Blue Caladium
By Nila N. Brown
Copyright 2013 Nila N. Brown
Cover art by Nila N. Brown
Model for cover art “Queen Halaema” - Nikki Abbott
Discover other titles by Nila N. Brown
“Kurai Utopia Book One: Journey of the Damned” available on Amazon Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HY09MPS
“The Cold Darkness of Night”
“The Mirror’s Edge”
For my lovely daughter, Charlene. For without you, my life would be devoid of joy, love and light. Thank you for your undying support and unconditional love. I love you every much.
Special editing thanks to Ms. Nancy Krempa
~*~*~*~*~*
“I beseech you to be swift of foot,” Queen Halaema said, pressing the Blade of Taenaran in his strong and capable hands. “The task you undertake is of the most urgent. The Vandorien Knights have sent you to aid us and Nissa will be your traveling companion. She is an apprentice witch but she is stronger than she appears and her magic shall be enough to sustain you both.”
Darcassian bowed, crossing his arm over his armor-plated chest in reverence. “It shall be done, Your Grace. Nissa and I shall fly swiftly on the winds to find Sotiris and extract from him the antidote. This world shall not be allowed to die.”
She walked over to the palace window. The Well of Mladris, which sat in the center of Sabeynia, was life to all those who lived in the city, but the apprentice wizard Galzuth placed a curse upon its crystal clear waters. Before dying the previous equinox, the elder witch Tinder Pogwilly, who had the gift of divination, instructed her to place a protective spell around the well because she didn’t trust Galzuth. She didn’t heed Tinder’s words, trusting in the young apprentice’s seemingly kind disposition and the fact that Tinder had turned feeble; now all of those in Sabeynia are paying the price for her foolishness.
Trying to concentrate on the upcoming quest, Nissa Rainsage was distracted by the suffering of the Eloen Witches and the people who lived within the village. How dare Galzuth curse them to death? There was nothing to gain from poisoning the Well of Mladris but chaos and confusion. Did he wish for suffering and war from the days of darkness again? Why would he want this? It was madness!
Her heart was racked with sorrow; had she not dawdled and spent three days at the home of the old witch Shalana Entwisle in the southern Forest of Meriel, she would have suffered the same fate. All beings living in Sabeynia took water from the well and, even after the Eloen cleansed the caladium, the good village folk were still afraid to drink from it. She felt guilty for being in gentle health while all those around her were weakened or on the verge of death. She would find the black unicorn and save them. There was no other way.
“Nissa,” Halaema said, calling her from her thoughts. “Do not despair for all is not lost. You will fare well on this quest. The Three Moons will align in the sky in a fortnight. You must return before this occurs.”
“Blessed be, my Queen!” Nissa cried, rushing to her and kneeling down. “I shall not fail you or my sister Eloen. We shall rise and the traitor Galzuth and his dregs will suffer greatly for this injury against us!”
Halaema helped the apprentice witch to her feet. “This is not the time for vengeance, young one. Take what potions and herbs you can carry. The rest you shall receive through the generosity of Nafelahar.”
She turned to Darcassian. “Galzuth knows that you must seek Sotiris and will use the Molthurg elves to strike you. You must avoid all main thoroughfares. The Molthurg can take the form of ordinary beings as long as he remains on the ground. If a being is suspect, lift him in the air and his true form thus revealed.”
“Your strength sustains us all, Your Grace,” Darcassian replied. “Nissa and I shall cut through the forest and take to the lowlands.”
“That may be best,” Halaema said.
“Is it true that Galzuth has a dragon at his disposal?” Darcassian asked. “Perhaps I shall ride out and engage the beast in battle first.”
“He is in alliance with Favnir, the Bane of Bazur,” Nissa replied angrily. “He patrols the Weeping Forest and we must be on guard for his trickery at all times. It is for this reason we must travel by foot.”
“Nissa is correct,” Halaema replied. “You must travel to the land of Uphinia in the east, where Sotiris was last seen. He may hear the approach of hooves and think this to be threatening. Black unicorns are more spirited than their white counterparts and more suspicious. If you are worthy in his eyes, he will allow you to come hither. You must remember not to use a spell to subdue him; only of his free will shall he aid you.”
She took the crystal scrying stone from around her neck and placed it around Nissa’s. “You have not fully entered into your true strength but you are intelligent, strong of heart, and the blood of our coven flows within you. Take my scrying stone with you. When you are near Sotiris, the stone will glow brightly. Wrap it around the Blade and it will guide you to him.”
“Thy will be done,” Nissa said. “We shall leave through the main gates and onto the road that will lead us through the forest.”
“You shall leave through the dungeons as you have been when you are visiting Shalana.” She delicately arched her eyebrow as the apprentice witch blushed. “Yes, I know of your visits to her.”
“I apologize to you, my Queen,” Nissa replied softly. “It was not my intention to be deceitful.”
“As I did not take you to be deceitful,” Halaema said. “Had you been here when Mladris was poisoned, you would have suffered the same fate as all of us in Sabeynia. I suspect that, when you come into your full powers, you will have the gift of clairvoyance and I shall be pleased to nurture your full gifts. Now go and fulfill your duties and your destiny.”
Nodding, Nissa and Darcassian quickly headed down to the pantry, retrieving a few supplies before they headed toward the dungeon.
