PROLOGUE
The spirits are an interesting people. Their glittering gatherings and midnight merriments often get carried with the forest breeze to lands near and far. Wise were those elusive folks and wiser was their king. But today I shall entice you not with his tale, rather that of his beloved- the queen, Vifira...
ONE
Her transluscent hair shrouded her face. She hovered around the rocky cliffs against the Tunisian sea - seemingly searching for a body-- ong dead. Vifira had chanced upon the legend that his body still hung menacingly from the rocky cliffs of Tunisia. Jazir was no ordinary pirate. He was the terror of the Mediterranean.
There, she could see the pirate's cadaver. Vifira approached nimbly, took out a glass vial and sprinkling a drop of fairy tear, revived Jazir to life! Whilst his rotten body resurrected anew, with blood and flesh, Vifira too transformed herself into a doe-eyed African lass. She conjured up a lovely, comfortable houseboat with her magic and led Jazir on board. All along, the baffled pirate complied, yet looked at her in awe.
“Be not scared, O pirate! I am not your enemy. I am here to lead you to the forgotten haven of fairy gold.”
“My lady, it is blessing enough that you have resurrected me. I no longer crave cursed gold.”
“O' Jazir! It is no mere gold. It is the very heart of the hidden forest of Edensia. Legend says that here is a glassy lake in the forest and at its bank is the tree of love-letters. Every full-moon, the tree blossoms and the lake sings in a melancholic, lovelorn voice. You and I both have purpose there.”
TWO
They sailed on for days, till they sighted the Spanish archipelagos. The spirit queen said,``These islands are the abode of the gypsies. They have been on numerous journeys to different lands; many among them are seers and oracles, so they might know where the forest is concealed.”
Within the city square they saw many colourful tents, men taking hookah puffs, veiled women amid lively prattles and shops selling curious wonders. Below a huge alder tree, there was the blue tent of a fortune-teller. Vifira signalled Jazir and they both went in. They saw there a beautiful, dusky woman engrossed in a trance. She had a baby sitting by her side. As they entered, the lady smiled at them. Her mirrored, green skirt rustled as she got up and said, “I sensed your arrival. I know what brings you here. Follow the crimson herd that marches to the devil waters. There lies your answer.” However, as soon as the prophecy left her lips, a stranger entered. Vifira was alarmed as soon as she saw the newcomer's emerald green eyes. A woman she was. Her red gypsy garment and tinkling anklets commanded instant attention. With eyes that exuded a thousand mysteries, she ignited the pirate's desire. Entranced, the pirate stood transfixed. The woman coyly smiled at him and nimbly hurried away with him in hypnotised pursuit. Vifira could do nothing to stop him. She waited in vain but he never returned.
THREE
Days passed by. Jazir had found new zeal in the arms of his gypsy lover--Esmeralda. He was unbeknownstly getting sucked into the world of the heathens. One quiet night, after a carnival of drinking and gambling, Jazir drunkenly found his way to the rocky bay - following an unearthly glimmer like will-o'-the-wisp. The strange glow and the salty breeze led him to a beautiful curtain of green creepers against a cliff. He lifted it and lo! What he saw! A mermaid lagoon. The mermaids were combing their beautiful golden locks and giggling musically. Lest their song and laughter should fall silent, he held his breath and quietly watched their play. Three of the wisest mermaids were singing a curious lay to the younger ones -
“Her brazen arms were seized and chained,
Her glassy locks did wave;
Above lighthouse old, her screams did fade
In vain she cried his name.”
The song seemed to break the gypsy's spell. Jazir recalled the African lass he had abandoned long ago. Without wasting another minute, he set sail to the oldest lighthouse of the region. The lighthouse stood tall amid a bed of lavenders. The day was breaking and the gulls were starting to circle the sky. Failing to find anything despite a thorough search, Jazir sat pensively,
“Why the lighthouse? Where is Vifira? Why does it feel like I had been possessed?”
He tried to remember the incident long past, when the fortune-teller prophesied about the mystic Edensia. He remembered something about 'the crimson herd' and 'the devil waters'. Struck by sudden epiphany, he rushed to the nearest settlement of bayside fishermen and traded his fine turban for a red shawl. He wrapped it around him and waited for a certain ship carrying the red hermits of the Spanish isles.
