BOOK: INKHEART
This book is about a girl named Meggie and her father Mo. Meggies mother was read into a book by Mo many years ago and when she came in other people came out. Dustfinger, a fire eater from the story comes out along with Capricorn. Meggie and Mo go all around europe attempting to runaway from Capricorn and his men thhe has released from the book using other talented readers. While staying at her awful aunts house Capricorns men find them and take Mo away to the villige that they live in. Meggie is left with a book crazy aunt, an odd story about what happemed to her mother, and the book that started the whole thing. Meggie goes to the village to save her father and sees him read Farid out of a book. At the village she finds that her mother has already been read out of the book and the secret relationship between her and dustfinger, although her mother is a mute meggie is glad to find her mother. In the end they all make it out of capricorns village sending him to his death and his men back into the book thanks to the genious author and many more of the friends meggie meets on the way to find her mother. Mix of Quest, The Chase, and Allegory.
Here is an exerpt of my novel that I wrote, NaNoWriMo 2007 (A.K.A. National Novel Writing Month 2007)*You do not need to read it all!*
Miana Mickmar the Princess of Ducelet
Miana Mickmar was sitting on the ground in the middle of a flock of ducks, watching the babies play in the pond. She was a pretty young girl, about average height with long brown hair who loved living on a farm and being with all of the animals. She had moved to her aunt’s farm years ago when her god-father died mysteriously. She was sent to live with her aunt Clarice who lived on a farm in Canada. Her aunt had only one neighbor, Julious Frogbert.
Julious was a curious fellow who lived alone in his house with his dog, Seymour and his cat, Benjamin. Julious had a kind heart and was always nice to other people. He was one of those people who believed that if you were kind to someone else then they will be kind to you. He was right so far, everyone that he had ever met was nice to him after they met him. Clarice did not talk to him much but he came over for every holiday. Miana had no immediate family left, her parents had died a little while after she was born and as far as she knew she had no brothers or sisters. She liked Mr. Frogberts company, although she thought that he was a bit strange. Today did not particularly help that situation.
Miana heard someone yelling to her from the dusty old road that led to the nearest town and their only neighbors house. To her surprise she saw Mr. Frogbert running down the lane flailing his arms and hollering something. This was quiet comical considering he was a sixty year old man in his robe running down the road. Miana knew that Mr. Frogbert was a strange man but this was even weird for him. She decided that it was best to go tell her aunt so she ran into the house, careful to shut the gate behind her so that the ducks would not get out.
“Aunt Clarice?” she said exasperatley.
“In here” came her cheery reply.
Miana followed the sound to the kitchen where her aunt was baking a blueberry pie for desert. When her aunt saw the flabbergasted look on her face she knew that something was going to be interesting. Miana had only given her that look twice. Once when she had seen a naked mole rat, not the best animal in the world but still, and once when she saw a boy running down the road shouting “Ants to the pants!” That was on the rare occasion when Mr. Frogbert had his relatives over for dinner. “What is it Miana?” she asked her with a smile on her face.
“It's Mr. Frogbert.” squealed Miana, “He is running down the road like his nephew did, although I don't think that that is the problem.”
“I guess that I better take a look.” Clarice put the pie on the counter, set down the dish towel and followed her niece outside. Sure enough there was Mr. Frogbert, Standing in the drive way looking out of breath.
“Oh my, what happened?”
“Abhay” he said between breaths. “He is coming.”
The look of astonishment on her aunt’s face gave Miana the impression that this was not good.
“Wha? How? How did he find us?” she finally managed to stutter.
“I don't know” was Mr. Frogberts reply “But you must leave now, here I have prepared this for you. You know how to use it I presume, Herald told you how.”
“Yes yes, but I can't just leave.”
“Go” he told her, “I will stay with your house.”
“But what if he finds you?”
“I will be fine, you must go.”
Things were happening so fast, Miana didn't know if she was coming or going. She saw Mr. Frogbert hand Aunt Clarice a small circular device and the last thing she knew was that Aunt Clarice grabbed her and Mr. Frogbert wheezing attempting to get his breath back. Then everything went black.
Miana landed flat on her back in a strange place that she had never been to before. She felt like her Aunt had just kicked her in the but for doing something wrong, but what had she done wrong? As she came back to her senses she began to look around her surroundings. It didn't look like she was in Canada anymore, or at least not on her aunt’s farm. She noticed that her aunt was sitting next to her smiling broadly, she remembered how she had landed and got up and brushed herself off at once. “What happened?” she demanded.
“We have to get going now, but I’ll explain everything when we get somewhere safe.”
Miana looked up to see that the grin was gone and in its place was a half hidden worried look that she had never seen her aunt give anyone. When she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong her aunt had already turned the other way and was heading to a couple of bushes. Not wanting to stay in the strange clearing by herself she followed her into the woods. The woods had a magical essence to them they seemed to be coming out of a fairytale, there were birds chirping, a sparkling stream, and Miana even caught a glimpse of a fox. They walked on for what seemed like hours, in silence. Miana had plenty to say but did not want to break the peaceful quiet of the woods. When the sun was just starting to go down into the sky her aunt turned off of the path that they had followed and disappeared.
“Aunt Clarice?” Miana whispered.
“In here” Came a hushed reply.
Miana looked at the rock in front of her, blank, she looked up down and sideways and didn't find any door of any sort anywhere. After looking over the rock once more she heard her aunt say “Miana?”
“I don't see a door, how do I get in?”
“Right sorry forgot.” she heard a few tapping sounds some muttered words that she couldn't hear and then right before her eyes a huge cavern opened up before her. Miana stared in amazement, this had to have been the weirdest day of her life. “What just happened exactly?” Miana asked her aunt in amazement.
“Well dear you see, we are in a place called Ducelet, a magical world, and well I have no magical powers but you do and oh yes, Illiana here does.”
She pointed to a small girl next to her. Miana hadn't even noticed the girl until her aunt said anything. Wait or was she a girl? Miana had mistaken her for a human at first but now that she looked closer she saw that this girl had fox ears stinking out from her head and a tail! I looked from Aunt Clarice to Illiana and back to Aunt Clarice.
“Miana, Illiana is a changer, she was born a fox but has the power to walk and talk among humans, but as you can see she still has mostly fox in her.” explained Aunt Clarice.
“Yes I am quiet a rare species now a days” said Illiana, “but I hope that I can be of service to you, Miana” with that Illiana gave her a childish smile. Miana liked the way she smiled it was one of those award winning innocent smiles where you look so cute and you could get away with anything. I had thought that only dogs could have that look but apparently the fact that she was a fox helped her along quiet nicely.
“Pleased to meet you, Illiana” said Miana, “You have a very amazing smile, but what exactly were you talking about with the whole help me out thing?”
Illiana looked taken aback and looked at Clarice “You haven't told her, she doesn't know who she is?”
Aunt Clarice started blushing, “well I was getting to it, it was supposed to be Heralds job but when he died I guess I just forgot about it.”
“You just dropped it? Just like that? How could you just drop it don’t you think that she should know her own destiny? The whole world that she is going to rule?”
Destiny? World ruling? What were they talking about they could not be talking about me? Miana Mickmar, double orphan/ farmer, Oh yes she would make a great ruler. When Miana zoomed back into the conversation she saw that they were still going on and every accusation that Illiana made Aunt Clarice’s face turned a deeper fuchsia color and she would shoot out an argument right back to Illiana. Once I was sick of those two arguing I decided to intervene. “Are either of you aware that I am still in the room?”
They both stopped dead and looked around like they couldn’t seem to remember that Miana was there.
After a few minutes her aunt came to sense, “Well Miana I guess since you now think that we are both absolute nut jobs I will tell you what on earth we are talking about.”
“About time,” Illiana said and she curled into a ball and began to groom her fur. Miana noticed that she had turned into a normal fox and was much smaller than when she started and she was pretty small to begin with. Her fur was all ruffled from the fight. With a dirty look at Illiana aunt Clarice began.
“It was long ago, when you were born this world was, so to say not going so well, it was dark times. Your mother gave birth to you in secret at the time she thought that this was best, only your father, herald, and I knew about you. At the time your mother was getting married to your father who was the prince of this land. Your father was not technically allowed to marry your mother so you see it was sort of a forbidden love.” she looked at me to be sure that I understood, “They convinced his parents to allow them to be married and so on march 24, they wed. They became the new king and queen of Ducelet. A few weeks later they disappeared. You were found on heralds door step with a note that said that they were in grave danger and that herald, your god-father that is, was to take you and raise you, and two years before you turned 18 you were to come here and discover the world of Ducelet. You were then supposed to rule it when you turned 18 and were old enough to become queen.”
I stared at her in amazement, “I'm a princess... Really you must have the wrong girl, I mean, I couldn't, I can't, I'm just...”
“A queen?”
I looked from Aunt Clarice to Illiana, and again to Illiana, I was waiting for someone to say that it was a big joke and that we were going back to Canada soon.
“It's true,” Illiana said, “and your brilliant aunt over here forgot the most important part, Abhay, who is an evil man, may be the person who was after your parents and he may be after you to. There is a strange prophecy that says that you must go to the Cave of Moonshine to recover Abhay’s power and restore peace to the world of Ducelet.”
A prophecy? Ya, ok now they must be joking me, “So let me get this straight, I am a princess who is being sent on a quest to fulfill some magical prophecy? Where is this Prophecy any way?”
“Ah, Illiana you thought not to bring the book?” said Aunt Clarice apparently having thought of something that Illiana had not.
“Ah, but so silly of me Clarice I forgot that you were perfect and always brought everything and you know that I can get it easily.” To Miana's amazement a book appeared out of nowhere. Illiana was flipping through the book looking for something she stopped at a page with an amazing waterfall on it. “Here.” She pointed at a poem on the page. On the page Miana saw that it read,
The prophecy of the Water
Dark is light as light is dark,
Fire meets wind and water meets earth,
When good and bad meet Water comes over fire,
But will it defeat?
This was supposed to be about who? More like about what. How could they think this was about me? Illiana must have read my thoughts because she said, “Would you like some explanations?”
“That would be good,” I said.
“Where would you like to begin?”
“At the beginning I suppose, how is this related to me it is about the elements and incase you haven't noticed I am human, pure human.”
“The prophecy is very mysterious indeed but let me explain, Dark is light as light is dark , says that someone could be evil and good at the same time, everyone has some bad in them.”
“What does that have to do with fire?”
“I'm getting to it, you are getting to be as bad as your aunt over there.” I looked over to see that aunt Clarice was watching us intently with a slight smirk on her face.
“The apple doesn't fall far from the tree” she said.
“Fire, we think is Abhay for he is evil and no one would say otherwise, wind, we are not sure of but we think that it will be some ally that Abhay will gain.”
“I'm seeing it now, so I am water, or so you say?”
“Yes Precisely.”
“But wait who is earth?”
“That would be me.”
“You? You are going to help me on this quest?” Illiana seemed taken aback by the way I said this.
“You think that I could not be of help?”
“It's not that, it's just that I was expecting someone, mysterious and enchanting, someone, someone that I would meet on the journey to this place. I mean someone who I would have a special bond with.”
“You mean like a connector?” This was the first time that Clarice had entered the conversation for awhile. Was she still smiling at us?
“What is a connector?” With the look of astonishment that Illiana gave me I knew that it must be something important.
“Yes Clarice, why don't you tell her? And explain why you think that we could possibly become ones.”
“Ha ha, Miana, connectors are when, one person and one changer, or a talking animal, as in they speak human, and they bond together as like a sort of family. They protect each other and trust each other with their lives. They are not forced to live together but they are always in contact. They always support each other and may get in fights sometimes. They have what you may call a sisterly or brotherly relationship. One thing that you must no is that at any time one may leave the other but they will always be connected. Unless one dies but still they may not find another connector. This is very important do not forget that, once you are connected to someone, you are stuck with them for life. No turning back, not really.”
“So basically it is like a sort of marriage where you get a sibling instead of a spouse?”
“Not exactly.” Illiana explained, “Connecting humans and changers is an ancient ritual that has been keeping peace with the people for years. If we learn together and learn that everyone has different personalities then we understand more about the other race. Also you have a special attachment to your connector.”
Miana was not understanding any of this, was she really in a different world with different customs laws and even species? Her aunt must have understood by the look she was giving, “This has been a long day,” she said, “Why don't you get some sleep and you can discover the world of Ducelet tomorrow.” Grateful for the distraction she decided to go to bed without argument.
Miana woke to the smell of something cooking over a fresh fire. She opened her eyes to see that Aunt Clarice was leaning over the fire stirring something in a frying pan. Where on earth did that pan and the fire come from? And where could she possibly get something to eat in this cave.
“Good morning sunshine.” she said with a smile. “Do you want some breakfast?” Before she could answer Clarice dumped some of the mysterious food into a bowl and handed it to her. Miana looked into the bowl and saw what seemed to be green mush. Or maybe it was supposed to be soup. Maybe it was goup soup. That’s a perfect name for it! Goup soup!
“Thanks” she muttered somewhat sarcastically. Aunt Clarice must have seen the look of disgust on her face because she gave her the look that said, “That's all there is so you eat that or nothing.” Miana hated that look. She decided that she would at least try the “goup soup.” And so she sat and put a small spoonful into her mouth. She chewed a little but when the bitter taste mixed with the goupy texture it was all she could do to swallow. Aunt Clarice looked at her, smiled and shook her head. Glad someone is having a good time, Miana thought miserably. She tried another bite just to prove to her aunt that she could eat things that she didn't like. This time she tried to swallow without tasting. It was better but not much.
A few minutes later Illiana woke up and Aunt Clarice gave her some of the goup. Illiana started lapping at it furiously, she was still in her fox form that she had fallen asleep in after the indulging fight with Clarice. Illiana ate every drop of the goup and when she was done she licked the bowl clean. Miana was amazed. “How do you eat that?” she asked.
