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Amphitheater

Exit to Lakelands

     "This, is how it will be…" spoke the old man, "I will speak the truth, but are you prepared to listen, to embrace my words?"
     He sat upon a stool, close to the roaring fire in the great hearth. The flames cast a crimson tinge to his scraggly white beard, making it seem as if his face was stained with blood, dripping onto his ragged clothes. The old man stared into the dancing flames, oblivious to the people standing about him.
     A serving girl brought the man a tray with a loaf of bread and a mug of ale. He reached for the tray, and took a draught of the golden drink, slowly savouring its taste.
     "Tell us, Onaeus," quietly said the man seated closest to the old one. His red hair hung long and wild under a thin golden circlet, a purple cloak warmed his massive body, and the hilt of a great broadsword could be seen over his shoulder. A group of men and women, young and old, crowded near the red-haired man, as if seeking protection from the old man they knew so well. "You've been missing for months, my friend. The acolytes in the temple told me that one day your eyes glazed, and you walked out the bronze doors and into the forest. They tried to follow you, but the forest swallowed you up and left no trace. Who, or what, did you see out there?"
     Onaeus' blue eyes looked up from the fire, and met those of his liege. He appeared to consider what he was going to say, then murmured, "I saw a crow, my lord, and its foul beak was feasting on the flesh of a proud knight. It was a vision, you see, and my goddess said unto me that the way to avert it lay in the forest. I thought, and I was there. I understand not how; the ways of gods are beyond mortal ken."
     Onaeus paused, testing the attentiveness of the crowd, "I arrived to a part of the forest I've never seen before."
     "But you've been everywhere!" chimed a child from the crowd.
     "Aye, my son, that is what bothered me," he smiled wryly as the child was scolded by its mother, "I am one with my land, and the place I was sent to felt right, yet I couldn't recognize a single leaf, a single blade of grass. It was there, in that strange place, that my goddess showed me what is to come."
     His eyes returned to the fire, faraway and unfocused as he remembered, "First, I saw a shining golden dragon fly far overhead, and watched its scales become black and corrupted, until it landed and crawled into a hole. Then I saw another dragon, wrought of living flame, land before me. The golden dragon crawled out of its hole, and they fought, soon driving the golden one back to its gloomy abode. That was the past, I believe.
     Next, I saw a nest of mighty falcons, busy tearing apart the corpse of a lizard they had just killed. A crow then alighted by the nest, squawking profusely, and, to the astonishment of the falcons, it walked over to the meat and tore off a long strip. As it gulped down its free meal and squawked possessively at the falcons, the great birds of prey looked at one another confusedly. Then, from the flock of falcons, came the nest-keeper, the mother of the brood. It flashed its sharp beak at the crow, and let a piercing shriek  fly to the wind. The crow, squawking in fear, leapt off the nest and was lost to the clouds." He paused, "The present, it must be."
     "Suren 'tis, m'lord!" Interrupted one of the women in the crowd, a rich, fat noblewoman. "There be crows all about the steeple.
     They be a nuisance for the cleaning boys, ye know!"
     The red-haired king shook his head ever so slightly. "He describes the conflict with Diakanov the false prince. The matter was finally settled yesterday, when he was banished for his ambition. A pity, truly… He could have been a great captain of men."
     Onaeus nodded sagely; "I should have recognized the wild blood in his veins when first I met him. That I brought him before the court reflects poorly on me. I apologize, my emperor."
     "No apologies necessary, my friend," the emperor dismissed it with a wave of his hand, "Just please continue with your vision."
     "Very well," Onaeus agreed, "What I saw next disturbs me more than the others, for I know that it is yet to pass.
     I saw a forest. Not my forest, but I believe it to be Enchantica Forest far to the east, where Duke Valiant holds his home. It was a  bright day full of sunshine, and the trees, flowers and animals were lively and healthy. Life reigned, and the goddess was happy.
