The bright morning sunlight streamed over the hill delivering welcome warmth to the village of Cressmore. The early signs of morning activity started the day with the fires lit in the blacksmith’s workshop and the ovens operational in the bakery. The village residents began to wake performing their daily rituals like a well-rehearsed dance. The morning routine descended upon this sleepy little village but this morning would be different from the others. At the northern end of the village a pack of ominous horsemen entered the village establishing a guarded perimeter. More flooded the village square and quietly took control while the residents continued to wake. The horsemen wore Ranger uniforms of the royal guard. Their tunics were red, edged with gold decorations and embossed with the royal crest of the colorful Kukumic bird proudly displayed across their chests. The royal Rangers were securing the village prior to the arrival of the Queen. The Elfen Queen had not ventured this close to the forest’s edge for years. She would normally stay within the protection of the stronghold cities deep within Rinii forest. Ryan had never seen the Elfen Queen in person. He’d heard about her from the village elders; her father, the Elfen King, had visited Cressmore years ago before he’d taken ill and passed away.
He was shocked to see the horses and the Rangers camped out in his little sleepy village. Word spread quickly and the village woke with increased haste. Rumors circulated with wild speculation explaining their sudden presence. The excitement was palpable; you could feel it reverberating through each village resident. “What brings you to Cressmore?” inquired a tired and groggy Ryan with a sheepish smile. The Ranger tilted his head towards the inquisitive young man. He leaned upon his glinting sword dressed in leather, metal armor and that glorious red and gold tunic.
“Move along boy, it’s not for you to know. The village will be informed shortly - move along,” the Ranger looked away dismissively. Ryan took the hint and moved away quickly. Ryan tried to blend in as the village square was turned into a hive of activity. Tethered horses were being fed, fires were erected and lit, food was being prepared, Rangers cleaned their weapons and villagers tried to go about their business unsure of what was happening. For now an uneasy peace descended upon the village, it was almost as if the villagers were in denial but what else could they do? The perimeter had been secured with no one allowed in or out of Cressmore.
Around the mid-day mark the Rangers started to gather the villagers into the main square - each curious to learn the reason for this auspicious visit. Would the Elfen Queen venture this far out from her safety zone? Many of the villagers thought she would. The Sun was now high in the sky and shone fiercely into the assembled villagers eyes. They huddled together, three hundred Elfens waiting patiently to hear why their little village had been commandeered. Idle chatter gave way to an eerie silence as people jostled for a better position to see what would unfold. Finally a tall Ranger stepped forward to address the crowd, as he did a gasp rippled through the Elfens as a rare sight emerged, it was a Ricar followed by the tall Ranger onto a small grassy hill that lay in front of them. For many it was the first time they’d ever seen a Ricar. Ricars were hybrid creatures from a far away land - much further than the most remote forest border, further than Barden rocks, the tar pits of Noire and well into a land they called Ivany. The Ricars were magnificent creatures standing much taller than Elfens with piercing yellow reptilian eyes, pointed ears and a keen intellect. They were free to travel across all lands and were respected by all creatures. Ricars were some of the oldest inhabitants of the forest and they were tasked with protecting Ivany the oldest section of the forest. Why would a Ricar be here today? All eyes were transfixed upon the tall, muscular Ricar with his blue and green skin covered in a brilliant light blue tunic trimmed in white. He looked commanding and in charge yet he never spoke choosing to defer to the Elfen Ranger. The Ranger had a red and gold tunic over his leather and armor but he had an additional design displayed above the Kukumic parrot crest, it looked like an embroidered gold leaf. This signified rank, which designated him to be the highest-ranking Ranger.
He stepped forward and cleared his throat, the crowd heaved with anticipation, “Good citizens of Cressmore,” he shouted confidently, “we come in peace - and yet we have an important job to do. Your Queen has sent us here today and we expect your cooperation and your hospitality.” He stepped forward again putting some distance between himself and the motionless Ricar. “A terrible darkness has swept through the forest, it’s a plague on our civilization that if left unchecked could threaten our very existence. The forces of darkness have invaded our realm and we must work together to protect it. The devlins will wait for the time that they can rise up again and support the dark ways and we can’t let that happen.”
