The Black Shard

by Victoria Simcox

  - 13 -

  A Visit from a Little Friend

  In a cold sweat, Kristina sat up and stared at the five portraits on the wall. I wish that they weren't up there, she thought. She threw off her covers and got out of bed, only to find that a nasty headache invaded her head. She made her way to the porthole, rubbing her temples to ease the dull pain.

  It was dark out, and the Citnalta Sea was a blue-black color with flecks of the stars' light reflecting off of it.

  Kristina's reflection in the window revealed she had a tangled mess of hair—a gift given to her earlier from the strong wind out on the main deck.

  I look hideous, she thought and went to the other side of the cabin, to the vanity. Accompanying it was a red velvet, cushioned chair. She sat down on it and looked into the gold-framed mirror. Noticing dark circles under her eyes, she let out a disgruntled sigh. Of course, when I need it most, I don't have any makeup with me, she thought. A gold comb lay on the vanity, which she took and began to tackle her untamed mane. When she finally untangled the last strands, she pulled open a drawer and found a jar of face powder rolling around inside it, and a tube of red lipstick. It's definitely not what I would usually use, but the way I look right now, I'm willing to try anything. She spattered the powder lightly onto her face. Wow! Now I look morbid, but at least it covers the dark circles under my eyes. She ran a thin layer of the lipstick over her dry lips. Then, while scrutinizing her image, a knock came at the door. Hastily, she put the powder and lipstick back in the drawer. "Just a minute!" she called, getting up and trying to straighten her wrinkled clothes while heading to the door. "Who is it?"

  "Elzwur," a nasally voice replied.

  Oh, great! she thought just before cracking the door slightly open.

  Standing outside in the dark hallway was the crabby, middle-aged dwarf. The cabin's light glinted in his squinty eyes.

  "Can I help you?" Kristina asked him.

  "I was told to come down and check on you. Will you be in bed the rest of the day?" Elzwur asked, scowling.

  "No, actually, I was just about to come up to the main deck," Kristina said, feeling annoyed by his condescending tone of voice.

  "Very well then." Elzwur stood stiffly in the narrow dark hall.

  "Is there anything else you need?" Kristina asked, feeling uneasy in his creepy presence.

  He turned to look behind him, to make sure no one was lurking in the background. Then, when he was sure that no one was there, he turned back toward Kristina and whispered, "Do you really think it was a good idea that you came on this trip, seeing how sick you have been?"

  Kristina swallowed nervously. She had been thinking the same thing, but she surely wasn't going to give Elzwur the satisfaction of knowing it. "I know that the food and possibly the sea haven't been agreeing with me, but I'll have you know that I'm feeling much better now, and I'm sure that I'll be staying this way from here on."

  Elzwur let out an annoyed sigh. Then without saying another word, he turned on his heel and left.

  Kristina shut the door, leaned her back against it and stared up at the ceiling. A dry lump filled her throat. Elzwur's right. How am I to be so sure that I won't get sick again? She felt like she might cry. If I would have known beforehand, I would have never come on this trip and humiliated myself like this. Her eyes trailed down the cherry wood wall and when they reached the porthole, she sighted something moving on the outside of it. She quickly went to it, to get a closer look. To her great surprise, sitting in the porthole's outer rim was her little fairy friend, Looper. He smiled and vigorously waved his little hand at her. Then he pointed to the cabin door and then to himself, but before Kristina could respond, a brisk wind came at him, and he had to grab on to the rim of the porthole, so as not to be blown away. His little feet lifted in the air above his head, and as soon as the wind passed, they went down again.

  "You want me to let you in?" Kristina asked, talking slowly, so that he could read her lips through the window.

  Looper nodded and then flew away. Kristina quickly went to her door, cracked it open slightly and waited for him to arrive. A couple minutes later; he came toward her, down the hallway, in the form of a small, glowing ball of white light. He flew into the cabin, landed on the bed, and jumped up and down a few times. "Pretty nice digs," he said, his curly auburn hair bouncing as well.

