by V F Sharp
As the oncoming horde rounded a curve that came from the east, Layton stopped and held his hand up, signaling the knights to halt. Pallu instantly knew that Layton had seen them. He could hear his own pounding heartbeat as they watched to see exactly what was coming from the distance.
“Can you see anything yet?” Pallu asked Zander, whose eyes were wide as he shook his head.
“Bows ready!” yelled Layton, and they all drew their arrows toward the air.
Pallu watched and waited, holding his breath. When he saw the horde start to appear on the horizon through the dense mist, he began to back up. Zander inched backward as soon as he noticed Pallu was no longer next to him.
Little by little, the enormous throng of uninvited visitors began to appear.
Layton kept his hand up waiting to give the signal to fire the arrows.
Pallu saw that someone at the front of the horde was waving a large flag back and forth. He squinted to see it through the fog. It appeared to be red and black with a sigil in the center.
“The twin ravens!” said Layton. “It’s the Rhyceton flag. That’s the prince!”
“Prince Alazar has returned!” yelled one of the knights behind Layton. The knights lowered their bows and began to cheer.
“That must be all of Rhyceton with him,” said another knight.
“Wait,” yelled Layton, lifting his hand to quiet the cheering. “Something isn’t right.”
Pallu looked back toward the crowd of people; they were emerging out of the thick fog. Many of them were limping and dirty and others appeared to be bloody and lacking strength. It wasn’t long until he spotted Ezstasia and a little girl both sitting on Tia. They were about ten people deep into the crowd. Her rabbit wasn’t hard to miss among the people, horses, and carts.
“Look Zander, it’s Ezstasia!” he said, more than a little relieved. “And I bet that’s Lanzzie behind her!”
Zander gazed out intently at the huge swarm of people as the skies rumbled again with thunder.
“Where’s my brother?” said Zander. “I don’t see my brother.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As she rode with the massive caravan, Ezstasia was exhausted, but she counted her blessings knowing that the people of Rhyceton had to face a horrific nightmare back at their kingdom. She couldn’t imagine having to fend off those wolves. She felt especially bad for the sweet little girl that she had ridden with for the entire journey. The poor girl hadn’t uttered a word to Ezstasia; she didn’t respond to any of her questions either. Ezstasia wondered what exactly the girl had witnessed or where her family was. She tried once again to get her talking.
“Can you tell me your name, sweetie?” she said.
The girl was silent, though she’d occasionally twirl her curly hair with her small finger. She looked about four or five.
The thunder rumbled again, just as it had been doing on and off for the last hour. As she patted the little girl’s shoulder to encourage her not to worry, the skies opened up and the rain began to fall. She lifted the child’s hood from her dark brown robe and gently placed it over her head to keep her from getting wet.
Ezstasia looked ahead to the front of the group and spotted an army of knights in the distance slowly coming toward them. They appeared to be holding a flag, which she assumed to be the flag of Old Vynterra. It was a sight for sore eyes and she couldn’t help but smile with the thought of seeing her friends again.
She looked forward to being back in the prince’s castle and couldn’t wait to finally rest and take a long, warm bath. She recalled the lush aromas of lavender and lemon oil that had arisen like a flowery mist from the inviting bathwater. It felt like a lifetime ago.
“We’re nearly there,” she said to the little girl, holding her arm around her for comfort as the rain continued to fall steadily.
The girl turned her head toward her for the first time.
“Will my sister be there?” she said, small tears forming in her large brown eyes.
“Were you with your sister back home?” said Ezstasia.
“Yes, but we were separated when our auntie…” Her voice trailed off.
“What about your auntie?” said Ezstasia. “Were you with her? Do you have a mum and dad?”
“Just our auntie,” said the girl. “I don’t know where she is. Or my sister.”
“Well, I’ll help you find them both when we get to Old Vynterra. I promise. My name is Ezstasia. I’d love to know yours.”
The little girl faced forward and was silent for a moment.
“Aurelia,” she said. “But my sister calls me Pickles.”
“Pickles!? That’s a cute name. Let me guess. You like pickles?”
“Yes. How did you know?” said Aurelia, looking back at Ezstasia with wide eyes.
“Lucky guess, I suppose.” She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, shall I call you Pickles or Aurelia?”
“Either is fine,” said the girl, returning her gaze forward.
Ezstasia prayed she’d be able to reconnect the girl with her family. So many people had been separated in the chaos, and some lost family members to the wolves.
“I like your bunny,” said Aurelia, finally starting to open up.
“Her name’s Tia,” said Ezstasia. “And I can tell she likes you, too.”
The girl looked up at Ezstasia and smiled as the rain washed the last few remnants of tears from her precious face.
Ezstasia looked up to see the knights racing forward in the distance as a loud clap of thunder echoed through the skies. The noise startled her, as well as many of the horses. They whinnied and bucked while their riders did their best to calm them. Tia was completely oblivious.
Ezstasia held Aurelia tightly and then noticed Lanzzie ride up on her right.
“Why are there so many knights?” said Lanzzie. “Do you think something happened?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
The king held up his hand and the horsemen stopped. One by one, the horses and wagons came to a halt, and the large group followed suit. The Vynterran knights were rapidly approaching.
