The Oracle Tree

Raymonda arrived a day later and said it was time to get ready to go. It’s not a good time! Clement had already become accustomed to the cave. He was even beginning to like the quiet song of the gold. It sounded so intoxicating that he could forget about eating and drinking. Clement felt both fed and satisfied as the coins rolled through the cave, chanting something about how all the gold in the world came from some solar deity. The hymns dedicated to this deity caressed the ear, but Clement did not fully understand their meaning.

Who would have thought that dragon gold could sing? He wouldn’t have dreamed that in his wildest dreams.

Today Raymonda wore her crown of golden laurel leaves and what looked like dragon claws. That crown made her look like the queen of some witchy state inhabited by dangerous creatures.

«So are we going on a journey?» Clement rubbed his eyes sleepily. He dozed lazily while the gold sang to him.

«Did you want to hole up in a dragon cave all your life?» Raymonda shamed him.

«I just thought it was risky to leave the place unattended. What if they looted it?»

«Who would want to rob a dragon?»

«There are all kinds of daredevils.»

«They’ll get caught! My gold is treacherous. It will drive them to the precipice, drive them mad or blind them. Coins, for instance, love to leech into thieves’ skin.»

«It’s a good thing I didn’t get my hands on any,» Clement rejoiced sincerely. «Still, there’s a chance of ruin if the knights of Shai invade here.»

«Why do you fear for my life savings?» Raymonda was furious. «Don’t worry! If I have to be gone for a long time, it means the cave is so protected by magic that no one will find its entrance. And it’s not the only cave where I save my money.»

«And you’re a rich bride!» Clement cracked a joke. Raymonda was too serious.

«And I am dangerous!» She flashed her eyes, which instantly turned orange like flames.

Okay, if she wanted to be quiet instead of talking, fine. Clement felt so happy in her company anyway that he whistled songs to himself as they walked through the meadows and fields into the night. For some reason Raymonda wanted to travel at night. She could see well in the dark. Clement didn’t even ask where they were going or why they were going there. The important thing was that Raymonda was with him. And he expected no other bride than her. To know he was engaged to her was bliss. And her dragon character would probably soften in time.

«By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were my fiancée?» Clement decided to ask.

She gave a dismissive chuckle.

Why had she been leading him on from the start? She was playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Or rather, like a dragon with its prey.

«By the way, am I the groom or the victim?» Clement asked the question directly, at the risk of exposing himself to a torrent of fire breath.

«I don’t know yet!»

Raymonda hovered over the thicket of tall grass, and Clement struggled his way through it. He produced a dagger which he could use to shear back the stalks and clear a path, but Raymonda warned him:

«Don’t dare!»

«Why is it not?»

«The grass is magic. If you cut it, it’ll grow twice as tall.»

That’s probably why it was so tall. It reached to Clement’s waist. Someone had already tried to mow it down.

The tree up ahead was magical, too. It stood in the middle of the meadow, huge and gnarly, like a giant’s severed head.

She strode up to it and stroked its bark gently, as if she were greeting an old friend. The tree’s branches stretched out from the lush crown like vines and lay on the ground, creating a cover like an arbor. They are more flexible than willow branches, and the leaves on them resemble in shape the badges of card suits and the coats of arms of some countries that have long since disappeared.

«Once there were battles fought here and powers crumbled,» Raymonda explained. «Now there’s only the tree, but it’s a wise one.»

Several of the branches suddenly sprang to life, lifted from the ground like slender fingers and touched Clement, unmistakably feeling the injured areas on his skin. There was nothing left of the burns and scratches in a jiffy.

«So the tree really is a healer!»

«And you thought I was lying to you?» She took an oddly shaped leaf or two and put it in her purse. «It’s also an oracle.»

«Isn’t it?» Clement was more interested in the rainbow-like color of the leaves. And its bark had fanciful growths that, in the dim light, might be mistaken for living, supernatural beings. Several birds flitted from the top of the tree. These are the real Syrines and Alconostes!

The living roots continued to grope Clement, though no wounds remained on his body. Clement trusted them now, like a doctor, so he willingly opened his palms as the branches began to glide along the lines of fate.

«He has a noble soul!» A hoarse voice was heard from within the tree. «It is an excellent choice! You are a perfect match! The archer and the dragoness! You are a prince and a princess!»

The giant face of the oracle seemed to fade into the bark of the trunk for a moment. Clement’s heart gave out. Hooray! The oracle tree had predicted good things. So the scoundrel in the square was wrong. His ominous visage made him want to believe less than the lush tree. Though beneath the sprawling crown lurked magical figures sprouted in the trunk and small magical creatures, as well as syrene. Clement whistled.

«Would I have a bird like that?»

«Would you propose to her too?» Raymonda mocked him. «Or make her your mistress?»

As luck would have it, the bird came up with a beautiful female head, braided hair, and a tiny corolla of turquoise.

«Mind you, if you marry me, I will let the minions go no further than into the furnace. That is in the dragon’s mouth!»

«You mean you’ll burn them all?»

«And you, too!»

«Won’t you be sorry?»

