Cedric, Elora, and Sofia decided to set up camp, seeing that the sun was starting to go down. Koa flew down and sat perched on Elora's shoulder. Cedric landed the coach and waved his wand to unload the bags. Sofia started to set up the sleeping bags and Elora walked over to the food compartment of the carriage to start some dinner up. As she opened, Elora blinked in surprise as she saw something inside. "Uh, are we expecting any expecting guests?" she asked. Sofia and Cedric both turned to her.
"No, why?" Sofia questioned. Elora pulled out Clover from the food compartment in the carriage. He was munching on a couple of radishes. "Look who I found rummaging around in our food."
Sofia quickly took the rabbit from Elora. "Clover, I told you stay back at the castle!"
"I didn't know when you'll be back. The palace would've been boring without you. So, here I am!" Clover told her.
"Clover, it's not safe." Sofia replied.
"And it's not safe for you as well."
"It's too late to return him back and we're all the way out here." Elora said.
"I guess it's alright if the vermin-I mean, the rabbit stays." Cedric murmured and went back to get started on the fire. Nighttime had fallen and everyone ate their dinner and turned in for the night.
"Good night, you guys." Elora told Sofia and Cedric.
As soon as Elora closed her eyes, she went fast asleep.
In her dream, Elora found herself wandering in the cobblestone streets of a strange town. She could smell the salty sea in the air. Her home, possibly maybe, a memory? Elora decided to dive in deeper. She had to find out. She had to remember! Elora saw that she was a child again as she looked into the reflecting from a puddle of water. From every corner, there were people towering over her with menacing stares and glares. There were several bandits robbing a store, a person randomly getting mugged in an alley. People begging in the streets, peddlers who were really con artists, selling fake trinkets and jewelry and other merchandises. Elora felt her body move as she was being pulled towards a man who was walking in the street, accompanied by a woman, who was dressed in guard armor. The man was an elf and appeared to be middle aged. He had long black hair with some graying in it, one strand up in a ponytail while the rest lay loose. He was wearing silk red luxurious garments made for a noble, dark forest green eyes like hers. The woman beside him was a human, appeared to be in her mid 20's, blue eyes, brown hair with braids along the side of her head folded into a small messy bun. She moved with grace in movement. As they got closer, Elora purposely bumped into the man, causing her to stumble.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, innocently.
"It's alright, my dear. Are you okay?" the man asked her, holding Elora. Elora felt her hands slip into the man's pockets, taking small stash of coin.
"I'm fine! I really must be going now!" Elora smiled, but before she could run a hand grabbed her wrist in an iron like grip. It was the woman's.
"Do you really think you can fool and steal from the king?"
"Let me go!" Elora shouted, trying to break out of the woman's arms.
"What should we do with her, your majesty? Throw in in the dungeons?"
The king eyed Elora curiously, narrowing his eyes and bent down to her.
"Such a young lady wandering these dangerous streets. Can you tell me your name, child?" the king asked her.
"-." Elora told him, softly. Elora tried to remember what she had said. It had to be her real name. What was it? It drove Elora even more frustrated as she couldn't remember it.
"Your mother and father must be worried about you." the man spoke.
"My mother's dead. My father left before I was even born." Elora glared at him. His eyes widened before softening a little. Elora noticed that he appeared sad. He looked at the woman.
"We'll take her to the castle, Amaya. I'm sure my daughter would love to have a little playmate."
Elora was taken to the castle by the king and the woman. As they stepped inside, Elora peered behind the king's leg to see another elven child with long, slightly curly, black hair and blue eyes playing with one of the servants. She was wearing elegant blue dress robes.
"Vana, could you come over here for a moment. I have a new friend for you to play with." the king spoke. Elora saw the girl run over to her father, smiling as soon as she saw him. Then her smile dropped a little, looking at Elora, curiously.
"Father, who is this peasant girl? She's filthy!" Elora narrowed her eyes at her. She did not like this girl, not one bit.
"Vana, that's not nice-"
"Well, at least I'm not a royal snob like you!" Elora blurted out. Vana stared at her in shock, surprised, that someone actually insulted her for the first time.
"How dare you! Do you know that you're talking to the future queen!"she shouted about to lunge at Elora. The king grabbed her before she could grab Elora. The guards woman held Elora back from fighting Vana as well.
"Vana, this is -. She's going to be your playmate. She's going to be staying with us from now on. You've always said that you wanted a sister."
"Elora!"
"Elora!"
"Elora! Wake up!" Elora felt herself being roughly shaken awake. Her eyes quickly flew open, seeing Sofia above her.
"What's going on? Is it morning already?" Elora groaned, sleepily, and sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"No! Those lava creatures are back!" Sofia shouted. Elora's eyes widen and she saw Cedric trying to fend off the three creatures with his magic. But it did very little damage. Elora quickly grabbed her staff and got up, running over to help Cedric.
"Cedric, duck!" Elora shouted. Cedric quickly ducked down, and Elora fired a frost spell at the lava creatures. They steamed and hissed in pain and slowly backed off a bit. Elora fired another blast with her staff, completely coating the creatures in ice, freezing them inside. Elora turned back to Cedric.
"Are you okay?" She asked him, helping Cedric up. Sofia ran over to them.
"Yes. I'm fine." He spoke. Elora looked back at the creatures that were frozen in ice.
"Those were the same creatures that attacked before."
"Maybe we should get moving. If they found us here, then they might send more." Sofia suggested.
"I agree." Cedric spoke. Everyone began to pack up, putting the gear back on the coach. Then there was a sudden rustle in the bushes that made everyone stop.
"You don't think there's more of them, do you?" Sofia asked. Cedric and Elora braced themselves as they watched, silently waiting. A few more minutes went by, and nothing happened.
"A wild animal, maybe?" Elora wondered.
Then a blast of magic fired from the bush, aiming at Cedric.
"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia cried out. Elora quickly ran into him, the two of them falling to the ground. The blast of magic slammed into the coach, destroying it. The flying Pegasus took off, scared, leaving the others stranded. Elora pushed herself up, looking down at Cedric. She blushed, seeing that she was on top of him. Cedric stared back up at her, blushing as well, still stunned. Elora quickly got up, getting off of him.
"I'm sorry." She told him, helping Cedric up. Sofia ran over to them.
"Are you both alright?" She asked worried.
"We're fine. But who attacked us?" Cedric questioned. Then they heard someone, stepping out of the bushes. Elora's eyes widen as she saw an elven woman who appeared in her early 20's, with wavy long black hair and blue eyes, wearing the same blue dress robes in her dream. It was Vana, but much older now. She had a staff like Elora's, but a dark blue gem encrusted at the top.
"If you want to do things, you gotta do it yourself." She muttered, bitterly, glaring at Elora. Cedric quickly pushed Sofia behind him, holding out his wand to the sorceress. Elora kept her eyes on her as well.
"Vana." Elora spoke. Both Cedric and Sofia stayed quiet, looking at the two.
"Elora, do you know her?" Sofia asked, softly.
"Hello, dear sister, I didn't think to see you alive again, especially after the fall." Vana smirked and looked over at Cedric and Sofia. "And what do we have here? A bumbling fool and a little pampered princess. What interesting company do you have. Although, the scrawny one does look cute." She finished, looking at Cedric. Elora, stood in front of him, blocking Cedric and Sofia from her view.
"They're my friends." Elora told her. "Whatever problem you have with me, leave them out of this. What do you want?"
"I want what you stole from me. My birthright." Vana smiled, darkly, pointing towards Elora's staff.