After she arrived, Prudence thought of telling Dedric what she had seen, but fear shushed her and she went to bed without further thought.
The next morning, Prudence tried to avoid Genuss. She would have succeeded, except that Lord Besyyd was waiting for them in the magnificent gardens of his even more magnificent mansion to begin flight practices.
The weather, although it was a little cold, could not have been better. The sky was clear and was free of clouds. The breeze was mild, and did not imply that there would be any complications.
Skuld, Genuss and Prudence seemed very nervous. Dedric and Dunhill appeared to be very excited.
Lord Besyyd arrived, wearing a dark robe that was not as sophisticated as his previous clothes. Although it had a sportier look, the robe seemed to be very warm and made of quality fabrics.
"Here they come!" he exclaimed, and everyone turned to see the majestic bird flock appear in the sky behind the towers of the mansion.
A few seconds later, what seemed to be large birds landed timidly near them. One of the birds stepped ahead of the rest and approached Lord Besyyd, who responded by patting the beak of the animal.
"To all, I present Bori. He is the leader of my Mithlons, and he is also my best friend."
Bori was a magnificent creature. Prudence observed it and realized that it was not exactly a bird. From the neck down, it had the appearance of a lion, but its body was covered with silky white feathers, and its eyes were huge and almond-shaped. He had large, elongated ears, a feathered tail, talons at the extremities, and a beak similar to that of an eagle.
"Come closer. Do not be afraid," Lord Besyyd said to the group. "They will take you for a ride," he continued.
They approached the animals and stroked their necks. Lord Besyyd took some mounts that had been resting on the soft, green grass and placed them on the creatures.
"Until you get used to riding on them, it will be better and safer to use these mounts. That way you can hold on to something."
The Mithlons were such large and imposing creatures that even two people could fit comfortably on their back.
“Firstly, to approach them you should greet them with a bow. It is important to show respect. Only if they answer this reverence will you be allowed to touch them.”
This made Prudence shudder at the thought of what would happen if none of the birds knelt before her. She did not want to endure the taunts and malicious comments from Genuss, who would surely be the first to try. Strangely, she was not. Lord Besyyd approached Prudence and led her to Bori.
"You go first, Miss Clarke."
Nervously, Prudence stood in front of the animal and slightly lowered her head, tilting her body at the same time. Then she waited a moment and raised her eyes to see Bori leaning in response. Prudence's heart jumped.
Dedric, Skuld, Evard, Nefyyd and Dunhill followed. All were successful. Finally, it was Genuss’s turn.
"Miss Godfarr, it's your turn now," said Lord Besyyd.
"I won’t do it," replied Genuss.
"Why not?" he asked.
"I—" she murmured.
"What? Tell me," Lord Besyyd insisted.
"I'm afraid of heights," Genuss admitted, and Prudence was not the only one to be struck by that revelation.
"Well, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can go with me."
Genuss nodded silently and reluctantly mounted the beast.
"I’ll see you at the top!" Lord Besyyd exclaimed as they rose to the sky.
All were mounted on the creatures and one by one rose gently, using their wings to fly upward. The wind hit them in the face and their vision became more and more delighted as they left the mansion and headed toward the rocky wall that formed the mountains surrounding the city.
They all struggled to maintain balance and to hold their grips strongly.
The temperature dropped sharply the higher they climbed, and after a while Prudence was not the only one to start shivering.
As they reached the plain at the top of the mountain, the birds began to descend and rested their sharp claws on the rock, which was wet from the snow.
"Look at it," Lord Besyyd commanded proudly, "my domain at its best! To get to where you are going, you won’t be able to use your legs, or your mounts. So you better learn to trust my birds, and they will not disappoint."
At noon, they stopped to rest. The Company was served by Lord Besyyd's servants, who brought food to a giant gazebo that was located on the grounds. The sky glowed a pale blue color and the sun gave a barely warm but very pleasant temperature.
