Because Ellaine was running so fast, she didn’t know what went on between the people she left. She really regretted that she even had the idea of leaving the house. She was just so grateful that she could finally go home and rest in bed.
Meanwhile just in front of the shop she left, Margarette unabashedly stared at the arrogant man standing proudly in front of her. “You really had the guts to wear that kind of thing here. Only a dumb person can’t see that you are fully armored!” She said in disgust.
“That girl didn’t.” He even laid a hand and polished the glinting string of Jades surrounding the neck of his emerald armor.
“Oh please, Finrod. Don’t give me that. And don’t bark at every single creature you come across this world, especially that girl.”
“Marga, I don’t bark.” He shot her a look, “Tell me, since when did you had sympathy with those mortals? Have you gone human yourself?”
“Of course not! I am a witch of my birthright. I am just fascinated with Ellaine.”
“Who?”
“The stupid girl you bumped a while ago.”
“I didn’t say she’s stupid.”
“But you’re thinking about it.” She pinched his nose out of stress, “Hey! I’m about Nine Hundred years older than you. I don't care if you're the king of the world. Obey me!”
“Alright! Alright!” He stood straight and stayed calm to recover his composure. “What did you see in that girl for you to be fussing over her like that?”
“She’s just unusual. She’s got little shadow on her, that’s all.” Margarette’s mind wandered as she spoke.
“And, you’re worrying about her because she has a shadow?”
“No. I’m worried because she’s losing her shadow, Finrod. And that lady who just left us has very little shadow left.” Realizing the depth of her thoughts, she shifted to a lighter mood and pushed the issue away. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“I need your help in tracking the fragments of the holy Nromais.”
“I’m sorry but I think you have mistaken me for radar or some sort of metal detecting machine.”
She was about to go back inside her shop when the man stopped him, “Marga, the Queen Aera herself sent for you.”
His words stopped her. Looking back, she asked, “Princess Aera is the Queen now?”
“Affirmative. About a hundred year ago.”
“What about Queen Sliofe?”
“She withered.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” It looks like things at Lenriad changed a lot since she went away.
“It’s alright. She had lived a long and happy life. It was time for her reunion with the Creator.”
“If the new Queen asked for my assistance, then I shall follow.” She invited him inside her shop and offered him a seat. “Why is the Queen in search of the Nromais remains?”
“The air had been full of the talks of a Dark Child who seeks it out. Queen Aera wants to salvage it and keep it from the wrong hands.”
“Who is this Dark Child?”
Finrod stood up to pace, “His name had haunted Lenriad for Twenty years. He is travelling the lands to recruit for his army. It was said that no one had ever glimpsed his face.”
“Fine. Let’s get into the real business.” Margarette opened a casket which contained the materials she needed to track the Nromais’ fragments easier.
Meanwhile, Ellaine had her fair share of a good afternoon nap. Yes, she had dreamed of the Virsathen tree again but at least the empty town wasn’t a part of it this time.
In her dream, the tree sang to her songs of rejoice, love, sadness, and fear. She sat beneath its shade and it felt as though she was embraced and comforted. Once more, she caught sight of the glinting moonstone and this time she managed to get hold of it.
But it wasn’t a moonstone after all! It was a beautiful white pearl as big as her favorite fishballs. Its upper part was covered with gold .hanging on a circle of twisted gold and silver. There were a couple of gold hoops on each side of it.
It’s yours.” There’s that female voice again.
“Mine? But I’m afraid I can’t take it.”
“Take good care of it.” The voice echoed then faded to silence as if the woman who was speaking left.
A loud knock on the door woke Ellaine up. It swung a little bit and revealed Aunt Caroline’s face. She sang ‘Happy Birthday’ softly.
“I’ve made us a little meal for celebration. Come along.” She said after she finished singing.
“Okay. I’ll come down in three minutes.”
Her aunt smiled at her before she left.
They’ve been like this since she was a child. They would always fight about big things and little things alike. There were times that they would even get to the point of shouting at one another. But they always reconciled in the end. It was just a matter of time before one of them approached the other.
In the kitchen, they shared a silent meal. They had spaghetti, fruit salad, and a cake with a candle shaped 18 on it.
Ellaine was forced to speak just to break the awkward silence, “Auntie, a while ago I met a strange woman. Her name is Margarette.”
“Margarette? I don’t know a woman named Margarette living in the neighborhood.”
“Maybe that’s because she’s living near the city proper. She has this shop selling weird stuffs as well.” Ellaine was not interested in eating her spaghetti anymore. She was merely poking it with her fork.
“What kind of weird stuffs?”
