The Legend of Elora: Book 1 A Queen's Quest

by K. M. Bonde

  Catherine hugs him. “Father, I am back,” she whispers.

  Eadric hugs her tightly, and Myrna runs up to join her husband and daughter. “I never thought I would see you again,” cries Myrna.

  A few of the villagers have gathered around, watching the scene unfold.

  Catherine responds with tears in her eyes. “I never thought I would see you again either. I'm back now, and I will never leave again. I might look much older, but I am still the same person.” She studies her mother and says, “You still look the same. You must understand that the time works differently in the other world. It moves quicker, so we age quicker. We have come back because of Elora, I believe the prophecy is about to be realized.”

  “Not to interrupt the happy reunion,” Alric says, “but we need to go to see the Ancient One beyond the waterfall. He is the only one who can tell the story of the legend. I believe Catherine is right; it’s coming true. It has started, and as we speak, the forces of dark are moving again, searching for the disruption. I felt it, and surely, he has felt it as well. There is no time to linger, we have to move.”

  Alric leads them to the north side of the village, where they cross a small bridge over the river. They continue up a small path between trees, carefully avoiding rocks littering the path. The path soon turns steep, and the party make their way further up the hill.

  Much to everyone’s relief, the path finally evens out. Elora asks Alric, “How did I know what you spoke of with Bruce?”

  Alric looks at Elora and smiles warmly behind his beard. “One thing I can tell you is that the legend speaks of a person who will know our ancient language as if one of us Elders. Soon, we will be with someone who can tell you more and answer your questions.”

  “What is an Elder exactly?” asks Elora.

  “An Elder is a person with vast knowledge and experience of both history and magic,” he says. “In the old days, we used to be part of the King's Council that guided this world to prosper and be peaceful. Nowadays, we live a more peaceful life and try to help where we can. There are only seven of us left.”

  “How much further until we get to the cave?” asks Ryan as Alric leads the group forward.

  “Just over the next hill,” replies the Elder. “Let’s go.”

  He leads the group up the next incline, and when they turn, they see a great waterfall. It’s a beautiful sight, and the waterfall empties into a pond with flowers decorating its edges. The water continues down the hill and becomes the river running around the village.

  “This view is amazing,” says Elora. The village looks much smaller, and she sees the oak tree near the portal in the distance on a hill.

  Alric walks toward the waterfall, careful not to crush the flowers and plants in this green oasis. As they near the waterfall, Elora spots a path leading behind it.

  “We’re here,” says Alric. He walks through the waterfall, Elora and the rest of the party following closely behind him.

  Chapter 6: The Change

  The cave behind the waterfall is dripping wet and slippery, and Elora and the others carefully move forward into the dark cave. A light shines from ahead, and as they enter the room and get closer to the light, they hear a dark and powerful voice.

  “I have been waiting for you.” An enormous dragon emerges from the shadows, and the group backs away.

  “It's… it's the dragon from the tale,” stammers Myrna, struggling to get the words from her mouth.

  The dragon looks at each of them, but finally settles his gaze on Elora. “Don't be afraid. I am here for you and cannot harm you, the Sheastream is my witness.”

  Elora is trying not to show how little and scared she feels in his presence. She takes a deep breath, then slowly walks toward the voice and looks upon the entity before her. “How do you know me? And… what is the Sheastream?”

  The dragon waves his tail and speaks while looking straight at Elora. “The Sheastream is what surrounds us all and gives magic and harmony to all the lands. It is like a river without end, continuously flowing throw time and space, interacting with everything. It is where we go when we leave this world.” The dragon pauses a beat, then continues. “It is also what brings you back here today. From the day you were taken from here to the other world, I have always known that you would be back. It was written a long time ago.”

  Elora’s face scrunches in confusion. “I was here? With you?”

  “Yes, my child,” he says softly. “You were left here by a most peculiar servant of your birth mother. I made sure that Bruce would take you to the other world and protect you. I told him about the portal.”