“Where I come from lily pad stew is a great home cooked meal. Reminds me of what mom used to make. Of course she added some frog legs for flavor. Why do you not like it?”
“Miana does not much fall for food involving greens.”
Miana looked down at her almost full bowl. Normally she would have put up an argument with her aunt about the fact that she loved broccoli, which is green, and that she did like green foods, but then she would have had to eat the rest of her bowl and no matter what she ate at home, this stuff was not going to go over so well with her stomach. Illiana polished off a second bowl in minutes and she laid down to watch the other two finish eating. Miana gave up at about half a bowl gone and pushed her bowl aside.
Aunt Clarice washed all of the bowls with some dish water that Illiana conjured up. Miana was never going to get used to this whole magic thing. After the dishes were done they all sat around a map that Illiana brought of Ducelet. Miana was amazed at the size of Ducelet. It was the size of Canada and the United States put together. There were different sections for each magical creature. She noticed that the smallest area was reserved for the changers. They lived in a small patch of forest near a river, It looked like a peaceful place, they were right next to the humans territory. On the far left, on the other side of the human territory there was a huge mountain. It was labeled Mountain of sunshine. The mountain was beautifully decorated with rays of sunlight and had tiny birds and flowers drawn onto the mountain side. The rest of the map was also beautifully drawn but the mountain seemed to shimmer with elegance. That mountain must be important.
“We are here,” Illiana pointed out a cave in the woods near the human’s territory. “The cave of Moonshine is here.” She pointed at the mountain. “If we want to reach the cave and stop Abhay before he reaches us then we best get going now. The fastest route is to go through the valley of the oaks and come up on the mountains north side. The Cave is hidden somewhere on the western part of the mountain.” She traced their route with her paw and stopped at the mountain. Miana noticed that they were avoiding the troll’s territory and staying close to the human’s borders but not so far into their land that they would be questioned.
“Ok, but why are we avoiding the other creatures, couldn’t the people at least help us to get ride of Abhay? They also hate him, correct?”
“That is because if anyone knew that you were here then they would most certainly ask questions and wonder how you escaped and your parents disappeared. It would slow us down greatly, however if the need came we are close enough to them that we could attempt to seek shelter with the hope that you would not be noticed. There are two villages that you will need to worry about, Vleart and Bauty. Vleart is a kind village, the people there will undoubtedly care for us, but they will recognize you instantly, Bauty is the opposite, the people there care only about their people. They could care less about travelers, and they most certainly will not recognize you, and unfortunately, that is the only way that we could get help from them.”
Miana sighed, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought, and considering that she now knew that they were not kidding her and this was for real. She still did not believe that she was a princess but that was okay, she would discover the truth later. For now she would remain, Miana Mickmar, Farmer/ Orphan/ newly appointed adventurer. This should be interesting.
“We should get some provisions” remarked Illiana.
“I agree,” said Aunt Clarice to everyone’s surprise. That was the first thing that they had agreed on since Miana had first met Illiana. Illiana just smiled. To her I guess, Aunt Clarice agreeing with her was just like winning the fight from the night before. “Well,” she said,” It just seems like we could use some supplies, and it is better to get them now then to need the later and not have them.” She was just trying to make up for it now.
“Okay,” said Illiana, “Here is the plan, we now need to know where we are going to find these supplies. Clarice, you take Miana into the woods and gather some mushrooms and berries. If you find anything else edible you can take it but have me check it before you eat it, us changers have a good nose you know.”
“What makes you in charge of the situation?” Questioned Clarice.
“The fact that I am the only one here who knows how to use and control her magic. Also I am the one who came up with this idea and I do believe that you agreed with it. So sit down and listen up, this is serious.”
“Okay, okay, but where are you going to be while we are off in the woods?” Countered Clarice.
“I am going to go into the town and get the supplies that you can’t find in the woods.”
“Fine, when do we meet up again?”
“We should meet back here at sun high. We can sleep and then Miana and I will leave at sun down.” She said most defiantly.
“Sounds good, Miana, are you ready?” To be frank she really wasn’t sure what the plan was but she went with her Aunt anyway.
They all left the cave and followed the same path from the day before. They came across a fork in the path after about three minutes of walking. “Here is where I will part,” said Illiana, “We will meet again at sun high.” And with that she bounded off onto the left path, leaving nothing but dust and words in her place. She is quiet a fast runner I thought, I guess when you have four legs instead of two you can get a lot more power. Miana turned to see that her aunt was walking along the wood line searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” I asked. She didn't reply but instead she pushed aside a bush and revealed a smaller grown over path that looked as though it hadn't been used in years. Miana hadn't noticed the path before, it must have been well hidden.
“Follow me,” said, Aunt Clarice. So she did. The path looked as though it had once been quiet grand, on each side there were trees filled with the sound of chirping birds and some other creatures that Miana could not recognize. On the forest floor along the edges of the path there were brightly colored mushrooms and small flowers. The Path itself was littered with golden and rusty red leaves that glowed beautifully in the summer sunshine. There were bushes on either side of them, on which red and blue berries grew in clusters. A very grand place indeed.
Miana reached down to take a flower and tucked it behind her ear. Ah, she thought, this is the life. And then she remembered that they were there to gather food. At least that is what she had gathered from Illiana's instructions. What was it she had said that they should collect? Oh yes, mushrooms and berries. Miana bent down to pick up a mushroom. She caught up to her aunt who was one step ahead of her, “Why don't we just pick these? Aren't we here to find food? We are walking by tons of it, there are berries here to, tons of them.” She picked some off of the bush to show her aunt, before she could react, too late. “See.” Turns out there was a very good reason for not picking the berries, Miana dropped them almost instantly, her hand was starting to bubble in furious red bursts and it was crawling up her arm.
“Put the mushroom on it,” Exclaimed Aunt Clarice. She had almost forgotten about the mushroom in her other hand. She quickly placed it in her other arm. Cooling waves of blue sprang up her arm, washing away all of the bubbles. Her arm was gradually coming back to it's normal state of matter and the only evidence left was a slight tingling in her arm and the berries on the ground. “Does that answer your question? If we were to eat those we would be covered in those bubbles, after about 5 minutes they would start to itch. Lucky for you, you were next to the counter agent, sotten mushrooms. Those berries are called, bubble berries. I suggest asking me before you touch anything else. Alright.”
Like I was going to touch anything in that forest again. But the smile on her face was kind although her tone was strict. We walked on for about 10 more feet and the path began to descend down a set of stone stairs. At the bottom there was a small pool of crystal clear water. Sunlight danced off from the pool creating beautiful rainbows on the rock walls around them. This place was very magical the magic seemed to be emitting from the pool.
“This is the pool of magyk. This is the place where people come to renew their powers, you come here when you don’t use your powers for so long that they become weak. The path is hidden because when people get their magic stolen they can not come here to renew it. It prevents evil rulers from coming back to power. It is protected by spells that prevent them from coming in.”
Miana was mesmerized, she had never seen anything so beautiful and powerful at the same time. “Are you here to renew your magic?”
“No Illiana and I agreed last night after much arguing, that I would bring you here to renew your powers. As the princess, we believe that you should still have magic. Although you have never used it throughout your childhood. Your god father noticed the signs when you were about three so, you definitely have had magic in the past.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in. “So I am getting magic?”
“Yes.”
“Alrighty then,”
“To get your magic you must take a drink from the pool, sit next to the largest rainbow you find, and recite this poem:
Magical creatures across the land,
Bring the magic to my hand,
Follow the trees and the hills,
While my power fills and fills.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes, are you ready?”
Miana took a deep breath, “Okay, I’m ready.” She walked to the pool and crouched down next to it. She scooped the water up in her hand and took a deep drink. She walked over to the largest rainbow that she saw. There were only two rainbows now, the others seemed to disappear, she sat under it, on the edge of the pool. She recited the poem, “Magical creatures across the land, Bring back the magic to my hand, Follow the trees and the hills, While my power fills and fills,” She felt a strange sensation like she was tingling. And then she began floating above the pool, and then she was spinning, she had no control. The rocks and Aunt Clarice were just a blur. And then they were gone, she was soaring over a river following mountains, over the trees, and then she was back. She was sitting on the edge of the pool and she saw Aunt Clarice smiling. She felt like she had just slept for hours, she was reenergized and every muscle in her body was renewed and ready to go.
“You did it, I think you have magic. We should test it, but not here, we must gather some mushrooms and get back to the cave it is almost sun high.”
We followed the path back up to the fork where we had last seen Illiana. As soon as we were out of the bushes Miana saw that the entrance sealed up leaving not a trace of its existence behind. The followed the right side of the fork and found themselves in a field filled with mushrooms as far as the eye could see. It was lined with blueberry and Raspberry bushes. The field was enormous, at least a mile long and a mile wide. There was plenty of wildlife along with the plants, there was a mother deer and her fawn pulling the berries from the bushes, a family of rabbits was playing among the flowers. It was a peaceful scene. And to Miana's relief it seemed to be free of deadly plants.
“Shall we get started then?” asked aunt Clarice, “You can pick any of the berries, only pick the orange and beige mushrooms, the red ones will make us woozy and continually vomit until all the food is out of your system. Had a problem back at the village with those mushrooms, they used them in baby food because they are soft to chew, all of the children threw up and well you get the picture.”
Miana had a very strong stomach but she still didn't like hearing about people puking, especially babies. “Okay let's go.”
And off they went, they worked for about ten minutes and when Aunt Clarice said that it was time to stop we had a large pile. Amazing, the results of a days work. There was only one thing that Miana didn't understand, how were they supposed to carry all of this back to the cave. And so the curious person she is, she asked, “How are we supposed to get this back to the cave?” With the smile that aunt Clarice gave her she knew that she would be using magic.
“With the help of magic of course. It is the perfect time to try out your powers, you didn't think that I had you get them just in case? Did you?”
“Well no, I guess I'll try. So what do I have to do in order to get this stuff back?”
“Oh no, transferring objects is way upper level, for a newbie to magic such as your self, you are going to transform some sticks into a couple of baskets, a simple lower level spell, the first thing that you learn in the village.”
“Okay so how do you expect me to do that?”
“Simply look at the branches and in your mind ask them to come to you. Once they do you must picture them as a basket.”
“Okay easy enough, here I go.” She selected a tree that was not to tall and focused on the branches, “Come” she thought. Nothing happened. She tried again.
“Sometimes it helps if you speak, oh yes and try to be one with the tree, they listen better the way.”
Its official, I thought, she has gone crazy. But I obeyed the orders, an average girl from Canada, talking to a tree, wasn't there a name for people like me, oh yes lunatic. I was a lunatic. “Come” I said clearly, feeling the stiffness of a tree and the wind blow through my hair. And then right before my eyes the branches landed at my feet. I wasn't a lunatic after all, magic was real.
“Good,” said Aunt Clarice, “Now comes the tricky part. You must picture the basket in your mind”, Miana closed her eyes and pictured a basket, perfectly round with a handle for traveling. Perfect.
“Do you have one?”
“Yes.”
“Now, look straight at them point your finger and mutter change.”
Miana opened her eyes and looked straight at the branches lying before her. “Change.” She demanded and right before her eyes the branches began swirling and swirling, and then in front of her sat a basket. Not exactly as she had imagined it, but it would work. It was more like a suavely oval than a circle and the handle was a tangled mess of branches, but it seemed sturdy,
“Not bad for your first try,” remarked Aunt Clarice, “Now lets see if your handy work will hold up to our food? Shall we?” Within five minutes the whole pile was loaded with all of their food. It was a lot of food, how long was this journey supposed to be? Aunt Clarice walked over to a bush and picked two clusters of blueberries and handed one to Miana, “One for the road.” She said, and took a berry from hers and popped it into her mouth.
They walked back to the cave in silence, enjoying our blueberries and nature in all its glory. Miana was still amazed at what she had been able to make with her magic. She had never seen, none the less imagined anything like it, it was a wonder that she had been able to do it herself. She spent the rest of the way back taking in the nature around her. They arrived back at the cave just after sun high to find that Illiana was already there, preparing some baskets which were apparently for the journey.
“Oh you’re here, great you can help.” Illiana said with out looking up from her baskets.
“What would you like us to do?” asked Miana.
“You can help me with loading these baskets with the food that you and your aunt collected. Your aunt can fill these bags with some water.” As she spoke she gave a flick of her hand and in front of her appeared two bags ready to be filled with water. Aunt Clarice took the bags and walked to the wall of the cave, where of course there was no door unless Illiana opened it with her magic.
“Um, Illiana, you know I can’t get through here without your help.” She said a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Sorry I forgot, some of us can’t use magic,” Clarice shot her a look as she left through the opening that Illiana had finally opened for her. “I suppose we should teach you how to open the door, as you now have your magic. By the way, nice basket.”
“Thanks, are you going to teach me or not?”
“Okay, okay, the quality of your work will come with some more practice, to open the door, you simply say, ovarhideo and blink your eyes twice. Or you can flick your hand, but blinking is much more inconspicuous.”
“That’s all?”
“Not much to it,” said Illiana, “Try it.”
She took a deep breath and looked at the wall. “Ovarhideo,” she said and blinked twice. To her amazement a hazy opening appeared before her. She could see the path before her, it was all blurry, like she was seeing it in a dream. It was awesome, amazing, she had power that she had never dreamed of, she could use magic.
“Brilliant,” breathed Illiana.
“Thanks,” replied Miana, she looked over to see that Illiana was giving her one of those award winning smiles. It was exactly that brilliant, it was the perfect word to describe what had just happened, Miana couldn't have said it better herself. When she looked back at the door, she jumped. Staring at the wall was a giant beast that Miana had never seen before. It had beady black eyes with a large mouth filled with needle sharp teeth. Miana was froze in her spot, afraid to move, thinking that if she did the giant beast in front of her would see her. Could it see her now?
“Nothing can see into it right?”