Queen Halaema sighed, turning and quickly ascending the staircase that led to the bedroom of her daughter, Alora. She sat next to her and placed a cool cloth on her head. The young witchling was no more than seven summers old but she was holding on; better than some of the witches with longer lives than she. Still, the poison of the blue caladium was working its evil magic on her.
Galzuth mixed the sweet nectar of the kerria bellflower to mask the slight bitterness of the caladium leaf, making the poison undetected until it was too late. Galzuth and his underlings, the Molthurg elves, were nowhere to be found, no doubt waiting for the plunge into darkness. Now, with almost everyone ill or dying, it was up to Darcassian and Nissa to find the black unicorn, their only hope, in the vast landscape of Nafelahar.
She looked up at the moons, her heart filled with sorrow. Upidor, the shadow moon and that which was closest, maintained its mystical dusky hue, while the cobalt moon Kalphelia had a faint grey tint to it. It fared worse for the third moon, Gardenoea. Its auburn light was nearly extinguished. Once Gardenoea faded, Kalphelia would slowly fade next, leaving only Upidor to nourish the Eloen. The moons aligned once a year to form the Nerinx Star, which stayed in perfect alignment for two days before starting their yearly cycle around the planet.
In the past times, Nafelahar was plagued by evil forces that pillaged and killed throughout the world, its inhabitants living lives of despair. With the arrival of the Vandorien Knights from the Ishterion Galaxy, the demons and trolls were finally defeated. To protect Nafelahar, a powerful witch named Farryn Moonshade formed the coven of the Eloen Witches and together they created the Three Moons of the Nerinx, entrusting their descendants to safeguard the worlds by assuring that the moons would never die.
The coven drew their strength from the moons’ auras and their combined harmony in turn protect
ed the moons and all who lived on Nafelahar. Now that they were dying, though, the Moons of the Nerinx would die with them, plunging Nafelahar into darkness and giving rise to evil once again.
Since no spell could undo the poison of the blue caladium, it fell to Halaema to find an antidote. Since she could not leave the city, however, she summoned the Order of the Vandorien Knights to aid them in their quest.
Alora moaned softly; her skin almost translucent as she fought the poison. Halaema chanted a gentle spell to help the witchling breathe easier. If it came to it, she could cast a spell that would put the Eloen in a deep sleep until Darcassian and Nissa returned. Suddenly she felt a twinge of pain. She had used her gift of transference to cast the effects of the poison temporarily to her familiar, Syndra. The cat was faring well but she could still feel its suffering. However, the spell would reverse itself in a fortnight and return to her, possibly killing her.
“Rest easy, my child,” she whispered, kissing her on the forehead. “Your suffering will end soon.” She looked out of the window at the sky. “Our moons shall not fall by Galzuth’s hand. We are the Eloen, the Three Moons of the Nerinx Star entrusted to us above all beings, and they shall shine brightly when all the stars in the heavens have faded.”
~*~*~*~*~*
Nissa led Darcassian down through the dungeon to the underground cavern that would lead them out of Sabeynia unseen. Once down the ravine, they quickly made their way past the willow tree grove. Her heat thumping wildly, Nissa kept stride with the taller, stronger Darcassian. Glancing at him, there was something about him that did not ring true. Not that she believed him to be deceitful as Galzuth but the knight was concealing something.
“Do you wish to speak, witchling?” he asked, catching her eye.
“I am not a witchling, Knight!” she snapped. “It would be wise for you to remember that!”
He laughed heartily. “If you say so, but you look like a witchling to me. Keep your stride for I shall not be your wet nurse on this quest.”
Nissa grimaced angrily. “And what do you think that metal plate on your body will do to protect you, Knight? We will see who is strongest!”
With that bold declaration, she sprinted past him and launched into the forest, spurred on by her desire to help the Eloen but more so to prove herself. She knew herself to be headstrong and her pride got her into trouble. This quest meant that she had to put those brash inclinations aside and work with the knight.
Darcassian wished he had left his breastplate back at the castle. The chain link armor and sword were heavy enough but this was excruciating. He hadn’t had to run over open ground in a long time and, truth be told, he would rather be elsewhere than on this planet full of witches and the demons who hated them. Still, Galzuth had betrayed them for his own petty ambitions and, with this betrayal, brought shame to his family. It was an audacious move which put the lives of all within the galaxy in danger.
It would only be a matter of time before Galzuth’s deluded visions of grandeur grew and destroying Nafelahar would only be the beginning. He had always found a way to destroy everything he touched. It was hoped that by sending him to Sabeynia, the Eloen Witches would harness his power and teach him to nurture his gift of sorcery. It was the least Darcassian could do to help, but his burden was heavy. Perhaps Galzuth’s true target was not the Eloen but something else.
He glanced at Nissa, who quickly turned her attention back to the terrain. The witchling seemed to sense something. If she was truly clairvoyant, the way she looked at him just now was unnerving. He had to keep an eye on her before she could discover his secrets, but the truth of his quest was undeniable.
He never thought for one minute he would have to destroy his own brother.
~*~*~*~*~*
About the author:
Nila N. Brown is a Paranormal/Sci Fi/Fantasy Demon writer who writes fictionalized stories of the everyday lives of demons and the humans they mingle with. Current books by the author includes “The Mirror’s Edge,” “The Cold Darkness of Night,” and the first in the Kurai Utopia Trilogy, “Book One: Journey of the Damned,” available on Amazon Kindle. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, she lives in Roswell, Georgia with her daughter, Charlene.
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