¤ The Quest Continues

Silver and Jaysen sat in their seats, hushed by Scadur’s tale. ‘So your grandfather knew this girl? And she was one of those who protected the village of El Nath?’ Silver asked in awe, her hands flat against the table they gathered around. She had read a little about the history of El Nath, but never really had an image as vivid as the one Scadur painted.

‘It looks like it. And a hero like her should have been celebrated, if she was one of the villagers. Funny though, I never heard a single story or song about her in all me life…’ said Scadur.

‘But her statue stands at the top of Orbis Tower! Maybe she was remembered for her brave deed afterall!’ Jaysen exclaimed.

‘Seems strange, this gap of information. It sounds like someone purposely wanted to keep people from knowing about this girl. Even you didn’t want anyone to know that you are telling us all these, sir.’ Silver frowned.

‘Well, it’s not me fault that I don’t want to have any problems with those darn fairies-’ Scadur suddenly stopped talking. Too late. Silver’s sharp ears had caught those muttered words. ‘What’s that? Fairies?’

‘Ye didn’t hear that.’ Stubbornly, the man denied that he had said anything incriminating.

But his denial only led to more questions from Silver. ‘Did the fairies threaten you or something? Did they say why?’

‘I SAID, YE DIDN’T HEAR THAT!’ Scadur roared and slammed the table, enraged by the incessant questioning.

Silence filled the room, only broken Scadur’s loud angry breathing.

Jaysen went over to Silver, who was white with fright. ‘Hey, your librarian instincts ought to tell you when to stop poking, you know.’ He murmured softly to her. To Scadur, he said, ‘Sorry, mister. This girl here is too curious for her own good. She’s an Adventurer Librarian, you know. Those nosey types can’t seem to stop asking why. Forgive us kids, alright?’ He gave a hopeful smile.

‘Let’s go.’ Silver whispered to Jaysen and stood up shakily from her chair. Despair weighed heavily in her heart, at the realization that this Project was becoming harder than she expected.

She walked unsteadily to Scadur’s side of the table, her side still aching from the pounding the Yeti gave her. ‘Thank you for your help, Scadur sir. I really appreciate your kindness and I’ll keep my promise, I swear. Good afternoon.’ She made to gather up her Olympus bow and quiver, which were leaning against the side of the cottage door. Jaysen moved to help her.

‘Leave ‘em first.’ Scadur said gruffly. ‘I have something for ye before ye go, Librarian.’ He stood up, and went to search through the drawer along the far side of the room. Turning to Silver, he passed her an old, leather-bound book. ‘This would probably be more useful for a Librarian like ye. It belonged to me grandpa Salmer. Mayhap it will help ye in yer quest.’

Silver’s eyes lit up in gratitude and joy. ‘Thank you so much!’ She smiled and gave the elder hunter a great hug. Surprised, Scadur at first gave a startled smile, then broke into loud booming laughter at Jaysen’s grin and thumbs up. ‘Ye’re welcome, missus. Me grandpa Salmer would have wanted this too.’

“So it looks like the fairies in Orbis have a hand in this missing history of the statue. Or rather, the girl of that statue. Why, though? They are known to have no wish to deal with mortals. It is very unlike them to involve themselves in the affairs of mortals, much less try that hard to stop people from knowing about the heroics of one.

And what did that voice that spoke to me when I was unconscious mean? Can the ‘Them’ be referring to the fairies? What truth is there to be told?

At least there is a stronger link that we can follow now. Salmer Scadur. He seems to personally know the girl in the statue. And what we have in our hands now is the personal journal of Salmer Scadur. Thank the heavens that Scadur decided to give it to us, after that blunder that I made.

Wait a minute, did I just write ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’? “

Silver gave a small huff and shut her journal. Setting aside her pen on the desk, she leant backwards in her chair and stared upwards at the ceiling.

Since when did her personal Project become a team effort? But Jaysen did give her so much help, he almost had a stake in this Project. His teasing and companionship did make things interesting. And try as hard as Silver could to hint that she wanted to continue alone, Jaysen seemed totally oblivious to her subtle suggestions.

Such fanciful thoughts, she gave a dry laugh and shook her head.

‘What are you laughing about?’ Jaysen appeared at the doorway of her hotel room, leaning casually against the doorframe. He brought out his golden dagger and started to play with its curved edges. It reflected the warm glow from the table lamp and flashed as Jaysen turned the blade over and over.

‘Um, oh.’ Silver hastily kept away her journal in her backpack, sandwiching it between two other books in there. ‘Nothing. Nothing important.’

Jaysen shot her a mock hurt look. ‘You’re keeping something from me. That many “nothings” means there’s something you find so hilarious, dear lady. What, were you laughing at me?’