“No, why?” answered Illiana as she got up to take a better look at what was worrying Miana. The poor girl looked like she was looking at a ghost. Of course that wouldn't surprise her much, ghosts of the great wizards from previous times haunted the woods, they tended to come out at night, but one or two could sometimes be caught wandering around in the middle of the day. When she got to the door she realized that they had bigger problems. Looking at them, theoretically speaking, the troll could not actually see them, or at least she hoped. This troll was young, probably wandered into the humans land by mistake, not a good place for the troll though. If the humans discovered him then they would try to capture him and bring him back to his home. This would only anger the troll who would then start a battle with them. The humans would win, by sheer numbers of course, but the troll would not come out so well. “No Miana, he can't see you, or at least I think, no one on the outside should be able to see or hear us.”
“What is it?” Miana asked, her voice thick with fear and curiosity.
“A northern rock troll, smaller than their cousins the mountain troll but just as clumsy and dopey. This one is just a baby, so it will not harm you purposely, but it may just because of its size and clumsy legs. Also this one seems to be to young to influence so I think it has not learned a hatred of humans.” Miana looked less afraid of the troll but still a bit uncomfortable. “I will have to transport him by magic of course, although he has no hatred for the humans, they have great fear and anger towards the trolls. Us changers get along fine although we keep to our own lands and stay in our own business.” Miana seemed to understand this and so she stepped out of the way to let Illiana through. Illiana stepped through the portal and Miana stepped in front of it to watch.
Illiana walked up to the troll and seemed to talk to it as though it was her own baby. She then walked around him three times apparently singing a lullaby, in minutes he had fallen asleep on the spot. Once he was asleep, Illiana hopped in a circle around him twice in one direction and then three times in the other. She was chanting something that Miana couldn't hear. The troll began spinning and spinning, faster and faster, and then it shot into the air and disappeared with no more than a twinkle in the sky. All that was left of the troll was some broken branches and a large indent where it had fallen asleep. Illiana walked back to the door and Miana stepped aside to let her through.
“That was amazing!” Miana exclaimed, giving Illiana a huge smile.
Illiana returned her smile and said, “In time you will be able to do such things with your magic, you have endless powers Miana. Now lets see to those bags, shall we?”
Miana didn't think that she was ever going to be able to do that but she had confidence in Illiana's words and support, if anyone was going to help her on this journey it was going to be her. They began stuffing The mushrooms and berries into separate bags. Illiana had lost her happy good cheery attitude, she was all business now. There was a certain way to do this, and it had to be done that way, no other alternatives.
“Here is how you do this,” Illiana said, “The berries can not be mixed because if they do they could create bubble berries. Bubble berries are berries that make your skin bubble red and if they are on there for 5 minutes they will begin to itch...”
“Horribly, I know, I kind of touched them on the way to the pool.” chimed in Miana.
“A curious one I see.” Chuckled Illiana, “So I can assume that you know that the only cure to them is sotten mushrooms.” Miana nodded her head.
“Is that why two colors grow on one bush?”
“Exactly why, you sure do learn fast, very observative.” Praised Illiana, “So you know what it feels like to have those bubbles, so don’t mix the berries. That will be your job, to sort the berries and place them in their proper bags.”
“Great,” remarked Miana. And set off to her task of sorting the berries, not a very fun job but it gave her time to recap over what had happened earlier that day. So she had said a magic poem to get magic, made a basket by talking to a tree, and seen a northern rock troll. This seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.
“Miana, I thought we agreed that the berries could not be mixed,” exclaimed Illiana.
“Right sorry, forgot.” Miana said apologetically. She looked down to see that she had put one of the red berries in with the blue berries. All it would take was one, Miana thought back to earlier that day when she had picked up the bubble berries. Not fun, she would be more careful to sort them.
She worked hard, not letting her concentration stray from the task in front of her. Once all of the berries were sorted Illiana was busy putting out the fire. “What should I do now?” asked Miana.
“Now you sleep, you should be ready for the journey ahead of us, we leave at sun down,” replied Illiana.
“But what about you? You are coming on the journey too aren’t you?”
“Yes I am coming, I would never leave an untrained minor to a journey as dangerous as this, but I am going to wait for your aunt to get back with the water she was sent to get. She should have been back awhile ago, but you know how easily people can get distracted.”
That was true, people did get distracted easily. She walked over to her homemade bed where she had slept the night before and laid down to rest. She knew that Illiana was going to wait to make sure that Clarice knew that she was late. And make sure that she would never forget it. Miana didn’t notice how tired she was until she laid down, once she hit the blankets she found that she was exhausted. She fell asleep at once and was woken again by the sound of Illiana’s voice.
“About time you show up.” teased Illiana.
“Haha.”Miana opened her eyes to see that Clarice had walked in and was dripping wet. Illiana had a huge smile on her face and was trying to keep from laughing.
“Is there an explanation for this?” she asked.
“Yes actually, a well thought out and truthful one, but I suppose that you have heard everything and that my story would neither exite you or be something new, so I'll just go to bed.” Clarice turned and began to walk over to the bedding.
“Oh I think that I should know what you were up to,” countered Illiana, Clarice was obviously playing with her mind, she wanted her to be curious, “You could have gone to the village for all I know, or knowing you, you could have decieded to go of exploring the woods and ended up in some bog somewhere.”
“I would never do such thing,” said Clarice.
“So then what happened?” Illiana had her now, “Come on out with it.”
“Well, if you really want to know,” she looked at Illiana just to see if she was begging for her explanation. “I was down at the river filling the water bags, when I heard a noise, it sounded like a mix of thunder and the horrible wail of a cryavera sapling.”
“They do have quiet an awful sound, go on.”
“I looked around and saw nothing so I figured that it was just my imagination, or whatever it was was far away. So I bent back over the river to fill the bags.” She paused for emphasis. “I was knocked into the river by a fox running from whatever I had heard. The bags were knocked out of my hand by the current and I was washed down stream. It took me hours to collect the bags, fill them, and make it back to the path. Thus here I am a dripping wet mess with a dorky story to tell.”
“Did you ever find out what had made the animals run away?” Illiana asked while trying to contain her giggles.
“Nope, by the time I got back to the path, whatever it was had moved away long ago.”
“Well would you like to know what I think it was?”
“Why not, might as well know the extent of my humiliation.”
“Well... I think that it was a baby northern rock troll. That is the only thing that I know of that can scare a fox, other than a human of course, but they tend to stay away from the talking plants, Miana and I found one out in front of the cave, a baby, I sent it back of course.”
“Well seems as though I missed an adventure here.”
“Not really, I have taken care of many larger, older more mature trolls, this one was a peace of cake, taken care of without a mess to clean up. Any way, now that you are back I am going to get some sleep.” And with that Illiana curled up into a ball and was asleep in minutes. No blankets or anything.
Aunt Clarice walked over to the bed where Miana was supposed to be sleeping. Miana quickely closed her eyes and went into the best sleeping position she could, “Miana, I know that you are awake, I am back.” She was so hard to trick.
“Oh, hello Aunt Clarice,” she said, “Did you have a nice swim?”
“Ha ha, very funny, it was lovely, what did you think of that troll that you saw earlier?”
“It was big.”
“And that was only a baby, you should see an adult.”
“I think that I will pass on that one. But I do have one question about a magical creature.”
“What is that?”
“What is a cryavera tree?”
“Ah, a cryavera tree is a tree that can sing and scream. When it is frightened it will scream and if it is happy it will sing. The singing is quiet beautiful, although its screech is horrid.” Aunt Clarice smiled, “You are going to need some sleep, you have a big day ahead of you.” She walked off and laid down on the other bed. Miana was asleep in minutes.
She was woken up hours later by Illiana prodding her solder, “Miana.” she whispered, “Wake up, it is time that we were off.” Miana opened her eyes to see that Aunt Clarice was already awake preparing some food for their journey. She sat up.
“Time to go already?”
“Yes, the sun is just begging to set so we are going to head out now so that we will still have some natural light to travel out of the woods by.” Miana slowly got to her feet and walked over to her aunt.
“You will need these,” she said, handing her a pack of supplies, “And this is something that I have for you,” she walked over to the bags and took out a small piece of paper, and handed it to Miana. Miana took the paper and saw that it was a photograph of them at one of the holidays, Mr Frogbert was there, smiling in that funny way that he did. “This is so that you will always remember the people from home, also, never forget the prophecy, and your parents, the people that you love, those things are the reasons that you are here now after all.”
“Why exactly is that?” Illiana looked stunned, “I mean who created this prophecy? How do we even know that it is real?”
“The prophecy was written by the magical spirits of the past, they travel into the future and send dreams with mysterious poems in them to tell what should happen to keep, or create peace.” Illiana explained.
“So I am a peace maker?” Miana asked now a little more confused than she had been before.
“That is what the prophecy says, but I think that you are here for more than that, you are here for your parents, and to ensure your own and other peoples safety from Abhay.”
“Does that help?” Aunt Clarice asked.
“I think so, I still don’t think that I am a princess, but I will go to the mountain to stop this horrible man.” Miana still was not entirely sure what to think of the prophecy but she knew that there was no talking Illiana and Aunt Clarice out of it. She would ask Illiana more about it on the trip.
“Thank you for believing in us, good luck, and bye. I hope to see you soon.” Aunt Clarice wrapped Miana in a tight hug and Miana returned it.
“Wait, you aren’t going to come with us?” asked Miana.
“No, I am afraid that I shall stay here, I have to keep things straight in the village. You will be fine without me.”
“Thanks, goodbye” said Miana, and they pulled a part from each other. Miana wished that her Aunt could come with her but she would get along fine without her. She hoped.
“Good luck to you to, Illiana, I’ll be seeing you soon also.” Said Clarice.
“Yes, I can’t wait for our next meeting. Miana would you like to open the door?”
“You taught her how to draw up a door? Already?” Said Aunt Clarice.
“Yeah, that is how we found the troll,” Miana bragged.
“That’s my girl, a fast learner.” Beamed Aunt Clarice.
Miana brought up a door and said one final goodbye to her aunt and then she stepped out after Illiana. The night air was fresh and cool, the sun was not completely down so there was still a faint light to see by. They walked off from the path so that they would not be seen by any last minute travelers. The goal was to stay out of sight from the other people so that no one would know that Miana was there. If they were seen then the people would swarm her and expect her to rule her kingdom, it would slow their progress greatly and along with that disappoint the people of Ducelet.
After about half an hour the sun was completely gone from the sky and they could just see the light from the village coming up over the horizon. Once it was completely dark the woods became an erie place. The traveling itself was not so easy, Miana was continually tripping over roots, plants, rocks, in general anything that came in front of her, she could barely make out Illiana's small figure in front of her, the stars and moon gave some help, but Miana was also klutzy so she was not doing so well. Illiana turned and began to go away from the light and to their left. “Where are we going? I thought that we were following the border of the human and trolls land?”
“Yes we are,” said Illiana, “Now that it is dark there should be no travelers and we can walk on the path, there are strange things in these woods, most creatures that are large tend to stay away from us humans, because we have a greater advantage on them due to the fact that we can see them easier, but smaller animals can do as much if not more harm than larger animals. Also in the dark we could walk through some nasty plants. I think that you can agree that the path is better.”
“I agree entirely.” And on they walked, it took Illiana fifteen minutes to sniff out the path, she was now in her full fox form and was a tad bit frustrated. Once they were on the path it became easier to walk without tripping over various plants, but it was still dark and eerie, and every now and then there was a pot hole just waiting for her to trip over. Wow, Miana thought, I hope that Illiana doesn't expect us to walk the whole way to the mountain. They walked for another half hour and they could finaly start to see the light of the village again. By now Miana was not so happy, they had walked for one hour and gone maybe a mile. How were they supposed to get to the mountain in just days, it would take weeks, if not months to go on foot.
The lights of the village were getting brighter and brighter, soon they would be at the gates. When they could see the first torches from the village Illiana veered off into the woods, Miana followed instantly not wanting to be seen by one of the villagers. Once they were deep enough into the woods to be covered from sight Illiana stopped and sat down. Miana plopped her heavy bags down next to her and waited to see what Illiana had to say.
“As I think that you may have guessed, we could never make it on foot in a matter of days, that would take days.”
“Ya I was thinking that.” Replied Miana, although in her head she was thinking, thank you ms. Point out the obvious a lot.
“So I have arranged a ride for us.” Miana was shocked. She knew that Illiana was clever but how could she find a ride for them without being seen. Then she thought about her aunt transporting them from Canada to Ducelet. Oh no, that was not fun, it hurt! “You aren't thinking of magicaly transporting are you?”
“Of doing what? No, I have no idea what you are talking about, but I don't think so, although you may have some strange words for magical happenings. I think that you are going to like what I have prepared for us.” Miana was exited and nervous at the same time. She didn't know how Illiana could have possibly prepared a ride, where and what could she find something in this world that would take them that far on such short notice. But after all they were in a world full of magic and trolls, Miana supposed, anything could happen. “Alright,” Illiana said, “We have to go into the village to find our ride, and to make sure that it is ready for use to accompany it.” Miana was utterly thrown with this comment, for one thing, going into the village, she thought that they were going to stay clear of the people of Ducelet, and accompany it? What was this ride that Illiana had prepared? But there was no time for questions, Illiana had already grabbed her bag and was waiting for Miana to do the same. She did and they were off again, this time not bothering to be sneaky or inconspicuously.
They followed the brightly lit path all the way to the village. All the way Miana kept thinking to herself, what could this ride possibly be? Her anticipation was barley bearable by the time that they reached the first gate of the village. There were no guards or human of any sort around the gates, they were left wide open as if to invite any visitors. Illiana walked through the gate with confidence, Miana knew that she felt comfortable here, she had lived here all her life! Miana on the other hand was a completely different story. She was deep in thought and very nervous, on the other hand, she was extremely exited and curious about what ride that Illiana could have possibly prepared.
