Gliselda’s Journey

By: Jessica McMillen

 

Gliselda hurried through the busy streets of Enthasla. There were elves everywhere. The crowd outside the markets was slowing her down. She knew she would never get home in time.  Martaii would surely give her another lecture on being punctual; he hated not starting on time. 

Gliselda was returning home so she and Martaii could continue with her training.  At fifteen years old she was the only known elf, besides Martaii, who possessed magical powers that were beyond normal for the people in their country.  Martaii had found her when she was a baby. Along with a record of her birth, Martaii found a note saying Take good care of her.  When she was three, Martaii discovered she possessed magical powers, assuring that they were related.  The people of Faliea were happy to hear this because three months before Martaii had found Gliselda, Martaii’s son, Quentaii had disappeared, taking his magic powers with him.  All of this was racing through Gliselda’s mind when she caught sight of her house. 

            As she stepped into the house, something felt oddly wrong.  It was too quiet.  The house was usually filled with noises from Martaii practicing his powers. “Martaii!” she yelled loudly.  The only response was her echo.  As she started walking cautiously through the house, she wondered where Martaii could be.  He probably went looking for me, she reasoned.  If that was true, then why did she have such a horrible feeling growing inside of her?  As she stepped into the training room, she saw a sight that horrified her. 

            There, on the floor, was Martaii, dead.  Gliselda’s scream echoed through the house, the last thing she remembered, as she fainted, was seeing a note on top of Martaii that she hadn’t noticed before.

            It was all a dream, Gliselda thought, hopefully, and now I’m waking up.  As she struggled to get up from the floor, she caught sight of Martaii and tears started flowing.  He really is dead.  Then she noticed the note.  She picked it up, and with trembling fingers, read it.

 

   To whoever is reading this,

   You came in and found your precious Martaii dead.  Well, you are probably wondering why this happened.  I’ll tell you why, he was the only person who could stop me from rising to power.  I am his son Quentaii, your future ruler! Yes I killed my own father, but now I can achieve my dream, to rule Faliea!! I am alive; I just hid until I could build up enough power to overtake my father.  Now no one can stop me!

                                       Your future ruler,

                                       Quentaii the Great

 

            Gliselda read the note again and again.  She couldn’t believe it.  Martaii’s own son, who was supposed to be dead, killed had his ‘own’ father.  All of this happened, just so he could rule Faliea.  She knew that it was probably true that he could now take over Faliea.  If he could destroy Martaii, he could certainly destroy her.  She knew that she had to try though, didn’t she?  She also knew she needed help. 

She decided she must see the village elder, Madame Salinigi.  Madame Salinigi gave consultations on problems, although she had probably never faced such a big problem as this. Gliselda grabbed the note and ran outside.  As Gliselda hurried to Madame Salingi’s house, she wondered how she was ever going to get through this.

            “Madame Salinigi!  Madame Salinigi!” Gliselda shouted as soon as she entered the elder’s home.

                “Child, calm down.  It will be all right.  Now, sit down and tell me the problem.” As Madame Salinigi patted the seat next to her, Gliselda suddenly felt like crying.

            “It’s Martaii, Madame, he is dead.”  Gliselda watched the usually cheerful face of Madame Salinigi take on a look of surprise and disbelief.

            “How can that be?  You can’t just kill the most powerful man in Faliea! Unless…. No. No. No! How can that be?  There is no one else who knows that much magic, except of course, his son, but he has been dead for fifteen years…”

            Interrupting Madame Salinigi’s ramblings, Gliselda interrupted “But it was his son. He’s not dead; he was in hiding for fifteen years until he built up his power enough to defeat Martaii.”  With trembling fingers, she held out the note for Madame Salinigi to read.  She watched the old woman’s face change from disbelief to a horrible look of sadness and pain. 

            “I’ve always wondered whether he was alive.  I never really thought he died.  I mean, I thought maybe he ran away, but I never thought he would do anything like this.  Nobody would have thought… Now what will we do? He can surely gain power. I mean, no one else could defeat him.  Except maybe … you?”

