"I'm here, Epiphany!" I yelled. I finished my work and hurried to meet my friend's voice, one hand swinging an empty bucket and the other weighed down by a bucket of sloshing warm milk.
Epiphany appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the setting sun.
"Zia!" She smiled and took the bucket of milk from me. "I was a little worried when you didn't show up for magic lessons," she chided gently.
"I'm sorry. The Wielder must be mad at me. But there was just no way..."
"No matter. The Wielder was gone again. Or, rather, she had a note on her door asking no one to disturb her. I didn't go in. I waited at the foot of her walk for a bit, and then came here."
"My sister is going to be married! Isn't that exciting???" I smiled at Epiphany and the world. "But there is SO much work. I don't know how I'll manage- everyone will be working by candlelight to get ready, I'm sure. I don't know when I'll be able to come to the Wielder again." I faded from excitement to worry. "Will she understand? But I really can not come."
"Zia, are you limping?" Epiphany suddenly asked.
"Ah... yes, I am. It wasn't my fault this time, either." I put down the bucket, and showed the rag that I had tied around my ankle.
"What happened?"
"It was strange," I said. We continued on our way. "I was just doing my chores when I heard two or three rats in the hay, fighting each other, it looked like. Anyway, one bit me in the ankle there. That's all. Strange but not too bad."
"Strange things are happening everywhere," Epiphany mused. "Birds are gathering in huge flocks. Animals everywhere are behaving strangely."
"I heard my brother say this has been the coldest and driest autumn ever."
"It feels like we hardly see the sun anymore, for the clouds."
With this talk, the world seemed heavy and oppressing. I tried to think of a light comment to make but could not.
"Let's sit here a minute, Epiphany. I have to go to finish my chores in a moment, but..."
"Let's sit, then."
"Whew, I'm hot."
"How strange, I'm not hot at all."
"Well, I have just been working."
"Are you all right?" Epiphany asked, looking closely at my face.
"Of course. I just feel a little strange, that's all."
"Your cheeks are very pink."
"It's the cold air."
"But you are hot."
"Epiphany, no... ah, well." I sighed and let Epiphany unroll the rag from around my ankle.
"Zia, sit still a minute. Look, the bite mark is pink and swollen."
"I'll put something on it later, Epiphany. Let me..."
"No. Come back into the barn."
"Does this have something to do with magic?"
"Come."
In the hay-filled darkness, Epiphany completely unwound the bandage from the small but deep wound. Wordlessly, she placed both hands over it and closed her eyes. She paused, took one deep breath, and muttered a word. I suddenly felt warm and cold at the same time. I gasped- and so did Epiphany.
"What was that?" she asked
"Wasn't it the spell."
"Well, no, I mean, yes, it was. But it did not work as it was supposed to."
"Have you ever tried it before?"
"What could have gone wrong?" she asked. She placed one finger on the wound. It hurt more than it had before. I blinked hard.
"This is not right. Zia, could you come and see the Wielder with me?"
"No, I can't. I have too much to do."
"This is very important. Please, Zia!"
"I thought you said she wasn't home today."
"She was not to be disturbed. But this is very important."
I sighed. "Fine." I began tying up the bandage again. "But we have to hurry. I'll be in trouble if I'm missed."
"Hurry, then!"
Wondering how Epiphany had talked me into coming with her, I almost ran after her, to the Wielder's. With every step I took, the wound on my ankle seemed to hurt more. Soon it throbbed. What was wrong with it? What had Epiphany done?
Epiphany pushed open the Weilder's door.
"Excuse me? Excuse me!" Epiphany called out.
"Is anyone home?" I called after.
A cat, hissing and with fur on end, emerged from the kitchen. I shrank back, but it did not notice us. It stalked out of the door, after some unknown foe.
Epiphany glanced into the kitchen and into the back room.
"She's not here," Epiphany announced, mystified.
A kitten trotted out of the kitchen, mewing, and went to rub against Epiphany's legs.
"Kitten, where is the Wielder?" Epiphany cooed. The kitten mewed back. "Dear kitten, are you hungry? How long has the Weilder been gone?" The kitten mewed again. "Zia, could you feed him? I need to look for something." The kitten left Epiphany to rub and mew against me instead. I hurried away from it and into the kitchen.
The Weilder's kitchen seemed frightening when I was alone except for the kitten. I looked in the cupboards, expecting to find magical potions, but only finding meal and vegetables. I began to make porridge for the cat.
