Samuel stared at the note, anger on his face. “How DARE somebody kidnap my sister!!” he screamed. “I’m going to kill this Gyralock!!”
Rebecca put her
hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her with surprise. Her face was a picture
of perfect calm – like a perfect spring day. “How can she be so damn calm?” he
thought. “Doesn’t she care?”
“Don’t lose your temper, Samuel,” she said. “We’ll find the staff and take it to Dragon Isle.”
Samuel nodded, feeling as if her calmness had just flowed into him. “Is this one of her powers?” he thought.
Rebecca smiled
at him warmly, and although he had known it for a long time, he only just
realized that he loved her. “She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he
thought. “Her eyes…like emeralds…”
“Yes,” he said. “I know where the staff is. It’s back in my room.”
Rebecca looked at him. “You’ve had it in your room the whole time?” she asked. Samuel shrugged.
“Mary wanted it to be kept safe,” he said. “She thought that this house wasn’t safe enough. I guess she was right.”
Rebecca glanced around the ruins of the parlour and nodded. “She was,” she said. “I just don’t understand why he put a shield around the house, though.”
“Maybe to test me,” Samuel said. “My sword probably could have shattered that shield, like yours did.”
“Probably,” said Rebecca. “Now come on, we have to get that staff.”
*-*-*-*-*-*
They managed to sneak into the castle as easily as they out of it, mostly because the Sleep spell hadn’t worn off yet. They retrieved the staff from Samuel’s room – and Rebecca noticed for the first time just how closely situated their rooms were. “I suppose he asked for such a nearby room so that he could come to my aid easily,” she thought. Although the part of her mind that noted how well built Samuel was suggested another reason.
A rather dirty reason.
“Why are you blushing?” Samuel asked, looking at her closely.
“I am not blushing!” Rebecca replied quickly. “Just a little flushed, that’s all.”
Samuel smiled wryly and finished wrapping the staff in the black clothe that he had chosen.
“Why are you smiling?” Rebecca asked, glaring at him.
“No reason.” Samuel chuckled. “Nothing at all.”
They made their way out of the castle, and Rebecca woke the guards up – mostly because she felt sorry for them if Richard caught them sleeping on the job. When they were safely out of the city, they stood in the open, talking.
“How are we going to get to Dragon Isle?” Samuel asked. “No sane sailor goes near that island.”
“Then we’ll just have to find an insane sailor,” Rebecca said. “It’s either that or commandeer a boat.”
“Right,” Samuel said. “The Ruler of this continent travelling by boat to an island inhabited completely by dragons with nobody but her bodyguard with her. Yeah, that will make sense.”
She glared at him. “It’s better than nothing,” she said, her voice strained. “I’m as worried about Mary as you are!”
“Both plans will fail.”
Alex was leaning casually against the wall, regarding them calmly. “It takes 15 days to reach Dragon Isle by boat,” she said. “There is another way.”
Rebecca arched an eyebrow. “How?” she asked.
“With the help of a Unicorn.”
Samuel scoffed. “Right,” he said, throwing his hands into the air. “Where are we going to find a Unicorn? The only place they’ve ever been spotted is on the outskirts of the Dead Forest…”
He trailed off. “You can’t be serious.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “I am always serious,” she said. “The journey will take three days’ on foot, so we had better start immediately.”
“But we have no provisions!” Samuel said, blinking when Rebecca snapped her fingers and caused three packs to appear seemingly out of nowhere.
“I’m always prepared,” she said. “I’ve had these in stock for a while now, with a ‘Transport’ spell attached.”
Samuel blinked again. “OK,” he said. “Don’t you have a spell that can transport us to Dragon Isle?”
“If I were alone, yes,” Rebecca said. “But if I attempt to transport all three of us it’ll kill me.”
“…Oh…”
“We had better hurry,” Alex said, picking up one of the packs and putting it on her back. “If we hurry we can cut our journey short by half-a-day.”
“Oh yes, that will help a lot!” Samuel said, picking up a pack and slinging it on his back. “A whole half-a-day! Great!”
“Your sarcasm is NOT helping,” Rebecca said, picking up a pack and glaring at him for the umpteenth time that day. Samuel smirked.
