Chapter 21 - In the Depths of the Purple Oasis ... and When Friendship Fades

The first train ride was a more than incredible experience for Elizabeth. Along with Professor Knudlac, Johnny and Alexander with whom she spent the journey in that train compartment, she learned many things and stories.

Out of the window, they could see the sand caves of touareg wizards. Those magic caves crossed by the train, which they left behind, were dwellings of those touaregs that changed size and shape according to their inhabitants’ will.

The sand moulded with those nomads’ wands formed mansions, castles or magnificent palaces, as never seen before.

And their interior ... could take any shape. Pyramidal, spherical or even in the form of an icosahedron - a geometric body that has no more or less than twenty corners.

At that window, when they came to the surface, they could see the magic river and the imposing magic waterfall, both of them bearing the same name, Bighaar, which was different from any other waterfall because the water flowed upward. And for this reason, all the rainbows formed by this waterfall were upside down.

The kids saw many things and heard many stories in their trip, adventures recalled by Professor Knudlac, during the journey that led them to the second event ... in the depths of the Purple Oasis.

…

Elizabeth’s dance looked like a melody in the depths of Purple Oasis waters; she had the grace of a mermaid. One would say she always had that tail covered with silver scales instead of feet, considering her ease when she found her way in the water.

She swam so delicately following spiral patterns big or small and advanced through the water with the swiftness of a dolphin and the grace of a swan that seemed to dance to master Tchaikovsky's music, as if she were born that way.

Alexander was next to her, with the same fish-specific tail. But he lacked the desire to swim that characterized Elizabeth.

The two swam very easily in those waters, except that Alexander was a little ... clumsier in his movements. Nor did he take such pleasure in swimming in the crystalline waters, as the girl did.

Elizabeth smiled, while Alexander was clearly disturbed by the fact that the girl had fun, instead of looking for the Purple Parchment with him.

“Please, stop that nonsense and help me look for that parchment. Because we have less than an hour before the effect of the potion fades away.”

Elizabeth didn't say anything, but her smile disappeared when she saw how serious the boy was, so she approached him.

Thanks to the magic potion Syrennum Vitalis, for which they also needed those famous poplar roots, they could now breathe and swim freely in the waters of the Purple Oasis.

The two could even talk in the water, but only they could understand each other, for all their other words echoed like dolphins’ sounds. To understand them it was necessary to drink from the Syrennum Vitalis potion.

Lots of fish, big and small, less or more colourful and strange, some were rainbow-coloured, other phosphorescent red, other, egg-shaped or having a scales mane like a lion’s.

But the two didn't have time to admire all those marine creatures. At least not Alexander, who studied a map that was given to them. This event tested their logic and thinking. There were no ice golems or other sea creatures more dangerous than them in this event, or other creatures to endanger their lives. Instead, they had to use their wisdom and find the second parchment.

“We could talk with the other competitors ...,” said the girl, watching at another mermaid, one of Professor Hikkaido's boys, passed quickly by her.

“We have different maps,” Alexander quickly discouraged her hope to be helped. “Each team has another hiding place for the parchment ...”

The boy held in his hand a magic map, waterproof, which changed from time to time the records on it.

“I noticed that at one point, the map showed the area where we were”, said Alexander, but it seemed he talked to himself.

“Yes ... but at one point it showed a room. Where can you find a room in the middle of these waters? Maybe this is the wrong map,” Elizabeth tried to seem interested.

But a group of dolphins passing by them, again distracted the girl's attention, who couldn’t ignore the moment when one of the dolphins approached her and touched her with its fine muzzle right on her delicate cheek.

The girl looked at Alexander smiling, but when she saw again that he only thought of deciphering the map, she waved goodbye to the dolphins for the next time, and approached the boy again.

"Maybe that room is on a sunken ship or a cave," the girl said as she tried to touch some brightly coloured fish that passed by her.

Alexander didn't say anything, but he used the girl's observation.

"We may have to get to this cave," Alexander said, touching the map at one point.

