Chapter Two
The Staff of Illydecium

“Royal meeting of royal advisory council and Queen Flourai, Princess Livaei, Princess Arisala, Princess Esilla, Princess Weyia, Governors Efinome, Luwiya, Cymoie, Kriffil, and Boore, Retired War Generals Plifay and Snillet, War Lieutenant Xotee, and War Captains Alfyui, Omewy, and Dephyl will now begin.”

Pefyt started the meeting with, “Eternaland is under attack. We may have defeated Sadistia today, but I’m sure she will attack again. Could you please enlighten us about other battles, Retired Generals Plifay or Snillet, or perhaps even Lieutenant Xotee?”

Snillet got into action. “Last time Eternaland was attacked was about…six years ago, I believe? Last time Sadistia led the attack from an orb; she didn’t fight. But she looked about sixteen. We were all surprised, but when she gave us a bit of background information, and how she was raised by the warlock Villeford, his sister, the witch Lyrrix, their cousin, also a warlock, Tefymo, and his wife, a witch, Fialki, I was shocked. Though they were evil, these four who lived together were weak. Their powers were weak. Yet somehow they got more power… and fostered a daughter who was move malevolent and more powerful than any of them. How is this possible, we thought?”

Plifay continued, “It’s not possible. Warlocks, witches, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses… any one with any kind of magical power cannot all of a sudden enhance their powers. We thought that they might have stolen the Staff of Illydecium. Well, we didn’t think that, Kynchife did.”

Kynchife, a senior advisor, explained. “The Staff of Illydecium is an ancient staff from ages ago, before Eternaland or Darkshire ever existed. It is a myth—it has not been proven to be just a legend or a true reality.”

“Have you heard the legend?” he asked the sisters.

They all shook their heads.

Kynchife took a deep breath, in preparation for telling a story.

“Long, long ago when all magical beings were united, there was a great wizard named Illydecium. He had developed his powers so much that even his teacher, the witch Lyrridessia—who surprisingly, is not only Lyrrix’s namesake, but also her great great great great grandaunt—was not as powerful as he was. But, thankfully, Illydecium used his powers for good.”

“Staffs back then were made the same way they are now—the wizard, witch, faerie, warlock, sorcerer, or sorceress would use a spell to take a tiny portion of their soul and power and put it into a jewel of their choice. Usually emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds were used, but occasionally there was an opal, amethyst, amber, jade, or any other rare gem used as a staff gem. Do you know what Illydecium used?” he asked.

“An emerald?” asked Flourai.

“A ruby!” exclaimed Livaei.

“A sapphire,” replied Arisala softly.

“A diamond,” answered Esilla doubtfully.

Kynchife nodded, No, to all of their answers.

Weyia thought a minute. “You wouldn’t be asking us what he used unless he used something special…”

Finally her eyes lit up and she practically screamed, “The Illusion Rock!”

“But that’s not real!” Esilla protested. “It’s only a legend!”

“The Staff of Illydecium is a legend,” Flourai corrected kindly. “But who said legends can’t be real?”

“True, Princesses, “ Kynchife answered. “And Queen,” he added quickly. “And yes, Princess Weyia is right. According to the ‘legend,’ Illydecium used the Illusion Rock. Do you know how the Illusion Rock works?”

“All I know, “ Weyia answered, “is that whoever uses the Illusion Rock can create any illusion—no matter how small or big.”

“True,” Kynchife replied. “Anything else any of you know about the Illusion Rock?”

Livaei thought hard. “Only… certain people can use the Illusion Rock. They have to have magical powers, a lot of it, and… something else I can’t remember right now.”

“Yah,” continued Flourai. “We learned this a LOOOONG time ago. Let me think… only only…”

Arisala tried. She thought hard. “I can’t remember either, but there was something else.”

Esilla smiled smugly. “I remember,” she told them.

They all stared at her. “To use the Illusion Rock, you had to be strong of mind, strong of body, to have a strong soul; and also to have a pure mind, a pure body, and a pure soul.”

“Oh yeah….” They all replied.

“Correct, Princess Esilla,” answered Kynchife. “Illydecium was all of these things. But enough of the Illusion Rock. On to the staff.”

“Illydecium’s staff was made of solid pure silver. The elves made it for him. It was very delicate, but very strong, too. The staff was shaped like a branch of tree, gnarled with knots and whatnot. He put the Illusion Rock in the gem holder, then the arms of the gem holder closed around the Illusion Rock, never to release their grip. Illydecium put a spell on it so that no one could take the Illusion Rock, or the power he added to the Illusion Rock. He put a bit more of his soul into his staff, and used it for the rest of his life.”

“Illydecium lived a long time—a legendary amount of time. Over 300 years. Before Illydecium died, he put another spell on the staff.”

“Illydecium decided that he would let others use his staff, as long as they fulfilled the requirements for the Illusion Rock, as well as being one of his descendents.”

“Illydecium died at peace, believing his staff would be passed down through his family. However, a couple of generations later, some magical folk got power hungry, and evil came into the world. Darkshire was formed.”

“Soon, many of the magical folk also became evil. The few good descendents of Illydecium hid his staff somewhere where it could never be found unless…”

“Unless what, Kynchife?” chided Weyia.

“Unless they were a descendant of Illydecium, and both their parents were descendants of Illydecium, GOOD descendants of Illydecium, as well as filling all the requirements for the Illusion Rock.”

“But… there can’t be any such person!” Flourai exclaimed. “The Staff of Illydecium will never be used again!”

“Remember when I said that Illydecium lived an incredibly long time ago?” Kynchife asked.

They all nodded.

“Well, unintentionally, two descendants of good descendants of Illydecium got married,” he told them.

“Ewww,” screamed Weyia.

“It’s not that gross, actually,” Kynchife told her. “They were very distantly related. They had six children. And their names were…”

“Six children. Like us,” Flourai thought aloud.

“That’s funny,” Arisala replied.

“WHO ARE THEY??” Livaei and Esilla yelled.

“They’re both dead now,” Kynchife continued. “We’re pretty sure five of their children are alive, but we’re not sure about one of them. The parents’ names were Menalaeus and Cassaille.”

The girls gasped in unison.

There was a long silence.

“Yes, your highnesses,” Pefyt answered their unspoken question, breaking the silence: “You are some of the few who can find the Staff of Illydecium. There are only a couple more known people who can find the Staff.”

“Lyrrix is a descendant of not only Lyrridessia, but Illydecium as well. Villeford too. Their parents descended from good sides of Illydecium’s family. Even though Lyrrix and Villeford are evil, if they had any children, their children, when young and pure, would be able to find the Staff. So, if Sadistia is their child, when she was young, she could have gone out and found the Staff for her parents.”

“There is one more person who can find the Staff—Princess Cassaille. We are not sure if she is still alive, but we have a good feeling she is. She knew about the Staff when she left, and was probably pure enough to find it if she wanted to.”

War Captain Omewy stood up. “I’d like to make a suggestion,” she told them.

Everyone looked at her. “It will obviously take awhile to plan how to defend all of Eternaland. So, since Kynchife is the expert on the Staff of Illydecium, why doesn’t he help the Princesses and Queen try to find out whether or not Darkshire has the Staff, or if they can find it.”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“Alright,” Pefyt announced. “Kynchife, your job for the next week is to help the Princesses and the Queen.”

Kynchife nodded his head in agreement.

“Come, your Highnesses,” he beckoned. “We have work to do.”