The gatekeeper

Chapter 6: The gatekeeper

"Your Majesty. Do you think someone is trying harm the crown princess?" Dexter asked as he and Lawrence carefully examined the golden coin lying on the table.

It was heirloom passed down from generation to generation in the royal family. It was actually a pair of two coins, which are connected to each other. Meant for the king and queen.

But the queen gave it lo Isabella, hoping Lawrence could immediately go to aid her if she is in trouble.

Recently the coin showed a lot of fluctuations in it's energy, but only for a while, and then it would peacefully settle back. They would have missed it if they weren't very sensitive to the vibrations.

"Might be. I never thought it could be still connected beyond realms."

Does it mean, the one who created this artifact knew how to travel between realms?

Dexter understood his king's question and answered promptly.

"I know the elf master who made a few of the ancient Mythiopian artifacts. He might know something about this artifact"

It wasn't hard for him to reach out to that artifact master. After all, he is the elf prince. They cannot reject his request.

Lawrence gratefully looked at Dexter and nodded.

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[Vandrad]

"Why the hell is he tagging along?" Adrian asked fiercely when he saw Calhoun leisurely walking towards to the carriage.

"Shh.. Keep your voice down" his uncle, who was also occupying the same carriage warned.

"Your father ordered him to join us. Don't make that face now." Vakra reminded but Adrian didn't want to spend two days carriage ride with Calhoun beside him.

He stubbornly got down and soon a red dragon flew into the sky. It looked at Calhoun, roared, made sure everyone saw his majestic beast, and then left towards east.

Calhoun casually took a look at his brother performing his aerobics in the sky.

"What an insecure kid. His teenage hormones are still high." Sasha in Calhoun's arms commented silently before closing it's eyes.

Calhoun got on to the royal carriage and looked at the sly man sitting inside.

Actually, he never really had any problem with the second prince. Adrian was just a stubborn kid pampered and spoiled by the queen.

But this uncle of his was the one who always made him think as if the entire world is his enemy except for his mother and uncle.

Vakra quickly put on a sweet smile showing his teeth and greeting Calhoun. No matter what, Calhoun was still a royal prince.

"How was your trip to the fox clan, uncle?" Calhoun casually asked.

"Very good, your highness. Very good." Vakra didn't say anything more, and neither did Calhoun ask anything else.

Calhoun simply closed his eyes and leaned back for the rest of the journey.

Vakra wasn't any real threat right now. He was originally supposed to become the duke of southern waters, a major port harbor in Vandrad.

But then the late Duke of Southern waters was caught exporting the weapons to the scavengers at the borders, and the entire family of Sea serpents was beheaded, except for Vakra and the queen.

Since then Vakra settled down in this royal palace with his sister after destroying his beast himself in front of the king.

"I heard no one defeat in a game of chess, your highness. The journey is long. How about we play one?" Vakra offered.

The carriage was big, with a chess board and few other board games for entertainment.

Calhoun smiled.

"I also heard that you are good with your dice. How about we play a game of dice?" Calhoun suggested.

He indeed wanted to see what was so special about those rolling dice that Vakra always carries them with him.

Soon they set up the board and the game started.

Calhoun would be lying if he say he wasn't disappointed at how the game turned out to be.

He WON. He thought Vakra's dice would be special, but they were just ordinary. He himself touched and played with them, but nothing extraordinary happened.

"Hahaha.. As expected of his highness. How can an old man like me win against you?" Vakra praised and praised as he took back his pair of dice on the board.

"How about another game, your highness?" Vakra suggested.

But this time Calhoun refused and the carriage became quite again.

"What do you think about that dice?" Calhoun quietly asked Sasha when they stopped at night at an inn.

"Nothing special. They even look cheap. Perhaps he thinks they are his lucky charm or something. Everyone knows he is a gambling addict" Sasha said as she munched on the meat.

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[The white tower]

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Dexter asked coldly looking at the servant who kept them waiting for more than two hours.

"Forgive me your highness. My master haven't woken up yet." The servant politely replied.

"Then wake him up"

"Calm down Dexter. Let's wait for a while." Lawrence calmly stated.

He and Dexter flew here overnight to meet the artifact master.

They thought it would be easy to get his audience, but the old elf seems to a stubborn one. He didn't give any face to the wizard king or the elf prince and made them wait.

Dexter wasn't as patient as Lawrence. He snapped out again after another hour.

"The sun is already above your head. Why is your Master not awake yet? Is he dead?"

Dexter couldn't take this anymore. These damn people didn't even serve them water since they arrived.

White sparks started flowing like small thunders out of his clenched fists.

