crossworlds A Quest for the truth

CROSS WORLDS
A QUEST FOR THE TRUTH

Chapter 1

Melissa plum sat at her windowsill and with her finger traced around the

droplets of rain, which had formed on the glass. It was a cold gloomy November

day, the eerie sounds of the wind seemed to be exaggerated and were cascading

all around her. Melissa felt numb with the recent split between her mother and

father; the house was so cold and so quiet without him there. Her father had left

yesterday, taking with him as many belongings as he could, she remembers

standing at the window, watching his car leave the drive, wondering when she

would see him next, thinking how the house will never be the same with

out him. Melissa was not entirely sure why her parents had split up, but the

arguments between them had become a lot worse recently, she hated the

arguments and deep down inside she knew that it was probably for the best that

they had parted now.

“Melissa, Melissa, time for work” with an instant Melissa’s mother appeared at

her bedroom door. “Come on Melissa you’ll be late for work”. Melissa worked at

her local grocery store at the weekends to earn some extra pocket money.

However just recently with all that was going on she found it hard to

concentrate. She had already over charged somebody for a Mumbo Jumbo

chocolate bar, and as a result her boss Mrs Docket was always watching over

her. Finally Melissa managed to drag herself out of bed. As she walked past the

mirror on the way to the bathroom she caught a glimpse of her tangled mop of

thick brown hair rather resembling the look of a bramble bush. She cringed at

the thought of brushing it knowing that it was going to take ages for it to become

a tame neat ponytail. Melissa grabbed some toast as she quickly left the house

realising that she only had a few minutes to get to work. She took her blue

mountain bike and led it out onto the street feeding the last piece of toast into her

mouth as she road, she past the local school and came out onto a cobbled

pathway leading to the grocery store. The village Melissa lived in was a small

village; the centre was a quaint place, the buildings where old and crooked many

of them with dark wooden beams linking the brickwork together. Some made

from huge weather eaten stones boasting brightly coloured doors and window

displays. The grocery store Melissa worked in was one on these stone buildings,

there was a large canopy outside the shop with green and white stripes. The door

was green with a large glass window and a sign now saying open. As Melissa

opened the door a small bell above rang as the door passed past it.

“Hi Mrs Docket” Melissa said as she rushed through the entrance of the store

just arriving at work in time.

“Almost late again are we? You’ll have to do better than that when you get a

real job!”. Melissa scowled and put on her green apron, she did not reply to Mrs

Docket’s comment as it would merely fuel the argument, instead she chose to

change the subject trying to establish exactly what mood Mrs Docket was in

today. She was a strange old woman, Melissa often thought she resembled the

look of a witch; she had fuzzy grey hair, a crooked nose with what looked like a

wart on the tip of it, and wrinkled skin. She always wore the same dull grey

clothes a long unshaped skirt, which often revealed the thick woolly tights she

wore beneath it, and an old tatty looking grey jumper.

“Shall I start stacking the shelves Mrs Docket” Melissa asked,

“Well what do you think Melissa, do the shelves look like they need re stocking”.

Melissa had a quick look around the shop and soon realised that all the shelves

were neatly packed with products, she began to wish she hadn’t bothered today.

She spent the morning rearranging the sweets counter, re filling numerous jars

with multicoloured sweets, candy coughs, peppermint creams, and Melissa’s

favourite blueberry jelly bug beans, which looked like humungous jellybeans

with little jelly bugs inside. She mopped the floor, cleaned the counter and

stacked a large pyramid of bake beans to make a nice display in the window,

which also had a basket of plastic vegetables and fruit either side of it.

As the day went on the rain just seemed to get heavier. Melissa cringed at the

thought of riding home on her bike, knowing that she was about to get soaked.

She stood in the doorway of the shop and watched as the rain pounded onto the

ground, there was a small stream flowing along the road gushing into the nearest

drain carrying with it the many small leaves and twigs it had gathered along the

way. Melissa strapped up her helmet and set off for her wet journey home. The

rain stung as it hit Melissa in the face, her eyes only half open to try and prevent

the rain from getting into them. As she reached her garden gate she jumped off

her bike realising that her trousers where in fact drenched and heavy from the

down pour. The ground squelched as she walked across the garden bike in tow.

