Argentum Island
“Thank
goodness that flying horses fly very fast” said Shaula. As Kira, Shaula,
Erestor and Kirk had to go to Argentum Island, it made Shaula relieved the flying
horses would be able to get them there quickly. “How far have we got to go
Erestor?” asked Kirk, who was looking at the map Shaula gave him. “I’m afraid
Argentum Island is still far from here,” said Erestor “it may take a while to
get there I’m afraid”. “Wow;” said Kirk “I wonder how long it took for the last
king of Ranbaraz to get to Argentum Island himself?” Erestor had no idea.
Shaula had
Kira fly her horse over to Erestor because she wanted to talk to him. “We must
land on the island nearest to Argentum Island,” she said “we can’t fly straight
to the island. Very strong winds surround Argentum Islands and not even dragons
can fly through those strong winds. The only way to get to that island is by a
boat; the strong winds only blow strong in the sky and they don’t reach the
ocean”. Kira, Kirk and Erestor understood. “Since we are going very far, this
means it will take us about two days to get from Argentum Island back to
Elfalore” said Kirk. “Your right,” said Erestor “the flying horses wouldn’t be
able to get us back in one day”. “And it wouldn’t be fair for the flying horses
if we didn’t let them have a rest now and again either” said Kira. Even though
she wanted to get back to Anakin as soon as possible, she wasn’t willing to go
as far as over working the flying horses. “Then we will have them fly as far as
they can, until we get to Elfalore” decided Shaula. Shaula didn’t want to abuse
the flying horses either.
Just then
Erestor’s flying horse snorted. “What’s wrong boy?” asked Erestor. The horse
pointed its head down; they had come to an island. “This is the island that’s
near Argentum Island,” said Shaula “take us down now”. The flying horses landed
onto the ground, near the shore of the island. “You three go off and have
something to eat and take a lot of rest,” Kira said to the flying horses “you
deserve it”. While they went off to relax, Shaula told Erestor, Kirk and Kira
what they had to do next. “We need to find a boat to get us across the ocean
for Argentum Island,” she said “but there is a problem. Mermaids live in that
ocean and their sirens’ song will give us trouble because you Kirk and Erestor
are men”. “No problem,” said Kirk “I have the solution for that”. He opened up
his bag and took out some beeswax. “I always carry beeswax with me. It will
prevent Erestor and I from listening to the sirens’ song”. “Excellent,” said
Shaula “so we should be able to cross the ocean with no trouble”. “Are there
any other sea creatures we’ll need to worry about?” asked Erestor. “There are
other creatures like sharks, whales and others, but it’s really the mermaids
that are a threat” answered Shaula. “I have a question about the mermaids,”
said Kira “I’ve heard stories that eating mermaid flesh makes you immortal. Is
that true?” “No Kira, that is just a silly superstition,” said Shaula “eating
it does not make you immortal. Some old man thought eating mermaid flesh would
make him immortal, so he caught and killed a mermaid then ate the flesh. But he
died from old age not long afterwards, so those stories are false. Now let’s
get going now”.
Fortunately
there was a wooden rowing boat with oars lying on the shore. Erestor went to
inspect it to see if it was safe to use, and it was. Not a hole or anything
else that made a boat unseaworthy. Erestor and Kirk offered to do the rowing.
“Hold on a minute,” said Kira “since you two are going to make yourselves deaf
with the beeswax, how will Shaula and I be able to tell you to stop rowing?” “I
have an idea for that,” said Kirk “if you hit us hard on the shoulders twice
that will be the signal to tell us to stop. Even though Erestor and I will be
deaf, we will still feel the hard taps on the shoulders”. “That’s a good idea,”
said Shaula “and Kira will tap you on the shoulder once to make you go”. After
sorting out the plans, Kira, Erestor and Kirk got the rowing boat ready to
cross the sea. Once Kirk and Erestor were in the boat and in the position to
start rowing the boat, they placed the beeswax into their ears so they couldn’t
hear the mermaids’ song. Then they started rowing the boat across the sea.
Kira and
Shaula were keeping watch, while Erestor and Kirk rowed the boat. “I’m getting
the creeps Shaula,” said Kira “I fear that mermaids or any other sea creatures
may attack us any second now”. “I fear that too Kira,” said Shaula “which is
why we must keep our eyes open in case anything comes our way”. So far all was
calm and quiet and they were making good progress of getting to Argentum Island.
