Miroven trudged up the knoll to have a better view of the
path ahead.It was the third day since he had started his journey to find
Vayu.He had walked a great long distance and was overcome by fatigue.Riding
Shadowfoot was not really an option since now it also meant riding on
Andrew,and that felt wrong.
There was also the nagging doubt in his mind whether
Valarmuth had been telling the truth.No one seemed to know where the city of Emerin
was.Nor anything about Vayu.He frowned.What if the dwarf had made up those
names in the spur of the moment?What if they had been fed a false trail?Too
many unanswered questions,and there wasn’t much choice but to go on with the
very little information they had.Information that could be as easily false as
it could be real.
***
“Laura,my dear..” cried Nira,pulling her into a bear hug. "I
can’t believe that is has been seven years since I found you..It very much
seems like yesterday..”
“You say that every day, Nira.”
Nira pulled out a tiny vial from her apron pocket and handed
it to Laura.
“This my dear, is something I have been wanting to give you as a gift..”
“What is this you have written on it? Only when you are ready?? What does it mean? Why would I ever be not ready for a present?”
“Dear child,this potion will tell you everything about your past..All your lost memories…they’ll come back to you.I don’t know what it is that you will see..perhaps, you are far better off not knowing about yourself..maybe you will not like what you come to know.It is your choice to use it or not.My mind tells me that there are going to be huge things in your path and that you have a great role to play in the future.”
“Thank you for everything Nira.What about we leave these lofty matters for later and go for a little walk in the woods now?You’ve been working so hard for me..I don’t think I can ever repay you for all your goodness”
“My little Laura,no matter how many autumns pass,how many old lives taken and wherever you turn out to be;this heart of mine will always be a place where you can call home.Time may riddle you with choices and you may find yourself in places you least expect to be in.But here,you can call forever your home.”
Laura took her hand and smiled.
In her mind,she said “Yes,I know.No matter what my past has to offer,here will be my home.Here and in no place other.”
****
King Larry had everything that he could possibly ever
want.But still was his mind in turmoil.The fact that his father,though dead
now, still had supporters , perturbed him.Well,he was going to put an end to
it,he thought.
He ordered for the chief of his secrets and stealth wing to
come before him.
The command given to the chief was easily spoken.
“Find the One Army and make them mine.”
“But your highness,do you think they are going to agree to join you?”
“A banquet and riches ought to do the trick.Surely it should appeal more than going on with the memory of a dead leader.”
“And what if they put up resistance?”
“In that case,paint the forest floor red.”
The chief gulped.The king sure wasn’t in his best mood today.
In under an hour,nearly three hundred armed men marched out
of the city into the forest,ready for combat with swords,arrows and minds of
steel.
***
“How do you think we will die?”,Leo aked Scorpi.
She put a finger to his mouth and notioned him to be quiet.“We are trying to spot a meteor shower,dear..not discuss probable causes of death.”
“I need to get my father back.What do you say to finding that sorceress he was always so pent up about?One clad in black,he used to say.I do not know how he knew her,but I have a feeling she can bring him back.”
“Leo.Look at me..”Scorpi turned Leo’s face to make him face her.She held his palms and said , “There is nothing you can do to bring your father back.He has journeyed to the other world and there is no coming back.Turning to the darker side may seem tempting.But trust me,Leo..the consequences are always dire.My mother never came out of her state of unconsciousness after she gave birth to me.They say right before I was born, she healed all in the land with her powers that day..without her knowing it.A mysterious Energy radiated right out of her,flowing into those who needed it.The old grew young and people forgot pain.But she never came out of the coma she went into.She continued to breathe,but her eyes remained closed.And then,after a month,my father believing a sorceress’ advice that summoning dark forces could help,locked himself away..losing himself in the summoning.And in the end,the same forces he believed would help him,sucked the remaining life out of my mother.She ceased to breathe forever.”Scorpi looked at the ground and sighed.
“I wish..”,Leo began and stopped.
“We shall find them,Leo..and we shall make them pay..but we shall not resort to crude dark arts..no matter how appealing they seem”
Leo put an arm around his wife and nodded.
***
It was Andrew-Shadowfoot who discovered that Emerin was not your everyday kind of city.What men were unable to answer,rats did.Andrew,feeling hungry had gone after yet another rat and in a classic lion and the mouse story fashion,agreed to let one go under the condition that he’d give them information about Emerin.
The rat was true to its word,and almost immediately told
them everything they needed to know about reaching the city.Miroven stood
dazed,watching his brother converse with a rat.
It turned out that the rats knew Emerin pretty well since it
was an underground city made entirely of limestone.There were just a few entry
and exit points to and from the city and their locations were kept safely
guarded from humans.Creatures of other species,leprechauns and elves,gnomes and
dwarves thrived in Emerin.Having an underground locale worked for them and they
worked hard hiding the doorways to the surface.Non human organisms were highly
susceptible to the after effects of pollution and could survive for long only
in a subterranean habitat.
The rat proved to be of further help by leading them to one
of the entrances to the underground city.It was a tumbledown staircase in
ruins,run over by years of ivy and ferns.The fronds made a curtain of sorts
that when parted revealed a kind of bath.Completely dry and cracked at places,it
had a few loose bricks.The rat jumped into the gap made by the bricks and man
and werewolf followed suit.
