#like i just KNOW if i told airk “i like you!!” he'd just be like. beer pong. rn.

[trickarrows-bishop]

let's play cup pong!!

photos from @hgstuff

[corinneecrivaine]

WILLOW FANFIC

PART 9

THE SECRET OATH OF TIR ASLEEN

Elora: Willow... Graydon's alive. I know it, I feel it. You feel it too, don't you. I must help him.

Willow hesitated before answering: If that were the case, and I doubt it very much, he's no longer the man you knew, infected by The Wyrm. You've seen his effects on Ballantine, Merrick and... Airk, Graydon... He doesn't have the strength to fight.

Elora: That's why I have to help him. If there's even a glimmer of hope, then I've got to do it. We've got to get back to Tir Asleen.

Willow approached the young Empress and took her face in his hands: "You're not ready. Until you accept who you are, you won't be able to master the magic that lives inside you.

Elora begged: "When I looked through the light, believing I'd find Graydon's body, all I saw was an apocalyptic world in flames and ashes. I won't let The Wyrm destroy our world. I've defeated The Crone, I'll defeat The Wyrm. But I need you. I'm begging you.

Mims joined them at that very moment.

Mims: I'll go with you, Elora.

Willow got angry: No, Mims. It's out of the question!

Mims raised her voice: I will, Popa. I'll follow our Empress. She'll need all of us. She can't do it alone. We need to assemble an army to fight alongside her. Whether you like it or not, I'll be part of that army. Tir Asleen needs us. You feel it, as does Elora, The Wyrm is growing in power.

Willow stared at the young Empress, who implored her with her eyes.

Willow: My place is by your side. How can I help you without my magic ?

Elora: Willow, as you've always told me, magic is inside you, you just have to believe in it.

*******

Airk went to the castle library in the hope of finding answers to his questions. All the mysteries his mother had kept from him. Ever since he'd been under the Wyrm's spell, a change had taken place in him. A change that made him want to know the truth about his family and his past. King Hastur's words and Elora's never ceased to torment his mind. Ever since he'd returned home, he'd been haunted by horrible nightmares in which he heard The Crone's voice over and over again, saw Lili's face, the fight with his sister, the king he could have been and all the power that had inhabited him without any sense of fear or weakness. But what oppressed and frightened him most was the vision of that confrontation in which Kit succumbed. He could never see her assailant. He was terrified. Every night he dreaded falling asleep and seeing those horrible images of his sister, inert, dressed all in black, a tunic protected by a cuirass, leather gloves covering her hands up to the elbows, pants over which waders, a hood and a mask enveloping her face. He had refused to tell his mother. As for Willow and Elora, the only one who could possibly help him were no longer at Tir Asleen. He had to save his sister by any means necessary, even if it meant sacrificing his life.

The place was rather gloomy and dusty. It had been many moons since anyone had ventured into this almost forgotten place. Hundreds of books on shelves and others lying loose on a wooden table. The library, reading, was not the young prince's first passion. How was he going to find the grimoire he was looking for?

He faced the bookshelf and sighed : « Come on, Airk, get started ».

He'd been searching for hours, throwing all kinds of manuscripts on the floor: cooking recipes, astronomy, astrology, herbal medicine, naturopathy, but nothing about his family or Tir Asleen.

In a sudden fit of terrible anger, the young prince threw all the books on the table aside with a wave of his hand. He had to get hold of this manuscript at all costs - it might be the only way to save his sister.

Suddenly, he noticed a locked drawer. He tried to pry the lock off with his hand, but to no avail. Examining every nook and cranny of the room, he found nothing. Annoyed, he picked up a paperweight and struck as hard as he could. Mad with rage, he swung the object, which shattered against the wall and released a silver cleaver resembling a key. He grabbed it and opened the drawer.

Inside was a magnificent leather-covered grimoire bearing the symbol of royalty: the Tree of Life within a circle of lilies of peace surrounded by an octagon, entitled: The Secret Oath of Tir Asleen. The manuscript was closed by a lock, which he pushed aside, revealing its buried secrets. Calligraphic gold scrolls recounting the history of the Tanthalos family and Tir Asleen. Airk leafed through the grimoire and plunged into the past.

