The Witch (Dragon Eyes Book 1)

by Kristina Hlaváčková

  Mother motioned to her men to dismount. Somebody’s hands reached for Elena and pulled her down from her saddle. She tried to protest, but was stood down next to her mother. Ashka was still immersed in a lively conversation with the elderly elf. Or was he really elderly? Wasn’t Elena imagining things? It was hard to tell with an elf. His features weren’t as clean-cut as the others’, there were a few more shadows under his eyes. He had a lot more silver in his hair. And he was huge even for an elf, his shoulders very broad.

  There was so much to see around her that she did not know where to look first. An elf pulled the reins from her hand and led Ashkent away. This time she did protest, but nobody took any notice. Ashkent did not seem to mind. Besides, all the other horses were also led away and nobody had seemed to object. She felt Michael take her hand and was grateful for his support, giving him a weary smile. The two tired children stood side by side, apparently unnoticed by any of the folk around them, seeking comfort in each other’s presence.

  For the first time Llillam looked at the skinny girl, the obvious reason for Ashka’s arrival. His trained eye took in every detail: the slight figure dressed in Berber riders’ black, red hair, jewels of the Adragon warriors, a short sword and a dagger, a fighting stick in a scabbard on the girl’s back, a cloak reaching almost to the ground, a pale face and dark clever eyes. She noticed him looking at her and turned those tired eyes on him. It was quite clear she was having trouble not to fall asleep standing up. Llillam motioned to Ashka.

  “You must be tired after the long trip. The little one is barely conscious. Your lodgings are ready for you. There will be plenty time tomorrow. Follow me, please.” He turned and without another word walked through the aisle opening in the crowd. Ashka hesitated before taking Elena by the hand. Together they followed the elf.

  A flight of stairs winding around one of the huge tree trunks let them to a door in its bark and a comfortable room inside it. Elena didn’t even have the strength to explore the little apartment, hardly noticing that mother took her to a tiny bedroom. Elena was asleep before her head touched the pillow.

  ◆◆◆

  Elena opened her eyes. The ceiling above her was knotty. Wooden. For a while, she watched it, trying to make some sense of it, to figure out what made it look so odd. The ceiling had no planks or beams. It was just, well, wooden. To be more precise, the surface looked like live wood. The inside of peeled off bark looked the same as this ceiling. Under her head, she had a weird flat, but soft, pillow made of a strange green material. Someone had tucked her under an extremely thin, almost see-through, but very warm blanket. Sitting up, she put her feet on the ground and noticed all her stuff was neatly stacked by the door. There were a jug with cold water and a stone basin in the room. Elena washed quickly and dressed in clean clothes. Judging by the light outside, dawn was breaking. Carefully she stuck her head out the door but no one was there. The plaza-like space opening before her was slowly coming to life. Before anyone could stop her, she ran out of the little apartment. For a second, she hesitated on the landing. Giving the upwards-leading flight of stairs only a fleeting glance, she darted downwards. There was another door on the next landing. She ran past it.

  One of Ashka’s men stood guard at the foot of the tree. Elena flattened herself against the bark and thought for a few seconds. If she tried to go past that guy, she’d most likely get stopped and sent back. To be safely out of his sight, she retreated a few steps and peered over the rail. It wasn’t all that high. She jumped, landing lightly in a crouch, her feet soundless on the thick moss. To avoid attention, she stood up and walked slowly across the square. Well, for lack of any other expression, she had decided to call it a square. In the morning light, she contemplated the dwellings built on trees and inside them. No, they were not exactly inside the trees. They were simply part of them, but the trees were still alive. Interesting, she must not forget to ask how that was done.

  She glimpsed a few elves. They were very tall, slender, with thick long hair and pointy ears, and all looking very beautiful and dignified. At first, the melody of their voices made her think she heard singing, but listening closely revealed it was just simple speech. Everyone Elena encountered was dressed in shades of green, gray and brown. Elves turned their heads to watch the girl walk by. So used to being relatively inconspicuous among all the Berber wearing black, Elena was beginning to feel out of place. Here, her dark clothes were a huge giveaway. Black was definitely not the favorite color of the fair folk.