Emerin did not look like a city.It looked like the inside of
a building made of milk chocolate,tunnels meshing in and out of every possible
wall and worst of all the darkness.Well,it wasn’t entirely dark like one would
expect the insides of the earth to
be..but the whole place was washed in a eerie green glow.Miroven noticed that
there was a kind of phosphorescent moss on all the walls.Possibly an
alternative lighting solution,he mused.
“Ask your little rodent friend about Vayu”,Miroven told
Andrew.Andrew turned around ,but suddenly the rat had disappeared.
***
***
Captain Bradier was in his tent,telling stories to his
grandkids.The tales engrossed the little listeners and they listened avidly
,captured by every word uttered.He was relaxed and unwary.That was his
mistake.
There were dozens of men who had gathered around his tent.None of them
he knew.
One stepped forward and said,”King Larry is offering your army umimaginable
wealth.Come with us and join the right side.Or prepare to lose everything.”
Bradier didn’t have to think twice. “Your king is a
usurper,a villain.He has a heart made of stone.To join the man who tried to
kill his own father to get the throne?The one who sent his father and entire
families into exile to suit his need for power?The General was a great man..and
though he is no more,we will uphold the legacy he has left.Tell your ruler that
the One Army doesn’t take orders from him.”
“And that is your final decision?”
“The very final one,yes.”
“Well,then so be it.The war begins now.”
“Now?Night has fallen and and many of us are resting.It
would never be a fair battle,if you choose to attack now.”
“We do not battle to suit the convenience of our foes.”
The man ordered his fellow soldiers to charge.Battle cries
erupted from the nearby bushes too and Bradier found himself facing an entire
army of uniformed men trained in battle.They moved in all directions and
Bradier saw his grandchildren being carried away.
The soldiers filled the forest,spreading out
everywhere.Tents were pulled down and set on fire.The carnage that ensued was
horrific and the night was rent with the screams of wails of women,children and
dying men.
Arrows rained upon the ground and blades glinted in the
light of the fire.The One Army had never before faced such a defeat.
***
Miroven and Andrew-Shadowfoot tried to make their way around
the place,realized that it was futile since the place was a maze and gave up
trying alone.They asked passers by about Vayu and soon enough reached a mansion of sorts made of the same substance that made pretty much all the rest of the city.Miroven knocked on the door.A fat elf ,wearing a green "I LIMESTONE" t-shirt opened it .
"Are you Vayu?",Miroven asked.
"Yes,but what do you humans want from an elf?"
"Can you do anything extraordinary?"
"What do you mean?You people auditioning me for some reality show?"
"Is there anything special about you that can't be seen elsewhere?"
Vayu was getting irritated.He wasn't like the whole being cross questioned deal.Made him feel like he was some petty thief.
"No,and gentlemen I'm kind of busy and need to get going.Think you came searching for the wrong person"
"Do you own a...zeppelin?"
Vayu laughed eerily."Sure,I do.Wanna see it?Come on in."
The house was not what it seemed like from outside.It was absolutely huge and had definitely the wrong size for an elf.But well,he owned a zeppelin,Miroven thought and walked on.
Finally they reached a hall of sorts and Miroven could not but be amazed at the items there.Everything in glass cases too.
Guns,medieval torture devices,bits of pottery,ancient looking manuscripts,bead ornaments,marble figurines,bronze and steel armour and in the middle of everything,a zeppelin that had obviously been patched up.
"Great collection,ain't it?Other collectors will kill to get their hands on my pieces."
"The zeppelin flies?",Miroven asked,though he already knew the answer.
"Don't be daft.Of course not.This beauty is the remnant of one of your wars.Had to bribe a dozen elves to help me lug it into Emerin."
Andrew-Shadowfoot nudged Miroven."We are wasting time,brother"
Miroven glared at Vayu angrily and walked out of the house.
Thanks to his werewolf brother's superior sniffing abilities,they didnt lose time searching for the entrance they came into Emerin through.
Miroven was worried though.What would happen when Andrew saw the fullmoon?He was already in wolf form with Shadowfoot,but was that the end of it?Could anything more happen?
While he was lost in thought,a lank hand went into his robe pocket and pulled out his coin purse.
"Hey..Stop there",Miroven shouted,coming back to his senses.
The urchin kept running and didnt look back.Andrew had given into his wolf instincts again and was helplessly sniffing inside a garbage can,rummaging through its contents.
Miroven ran after the boy for a while and found himself tiring.He found himself getting filled with anger and frustration.So many days had been wasted.He was proving himself to be more and more of the lousy father he had ever been to Laura.Believing the tale of a dwarf and traveling for ages in search of a city no one had even heard about.And finally when they found the person they were in search of,he turned out to be a goddamned collector with a fancy name.And now,the pickpocket.He could feel the fury surging through him,he could feel it at his fingertips.Around him,the wind was getting faster.Leaves,debris,paper bits and old petals began to fly around.Trees bowed and birds ceased to fly.And then,twigs and branches broke free and everything began pumelling into one vortex faster and faster.
Andrew was done with the trash can.
"Brother?.."he went,his eyes wide with surprise.
Miroven looked at Andrew and felt himself calming down.The gale subsided.
Andrew gulped.
"I think we might have located the wind spirit."
***
