The Big Book of Enchantments, Prologue

 Below is an excerpt from the last pages of the Big Book of Enchantments

   It seems my journey is finally at its end. 

   As I look back over what has transpired, I’m so grateful to have met my friends. Johnathan, the strongest, wisest swordsman in all the land, Julia, gifted craftswoman with a sharp tongue, Zachary, the cunning thief, Rachel the sorceress and Michael the young warrior. All of them brave, all of them kind, all of them grateful to have me, the scribe, along with them. 

   We’ve done battle with the enchantress so many times. She is stubborn, but not strong or smart. She never had a chance. 

    I wish that was true.

   What she lacks in strength and cleverness, she makes up for in friends. No one in the land wanted us to win. 

   In order to beat her, we had to fight our worst enemy. For Johnathon, it was the sword of choosing, an artifact passed down through the royal family. It had chosen him at birth, but as he get older, he realized he didn’t want to be chosen, so he ran away from home. Unfortunately, once it became clear we’d need it, the sword decided it didn’t want him anymore. So, he fought hard to prove himself, but even though he won, it wasn’t without cost. 

    Julia’s worst enemy was her Aunt Chloe, a shrewd businesswoman who’s responsible for making most of the magic items in the land. Julia had never liked her aunt, because her aunt had never made her feel welcome or wanted. Defeating her was wonderful, for Julia finally got to prove to her aunt just how smart she was. It was a truly amazing sight

   Zac had to fight a prison warden who’d locked him up when he was seven. Zac’s goal was to prove to the prison warden that no matter what anybody did, he couldn’t become a better person. He told us that everyone knew that. I don’t think Zac won that battle. Sure, the prison warden came away believing that Zac was a monster, but Zac also made sure to give the prison warden his dead wife’s ring. The problem is that Zac doesn’t want to be a good person, because then he would have to go back to his family, and his family doesn’t love him. It just goes to show, society doesn’t reward you for being a good person.

    Rachel fought off an assassin that the enchantress sent after her. Why the enchantress wanted to have her killed, I don’t know. All I do know is that the Assassin was very bad at his job. I have a hunch that he was being paid to not kill her. 

   Michael had to fight his father. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but his father was a soldier, and had an artifact which increased his fighting abilities. For some reason, everyone was convinced Michael stole the artifact, so he was sent away. He didn’t want to be sent away, so he tried to find the artifact. To make a very long and complicated story short, he couldn’t do that, but he did manage to convince the people in his village that he wasn’t responsible. 

   We didn’t defeat the enchantress, but we did make it so she couldn’t hurt anyone anymore. She’s just a normal, middle-aged sorceress now. 

    I almost wish we hadn’t had to beat her. Adventuring was a lot less fun than I imagined it, but it was the first time in my life I had purpose. Trying to find the Big Book of Enchantments and beat the Enchantress was something I could have only dreamed of doing. I guess all good things have to end at some point. Nothing to do but to go back to the beginning, and write how it all began…