Legend of the Realm

by Alexandra Ott

  “Lilja,” I say, “only cooperative dragons get bilberries!”

  Lilja grunts in annoyance, but she straightens up reluctantly.

  “Come on!” I shout to her, giving directions again with my gift.

  Finally, we persuade Lilja to land just outside the barrier that prevents her from getting closer to the icefox dens. She grumbles loudly at us as we set boundary spells to prevent her from wandering too far, and grumbles even louder when we walk away.

  “Who let that dragon become so spoiled?” Ari mutters.

  “Certainly wasn’t me,” I say with a grin.

  “Wasn’t me, either,” he says, and for a moment it feels like nothing has changed between us. But then I remember the meeting, and the grin slides off my face. Ari picks up on the change in my emotions immediately and falls silent, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

  The walk to the icefox den is long and cold, and by the time we reach the spot where we last saw Mama Icefox and her cubs, I’m wrapping my scarf more firmly around my neck and fastening the highest buttons on my coat.

  “Well,” Ari says, finally breaking the tense silence as he stares up at the rock formation housing the foxes, “guess we should start climbing.”

  I nod, and we move forward together, finding handholds and footholds in the rock until we reach the top.

  “Better be quiet so she doesn’t snap at us like last time,” Ari whispers as we scramble to our feet.

  “I don’t think she will. She’ll remember us. Besides, they’re nocturnal. They’ll all be asleep at this time of day.”

  Ari and I peer at the entrance to the den. No foxes emerge.

  “Must be why they’re not coming out,” Ari says. “Bet they’re asleep.”

  I cast my gift cautiously into the cave. Several bright life sparks are definitely in there, but they’re not moving around. “Yep. Cubs are asleep,” I report.

  Ari’s gift joins mine in the air, and he stiffens suddenly. “Bryn,” he says. “Do you feel that?”

  “Feel what?” I focus on my gift again, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be feeling. Sometimes the perceptiveness of Ari’s gift is really annoying. “Feel what?” I ask again.

  “It seems like…” His eyes are wide. “The plague. It’s here.”

  I gape at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “One of them has the plague, Bryn.”

  “How do you know?”

  “The energy. It’s all wrong. It feels the same way the sick gyrpuff did. It must be the plague. Can’t you feel it?”

  I close my eyes and focus on my gift again. One ordinary life spark, two, three, four… Wait.

  There.

  One of the sparks inside the cave doesn’t feel like it should. It’s weak and trembling.

  Just like the sick gyrpuff.

  I don’t think. I move forward on instinct, crouching down and crawling into the den to see for myself.

  A baby icefox blinks sleepily at me as I shine my gift around the dark space, and another tumbles forward to sniff my shoes, but they don’t seem sick or threatened by me. I glance around. Maybe one of the other cubs—

  No.

  Oh no.

  It’s Mama Icefox who has the plague.

  She’s curled up in the corner of the den, panting weakly. Her fur looks dingy and flat, and her ears are pressed tightly against her head. As she turns slowly toward me and blinks in the light of my gift, her pupils shine a solid, horrible black.

  I do a quick count of her babies and check their eyes. No black pupils anywhere, and they all seem healthy enough.

  But how long can that last? They can’t be taken away from their mama at this age—they’re too little. But if they stay with her, surely they’ll all get the plague.

  Mama Icefox can’t lead us to the Fairy’s Gold. She’s too sick to stand. She needs a cure, and she needs it now—or every one of these babies is going to get sick too.

  “Bryn,” Ari says quietly. He’s crouched at the entrance to the den, peering inside. “Bryn, come on. There’s nothing we can do to help her in here.”

  As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. Using my gift won’t cure this, and there’s nothing else I can do right now. Leaving the baby icefoxes to their sleep, I crawl back out of the den and stumble into the harsh sunlight outside.

  “We need to get food and water,” I say to Ari. “Mama Icefox can’t feed herself right now, and the babies won’t leave the den without her. We have to bring them something.”