And without waiting for the girl's approval, he began to swim to that point on the map, comparing the drawings on the map with what he saw in reality. Elizabeth followed him.

The body of a dragon on the map could be easily assimilated to a deep gorge in the purple oasis and the grids drawn on that map were those huge algae stretching from the bottom of the purple oasis almost near the surface of the water, between which you could only slip through because they were somewhat sticky. And that Cyclops’s head was a huge, round rock whose eye was the entrance to that cave Alexander saw.

The two eventually entered the cave. Its floor was smoother and more polished than any marble. They didn’t have the honour to see such beauty, not even in emirs’ palaces. The marble was illuminated in all colours as they advanced, as if walking on every colour of a rainbow.

The walls of that cave, however, were full of irregular rock structures, irregular in different shapes. Those stalactites and stalagmites formed from the limestone dripped in millions of years were in contrast to that floor that illuminated the two children’s path.

And behold, as they entered that cave, the first map vanished. They could see only the image with some corridors and the directions where they had to go, as well as the plan of the room where they had to enter.

At the same time, those mermaid tails disappeared too. They had legs again, so necessary to walk in a cave.

Following the directions on the map, the two went along some corridors beautifully illuminated by those magic floors. As they read the map incorrectly, the children came to a dead end at one point, but after looking more carefully at the indications on it, they managed to find a beautifully carved, large and heavy door, locked and protected by a kind of a magic field. Perhaps it was the door leading to the last room on the map, because the part of the map with corridors disappeared too.

“Behold, we found it,” the girl said, gladly.

“The trouble is just beginning. We have to open the door,” Alexander managed to get her smile fade away with his low voice.

The boy began to inspect the door. Elizabeth did the same.

It seemed that door was locked. It could only be opened by solving a riddle.

What can burn like the most terrible fires,

To put out any flame or glare, such as water,

But also to float like a flake,

Which makes it very pleasant to the touch ...

“Riddle again. I don't like riddles,” Alexander sighed.

“I do,” smiled the girl. “Let's see. What could burn like fire? But also can put out the fire. A liquid ...”

“Yes, I know this has to be, but what exactly?”

“In chemistry we talked about substances ...”

“Yes. Theoretically, Nitrogen, Hydrogen or Oxygen can be liquid, if they’re cooled to very low temperatures, but ...”

“It might be water,” the girl tried to interrupt Alexander.

“Nitrogen burns under certain conditions the skin and cools everything, so it can be used to put out a fire. It may float when it’s gas, but it’s not advisable to touch it, it’s by no means pleasant to touch at that moment ...,” Alexander ignored any help from the girl and continued to stick to his thoughts.

“I think it’s water.”

“It can’t be water, silly with no…!”

The boy irritated by so many interruptions, wanted to say something in the end, but stopped because he’d have certainly offended her worse.

“If you read carefully you can see that it says ‘like water’,” the boy said the word “water” loud and clear. “You can’t be given the answer in a riddle because ...”

But the boy stopped talking. That field guarding the door disappeared like a fog. The girl was right.

Without looking at Elizabeth, still feeling the pressure of the smile that spread all over her face, the boy approached the door to see what the other signs were. At the top of the door was a row of cubes that had on four of their faces a pawn, a knight, a castle and a bishop drawn.

Underneath that row were four other cubes that had on four of their faces drawn a fire spitting horse, a swirling horse, a horse letting out steam through its nostrils, and a horse swimming.

“Other riddles,” Alexander felt like going mad. We have less than twenty minutes before the potion loses its effect,” the boy said, looking at the hourglass he gave Elizabeth at the beginning of the test and which was now round her neck.

Order it properly

But be careful that you might,

Need it

Until it's over ...

“Chess pieces ...,” Elizabeth smiled. Fortioris, Fortioris, Fortioris ... Fortioris ... yes Fortioris!”

The chess pieces were ordered pawn, bishop, knight and castle. And even at that moment a part of the door lock system opened.

“Now the second line” the girl said proud of herself.

