by Simon Archer
“He worked in the royal castle?” I asked, surprised.
“Oh, yes,” Marinka said. “He served my family for many years. But he never recovered from his anger. His bitterness began to fester, and he started getting in regular altercations with other elves around the royal castle. It became so bad that he was fired from his post as a servant for my family, a position which many would find to be a great honor, and he was sent away from the castle for his violent behavior. He killed several people after he left the castle and evaded capture for some time. But eventually, he was exiled.”
“So, where did he go, then?” I asked. “To the forest?”
“We believe so,” Marinka said. “Several years later, our magic disappeared. It was a logical conclusion to believe that Viktor was at fault. Despite his lack of inborn talent for our magic, he was quite intelligent. And he had had access to all of the royal castle’s records and scholarly works. If anyone had the ability or the resources to find a way to make our magic disappear, it was Viktor.”
“But why?” I asked. “What reason could he have for wanting no one to do magic? Just bitterness?”
“Indeed,” Marinka said. “That must have been his reason. He must have felt that if he could not do magic the way he wished, it would be better for him if no one could.”
“But you don’t know how he did it?” I asked.
“No,” Marinka said, shaking her head. “Scholars have been attempting to discover his secret for centuries, pouring through the very records and texts that he studied so intensely while he was working for the royal family. But they have been unable to find an answer.”
“So what did Dalibor say?” I asked, turning to Nadeine. “You said that his message contained new information about Viktor.”
“Indeed,” Nadeine said, nodding solemnly. “Apparently, when word of your arrival reached the kingdom elves that reside just outside the kingdom’s borders, some of them came forward and reached out to the royal castle with information about Viktor. Dalibor dared not include what they had to say in his message. We will travel to meet with them ourselves and hear what they believe they know about Viktor.”
“Well, that will be something to go on, at least,” I said. “I don’t like going into the forest with so little information.”
“Nor do I,” Nadeine said. “I hope these elves are speaking truly and have information that will help us.”
“I am sure they will, Sister,” Bernsten said, reaching out and touching her shoulder. “This is good news, amidst such a horrible tale. And our new friend Leo Hayden brings us great hope for the future. Even if we are unable to regain our magic, we now have a great mage amongst us. We are stronger than we have ever been since we lost our magic.”
“What Bernsten speaks is true, Nadeine,” Marinka said. “You have provided us with great hope, Leo. And for this, we are eternally grateful.” She reached out and took my hand, and I squeezed it.
“We must get our magic back,” Nadeine said, setting her jaw determinedly.
“We will,” I said, reaching out with my other hand to touch the crook of her elbow. “We’ll find Viktor. I promise.”
13
Over the next several days, we continued to travel through the remainder of the kingdom and make our way to our destination. I practiced religiously during this time, mastering all of the survival spells Siara and Anil had given me to help my companions. I was ready now to try my hand at some advanced combat spells.
I studied a couple of them as we made our way to the giant golden wall that enclosed the kingdom within its borders. Standing at the wall were countless guards dressed in the same heavy armor as Nadeine, Bernsten, and Marinka. As we approached them, two guards left their posts at the wall and made their way over to us on their own miniature horses.
“You are the great mage of which we have heard and his companions,” one of the guards said. He and his partner had the same jet black hair and green eyes as the other kingdom elves, though their hair was shorter than Bernsten’s, cropped close to their ears. They also looked slightly older than my friend, closer to what would be the equivalent of their mid-thirties.
“Indeed, we are,” Nadeine said, pulling her horse out in front of the rest of us and assuming her role as our group’s leader. “We are on our way into the forest to recover our magic.”
“And we are grateful for your efforts.” The guard nodded curtly. “You may pass.”
“Thank you, Guards,” Nadeine said, returning the nod in kind.
She trotted her horse towards the wall, and the rest of us followed. I looked around me and saw that though the guards had retained their positions on the wall, the sight of us made them stir from their upright posture, and some even muttered amongst themselves.
When we reached the wall, the guards who had approached us pulled on thick, long golden ropes, and a segment of the wall churned down, turning into a ramp and providing us with a path forward. Our horses trotted forward and walked past the wall, leaving the kingdom behind us. I could hear one of the guards calling out behind us.
“Alright, alright,” he hollered. “Return to your posts. There is nothing to see here.”
I watched behind me as the segment of the wall rose back upwards and settled back into its original position. It was now indistinguishable from the rest of the wall. As it did so, I saw the kingdom disappear behind me, and our quest felt more real to me then than it ever had before.
We spent the remainder of the day riding through the prairieland located on the outskirts of the kingdom. There was a well-beaten but not paved pathway that we followed through the grass. Though the grass was unkempt, it was relatively short and was a slightly paler green than the grass I had seen inside the kingdom’s walls. The scenery was still more beautiful than anything I had come across in my world, though.
Occasionally, we would come across someone else traveling the pathway. They were always kingdom elves, usually walking instead of riding a miniature horse, and carrying water or hay. The few buildings we passed appeared to be farms, and I caught sight of several farm animals, not unlike the ones on Earth: cows, horses, pigs, sheep, etc. They were smaller than I’d imagined them to be, though, and I realized that all of the animals I had seen in Eviorah were smaller versions of the ones from my own world.