She propped the bike against the shed and fumbled about with the lock, using it

to attach the bike’s frame to the washing line post. Quickly she stepped across

the garden the mud now like a sludgy swamp almost sucking her soiled shoes

into the ground.

The smell of sausages hit Melissa as she walked through the back door, her

mother enveloped by a cloud of steam as she strained the vegetables so that they

could be dished up for dinner. “Bangers and Mash tonight love is that ok”

Melissa stomach rumbled, “Mmm that’s fine I’m starving”. Melissa sat at the

small pine kitchen table she looked at the plates that had been set and it suddenly

hit her that there were only two. To think that she had almost forgotten about

her dad leaving gave her a sick feeling in her stomach. Melissa’s mother placed

her dinner in front of her, the hot gravy steaming into the air, she sat with her

eyes fixated in a daze, it felt so wrong to be sitting at the table without him there,

she felt guilty that her father had to eat on his own rather than at the usually

tense dinner table.

“Mmm perhaps he’s better off eating on his own, she thought knowing that the

conversation around the dinner table almost certainly ended in an argument.

“That’s if he was even eating at all”, Melissa was not even sure that her dad

could cook she wondered as she looked expressionless at her dinner.

“Melissa are you going to eat your dinner or just stare at it”

“Huh” her mums voice waking her from her thoughts.

“I said are you going to eat your dinner”

Melissa looked at her plate and the sick feeling came back in her stomach.

“I’ll have it later I don’t feel very hungry at the moment”

“Are you ok Melissa” her mother’s expression was a picture of concern,

“I’m fine I Just don’t feel like eating it at the moment, I’m going to have a lie

down and will have it a bit later” with that she stood up from the table and

walked out of the kitchen, she slowly walked up the stairs thinking that she has

probably now got her mother into a fit of panic. Melissa made her way to her

bedroom and flopped down on her bed hiding her head under her pillow. She felt

so confused she didn’t want to upset either of her parents but could not help

thinking she was trapped in the middle.

A glimmer of light flourished through Melissa’s window, she awoke realising

that she had slept right through the night. As she lay she heard a noise almost a

faint sobbing, she got out of bed and stood up, waiting for a moment to see if she

could still hear the noise. Silence, she walked towards her bedroom door and

again waited, the noise sounded again. Melissa opened her bedroom door and

began to walk downstairs, she could hear voices, and what she assumed was her

mother crying. Melissa froze on the stairs suddenly feeling overcome with

anxiety. She raced to the top of the landing and looked out of the window to see a

police car parked on the drive. A thousand thoughts rushed through her mind

she knew something bad had happened but didn’t know whether she could cope

with knowing what. Slowly she stepped into the lounge her mother looked up,

her face red and sore where she had been crying.

“I’m so sorry Melissa, I don’t know how to tell you this” her mother began

crying again dropping her head into her hands, her face hidden from her long

straggly light brown hair

“Mum what is it” there was a tremble in Melissa’s voice. A kind looking police

man stood up and kindly took her by the arm.

“Why don’t you sit down love” the policeman approached Melissa and placed

her on the sofa. “It’s about your father, his car was found in the river last night,

Melissa searched his solemn face trying to anticipate what he was about to say.

“There has been no trace of him Melissa, we have tried to look for him but

unfortunately so far we have been unsuccessful”

“Well don’t stop looking” Melissa urged him desperately

“The trouble is with the weather being so bad it has made the river currents

extremely strong,” He said trying his best to explain the tragic event.

“What are you saying” by now Melissa was in a state of panic, her face rapidly

becoming clammy and her hands tingling with fright.

“We don’t think your father would have made it Melissa”

“Your saying he’s dead, how can you? You have to keep looking, you can’t just

give up already”

“I'm sorry Melissa but we are worried that the undercurrents will have swept

him away, it will have been impossible for anyone to survive that”. Melissa sat

still on the sofa and said nothing, shock and the feeling of denial where swirling

around in her head, she found it hard to take in. Why were the police not still out

looking for him, maybe he was stranded further down the river? They can’t just

leave him. Melissa broke down her face hurting from the uncontrollable

emotions she was experiencing. Tears rolling like a stream down her face

dripping onto the soft patterned sofa. Melissa’s mother moved over and hugged

her they both wept together holding each other for support.