“Uhm, there were bowls filled with varieties of what seems to me as herbs. Some were differently colored stones.”
“Maybe she’s a herbalist.” Aunt Caroline concluded and they were again silent for some time.
Ellaine cast a look on Aunt Caroline’s face. She had a knot on her forehead which simply told that her attention was in some place altogether. She had these straight, tight lips which was so unusual of her.
To say or not to say was all Ellaine could think about. She remembered Margarette’s instructions. She hesitated at first but then, what’s there to loose?
“Oh, by the way, she also told me to tell something to you.”
“Go on,”
“‘When buds are roses and seeds are green.’”
Aunt Caroline dropped the fork with a loud clatter. “Who told you that?” Her voice had this tone of urgency that made her suspicious.
“Is there something I need to know?”
“Nothing important.” Aunt Caroline refused to look at her eyes.
Ellaine wasn’t convinced. “When you think about it, I know so little about my parents. All I know was—”
Her aunt stood up immediately, “Let’s just talk about it sometime. I’ve got lots to do.”
“Aunt Caroline!” She hastily stood up after her aunt. “You're too obvious. What are you hiding from me?” She tried hard to suppress it but tears streamed from her eyes. She had this great fear that she had been fooled all her life.
“Am I not enough? Are you unsatisfied with what I give you?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then what’s the use of telling you?”
“I have the right to know the truth, Aunt Caroline. I do. How could you raise me without guilt knowing that you are hiding something from me?”
“It’s because you’re the only one I have. When Hazel and Jonathan died, they left you under my care.”
“Please, I am begging you. I want to know the truth. Am I really their daughter? Am I adopted?”
Aunt Caroline left the room without a word. Ellaine took her seat again, stared at the door, dumbfounded. She knew her aunt to be stern and no-nonsense but how can she just dismiss their conversation like that?
But she was mistaken. Her aunt returned with a box in her hand. She laid it on the table in front of Ellaine.
“I planned to give this to you when you grow up. But then halfway I was afraid you’ll leave me so I hid it instead. Now I guess it’s the right thing to do.”
At the top of the rectangular box was a handwritten note. It said:
“When buds are roses and seeds are green,
when sun is down and leaves are falling,
remember me Ellaine, my dearest child,
even if you find out that you’re not mine.”
“I always loved her poems. It had always come from her heart.” Aunt Caroline said with a hint of longing in her voice.
Ellaine didn’t dare utter a word. It seemed as though Aunt Caroline was ready to tell her everything. So she remained silent and waited for what she had to say.
“Your parents—Hazel and Jonathan—were just newly weds then. Easy and slow, they regularly stroll the outskirts of Dela Paz. To the grass plains and the river, to the bridge that marks the borderline of Dela Paz and Malaban, they would always go there and hang around.
One day, from their usual walk, they brought home an infant. It was one of the rare instances that Hazel was extremely happy. She went to me and said she would be the mom of the child.
At first, I disagreed. I said we should look for the child’s biological mother. But then they said they found the infant near the river bank. They insisted no one would look for the child. So I compromised.”
Caroline shed a tear with the memory of her sister’s death. What's more was her fear of being alone. Yet she pulled herself together and continued.
“It was true when I said they died in a car accident. Before her last breath, Hazel instructed me to give that box to you. She said it was something that lay beside you when she found you near the riverbank.”
She stopped there and waited for Ellaine to open the box. Inside was a gold and silver necklace with a pearl as a pendant.
“It looked exactly as the one in my dream.” She looked at it closely and recalled, “Aunt Caroline, I always dreamed seeing this as I sit under a tree.”
“Is that so?” The pain in her voice was so evident that Ellaine felt compelled to hug her.
“Don’t worry Aunt Caroline, I won’t leave you.”
“What if your real mom comes for you?” She felt her aunt holding back her tears.
“I’ll tell her I won’t leave you.” She swore. She had to do it because she cannot stand seeing Aunt Caroline unhappy. After all, she only wanted the truth.
She told herself she doesn’t need her real mother.
How she hoped her heart would listen well.