Suddenly Shaula and Kira heard some singing. “Oh no, it’s the mermaids
singing,” said Shaula “get Kira and Erestor to stop the boat at once Kira”.
Kira hit Kirk and Erestor on the shoulder twice and they stopped the boat. “I
see something moving in the water” said Shaula. Kira, Shaula, Erestor and Kirk
all stared at the ocean, bracing them-selves for whatever was coming.
At that
moment some women with dirty blonde hair and green-blue tails came out of the
water; they were mermaids. The mermaids had seen Erestor and Kirk and they
didn’t care that they were elves. Kira bravely spoke up to the mermaids. “You
are wasting your breath with your singing,” she said “these men are deaf so
your song won’t work on them. Now go away, or I will be making a fishy soup out
of all of you”. Hearing the word fishy soup made the mermaids scatter at once.
“Good job there Kira,” said Shaula “you made them go away in a second”. “Well
I’m pretty sure that mermaids don’t like to get eaten” smiled Kira. She tapped
Kirk and Erestor on the shoulder once to make them row on. Kira and Shaula kept
a sharp eye open in case they would run into any more trouble on the sea. But
thankfully they reached the shoreline of Argentum Island safely. “We made it at
last” sighed Shaula.
Once they
got out of the boat, they moved the boat onto the sands so it wouldn’t float
away before they needed to use it again later. Kirk and Erestor took out the
beeswax from their ears at once; having beeswax in the ears was very
uncomfortable. “Which way do we go to get to the silver mine?” asked Kira.
Erestor took out the map of Argentum Island from his bag. “The map says that
it’s quite a walk from here and we have to go through a very, very thick forest
to get to the mine” he said. “It will take too long for us to get to the mine
by foot,” said Shaula “but there is someone here on Argentum Island that can
get us there quick. Wait here, I’ll be back in a moment”. And she flew off.
“What did she mean?” Kira said to Erestor and Kirk “I mean who lives on
Argentum Island?” “I don’t know,” said Erestor “we’ll find out when Shaula gets
back”.
When
Shaula returned she brought back a surprise with her. Three centaurs, galloped
out of the forest. Centaurs were creatures that were half human and half horse.
Two of them were male and they both had long black hair and their horse bodies
were dark brown. The third centaur was female, known as a centauride, and she had long brown hair and
her horse body was a lighter brown. “These three centaurs are old friends of mine;
I met them when I last came here,” said Shaula “and they have agreed to give us
a lift to the silver mine”. Kira, Kirk and Erestor were surprised to know that
they were going to ride on the centaurs, and Kira thanked them at once for
helping them. “Please excuse me,” said Erestor “but I thought that centaurs
didn’t like having someone ride on their backs”. “Usually we don’t,” said the
first male centaur “but we are making an exception with you three because
Shaula said it was urgent”. “Shaula told us that you need the silver from the
mine to defeat the evil queen Morticia,” said the centauride “and we are more
than happy to help with that”. “But
there is something about the silver mine you must know,” said the second male centaur
“a giant man eating mole made its home in the mine ten years ago. And ever
since then, those who tried to get the silver in the mine were never seen
again”. Kira, Shaula, Erestor and Kirk were shocked to hear that. “If a man
eating mole is living in that mine,” said Kirk “how shall we get to the silver
alive then?” “Well if it’s a mole,” said Kira “then it must hate bright light
surely; because all moles hate the light”. “Do you know a spell on how to make
light appear Kira?” asked Shaula. “Yes I do; I’ve used that spell lots of
times” said Kira. “That would work,” said the centauride “because it never
comes out in daylight”. “Since that’s settled we should head over to the mine
now” said Shaula. Kira climbed onto the centauride’s back and Kirk and Erestor climbed
onto the male centaur’s backs. “Let’s go” said the first male centaur.
The centaurs were soon galloping away
through the forest, with Kirk, Kira and Erestor on their backs. Shaula was
flying alongside. The forest was very thick indeed; full of overgrown bushes
and trees. The centaurs had to push some branches aside to get through. Kira
found riding a centaur fun and exciting as riding a real horse. “I must ask,”
Kira said to the centauride “apart from the man eating mole, are there any other
dangers we need to worry about?” “No just the man eating mole,” said the
centauride “we centaurs keep dangers away from Argentum Island, except the
mermaids because they live in the sea. But the mole is far too big and
ferocious for us to handle”. Kira felt quite glad that there wasn’t any more
trouble that she had to worry about.