*******

Tir Asleen was a magnificent, prosperous kingdom of peace and plenty, the most powerful in Andowyne, with rich farmlands and ruled for many moons by benevolent monarchs. Renowned for its hospitality, anyone could find shelter here. Renowned for its rich culture and teachings, many sorcerers studied in the castle's library. It was here that Fin Raziel and Bavmorda learned magic alongside Cherlindrea.

Mikal Tanthalos, son of Tanthalos VIII, was the last king of Tir Asleen. A man of culture, arts and letters, he was renowned for his greatness of spirit, kindness, compassion and generosity. He was a king who always strived to do what was right. But all that changed with the arrival of Bavmorda.

A child prodigy, curious and intelligent, she assimilated magic so incredibly well that she earned the respect of Cherlindrea. Everyone saw her as a child of Heaven, the chosen one who would bring peace to the whole universe. But Bavmorda was destined for an altogether different destiny. When she came into the world, many creatures of the night surrounded her mother and witnessed her birth. This child had been conceived by darkness.

One evening, while she was in the castle library, the Malatrium, a grimoire containing incantations of evil sorcery, appeared to her. She began to study this forbidden magic, and the more she immersed herself in it, the darker her soul and heart became, and the darkness flowed through her veins. Not only did she feed on Malatrium, but this dangerous magic also fed on Bavmorda.

Over the years, she became such a powerful evil witch that she attracted the interest of the nascent Order of the Wyrm, who rallied her to their cause. The day she pledged allegiance to this sect, Bavmorda turned definitively to the dark side. She used her dark magic to destroy the parents of Mikal, sole heir to the throne of Tir Asleen. The young prince, under Bavmorda's spell, eventually married her.

She seized the throne and ushered in an era of violence and bloodshed. When her daughter Sorsha was born, she left Tir Asleen, taking her child with her and trapping her husband and all the inhabitants in blocks of ice. She settled in the volcanic fortress of Nockmaar, from where she continued her reign of terror.

*******

Airk had grown up in a golden bubble in which his family's darkest secrets could never reach him. But today, everything that had been buried and forgotten had been revealed to him. The young prince was discovering a side of his mother he'd never imagined existed. He had been raised and educated by a person with a dark past, acting alongside the most evil witch with the sole aim of destroying the young Elora. The same Elora she was now protecting. It was all lies and deceit. Anger overwhelmed him.

He continued to peruse the grimoire and understood one of the reasons why Tir Asleen was so coveted. The Tree of Life was not only the emblem of the Tanthalos family's royalty, it was the very essence of the magic that shaped Cherlindea's The Wand. Whoever owned Tir Asleen owned magic.

Bavmorda's presence in these parts, fanned by the dark world using magic to fulfill its evil ambitions, blackened the roots of the Tree of Life and awakened the Malatrium awaiting her coming. Her greed and thirst for power fed it a little more with each use.

The Malatrium was a manuscript with a cover made of Satyr skin, containing the incantations of a forgotten magic, too dangerous to be practiced. Anyone who allowed themselves to be seduced by this forbidden magic fell under the spell of the Malatrium, which fueled envy, power, domination and darkness. It was created by the Malevoiy, an ancient people of fairies who revelled in death and cruelty. In those ancient times, the Malevoiy ruled the world until the Daikinis drove them from Nockmaar, but their spirits continued to haunt the place, awaiting their return to restore their glory.

Flipping through this sinister part of his family's grimoire, the pages darkened as did the calligraphy. Airk felt a chill run through his body. The young prince learned that, between them, Willow and Elora had used this forbidden magic to save Graydon.

Airk : Elora, no you didn't.

It's as if the manuscript had woken up and was filling itself with the adventures of his family and all that related to it. From his kidnapping to his release. It was all there. The last empty page slowly took shape before his eyes. What it revealed filled him with terror. The grimoire had just reproduced his abominable nightmare, his sister inert, succumbing to the attacks of her assailant hidden in the shadows.

Airk brutally closed the manuscript to chase away those awful images. His family had a direct link with The Wyrm. Perhaps the magic that ran in his grandmother's veins could also live in him and his sister. Perhaps he simply had to awaken it.

He needed the Malatrium to save his sister.

He had to return to Nockmaar.