The Legend of Alexandros: Belen (10 page)
Read The Legend of Alexandros: Belen Online
Authors: Mr. A. C. Hernandez
Alexandros closed his eyes and gently rubbed his forehead. “Very well, my friend…let us visit the elves.”
T
he waves crashed hard against the massive old wooden cargo ship. The sky was grey, and the air was damp. It had been raining for about two days, which was how long Alexandros, Alistair, the Princess Elora, Bixbin, Winston, and Raphael had been trapped aboard the huge ship called
The Voyager
.
The Voyager
was a somewhat respected cargo ship, since these ships always seemed to misplace or lose the things they had to transport. The ship was built of strong wood and was quite large; it had four cargo cabins, three of which were filled with the fine oils they were required to transport, and the fourth was occupied by Alexandros and the others. There were about twenty crewmembers who were no older than twenty-five. The oldest human on board must have been the captain of the
Voyager
who was thirty-eight.
Down in their cargo cabin room, Raphael, who was in agonizing pain from the curse, left no other choice for Alistair but to cast a spell to put the centaur into a state of suspended animation. Evedsatu, forest of the elves, was where they were headed in search for Raphael’s cure.
At the stern of the ship, Alexandros stood alone as he gazed down at the waving blue water. His shirt had been somewhat torn, so to keep from the cold he wrapped himself in an old grey cloak he had found when they first boarded. After the confrontation with Barbarious, Alexandros felt surges of energy flowing through his body, and with it brought a great deal of concern…
what was happening to him? Why all of a sudden now? Two
questions to add on to the hundreds more he already had. The ship rocked, but Alexandros himself never moved. He just gazed at the sea as if it held the answers to his questions.
Down in the cargo area were Bixbin, Elora, Raphael, and Alistair. Bixbin stood guard over Elora and Raphael, and Winston soared high over the ship. It had been years since he had flown so freely; not since he was a hatchling was he able to just soar without worry, and it made him feel somewhat guilty, for his friends were in such pain. He glided silently through the air thinking of them.
Alistair made his way up to the deck to speak with Alexandros. For several minutes the two stood in silence and watched the waves smash against the ship.
“Do you think it is safe for your Dragon to fly over the ship like this?” Alistair asked softly.
“Winston will be fine. Besides he has more than earned this.”
“Understandable. How are you holding up, Belen?”
“Well, I have been better. What is happening to me, Alistair?”
“Nothing for you to be alarmed about, it is just a tiny spell.”
Alexandros tilted his head in confusion.
“When I found you,” Alistair continued, “after you slayed those goblins, I cast a most powerful protection spell over you; it protects you from harmful spells, but may make you connected to the magical world somewhat. You need not worry, Belen. It is most safe. For some reason you seemed as if trouble would be lurking after you.”
“Well, it seems you were right, and I must say thank you…once more. Now I want you to explain this, your transformation.”
Without hesitation Alistair answered as if he had been waiting for the question all along. “After I went into hiding, I wanted to lose myself to the world and to myself, so I allowed my body to age until I was that old messy merchant. Not until I saw Barbarious again was I tempted use my powers, for so long I felt as if I did not deserve them. I let many people down. Now I know that running away was my greatest failure, and by stopping Barbarious and regaining my staff I will make up for all my mistakes.”
“If you allowed yourself to age, why is Barbarious so haggard looking?”
“Barbarious was once a most handsome man as well, but the forces he summons and powers he uses consumes him and stole away his humanity and left behind what you see, a shell of his former self and no magic in this world will be able to conceal it.”
The ship rocked hard from side to side. In the distance, a storm had formed. Little rain began to fall, and the captain ordered everyone inside the ship. Alexandros called out to Winston.
“My friend, it is time to enter.”
Winston replied with a smile. “In a moment human friend. I am enjoying myself.”
Alexandros said to Alistair, “I wish he would not call me that. I do have a name.”
Alexandros then traveled with Alistair down to where his companions rested. They entered a medium-sized square room that was full of crates and other junk. Resting on the crates were Raphael and Elora; both in deep sleep. Alistair had cast a spell so that they would sleep the entire way to Evedsatu. Alexandros walked to the corner where Elora soundly slept. He gently brushed away the hair from her face.
“She will be fine, Belen; the natural springs from Evedsatu will mend her broken bones,” Alistair assured.