Lawrence could probably tolerate this insolence for his daughter, but he couldn't take this attitude at all. These people were dragging down all the elves.

"Your Majesty. I will go and get that old man here." Dexter bowed and walked towards the big white doors.

The young servant wanted to stop but Dexter unsheathed his sword, effectively shutting up the servant.

Ten minutes later he dragged a drunken man into the hall and threw him on the cold floor.

"Hehe.. Little wife. I didn't know you do rough." The old man slurred and giggled holding Dexter's thigh.

Dexter shut his eyes and took a deep breathe before sheathing his sword back. He didn't want to kill this man now.

Lawrence finally got up from his seat and gazed at the drunken old man calmly.

"Are you sure he is the one?"

"Yes your majesty. I am sure" Dexter confirmed. Even he wouldn't believe that this drunkard is a master creator had he not witnessed his talent himself before.

Lawrence trusted Dexter and flicked his fingers once. A small dark cloud formed on the elf master's head and soon it started to rain non stop. The cloud followed the old elf no matter where he ran to, till he was finally sober and recognized the two elephants in the room.

"Y-You-Your M-Majesty, y-your -h-highness. Please forgive this o-old man. P-Please forgive me" The elf master Herold knelt and bowed up and down, almost smashing his face to the floor.

"Please get up sir. Our visit was sudden and uninformed. I apologize for that" Lawrence said and Dexter didn't complain any further.

Herold finally got. Lawrence was generous enough to flick his fingers again and the old man's clothes dried up.

"Have you ever seen this coin before old man?" Dexter questioned as Lawrence put his coin on the table.

Herold came close adjusting his round glasses and inspected the coin. It looked quite normal to him.

It was definitely not a weapon.

"No, Your Majesty. I have never seen this coin before. What is this?"

"It is the royal family's heir loom. It originally came as a set of two coins. I wonder if you know anything about it's origin"

Herold racked his brains to think about any set of coins but nothing came to his mind.

"Does this coin has any special functionalities, Your Majesty?"

Lawrence didn't hesitate in revealing what the coin was.

"It connects the owners of the coin with one another whenever they are in danger. Some sort of communication tool." Lawrence explained.

Herold looked confused. Those type of tools were very common everywhere, not to mention in Mythiopia, the very land of magic.

The coin was old, very very old, but still nothing fancy.

"There have been many such kind of artifacts like that Your Majesty. I am afraid tracing it's origin will be impossible with just that."

Lawrence pursed his lips looking at the coin.

"It is connected across realms."

Herold blinked his grey eyes in confusion.

"My youngest daughter has the other coin in the human realm. Recently, the coin showed energy fluctuations."

Herold widened his eyes hearing this. He also knew the gravity of the situation.

Who doesn't know how precious Isabella is to Lawrence?

"T-Then then, this must be forged by the gatekeeper." Herold exclaimed, himself somewhat shocked at the possibility.

"Gatekeeper?" Dexter and Lawrence were confused too.

Herold nodded seriously before speaking.

"I remember my master once told me about this gatekeeper."

"All the four realm gates were guarded by the gatekeeper. Only he can walk across all the realms and no one could cross them without his permission. For this artifact to communicate beyond realms, it must be forged by the gatekeeper."

Lawrence finally felt hopeful after more than a decade.

"Where can I find that gatekeeper?" anticipation evident in voice.

The old elf shook his head.

"He is no more, your Majesty"

"No more? Does that mean no one is guarding the gates?" Dexter asked. Isn't it a problem if anyone and everyone can open the gates?

Herold played with his white beard in deep thoughts.

"I think the gatekeeper sealed all the gates before perishing. Or else the world would have been in chaos."

"How did he die?" Lawrence asked. To be able to control the four gates, that person must be very powerful.

"I don't know Your Majesty. But seeing that the artifact is a heir loom, he must be once very closely related to your royal family." Herold pointed out and Lawrence agreed.

To be passed down from generations to generations, the gate keeper must have been an important figure in the royal family tree.

But Mythiopia has very ancient roots, and tracing his own family tree is a challenging task.

"If this can be of any help, the gatekeeper's name is Draphior Runescar your majesty." Herold gave the last piece of information he knew about the origins of the coin.

When his late master randomly told this story, he never thought one day the wizard king would come looking for him to inquire about this.

"Thank you for your time, Sir Herold. I will never forget help today. In future, if you ever need anything, please find me. I will try my best to fulfill your demands." Lawrence slightly bowed to the elder man.

Giving his word, Lawrence and Dexter flew back on their griffins to Mythiopia. Lawrence already planned to check every single book in the secret library regarding the gatekeeper.

He seems to be the only hope to find his daughter.