«Would you pity the minions you haven’t even had yet? How do you know they won’t turn out to be scheming witches you want to execute?»

«It’s too cruel a burnt offering anyway.»

«I promise I’ll burn anyone who annoys me or contradicts me. I will start with my rivals.»

«And that will be until you’re disenchanted?»

«As your uncle hinted, I don’t think that’s possible. But spells are good for me. I can remove all my rivals and enemies with fire. Your kingdom will burn. So, you’re not going to marry me, are you?»

«Absolutely not! I’ll find a way to tame you.»

She breathed fire into him, and nothing! He didn’t burn. Only the heat ran through his skin until he was red. It was as if he had been bewitched. And it is not by his uncle. Uncle couldn’t do that.

«And your uncle is right! You are the special one! If I can’t burn you, it can’t be otherwise.»

Raymonda suddenly respected him. As it turned out, even she could be impressed by something.

Well, the tree had to do the healer’s job again, probing the branches to see if the fire had left any small injuries on his body.

«I once watched a great battle here!» Raymonda said dreamily.

Clement thought a ghost battle was about to break out in the field, but there was nothing behind him but a statue of a fairy that stood on a pedestal right in the middle of the thicket of grass. She looked beautiful and a little ominous. She seemed to come to life as soon as the moonlight touched her.

«Why hadn’t I noticed her before?»

It was as if the marble fairy had just grown up in the middle of the field.

«Don’t go near her!» Raymonda was frightened. «Don’t even look at her!»

«But why is it?»

The statue seemed very beautiful to him. What could be wrong with it? Except that it was in a strange place.

For some reason Clement had an unbearable urge to lie down and fall asleep right now, right there, at the foot of that strange statue. In spite of Raymonda’s warning, he moved toward it. The beautiful bride cursed noisily behind him and repeated the warning several times:

«Moon statues are dangerous!»

But Clement could no longer hear her. It was as if the marble fairy was calling out to him and he could not resist the call.

What could Raymonda do? She flipped on the dragon almost instantly. The smoke seemed to envelope her in its familiar pattern of glitter. And before he knew it, Clement was sitting on the back of a dragon, flying higher and higher into the starry sky. As the night breeze refreshed his head, Clement couldn’t understand why he was so attracted to the fairy statue. He had the impression that it was the marble statue’s turn to swear at the dragon. After all, she had missed her prey, and once again Raymonda had saved her fiancé from danger. Apparently being a heroine has become a habit with her.

Forest Realm

The winged creatures were hovering in a dance over the halls, partly overgrown with moss. A carpet of leaves grew in the galleries, partly framed by trees rather than walls, and it was pleasant to tread on, even barefoot. But the pixies, too, had taken up residence in it. The little creatures were scandalous. Clement began to fear them.

The reflections of the elves in the mirrors were very willful and behaved very differently from their owners. Often they squirmed and mimicked the movements of their owners.

«The looking glass is a world of its own, and it has its own rules,» Raymonda said. Clement was in amazement.

It shocked him even more than the fact that the palace had no roof but a starry sky.

«Why did we come here?» Clement gazed in amazement at the enchanting surroundings, wondering if he would be driven away as an extra.

«To see my kin,» she urged him forward, first through the network of forest paths and now through a palace composed half of trees and half of walls and columns.

«Who is your kinsman?» Clement looked doubtfully at the winged creatures. Raymonda has no wings behind her. How could she be related to any of the natives? Usually the relatives are very similar.

«The elves are my distant kin,» Raymonda explained. «Abraham’s already told you, and you’re so untrusting.»

«Lost all your trust while you were running through the woods from the Shai killers,» Clement muttered. His quiver of arrows and crossbow were still hidden beneath his broad, rough shirt. Though his fiancée might be a dragon, he had to be prepared to defend himself as well.

The winged pairs were dancing over a carpet of moss.

«Is it a party every night?»

«It’s not a party,» Raymonda said. «It’s just an evening.»

«Which one’s your kin?»

«He is the local ruler.»

«Oh, well!» Clement could barely keep up with the bride on the moss-covered steps. The stairs went up into the starry heavens. The roofless palace had many galleries and passageways that practically hung high, leaning on nothing. Such a structure was meant for inhabitants who possessed wings rather than legs. Clement found it difficult to keep up with Raymonde. She could fly, but he had to jump over gaps where there was no floor or steps. One of the halls was like a giant mushroom, another was a living flowerbed of whispering forget-me-nots, and the third was as if the sea was imprisoned. The floor was of waves, and the walls of shells. Clement nearly drowned and crumpled several times as he reached the wing, which Raymonda called the Chateau of the Rulers.

«And all this luxury is hidden in the woods!» Clement marveled.

«That’s the realm of the wood elves,» said Raymonda, listening beyond the walls of the chateau. «There’s a Council going on. The elves are as anxious as you are about what comes next. But they will pause for my sake. I want you to meet the only relatives who aren’t bewitched.»

Bas-reliefs in the form of masks squinted slyly at Clement from the arches and walls. The rulers’ chateau had enough walls, as did the ceilings, but the dome gazebo was transparent to see the starry skies, and the halls themselves had unusual trees growing from the floor.