“We’ll leave you now Mrs Plum, if we receive any more information we will

contact you” The policeman and his colleague left letting themselves out. Melissa

jumped up from the sofa and ran upstairs, she launched herself on to her bed

burying her head into her pillows, soaking them with the tears, which were still

pouring, from her eyes. Her head pounding from the shock and disbelief she was

feeling. She reached out to her bedside table and picked up a necklace that her

father had given her for her birthday. The necklace was old but beautiful, her

father had told her it was passed down to him from his grandma and that the

Pearlecent stone inside the vintage gold clasp was a very rare stone which she

must look after and keep safe. Melissa held the stone tightly in her hands

rubbing it with her finger feeling its smooth texture on her skin. She put the

necklace around her neck and tucked it beneath her top. The metal was warm

from where she had been holding it. Melissa felt comforted that she had

something from her father to hold onto, a small part of him to keep her going.

Darkness enveloped the house as night fall drew close, the house felt as if all life

had been ripped out of it, Melissa lay on her bed starring into the black space

her bedroom had become, her mind still scurrying with thoughts. No matter how

hard she tried to understand and accept what she was told her mind was making

it impossible for her to believe, nothing felt real, she felt as though she was in a

bad dream that she would never wake up from. How could he have crashed his

car in the river? How could the police just give up? Melissa sat up on her bed,

she looked out of the window, it was almost dark, the moon casting shadows into

her bedroom. She decided that if no one else would look for her father then she

would! Getting dressed she sneaked down stairs trying her best not to wake her

mother up. She found the keys to the back door in their usual place hanging

from a pig shaped plaque boasting several small hooks. Stretching up to take the

keys she crept over to the back door, carefully trying not to let the keys clang

together she opened it. The garden was now almost pitch black, with a few

shapes of the bushes lit up by the twinkling stars above. She opened the back

door and made her way across the garden unlocking her bike from the washing

line post and taking it with her. Melissa got on her bike and rode through the

close intricate streets of her neighbourhood with only the sound of the bike’s

chain clattering as she peddled for company. Once she had the river in sight she

stopped, looking as the water glistened and sparkled innocently, deceiving the

treacherous under currents that so maliciously swept her father away, she

walked up to the river bank and noticed the deep trenches in the ground where

her fathers car had been dragged out. Melissa fell to the ground sitting on the

wet grass, she wept whilst investigating the trenches with her hands, the mud

smooth with the odd stone digging into her skin. She felt a surge of anger build in

her stomach, adrenalin pumping through her body. In an explosion of emotion

she picked up a rock from the ground and threw it into the river screaming at

the top of her voice “I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU” still crying she walked

further up the river dragging her feet along the ground occasionally kicking the

reeds at the side of the bank. Melissa dragged her feet further up the river until

She saw a rickety old bridge built out of brick. It had a small dark unlit path

leading underneath it, and as Melissa approached she noticed the silhouette of a

figure emerge from underneath, Melissa stood still and wondered if it would be a

good idea to turn back. The figure began to draw closer, looking more like a

person. Soon she realised it was a man, His body tall, his clothes dark and his

hair long and greasy. Melissa could now hear the slow heavy thudding of his

boots as he moved closer to her. She turned and briskly walked back towards her

bike still hearing his footsteps behind her. She noticed that the thudding was

getting quicker, louder. Turning her head she saw the man right behind her, his

hand reaching out in an attempt to grab her. Automatically her legs began to

move faster and faster, she could feel the hard beating of her heart as she ran as

quickly as possible to get away from him. He was so close she could feel his warm

breath on her neck as she struggled to get away. Melissa could see her bike, but

the man was so close she knew she did not have enough time to make a grab for

it. Her legs began to tire, her feet now throbbing. The man was still so close

behind her. There was no escape. In a fit of desperation Melissa threw her self

into the river hoping that the scary man would not attempt to follow her into the

dangerously frozen water. The icy cold water immediately greeted her. The

water burning her body with coldness, submerging her as the weight of her

clothes began to drag her down. Kicking her legs she franticly tried to reach the

surface, trapped by the weed beneath her tangling between her limbs she slowly

began to sink deeper and deeper below the surface. Feeling a force from beneath

her almost like hands holding her, pushing her. Melissa was slowly raised to the

surface. She took a huge gasp of air as her head came up out of the water.