  Elora stares at the dragon with empty eyes. Whatever strength she had before entering the cave is gone now. Her mind and heart are racing, trying to keep up with the unavoidable fear building up. Elora takes a step back on weak legs. “I don't understand,” she says. “My birth mother?”

  “Your birth mother knew that you would one day grow up and be the only one that could stop the evil Grimdar Blackhand and bring the land back to its former glory.”

  Elora glances back at her family; Bruce and Catherine nod at her. Ryan looks just as confused as Elora, but he nods at her, too. She turns back to the dragon, struggling to get the words out. “I still don't understand.”

  The dragon moves toward Elora, speaking with such power in his voice that it echoes in the cave. “You are the true heir to the throne of the lands of Kurbits Dale. You are Elora Lightheart, daughter of King and Queen Lightheart. You were but a young princess when you came here a long time ago, but now you are a queen.”

  At the dragon’s words, Elora turns around to see Bruce, Catherine, Eadric, Myrna, and Alric kneeling before her, and soon, Ryan kneels too. She frowns and looks back at the dragon. “There must be some mistake,” she says. “I’m just a girl from a city. I’m not a queen.”

  “There is no mistake,” says the dragon. “In the City of Lights, there is a traitor on the throne. You will show the world what he is and take your place as Queen of Kurbits Dale. He is corrupted by evil, and darkness feeds on him. Corruption follows wherever he goes.”

  At this, tears spill down Elora’s cheeks. “But how do I do that?” she asks. “I’m just a city girl, from another world. How do I defeat him?”

  “You are much more than that, Elora Lightheart. You must seek the help of the seven regions and the seven Elders. You must also seek out the seven Ancient Ones and defeat them.”

  Eadric stands up and speaks. “I know where we can find one of these beasts. The ancient beast Sheagrim is in the Cave of the Fallen.”

  “Then that is where you must go,” says the dragon. “Come back to me after you have defeated him.”

  Elora looks around, searching the faces of her parents for help. “I… I need to think about this. I still don’t understand.”

  Again, the dragon speaks with a powerful voice. “There is no time for that, Elora. Mark my words. As we speak, the Dark Forces are gathering and plotting on how to stop you from reaching the City of Lights. In less than a night, Blackhand will know that you survived and that you are back in the lands. Be fast, Elora. May the power of the Sheastream guide you.”

  With that, the dragon disappears into the shadows. The cave falls silent, and the group is looking at Elora, waiting for her to decide what to do.

  Elora takes a step toward her parents. “You knew?”

  “We did but could not tell you because we did not want this for you,” Catherine says, smiling sadly.

  “It is a tremendous burden,” Bruce adds. “It will be a long and bitter fight.”

  “But you are my parents...” Elora says, sniffling as her tears threaten to overcome her again. ”I don't understand how this can be possible.”

  “It is not easy to fathom the events of past,” Catherine says, “but we will always be your parents, no matter what happens.”

  “You will always be my real parents, no matter what anyone says.” Using the sleeve of her shirt, Elora wipes at the tea
rs staining her cheeks. Then, she turns her attention toward the cave’s exit. “We’ll have to talk more about this later. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but I believe the answer rests with this Sheagrim.”

  As the group make their way back to the village, Eadric walks next to Elora. “I don't know what Sheagrim is,” he says, “and I never really saw anything in the cave, but I will go with you.”

  When they reach the village, Alric says, “I will gather and talk to the people of the village while you and Eadric goes on this mission.”

  “Thank you, Elder,” says Eadric before turning to Elora. “I have to go and retrieve my sword from home before we can leave.”

  As he leaves, Elora turns her attention to the rest of the group. “Please, stay here,” she says. “I will go with Eadric to visit Sheagrim, and we’ll be back soon.”

  “Maybe we should think about this a little more,” Ryan says, speaking for the first time in a while. “I don't want anything to happen to you. That cave was so dangerous last time…”

  Elora looks at him, seeing his eyes water with unshed tears. She hugs him, then stands on her tiptoes to gently kiss his shaking lips.

