Like everyone has a priced possession to be proud of Malana also had its jewel, the most precious of all treasures, a boon for this town, Flint Flint Carter! An ordinary looking boy, tall and handsome,
methodically neatened- brown shiny hairs, viridescent eyes, gingerly dressed apparel, a lavaliere with an Akoya pearl around his neck that proved to be astounding even in a glimpse as it was iridescent, apparently stalwart as far as the assigned work is concerned, cognized in the whole area as a man of rectitude but what made him so extraordinary and worthy of this prelude was his congenital potency of fore-sighting what will impend with absolute fidelity.
In spite of this trait he was down to earth, not even a grain of bluntness was detected in his deportment. He never misused his capabilities nor for his benefit neither for causing anguish to anyone.
This made him endeared to everyone irrespective of their age, state or
nature. He lived in a small….. really small family of three, just his
grandma who loved him as much as her own son but his equations with his grandpa were not at concord. He never ever talked to him in his whole life and this bothered Flint as much as a stuck bone bothers a crane. But this wasn’t the only distress in his life, a boy named Teal, jealous of Flint, favoured by his polite psyche, daily teased and sneered him, would sometimes stop his way creating hurdles and playing pranks but Flint reflected the least affected exterior, sauntering his way paying no head to Teal.
On a fine day, Flint was returning home crossing the house of Martin Foster, a cruel and miser trader cum landlord who never spared even a penny for the most honest of the innocent faces so everyone in the village stayed distant from him but when Flint was passing by his abode he meant to be standing on the pavement loading his horse-cart,
he had the best of the horse breeds for his transportation works known far and wide on which he used to swank a lot.
”Good morning Mr Foster. May I help you in loading the cart?”, questioned Flint.
”Hey Flint, my boy”, said he adding ”Sure, I would appreciate a bit of help from you if you are not in a hurry”.
Don’t get confused by his ”sugar coated” words, the fame of Flint’s accurate precision by merely touching an object by his right hand and not charging a cent for his predictions was widespread and with the
above stated qualities of Mr Foster, he had masters in being selfish and
so he never engaged in any diminutive conflict with the one whom he credited to be of his interest. Flint came forward, picked up the sack of grains, freezed at the place and gave a tensed look.
”What happened son, why your forehead became wrinkled?
”You would face a great loss if you leave today Mr Foster”, replied he, ”I saw the bridge being crooked and causing loss not only to your trading crops but also injuring you severely”.
Hearing this his face turned pale within a couple of seconds.
He rushed back in his home shouting, ”I am grateful to you young man, any help you ever needed, always remember that I am just a few streets away” saying this he shut his door creating a loud bang.
”W..wel…welcome Mr Foster”, said Flint with a confused yet smiling look and headed towards his abode.
Few days passed by, one sunny morning, Flint was taking a stroll in the village and as wonted his way was hindered by Teal, a spoilt lad of the village raised in the orphanage, fair skin but a black heart, mocking,
as he was habitual of but today struck a bit different.
”Look who’s here”, said he to the bunch of other loafer friends standing with him watching for their easy prey, ”MR FLINT CARTER, who ”brag” of being everyone’s favourite but failed to get the affection of his
very own grandfather, (stuffing a napkin in his bag) you will need this while crying in one of the corners of your room. CRYBABY! CRYBABY!”, added he laughing and everyone else fusing in chorus.
This belaboured him as an arrow hits the bull’s eye. He wasn’t able to reply as Teal may just be deriding but this was the harsh reality of Flint’s life which he was sensitive about. With tears in his eyes and shrunk face Flint left hearing the slamming of hi-fis in the background with giggling sounds.
He rushed in his chalet, tightly hugged his granny weeping breathlessly,”W..wh..what i..is the …ahh..hh.. re…reason behind
gra..grr…grandpa hating ..hoo…hh… me ss..oooo…so much granny?” said he huffing.
Misses Amber replied, ”It’s nothin…. ”.
”No granny”, interrupted Flint, ”Not this time, not the same story again, I have had enough of it being because of age, memories of mom and dad, or his not-so-friendly exterior, enough now, I want to hear the truth!!”
”This time only the truth grandma, for once, please grandma!!”, said Flint tears rolling down his cheeks.
”Fine my child I shall tell you the truth.”, replied Amber unable to
bear the piteous condition of her grandson.
”It was 22nd May, the day you were born, everyone rejoiced but the happiness was short-lived. Your father and sister went to ” ”My sister!
I have a sister?” questioned Flint taken aback.
”You had.. they went to inform about a new member in their
…umm.. group but never returned and after a few days your mom went
missing as well… your grandpa thought it was you who was an illomen
and since that day he hated you.” exclaimed granny weeping.
