Journey Into Fire
Part II
Daystar sat on the floor staring at the mirror in shock. He felt completely numb from the
sight that he had beheld only moments before. He had always assumed that Shiara would
be safe with Kazul. After all, who would dare tangle with the King of the Dragons and
her princess? Apparently the wizards would. Daystar turned his head towards the
gargoyle that had been eerily quiet. "You saw that, didn't you?" Daystar called.
The gargoyle bit his lip. "I'm afraid I did."
"That's it? No snide remarks, no I-told-you-so, no anything?" Daystar exploded. Only
silence greeted him in return. "You don't even care, do you? You're just upset that you
don't have anyone to fight with! Well, did you ever think of the fact that it's a good
possibility that they might kill her? That she wouldn't come back? That I never got to say
goodbye?"
Without waiting for the gargoyle to respond, Daystar ran in search of his mother and
father. He had no choice but to go after the fire witch that he had befriended in the past
couple of months. In the short time that he had known her, Shiara had become a staple in
Daystar's life so much so that he couldn't bear to think that Antorell might do something
to her.
Daystar finally found Cimorene in the kitchen giving the cook directions of how she
thought chocolate mousse was to be prepared in order to best bring out the chocolate
flavoring. He ran into the room completely out of breath and closed the heavy oaken door
behind him.
"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Cimorene could tell right away that her son had something
on his mind.
"Shiara and…Antorell and the mirror and it went blank but they disappeared!" Daystar
tried to explain what was happening as quickly as possible in order to save time. If
anyone would know what to do, it would be his mother. She was the one who had
formulated the elaborate plan to save Mendanbar, after all.
Cimorene sighed. "Now calm down, Daystar. If Antorell kidnapped Shiara I'm sure that
he had a good reason to."
Daystar's mouth dropped open in shock. "Mother! How could you say such a thing?"
Cimorene's eyes crinkled into a smile. "I meant that if Antorell was desperate enough to
kidnap Shiara then he would never hurt her, unless she was particularly cheeky with him.
I know Antorell. He may be stupid but he always does things for his own benefit."
Daystar frowned. "I suppose that's allright, but why do you think he would want Shiara?"
"I can't be sure. She helped you defeat him. Maybe he wants payback. Or he could be
using her to get at you. He won't be satisfied until the Society of Wizards is able to
control the Enchanted Forest. You know that."
"Mother, I have to go after her. I can't let her stay with him." Daystar began pacing the
kitchen. After a moment he paused. "Do you think Father would let me take the sword
with me? Telemain said he knew where the headquarters of the Society of Wizards was.
That's the only place I can think of where Antorell would have taken her. If I take him
with me then we can be back in a few days."
"Morwen and Telemain have a wedding to plan, Daystar. Even if he wanted to go with
you Morwen would never let him leave. Besides, you wouldn't be able to understand one
word he said and he'd be more concerned with studying wizards than with finding Shiara
before anything happens to her," Cimorene argued.
Daystar sighed. "You're right I suppose. I guess I'll have to go by myself."
Cimorene smiled. "You can handle it, Daystar. Just don't let your emotions get in the
way of your quest. That's one of the biggest detriments to princes that go searching for
missing princesses. Believe me, I know."
Daystar flushed pink. "She's not a princess, Mother. Besides if Antorell is after the forest
again, it's my duty to stop him."
"Of course, dear," Cimorene winked at the cook who smiled knowingly.
Daystar hugged Cimorene tightly. "Thank you mother!!" After running down to the
armory and taking the Sword of the Sleeping King, which really probably shouldn't be
called that anymore anyway, Daystar informed Mendanbar that he was going after Shiara.
After a quick stop to visit Telemain, Daystar tugged on one of the invisible chords that
intertwined within the Enchanted Forest. He still was not completely adept at working
this type of magic so it took a few tries before he finally found himself at the edge of the
forest.
To the left he could see the Mountains of Morning in the distance. He briefly considered
going to visit Kazul and tell her everything that had happened. Daystar decided against it,
however. The mountains were dangerous when it was dark and he was positive that
waking the King of the Dragons would not be a safe thing to do no matter how friendly
his mother was with her. To the far right from the forest Daystar could only see a few
sparse hills and trees. With a sigh, he began the long trek to whatever lied ahead.
*****************************
Shiara groaned as she sat up. She began to rub her pounding head when an unknown
person pushed her gently into laying position. "You really oughtn't try to sit up yet. You
took a nasty fall. With all of the magical interference, I'm surprised that you came around
so quickly!" Shiara's unseen caretaker spoke softly.