  Ryan whispers, “Elora, I just lost my family. I can’t lose you too.”

  Elora puts her hands on both sides of his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. “You will not lose me,” she says. “I'll be safe. Eadric will be with me to protect me. Stay here, I promise I'll be back soon.”

  Soon after, Eadric returns with his sword. He and Elora leave on the trail toward the cave while Alric rings the village bell and calls for a meeting in the middle of the village.

  After trekking through the woods for a while, Eadric pauses, motioning to the cave’s entrance. Elora stands perfectly still, her feet planted firmly on the ground.

  Eadric takes a step toward the entrance. “Are you ready, Elora?”

  She takes a shaky breath, her gaze moving from the cave's dark entrance to Eadric. She nods, and her voice is feeble as she speaks. “Please stay here. I think I must do this myself; it's my burden to confront the beast. At least, that's how I understood the dragon.” She picks up a torch, and Eadric offers her his sword, but she declines to take it. “I have to find my way. I wouldn't even know what to do with a sword.”

  She enters the cave, and as she walks past the graves deeper and deeper into the cave, the light which Eadric can see from the outside becomes fainter and fainter. Soon, the light is completely engulfed by the dark cave. Eadric sits down on a big stone and waits, holding his sword tightly. The forest surrounding the cave is calm, strangely calm as if it was waiting for something, somewhere.

  Inside, Elora walks carefully, remembering what happened to Remus when stepping on the slimy mushrooms. She moves deeper and deeper into the cave, soon reaching the bottom of the tunnel where cold water begins to drop from the ceiling. Strange sounds come from the darkness, and something's growling. As she walks down the tunnel, she emerges in a big cave.

  Elora shivers against the cold; she must be far beneath the surface. A small ray of light shines down on a round stone on the floor, and she takes a cautious step toward the stone, shining the torch on it. It almost looks like a pressure plate from one of those adventure movies she used to watch. She holds the torch closer to it, trying to discern any details.

  A growl comes from the darkest corner in the cave, and a mighty voice speaks. “Who are you to disturb my slumber?”

  Elora looks around trying to get a sense of where the voice is coming from. “I am Elora, I was sent here by the dragon to find Sheagrim.”

  Something dark rattles the cave as if something very big is walking. “Ah, the dragon, you say. Elora is it? I have been waiting for you for a very long time. Waiting makes me tired.”

  Elora turns in all directions, trying to catch a glimpse of the talking beast. Soon, a face appears from the shadows, a... fluffy face? It's a big bear, now sitting in front of Elora on the round stone.

  “You are a... talking bear.”

  “That is correct,” says the bear. “And you are a talking girl.”

  Elora smiles.

  “Why have you come here to see me?” Sheagrim asks.

  Elora responds, “I have come for the power that belongs to me.”

  The bear looks at her, studying her. “We'll see about that. First, you need to answer my questions. Tell me, why do you need the power?”

  Elora takes a deep breath, wiling herself to speak calmly. “I need it to vanquish the darkness and fight the evil that is roaming this kingdom.”

  The bear tilts his head to one side, examining her even in the dark cave. “What is the strongest force in the kingdom?”

  Elora answers quickly. “The Sheastream.”

  “And what is the strongest and most connected being in these lands?”

  Elora scrunches her face up in confusion and thinks about the dragon, about the people she met, about magic powers, but she can't find the answer.

  Sheagrim sighs, and his eyes are now more intense than before. “You will not know the answer unless you search within you, reach out to the Stream and connect with Cornelia's essence.”

  “Cornelia?” Elora closes her eyes and listens. Her world is almost shattered when she hears herself saying Cornelia without moving her lips. Suddenly, as she lets her mind be free and open to the inexhaustible beauty of the Sheastream, she connects with a voice. Bits and pieces of her previous life here come back to her, and the voice speaks, whispering the secrets she needs to know.

  Is this Cornelia? At her question, an immense power pushes toward her, and suddenly, the warmth of invisible light engulfs her, and the voice fades as if it was a dream.