What were we doing in the Weilder's home again? Epiphany had to ask the Weilder something. But the Weilder was not there. Then what was Epiphany doing here? I set a saucer of porridge on the kitchen floor and hurried to the back room to find Epiphany.
I opened the door to find Epiphany reading a book by the light of a candle, her eyes as wide as they had been in the storm that had driven our families from their homes. She read passionately, unaware of me.
"Epiphany..." I almost whispered. She slowed her reading and finally raised her wide eyes. She looked startled, afraid.
"What is it?" I asked quietly.
"This explains everything."
"What?"
"This..." she gestured toward a thick tome and a sheet of paper stuck into it, as if for a bookmark. I stepped closer, ready to see the mysteries that so entranced Epiphany. I only saw cryptic scribbles on the page.
"This one," Epiphany said as she held up a piece of paper, "is a letter from the Weilder."
"What does it say?"
"It is written to me... it says that... she starts with saying that, if I was reading this, and it has been more than one day since I last saw her, she is probably dead."
"What????"
Epiphany paused, fighting tears.
"She has gone off to fight the Dark."
"What?"
"She and every other Weilder she knows. From all the neighboring towns and cities. They have banded together to fight it. And she, at least, has not come back. And if she has not come back, this says, it is most likely that no other Wielder did, either."
"Oh..."
"And... she says... she is leaving it to ME to fight the Dark. Or, specifically, she has left me the one task. To find the One that can fight the Dark."
"Dark? What does darkness have to do with anything?"
"The Dark is the greatest source of evil, and at the same time, the evil that comes from that source. This evil is so dark that most cannot sense it until it has attacked. The Dark can hold sway over light, as well as people, animals, weather..." I realized that Epiphany was reading from the book as she spoke.
"The Dark can be controlled. It has been controlled, since before memory, by those few who can fight it: those who are unaffected by the Dark, and those who can Wield magic against it." Epiphany glanced up at me and then down again. "In the event that the Dark grows out of control, its effects will be apparent, first subtly, and then dramatically. The Dark will at first hold slight sway over the movements of animals and people, the weather, the cycle of the seasons, or day and night. If the Dark is not stopped while the power is slight, its power will only grow. It will eventually have the power to govern the effects of animals, to create storms and drought, to make the world cold or warm, or bright or dark, as it will. It can grow to the point where it will rule the world."
"Is that what is happening now?" I asked quietly, with wide eyes. "I think so," Epiphany whispered. "That is why the weather has been so strange these past seasons."
"That is why the animals have been behaving so strangely. The rats and the birds. And the grasshoppers."
"This might explain the storm."
"And everything else." The oppressive air. The feelings around my heart and soul. "The Dark is taking control??" I was afraid.
"There are few who can fight the Dark. After the Dark gains control, there is only One. Of the few weapons against the Dark, the One is the greatest. Nothing is known about this One. Though this makes it immeasurably more difficult for this One to realize his or her own powers, it also serves as insurance against the Dark. The Dark would naturally try to destroy it's greatest enemy with whatever power-"
Epiphany suddenly stopped reading, with a look I had never seen before on her face.
"Zia....." she whispered. "You are the One."
"What?!?! Of course I'm not, Epiphany. How could I? I'm just a plain, normal person. I'm not even grown up yet. How could I be the One great weapon against the dark?" I had never been so afraid.
"The Dark has been centering on you. Remember the locusts, and the storms? Both disasters met where you were."
"And you, too! You were there! So were many others!"
"Only because they were so close to you! And, the animals! They have been behaving especially strangely around you. A rat attacked you, did it not? The bite, the fever in it, I knew something was wrong with it. My magic did not heal it as it should have. You felt it yourself, when I tried- my magic was stopped by something. That was the Dark, in that bite.
"You have felt it all along. The dark is all around us- all around YOU. You have been weighed down by it, almost imperceptibly. But no one could really feel it but you. Everyone else around you didn't notice because of Dark's very nature. It has shielded all observation of itself- and you are at the center of that shield. The shield and the dark behind it is slowly closing in on you, Zia- you are the One, and the Dark knows. You are the greatest weapon. You can fight the Dark, but the Dark does not want you to win! But you have to win, Zia! If the Dark is taking over, only you can save everything. You are The One. Do you not see!!? You are the One, Zia."
I scarcely breathed. The world would not stand still. I felt as I was at the center of a spinning world, and I was spinning outward as everything moved too fast. I could not speak. I just stared at Epiphany, as she stared, panting, at me.
