Chapter 8
When Jazmyn awoke the morning light was streaming into the room. She could hear her Father talking to Prinziana outside and quickly went out to see them both.
“Good morning Father”
“Good morning Jazmyn. I hope you slept well.”
Jazmyn nodded and yawned, her arms stretching out into the morning sunshine.
“Ok, breakfast and then we must be on our way.”
They both wandered back inside, leaving Prinziana to crunch an apple. They ate an apple each and some oats with honey and were soon ready to leave.
Jazmyn noticed that her father had taken a sword and bow down from the wall, and had hung them from his back.
“Do you think I should have a weapon too?”
“Hmm, I think we can arrange something.”
The King went to the wall and pulled down a slingshot. From the bench at the base of the wall he grabbed a bag of heavy round grey stones.
“This should suit you. Your mother was an excellent shot.”
“Thank you Father. May I try it out while you close the room?”
“Yes of course. We may yet need a good eye and a strong arm. Go practice.”
The King set about sealing the hidden room while Jazmyn stepped to the edge of the ledge and loaded the slingshot. She spotted a marked rock on the far wall of the river and took aim. Her first shot went astray, scaring a bird from a nearby tree but she continued to try. Her second was closer to its mark, but on her third try she found her grip on the slingshot and struck the marked rock dead centre. It cracked in half.
The King had stepped behind her.
“Not bad for a beginner. Not bad at all. Your mother would be very proud. Let’s go, we have much to do.”
The road made the journey much quicker than Jazmyn’s original trip through the woods. In no time at all they had come to a smaller trail leading off to the south.
“This must be the way to Lady’s cottage. Father we should go to her I think she can help.”
“Yes I agree, but we must hurry.”
Prinziana turned down the old road and seemed to quicken her pace. They came to the giant oak tree within the hour. There was no smoke coming from behind the hedge today. Jazmyn looked for the gate in the hedge and eventually found it but it was overgrown with vines.
The King took his sword and cut away the vines that were keeping the gate sealed and they both stepped through. Jazmyn gasped at what she saw.
The cottage was not there, only a pile of stones. There once had been a cottage here but from the look of the ruins it had not stood in many years.
“Jazmyn, tell me more about this Lady.”
“She was here Father. I slept and ate here. She said she knew me as a baby and I know that I knew her.”
Jazmyn described Lady to her Father carefully, almost in tears.
“The person you have described to me sounds like someone I knew too. A kind, loving woman. A woman who loved you very much but passed away when you were only two years old. The woman you have described could have been Lady Liliana, your mother’s mother, your grandmother. Everyone called her Lady. She was blessed with healing powers and good magic. I don’t know what to believe but I believe you saw someone.”
“Grandmother, yes, yes. I remember her singing to me.”
Jazmyn turned to look at the ruins of the cottage and was surprised to see the Butterfly sitting on what had once been the front step.
“Father. The Butterfly, she’s back.”
The King pointed at the overgrown hedge and beyond into the giant oak.
“And it seems she is not alone my dear.”
The hedge and oak were covered in butterflies, butterflies filled the air.
“It was grandmother. I know it.”
“Time for us to get back to the road young lady. We must get back before dusk.”
They returned to Prinziana and began to ride back to the road. As they headed away from the ruined cottage Jazmyn turned to look one last time.
“It looks like we have an army Father.”
The King turned as well, his mouth dropped open when he saw a sky full of butterflies following them.
They re-joined the main road and made quick time on the way to Castle Jardin. As they marched through the village outskirts people rushed from their homes and began cheering when they saw the King, but stepped back when they saw the cloud of swirling colour behind him.
The flowers, trees and grass that had been dying seemed to be returning to life as the shadow of the Butterfly cloud passed overhead.
Jazmyn and the King now made their way onto the path that led to the Castle itself. Around them flowers were springing into bloom from the garden that had seemed to be dying the last time Jazmyn had been here.
They dismounted from Prinziana and walked up the steps that led to the royal chambers. Guards gasped and dropped to their knees as they passed.
Jazmyn stepped into the royal chamber and at once felt comfortable in its familiar surroundings. The shining marble floor, the fire roaring in the memorial fire pit and directly above it the giant chandelier.
Sitting on the throne was Jazmyn’s Uncle Elword, or some creature that was pretending to be her Uncle. His eyes were wide with astonishment.
The King pulled his sword from his back and yelled to the guards.
“Seize him. This is an imposter, a changeling.”
The thing on the throne sat stunned.
“No, No it cannot be. You are dead, we killed you and her, we sent our shadows to destroy her.”
“Our blood is strong.” replied the King.
From a balcony above the chamber came the voice of the thing that had been Aunt Josanna.
“The queen’s blood was not strong, yours shall spill as well.”
She pulled a long pole from behind her, a staff topped with a black glowing gem. The changeling waved the staff in the air and muttered some words. A wave of darkness flashed through the room.
“Bring forth the Shadow army.”
