Princess Ellery's village is in disarray and needs the help of our adventurers to cure it, only to realize that someone else has fallen deathly ill.
Princess Ellery's village is in disarray and needs the help of our adventurers to cure it, only to realize that someone else has fallen deathly ill.
The Mess at Moorenvale
Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a princess Nea and a princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. They had just restored the Lava Temple with the Blazian Crystals and were celebrating with their new friends, Coryn and Phin, at Sparland Castle when all of a sudden there came a knocking at their door.
[Knock, knock, knock.]
When they opened the door they found Princess Ellery from Morrenvale and Darius sitting on top of his Rose, his bear.
“Princess Ellery! Darius! What brings you two here?” Lulu asked, giving her best friend a large hug.
“We have a very big problem up in Morrenvale. Is it true that you have the Blazian Crystals and the Tornadian?”
“Yes, along with Coryn of Forevermore and Phin of Niverstone Deep.”
“Morrenvale is in complete disarray. There are never ending storms and we’ve been unable to make fires or light our lamps.”
Nea and Lulu looked at each other. It must be the shattering of the orb. All around Atheria towns and villages were experiencing the same things.
Then, from the entryway they were interrupted by a voice they hadn’t heard in a long time.
“You have all have come a long way and done an extraordinary work on your adventures.”
“Tuck!” shouted the princesses and Coryn.
The three of them ran over to the lion and gave him a huge hug. The lion rubbed his head against the adventurers then began to walk around the group. He was accompanied by Simon, Ruby, Nakisha, and Jewel.
“Ellery of Morrenvale, Darius son of Simon, Coryn of Forevermore, Princesses Nea and Lulu of Sparland, and” he took a brief pause to make deliberate eye contact with Phin. His eyes were strong and powerful, yet deep and inquisitive. “Phin of Niverstone Deep.”
Phin had never met Tuck before. He had met Ryla the hawk, but never Tuck the lion. He almost immediately felt unworthy and weak.
“Ttttuck,” he said lowering his head. He wasn’t sure what to do, but that seemed to feel right.
Tuck walked over to Phin and sat before him, getting eye-to-eye with him. He took a deep breath and looked deep into Phin’s eyes.
“Let’s give them a moment.” The Shadow Man said, and the rest of them walked out of main chamber.
Immediately Darius gave his father a hug and the rest of the adventurers caught up with their old friends.
“It looks like you have all been pretty busy.” Said Ruby. “Not that I ever doubted you!”
“And you know that the elf chief is still stone, right?” asked the Nakisha.
Nea and Lulu nodded. “We’ll need both Devorian Crystals for that.”
She nodded in agreement.
“Did you know there’s another elf village on the Withered Isle?” Nea ask Nakisha.
She nodded. “There are more than that. The elves are coming around, thanks to your work. Your reputation is known all throughout the elven villages now and even the royals are asking to meet you - when you are ready of course.”
Princess Nea and Lulu blushed. They had heard about the Elf Royals but had never met them. They were said to be enchanted fighters and kept their distance from most of Atheria, their villages in the nearby areas of Atheria were kept safe and run by local chiefs.
“Let’s not forget about the dwarf camps!” Ruby interjected.
“How are the dwarfs - Elifonia, Potifonia and Jacob? And Princess Blu?” asked Nea.
“Well, I think they’re getting a little testy with each other,” she chuckled a little, “But that’s expected of dwarfs. Last I heard she was taking them underwater to the Ocean Ruins then meeting up with an ogre friend of yours with a magic map.”
“Wahl?” asked Lulu.
Simon, son of Aylon, answered this one, “Yes, he’s been traveling with his sister and Prince Paul now. He’s quite the adventurer after all. He has come in real handy.”
“And what of William and Clef?”
“They are almost ready,” answered Tuck, walking into the chamber with Phin.
Everyone looked over at the lion and Phin, who walked next to him.
It was obvious that Phin was feeling different. Nea and Lulu couldn’t quite put their finger on it, but he stood a little taller and his eyes were bigger.