Prudence only ate a little. While the rest of the Company still had much to taste, Lord Besyyd approached her and asked her to have a couple of words with him separately. Prudence nodded. She rose from the place she had taken at the table and followed him to a more secluded spot.
"You should know that no matter how great a power might be, it is useless if it is asleep or paralyzed. The land does not benefit from stagnant water. You need to wake up—someone with powers like yours, who doesn’t know how to use them, is a real waste. Without offense, you should do something about it. And I can help you, but first you must overcome that which contains it. If you had to say, in all honesty, what feeling has been most frequent in recent times?"
Prudence deliberated for a couple of seconds. "Fear..."
"I am sorry to hear that, but I expected it. You will see, Miss Clarke, that fear does not help us at all. Fear paralyzes us. Fear is a curse. Where you are going, fear is a privilege that you cannot have. Your situation is already very complicated and if you have fear, you will only make it worse. Your enemies would take advantage of your fear and feed on it. The trick is to focus on what you want to see. You must visualize it in your mind and not stop thinking about it. The call must be clear and undisturbed. Only thus will your power respond." His voice now had a less hawkish tone. "Let the light seep from the wound, and you will see that fear will no longer be a problem."
Prudence heard the words of Lord Besyyd carefully.
"I have a test for you. We'll see what you are made of," he said.
Practices for the day were completed. The Company of the Rose had already retired to take a well-deserved rest in the comforts of the Rose Manor. Only Dedric and Prudence remained at Lord Besyyd's mansion. It was seven o'clock and it was already getting dark. The three went down to the gardens again and each mounted a Mithlon.
"The place where we are going is called The Crossroads. It is a point in the woods where the road forks, and there exists a presence very different to everything you've seen so far," Lord Besyyd said once they were once again on land.
"What kind of presence?" Prudence asked.
"A boggart," he exclaimed with determination. "Boggarts are malevolent spirits. They like to live at night and to also hide in dark places. In particular, the boggart that we will visit always inhabits the same place. They are spirits of changing forms. Regardless of the form they take—whether it is that of an animal, a human, or a demon—what they do is scare people."
When they advanced enough on the dirt road surrounded by rows of trees, Prudence could discern in the distance the point where the road was split in two. In between was an old and shadowy oak. It was dark, but the moon illuminated enough that Prudence could realize that this place gave her chills. She wished to be drinking a cup of tea by the fireplace in Rose Manor.
Finally, they stopped in front of the old oak and Prudence noticed how the wind made the white moss hanging from the upper branches dance hypnotically.
"So, do you know what to do, Miss Clarke?" Lord Besyyd asked with obvious anxiety on his face.
Prudence turned to see Dedric about ten steps behind, but did not get the slightest indication from him.
"Well, I'm afraid I don’t."
Suddenly, the temperature dropped sharply and she assumed that something would happen soon.
"I've already said it before. You must be alert and concentrate on visualizing what you want. Never giv
e rise to the darkness of fear, otherwise there will be nothing to do," said Lord Besyyd. Then his expression changed and became more serious. "The boggart will take you to very dark places in order to bend your will. Do not let it," he continued.
Prudence wanted to run. Her lips trembled and she feared that her knees were failing her. Finally, she stepped forward and clenched her fists, wishing that what was about to happen would not be so bad.
Lord Besyyd and Dedric walked far enough away that she felt she was alone. Time began to pass very slowly until finally something manifested.
The silence was interrupted by a chilling noise. Something metallic dug into the soil. Prudence held her breath as she heard the sound getting closer. She was completely enveloped by cold and the shadows of the trees and leaves. The wind was shaking, and she saw a mass of black smoke that began to take shape and grow. It straightened up, completely embodied in front of her. The boggart had taken a tall, dark figure, as if his image was that of death itself. His eyes were bright white and his skeletal face was hidden behind a large hood.