They easily walked through two more wide open gates that were flooded with brilliant light, it reminded Miana of the lights at night in Montreal. You could see everything clearly as though it were day. Aunt Clarice had taken Miana there when she was a small girl, the memory of the bustling city had been with her as long as she could remember.
Miana looked around and took in her surroundings, they were walking past rows and rows of wheat, which was fenced with small wooden fences and backed by a row of apple trees, it reminded Miana of her Aunts farm back in Canada, where there were ducks and cows everywhere, and fields as far as the eye could see.
They walked trough another gate and Miana found herself looking at the night time bustle of the village, there were a few people walking on the dim streets but for the most part the buildings of the village were occupied by sleeping villagers. For the first time Miana saw the humans of Ducelet. They were just like your average person, they came at various heights with various hair colors and skin types.
Illiana led her through the mostly empty streets of the village, they passed shops that were closed for the evening and houses that smelled of hay and flowers. Each house had a small yard filled with various objects the belonged to the family that owned the house. They passed one house that had a light on in one of the front windows. Miana looked in to see a woman feeding a baby in her night dress. Illiana turned off of what Miana took to be the main street onto a calmer street where all of the lights were out in all of the houses, except one. Illiana walked up to the house with the light and knocked on the door. Miana got her first good look at the houses on the street, they were all a light brown color with magenta colored doors and shutters.
A man came to the door and looked at Illiana and Miana, “Ahh, Illiana, I was wondering when you would show up. And this must be Miana.” The man looked at Miana and smiled, “Nice to meet you, I am Fabiano.” He reached out to shake Miana’s hand and she took it.
“Nice to meet you,” said Miana.
“Come in, come in, no need to stand out in the street.” Fabiano said and opened the door wider so that they could step into his house. They stepped in and Miana looked around his house, they were in what appeared to be a kitchen. There was a small sink, some counters, and a small window that looked out over a garden. There was a round table in the middle of the room that was cluttered with what looked like an oversized salad. There was a door that led off from the kitchen into a room that was blocked from view.
Fabiano led them through the door and into a living room. “Have a seat, I will get you some hot tea to warm you up a bit, walking outside at night gets a bit chilly, I would know, my magic beans must be watered at night in order to let the magic seep in correctly.” Illiana turned into her fox form and curled onto a couch. I settled down next to her and waited for Fabiano to come back with the tea. He came back in minutes with some tea and muffins. “Here you go.” He flicked his wrist and the teapot poured its contents into each cup. And then a cup and a muffin floated up toward each person. Fabiano sat down in a chair across from the couch and sipped his tea. Miana took the cup in one hand and the muffin in the other. Illiana flicked her tail and her food landed on the table in front of them.
“So, judging by the mess on your kitchen table you have found what I requested?” Illiana smiled politely.
“Oh yes, there is a whole herd of them up in the mountains of Marlinque. They are very fond of my beans.” So that was the transportation the Illiana had prepared for them, an animal, but what animal would have use for magic beans? Miana didn’t have any ideas for that one, so she decided to ask.
“Illiana, what exactly is this ride that you have prepared for us?” asked Miana.
Illiana looked at Fabiano and said, “You can have the pleasure of telling her, I am going to drink some of this tea,” Illiana uncurled from the couch and turned into her human form. She then sat very lady like and began to sip her tea. Miana looked at Fabiano waiting anxiously to hear what he had to say.
“I have found you a Duckaroo to ride.”
“What is a Duckaroo?” asked Miana curiously.
“A Duckaroo is a large magical animal, it was once the greatest species on this very land, but something happened years ago and now their numbers are small and they are very rare, lucky for you I happened to find a herd of them.” Miana imagined a giant graceful bird perched somewhere waiting for her and Illiana to come and ride. She could not wait to see it.
“I wonder what it looks like,” Miana said, hoping that Fabiano would take her hint that she wanted to see it.
“You will just have to wait until tomorrow until you can find out.” He replied with a smile on his face, his smile was warm and inviting, quiet unlike Illiana's it had no mystery behind it.
“Tomorrow? I thought that we were leaving tonight.”
“No, you are staying here for the night, I have plenty of rooms and it is better to travel during the day. It would be foolish to try and travel that far at night.” Fabiano laughed at the thought of it, as if it were hilarious to even think that they were going to travel at night, but only one thing was still haunting her about this, why had they waited to leave until it got dark?
“Okay, so why didn't we leave earlier today? When it was still light, and I could have avoided tripping through the woods in the darkness.”
“I think that you are going to have to ask Illiana that one, all I know is that you are here to pick me up and I was supposed to supply us with a ride.”
Miana looked to Illiana, “ So Illiana, why did we have to wait until dark?”
Illiana looked right back at Miana, “ That my dear, was because of your aunt, she has it in her head that if we are seen by the villagers then we will be stopped or questioned, time is of great importance to this journey. Also, I wanted to get here when Fabiano was in between sections of watering his beans, I hate to walk into houses uninvited.”
Fabiano smiled at Illiana, “You know that my door is always open to you, Illiana.”
Illiana smiled her innocent smile right back, “Yes I know that but I still like a resident of the house to be present when I go in one, especially to stay for the night and accompany us on a journey the next day..”
“Wait so Fabiano is coming with us?” With the look that came from both of them Miana knew that she had missed this part of the conversation. “Did we already go over this?”
“Yes, I seem to recall that Fabiano told you this when you were so worried about your bad balance walking through the woods at night, something about tripping over trees.” Illiana smiled teasingly.
“Hey, I was just worried about my safety, I could have run into something dangerous, and with no light I could have been in deep trouble.”
“Did you?” Illiana asked.
“But I could have...” Miana was just digging herself a deeper hole, she knew Illiana's point, they were not in much danger in that part of the woods, and she was only doing it to please her aunt. Illiana raised one eyebrow, when people do when they are confused or know that they had won the fight. I think that you know which reason Illiana had.
“So, Miana, You live in Canada? What is it like there?” Asked Fabiano.
“Huh? How did you know that I was from Canada?” This completely threw Miana, she had only known this man for twenty minutes. How could he know where she lived? What else did he know? Did he know about her parents? Mr. Frogbert? The cookies that she sometimes snuck at night? Well this was Ducelet after all, maybe he was a mind reader. “Are you a mind reader?”
“No,” chuckled Fabiano, “Illiana has told me all about you, your aunt had to keep in touch with her so that someone from Ducelet knew that you were still alive.”
“But why did she tell you?”
“That I don’t know,” he looked at Illiana and then turned back to Miana and winked. There was something about people who winked that drove Miana crazy, it was the fact that a wink could mean tons of different things, like when you said that you didn’t do something and you winked at your partner in crime which will say that you really did. But a wink could mean anything, what did this one mean? There was no time to ponder that, “So tell me about Canada,” implied Fabiano.
“Well, it is really great, it is sunny and warm for most of the summer, but not so warm that you are sweltering in the heat. It is the nice kind of warm, and on the farm that we live on there are so many ducks and cows and horses, Canada is awesome! And in the winter it is like freezing, but it snows and you get to have snow ball fights and build snow mans, and in the fall, it is just chilly before winter, and I go over to Mr. Frogberts yard and jump in the leaf piles, and the spring is a lot like it is here now. It is spring back in Canada now.”
“That sounds very nice.”
“It is, what about Ducelet, it must be just as nice as Canada.”
“It is very much like Canada, here we also have four seasons, but they are called, Frazen as you would know it fall, Broze as you would know it winter, Blume as you would know it spring, and Latedark as you would know it summer. They are all pretty much the same as your seasons, in the spring there is a bean celebration to ensure that it will be a good growing season, and there is a celebration on the equinox to renew all magical powers, it is on that day because every creature is at full power on that day.”
Miana thought back to when she had gotten her powers, “is that why in the poem that you say to renew your power you have to say creatures across the land, bring the magic to my hand, is there some sort of unique balance that holds all of the magic together?”
“Yes there is, that was a very good connection, you are going to be great at magic one day.”
“Thanks, but I am not sure that I will ever get used to the whole magic thing.”
Fabiano smiled, “It will come with time and practice.”
“Thanks.”
“You could have some practice now if you would like.”
Miana’s face lit up, she was exited to use magic again, “Ya, that would be awesome!”
“Okay, let’s start simple, how about you summon the tea cup.” He flicked his wrist, and muttered, “Come.” The cups flew gently up to him and placed themselves on his open palm. “Now you try,” he placed the cup back on the table and waited for Miana.
Miana looked at the cup and tried to feel it, she thought that it should be the same concept as when she had taken the branches from the tree. Once she felt the stiffness come to her she muttered “Come” and flicked her wrist. The cup flittered up a few inches and then, she blinked, the cup, now half way to her, crashed to the floor in a splatter of ceramic pieces. “Oh, I am so sorry,” Miana blushed, “I should have kept better eye contact.” She stood up to clean her mess, but it was to late, Fabiano had already cleaned it up by magic, the cup was sitting back on the table in one piece. “Thanks.” Said Miana, astonished.
“Would you like to try again?” Miana could not believe it, she had just broken a cup while trying to use magic, her aunt would have been furious, but she was egger to learn how to use her newly acquired powers so she sat back down on the couch and focused on the cup. “You should try to really let the feeling of it sink in, you must feel the cup.” Fabiano offered.
She let all of her energy focus on the cup, she was determined not to let it fall this time, she would complete the task. She felt the stiff feeling the same as before, but this time she waited longer, she waited until she could feel the round shape, “Come” she muttered, this time with more authority. The cup went slowly into the air, it came gently to her and landed flat on her hand. Perfect. “I did it!” She squealed happily.
“Very good,” Illiana complimented. Miana was glad to hear that Illiana thought that she had done good in making the cup move with magic, it could mean that she was one tiny baby step closer to controlling and using her powers.
They spent the next hour with Miana summoning the cup with magic, and Illiana watching then while sipping her tea, it sure did take her a long time to drink it. Miana was just learning how to make something stop in mid air when they were interrupted by Illiana.
“Fabiano, isn't it time for your beans to be watered?”
Fabiano looked at the watch on his wrist. Miana noticed that it was not a regular watch, it had a moon in the middle and heights all around it. “Oh my goodness, you are right Illiana, I was so caught up in the moment. You two can help yourselves to anything that you want there is plenty of food stored in the kitchen.” And with that he walked out of the room through one of the doors that Miana did not know where it led. He came back in a few minutes later equipped with jeans, a large pail and a gallon of water. He smiled at them and then left out of the door that led to the kitchen.
“Well,” Illiana said, “if it is really late enough for Fabiano to be watering his beans then we better be getting to bed. We are going to have to be up early tomorrow. I promised Fabiano that we would help him water his non-magic beans. They require less technique than the magic ones.”
“Okay,” said Miana, she was a bit tired, and she knew that the sooner that they could leave the next day, the sooner it would be until she got to see the Duckaroo. She quickly went into the kitchen and got their bags.
Illiana led her through another door that Miana had not noticed, partially because it was small and located behind the couch that she had been sitting on. Miana stepped into a large hall, there was a small window at the bottom of a set of stairs located directly in front of them, to her left there was a wall that was painted a nice, beige color, and to her right there was another door that she thought was a closet. Illiana led her up the stairs and onto a landing, then up another flight of stairs. At the top they arrived in a dark hallway. The only light coming into the hall was from the moon outside the three windows. Suddenly there was light. Miana blinked. She looked at Illiana to see that there was a ball of light swirling above her palm. Illiana smiled at her and then continued walking down the hall.
“Here is your room,” Illiana said. She opened one of the doors that led off from the hall, Miana stepped in and turned so that she was looking at Illiana. “The washroom is over there, my room is to the right of the stairwell, right across from Fabiano's if you need me, that is where I am going to be. Goodnight.”
“Wait, what if I need light, I can't see anything in this room.”
Illiana turned back around so that she was facing Miana. “To get light all you must do is picture the sun in your head and say bright, to put it out you just imagine black and say dark. Try it just so that I know that you can do it.”
Miana pictured the sun in her head, more likely light, or a big ball of swirling fire, because she had never actually looked at the sun. When her whole mind was filled with light she said, “bright” at the same time, Illiana put her light out. For a split second the room was black and then it was bright again. Miana looked down at her hand, floating just over her palm there was a ball of fire. Amazing. It was giving off brilliant light and her hand was not hot at all.
“Now,” Illiana said, “try to put it out.”
And so, Miana thought of darkness, and said, “Dark.” The room went black. Illiana then put her light on again.
“Very good,” she said, “Good night Miana.”
“Good night Illiana.” With that Illiana turned and walked to the other end of the hall. She opened the door on the right, steeped in, and closed the door behind her. Miana turned around to look at her room. She summoned the light to her hand so that she could see and looked around.
There was a small bed made up with a patch quilt and a white pillow across from the bed there was a small window that looked out into the garden, below the window there was a desk equipped with paper and quills. Next to the desk there was an oak dresser and next to that there was a full-length mirror. To top it off on the floor there was soft light brownish gold wood, and the walls had a light pink paint on them, definitely a girls room.
Miana walked over to the dresser and sat her bags down in front of it. She emptied the contents of the first bag in hopes of finding a night shirt to wear. She found, some berries that she had helped Illiana pack earlier that afternoon, what looked to be a first aid kit containing water and some medication, some bags containing various powders and, a stick. Yes there it was a stick, a long hazel stick with crooked edges and soft fur like bark, an interesting stick, but a stick none the less. Miana tossed it aside, why would they need a stick? After all they were going to be traveling through the woods, it was just weighing her down. Not that it weighed very mush, but still it was taking up valuable space.
She decided to look in the other bag, her aunt had said that she had packed clothes, hadn't she? Weather she did or not Miana was determined to find some. She opened the bag and peered inside. She looked at the contents, a book, Miana opened it and flipped through the pages, spells, they might come in handy, a bag of corn, where did that come from? And finally a light brown night shirt.
