Chapter 4:
Bloodthirsty
The three (or four, if you count Bait) found a spot to rest for the night. However, Calla, Ezra and Bait are the only ones currently sleeping.
Raylis is sitting on a rock, struggling to pull the binds off his wrist, even using his teeth to try to rip it off. Then he thought using magic words to command it to release him. "Unbind yourself! Unbind... thyself! Unbindo!" But nothing.
He glanced at the sleeping princesses, and noticed Bait was glaring at him. "What are you staring at? So what, I'm talking to my ribbon-thing? How is that any worse than talking to a... whatever it is you are. So don't judge me!" He snipped.
Bait turns red in response, so Raylis glares back at her. The two appear to have a staring contest for a few seconds, until Bait licks her left eye, snapping some slobber at him. Raylis turns his back at her in annoyance.
He then hears the bell toll from Katolis, realizing they must be burying the queen. He looked back again at the princesses, not knowing how he might break it to them, and with Bait still watching him judgingly.
The kingdom of Katolis is now in a state of mourning as news of Queen Hera's death deeply affected them. Vira had quickly assembled a funeral ceremony.
Everyone watched in sadness as the casket which contains their beloved queen's body is being carried through the kingdom by the Crownguard. Vira, Odel and his torchbearers march in front of the casket.
"A funeral so soon is madness." Odel whispered to Vira, voicing his disapproval. "It is tradition to mourn fallen rulers for seven sunsets. You've not even given her one."
"I understand your concern, Odel, but in a time of war, we must move forward."
They eventually made it to the Valley of Graves.
Sonja yawns, since she usually doesn't wake up this early. But she made an exception with today.
"Hey, keep your head up." Claude whispered to her.
"Sorry, long night." She said solemnly. She's still feeling down due to her failure to protect the queen.
"Here, drink this." Claude said, as he pours some brown liquid from his canteen into a cup. "I call it, 'hot brown morning potion'."
He hands his sister the cup. Sonja sniffed it a bit, noticing a kind of strong bittersweet smell. So she takes a sip. "Wow, that's good! How about some more?"
The Crownguard placed the coffin on the alter. Odel stands besides them.
Vira stand in front of the alter, facing the crowd of mourners. "Today we woke to a devastating truth. Our queen has been taken from us!" This causes the crowd to gasp aloud. "Slain by the forces of Xadia, vile Moonshadow elves. To me, she was more than a queen. In her final hours, Hera called me... her sister."
"Wait!" Odel spoke up. "Where are the princesses? They need to be here!"
"The princesses... are dead." Vira said.
The crowd exclaimed in horror.
"We cannot let Xadia's cruelty go unanswered! We must move forward with strength! Light the pyre!" Vira ordered.
"No." Odel said defiantly, putting out the fire from his torch. His fellow torchbearers followed suit.
Vira sighs aggravatedly. "Claude."
Claude steps up and opens a jar containing a spider, which crawled out and scattered around his hand. He crushed it and spoke an incantation, "Semalf gnippiks gnipael" (1), which created a fire that lights the pyre torches and then burns Queen Hera's coffin, much to the shock of Odel and his torchbearers.
"When a ruler of Katolis dies, we mourn for seven days. But we are at war. Today, we must mourn sevenfold... for tonight, there will be a coronation."
Later in the day, Calla holds the Primal Stone on her right hand, and draws it in her sketchbook with her right.
"Calla." Raylis walked up to her. "Calla. Hey!" He finally got her attention. "That's your name, right? Calla? Cal? Or was it Callous?"
"Uh, it's Calla. I guess I was just distracted trying to draw this... prima-ball."
"Primal Stone." Raylis corrected.
"Right. It holds the pure essence of a primal spirit inside."
"Primal Source." Raylis corrected again.
"Right."
"You do know what the Six Primal Sources are, right?"
"If I say yes, are you gonna make me name them?" Calla asked awkwardly.
Raylis sighs and extends his hand, and Calla gives him her sketchbook. "All magic in the world comes from the Primal Sources. They're the original and purest forms of magical energy." Raylis points to the symbols he drew on the sketchbook. "The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Earth, the Ocean, and..."
"The Sky." Calla finished, holding up the Primal Stone.
"Yes. To cast a spell, a mage needs Primal Energy. So that wind breath spell you did? You'd usually need a storm or at least a strong breeze. But with that stone, you have all the power of the Sky, any time."
