Garinor had his hand outstretched toward the scepter, like all the skeletons scattered along the floor. He pushed the thought from his mind, determined not to let fear be his last emotion. He met Tomli’s gaze one last time, then grasped the scepter in his right hand.
A strange sensation took over. Garinor looked around, waiting for something to happen, but as he stared, nothing did. He looked again at Tomli and the prince, but they weren’t moving. Everything was oddly still and he couldn’t even feel air coming into or out of his lungs.
Then he realized time had stopped flowing.
The gems inside the scepter started to glow and they added their light to the clear crystal dome that covered them. The chilly cavern air rushed through Garinor’s body as a furious white light expanded from the center of the crystal. The light grew until it overpowered the entire room and Garinor had to close his eyes to its brilliance.
A voice then echoed all around the room and shook Garinor’s very soul. “Scepter-bearer, you have come.” The words reverberated in his mind and he tried to determine if it was a man’s voice or a woman’s. But as he considered it, he realized that it was more like a chorus of at least twenty people, all speaking simultaneously and with power.
“It is time for the light of Destiny to be known,” said the Voice. “You have been Chosen to unleash this light and to decide the fate of others.”
Garinor was confused. “But, me? I thought the one to claim the scepter was different than the others.”
“That is true.”
“Then I will die?”
There was a moment’s hesitation and then the Voice added, “Yes.”
“So there is no hope.”
“O Chosen One, do not despair. For, though you may die, the heir will live in your stead.”
“But how?”
Three of the gems inside the scepter glowed more brightly than the others. The rubies, emeralds, and sapphires lit with an expectant fire, and they passed that fire between others of their kind within the crown of the scepter. Garinor watched, fascinated, but was unable to follow the light as it dashed about inside the crystal hemisphere. “Behold!” cried the Voice.
The rubies cast their light out toward the prince, encasing him in a scarlet glow. The sapphires bounded their way to enwrap Tomli. And the emeralds swept around Garinor’s body in a green brilliance he could almost feel.
“Before you, you see the prince of the kingdom, and beside him, the true heir to the throne.”
“Tomli!” Garinor gasped. “But I thought—”
“There was a great deception years ago and it was by that magnificent lie that the heir was truly protected. For, while the heir was brought to the southern town of Paligar, he was placed into the care of a young couple by a servant to the true king. But those involved in the hiding of the fabled child knew one day that they would be discovered. And so the seed was sown that a different child of similar age was the heir instead, thereby protecting the one.”
Garinor’s jaw dropped open. “Then Tomli is the king.”
“Not yet.”
Garinor looked at Tomli, his best friend, with whom he had shared so many great times through his life. And when the hunters had come for Garinor, Tomli had thrown himself forth to protect him. He remembered now the knowing glance that Marrin and Tomli had exchanged that day in the forest. They had been told the secret of Garinor’s heritage, but the false one. They had thought he was the hidden heir and so had offered their lives to protect him at all costs. And beyond that moment, Tomli had ventured off on his own to find Garinor again to be by his side and to protect him. Even in the Daggerfist camp when the prince conquered them, Tomli acted to protect Garinor yet again.
All along, Tomli had chosen Garinor by his actions, and even when the prince would have left Tomli behind, he had declared aloud for all to hear, If it’s a choice of dying by Garinor’s side or abandoning him, I choose Garinor. Those words echoed now in Garinor’s mind.
Yet, the entire time, Tomli had been the one who should have been protected in his stead.
It was so much to take in.
“The power of the scepter,” the Voice interrupted his thoughts, “whether used in full or in vain, must be supplied from a living source. Because you were Chosen by the true heir, a choice falls to you that no other was destined to make. Yet every choice will have a price.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will now choose one among you to be consumed by this scepter, just as others have been fruitlessly consumed in foolish conquest. The scarlet light, the cerulean light, or the verdant light will die this day, this moment. Then, the golden light of truth will shine upon the land. The choice is yours, which light will be snuffed from the scepter.”
“I must choose then which of the three of us must die.”
“Yes. But make your choice wisely and with conviction. For, every choice has consequences.”
Garinor looked at the blue light that surrounded Tomli. His face was still held sternly and even though time seemed to have stopped, his eyes still held a mix of fear and courage. Behind him the prince was showered in the red glow, his dagger still resting against Tomli’s throat. And around his own body was the green light. One of them would have to die and Garinor would be the one to choose.