  Kristina sat down on the edge of the bed, and he bounced again, did a few loops in the air, and landed on his feet in her lap.

  "Have you been on the ship this whole time?" Kristina asked him.

  "Actually, I just got here about a half hour before I came to your window."

  "I'm so glad you could make it. Did Clover come as well?"

  "No," Looper said, with a tone in his voice like he wished she would have.

  "Why not?"

  "She hasn't been feeling very well; plus, she's not too keen on flying over the sea."

  "That makes two of us."

  "Hey, I didn't know you could fly," Looper said, with a curious look in his eyes.

  "What?" Kristina said, at first not getting why he had said that, but then she caught on. "Oh! No! I meant that I haven't been feeling well either."

  "Oh ..." Looper said, beginning to chuckle at his mistake, but then he suddenly stopped, for he thought that Kristina might think he was laughing at her not feeling well. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Why is it that you haven't been feeling well?" he asked, sympathetically.

  Kristina smiled at the fairy. Looper, you're so cute, she thought. "That's what's frustrating. I don't know why. It could be that the food isn't agreeing with me, or it could be that I don't do well at sea."

  "Hmm ..." Looper said, scratching his head while trying to figure out which of the two might be the culprit.

  "It must have been some trip for you, flying over the windy sea. I can't even imagine what it would be like," Kristina said.

  "Yeah! It was a little rough, but I've had a lot of practice, flying so many times over the Indra River; it can get pretty treacherous as well."

  "You're not kidding. The time before this time when I was in Bernovem, I almost drowned in its raging waters."

  "Oh, yeah—that's right! After that happened to you, Clover and I sat for hours by your bedside, waiting for you to wake up. You had us really worried."

  Kristina stared up the portraits on the wall again, seeming not to have heard what Looper had just said.

  Looper lifted off her lap and flew in front of her face. "Yoo-hoo?" he said, waving his arms in front of her nose to get her attention. Unfortunately, she still didn't respond but only seemed more entranced by the pictures. "What's that white stuff all over your face?" he finally asked.

  Now, that did get her attention. "What?" Kristina said quickly.

  "That white stuff on your face? It makes you look so ... so ..." Looper scrunched up his little nose and tapped his fingers on his chin, trying to think of a good word to describe it.

  "Ugly?" Kristina said, disappointedly helping him out.

  "Well no—just different."

  "Great!" Frustrated, Kristina jumped up from the bed and headed to the vanity. "Is it really that noticeable?"

  "Kind of," Looper said dubiously, now hovering at her shoulder.

  "It's face powder, Looper!" Kristina said in an irritated tone, rubbing it off. "I was only trying to make myself look ... a little decent."

  Looper landed on the vanity and stared up at her. "Why would you want to change something that is already perfect?" he said meekly.

  Kristina stopped rubbing her face and looked down at him. "You are too sweet, Looper," she said, tickling him under his chin with her finger.

  Looper chuckled and blushed. Then, feeling bashful, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Yes, well, I forgot to tell you the reason why I was sitting in the porthole to begin with."

  "So why were you?" Kristina asked, now smiling because she could tell that she had embarrassed him.

  "Someone wants to see you?"

/>   Kristina's blue eyes lit up. "Why didn't you tell me?" she replied happily.

  "I just did, silly," Looper said, just before taking to the air and heading for the door. "Are you coming?"

  Kristina stared in the mirror at her pale complexion. "I guess this is as good as it gets," she said under her breath. Then as she followed the fairy out of the cabin, she thought, I can't wait to see the surprise Werrien has for me.

  - 14 -

  The Hold

  With his soft glowing light, Looper lit the way for Kristina while she climbed up the ladder that led to the main deck of the ship. The outside air smelled of the dark vast sea, and instead of the strong wind Kristina had experienced earlier, in its place was a pleasant warm breeze.

  THE KRISTINA sailed softly over the placid, indigo waters, and only a few crew members were to be seen on deck, leisurely tending to her.

  Kristina scanned the deck in search of Werrien, but he was nowhere in sight.

