(Part II) The Jewels of Ella

The Jewels of Ella
Alex stopped her horse, Cobral almost running into her. The air was getting colder as the sky became cloudy. She surveyed the area, still in the forest, the breeze swayed the trees and the thick patches of grass. A cloud of dust had been kicked up by the horses’ feet upon the worn road.

‘Do you hear that?’ Cobral pointed out. Mixed with sounds of swaying grass, the clatter of horse shoes could be heard. They were quiet for a moment, but became louder by the second. Alex didn’t want to take chances. Kicking her horse into a canter, she continued along the road with Cobral trailing behind.
‘You don’t suppose there’s more of them do you, Alex?’ Cobral shouted as they retreated from the sounds.

Alex turned her head to look behind her. Cobral was still trailing behind, but so were two others… ‘Behind you!’ Alex shouted in reply. Cobral heard, looking behind him. He got a rude shock.

Following from only a few metres behind were two men. Each in complete steel armour, riding on black stallions whose eyes burned red. They waved large broadswords as they shouted and cursed. ‘Looks like our little skirmish only angered them more…’ Cobral mumbled to himself.

He fumbled around his saddle for a weapon, any would do right now. Alex slowed to reach for her pouches containing the magic powder. ‘Rathi will reward me for this!’ shouted the closest warrior, swinging the massive sword at Cobral. The edge of the sword missed his face by only an inch. ‘He wants me especially…’ Cobral realised.

At last, the end of the forest could be seen. Beyond the almost infinite trees was now a road and endless grass. The so called endless plains… ‘Stop rushing…’ Alex said to herself. It was the yellow powder she grabbed, which could be used for simple magic. Cobral had managed to grab a weapon, his rapier.

‘Is that all you have?’ the warrior taunted. Cobral, insulted, slowed down into reach of the warrior; and with initiative shoved the rapier into his eye. The warrior cursed and swung his sword in rage. It would have struck Cobral if he was still on his horse, but he had jumped onto the soft grass of the plains.

The time was now right! Alex quickly turned the yellow powder into its magical form with a click of her fingers. She pointed her finger at her intended target, the blue energy circling her hand to become bright, noisy projectiles, similar to fireworks.

Cobral’s horse had continued galloping towards Alex, ignoring her vivid projectiles. The sparkling fireworks headed for the warrior’s horse, which was startled by the bright and colourful lights. ‘Verdich you fool!’ shouted the other warrior as he watched Verdich upon his rearing horse. Cobral was surprised to hear this. ‘But Verdich was slain, that can’t be him’.

Alex cast another spell with more yellow powder. Recall was a simple spell for situations just like this. Cobral began to glow a shining blue and then suddenly appeared next to Alex. He stumbled, dizzy from Alex’s teleportation. ‘Get on your horse Cobral!’ shouted Alex as she began to gallop in retreat of the marauding warriors. Cobral tried to seat himself properly, feeling rather unbalanced from the after effects of the spell.

The dirt road continued. Short blades of grass stretched forever and the sun glinted occasionally from a cloudy sky. Alex and Cobral were side by side upon their horses, still being pursued; but now safely ahead.

Cobral had a solution. He reached for a large piece of wrapped cloth that looked like it carried a large weapon in it. Quickly unwrapping the cloth, revealing his most prized weapon, the musket. He had loaded it just for a situation like this. Cobral slowed his horse, turned and aimed the weapon at his intended target. He pressed the trigger. The flint clicked into action, igniting the charge.

The muzzle exploded, creating a wall of smoke. Cobral’s target was knocked off his horse as he was struck by the lead bullet. The other, Verdich, stopped his horse and turned around. Cobral admired his own skill.

The pace of the journey had slowed down, nothing but the road and grass surrounding them. ‘I think I’ve come to realise, I do save your life quite often,’ Alex spoke into the silence, the orange sun bearing its last rays of light.

‘Very wrong…’ Cobral grunted in reply, without even looking in Alex’s direction.

‘What makes you think that? That’s twice now that I’ve needed to cast a spell to get you out of trouble… Some mercenary you are!’