“Prince William of Cedar Landing, Prince Clef of New Halowisp, and the other warriors are close. Much to the credit of their teachers,” he looked over at Simon, Ruby, Nakisha and Jewel. “But there is still much work for you. We must restore the crystals before the darkness takes over.”
“What about the last crystal - the black one? Does the ogre still have it?” asked Ellery.
The lion sighed. “That he does, but that story isn’t written yet. For now, you must go Morrenvale as Princess Ellery has mentioned before it’s too late.”
The lion nodded to his companions and they all walked out of the room.
Princess Ellery had a carriage that could fit everyone and they immediately rode to Morrenvale to see if there was still time to help the townsfolk. On the way up, Nea couldn’t help but ask Phin what Tuck had told him.
“Honestly, it wasn’t really what he said.” Phin took a breath, “It was how he made me feel being around him.”
Nea could relate to the feeling. Tuck was so big and strong and fierce, but also approachable and soft.
“He told me a lot of the stuff Ryla has been telling me. But coming directly from him it was more real. Ryla’s voice is soft and pleasant, but his is so powerful.”
Again, Nea just nodded because she could relate.
“This isn’t going to be easy, but I think I’m starting to understand a little more how this works - these crystals and all.”
The rest of the trip, Phin looked out the window while the rest of them caught up on how big and grand their adventure had become - not just for them - but for all of Atheria.
When they got to Morrenvale King Bartholemew, Ellery’s father, met them immediately.
“Father!” Ellery announced as soon as she saw him, “I’ve found them and brought them back to Morrenvale.” As she spoke, the wind chaotically knocked over a nearby barrel.
“I’m afraid we have another problem,” he said, “Follow me back to the castle, quickly.”
Back at the castle he explained that his head adviser had gotten very sick the last few days and was up in her chambers resting. When he explained the symptoms, Darius took special attention.
To him, it sounded like she was just as sick as he was when he’d first met Nea and Lulu so many weeks ago.
“We should capture some special gale wind from the Wind Caves of Mt. Willows and infuse it with one of the crystals - just like you did for me.” He said, remembering what they did when he was sick.
“What about the wind that me and Coryn can make - with the crystals?” asked Lulu. “Don’t you think that can be just as powerful?”
Darius looked surprise, “Well, maybe.” He said. “It hadn’t occurred to me that maybe you and Coryn could make special wind. Let’s try.”
So they got a jar and Lulu pulled out her yellow crystal and began to let it’s power out. A small tornado began to twirl in her hand. Darius walked over with the jar, captured it, then used his own white crystal in the jar.
As soon as he put his crystal in the jar, the air started to spin with little white sparkles, like confetti. And they brought the jar of twisting, sparking wind over to the adviser. She leaned forward and began to breath in the air. And as the magic worked through her body, she gave two heavy coughs and a big deep breath. When she breathed in, her body began to feel better almost immediately.
“It worked!” shouted Nea.
The king smiled and gave his friend a big hug.
“It looks like these crystals are good for more than just healing the elements.”
“Speaking of the elements,” Ellery said, while windowsills banged against the side of the castle, “we need to tame this wind down and get everyone their fire back! Do you guys mind?”
She motioned back out of the castle where all four of the keepers pulled out their crystals. And for the first time they experienced what happens when a set of crystals are used together.
As the four of them held out their crystals, the two Tornadian and the two Blazian crystals, they began to hover above each keeper’s hand, only to gravitate towards each other and begin to spin together in a tight circle. Each crystal letting out a small spiral of energy, one for each color, that spun around the buildings of Morrenvale and then up into the sky. Then another spiral of energy into the ground and through the village. Finally, one last surge back to the crystals as they floated back to the palms of their hands.
“That was awesome!” said Phin.
“Yeah,” agreed Coryn.
And both Ellery and her father were so excited and so thankful that their village had been restored. Little did they know that this was just the beginning for Morrenvale.
The end.