The Apple Picker

One day, in a land far away from this one, there was a young boy. This young boy was an apple picker; he loved to pick his apples as they were the reddest, juiciest and tastiest apples in the land. On this particular day, as he was walking home, the young boy came across an old lady sitting on the side of the road.

Now there were no cars zooming around on these roads, only horse-drawn carts as this happened a very long time ago. The old lady was rubbing her sore and tired feet and looked quite unhappy, the young boy was saddened to see her so and decided to talk to the woman.

‘Oh wise lady, why do you sit and cry so?’ he asked

‘I cry for food young man. You are the first to stop and talk to me in two days of sitting here. I am hungry and thirsty, yet no one will help.’ She replied

‘Here then gentle woman, have one of my apples.’ The young boy carefully picked out the reddest, juiciest and tastiest apple he had picked and gave it to the thankful woman.

‘Oh praise be that such a young one would be so kind!’ Cried the old lady ‘You shall henceforth be my heir!’

This confused the poor boy as he did not know what an heir was. Does she want me to be the breeze that pushes through the trees? He thought to himself.

‘Do you know who I am young apple picker?’ Said the old lady

‘No I do not dear lady, though I must ask. What is an heir?’ Replied the Apple Picker

‘Well, I am Queen Ehlana and an heir is the person who will become King or Queen once I die.’ She said

‘Oh. I thank you greatly my Queen, but….have you no children of your own?’ he asked

‘That is the other reason for my tears little one. The Great Evil Sorcerer AlaRoth took my children from me. I despair so.’ Queen Ehlana sobbed

‘Has no one gotten them back for you? No knight in shining armour? No powerful Sorcerer oh Majesty?’ the Apple Picker asked

‘Alas none have returned. The Evil Sorcerer has slain them all. And now I sit and cry for my lost children. My beautiful daughter Madilow and my brave son Lodeth.’ The Queen replied

‘I will save them. I am small and so the Evil Sorcerer will see me as no threat.’ He said

‘I could not ask that of a child.’ Cried the Queen

‘You did not ask your majesty. I am telling you that I will save your children.’ He said again

‘I shall come with you then my brave champion.’ The Queen decided

‘I would like that your Majesty.’ The young boy agreed

So off they went the apple picker and the old woman. But what was this? As they walked the boy noticed the old woman getting younger and more beautiful.

‘Highness, you are changing! How is this so?’ he asked

‘My body reflects how I feel. Because I was sad and had no hope, I was old and withered. Now I am happy and have hope once again, so now I show my true age.’ She answered

It was so. For at that moment the Queen was young and very beautiful and she shone with hope. As the young apple picker watched the Queen, he noticed a single tear start to fall from her eye.

‘Majesty, why do you now cry? Are you again sad?’ he said

‘No dear child, this is a tear of joy.’ She replied

And once the fair Queen had said this; her tear turned into the most beautiful Sapphire in the world. Bluer than any other and still shaped as a teardrop. The Queen passed her teardrop to the young boy and they continued on their way.
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Meanwhile, the Evil Sorcerer AlaRoth was sitting in his lair, a Great Cave, vast and magnificent, whilst watching the boy and his Queen in his pool. This pool was magic and allowed the Evil Sorcerer to see whomever he wished, no matter where they were. He had been watching Queen Ehlana ever since he took her children, taking great pleasure in her sadness.

‘AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! A boy! She sends a boy! A child she has chosen as her champion! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!’ Boomed the Great Evil Sorcerer.

The Evil Sorcerer’s laughter was so that it travelled to the other end of the Great Cave to where the children were held. They clutched each other tighter until his laughter died away.

‘Darkness!’ The Evil Sorcerer cried ‘All children are afraid of the darkness! I shall send it to them and end this child’s bravery.’

Unfortunately for the Evil Sorcerer, the young apple picker wasn’t afraid of the dark, he had realised that it was only scary if you let it be. He had his basket of apples, which he was sure were very special and they helped him feel even safer. When the darkness had finally spread over the land; the Queen and the young boy were deep in conversation and had not noticed it. Had they noticed, they would also have seen that the Queen was now so full of hope that she glowed bright as the sun, allowing them to still see the road.

‘WHAT!!’ Cried AlaRoth ‘This cannot be. All children are afraid of the dark. He should be cowering behind the Queen’s skirt by now! The darkness is useless to me. But wait. If the boy is not afraid of the dark then he will have no fear of entering my cave either. I need to send something much more frightening…..Aha, I have just the thing. NERISSA!!!’
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When the darkness had crept away the sun, who was scared of the dark and had run away to hide, came back up to look over the top of one of the distant mountains to see if the darkness was still there. When he had seen it was gone the sun leapt into the air and shone happily down on the travelling pair.