  “All right. But then we have to tell the Seekers about this, Bryn. The plague’s spread much farther than any of us thought. If we don’t do something to contain—”

  “Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” I interrupt, and Ari nods.

  We spend the next few hours catching fish and gathering raspberries and bilberries. Icefoxes will eat just about anything, but salmon are their favorite snack, and the berries will last a few days. I use my gift to braid some long grasses tightly together, creating a makeshift bowl, and, after climbing back up to the icefox den, I pour water from my jug into it. I crawl back inside the den and leave both the water bowl and the food where Mama Icefox can reach it without moving far. The babies immediately run to the water bowl and slurp some of it up. It must have been ages since they’ve had anything to drink. They can lick the ice off their fur, of course, but they tend not to do that, since they like to have their ice crystals for protection, and the babies are still forming theirs for the first time.

  “That water won’t last them long,” I say to Ari as we climb once more down the rocks. “We’ll have to come back and refill it.”

  We walk across the glacier in silence for several minutes before Ari, looking down at his feet, says, “How are we going to find the Fairy’s Gold now?”

  I don’t have an answer.

  We can’t find the Fairy’s Gold, we don’t know any other way to cure the plague, and if we don’t figure it out soon, Mama Fox and her babies will die, along with the gyrpuffs and any other Realm creatures who have been exposed.

  We’re running out of time.

  SIXTEEN

  Ari insists on telling the other Seekers about the icefoxes right away, and I don’t argue this time, even though I know what will happen. Sure enough, the minute we inform the others, Seeker Freyr starts ranting at us about “disobedience” and “rule-breaking.” But Seeker Larus reminds him of the urgency of the situation and promises to discuss our punishments while Seeker Freyr and Seeker Ludvik scurry off to set boundary spells around the icefox dens and search the surrounding area for more sick creatures. Ari offers to lead the way to the den. I remain mostly quiet during this conversation and stay behind as they leave.

  I must be a little too quiet, because Seeker Larus casts me a knowing look as soon as the others are gone. “Something on your mind, Seeker Bryn? Contemplating more ways to sneak into the Realm alone, perhaps?”

  I bite my lip. I decided not to argue with them about the rules, because I know it’s useless at this point. I’ll just check on the icefoxes myself, like I’ve been doing for the gyrpuffs. It doesn’t matter if the other Seekers want to punish me for entering the Realm or not—I’m still going to visit the sick creatures and make them as comfortable as possible, and I’m still going to try to find the cure.

  But I guess my sudden silence has made Seeker Larus suspicious.

  “I was just thinking, Seeker,” I say finally. “About how we might cure the plague. Ari and I went to visit the icefoxes today because we were hoping that maybe they could lead us to some rare plants that could be used for the cure.” I don’t specify Fairy’s Gold, because he’d probably laugh.

  Instead, he nods, looking thoughtful. “A great idea,” he says. “Few creatures know the Realm better than the foxes.”

  “Except now the mama is sick,” I say, “and others may be as well. I don’t know if we can find another icefox who can help us.”

  Seeker Larus leans back in his chair and consid
ers me for a moment. “If I may make a suggestion, Seeker Bryn?”

  This is the first time any one of the other Seekers has asked before telling me what to do, so I nod. “I would appreciate your advice, Seeker.”

  “The icefoxes are helpful guides, it’s true,” he says, “but a good enough Seeker can find anything they need in the Realm even without a guide. You simply have to trust yourself, use your gift, and follow your instincts.”

  I shift in my seat. “That doesn’t sound very ‘simple,’ Seeker Larus. No offense.”

  He laughs. “Easier said than done, I agree. But anything can be found in the Realm by a Seeker who’s determined to look for it.”

  I bite my lip before blurting it out quickly. “What about… Fairy’s Gold?”

  Seeker Larus is momentarily taken aback. His eyes widen, and he remains silent for a long time. “No one has ever seen anything resembling a golden plant in the Realm. It is legend, not reality.”

  “Are we sure about that? What if that legend is based in reality?”

