Blue Crystal

Prince Jalen

Jalen

Looking at the newcomers, Jalen prepared to attack but they were deer. Sensing no negative vibes from them, he preened himself, tired from the long flight and wishing that he could sleep longer. ‘Are you going to keep gawking from there or rest?’

‘What did he say?’ Kayla blinked at the stern tone.

‘I think he said we can go in to rest, come on, Kayla, I’m tired.’ With that, they stepped in slowly and found a comfortable place to settle down.

Tayte mumbled, ‘Thank you,’ and immediately fell asleep. Kayla couldn’t despite his warmth beside her. She found it difficult to sleep when this glowing bird was in front of her. Curiosity had often brought her enough trouble but this time, she wanted to find out of he had some special powers that made him glow.

‘Excuse me.’ The white bird turned towards her. ‘Do you have powers?’ He didn’t answer her. Feeling insulted she laid down her head to sleep.

Jalen worried. Something was wrong, even if they were of a different species, they had always been able to understand one another. It shouldn’t have come out as garbage. The deer had always been allies and he suspected that these two were lost in the woods or they wouldn’t have been so casual. Scouts were always polite and stuck to the routine.

Despite his interest in knowing their purpose, his main concern was the language barrier. Something had changed and he wanted to know what. There had to be a way to contact the Kingdom of Leralath and Unirin. The fairies would have some idea what was going on. The good King Basil would have some spells to undo whatever was causing the language issue.

Deepdell had been overtaken by Stinkbone and he was disgusted that he was able to take over until he learned that Stinkbone had been working with the Dark Mages. Something was totally wrong with the partnership here, the Dark Mages never worked with anyone and trusted no one but themselves. Stifling a yawn, Jalen decided to get some sleep. The past few weeks of constantly scouting for any disturbance had drained him out.

Kayla woke up with her heart thumping furiously. The remnants of the dream haunted her. Her brother was being tortured by a hooded figure and he was screaming at her for help but she was chained to the wall. Struggling did no good as the chains around her legs and neck tightened the more she struggled, choking her slowly till she woke up frantically. Unfamiliar surroundings made her panic again until she remembered that she had taken refuge in a cave from the storm.

Speaking of which, Tayte was still asleep. She saw that the cave was still bright and realised that the white bird was still there. It looked peaceful and the way it glowed fascinated her. However, she dared not approached it because it hadn’t responded so well. Thus, she made her way slowly out of the cave and saw that the sun was up. It was also time to look for her troublesome brother. The nightmare still bothered her but she shook it away.

As she turned to return to the cave, the white bird was behind her. She made space for it and it turned its head towards her. It seemed to bow below lifting itself off the ground gracefully. She was still puzzled to its reaction but now was not the time. Before she could return to the cave, Tayte had trotted out blinking from the sunlight.

‘Kayla? Ready to go?’

‘We need to eat first.’

‘Oh, right.’

Jalen continued to observe the two deer and concluded that they were just lost. Still bothered by the lack of communication, he wanted to report back to Hanna. She must know of this language issue somehow. Afterall, she was the goddess. With that thought, he flew back to the appointed venue.

‘Jalen,’ Hanna greeted him when settled himself on a branch to perch.

‘Hanna,’ he replied and bowed. ‘I have some news.’

‘You seemed perturbed, what news disturbed you?’

‘I met a pair of deer along the way and I couldn’t understand a word they uttered.’

Hanna stared at him, ‘I see, it seems that the rumours are true.’

‘What is true?’

'Prince Jalen, this is something that I had hoped not to happen but it seems that someone has taken away the stone.’

‘Stone? What stone?’

‘The all powerful stone that allows all animals to be able to understand each other, Blue Crystal. The one and only Blue Crystal must be retrieved at all costs. Without it in its rightful place, our world will be in chaos with all the miscommunications. Earth is where the spoken one in the prophesy has arrived. His world is already in chaos because humans no longer understand what the animals are talking about. Our world must not suffer the same fate.’

Jalen agreed, ‘Goddess, how may we retrieve the Blue Crystal?’

‘You will need to engage the help of the one spoken by the prophesy and his muse.’

‘Where can they be found?’

‘Go to the Kingdom of Leralath, you will find them there. Do not worry about language, they have their ways.’

With that, Jalen made his way towards the Kingdom of Leralath hoping that they would have time to retrieve the crystal soon.