Ezstasia held onto Aurelia as she watched nervously with Lanzzie.
“I’m sure everything’s fine,” said Fin, riding up beside Lanzzie. “The knights aren’t drawing their bows or pulling out their swords.”
“I hope my brother made it back okay,” said Randin, just arriving as the rain finally let up.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” said Lanzzie, “oh… wait! There’s Pallu! He’s running behind those knights. And Zander is right next to him!”
As the king, the prince, and their knights greeted their compatriots in an emotional reunion, the prince motioned for the rest of the caravan to resume moving forward.
Ezstasia and the others rode their rabbits toward Pallu and Zander. Randin leapt off his rabbit and ran as fast as he could toward his brother. It warmed her heart to see the twins embrace one another with such joy and relief.
Ezstasia dismounted and helped Aurelia off of Tia. Before she could even say anything, Pallu approached with a big grin on his face.
“My best friend!” he said as he gave her a bear hug that practically took her breath away.
“And who do we have here?” he said, looking down at the little girl.
“This is Aurelia,” said Ezstasia, “but her sister calls her Pickles. She’s looking for her sister and auntie. We have to help her.”
Pallu bent down to face the little girl. She looked alarmed and hid behind Ezstasia.
“I can show you where to get the best pickles in the world,” he said.
“You can?” said Aurelia, peeking at Pallu from behind Ezstasia’s right leg.
“You bet I can! You happened to have come across the best pickle finder ever. In fact, I—”
“Pickles!” Ezstasia heard a girl yell from a few meters away. She was about ten or eleven years old and waved frantically toward them. She was standing next to a smiling redheaded woman.
“Aurelia! Over here!” said
the woman.
“My sister! My auntie! There they are!” she said to Ezstasia. She gave Ezstasia a big hug and ran off toward them.
Ezstasia felt her eyes tear up as she saw the two young girls embracing. Their aunt bent down and hugged them both with a motherly affection.
Relieved to see Aurelia reunited with her family, she looked around for the rest of her friends.
“Pallu,” she said. “Where are Jez and Ithron?”
“They’re fine,” he said. “They’re in the castle. Jez dragged him in like a little puppy.”
“And he followed?” said Fin, approaching.
“And… he followed. He does that a lot now. But anyway, she was kind of scared.”
“Of what?” said Fin.
“Of you,” said Pallu. “All of you. We saw so many of you and it was foggy and we didn’t know who you were. Come to think of it, I’m still not sure. Is this really the entire kingdom of Rhyceton?”
Ezstasia looked around at the knights and saw that they were helping the new visitors place their belongings on horses and donkeys. Some were helping the tired, injured, and weak climb onto empty wagons that had just been brought in from Old Vynterra.
“It was terrible,” she said, addressing her friends. “When we arrived in Rhyceton, we found total chaos. People were missing. There was damage everywhere. All the people were barricaded inside of their homes. There must’ve been a few thousand housed in the king’s castle alone.”
“What happened?” said Pallu.
“It was the Diamondwolves. They attacked the kingdom the day before we got there. The people were afraid they’d return, so the prince convinced the king to bring his entire kingdom to Old Vynterra.”
“That was pretty daring,” said Pallu. “Especially knowing those wolves are wandering around out there.”
“You’re not kidding! Luckily, Eliezer gave the prince a map with multiple routes. The prince selected one in particular. He thought it would be the safest way to get us back here.”
“Did you see any of the wolves?”
“Thankfully, no. None of us did. They were gone when we got there. And it’s a complete mystery as to where they went.”
“I know where they went,” said Pallu, with a tone of deep sadness. “They attacked our group on our way back. In fact, we’d all be dead if it weren’t for Sir Kyrian and Sir Layton.”
“What!?” Ezstasia felt her stomach drop.
“Trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near those wolves.”
“This really happened!?” she said as she looked at Pallu. His eyes were becoming red and he looked away. “They really came for you… I can’t believe it! I’m so relieved you’re all okay; I don’t know what I would—” Ezstasia couldn’t finish what she was saying; she felt she might cry at any moment. She couldn’t imagine the thought of losing her friends, especially Pallu.
“Well, not all of us are okay,” said Pallu. “Sir Kyrian gave his life to save us. His brother Layton is pretty torn up about it.”
“Wait,” said Fin. “Sir Layton is his brother?”
Pallu nodded. “We were all surprised, too.”
“Prince Alazar will be devastated,” said Ezstasia. “They were close.” With all that she was hearing, she couldn’t hold her emotions in any longer. Tears were welling up in her eyes.
“He already is,” said Fin. He pointed up ahead to the prince.
They all looked up and saw that the prince was speaking to Sir Layton. Prince Alazar had lowered himself onto one knee, in honor of Sir Kyrian. His heartbreak was evident. The prince wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand, which crushed Ezstasia more than she would’ve expected it to. She couldn’t imagine what the prince was feeling—or how Layton felt, for that matter.
She felt devastated for the two of them. She remembered how highly the prince spoke of Sir Kyrian when he introduced her to him. She looked over at Pallu, who bowed his head in sadness, and then glanced back over at the prince.