  Contemplating everything with wide-open eyes, Elena walked through the village. Eager not to draw more than necessary attention, she kept to the footpaths instinctively, stopping a few times, to study the surface under her feet. It wasn’t just trodden, but paved with tiny pebbles very carefully laid, side by side. Also, among the pebbles there were shapes Elena had never seen before. Even though some were oblong, similar to snail shells, and some remotely resembled river mussel shells, they had far more forms, notches and designs. She mustn’t forget to ask Mother what they were.

  For quite some time now she had been walking through the more remote parts of the forest city, the open area of the square far out of sight. Whenever she met someone, she greeted them the way her mother taught her. Some of the elves seemed quite surprised, some mildly amused, some simply answered her, respectful to protocol. Interested, she stopped by flowerbeds lining the trails, examining their flowers and herbs. She pointed a finger at some and under her breath recited the names Mother had taught her. Some of the herbs she did not know. Many rare plants from back home grew here plentifully. Only a few were purely decorative. Most of what she saw was useful for medicinal or other purposes. Interesting.

  A shadow fell over her. Elena lifted her eyes from the herbs. A tall, elegant, lady elf was towering above her. Elena stood and, just to be sure, greeted the woman with proper courtesy due to someone who deserved the highest possible respect. The elf wore a long flowing gown of silver. When she moved, the color of her dress changed slightly, refracting into hints of green and gold. Fascinated, Elena watched her. With a gentle hint of a smile, the elf answered the greeting, eyeing the child who was carefully trying to abide by protocol, using the proper second response. Satisfied, the beautiful lady noted that Elena did not make a single mistake in pronunciation nor gesture.

  As far as Elena was concerned, protocol was used up and she did not know what to say next. Silence fell. Elena used it to contemplate the lady, trying not to look too curious. She noticed something quite familiar in the elf’s features, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly what. Time passed slowly, too slowly in Elena’s opinion. Silence seemed endless and uncomfortable. Elena had a feeling the beautiful, grave, lady expected something of her, but had no clue what it was. Breaking the silence would most likely be disrespectful. Therefore, she refrained from speaking, but was unable to stop herself fidgeting. This of course, could not have escaped the woman’s attention.

  “I am Alivan. Your name is Eleanor, is that correct?” The beautiful lady spoke at last. Elena nodded, even though no one ever called her Eleanor and it kind of pulled at her ears.

  “Do you know the names of all these plants?” the elf asked. Relieved, Elena dropped her gaze to the flowerbed. Finally, something she was sure about. Resisting the urge to point her finger, she began to recite not only the names of the herbs, but also their usage, medicinal or other. Alivan nodded approvingly. Those she knew only in her own language, Elena named in Berber and asked Alivan to be so very kind and tell her the elvish words. She received a few quick answers. Trying to remember them properly, Elena repeated each name under her breath a few times. Then, at the edge of the flowerbed, she noticed something that intrigued her.

  “Odd, that. A Black Fire in the midst of herbs. It’s extremely poisonous.”

  “Your knowledge of plants is quite extensive for such a little girl,” Alivan commented.

  “Mother taught me!” Elena answered proudly. She did not dare protest that she was not so little anymo
re and bit her lip instead. Lady Alivan was gorgeous, and judging by her dress, very important too. There was also something Elena did not quite like about her. Might it be because of the nagging feeling that the elf was hiding something from her?

  “I would like to speak to you. Will you accompany me?” lady Alivan asked and set off deeper into the forest. Elena cast a longing glance towards the square, hesitated, and then followed obediently.

  For quite some time they walked in silence. Lady Alivan. Didn’t Mother say the Queen of the forest elves bore the name Alivan? Elena had been pondering this ever since the elf introduced herself, and her suspicion grew by the minute. However, she couldn’t strike up the courage to ask. Had it been the Queen, though, why would she want to talk to Elena?