Alexander without saying a word, even though he had no idea how the chess pieces were to be ordered, began to carefully inspect the four horses.

“Order it properly, but be careful that you may need it until it's over ... What does this riddle mean?”

“ Maybe it has to do with water.”

"Maybe," Alexander said, thoughtful. When water is in liquid form, you can boil it and it evaporates. The order could be swimming horse, fire spitting horse, swirling horse, and steaming horse.”

Using Fortioris magic, the boy arranged the cubes like that, but nothing happened.

“Something's wrong.”

“The swimming horse can be the first.”

“That's how I placed it,” Alexander said, angrily.

“Yes, I know, but the steaming horse should be next to it.”

The girl also used her wand to arrange the pieces. Again, nothing happened. And probably if it wasn't the pressure of time, Alexander would tell her "see... you weren’t right" and would embarrass her as usual. But this time it was important to find the solution.

“The steaming horse might mean it's cold.”

“Yes…”

“It could be water phases. Icy water, that is the steaming horse because it’s very cold. The swimming horse means liquid water, and that swirling horse may mean that water evaporates ...”

“And the fire-spitting horse changes the water phase,” Elizabeth also supported the idea.

“Fortioris, Fortioris, Fortioris, Fortioris ... and Fortioris!”

Alexander's wand placed the cubes in the order fire-spitting, steaming, swimming and swirling, which eventually opened the door completely.

“How smart I am. I succeeded!” Alexander was happy for the success, without worrying that the merit was common.

The two entered the room, which was according to the map and without looking at it, they headed for the Purple Parchment, proud that they finished the second test.

Elizabeth swam happily like a playful dolphin around Alexander. Even he couldn’t help smiling after such a success. But he signalled to the girl that she had to go to the surface, holding that parchment in her hand.

  “We have about ten minutes left,” he showed the girl the hourglass around her neck in a sober voice.

Then Alexander smiled. The girl smiled too, looking at him ... but ... the smile on her beautiful face suddenly disappeared. Something happened.

Elizabeth's face began to turn increasingly red, ending up in a purple shade.

“I can't breathe ...” the girl managed to say, then she started wrangling chaotically like a fish caught in the hook.

Alexander grabbed her arm and began to swim to the surface with all his might, pulling Elizabeth after him.

But just a few moments before he reached the surface, a creature with long tentacles at least as long as a man's body, grabbed and pushed him forcefully into the depths of the water, then tried to run holding the girl tight between his tentacles. The girl could hardly keep her eyes open because she couldn't breathe.

Alexander noticed that the octopus had human face. He also noticed, sadly, that the human octopus could swim much faster than him. Besides, he left a lot of ink behind, as octopuses in the seas and in the oceans do, trying to lose track, confusing the boy.

Hardly had he realized where he finally had to look, when the human octopus and Elizabeth were far away.

The boy also saw a few wizards turned into mermaids. They tried hard to stop that creature, which began to do something unthinkable.

When he saw the girl almost lost consciousness due to lack of air, the human octopus, scared, went to the surface as if his purpose was to save, not to hurt her. He got out of the water simultaneously with Alexander.

Head out of water, Alexander could see in the rush at the surface how that human octopus let Elizabeth go from his tentacles, rising up into the air. When there wasn’t water around him anymore, the human octopus turned into a man with trimmed moustache, wearing a purple cape over an elegant suit. Someone snatched the wand out of the flying man’s sleeve in the blink of an eye.

The pinned down guy looked at the one who now held his wand in his hand.

"I thought it was you ..." said the man who was an octopus a few moments ago, after which his body turned to ash and was carried by the wind into the distance.

Alexander looked in the direction of the man who destroyed the human octopus and saw Lord Tbylisium. The Elf Lord babbled something as he laid Elizabeth on the shores of the Purple Oasis. All eyes were on him and on the girl.

After a few moments Elizabeth began coughing, spitting out a bunch of seaweed and water herbs. Seeing how much stuff came out of the poor girl’s mouth, one could hardly understand how she swallowed it and how it fitted into her little stomach.