‘I just don’t work well in a group, that’s all.’ Cobral replied sharply. Alex laughed.

‘Don’t try to excuse your lack of skills,’ Alex retorted, casting a stern look at the smiling Cobral.

‘Fine, fine. Let’s just admit the fact that I’m a lousy fighter then… but who managed to save us from capture? Then who stopped them chasing us down?’

‘…Forget it…’ Alex sighed. Cobral turned back around. ‘Ugh, I can’t believe she just said that!’ he thought to himself.

‘…Any idea how far White River is?’ Alex asked, as if the argument never happened.

Cobral sighed and hesitated. ‘Not far, we should come to Lookouts Hill… beyond that we should see White River.’

An hour later, as the sun crawled below the horizon, they had made it to the top of that hill. White River was not far away as the lights of the street could be seen clearly.
Soon enough they had reached the wooden gates protecting the town. Dismounting from their horses, they were welcomed by the guards as they passed the gates into the town.

Few people wandered the streets; the sound of cheerful music in the background. Around them were many wooden houses that continued along the main street. Cobblestone roads stretched out into the darkness. After a short time to admire the city, Cobral turned to Alex.

‘Time to deliver our message we have then?’ Cobral asked Alex. It took her a moment to reply.

‘Judging from the sound of festivity, now may not be a good time,’

‘Fine, we can wait till tomorrow. We still need a place to rest though…’

Alex, too, realised that they needed a place to stay as well as keep their horses. There was a stable near the entrance to the city for the horses, but now Alex and Cobral needed to find an inn. Quickly they both realised that the music served to tell them both that there was celebration of some form… and all the inns were full.

‘Would you believe it? They have a rowdy party at the worst possible time!’ Cobral cursed, shaking his head furiously.

‘There may be a reason to celebrate, you know’ Alex replied.

‘Well, I hope it ain’t anything to do with the intention of the message,’ Cobral grumbled.

‘Certainly would be unfortunate, but a message is a message; and it has to be delivered.’

‘I’d rather not have come this way for nothing. We better get a decent reward for our troubles.’ Alex was silent in shock, music playing through the inns around them.

‘You expect a reward? That’s simply greed!’ Alex was disgusted.

Cobral opened his mouth to reply; but instead looked behind Alex to where an old lady was approaching them. Alex turned to see what he was looking at.

‘A lovely night we are having here isn’t it?’ The old lady asked the two. Alex stepped forth, knowing that she would be a better speaker for the party. Cobral rolled his eyes.

‘Pleasant indeed…’ Alex replied, shortly thereafter being interrupted by Cobral.

‘Aye, it would be if those crowded inns weren’t clogged up with drunks,’

Alex turned and glared at Cobral. ‘Don’t be so rude!’ she shouted.

‘You must be adventurers then?’ The old lady asked. Alex turned back around. Before she could answer the old lady continued. ‘If you need it, I have plenty of room in my house…’

‘We would be grateful!’ Cobral answered. The old lady nodded and showed them to her house…

On the outside, it looked the same as the many other houses surrounding it. It was an old wood cottage with a thatched roof and chimney. Two windows stood either side of the front door.
‘Come in, come in… My name is Mira by the way,’

‘Pleased to meet you, Mira,’ Alex replied with a smile and a bow, Cobral almost laughing at such courtesy. On the inside, the house felt very cosy and welcoming. The walls were coloured blue, paintings hung on the walls. To their left was the kitchen, where a fire crackled in an iron oven. Over to their right was a doorway leading to the lounge room.

‘Please, go in and have a seat, I will make you some tea,’ Mira asked softly. Alex and Cobral did just that, heading into the lounge room. They were surprise by the decoration of this room. Potted herbs sat in the corner which gave a pleasant aroma. Paintings hung on the walls, particularly some of a young lady. Two chairs sat opposite each other, they were old leather sofas, a sign of someone rich. Cobral and Alex sat opposite each other.

Alex stared at her hands. They had burns on them from when she has cast the fireball. She thought how her parents had wanted her to follow in their footsteps. ‘Is this really the way to go…? I can’t even control fire in my hands properly’. She looked up, not wanting to think about it. She looked over to Cobral; he had managed to disassemble his musket and was already cleaning the entire thing.
Cobral looked over at Alex watching him clean.

