11 : The Visitor

Drakon walked through the corridor and climbed down the stairs slowly. He was in absolutely no hurry. Let the woman wait! She deserves it for being so persistent and annoying him. But sooner than he liked, he had reached the room where she was supposed to sit in. Six guards stood outside the door, poised and alert.

"Your Highness," they all bowed in sync with one another, as he came towards them. He chose to ignore them. One of the guards opened the door for him and he slowly entered, ready for it. What was this 'it'? He didn't know...

The room was dimly lit and all the curtains were drawn in. Drakon located the old woman sitting on a couch near the fire. As soon as she saw him, she got up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Drakon." For an old lady, she had a surprisingly calm and controlled voice. Her appearance was ragged. She wore dirty grey clothes with a huge - yes, huge - coat over it. There was a hood over her face, concealing her forehead, though the rest of her worn and wrinkled face was visible. Despite the terrible appearance, she appeared to be quite dignified in manners.

She extended her right hand towards Drakon, probably for a handshake, with a smile on her face. He took one glance at her hand, then looked away, not bothering to take it.

"Ah! Hasn't you mummy ever taught you that not not shaking an offered hand falls under bad manners, Prince Drakon?" she asked, withdrawing her hand but still smiling. Creepy woman she was; constantly smiling.

"How do you know my name?" He asked blankly, walking away from her and taking a seat near a table. She followed and took a seat opposite to him.

"Did I ask you to sit down?" Drakon asked curtly and rather pettily, showing his displeasure. She got up, frowning at him. He internally smirked. There went her smile!

"Now for the original question. How do you know my name and why are you addressing me by it?"

"I have known you ever since your birth, Drakon. I have watched over you all these years. I have protected you from the evils of this world. I am your guardian angel. And I have come to warn you, Drakon, that the greatest evil awaits you," she said, her voice trembling. He frowned at her. Was that bloody woman crazy?

"Look," he said, sighing. "I don't know who you are and I don't have any idea why you are making up this cock-and-bull story. But I can tell you one thing. I don't have any guardian angel and neither do I need one. And if you think something evil awaits me, then I guess you haven't fully heard of me yet. Now, for the second question I want to ask you. My guard told me some story about you, that they cannot approach you...as if there is an invisible barrier. What shit is that?!"

The woman darkly smiled at him again, before saying, "Don't pretend like you haven't guessed that already, Drakon, because I know you have. Haven't you often shut yourself out from society, because you didn't wish to associate with people so different from you? People who couldn't conjure up a flake of snow if their life depended on it? Well, you need not do that anymore, because here I am, and I will always be there for you. I mayn't be able to do what you can, but I'm capable of other things."

"Don't start this nonsense again, woman," he warned her, his heart beating fast as he tried to keep up his neutral expression and tone. "You haven't seen the worst of me yet." He couldn't tell her, but in a way, her knowledge about him scared him. It scared him enough to continue talking to her and not kill her then and there, because he had to find out the truth.

"Drakon," she sighed. "You have to trust me and you have to trust yourself. You have to remember that I will always be there by your side, mentally if not physically. So you have to listen to me. Prepare yourself, for when you are thrown into the path of that Evil, you will never be able to look back."

"Oh shut up," he drawled.

But suddenly, her voice went all deep and low-pitched, with a strange outer-worldly accent and touch to the words. She gasped and started speaking in a strangled voice.

"A day will come,

Shadows in the light-

You will follow the path

Be it the day or the night.

The Evils await,

They will hide and play,

They will push far the pawn,

After all, that is their game-

So be warned, lest it be too late;

You will follow the last wind,

You will follow the path shown,

You will follow the last star

And there shall you find, what you seek," she ended.

Drakon was shocked and overwhelmed. What did that mean? He quickly masked the surprise in his face, and asked, "What is that?"

"Trust me, Drakon, and follow it when the time comes. And I'm warning you, it will come soon, " she said. Her voice was back to normal, as if she had deliberately put on her strange manner of speaking earlier. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I am the only one who will stand by you whenever you need me. You have lost a lot. You will lose a lot in the future, too. You will be hurt, you will be torn. People you trust have left you, they will do so again. You know the truth of these statements better than anyone, Drakon."

And yes, he did. The truth of her words flashed before his eyes. He had known that he was born to lose. But would she really help him get more? Something he 'seeked'? Would he get it? Was he really destined for it? And at that moment, he knew the only thing that he could do. Trust her. After all, she was trying to save him from whatever-it-was. She was showing him a path, and he was desperate for it. And it couldn't hurt him to give her a try, could it? What was left to lose? Nothing!

Drakon sighed before softly saying, "I guess you should sit down now. You've stood long enough. So if I told you that I trusted you, would you tell me more about this 'evil' and this 'path' you wanted me to follow?"

She smiled before taking her seat. "It is a quest, Drakon. I cannot tell you any more than I have already done. I can simply guide you towards a better destiny, after you have defeated this Evil."

He frowned. He was frustrated. "We'll see about that. Anyway, will defeating it get me to what I want?"

"Yes," the woman nodded. "It will get you to power. It will get you to a better, changed life, and most importantly, it will get you to who you really are. And not only that. It will save the whole world from mortal peril. And only you can do it, because you are the only one strong and capable enough to face the Evil."

After that, Drakon knew that she wouldn't tell him anymore than she already had. After all, as she'd said, it was a 'quest'. And even he knew the truth of the statement, 'If you want something, you have to get it.' Question was, how did she know what he wanted? When he asked her, the only answer he got was, "I am your guardian angel. I know everything about you."

"Crazy stalker," he thought.

She departed soon, giving him a last warning and a good luck. As she went, Drakon smiled ruefully to himself. Within a single day, his life had totally changed. Now all he could do was wait and see, before it turned even further...