by Terry Spear
Eloria held up the necklace as her eyes glowed in the light. “Hold your men back. Do not come any closer.”
“She has the power,” one of the river elves whispered to his companions.
“It is true what they say,” another said under his breath.
Eloria tilted her head to the side as her eyes slimmed like a cat blinded by the light. She felt invincible. “Hold your men back.”
An arrow whizzed past Eloria’s shoulder. “Archers!” Balen sheathed his sword, then ran to help Viator. The two twisted the cap loose, then dumped the contents of the flask into the river.
Viator dashed for Eloria with Balen on his heels. The three ran through the tunnel without hesitation as they heard Lars yelling, “After the winged elves and the girl! After them!”
Balen hurried to pull out his wand to light their way as Viator helped Eloria over a mound of rocks. “These gowns are not the best for running in,” she said under her breath.
“I must know what power you possess.” Viator pulled her into the forest. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her high into the air. Balen soon joined them as the river elves dashed into the clearing.
“There!” a dozen river elves said.
Viator smiled as they shook their fists at them. “Lars and his men will have some time returning home.”
Balen shook his head. He glanced back at his wings and saw them turn slightly transparent.
Viator turned to study Balen’s wings and frowned. “I told you I could do it on my own! I didn’t need your help to open the container!” He squeezed Eloria tight. “What am I to do with you?”
His brusque tone of voice irritated her. “Why are you so grouchy anyway? Leave me with the shadow elves, and I’ll wait for Persephonice.”
Viator alighted on one of the mountain peaks overlooking Darkland Forest. He spread his wings in semi-triumph. “You see? They are another half-a-credit transparent.”
“Only half?” Eloria asked.
Viator twisted his mouth slightly as Balen spread his wings. She could tell he was perfectly pleased with himself—to Viator’s annoyance. “I got the other half, because I helped him to open the lid to the flask. Still half a credit ahead of you, Your Majesty, and I started later in the day.”
Eloria smiled as she touched Viator’s silky wing. “More beautiful every time I see them.”
Balen folded his wings and arms. “You cannot be serious about taking her with us.”
“I must know what power you possess, Eloria,” Viator said.
“I told you I have no idea.”
“It has something to do with your necklace.”
Eloria shrugged. She’d been trying to limit her use of power, but without weapons, she had no other way of dealing with these people, or beasts. Using inspirational motivation was futile, so she was going to have to begin using her magic to aid them in any way that she could. Then what would they think? She was a high elf? And they seemed to be at odds with them.
“If Lars wishes to have you, there has to be a good reason. He doesn’t like anyone who is not a river elf. He must know something that we don’t.”
“That kind of limits his number of friends.” Eloria studied Viator’s wrinkled brow. “You’re frowning. What concerns you so?”
“You. I should leave you here, like my father commanded.”
“Sire,” Balen said with an exasperated tone to his voice. “She won’t be safe with us.”
“She won’t be safe here if Lars comes for her. These humans are no match for…”
Eloria folded her arms. “We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. Especially if your people hadn’t taken my weapons.”
Viator shook his head. He sat down on a smooth stone seat worn by the summer rains. “A sudden gust of wind blew through the castle, snuffing all of our candles out. Then the only light we saw was the one from your necklace. Why?”
Balen sat down on a grassy area. His brow furrowed as he considered the matter. “It was almost like our people were being warned she has this power…pay heed.”
“Nonsense,” Eloria said. The notion gave her goose bumps all over her arms though, despite her trying to make light of the power she seemed to possess. There was no way she could have any connection with a dragon from this place.
“Then she summoned Talom.”
“No one can do such a thing,” Balen said. “He is a rogue dragon, deadlier than any other.”
“And in the cave where the trolls reside, she actually rescued us when the glow of her crystal sent the creatures scampering.” Viator rubbed his brow.
“Too bad I don’t have wings that can turn transparent when I accomplish a quest. Doesn’t seem fair that only the two of you…”
Viator stood slowly from his seat. “You don’t think the crystal is like our wings, do you, Balen? When she accomplishes a worthy task the crystal…” He shook his head and sat back down. “Nah, doesn’t make any sense. And yet, the first time I saw it glow was when the pixie bothered Eloria, the light from the crystal seemed to push her away.”
Eloria sat down next to him. “I’ve never heard anything except what my father used to say. The crystal would protect me when I had need. My aunt would hush him when he said things like that. She said folks would think he was crazy.”
“How did the wizard advise you to get the crystal, Eloria?” Viator asked.
“The wizard?” Balen asked. “What wizard?”
“It glowed among all of the rest and it was already lying on the floor of the cave as if someone had cut it out, just for me to find. I had many such crystals displayed on shelves at my home. But this one…” She fingered the emerald. “The one in the dream called to me.”
“And you are the only one who has ever possessed it that you would know of? In the dream, I mean. No one else owned it before you? A family member or… I mean, it was already cut into a gem like that of one formed for a necklace, like maybe it had been worn before.”
“It had no chain, nor markings that indicated one had been attached to it. Not in my dream. And I had fetched it, no one else. Yet my father said my mother gifted the necklace to me before I died.”
