by Joanne Vruno
Chapter 7
I was surprised to discover it was close to midday when I awoke. Emily had just gotten up, herself. I could smell something wonderful wafting from the kitchen. As I looked in that direction, I was surprised to see a human man stirring the pots on the stove. He noticed we were up and said, “Hello, there. I’m Eric, Svanhit’s husband. We decided you needed a home-cooked human meal this morning, so I’m today’s cook. Plus I was eager to meet the human girls the swan maidens care so much about. How are you feeling today?”
“Much better. I thought I’d be weaker because of the dwarf transport, but I’m doing well. I’m Aly, and this is my sister Emily.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” replied Eric.
I was surprised a thousand-year-old man could look like our dad’s age, in his late thirties. It’d be strange not to age.
“Are pancakes to your liking?”
“We love them,” said Emily as she rose off the couch. “Can we help?”
“Well, how nice of you to ask. Yes, you can. We thought our children may like to meet both of you, so today we’re having a huge family meal with all three families. Every dad is cooking for their family. Here are some plates you can set down over by the table. It’ll be crowded in here, but we can’t take a chance of someone seeing you outside. Usually we eat picnic style.”
“Hmm . . . Aly has the power to block views from others outside, don’t you?” asked Emily.
“I do have the power to block sound and views of an area. That’s how we kept Alvit and her sisters safe from others in my grandmother’s yard. I could do that if we want to be outside,” I said.
“Well, you really are magical. I don’t want you to use up your energy, though,” said Eric.
“I won’t. The power comes from my amulet. That magic doesn’t drain my energy at all. Here, I’ll show you!” I walked to the door and held up the amulet. It flashed. “Now the yard outside your house is shielded from views by others, and our sounds are also blocked.”
“Well, then, let’s take these old blankets out and set them on the ground,” said Eric, handing Emily and me a pile of blankets from a closet.
Eric informed every family member of the cloaking. The swan maidens remembered how we used it at Grandma’s. Soon we were all having a wonderful picnic in the yard, all bundled up against the cold weather.
“I love this syrup. Where do you get it?” asked Emily with a mouthful of pancake.
“We harvest it here. The woods have many maple trees we extract the sap from,” said Aaron, Olrun’s husband. “Personally, I think because the forest is magical it tastes better than other syrup, but because we’ve lived here so long I really can’t remember what other syrup tastes like.”
“It tastes better because we make it as a group, and love is put in it,” smiled Olrun at her husband.
“Well, I know it’s the best syrup I have ever tasted, “ said Emily, stuffing another forkful into her mouth.
“It sure is beautiful here in your yard. Is all Murkwood like this?” I asked.
“No,” said Eric. “Most is wooded. Some areas are mountains, some swamps. There are a few small lakes. Then there’s the dense, deep forest, where little light reaches in through the trees. That’s called the dark forest and it draws in the most dangerous creatures. We avoid it, so we aren’t sure who actually lives there. None of our neighbors have ventured into there, either. We just know from stories that whomever goes in never comes out.”
Shivers ran up my spine at what might live there. Looking around, it seemed the others might have felt the same.
“So, is it possible none of the creatures are extinct but are hidden there?” I asked.
“Some which I’m sure people feel are gone are hiding here. We’re considered extinct because we’ve been in hiding,” Alvit said. “Your light elves were also considered extinct by most until the rock elves came hunting for them. Humans think we’ve all disappeared or were just stories made up for entertainment in folk tales. For our safety, it’s better we’re thought of as extinct.”
“Nobody hunts for you, then,” said Emily.
“Exactly. We can live here in peace,” said Svanhit with a smile.
“I just need to ask,” said Emily, full of excitement. “Do dragons still exist?”
Olrun nodded. “Some do, but very few are left. These woods aren’t large enough to hide very many. Just the smallest breeds survive.” Olrun looked sadly towards the sky. “At one time some magnificent giant dragons flew the skies. This was when we were young. Oh, they showed such grace and power . . . it really is sad thinking they’re forever gone.”
All three swan maidens looked toward the clouds at that moment, remembering the dragons of the past.
“That’s why the light elves are so important,” Alvit continued. “The creed they live by is to save all creatures and the planet. They never ask for anything in return. No other creature or human is that selfless. We try to be when asked, but we mostly stay hidden and safe here.”
“Well, you’re trying to keep your species alive. That by itself is important,” I remarked.
Smiles came my way from all the maidens.
I turned to Emily. “Are you feeling back to yourself yet?”
“Yes, I think so. How about you?” asked Emily.
All eyes were on me as I said, “I am, and I think it’s time we head home today. We need to get home to protect our light elves, and we also need to let everyone know we’re fine and that I found you.”
“We hope to see you again sometime in the future. Know that you’re welcome here anytime,” said Svanhit with her arms out for a hug from Emily and me.
“Thank you for all your kindness and taking care of Emily when she poofed here out of the blue,” I said.