The girl moved her eyelids and saw Miss Harmony's face above her.

The woman gently tilted her chin so that the girl could eliminate everything that almost killed her.

“That’s it, my dear ... spit out everything ... Everything.”

When the girl came to her senses, Miss Harmony watched her and smiled at her.

“The power of a spell, my darling. A way of magic to harm, or heal in simple words. A way we, humans don't know much about, but which is a habit for the elves. You were lucky because Lord Tbylisium was here to recite the anti-incantation and save you.”

Miss Harmony looked at Knudlac.

“It might be good to include such a course in Elmbridge school curriculum. These incantations are very powerful and can do much harm.”

Director Eaden Knudlac nodded his head.

Back to life, Elizabeth looked for Alexander. When she saw the boy was safe, she breathed in relief and showed Mr. Knudlac who was next to the girls, the parchment she held in her fist. The fact that the parchment was her hands meant that Alexander would be the one to go on in the contest. These were the rules. Magic knew well who to choose to take part in later ... because she felt tired, quite exhausted.

Knudlac also smiled, but it was because he saw Elizabeth was all right. He asked a few stone elves to pick up Elizabeth and transport her to one of the clinic rooms in the emir's sand cave, where her condition could be better investigated.

The girl looked back as she was carried by those stone elves and saw Alexander congratulated by his friends for having managed to bring the parchment to the surface.

“One more challenge, pal, and you’ll be a real wizard,” his friends congratulated him.

“You’ll definitely do your best and you’ll succeed ... Congratulations!”

Avoiding for a moment the crowd congratulating him, Alexander managed to see that Elizabeth was all right. When he felt the girl noticed him he turned his eyes to further be congratulated, behaving as usual ... arrogant, proud and very immodest. Still, he gave a sigh of relief because Elizabeth was safe.

“Did you have any doubt? I didn't ...,” he said to the crowd around him.

Probably Elizabeth was the only one who saw Alexander who gave impression that his only goal was to worry only about himself and his gain, actually feared for her life.

The girl smiled at the thought that the boy known to everyone as having a heart of stone, was actually a good boy, deep in his soul.

Then she closed her eyes, exhausted after the challenge that was almost the end for her, while the professors and the stone elves looked after her.

…

“That little one?”

“Yes, it’s she.”

“That girl with that sceptic face boy?”

“I don't even know her. She had certainly just come from the world of sceptics.”

“Are you sure it’s her? Are you sure?”

“That's what I heard ...”

Several children were gathered in the school yard talking about the latest events. Elizabeth was in the spotlight, alongside with Johnny and Alexander, who was accompanied by more friends of his.

“I don’t understand why? Why did he choose you? An ignorant girl ... I had to be the one who ... My name had to stay forever in ... The total glory had to be mine!”

“Do you think I want to participate in the last event? I don't think I'm ... able to do that.”

“Then why did you enter this contest? WHY?!”

Elizabeth said nothing more. She was scared.

“To mess up with my business. I, Alexander Soimesti, had to be the one to compete in the last challenge. Me, and nobody else!”

“If you want you can replace me.”

“Listen to her! What this IGNORANT says!”

The boy approached Elizabeth with an angry gaze.

“You have the impression that you give me your ticket and that’s all, can I replace you?! We speak about magic here, not less. When you are chosen, that’s settled!”

And Alexander turned his back on her and was about to leave.

“Then ... it means that someone or something saw in me that I deserve to be chosen to participate in the next challenge.”

When he heard these words Alexander's face blackened like a miner’s face after he had been digging for coal all day. He turned to the girl and shook her furiously. The girl got unbalanced and fell on her back. She wasn’t hurt badly, but she was scared. Alexander's not-so-kind friends were there, too, laughing at Miss Edwards.

Johnny tried to defend her from Prince Soimesti but he was quickly cornered by the angry boy's acolytes, ready in case Davies dared to do something.

The girl's fear activated her Guardian, which landed near her.

Elizabeth got to her feet and that little hawk flew and clung to her hand.