Viator frowned. “We can’t let Lars get to her.” He stood again, then began to pace. “What about the gift, Eloria?”
“I wish you’d quit asking me, Viator. I have no idea about the gift the wizard spoke of.”
“Talom wouldn’t let Balen get near you when you were injured. But he let me come to you, why?”
“I don’t even remember him being anywhere near me. Had I, I probably would have fainted.”
“Like when you were thrown from the cliffs by the river elves.”
“Yes.”
“Had you summoned Talom?”
She shook her head.
“What would your father say if he found you were in the company of the girl still?” Balen asked. “I know what he would say. In that booming voice, he would shatter half the mirrors in the great hall. ‘You will have nothing more to do with the human girl!’ he would shout.”
Eloria stood and stared down from her lofty position high in the mountains. “I have never climbed as high as this. The view is breathtaking.”
“Have you seen the seacoast of Neferon, Eloria? They have the most beautiful sugar-white beaches as soft as cotton under the foot. The blue waters are as clear as my wings will be one day. Wisps of white clouds shade a hot afternoon.” Viator touched one of Eloria’s curls.
“And sea serpents eat the unsuspecting.” Balen tapped his foot on the ground. “Not to mention some of the other things dwelling in the sea and on those white sandy beaches.”
“I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world.” Eloria walked over to Viator as he leaned over to allow her to ride. Later, she might have regrets, but for now, she wanted to help Viator with his mission. Until she could see Persephonice. She had nowhere else to go.
“Next stop then, the shores of Neferon.” Viator lifted his powerful wings. “Coming, B
alen?”
Balen shook his head. “You will never hear the end of this from your father, Your Majesty. Never. And my sister…she will do more than shatter the mirrors in the great hall. Lots more.”
Viator raised his hand in victory. “We go to Neferon, my friends…the white sand shores of paradise!”
15
The white sands of the beaches of Neferon loomed before them as Prince Viator soared high above. His elven wings never faltered even with the extra weight he carried as Eloria sat upon his back.
She studied the sights she’d never seen before...milky white beaches, blue waters shimmering over the sand as clear as glass, sea birds soaring, then diving into the ocean for fresh-caught fish, a speck of green in the sea beyond.
Lord Balen was studying the ground as his wings floated up and down...graceful as the swans flying across her sky in her world. To be a winged elf with their silky, filmy wings... She sighed deeply. And to think their mission was to make them transparent so they would be like the glass of her bedroom window back home. She liked them just as they were. Her fingers clutched at Viator’s leather backpack as he swooped lower.
He landed on the shifting sand. Eloria hurried to slip off his back. She gazed at the clear blue waters swelling in gentle waves. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Her stomach rumbled. Balen glanced at her and folded his wings. She smiled. “Does this trip include a meal?”
She turned to look at Viator. His wings folded neatly against his back as his brilliant blue eyes mirrored the water’s color. His gaze focused on the sea as it stretched to the horizon.
Balen pulled off his pack. “If you don’t mind elven traveling food...” He plucked soft rolls and dried fish from his bag.
Eloria took a deep breath of the fishy, salt-laden air. “I have some food.” Not enough for very long, and they would think it most odd, but she was willing to share.
Viator turned his attention from the sea. “The minister of security left most of what was in your pack there. As long as they weren’t weapons.”
“I could have used the weapons for protection.” Eloria looked west. Her stomach tightened with concern. She was always so focused on a mission. But how could she get to where Persephonice was to see if she was happy here? If she was and didn’t want to leave, Eloria wouldn’t have accomplished her mission anyway.
She reached for the roll Balen offered her. He pulled out his dagger and handed that to her.
“Thanks, Balen.”
He tilted his chin down.
“Lord Balen.”
She slipped the dagger into the sheath for her sword, and after taking a bite of the roll, she turned her attention to Viator’s intense posture as he looked back at the water.
Balen watched him. “What is it that you see, sire?”
“My next quest has something to do with that outcropping of stones.” Viator pointed to a group of rocks where water broke over its jagged edges. Frothing foam collected like soapy suds ringing the bright pink and orange coral.
Eloria finished her roll. “Good bread.” She took a bite of her fish, the flavor spicy from special elven seasonings.
“What must you do, Your Majesty?” Balen stared at the cluster of rocks.
“I must do this alone this time!”
Eloria laughed. “He is getting grouchy again. Viator, sit here with us and eat. You should rest your wings. You have carried excess baggage for many miles to get here. Sit and rest.”
Viator turned to study Eloria in her white elven gowns dotted with pearls while feathers fluttered slightly in the breeze. He smiled. “Excess baggage. Why you are the most beautiful—”
“Ahem,” Baden said. “The king expects his only son to marry my sister, Sendal. Remember her? A winged elf like you and me and all the rest of our people. You do remember?”
“I will marry whom I choose.” Viator slipped a roll from his pack. He studied Eloria’s emerald necklace as the sun’s rays sparkled off its surface. “It hasn’t glowed once on our journey, has it, Eloria?”
“No, not once.”
He nodded.
She sipped water from Balen’s flask. “Hmm, this is very good.”