Miana took the shirt out of the bags quickly put it on. She put the filthy jeans that she had been wearing for two days now and set them next to the bags. She carefully put everything back into the bags except for the stick. Then she went over to the dresser and opened the top drawer inside she found a brush and some empty blankets. She took the brush and began to de-knot her long brown hair. When she was satisfied that it had been brushed back to its previous glory, she put the brush back in the drawer and began to investigate the two bottom drawers. They were both empty. Miana spotted a clock on a table next to the bed. She glanced at it and saw that it was almost one in the morning, she crept over to the bed and put out her light. She could still see slightly by the moonlight coming in from the window. She crawled under the covers and was asleep almost instantly.
“Miana,” Illiana prodded her shoulder. “It’s time to water the beans, and then we are leaving.” Miana was out of bed almost instantly. She could not wait until she saw the duckaroo. Illiana left the room so that Miana could change into some fresh clothes.
“Miana pulled out some jeans out of her bag, Illiana must have magically summoned some of her clothes from Canada the night before. She pulled on the jeans and a light blue shirt and ran the brush through her hair. She went downstairs to find Illiana and Fabiano sitting around the table eating what looked like eggs.
Fabiano looked up as Miana entered the room, “would you like some breakfast,” he offered her a plate stacked high with eggs and bacon.
Miana took the plate and sat down at the table and began to dig into her food. “So, how are we going to water these beans?”
“Ahhh, that will just have to remain a surprise.” He smiled and took a sip of something that was in a mug. Miana looked at Fabiano, sitting there eating his breakfast, he was really full of surprises.
When they were all done eating Fabiano went into the shed in the garden and came back with his single bucket and water. They followed Fabiano out the door and through the dimly lit streets of the village. It must have been only dawn, the sun was not fully up yet, and Miana could just see it coming over the tops of the hills that were beyond the village. She hadn’t noticed those hills the night before, she wondered if they were the ones she had seen on the map that led up to the Mountain of Sunshine.
Fabiano led them through what Miana took to be the village center. They went out some gates that were located on the opposite side of the village that they had entered the night before. Right after the gate there was rows and rows of fields.
“Ok,” Fabiano set down his bucket and looked at Miana, “we are going to duplicate the bucket filled with water.”
Miana remembered Illiana saying something about cloning the buckets to water his beans. “Okay, so how do I do that?”
“You just look at the bucket, this is similar to the cup, once you become one with the cup, so to speak, you simply say, duplait. And the bucket should double, but you must picture the amount of new items that you want, like so.” Fabiano demonstrated how this process worked, right in front of their very eyes a whole other bucket appeared. “You try.”
Miana looked at the bucket, as soon as she felt that familiar stiff, round feeling she pictured one bucket, “duplait,” right in front of her appeared another bucket full of crystal clear water. Amazing.
Miana stared at the water that was sitting in front of her, it never ceased to amaze her, what she could accomplish with magic.
“Okay now, here is how this is going to work. Miana you are going to duplicate each the bucket, just stick with one at a time until you get used to using magic to do your work. Push the bucket to the side to me or Illiana, we will send the water out and water the beans. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Illiana I trust that you know how to send items out and let them sprinkle their contents onto my beans, because, you know that if you cost me one plant, I will lose money.” A nod from Illiana signaled that she understood this and that she knew what she had to do. “Okay, Miana start duplicating.”
Fabiano and Illiana positioned themselves on either side of Miana. Miana began duplicating the buckets, one at a time. Each time she made one she passed it to the side that it showed up on, this seemed to work well because it tended to show up on each side at even intervals. After awhile Miana decided that she was slowing things down by only converting one at a time, she decided that she would speed things up by duplicating two instead of one.
Miana focused on the bucket in front of her, same old bucket, still filled with water. She waited until the familiar felling of stiffness and roundness came to her, then she pictured two buckets filled with crystal clear water. “Duplait” in front of her appeared one giant bucket. “Oops.”
Sitting in front of Miana was a bucket with the mass equivalent of two buckets put together. Miana pushed the bucket over to Fabiano and hoped that he would not notice the size difference. Fabiano took the bucket and then looked to Miana and smiled. He knew that she had tried to make more than one at a time, and she had failed. Miana returned his smile, although she knew that he could hold this against her for a long time. If he wanted to. Miana returned her focus to the bucket in front of her, back to one at a time.
“I believe that it is time for us to pack up, my beans have enough to drink and my buisness partner will be here to water them tonight. Miana if you could dump that water out and carry the bucket back that would be great.” Miana dumped out the water on the edge of the field careful not to damage any of the plants. She took the bucket and followed Illiana and Fabiano out of the field and back into the now busy streets of the village. By the time they were finished with everything in the fields the sun was completely past the hills and making it's way over the chilly village and the people were out and about.
Miana saw many people walking among the streets and opening up shops. When they reached the village center Fabiano stopped, “Illiana I know that you already talked to Tikan, but I just need to make sure that my beans will be taken care of. You and Miana can enjoy yourselves in the center or just go home, I will meet you back there.” With that he handed Illiana a pouch clanking with silver coins and walked away in the other direction.
“Who is Tikan,” Miana could be expected to be the first to ask what was on her mind and right now it happened to be Tikan.
“Tikan is Fabiano's business partner. He and Fabiano are the top magic bean growers, merchants in Ducelet. They are both very nice men.”
“Oh.”
“Now, how are we going to spend this money, there are many things to do in this village.”
Miana looked all around, she was surrounded by shops and people hustling around trying to get their supplies and get back home. She spotted a shop that looked interesting. It looked like an ordinary shop, it had two large windows displaying the stock, a sign hanging over the front door advertising the shops name, and two tables set outside equipped with umbrellas to keep out of the weather. “Let's go there.”
Illiana looked at the store that Miana was pointing to, Mrs. Lauralies pond of supplies. Through the front windows Illiana could see an old woman behind a counter accepting money from a young boy who was holding a wrapped passage. Illiana saw no harm in going into the store so she nodded to Miana that it was okay for them to go in.
Miana reached the store in seconds, she opened the door and stepped inside. Inside there was an array of items stacked on various shelves with various labels, there was a pleasant smell coming from what looked to be a counter filled with fresh sweets and behind the counter stood an old women bending low over an open oven. The women swooped up gracefully revealing a smiling face and holding a batch of cookies. She set the cookies on another counter located toward the back of the shop to cool and walked over to Miana. She smiled at her over the counter.
“Can I help you?”
“Oh, no thanks just looking.” Illiana walked in a few moments later looking more human like then Miana had ever seen her. But her small ears and tail were still visible sticking out of her clothes and hair. Illiana took one whiff of the sweet air and waltzed over to the counter where Miana stood.
“Well, I don't know about you Miana, but I am going to be buying something here.” Miana looked at the counter in front of them there were slices of pie, candy apples, muffins, cupcakes, if you could eat it, that store had it.
“Hmmm... there are so many things that I like...” what was a girl to get all of her favorite sweets were there. She finally decided on a slice of apple pie with cream on top. Illiana took a cookie that was shaped like a frog, and had the women put green frosting on it, that tasted like frog. I guess once you are a fox then you stay a fox. Illiana paid the women and Miana grabbed her wrapped package of pie, Illiana took out her cookie and they left the store and entered the now fully awake village center
Miana followed Illiana into the store that was directly across the street. As soon as they stepped into the store Miana was swept up by a sweet smell. It was not like the smell of the other store however, it was different. Within seconds she knew where the smell was coming from. On one side of the store there were candles of different sizes and colors. Some were burning and giving off a soft yellow light, others were just sitting on shelves waiting to be bought. On the other side of the store there were shelves of bottles, in the corner there was a barrel of sticks, what was it with the people of Ducelet and their sticks.
“Illiana, why is there a barrel full of sticks for sale? Can’t the people just walk into the forest and find some?”
Illiana chuckled. “I was wondering when you were going to ask about that. I suspect that you found the stick in your bags last night?”
“Yeah, how did you know that?”
“Because it was supposed to be in my bag, it got placed in yours by accident. And it is not just a stick, because you are very right, a stick would be easy to access, these are wands and you are going to get one today.”
Miana stared at Illiana and raised one eyebrow “Magic wands?”
“Well don’t look so exited.”
“But why do I need a wand if I can use magic without one?”
“Miana, let me explain to you a little something about magic, every world or country depending on where you are, has its own beliefs words, spells, and techniques when it comes to magic. In Ducelet, the people use magic without the aid of a wand most of the time, but really tough magic requires the use of a wand, it also depends on how powerful the person is and how fit the wand is to them.”
“You didn’t use a wand to get rid of that troll.”
“Yes, but I am a changer who has been using magic for over 100 years, I have great magical talent, it also helps that changers have more powerful magic than the regular single breed animals such as yourself.”
Miana was starting to see how a wand could be helpful to her now. “Does it give more control over the use of magic?”
“Well it depends on what you mean by that, what I am guessing is that you mean will it help channel your magic at one thing, my answer to that is yes, it will focus your magic on whatever you want, no more, no less. Also you don’t have to use words when you use a wand, that way if you were in a fight against someone, you could surprise them by attacking without moving your lips. If you use your hands you have to say the word. It will come in quiet handy with Abhay.”
Miana was now convinced that she would use the wand. “Great, so how do I find one that is suited for me?”
“Right over here.” Illiana led her over to the women behind the counter. “We would like to purchase a wand for her, it is her first.” Illiana pointed to Miana. When Illiana pointed to her she smiled shyly.
“Oh, are we exited, I know I was when I got my first wand.” When Miana smiled at her she went on, “Okay, come over here and we will see if I have anything that will suit you.” Miana followed the lady over to the barrel with Illiana trailing them right at their heels. “Okay, try this.” The lady handed Miana a light brown wand with a rubber handle.
Miana took the wand gently in her hand, it felt cool on her finer tips. She rolled it around in her hand admiring for the first time a stick, something she never thought that she would end up doing.
“How does it feel?”
“Good I guess.”
“Try to lift an unlit candle from the wall over there.”
Illiana hadn’t taught her how to levitate things so, she pointed the wand at an orange candle. “Come” the candle lifted into the air in record time and came zooming at Miana. Miana ducked and it came back at her from behind. Smack! It hit her in the tail bone. “Oww,” Miana turned around to see that the candle was now in the process of landing gently on the floor.
“Okay, that wand is a bit touchy lets try this one.” The women handed her a thicker wand that was covered in what looked to Miana like peach fuzz. This wand was soft and warm, it almost seemed like it was alive. “Try again.”
“Come.” This time she pointed at a purple candle. The candle floated gently up and slowly began its decent to Miana.
“Excellent, now try to change directions. Just point the tip in the direction that you want it to go.”
Miana pointed the tip to the left and the candle easily followed. Miana felt a new sensation, one that she was finally in control of her magic, the wand was amazing.
“I think we have a winner.”
Illiana smiled, “How does it feel?”
“I like it, it makes me feel in control.” Miana guided the candle back to the shelf where she found it in the first place.
Miana brought her new wand up to the counter so that Illiana could pay for it. She let the lady wrap it in some brown paper so that she could bring it back to Fabiano’s house. They left the store and Miana followed Illiana through the now thick crowds, through the village, and back to Fabiano's house. When they got there Fabiano was leaning over a pot sitting on the stove.
“Did you have fun?” He turned from the stove to look at them. He seemed pleasant enough, his beans must have been taken care of.
Miana hurried upstairs to put her wand safely into her bag. She got to the top of the stairs and found that the window was letting in a brilliant amount of light. She opened the bag that held her clothes and set it at the bottom underneath everything. Then she walked over to the bed and sat down to relax for a few minutes before she went downstairs. She found herself thinking about her wand and how relatively easy it had been to control the magic that was flowing from her. Then she thought of Illiana and how she said that she could do much more powerful magic with her wand, her wand!
Miana jumped off the bed and began looking around for the piece of wood that she had thrown the night before, she looked all over and found it lying underneath the bed. She took it in her hands and rolled it around examining it carefully. Something caught her eye, amongst the tiny fuzz there were some words, property of Illiana Karcowich the changer. Miana quickly replaced the wand in the bag were she had found it the night before. Illiana would not be very happy if she found that her wand was missing when they got half way to the mountain. She then went downstairs to see if they were ready to leave.
Miana walked into the kitchen to find Illiana bent low over a map of Ducelet, and Fabiano pouring soup into three bowls.
“Illiana, get that map off the table and eat something, we can plan our way into the cave when we are on the duckaroo, I trust that you already have a route for us to fly there on.”
“Alright,” Illiana cleared the table and sat down again lost in thought. Fabiano placed a bowl and a spoon in front of her.
“Eat up”
Miana sat down across from Illiana and a bowl equipped with a spoon was set down in front of her. Fabiano then sat down in between them and began eating.
“Why, is Illiana so distressed about how we are going to get into the cave, isn't the hard part going to be getting to the mountain before Abhay?”Asked Miana.
“That is one of the more challenging things about this journey, time always is an issue, there just never is enough of it, but the cave is well hidden, only the most powerful trustworthy people can find it, and even more few can survive to go in it.” answered Fabiano, Illiana was still deep in thought, tuning them both out completely.
“What do you mean?”
“The cave holds the key to every creatures magic, of you and me, and even Illiana, the cave is guarded by many spells to keep out people who would do harm to the magic held inside or the creatures who hold that magic. Once you control the persons magic, you control the person. The cave is designed to test you to find if you are trustworthy to handle the magic, if you make it past the first test, then you will find the cave, there are tons of tests, each one set off depending on the kind of person that it takes you as, if it decides that you are not trustworthy once you have been let into the cave then you will be rejected, another thing to realize is that the cave entrance never appears twice in the same spot within 100 years, but it always stays on the mountain.”
“And you want me to go in there?”
“Well the prophecy says that you are to defeat Abhay, and our sources say that he is going to the mountain to try and find the cave and control all of Ducelet, he knows all about the cave because he was once powerful man with access to the library in the castle, he knows everything that there is to know about the cave, and he will know every loop hole, and believe me there must be some.”