I then took Emily’s hands and told her not to let go as I whispered to her what words to say. I smiled at the others and then counted down, “One, two three.” In unison we repeated three times, “Send us to Grandma’s house close to the time I left. Send us to Grandma’s house close to the time I left. Send us to Grandma’s house close to the time I left.” Poof, we were standing in Grandma’s kitchen.
“You found her! Emily, you scared the daylights out of us!” said Grandma as she took both of us in her arms and hugged us tight.
“How long were we gone?” I asked.
“About five minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime,” said Grandma as she let go of us.
Emily started to wobble a little and soon collapsed. Grandma and I bent down and checked on her. She was drained of all strength. Grandma quickly used her magic to transfer some energy back into her. Slowly Emily opened her eyes.
“Can you stand? Here, let us help you.” Grandma and I each took an arm and helped Emily to the couch, where she fell quickly into a deep sleep.
“How are you doing?” Grandma asked. “Are you fading, also? Would you like something to eat?”
“I’m very tired, but I think a glass of milk and a sandwich would be good before I sleep.”
“That was a long distance you traveled. Time travel drained you even more,” said Grandma.
“I knew you’d be worried,” I said as I settled myself down in Grandma’s recliner.
“Oh, I was very worried. I’m glad you came back as fast as you could, but now the recovery’s longer. I’m going to call your parents to have you spend the night here. But first I’ll get food for you.” Grandma hurried into the kitchen while Lina and Berg watched over Emily and me.
“How long were you there?” asked Berg.
“I think it was the third day when we left. We both were in and out of sleep so much it was hard to know,” I answered with a yawn.
Grandma handed me the food, and I quickly ate it all before I joined Emily in sleeping off the trip.
Chapter 8
As I woke, I looked around the room and smiled. We did make it back. It wasn’t a dream. Through the window I could see the morning sun creeping in. Emily was still asleep on the couch. Her body had not adjusted to transporting as mine had. I remembered those first times I transported really drained me of all energy, and I had never taken a trip so far before.
Lina sat up from the opposite recliner. She must have decided to keep an eye on us all night. “How are you feeling?’
“Hungry!” I smiled at her.
“Stay put. I’ll get you something to eat.”
She returned with a bowl full of fruit and cheese, which I quickly ate up. I took Lina’s hand and said, “I’m so happy to be back with everyone I love.”
“Murkwood’s a scary place. I’e only been there once, way before I met Berg. My father thought it’d be good for me to know about the land where most of the creatures had fled to. We only entered the edge of the woods, but I remember the feeling of darkness and danger with each step I took. We quickly hid as a troll came into sight, and then my dad I think rethought his decision to be there. We left, but the memory has never left me.”
“I felt that same danger. I also realized the swan maidens are always on alert. It’s a sad way to live. Not that we aren’t on alert, but our dangers seem so little compared to theirs,” I said, letting out a sigh.
“Actually, our dangers are as strong but less frequent,” said Lina.
Suddenly I jumped up. “How’s our wolf?”
Lina patted my hand, “He’s fine. You need to rest before you visit him. He’ll knock you over otherwise. Sit down and relax.”
I followed orders and relaxed to the point I dozed off again.
Emily and Grandma’s voices woke me up. I could hear Emily describing Svanhit in human form and how she didn’t recognize her at all when she first arrived. I just sat still, letting Emily tell of her time before I arrived. My sister was a very thorough storyteller. She even tried to sound like Svanhit as she repeated their conversation word by word. I knew we were going to know every detail of what she experienced.
It wasn’t long before they noticed I was awake listening.
“Aly, you tell what happened when you arrived. I was asleep at that time,” said Emily.
I quickly told about my arrival. Grandma, Emily, Lina, and Berg listened to my story.
“So the wolf scent was still on you? It must be more powerful than we know. When you regain your strength we must send it away again,” said Grandma.
“How is the wolf? Did he miss me?” I asked.
“Well, not to hurt your feelings, Aly, but he saw you just yesterday. He doesn’t know you left,” Grandma said with a smile.
“Oh, yeah. Emily and I were the only two who went on a mini vacation. Time stood still here. How strange it is to think about. Do we age when we’re gone?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Well, maybe you do in wisdom. What you learn makes you wiser. So why don’t you help us get to your level of wisdom and tell us more things you learned,” smiled Grandma. I could hear a chuckle from Berg at that comment.
“Dragons aren’t extinct! Small ones still live in Murkwood. All the large magnificent ones are gone, though. There wasn’t enough room for them,” chimed in Emily.
“Now that’s interesting. What other creatures are there?” asked Grandma.
“We really didn’t find out which others are there, but we did have a visit by two dwarfs. Alvit thought they either picked up the wolf scent even after I tried to wash it off, or it was the human female scent. Either way they were very close, so I did a sleeping spell on them and then sent them to the mountains in Murkwood.”
“They’ll never awaken without you reversing the spell,” said Grandma.
“We knew that but at first decided our safety and that of the swan maidens’ families were more important. But when it came time to send them, I remembered Silver telling me light elves protect all life, so I woke them before I sent them.”
“Good girl, I wouldn’t want you to live with the realization they would’ve died because they were asleep,” said Grandma.