From the corners of the room shadows began to rise. Outside larger shadows sprang from darkened patches of forest. Thousands of writhing, dark misty creatures were coming to life across the Kingdom and they began to move toward the castle.
The Butterfly cloud began to attack the shadows. They swooped and darted amongst the swirling smoky shapes but against something that had no solid form they were useless.
Inside the castle King Warrick stepped further toward the throne but a shadow swung from behind a marble column and took hold of his leg. He fell to the ground and Jazmyn screamed. She pulled the slingshot out and loaded it with a stone pellet. She looked for the creature with the evil magic staff and found it hiding behind the wall of the balcony, the black glowing tip of its staff the only thing visible. She took careful aim and was about to fire when a shadow wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the floor.
“At last” yelled the changeling on the throne, “we take this Kingdom. We tried to do it without bringing forth our army but as you refused to die we have no choice, and now we will complete that which we have started. Kill them both.”
Jazmyn and her father lay on the cold marble floor, unable to move. Jazmyn’s head was pulled hard against the ground. All she could do now was look directly up.
Directly up into the giant chandelier that had been a wedding gift from her mother’s mother, her grandmother. Suddenly she knew what she had to do.
Jazmyn raised the slingshot and aimed. She pulled back with all her might and let loose the stone pellet, aiming straight at the centre of the giant chandelier. The pellet flew up and struck the large stone in the centre of the chandelier. The large stone that seemed to glow with a dull flame. It was an ember stone the size of a horse’s head and now it was falling directly into the memorial fire pit.
The giant ember stone struck the fire pit and for a moment it seemed that the fire had gone out, but the flames grew around it and the stone began to glo
w brighter and brighter. In a flash it exploded and the ground shook. A huge dome of white light spread out from the fire, and as the fire crackled, more and more explosions of white light leapt out of the fire. The ring of white continued to grow until it spread outside the castle, once in the sunlight the white light expanded a thousand times, covering the entire Kingdom.
Every shadow creature in its path was destroyed instantly.
The King got to his feet and walked over to his daughter. He held out his hand and pulled her up.
“My baby girl has become a true hero.”
Jazmyn blushed and hugged her Father. The King lifted his daughter into the air and began to laugh.
Guards had captured the changelings and had brought them to the King.
He had only two words for them.
“The Dungeon.”
Over the next two days the King learnt of the changelings plans. They planned to take control of the Kingdom and bring their kind from beyond the eastern mountains and the yellow wasteland. They would take all its wealth and bleed it dry of resources before heading across the sea to begin again. This had all been stopped by a young girl.
Reports had come to the King of the damage the Shadow army had done. Buildings smashed, crops destroyed but thankfully no lives taken. The castle walls were cracked, the church steeple had fallen and the lighthouse was in urgent need of repair.
The damage to the lighthouse however seemed to have been done by the pulse of white light from the ember explosion. The lighthouse still shone its protective beam of light into the ocean but it no longer swung. Its beam now pointed only in one direction into the sea. All these things could be fixed and in the weeks to come the Kingdom would be repaired.
The King sent scouting parties to the eastern mountains to patrol, for he knew that the changelings would not give up easily. There were more of them beyond the yellow wasteland, perhaps an army of them and this time the Kingdom would be prepared, but right now the kingdom was at peace. Jazmyn and the King despite the empty place in their hearts, which could only be filled by the Queen, knew that together they were strong, and now together they were.
Chapter 9
That night, a night of bright moonlight Jazmyn woke and called her Father’s name. Even though he had been asleep himself he came running to his daughter.
“Jazmyn. What is it, are you ok?”
“I’m sorry Father it was a dream. I dreamt of waves crashing on a rocky shore, I heard mother singing, I miss her so much. On the rocks I saw my friend the Butterfly just sitting, its wings flapping slowly and then it went dark except for a single beam of light shining on the Butterfly. I heard its voice. “Find her” it said, and then I woke and called for you. I’m sorry I know it’s just a dream.”
The King sat beside Jazmyn and held her hand.
“A dream yes,” the King looked into Jazmyn’s eyes, “but I had the exact same dream.”
Jazmyn gasped and at the same time they both whispered,
“She’s alive.”
Outside Jazmyn’s room on the window ledge, the Butterfly flapped its wings and set off into the bright moonlit sky. It flew higher and higher. Beneath it the Gardens and castle spread out, as it turned the village and ocean came into view, behind it the river and far off the mountains. It flew higher still and it turned to face the lighthouse, its beam of light pointing like a finger into the ocean. Pointing to something, someone.
The Butterfly flew across the face of the moon and in a flash of light disappeared.
To be continued…..
About the Author:
Wayne Russell lives in Newcastle, Australia with his wife, daughter and stepson.
This story was inspired by his daughter Jazmyn’s constant request, “Daddy, tell me a story.”
Look out for the next two parts of The Butterfly Quest.
The Ember Island and The Underocean.
Connect with Wayne Russell
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRussell65
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