The boy and Queen Ehlana were coming up to a curve in the road, there was a boulder blocking the view of what was after the giant rock. Suddenly three big spikes shot into the ground in front of them, they paused and waited for whatever threw those spikes.

A large lion stepped out from behind the boulder. No not a lion, it had a Scorpion tail with a large round head on it with spikes, like the ones that had been thrown in front of the boy and the Queen, they were huge and dangerous looking. It also had wings like a bat only bigger. The creature’s face, instead of being a lion’s was actually a beautiful female’s face.

‘She is a Manticore.’ Said Queen Ehlana ‘But she does not look like a warrior as most of its race are.’

‘I am the greatest warrior my race has ever had. I left them in order to find someone worthy of my skills. To prove I am the best by defeating them.’ Said the Manticore

‘The greatest warrior of your race becomes the sovereign. Why would the Queen leave her people?’

‘As you have Queen Ehlana?’ the Manticore retorted

‘You are a warrior of words are you not?’ asked the young boy

‘You are quick to learn young one and quite right. My skill is in words.’

‘A contest then? We each ask a question of the other and when we cannot answer a question the other wins, yes?’

‘Hmmm sounds reasonable, I am sure to win. What are the stakes?’

‘If you win, you may eat us both. If I win you join us and help us on our quest. Agreed?’

‘Agreed.’

‘I shall go first then. What is your name?’

‘My name is Nerissa. What is your name?’

The boy told her his name, I cannot utter it to you though as names have power. The young boy’s name is very powerful indeed and to tell it to you would cause disaster.

‘Who is your master?’ asked the young boy

‘My master is the Great Evil Sorcerer AlaRoth. Who is your master?’

This was a trick question. The boy knew this immediately. He could not say the Queen for he would be wrong, he loved his Queen, he worked hard for her, but she was not his master. He could not say his parents, he loved them dearly, he worked their apple trees for them and the village, but they were not his masters. He could not even say the gods, he revered them, he prayed to them and they accepted his tribute to them, but they were not his masters.

‘I am my own master.’ He finally answered. ‘Where does your master live?’

‘In the Great Cave, hidden from all. Where is your village?’

‘My village is south-west from here.’

‘How do you get into the Great Cave where your master lives?’

At this question the Manticore paused. She knew that to answer she was signing her own death sentence, but she had to prove she was the best.

‘You head north into the Forest of Dreams, then turn west until you hit the Lake of Sorrows. The Cave entrance is next to the Lake hidden by some Fear Root. What question can you not answer?’

‘I cannot tell you what my apples do, for I know not. Do you have any children?’

At hearing the answer to her question Nerissa had a large grin spread along her mouth. The young boy noticed that the Manticore had not one but four rows of teeth. When she heard the boy’s question though her grin immediately disappeared. She knew that she could not answer, to say no would be to lie and as we all know lying is wrong. The Manticore were a honourable race and stuck to their word, Nerissa had given her word to the Evil Sorcerer that she would stay with him until she met her better, she had met her better in this young boy. To answer yes, for she had three cubs at her lair she had kept hidden from AlaRoth, would put the cubs in danger. AlaRoth would surely kill the cubs as punishment for the Manticore betraying his secrets.

‘I cannot answer that question. I gave my word; I shall join you on your quest. You are indeed my better.’ Nerissa conceded
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Back at the cave AlaRoth was very angry indeed.

‘HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN. Nerissa failed me; she was bested by a child!! They head into the Forest of Dreams I shall send my next best warrior. TEIRUN!’

‘Yes my master, what would you have of me?’

‘See these three in my pond? Seek them out, kill them all.’

‘Of course my master.’
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The young boy, Queen Ehlana and Nerissa the Manticore where all following the path through the forest, this however was rather difficult as it was overgrown with grass and weeds.

‘Nerissa, is there not an easier path through this forest?’ asked the Queen

‘No Highness, this is the easiest path to follow. All others lead straight into danger.’

‘You have led them there anyway traitor.’ It was a dark creature made of shadow, it moved like the air and in fact glided on it steadily.

‘I am no traitor Teirun. I gave my word to stay with AlaRoth until I met my match and I did in this little boy.’ Responded Nerissa

‘Defeated by a child Nerissa, how pitiful. To have matched wits with a creature far younger than you and lost. You must feel utterly useless.’

‘Your natural gift of sorrow will not work on me Wraith. I have too much to be proud and happy of.’

A Wraith! The young boy realised that this Teirun was not to be messed with. Wraith’s were dangerous and made anyone it wanted to be very sad for a very long time. However he also felt that Nerissa should be the one to handle him.

‘You never were very good at making me sad, I had too much fun making a fool of you. I challenge you to answer my riddle foul creature. If you cannot you must join us and help our quest.’

‘And if I can, I will trap all of you here to end your days eternally lost in the forest of Dreams.’

