“I don’t know.”

“Surely there is something you hope for.” She pulled open another curtain.

“To do well,” Alex answered.

“To do well at what?”

“At whatever needs doing,” said Alex, confused.

“And that makes you wiser than most,” said the Oracle with a smile. “But you doubt your ability to do well. You think of yourself as a small matter.”

“I am a small matter,” said Alex. “I’m not special.”

She shook her head. “You have been measured as a wizard. You defeated a troll. Even now, your magic bag holds seven others that you have won back from a dark place.”

“I think Blackburn made a mistake,” said Alex in a shaky voice. “And I was just lucky when I fought the troll.”

“And was it also luck that brought the great sword into your hand?”

“What great sword?” Alex questioned.

“The sword you carry,” she replied. “Ask your friend Arconn to look at it. He will know it for what it is.”

“But even that was luck,” Alex protested. “I closed my eyes and picked it from a pile of swords.”

“You may wish to call it luck, but is not luck a magical thing?”

“I don’t understand,” said Alex. “What are you trying to say?”

“I told you that I see possibilities,” replied the Oracle. “In you, I see many, though you do not see them yourself.”

“What possibilities? I’m nobody. I just walked into a bookshop and the next thing I knew, I was here.”

“Not just anyone could walk into that shop, Alex, as I’m sure your friends have told you,” she answered. “Not just anyone could be chosen as the eighth member of Bregnest’s company. And not just anyone could have so much luck.”

“What are you saying then? That I ama . . . a wizard?”

“I will speak plainly so you will understand,” she replied, the smile leaving her face. “This is not the normal way for an Oracle, but as you are young and know little of adventures, I will risk plain speech.”

The Oracle paused for a moment as if thinking.

“I see in you many things—kindness, loyalty, courage, honor. You have the ability to be a great wizard, if you wish to be one, or a great warrior, if that is what you seek. You can be both or neither, depending on the choices you make.”

“And what would you advise me to be?”

“I would advise you to follow your heart and not let your mind get in the way,” answered the Oracle, the smile returning to her face. “If you follow what your heart tells you, in time, you may become both a wizard anda warrior. Perhaps something more than both.”

“I will try,” said Alex.

“Yet your doubts remain,” she commented thoughtfully. “Perhaps that is good, as doubts often help keep pride in check.”

“You know many things,” said Alex as he thought about the Oracle’s words. “You know my feelings and doubts, and still you tell me I can be a wizard and a warrior. I would not doubt your words, so I will try to do the best I can.”

“It is well then,” said the Oracle with a nod. “Now, you have something else to ask about.”

“I do?”

“The ring you carry in your pocket,” she reminded him. “You wish to know what it is.”

“Oh, yes,” said Alex, taking the gold-and-black ring from his pocket and holding it in his open hand.

“I cannot say what this ring is,” replied the Oracle. “But I would tell you not to lose it, or sell it. And do not wear it—at least not until you know what it is.”

“You cannotsay, or will notsay?” Alex questioned.

“I see you are already thinking like a wizard,” she replied happily. “Let us say for now that I cannotsay.”

“As you wish,” said Alex, bowing to the Oracle.

“Now you should go,” she said. “Rothgar will meet you to guide you to the gardens.”

Alex turned to leave, but as he started down the stairs he heard the Oracle call after him.

“Remember—doubts may check pride, but too much doubt will keep you from doing what must be done.”

Alex thought about the Oracle’s words as he descended the three hundred and sixty stairs to the corridor. Though she had given him much to think about, his thoughts no longer troubled him as they had before, and he was grateful that she had spoken so plainly to him.

At the end of the corridor, Rothgar was waiting as the Oracle had said he would be. Alex followed him down another staircase, and after several turns and more stairs, Rothgar led him into a garden. He bowed, then departed without saying a word.

Alex looked around the garden expecting to see the rest of the company, but he was alone. This didn’t bother him, because he wanted some time to think about what the Oracle had said. He walked deeper into the garden, looking at the different plants and flowers that grew everywhere. Soon he heard the sound of falling water, and following the sound, he found Arconn sitting next to a large fountain.

“Your meeting with the Oracle went well then?” Arconn asked politely.

“Yes,” said Alex, then stopped short. “Shouldn’t you be speaking with the Oracle now?”

“I have no need,” replied Arconn. “As I told you before, I am of the elder race.”

“What does that mean, exactly? If you don’t mind my asking,” said Alex.

“We elves are the eldest race of thinking creatures—except perhaps for dragons,” Arconn answered, looking at the falling water in the fountain. “We came first to all the known lands, though in some lands we have been forgotten.”

“And why don’t you need or want to speak with the Oracle?” Alex asked.

“Oracles are for mortals,” replied Arconn, turning his attention back to Alex. “Though I have spoken with many, it has been only to gain wisdom, not to learn about myself.”

“You are not mortal then?”

“You know nothing of elves,” said Arconn with a laugh.

“Well, no,” Alex admitted. “You’re the first elf I’ve ever met.”

“I will try to explain,” said Arconn, looking back at the fountain. “Elves are not mortal as you think of it, though we can die. We do not grow old or sick, but we may become tired of life and choose to fade away. There are also a few of my race who have chosen to live and die as mortal men, though for most of my race, life is too pleasing and we choose to remain as we are.”

“I think I understand,” said Alex.

“Then we should join the others,” said Arconn, standing and moving away from the fountain. “Though I doubt they’ve waited for us before eating.”

Alex felt hungry as soon as Arconn mentioned food. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and now it was well past midday.

“Do the others know that I was last?” Alex asked with some concern. “I mean . . . I didn’t want to be last because . . .”

“Because I told you the last to see the Oracle was considered a wizard,” Arconn finished for him. “Yes, they know you were last, but then they already know you are a wizard—or at least that you may become one. Even if you have doubts, the others believe what Blackburn and Iownan have said.”

“My doubts are less than they were,” said Alex.

“That is good,” said Arconn, putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Doubts can hold you back when need calls.”

“There is one other thing,” said Alex, stopping again. “Iownan—I mean the Oracle—said I should ask you about my sword. She said it was a great sword and that you would know about it.”

“Then we shall look at it this afternoon, after we have eaten, and I will tell you what I can,” said Arconn.

chapter nine

The Promise

Alex and Arconn found the others in a much better mood than they had been that morning. Even Tayo smiled as they entered the feasting house to join the company.

“At last,” said Skeld, lowering his mug. “I thought you’d have to go hungry. Andy has been eating everything in sight.”

“No, I haven’t,” Andy protested, spitting bits of food and throwing a hunk of bread at Skeld.