Panting heavily trying to take in as much air as possible. She used the last of her

energy to swim to the side of the bank, using her last bit of strength to haul her

torso up onto a small sandy bay. Lying with her chest aching from the starvation

of oxygen she thought about everything that had just happened, images taking

over her brain’s ability to create an answer. One thing in particular stuck out in

Melissa’s mind, what had she felt pushing her out of the river? What had saved

her from becoming tangled in the weed? Melissa sat up and looked around her,

there was no one in sight. She wondered where the man had gone as she

cautiously made her way back to her bike. Picking it up off the ground she took a

slow walk home feeling shaken and tired her arms still trembling from her

frantic splashing in an attempt to get to the embankment. She remembered what

that kind policeman had said earlier about how difficult it would have been for

her father to survive after falling into the river. She began to cry feeling almost

acceptant that her father may have indeed drowned in the river.

Once home still cold and wet from the river she sat on her bed, shivering she

wrapped her dressing gown around her in an attempt to get warm. Melissa

tucked her feet up into her duvet and snuggled down into it, slowly she could feel

her intense shivering soften and her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier.

Chapter 2

Waking in a panic Melissa sat up realising she was still screaming from a

nightmare she had just experienced, her body in a cold sweat and her skin

clammy and wet. Melissa’s mum ran into her room

“What is it love, are you ok” her mum looked exhausted, sitting down on her bed

she felt Melissa’s head “you have a temperature love, you’ve had a bad dream”.

Melissa thought to herself that she probably was still living the nightmare if all

that had happened recently was anything to go by. “Melissa what’s this in your

hair”, Melissa looked and saw a bit of green weed she had dangling between her

fingers, realising that there was no way to explain the weed, she knew she would

have to tell her about last night.

“I, I went looking for dad, the police can’t just give up mum, he can’t be dead he

just can’t” Melissa’s mum had a pained expression on her face

“The police have done everything they can love, I know it’s hard but we have to

accept it so we can try to move on” Melissa knew her mum was just trying to put

on a brave face, she could see the sadness and tears welling in her icy blue eyes.

Her mother left the room before she broke down in front of her daughter, going

into the kitchen to take he mind off the subject. Melissa sat in her bed feeling

relieved that she didn’t have to explain the full storey as to why the weed had

ended up in her hair, She looked over at her window and watched as her lilac

curtains slowly moved rippling like a wave in the sea. However as Melissa

studied the strange movement the material made, She realised that she had not

opened her window so what was making them move? She stepped out of her bed

and walked towards them, a little nervous in case something was behind them.

As she became closer the curtains stopped moving. Slowly with a slight tremble

in her hand she whisked the curtains open, quickly ducking as she did so in the

fear that something may jump out on her. After waiting a few seconds and

realising that nothing had attacked her she crept her head up to peer over the

window ledge, she saw nothing, apart from a small teddy bear ornament and a

picture frame with her as a new born baby in hospital being held by her father

just minutes after she had been born. Bewildered Melissa checked the window to

make sure she had closed it properly but it was sealed shut.

“Strange” she thought out loud, Taking the picture from the ledge as she sat at

her computer desk, her father looked so proud to be a parent, she could almost

see excitement in his eyes.

As the afternoon approached Melissa went down stairs to see where her mum

was, She walked into the kitchen to find her mum going through her wedding

album. Taking the other stool she sat next to her leaning up against the breakfast

bar.

