The Shadow Prequel

The Shadow

Prequel.

The Mirror Broke.

In one corner of the Royal Castle was a tall tower. At the very top of the tower was a single room. The only door into the tower was locked and no-one could ever remember it being unlocked. The castle guards walked around the battlements at night and faithfully tried the door to make sure. This duty they carried out every night without fail and never asked why they did it.

When Private Gwilliam did not re-appear from his march round the battlements, Sergeant Bothy went to look for him, promising punishment if the guard was not doing his duty properly. He found the poor guard huddled in a corner near the tower, unable to speak and shaking with fear.

Sergeant Bothy blew his whistle which brought all the other guards running to deal with the emergency. They searched the battlements and found nothing that is until one of them realised that the door to the Tower was open. They brought torches and carefully went inside. The dust was thick on the steps except where a set of small footprints came down.

One of the guards was sent to Captain Smike. He came and climbed the stairs, being very careful not to tread on the small footprints. The door into the room at the top was open. Gingerly, Captain Smike went in. The room was empty of all furniture except for a tall mirror stand. The mirror itself was smashed into pieces, and the glass spread across the floor. The footprints began in the middle of the glass.

Carefully, the Captain closed the door and went down the stairs. He closed the tower door. Poor Private Gwilliam was carried down to the guard room. He was still shaking and the only word they could get out of him was. "The-- the Wraiths."

Early the next morning, Captain Smike reported the incidents of the night to King Rolan. He did not know why the tower was always kept locked. The Castle historian came, and after searching for some time through the castle records, he found the answer.

He bowed to the king. "This is what I found, sire," he said. One of your ancestors managed to lock up the former Witch of the Dark Forest inside a mirror. They did not like to destroy the mirror in case she escaped. So, they put it in the tower and locked it up. They thought it was forever."

"The footprints are small enough to be those of a woman," said Captain Smike.

"We had better send a message to the present Witch of the Dark Forest, Calizone," said King Rolan. "I am sure she will not want another witch to suddenly appear."

Calizone was not pleased. "Spells have a time limit on them," she explained. "This one must have been for one hundred years and a day. I wish I had known about the mirror. I could have done something."

She walked up and down the throne room. "The witch who was trapped in a mirror was called Magalan. You realise that she will want revenge on your family for locking her up," she said.

King Roland nodded. "Can you do anything?"

The witch shook her head. "Magalan was one of the most powerful witches in history. All I can do for the moment is to see if I can find out where she has gone. She will be weak after spending that much time in the mirror, so she will have gone to hide somewhere until she regains her strength."

Calizone sighed and turned to the king. "Send everyone away; this is for your ears only," she ordered.

When the room was empty, she nodded and spoke. "I am giving away a witch's secret here. You must never pass on what I am about to tell you."

King Rolan nodded. "You have my word." Calizone went on, "This has actually cleared up a mystery for me. All witches keep a diary. The first ever witch ordered it. Her Diary is not there as she is still alive somewhere. There are a few diaries missing where the witch did not write anything down. When a witch dies, the diary magically appears on the bookshelves in the cottage. Those diaries are protected by the strongest of spells. Even though the cottage has been destroyed a few times over the years, it and the diaries always re-appear. I could never understand why Magalan's diary was not there."

"She is not dead," said King Rolan.

"She is most definitely still alive," agreed Calizone.

"The guard kept muttering about the Wraiths," said the King. "I thought they were just a story told to scare children."

"No," said Calizone. "They are real enough. I am not sure why they would come to help Magalan, but they obviously did, and your guard must have seen them."

A few days later, the Witch sent a message to King Rolan to tell him that the escaped witch had disappeared into the mountains, probably taking shelter with the Wraiths.

A few weeks later, the outlaws and smugglers began to leave their mountain hideouts and come down to the Borderlands to escape the Wraiths. A little later, the whole town of Ingford was taken over by the Wraiths. Magalan’s revenge had begun. It was to cost King Rolan dearly, as his family was among the victims of Magalan and the Wraiths.

A long time later, a message came from

Calizone. It said, "The Diary has appeared.”

Rolan understood what it meant and heaved a sigh of relief. Magalan was dead. At around the same time, the attacks by the Wraiths stopped as well.