The whole world seemed to go silent for a moment. Sir Layton held his composure and pulled out the sword that had belonged to his brother only a short time ago.
“Let’s get back,” said Pallu, turning his gaze toward the people of Rhyceton. “The new visitors may need our help.”
The crowd proceeded toward the castle gates. As they walked, Ezstasia considered what Pallu had said. Many of the people from Rhyceton would need help finding loved ones and many others would need their injuries nursed. The prince’s servants might need help finding rooms to get everyone settled in. There was much to do.
As they made their way toward the castle, the most important issue of all stayed on her mind: What exactly was causing the Diamondwolves and dark magic to reappear after so many centuries? And what would be the plan to protect themselves against this threat that has already taken many innocent lives?
* * * *
Finally back in her room at the castle, Ezstasia remained busy moving her belongings around to make space for Lanzzie and Jezreel. Because of the arrival of the refugees from Rhyceton, everyone had been required to open up their chambers to make room for the new guests.
On the way to the castle, Pallu and Zander had recounted the details of their awful experience, and shared about how two of the bravest knights they’d ever known had risked their own lives to save theirs. Ezstasia made a mental note to offer her condolences and her gratitude to Sir Layton.
As Ezstasia placed some of her things in the small, wooden box on the desk, her mind drifted between the mysterious forest, the vicious wolves, and the changing river. She couldn’t help but wonder what could be next.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
She closed the box and walked to the door to open it. It was Lanzzie and Jezreel, holding piles of clothing and other belongings in their arms. Ezstasia greeted them and grabbed some of the clothes off the top of Lanzzie’s pile and placed them on the bed. Lanzzie and Jezreel set the rest of their items down on the bed as well.
“You should see it outside,” said Jezreel, her face beaming. “Now that the rain stopped, the village is full of life. The shops and the bakeries are open and they’re all giving things away to the people from Rhyceton. People are even singing songs at the Crazy Root. It’s wonderful!”
“But before we go out there,” said Lanzzie, “the prince wants to see us all in his study.”
“Do you know why?” said Ezstasia.
“No, but Miss Tee was the one who told us, and she said it was important. We told her we’d come and get you. The others are heading there now. Are you ready to go?”
“I suppose I am,” she said. She took a mental note of all the items that she wanted to organize once she returned to her room.
* * * *
Ezstasia felt her stomach flutter as they entered the hall that led to the prince’s study. The last time she was in this hall, she was returning from the Black Castle to confront the prince. The situation was now entirely different. She wondered what news he might have for them. She hoped it was not to inform them that they were all going to be sent home without any explanation of what had been happening in the Human Lands.
As she, Lanzzie, and Jezreel approached the three, large mahogany doors, two knights stood guard. The unusually tall one on the right tapped on the rightmost door and the other knight opened the center door.
“The prince will receive you now,” said the tall knight, with a deep voice.
Lanzzie stepped into the room first and Ezstasia and Jezreel followed her. She was startled when the knight shut the door behind them. She looked around the room and noticed that the rest of her friends had already arrived and were quietly observing various objects in the study—all except for Pallu, who was nowhere to be seen. She rolled her eyes at the thought of him being late to something so important. She’d always known him as the tardy one for everything since their youth, but she thought he would make sure to be on time for this.
The prince sa
t at his desk signing parchments. He finished the last one and glanced up. Ezstasia, Lanzzie, and Jezreel bowed awkwardly. She wasn’t quite sure what the proper etiquette was, even after all this time. There were a few open chairs placed strategically around the study, but she decided to stand just as the others were doing.
“Welcome,” he said, as he rose from his chair. “Gather around. This will only take a few minutes.” He looked around and then added, “Are we missing someone?”
“Pallu should be here soon,” said Fin.
“Splendid,” said the prince.
They waited in awkward silence and Ezstasia nervously glanced around the study. She’d forgotten how large the room was, with books from floor to ceiling along the wall behind the prince’s desk. She noticed for the first time that the desk had a three-headed dragon motif carved into the legs. She wondered if it represented Trycernius. On the opposite side of the vast room stood several rows of tall bookcases and an octagon-shaped, oak map table; a thick tree trunk supported the table, which had been specifically created for drawing out maps. Intricate carvings of vines and leaves adorned the dark, wooden walls. It was fascinating to see the interior designs that were inspired by the tastes and peculiarities of Valorian. She spotted a winding stairway that led to an upper level, which looked like it housed even more books.
The door opened and Pallu walked in, out of breath.
“Sorry I’m late, Your Highness,” he said. “I was… well… I fell asleep.”
“Glad you could join us,” said the prince, stepping around to the front of his desk to address the group.
“I’ve asked you all here for an important reason,” he said, sounding serious as he leaned back against the edge his desk. “As I’m sure you all realize, the problem we face is far bigger and more powerful than all of us.”
Everyone nodded while he looked around making direct eye contact with each of them.
“In a fortnight,” the prince continued, “five kings and one queen—the heads of all six kingdoms, representing all the Human Lands—will hold court in this very castle. My father has already sent couriers to summon the other five. I’ve been asked to present our current predicament to the court and I’d like you all to join me.”