"Wow!" Calla awed.
"Primal Stones are incredibly rare. They've been sought after by the most powerful arch-mages in history." Raylis closes the book, giving it back to Calla. "And now, somehow you have one."
Calla opens the book to the symbols Raylis drew. Then something occurred to her. "Wait, I... I've seen these before. At the Banther Lodge." She stands up. "There was this little cube thing and it had these exact symbols on it."
"Uh, neat."
"What if it's magic? We have to go there."
"What?" Raylis stood up as Calla picks up the Primal Stone and put it in his backpack. "We have real problems to worry about. Ending the war. Taking the dragon egg to Xadia. Remember?"
"Xadia's to the east, right? So is the lodge. It's on the way."
"Oh, great. I'm sure it won't be crawling with humans. Humans that are looking for you and want to kill me! Yay!"
"It's the winter lodge. It's been empty for months. Trust me." Calla assured him. But Raylis isn't budging. She sighs. "Look... Raylis. Princesses are supposed to be perfect at everything. Diplomacy, riding horses... even sword-fighting when the occasion arises. But I've always been kind of bad at... everything. So, when I tried that spell, I was sure I'd end up on fire or covered in spiders... but it worked. And then you called me a mage, and that felt... right."
Raylis looks at Calla sympathetically.
"I... just have this feeling that cube thing could help me."
"Calla...?" Ezra spoke up.
Calla and Raylis heard Ezra speak as she's woken up. "I had a weird dream."
"It wasn't a dream, Ez." Calla kneels next to Ezra. "All of that was real."
"Are you sure? There was this giant pink hippopotamus and I pulled its ear off. Because it was made of taffy."
"Uh, no. That— that was a dream. I thought you meant the elves, the smoke wolves, the dragon egg. That was all real."
"Of course I know that was all real. Then I tried to thank the hippo for the taffy, but he couldn't hear me, because I was eating his ears."
"Hey, sad princess. Let's go get your cube."
"Really?!" Calla said squeed.
"Yes. And please no more detours, or heartfelt speeches."
They head off to the lodge, with Ezra carrying the dragon egg. They walked for nearly a hour, and the sisters are becoming tired and hungry, since they didn't have any breakfast since leaving the castle. Ezra was getting more tired due to having to carry the egg of the Dragon Princess all day.
"Guys, can we-" Ezra spoke up.
"We're not stopping yet." Raylis interrupted.
"But I'm-"
"No snacks."
"I was gonna say thirsty."
"Fine. Drink this." Raylis hands Ezra a bottle of red liquid.
"No thank you." Calla said, stopping Ezra from taking it. "We don't drink... that."
"What?" Raylis asked confused.
"Blood. We don't drink blood. We don't mean to be rude but, uh, you can keep it."
"It's moonberry juice." Raylis stated. He gives it to Ezra who takes a few sips. "Is that what humans think we are? Bloodthirsty monsters?"
"No, no, no, it's not that. I mean, I have heard stories, but... I'm sure they're just stories. Horrible, awful stories. Oh, look at that we're here." Calla pointed at the Banther Lodge in relief, because she has a bad habit at rambling on and she can see that human's views on elves is a very touchy subject to Raylis. "See? No winter, no humans at the winter lodge."
"Let's just make this quick. Tell me where the thing is, and I'll be in and out."
"Okay, so this is the game room. Cube should be in there." Calla drew a picture of the game room in her sketchbook, ripped the page and hand it to Raylis.
He ran to the building, and hops up to the window.
"Like I said, no winter, no humans. Right?" Calla said to Ezra.
"Yeah. But it is kind of weird that no one's here, since this is where mom was sending us. I told you something wasn't right." Ezra said.
Suddenly they hear a horn blow and the sound of horses. The princesses looked to see a battalion of troops marching out of the woods, led by a very stern-looking bearded man with a scar on his left cheek.
"We probably shouldn't have come here." Calla said.
"You think?" Ezra quipped.
The two ran to the front of the lodge as the troops got closer. Ezra quickly hides the egg in Calla's bag.
The leader jumped off his horse and took off his helmet. And then smiles at the girls.
"Uncle Amayus?" Both sisters said in unison.