The Ranger looked at the unsuspecting faces within the crowd, they looked scared, naïve and confused, ill equipped to fight the dark forces gathering strength. “Evil has sent it’s advanced scouts to prepare this land in readiness for more to come. First came the devlins, now taking refuge and cowering in the caves of Barden scavenging for food. Now we face a new threat - pure evil in the form of witches sent to spread disease and plague. These witches will weaken our troops, our forest, our food, our defenses and our spirit by threatening our health, our loved ones and our ability to fight!” The Ranger punched his fist into the air to accentuate his point. “Once these despicable witches start to wreak havoc across the forest they’ll weaken our defenses for the arrival of a more formidable foe. A great beast will arrive from the darkness trying to expose our realm to unimaginable creatures intent on destroying our world. We’ve been searching for these witches; they’ve caused disease, plague and death. The Elfen settlements of Beldermon have all been wiped out,” a gasp echoed around the attentive Elfen crowd, “The Ricar town of Corndendale has been quarantined with many deaths from a mysterious black plague, and the Elfen village of Hasted has now been burned to the ground with no survivors.” The crowd recoiled in horror with audible gasps and mutterings. Could this happen to Cressmore? Was Cressmore another name to be added to this infamous list?
“Friends,” shouted the Ranger, “we have hope today for we believe we’ve located these witches and we’ll try to capture them this very afternoon while the Sun is high and they sleep. We’ll keep our camp here in the village but our bravest men will leave this afternoon to capture these evil witches. We need to contain them before they can do more harm and pave a way for more evil to come. If they follow through on their plan and join forces with the devlins then our fight will be difficult and almost impossible to win. It’s unsafe to be out in the forest; the Rangers will try to kill anything that looks odd. It’s safer for you all to stay in the village and stay within your homes.”
Ryan could see his parents within the assembled crowd as they shot worried glances his way. He nodded to reassure them. The Ricar stepped forward to address the silent worried crowd. “Elfen brothers and sisters, my family was wiped out at Cordendale. They died a gruesome, horribly painful death, as victims of a plague spread by these evil witches. We must work together to stop them and we’ll need your vigilance. They can masquerade as Elfen folk and they may try to sneak into the village to disguise their identities and blend in. Be vigilant, report any strange folk to the Rangers.”
The Ranger continued, “You have a hero in your midst.” Ryan’s eyes widened as he saw the Ricar with his hand now placed upon Eian’s shoulder. Eian looked proud and strutted onto the grassy hill with the Ricar at his side. “This young Ranger has just earned his Kukumic crest, for it is Eian of Cressmore who has identified the location of the witches.” A cheer rose within the crowd and a large smile beamed across Eian’s face. It was then that the wave of panic swept across Ryan’s face as he began to realize what Eian had done.
“No,” Ryan muttered under his breath, “oh no…Wendy.” Eian caught Ryan’s worried gaze within the crowd and smiled with greater satisfaction. This act of diligence had now earned him full Ranger status and he couldn’t be more proud standing in front of hi
s parents and his entire village. Panic shot through Ryan’s body, how was he going to warn Wendy? Was it too late? Rangers surrounded the village, and it was too risky for him to try to sneak out. All he could do was look at the smug look on Eian’s face. Ryan didn’t know how he knew of the three women but surely Wendy and her unusual family were not witches. They couldn't be responsible for all of this evil, death and chaos - could they?
If the women were witches sent from the darkness then Wendy was just an innocent caught in the wrong place. She was an abandoned Elfen baby but she will be caught in the same net, implicated in this witch-hunt. With a wave of the Ranger’s hand the crowd started to disperse and resume their normal activities within the village. Ryan’s parents came running over to him, “No more parrot hunting for you my boy, well not until all this nonsense has died down - you hear me?”