  “Why did your mother bring you here?” finally came the important question. Elena thought about it, the whole situation worrying her immensely. And then, very gently, lady Alivan touched her consciousness. She did it very unobtrusively. Had it not been for mother’s square-bashing, Elena wouldn’t have noticed it and her mental protection would have been insufficient. Elena immediately recoiled into the hidden parts of her mind. The lady elf was making her more and more nervous by the minute.

  “Mother came to ask your people and the masters of the sky to kindly teach me,” Elena answered simply. Ashka had always said that the best diplomatic strategy was to stick to the truth, while at the same time saying as little as possible. Elena was determined to do just that.

  “These forests are sacred. No human has ever entered them for more than a few days. Why should you be an exception?” Alivan pronounced human almost pejoratively. Even though Elena did not realize until a lot later that it was all a test, she chose not to react to Alivan’s sardonic tone. Also, it was quite difficult to say exactly what she meant to in the elvish language, which she was not really used to.

  “I have too much magic power in my veins. Mother is afraid that without proper guidance, the power in my blood would be far too much to handle for such a young child.”

  “For many human eternities my people kept away from the world. Why should we change this today and intervene in matters that do not concern us? You are unimportant,” the Queen of the forest elves persisted.

  Elena bit her lip again. “My powers were given to me by the dragons. It is dragon magic. And dragons are a part of your world, not ours.”

  “And you? What do you think about it?”

  “I don’t want a gift to become a curse. My mother’s plea is therefore also mine,” said Elena and halted. She was so preoccupied with the conversation that she hadn’t noticed her feet leaving the paved path. Now she was standing on soft moss, between trees covered with ivy. Everything was quiet. Alivan suddenly stood behind her, motionless, waiting. On the other hand, all branches were moving despite the fact there was no wind. Elena took a deep breath, inhaling the forest’s sweet aromas. She turned not to have Alivan behind her back. This, of course, meant turning her back on the devious enchanted forest, which compared to the maybe queen, seemed a slightly safer option.

  “If you are granted the permission to stay here and learn, do you realize what it would mean? Are you aware of all the consequences?” Alivan made a wide gesture spanning the whole forest in it and continued: “What does not belong here, the trees will engulf. Their magic is powerful. For a human like you, these woods are a deadly place.”

  Elena smiled. The roots by her feet were crawling and the whispering of leaves behind her back drew nearer. Facing in the other direction, the girl could not see the tree leaning over her, as if it were trying to seize her with its branches, but she could feel something was happening. She dared not turn her back to Alivan to look at what was going on. Her eyes still on the elf, Elena squatted on her heals and found a root that was creeping towards her feet with her hand. Gently, she stroke it. As if surprised, the tree stopped moving, its branches hovering just above Elena’s head. It could feel her warm, tender touch through its bark.

  At loss what else to say, Elena replied: “I think that if I learn to know the forest, if I let it know that I want to belong to it, I do not need to fear it any more than I should fear any other creature.”

  She sensed sap circulating under the bark. The tree curled under her touch, just like a kitten, when you rub its ear. The root twisted slightly. Something was wrong with it. Elena dropped her gaze and noticed an open wound in the bark. Not even thinking about it, she touched the gash with two fingers and healed it. It left an aftertaste of sap, resin, and soil in her mouth.

  The Queen, if indeed it was the queen of elves, watched the child. Most trees don’t think or feel the way other creatures do. They are part of a larger complex, the forest, and its collective consciousness. This tree, however, was different. And it was very content at the moment.

  “Why did you do that?” Alivan inquired.

  “The tree was hurt.” Elena answered simply. To be honest, she did not lose even a moment’s thought over it. She shrugged. Alivan laughed. It was a strange laugh, sharp, melodious, amused, and very much alive. Her whole face seemed to light up and for a split second the fair elf looked almost naughty. But the moment passed quickly. Alivan did not look as stern and serious as before, but the boisterous expression was gone, as if it had never been there at all; as if it was something unthinkable.

  ”Come child, your mother is surely looking for you.” The Queen took Elena’s hand, enclosing her long fingers in a surprisingly warm, firm, grip around the girl’s fist. It was a special moment that Elena would remember for a very long time.

