‘Hello there, found something you like?’
The two of us turned around to see a tall well-built man with fair skin, dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail and bright blue eyes standing there looking at us.
Malakhi smiled when he recognised me and gave a brief bow. ‘Your Highness, I haven’t seen you in my little store before.’
‘Your store caught Fallon’s attention’ I responded, grinning.
Fallon smiled shyly, ‘it’s a pleasure to meet you Malakhi.’
Malakhi smiled ‘you too Fallon. I see the medical kit has caught your eye.’
‘How much is your asking price?’ I asked him.
‘It is five Toralin.’
I stood for a few seconds, stroking my chin, and then asked, ‘would you accept three for the lovely lady?’
Malakhi pursed his lips and was silent for several moments before holding out his hand.
‘It’s a deal.’
I smiled, satisfied. Paying and thanking him for his services, Fallon and I left the store and went on our way.
As we continued walking through the city, Fallon turned to me and asked why I bought her the satchel, which was now slung across her body over one shoulder.
‘You just looked so very taken by it, that I felt like I had to.’
‘I see’ she replied, returning her gaze to the cobbled stone street ahead.
I pursed my lips thoughtfully and asked, ‘why did the store attract your attention?’
Fallon smiled sadly ‘before my parents disappeared, my mother taught me all about medicinal plants and herbs, as well as harmful plants, even though I was still young. She taught me so that, if I ever hurt myself or was around those who were, I’d be able to give the appropriate. I’ve retained and used everything she taught me my entire life.’
‘That’s great, carrying on your mother’s tradition. Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?’
She shook her head, ‘no, I think I’m ready to head back, I’m actually feeling a little tired.’
I nodded, ‘back to the palace it is.’ We turned right into a small street and changed direction, following the road back the way we’d come.
The Elandrean Portal Guard
Fifteen minutes later, we were passing the library on our way back to Fallon’s room, when my father passed the doors on the other side holding a large but thing book in his hands.
‘Evander, Fallon! You’ve arrived at just the right moment. I found the photo I recognised your parents from, Fallon’ he exclaimed, gesturing for us to follow him further into the library and to a large green sofa, where the three of us sat down and my father opened up the book, flipping through several pages of old and faded photos until he stopped on one two-page spread.
Handing the book over to Fallon, he pointed to the photo on the right; a year and a month captioned beneath, although that was not important right now.
Fallon’s eyes roamed the large photo for a few seconds, and then she gasped.
‘What is it?’ I asked her, leaning over to get a closer look as she pointed to a man and a woman stood side by side at the far left of the photo.
‘They’re-they’re my parents, and that…’ she stammered, moving her finger down to the bottom of the same photo were eight children were stood in a row smiling at the camera, to a small girl that looked like a younger version of…
‘That’s you,’ I marveled, finishing her sentence after her voice had faded, and then realised I recognised someone in the photo myself.
‘And that’s me!’ I exclaimed, pointing to a boy next to Fallon’s much younger self.
‘Yes, it seems that the two of you were friends when you were younger. I don’t know how I didn’t remember you when Evander brought you back from the beach’ my father laughed.
‘Huh…that must be why you didn’t seem surprised when you first saw me upon waking up earlier; I was expecting a gasp of surprise when you saw my pointed ears but nope, you just asked where you were, and who I was’ I replied, recalling my own surprise at her response earlier.
‘Maybe that’s part of it, though I’ve read stories with elves in them, and seen pictures too- but that’s not the issue. What are me and my parents doing in a photo album here, in Elandrea?’
‘I think the better question is why neither of us recognised each other on first glance - my parents recognised each other instantly when they were reunited, having not seen each other for several years.’
She frowned, her face once again showing repressed pain ‘I guess…after losing my parents, my experiences at the hands of my foster parents must have replaced all the happy memories I had here. I don’t know what might explain why you and your family have forgotten?’
‘You know I’m not entirely sure, Dad?’ I replied, turning to my father.
He clasped his hands together, pressing his lips to his knuckles as he leant forward on his knees. Furrowing his brow thoughtfully, he was silent for a moment or two before attempting to answer our question.
‘All I can say, is that since the abductions twelve years ago a lot has happened. We conducted searches for the missing portal guards for a long time without any luck, and several other things happened. Much like Fallon’s, our happy memories have been replaced by painful ones. We’ve forgotten who and what, we once knew.’
‘Hopefully Fallon’s arrival will help remedy that’ I offered, turning to her with a smile.
She smiled faintly in return, but her expression was still pained as she returned her attention to my father.
‘You-you mentioned abductions … there were others besides my parents who went missing?’
Dad sighed, ‘I’m afraid so my dear- though before I get into it I feel it prudent to remind you two of who the Elandrean Portal Guard were.’
Fallon and I scooted closer to him and gazed at him expectantly, and he began to explain.
‘In Elandrea’s early years, humans would wonder in unknowingly from portals in their world, so Iona and Gardohil, Queen of angels and first King of elves, created the Elandrean Portal Guard, a specially selected group of humans with exceptional skills who were chosen to protect the portals into Elandrea around the human world, and were also allowed to enter Elandrea on occasion and Fallon, your parents were part of the eighth generation of the Guard.