Ryan’s Mother was quite perturbed.
“Leave the boy alone won’t you. It’s customary to try to see a Kukumic before you become a Ranger, it brings you luck,” his father tried to defend him. Ryan smiled at his father’s attempt to support him.
“Don't worry, I won’t be out looking tonight, I heard the guard. Looks like they’re going to hunt anything that moves.”
It was a beautiful night with a low soft breeze, a full Moon and a clear sky. Ryan wondered if Wendy was sitting expectantly upon the rock or worse if she’d been captured and incarcerated by the Rangers. It was a worrisome night and he dreamed heavily. Each time he would wake with Wendy screaming for Ryan’s help. He was unable to save her from the Ranger’s clutches.
The house was quiet as his parents slept but he prepared a morning snack trying to be as quiet and considerate as possible. The sound of Wendy’s pleas and the image of Eian’s annoying smirk ran through his mind over and over again. Something caught Ryan’s attention, a faint noise that sounded unfamiliar. It happened again but this time it was clearer, louder. A Ricar horn grew in volume waking the sleeping villagers.
Villagers dressed in a hurry flooding into the main square summoned by the approaching horn. Eventually the Rangers cleared a path through the crowd and a procession of Rangers, a Ricar and two horse drawn wooden carts approached. People strained to see the cargo contained within the carts. As the procession drew nearer Ryan pushed to the front of the crowd to get a clearer view - he’d never seen a witch before. The Rangers filed in, some carrying heavy wooden chests, which they set down carefully. The horse drawn carts followed and the Elfen crowd started to boo, hurl insults and throw stones at the occupants. Finally Ryan could see though the wooden cage trapping two frightened figures inside. They were both standing with their backs pressed together and their wrists bound to wooden poles each side of the cart. The witches were old with flashes of long white hair but he noticed that they were both dressed in smart, expensive clothing. The witches wrists were bound, restrained using a strange looking weed that resembled seaweed dripping liquid and glistening wet in the Sun’s rising rays.
They fought hard to remain standing as the cart rocked violently upon the uneven road as the crowd threw objects at the accused witches. The witches bowed their heads in an attempt to protect their faces from the objects being thrown by the crowd. Ryan pushed forward eager to see the occupants of the second cart. The crowd surged towards the muddy path as the crimson pennants flapped high above in the cooling wind. The next cart emerged with two bound figures coming into view. An Elfen Ranger held the horse’s reins steady as he guided it past the jeering crowd. Ryan could see the stooped figure of a woman but this one was different, she seemed slimmer, stronger, and younger. Ryan’s fears were suddenly realized when he recognized the elegant dress with flecks of burgundy catching the Sun’s strong light. Wendy waved her head violently from side to side in a futile attempt to avoid the tomatoes, cabbages, stones, and mud hurled at her by the unsympathetic crowd.
She pulled at her restraints while trying to keep her balance. She supported her weight by leaning into the other woman sharing the cart. Ryan started to scream her name, “Wendy! Wendy!” he yelled, trying to get her attention above the noise of the crowd. Finally Wendy recognized her name and lifted her eyes to see Ryan’s concerned face. Elfen Rangers restrained the crowd as they lined the route. Wendy’s hopes were raised at the sight of a friendly sympathetic face.
“Ryan! Ryan!” she yelled. As the cart drew nearer she screamed again, “Ryan, I’m innocent, we’re all innocent, you have to help us!”
A large rotting cabbage hit Wendy squarely upon the jaw knocking her to her knees and delighting the crowd. She glanced up at Ryan, “Help me Ryan. Help me please!” Wendy had tears streaming from her pretty chestnut colored eyes; she looked desperate and scared. She pulled upon her wrist restraints as a Ranger threw water onto the seaweed binds.
When the cart pulled closer Ryan could see a large bruise forming on the side of her face and a small bleeding cut below her eye. Wendy’s elegant dress was now torn and splattered with food and mud. She raised her chin and shouted to Ryan, “Help me, I’m innocent, Ryan promise me you’ll help me.”
