12.The boy in the boat

The little boy was delighted.He stood on the deck,hands tightly gripped around the bow railings,watching his parents rowing a littler boat and having fun.They looked very tiny,the little boy mused.Their boat bobbed ever so lightly on the waters.The azure deepening to a cerulean tinge and then with the approach of the night,the deep blue of a student’s ink bottle.It had been a very long time since he had seen his parents so happy.

The boy looked at the sky.For a second,there was surprise on his face.Almost like he had seen something.A face.But then,he assumed that it was just the cool night wind making him see stuff.

And then came the yellow flowers..All at once.The sea was full of them.The boy wondered how they had come up all of a sudden.An unseen spectacle it was for him.Moving outwards,radiating out from a single epicentral point in the water.Golden amber filling every little crevice in the sea surface.

The little boat moved on jollily,but now the voices coming from it weren't that of glee.The boy saw his mother rise with a start,she seemed to be screaming.And then his father made her sit again,hugging her close to him.He wondered why she was screaming.The golden flowers were now dancing.Transfixed,he stood watching the way they moved,consuming the darkness.Delight filled his being,the joy of seeing something that was previously unknown.

He kept looking from the deck,there was a kind of grey darkness rising from above the flowers.If only his parents would bring one  back for him.His mother had stopped screaming.
 Ohh..he noticed.
Some of the flowers were making their way towards his parents' boat. 
Take some,mommy...please.

The boy felt sweat trickling down his brows.And then long grey wisps began to rise from everywhere.Obscuring his view.Blurring out the sudden burst of golden that emanated from the place where the little boat previously was.

He felt dizzy. A voice was speaking to him. Calling out Miroven,Miroven. His name... Asking him to come along. Telling him to embrace sleep.A beautiful lady clad in black.

                                                             ***

11.Losses and Water

                    Nira was bamboozled.All these years of owning a potions store and she had never had  a break in.Till that day.She trusted everyone too much.Laura used to tell her that.She didn’t ever believe people to be capable of evil.Maybe,it was because she travelled so less.Or maybe because the only places she had ever been to , was the Blue Forest and Lantern village.

 The open door was what told her that there had been a break-in. Laura consoled her.Together ,they began walking along the long rows of shelves of potion bottles,hoping that nothing had been taken.They had covered almost all the shelves when suddenly,Laura spotted the loss.The healing serum had been taken.A current of invisible relief washed across Nira.The other one was still intact.Masked as a sweetening syrup,the fruit of her long toil,lay the gift.

                                                               ***

                    Leo’s horse didn’t like water.That was going to be a problem considering the fact that the army was faced with a river right then.

“Charge on,White Thunder!!”,Leo tugged at the magnificent stallion’s bridle reins.It merely whinnied and gave its master a sad look.

“Oh,come on..we gotta get across.Haven’t got all day,my pal.”

White Thunder nimbly placed one hoof in the water.And immediately pulled it back.

Leo sighed.He got down from the saddle,put one arm around the horse’s neck and spoke gently into its ear.

“I need to find my father,old pal.He was taken away and you know how fond of him you are.Its just a little water..we wade across now and I’ll give you a nice lump of sugar when we get back”

White Thunder nuzzled his face against Leo’s shoulder silently agreeing to what his favourite person had said.

Leo mounted his horse yet again and they moved onwards,the rest of the army following them,all their gazes fixed on the horizon.

                                                             ***

10.Mistakes

The lady in black watched from a distance as General climbed higher up the tree. She had cast an invisibility spell on herself, even though she had no fears of being caught in the sight of this puny mortal. All it would take is a wave of her hand.

She hadn’t anticipated Miröven’s arrival in Akram. Putting a sleeping toxic on the berries he plucked was probably not her most ingenious plan to date, and was more of a knee jerk reaction at her surprise on sensing his aura within the city limits. The plan had been simple: put him to sleep, erase a few memories, and plant him somewhere far away from Laura. The remote chance that they might run into each other was too great to ignore. Her spell was not yet complete, and she didn’t want to take any chances. This had been way too long in the making to be chanced upon the die of fate.

She watched General clamber up the hill. Rage boiled within her. She hadn’t had the slightest clue Miröven had a prisoner with him; and he had taken his chance and hurt Miröven. That was unforgivable.

General had reached the top most branch and was reaching out to a fruit when the lady in blacked decided to wave her hand. Silently a shot of blue light escaped her fingertips, rapidly sped across the distance between them and hit General square in the chest. He was thrown clear off the tree from the impact and came down hard upon the ground with a dull thud.

General moved no more.

***

Miröven woke with a splitting headache and feeling sore. Blood had hardened on his forehead where General had struck and cut him open. His hands and feet were tied and there was dust in his eyes. He rolled onto his side and looked around. He was in the far end of a cave. Daylight streamed in from the mouth of the cave.

Miröven rolled onto his back once again and groaned. He was done for. The One Army was going to find him, and he would see hell before being sent down there. And to think all he wanted was just one last adventure before retiring quietly. Miröven wondered what would happen to Shadowfax. Helplessness, and the frustration it brings with it, washed over him.

“Miröven..” a sweet voice floated down to him.

It had come from somewhere near the cave entrance. Miroven rolled onto his side and looked at the source of the voice. Silhouetted against the daylight coming in through the cave was a lady figure. She wore a blue dress and her hair touched her shoulders, but her face was hidden in the shadows.

“Benny...” Miroven saw the shadows dance as the woman’s lips moved.

“Cassandra...?” Miroven’s voice broke.

***
Andrew jumped out of the window of Madamme Nira’s crafting room with nimble ease. These people really should invest more in security measures, he chuckled to himself. Princess had had a cut from their travel through the jungles, and Andrew didn’t want it to get worse. There was enough coin in his purse for him have just walked and bought a healing potion from the bushy tailed potion mistress, but where was the fun in that? Andrew lived for the thrills.

He had snuck in when he was sure both the occupants were out. Picking the locks were less than a piece of cake for him, finding the right potion had been more trouble. He had still been scouring around when he heard a short squeal of surprise from the front door. Someone had discovered the break in. There was no time. Andrew grabbed the potion and leapt out.

Safe in his hand, was a bottle of the green potion. Green with purple stripes.