Present - The Immortal Vale - Enzo

“Gotcha, you little thief.” The guard grabbed the hand of a young man that he’d been sent to stop.

The captured man struggled halfheartedly.

“Did you think could you get away with stealing from the kitchens forever?” The guard pulled the young man closer, glaring at him. “What’s your name and how did you get here?”

“I’m Enzo Hai of the Water Clan and I was sent here to retrieve the Eternity Stone for the Elemental Nexus and I’ve been here ever since,” he said, ignoring the guard’s other question.

“I don’t know how you’ve evaded us since then, but I’ve got you now,” he guard said, sneering slightly. “Master Han will decide what to do with you. Come on.”

The guard pushed Enzo roughly before him, heading to the holding cells. At least the cook would be happy. He’d never seen anyone so furious about someone invading their domain. Perhaps she’d let him have some of the dragon’s beard candies she was getting ready to make for the new year.

The pair trudged down to the basement of the castle where the cells were. Enzo already knew the way, having escaped from them twice already. The place was empty. He’d happily make it three times once the guard left, so he let himself get pushed into the cell. It was simply a minor detour from his current plans.

Enzo turned and held the bars like they meant something as the guard locked the cell door.

“Done.” The guard nodded grimly. “I’ll go and get Master Han and… wait.” The guard peered closely at Enzo’s left hand. “What’s that?”

He grabbed it, pulling Enzo’s forearm through the bars to get his hand under the brighter light.

“Oh,” the guard said, his eyes going wide. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen,” Enzo said, frowning. “Why?”

The guard’s mouth dropped open a little and he shook his head.

“What date is your birthing day?” The guard asked, urgently, gripping Enzo’s hand harder.

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” Enzo said, trying, and failing, to pull his hand back.

“It has everything to do with… well, everything,” the guard said, shaking Enzo’s arm. “I need to know when your birthing day is.”

“Fine, the eighth of Rains,” Enzo said scowling.

“It can’t be,” the guard murmured, looking at Enzo like he’d just grown a second head.

“What can’t be?” Enzo said, tensing his jaw.

“You’re the one,” the guard said, staring at him with wide eyes. He finally released the hold on Enzo’s hand.

“What do you mean, the one?” Enzo asked, his eyes narrowing as he pulled his hand back.

Looking down at the familiar black mark on the back of his hand, a circle inside a small triangle, Enzo frowned. He’d been born with it. No one had ever said anything about it before though. It was simply an odd birthmark.

The guard’s eyes darted around the room.

“The one from the prophecy,” the guard whispered as he leaned in.

Enzo had never heard of a prophecy before, so he raised his eyebrows and waited for the man to continue.

“You know, the one who will bring back that which is missing and restore balance to the…” the guard said, trailing off at Enzo’s blank look.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room as the guard paced back and forth, muttering to himself. Enzo rolled his eyes and sat on the floor at the back of the cell. The guard had obviously lost it. Suddenly the man stopped and turned to face Enzo.

“Okay, I need to get you safe,” he said, saying the last thing Enzo had been expecting. “I’m Lee, one of Master Chao’s followers.

Enzo had never heard of a Master Chao.

“He’s an immortal very few people know about,” Lee said, unlocking the cell door. “Come on, it’s not safe to talk about here.”

“There are eight great immortals and none of them are called Master Chao,” Enzo got to his feet so he could run if necessary.

“Oh there’s a lot that people think they know that’s actually incorrect,” Lee waved Enzo’s objection away, turned around and walked over to a cupboard on the other side of the room.

Enzo ran his hand through his hair. He could simply disappear, but Lee’s offhand remark made him curious.

“What do I have wrong then?” Enzo crossed his arms.

“Plenty,” Lee said, grabbing something from the cupboard and walking back to the cell. “Like I said, this isn’t the place to talk about it though. Put these on.”

He handed Enzo a guard uniform.

“It’ll be the easiest way to get you somewhere safe,” Lee said. “No one recognizes all the guards and they have access nearly everywhere in this place. Once you’re safe I’ll happily tell you anything you want to know.”

He waited for Enzo to change, walking back to the main room and writing something in the logs.

Unsure what to do Enzo hastily swapped his clothes for the uniform. Even if he decided to escape, being dressed like a guard would clearly make moving around much easier.

“This way,” Lee said the moment Enzo finished.

***

The pair entered a rather run down stone house that sat behind the castle. Still inside the high outer walls, it had no space for a garden and pushed up against the houses on either side of it.

Lee lit the candles around the room so Enzo could see. The place was fairly sparse. A lone chair stood in one corner and a bed lay opposite. A threadbare rug covered the stone floor and a large locked chest held down one side of it.

“Hold this,” Lee said, thrusting the candle holder into Enzo’s hands.

He bent over and started rolling the rug back. Beneath it was a well maintained trap door with a brass handle. Lee stopped and listened carefully, his eyes darting around the room. Having established the place was empty, he quickly pulled up the door.

Bright light shone from below, showing a steep stone staircase.

“Go on,” Lee said gesturing for Enzo to descend.

With a glance back at the front door, Enzo shrugged and started down the stairs, with Lee right behind him. The basement room was extremely well kept. Row upon row of books stared back at Enzo from the far wall. A display of various weapons adorned the wall to his left, while the right one was covered in various maps. The middle of the room was taken up by a huge wooden table, surrounded by chairs. The most intriguing thing, however, were the balls of energy, one in each corner of the room, that gave off the intense light.

Lee grabbed the candle holder from Enzo and blew it out, placing it on the table.

“Now, let’s show you this prophecy,” Lee said, pulling out one of the chairs for Enzo to sit down.

Grabbing out a huge, black, leather-bound book, he thumped it down onto the table.

“There, read that,” Lee said, having found the right page.

Enzo leaned over, his eyes getting wider with every word he read.