Ryan couldn’t get close to the moving cart as Elfen villagers jostled to take their aim at the evil witches. Ryan pushed to the front once again and shouted his response, “I promise Wendy. I promise I’ll never let you go. I’ll find you - I’ll find you!” he shouted as the cart rumbled slowly by. She turned to listen to his pledge pelted by the angry crowd. The Rangers assumed their position at the foot of the grassy hill. Occasionally they would open the heavy chests containing seawater and douse the drying seaweed restraints.
The Ricar approached the raucous crowd, “Behold for we have captured the evil witches!” The crowd cheered, “They’re bound by Larkinsfelt weed, a gift from the people of Laylilia, the sea dwellers. This seaweed will render a witch powerless and will keep us safe as long as we keep it wet with this saltwater, and we have plenty of that. We are powerless to kill them by traditional ways but these witches will now be taken to Ivany where they’ll be placed under an old forest spell and imprisoned for life.”
The witches were kneeling, still trying to protect themselves from the assortment of things being hurled towards them. Wendy was the only one crying; her sobs could be heard above the raucous crowd. The seaweed binding had trapped the witches securing them to the wooden poles of the cart, but one of the bindings was beginning to dry. In all of the struggles and commotion a witch had distracted the Ranger and had managed to shield one of her bindings from the seawater dousing that was supposed to occur. The Sun had dried the binding and she felt her powers temporarily emerge. She kept her head tilted as a flood of power surged through her weakened body. The whites of her eyes turned blood red and she yanked at the dried out restraint. At first it held firm but another pull and the seaweed snapped in the drying Sun. With one hand now free she pointed a bony finger at the head Ranger and unleashed everything that she had. A white-hot streak surged across the square like a lightening bolt shooting from her outstretched finger. It crackled loudly through the air and instantly silenced the noisy crowd. The bolt of power struck the Ranger in the back and blew a hole clean through his strong muscular body piercing his armor as if it didn't exist. He fell lifeless to the ground instantly. The crowd was in shock as the witch let out a chilling laugh pleased with her work. Her face turned to the crowd as she laughed and pointed again rolling her blood red eyes back into her head. The crowd scattered deathly afraid of her next lightening bolt, but the truth was soon evident; she was drained of power.
Three arrows instantly pierced her leg, upper shoulder, and chest, reducing her to a slump but the damage had been done and the head Ranger lay fatally wounded. A Ranger leapt towards a heavy chest extracting more weed soaked in Laylilian seawater, he mounted the cart and quickly bound the wounded witch’s wrist to the wooden pole. Her power drained away quickly but the crowd was now left with little doubt that they had snared the evil witches. Everyone agreed except one love struck boy. He knew in his heart that Wendy was not
a witch; witches had adopted her. It was not her fault, perhaps she didn’t even know, but it was clear to anyone that she was not from the dark side, far from it, for she was simply a scared innocent girl.
The Ricar now assumed control and ordered the stricken Ranger’s body to be quickly removed. The wooden carts were prepared by the Rangers, in preparation for their journey to Ivany. The crowd cheered as the Rangers led the witches away on route to their final resting place in Ivany. As the carts trundled away Wendy’s sobbing could be heard above everything else, she turned and shouted, “You promised me Ryan, you promised!”
Ryan heard her desperate pleas but there was little that he could do. Her poignant reminder would seep into his thoughts and haunt his dreams for the next eight years. Ryan never forgot Wendy; he became obsessed with her memory and would think about her every night lying under a spell in the old Ivany forest. He tried to flirt with other girls but he couldn't get over Wendy. Ryan was hooked, for he would never give up on his promise, he became frustrated and angry as he tried to figure out a way that he could make this right.
* * * * *
The Sixth Realm - Bardonia
Chapter 3: Ricars in Cressmore.
Rinii Forest, Bardonia
“I feel like a visitor, just about everywhere.”