             “No way could I beat this guy. I mean I haven’t even completed my training.  How am I supposed to beat him?”

            “Well, you have to try.  Come on, let’s go.” Madame Salinigi got up and was heading toward the door.

            “Madame, where are we going?”

            “Why, to the palace, of course. This horrible murder will affect all of Faliea.”

              As Madame Salinigi and Gliselda walked up to the palace gates, she could already see they were going to have trouble getting in.  There was a guard outside the door that didn’t particularly like Gliselda, she didn’t know why. 

            “Why do you wish to come in?” said the guard, all the time eying Gliselda suspiciously.

            “We have some news that is very horrible.  We need to tell the king and queen. Now,” Madame Salinigi said this, all while trying to hold back tears.

            “What exactly is this horrible news?” asked the guard, sounding bored.

            “We have news of the murder of Martaii the Great. Now, will you let us in?” said Gliselda, growing impatient.

            “Really?” the guard asked as if he thought they were just trying to get in the castle.  Then, he saw how serious their faces were, and realized they were not kidding.  “Oh-no. This is horrible! Come in!”

            As they were shown the way to the king and queen, Gliselda couldn’t help but wonder how the king and queen would react to the news.  Would they even believe them?  What would happen if they didn’t?  As all these thoughts were running through Gliselda’s mind, the palace doors opened, and they stepped inside. 

            “This is a horrible thing that has been done,” the king said after Gliselda had told him the whole story and showed him the note. “And, the worst thing is that the only other person who could stop him has not even finished her training.” He looked directly at Gliselda as he said this. 

“Your Highness, I really want to try and stop him.  I know I will probably die, but at least I can try.   If he can be beat, the only person who can defeat him is me,” as Gliselda said this she knew this is what she had to do.

“If you feel this is what you want to do, then you may go.  But, I must warn you, you probably won’t make it back alive.” With that, he turned solemnly toward the guards, and instructed them to bring Gliselda some food, some blankets, and put them in a pack.                  Then, the queen rose and spoke.  “Theses times are dark and treacherous for the rest of the world too.  War brews in many other countries.  Remember, you must travel long and steady to get to where Quentaii is hiding.  I am almost certain of where he is hiding, in the Cave of Pyros Mountain.  It is far away from the mines in the mountains next to it, and it is almost right where he disappeared.” The queen sat down and let the king talk.

“To get to Pyros Mountain, follow the Dragon River to the fork, then take the left fork and follow the Roul Jiin River until you get to the Falcon Mountain Range.  There will be a beaten trail to follow to Pyros.  Then you must find the cave.  I will give you a map.  The trail is marked on it.  There may be forks in the road, but always take the one that is marked by stones.  Never go off the path.  That is very important.  All sorts of dangerous things live in mountains, and they will try to lure you.  Also, if, you do defeat Quentaii, then go to Lendela and inform them.  They will contact us and we will all rejoice,” the king said all this to Gliselda as she listened very hard. One wrong mistake, she knew, could doom Faliea forever.

“Your highness, I have a question.  Why is Quentaii hiding?”  As Gliselda asked this, she could see that the king was trying to withhold something from her.

“Well, the king answered, “We believe he is hiding to build more power.  Fighting with Martaii probably took a lot out of him. He was more powerful, but not much.  The fight probably took a lot out of him.  If he didn’t need to regain power, he would already be here.  Gliselda, you may stay here one more night, but then you must go.  You shall stay in the palace tonight, for your protection.”

Gliselda turned to Madame Salinigi and said sadly, “I will miss you.  Please tell Galadriel where I’m going.  I can’t bear to tell her myself.”  Galadriel was Gliselda’s best friend.

“Of course I will tell her for you.”  She took Gliselda in a big hug, gave her an envelope and walked through the palace doors.  Gliselda tried to hide her tears.  She looked at the writing on the envelope.  It said: look at this when you get a chance. Martaii gave it to me. 