‘What? Is there something wrong?’ he asked.

‘No, nothing’ Alex replied, shaking her head slightly. Despite this, she stared at him... Memories of the past few days came back to her… ‘Oh my, he has saved my life!’ Alex suddenly realised.

When they had first met, a bar brawl had broken out at the Indigo Inn over Alex’s attractiveness to drunken men… Cobral started the whole thing trying to get them to go away. He’d also got her out of there. ‘But here I was, complaining when we were forced to sleep in the open…’
Then there was Cobral taking the first warrior down in the forest skirmish; and another as they were being chased along the plains…

‘Cobral…’ Alex uttered. He looked up from his thorough cleaning job. ‘…I…’ was all Alex had managed to say before Mira had walked into the room.

‘Tea’s ready, please come to the table… oh, and must you do that on my sofa dear?’
Mira asked.

‘Sorry, have to keep your gun clean someway…’ Cobral replied. He packed away his weaponry and grinned.

Mira simply nodded and invited them to her polished round table. Four chairs surrounded it, in a small room warmed by a fireplace at one end.

Alex and Cobral sat opposite each other. Alex was embarrassed. ‘I’m so awful at trying to apologise!’ she thought to herself. Mira served the tea and buttered scones.

‘Oh, you didn’t have to go to all this trouble,’ Alex said politely.

‘No no, please enjoy… I rarely get people around nowadays,’ Mira replied.

Alex thought about the situation. She and Cobral still had an issue with those warriors, as well as the message. She wondered just how she had come from witnessing the death of her parents… to being inside such a lovely house with a confident man like Cobral sitting at the other end. Cobral, on the other hand, thought about dinner…

‘I could sure use some right now’. He looked up at Alex as he chewed appreciatively. ‘Why does she keep staring at me? Must be my manners…’ He chewed more slowly; but now he just looked like a cow grazing on grass… Alex chuckled.
Cobral sighed, ‘I can’t do anything right’. He knew what she was thinking.

Alex looked over at the red brick fireplace, glowing brightly with red and orange flames. On top of it was a stand holding a jewelled necklace, near the picture of a young lady.

‘Mira, may I ask who that young lady is?’ Alex asked with curiosity.

‘Certainly,’ Mira quickly answered. ‘That is my daughter, Ella,’

‘She’s very beautiful,’ Alex complimented. The young lady Ella was well presented in the picture, as well as wearing the necklace. Her black hair and her green eyes seeming to shine even in the pigment of the canvas.

Mira smiled. ‘She was an adventurer just like you two; she liked to use her sorcery to impress people.’ Alex was rather surprised.

‘Another sorcerer…’ Cobral butted in, ‘Who would have thought. There are plenty of them to be found these days’. Mira looked at him, rather confused. ‘Alex here is a sorcerer too.’ On hearing this, Alex sank in her seat.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation turned to sorcery. Cobral lost interest in just listening to them after he had reassembled his musket, and fell asleep on the couch.

‘She liked to use magical jewellery to fortify her powers. That necklace was her favourite. It could protect its wearer from magical attacks… but it’s mostly worn out now,’ Mira said, Alex listening to every word with interest. She wondered where Ella was living now, but felt that she shouldn’t ask.

‘Unfortunately, she started to get too brave with her jewels protecting her. She headed to a local cave to rid of an infestation of cave rats… and never came back.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Alex replied. Mira smiled at her.

‘May I ask a favour of you and your friend?’ Mira asked. Alex nodded. ‘Tomorrow, would you be able to head to that cave and see if you can find… anything of Ella’s?’

‘We would be happy to help, since you have given us so much,’ Alex replied, Mira quickly thanking her.

Rest was in order. Mira invited Alex to sleep in Ella’s old room. At first she hesitated but Mira insisted. Alex accepted the offer of the small room; the bed was in the farthest right corner. As she lay to rest, it felt as if someone else was in the room as well, but she ignored the feeling and closed her eyes…

To be continued...