“How do you know, why can't we just use the loop holes, what if I am not excepted?”
“I know because if Abhay did not know of one then he would not be on his way there, he would be after you.”
Miana thought back to the day she had arrived in Ducelet. “But what about the day that I got here, he was after us then, that is why we came here.”
“Really? I was unaware of this. My only thought is that he could have been trying to lure you here were he could use magic against you, our magic can not be used in the world that you come from you know.”
Miana stared in awe. She knew that Abhay was coming for her because her parents had gone after him, but she did not know that she was going to have to fight him. Wait, she thought, if he wanted to fight me he would have come after me while I was here by now, she brushed the idea aside, she was going to the mountain, and would succeed in finding that cave.
“Are you two going to talk all day or are you going to eat your soup?”
“Oh yeah, right, sorry.” Miana picked up her spoon and began to sip up the steamy contents. Illiana had came back to earth, she was not going to let them be late. Miana and Fabiano finished their soup in record time and in 15 minutes they were packed and ready to catch their ride.
“Okay Fabiano, how are we supposed to catch our ride?”
“The chief said that he would send a recruit to the abandoned nesting area on sky rock. That is just west of here, it would take hours to walk there, so we are going by magic. I trust that you know how to transport yourself Illiana?”
“Yes.”
“Great then I will take Miana,” he grabbed Miana’s hand and said, “To, sky rock.”
The world spun, Miana could feel herself floating up above the floor soon the room was gone and they were floating among many doors. It reminded Miana of when she had gotten her powers renewed and was floating above the mountains. They came to a door and Fabiano reached out and opened it. There was a bright light and then they were gently floating to the ground.
Miana looked around. She was standing on a giant rock filled with giant feathers and round piles of brush that looked like abandoned nests. And then she saw it. Sitting on giant furry muscular legs, followed by a feathery upper body equipped with a giant beak and strong wings. Miana now knew why it was called a duckaroo, it was half duck, half kangaroo. The creature was magnificent, the feet were huge and furry, great for hopping, the chest was covered in soft fur and a pouch, much like a kangaroo, right above the pouch a cluster of feathers began, on the sides there was giant wings great for flying long distances, on the head there was a large beak that was rounded, great for eating plants. That was one thing that comforted Miana about this beast, she knew that ducks and kangaroos were both plant eaters, there was not much of a chance of this creature harming her, or so she hoped.
“Greetings, it is me, Fabiano, and this is Miana and Illiana.” The bird ducked its head so that its eyes were even with the visitors.
“Hello, my name is Ballari, I am here to escort you on your journey.” Ballari had a soft magical voice that made Miana a little more comfortable around her.
“Thank you so much for coming, I trust that you got my beans?”
“Yes we did, they were wonderful.”
“Great, I tried to give you the best from my selection, I live up to the best expectations for paying someone for a job like this.”
“Oh, it is not a big job for me, I am a great flier.”
“I trust that you are, but we have to go a great distance, I did not mean that you were not a good flier. I can’t imagine there is a duckaroo alive who is not good at flying, that and magic seem to be your god given talents.”
“Yes, now I was told that you were in a great hurry and that we were to be off immediately.”
“Yes, you are quiet right.”
“Well then what are we doing exchanging idle chat? We can do that while we are in the air.”
“She has a point,” Illiana cut in.
“Okay, let’s be off. Ballari, how would you like to arrange the seating and bags.”
“Have the little one, what did you say her name was?”
“Miana,” said Miana, this was the first time that she had spoken to Ballari. “My, name is Miana.”
“Oh, I am sorry. Miana, would you please sit up towards my neck. With the bags, the changer and Fabiano can sit right across from Miana.”
“The changers name is Illiana.” Said Illiana fiercely.
“Sorry, I am not very good with names, I have done business with Fabiano before which is why I know his name.”
“Sorry I can be a little snappy.” Illiana climbed up onto her designated seat and sat waiting for the others to join her. Fabiano helped Miana load the bags onto the back and Miana took a comfortable seat amongst them. Ballari’s feathers were soft and warm and Miana had no trouble getting comfortable. Fabiano climbed up next to Illiana and got comfortable.
“Is everyone settled?” Ballari asked. Her voice was slightly louder than it had been when Miana first heard it, and her whole body vibrated with the noise.
“Yes,” shouted Fabiano.
Ballari hopped to the edge of the rock and looked over the edge. Miana peered over the tip of the bags and over the side of Ballari’s neck. She looked over the edge. There was a huge valley below filled with mist, before the valley there was a fifty foot cliff, they were sitting on top of the cliff. Ballari spread her giant wings pulsed her powerful legs and leaped into the air, they were off.
Flying was like nothing that Miana had experienced before in her life. The air rushed around them and whistled under Ballari’s powerful wings. There was the feeling that you were floating, but you were on a safe secure surface that you would not fall from. It was different than when she had been floating over the woods and with the doors, she was not the one in control of what was happening, Ballari was. Ballari climbed higher and higher until she reached a spot where they were just over the clouds and the wind.
Miana looked out over Ballari's neck and saw the clouds racing below them, they were traveling at great speeds. Miana shivered, it was really cold at that altitude. She sat back down and nestled into Ballari's soft feathers. It was much warmer nestled close to her. Miana looked around to see that Illiana had turned into her fox form and was watching the clouds roll before them. She was thinking about the discussion that she had had with Fabiano earlier that day. There was one thing that boggled her mind, how could Abhay come to power if he was so evil? Miana decided that now was as good a time as she would get to ask Fabiano about how Abhay came to power before her parents disappearance.
“Fabiano, earlier you said that Abhay was a man who was high in society and a great scholar, how was that if he is such an evil man?”
Fabiano looked up, “Well you see Miana, when your father was a young boy his father was the king of Ducelet. Abhay was only 13 at the time, the same age as your father, and he was a good kid who earned an honest living or so thought the king, the children knew better however, he stole and cheated to be better than all of the other kids, and he is no different today. He was however a poor peasant who's family had little money to spare, your grandfather was a kind, kind man, his motto was, 'if you are nice to others than they will be nice to you.'” This reminded Miana of Mr. Frogbert, he was a kind man who believed in that to. “Your father hated Abhay so much, they were rivals, in school Abhay would cheat off of your fathers papers and then your father would get blamed for it. On the play ground he would push your poor father in the dirt and sit on his back and yell, 'king of the prince' then all of the kids would join in laughing. However your father was not one to let this happen to him, whenever Abhay did something to him, he did the same thing right back or worse. When your father explained this to the king, he would hear nothing of it, he simply said, 'if you are nice to others they will be nice to you back.' And so Abhay was allowed to stay at the castle as a guest and once he reached eighteen years of age he was allowed to become a teacher at the royal school. There he had full access to the library and all its contents. Eventually the king died and your father took over his spot as king, as you can imagine, his first move was to check up on his good friend Abhay and to see what he was up to. So he sent three spies to search his house without the knowledge of its owner. He found that Abhay was plotting to overthrow the king(himself)and take over all of Ducelet. As you can imagine he was furious, the next thing he did was to take Abhay's magic from him and ban him from the castle and all of Ducelet. And ever since Abhay has still been plotting to take revenge on the king and some how rule Ducelet.”
Miana sat in silence, her mind boggled by the complications of the tale that she had just heard. “That is what happened? Is that why Abhay is after me? He can't get to my father because he disappeared so he is after me because I am the heir to the thrown?”
“Well, yes.”
“But wait does he really think that after he gets rid of me that the people will let him become king? He would be overthrown in minutes, it just simply would not happen.”
“Well actually it can. You see back when your grandfather was king he promised Abhay that if anything were to happen to his family then he would become king. He left a magically binding contract. Once you die, the kingdom automatically goes to him. Whether the people want him to or not.”
“Well, I guess that means that we have no choice but to get rid of him, but I have one question. How do we know that my parents are dead? I mean they just disappeared without a trace right? What happened to them?”
“Well, if we have not heard from them for this many years they are assumed to be dead, I mean it has been over thirteen years, that is how old you are right?”
“Yeah.” The conversation just dropped as quickly as it came, Miana was left deep in thought and Fabiano indulged himself in a conversation with Illiana about how they were going to get into the cave.
So, her father was enemies with Abhay? Well that explained a lot. All that was left to do now was to practice her magic and take over Abhay's magic, it seemed to be the only way to settle things. Miana's eyes were barely open, she was asleep within minutes, warm and comfortable in Ballari’s thick warm feathers.
Miana awoke to find that she was no longer on Ballari's back, but on the ground rolled up in some blankets. She quickly sat up and looked around, Illiana was sitting around a fire with Fabiano cooking something in a pot.
“Good afternoon sunshine.” Said Illiana with a bright and cheery smile as she looked up from the fire.
“What time is it?” Miana asked, clueless to all that had happened while she was asleep, “and why are we stopped, I thought that we were flying halfway for a day, then resting a day, and then flying to the mountain and then we would go from there.”
“Yes well, apparently we had to make a stop at the current nesting space of the duckaroo's, Ballari has to report in. It is about sun down. Would you like some dinner?”
Miana realized that she was hungry. “Sure, what are you making?”
Illiana poured some of the pots contents into a bowl that she just conjured up out of thin air. “It's a surprise.” She said with a huge smile on her face.
Well, here goes nothing Miana thought as she dipped her spoon into the thick broth of the soup that sat in front of her. She brought it to her mouth and soon discovered that it had a sweet and savory taste, and a bit of something else that she couldn't put her finger on. So, Illiana could cook and eat normal food. Miana took her bowl and sat down to eat with the others around the fire.
“I see you actually are enjoying my cooking now?” Illiana teased. Miana smiled and nodded, there was no point in denying the fact that Illiana was quiet a good cook.
“So, Illiana would you care to explain your plan to get into the cave to Miana?”Inquired Fabiano suddenly.
Illiana gave him a stern look. “Not here, we don't know who could be listening to us, or what they could do if they figured out how to get into that cave. We will talk more when we are in the air.”
They ate the rest of their dinner in silence. Ballari returned just after as they were picking up their plates and getting rid of all of the leftover food from them with magic.
“We are ready to go. The chief knows that I have found you and that I am on my way to the mountain to defeat Abhay. He told me to thank you for the beans and to remember that the duckaroo’s will always be your friend as long as you do not betray them.”
“Well thank you, I appreciate that, I will always treasure this friendship as it is rare and quiet frankly just special.”
Ballari gave him a smile. It was quiet interesting to see her smile, it was warm and sweet, but there was just something about that beak forming a smile that made you want to laugh. Of course no one did as this was a historic moment for the time, the people had never befriended the duckaroo’s, they had always chosen war or just simply kicked them out of their land. A handful of humans had tried to compromise with them, but they had always just asked for more than their share of everything from land to food. It was an ongoing battle that there was really no reason for.
“My flock will treasure it as you do if not more, if that is possible.”
“So, how did that seating arrangement work for you Ballari? Because if it is possible I think we should be leaving now.” piped in Illiana
“Already?”
“Yes, is there a problem with that?”
“Oh, I'm sorry did I forget to mention that the chief invited us to stay here for the night, it would be dishonorable to not accept his invitation.”
“I thought that you just said that we were ready to go,” countered Illiana.
“Yes, we could leave if it is the up most importance, the chief has invited us to stay here with the flock, I’m sorry that I forgot to mention that, I am a great flyer but my memory is not as great as some of my flock.”
“So I see,” remarked Illiana.
“We were invited to stay,” said Fabiano astonished by the great honor it was to be invited to go into the duckaroo’s flock.
“Yes,” said Ballari.
“Well then what are we doing standing here talking?”
“Because we aren’t going,” exclaimed Illiana.
“Why not,” piped in Miana.
“Yes Illiana, why not? How could we pass up an opportunity like this? No human has ever set foot in a duckaroo nesting ground peacefully, none the less been invited and welcomed in.”
“Well us changers have been friends with the duckaroos for ages,” argued Illiana.
“Great then you won’t mind coming with us, besides this is a historic moment for us humans, are you coming Miana?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world”
“Fine I will come, but don’t complain to me when we get to the mountain in a week instead of four or five days.”
“Oh Illiana, don’t worry we will be fine, just relax and enjoy yourself.”
Miana didn’t understand why Illiana was so resilliant. They were making history, it could be the start of a revolution, once the people of Ducelet found out about what they had done they could follow that example and the humans and duckaroos could become allies. That may have been a bit of a stretch from what they were actually doing but hey, it could happen.
“Excellent, Chief Fredrick will be delighted to know that you have accepted his invitation. Climb on I will take you to the flock.”
They all climbed onto Ballari’s back and she took off immediately. Miana was again settled comfortably among the bags. Illiana sat facing her two companions looking grumpy. The flock was in sight before no time. And what a sight it was.
There were duckaroos everywhere, some were laying in giant nests, similar to the ones that were abandoned on sky rock. They were in a variety of colors and sizes, they varied from gold to black, and some had different colored fur than feathers it was quiet the sight. It looked like the inside of a giant colorful pillow, there were feathers everywhere. Ballari flew down and landed casually among the rest of her flock. They landed in the middle of a huge crowd and as they came in they were greeted by cheers of delight.
As soon as they touched down they were a giant duckaroo with golden feathers came forward the crowd went silent.
“I am chief Fredrick, leader of the flock of mellow currents. I welcome you here to stay with us for the night and to join in the festivities that we have prepared. This is a historic day for both humans and duckaroos, may we all enjoy it and learn from it, as we have learned in the past.”
Fabiano stepped forward, “I am touched by this offer and willingly oblige to stay within the comforts of your flock for one night, however I have one question. What festivities have you prepared, we only just came to your flock.”
“Ah Fabiano, as soon as you asked me to grant you a ride on this expedition of yours, I took it upon myself to prepare a feast and dance in honor of the great honor it is to be getting along with a human and having a fair trade.”
“Well thank you for going throug all that trouble, I can guarantee this will be the most amazing once in a life time moment that I will ever have.”
