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Chapter 3: Knowing Ylla
A cool and fairly strong breeze continued to caress the whole town, refreshing everyone and making them forget the heat of the noontime sun. Sara and Merlock walked in search of a friendly face. Their hair danced to the direction of the blowing wind that they had to raise their hands to their heads often to prevent their strands from getting into wild disarrays.
They found a boy of about thirteen years old sitting on a bench while painting a breathtaking illustration of the knoll where they had been. He had seemingly kind cerulean eyes, brown hair, and a really captivating smile.
"Let's ask him. Being the artist that he is, it's possible that he knows everyone since he observes his environment pretty well," said Sara.
"I agree. And he looks approachable too," replied Merlock.
Together they came near to the young painter.
"Hello! This is Sara and I'm Merlock. Can we talk to you for a few minutes?" Merlock said.
The boy's eyebrows met. He appeared as if examining Merlock from head to toe, like a subject that he wished to make a portrait of. This was not a surprise to the vampire though, almost each person he got to meet had more or less the same reaction, and it must be because of his azure complexion. But then a sudden thought entered Merlock's mind. If there was truly someone behind all that occurred to Sara and him, then this boy probably had seen Jascha before and would not act that way. Yet he decided to shake off his brain those mental notes then, for the timing of their arrival was inappropriate.
"Um, of course you can speak to me. By the way, my name's Riakno," the boy replied with a warm smile after for what felt like a period of eternity.
"Do you know the girl named Ylla?" Sara asked.
"Pink orbs against walls of moonlight. That's her, isn't it so?" Riakno answered as he released his paintbrush gently and faced Sara with the intention of listening to her.
It took several seconds before Sara understood what Riakno said. She figured out that he referred to Ylla's eyes. These artists were surely unique in the way they describe things they encounter.
"Yeah I guess. And she drinks wine," she said.
"Oh there they go again," Riakno said.
"What do you mean?" asked Merlock.
"She only drowns herself in alcohol when they fight." Riakno replied.
"Who are 'they'?" asked Sara.
"Ylla and her boyfriend."
"Do you know where her boyfriend lives?" asked Sara.
"No, and he mysteriously disappears every time he and Ylla would have an argument. He would return after three days or so."
"How about Ylla? Where is her house located?" questioned Merlock.
"I'm sorry but my answer to that would be another 'no.' I often see her in the village but when the day ends she goes to the woods. Maybe she resides there," Riakno said as he pointed to a visible yet distant forest.
"Woods, wine, clothing of ancient Greece . . . wait a minute, that girl's Maenad!" exclaimed Merlock.
"What?" Sara and Riakno chorused.
"She is Maenad, not human. And, Sara, I think we can get her to seriously talk to us if we give her salt to eat," Merlock said with a smile lighting his features.
"Doesn't salt work only for zombies?" asked Riakno with a chuckle.
"Trust me on this. I'm a vampire, I have knowledge about most beings of legends, so I am confident about my plan," Merlock said.
"Okay, so where can we find salt, Riakno?" asked Sara.
"Let's go to my home and I'll give you some," Riakno replied, then he picked up his drawing items.
The three made their way to a small but neatly built brick house. Riakno went inside, and when he came out, he was carrying nothing but a small pouch filled with salt.
"Riakno, you indeed were a lot of help. Thanks," Merlock said.
The two eager travelers exchanged words of farewell with the amicable artist.
Merlock and Sara went back to the tavern. Ylla still sat where they left her earlier. They approached her and offered her the salt.
"Gee, my eternal gratitude," she said as she began to eat, and did not stop until the pouch was empty.
The redness of her face caused by the wine was replaced by a welcoming expression. Her eyes shone brightly and her smile was sincere. She touched her unruly curls, tying them into pigtails.
"What was your concern?" asked Ylla.
"The key that would bring us to another place," answered Sara.
"Well then, I cannot remember exactly where I left it. We better go now and look for it," Ylla said as she stood.