  "Follow me," Looper said to her, and he continued to fly in the direction of the stern. He led Kristina down another opening in the deck floor, leading to the next lower deck. Then he flew to a trap door in the floor and asked Kristina to lift it. Kristina did so but this time found only a ladder leading down into darkness. Looper swan-dived down into the darkness, and Kristina carefully climbed down the ladder behind him to the hold, which was the bottom compartment of the ship, where the cargo, livestock, and food supplies were kept. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned and saw Looper fly to a vertical wooden beam, his soft glow giving off just enough light for her to see an unlit lantern hanging on a hook from it. Looper landed on top of the lantern. "Can you come here and light this?"

  "Sure," Kristina said. When she reached for the lantern, Looper pushed a box of wooden matches off the top of it. She caught them and lit the lantern, its light revealing a large amount to dust floating in the air, which caused her to sneeze and cough.

  She took the lantern off the hook and followed Looper through a maze of wooden crates and barrels. The dirty floor boards creaked under her feet as she went along. Looper stopped momentarily between an intersection of ship supplies, and he glanced left, then right, trying to figure which way to go.

  "So, where's Werrien?" Kristina asked him, puzzled.

  "It's funny that you ask me that, because I was about to ask you the same thing," Looper said.

  "Oh? In my cabin, you said that he wanted to see me."

  "I did?" Looper said, looking confused. Then the aura of light that surrounded him surged as he figured out what she had meant. "You thought it was Werrien that I was talking about? Actually, what I said, was someone wants to see you. I guess that I should have been more specific on who that someone was."

  "Who is it then?" Kristina asked, now feeling uneasy in the dark hold and desperately hoping that it wasn't Elzwur. She heard a snort, followed by a horse's low whinny.

  "It's Taysha ... and Lisheng that want to visit with you!" Looper said merrily.

  "Why didn't you say so?" Kristina said, relieved.

  She followed Looper as he took a left turn around a wooden barrel. As soon as Kristina took the turn, she collided with someone. "Kurdy?" she said, surprised.

  "You about gave me a heart attack!" Kurdy said.

  "I'm sorry! I had no idea you were down here, too."

  "I was on my way to feed the horses."

  "And Looper was just taking me to visit them."

  Looper, who had dashed behind a crate to hide, suddenly came out into the open and sheepishly waved to Kurdy.

  Not very fond of fairies, as many gnomes aren't, Kurdy smirked at Looper before responding to Kristina. "I'll show you where they are; follow me," he said. Carrying two pails, one in each hand, he walked briskly down a path between the ship supplies. Then he turned another corner, and the horses made enthusiastic grunting sounds and pawed their hooves on the wooden floor.

  Kristina caught up with Kurdy just as he was pouring the contents of one of the pails into Taysha and Lisheng's feeding buckets. "Taysha, Lisheng," she said to the horses. She set the lantern down on a crate and went to pet them.

  "Hello, Kristina," Taysha said.

  "Are you enjoying the trip so far?" Lisheng asked, his voice echoing out of his bucket.

  Kristina pet Lisheng. "Other than the fact that I haven't been feeling too hot, it's been great," Kristina said, running her hand over Lisheng's soft yet muscular neck.

  "I'll be back in a minute—got to go fetch their hay," Kurdy said. Then he disappeared down a dark trail between some crates and barrels.

  Kristina suddenly heard a creaking sound—the trap door leading to the above deck was opening. A dust-filled beam of light shone down from it.

  "Who's down there?" It was Elzwur's suspicious voice calling down.

  Kristina stared at Looper, who was sitting on a nearby beam, looking like he was in a daydream. "Pssst," she said, to get his attention. He looked at her and shrugged his little shoulders, not knowing what to say. Kristina sighed discontentedly and rolled her eyes. "It's me! Kristina!" she hollered.

  "Why doesn't this surprise me," a disgruntled Elzwur said. "Get back up here this instant!" he called angrily.