Fredrick chuckled, “The same goes for me. Now let the festivities begin!” With that the crowd broke into a chorus of cheers and applause and somewhere some music started playing. The many duckaroos began parading through the nesting grounds in a series of dances that seemed to be leading them closer to the music.
Miana felt something nudge her in the back, her legs were then knocked out from under her and she was sitting on something soft and being lifted into the air. She found that she was on top of Ballari's head, she could see everything that was going on from up there. She looked sideways to see that Fabiano had been scooped up by a duckaroo who was slightly bigger than Ballari. Fabiano turned his head and smiled at her and began to clap his hands to the music, Miana joined in and soon Ballari and the duckaroo next to her began to stomp their feet to the music.
The music was getting closer and closer, and then it was full blast, Miana was starting to enjoy herself. They had reached a circle that was clear of nests and looked to be used as a place for social gatherings. Words were now mixed in with the music and along with it went a dance, Ballari dipped her neck and swirled around, hopping three times left, then three times right, then spinning around and dipping her neck and starting all over again.
Miana slid down Ballari's neck so that she would be not thrown off of her head when she dipped and hopped. Once she got to her back she found that there was plenty of room for her to dance and sing along with the rest of them. So she dipped and hopped, and spun and dipped some more. She looked glanced over her shoulder at one point to see that Fabiano had done the same as her. But where was Illiana? She was probably off somewhere pouting because she was in the middle of a duckaroo celebration, and apparently she did not like the duckaroos.
Soon the dance ended and everyone gathered around a huge table. Now when Miana thought of huge she thought of large as in one hundred foot tall trees and so on, but that table was nothing like she had ever imagined. It was at least twelve feet wide and two hundred feet long, it was huge! Miana could not even see the ends of the table. The travelers were sitting in the middle of the table next to the chief, on the other side of the chief was Ballari, the one who had been holding Fabiano and one that Miana had never seen before. The chief was on her left, to the right was Fabiano and on his right was Illiana. Giant plates were placed in front of each of the duckaroos, and each of the travelers, with the exclusion of Ballari, were given regular sized plates. In the middle of the table ginourmous plates of food were set for everyone to take what they wanted.
There was every kind of food that you could imagine and more. The duckaroos had got some human recipes from the changers and also had put in some of their own unique foods. Miana had never seen none the less imagined as much food as she saw before her in her life.
“We have this feast before us in honor of the first human, duckaroo deal where each side agrees to give equal amount in order to gain. Along with that we have made history and created what will hopefully be a strong and long lasting friendship.”
“I can not thank you enough for this great accomplishment and opportunity that we created. I think that this friendship will last a long time. It is a delicate but firm string that I hope nothing will come between.”
“I agree, and now, let’s eat!” Everyone began to pull food from the plates that were set in front of them. Miana selected a piece of roasted chicken, some mashed potatoes and what looked like a Christmas tree decorated with berries. Some sort of sweet juice drink was poured into a cup in front of each plate.
Miana bit into the Christmas tree, it was sweet, juicy, and melted in her mouth. It was really good, they were berries that Miana had never tasted before, they were amazing. “So Fabiano, who was that duckaroo that you were riding on?”
“Oh, that is Goanna, he is a friend from the day when I found the flock. He is quiet nice, you will meet him later.”
“That sounds great,” Miana was becoming more and more accustomed to being around the duckaroos, “So Illiana, where were you during all of the dancing?”
“I was talking with some of the elder duckaroos, they have some quiet interesting tales you know.” Illiana smiled.
Miana giggled. “I’m sure that was an indulging conversation.” She took a large sip of the drink that was had been set in front of her. It tasted like the berries that were on the Christmas tree.
“It was, so how do you like the food?”
“It is great, what are these berries called?”
“Oh, those berries are called Sunray berries. I take it you like the most popular dish in the flock. After all a ducks favorite food is seaweed and a kangaroos is Sunray berries.”
“Seaweed?”
“Well sure, what did you think that green stuff was? The seaweed is what makes it melt in your mouth.”
“Well I guess there is always something I think that I would not like but I really do, it happens to everyone,” and with that she took another bite out of her seaweed delight.
Illiana smiled, “and your aunt said you didn’t like your greens.” She laughed, “That just goes to show what a person will like to eat when they are surrounded by giant ducks, with giant jumping feet and smiling beaks and history is being made.”
“Miana smiled back, “Hey, it’s good, what else can I say.”
The rest of the dinner went on smoothly, Miana helped herself to another one of the seaweed concoctions and tried two more of the duckaroos dishes, she liked them all. After the main course there was desert to be served. The plates from the main course were cleared in minutes, which was surprising with the amount of plates that needed to be cleared. They were replaced by piles of desert, they all included some type of berry in some form, there were ice cream sundaes with strawberry syrup, cake topped with strawberries and cream, and sunrise berries covered in seaweed and then covered in cream.
Of course with her newly found liking for the sunray berries and seaweed she wanted to try everything that had that in it, she soon found that almost everything came equipped with them so she settled for a Sunday with vanilla ice cream, sunray berries, and whipped topping, she skipped the sea weed because she thought that it was more of a main course thing. Desert tasted just as good as the main course had, Miana didn't think that she could eat another bite.
After the feast there was more dancing to be done, the music began and Miana was once again scooped up onto Ballari's back. The festivities lasted long into the night and soon they were all sitting in a rough human hut that had been made with the aid of magic specially for the guests.
“So what did you think of the duckaroos?” Illiana asked.
“That was the most interesting and fun night that I have ever had in my life.”
“Same goes for me,” Fabiano replied.
“Well, I'm glad that you liked it, the duckaroos went through a lot to prepare this night, they also went through a great strand of fighting and lies to get here, to have a friendship of a human. This truly was a great day in history. According to some of the elders, this is the biggest celebration for anything that they have ever had.”
“Wow, this was a really big deal for them huh,” commented Miana. With the looks that they gave her of disbelief she knew that she had better give more of an explanation to what she ment. “I mean, I knew that it was a big deal, for the humans and duckaroos to be creating a bond and friendship such as this one, but I wouldn't think that they would go out of their way just for this one moment.”
“Well, the duckaroos were kind creatures, they live on trust and tranquility, few of them are ever evil and they are almost never involved in wars, that is one of the many issues that they have had with humans in the past,” explained Illiana.
“Illiana, if you have such a great knowledge and respect for the duckaroos then why didn't you want to stay with the flock?”
“For exactly the reason that I used when you were prodding me to go, because I knew that this would put us at least a day behind and we really are in a great hurry, if Abhay really does know a loop hole in the caves defenses than he will be a great danger to the people of Ducelet.”
Miana thought about this, “well you do have a good point, but just one thing, if we get there before him then he could still overcome us in the cave, right?”
“Not exactly, another one of the caves many defenses is that only one person can be in the cave at a time, the entrance seals up until that person comes out in any way shape or form.”
“Wait, so you are expecting me to go in by myself? With no help from you or Fabiano? Not even Ballari?
“Well I am afraid not, unless of course we are able to figure out some way of communication with you while you are in the cave.”
This was not the news that Miana wanted to hear. One thing that had been helpful on this journey was the fact that she had other people helping her along. How could she stop Abhay from destroying a whole civilization on her own? She barley knew a thing about magic. However she was going to try, if she had so many great creatures backing her up and putting trust in her than she was not going to let them down without a fight. Abhay would never become the king of Ducelet, she would not let it happen.
Her spirit renewed, she was ready for any challenge ahead, any thing at all that she came across, she was sure that she would face. She dug into her pocket and for the first time since her aunt gave it to her and looked at the picture of them at the party, it reminded her of what had just happened that night, a much smaller scale of course, but a celebration all the same, she knew that that photo already held more memories than most, and it was not done collecting them.
At some point they all went off to sleep on cots that had been laid for each of them in separate rooms, just so that they could all feel at home and have some privacy. This journey was turning out to be more magnificent than she had ever imagined. Laying on her cot she felt safe and warm and had drifted off to sleep in no time.
Miana awoke to find light shining through the small window in her room. She pulled the sheets off the bed and put her feet onto the cold wood floor of the hut. She walked into the kitchen seeking the other current inhabitants of the house. She found Illiana cooking at the stove, that was where she always was when Miana woke up, cooking, what would they do without her? Fabiano was sitting at the table examining a giant feather in his hands, he rolled it around and around, glorifying at every tiny speck that made up the magnificent feather.
“Good morning sunshine,” Illiana remarked, “Care for some breakfast?”
Miana was still full from the night before so she passed up the eggs that Illiana offered her.
“If you don't eat the duckaroos may take it as an insult to all they have done, being ungrateful,” said Illiana as she raised one eyebrow quizzically.
“But I'm not hungry, I ate all that my stomach could hold last night and I still haven't finished digesting it.”
“Eat something,” insisted Illiana, “you are going to need your strength for what lies ahead, this may be the last time you get to eat a hearty home cooked meal.” She winked at Miana, she knew her cooking was not as good to be called a hearty home cooked meal, but hey it was worth a try.
So Miana settled for some eggs and sunray berries. They ate their breakfast silently and peacefully and were ready to go before the sun was too high in the sky. Before they left they had to stop and see the chief. His nest was located in the center of the flock and was the largest, other than that his nest was not much different from the rest of the nests that were surrounding them. That probably went back to the being a kind race who did not fight in wars thing. The king was not trying to better himself from his people, he was just trying to lead his flock to the best of his abilities. That was how it should be done, thought Miana.
Fabiano stepped forward, “Thank you very much for welcoming us to your flock, it was the best party that I have ever been to and the food was magnificent. I wish that I could have done the same for you, but there are only three of us, and we are kind of in a rush. Thank you so much for the gift that you have given us. We will cherish these memories for ever, as well as the new friendship that we have created.”
The king smiled, Miana could not get over how odd it was to see a duckaroo smile, “We are happy to have you, you shall always be a friend of this flock for as long as I am king, and hopefully longer, but as you know us duckaroos live to be pretty old.”
Fabiano chuckled, “Yes, you duckaroos seem to outlive us humans by a landslide, I think that part of it has to do with your values in life, you would rather have friendship than war, many humans would do well to follow that rule in life. That and you are one of the most powerful magical creatures in all of the land.”
“That is very kind of you to say, I think that this bond will go far, we both think a like, I would really like to get to know you better, but as I know you need to be off as fast as possible to save the people of Ducelet. On that note I bid you farewell.”
“Good bye my new friend, I hope that your flock lives well, we will try and stop to let you know if we completed our task, however if we end up with Abhay on our tail I will not lead him here to you, I will try and go as far away as possible.”
“I look forward to seeing you again. Now you must be off.”
Fabiano gave Chief Fredrick a wide smile and a bow, and off they were. They left the nest and walked back through the flock to the hut where they had left their bags. As they walked between the nests they were cheered on by the rest of the members of the flock of smooth currents. This only added to Miana’s high spirits and somehow she could not wait to get to the cave and defeat Abhay. They reached the hut and took all of their bags out and set them on Ballari’s back, Miana climbed up among them and was soon joined by Illiana and Fabiano sitting across from her.
Again Ballari spread her wings and pulsed her legs, they took off over the flock and waved good bye. Miana thought that she would pass the time flying by asking Fabiano and Illiana about the plan they had conceived to get into the cave in the situation that she was not excepted regularly.
“So Illiana, what exactly was your brilliant plan to get in the cave in the instance that I don’t get in on sheer character?”
“Ah Miana nice choice of words, I think that brilliant is the perfect word to describe it, you see any way into the cave is hard to find, what scholars thought for years was that the only way to get in was on sheer character, however they were wrong, there are two other ways to get in, one is to dangerous to even consider, so we are going to use the other route, if you dig deep into the mountain there is supposed to be some sort of key, that key can be used to open the cave, there are supposed to be instructions on how to locate the cave using the key also, we will give your sheer character a try first, I’d say we should give it about a day.”
“A key, well that’s not very original, but hey sounds better than facing certain death by going through several life treating tests relying on only will and the quality of my character.”
Illiana laughed, “Yes, cheating is usually an easier route than playing fair, but not always.”
Miana laughed to, “and my aunt always told me cheating was not the way to go.”
“Yes, but we do not know that it will work yet,” commented Fabiano, “save your gloating for after we have succeeded.”
“If we succeed that is,” commented Miana.
“That is exactly my point,” remarked Fabiano.
No one had anything to say after that, they all knew that he was right this was not going to be easy, not in the least. They flew for about two hours until Fabiano instructed that they stop. Miana looked out over Ballari’s neck to see that they were flying over a dense forest where birds flew just above the tree tops. Ballari sunk lower and lower until they joined the birds above the treetops.
“I need to find a place to land,” urged Ballari. Miana looked out in the horizon to try and find a clear spot for Ballari to land. What she saw was not a clear spot, looming in front of them there was a mountain, it was bigger than any mountain she had ever seen. They flew in circles for at least ten minutes and tried ten different spots before Ballari was satisfied, once she found a spot she circled twice over it and then began a gentle decent towards the ground. Once they were on the ground Illiana immediately took charge, there was a camp to be set up and a fire to be started they were in for a lot of work.
“Miana, I want you to clear a spot for a shelter and fire, Fabiano you and I will go look in the woods for logs that will be suitable, Ballari, do what ever you think will help,” and with that they all set off to their different tasks. Miana looked at the clearing that laid before her, it was mostly level ground with a shallow incline, they were completely enclosed by trees and the clearing was completely covered in dead leaves and grass. This was not going to be an easy task.
Remembering why she was on this journey she set about her task. She decided that the shelter was going to be placed underneath a giant tree that had low hanging branches which provided shelter from the rain and the sun. She drew an outline of the general area with a stick and set out to work. She had cleared a pretty big space, something that would take her at least a half an hour to do by hand, but she had magic on her side.