Nerissa knew that the Wraith would accept as his race could not turn down a challenge, though they too understood honour and became honour-bound by accepting these challenges.

‘Agreed. My riddle is thus… My young friend here has ten apples. If I take away two how may do I then have?’

‘An idiot could answer this question. You would have eight!’

‘No. I have two, my friend has eight. You are now bound by your pledge to help us in our quest.’

‘Understood Nerissa. I shall do as I said.’
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‘NYAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! CURSE THAT MANTICORE!!! Teirun has fallen to the child. I must send HER! Calliope! Go to the Lake of Sorrows and stop them from getting here.’
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Nerissa the Manticore, with the help of Teirun the Wraith, had managed to get the young boy and Queen Ehlana safely through the forest of dreams. This was a good thing for if they had been in the forest during the night, they would have fallen asleep, never to awaken again.

As they neared the lake a Beautiful voice floated over the surface of it. This voice was so pure and full of joy that the group had to see and rejoice with the singer.

As they entered into a glen that showed a hidden part of the lake the group finally set their eyes on the beautiful maiden. She had long, raven hair and full red lips; her skin was darkened slightly by the sun in a fetching way, and her eyes were sparkly silver. Teirun finally recognised her for what she was.

‘She is Calliope, the Siren, her to lure us into drinking the waters of the lake. Whoever drinks from this lake becomes very sad and walks into the lake never to be seen again. We must not fall prey to this trickery!’

‘You are right Teirun.’ Ehlana said ‘Let me talk to her in song.’

To speak in song is something one must know to fully understand. To the untrained ear it sounded as though they were singing notes on the musical scale.

‘I believe my voice is greater than yours Calliope.’ The Queen sang

‘This cannot be true, I am greater than you. A Queen you may be, you can never stop me!’ The Siren responded in kind

‘A test we shall have with a judge that cares not about the outcome. You win, we follow your voice. I win; you join us on our quest.’

‘Agreed, it shall be done. By me it shall be won. The judge will be a bird; for it my persuasive song is unheard. If to you the bird does fly; then to your rules I shall comply. If the bird does fly to me, then water shall be all you see.’

‘What is to happen my queen?’ asked the Apple Picker

‘We are to have a duel of song, my boy; a bird shall be the judge of her with the greatest voice.’
‘I shall find a bird. Do you wish it to be more partial to you, Queen Ehlana? Asked Teirun

‘No Wraith, I need it to be completely Impartial to either of us.’ The Queen responded

‘If you so wish Ehlana.’ Teirun said vanishing in search of such a bird

‘Hopefully Teirun knows to look for a Korial. They love music yet are very picky. You would have the perfect judge in the Korial.’ Said Nerissa

‘Yes, the Korial is also the hardest bird to catch. I do hope the Wraith can do it.’ Ehlana added

The young boy had never heard of the Korial before. He was very curious to find out what it looked like and hoped that Teirun would catch it.

‘I have a bird for your contest, I believe it will suffice. It was quite difficult to catch.’ Teirun said

And before them, now perched on a branch of one of the surrounding trees, was a Korial. It was a beautiful purple with a light blue beak and wise emerald green eyes. Its tail feathers were long and elegant and ended in three separate feathers.

‘It’s beautiful. Is that a Korial?’ asked the young apple picker

‘Yes it is. This will make the contest fair. We believe in you Ehlana, win us that Siren.’ Nerissa encouraged

Ehlana and the Siren stood at equal steps away from the Korial and started to sing. The bird’s head started to twitch from side to side. It then started to hop from branch to branch, heading first for the Siren and then for the Queen. Finally it decided to go for Ehlana.

‘NO, you have won. My trial is now done. I shall join you on your quest, so this Evil Sorcerer AlaRoth we can best.’
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‘AAAAARGH!!! How can I keep losing my servants like this? They’re almost at my Cave. The fear root should stop them and I’ll finally see the end of those frustrating traitors. Of course if those mutinous servants of mine manage to get into my lair I still have a few back ups left for them.’
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The Apple Picker, Queen Ehlana, Nerissa the Manticore, Teirun the Wraith and Calliope the Siren were now walking toward the entrance of the Great Cave, something was missing though….

‘Where is the Fear Root? It is normally all over this area.’ Wondered Nerissa

‘Perhaps it has gone away, to make it easy for us to enter the cave today?’ Suggested Calliope

‘Well we should get inside before it returns. The Fear Root will reduce us all into useless cowards for the rest of our lives.’ Said Queen Ehlana

‘Not all of us. Wraiths don’t know fear. We cannot be hurt by weapons and magic has only little effect on us.’ Said Teirun

‘Wait. Look at the ground. There is something starting to grow.’ Said the Apple Picker

There in the ground was the start of the Fear Root. It was growing very quickly and was now already covering half the cave entrance, there was also an odd sound coming from the Root. If only I could explain this odd sound to you, alas I cannot.

