match lasted for over half an hour before Arik had Tanya on her back with his wooden sword at her throat. Tanya submitted and Arik collapsed on the ground alongside her. Applause rang through the orchard from large hands as well as small and Arik and Tanya noticed their audience for the first time.
Arik realized that he had shed his shirt for the first time in weeks and stared at the faces around him. There was nothing but praise in those faces for a performance well done and he laid his head back down on the ground.
“That was the finest display of swordsmanship I have seen in years,” complimented Garth as he tossed a towel to each of the fighters. “Perhaps you two are ready for a session with me this afternoon.”
Many times Garth had used a sword session with him as a threat to those who were acting cocky, but Arik and Tanya knew that this offer was entirely different. They realized that they had impressed Garth with their expertise and that brought a smile to each of them. The crowd slowly broke up with some fairies lingering to catch a last glimpse at Arik’s chest, but he did not notice them. Midge flew over and landed on Arik’s upraised knee.
“I am certainly glad that I did not take your offer of practice,” Midge commented. “You both know how to handle a sword well. I saw some of our army instructors watching and a few of them took notes on your movements. You said your father was a fisherman. How did you learn such a skill at your age?”
Arik sat up and grabbed his shirt. “Garth has been teaching us,” Arik replied. “Tanya had professional lessons and I learn from her as well.”
Tanya reached over and put her hand on Arik’s arm as he tried to put on his shirt. “May I look at it first?” she asked softly.
Arik’s face reddened, but he nodded and Tanya sat up to examine his chest. Over his left breast was engraved a reptile, which resembled a snake with legs. The reptile sported a large pair of wings and had a forked tongue protruding from its mouth. What amazed Tanya most were the colors. The reptile itself was a bright green and the wings were black. The eyes and protruding tongue were a vivid red.
“It looks like an artist’s painting,” Tanya stated. “Not just any artist, but a very well skilled artist. This came from that rash you got in Tagaret?”
Arik nodded and started to put his shirt on, but Tanya reached out and ran her finger over the tiny dragon. “Amazing!” she commented. “I wonder how one of those would look on me?”
Arik turned redder than the reptile’s eyes and he quickly shrugged his shirt on. Tanya caught his reaction and blushed herself. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” she chuckled. “You will NOT imagine it on me,” she added as she playfully swatted his shoulder.
Midge leaped into the air as Arik jumped to his feet and extended a hand to Tanya to help her get up. “I will have trouble not imagining it, now that you have mentioned it,” chuckled Arik. “Let’s go see if the others have any ideas on how we are to find this Crown of Light.”
Midge landed on Arik’s shoulder as they returned to the campfire and helped themselves to coffee. Garth, Kalina, and Niki were sitting and talking to Queen Mita and the conversation was centered on the Crown of Light.
“We had the Sword of Heavens to help us find you,” Garth was saying. “We have no such aid in finding the Crown of Light. I have no idea even where to start looking for it.”
“We can not have come this far just to fail,” sighed Kalina. “The Ancient Prophecy led us to the Sapphire of the Fairies. The Fairy Prophecy must have a clue to lead us to this Crown of Light.”
Queen Mita shook her head. “There is no clue in the Prophecy and no mention of anything that will lead Arik to it.”
Garth smiled every time the Queen mentioned Arik and the Crown of Light. She accepted all of the Rangers as being part of the expedition. She accepted Garth as the leader of the Rangers, but when it came to the Crown of Light, she never left any doubt that Arik was all who mattered.
Midge flew off in a hurry while Fredrik and Tedi returned from their staff practice. They had also gathered an audience who applauded, but the fairies’ enthusiasm was clearly for the swordplay exhibition.
“Perhaps if we knew what we were looking for, we would have a better idea of where to look,” Arik suggested. “Do you have any books that have pictures of the crown?”
Queen Mita tilted her head and looked at Arik. “I can show you a vision of it,” she offered. “I forget that you are not versed in the ways of fairies. We have the ability to create visions from thought. All I have to do is think of a picture of the Crown of Light and project it.”
Queen Mita turned towards the fire and a cloud of smoke congealed above it. The center of the cloud started glistening and as the smoke dissipated a shiny, gold crown adorned with sapphire gems appeared. Everyone gasped at the lifelike image as it rotated over the fire.
“How large is it?” Tanya inquired.
Queen Mita smiled and pictured herself wearing the Crown of Light. The added perspective brought realization of how small the article actually was.
Fredrik shook his head and frowned. “We are expected to find something that small and all we know is that it is somewhere in the world. If everything depends on us finding that, we might as well go home.”
Kalina stood and walked around the fire, slowly examining the crown. Garth watched her and shook his head. “It is the same from every angle, Kalina,” he stated frustratingly.
“Sorry, Garth,” she replied absentmindedly, “but something is tickling my memory. Queen Mita can you visualize it in the palm of my hand, or any hand around the same size?”
Queen Mita wrinkled her brow for a moment. “Open your palm,” she requested.
Kalina held her palm flat and Queen Mita landed in the center of it. Next she projected an image of herself in Kalina’s palm and projected it over the fire. The image shimmered slightly as she altered it to include the Crown of Light on her head. Then in an eye blink, Queen Mita disappeared from the vision and the Crown of Light rested on Kalina’s palm.
“Does that help?” the Queen asked.
“Yes,” shouted Kalina. “I have seen this crown and held it in my very hand not twenty years ago. I am sure it is the same one.”
“Great,” shouted Tedi. “Where is it?”
Kalina’s face clouded with frustration. “President Suarez of Cordonia showed it to me just before Oscar Dalek’s wedding. He thought it would make an unusual wedding band, but Callie declined it.”
“Well let’s go to Cordonia and get it back for the fairies,” exclaimed Tanya.
“The Cordonian Royal Palace was buried under a mountain in the Collapse,” Garth stated. “Actually that is not a correct statement. The Palace merged with the mountain is actually a better description. In all probability, the Crown of Light is now part of the mountain. Even tearing the mountain apart piece by piece would not recover the crown in any condition that we would recognize.”
Despair fell over the group and everyone fell silent. Fredrik started moving a pebble around with his staff and Tedi tried to shift his seat a little farther away from Niki who kept trying to lean against him. Garth and Kalina stared at each other across the campfire and Queen Mita flew herself down to the ground. Arik looked around the campfire at the sullen group and rose to his feet.
“My father did not raise me to be a quitter,” Arik announced, “and I know Prince Midge will accompany me if no one else will. Are the rest of you in this only when the way is easy?”
“Give the man a tattoo,” scowled Niki, “and he thinks he can bring a mountain to its knees.”
Garth stood and placed his hand on Arik’s shoulder. “Pay no mind to whiners, lad,” Garth smiled broadly, “and never doubt your abilities. The Rangers are bound for Kantor and if it is a mountain that must be conquered, then a mountain will fall before us.”
Tanya leaped up and started rolling up her gear. Kalina gently touched her on the arm. “In the morning will be soon enough, warrior,” Kalina smiled. “We have the chance to enjoy the hospitality of the fairies before we depart and you still have that session with Garth this afternoon. I look forward to watching it. It has been a long time since a woman made Garth cry.”
Tanya laughed and turned to see Garth shaking his head and grinning. The atmosphere of the campsite turned to one of enthusiasm and the Rangers spent the rest of the morning roaming the orchard and observing the way the fairies lived. Individual fairy guides were assigned to each Ranger to answer their questions and explain the ways of the fairies to the humans.
Excitement spread through the orchard as the fairies learned of the journey to Kantor to recover the Crown