“Given the fact that you don’t know how to behave I’m not sorry you weren’t chosen to participate in the last test. I thought we were friends ... and true friends don't push each other.”

Young Alexander approached Elizabeth again, this time smiling, probably for the purpose of pushing her again. Because of the anger, the boy was restless, going to and fro.

But when he was less than a meter away from the girl, Elizabeth's guardian flew toward him, grabbing the young boy’s right shoulder with his claws, causing him to take a few steps back. His cape was torn into pieces over his shoulder.

Then the hawk settled on the girl's shoulder in the same delicate manner as usual.

“Stupid creature!” shouted Alexander. “Fortioris!” he tried to hit the hawk with a blow of the wand.

“Adversus!” shouted the girl and defended her hawk against Alexander's magic.

“Look, dear ... the girl wants to fight.”

Alexander took off his torn cape, closed his eyes for a little while, and focused. In the blink of an eye, a huge constrictor snake, as long as a 6-meter python, Alexander's protector, popped up beside him. This snake also had some spikes that sprouted from his head and neck area, and those spikes not only made him look scarier, but they were also weapons that could hurt.

“Let's see what your little sparrow is doing now ...”

Alexander looked at the snake that understood his words:

“Ssttruge sssoimssul alass,” the boy whispered to that creeping creature, in a language unknown to the others.

The snake headed for Elizabeth and the hawk. The bird, seeing the snake approaching its master, flew away and at an unbelievable speed hit the creature directly in the head with its claws. The snake was dazed for a moment after the blow, after which he continued to crawl menacingly to the tree where the hawk landed.

Again the bird struck his head with his claws. The snake was dizzy again, but he came back after a few moments.

Alexander looked a bit scared when he saw that a bird as little as the hawk was so dangerous to his snake.

“Ssserpe! Ssstruge-l!” he ordered again in the same unknown language.

The hawk hit the snake twice more, making him even dizzier.

It was clear the reptile was increasingly affected by those blows. The snake, after another blow, didn’t raise his head and front of his body as he did before. He gave up the lofty posture he had before and remained coiled, curled up in one place. One would say he gave up, defeated in this fight. When the hawk flew back to the snake to hit his head again, the snake ducked his head to avoid the hit. He probably couldn't have stood another one.

"I think he was defeated, Alexander," said one of the boy's friends.

“NO!” he shouted angrily. “Ssserpe, ssstruge-l!”

The hawk seeing that the snake no longer gave any sign of aggression approached him slightly, to check what happened to him.

Elizabeth smiled softly. She was happy her hawk wasn’t killed by that fiery snake.

“I was so scared. Have you seen that big snake?” she told Johnny. “I’m glad that…”

But just at that moment, the snake saw that the hawk was very close to him, so, cunning, with unrivalled rapidity, bit hard one of the hawk’s wings and quickly coiled around him.

The bird began wriggling, but with each movement of the hawk, the body of the snake settled better around it, gripping the poor being more and more powerfully.

“That's my boy. Bravo! Kill that bird!” Alexander shouted this time to the others to further increase the fear visible on the girl's face.

“Alexander! Please stop! Please,” Elizabeth started to cry. “I beg you, tell him to stop!” cried the girl scared, watching breathlessly what happened.

Johnny took his wand in his hand and wanted to do something about it, but two of Alexander's friends, also holding wands in hands, approached him.

"Don't mess with us, Davies," one of them said, smiling.

It was Geoffrey Walsh.

“Yeah ... it's a fair fight. We thought the hawk would win and we didn't intervene,” said another friend of Alexander's.

“Alexander! Please!” Elizabeth cried, but to no avail.

Young Alexander said nothing. He just smiled like a fool, glad his snake was such a dangerous and cruel guardian, at least in this situation.

The girl, seeing that the snake almost suffocated her hawk, began to defend him.

“Fortioris! Fortioris!”

The snake was hit hard.

“Fortioris!” Elizabeth hit the reptile again.