  He studies me for a moment. “What makes you think so?”

  “Well, the story had to originate somewhere, right? And aren’t there still secrets to the Realm that we haven’t discovered? Places we haven’t explored?”

  He pauses for another minute. “An interesting theory,” he says finally. “You think it might exist and be the cure to the plague?”

  “I think it’s something we haven’t tried yet.”

  He nods, and I realize he’s taking me more seriously than I expected. “Well. That is a challenge, I will admit. I have never seen Fairy’s Gold in all my years in the Realm, and I do not expect that we ever will. But if I have learned anything in my time as a Seeker, it is that nothing is impossible in those lands. The wilds of the Realm contain many mysteries, and Fairy’s Gold could, in theory, be one of them.”

  “So you don’t think it’s a waste of time?”

  Again, he takes the question seriously, considering his answer for a moment before speaking. “I don’t know how or if we could locate Fairy’s Gold quickly enough to stop the plague,” he says finally. “But if you think you can locate it, then by all means, give it a try. At this point, I’m afraid there’s little else we can do to find a cure. We’ve exhausted every other possibility.”

  His answer surprises me, and it takes a second to form a response. “How should I begin? Where should I look first?”

  “That I cannot tell you,” he says, “though I may offer a theory. Many Seekers have speculated about a potential location for Fairy’s Gold, and I believe it was your papa who suggested that, if such a powerful magical item did exist, surely it would be located in the very heart of the Realm, where magic is strongest.”

  “The heart of the Realm,” I repeat. “But what does that mean?”

  “You’ve sensed, I’m sure, how much magic flows within the Realm? Well, your papa and I observed that the Realm’s magic was strongest in its center—where the forests grow the densest, where unicorns tend to dwell, where we could feel the magic like a pulse surrounding us. But the terrain there is difficult to navigate, and the farther you walk toward the center, the thicker the forest becomes. We always wondered what secrets might lie hidden there…. But in our attempts to reach the center, we were always forced to turn around once the forest became impassable.”

  I slump back in my chair. “So you don’t think I could go there.”

  He leans forward, and a small smile creeps across his face. “You were chosen as a Seeker for a reason, Bryn. I haven’t forgotten, and neither should you.”

  A tiny flutter of hope stirs inside my chest. He’s right. I am a Seeker for a reason. I earned it. And I didn’t let anything stand in my way—not Seeker Agnar, not the other competitors, not even a Vondur invasion. I’m not going to let anything stop me from protecting the Realm. I’ll prove to everyone that I can do this.

  If I have to comb over every inch of wilderness to find the Fairy’s Gold and cure the plague, then I will.

  “Thanks, Seeker,” I say. “I won’t forget.”

  He smiles and raises his teacup. “What are you waiting for, Seeker Bryn? You have work to do.”

  * * *

  I’m distracted during dinner that evening, and Mama asks me three times if everything’s okay. But I don’t want to talk about the plague in front of Elisa, who might get scared for the animals and who definitely won’t keep it quiet, so I say nothing. After I pick at my stew for the hundredth time, Mama excuses me from the table in exasperation, and I flee to the front garden.

  Papa finds me a few minutes later. He leans heavily on his walking stick as he makes his way down the garden path and settles on the bench beside me. “What’s happened?” he asks immediately.

  I sigh. “The plague is spreading, the Seekers don’t know how to cure it, and my idea for finding a cure didn’t work. I’ve got to figure out the solution, but I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

  Papa nods thoughtfully. “Have you spoken with the other Seekers?”

  “Seeker Larus encouraged me to find the cure, but… he didn’t seem to know how either.”

  Papa’s bushy eyebrows rise. “And you didn’t ask your own papa for advice? I’m offended,” he says, smiling to let me know he’s teasing.

  But he’s right, actually. Why didn’t I ask him for his advice? I want to prove to him—to everyone—that I can do this, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ask Papa for help, and he knows the Realm better than anyone.