“Spring water from our mountains.” Balen pointed in the direction of their home in the Darkland Forest.
Eloria lay back on the soft sand and studied the fluffy white clouds drifting overhead. They cast shadows on the sand as they moved across the sky on their casual stroll. “So if Viator doesn’t marry your sister, who will she marry, Balen?”
“Lord Balen.” Balen wrinkled his brow at her.
Viator chuckled. “Give it up, Balen. If she won’t use my title in speaking with me, why should she use yours? I’m crown prince of the winged elves after all, and you...are only a duke’s son.”
“A duke’s son is something to be reckoned with.” Balen puffed out his chest.
Eloria smiled. “I apologize to you both.”
Balen shook his head. “My sister, Lady Sendal, has never considered anyone else to marry. I can assure you she will be a terror worse than any troll if the prince doesn’t choose her for his own.”
Eloria’s necklace flickered with its own light. Viator and Balen stared at it as they waited to see it light up again.
“There must be a pattern to this.” Viator leaned down and touched the stone at Eloria’s throat. The stone darkened again. He glanced back at the rock sitting in the water a quarter of a mile from shore.
“What is it about the rock that puzzles you, sire?” Balen studied the prince.
“The mermaid.” Viator pointed at the figure in the distance as she pulled herself onto the rock. Her long, wet, golden hair draped over her shoulders.
Eloria sat upright. She stared at the figure, then said under her breath, “A mermaid. I never thought I’d see one in the ocean.”
A sweet melody drifted over the sea as the mermaid’s lips moved with the words she sang. Eloria stood. Viator glanced over at her. “No.” He grabbed her arm as she took a step toward the water. “It’s like when the meadowland fairies called to her with their song. She has no power to block their bewitching tunes like we have. Help me, Balen.”
Balen jumped to his feet. “I still have the cotton she used the last time she blocked the meadowland fairy music.” The two hurried to stuff the soft material into Eloria’s ears.
“She is so beautiful.” Eloria studied the mermaid’s shimmering silver-green tail. The fluke waved up and down enticing her audience to come to her. “So beautiful.”
Viator sighed deeply. “Yes, well, she would drown you, if she could.”
Eloria walked closer to the water’s edge as Viator grabbed one of her arms and Balen held the other.
“Can you hear her melody?” Viator asked.
Eloria shook her head.
“Good.”
“What is the quest you must perform here, sire?” Balen folded his arms as he studied the mermaid.
“The mermaid needs help, but I’ll have to get closer to find out what kind of assistance she requires. Eloria is right though. I must rest first. We all should before we do much else.”
“There were rumors circulating in your father’s court that a dark shadow has descended on our world.” Balen helped Viator lead Eloria away from the water’s edge.
The winged elves pulled their blankets out of their packs, then stretched them across the sand. Viator motioned for Eloria to use his.
“But what will you sleep on?” she asked. “I could use my cloak.”
He pulled out his own cloak. She nodded then sat down on his blanket.
“I have heard this said, Balen. Even the caves we explored as boys are now filled with trolls, when before, there were none. No telling where they came from, but poof one day, there they were.”
“Yes, and I’ve never heard tell of the meadowland fairies luring anyone with their music and drowning someone in the river in the process. They love to entertain the elves, then release them after a while.”
; “They did stop singing when Eloria slipped into the water over her head. But still, after you rescued her, they started singing again. It didn’t seem to matter to them that Eloria was pulled to the water once more with their songs.” Viator shook his head. “And Lars and his river elves have gotten worse. Only recently have they been throwing outsiders off the cliffs.”
“And the pixies in Darkland Forest...” Balen said. “Banished before I was born. Now they are back, for some unknown reason. The river elves making our people sick like they did, is definitely a sign of something more sinister.”
“A dark shadow.” Viator lay down on his cloak spread out beside Eloria and rested his head on his arm. “Those of us who are trying to come of age, face deadlier challenges than even our fathers had to face, I suspect.”
“Yes.” Balen lay down on his blanket spread out.
Viator studied Eloria’s red hair rippling in the breeze. Her green eyes sparkled as her lips turned up slightly. He smiled back at her, then took a deep breath. Turning his face skyward, he studied a dark cloud slipping past a fluffy white one. “A dark shadow.”
16
The three companions closed their eyes as a breeze grew in strength. The sands sprinkled over Eloria’s face, and she wrapped the blanket over her head. She sighed deeply as her thoughts drifted away.
Her necklace warmed as the crystal rested at her throat. She opened her eyes to see her blanket-cocoon washed in the soft green light. Her lips parted to speak, but before she could utter a word, her blanket was pulled aside. “Eloria,” Viator said as he stared at her. Her gaze met his and he frowned as he looked down at her necklace. “I have to know what power you possess.”
She shook her head, sighing deeply. “I can’t say, Viator. I have no idea why the necklace glows from time to time.” Except when she used it to channel her abilities. But she hadn’t been doing any of that all the time it had been glowing on and off since she’d been here. She wondered if it had something to do with the elves’ world. Like the magic on the planet was influencing it.
“Very well, it’s time.” He jumped up from his cloak bed.