”A new member in what….where did they go…why mom evanesced exactly what happened that day?” enquired Flint absolutely
perplexed.
”You had a family, a perfect family indeed, you had an elder sister- Princie, she was brilliant in whatever she did and your mom- Sierra the kindest woman I ever met and my son Beryl who was always devoted towards his obligations but that day shattered everything apart, nothing
that would have given you the affirmation of their existence was left except for this pearl you have around your neck, this was the last thing of your dad you are left with, your mom put this as a locket before she went missing.”
Flint gave a tense look at his locket and held it tight as if in deep reminiscence, of whatever he could imagine after the specifications Amber recounted.
”Listen my boy, the prevalent rumours in the village about the castle and the other places are all true they had specific names, my son
and daughter-in-law had prestigious position in…… I may not be able to
tell you about their interrelation with that place…aahh….I can’t recall the names. Apparently not me but one person can surely help!!” briefed Amber with a twinkling beam.
Flint was overwhelmed to discover that he has a ray of hope, he can reunite with his family and merely this thought gave him goose bumps. His joy can be fathomed by anyone who gets a glimpse of his radiating face.
”Who can help me out? You know that person granny? Who’s that?
I can’t wait to know!”
”Mrs Eaves! She could provide you with the finest datum. She lives two streets away from the pond in that spooky-little-hovel. When you meet her greet her in the best attainable way, be nice to her and do keep
your volume low and she will substantiate to be of great assistance. I
wish you all the luck!” saying these words Misses Amber bid adieu to her grandson.
”That place will take all day to reach, if I go moseying,” pondered Flint, addled about what to do next. Then a name flashed in his mind- ‘Mr Foster’, he promised to aid whenever needed and indeed he had the best of horse breeds. After this thought Flint rushed to his place and
knocked at his door.
”Oh Flint, What has brought you here so early in the morning? Am I in some kind of trouble again?”
”No Mr Foster, you are in no-trouble but today I am in need of a little favour. I want to borrow one of your horses. You promised to help
when I will be under a compulsion to ask for it, and I am in one now.
Please, Mr Foster, I beg you.”
”That astray horse I got near the pond a few years back is good for nothing also its maintenance is becoming costly day-by-day. If I gave him that horse I will have a burden off and a promise fulfilled. What a perfect
trade, killing two birds with one stone!” meditated Mr Foster.
”Yes of course Flint, you can take with you Lesotho- the prettiest horse I have, belonging to the Friesian breed. You can keep it as a gift from my side for saving my life”, said Foster faking a high-minded and
generous extrinsic.
But, to be noted, Lesotho was indeed an exceptional 68 inches horse with a charismatic black tone, powerfully muscled body, agile with elegant actions, a thick-silky mane and tail and feather on lower legs- a perfect horse with an imperfection that it never listened to the commands of Foster, he was lazy, never moved even a step for his trade work and would attack if forced to do so, Foster might be a cruel master, maybe a debatable topic, but now Lesotho got a new kind master- Flint, it being a guaranteed unanimity. And for the first time Lesotho did something with the will of his former master, he readily came out of the
stable seeming excited to meet his novice companion.
Flint was equally elated and showed his gratitude saying, ”I am very pleased to have this as a present from you, as a matter of fact you
are a man of true words”
Soon enough he was out-of-sight, he headed towards Mrs Eaves in a flash with his newly made friend. Within no time he reached his destination. As soon as he arrived at the venue his forehead was covered with droplets of sweat, his legs were trembling, not able to feel the surface beneath, his hands were shivering as well, and he was diving in the pool of anxiety. He took out his handkerchief and cleaned his face while his hands were still quivering. This was not the result of the fear of meeting Mrs Eaves but the effect of the ambience of that place.
That old-gloomy shack was surrounded by monster-like trees, as though ready to lunch on anyone who would dare to come near, not a single house neighbouring the hut, the roof-top was covered with wildgrass as if a lion in a bush lurking for a prey, the door was having
greyish-black tint, as if due to the carelessness shown with time and that broken-dusty window was like the last nail in the coffin, perfectly complementing its horror look. Till this point of time anyone would have fled away but the spark inside his heart to meet his family gave him the courage and strength to do what he had planned. He stood freezed at his place when he got a slight push from Lesotho telling him to march ahead. With full determination, he stepped forward, somehow reached the door and knocked. That knock was so low that it’s doubtful if it even fell on his own ears. Lesotho’s loud neigh indubitably depicted the vexation caused to him by the actions of Flint.
After staring at Lesotho for a couple of seconds Flint clinched his fist and banged the door as loud as he could while keeping his eyes tightly closed. A lady opened the door, scruffy hairs tied in a bun,
wrinkled face, brown eyes, iconic lorgnette glasses on the nose and its
handle hanging without any support, skinny hands, dusky-red gown that seemed neat but a bit oversized maybe due to her feeble body.