“He was so handsome Melissa, your father had looked so wonderful that day”

Melissa looked at the photo, her mum and dad standing in font of the church

with confetti strewn all over them, they both had huge smiles, they looked so

happy. Melissa began to wonder what had ever happened between them. She

noticed that all the photos in the album were full of happiness and joy, proving

that her mother and father did once love each other. She thought it was such a

shame that things had turned out so wrong. Melissa’s mother passed her a photo

from the album, it was a picture of her mother and father holding Melissa as a

young child. It was taken by the seaside. Melissa could see multi coloured beach

huts in the background, just slightly raised from the white sand in front of them.

She studied her parent’s happy expressions and the loving cuddle that she was

held in by her father’s arms. Clambering down from the stool Melissa kissed her

mother and took the photo up to her room placing it into a small ceramic blue

and purple stripped picture frame which once displayed a picture of her beloved

hamster Raspberry, who had sadly escaped somehow two years ago and was

never seen since.

As she fiddled with the small clips at he back of the picture frame she couldn’t

help thinking about the strange movement of the curtain earlier on. Peering over

to the window she looked over to the curtain to see if it would move again, but

nothing happened, giving up she again began to concentrate on getting her photo

into her picture frame. BANG!!! A loud thud made Melissa jump with fright. It

sounded as if something had fell on to the floor. Sitting up to see what the noise

was Melissa was astonished to see a strange glimmer of light hovering in her

room, it was a green haze with reflective specks of brown and white. She looked

on the floor and saw that a bottle of her perfume had been knocked to the

ground. She looked at the light, not believing that it was real she rubbed her eyes

hoping that when she looked up again the light would have vanished. With her

hands held over her eyes she slowly peeked through the gaps between her

fingers, still the light was in the corner of the room. Melissa was curious but at

the same time to scared to move. Gradually the light began to move towards her

and she realised that in fact there seemed to be two different glimmers of light,

separating to come either side of her. She sat froze to her bed looking in

amazement almost hypnotised from the beautiful colours glistening from the

magical light. They came closer still and stopped directly in front of her.

Suddenly the light became brighter, blinding. A strange feeling of weightlessness

and calm came over her. She could see she was travelling fast, colours swirling

together to create a collage of images, spinning uncontrollably into a tunnel of

mist, all becoming dark and still.

Melissa felt a thud on her side. She was surrounded by darkness. Feeling around

her she assumed that she was on the ground as there was an earthy substance

between her fingers. The air felt cold and almost fresh, with a tricking of water

near to her, a quiet calming sound, as it seemed to flow past her. A flicker of

light suddenly appeared illuminating all around her. First Melissa noticed that

she was in some sort of cave, she saw a small stream beside her, which led to,

what looked like another cave. The floor surface was a sandy type of soil, directly

in front of her stood a strange looking man, he looked very old and wise, his skin

wrinkled and his hair thin and white, she noticed that he wore a brown leather

bandanna, his clothes looked as though they were from a different era, Melissa

had never seen such clothes. He had a small skirt type garment that covered the

bottom half of his body down to his knees; this was stone in colour and roughly

cut. He also wore a leather harness that went from his waist and up over his

shoulders, there were pouches either side of his waist with what looked like

daggers in them and a bow that went across his back. His shoes where like

sandals with rope which tied up around his legs to help keep them on. Melissa

looked up at the man and felt a sense of worry.

“Hello child, please do not be afraid of me, my name is Khana I am a warrior

ghost sent to protect you from the evil spirits of Krueler or to you the evils spirits

beyond the grave” Melissa sat astounded with what Khana was telling her.

“So where am I” Melissa asked not certain whether she was dreaming or not.

“You are in a place called Zaffier, it is a place which exists between your world

and the world of the dead”

“So why have you brought me here”

“Because you are the child of Bhurusa, your father has been taken by the evil

spirits of Krueler, he caused a threat to their plan and now they realise that you

are still alive they will come after you. It is no longer safe for you to be in your

own world”

“What do you mean still alive” Melissa then suddenly remembered the strange

man which had tried to attack her the other night “oh my god, that man was

going to kill me”

“Yes and the evil spirits will keep trying until they succeed. We must try and

find out where they have trapped your father so that we can release him”

