girl sat down at the table and watched the old man. He brought some fire woods from the other side of the room, put them into the fireplace, whispered something, made a pass with his hand, and the flame flared up as if it had been splash with gasoline.
– Wow! – Said Alice, surprised – How did you…
– How did I light the fire so quickly? – The old man interrupted.
– Yeah.
– Well, it is an old trick – he said – it's not important now. You'd better tell me how did you get here? Don`t rush, slowly, step by step. Because you know, I'm an old man already, I can miss something.
Alice did not go into the details of her entire life since childhood, but only told about what happened with her over the past two days.
– Will you show me this box?
The girl slowly took out her mother’s gift from her pocket and gives it to the old man. After turning it over in his hands for a while, he asked Alice for the key. Opening the box, he didn`t look at the key that was inside for a long time. Shortly he asked thoughtfully:
– What is this key? What does it unlock?
– Good question. It would be good to know – Alice shrugged.
– Hmmm… The verse on the bottom seems to be Elven, they are masters of poetry. Maybe this key is just a trinket, or maybe it is very expensive. I think you should ask the elves about this. They are very wise and more likely will tell you.
– Where can I find them?
The old man got up from his chair and went to the far corner of the room to his bed. Taking a small chest from under it, he took out a rolled-up piece of paper and returned to Alice at the table. He unfolded it in front of her and pressed it into the corners with the candlesticks.
– So, this is a map of our world. We are here – he pointed with his finger at the bottom of the paper. You should go North. Through the Plains and The Canyon of Death you will come to the Middle Pathway, and there you`ll find Elven Kingdom very close – The old man said, and immediately heard fire woods sizzle in the fireplace.
– Oh, I'm a fool! I completely forgot about the water!
Taking off the pot, Oks put some dried flowers and herbs from a bag hanging on the wall into the mug, filled it with hot water and pushed it to Alice.
– Your tea, please. You can drink it.
– Right away? Shouldn't it be allowed to brew?
– No, no need. This is not a simple tea, but a magic one. Just drink carefully, – he interrupted the girl, who was beginning to raise the cup to her lips – it's still very hot. Oks smiled strangely. Alice blew on the surface of the water in a mug. The pleasant smell of unknown herbs immediately pleased her and she took a few small sips. And despite the fact she always drank tea with sugar, it seemed to her just amazing taste even without it. After the next two or three sips, Alice even didn`t notice that she fell asleep right at the table.
Chapter 4
Ikru ran as fast as she could. The shocked residents of the forest kingdom, whom she passed like a gust of wind, had never seen her so worried. If the usual walking distance from her home to the castle of the lord of the forest kingdom Tonnord, took about fifteen minutes, she covered that distance in less than five.
Shortly she was detected by the watchers from the towers. The head of the guard, and her good friend Nill, immediately mentally contacted her.
– Ikru, what's wrong?
– Nill, open the gate quickly, I need to see Tonnord! It's urgent!
– He won't be able to see you right now. He has a meeting with Bronton.
– The fate of our world depends on this information!!! Open it quickly, before I blow them to hell!
Nill didn't answer, but when she was almost at the gate, Ikru saw the doors open. Quickly passing through a small glade, she was running up the narrow spiral staircase that skirted the Great Oak of the forest kingdom. The conference room was located just below the throne room. Here Tonnord always welcomed high-ranking guests from other kingdoms, with whom the elves have keeping friendly relations. The large room, with a beautifully carved table and chairs in the center, was decorated with tapestries of the deceased lords of the forest kingdom. Almost all of them died in battles, which came like a wave in the country, after the capture of Arakel. The calm and measured conversation between Tonnord and the dwarf king Bronton, was interrupted by the sudden crash of the door, which is almost flew off from the hinges.
– Lord Tonnord, I beg you, listen to me in the name of the Creator! – The elf exclaimed, and fell to her knees right in front of the entrance.
Tall and strong elf, in shining armor of the best Elven craftsmanship, got up from the table and unhurriedly went to the Ikru, saying:
– Stand up, my dear. The elves don't fall to the knees before their fellows, especially since you are the Seer of our kingdom. And if you came here with such a ruckus, it means you have something to tell us.
– The Keeper… Appeared… in our world… – she gasped.
Tonnord and Bronton eyes become widened. The Elven Lord continued:
– Please have a seat at the table my dear and tell me and king Bronton what exactly you saw. Did you see Lisa in your visions?
– No, my Lord. Lisa is dead – Ikru said, and after a short pause she continued – Her granddaughter, Alice, is now a guardian. She was at the sleeping Ont. I saw the box with the wings in her hands.
– Really? What a unfortunate turn of events. Where is she now?
– The visions showed me her in Izemburn. She was with Oks.
– With Oks? This is very strange. I saw him a couple of days ago. He said he was going to King Grifgerd in the Preeosted, and then go back to his forest. In our area there are no secret trails like in Izemburn, he couldn`t make this journey so quickly.
– Maybe it wasn't Oks – Bronton supposed.
– Maybe. But I really hope it was he but not someone else. Anyway, it's all very strange and there's no point for guessing. We don't have enough information. We need to find out where is he now.
Tonnord closed his eyes and mentally connected with the commander-in-chief of the entire Elven garrison:
“Tagrin, are you hear me?”
“Yes, Tonnord.”
“Tagrin, we need to know where is Oks now. Send three of our trackers. One to the Preeosted. One to the Izemburn. One to the Gragos. As soon as you will know something, let me know."
“Yes, my Lord.”
Tonnord continued aloud:
– I've sent three of our trackers. To the Preeosted, to the Izemburn and in your kingdom Bronton, into the Gragos. In case if Oks suddenly decided to visit the mountain people. But I know for sure he wasn't going to. He had an important conversation with king Grifgerd. Ikru, – he said to the seer – please stay in the castle. Take