"Have you gone completely crazy?"
Roun stood in the doorway and asked, staring with narrowed eyes.
"Roun!!!!" I cried. "But... how..."
"I was looking for the Weilder and heard you two within, screaming like ones gone mad."
"You heard all of it?" Epiphany asked, with a cold distance in her voice.
"All of the madness that was to be heard," Roun replied. "What are you talking about?!"
"I was speaking of the Dark."
"I know full well of the Dark."
"You do."
"Yes."
"Then you understand Zia's position."
"I understand nothing of that," Roun said sharply. "You said she is the One,"
"She is."
"No she is not! Do you realize what being the One means?"
"It means she is the One great weapon."
"And the One great threat! The Dark would try to chase her down and use her as an opening into the world. She would be the greatest weakness!"
"But she is needed now."
"She is not the One!"
"She is."
"Listen! Crazy animals and strange storms mean nothing. The Dark IS closing in, the world HAS become a strange place, but the center is not on Zia. It's not on any of us. The Dark is everywhere! Animals acting strangely, attacking? The birds are flocking everywhere! Zia is not the only one they have been circling."
"I have not see it."
"Maybe you have not been looking! You say Zia is the one?! You base this on a very few coincidences!"
"Something stopped my magic!"
"The silent Epiphany finally speaks of her `magic'. What do you know? You have never tried to heal before. You felt something- you assumed it was the Dark. It happens to many on their first healing! Perhaps there WAS Dark in that bite, but no more than in the air we breathe!"
"Stop a minute-!"
"No, listen-!"
"STOP IT!!!!!!" I screamed. Both paused for a moment and stared at me. Their eyes were wild with emotion, and their sides heaved. I had never head such an ugly tone in either of their voices.
"Don't you feel it, Zia?" Epiphany asked. "Can you not feel the Dark? Do you not feel as if you are the One?!"
"SHUT UP!" Roun yelled at Epiphany. He turned to me, almost desperate. "Do NOT listen to her! She does NOT know what she is talking about!"
"He-!"
"WAIT!" I screamed again. I would soon have to tear them from each others' throats. "Am I the One? I don't know!"
"You have to decide soon," urged Epiphany
"Shut up!" Roun yelled
"If you are the One, there is no time to lose,"
"If you ARE the One..."
"Can I have a moment to think???" I asked.
"Sure," said Roun. "Go and think all you want. You'll see who's right."
"You will see that you ARE the One."
"You will see that you are NOT."
"Could you just leave me alone for a moment?"
"The Dark has grown too strong too fast."
"The Dark is gaining power, but you CAN NOT put yourself in its way."
"You have to."
"You-"
"Haven't you always wanted to save the world!"
Roun made an exasperated sound.
"Give Zia time to think," he said, as he grabbed Epiphany and hauled her out of the room.
Epiphany slapped Roun's cheek and stalked off.
"Don't do anything crazy, Zia," Roun quietly implored. He shut the door.
I almost fell into a chair. I felt sick.
Could I be the One?
I was afraid. What was happening to the world? Was the Dark centering around me? What was I to do?
I had no magic, no great courage, nothing that could help me. I was no One. Could Epiphany not see? She was confused, mislead, somehow not seeing what was true. Roun was right. How could I be the One? The One great weapon? The One great threat? There had been no sign from the heavens. There had been no wild convergence of Dark. Epiphany spoke of things based on wild imaginings.
I stood. My head spun with the thoughts that swirled inside. I paced around the dark room, looking at the book and letter that I could not read, looking at the walls, the floor, this room that belonged to a Weilder that was dead. I had to tell Epiphany. Slowly, I stepped before the door. I paused, with Epiphany's words in my mind. Hadn't I always wanted to save the world?
Yes. But I had grown up. I would open the door to the world and face a completely new reality, one in which I was ready to understand that I was not the One.
Roun sat and scowled at Epiphany, a red mark on his cheek. Epiphany sat on the other side of the room, stroking the kitten. They both saw me and stood.
I dropped my gaze. Epiphany had looked at me with such hope. I could not face her.
Roun walked over to me. He spoke quietly.
"You know, don't you." Roun put one arm around me. I felt reassured. "Don't worry. You have just come to see the way life is."
Epiphany took a step forward.
"Zia..."
"Epiphany," I raised my gaze but did not look at her. "I have to go. I have work to do..."
"You are making the wrong choice."
"Bye, Roun. Epiphany."
I fled from the Wielder's.