“You mean he is still alive” Melissa became elated with hope to think her father

could still be alive

“Child your father can never go back to your world now, he may only live here

in Zaffier, helping to fight the evil spirits of Krueler” Melissa felt uncertain of

exactly what was going on, she felt confused, what did they mean about her

father being Bhurusa? Who was he? At that moment another figure appeared he

was a small looking creature Melissa could hardly see his face; he wore a long

dark robe his posture was slightly hunched over and his face pale white.
“Many years ago there was a warrior called Tofula he fought a great battle with

the spirit world in order to protect your world from the evil which was trying to

escape, they would have ripped the world apart and took from it all source of

life, Tofula was our saviour, he created a portal protected by magic to stop the

spirits from escaping, however over the years some have managed to pass

through, there are now more and more spirits trying to pass through and its

imperative that we keep them here in Zaffier”

“So how is he related to my father”?

“Your father is a descendent of Tofula, and he has the power to stop the spirits

of Krueler and most of all create a stronger portal so that they may not pass

through to your world”.

The small hunched man walked over to Melissa “Hello my name is Delshai, you

must accompany us on our quest to find your father, it can be only your hand

that can release him from the spirits of the dead” Melissa thought for a second

still not quite believing what was going on.

“So was it you that saved me from the river”

“Yes child, we contacted the spirit of the water to help push you out” her brain

now overloading with information

“I will join you on your quest to help my father, but I don’t see how I will be able

to help him”

“You are his child your power is the key to his release”

“But I don’t have any power”

“Do not worry child your magic will show it self all in good time only you can

find out what it is” Melissa was confused by this comment but decided not to ask

any more questions as she felt as though her brain was going to explode.

Khana lit a fire in the centre of the cave; he produced several blankets from a

leather satchel and brought one over to Melissa.

“Its going to be a cold night” he warned “we will leave at first light and make

way for the village of Propais, we will be able to get our supply’s from there

before we set off for Notolais Valley, Forbidden Valley of the dead”. Wrapping

the blanket around her Melissa tucked her feet up into it and attempted to make

her self-comfortable, the hard ground dug into her side, and the cold air in the

cave circled her face. She watched as Khana and Delshai sat by the fire

preparing their arrows sharpening them with a small piece of rock. Melissa

closed her eyes and tried to sleep, she gradually drifted in and out of

consciousness with the repetitive sound of the metal grinding against the

sharpening rock Khana held in his hand.

Chapter 3

Khana gently shook Melissa from her sleep, jumping slightly as he nudged her,

“Melissa, Melissa its time to go the sun has risen and we must leave for Propias

straight away” Pulling her blanket off Melissa sat up rubbing her eyes, She

stretched and stood up, Khana gave her a robe and a tunic “you must wear these

clothes to hide your own, you will be easily spotted by the evil spirits if you leave

here in those”

“Thanks” Melissa took the clothes and put them on over hers. The robe was

dark brown in colour and had a hood that she pulled up over her head. Delshai

passed her a satchel

“This is yours it has some supplies but we will need to get to Propias to refill

them” Looking inside Melissa saw an apple and some bread along with a blanket

and a small tin cup. Khana picked up his bow and attached it to his shoulder

sitting it next to a neatly packed leather arrow case. He led them through the

cave, through a small passage that took them to a beautiful underground lake.

The water was crystal clear with a ray of light shinning through a hole in the

roof of the cave. The light reflected off the water and onto the walls of the cave,

showing off the spectacular shapes of the rocks, one was stunning it stood in the

centre of the lake with holes in the middle carved out by the falling water

cascading down from above. There were also small purple flowers growing

which used the small beam of light to survive. As they approached the opening of

the cave Melissa saw that this was a place very different from her world, the land

was vast and there were no houses or roads in sight, instead there were trees and

hills, she could see a mountain in the distance which was scattered with snow.

The cave opened out onto the edge of a cliff, the air outside was cold and fresh

the sky dull and grey with dark clouds forming above. There was a small rocky

path which they were following taking them towards a river and a small forest.

