Chapter 12

When they awaken they are being watched over by Katarina, the little adorable fairy they met earlier. “Good morning,” she says, with an adorable smile.

Dakota starts fighting her way out of the blanket she has become thoroughly wrapped in. “Good morning, Katarina.”

“How are you this morning, Princess?”

“I’m wonderful, thank you for asking.” Dakota turns east towards the rising sun, which is still hidden behind the trees, but because Dakota is of magic she can feel its sweet rays of light and warmth. Dakota grabs her right hand with her left and stretches as far as she can to the sky. With a moan of happiness she arches her back and twists the grogginess from her being.

“Dakota, you should probably get dressed.”

“Oh, do I have to? I feel so free and connected to the world this way.”

“We really should hit the trail. We still have a long ways to travel.”

As Dakota starts getting herself ready, Sorbo turns to the task of cleaning up the camp. He hands Dakota some jerked meat, travel bread and water and he nibbles on the same, as he gets ready to get under way.

“So, Katarina, precious one, what brings you to us this fine morning?”

“Andromeda has directed me to give some pointers to Dakota about magic and to let you know there is a weapon that only the White Sorceress can wield. If she can obtain it her powers alone should help to protect you folks until The Ascension.”

“A weapon you say? What kind of weapon are we talking about?”

“A wand.”

“A wand? A wand?” Sorbo repeats trying to remember the Prophecy of the White Sorceress.

“A wand! I want a wand,” says Dakota, getting excited.

“You don’t mean the Wand of Creation.”

“I do!” says Katarina, in her sweet little voice.

“The Wand of Creation? Sounds wonderful, where do we find it?”

Katarina and Sorbo look at each other knowingly. “I thought no one could touch the Wand of Creation because it has so much power in it that it throws off the balance of existence. To wield it is to risk destroying time and creation.”

“The truth of it isn’t truly known, but because all the Gods of Light imbued it with their powers it does have enough power to destroy mountains. Plus it has its own innate power.”

“How come?” Dakota asks, enthralled with the story.

“How come what, dear?” asks Katarina.

“How come it has its own innate power?”

“Ah!” says Katarina, impressed with the mind of the future White Sorceress. “Because it is carved from a horn of a unicorn that was freely given and unicorns are very powerful magical beings in their own right.”

“Ewe sounds pretty. I want it! I mean how can it be harmful if it has power from all the Gods and Goddesses of Light?”

Sorbo walks over and kneels before Dakota and once and again brushes some errant hair out of her face as he begins, “What is light without dark? What is light and dark without the binding and accepting forces of neutrality? The universe is made up of many things. To have too much of anything is bad.”

“But, I like the daylight.” Dakota says, as she is not yet sure where this is headed.

“If there was no nighttime, which really means no rotation to the world, the sun’s energy would just continually build up until the surface of Kara got so hot that plant and animal life could no longer survive on it.”

“Oh!” she says, trying to wrap her beautiful mind around it.

“It is the existence of positive and negative aspects to creation that allows for movement, and movement is life and existence at its core. The void in between, which is the forces of neutrality, is mass, is the physical world, though those things individually exist beyond what we can see with the naked eye, positive, negative and neutral or the light, the dark and all important bonds of neutrality are existence. It is ... They are...” Now Sorbo is getting confused himself. “I think I lost the point. Katarina, can you explain it a little more clearly?”

“I will try.”

As Katarina is talking with Dakota, Sorbo is trying to remember the story of the Prophecy of the White Sorceress. He had always read that story to Hannah, the red-haired green-eyed princess, since she was six-years-old, but it was a watered-down children’s tale version.

“Excuse me.” Sorbo says, interrupting them.

“Yes, sir knight.”

“If I remember the story correctly the Wand of Creation is supposed to be at the bottom of the Lake of The Sea of Disbelief.”

“The Lake of The Sea of Disbelief?” asks Dakota.

“It’s the largest lake in the Isle of Lakes. When some of the earliest explorers found the lake, and looked at how big it was, they figured it had to be a sea and part of the Azure Ocean. It gets kind of confusing calling it by its full name, so most people just call it the Lake of Disbelief.”

“Ah! Wonderful! I love this world so much. I will do what I can to save it for those decent people who try to live their lives without influencing others as long as those others aren’t hurting anybody.”

“Very wise, my White Sorceress,” says Katarina, bowing.

Sorbo bows to and Dakota giggles and says, “Stop that!” Sorbo bends over with a smile on his face and strokes her hair a couple of times while gazing into her beautiful and intelligent blue eyes and then he kisses her hair.

“Katarina?”

“Hmm.”

“If I remember the story correctly the Wand of Creation is at the bottom of the Lake of Disbelief and it is part of the hord of Humphry.”

“You are correct, sir knight.” Katarina says, while standing on Dakota’s outstretched hands.

“What is a hord and who is Humphry?”

“Hord, in this instance, is a collection of gold and other valuables that have sunk in the Lake of Disbelief. Humphry is a lake serpent with kaleidoscope skin. He collects all the sunken treasure and guards it selfishly.”

“How would those things sink in the big lake?”

“Ah, you kind of answered your very own question. The lake is so big that if you come upon it anywhere nears the center, it is shorter to ship across it than it is to travel around its shores.”

“It must be big!”

“Very.”

“Can we go there?”

“Actually, we are going to go right by it.”

“Can we stop and visit the lake and get the wand?”

“As for visiting the lake, we are going to be traveling along its shores for many days. As for getting the wand! That will be a little trickier.”

“Sorbo, you are the greatest knight ever. I believe in you and I know I’ll be safe as long as we are together.”

“Well, thank you, babygirl. All I can say for now is, we’ll see.”

“Okay,” Dakota says, satisfied.

Then Sorbo turns to Katarina and says, “But I thought the Wand of Creation couldn’t be handled by the White Sorceress until her worldly cycle begins.”

“No. She can have it any time, but it won’t reach its full potential and power until after that time.”

“What time? What world cycle.”

“Ah ... Uh ... We’ll talk about that down the road.”

“You mean when we talk about my family and your other princess?”

“Maybe. Unless, Katarina, you want to take this one.”

“Maybe, but it is for a later time.”

Dakota is looking at Sorbo through squinted eyes. “I thought you said we were going to be open and honest with each other, always.”