  ◆◆◆

  Ashka was nervous. She had left her daughter sleeping in the room and that was where she expected to find her too. Elena had disappeared in spite of the guard at the foot of the stairs. It worried her to think of her daughter wandering around the enchanted forest alone. It did not even cross her mind that something might happen to the child. It was Elena happening to something, or someone, which bothered her. Should Eleanora encounter the queen or someone else important, she might mess up all Ashka’s plans and efforts. If the fair queen knew Elena was roaming about the city alone, she would surely want to talk to her. And Ashka knew the elf far too well to doubt that she did know. A skinny redheaded child dressed in Berber black would be extremely noticeable in the world of beautiful elves clad in light materials of forest colors.

  Should she go look for her daughter? It was quite an effort not to constantly step outside to look onto the piazza. Ashka nervously paced the room back and forth, finally, deciding to try and minimize the possible damage. It did seem a bit undignified, but it was definitely safer than letting Elena wander around unfettered.

  She saw them the moment she reached the foot of the tree; the queen of elves walking towards her, hand in hand with Elena. Immediately Ashka realized the decision had been made, nothing she could say or do would change it now. She feared the worst; that she would have to take her daughter home again.

  Slowly, the Berber queen walked to meet the elf and girl half way, her calm and levelheaded appearance in quite a contrast to her strained nerves. All of a sudden, Elena halted, almost throwing Alivan out of balance, and turned her head in the direction of the forest. To see better, she shaded her eyes against the bright blue sky. Alivan could feel how suddenly tense the child was. Surprised, she looked down at the girl. Ashka hastened her step.

  The air trembled with the quiet beat of mighty wings. In an elegant arch, a huge, majestic dragon body swung up from behind the trees. The sun reflected in the blue-green scales. The reptile somersaulted in midair and shot up towards the sun. Amazed, Elena watched him spin again smartly, and, wings firmly folded to his sides, shoot headlong towards the open space below him. Elena’s hand slipped from Alivan’s grip. Startled, Ashka watched her daughter run towards the reptile. Surprisingly lightly, the beast landed on the grass. Then, Elena stopped abruptly. The dragon turned his head to face her, lowering his jaw almost to the ground.

  For Elena, the rest o
f the world ceased to exist. There was only the dragon in front of her. Something drew her to him. Forgetting the elves and her mother, with only slight hesitation, she edged closer, reached out and to everybody’s utter shock, touch the huge, toothy snout. The dragon narrowed his eyes contently and let her scratch his blue-green scales. Elena began to laugh happily.

  “Hi! You’re Wilbur, aren’t you?” She greeted him gaily, without fear.

  “Yes. Hello, Beastie,” He answered telepathically and turned his head so she could reach a different part of his snout to scratch it. She grinned and scratched away.

  “You’ve grown so much!”

  A strange gurgling sound escaped the dragon’s throat. Wilbur was laughing.

  “It’s so good to see you again!” Elena chirped and he laughed again. Leaning on his paw, she continued to scratch his nose. It worried neither of them that they were probably acting improperly, not keeping to the bon ton.

  “Father promised we would meet again,” Wilbur’s words sounded inside Elena’s mind.

  Alivan walked to Ashka. They stood side by side, watching the incongruous couple.

  “Behold Ashrack’s son, Wilbur. The dragon king expected your arrival. He is wiser than all of us.” Alivan answered Ashka’s unspoken question.

  “I am not so sure it was wise to awaken magic in such a young girl,” Ashka commented unwisely.

  “The magic of Mother Earth is powerful. More powerful than any wisdom we possess. You know that.” Alivan replied quietly, eyes on the little girl standing fearless in front of a creature a hundred times bigger than herself.

  “Will you teach her?” Ashka finally dared to ask.

  “The decision is not mine; it all depends on the masters of the sky.” Alivan sounded sour.

  Elena turned. Michael stood at safe distance, watching her and the dragon. Compared to the reptile’s huge body and threatening fangs and talons, the girl looked even more fragile than usual. The creature could swat her like a fly, and there would be nothing Michael could do for his protégé, so he watched the dragon with a mixture of awe and distrust. Elena ran to him.