“We are meeting another who will be able to help find your father, his name is

Jofuda he is a strange beast but will be most helpful” As they reached the forest

Melissa could see a tall looking man. As they got closer she could see that he was

not human looking he had hair which circled his head intruding slightly onto his

face, his hair was coarse and brown, his ears were pointed at the ends, and he

had aqua blue eyes with long eyelashes. Jofuda was very muscular he wore

trousers, which were torn at the bottom and he had a similar harness to Khana,

which again was filled with arrows and daggers his shoes were leather and worn

more like slippers that were attached to his ankles by leather straps. He had with

him a horse type creature that Melissa soon realised was a unicorn. The creature

shinning with pureness, calmly standing watching as they reached the

embankment. The river was wild and powerful, a large waterfall pounding the

rocks as it sped over the cliff made it hard for them to hear each other.

“Hullo travellers, I have the information you requested and I must warn you,

you have a long and dangerous journey ahead of you”

“Where is Bhurusa being kept Jofuda?” Khana replied with a serious tone

“He is being kept by the Cassa Tribe in Katula Mountain”

Khana’s face looked concerned “We must get to him as soon as possible”

“I will come with you, you will need as much help as you can get”. Jofuda picked

up his supplies and they all began to make there long way along the riverbank.

“So who are the Cassa Tribe?” Melissa asked as they continued through the

forest.

“The Cassa are a dangerous tribe, they live high up in Katula Mountain. They

work for the evil spirits of Krueler and will kill anything or anyone that

trespasses on there land. They are creatures of the night we must stay together at

all times as they will almost certainly be watching our every step”.

Approaching a shallow section of the river the group cross over it stepping on

small rocks which had been placed along the entire width of the river. The

unicorn gracefully paddled through the water helping Melissa jump back onto

the bank.

“The village of Propais is close we must make it there before nightfall” Khana

announced. Looking at the surroundings Melissa noticed that the forest was far

denser on this side of the river and looked as if it went on forever. There were

huge oak trees and prickly thorn bushes masking the ground beneath, she was

beginning to feel like they would never make it to Propias. Jofuda guided the

group through a small path in the trees leading them to a rocky area covered

with vines and ivy. Jofuda stopped into a small opening, he lead the unicorn over

to the vines. Melissa watched in amazement as the unicorn bent down onto its

knees it placed its horn into a square shaped rock.

Jofuda chanted “corusula petyre meldifer krye”.

A Bright light shone from the stone, the vines and rocks began to move to make a

gateway for the group to walk through. Melissa stepped through the gate

followed by the others

“Welcome to Propias Melissa” Delshai advised. Melissa had never seen a village

like this; there were small hut type buildings made from what looked like mud

and stone with straw roofs. There were fences that held pigs and goats in pens

and loose chickens running around the village. Children were running and

playing around a may pole dancing in and out of the different coloured ribbons.

The people there wore simple clothes, which were brown, green and white in

colour, there were small stalls that sold fruit, vegetables, cheeses and bread.

Khana stopped and bought some more supplies paying for them with a small

nugget of gold, which the stall seller bit into to check it was real. They made

there way through the bustle of the village and towards a small stone building

with a iron cast sign outside with the word taverntino inscripted into it,

“We will stay here at this inn over night, and leave first thing tomorrow,” Khana

explained. As Melissa entered the Inn she noticed that there was a strong earthy

smell, the walls were made from stone, and the ground was what looked like

compact straw. Making their way upstairs they entered their room, all of them

were to stay in the same one the beds made from slabs of rock with animal skins

and firs as blankets and bedding. Melissa began to miss her own comfy bed and

her soft blankets and pillows.

As nightfall approached a sumptuous feast began outside. Tables were placed in

rows and had plates of food and drink on them. People in the village danced to

joyful music that was being played using flute type instruments and drums,

swinging and jumping around in a big circle. As Melissa took a piece of chicken

she thought how happy everyone here was, she looked at the others who had

plates piled high with food and jugs filled with what she assumed was some sort

of root beer.

“You want to eat as much as you can Melissa, you might not get another meal

for a while” Thinking about it Melissa figured Jofuda was right, grabbing some

more food she created a small mound on her plate. Khana finished his food and

began to dance around the others dragging them from their stools

“Come on lets show Melissa how it’s done”. Pulling Melissa along too they began

kicking out their legs and ducking under each others arms, swinging from one

person to another, drinks being thrown all over everyone.