“Hey, somebody has to be sarcastic around here!” he said. “Might as well be me!”
Rebecca rolled her eyes and casually flicked her hand at him with he was walking away. He fell over rock that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. She snickered as she walked past him. “Oh my, where DID that rock come from?” she asked with an innocent smile. He glared at her; she ignored it and carried on walking. Samuel grumbled and picked himself up and walked behind her, with Alex walking behind him, hiding the amused smile that had spread across her lips.
*-*-*-*-*
They carried on marching far into the night – only stopping four hours after midnight. Wearily, they made camp and immediately fell asleep in their tents. They didn’t even bother having any supper; they were just too tired to care about food.
Alex was kind enough to let them sleep until late the next morning. Besides, she had some things that she had to do, namely some scouting of the surrounding area.
*-*-*-*-*
Alex made her way quietly through the wilderness, crouching down every few minutes to look at the ground. She was convinced that they were being followed, but by what she could not be sure. Then she found the tracks that she was looking for. They appeared to be Elf-tracks, because Elves were generally light-footed when they wanted to travel without being noticed. These tracks were light, and Alex would not have found them if she had not been looking for them. Now all she had to do was see if she could catch the Elf that was following them before they reached the woodlands, else they would lose the Elf in the trees. She nodded to herself and went back to the campsite, to find that Rebecca and Samuel were awake – and arguing.
*-*-*-*-*
Alex glared at them after she had managed to stop the argument. “What’s the matter with you two?” she asked. “For the past two years your friendship has been suffering!! Is it because of your status as Queen, Rebecca? Or is it something else?”
Rebecca glared at Samuel again. “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “I just feel so irritable right now!”
Samuel glared right back at her. “Irritable??? Oh, no! You are the Queen of Mood Swings!” he said, clearly agitated. “One minute you’re happy, and the next I have to be careful that you don’t fireball me!!”
“ME?” Rebecca exploded. “You’re the one who sleeps so damned close to my bedroom that I’m embarrassed to even think about you! Your casual and sarcastic outlook on life is so, so…ANNOYING! You’re one of the best-looking men I’ve ever met!! You’re the only one that can make me blush!! You’ve proven to be a great friend, and I…I…”
Samuel glared at her again. “Oh, so your insecurities are MY problem? Listen, Rebecca, you are the queen, no matter HOW MUCH you try to deny it!! Granted that you are the most beautiful and innocent girl that I’ve ever met, and that day when you came to my aid in the City Center I felt as if you and I were destined to be together! Your beautiful face intrudes on my thoughts and dreams all of the time, and I feel embarrassed to talk to at times because I can’t help staring into your eyes! Gods damn it, Rebecca, I’VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU SINCE THE DAY WE MET!!”
Rebecca stepped backwards, clearly taken aback by this news. “You’re…in love with me?” she asked. “Samuel…I never…”
“No, you didn’t,” Samuel said, turning away. “We should get ready to go now.”
With that, he disappeared into his tent to get changed. Alex looked at Rebecca thoughtfully, her heart wrenching when she saw the look in her eyes. “Rebecca…”
“Just…leave me alone,” Rebecca said, heading back to her own tent. Alex sighed and looked up at the sky.
“Now I can see why you were worried about them,” she said quietly. “They have no idea what’s going to happen to them, do they?”
*-*-*-*-*-*
They travelled that day in silence. Rebecca and Samuel avoided each other as they marched, keeping Alex between them – Rebecca marched at the back and Samuel in the front. It was the same when they stopped to rest and have something to eat; Rebecca and Samuel sat as far from each other as possible – although Alex did see Rebecca look at Samuel when his back was turned. It was the look in her eyes that tore at Alex’s heart – that pleading look, as if the young queen were begging for forgiveness, even though there was nothing to forgive.
“First love
can be torture on the heart at times,” Alex
thought. “I hope that this love won’t die.”
They marched until early evening, and then made camp on a clearing not 10 miles from the Dead Forest, and it was that night that changed everything for Samuel and Rebecca.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Midnight – the witching hour. Maybe there was some truth in that, because Rebecca’s innate magical powers seemed to grow at midnight. They seemed to get stronger, and so Rebecca usually woke up with a soft aura around her. The fact that it was a new moon wasn’t helping – the new moon tended to throw her powers out of balance, making the power of even the simplest spell unpredictable.