FOUR
The pink sky of Istanbul captivated him. The hustle and bustle in the port lined by snow-white buildings seemed strange yet familiar. He needed a place to rest for the evening. Strangely enough, he saw the will-o'-the-wisp again. This time it led him to a dingy bar nearby. The place was dark and drear, full of bandits and thieves clankling their mugs and gesticulating vulgarly.
After a while, the old barmaid, who had been eyeing him cautiously for some time now, came up to him and whispered, “Judging by your looks, you must be Abraham- the travelling sorcerer. Sulhaaf has left these instructions for you. Feed this cup of Madeira and a pill of rosemary twigs to your donkey. Then you will find Sulhaaf's hidden treasure.”
Jazir was taken aback but he decided to play along. After a change of clothes and a strong puff of tobacco, he simply slipped out of the inn and started planning his next move. He headed to a peasant's shack. On his way, he noticed a strange green luminiscence on the ground below. Looking up, he saw queer nymph-like green creatures hovering up in the sky. There were a dozen of them. They looked like some nocturnal guardians of the old city. Nevertheless, he marched on and stealthily stole a donkey from the peasant's shed. He fed it some sugar so that it would stay quiet. He brought it to an abandoned amphitheatre and did as the old woman said. The donkey spat out an emerald-bright and green, just like the eyes of the mysterious Esmeralda. It's brilliance attracted all the green creatures prowling the city. There was something mechanical about the creatures - like puppetry. One by one, they circled around him and bowed.
“Ah.. They smell familiar. Their grace and beauty echo my memories of Esmeralda!”, he thought in awe.
The gathering of the nymphs chanted in monotonic unison, “O' Abraham, the most famed sorcerer, we are the minions of Sulhaaf. Make haste and do as you were told to do. Both the queen and the pirate have escaped the emerald spell. But now that you are here, she cannot stay hidden much longer. Find her.”
This was indeed a strange turn of events. Jazir understood that there was a far deeper and darker side to this quest. He sighed in relief for he was wearing garments of the Turkish peasants- it disguised him well.
He rolled the emerald in his palm, sorting the knots in his mind. He thought he saw a menacing canine in the bushes not far away. But again he was distracted by the appearance of the familiar will-o'-the-wisp.
Jazir tied the green gemstone at the tip of his red shawl like a knot. He mounted the donkey and followed the will-o'-the-wisp yet again.
“O' Vifira! Wherever you are, I need to find you soon.”
FIVE
He walked alone on the shores, contemplating on all that had happened the night before. He had been finally led to this shore, this very shore.
“Whatever the devil sea is, Vifira surely knows. Still she is hiding here. I wonder why.”
He fell asleep eventually. Sounds of gulls and busy fishmongers woke him up in the morning. Far off, he saw a lady - dark and tall - with a purple turban, almost lavender. Instinctively he headed towards her. She was tidying up the ropes of her tent when she turned and found him staring at her.
“Jazir! I can't believe you made it! Come in.”
Inside, he saw a drunk Israeli man lying on the bed and laughing away all to himself.
“Vifira, everything is so strange. What's going on? You look weak. Don't keep me in the dark.”
“I will explain. I will. But first things first. You have the emerald right? Give it to me.”
“Why should I trust you? You maybe just some crazy woman exploiting me. You revive dead men, you change forms like a chameleon and who knows what else!” , Jazir spat angrily.
The fair woman smiled cryptically, “Even if I were crazy, would I tell that to you? All your life you have battled the rough seas. A pinch of some more adventure will do no harm I guess.”
Though her reply hardly answered anything, Jazir submissively decided to trust the reins of the adventure upon his enigmatic resurrector. He handed her the green gem. Vifira poured a glass of barley wine. Dropping the gem into it, she drank it up whole. Soon enough, the green beams from the nymphs fluidly slid down her throat. Jazir saw the puppet-like nymphs dropping lifeless to the ground as the green essence left their bodies. Her transluscent hair imparted a greenish glow and so did her eyes. She hastily put on a loose cloak to hide the brilliance.
“We have everything sorted now! Follow me. Our ship is ready. To the Devil sea we go! I know now where Edensia is.”