Gazing at Flint’s locket she asked, ”Are you Carter’s son?”
This mellifluous voice Flint just heard comforted his to an extent that all his nervousness vanished alike darkness flee on the arrival of light, even the shock caused by the hanging handle.
”Yes ma’am I am Beryl Carter’s son, Flint Carter!” replied Flint with due respect.
She then trod in a few steps turned around, adjusting her glasses she sarcastically told Flint, ”Do you plan to stand on the threshold all day young man?” nodded Flint in disagreement, ”Then come inside my boy, what would you have tea or coffee?”
”No thanks ma’am, I am fine.”
”Ahhh…stop saying ma’am, I would rather prefer to hear you calling me Aunt Eaves.”
”Ok ma’…ummm…Aunt Eaves, I wanted to know how you know my father and if you could provide some clue so that I can trace him real quick.”
”Sure Flint!….. Beryl, Seirra and I shared a really good bond, both of them treated me as their sister and we worked together at Oarilsdel located in the heart of the village Klazead. We used to ” ”Sorry to
interrupt but what’s Oarilsdel…Klazead..?”
”I am not sure if you will rely on what I am going to utter next but it’s necessary that you know these things really well. Oarilsdel is the castle ruled by the purest form of magic-Zircon and Klazead is the village
for its magical clan- The people of the castle. Whoever knows and
practises white magic is a member of this happy arcane family. Klazead may appear small but it is spacious enough for the whole world to reside in it. And we use to work at Oarilsdel castle. By the way what’s your Zircon Flair?”
”What Flair?” inquired Flint trying to recover from the dilemma caused by the recently known facts.
”Oh Flint, you are actually unaware of everything, Zircon Flair is the present from white magic for each and every member of the group. This is the only power you can practice without casting any spells and it’s
different for every member. Whoever is selected in our arcane family
thus becomes a member and is gifted his special power, according to his personality and nature. So what’s yours?” summarized Eaves.
”That’s interesting, I can see the future, an accurate foresight!”, said Flint being a little proud for his trait.
”Don’t form a conclusion so early, white magic has its own strict edicts that needed to be obeyed in any circumstance or else we have to face the consequences. I was not feeling well that day so I wasn’t
present at the castle but I can state this with surety that something
happened to Shcilwark- the shield that protects all of us from black magic and everyone is under a curse now and those who knew the chronology of the events that day mysteriously vanished”, said Eaves with despondency ruling her face.
”Is there no way I can quell the curse?” asked Flint concerned. ”There is but that’s life threatening!” replied Eaves perturbed.
”No problem Aunt you go on and tell me, after-all this can’t be called a life without a family!” said Flint full of firmness of purpose.
”There is a book named Amorael, without fail it records everything, all the privy events that take place in and around Oarilsdel and Klazead while they are still happening and it cannot be destroyed by any means.
It has to be somewhere in those deadly-hollows. In it you will find all the
chronicles, bring that to me we will definitely find a way out!”, mentioned Aunt Eaves with eyes filled with dread and wariness,” I will pray for your triumph,”
”You won’t be disappointed, we will meet soon and next time I won’t come alone”, said Flint with the most determined smile, hoarded his horse and set out for his home.
He entered his casa tying Lesotho to the peg affixed on one of the dried woods, ”Granny, granny, where are you?” he shouted his impatient eyes searching Misses Amber.
”Oh what happened Flint?”, ambled in the frail legs taking baby steps, ”What makes you create such a chaos?”
”Just come with me granny you will be on the seventh heaven too!” said Flint pulling her to the doorstep.
”What an incredible horse, where you get it from and what for?” questioned granny awestruck by the view.
”That’s Lesotho Mr Foster’s token of gratitude towards me for saving his life, with this and Mrs Eaves guidance now it will be way easier to find dad, mom and my sister grandma we will live like a big happy
family soon!”, exclaimed Flint with moist eyes.
”Yes you will surely hit the jackpot! But who is Foster and Eaves?”, inquired granny.
”Ooohhh, your forgetfulness granny! Mr Foster is a merchant who lives just a street away and Mrs Eaves is your son’s colleague, you only told me about her!”, said Flint in a pathetic tone.
”I don’t know them..huh..” said Amber indicating him to wait
sometime.
After 15-20 minutes Amber came back with Flint’s bag, handing it over to him she advised, ”Take care of yourself and Lesotho, here is all your necessary stuff requisite for the journey, may victory be your
slave!” wishing this Amber waved bye to Flint.
”Thanks for all this grandma, I will soon return with our most precious possessions….byeeee!”, were his last words as he rode off on his colt……