  Kristina looked at Looper again and shook her head. "I'm coming!" she yelled. Then she carefully made her way back to the ladder to the midsection of the ship. When she stood on the next deck, she dusted herself off and then turned around just as Elzwur slammed the trap door shut, causing more dust to fly everywhere. Startled, she gasped and flinched at the same time.

  "Who said you could go down there?" Elzwur hissed through his crooked clenched teeth.

  Looper, was now suspended in the air behind Elzwur's head, looking worried. His hands were in prayer mode to let Kristina know not to tell Elzwur that he had brought her down in the hold. Kristina waved the dust out of her face and coughed.

  "Look at you. You're becoming ill again," Elzwur said disdainfully.

  "No! I'm not!" Kristina said adamantly, just before sneezing and coughing again.

  "You can't hide it," Elzwur said, walking briskly to her. He took hold of her arm. "I can't have you snooping around the ship!"

  Kristina felt her temper rising, and she pulled her arm out of his grip. At that moment the ship tottered over a large swell, and she fell back onto her bottom. As she sat on the dusty, wood-planked floor, the door leading to the main deck creaked opened.

  "Elzwur?" Werrien called down. "Are you down there?"

  "Yes, Your Highness," Elzwur called back. Then Elzwur turned to Kristina and said, "If you are in the least bit wise, you will not mention this little incident to Werrien, for I know full well that he does not appreciate young girls who are tattle-tales—nor, I might add, girls with frail health."

  Werrien came down the stairs just after Kristina stood up. He looked curiously at both her and Elzwur.

  "The young lady wanted to visit with the horses," Elzwur said.

  Werrien's expression changed to a smile. "Okay, now this scene makes more sense," he said. "It was good of you, Elzwur, to take her. I know how you hate to go down in the dusty hold of the ship."

  Kristina went to stand beside Werrien and with a disturbed look in her eyes, she leered at Elzwur.

  Werrien looked at Kristina. "I was actually going to take you myself," he said, "but now that Elzwur already has, would you like to go back up?"

  "Yes, actually, I'd really like that," Kristina said. She thought that her tone sounded harsh, but Werrien didn't seem to notice.

  "Well, then, I'll need to get back to my other duties as well," Elzwur said, trying to move things along a little faster.

  "All right then," Werrien said. Then he led Kristina back up the stairs, toward the main deck of the ship.

  About halfway up, Kristina looked down at Elzwur and saw his flinty eyes staring up at her. Creep! she thought.

  Once back on the main deck, Werrien turned to face Kristina. "By the way, how are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes searching
hers.

  I hope he doesn't notice the dark circles under my eyes, Kristina thought, and she quickly broke eye contact with him and looked out at the sea. Werrien waited patiently for her to answer. She turned to look at him again, and mustering up the little confidence she had left in her, she said, "I feel very well, and I intend on staying this way."

  By the look in her eyes, however, Werrien instantly sensed her insecurity. He smiled warmly at her. "Come with me," he said, and he offered his hand to her. Surprised at this gesture, she did a double-take. "It's just a hand," he said light-heartedly. She placed her hand in his, and they began walking toward the stern of the ship. This was the first time that she had held a boy's hand. She found it warm and strong, yet a little rough and even callused.

  Soon they arrived at the base of the poop deck near the stern. There was a set of stairs attached to it, leading up to a higher deck.

  "After you," Werrien said.

  Kristina climbed the stairs, and Werrien followed her. When she reached the top, she was struck with awe, because on the upper deck was a small table set with a white linen cloth, a couple of candles and cutlery settings for two.

  - 15 -

  Tales of Tezerel

  “What's this?" Kristina asked, her pale cheeks suddenly regaining color.

  "This is where I planned for you and I to have dinner," Werrien said, pulling out a chair from the far end of the table for her to sit down.

  "Really?" Kristina replied in a slightly hesitant tone. Then she remembered. The surprise, she thought excitedly.

  "Or ... if you'd rather, we could join Davina and Hester in the galley."

  "No!" Kristina said quickly. "This will do fine." She sat down, and Werrien went to sit across from her.