by Terry Spear
“She’s not going to make it!” Balen readied himself beneath her to try to break her fall.
Her left hand slipped from the pack. “I’m coming,” she said softly under her breath.
“No, Eloria!” Viator tilted sharply to the right causing her to roll over his waist. He reached for her arm again. Then she released her hold on his pack.
18
“Eloria!” both Viator and Balen shouted as she fell toward the sea.
Viator swooped down and grabbed her wrist, then pulled her back from the foam-capped waves. “Shadow elf territory after this, Eloria.” His brow knit tightly as he flew her onto the beach.
The mermaid’s songs no longer touched Eloria’s ears and she took a deep breath as she sat down on the shore. “Did you say something to me, Viator?”
He glanced over to see Balen waiting to hear his words. “We’ll discuss the matter later.” He turned to the winged elf he’d freed. “I don’t recognize you. Are you from Darkland Forest?”
“Torrance from Rangoon, Your Majesty.”
“What were you doing on the island?”
“The Isle of Green Mists. I’ve heard it talked about for years. I had a wager with several of my friends I could visit the island and return home again. I’ve been locked up there for sixty days.”
“And you?” Viator handed a roll to the river elf.
“Similar circumstances. Prince Lars bet me the place didn’t exist. I knew it did. I was to bring proof of my claim. My only evidence is my winged-elf friend, Torrance, and the rest of you.” He stared at Eloria’s gem as it flickered.
“I don’t have any plans to visit the Darkland Forest soon.” Viator handed a roll to Torrance. “And Lars wants to keep Eloria for himself.”
Eloria finished her roll, then untied the tie to her green cloak and pulled it off. “You can have this.” She handed it to the dark elf. “I found it in one of the creature’s closets.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Just Eloria.”
The river elf shook his head. “If Lars wishes for you to join him, you cannot be a commoner.”
Eloria’s brows arched in amusement. “He wished for me to join him, before or after his people threw me from the cliffs?”
The elf’s jaw dropped. “You cannot be serious.”
Eloria shook her head. “Prince Viator rescued me.” She saw Viator’s mouth drop open slightly. She smiled. “What, sire? When addressing others while speaking of a royal person, I must use his or her title.”
Torrance pointed at her. “You are the one they spoke of. The islanders grew frenzied when they sensed you were nearby. They said you were the greatest prize they’d ever have the chance to capture. That’s why they locked you in the tower, not in the dungeon with us.”
“They did save me from the mermaid. Her fingers grabbed my ankle. She tried to pull me under. And then I heard the lapping of water against the wooden hull of a boat. No paddles moved it. No sails. It slipped like the mist toward me. Long spindly fingers plucked me from the sea. I looked up to see you, Viator, holding onto the net as you searched for me. I tried to cry out to you, but the mist overcame me. No sight, nor voice had I. Then I woke to find myself dressed in gowns of green.” She poked her finger in the sand. Her necklace glowed brightly as she drew three symbols on the beach.
“What are they?” Viator asked, as he touched her hand.
The emerald darkened. Eloria stared at the shapes and shook her head.
Balen drew closer. “They are ancient symbols of a dead language, sire. The first is the symbol of Sarazan, the green wizard, long thought dead.”
“The one I told you about, Eloria. The one in your dreams,” Viator said.
“The second symbol...” Balen pursed his lips. “I’m not sure.” He ran his hand around the circles within a circle like the inner coil of a seashell. “I don’t know.” Turning his attention to the last, he said, “Hmmm, the dragon of Benzol.”
“The Benzolian dragon who won’t be tamed,” Viator said.
“Yes, sire. Many have lost their lives in such a foolish venture. The final quest for coming of age...tame a dragon...call him or her your own. Why would anyone seek to tame that dragon?”
“Whosoever will tame the dragon of Benzol will be all powerful, so the soothsayers say.”
“Only because no one can tame it...no one.” Balen sat down on the ground. He turned his attention to Eloria. “Why would you draw these symbols?”
Eloria shook her head. “I don’t know. I suddenly had the urge to draw in the sand. My teacher was always upset with me for...doodling on paper in class, she said.”
“You’ve written more of these symbols, yet don’t know what they mean?” Viator asked.
“I doodled.”
The river elf jumped to his feet. He smiled as he felt of the green cloak’s soft cloth. “Thank you, young lady, for your gift to me. And thank you, Torrance, for being a friend to me all those long days in the dungeon of the isle. And to you, Prince Viator, and your companion for helping to free me from sixty-six years of exile under the sea.” He pulled a ring from his pouch and handed it to Viator. “Should you or your friends ever need help, just use this. Twist it three times, and I will come to your aid.”
“But one of us can take you home,” Viator said.
“Yes, sire, if you should carry the river elf...,” Balen said, but was interrupted.
“Leigh.”
“Leigh, then. You could carry him to the forest, and you could earn a whole credit.”
“No,” the river elf said. “I have other business I must attend to before I return home.” The elf brushed the sand from his clothes. “Again, many thanks.” He hurried away.
