The Being

The Master of the Forbidden Tower was tall and thin. He wore a white robe similar to the one his servant used except it had no hood. Long, grey hair fell to his waist moving subtly in some invisible current. His pale skin resembled the ice around him. His eyes looked as old as time itself. 

He looked breathtaking. He looked angry. But most of all...he looked familiar. 

"You are..." Aurora tried to steady her voice. She opted for a different ending to the sentence than the one she began. "You are the Master of the Tower?" 

"I built it and I keep it," the answer came. "You may call me Keeper." 

"Is that your name?" Brinn squinted at the being before her. 

"I lost my name long before you were born. I do not intend to use it now with trespassers." The Keeper glared at the elven princess, and she was forced to remain silent.

"We come in peace. We are in need of your aid." Aurora was cut short as the Keeper snorted derisively.

"I shall evaluate both those statements in turn. The first is obviously a lie. How can you come in peace when you have an army with you." 

The Keeper motioned for the large cats to tighten their circle. Two came to his sides to protect him, though he did not seem to need any protection. 

"My soldiers came to protect me on the journey here. We have no taste for war, I assure you. Our world has suffered too much of that as it is." Aurora looked deep into the Keeper's eyes as he studied her. 

"Let us say I accept your first statement is true, which I do not, then what aid can you possibly require from me?" The Keeper folded his hands before him. 

The Empress took a deep breath. This was her chance.

"The world is in trouble. The Magic is dying. We need the Seed to restart the waterfall at the top of the Mystic Spires. If we don't..."

"The Magic is dying? Good. Let it die." The Keeper nodded. "Thank you for the news." He turned to leave, shocking everyone who could understand. 

"Wait!" Aurora screamed. She lumbered forward with Brinn's help and began to ascend the stairs. "The end of the world is coming and you say good?" 

The Keeper turned on his heels and squinted at the woman. "I will admit you are more cunning than most. You want to play on my deepest fear, but it will not work. The Magic is alive here, and I intend to keep it that way. Your selfish ambition for power ends now. You will not take the seed nor will you enter my home. Either of those actions will bring you to your death." 

Aurora was taken aback. She had anticipated the Keeper doubting her words, but not calling her a conniving liar. How many had come before her to make him so jaded? 

"I promise that I do not come on my own account." Aurora took off her cloak, allowing her royal dress underneath to show. It was cold, but she needed all her stateliness just now. "I am the ruler of the human world. I have no need for power. We mortal humans have no need for magic. But our world does. The Season Bringers cannot come without it. Did the fairies come to bring the spring?" 

"No," the Keeper admitted. His mesmerizing eyes changed slightly. "They are very late." 

"They cannot come. The Magic is gone." The Empress dipped her head. 

"Aha!" The Keeper surged forward. His outstretched hand looked ready to strangle the Empress without a second thought. 

Aurora flinched. The Master of the Tower was much bigger and stronger than she was. Why had she not brought Nurlan and Zan onto the stairs with her to protect her?!

But the Keeper did not choke Aurora. He lifted the golden chain which hung around her neck and shook it violently. 

"I knew it! The Fates are behind this trickery! They knew I would not receive them and so they sent this unassuming woman to come in their stead. Will their wickedness never cease?" The Keeper's face was red with anger. 

The Empress paled. "The Fates are wicked?" 

She had heard the creatures called meddlers and powerful beings, but not even Cafer had dared to call them wicked.

"They have been after the Seed since I hid it from them." 

"You are the Thief who took the seed!" The Empress suddenly connected the dots of the story. "But you are supposed to be dead."

"Dead?" the keeper furrowed his brow. "What have you been told, child?" 

The Empress inhaled sharply at being called a child. But compared to the being in front of her, she could not refute his claim.

"The story went that a Being rose up, was defeated, and then sought revenge after gorging himself on the magic waterfall. He almost succeeded in destroying the world except for a final attack by the Fates and their allies. Then the power at the top of the waterfall was separated so that no one could have that kind of power again. A thief took the seed before the Fates could hide it, but died before planting it. The seed was lost so that no one could find it." 

"Is that how the story goes? Well, that makes sense. It would stop most from seeking me out. Though I do not like that they turned me into a villain." The Keeper pushed his lips into a hard line. "I wonder what other lies the Fates told you to manipulate you into coming here." 

"The Fates did not tell me that story." Aurora realized that Hanna had let Brinn tell the elves' version but did not correct or deny it. "All I was told by the Fates was that they did not know where the Seed was." 

"That part is true. I have done my all I can to make sure they do not get their hands on the Seed." The Keeper balled his hands. "This place is free of their prying eyes." 

"If you do not like the way the story was told, may I have your version, please?" Aurora hoped that his words would shed some light on her understanding. 

"Hm," the Keeper looked at her. "I doubt you will believe me even if I told you, but someone should know the truth. A 'Being' did rise up and try to take over the world. That piece is true. He was insidious and thought he could do better than the Maker. And he did come close to succeeding. But the Maker was on our side. He gave us the power to overthrow our enemy and free the Mystic Spires from that brute." 

"You fought against the Being?" Aurora wondered at his words. Certainly, Hanna had fought as well, but she had not spoken about it in first person. 

"I not only fought," the Keeper shook his head. "I led the charge! I made the final blow and took down the mightiest of my kin. It nearly ended me to have to slay someone who was supposed to be a brother. The pain was unimaginable, but he needed to be stopped." 

"Wait, did you say your kin?" Brinn looked at Aurora with a complicated expression. 

"Did they not tell you? Oh, well that is the greatest lie of all. The Being which threatened to rip apart the very foundation of the world was born...a Fate." The Keeper watched their startled expressions with a satisfied grin.

Even Zeru had not been given that information before. The fairy staggered back as if the news had shaken his very core. 

"But the Fates are supposed to protect the world. That is how it has always been." Aurora looked at the chain in the Keeper's hand, suddenly unsure. 

"That is how it always should have been. But the weakest among us was still the strongest among all the intelligent creatures. And we had a connection to the Maker that others did not. We had all we could need. Yet Aemulor wanted more. It was easy enough to put him down the first time. We should have killed him, but the death of a Fate is no small thing. Our hope was that he would gain some wisdom from his folly. But instead, he gained only spite."

The Keeper's eyes grew hard.

"Our world paid the price for our misjudgment."