked in the room " master I was locked upstairs" Clyde says to Oswald, Oswald looked at him but didn't respond immediately, they both stood for some time staring at each other " I banged at the door calling out to you but no response " Clyde says again
" I was umm… trying to umm, cross check what we have packed, I guess that's why j couldn't hear you " Oswald said to Clyde looking worried, but then he immediately saw some cracks on the walls and Clyde was about turning to that direction, Oswald quickly fix it before Clyde could turn.
" Okey hurry up … the sun is about to set; it wouldn't want to go into the cattle late at night " Oswald says.
Quickly they both pack their things and leaves the cottage. Oswald and Clyde rides their horses and leaves the cottage , on third way not quite far from the cottage Oswald claims his pressed and would pie in the forest, Oswald comes down from his horse while Clyde waits for him at a spot, Oswald goes back to the cottage and casts a spell on the cottage making it invisible after he had left, Oswald quickly goes back to Clyde " oh, sweet heavens , what a relief " Oswald says pretending to ease himself, Clyde gives a faint smile , Oswald climbs on his horse and leaves with Clyde to the castle
On third way Clyde sees a man hidden in the bush, he feels though they are been washed so he slowed and attracted Oswald's attention, " I think I saw a man in the bush … master " Clyde says to Oswald, Oswald stays to observe the area " I think your imagining things " Oswald says to Clyde, Clyde snaps it off his mind.
For the very first time Clyde sets his eyes on another human not his master and well sees a lot of people, the market, the flowers, the huts, the crowd and noise, Clyde witnessed as he rides into the city " master it's beautiful " Clyde says to Oswald, Oswald looks at Clyde with a faint smile on his face " indeed it is beautiful " Oswald replies to Clyde
They both rode their horses straight to the castle immediately they got to the castle, two guides men walked up to them and takes the horses to the stadium, Clyde was surprised because he has been the one doing all of that all his life
Oswald takes Clyde inside the castle, Oswald kept walking but Clyde stood still to examine the whole place, he kept on starring because the whole environment is new to him, Oswald says something only for him to turn around but he noticed Clyde was not beside him, Oswald falls out to him but Clyde dear at the moment, Oswald's then goes back to him and gave him a heard knock on his head, this time Clyde could hear him speak " walk young man " Oswald says to Clyde
" Master should I be sad for the knock on my head or happy about it …. this is the best day of my life " Clyde says while jumping up and dancing because he has never seen another thing except from tall trees and his old cottage.