Finally they arrived at a cliff,
where the entrance to the silver mine was. “We made it at last,” said Shaula
“centaurs will you three stay here and wait for us until we get back? We’ll
need you again when we come back to get to our boat”. “Of course,” said the
first male centaur “but be careful and watch out for that man eating mole”.
“With my light spell we will make it out alive I can assure you of that” said
Kira. There were two flame torches attached to the entrance of the mine that
Erestor and Kirk could use to light the way while they were in the mine. Kirk
took out his two flint stones to light them, and now Kira, Kirk, Erestor and
Shaula were ready to enter the mine. The three centaurs wished them luck and
waited outside for them.
It was very dark and quiet in the
mine, so it was a good thing that Kirk and Erestor had flame torches with them.
Kira was holding the map of the mine for Erestor. The map showed that the mine
was more confusing than a maze with many twists and turns and dead ends, and you
could get lost in the mine easily without a map or guide. “This mine is way
different than the coal mines back in the dwarf village,” said Kira “sure they
were dark, long, confusing and easy to get lost in. But this mine is bigger
than all the coal mines in the dwarf village put together”. “Have you been in
the coal mines at the dwarf village Kira?” asked Erestor. “I did, but I never
went in them without Balim with me in case I got lost” said Kira. “Does going
into a mine like this make you wish you had gone out onto more adventures like
this Kira?” asked Kirk. “Not me Kirk,” said Kira “I just want to find the
silver, get out of this mine and get back to Anakin at Elfalore before we run
into any more trouble”. “Speaking of trouble we must watch out for the man
eating mole,” said Shaula “we have no idea of when it is going to appear. At
least there are no other dangers for us to worry about”.
Suddenly there was a rattling sound
from beneath Kira’s feet. “What did I just step on?” asked Kira, worriedly.
Kirk took a look and saw that it was bone remains from a human arm. “Yuck!”
gasped Kira, taking her foot off at once. “Look at these” said Erestor,
pointing to the ground in front of him. There were more skeleton remains, torn
up clothes, broken equipment and dried up blood on the ground. “Oh my
goodness!” gasped Kira, nearly dropping the map, “that’s why a lot of people
disappeared in this mine. They became mole food!” “And we will be next if we
don’t hurry” said Shaula. “Oh I hope there is a mine cart in these mines,” said
Kira “that way we can get around in this mine fast, without having to run into
the mole”. Suddenly they heard a rumble coming from the ground underneath them.
“Oh no, we’re too late,” said Shaula “I think the mole is coming”.
Shaula was right; a giant black mole
with big claws came out of the ground. Because the mole was huge, humans and
other small creatures were considered insects to it. “Run!” shouted Shaula.
Kira, Kirk and Erestor started to run away from the mole and Shaula flew. But
the mole was faster than them because moles could move fast when tunneling;
just like turtles swam very fast in water even though they were very slow on
land. Even when Kira, Kirk, Erestor and Shaula took quick turns they still
weren’t able to escape the mole. “It’s no good,” said Kira “we won’t be able to
outrun that mole. It’s time to use my light spell”. She stopped and quickly raised
her hands. “Glowness Luminous Enlightmus!” she shouted. A very bright white
light appeared and it surrounded the area. The giant mole didn’t like the
bright light and it disappeared into the ground at once to get away from the
light. “That was very good work there Kira” said Shaula, who was happy to see
the mole leave. “It’s like I said;” said Kira “moles can’t stand the light, and
it seems even giant moles don’t like it”. Kira was proud of herself for getting
rid of the mole, but she hoped that she wouldn’t come across another giant mole
ever again. “We better get moving before the giant mole comes back again”.
Shaula, Erestor and Kirk agreed with Kira.
Kira, Kirk and Erestor continued
walking through the mine and Shaula kept on flying. There were no carts in the
mine, not even one, so they had to go through the mine by foot. “Phew what a
walk,” sighed Kirk “I think by the time we get out of this mine it will be
dark”. “I think so too,” said Erestor “so that means we might have to stay the
night here on Argentum Island”. Kira and Shaula agreed with that too,
especially at the rate they were going now. But the good news was they hadn’t
run into any more trouble; there were no other dangers in the mine.
