Ordinary

Chapter 6

When I woke up, Marcus's arm was slung over me. I wondered if everything from the day before had been a dream, but the elf's snoring reassured me that it was all real.

I felt great. It could have been leftover magic from him healing me yesterday, but I think it was mostly excitement for what was to come. Suddenly, I couldn't sit still. I slowly lifted Marcus's arm off of me so I could slide out of the tent.

"I didn't want them to smell you," he mumbled unintelligibly as he rolled back over and continued snoring. I couldn't help but notice how adorable he was when sleeping. I quietly zipped the tent back up and backed away. The fire was just ash now, and the horses were waking up. I found Marcus's bag with the food in it and fed them each some fruit, and then I took one for myself. I could see that just a few hundred feet away was an opening into a meadow, and I wanted nothing more than to explore, but I didn't know how for Marcus's protection spell reached, and I definitely didn't want a repeat of yesterday.

I heard rustling a few feet away from me, but I instantly relaxed when I saw Marcus peep his head out of the tent, sleepy smile on his face.

"Good morning," he said as he climbed out. He slipped on his shoes and walked towards me.

I tossed him an apple which he caught with ease. "Morning."

As he sat down on the log beside me, he handed me the crumpled-up flower from last night. I had fallen asleep with it. The crumpled form saddened me, which Marcus could sense because he said, "Don't worry about it. After your training at the castle, you'll be able to do much more than just that." After he said that, he walked off and started packing up camp.

He was right of course, but I stuck the flower in the pocket of the jacket he loaned me for safe keeping. It was the first magic I had ever performed. I wanted to keep it forever as a reminder. I could shove it in my parents face to show them that all my dreaming of magic wasn't for nothing.

With a pang of sadness, I realized that was the first time I had thought of my parents since I left the human realm. I wondered if they missed me. I walked over to help Marcus fold the tent.

"Marcus," I started, as he handed me two corners of the tent to help him fold. "If I have magic, then my parents do too, right?"

He shrugged. "More likely only one of them does. Your ancestor that left our world to go to the human world could have left so long ago that by now, your magical parent never even realized they had it. Without someone to guide them, they could possibly never even find out."

I thought about that for a moment. What if one of my parents did know they had magic? And what if they knew how much I loved the idea of magic and they never told me? That must have been why I always felt so connected to those characters. They let me feel crazy for loving those things I read about.

I shook the thoughts from my head. They would have done it to protect me, of course.

Then an even worse thought arose. "What if they think I'm dead?" I asked, as he took the tent from me and loaded it onto one of the horses. As far as they know, I was abducted during my run, parents' worst nightmare. I suddenly felt awful about making them worry about me.

Marcus froze, and turned very slowly towards me with an almost guilty look on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well," he muttered. "I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that when an elf leaves to go to the human world, they start to forget this world, and how to use it's magic..."

"And if someone leaves the human realm?"

He had a pained look on his face. "That person's friends and family start to forget them."

I was taken aback by what he had said. My parents would forget about me? "But not for a long time, right?" I asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully.

"Yeah," he responded, but his voice went up a few octaves.

I couldn't believe it. My parents would forget me? Hopefully not for a long time, but what if he was wrong? As I was contemplating, he helped me onto one of the horses, and he quickly followed. He muttered something about us heading to the castle, but I barely heard him. As my horse started trotting after his, I wondered if this would all be worth it. Yes, to be in a magical world had been something I had always dreamed of but never thought possible, but would it be worth it for my parents and friends to forget me? For what, to play make believe for a few days? For me to live out some prophecy I didn't even know anything about?

Marcus was in the middle of saying something when I cut him off. "Tell me more about the prophecy."

He sighed. "Alright, but I don't think you're going to like it." I motioned for him to keep going. "I heard it for the first time from a man on the side of the road—"

"The drunk man?" I probed, and he nodded with a playful eyeroll.

"Yes, he was drunk, but he's a powerful seer. I told my mom about the prophecy. She didn't believe it either, so we left, but I couldn't get it out of my head. The next day, I went back and asked him more about it. He was sober then, and still telling me the same things. No one else believed us in the village believed us, but one of the king's guard did, and he took us to the king. The king would never admit to be superstitious, but just in case, he kept the man around as his advisor. Of course, advising is easy when you're a seer. A year later, the man comes and finds me at my home. In some recently found ancient texts, they had found the same prophecy. After that, more people started to believe. The king moved us out to his land so I could more easily consult with the seer about the prophecy, and more easily find you."

An eyebrow raised, I asked, "So how exactly do I tie into all of this?"

"You're going to save us."

I shrugged. "You already said that."

He was silent for a moment. "That's the thing... We're not really sure yet."

"What?" I nearly screamed at him. "You brought me out here, and you don't even know why?!"

He held his hands up as if to calm me. "We know you're important. We knew from the prophecy where we could find you yesterday, and we know that we can't do this without you, but we don't really know what exactly we're fighting against yet."

I was fuming. He brought me out here into a dangerous new realm to help save him from something he didn't even know what it is? Maybe he actually was crazy. Before I could go off on him, he said, "The realm is turning dark."

Once again, all I could mutter was, "What?"

"Things here are turning dark. That creature from last night, looked like a regular woodland creature, but usually they're friendly. That one had black eyes and tried to attack us. It's happening everywhere. Lakes that used to help magic are drying up. At the castle is the oldest and most important source of magic, the Elderwood. It's under strict watch, and it's safe now, but the sickness is spreading closer and closer to the heart of the realm every day. If it reaches the tree, we're all doomed."

"What's causing this?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know yet. That's also why we need you. We're hoping your human investigative and resourcefulness can help us figure this out."

I stared at the trail, deep in thought. I had just found out magic was real, and almost immediately after I found out it was dying. I had to help.

"Please don't be mad," he said.

I shook my head. "I'm not. I would have done the same thing." He relaxed. "I just hope I can actually help you guys."

"You have to," he muttered wistfully.

Before I had the chance to ask anymore questions, we broke through the tree line. What I saw in front of me made my jaw drop to my chest.

"Welcome to the King's Castle," Marcus announced.