Shiara was never one to take commands seriously. Her green eyes flew open and she
bolted upright. Her bleary eyes began to adjust to her surroundings. From what she could
determine she was inside of a humble cottage. A row of staffs that looked suspiciously
similar to those that she had seen those infernal wizards use were lined up against the
wall. From outside the windows she could see lush green trees and vegetation. A muffled
cough caught her attention and Shiara snapped her head towards the sound. Realizing her
mistake, Shiara blinked a few times to bring her eyes back to focus.
"I told you that you still weren't well enough to sit up," the boy in front of her scolded.
Shiara slit her eyes and glared at him. He was about her age and his complexion was
dark, not as dark as Daystar's, but close to it. His hair was chocolate brown with lighter
streaks in it from the sun. Shiara didn't feel like she could trust him, especially since he
hoarded staffs. But Telemain did the same thing, she reminded herself. "What happened
to Antorell?" she asked quickly.
The boy's eyes shifted nervously. Suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. "You mean the
wizard who I found with you?"
Shiara nodded. "That's the one."
The boy gestured to the row of staffs that Shiara had noticed earlier. "I've already taken
care of him."
Shiara sighed a breath of relief. "Oh," she said, grateful that she had stumbled into the
care of an ally and not someone she should be afraid of. Still, she felt the nagging tug that
told her to keep her guard up.
The boy looked visibly relieved at Shiara's reaction as well. "Well, now that that's all
squared away, let me introduce myself." The boy grinned. "My name is Reese." He
paused. "Allright, that's done and over with. Would you like me to fix you something to
eat, Shiara?"
Shiara started to agree, but paused when he addressed her. "How do you know my name?
I don't think I ever told you."
Reese smiled. "That wizard of yours was mumbling something about a Shiara and a
society and I think soapy lemon water. You can't be an entire society and I know you're
definitely not a cleaning solution. The only other thing you could be was the Shiara."
Shiara nodded. "I suppose that's true. Thank you for getting rid of Antorell for me. I
really appreciate it, but I have to get going. I have to get back to the Mountains of
Morning before Kazul notices I'm gone." She paused. "And Daystar! I have to let him
know that I'm allright before he loses his head and takes on the entire Society of Wizards
to rescue me!"
Reese was intrigued. "Is Daystar your knight?"
Shiara snorted. "Daystar my knight? Ha! No, he's the Prince of the Enchanted Forest!
He'd die if he heard you call him a knight!"
A worried look crossed Reese's face. "The prince? Princes are much worse than knights,
I think. I don't think I'd like to have to battle with a prince."
A giggle escaped from Shiara. "You wouldn't have to fight him! And he's not my prince
or anything. Just a friend," Shiara blushed at Reese's insinuation that Daystar was hers.
"Oh good."
Shiara glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Reese coughed nervously. "Um, nothing. I…I meant nothing by that."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," Shiara lied. Lately, she had been really
touchy whenever the conversation turned to her and Daystar. She had snapped at Kazul
earlier in the day as well. She felt the need to explain herself to Reese, however. "You
see, I'm a fire witch and sometimes my temper runs away from me. I've been trying to
keep it under control because Daystar and that dumb sword of his put some stupid spell
over me so now I have to be polite if I want to use my magic."
"Really? I thought that you were a fire wizard."
Shiara's hair burst into flickering flames. "Who told you that?"
Reese backed away from her. "No one really. I can just sense a person's magical aura and
yours certainly is unlike that of any fire witch I ever met. It seems of more of a variation
of a wizard's."
"Well, you're mistaken." Her hair extinguished, the only evidence of its tirade was a few
wisps of smoke. "I really need to be getting back to Daystar, I mean Kazul, so if you
would be so kind as to give me directions to the Mountains of Morning, I'll be on my
way."
"I can't let you do that." Reese moved over to the wall and picked a staff from the wall.
Shiara backed away. "Why ever not?"
Reese glanced at the staff in his hand and back towards Shiara. "This forest is much to
dangerous for anyone to travel in it alone. Besides, we're really quite far away from the
Dragon Mountains. I'll escort you back."
Shiara stared at the staff in Reese's hands. "Well, what's that for then?" She pointed to it.
"This old thing?" Reese laughed. "It's nothing to be afraid of. I just thought that since
you seem to have the head of the Society of Wizards after you, it might be beneficial to
use their own magic against them if we should run into any of its members."
"You can do that?" Shiara was skeptical.
"I don't see why not. I've never tried to use a wizard's staff before, but how hard can it
possibly be?"