  “Papa,” I say, “you remember when I asked you about the Fairy’s Gold? We were going to ask the icefoxes to guide us to it, but—the icefoxes are sick now, and I don’t know how else to find it. What would you do?”

  A familiar gleam shimmers in Papa’s eyes. “I always assumed that such a powerful magical item would exist in the heart of the Realm.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Seeker Larus said.” I sigh. That doesn’t do me any good if the heart of the Realm is as impenetrable as Seeker Larus claimed.

  “Well, did Seeker Larus tell you I nearly made it through that forest once?”

  I perk up, straightening my shoulders. “Really?”

  “I didn’t tell you this before because I didn’t want you to waste time on what could very well have been a fever dream. But if it’s your only remaining option…”

  “What happened?”

  “I was tracking an injured unicorn, hoping she’d let me close enough to heal her. As I pursued her, she led me deeper into the forest than I’d ever been before. The trees were so high they blotted out the sky, and I could almost taste the magic in the air. The forest was quiet, but I sensed the presence of magical creatures there, watching me. I reached out with my gift, trying to find a path forward through the trees.”

  “And?” I prod when he pauses, a distant look in his eyes.

  “And I thought I found one. For a moment there was a light—a sort of golden glow, shining between the trees. But I was exhausted by this point; I’d been tracking the unicorn for several hours, and my gift was weakening. By the time I stumbled toward the light, it had vanished, and the trees seemed even thicker than before. I was forced to leave the forest, but I resolved to return the next day, when my gift was replenished.”

  “And did you?” I ask, leaning forward in excitement.

  “I did. In fact, I tried to return many times. But I never found that place—or that golden light—again.”

  “Papa!” I exclaim, leaping up from the bench. “That could’ve been it! That golden light—it could’ve been the Fairy’s Gold!”

  Papa smiles. “Yes, that thought had occurred to me. But it’s also possible that, in my exhaustion, I was seeing things that weren’t there. Perhaps the golden light was nothing more than sunlight reflecting off the trees.”

  I study him for a moment, and the gleam in his eye gives away the truth. “But you don’t believe that. You don’t think you imagined it.”

  “I don’t know what to believe, Bryn. I never
found the Fairy’s Gold, no matter how hard I tried. So either I imagined it… or the forest didn’t want me to find it.”

  I return to the bench beside him, gripping the edge in anticipation. “Papa, where was this place? What do you remember about where you saw the light?”

  “It was the trees I remember most,” he says, his expression distant again. “There were three rowan trees, all with intersecting branches. And the tree in the middle—there was a circular pattern in the center of its trunk that reminded me of a dragon’s eye.”

  “A dragon’s eye?” I repeat.

  “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful than that,” he says, looking sheepish. “But that’s all I can remember of the place. That, and the light, and… the birdsong.”

  “Birdsong?”

  “There are more birds in the heart of the Realm than anywhere else on the island,” Papa says. “I remember hearing the larks singing in the trees.”

  I nod. It isn’t much to go on, but it’s something. “Thanks, Papa. That really does help.”

  Papa wraps one arm around me. “Whatever happens, Bryn, remember that your mama and I are very proud of you.”

  “Thanks.”

  His expression deepens. “But do be careful, all right? The center of the Realm is full of magic that no human on this island has ever fully understood. Trust your instincts, and get out if you need to. And don’t go alone. Take Ari or one of the other Seekers with you. Promise?”

  “I promise,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Honestly, Papa, I’ll be fine.”

  He gives my shoulder a squeeze. “I know you will. Now, what do you say we go back inside for dessert? I think I spied your mama baking a bilberry pie.”

  I leap up from the bench again. “Why didn’t you mention that sooner?”

  Papa chuckles. “Between you and that dragon of yours, this island’s going to run out of bilberries!”

  * * *

  After I eat two slices of pie and Mama refuses to serve me any more, I leave the hut again and head down the hillside to Runa’s. I have a lot to fill her in on.

  But first I check in on Little Puff, who’s been given a warm and cozy nest inside the stable near Runa’s horse, Starlight.