SIX
As they charted the waters of the Black Sea, the pirate finally asked, “What are you? And what is the actual story? I deserve to know, you revived me from the dead on your own will- it is a bad omen in pirate lore. Dead men musn't tell tales, yet here I am. Why do yo need me? Speak Vifira!”
“I'm a mere ghost. I was the Emerald Spirit. My nemesis Sulhaaf used unknown dark enchantments to strip me of my life and power. He once used to be a member of the fairy council that guards sacred legends and mysteries. I was the one of the few who knew about the mysterious legend of Edensia. Sulhaaf detested me. He lusted for my power and the secret knowledge of Edensia. He thought I knew its location, foolish Sulhaaf. When I couldn't answer him satisfactorily, he used ancient, forbidden incantations to draw out the emerald magic from me. The magic bursted like fireworks, turning me into a phantom. Some of the magic entered the inanimate bodies of Sulhaaf's puppets, while the bulk of it, Shulhaaf managed to direct into an emerald stone. Only a little remained in my frail remains. But Sulhaaf couldn't harness the emerald power himself. No sooner did he touch the emerald, than he shrivelled and turned into a hideous wolf. I took this opportunity to flee, with whatever magic was left in me. I need you because I need your pirate blood to open a seal.
I know Sulhaaf is after the cursed gold. In that gypsy tent, it was nothing but Sulhaaf's puppet minions that took the form of the woman that lured you out. I was no match for the enemy's power. I left the will-o'-the-wisp for you, in hopes that you would return. I stayed for some time in the gypsy village, trying to figure out the enigma of crimson herds and devil waters. I also tried to spy on Sulhaaf's plan. Once I was almost captured for good by Sulhaaf's puppets when I overheard them taking instructions from that nasty wolf. Sulhaaf had been following us all along. Abraham, a travelling sorcerer from Israel, was also looking for Edensian gold. He is an ally of Sulhaaf. So I had to escape with the little power I had, immediately. Abraham had already reached Turkey, having solved the riddles behind Edensia's location. Sulhaaf wanted Abraham to use sorcery to make him harness the emerald magic once and for all. But fortunately I managed to sabotage his plan. Abraham mistook me to be a local barmaid just like the real one mistook you to be him. We need to reach Edensia at the earliest. Sulhaaf should have neither the power, nor the gold.”
SEVEN
...As the legend goes, Edensia used to be a haven of pirates and wayward travellers once upon a time. But the ever flourishing civilisation in Romania no longer made it a safe stronghold for them. But they hoped that one day they would return and rule the place again. They buried their gold and treasures in its ground, sealing them with pirate blood and sent off their women and children to live a happier life amid the Romani civilisation. Before leaving their homes, the woestruck women cut their wrists and let their blood drop on top of a sapling:
“This tree will grow to be big and beautiful. We shall write to you O' our dear husbands, every full moon night, if you ever chance to tread this path again... Adieu,” they chanted. ..
Edensia is no longer the lively village that it once used to be. Instead it resembles a dark, haunting forest-with birds and beasts. Everything was peaceful nevertheless. There was no sign of Sulhaaf so far, but they knew that he wasn't far behind. The birds were chirping and the forest was laden with the scent of spring flowers and fresh grass.The pirate and the spirit queen quietly walked on - looking left and right for the mystic tree. There it was, beside the fabled, sparkling lake.
“Here it is then, where our journey is ends,” said Jazir.
“No. It isn't”.
Before the wolf leaping from behind could attack Jazir, Vifira slit open the pirate's throat and pushed his bleeding, lifeless body into the lake. The lake turned crimson with pirate blood and the ancient seal broke. The tree of love-letters suddenly bloomed and started wailing dolefully. Vifira levitated and directed all her emerald brilliance to the moist ground between the lake and the tree. The green beams seeped through the soil. Vifira did not stop till the last bit of her emerald power got sealed in Edensia for eternity...
EPILOGUE
The desert sun felt hot on his face and the glint of a bright light disturbed his half-closed eyes. Jazir woke up with a start! There was no sign of Vifira nor the mystic tree. There was just sand all around him and a heap of pirate gold!!!