“I must return home as well.” Torrance stood. “I have been away for too long. I thank you for your aid. Take good care of the princess, Your Majesty, and she will take good care of you.” He bowed, then lifted his wings and flew inland.
They watched as Leigh disappeared over a sand dune and Torrance diminished in size. Balen cleared his throat. “Where to now, sire? Will we take Eloria back?”
Viator studied the symbols in the sand. “What does the coiled one mean?”
“There’s a book in our library on the subject, sire. I used to read it when I was bored with other schoolwork. There were thousands of symbols in the book. I vaguely remember having seen this one, but can’t recall...”
Viator shook his head as he faced Eloria. “What other symbols did you draw?”
“Perhaps if I saw the book, I could remember and identify them.”
“You’ve been drawing them for years?”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his chin.
“You were going to take her to see the shadow elves, sire. You said—”
“She should see this book.”
“But, Your Majesty,...your father has forbidden you to see any more of the human girl. If we take her home with us—”
“Perhaps you could bring the book to us in the fairies’ meadowlands.”
“The book cannot leave the library, sire. Reference book, you know. All kinds of alarms will sound if it goes beyond the library doors.”
Viator sighed deeply. “Then she will have to return with us. Somehow, we’ll sneak her in.”
“And then?”
“After she tells us all the symbols she has seen, we’ll record them and then we’ll take her to see the shadow elves.”
Eloria climbed onto Viator’s back.
Viator glanced at Balen who nodded to him in wordless agreement, though Balen didn’t look happy about the prospect. Flapping their wings as if in a choreographed dance, the two headed toward Darkland Forest Castle.
When they arrived at the castle in the Darkland Forest, they found the winged elves dressed in masquerade costumes as they attended the ball. The great hall, now decorated in honey-scented jasmine and baskets of flowers, was filled to capacity. Harp-like music with a strange drumbeat filled the air and exuberant e
lves danced to the music.
“Even better than we could have planned. I had forgotten all about the ball that would be held while we were off trying to complete our quests.” Viator led them to his chamber. “Balen, you go to your chamber and get your disguise for the dance. I’ll find something for Eloria.”
He rummaged through a chest while Balen hurried out of the room. Then Viator pulled out a royal purple cloak and mask for her. “These were mine from some years past...when I was a bit shorter. They should fit you well. The mask should hide your face and the hood of the cloak your red hair and your rounded human ears.”
She pulled the hooded cloak on and pulled the hood up over her hair. She stared at her image in a gold gilt mirror. Sure enough, the cloak hid her features, and when she attached the sequined mask, no one could tell who she was, she was certain.
The length of the garment was perfect too. She attached the gold chain that held the cloak in place. Viator had disappeared into another room, and when he returned, she smiled. He wore a cloak covered in feather-weight shells and spread out the garment for her to see. “I’ve been making this for a year, since the last annual ball. I’d forgotten it was today, but none will know me in this cloak.”
“It’s really different, Viator.”
“Yes, well, that’s the rule. The ones whose identity cannot be guessed at the ball, win an award. I like to win.”
Balen soon joined them, and Eloria couldn’t help herself this time. She laughed out loud, and he frowned at her.
“What is your problem?” he asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.
“Nothing, Balen, your flower petal-covered cloak is the perfect disguise.”
“Lord Balen. And true,” Balen said. “I’m not fond of flowers, and so no one will know it is me.”
“Lovely.”
“Yes, well it is our custom.”
Viator’s cloak clinked as the sea shells knocked together while they walked to the library. They turned down several different corridors, their boots moving quietly as they made their way to the library. Except for the notes of the wind instruments drifting overhead from time to time, the castle was deadly quiet.
When they reached the room where leather-bound books stretched up to the ten-foot-high ceiling, Eloria whispered, “Do you know where the book of symbols is?”
“I do.” Balen hurried to the second row of books, but voices stopped them in their tracks.
“What I don’t understand is why she would have come here when she did,” a man said as he and another walked through the library.
“Yes, well the king was correct in his ruling to send her away at once.”
Balen grabbed Eloria’s arm to her surprise and pulled her between the row of books, but Viator darted in a different direction to keep the men from finding Eloria. His robe made a racket and the two men gasped in surprise. “What are you doing in here? Everyone in the kingdom is to participate in the ceremony.”
“I was on my way, only I got a bit distracted.”
The two men and Viator headed to the great hall as Eloria and Balen peeked through the books and watched their departure. Balen sighed a ragged breath. “I hope he knows what he’s doing.”
“Okay, Balen, hurry. Find the book.”
“Lord Balen, and females do not order me about, unless of course it is the queen.”
He pulled a rolling ladder over to midway down the aisle, but stopped when they heard his sister’s voice approach as she spoke to someone else.
Just great.
19
“Griffin feathers. Stay here, Eloria,” Balen whispered. “I will get rid of them and come back for you and the book as soon as I can.”
Her arms prickled with chill bumps. If she got caught now...
He hurried down the aisle and out the other side. Then he met up with Sendal and her friend. “What are you doing here?” he asked her, as Eloria’s heart pounded with fear of being caught. What would they do with her then? Lock her in a tower? Throw her off the cliffs like their cousins the river elves had done?