Prudence heart was beating so fast that she thought that her ribs might have been broken. She dared to look back, but could not find her peers. The figure paced, floating around her, staring at her. Prudence wished the earth would swallow her, but otherwise remained motionless. She was sure her legs would not respond to her if she commanded them to run.
"Hasn’t he take enough from you?" asked the dark spectre. "Are you really going to help him find what he's lost? After all he's done to you..." the voice of the spirit rang in her ears. "Be aware, Prudence Clarke, that you are not alone in this journey, but you shouldn’t trust everyone that accompanies you."
It will take you to very dark places. She recalled the words of Lord Besyyd and tried to calm herself.
It was then that the boggart came over and spread its arms out to her, holding both sides of her head.
A strong wind started blowing in her ears and suddenly everything began to spin. She felt like her eyelids weighed a ton, but that was just an illusion.
Hundreds of images began to go through her mind at an unusual speed. She did not remember any of the scenes she was reliving, but they made her heart writhe in pain.
A woman crying in her ears and the sound of rushing steps that crashed against the rock. She heard a latch open and then the creak of door hinges. Then, an icy cold hit her and her face was wet by furious rain. The wind roared in the distance and thunders could be heard. Cries became increasingly shocking and were so loud that they deafened her. It was something she had heard before. She was not sure whether it was a memory or a recurring nightmare but Prudence could not stand it. That crying hurt like a dagger digging into her flesh. Terrified, she struggled to free herself. She tried to scream, to no avail. The boggart held her tightly and her body was paralyzed completely. Not only did she feel pain, but fear had dominated her.
Trembling and almost about to lose consciousness, Prudence was certain that she should stop the boggart’s attempts to terrorize her. So she forced herself to take a deep breath. She calmed her mind as much as she could and closed her eyes.
In the dark, she envisioned a small spark of light, and then felt the energy through her body. Making efforts to release the light, she clasped her hands and within them was a small glow. Then she noticed the spectre in front of her and turned the light towards it. She stepped back, and using all her willpower she let the light flow out of her hands.
The boggart turned away and tried to get close again, but the light intensified until the boggart eventually disappeared. Prudence was finally able to regain her breath. Her heart calmed down and the light faded. She was gradually calming down and after a few moments, Dedric and Lord Besyyd reappeared behind her.
"It was not bad for a first try," Lord Besyyd said and then let out a satisfied smile.
After arriving at Rose Manor, she knew that her sleep was not going to be satisfactory. Prudence could not stop thinking about the crying that she had heard.
“Clear those thoughts out of your head,” Dedric advised after the obvious concern on Prudence’s face.
“I cannot help it. When the boggart grabbed me, I heard someone sobbing and crying. I think... I think it was my mother. I fear she suffered before dying. She was escaping, but, from who?”
The next morning, Lord Besyyd was not very hospitable. The Company was awaiting him at the grounds when they noticed something was wrong. He stormed towards them, furious.
"Look!" he said and extended his hands, covered in what seemed to be dark ashes.
"What is that?" Dedric asked.
"What is that?!" Lord Besyyd repeated, exasperated. "This is what is left of my precious Bori. I found him dead this morning..."
Prudence could not believe what she was hearing. Just a few hours ago, Bori had transported her back to Rose Manor so she could rest.
Lord Besyyd then led them to where he had found the body of the creature, near the buildings where the Mithlons took shelter at night.
"Bori was a very special creature, a lover of the night sky. He was the last to go to rest, because he enjoyed flying under the light of the moon and stars... He apparently fell between these trees, and this is where he was first attacked." Lord Besyyd pointed to the trunks of the trees, on which there were bloodstains. "Then Bori tried to escape his attacker and flew to the nest, leaving this trail of blood..."
All eyes looked over at fallen leaves, dyed red.
"Just to be brutal and ruthlessly murdered right here."
They all walked behind Lord Besyyd to Bori’s remains. His body had been frozen since then, by the same kind of dark magic that had been ravaging Penrith since the arrival of the Company.