The snake, due to the pain, began to unfold his body around the hawk and curled back into a corner. But the girl didn't stop.

“Fortioris! Fortioris!”

The wounded snake from so much magic gave up and tried to protect his vulnerable areas coiling. He went to his master, withdrawing.

Elizabeth saw the hawk coming toward her slowly, unable to fly because of the wound from the snake bite. Also, the girl saw how Alexander intended to touch her with a spell through his wand. But before he could say something, Elizabeth was one step ahead him:

“Fortioris!” she shouted again and hit Alexander hard in the hand holding the wand. Fortioris and Possidebit!”

The last two spells hit Alexander's face and disarmed him. The young man's wand came into Elizabeth's hand, after which that wand turned into many broken pieces of wood.

Alexander's legacy from his ancestors became only pieces of broken wood and useless chips.

Alexander's friends didn't know what to do. If they wanted to, as they were more numerous, they could easily disarm Miss Edwards and make her regret what she just did. But none of them tried to face the girl who became a real lioness.

Alexander had tears in his eyes. It was because he lost his wand, but also because he was defeated by a girl, an ignorant, as he used to call her.

"That wand was a legacy ..." he said in a low voice.

Even though he could easily get even a better or more beautiful one from his father, everyone would now laugh at him secretly because he was defeated by Elizabeth Catherine Edwards. Moreover, she disarmed him and destroyed his wizard weapon, which his father gave him confidently.

Alexander bowed his head and left, followed by his guardian, that spiky snake. All his so called friends ran towards him trying to show they could be helpful.

“Leave me alone!”

Most of them stopped. Only two continued to follow him, one of them being Geoffrey Walsh.

“Everyone!” Alexander shouted when he saw those guys didn't understand the message.

Miss Harmony, accompanied by another professor, brought by a student so that Elizabeth might not be hurt, came to the children gathered there.

“Alexander, are you okay?” the professor asked, seeing the boy devastated as she passed by.

The boy nodded he was fine, but the look in his eyes said something else.

Miss Harmony wanted to tell him something more, but hearing Elizabeth cry she ran quickly to her.

“Elizabeth, what happened, my dear?”

When Harmony reached the girl, she saw that her guardian wounded, with his wing down and bleeding.

“Elizabeth, my dear ...”

“Miss Harmony, please help him. Please…”

“You can't do anything anymore. It has to be euthanized and ...” Johnny’s voice could be heard, whose mouth spoke at the speed of light, without thinking.

Hearing the boy's words even Miss Harmony's face, who didn’t use face muscles for frowning, changed features and raised eyebrows and the boy realized how stupid he was.

“Johnny, again you chose to talk first and then think.”

“I didn't even think, Miss Harmony, so quick I was ...”

Even Johnny realized he told the truth this time, not nonsense. He got nothing was in his favour, not even his words.

Miss Harmony gently stroked the girl’s head and tried to calm her down.

“Dear Elizabeth, your guardian will be fine. Unfortunately, Guardians cannot be healed by magic. They’re magic creatures so magic doesn’t have much healing power over them. But we’ll take care of him and you’ll see he’ll get better.”

As she saw the professor's comforting smile, Elizabeth stopped crying. She wiped her tears and hugged Miss Harmony.

“We'll help him, stay calm. We'll put his wing in a splint and we'll take care of him. He’ll get better. But…”

“But what, Mrs. Harmony?” the girl asked, scared. “Won’t he be able to fly again?”

“No, my dear, that's not the problem. I just don't know if he gets better until the final test of the Magic Tournament, the Magic Contest of the Decade…”

Elizabeth entrusted the professor the injured hawk.

“Now I'm not interested in this contest. I just want ... Please, let's go and help him. That's all that matters.”

“Okay my dear, stay calm because he’ll get better eventually. He’ll be as good as new.”

Miss Harmony and Elizabeth left to take care of the girl’s Guardian, while the other professor drove away the pile of children gathered in the yard:

“Come on, children, get back to your work. There's nothing to see here. Go to classes or go do your homework!”