When they passed us, the elves on the pathway would look up and stare at me. But unlike the elves within the city walls, these elves did not speak to us or reach out to grasp my robes. They looked at me with what seemed like a combination of fear and adoration, and continued on their way, sometimes stumbling as they walked.
“They’re acting differently than the other elves we’ve met,” I remarked, turning to Nadeine after one particularly grimy-looking kingdom elf tripped over his own water pail as he passed us.
“Yes,” Nadeine said, her eyes following the elf. “While some kingdoms elves do live out here between the city gates and the forest, they are largely disconnected from the kingdom’s infrastructure. They do provide us with some resources, especially from their farms, but information is slow to reach them out here. It would not surprise me if they had no knowledge of your presence in our realm, Leo.”
“Huh,” I said, thinking. “What are they doing out here then? They’re not exiled like Viktor, are they?”
“Oh no, they are not,” Nadeine said hastily. “As Marinka explained, Viktor’s case was incredibly rare. I do not know the exact answer to your question, Leo, other than to say that over the centuries, some families relocated out here for various reasons. Most likely because the farmland out here was untapped, and their financial prospects in the kingdom were dim.”
I nodded slowly. It certainly seemed like a big change to go from the hustle and bustle of the kingdom to the wide-open space out here. I had to imagine it got boring by comparison. But it made sense that the kingdom’s large culinary culture had to originate from somewhere. There had been some farms I had seen within the city walls, and my companions had told me about the
resources available to the kingdom elves underground, but it made sense that some of their resources would originate from outside of the city.
“No plans to ever go into the forest or the mountain regions, though?” I asked, already knowing the answer. As if on cue, Nadeine’s face darkened.
“The forest is a hostile environment for us,” she said. “The elves native to that region would be too large of a nuisance for it to be worth our time to attempt to stretch our economy in that way. As for the mountains, we have no desire to venture there, as we have said.”
“I know, it just seems like such a big waste of space,” I said, gesturing out in front of us as if to indicate a whole world for the taking.
“I suppose you are correct,” Nadeine said thoughtfully, furrowing her brow. “Perhaps someday we will be brave enough to venture into the mountains. But we have no need for their resources at this time.”
“Maybe when you get your magic back,” I suggested, flashing her a lopsided grin.
“Perhaps,” Nadeine said, her voice curt. But I could see the shadow of a smile lurking upwards on the side of her face.
At dusk, we arrived at a small inn and tavern on the side of the beaten path in the prairie lands. The inn was made of slabs of wood painted white and only looked to have a few small rooms inside above the tavern. There was a small brown wooden shed with some hay in it that looked like it was used as a stable. By then, I could see the outline of the forest up ahead of us in the distance, a wide, endless set of thick dark trees against the backdrop of the pale blue sky. An elderly female kingdom elf was waiting for us at the entrance to the inn. She was plump around the middle and wearing a plain tattered apron and dress, and her hands looked to be covered in flour.
“Why is there an inn out in the middle of nowhere?” I asked in a whisper, leaning up to Bernsten.
“A good question, Leo Hayden,” Bernsten replied, and I winced. Though he was trying, speaking in hushed tones was not my friend’s strong suit. Even though he was whispering, his voice carried out across the path before us. “And I am uncertain of the answer. However, I would imagine that this is a gathering place for the area’s farmers and other workers. There are no other common places for them to meet. Additionally, they likely must travel for trade and water, and this is a place for them to stop and rest.”
I nodded and leaned back into a normal sitting position, hoping the little old elf hadn’t heard us talking about her business, and if she had heard us, that she wasn’t offended. When we approached her, she gave no indication that she had overheard.
“Welcome, travelers, welcome,” she said, holding out her arms in a welcoming gesture. “Come in, warm-up, and we will get you something to eat. My grandson will tend to your horses.” We dismounted our horses, and a young elf, probably in his early adolescence, rushed over to help us gather our packs, and then he led our horses to a nearby stable for the night.
“Thank you for hosting us, Innkeeper,” Nadeine said, nodding to the old woman in thanks. “We are in your debt.”
“Ah, thank you for your patronage, my dear,” the woman said, smiling warmly. We followed her inside, and she sat us down at the inn’s lone small round table and began to carry over some food from the nearby kitchen.
Our table was in a small area right between the kitchen and the tavern. There were no tables in the tavern, just a series of stools up against the bar. The tavern was empty aside from a disgruntled middle-aged elf rubbing down some glassware and most likely wondering how much longer he had to be there. The lighting was dim, and the walls, ceiling, and floors were all made of dark amber wood. The old elf woman was bustling between the kitchen and our table, carrying piles of homemade bread, butter, and smoked fish. It was far from the luxurious spread I’d become accustomed to in the kingdom, but it smelled fresh and delicious.
“Does she know who we are?” I asked in a whisper, leaning to speak to Marinka this time.
“Oh yes, Leo,” Marinka said, leaning into me, her eyes following the old woman. “She is the one who contacted my father.”