After a lot more walking, Kira told
everyone to stop. “The map says we are finally near the silver at last” she
said. The others were happy to hear that. “Finally” sighed Shaula. In no time
at all, they found thousands of big and small silver nuggets in a tunnel.
“Wow!” gasped Kirk “I’ve never seen so much silver in all my life”. “Me
neither” said Kira. “Time to gather the silver at once” said Shaula. “Hang on,
how shall we carry the silver?” asked Erestor. “Look there” said Kira, pointing
to the ground. There were fifty sacks on the ground. “I reckon people in the
past must have left the sacks here when they got eaten by the mole. So we can
use these to put the silver in”. “Yes but how shall we carry them?” asked
Erestor “we won’t be able to carry fifty sacks full of silver and even the
pegasuses wouldn’t be able to carry them while flying”. “I have the solution
for that,” said Shaula “but first fill up all the sacks with silver”. Kira,
Kirk and Erestor did as they were told and filled up all the sacks with silver
nuggets. “Now Kira, I want you to cast a spell for me on the sacks of silver as
I cannot use magic in this form”. “But you told us that this silver protects
you from magic, so the spell won’t work” said Kira. “The silver is inside the
sack, not outside,” said Shaula “and we are casting the spell on the sacks not
the silver, so the spell will work. Trust me I did this before. Now say Minius
Minuous Parvus”. Kira said what Shaula said and then the sacks of silver
magically shrunk to the size of pebbles”. “Wow at least this makes carrying the
silver easier till we get back to Elfalore” said Kirk. Kira picked up the tiny
sacks of silver and placed them into her bag. “When we get to Elfalore I will
tell you the spell which will make the sacks of silver turn back to normal
size” Shaula said to Kira. Now they had to walk all the way back again. But
this time they didn’t run into the giant mole again, luckily.
The three centaurs were still waiting
for Kira, Kirk, Erestor and Shaula at the entrance of the mine. “I hope they
are alright,” said the centauride “especially with the giant mole in that
mine”. “I don’t think there’s any need to worry,” said the second male centaur
“that young witch said they would come out alive, and she didn’t seem the type
who would lie”. “I think so too” said the first centaur. At that moment, Kira,
Kirk, Erestor and Shaula came out of the mine tired, but alive. “You made it!”
cheered the centauride. Shaula explained that it was Kira’s light spell that
saved them from the giant mole, and she said that they found the silver. “I’m
glad to know that you succeeded on finding the silver and getting out of the
mine alive,” said the centauride “but I suggest you four have a long rest. You
all look exhausted”. “I second your suggestion,” said Kira “I am tired after
that long walk through the mine. And I would also like something to eat because
I’m hungry”. Kirk and Erestor were tired and hungry too. “Well you all settle
down and I will fetch you a wild boar to eat” said the first male centaur. There
were wild boars on Argentum Island and centaurs were said to be excellent
hunters. While the male centaur went off to hunt for a wild boar Kira, Kirk,
Erestor and Shaula settled down onto the grass to rest; by now the sun was setting
so it was late for them to cross the ocean to get back to the pegasuses.
It wasn’t long before the male
centaur came back with a dead wild boar and he made a fire to cook it on. After
the boar was cooked the centaurs, Kira, Kirk, Erestor and Shaula ate the boar
meat. Boar meat was like pork but a bit tougher. “I have to say,” said Kirk “of
all the adventures I’ve been on. This adventure must be the most thrilling I’ve
ever been on. What about you Erestor?” “This is the only adventure I’ve ever
been on,” said Erestor “and I don’t think I want to go on another adventure
again”. “You and me both,” said Kira “I have had enough adventure to last me a
lifetime”. After they all finished eating Kira, Kirk, Erestor and Shaula went
to sleep, and the three centaurs took turns to watch over in case any danger
came while they were sleeping.
As soon as the dawn came, Kira, Kirk,
Erestor and Shaula got the boat ready to leave the island. “You take care of
yourselves when you face Queen Morticia,” said the first male centaur “she
won’t be that easy to defeat, even with the silver you know”. “We do know,”
replied Shaula “but we won’t let that queen win again. Thank you for all of
your help”. Shaula, Kira, Kirk and Erestor said goodbye to the centaurs and
rowed the boat back to the other island, without running into any mermaids
again. Once they reached the shore Erestor called out for the flying horses,
and then he, Kirk and Kira mounted them. “Let’s go” said Kirk, and the flying
horses took off into the sky for Elfalore.