Silver felt a little shocked as Jaysen unknowingly hit the nail on the head. Recovering quickly, she retorted, ‘Yes, if you really wanted to know. I was laughing at how you are so pathetic.’ Mentally, she bashed herself on the head for the weak comeback.

‘Ah, you wound me, fair damsel!’ He clasped his hands over his heart, dramatically staggering into the room. He fell to his knees in the middle of the room before Silver’s desk, letting his dagger clatter to the floor beside him.

Silver could not help but let out a chuckle at Jaysen’s antics.

Jaysen’s eyes twinkled, and flung out his hands in mock adoration. ‘It seems like the lady likes the pathetic Jaysen. I’m blessed!’

‘Gee, quit it already.’ Silver rolled her eyes. She opened her backpack and took out Salmer’s journal. ‘Shall we start reading this now?’

The playfulness in Jaysen’s eyes faded away quickly, replaced by eagerness. ‘Sure! Let’s get to it.’

Reverently, Silver set the leather-bound volume on the table and opened it carefully. With a soft creak of its weathered spine, the journal’s page fell open to reveal the stories and secrets that its covers were guardian to…

¤ The First Chapter

Aurora. Where do I begin to tell her story? It seemed as if she lived in another world. An otherworldly being, banished into our world, then felled shortly after she regained her rightful place. Now, her name and story cannot even be spoken out loud. Soon, they will fade from the minds of mortals, their imprints left only in the foggiest memories of the immortals.

It is too unfair. I, Salmer Scadur, may well be the last person in this world to know the truth, and my time is running out. I will leave it in these pages. Mayhap someone in the future will be curious and brave enough to delve into this history of treachery and betrayal to tell the world in the truth. I have neither the courage, nor the energy in my dotage.

Let me try to start again. It was ages ago, when the small quiet village of El Nath found an unconscious girl at its gates, in the coldest winter of any living memory then…

Salmer perched comfortably in his seat at the crook of the tall, bare tree that grew on a cliff above the village. From this place, he could survey the entire village and beyond. Right now, there was only the pristine, white landscape covered in snow to see. Warmly wrapped up in his thick furs and cloak, he idly sketched the familiar landscape onto the parchment in his lap.

Just then, the dark evening sky seemed to explode into colour. Ribbons of dazzling lights streamed through the dark blue of the horizons, surging and fading away to a rhythm inaudible to any human ears.

Salmer sat up quickly, almost falling out of his elevated seat in amazement. He had never seen such a fantastic display before. Auroras! What good luck! His brown eyes stared in wonder at the lights that played on the horizon, already thinking about how to capture that natural beauty on paper.

A slight commotion could be heard, coming from the village gates. Puzzled, Salmer turned his attentions downwards to look towards the gates. A small crowd was gathered there, huddled over something in the snow.

Quickly, Salmer climbed down from the tree and dashed towards the gates. Approaching the old Potions shopkeeper, he asked, ‘What’s going on?’

The old lady gestured towards the ground, clutching her fur coat closer to her throat. ‘Some child unconscious there. Doesn’t look like any of us.’ She spat on the ground, and made a warding sign. ‘Strange creature, to appear under the aurora lights.’

Frowning, Salmer waded his way through the crowd. His lanky frame made his job easier, as the crowd parted obediently to let the tall youth pass through.

The mysterious newcomer turned out to be a small, delicate looking girl. She sprawled on her side in the cold snow, straggly strands of dark hair frozen to her cheeks and neck. Her lips were blue from the chill, and frozen blood matted a side of her forehead.

Why didn’t anyone help her! Salmer sighed in exasperation. The villagers of El Nath could be so suspicious of strangers, with the exception of strangers with mesos to spend. Salmer took off his cloak and wrapped it around the girl. Carefully, he picked up the child, who was surprisingly light. There was a stickiness at her back, which, Salmer found to his horror, stained his arm red with blood.

In a deep faint, the girl clutched lightly at her rescuer’s arm as he carried her into his family’s cottage. Her brow furrowed, as if, she saw something troubling in her coma…

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Links to previous chapters:
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Ah, back from the modemless grave. (It’s a long story. At least I didn’t have to lurk around waiting for all the MMOtales fics I follow to update. ) Anyhow, thank you for the comments and ‘likes’. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do when I write it (excluding the part about struggling with MMO formatting).

This story isn’t going to end anytime soon, oh no. The Word document I type it out in is 29 pages long, the last time I checked. And that doesn’t even include what I drafted out in my notebook.

So hang on; it’s going to be a long ride, whether torturous or no.

Mini M&Ms Cookies!