So maybe it wasn’t such a good thing that a Glodistia Beast attacked Rebecca.
She was sitting under the stars, trying to hide her aura before it attracted unwanted attention, when a low growling from behind caught her attention. She jumped to her feet, twisted around and drew her sword, all in one quick motion. In front of her stood a Glodistia Beast. Standing twice as tall as a Great Grizzly (which stood at 6’5 feet themselves), this creature was a nightmare on legs. Huge black claws that could tear anything apart were attached to massive, muscle-bound arms that could crush a strong man with ease – even if that man was wearing strong armour. Its body was practically immune to normal weapons, and the only real weak spot was at the back of its neck at the base. Massive legs with reversed-knees gave it thrice the speed of an Elf (and Elves were thrice as fast as a fast human) and a kick that could rival that of the strongest dragon – and a dragon’s kick could crumble rock.
All in all Rebecca was in trouble. But then again, she was a sorceress – and her sword was packed with powerful magic. Holding her sword in both hands, she leapt at the creature and swung with all of her might. She struck the creature in the side, but the deep gash didn’t seem to bother the monster. Indeed, that loud roar that it let loose right before slamming its right arm into Rebecca’s right shoulder and sending her flying right over the fire to slam into a rock.
“OK, now I’m mad!” Rebecca thought, shifting her hold on the sword so that it was in her left hand. “EAT THIS! FIREBALL!”
Of course, that spell would have worked so much better if she had just remembered that the Glodistia Beast’s body had a natural resistance against spells.
In other words, the fireball rebounded and slammed into Rebecca.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Samuel was woken up by the sounds of battle outside. Alerted, he grabbed his sword and ripped it out of its sheath before leaping out of his tent. The sight of Rebecca getting tossed across the camp, landing against a boulder and then getting hit by her own fireball did something to Samuel.
He just snapped.
With a scream of
rage, Samuel the Tempest leapt at the Glodistia Beast, bringing his sword down on
the creature’s neck in a two-handed strike – and considering that his physical
strength was much more than Rebecca’s, that one strike was enough to sever the
monster’s head from its shoulders. The head landed on the ground with a dull
‘thud’, and the body followed soon after – grey blood pouring from the neck.
Dropping his sword, he ran over to Rebecca, relieved to see that she was still
alive. “She must have put some kind of shield up just before the fireball
rebounded.”
Picking her up, he gently took her back to her tent and put her down to sleep.
“What happened?” Alex ran into camp, sword drawn. “I heard something…”
She trailed off when she saw the Glodistia Beast’s body and Samuel’s blood-covered blade. She saw the telltale scorch marks on the rock, and immediately guessed what had happened. “Is she all right?” she asked, rushing over to Rebecca’s tent. “Those things have a resistance to magic spells! Is Rebecca all right?”
Samuel nodded. “She’s OK,” he said. “I killed the monster, but she needs a Healer.”
Alex frowned, as if deep in thought. “The Unicorns,” she said. “They can heal humans if their heart is pure.”
“Rebecca’s the purest person I’ve ever met,” replied Samuel. “But will the Unicorns help us?”
“Wait here.” And with that Alex was out of the tent, running faster than humanly possible – then again, she wasn’t human.
*-*-*-*-*-*
She was back at dusk. “Samuel! Bring Rebecca out here!”
Samuel brought Rebecca out of the tent and placed her at the Unicorn’s feet. He stepped back, awed by the beast’s beauty. Its silver fur seemed to glow in the red dusk, and its golden eyes held within them the knowledge of centuries. The horn in the center of its forehead was pure white, and glowed brightest of all. It lowered its gaze towards Rebecca.
“She is a Sorceress,” he said – somehow they knew that it was a he. “But she is pure of heart. It will not be difficult for me to heal her.”
He lowered his horn to her chest, and both the horn and the young Sorceress were enveloped in a bright light. The light died down, and the Unicorn lifted the horn from Rebecca’s chest, and she opened her eyes – and blinked up at the Unicorn.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked. When the Unicorn nodded, she fainted.