Later that night, when Gliselda was alone, she opened the envelope.  She gasped.  Inside was some dried Mortan.  It was very rare and could heal almost any wounds.  She went over and put in her pack.  “Thank you Madame Salinigi, she whispered aloud.                           Later, after she had had breakfast with the king and queen, she was outside the city.  She wished that she could get to Pyros faster.  Gliselda suddenly realized she should probably turn invisible, just in case.  As soon as she did, she felt much safer.  She wondered what time it was.  Judging by the sun, she thought, it was around mid-day.  She had been traveling for about five hours, more than a league.  She took some bread from her pack and kept on walking.  She was determined to get there.

At dusk, she took out the map and studied it.  She figured she would have to travel almost nine leagues!  She would never make it in time she realized.  Gliselda groaned.  Just then she heard a whinny.  There was a horse somewhere near! ‘That will help me.’ Gliselda thought.      

Gliselda could tell it was coming from somewhere near. She decided to follow the whinnies.  She realized she didn’t need to.  There were hoof prints in the ground.  Just then, she caught sight of her.  She was beautiful.  White, almost luminous, she stood proud and tall.  Gliselda decided to name her Luraii.  She was about to approach her when she suddenly the horse approached Gliselda!  She let Gliselda stroke her head, Luraii wasn’t scared.  Gliselda decided to take a risk and try to ride her.  Luraii waited patiently while Gliselda climbed on. She took a quick ride around the field. Gliselda turned her back around, got off quickly, grabbed her bag, put the map in it, and jumped back on.  Then, they went off, at a quick speed.  Luraii seemed to know what Gliselda’s thoughts were.  When Gliselda thought about turning, the slightest touch would send her bolting that way.  Finally, as the last rays of sun were setting, they stopped.  Gliselda and Luraii took several long drinks of water from the river.  As Gliselda lay there that night, she wondered how she would ever make it out of this journey alive.  All though, she knew, that she had more of a chance to beat him if she got there sooner and faster, and the horse had given her that speed.

Gliselda checked the map just to make sure. Yes! It was true.  After 5 days of long, hard travel, they were at the beginning of the trail that would lead them to the mountain where fate waited.  Glislelda flung her arms around Luraii’s neck and said, “I never could have done this without you.”  Luraii neighed as if she understood her importance.

            It was dusk so Gliselda decided that they should rest that night to gain back their strength before they set off to do an incredibly hard task.  As she got out some food to eat, she couldn’t help noticing that they were running low.  The horse had been eating grass although; she sometimes gave her a dried fruit piece as a treat. So, she took out a simple meal of one piece of dried meat and one piece of fruit.  She also took one sip of water and filled the two canteens that had been in her pack.  She would need them because the river did not go alongside the trail anymore.  As she lay down to rest that night, she felt a new sense of hope brewing inside of her.

            They set out on the trail as soon as the sun came up.  The path was set with stones and she dared not to go off because of the king’s warnings.  She knew from the stories told in the village that woods were full of magical, evil creatures.  She stared straight ahead and tried not to let her mind wander from the task in front of her.  She urged Luraii to go faster.  Right away, the horse zoomed at lightning speed over the trail.  At last she saw what she wanted and dreaded to see, the fiery mountain, Pyros.  She knew the cave was not that far away.  She slowed Luraii’s gallop to a mild trot.  Luraii’s feet were so quiet that she could barely tell that they were hitting the ground.   At last she saw what she was going for, the cave where Quentaii was hiding.  She left Luraii and her bag at the mouth of the cave.  She gave her one last big hug and disappeared into the darkness of the cave.  Gliselda had to feel along the walls so she could find her way around.  A great heavy, hot air hung around her like a weight on her shoulders.  She knew it wasn’t just from the volcano; it was also form the evilness brewing inside the mountain. The walls were warm and clammy to her touch.

            Suddenly there was light at the end of the tunnel.  It glowed red-orange and something about it scared her.  She decided to turn invisible, just in case.  Gliselda stepped into a large room at the end of the tunnel.  She could see no one.  Then she heard a voice that terrified her.

