“So, what method were you talking about?” Selina asked Dorian, “You really seemed confident in your ability to send messages, but I never learned anything like that.”

“That is because this is something from my homeworld,” Dorian replied.

“Your homeworld? Sanders is always so vague and mysterious about it. What is it like?” Selina asked.

Dorian looked around. “Well, to start off with, this place feels almost more magical, even though we pride ourselves on being the foremost in magical supremacy. At least, that was how it was where I grew up. People tend to romanticize magic, but it wasn’t nearly as nice as it sounds.”

Selina also looked around. “True. Sanders did admit that houses usually don’t just grow there. So what is this method like?”

“It is fairly straightforward. I just enchant whatever I want to send so that it can send itself.”

“I see… and how is it supposed to do that?” Selina asked skeptically.

“That is up to the enchanter.” Dorian explained, “Some make them able to fly, but sometimes the wind makes the messages go off course or worse. Some make them able to swim but if there is no water connecting the two places, that is rather pointless. My personal preferred method is through the ground. The message becomes insubstantial and shoots through the ground to its destination fast enough to be considered teleportation.”

“Is it possible for me to learn this method?” Selina asked with suddenly glittering eyes.

“I will have to see if it works myself, first,” Dorian pointed out.

Howard tried to decide whether to warn the others about what had just happened or stay and help with the messages.

“We should probably try to contact the Oracle first,” Howard brought up, “There might be new information that we need to send as well.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but I am not even sure my message sending method will work properly and we are now in a battle against time. It will likely be easier to send multiple messages and warn them now than to take time to make sure we have everything we wanted to send them.”

“You’re right,” Howard agreed.

“Selina, I want you to show this copy of the recording to the others while Howard helps me set things up,” Dorian told her.

“Why Howard?” Selina complained, “He isn’t even interested.”

“Perhaps not, but his gift with earth is exactly what I need right now to make sure this works.”

“What are you suggesting I do?” Howard asked.

“The insubstantiality is the main point I am worried about here, so if you could create some kind of underground chute just in case?”

“I don’t think my control stretches that far,” Howard pointed out.

“Just something like a takeoff runway could work. Long enough to get the message going. We should test it inside Concordia before we try to send something all of the way to the Colony of Veda.”

“Who should we try to send it to?” Howard asked.

Dorian considered for a moment. “Jonathan. He is the hardest to communicate with and he is likely to have some input, however confusing it may be, on how to improve the spell.”

“What about Sanders?” Howard asked, “Isn’t he also from your world?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but he has a tendency to take over rather than explaining anything,” Dorian rejected.

Howard thought for a moment and agreed. “Just let me know how to set up this chute of yours.”

____________

Denewulf stood outside the hidden room where he could feel the cores of the fountains. He had waited but Howard had never offered to make him his apprentice or show him the cores. He was both relieved and hurt. Ever since he had been born Denewulf had light hair, but the day of his ceremony his hair turned pure white and his life was stolen from him.

The most difficult part of this change was his increased telepathy. Most people could only hear thoughts that others wanted them to hear, but he heard everything. When the Sage took him in after the ceremony he was aware of the intentions to kill him if he was ever disobedient. When his siblings were born, he knew of the relief everyone felt that his family was not perfect. That he was not perfect.

Even his name meant perfect one or chosen one. When his siblings were cast out he happily threw that name away and followed them. They wandered and met Nova who was helpless on her own and could not even communicate.

Then, when they finally found a colony that accepted them and treated them as people without ignoring their talents and power, they were threatened by fools.

And then there was this Oracle they kept mentioning. At first, Denewulf had assumed that the Oracle was the reason that they did not care about his hair or his sibling’s eyes. After realizing this was not that case Denewulf was suspicious.

That was why he stood outside the secret door. From what he had discovered they had contacted the Oracle through the fountain’s cores. Denewulf was confident he could do the same, but if he broke into the room, Howard might never trust him again. If Howard didn’t trust him the rest would quickly turn the same way. Despite his attitude of indifference, he had a lot of sway in this Colony.

There had to be a way to do this without losing the trust he had worked so hard for. These people were willing to fight to keep him safe, something no one in Feroz would dare even consider. Denewulf wanted to use all of the power he had been given to protect them in return.

{Young One, you seek me?}

The voice was both distant and overbearing at the same time. What was going on? He hadn’t even tried to connect with the orbs yet!

{You and I are much the same. I will give you the knowledge you seek to protect those you desire. Use it wisely. I could not find you under the weight of your old name, but now I shall grant you what your deserve. You are the White Knight, the first hero of Feroz in this Cycle.}

Denewulf’s mind was spinning as he tried to grasp what was going on. More importantly, he couldn’t hear the intentions of the Oracle. He had always found them annoying but in this case, he felt like he was blind.

{Those who come from beyond this world shall be your allies. The Black Knight awaits in the Crimson Colony.}

Black Knight? Wasn’t he the first hero if he was already waiting? Why had the Oracle called Denewulf the first? Or did it mean something else entirely.

{The Red Knight has yet to acknowledge me but he is nearby. The war is coming, and Evil has cursed many of the Sages who were meant to prevent it. We must accept the change those Outsiders bring to this world or we will fall once more into the Cycle and perish.}

Denewulf was growing frustrated. This Oracle was so self-important like it knew all the answers. Perhaps it did, but there was no guarantee. Besides, how were they supposed to trust someone they couldn’t even meet?

{I understand. I will invite Concordia into the Garden of Feroz when I am next called. Perform your duty and inform the others, White Knight.}

Denewulf took a deep breath as the sensation left him and realized he was sprawled haphazardly on the floor. Whatever the Oracle was, it wasn’t something he could stand up against. This was a first for Denewulf, and he was gripped with fear.