Amayus tosses his helmet to one of his soldiers, Gwen, a green-eyed female with chin-length red hair and freckles, who stood near him. He walked over to give his nieces double hugs. Then he put them down and got on one knee to speak to them through sign language.
Gwen walked up to the group to translate for Amayus. "I'm so glad you're safe."
"Extremely safe! Safe and... alone!" Calla chuckled nervously.
Amayus suddenly stood up with a cautious look on his face. Gwen makes a hand gesture that means "What's wrong?", Amayus replies by nodding his head at the open window that Raylis entered through. Realizing that Amayus knows someone broke in, Calla quickly blocked her uncle as he walked to the front door.
"Oh, that door is locked." Calla said. "So, uh, you wait here for a minute, a couple minutes, few... However long it takes. I'll go find a key."
Amayus grabbed Calla and put her aside, and kicked the door open.
"I don't believe in locks." Gwen translated.
Amayus slowly entered inside, with the princesses and Gwen right behind him. "Someone's here."
"What? No, no. No one where but us and all your human troops!" Calla said.
"Calla, you know it doesn't help to yell. And why are you saying 'human troops' like that?"
"Uh, what do you mean? That's how I always say, HEAVILY ARMED, HUMAN TROOPS." Calla laughed nervously.
Amayus and Gwen continued their search for any intruder. Amayus can sense he's being watched.
Calla looked up to find Raylis on top of the support beams, giving her a dirty look. She could only shrug sheepishly in response. But then she got an idea.
The young mage knocked on her uncle's armored back. Amayus turned around and gestures "Yes?"
"Ezra has something to tell you." Calla replied, while pulling Ezra in front of her.
"I... skipped breakfast. I'm sorry." Ezra said.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Gwen translated, while Amayus gives his nieces a disapproving look.
The sisters smile at each other after seeing Raylis sneak out while Amayus was distracted.
Calla, Ezra, and Bait sit at the long table, while their uncle searches something for them to eat from the cabinets.
"The food here is... weapons-grade." Gwen translated, as Amayus found some very stale loafs of bread. He puts a loaf on the table and stuck his sword for them to use as a knife. "Dig in."
Ezra tried to pull Amayus' sword from the table, but it wouldn't budge.
"Uncle Amayus, why are you here?" Calla asked while grabbing the loaf.
"I received a message bird from the queen yesterday." Gwen translated. Amayus then pulls out a scroll similar to the one Hera gave Calla. She suddenly remembers accidentally dropping it when Raylis had her cornered yesterday.
"What's wrong?" Gwen translated, as she and Amayus noticed the distressed look in Calla's face.
"She gave me a letter too, but I must have dropped it somewhere. What'd your letter say?"
Amayus handed her niece the letter, and Calla reads out loud.
"'General, the castle is under threat. Assassins have infiltrated the kingdom. Moonshadow elves.'"
"The worst kind." Gwen translated, sharing the same hated expression as her general.
"'Do not bring your force to the castle. Your orders are to proceed immediately to the Banther Lodge. Calla and Ezra will be there. Above all, see to it that my daughters are safe.'"
Calla was touched that Hera calls her one of her daughters. While she was reading, Ezra gave up trying to pull the sword out and instead tries to cut the bread in half by rubbing it against the blade.
"Wait, there's more on the back." Gwen translated.
Calla flipped back the letter and read the rest. "'P.S.: Once their safety is assured, the girls may wish to build a dirt man.' We do not wish to build a dirt man."
"We do not." Ezra agreed.
"You're safe now, girls." Gwen translated.
Ezra finally cuts the bread clean in half and takes a bite on it. But it's even more stale than she thought. "Ow."
"Scrumptious, ain't it?" Gwen translated, sharing her general's humor.
It was close to evening as many guards stand watch and patrol outside the lodge. Some guard inside, while a few are putting on a new door to replace the one their general kicked open. Amayus and Gwen are having a discussion while the princesses are sitting next to the fireplace.
"This is all my fault." Calla sighs as she slumped on the couch. "We should have never come here. I know Raylis is gonna hound me about it."
"But we found Uncle Amayus." Ezra said, while playing with the toys. Bait swallows one of them, and turns blue. "Maybe we should tell him, Calla."
"Tell him what?"
"About the egg... and Raylis."
"We can't. Didn't you hear what he said? How he talked about elves? To Uncle Amayus, elves are monsters."
Bait spit out the toy.