Bori lay curled up as if asleep, but his body was as stiff as a rock and was a dark gray color.
Lord Besyyd ran his hand over the animal's back, which was crumbling into ashes.
"Who could have committed such an atrocity?!" exclaimed Dedric, clearly distressed.
"There was no need to attack him. These creatures are innocent and have nothing to do with this war," said Lord Besyyd. "You must leave at dawn. There is no time to lose.”
CHAPTER 11
That day, Prudence gave little thought to her suspicions that Genuss might be an Azarian infiltrate within the Company. After all, the fact that she did not like her did not make her a traitor. It was a day of overwhelming sadness over Bori's heartbreaking death. On a more heartwarming note was that after dinner in the mansion of Rose Manor, Lord Besyyd shared with them endless stories of adventures he had lived next to Bori.
"A great warrior bird he was, undoubtedly."
The night was coming and departure awaited them at dawn, so soon everyone retired to perform different tasks. Dedric and Dunhill renewed their supplies and enhanced their equipment with new weapons collected from the Armory in the basement of the mansion.
Skuld had retired to her room, too tired to think of anything other than a break. In addition, with a little magic she could easily make all her equipment ready in a few seconds before leaving.
With regards to Genuss, nobody knew her whereabouts, but that was a normal thing since she hated giving explanations and never warned anyone of her movements.
Prudence, on the other hand, chose to go in search of a rest, just like Skuld. She took the hallway that led to her room and just as she passed the door of Genuss’s room she felt a sense of deep unease at entering. She stopped and thought for a moment. Maybe she should have thought about it for a little longer. She looked back to see if she was being watched, and then opened the door without realizing how bad of a decision it was.
Surprisingly, there was no one inside the room. The bed was perfectly made and all the belongings were already packed. It seemed like Genuss was ready to leave Penrith as soon as possible.
A pair of clean boots was placed beside a counter, and over them was a black robe. Prudence grabbed it and examined it. It was the same robe Genuss had worn the night
Prudence followed her to the forest. She then noticed how bad it smelled. A strong whiff similar to that of sulfur got into her nose. Prudence dropped the robe in disgust and it fell to the floor. It smelled as if something had burned near it, or worse, had been cremated to ashes.
Prudence’s heart stopped beating for a second at this last thought. A horrible chill ran down her back and suddenly her mouth went dry. The ashes on Lord Besyyd’s hands came to her mind.
“What are you looking for in here?” someone said behind her. She felt her whole body freeze. Genuss would definitely knock her down if she found her spying on her things, but when she turned to face her worst nightmare, she saw Skuld instead.
“Have you lost your mind? You know you would be knocked down on the floor at this precise moment if it wasn’t me.”
Prudence was shaking as she took Skuld by the arm and pushed her out of the room. They got into Skuld’s dormitory and Prudence locked the door. She had a worried expression on her face.
“Something really bad is happening,” Prudence said as she paced around the room nervously.
Skuld sat on the bed.
“Genuss is a traitor. She led the Azarias into Penrith and”—she thought a couple of seconds before saying what she was about to say—“she killed Bori.”
Skuld’s eyes almost rolled out of her face and her mouth dropped open. She remained silent, as she could not find her words. “Don’t say that!” Skuld finally exclaimed.
“But it’s the truth, she killed Bori!”
“You cannot make such a grave accusation! And without any kind of proof! If someone listened to you, Genuss could have a hard time. She would be expelled from the Company. Not only that, she would become an enemy of the Council. Do you know what the penalty is for killing a Mithlon? 50 years of imprisonment in a cell dug at the top of a mountain.”
“But I have proof,” Prudence exclaimed.
“What proof, Prudence? I know she is not very nice, but calling her a traitor and a murderer of innocent creatures? That is kind of a lot.”
The Elven Tales: The Company of the Rose Page 8