"Well, whatever." Shiara frowned. "So where are we anyway? It doesn't look like the
Enchanted Forest."
Reese smiled. "I thought that you'd never ask. It doesn't look like the Enchanted Forest
because it's not the Enchanted Forest." His eyes twinkled as he brushed a stray strand of
hair out of his eyes. "This is the Pixie's Forest. It's dangerous to travel around in here
alone because pixies are tricky and troublesome creatures. The like to play with the
travelers and most of them wind up getting enchanted somehow. And because not many
people come through this way, most of those unfortunates wind up staying enchanted."
"How do you get by living here then? Don't the pixies bother you?" Shiara asked, wide-
eyed.
"Oh no, not at all."
"Why? I mean, how come they would bother me and not give you a second glance?"
Shiara asked incredulously.
"Well, my mother was the princess of the pixies. Against my grandparents' wishes she
left the forest to marry my father. She was banished for marrying an outsider, but after
both of my parents died, I was allowed to come and go as I pleased. After all, it's not my
fault that my mother did what she did. I decided to live in here permanently because not
many adventurers or travelers bother you when you live in such a dangerous place,"
Reese explained carefully.
"Well how do I know that you're not going to try and trick or enchant me like the rest of
the pixies?" Shiara glowered.
Reese looked taken aback. "Shiara, I would never ever do that. Besides, I'm not a full-
blooded pixie anyway. I'm not nearly that mischievous or sneaky."
Shiara thought this over for moment. "I suppose that that makes sense." She nodded her
head. "Fine, you can escort me to the base of the mountains. I suppose it would be a
benefit to having someone who can travel through this forest unharmed with me –
especially if the rest of the wizards decide to come after me again."
Reese grinned. "Good, I'm glad. Now before we set out, why don't I see about that
breakfast?"
"Sounds like a plan." Shiara grinned as she watched Reese step into an adjoining room.
The pair ate a hearty breakfast. Reese then proceeded to pack a magical sack of food.
Shiara followed him to the front door. "Do you know which way the Mountains of
Morning are?"
Reese grinned. "Of course I do. I know exactly where I'm leading you. Follow me." He
began to walk into the thick of the Pixie Forest, staff in hand. Shiara had no choice but to
heft the magical bundle over her shoulder and follow the half-Pixie blindly.
Part II
Daystar sat on the floor staring at the mirror in shock. He felt completely numb from the
sight that he had beheld only moments before. He had always assumed that Shiara would
be safe with Kazul. After all, who would dare tangle with the King of the Dragons and
her princess? Apparently the wizards would. Daystar turned his head towards the
gargoyle that had been eerily quiet. "You saw that, didn't you?" Daystar called.
The gargoyle bit his lip. "I'm afraid I did."
"That's it? No snide remarks, no I-told-you-so, no anything?" Daystar exploded. Only
silence greeted him in return. "You don't even care, do you? You're just upset that you
don't have anyone to fight with! Well, did you ever think of the fact that it's a good
possibility that they might kill her? That she wouldn't come back? That I never got to say
goodbye?"
Without waiting for the gargoyle to respond, Daystar ran in search of his mother and
father. He had no choice but to go after the fire witch that he had befriended in the past
couple of months. In the short time that he had known her, Shiara had become a staple in
Daystar's life so much so that he couldn't bear to think that Antorell might do something
to her.
Daystar finally found Cimorene in the kitchen giving the cook directions of how she
thought chocolate mousse was to be prepared in order to best bring out the chocolate
flavoring. He ran into the room completely out of breath and closed the heavy oaken door
behind him.
"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Cimorene could tell right away that her son had something
on his mind.
"Shiara and…Antorell and the mirror and it went blank but they disappeared!" Daystar
tried to explain what was happening as quickly as possible in order to save time. If
anyone would know what to do, it would be his mother. She was the one who had
formulated the elaborate plan to save Mendanbar, after all.
Cimorene sighed. "Now calm down, Daystar. If Antorell kidnapped Shiara I'm sure that
he had a good reason to."
Daystar's mouth dropped open in shock. "Mother! How could you say such a thing?"
Cimorene's eyes crinkled into a smile. "I meant that if Antorell was desperate enough to
kidnap Shiara then he would never hurt her, unless she was particularly cheeky with him.
I know Antorell. He may be stupid but he always does things for his own benefit."
Daystar frowned. "I suppose that's allright, but why do you think he would want Shiara?"
"I can't be sure. She helped you defeat him. Maybe he wants payback. Or he could be
using her to get at you. He won't be satisfied until the Society of Wizards is able to
control the Enchanted Forest. You know that."