“I think because there are so many dwarfs in Murkwood now, along with rock elves, searching for light elves, the swan maidens were more concerned with their own safety than that of a dwarf’s life. They have had major dwarf sightings throughout Murkwood.”
“Yeah, they’re searching for the prince!” exclaimed Emily.
“What prince?” asked Berg.
“King Klas’s son!” said Emily.
“What son? Rewind, girls, and tell us the whole story,” said Grandma, looking at us seriously.
“Dwarfs showed up in Murkwood searching for light elves they thought were there,” I began. “They told everyone about a spy in King Klas’s castle who found out the king and queen’s child had left the castle with some elves. According to Alvit, the dwarfs went through every area of Murkwood with some rock elves. The creatures in Murkwood didn’t even know light elves still existed and were surprised by this search. The dwarfs were searching just for one group of elves and have no idea there are more out there. Svanhit said they were very threatening, and the dwarfs in the area are on alert now for anything different like Emily and me. We were kept hidden in Svanhit’s house until we left, except for the last day when I made us invisible to others so we could have a picnic.”
“A prince,” said Berg with a sigh. “We never heard that before. I’m going to get Lunt and the lead elves here. They need to know.” Berg took off just as he spoke the last word. Within minutes Lunt, Silver, and Agda appeared.
Grandma had me repeat what I’d heard while everyone listened. The room went silent. When I finished. Emily and I gave each other a look of what’s next?
Lunt was the first to speak. “King Klas is a wise man. Who would have guessed he hid his son in one of the light elf villages? I bet if King Helmar could find the son, he’d use the child as leverage to have King Klas surrender his kingdom. It’d be the only way the rock elves could defeat the light elves. No wonder communication has been shut down at the castle. Any chance of a light elf village being found through the castle spies had to be stopped. King Klas had to be extremely careful.”
“Do either of you two know anything about a prince?” asked Grandma, looking at Silver and Agda.
“Being that Beck and I just became the lead elves, we have no knowledge. I plan on asking Koppor. It puts a burden on a light elf leader, though, because I’m sure they’ve been sworn to complete silence on the fact. They’d be breaking the king’s trust by telling others. I don’t think it’s fair to ask Silver or Dolph,” she said, nodding toward Silver. “The secrecy of the prince protects him. If any of us are cornered by a dwarf or rock elf, they’ll sense a lie. It’s better to be honest when we say we don’t know where the prince is. I imagine the prince doesn’t even know he is a prince, for his own protection. That’s only my thoughts, though,” Agda finished.
“Agda’s right,” said Lunt. “We’re better off not knowing. But now we know why the dwarfs and rock elves have been by.”
“Alice, do you know if the cloaking spell hides our sent along with our sound? Could the dwarfs smell us?” asked Silver, who sat in silence until that moment.
“I don’t, but it should. It’s to make you invisible in all ways. Having the wolf scent in the area would have masked any scent of the village, though,” said Grandma.
“Or . . . it drew more attention to the area. A descendent of Fenrir may be in the area because of more creatures here that could help him,” said Lunt. “They may be tracking the wolf to find the elves. All the rock elves know is that light elves heal things. If a wolf known to have magical powers is injured, wouldn’t it search for creatures who could help it? It’d be logical to think so.”
“But the wolf had no idea light elves were here!” I
said.
“Didn’t it? A wolf’s nose and hearing are very powerful, especially one with magical powers. It may have been searching for light elves, and that was why it was so close to Beck and Agda’s village,” said Lunt. “Dwarfs are expert hunters and know their prey. They’d know this isn’t an average wolf. Once they saw it was injured, I’m sure they were very curious where it would go.”
“Lunt’s right,” said Silver. “A dwarf would track a magical injured wolf for a chance to find light elves. They’d know we’d need to heal it. What they wouldn’t know was whether we have guardians. They’d think the wolf would be at a village, not at a human’s home.”
“Agda, we need to keep our bird elves on high alert,” Silver continued. “None should be flying on their birds, but sitting up in the nests. All messages should be sent out on birds without drivers. A single bird won’t cause attention, so have it fly by nests in the area to eliminate multiple birds heading toward a village. Our healing crews need to stay put in the villages for the time being. It’s a shame, but we need their safety to come first right now. I wish we knew more of what the wolf experienced, but I doubt that’ll happen. Alice, I know Aly’s not strong enough now, so could you send more scent of the wolf farther away to throw off the dwarfs and rock elves?”
“Sure. I’ll do it now,” said Grandma as she went to the backyard.
“Aly and Emily, we need you to get your strength back as quickly as possible and to keep it strong. Aly, I think you should practice transporting with Emily after school. Having three guardians who can transport might save us some day. We may have survived this threat without being detected by dwarfs, but I assume there’ll be more before long. Dwarfs are smart. I think there’s a strong possibility they’ll backtrack our way when they lose the wolf scent down the line,” said Silver.
I looked at Emily. “We’ll start training right after Christmas break, all right?”
Emily just nodded in surprise. I could tell she was frightened of the unknown, a feeling I had experienced quite often this past six months.
