Shaula
So Kira,
Kirk and Erestor were now searching for the crane the ogres told them about.
Again they were making sure they wouldn’t run into any dangerous creatures. “Do
you think the ogres are telling the truth about this crane that can talk?”
asked Kirk. He didn’t think he could believe them. “Ogres normally do tell
lies,” said Erestor “but I felt that these ogres were being honest for once”.
“We might as well go and see this crane,” said Kira “after all it might know
where Shaula is”. Truthfully Kira didn’t think she could believe what the ogres
said either, because there was no such thing as a crane that could talk. But
she was willing to go through anything to find Shaula; she wanted to find
Shaula more than anyone else. “How long will it take us to find this white
cedar tree where the crane is Erestor?” asked Kirk. Erestor was looking at his
map of Ogreme Swamp. “Hmm well according to my map,” he said “we need to walk
up a hill just down this path where we are now and up that hill is where we
will find the white cedar tree. So we don’t have far to go this time”.
By
following Erestor’s map, they followed the path and walked up the hill. Once
they reached the top of the hill, they saw a very big white cedar tree down
below them. This white cedar tree was very big and thick indeed; in fact it was
bigger than all the other white cedar trees in the swamp. “Wow,” said Kira “I
have seen many big trees in my time, but this is the biggest tree I’ve ever
seen”. “Yes,” said Erestor “and it seems almost magical”. “You don’t suppose a
witch, wizard or any other magical being grew this do you?” asked Kirk. “That
would be impossible Kirk,” said Kira “because only Mother Nature could grow
something like this. I mean even if a witch or wizard had the power over
plants, our magic could still never beat Mother Nature’s magic”. “She’s right,
even an elf’s magic could never beat Mother Nature either” said Erestor. Kirk
understood. Kira started to call out to the tree to see if the talking crane
was there. “Hello!” she said “any cranes up there?” Squirrels started to
scatter and birds flew away because of Kira’s yelling. “Uh excuse me Kira,”
said Kirk “but I don’t think yelling is going to help us find the crane we’re
looking for. It will just scare all the creatures away”.
Suddenly
a white crane, with black markings, flew down to the ground in front of Kirk,
Kira and Erestor. “Will you stop the noise please?” said the crane “it’s hard
to sleep with you yelling like that”. Kira, Kirk and Erestor were shocked to
know that the crane could talk, but at least they now knew that the ogres told
them the truth. They introduced themselves to the crane. “We do apologize for
disturbing you,” said Erestor “but we are looking for a sorceress named Shaula.
Do you know where she is?” “She is me,” said the crane “I am Shaula the
sorceress”. “What?” gasped Kira “this can’t be right?” “It is true I’m afraid,”
said Shaula “Queen Morticia transformed me into a crane when I tried to stop
her from using evil magic, after she became queen of Ranbaraz”. “I must ask you
Shaula, how did Queen Morticia gain her magic?” asked Kira “I mean I heard her
parents, the last king and queen, didn’t have any magical abilities and
Morticia wasn’t born with magic abilities either”. “I’m afraid the story of how
Queen Morticia gained her magic is not a good one” said Shaula.
Shaula
explained thirty five years ago, just five years before Morticia became queen,
Ranbaraz was under threat by an evil wizard named Clavius who tried to make
himself king of Ranbaraz and all of middle earth. “You wouldn’t believe this,
but Clavius processed the same evil magic that Queen Morticia processes now”. “How
did he get defeated if he processed the same magic as Queen Morticia?” asked
Kira. “It wasn’t easy, but together Morticia’s father and I were able to defeat
him and the king killed him” said Shaula. Shaula explained next that after
Clavius was killed, she gathered and destroyed everything that he left behind;
potions, spell books and other magical items. “But there was one thing that
belonged to Clavius which I didn’t destroy, and that was another spell book of
his. This spell book though was no ordinary spell book; this spell book was
given to Clavius by the devil himself, after Clavius sold his soul to him. Why
I didn’t destroy it, was because the book went missing before I could dispose
of it”. “How did it go missing?” asked Kira. “I’m afraid Morticia secretly took
it and sold her soul to the devil to make the spell book her own, but I didn’t
know that until after she became queen” said Shaula. “So the rumors about
Morticia stealing someone else’s magic and selling her own soul to gain magic
abilities are true” said Erestor. “Yes, and as I just said earlier I tried to
stop her after I found out that she had Clavius’s magic,” said Shaula “but she
transformed me into a crane and I had to fly away before she could kill me. I
ended up flying here to Ogreme Swamp and I have lived here for thirty years now”.
It was clear now that becoming the queen of Ranbaraz was not just enough for
Morticia, and she became thirsty for more power when she obtained Clavius’s
magic for her own, which explained why she wished to rule all of Middle Earth
“Can you not turn yourself back into a human?” asked Kira. “No I can’t,”
answered Shaula “Queen Morticia’s spell prevented me from using any magic. So
I’ve been stuck as a crane for thirty years”.