"But if we just explain everything-"
"It won't work. Humans and elves don't trust each other. That won't change until we take this egg back to Xadia. We have to find Raylis and get out of here."
After Calla walked away, Ezra looks down at the figurine she was playing with, an elf toy with sharp looking teeth and an evil grin. She didn't even realize it was supposed to be an elf until now, and felt guilty for ever using it as the "bad guy". She just doesn't understand why human and elves can't get along.
Raylis climbed up to the roof and sneaks back into the lodge and enters the games room.
"'It's the winter lodge, Raylis. No winter, no humans.'" Raylis mocked Calla. He looked at the drawing she made and compared it to the position he's looking from. "'It's okay.'"
Raylis searches across the room until he found an ornate box. He dropped the contents onto a table, and sees a bunch of eyes... and the cube.
"Huh."
Amayus sneaks up behind Raylis, but the elf quickly dodge his shield which smashed the table. Raylis flipped across the room and draws out his blades. The two began to fight. Raylis' blades clash with Amayus' shield.
At one point, Amayus broke one of the support beams while trying to punch Raylis.
Then, the two face each other. Amayus makes a "come here" gesture at the elf, who runs towards him and jump up to ram his blades at the human. But Amayus threw him to another table. Raylis was about to grab his blades, but Amayus grabs him and traps him on the wall with his shield. Amayus was about to pull out his sword when Gwen barged into the room.
"General Amayus! The princesses have disappeared."
Amayus looks back at Raylis, who's just as surprised at her human friends disappearance. He puts his sword back into his sheath, and punched Raylis right in the face hard. Knocking Raylis out cold.
Raylis opened his eyes, and found himself sitting in the basement and his hands tied to a support beam. Amayus, Gwen, and two human soldiers stand in front of him.
"How did you do it?" Gwen translated.
"How did we do what?" Raylis asked.
"'We'?! How many of you are there?" Gwen translated.
"Did I say 'we'?" Raylis asked, averting Amayus' glance. He grabbed the elf's dead, making him face Amayus with identical glares.
"Don't look away from me." Gwen translated.
"It's just me. I'm alone." Raylis said.
"Liar." Amayus stood up and looked at his soldiers. "If there are more of them, the princesses are in danger. Do not take your eyes off him."
Amayus and Gwen head up the stairs. One of the two soldiers inspects one of Raylis swords, and gasped in surprise when its blade pops out. The other soldier is started as well.
"Careful with those. Wouldn't want to lose a finger. I mean, can you imagine going through life with only four fingers?" Raylis shows off his four fingers on each hand. The soldiers look at each other awkwardly.
Raylis suddenly hears a rumbling noise coming from the dumbwaiter behind them.
"This is one of your weirdest ideas." Calla tells Ezra, as she's lowering the dumbwaiter.
"Weirder than snail armor?" Ezra asked.
"Ez, I told you, snails already have armor."
"Then why do they keep getting smooshed?"
"We're not-" An annoyed Calla tried to argue, but the rope almost slipped off her hand. "My point is, I don't know if this plan will work."
"She'll know what to do."
The dumbwaiter reached down to reveal Bait standing inside.
"Have you met Bait? Say 'hello' to my little friend." Raylis said.
Bait glowed and flashed, temporarily blinding the two guards. They quickly draw out their swords to stop Raylis from escaping. But he spun around the beam and kicked the female guard's head with both his feet. The male guard ran towards him and tried to strike him with his sword, but Raylis dodged it and sidekicks him. With both guards out, Raylis cut his binds with his other blade that's stuck in the beam above him. He grabs his swords and ran up the stairs, saying "thanks" to Bait.
Bait croaks in response, as if saying "you're welcome". Raylis came back to get her. Then he meets the sisters halfway through the stairs. He hands Bait to Ezra. "Come on!"
The three run out the lodge, with the guards noticing their getaway. They tried to cross the bridge, only to be blocked by more guards.
"Stop right there, elf!" Gwen translated, as she and Amayus walked through the soldiers. "Calla, Ezra, come here."
"Calla, we should just tell him." Ezra said.
"Boys get away from him." Gwen translated. The soldiers have their bows ready.
"Wait!" Calla said. She stood besides Raylis and using sign language.
"What are you saying?" Raylis asked.