There was – is still – a Guard on our side of the portal, but twelve years ago one elf, Arekin, didn’t think that mere humans should have the privilege of protecting the portals of Elandrea. He broke away from the Portal Guard; going off on his own and gathering other elves who shared the same mind-set. He gained many followers, who then went through the portals into the human world to remove the members of the Guard on the other side. He and his new followers supposedly returned to Elandrea and disappeared without a trace…it is highly likely that Arekin and his “gang” grabbed Fallon’s parents - along with the others - while they were on a shift or asleep at home, forgetting they had a daughter.’
Fallon looked back down as he uttered the last few sentences, and ran her fingers over the photo of her parents before closing the photo album and reading its title.
Elandrea’s Portal Guard through the Generations.
She then clenched her jaw and balled both hands into fists, ‘I must go after Arekin, and find my parents.’
My father placed a hand on her shoulder, ‘we can understand that sweetheart, but before you go off to find him we’ve got to think about where he might be. You cannot simply go running out of the palace gates, because he could be anywhere: you need to do your research first.’
She nodded without further protest, and sat back down, ‘you’re right.’
And so, we began our research to determine where Arekin and his followers were at this moment in time.
***
We’d spent the past few days looking through the written scouts’ reports since Arekin’s disappearance, keeping an eye out for any consecutive reports detailing the same location, until our third day of searching, when�
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‘Hey Evander, look at this,’ Fallon exclaimed, coming over to where I was sat on a sofa in my father’s study from her station on the window seat, holding three separate sheets of paper. ‘These are the most recent reports on Arekin’s location. They’re within two months of each other and all three say the same thing’ she said, and passed the three reports over for me to look at.
They read as follows:
April 5th
Latest report on Arekin. Last seen heading towards the Thrangorn Mountains. My troupe and I did not follow him any further.
F. Dalin.
June 7th
No movement from Arekin and his people thus far. We will continue to keep watch and monitor his movements.
D. Anilas, Second in Command to F. Dalin in his stead, due to illness.
August 10th
Arekin and a few of his soldiers were sighted leaving the mountains. Returned three hours later.
F. Dalin.
‘These reports are from last year, there are none regarding Arekin from the reports filed by the scouts so far this year. That means the Thrangorn Mountains are still where he is most likely to be’ she said, as I studied the reports.
‘Seems so’ I replied, ‘there were no reports about him form this year in my pile either…we should make our preparations to head out to there, but we should also check with the scouts who just returned to check if they’ve got any new intel on whereabouts in the mountains he is.’
Beside me, Fallon nodded in agreement and got up, heading over to my father’s desk and retrieving a piece of paper, the pot of ink and one of the less fancy quills, from the desk before returning the sofa and sitting herself down sideways on to me, her legs folded beneath her.
‘So, what do we need to bring?’ she asked, leaning forward, dipping the quill into the ink pot and writing “Things to bring on quest to find Arekin” in neat, slightly curly handwriting.
‘Well, we’ll need the essentials like food and water…’
She wrote them down, along with three or four other things.
‘…A few sheets of paper, and one of my mother’s inkless quills...’
Fallon looked up at me quizzically at the last item, and I smiled.
‘I’ll explain later.’
She shrugged her shoulders and wrote it down beneath the previous one.
‘What else? Ah yes a change of clothing, since we don’t know how long we’ll be out there. Um…I can’t think of anything else so feel free to add anything I may have forgotten or that you think would be helpful.’
She nodded and wrote down what I suggested, adding a few things more things at the bottom of the list and then placed the nib of the ink pot to lightly blow on the paper to make it dry a bit quicker before rolling it up and handing it up to me to hold while she returned the ink pot and quill to their places on my father’s desk.
‘Do you want me to gather the things on our list while you ask the scouts about Arekin? I can ask your parents about the food and drink and everything else.’
I shook my head ‘no, you should come with me to see the Scouts. I’ve known some of them since I was a kid, and if they’ve got a good memory and haven’t let bad memories override the good, some of them might even remember you.’
She smiled, suddenly taking me back to when I was little, and the fiery haired little girl I played with when she was over with her parents and several others from the human world, happily agreeing to come with me to speak to the troupe of Orfedil’s scouts who had just returned from their three-week shift, before they returned home to their families for their two-week break.
‘Arekin? He hasn’t been seen coming out of the mountains since I filed the last report on him last year,’ replied Finn, the leader of the Scout troupe who had just returned, and had written two of the three reports. He also became the youngest scout to become a troupe leader eleven years ago, when he was only sixteen.
‘Why are you asking about him anyway?’ he asked, and then noticed Fallon stood behind me.
‘Fallon, is that you?’
‘Wait, you know who she is?’ I asked, puzzled at the fact Finn already seemed to know her when it had taken a photo to get me to remember.
