Chapter 5 - The Prophesy
“A long time ago, before the humans became afraid of magical creatures, us Tiffikins lived peacefully in all the forests of the world.”
“Tiffikins?” Jasper asked, but the old woman just ignored him and carried on with her story.
“They’d come to us for help when they needed healing - Tiffikins are masters of potion making and we would brew up remedies from the ingredients the forest would offer and in return the humans would protect us from the dangers that threatened our way of life. Back then there were dragon slayers and knights to ward off the creatures who hunted us and so, for a time, we lived in harmony.” Her gaze shifted back to the flames and her wrinkled face seemed to sag further as she opened her mouth to speak again. “Then the dragons that were left went into hiding, so the slayers moved on. The humans began experimenting with their own remedies and so their need for us became less. As time passed they forgot about us, even began to deny our existence, and the relationship between our kinds was no more.” She sighed. “With the humans no longer protecting us, the dangers we had faced in the past were free to hunt us once more. They wanted us for our magical abilities - some wanted to keep us prisoner and force us to make our potions for them, and some thought that by catching and consuming us our magic would be transferred into their bodies. In those times many of us lost our whole family. All of us lost friends and acquaintances, and the Tiffikin numbers dwindled. It was around that time we were forced to go into hiding - splitting into smaller groups and setting up homes like this one, where our houses are hidden from view and we go largely unnoticed. It worked for a time, but then they found us - the same creatures who had hunted us in the past came back with a vengeance for us, and that, Jasper, is where you come in.”
The old woman looked into Jasper’s eyes, and though they were milky and opaque, Jasper still felt like she was staring deep into his soul.
“I come from a family of seers; fortune tellers and visionaries. We have always been the advisors to our clans, and it was one of my family, my great, great grandmother, in fact, who spoke the prophecy.”
“He will end the war of the ages. The boy whose wish to be at home with the humans will bring him home to the Tiffikins. He will come when all seems lost. His name is Jasper.”
Jasper spun around, the prophecy being spoken in unison from behind him. Princess Sapphire and her guards all stood, reciting the prophecy like a mantra, staring at Jasper as though they didn’t actually believe it was about him. His mouth hung open in disbelief and his head spun with dizziness as he looked back and forth, taking in the faces of the Tiffikins around him. It couldn’t be true, could it? How could this old woman’s great, great grandmother have known that Jasper desperately wanted to feel at home in his human world, and could Jasper really believe that he wasn’t human at all? Was he really one of the Tiffikins? And if so, how had he ended up in the human world with a human father? His vision blurred as the dizziness took over and he dropped down to the cushioned floor, holding his head in his hands.
“It can’t be… my whole life can’t be a lie.” He rocked back and forth, his head pounding so hard it felt like it would burst. The room seemed suddenly stifling and Jasper wished he was outside in the fresh forest air again. “I can’t fight in a war - I’m only twelve! You’ve got it wrong, I can’t be who you’re looking for.”
Jasper felt a cool hand touch him on the shoulder and he jerked his head up. Nobody had ever comforted him that way before; no human would have been able to lay their hand on his shoulder without crushing him, and his Father had certainly never shown him any affection. It was the old woman and she was looking right into his eyes again with her own cloudy ones as though she knew something else Jasper didn’t.
“Of course you can, Jasper. You’ve already started,” and she placed her other hand on the dagger Jasper still held on to tightly. She was right; he could do it. He’d just done it, hadn’t he? He’d watched the Tiffikins struggle to fight the Dark Knight and it had been he who had taken him down. He may have been twelve years old and six inches high, but he was strong and driven and in his heart he knew he would do anything to find his place in life, even if it was a different place than he’d first thought.
His head stopped pounding and he got to his feet, feeling stronger than he had ever felt in his life. Everything was confusing to him right now: the Tiffikins, the prophecy and his part in it, but he was here for a reason and he would finish his quest no matter what.
“I’ll do it,” he said, and the old woman’s wrinkled face lifted in a smile.
“I know you will,” she said. “I believe in you.” Then she leant forward so her forehead touched Jasper’s and she whispered “I, Citrine, am now and will always be at your service. Thank you, Jasper, for saving us.”
