The Forbidden Secret Revealed

Zardin was nervous.  His Zorpozian followers have sudden become curious about a secret that they suspected that he was hiding.  What kind of secret would they be suspecting?  he thought.

The truth is, Zardin knew very well the secret that he was trying to hide from his people.  The suspicion began when two of his closest followers noticed him in a hidden area.  The truth was that Zardin was checking that area to make sure that the place was still sealed.

Zardin has placed a seal on the area where the magic scrolls were located.  Since he couldn’t destroy the magic that he possessed, this was the only way that he could dispose of it.

Zardin didn’t want his people finding out about the magic scrolls.  This was the very magic that ruined his people on his home planet of Vexasis.  When everyone uses magic, that’s where the struggle for power begins.  The stronger kill the younger, until the strongest are left.  Zardin didn’t want his people corrupted in this way.  It would bring an end to Zorpoz, the very planet that he filled with life.  The planet was found in ruins, and it would become ruins once more.

Unfortunately, the two close followers, as cunning as they were, hid while they saw their leader watching the seal to see if it would still hold.  Finally, followers began to ask Zardin probing questions about the seal.  Zardin didn’t say a word.

Upset at this, the two followers began searching all over for the objects that would break the seal.  They knew that Zardin was hiding something valuable from them, and they were going to find out what it was, no matter the cost.

With that, the search began.  “We’ll show Zardin,” they said.  “What could he possibly be hiding from us?  We are his people!  His own flesh and blood!  Does he not trust us?”

One of the followers got a shovel and they began digging all over Zorpoz.  After what seemed like weeks,  they found what looked like a crest.  The crest was the same one that they saw on the sealed door.

“We found it!” One of them said.  “Now we can break the seal!”

“Wait!” The other said.  “This is only a piece of the crest.  We need to find all the pieces for this to work.”

“Why would he hide these pieces?  Wouldn’t he have destroyed them, so that no one could break the seal?”

“Perhaps the crest itself is magical, and cannot be broken.  Maybe this was the only way that he could dispose of it.”

“Makes sense to me.  Let’s find the other pieces!”

And that is what the two followers did.  They searched for the pieces of the crest, but they never revealed any of them to Zardin.

Finally, about two years later, they found all the pieces.

When they placed all the pieces together, the crest magically assembled, becoming whole once again.

Upon seeing this, the followers gasped.  “It really is magical!” The one gasped.  “Why would Zardin hide something so wonderful from us?

“Maybe he wants the magic all to himself,” the other said.

But this was far from the truth.  Zardin knew the destruction that this magic could unleash on Zorpoz.  It has already ruined his home planet, forcing him to exile.  He didn’t want this to happen to Zorpoz, the planet that he filled with life. If only he knew what his two followers were plotting behind his back!

The two followers waited until evening, when Zardin was resting in his house.

The two entered the temple and approached the sealed door.  They placed the crest on the door, which the matching pattern was.  It was an image of a bright star, shining over a planet.

After that, there was a bright flash.  The seal was broken and the barrier was gone.  The door could now be opened.

The Zorpozian men entered the doors and found a chest containing numerous scrolls.  That whole night, the men began reading those scrolls.  As they finished each one, they became more and more powerful.

By morning, they were as powerful as Zardin was when he left his home planet of Vexasis.  Every scroll was read.

“Why did he hide this from us?”  The one follower asked.

“He didn’t want us to find out.” The other said.  “But now, everyone will know!”

At that, both of the followers used their new magic to create duplicates of all the magic scrolls.  They then shared these scrolls with everyone else that they could find.  Some refused to read them and sided with Zardin.  Everyone else eagerly wanted to know what was written on the scrolls.

Upon waking up, Zardin felt disturbed.  After leaving his house, he found that his intuition was right.  His people were using the same spells that he used to use.   In the distance, he saw his two close followers, laughing.  “What have you done?”  he asked them.

“We found what you hid from us,” the one told him.

“And we shared it with everyone,” the other said.  “Why did you do this?”

Zardin tore his robe.  “Why did I do this? Because it destroyed the planet that I came from!  Now, it will destroy you, too!”

The followers that did not read the scrolls ran behind Zardin.  “Not us, Zardin.  We didn’t read those scrolls.”

The two “followers” laughed at Zardin.  “Destroy us?” The one said.  “It is you who will be destroyed!”

At that, the two followers used a powerful spell and killed Zardin.

When Zardin’s followers saw this, they began to weep.  “Everyone, run from these  wicked men!  They will kill us next!”

Before the two “followers” could do anything, Zardin’s followers ran away, and hid themselves from them.

And with that, the years passed, and the forbidden magic began to fill the planet  (with an exception for what was left of Zardin’s true followers).  Most of the people who once followed Zardin began to forget his teachings.  The two “followers” made up a story to cover up his death, and their story has been used to this day.  The first age of Zorpoz had come to an end.  With the need for a new leader in Zorpoz, the second age was about to begin.  The age that would usher in the first king of Zorpoz….

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©2012  K. L. Walker