She stepped over onto the far edge in between where the fire pit was going to be. She focused every bit of her energy on the leaves. She mapped out on section with her eyes so that she would not over due it by trying to get them all at once, she focused on that patch. Soon enough she could feel the thin membrane of the leaves. “Come,” she demanded. The leaves flew at her in a flurry of browns and reds, somehow they all managed to land in a neat pile in front of her feet. She selected another section and layered another pile on top of the first one, soon all the leaves were out and left in the wake was a perfect square of golden brown dirt.
When she took a closer look at the pile of leaves that lay before her she noticed that they were dry and easily burnable. She left the pile there so that they could use it later to help start the fire. The fire pit was a much smaller task and only took one time to remove all of the leaves. When she was done she looked at her handy work, the spot for the shelter was in the exact spot where she had wanted it and the perfect shape, the fire pit was a perfect circle right in the middle of the clearing, that way the flames would not catch on any trees, the leaves were piled neatly in between the fire pit and shelter ready for use at any second. Her task now finished Miana set out to find something else to help set up camp. She looked at the fire pit something was missing, but what?
She looked around camp in an attempt to stimulate her mind. There were leaves, plenty of them, rocks, some fallen branches. That was it, rocks. Miana thought back to her aunts farm in Canada, they had had bon fires during the fourth of July in fire pits similar to the one that she was creating now, they were surrounded by stones to keep the fire from burning the grass or leaves around it. Miana went around picking up the stones one by one until she had a nice pile stacked next to the spot that she had cleared for the pit. She carefully placed each stone around the circle trying to fill in every hole where the flame could come through. Miana was no willing to take chances with safety. In no time there was a complete fire pit sitting before her.
As she stood admiring her work Illiana and Fabiano returned equipped with large logs which were floating freely behind them.
“Where did you clear out the shelter spot?” Asked Illiana.
“Right over there,” Miana pointed to her handy work.
Illiana followed where she was pointing to and Fabiano trailed right behind. They dropped the logs right there and went over to stand with Miana.
“So, how did you manage so much work? I left you a pretty big task for such a young girl, you gave more than I expected, you sure did learn a lot from those duckaroos didn’t you?” Illiana smiled.
“That is a good thing,” Fabiano put in, “the duckaroos are a great civilization to look up to, they are kind generous and willing to pick compromise over war. That is how any creature should truly live. It kind of goes by your grandfather’s old motto, if you treat someone nice, they will treat you nice back.”
“Well Fabiano, as much as I agree with you about the duckaroos I learned a thing or two from you and Illiana to, I used magic to help complete my job.”
Illiana beamed, proud of the compliment that she had just received about her teaching abilities, “Smart girl.”
Miana smiled back, “I know.” And with that they both burst out laughing. Fabiano sat there looking at both of them like they needed to get a life, or he needed a wider sense of humor, whatever the case he did not get what they were laughing about.
“So, we have this great fire pit, how about we find some wood to fuel it.” The laughter died down and soon enough he had a reply.
“That is a great idea Fabiano, you are most correct, we will need some wood, but as for kindling we have a whole pile of it right here.” Miana pointed out her magnificent piece of art work, never in her life had she made a pile of leaves that neat that fast. Magic was both helpful and efficient.
“Well, Miana and I can go gather some wood while you start to work the shelter, when Ballari gets back she will help you with it. As I am sure that you know, duckaroos are great architects.”
“I suppose that is the best plan,” said Fabiano, apparently weary of being alone to build the shelter, “I guess that I will have to comply, besides I have to match up to Miana’s great work standards.”
And so again they split up, this time Miana went with Illiana on a much less tedious task. Illiana led her deep into the woods where they soon came upon what seemed like a forest of fallen branches, “Dig in,” exclaimed Illiana. And Miana did just that, in seconds her arms were full with branches of multiple sizes and shapes. They made several trips from the trees to the clearing and before long had a sufficient pile going. Trip after trip there was one thing that had began to creep up into Miana’s mind, the prophecy.
The first time she had read the prophecy none of it had seemed real, of course then she had thought it was all a dream. Now she knew it was real she had traveled so far and made so many memories that she was now sure that it was real. The last lines were the problem really,
When good and bad meet Water comes over fire,
But will it defeat?
Why exactly did it say will? And did that mean that she was going to face Abhay weather or not they beat him to the cave? She decided that these questions were probably something that Illiana, Fabiano and Ballari would like to hear about. With that thought in the back of her head she continued to work until they were all satisfied with the camp that they had created. It was no house, or hut made by magic, but it was great just to know that they had created it.
On her last trip back to the camp Miana noticed that Ballari had came back, she was perched beside Fabiano helping him magically apply a roof to the shelter. They really had done a fabulous job. It was a sort of lean to with three sides and a slanted roof, the inside was roomy dry. To Miana that was all she needed. Once the last logs to the roof were placed on Ballari summoned a large quantity of moss from the other end of the camp using magic.
Illiana nudged Miana in the ribs, “Come on lets go help them spread the moss, it should be more comfortable in there with it.” Miana followed Illiana over to the shelter and the three travelers who could fit in the shelter set about spreading the moss. Soon the shelter was finished and Miana was sent to retrieve the blankets from the bags and she spread one out for each person. She decided not to offer one to Ballari as it would do her no good due to her size. Once camp was set up it was immediately put to use.
Fabiano placed some leaves on the bottom of the pit and but smaller branches over them in the tipi style that you learn at Girl Scout camp. Ballari had gone off to find more moss for her make shift nest that was currently a work in progress, Illiana and Miana were watching Fabiano set up the fire.
“Miana, would you like to learn how to start a fire using magic?” Miana looked at Fabiano startled.
“Of course I would!” Miana being the curious girl that she was, now in use of magic, was at no time un-happy about learning new magic.
“Come over here so that you can get a good look at the leaves.” Miana did as he said and got into a position where she could see them with the least amount of stick in her vision.
“Okay, I have a clear view.”
“Now focus on the leaves until you can feel them, much like you did earlier today when you moved them. Apparently you did a good job.”
Miana looked up at Fabiano, “How did you know how I completed my tasks well you were gone?”
Fabiano laughed, “Ballari told me, you seem to be a great worker.”
“When was Ballari here? I never saw her,” Miana was thourouly confused now.
“Ah she really lives up to her name, did you know that her name means quiet and stealthy. I guess that really fits her.”
Miana laughed to, “either she is really good, or I am really off of my guard, I bet a bear could walk up within five feet of me and I would not notice. So, how does this fire thing work?”
“Well first you must become one with the leaves and then picture flame, not large flame just a small one, we don’t need you to go blowing up the place. After that you simply say, ignighta.”
Miana stared the leaves down, once she felt the familiar thin membrane which consisted of the leaves she pictured the small starting flame of the bon fires that she had seen back in Canada, “ignighta!” Right before her eyes the leaves were ignited and a small flame developed upon the surface. Soon the sticks caught and the fire was on. “Amazing,” breathed Miana.
“That was excellent,” praised Fabiano. Miana looked up at Illiana to see that she was also wearing a smile. She was beginning to find out that Illiana took a liking to when young kids learned the new wonders of their magic, although Miana would hardly call herself a young girl.
Ballari returned minutes later equipped with her last amount of moss she needed for her nest. Soon it began to get dark and the air got a little bit chilly. They all gathered around the fire and Illiana passed around some berries that she had taken from the bags. They ate exchanging little idle talk. Once they were all done Miana decided that she would inquire about the prophecy that’s end was now looming ahead.
“So, we are coming near the part of the prophecy where I meet with Abhay, that is what the prophecy said right?”
Everyone turned and looked at Miana, even Ballari which surprised her a lot considering as far as she knew Ballari knew nothing about the prophecies, after all they were in the possession of the humans. “Yes, it is, but don’t worry Miana, there is a chance that it could mean something else, a prophecy can be interpreted many different ways depending on who it is. The true meaning is never known until it happens, every thing else is just an educated guess.”
“Well that is a bit reassuring. I just hope that we can find that cave.”
“Don’t worry we will, Abhay is not here yet and if we do not succeed tomorrow then the day after we will use our little cheat. I for one think that we have made great time considering all the time that we spent with the flock,” said Illiana.
“Well I for one don’t think that we are going to find much tomorrow if we don’t get any sleep tonight,” put in Fabiano. No one disagreed with that, they all knew that there was a big day tomorrow and if not then, then the next day would be. Fabiano distinguished the fire muttering some word that Miana could not hear. They all went off to the shelter with the exception of Ballari who went off to her nest. The bags were moved to under the shelter so that if it rained all of the supplies were not going to get wet and ruined.
Miana was asleep in no time considering the amount of work that she had completed that day. It reminded her of when she was in charge of the ducks back on the farm in Canada. She had had to clear their bedding every day and she was even the one who had planned and helped build the shelter that fit nicely in the corner of the pen. As she was falling asleep she pondered what the ducks were up to and who was taking care of them.
Miana woke to find Illiana hunched over the fire cooking something, where else would she have been, Fabiano was busying himself at packing the other two sets of blankets. Miana decided that the best thing for her to do was to help Fabiano by rolling up her blankets and so she did. After all of the bedding supplies that they needed were packed away Miana and Fabiano joined Illiana for some breakfast.
Miana accepted the bowl of hash that Illiana provided her and looked around at the camp. She noticed that something or someone was missing, where was Ballari? “Illiana, where is Ballari?”
“I think she went to go find some fresh water, we did not pack much to drink, don’t worry she should be back soon.”
The rest of their breakfast was eaten in silence, what was there to say? Ballari returned munching on what looked like a giant carrot, Miana didn’t ask what it was she really did not want to know. The duckaroos had interesting eating habits. They quickly tore apart the camp, they left as little of a trace as they could so that if Abhay stopped in the area he would not know that they were already there. The element of surprise was just as important as the element of time. The fire was put out and the rocks were spread randomly over the ground, the leaves were spread over the cleared spots and the moss spread around the edges, the only sign that they had been there were the random logs lying about from the disassembled shelter. They were flying high before the sun had reached the middle of the sky.
Ballari flew straight ahead towards the mountain. As they got closer the mountain grew larger and larger and soon they were on top of it, Ballari circled the mountain and with each revolution they grew higher in altitude. The higher they went the colder and more exhilarating it became.
After flying in circles for hours they came to the point where Fabiano instructed her to land. There was a repeat of the previous day where it was hard to find a clearing where she could land. Although they had reached great heights there seemed to be no end to the dense forest that seemed to follow them along.
Once Ballari found a suitable spot they set out to set up another camp for the night. They used the same strategies as the night before and this time Miana was even willing to try her handy work at setting up the rocks using magic. It made the process faster, but she thought that the work she had done with the magic had been just as good as the work done by hand.
Miana decided that she was going to get to know Ballari a little better, she didn’t know much about the duckaroos, except that they made pretty good food. She thought that it was about time that she learned a little bit more about them so she started a light conversation.
“So Ballari, what is it like living in the flock?”
Ballari looked at Miana, she seemed a bit puzzled Miana hadn’t really talked to her much. “Well it is pretty good, there are always lots of youngsters running about, they are always happy no matter what, I have never seen one angry or sad, and I get to fly a lot, the spacious grounds are quiet beautiful really if you get to take a good look at it and take it all in.”
“Do you often have celebrations? From what I got a taste of the other day your flock is very good at throwing them, it must be exiting living there.”
“Well, we often have group gatherings with music dancing and food, I don’t think we really celebrate anything we just like to be together and have a good time. What you say about my flock is true, they have a lot of word about them among the other flocks, we are called the flock of smooth currents, which for some reason everyone takes to mean quiet and calm. We throw the rowdiest gatherings of the whole species. I do love my flock, we are quiet unique and just love to have fun.”
“That sounds like my dream home, I would love to have a place to live where it was fun twenty four seven.”
Ballari smiled her odd smile, “Yes, it is a lot of fun to play all day, but we do do some work, it is just done by magic so it goes faster and we end up with a lot of spare time.”
“That would be totally awesome! Where I live I have to do barn chores everyday and they take almost all day to complete. I only get to play in the evening and then it just gets dark out really soon. I don’t end up with to much time if only I could use my magic back in Canada.”
This Page is copyright 2007 to the author.
Comments (15)
leah said
at 3:05 pm on Oct 4, 2007
Wow Lauren! Edge of your seat suspense! I like it!
emily said
at 3:06 pm on Oct 4, 2007
Hey Lauren, i otally think you should continue it!(I wanna know what happens!!!!)
emily said
at 3:07 pm on Oct 4, 2007
otally means totally! :) hehe
jes said
at 3:08 pm on Oct 4, 2007
you really like fantasy. does she have magical powers?
laura said
at 3:09 pm on Oct 4, 2007
dude, sounds like witchcraft. I LOVE it!
Carl said
at 3:10 pm on Oct 4, 2007
*twilight realm theme*
-.- Cool...
shelbie said
at 3:10 pm on Oct 4, 2007
Excellent!!! I totally love your writing style. Love leah's response so i am goind to copy it (Without typing):) :) :)
D Payne said
at 3:30 pm on Oct 4, 2007
I want to know what happens too! Great suspense.
lauren said
at 5:31 pm on Oct 4, 2007
Thanks for the comments everyone!
emily said
at 2:53 pm on Oct 9, 2007
why can't it be true?!!
laura said
at 2:57 pm on Oct 9, 2007
sweet! a black cat with creepy eyes! will you find the key?
leah said
at 3:09 pm on Oct 9, 2007
really funny and spooky. Like I said, edge of my seat material! :) Avril
Carl said
at 3:00 pm on Oct 10, 2007
That's preety spooky, about the cat, R.L. Stine one of your favorite authors? The Second one was good sounded like a good short, school story.
lauren said
at 2:44 pm on Oct 16, 2007
Thanks for the comments! but i've never really read any R.L Stien books i dont think
leah said
at 3:58 pm on Dec 6, 2007
Lauren from what I have read it is really good! I like your writing style. My favorite part is the one where she is sitting with a flock of ducks!
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