"Mother, I have to go after her. I can't let her stay with him." Daystar began pacing the
kitchen. After a moment he paused. "Do you think Father would let me take the sword
with me? Telemain said he knew where the headquarters of the Society of Wizards was.
That's the only place I can think of where Antorell would have taken her. If I take him
with me then we can be back in a few days."
"Morwen and Telemain have a wedding to plan, Daystar. Even if he wanted to go with
you Morwen would never let him leave. Besides, you wouldn't be able to understand one
word he said and he'd be more concerned with studying wizards than with finding Shiara
before anything happens to her," Cimorene argued.
Daystar sighed. "You're right I suppose. I guess I'll have to go by myself."
Cimorene smiled. "You can handle it, Daystar. Just don't let your emotions get in the
way of your quest. That's one of the biggest detriments to princes that go searching for
missing princesses. Believe me, I know."
Daystar flushed pink. "She's not a princess, Mother. Besides if Antorell is after the forest
again, it's my duty to stop him."
"Of course, dear," Cimorene winked at the cook who smiled knowingly.
Daystar hugged Cimorene tightly. "Thank you mother!!" After running down to the
armory and taking the Sword of the Sleeping King, which really probably shouldn't be
called that anymore anyway, Daystar informed Mendanbar that he was going after Shiara.
After a quick stop to visit Telemain, Daystar tugged on one of the invisible chords that
intertwined within the Enchanted Forest. He still was not completely adept at working
this type of magic so it took a few tries before he finally found himself at the edge of the
forest.
To the left he could see the Mountains of Morning in the distance. He briefly considered
going to visit Kazul and tell her everything that had happened. Daystar decided against it,
however. The mountains were dangerous when it was dark and he was positive that
waking the King of the Dragons would not be a safe thing to do no matter how friendly
his mother was with her. To the far right from the forest Daystar could only see a few
sparse hills and trees. With a sigh, he began the long trek to whatever lied ahead.
*****************************
Shiara groaned as she sat up. She began to rub her pounding head when an unknown
person pushed her gently into laying position. "You really oughtn't try to sit up yet. You
took a nasty fall. With all of the magical interference, I'm surprised that you came around
so quickly!" Shiara's unseen caretaker spoke softly.
Shiara was never one to take commands seriously. Her green eyes flew open and she
bolted upright. Her bleary eyes began to adjust to her surroundings. From what she could
determine she was inside of a humble cottage. A row of staffs that looked suspiciously
similar to those that she had seen those infernal wizards use were lined up against the
wall. From outside the windows she could see lush green trees and vegetation. A muffled
cough caught her attention and Shiara snapped her head towards the sound. Realizing her
mistake, Shiara blinked a few times to bring her eyes back to focus.
"I told you that you still weren't well enough to sit up," the boy in front of her scolded.
Shiara slit her eyes and glared at him. He was about her age and his complexion was
dark, not as dark as Daystar's, but close to it. His hair was chocolate brown with lighter
streaks in it from the sun. Shiara didn't feel like she could trust him, especially since he
hoarded staffs. But Telemain did the same thing, she reminded herself. "What happened
to Antorell?" she asked quickly.
The boy's eyes shifted nervously. Suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. "You mean the
wizard who I found with you?"
Shiara nodded. "That's the one."
The boy gestured to the row of staffs that Shiara had noticed earlier. "I've already taken
care of him."
Shiara sighed a breath of relief. "Oh," she said, grateful that she had stumbled into the
care of an ally and not someone she should be afraid of. Still, she felt the nagging tug that
told her to keep her guard up.
The boy looked visibly relieved at Shiara's reaction as well. "Well, now that that's all
squared away, let me introduce myself." The boy grinned. "My name is Reese." He
paused. "Allright, that's done and over with. Would you like me to fix you something to
eat, Shiara?"
Shiara started to agree, but paused when he addressed her. "How do you know my name?
I don't think I ever told you."
Reese smiled. "That wizard of yours was mumbling something about a Shiara and a
society and I think soapy lemon water. You can't be an entire society and I know you're
definitely not a cleaning solution. The only other thing you could be was the Shiara."
Shiara nodded. "I suppose that's true. Thank you for getting rid of Antorell for me. I
really appreciate it, but I have to get going. I have to get back to the Mountains of
Morning before Kazul notices I'm gone." She paused. "And Daystar! I have to let him
know that I'm allright before he loses his head and takes on the entire Society of Wizards
to rescue me!"
Reese was intrigued. "Is Daystar your knight?"