After
finishing her story, Shaula then explained that birds from all over Middle
Earth brought news to her about Queen Morticia. “Being turned into a crane had its good
things; I was able to talk to and understand the birds. So for thirty years
I’ve heard about everything that Morticia had done thanks to the birds spying
on Queen Morticia and her actions for me”. “So that means you know that
everyone in Ranbaraz and everywhere else in Middle Earth has suffered because
of Queen Morticia all these years?” asked Kira “and I take it you also know
because of her all witches and wizards are feared now, and I also suppose you
also know that hundreds of people are dead because of her?” “Yes I have,” said
Shaula “and it makes me regret that I was unable to stop her before she started
to do evil things. Her parents in heaven are no doubt disappointed and ashamed
of what she has become. They wanted her to become wise and good queen like her
father who was a wise and good king”. “Except she had become an evil and greedy
queen instead” finished Kirk. “Oh I just remembered,” said Shaula “the birds
also told me that the child of the prophecy has been born, is it true?” “It is
true and Anakin is safe in Elfalore” said Kira. Kira explained to Shaula that
she had been looking after Anakin ever since she found him near a river at her
home in the dwarf village. “But the bad news is Queen Morticia is trying to
find him so she could kill him like she killed his parents”. “That’s why we
came here to find you,” said Erestor “we need your help to protect Anakin and
we thought you would know how to defeat Queen Morticia”. “You were right to
come and find me,” said Shaula “I am willing to fight and defeat Queen Morticia
and protect Anakin from her”. Kira, Kirk and Erestor were happy with that
answer. “Since you said that Morticia’s power was from that magic book of
Clavius,” Kirk said to Shaula “I take it all we have to do is destroy that book
and she will easily be defeated?” “I’m afraid not Kirk,” said Shaula “you see
that book is protected by magic. So it can’t be destroyed by fire or anything
like that and it can’t be ripped to bits either. But there is one thing that
can destroy the book”.
Shaula
explained that the only way to destroy Queen Morticia’s magic book was to use
special silver. “This special silver is able to destroy any magical objects and
can protect you from magic. Queen Morticia’s father had a sword made from this
silver and that was how he was able to defeat and destroy Clavius”. “I take it
that sword isn’t around anymore right?” asked Kirk. “No Queen Morticia disposed
of it after her father died” answered Shaula. “Where can we find this special
silver?” asked Erestor. “This special silver can only be found in a mine that’s
on an island called Argentum Island” said Shaula. “I’ve heard of that island from
stories,” said Kira “but they say that a lot of dangers are there”. “Dangers or
not we must go there to gather the special silver to defeat Queen Morticia”
said Shaula. By then it was getting late and Shaula told Kira, Kirk and Erestor
that they needed to get some sleep now. “We will need all the rest we can get
for this mission tomorrow” she said.
So that
night Kira, Kirk and Erestor slept on the ground; they had blankets on them and
Kirk made a fire with two flint stones to keep them warm. Shaula was sleeping
in the tree. Around the middle of the night, Kira woke up and couldn’t get back
to sleep. She was thinking about Anakin and hoping he was all right. Then she
got out from her blanket and walked a bit away from where Erestor and Kirk were
to not disturb them. “Is something on your mind Kira?” It was Shaula; she
noticed that Kira was awake and she flew down from the tree towards Kira to see
what the matter was. “Nothing really,” said Kira “I’m just worried about
Anakin. I know the elves in Elfalore are capable of protecting him, but not
being with him for so long makes me worried. Especially since Queen Morticia is
after him”. “You have become attached to Anakin haven’t you?” asked Shaula.
“Yes I have,” Kira admitted “the truth is Shaula ever since I first held him,
after finding him by the river; I’ve liked Anakin as if he is my son even
though he’s not”. “Ah that means the maternal instincts came over you;” said
Shaula “even when a woman hasn’t even become a mother yet, she feels attached
to a child whether it’s hers or not. You will become a good mother in the
future young half-witch Kira”. Witches and wizards had the magical ability to
know if someone was a half-witch or half-wizard. “Now do tell me about yourself
Kira”.
Kira told
Shaula that her mother was a good witch and she had lived in the dwarf village
with her dwarf friend Balim ever since she was born. “My mother said the reason
we lived there was to avoid attention from Queen Morticia”. “I understand
that,” said Shaula “the birds had told me for the last thirty years wizards and
witches had been living in hiding to avoid Queen Morticia and her power. I also
learnt that some witches and wizards had died trying to stop her too”. Kira
then explained about her father. The story was her grandfather, Kira’s father’s
father, served the previous king and queen of Ranbaraz as a guard. By the time her
grandfather died, her father had become a guard too. But at that time also,
Morticia had become queen and Kira’s father was supposed to serve her. “My
father refused to serve Queen Morticia; he said that serving an evil queen was
something he would never do”. “Your father was wise and brave to refuse that”
said Shaula. Kira then explained that her father fled Ranbaraz to avoid having
to serve Queen Morticia. “He ended up living and working in a farm village and
it was there he met my mother. Even though she was a witch my father fell in
love with her at once and he didn’t care that she was a witch”. “Ah young love
comes in many different ways no matter who the people are” said Shaula. “My father
was happy with my mother and they married at once,” said Kira “when my mother
was carrying me inside her, she and my father hoped to live a peaceful happy
family life. But it wasn’t to be. Sometime before I was born Queen Morticia’s
guards tracked down my father and tried to make him become a guard of Queen
Morticia. Again my father refused, but the guards didn’t take it lightly and
they killed him for disobedience and treason. So my father was also one of the
victims who ended up dead because of Queen Morticia. My mother fled the village
before the guards could do anything to her and she fled to the dwarf village,
and there she gave birth to me and we lived there with Balim in his house”.