Chapter 6 - The Tiffikin Camp
They followed a different tunnel out of Citrine’s home and emerged in an area full of curious Tiffikins. They stood in a crowd talking amongst themselves in hushed tones but Jasper could hear them even before he emerged from the end of the tunnel.
“Do you think it can really be him?”
“It must be. Did you see the way he just climbed up the Dark Knight’s armour without a second thought?”
“And his clothes, his pack, they’re human things. He came from the human world.”
“We all know what the prophecy says: ‘He will come when all seems lost,’ and we’ve been in trouble for months now. Almost all of our warriors gone, and us with no way of knowing how to defeat the beasts… he couldn’t have come at a better time really, could he?”
The princess and her guards stepped out into the light and Jasper followed, the voices he’d heard suddenly cutting off. The silence was almost deafening, the stares from the surrounding Tiffikins feeling like heavy weights on him. They were all counting on him and he could take a good guess at what the “beasts“were he was talking about. They had to be the golem and the Tree of Doom. That was why he was here after all, and if the prophecy was true then by taking out these enemies he’d not only fulfil his own wish but help the Tiffikins too. It was a huge task but Jasper had been set on completing it when he left his house just a few short hours ago, and he wasn’t about to give up now. He stepped past the Princess and her guards and faced the curious crowd in front of him.
“I know about your prophecy,” he said, and his voice came out stronger and clearer than he’d expected. It echoed around the trees and carried to every Tiffikin listening. They stood straighter, their ears tuning in to what Jasper had to say. “Yes, I am Jasper.”
A cheer rose from the crowd and Tiffikins began to jump into the air in excitement. Some even shed a tear of joy knowing that Jasper, their saviour, had come. Jasper waved his hands in the air, calling for quiet. He needed to explain what he was doing there and how it fit into their prophesy. He needed them to know that, actually, he wasn’t really sure if it was about him. He didn’t really know anything at all. The Tiffikins quieted and Jasper spoke again.
“I know about your prophesy,” he repeated, “but I can’t say for sure whether it’s about me.”
The crowd broke into worried whispers and the Tiffikins glanced at each other nervously.
“I came here to complete three tasks. I come from a world where I don’t fit in, and by completing these tasks I’ll finally find my place. The first task was to defeat the Dark Knight and retrieve his dagger. With the help of all of you I’ve done that and I’m ready to move on to the next task.”
Once more Jasper felt the unfamiliar sensation of someone placing a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and turned to see the Princess standing close behind him, the same knowing look on her face that Citrine had had on hers just moments ago.
“Jasper, the Dark Knight was one of the reasons we needed you here. He was trying to capture us and steal our magic. If you hadn’t come when you did and stopped him, well, I don’t know where we’d be right now. It seems to me that your tasks align with our prophesy. Whether or not you believe in us, we believe in you.”
The crowd broke into cheers again and as Jasper looked around at the happy faces of those around him, a warm feeling spread through his body. For the first time in his life people were relying on him and not the other way around. These people really needed him, believed in him, and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he really believed in himself, too.
“Come on.” The Princess took Jasper by the elbow and guided him through the crowds of cheering Tiffikins and into a quiet house, hidden behind a moss-covered door in a tree. Some people patted him on the back as he passed, others simply reached out and let their fingers brush against him. The crowd was full of smiles and warmth and Jasper almost felt like he was floating. “You need to rest before you move on to your next task,” Sapphire continued, “you can stay here until you’re ready to go.”
Jasper looked around and saw that the room was kitted out with a small bed, carved into the wooden wall and furnished with large feathers for a mattress, a cotton-ball pillow and a hand-woven blanket thrown over the top. It was very different to the kind of bed he was used to but after travelling through the night to get here, battling the huge Dark Knight and learning so much about the Tiffikins and his place among them that his head felt fit for bursting, it looked like the comfiest place in the world. Jasper knew he only had three days to complete his tasks before he would have to head home to Amethyst the fairy and have his wish granted, but though he was eager to continue his journey, he knew he couldn’t carry on without rest. He thanked Princess Sapphire, watched her slip back out through the door, then tucked the precious dagger under his pillow, laid down his head and fell fast asleep.
Comments