Hani Ismael – Round 1

It actually happened.

My heart slammed against my chest as I stared into the pool of silver liquid between my hands, and the vivid picture within. I’d had my doubts, despite the portents and omens, but after all these years it had returned, gracing our world once again. Not in the hands of a prince, like it had twelve hundred years ago, or in the hands of a lumberjack, as it had four thousand or more, during the founding of an empire.

No. This time it appeared in the hands of a child. A poor child, a butcher’s boy, living in a small village beside the creeping death. Only the most desperate, or those with nowhere else to go, chose to homestead so close to desolation. It was a foolish endeavor, as every year the rot crept closer, forcing humanity back.

It’d done so for four thousand years, or more, forcing life into a mockery of itself. No longer. A keybearer had finally appeared and using his power we could force the rot to recede. As long as he lived. I shivered.

He had to live.

The shimmering pool lost its luster as I waved my hand, returning to a life of mundane water. There was no time to waste. Tucking my scrying stone into my pocket, I spun on my heels and exited the chambers.

Remus, my sword and my shield, fell in behind me without a word uttered. A political appointment, at the behest of his father, but he had the skills to back it up. Perhaps he was the one to send? I gave it serious thought as I walked down the hall. The keep was busy today. Chambermaids and servants alike bowed as I passed, and I nodded in turn.

Affability cost me nothing, but it could buy me the world. A phrase of my father’s, but after twenty years in the grave it might as well have been mine. The lords of Gal-gilead had always been known for their hospitality but soon, they’d be known for much more.

Soon, they’d be known for the Key.