Chronicles of Efia: Dawn of the Desert King

Chapter Five

The sun was perched high as the last bell echoed in the school courtyard. Fulbright made his way to the stables to retrieve his horse, hoping that Alden would be there. Unfortunately, Alden's horse was gone. Disappointed, Fulbright mounted his horse and began his journey home alone. He decided against going through Feingor as he usually did with Alden. 

There were only a few hours left before he would need to prepare for his father's banquet, and Feingor was a highly trafficked district. Fulbright traveled to the west along the outskirts of Feignor until he reached Riverwood. 


Even though he was half woodland elf, Fulbright had always been unnerved by forests. His brother Laios used to fill his head full of haunting tales about the living forests, occupied by dryads who guarded the woods. Fulbright had never seen any evidence to support his brother's stories, but knowing this did nothing to settle him. The morning visit to Northwood did not help either.

No one traveled through Riverwood unless they were the blood of the king. The elves had cast a heavy spell on the forest so that the trees would only recognize the line of Ezven, Fulbright's father. Riverwood was lined with unappealing, scraggly pine trees along the perimeter of the forest. However, its interior was filled with a mix of golden amber maple and traces of tall shagbark hickory. An internal light illuminated this particular forest in such a way that the maple leaves sometimes resembled flames.

The scenery was breathtaking at times, but as soon as Fulbright began to settle into the beauty of Riverwood and the eerie quiet that surrounded him, the thunderous sound of a waterfall colliding with Lor River always broke his trance. Fulbright blinked hard as if stirring from a dream. The sun's rays bounced off the castle's alabaster stonewall and through the treetops of three large turkey oak at the center of the forest.

As he drew nearer to the exit of the forest, a trickle of swaying shagbark began to move toward him as if their shaggy trunks were wading through water. To Fulbright's surprise, they began to sway forward, bowing their leafy crowns to Fulbright. This had never happened before. Fulbright grew more anxious, and impatiently urged his horse forward.

Instead of coming out into the sunlight, Fulbright ventured into a tunnel at the end of the forest, carved deep under the river by the dwarves. Fulbright traveled down into the passageway, until he reached the end of it and gazed upon the backside of the castle, and behind that the Zaltana Mountains. He dismounted his horse, gave her a fresh carrot, and then watched as she trotted toward the stables unattended. Fulbright made his way toward the front of the courtyard stairwell, hoping to go unnoticed.


"Your teacher sent word to us this morning that you spoke coarsely to him," a stern but gentle voice came from the courtyard garden.

Fulbright turned slowly to see which direction the familiar voice came from. Seated on a garden bench admiring her butterfly garden, was Fulbright's mother, Queen Leif. She did not look away from the monarch perched on her finger, but by her posture, Fulbright knew she was waiting for a response.

"I see Twiggens did not waste any time," Fulbright muttered as he walked toward her. "I didn't mean to say what I said to him out loud; I merely meant to think it."


The queen attempted to muzzle a light chuckle with her free hand. She watched as the butterfly fluttered away, before turning to look at her son. She rose from the stone bench and walked over to Fulbright, with hands extended toward him. Fulbright enveloped her delicate fingers into his calloused hands and kissed them. She in turn greeted him with a kiss on both cheeks and then a gentle nuzzle of her nose to his; it was their greeting to each other since Fulbright was a child.

"Well, either way it is not becoming of you, Fulbright. You will apologize to him this evening at the banquet when he comes."

Fulbright opened his mouth to protest, but his mother waved him to be silent.