She had to find the book and quickly. Having no knowledge of the elven written language, she climbed the ladder, hoping something would give her a clue. She grabbed the first book she could reach and pulled it open. There were no symbols in it that she recognized from her dreams. After trying three more books, she grabbed the next and her crystal began to glow.
Was it a sign? She certainly hoped so. She opened the book and nearly fell off the ladder. The first symbol etched in her memory was illustrated on the page. And to her amazement, the drawing glowed green. In fact, her crystal glowed too. But the words explaining the meaning of the symbols were foreign to her.
She flipped through three more pages, then turned to another symbol. Again, her crystal and the symbol on the page glowed. If only Balen were here to decipher the words.
Then to her horror, footsteps approached. She hurried down the ladder, then shoved the book under the table.
“What are you doing in here?” A man dressed in a cloak of dragon scales approached her. Seeing her gaze shift to his costume, he added, “Oh, and for your information, these were shredded scales. I did not kill some poor dragon. I’ve heard that enough tonight in jest. I’m Lord Ren by the way, in case you didn’t recognize me. And you are?”
She shook her head. She assumed their masked balls were like the ones given in the books she’d read about. Only the wearer could identify his or herself, unless someone recognized them beforehand. But they were under no obligation to reveal their identity otherwise.
The man never gave her a chance to speak, and she was much relieved. If he heard her Langolar accent, he would know at once she was not a winged elf.
“Unless you have business elsewhere, as I had a moment ago, you are not to be beyond the walls of the great hall. King’s rules.” He smiled broadly at her. “I know these to be Prince Viator’s garments from a ball some years past. You must be a lady friend of his for him to allow you to wear his things. That means I will be envied by all to get to dance with you first.”
Not knowing the first thing about how elves danced, she was certain her lack of knowledge would soon give her away.
He extended his arm to her, and she rested her hand on it. He smiled. “Prince Viator won’t be happy I received the first dance from you, my lady. But he should not have left you alone without an escort.”
The winged elf was so talkative, she assumed he never noticed she’d never said a word. But when he led her into the great hall, the room grew hushed. Wearing Viator’s cloak and mask hadn’t been a good idea, she could see now. Everyone undoubtedly wondered who the female was who wore the crown prince’s garment for the evening’s festivities. And she figured the way the courtiers reacted, he had never loaned his clothes to anyone before.
Ren led her to the center of the dance floor. Viator stood watching, his mouth agape. And Balen standing nearby wore the same kind of incredulous expression.
“Seems His Majesty is surprised to see you here with me.” Ren pulled her close and the music began again.
So Ren recognized the prince right away. Did everyone else then? She was dying to ask him how he knew the prince so easily, but realized she could say nothing or she’d give herself away.
She followed his moves instead with precision as he walked one way, then another. The maneuvers were easy to mimic, long flowing, and with simple repetitive steps. Soon he had swept her across the entire floor. For several minutes, the courtiers stood watching them, hushed voices spoken as the elves tried to determine who she was.
When she turned once, Sendal glared back at her, and she knew if Sendal could she would have torn Eloria’s cloak from her head. But masked balls were sacred, fun-filled affairs, as far as she had read, so it seemed Sendal could seethe all she wanted, but she could do nothing more than that where Eloria was concerned.
“You do not wish to reveal who you are to me? I can hear the muffled conversations around us, and you are as much a to
tal mystery to the others as you are to me. But before the night is out, I will know who it is that the prince favors over Lady Sendal.”
The thought took her breath away. The winged elves were afraid of her. She shuddered to think what they might do if they knew who she was.
“Griffin feathers. Here comes the prince. I should have known he would take you away from me soon.”
Ren released his hold on her. “Sire,” he said nodding his head in a bow. “The lady is most precious, but she would reveal nothing of who she is.”
As soon as the prince held Eloria’s hand, he pulled her close, closer than Ren had done, and she wondered if his actions were sanctioned or not. She noted too, his cloak seemed to billow out slightly as if he spread his wings. Why would he open his wings underneath a cloak?
He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Everyone watches us. We must be careful not to give your identity away.”
She whispered back. “I found the book and when I saw some of the symbols therein, they glowed at the same time my crystal did. It’s beneath the large table in one of the rows.”
He straightened his back and stared at her. “Balen will have to tell us what it means.”
“Yes, but...but what if I get caught here?”
He pulled her close again. “I’m afraid I won’t win the contest this year. Somehow, some of the courtiers have concluded that I have returned from the seacoast. Though I thought the disguise very clever.”
“It is your bearing and handsome features that cannot be hidden. I would have known you anywhere.”
The corners of his mouth rose. “You are the greatest mystery here, whether you wear a disguise or not.”
“Your people will be terribly frightened if they learn I have returned.”
“You dance our steps as well as our own ladies who have had lessons for years. No one could tell from the way you dance that you are not one of ours.”
“I’m afraid Sendal will attempt to rip the hood from my head to reveal who I am. She has been glowering at me ever since Lord Ren walked me into the great hall, wearing your clothes.”