“Oh,” I said simply, eyeing the elf with renewed interest. When she was finished setting the table, the innkeeper sat herself down between Nadeine and Bernsten, picked up a cloth napkin, and spread it across her lap with a huff. We did the same, looking at her expectantly.
“Well,” she said, looking around at us. “Eat.” And so we did, and it was amazing. I’d never had food that tasted so fresh. It was as if the fish was just caught that day, and the butter was freshly churned. I imagined this must have been what food tasted like in old colonial times back in New York.
We didn’t speak for the first portion of our meal, choosing instead to enjoy the fresh food we had earned with a long day of travel through the prairie. When the fish was nearly gone, replaced by a pile of thin bones, Nadeine finally broke the silence.
“We received word from the king that you have information concerning the exile Viktor,” she said, turning to the old woman.
“Indeed,” the innkeeper said, her tone darker now. “Allow me to properly introduce myself, travelers. I am Nida. I have worked in this inn for many years since I was a young girl. My father was the bartender here, as my son is now.” She nodded in the direction of the surly elf I had noticed earlier tending bar. He was still polishing the glassware, but he was watching us carefully, and I could tell he was listening.
“My husband also worked here as a child, and his parents owned the inn before they passed it on to us,” Nida continued. “When we were very little, an angry young man with a scarred face came to stay here for some time. He kept to himself, as far as I could tell, but strange things began to happen soon after his arrival.”
“Strange things?” Nadeine asked, leaning forward across the table towards Nida.
“Yes,” Nida said hesitantly. “My husband Damir will be better able to explain it to you. I did not experience these things myself. For whatever reason, the man left me alone. Probably because my father scared him. Come, I will take you to my husband now if you are ready.” The old elf rose from the table and gestured for us to follow her up a narrow set of wooden stairs off to the side of the kitchen.
We did so and entered a small room midway up the stairs in which an elderly male elf lay sprawled across a dirty mattress on a creaky old metal bed frame. He was tossing and turning and moaning and groaning in his sleep. Sweat dripped down his face, falling from his matted white hair. He had a deep red circular scar on each temple.
“Damir,” Nida said, approaching the bed and resting a hand gingerly on her husband’s arm. “The mage and his companions are here.”
The man groaned, rolled over, and opened his eyes to look at me. I had to keep myself from crying out, and I felt Marinka stiffened beside me and grabbed my hand tightly. Nadeine and Bernsten both stood firm but looked vaguely ill. The man’s eyes were bright white, with noticeable red veins threading through them. He had no pupils or irises. They were made even more creepy by the fact that they were paired with those bright red scars on his temples.
Nonetheless, the man appeared to be able to see. He reached out his hand, brushing his wife aside, and spread his fingers as if to grab me from a distance.
“Mage,” he croaked, his voice dry and raspy. “You are the mage.”
“Um, yes,” I said, stumbling forward and releasing Marinka’s hand. Damir clasped his hand around my robes, holding on to them tightly. “I am.”
“So long,” the man sighed. “So long, we have waited.” His wife nodded in solemn agreement. Nadeine stepped forward.
“Do you have any information that you think may help us in our search for the man who took our magic, Damir?” she asked, moving up to stand next to me at the man’s bedside.
“Yes,” Damir wheezed, still holding tightly to my robes. “I do. He came when we were young. He… took me.” The old man stopped to cough between his words, struggling to continue the conversation.
“Took you?” Nadeine asked, her eyes
wide and listening intently. “How do you mean?” The elf continued to cough, his chest rattling.
“He was a frightening man,” Damir continued after he recovered, his voice still strained, but stronger now. “His face was… hard and deformed. We did our best to avoid him. But one day, he told me he would give me gold if I assisted him in the stables. You must understand, gold is hard to come by out here in the prairielands. We have little need of it, but still, it had quite the allure for a young elf like me.” His voice trailed off, and he turned to the other side of the bed to cough some more. Nida rubbed his back with a firm hand.
“He used magic on me,” Damir said when he recovered from this latest fit. “But it was not like any magic I had ever seen. The lights he created were… fragmented. The songs were… disjointed. I do not know how better to explain it to you. It caused me much pain. I can only remember that my vision went red, and there was a horrible ringing in my ears. When he was finished, he left me with these.” Damir gestured to each of his temples. “And these,” and then he pointed at his eyes.
“That is terrible,” Marinka said, her voice quivering. But she moved forward for the first time, joining Nadeine and me and kneeling at Damir’s bedside before his face. She took his hand, the one that was not entwined in my robes. “I am so sorry for your pain, Damir. Were there any other lasting effects on you?”
“After Viktor’s attack, I… I…” Damir faltered, his lip quivering, and he had another coughing fit. When he recovered, he continued where he left off. “I could no longer use my own magic. Not truly, anyway. It was as if it was still there somewhere, and I could feel it in the distance, but I could no longer access the power. Every once in a while, I would be able to create a puff of light or hum a piece of a tune, but it would never last. Then, when everyone lost their magic, I lost that last bit I still had and was cut off completely like everyone else.” The speech appeared to have drained Damir even more, and he released my robes and fell back into his bed.