"You are the chosen one, Liam."
"For the last time, Mr. Seer, my name is Salem."
Salem choked down another spoonful of soup as the seer with his wrinkly fingers in front of him pointed at his forehead. They came back and instead the seer let out a small cough.
"Right… Salem. Strange, your eyes were also brown in my vision, not blue. Old age is truly getting to me, no matter you are still as important as ever."
Salem met the seer only a few minutes ago in front of the cave. It didn't take much convincing for the seer to convince him that he was there for his benefit. Salem, not wanting to turn down his savior, agreed to stay in the cave for at least overnight… mainly for the food.
He happily gulped down another spoonful of soup from the wooden bowl as the seer put another stick into the fire. Matching the crackling of the flame was the heavy rain which poured outside.
BAM!
A crack of lightning struck near the cave entrance.
It was a good thing that the seer found me, I was so exhausted I didn't even realize a storm was approaching. Even now my senses are dull.
He put his hand on his head and let out a slight groan as his headache increased from Salem's acknowledgement. An action which didn't go unnoticed by the seer as he took out a small vial and pushed it into Salem's hands.
"Here! Take this. The prophecy did state that you would be weak when we first met and to give you time to recover."
Salem eyed the vial for a moment, before gulping it down. If the old man wanted him dead he could have done it easily long ago, he is still weak to defend himself from any malicious intent currently.
"Mr. Seer, you speak a lot about some sort of prophecy and chosen one but I am rather confused."
Ever since Salem met the seer he spoke of this so-called great prophecy and heralded Salem as some sort of savior. At first it crept him out… and it still does but if this was the reason Salem was saved he'll play along with his crazy delusions.
"Ahhh Liam, I am what's known as a seer. Those who are born blind in this world but instead are gifted in a new sight. For we can see all possible futures."
"If you can see the future then why do you keep messing up my name?"
The old man 'looked' toward Salem again. Well looked is a strong word as the man wrapped his eyes in bandages so Salem couldn't really tell where his eyes were looking but he presumed toward him.
"Alright! Alright!"
The seer waved his hand in the air.
"Salem… Salem… I'll commit that to memory."
The seer sat back down and threw a stick into fire again. It clashed against the other burning sticks causing the flame to drift slightly before settling. It wasn't soon before the flame started to feast on the stick as well as the others around it were slowly starting to lose its potential as fuel.
"I managed to find a community of likeminded who wanted to see this world a better place and after scrying all possible futures. We found the best one."
Once again the blind old man with possible memory problems pointed at Salem.
"You! You can make the world whole again and have it enter a new era. An era of peace where people can live without fear of the fog that drifts closer to consuming us each passing year."
Salem shifts a bit uncomfortably as he puts the empty bowl down. All of a sudden he felt a heavy weight on his chest pushing his body down and leaving his brain working in overdrive.
"I am not sure how I play a role in this… I am no warrior… When my village was attacked by beastmen from the fog I ran… I was a coward."
Salem began hyperventilating slightly, tears quickly poured down his cheeks as his body shaked uncontrollably. The memories started to flood back into his mind which hasn't had a proper chance to grieve it's lost.
The seer listened silently, he listened to every word and after waiting to make sure Salem had nothing else to say stood up and knelt beside him. He placed a hand on Salems shoulder and the trembling slowly stopped. Soon Salem looked up to meet where the seer's eyes were supposed to be.
"Right now… You are weak, yes"
The words stung deep into Salem's heart. He always knew the truth, he tried to learn the sword but quickly fell behind everyone else. He didn't give up however and continued to train hoping that when the time came he could show his progress.
But when the time did come his body locked up and instead he ran.
"But there is a way to make you stronger, to make you a hero. Everything I say is true. I foresee great things for you. Though I may see into the future I understand the past. Stick with me and I promise you will begin to believe in yourself."
The words felt hollow, empty. Merely meant to comfort the boy so they can quickly move onto more important topics, Salem can tell. But for a moment he decided to let the words comfort him and perhaps see the seer through, especially if the seer can make him stronger.
What did he have to lose?
"I'll see if I can live up to those heavy expectations."
The seer stood back up and gave a small smile, thinking that his efforts truly worked.
"Alright now with food in your belly I shall let you rest. We will begin your training tomorrow, it will be a strict regiment of mental and physical work. A slow build up of body and mind before I show you how to truly gain power."
The seer threw on the hood of his cloak and began to walk towards the cave entrance. The heavy rain didn't falter once and continued to bombard the outside world. Despite that the seer walked forward as if nothing was wrong.
"Wait, are you heading out… by yourself? Leaving me here? What if someone or something finds me?"
"Oh?"
The seer turned back and began to stroke his beard. He let out a small hmmm as if deep in thought before tapping his forehead twice.
"Fret not I just saw the future and there will be nothing coming to attack you, you may sleep peacefully."
That doesn't make me feel safer at all! This man couldn't even get my name correct!
"Is there some kind of precaution you can set… just in case something does pass by."
The seer let out a small sigh and nodded his head.
"If it makes you feel more at ease than I can make the cave entrance appear like the side of the hill with illusionary magic."
"Yes please, I can sleep a lot more easily if you do that."
The seer stepped outside and faced the cave entrance. His cloak fluttered in the raging wind and darkened slightly in color from the water. His clothes instantly became soaked, like he jumped into a lake. Despite all that however he remained calm and pointed his staff forward.
The point where his staff slowly began to move, almost like a ripple in a lake where a rock was dropped into. It felt like his mind was playing tricks on him as he believed he saw a faint outline of what appeared to be a cave wall at the entrance.
The two images overlapped each other, the outside world was still visible but also the wall. Slowly however the wall began to become more prominent and instead the outside world was harder to see.
"I shall be back, do not worry!" The seer yelled before the outside world disappeared.
It was jarring… amazing. After a few seconds Salem stood up and moved toward the wall. His sister was very adept with magic but nowhere near this level. I guess it makes sense though, she preferred wind magic over shadow. Can't reach a level like this when you have no interest in improving this area.
He stared down and saw that some of the water from rain still drizzled in from underneath the illusion and if he listened closely he could hear the rain almost like there was no wall there to begin with.
I guess there are still some problems with this wall… In the end it wouldn't matter, it's meant to trick people on the outside world not the inside.
Salem stumbled back over to the fire and pulled himself into the cloth sleeping bag next to it. The seer really prepared for my stay. Maybe there is some truth in his future sight ability if he foresaw where I would be and my arrival.
He stared at the illusionary wall as he laid on the floor. The warmth consumed his whole body causing his muscles to relax and a sense of calmness flooded him instantly. This was his chance, this was his best chance to run away if he wanted to,
He let out a long drawn out yawn. He was too tired to care about escaping the Seer, it was a bit sad but the idea of being something special gave him a sense of purpose. The more he thought about it the more he came to the conclusion there was no point in running away either, there was nothing to run back to.
Instead he slowly closed his heavy eyelids and drifted off into a different world. The repetitive tapping of the rain hitting the walls and ground outside turned peaceful and calming.
Hopefully there is some truth in this so-called prophecy for me after all…