“JOFUDA, JOFUDA quick you need to come quick!” a small boy came running

from the paddock area shouting at the top of his voice. Jofuda stopped dancing

and looked at the small boy

“What is it young one”

“The unicorn you have to see”. Following the small boy Jofuda and Khana ran to

see what had happened. Melissa grabbed Delshai (who was quite relived to be

rescued from the strange lady that had been hugging him), and ran after the

others. They got to the stable to find Jofuda hunched over the creature. The

unicorn’s horn was glowing bright red

“What’s wrong with it” Melissa cried

“It has been cursed by the evil spirits and they are using its horn to see us, we

have to stop them they will kill the unicorn”

“We must do something to stop them,” Melissa wept. Delshai sat next to the

unicorn and placed his hand over the unicorns head he chanted

“Corrusaka felai peyai toi, CORRUSAKA FELAI PEYAI TOI” Delshai’s hand

created a beam of light as he chanted the words. The unicorn let out a glass-

shattering cry and everyone watched as its horn retuned back to its normal

colour. Jofuda looked at Delshai relieved that he had saved the unicorn

“Thank you Delshai, thank you”

“The unicorn must rest so that its energy can return” Delshai added.

“How long was this going on for boy,” Khana asked. The boy looked up at

Khana

“It had only just happened. I ran to get you straight away”

“We must be extra careful, we don’t know how much the evil spirits have seen.

They may now know where we are”.

The night passed and the group rose early in order to leave the village just in

case the evil spirits had worked out where they were. Jofuda checked the

unicorn, happy to see that it had recovered from the curse. Jofuda again lead the

group to a similar group of rocks to which they had seen when entering the

village, this time however they left at the far side of the village. Jofuda walked up

to the ivy-covered rocks and turned a small rock hidden beneath it. Immediately

the rocks began to create an opening so that the group could leave the village.

“Well we’re back in the forest again,” Khana announced. He walked along a

small muddy path picking some berries of a nearby bush as he passed it. The

berries were pink in colour and tiny in size “Yum Parpula berries my favourite”

offering them out he passed a small handful to each of them.

“You’ll love them Melissa” Jofuda said. Melissa looked at Delshai hoping for

some reassurance but he was such a shy soul that he just smiled politely at her.

Melissa put one of the berries into her mouth and nervously chewed it. At first

the berry tasted sweet and pleasant but then there was a sour fizzing in her

mouth

“Arrrrhhhh” She spat out the berry scrunching up her face, everyone started

laughing. Khana pleased with his joke asked if she would be eating the rest.

“I don’t know how you can eat them they are horrible”

“They are lovely you just have to get used to them” Khana replied still giggling

to himself.

Melissa felt tired as they continued to walk through the forest and was rather

relieved when they stopped in a small opening for a rest. Melissa perched herself

onto a small log resting on the ground and took some bread from her satchel.

Delshai set out a little picnic for himself placing his apple and bread onto his

blanket. As Melissa took a bite out of the piece of bread she held in her hand, she

noticed a small creature drop down and snatch Delshai’s apple, she looked

around at the others, but they hadn’t noticed. Then she saw another hanging

from the tree above her, it was a small creature pale green in colour with darker

green spots and little delicate wings.

“That’s funny” Delshai’s said looking at his blanket with a confused expression,

“I could have sworn I had an apple there”. With that hundreds of the little

creatures flew down whizzing around everyone’s heads “Elves” screamed

Delshai in a high-pitched voice. Jofuda drew his dagger and was fighting them

off, trying his best not to let them tie him up with the rope they were swinging. In

the chaos Melissa found herself being lassoed, her legs bound together by some

sort of vine. The others continued to fight the Elves off not noticing that they

were carrying Melissa away. The Elves flurried away, leaving the others sitting

in a pile of crumbs, blankets and shreds of apple.

“Where’s Melissa?” Khana asked in a worried tone. Jofuda and Deshai looked

around, but she was nowhere in sight.

“MELISSA, MELISSA, MELISSA” They all shouted out to see if she had

hidden in a nearby bush, “MELISSA, MELISSA, MELISSA!”