‘Yes, I used to babysit her when her parents and the other members of our Portal Guard were in meetings before I started my scouting training at thirteen. You probably wouldn’t remember me, you were just beginning to walk when I couldn’t babysit you anymore,’ he replied, smiling at her as her cheeks coloured a little.
‘So, why are you asking about Arekin?’
I glanced at Fallon. ‘We think there’s a chance he had Fallon’s parents abducted and taken to wherever it is in those mountains that he resides, when she was seven.’
Finn’s eyes widened in shock, and looked over at Fallon, who had now cast her eyes to the ground.
‘Are you talking about when he broke off from the Elandrean Portal Guard, and went off on his own?’
She nodded ‘I woke up one morning, and they were gone. I couldn’t find them anywhere in or around the house…no matter how hard I tried.’
A single tear trickled down Fallon’s cheek and off her chin.
Finn immediately went over to her and pulled her into a big hug ‘I’m so sorry Fallon. I’ll do everything in my power to help you get them back.’
Fallon seemed to be completely unfazed by this sudden hug and soft-voiced affection, because she wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes, leaning into him as he held her.
I swallowed the scathing retort that was threatening to leave my mouth, and instead asked Finn if he would indeed help us find Fallon’s parents.
‘Of course, I will’ he replied, a determined look in his eyes and then turned to his brethren, ‘guys this is Fallon, she’s the girl I used to babysit. She and Evander need my help to find her parents, are any of you with me?’
Six of the Scouts stepped forward and declared their joining of our cause with a nod, but others hung back; either because they had wives and children, or girlfriends to get home to, simply wanted to enjoy their time off before the next shift, or both.
Finn bowed his head and held his hand, thumb tucked in against his palm, to his chest; a long-forgotten gesture of deep thanks in Elandrea.
‘Right then, we had better make our preparations’ he told the Scouts he had at his disposal, and they nodded and turned to head in the direction of the palace, where there were quarters for them to stay in half way through each three-week shift, although they did not always use them, beside the stables.
‘Finn, how are you going to help us find my parents? Isn’t your job scouting enemy front lines, tracking criminals and…um…that sort of thing?’ Fallon asked, having taken hold of his arm to turn him around and stop him from following the others.
‘Sweetheart, being a Scout of Orfedil also means I scout out those who have been lost, in any way possible, and you’ll also need to know the best time to leave the palace and head into the mountains, you don’t want Arekin’s own elves spotting the two of you coming. I will be able to help you- but I need you to do something for me,’ he replied, looking her straight in the eye. ‘Don’t ever give up hope. Can you do that for me?’
Fallon nodded, and Finn touched her softly beneath the chin. ‘Good girl.’ He smiled gently, eliciting a small smile in return and then headed in the direction of the Scouts’ quarters to join his friends and comrades.
‘We should start getting everything from our list ready while Finn and his troupe do their part’ I said.
Fallon nodded, and the two of us headed back to the palace.
The Ever-Fruitful Apple Tree
The next afternoon, after lunch and with our bag of supplies for the journey to the Thrangorn Mountains ready in my bedroom, I took Fallon out into the forest that lies alongside Nälis palace to show her some of the wildlife found in Elandrea, and those native to Orfedil.
As we walked through the trees, tightly clustered together in some places and
scattered about to create clearings in others, I spotted one of Orfedil’s native birds and touched Fallon’s arm to get her attention, and pointed through the branches and leaves of a nearby pine tree at the Keni: a tall, slender bird with gold, silver, turquoise, and lilac feathers that shone brilliantly whenever the sun’s rays fell upon them, with a wing-span of over five meters when they were unfurled.
‘Wow!’ Fallon breathed, eyes wide and glittering with awe at the beautiful creature as it foraged amongst the leaves on the forest floor with its long, bronze coloured beak. ’What’s it called?’
‘It’s a Keni, or if there is more than one: they are called Kenité’ I replied, as the Keni moved out of sight in its search for food.
‘Are the Kenité one of the animals native to Orfedil?’ Fallon asked as we continued through the forest.
‘Yes, they are. In fact, they are one of five species of bird that our native to our country of Orfedil’ I answered, holding out my hand and helping her over a wide stream cutting across the forest that fed our water supply.
‘Thank you’ she smiled, looking around as I helped her over, until her eyes fell on something that made her smile widen into a grin.
‘Hey look, an apple tree!’ she exclaimed, running over to the wide trunk of the aged apple tree that had stood here since before my parents built the kingdom, staring up at it as if enchanted. ‘How can there be so many apples still up there? And how are they still so red? Back in the human world they never grow this big or red, and only grow in September.’
I smiled amusedly at her amazement. ‘That tree has been here since before I was born, and always bares fruit no matter how many of its apples are eaten.’
‘Really? That’s amazing!’
I chuckled ‘…would you like to try one?’
Fallon gaped at me in surprise, ‘really? Are you sure?’
I nodded ‘of course I’m sure. Our family doesn’t own the tree, anyone can eat the apples if they don’t try to use its branches as fire wood.’
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