Shiara snorted. "Daystar my knight? Ha! No, he's the Prince of the Enchanted Forest!
He'd die if he heard you call him a knight!"
A worried look crossed Reese's face. "The prince? Princes are much worse than knights,
I think. I don't think I'd like to have to battle with a prince."
A giggle escaped from Shiara. "You wouldn't have to fight him! And he's not my prince
or anything. Just a friend," Shiara blushed at Reese's insinuation that Daystar was hers.
"Oh good."
Shiara glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Reese coughed nervously. "Um, nothing. I…I meant nothing by that."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me," Shiara lied. Lately, she had been really
touchy whenever the conversation turned to her and Daystar. She had snapped at Kazul
earlier in the day as well. She felt the need to explain herself to Reese, however. "You
see, I'm a fire witch and sometimes my temper runs away from me. I've been trying to
keep it under control because Daystar and that dumb sword of his put some stupid spell
over me so now I have to be polite if I want to use my magic."
"Really? I thought that you were a fire wizard."
Shiara's hair burst into flickering flames. "Who told you that?"
Reese backed away from her. "No one really. I can just sense a person's magical aura and
yours certainly is unlike that of any fire witch I ever met. It seems of more of a variation
of a wizard's."
"Well, you're mistaken." Her hair extinguished, the only evidence of its tirade was a few
wisps of smoke. "I really need to be getting back to Daystar, I mean Kazul, so if you
would be so kind as to give me directions to the Mountains of Morning, I'll be on my
way."
"I can't let you do that." Reese moved over to the wall and picked a staff from the wall.
Shiara backed away. "Why ever not?"
Reese glanced at the staff in his hand and back towards Shiara. "This forest is much to
dangerous for anyone to travel in it alone. Besides, we're really quite far away from the
Dragon Mountains. I'll escort you back."
Shiara stared at the staff in Reese's hands. "Well, what's that for then?" She pointed to it.
"This old thing?" Reese laughed. "It's nothing to be afraid of. I just thought that since
you seem to have the head of the Society of Wizards after you, it might be beneficial to
use their own magic against them if we should run into any of its members."
"You can do that?" Shiara was skeptical.
"I don't see why not. I've never tried to use a wizard's staff before, but how hard can it
possibly be?"
"Well, whatever." Shiara frowned. "So where are we anyway? It doesn't look like the
Enchanted Forest."
Reese smiled. "I thought that you'd never ask. It doesn't look like the Enchanted Forest
because it's not the Enchanted Forest." His eyes twinkled as he brushed a stray strand of
hair out of his eyes. "This is the Pixie's Forest. It's dangerous to travel around in here
alone because pixies are tricky and troublesome creatures. The like to play with the
travelers and most of them wind up getting enchanted somehow. And because not many
people come through this way, most of those unfortunates wind up staying enchanted."
"How do you get by living here then? Don't the pixies bother you?" Shiara asked, wide-
eyed.
"Oh no, not at all."
"Why? I mean, how come they would bother me and not give you a second glance?"
Shiara asked incredulously.
"Well, my mother was the princess of the pixies. Against my grandparents' wishes she
left the forest to marry my father. She was banished for marrying an outsider, but after
both of my parents died, I was allowed to come and go as I pleased. After all, it's not my
fault that my mother did what she did. I decided to live in here permanently because not
many adventurers or travelers bother you when you live in such a dangerous place,"
Reese explained carefully.
"Well how do I know that you're not going to try and trick or enchant me like the rest of
the pixies?" Shiara glowered.
Reese looked taken aback. "Shiara, I would never ever do that. Besides, I'm not a full-
blooded pixie anyway. I'm not nearly that mischievous or sneaky."
Shiara thought this over for moment. "I suppose that that makes sense." She nodded her
head. "Fine, you can escort me to the base of the mountains. I suppose it would be a
benefit to having someone who can travel through this forest unharmed with me –
especially if the rest of the wizards decide to come after me again."
Reese grinned. "Good, I'm glad. Now before we set out, why don't I see about that
breakfast?"
"Sounds like a plan." Shiara grinned as she watched Reese step into an adjoining room.
The pair ate a hearty breakfast. Reese then proceeded to pack a magical sack of food.
Shiara followed him to the front door. "Do you know which way the Mountains of
Morning are?"
Reese grinned. "Of course I do. I know exactly where I'm leading you. Follow me." He
began to walk into the thick of the Pixie Forest, staff in hand. Shiara had no choice but to
heft the magical bundle over her shoulder and follow the half-Pixie blindly.