‘I must destroy this plant before you all fall victim to the plant.’ Said Teirun

He glided to the plant and started to tear at it, shredding the Fear Root to nothing in seconds. Once it was done the Wraith paused in the air.

‘I must leave you now. The rage is coming over me. My race has a problem with it. None of you are safe. Until I see you again.’ Teirun vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Into the Cave they went, the Queen’s hope making her body glow so bright the entire entrance tunnel looked as though the sun was in there with them.

Suddenly a growl came from ahead of them in the tunnel. The group walked carefully around the corner and came face to face with a giant three-headed dog. This was a Cerberus, an extremely dangerous creature that can attack with all three heads at once and breathe fire. Not a creature that they wanted to face.

‘Get behind me, I shall protect you all.’ Growled Nerissa

‘No, leave the Cerberus for me to tame; so the Great Evil Sorcerer AlaRoth’s life you will claim.’ Said Calliope and with that she started to sing a lullaby directly to the terrifying dog. Within moments the dog was asleep.

‘She must remain here to sing otherwise the creature will re-awaken.’ Said Nerissa
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‘HA! Two down, three to go. About time things started to go my way. No, they have taken the left passage. They are heading straight for the children! I shall send the Darkness out again, this time to hide the children from their saviours.’
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Heading down the left fork in the tunnel seemed to be a bad choice as it seemed to get darker the further they went. Nerissa, Ehlana and the Apple Picker all noticed this and also noticed that at what seemed the end of the tunnel lead directly into a room of pitch black. Whilst looking into this most dark of darkness, the Apple Picker noticed the Sapphire in his basket glowing brightly amongst his apples. He felt that if he were to throw it into the Darkness it would chase it away somehow. Before he could do this however…

‘ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!’

Nerissa leapt into the Darkness intent on finding out what lay on the other side.

‘Nerissa NO!’ Yelled Ehlana, but it was too late. She was gone.

The Apple Picker drew back his arm and threw the Sapphire straight into the Darkness where it hovered for a moment before the Darkness started to swirl around the gem. It then began to enter the Sapphire itself; it was sucking it in as though it were a breath. Once the Darkness was gone all that remained was a cage holding two children; a young girl and boy.

‘Madilow! Lodeth! How I have missed you!’ Cried the Queen

Before she could get to her children though…

‘NO QUEEN EHLANA. YOU SHALL NOT GET THOSE CHILDREN BACK!’

AlaRoth had appeared between the children and their mother. The Apple Picker was wondering what he could do. He knew he should use his apples but how? He needed to get the Evil Sorcerer to open its mouth.

Suddenly with a screech and a roar and a whistling of air Calliope, Nerissa and Teirun came into the room and all attacked AlaRoth. As he roared in his anger the Apple Picker threw one apple after another into the Evil Sorcerers mouth.

‘APPLES! THEY WILL KILL ME! I AM ALLERGIC TO APPLES!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!’

With a great explosion that sent everyone flying all over the place and a large plume of dust sent falling across the room, AlaRoth was gone. The Queen went and hugged her children, cradling them in her arms. Then the odd group headed back to the Apple Pickers village.

Once there the Queen held a ceremony for the entire village to attend in honour of the heroes who saved her children.

‘Today my children were saved. I have no true way of ever repaying this debt of mine, but I do have things I wish to impart to each hero in turn. To Calliope the Siren I offer a temple for her to sing at, it will be made to counteract the magic in her voice so that people will come of their own will and hear your beautiful song.’

Calliope looked very pleased with this indeed, she had longed to know if people would like her voice without its magic forcing them to listen. Now it seemed she would finally know.
‘To Teirun the Wraith I offer a place on my personal guard, with a powerful amulet to help him resist the temptation of challenges.’

As the Queen placed the amulet on the Wraith, her looked excited as he realised this amulet was strong enough to work on him. Now he could truly serve someone and the Queen was someone he wanted to help.

‘To Nerissa the Manticore I offer her a place as a scholar of the kingdom, allowing her to study and teach words and their power.’

Nerissa was so pleased she leapt into the air and did a somersault. She had always liked to learn and craved to be a teacher, to pass her wisdom on to others.

‘And to my faithful apple picker, I give him the deeds and right to all the apple tree lands.’

This was a very special thing indeed. The apple fields took up a whole fifth of the kingdom, the young boy would be second only to the Royal Family in power. He was touched but unsure of his gift.

‘Majesty, I thank you for your generosity but I cannot accept. To take this would be an affront to you.’

‘My dear apple picker, I am not asking you I am telling you. It would be more of an affront to not take it. You saved my children, you deserve my kingdom.’

The Apple Picker pondered this and finally agreed to accept the gift. This day was remembered and celebrated for a long time, however now it is just a fairy tale. One where they really did live…

Happily Ever After.