     Then night fell, and the golden sun turned into a moon. Not our pristine white moon, but a sickly green moon, casting an unwholesome light upon all it could. The trees began to move, twisting, warping. Their trunks seemed to liquefy, yet retain their shape. I could see faces emerge from the wood, screaming while dark red sap oozed out of the eyes.
     Animals tried to escape, but were dragged yelping into the hungry maws of the trees. That is, they were eaten until the animals themselves began to change. Grey squirrels turned black, and they grew larger, sprouting bat-like wings between their shoulders.
     Rabbits' teeth grew long and razor sharp, and they hopped away, craving flesh. A lone buck deer had fatally walked into the area of corruption, and it shrieked as its hooves warped into claws, the antlers upon its head twisted into a tangled mass of putrefying horn, and as its fine velvet coat rotted away, exposing the still living flesh beneath. Its eyes melted away, and twin sparks of flame ignited in their place. Its face contorted, and its neck spasmed as a sticky glob of blood dripped out of its mouth. The deer screamed into the sky, and its blunt teeth sharpened and curved, then the poor beasts' tongue grew longer and forked.
     The deer's hind legs grew longer and thicker, while its forelegs shortened and grew thicker still. It rose up on its hind legs, unsteadily first, then more confidently. The muscles about its torso hardened and changed to humanoid proportions, though it still lacked skin. The changed beast turned and stared straight at me with those fiery eyes, and my blood turned to ice. Then, horrifyingly, it laughed, as if it knew I was watching it, and that I was powerless to stop it.
     "We are invincible, druid," it growled, "It is pointless to resist. Soon, all will be as it should have been at the dawn of time. Know the face of your enemy; it is my face. You will learn to fear it."
     "Naturally, I was already afraid, "Onaeus said to his spellbound audience, "I was lucky my goddess pulled me away when she did.
     My heart could have stopped. I saw one more vision after this one, and though it was brief, it disturbed me more than the other three.
     I was a bird, or so I perceived. I was flying over the same verdant forest I stood in before, but I was among the clouds, and the  brilliant green stretched to all sides of the horizon. The warm air rising from the trees filled my feathery wings, propelling me onward without effort. Then, my lord, I saw a break in the greenery.
     It was the same place I was in before. Blackened, dead trees stood like tired old men, and horrible living trees actually moved farther into the virgin forest, turning the ordinary trees to corruption with but a touch. As this progressed, more and more of the forest turned black, until that was all I could see. I passed by one of the beautiful cities of Enchantica, but the corruption had  penetrated that as well. Townsmen shambled about the city as if they were dead, wandering aimlessly. Buildings crumbled, and the laugh of children playing was sadly absent. It was horrible, horrible…" Onaeus trailed off, lost in his memories.
     "Before I awoke from the dream, before you found me, I was standing in the forest where I began, and a beautiful lady appeared  before me. She had skin of cream, hair of pitch, and eyes the purest blue you could ever imagine. Her white dress was simple, yet elegant, a mere frame to the perfection that was embodied in the woman." Onaeus smiled as he described her, a sense of peace pervading his face.
     "She was my goddess, Kala, come to speak to me. What she told me, she said not in words, but in thoughts. What she said, was that three of these visions have come to pass already, and unless we find something she called "The Window of Souls", the fourth will come to pass as well. She said not what the window was, only that we must find it."
     Onaeus looked about at the shocked faces of his friends and associates. He hated to bring them pain, but he did what had to be done.
     "My friends, we must go to Enchantica. Without the Window of Souls, all is lost."
     The emperor nodded his crowned head. "It will be done as you advise, my old friend. I'll send people to Enchantica tomorrow morning. We'll put an end to this threat." The young man looked doubtful, though his words were brave.
     Onaeus nodded, then said as a last word, "Beware the demon-stag, my friends. Beware…"
     He quietly stood up from his seat, and walked away. The crowd parted silently, and his footsteps echoed across the hall as he ascended the stairs to a room to pray. To pray for guidance, perhaps. However, the people left staring at the fire were certain that Onaeus was indeed afraid, that he was instead praying for deliverance. They devoutly hoped that Kala would hear his prayer.