The creaky old ship leaked with rain as the storm finally passed over them. Just then the Dragon Winston entered; his snow-white scales and wings were dripping wet, and he appeared more than exhausted. He curled up into a ball in the corner of the warm room next to the Princess. His large wings wrapped around him as he slept. A peaceful silence filled their room; the dim candle lantern light flickered. Alexandros sat next to Winston and rested his head against the crates.
“I do not understand why Barbarious is not here now… seeking vengeance. He is all powerful yet he hides,” Alexandros said.
“Ha!” Bixbin laughed. “This wizard is a coward; he sends goblins and mountain trolls to do the work he cannot do. He hides behind mist and magic, allow me one good swing with my hammer and we shall see, ha-ha!”
Alistair smiled at Bixbin. “He is not here because we are cloaked. I have cloaked us from his sight. Barbarious will not be able to pinpoint us.”
Although Alexandros did not fear the dark wizard, a sense of relief filled him; he knew that at least for the mean time no danger could follow. For several hours, they all sat and rocked from side to side; Bixbin and Alistair had long fallen asleep, and Alexandros began to slowly drift off as well.
When he finally fell asleep, he found himself standing in a grey meadow; the grass was almost as tall as he was. The rain began to fall, but it never once touched the ground. He looked to the distance, and the grass began to wilt and turn over. A strange and eerie feeling filled the area; a tingling sensation on the back of his neck caused him to slowly turn around, and there standing behind him was the oracle… Her vacant eyes stared into him. She glided all around him; then she looked into his eyes. She placed her hand on his forehead. Alexandros could not move; he stood frozen in place as he felt a surge of power flow throughout his body—it was incredible and exhilarating. Alexandros never once felt fear or worry, but he could not speak or move, and when she was done, the oracle drifted away until she faded from sight.
Alexandros jumped up as he awoke. He looked all around and saw he was back in the leaky old cargo ship. Bixbin, too, awoke.
“Is everything well?” Bixbin asked his voice deep and coarse. “You look as if you may have seen a ghost.”
Alexandros rested his head again. “Everything is fine… rest up, for we shall arrive shortly…everything is fine.”
Bixbin drifted right back to sleep, but Alexandros remained somewhat afraid to go back to sleep.
What did the oracle do to me?
His eyes felt as heavy as his grandfather’s sword; they began to close, and he no longer dreamt about the oracle. Suddenly, he began to shake violently. He opened his eyes. Princess Elora was shaking him to wake up.
“Belen! Belen! Wake up!” She shouted with joy. “My legs! My legs are healed!”
S
he opened her eyes and stared up at the old wooden ceiling. Princess Elora did not recognize the place she was in. She was lying on wooden crates in a leaky creaky old room. As she began to sit up, her legs throbbed and the pain flew down. Her legs felt as if billions of daggers were piercing her all at once. She finally managed to sit up and lean against the wall behind her, and she began to cry. The last thing she could remember was being taken out of the cavern. Her broken legs throbbed every time the ship rocked.
How on earth did this happen to me?
Then she remembered, Barbarious…he killed Tobias… he broke her legs, and he hurt Raphael. The thoughts of the horror were too much. She looked around; everyone lay fast asleep. Across from her lying on other crates on the opposite side of the room was Raphael, and there on the floor next to him lay Alistair, sleeping with his body sprawled out on the ground. Sleeping while standing, leaning on his hammer, was the young dwarf Bixbin, and right next to her on the floor were Alexandros and Winston. She did not wish to wake anyone—she only wished she was able to walk so she could explore the ship. At that moment her nose began to tingle, and she let out a small sneeze.
“Bless you,” a voice said to her.
Somewhat startled, Elora saw that Winston, too, had awoken. He uncurled himself and sat up aside her, almost puppy-like.
“Bless you,” Winston repeated kindly.
“Thank you, very much,” Elora whispered
“How are you feeling? We were all so very worried about you.”
“I am a little light-headed, and my legs are very much in pain. But I think I am all right. Where are we?”
“On a ship called
The Voyager.
We are on a trip to visit the elves.”
“The Voyager?”
“Yes. It seems the captain is a bit full of himself. He claims to have built this entire ship himself with his bare hands, but many of his crew say differently. They say all he did was set up the sail…and sprained his wrist in the process.” Winston giggled. “At first the captain said there was no way he would allow me to be on board…but my human friend snatched the captain aside and whispered something to him. It must have been most frightful because the captain was very shaken up after. The captain even offered me my very own sleeping quarters…but I have been alone for too long, and I said no.”