“Good morning,” Margarette greeted Finrod who had just come out of the guest room. “Want some coffee?”“And what kind of human thing is that?” He said with disgust.“It’s a drink which is usually drunk by usual people on a usual day such as this. Here.” She handed him her personally brewed coffee. “And what happened to your face? You have dark circles below your eyes all of a sudden.”“You don’t have business with my face.” Finrod had spent the whole night tossing left and right on the bed. For several hours he stared at the window, waiting for something peculiar to happen. He fervently wanted to get the damn piece quickly before someone else did. On top of that, he badly wanted to get back to Lenriad.Only the Fates knew how much suffering he had to go through just to locate Margarette’s quarters. He had gone through different routes leading to different countries and yet the witch was just so elusive. Fortunately, he finally found her.“Ahem.” The sur
Ellaine stared at Margarette’s fading profile as she did to Finrod. Inside her head she had a battle to herself.A part of her wanted so badly to go after her box even if she had to go through that ‘portal’ she heard. But a part of her wanted to stay at home. She could get a new box anyway and she didn’t want to see that dreadful monster again.She knew it was clearly impossible but her eyes couldn’t have deceived her all the while. She’d go insane that way.“Enough adventures for one day.” She marched to the house feeling just a little bit regretful.Both the box and the necklace came from her real mother so it had same sentimental value. But now the box was gone, “Alright! I have to get that box so I can have my peace.”But what did the monster really wanted with her possessions? Is the box really too important for the monster to chase her all the way to Biñan? She ran as fast as
“Ouch! One more unnecessary movement and I’ll throw you out!” Finrod threatened, his eyes narrowed at Ellaine. “Huh! Can’t you just even thank me for helping you?” She could’ve hit him if not for the long, bloody wound across his chest. “Hey, both of you, can’t you stop bickering?” Margarette said. Fortunately, an empty stagecoach stopped by and carried them when they got out of the forest. The coachman, a bony gentleman (precisely, a skeleton) held the reins of four ghost horses.Margarette said they are called couriers. They always appear when someone is in the brink of death. Sometimes they help injured creatures reach the nearest infirmary but sometimes they deliver them to their end.&
Everything was pitched black when Feucher and Ellaine arrived at their destination. He pulled the reins and climbed down the horse. He helped her get down and let the horse graze at the nearest grasses. “Here we are lass.” He motioned for the dark, creepy forest in front of them. She could feel thousands of eyes all around her. Not far away, she could hear laughter and whispers. The cool breeze teased her skin and awoke fear in her. “Don’t you think I need something bright? Say, lamp, torch, or whatever you use in this world?” “Oh no, no. surely you ain’t thinking about bringing a torch with you there child, yes?” He moved closer to her ear. “They can hear you. It will surely anger them once you
As soon as Ellaine went back Eugoroa, Feucher started to boil the dusts. Finrod was still unconscious but Margarette told her he was better than he looked like. He can still last a day without the dusts, in fact. She told them how Yntreia ended up with her. She remembered the sympathy Feucher showed her. “Don’t mourn for a long time, Ellaine.” Feucher assured her. “Death is not a stranger to us. Some just wait longer to receive him. On the other hand, the pixies are a strong clan. This is only a phase of their history.” Now it was time for Margarette to say her piece. As Feucher busied himself in making the concoction, they went to the town square to get some fresh air. They sat on a bench beside
By nightfall, Margarette and Ellaine were faced by a nagging Finrod. He was back to normal alright. “Where were you two, huh? Have you forgotten you left me here in Feucher’s quarters? If you were here when I woke up early this afternoon we would have been away and after the Noimstre! But as it is, we cannot hit the road ‘till dawn tomorrow!” Ellaine’s smile didn’t falter a bit. She was just so happy that Finrod’s finally safe from the poison. He noticed her dopey smile, “And you—” his eyes gazed down the cloth she was holding and felt the psyche of the baby inside tugging at his mind. “Y-you,” Color was drained on his face, “How long have I been unconscious?” “Two and a half days.” Margarette an
True to Finrod’s words when the sun began to rise above the mountains in the East, they were already outside the city walls of Eugoroa. Back in his café, good old Feucher was buried deep with order slips unable to send them off himself. The days of their journey were hot and extremely tiring. There was still no path made across the barren land that they had to pass. They had to travel on foot because they had neither horses nor carriage to bring them to their destination. Ellaine figured out that there were still no jeepneys, tricycles, and cars. “What people of your world wanted here was antiquity. They loved the olden days and preserved them here.” Margarette said when she asked her why there were no vehicles. It was such a very good thing that pixies grow fast. Ynt
Finally, after an exchanged of few words with Finrod, the woman noticed them. She bowed her head and regarded all of them. “My name is Magor.” That was all she said before she went silent again. Everybody looked at her imploringly to hear more of her but it was futile. She just stared back at them with her face expressionless. “You have to excuse her.” Finrod intervened. “Dragons naturally prefer to stay silent. A complete opposite to our fellow mermen here but you’ll get along enough.” “Don’t worry, Prince Finrod.” Captain Aquilus said. “We mermen have lived with dragons. Why, they’re just above our waters!” The mermen chee