Ylla exited the tavern, followed by Sara and Merlock. They started a pilgrimage to the forest, led by Ylla. Once there, they did not halt hiking until they arrived in front of a cave surrounded by shrubs. Ylla sighed.
"I recall going to this cave yesterday thus maybe I accidentally dropped the key somewhere inside of it. But then it's very dark in there, so it would not be easy finding the key," said Ylla.
"We can solve that problem," Sara said as she kneeled, grabbed two dried branches from the ground, and rubbed them against each other with hopes of creating a torch.
"Let me do that for you," volunteered Merlock.
Half an hour passed before Merlock finally got the two pieces of wood to ignite and become useful sources of light. He gave one to Ylla and chose to hold the other one for him and Sara.
"Alright, let's get to work. The key looks like a miniature amphora," Ylla said.
As they stepped into the cave's embrace, crunching noises under their feet were audible and bats hovered over their heads, only to be frightened by the fire from the torches. They tried to make their torches go near every inch of the cave to shed light on their path as well as to see if the key was there.
After moments of searching, Merlock slipped.
"Are you okay?" asked Sara as she assisted him in getting to his feet.
"I'm fine, Sara. Don't worry," he said, blushing, then quickly added, "I felt something smooth and somewhat cylindrical under my right foot."
"Maybe that's the amphora," Sara replied, then she got the torch from Merlock.
Sara and Ylla inspected the area, moving their torches close to the ground.
"There it is! We found it," Ylla said as she held a red vase-like object with a pair of little handles at the sides.
She handed it to Sara. Ylla then took a capsule from her pocket. When she threw it, it became a scooter which resembled Merlock's, the only difference was that it was orange. She hopped on it and let go of her torch, whose life was extinguished as it hit the cave's floor.
"Bye and good luck," the Maenad called as she faded into the darkness.
A bizarre force was emitted by the amphora. The energy formed into a tornado of considerable size, and it engulfed Sara and Merlock.
The couple opened their eyes. They were within the vicinity of a court specially designed for sports. The sun seemed that it was due to set in a mere span of hours.
"Hi," came a voice.
They turned around and found themselves face to face with a guy. He had dark tan skin, violet eyes and green hair whose style was similar to that of Trunks of Dragon Ball Z. He was wearing jogging pants and a loose T-shirt with the letters "DH" on the left sleeve.
"Hello," said Sara.
The guy whistled as he ran a hand through his hair and went next to her.
"Hi, gorgeous. What's your sign?" he breathed into her ear as he placed a hand on Sara's waist.
"Hey!" Merlock said, pulling Sara towards him and away from the greenhead.
"I'm Konimu," the guy said as he raised a hand in an attempt to hold Sara's.
"Bloody hell! Get lost!" Merlock said to him.
"Why, you can't ask me to leave, unless you want to be stranded out here. And when I leave, I'll take the girl with me," Konimu said as he folded his arms on his chest and smiled.
"There's something familiar in his smile," Sara whispered to Merlock.
"Maybe you have met me before in your sweetest of dreams," Konimu said.
Sara blushed. It was not true that she dreamt of this guy, but then she did not expect that he would hear her words.
"No!" she protested. "Your smile. It was just like . . . Jascha's," she added. Her voice got softer at the last word.
"Excellent memory you got there, koishii. Yep, Jascha's my twin brother," Konimu said, making Sara blush slightly when he called her koishii (beloved).
"Don't you really know when to quit?" Merlock suddenly said, with fury in his tone of voice.
"Are you challenging me?" asked Konimu.
"In a way, yes. We need the key from you," replied Merlock without thinking.
"Simple. We'll have a sports competition. One on one. You against me. If you win, you get the key. If you lose, I get the girl. You choose what kind of sport we play. And don't ever think of committing acts of violence like you did with my brother. Or else," Konimu said with a smirk, a green ball of acid forming over his palm.
Merlock sighed and placed his hands on his hips. This elf was annoying him much more than his brother was able to do.
"Alright, I say we play basketball," said Merlock.
"Fine by me," replied Konimu.
There goes the third chapter! Please review!