  With her eyes still closed, she utters the word, “Evershensta.” Elora has no idea how she did it; she only cleared her mind and thought about Cornelia.

  The big bear stands up and growls loudly.

  Elora opens her eyes and finds herself floating in midair, streams of bright light hitting her body from everywhere. Power surges through her, and she feels more alive than ever. The light eventually disappears inside her body, and she slowly lowers to the ground by the same unseen force that lifted her up.

  She scrambles to her feet and looks around, but the bear is gone. The power coursing through her body overwhelms her, and her entire being aches as if she has been in a fight. But, her mind is more open, and she can see and feel things clearer now. She slowly walks out of the cave, and on the way back she notices a dagger on the ground. Elora picks it up and continues up past the graves, soon reaching the exit.

  Outside, Eadric is standing up against the wall. As Elora comes closer, he speaks nervously to her. “I have been standing here for a while, holding my sword even tighter to myself. Soon after you entered the cave, all kinds of animals started to show up, but they weren’t afraid of me or each other. They were just sitting there waiting. Eventually a big wolf came as well, a wolf! There has not been a wolf in these parts for over a hundred years. All the other animals left, but he has been sitting there all this time, not moving.”

  Eadric points to a big wolf outside the cave, and as the wolf comes closer, he freezes, holding his sword tightly. “Look, now the wolf comes closer.” The wolf is big and gray, bigger than any wolf seen before. Standing up it would reach Eadric's chest. Eadric opens his mouth slowly, “Elora, stand back. I will protect you against this beast.

  Elora puts a hand on Eadric's shoulder. “It's okay, Eadric. The wolf is mine. I can feel him; he is part of me, I can feel his strength.”

  Eadric looks at her and steps aside, moving behind Elora toward the cave. She walks straight toward the wolf. The wolf stands tall and reaches almost as high as Elora's face. When she gets close to him, he bows to her and lets her hands hold his head. She whispers, “Felan, I missed you.”

  Chapter 7: The Gathering

  Elora and Felan stroll toward the village, and when Elora looks over her shoulder, she notices Eadric following at a safe distance behind t
hem. She smiles to herself. Funny how a strong warrior can show such nervousness around Felan, she thinks.

  As they approach the center of the village, Elora takes in the crowd gathered around Alric. As she approaches with Felan, the crowd’s attention turns to her, and their eyes grow wary as the giant wolf approaches. Well, he is a big wolf, she thinks.

  Elora calls out to the crowd, hoping to ease their fears. “The wolf is with me,” she says, trying to project some authority into her voice. “He protects me. He is Felan, the Great Wolf of the North. There’s no reason to be alarmed.”

  “Elora!” shouts Ryan, striding up to her and pulling her into a hug. “You’re back!”

  Elora wants to linger in his warmth and let him comfort her, just like they used to do back in the other world, but she can't. She sighs and pulls away but still gives him a gentle smile. “Later,” she whispers, just loud enough for him to hear. Ryan nods and stands to her side.

  “Well, what happened?” asks Alric, his eyes trained on Felan. “Do you understand now?”

  “I understand now,” Elora begins. “I can see more clearly, and I know who I am. I remember bits and pieces of my past. Felan has been with me my whole life. I rode him to the dragon when I was a young princess, and he helped me escape the turmoil at the castle.” She pauses and puts a hand on Felan’s neck, taking comfort in his soft fur. Then, she looks back to Alric. “We need to stand united against what is coming. I feel the movements in the air and the dark that is brewing beyond our borders.”

  Elora pauses and looks out over the group of nervous people in front of her. “It may not be safe for you if I linger here for too long. I don’t want the dark scouts to come and harm you, and we need to leave soon anyway.”

  Eadric steps forward, finally daring to get closer to Felan. “How can we help, Elora?”

  She glances to Ryan first, then to Alric, and finally meets Eadric’s gaze. “Thank you. We need a small group, one that can move quickly. I’ve learned that we don’t have much time, and I still need to go back to the dragon.”