“I thought you would be coming.  I saw you coming up the trail.”

            It was Quentaii, she realized.  But how could he see her?  She was invisible!  She quickly turned visible and said,

            “How could you see me?”

            “I have the power to see invisible things.  Who are you?  I presume you already know who I am.”

            “I am Gliselda, Martaii’s former apprentice. He is no longer with us, thanks to you!  I’ve come here to give you what you deserve.”  Gliselda could feel a great deal of anger boiling inside of her.  He would never kill Martaii and get away with it! 

            “You think you can defeat me? Ha! Let’s see it then.” said Quentaii getting into the special dueling stance that Martaii had shown her.  She got into it too.

                 She flung an ice ball at him that he blocked and sent it flying back to her making her flip over and land on her feet.  The ice ball hit the wall and dirt fell on them. Gliselda realized that it would take more than magic to beat Quentaii.  It would take wit, and the use of all her magic powers, even ones she had just started using.  As Quentaii prepared to do some other evil thing to do to her, no doubt, Gliselda levitated a large bed at the corner of the cave and flung it at him.  He didn’t realize this until it hit him with a full force.  It knocked him to the ground.  Unfortunately, it didn’t knock him out.         

            He wobbled to his feet and sent a gigantic rock hurtling towards Gliselda.  She sprang out of the way and sent a fireball at him.  He didn’t expect her to do this. She kept sending fireball after fireball at him.  Her quickness worked. The fire spread quickly and engulfed him in the flames.  He had enough power to send Gliselda crashing into the wall right before he died.

            Gliselda regained consciousness after lying in the cave for an hour.  She groaned.  Her right shoulder had probably been broken when she was thrown against the wall.  The realized the joyful truth; Quentaii was dead!  I beat the most powerful man in the country of Faliea!  How had she done it?  Then, she realized it had been because she acted fast and she hadn’t cowered in front of Quentaii.  Still, it was pretty unbelievable.  She picked herself up off the ground and hurried outside to go home.

            Later, at the river where she had rested the night before, Gliselda took out the food and found that it was running really low.  There were only three strips of dried meat left and two pieces of dried fruit.  She wondered if that would be enough to even get her to Lendela.  “Oh well”, she sighed, “I have made it this far and I won’t give up now.” As she was lying in the grass, a sense of happiness overcame her as she had not felt since before Martaii died.  She had defeated the most powerful elf in Faliea!  This was an awesome feat, especially since no one, including her, thought she could do it.                        As she was riding on the road to Lendela, couldn’t help wondering if they would believe her.  They were supposed to believe that a fifteen-year girl beat Quentaii?  She was having trouble believing it herself.  She would have to deal with it when she got there.                                                                                                                                                     After two days of riding almost continuously, she spotted a house, a very grand house.  That meant that it was the house of a noble.  And that meant that she could get help.

            She went up to the gate of the house and knocked.  A guard man came up to the door and called out “And who is this?”

            “I am Gliselda, former apprentice of Martaii, who is now deceased.  I have come with an important message for the King and Queen.”

            “King! Queen! She’s here! She’s here!”                                                                                    Then, the King and Queen came out of the house!  Gliselda couldn’t believe it!   When the Queen saw Gliselda she picked up her skirts a little off the ground and ran to Gliselda. When she got to her, she embraced her in an enormous hug.

            “We were so worried you wouldn’t make it, Gliselda.  Tell me all about it.”

            “Look,” the guard said, “She’s fainted!”  And so she had.

            Gliselda had woken up later in a comfortable bed.  The nurse had concluded she had fainted because of lack of food.  So now, the nurse gave her food. She had informed Gliselda ‘That she had almost regained her full strength.’  Today, they were leaving to go back home.  Gliselda could hardly wait.  She had been permitted to keep Luraii if she could help pull the carriage. As Gliselda hurried down the stairs, she felt like the luckiest elf in the world.