Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

knew.
    Things are rarely what they seem, Samuel recalled. He remembered the story Kaleb had told his men, only a few nights ago. He thought about the lesson behind the words of the officer: even when every sign points in the same direction, there is always a chance we could be wrong in interpreting them. There is always a chance that the antithesis of our speculations was actually the truth.
    “That’s it!” Samuel suddenly called out, jumping to his feet. “It’s Myrddin! He is the key.”
    Both the child and the fairy looked at him, puzzled by the Lorekeeper’s sudden outburst of optimism.
    “He’s the reason we have not seen any sign of the Yfel man so far. It’s because he would see the Yfel .”
    “I don’t understand,” replied Angeline. “Only a moment ago, he confirmed he could neither see who the man is nor the result of his actions.”
    “Exactly!” continued Samuel. “We know that if any change were made to the story—anything at all that affected the ending—Myrddin would immediately see it, since today is the final day of this legend. However, he had the same visions for years, unchanged and always playing out the same way. It’s pretty safe to assume that if anything were to suddenly change, if the story were to unexpectedly take a turn for the worse, he would immediately tell Ambrosius and Uther, am I right?”
    “I guess so,” said Angeline, and Myrddin nodded.
    “We have been looking at this from the wrong angle the whole time,” resumed Samuel. “We had hoped Myrddin would tell us what had changed. Since nothing had, we assumed the enemy had not made a move yet. However, the agent is also aware of Myrddin’s ability to see the future. You said it yourself, Angeline: since they don’t care about changing the course of history, they know everything there is to know about it, up to the very last detail. What if his plan is already in motion, but in a way that is not affecting the story yet? If you knew someone like Myrddin could warn others of a change in the story and, therefore, alert them to your presence, wouldn’t you hide your intentions till the very end? Think about it. Whoever this man is, he is being very careful not to change the course of the story yet, because he knows any action to do so will immediately change the vision Myrddin has, and probably make him turn around and go back to the abbey, along with Ambrosius. Up until now, we had thought there was no plan in motion, but the very fact that the ending has not changed tells us there is a scheme in the works. A scheme that is carefully hidden within the storyline.”
    “It does make sense,” acknowledged Angeline. “But wouldn’t it be easier to simply kill Myrddin? No offense, my young friend.”
    “Again,” answered Samuel, “any action he would take to set up an assassination attempt would change the ending, and Myrddin would see it coming. How can you kill someone who knows your every move? No, whoever this man is, he is letting the story play out as it’s supposed to until the very end, when he will strike before anyone can react.”
    “I have to admit,” said the fairy, “that it does make sense. Although I don’t see how it helps us. If what you are saying is true, then all it does is confirm the presence of the enemy. We are still no closer to finding his plan.”
    “Quite the opposite! The fact that he tries his best to remain hidden from Myrddin tells us one thing: the young wizard is the target. From now on, we can concentrate our energies and strengths on one purpose: protecting Myrddin. We no longer have to ponder every scenario and progress in the dark. Our mission is clear and our goal is right in front of us. It also provides us with an indication as to when our enemy intends to strike. Since the ending is still ‘on schedule,’ I’m sure it means he will attack us at the very last moment. Now, we can prepare and be ready for him, rather than spend all our time wondering if something will happen at any moment.”
    “Assuming you’re right,” countered the fairy, “how will he be able to do anything if he waits until the very last second to act? By then, it will be too late to change the story significantly.”
    “This is precisely why we have to assume he has disguised his moves under the cloak of actions already taking place in the storyline. Pieces of his plan could already be in place, but passing as something else, ready to be used when the time comes. He is probably