"He says, if we don't let you go, you'll kill them and drink their blood." Gwen translated, as Amayus repeated what Calla said to him. "That you are a monster."
Raylis turns to Calla in shock.
"Right, so you have to let us go." Calla said hopefully.
"It's okay, Calla. I've slain monsters before. Do it, take him out." Gwen translated.
Arrows are being shot at him. Raylis slices one in half. He barely avoided another, which cut a few strands of his hair, and hit a tree. Thinking fast, Raylis grabbed the princesses with both his arms and draws his blades at their heads.
"Go ahead, take another shot. But read my lips: the next time I swing my blade, I'll end both of them in half a second." Raylis threatened.
Amayus glares at the elf intensely, since he can indeed read lips and understood perfectly. He signals his soldiers to cease their attack.
"Move, humans." Raylis ordered, as they walked away. Raylis still have his swords at the princesses.
After walking away far enough from the soldiers, they ran down some steps. "What now?" Raylis asked.
Calla and Ezra hopped into a boat in the river. "I don't think a boat-"
"Just get in." Calla said.
Raylis jumped in, reluctantly. Soon they row far from the lodge.
"If the elf realizes we followed them, she'll take the princess' lives. We need to be careful." Gwen translated. "Raptora!"
A dark-skinned woman with a scar on her left eye and wearing a tracker outfit walked up to Amayus and Gwen.
"Track them, but stay out of sight. And when you see an opportunity, free them." Gwen translated. Raptora bows in response. Amayus then turned to his soldiers. "The rest of you, ride with me."
Everyone soon left, leaving Raptora to her mission.
A few minutes later, the quartet have rowed further down the river.
"That worked. I can't believe it." Calla sighed in relief.
"I can't believe you, Calla!" Raylis yelled angrily. He puts on his hood, hugs his knees close, and turned his back on Calla.
"What? What's wrong?" Calla asked, genuinely confused.
"You called me a bloodthirsty monster! Do you have any idea how that feels?!"
"But, I don't actually believe any of that. I was just trying to scare him; I thought he'd back down."
"Oh, that went well! They tried to kill me anyway!"
"I'm sorry. That's not what I meant to happen."
Raylis turned his head away from Calla. "Well, it did."
"I... didn't know what else I could have done." Calla said.
"You could have told Uncle Amayus everything. I told you we should have!" Ezra reprimanded.
An exasperated Calla was about to remind her sister why it wouldn't work, only to be cut off by Raylis. "It wouldn't have made a difference." He said in a resigned tone.
"We still should have tried. That's the whole point of this quest, wasn't it? To bring peace between elves and humans."
There is deaf silence between them, except for Ezra's aggravated sigh as she shakes her head.
Then Raylis tosses Calla the cube. "Here."
"You found it?" An elated Calla asked.
"It's a toy. Probably a piece from a children's game. I hope it was worth it to you, putting everyone's lives in danger." Raylis said angrily.
Calla has never felt so bad in her life, they went through all this trouble for nothing. Nothing that could help her learn magic, and has stupidly made Raylis, an elf, be more hated by the humans.
She accidentally dropped the so-called toy and it rolled near the Primal Stone, and the air symbol started to glow.
Back at Katolis, a large crowd as gathered in the courtyard.
"It's almost time, mother. Crown time." Sonja said.
"Thank you. That will be all." Vira walked up to Hera's bird Pipette, whom she placed in a cage. "No song for the occasion? Hmm?" Vira only got the silent treatment. "Hmm."
Vira walked out to speak to the people standing in the courtyard. "People of Katolis, Queen Hera's death has wounded us deeply, but the loss of her daughters, our princesses, is a greater injustice. By taking the heirs to the throne, our enemies sought to leave us without a leader. It would disgrace Hera's memory to allow the kingdom she loved to be lost in darkness. Though it is a heavy burden, I will humbly take up the battle in Hera's name. I will become Lady Protector of the realm."
The crowd muttered in surprise and confusion.
Odel reluctantly walked up to a kneeling Vira and began to slowly place the crown on her head.
Suddenly a horn blows, catching everyone's attention. "Stop!" Gwen called out, translating for Amayus. The two had stopped their horses by the gate. "Stop the coronation! The princesses are alive!"
The crowd gasped in surprise. Odel smiles in relief, while Vira grimaced.
Author's Note:
Translation:
(1): "Leaping skipping flames"