Shaula
was amazed that the dwarf Balim was a friend of Kira’s mother, because dwarves
didn’t like wizards and witches. But Kira explained that her mother once saved
Balim’s life when he once got bitten by a poisonous green snake. “My mother
knew a lot of antidotes for poisonous snakes, which she taught me later on so I
know how to make antidotes too, and she gave him an antidote which cured him.
Balim was grateful to her and allowed her to stay in the village, even though
the other dwarves didn’t like us”. “Where is your mother now Kira?” asked
Shaula. “She died when I was only eleven, and Balim raised me as his daughter
ever since,” said Kira “even though Balim loved me like I was his daughter and
of course I love him like he was my father, my life in the dwarf village wasn’t
that happy either”. She told Shaula all about the times she was bullied by the
dwarves because of their dislike towards her. “I’ve wanted to leave the dwarf
village so many times ever since I grew up, but I couldn’t bring myself to
leave Balim yet. It was only after meeting Anakin and realizing Queen Morticia
was after him that I got the urge to leave the dwarf village”. “I see,” said
Shaula “you have gone through quite a lot of unfortunate things in your time.
But you still grew up to be a good and brave woman Kira, and I’m sure that you
will end up with a happy future”. “I hope my future will be with Anakin because
I don’t want to leave him ever” said Kira. “And I’m sure Anakin wants you to
stay with him too even when he does grow up to become the new king of Ranbaraz,”
replied Shaula “that’s enough talking now Kira, it’s time we went back to
sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow”. So Shaula went back into her
tree to sleep and Kira went back to Erestor and Kirk to sleep.
The next
morning Kira, Kirk and Erestor were up and about, having a quick bite to eat,
putting out the fire and getting ready to leave Ogreme Swamp for Argentum
Island. Kira was relieved that they were going to leave Ogreme Swamp at last;
she couldn’t bear staying there any longer. Just then Erestor had a thought.
“We don’t have a map of Argentum Island,” he said
“so how will we get there if we don’t know the way?” “That’s not a problem”
said Shaula. She poked her head into a hole in the white cedar tree and took
out two maps from the hole, and she gave it to Erestor. “The maps are of
Argentum Island and of the mine where the silver is. I’ve kept these maps with
me ever since I fled Ranbaraz thirty years ago; Morticia’s father used them too
when he had to search for the special silver to defeat Clavius”. Erestor felt
better now that they had a map for Argentum
Island and for the silver mine and he placed them in his bag at once. “We
better head off now if we want to find this silver” he said. The others agreed.
Suddenly
Kira shouted a spell towards a bush. “Paralyzus, disableus!” she shouted. When
the spell hit the bush a big purple night shadow came out and it was unconscious.
Kirk, Erestor and Shaula were surprised when they saw the snake. “Oh my
goodness!” gasped Kirk “phew I’m glad you noticed that snake Kira”. “So am I,”
said Kira “purple night shadow snakes have no fear of biting whatever they see,
no matter how big the prey is, so any of us could have been bitten by that
snake any moment now”. “Did you kill it Kira?” asked Erestor. “No I paralyzed
it, so it’s not dead,” answered Kira “but we better leave before it starts to
slither around again”. “I can see that you have been practicing your magic
powers well Kira” said Shaula. “I practiced magic with my mother a lot when she
was still alive,” replied Kira “even after she died I still practiced my magic.
But I always did it somewhere far away from the dwarf village so that the
dwarves didn’t see me practice my magic. Now if you three don’t mind, I would
prefer it that we leave Ogreme Swamp now please. I’ve had enough of this
dangerous, disgusting place”. Erestor
and Kirk said they had enough of Ogreme Swamp and wanted to leave too. Shaula
was more than happy to leave Ogreme Swamp too; after all she had been living
there for thirty years.
Erestor
called for the flying horses again with his conch shell and the horses came
right away. This time Kira wasn’t hesitant to climb on Pegasus, even if she
still didn’t like flying much. To her this meant they could get away from
Ogreme Swamp as quick as possible. Since Shaula couldn’t keep up with the flying
horses’ flying speed, she rode on Pegasus with Kira. “Let’s ride” said Kirk,
and they took off into the sky. Shaula held on tight to Kira so she wouldn’t
fall off Pegasus. It wasn’t long till they were flying away from Ogreme Swamp.
“Finally no more Ogreme Swamp” Shaula said to Kira. That was double for Kira,
who hoped to never see Ogreme Swamp again for as long as she lived.