«There’s my kin over there,» Raymonda hurried toward the gathering of blond, winged beauties dressed in sparkling robes. Clement remained on the threshold, timid.

He had seen ambassadors and princes from many powers. But they were elves! Real elves! And he wore rough clothes, like a plowman. How can one not be embarrassed?

The elf with the crown glittering on his forehead looked happily at Raymonda. He was blown away as soon as he noticed that she had company.

«Behave yourself, Lourel!» She commanded, apparently to the king himself. «Don’t ruin tonight by summoning a storm. I demand that you ensure the safety of all humans who wander into the elves’ forest palace tonight, by accident or design.»

«Or you’ll burn us all?» Arrogant Lourel obviously knows her habits well. «Or will you chain us up like your Livellin’s clan?»

For some reason Raymonda blushed in shame. She seemed to have a guilty conscience about something. Clement concluded, quite justifiably, that there was a power struggle going on in her realm as well. Apparently, having become a dragon, she feels she must succeed her brothers to the throne. By the way, does she have any brothers? It is besides the elves? And what if they too are bewitched into dragons?

In a large luxurious hall, where flowering lianas stretched along the walls and columns instead of tapestries and stucco, a magnificent elves’ society was gathered. Elf men were in the majority, but a few beautiful ladies with translucent wings were present as well. From their chirping bird-like speech, Clement heard that Lourel was the local prince, not the king, and Raymonda’s cousin.

What a cousin! He has real wings behind his back, and blond hair down below his shoulders, and a hoop of live silver snakes crawling across his forehead, hissing slightly.

Clement didn’t want to meet him at all, but Lourel had already spotted him.

«Is he your dinner?» The elf prince turned to Raymonda. «Oh, I mean, hostage…»

The mistake in the speech was deliberate, Lourel grinned defiantly.

«He is my fiancé!» She corrected him.

«Is he your fiancé?» The pretty elves’ ladies jumped up in surprise and froze in midair. «You have a fiancé! And you still have not burned him!»

«He is not even burned!«The elf-woman with the rainbow wings, panted, and groped him. Though he was afraid of being tickled, he tolerated the touch of the elf-woman. He couldn’t keep the magic lady away from him.

«Leave him alone, Clariel!» Raymonda said.

Reluctantly, Clariel flew away from Clement. Her friends, wearing colorful wreaths and glittering wings, began whispering vigorously.

«Raymonda’s fiancé! Even the inaccessible Raymonda, who had only mocked everyone, was capable of falling in love with someone! It’s true that love is even stronger than magic!»

«These are my cousins, Narcissa, Freesia, Irisa, Heather, and Clariel,» Raymonda said.

The pretty elves surrounded Clement in a jiffy. They scented wildflowers and wings sprinkled with glittering pollen.

«What was so special about him?» Freesia pouted, crankily. «What makes him so different from all the others you’ve rejected?»

«He’s a Prince of Aluar.»

«Is he a prince?» They changed their attitudes toward Clement at once. Indifference was blown away like a magic wind and flirtation began.

«He is Prince of Aluar, he is not elf!» Lourel corrected with a jealous intonation.

«But he is a real prince all the same!» Fresia expressed her delight. «Raymonda was quite understandable.»

«I should like a prince too!» Irisa gasped.

«So would I!» Heather picked up on that.

«I would too!» The elves all chirped. «Because the only people who come to the forest are peasants, rarely messengers. Could you find us all a prince to bring here?»

Lurel snorted irritably.

«Suddenly there was such a big demand for princes on earth! It is because the boy is handsome. Raymonda loves a good-looking brunette or brown-haired boy. Blondes, on the other hand, are no good to her.»

The elf shook his mane of blond hair angrily and suddenly turned a brunette.

«You can’t impress me with tricks like that,» she rebuked him coldly.

Lourel turned red with anger and cunning. She had to hand it to him. His fiery red hair looked lovely, though it was distantly reminiscent of fox hide. He was just waiting for an angry elf to turn foxy and maul his rival.

«I’ll challenge him to a duel!» The elf prince gritted his teeth. «Then we shall see what a hero he is!»

«Don’t dare!» Suddenly Raymonda was nervous. Apparently, Lourel had become quite famous for his fighting skills. Had the Princess not been a dragon herself, Clement would have believed the jealous elf prince had killed every man she wanted to marry. Lourel was itching to go to the fray. He clutched convulsively at the armrests of his throne. Evidently, elves’ tradition forbade combat without a formal challenge and seconds. A formal challenge, however, was quickly followed. The elves surrounding Clement whispered in his ears that he could not refuse. Clement freed himself from their clinging hands and noticed that some of their fingers had turned into twigs stuck to his shirt. The whispers of the beauties also resembled the rustling of falling leaves.

«So what is it?» Lourel showed impatience. «Shall we fight like knights? And see if you, mortal prince, are worthy of such a prize as the beautiful Raymonda.»

Clement felt trapped. He would lose with a sword, but he had a chance with a bow. All he had to do was twist so that he could leave the choice of weapon up to himself. Usually it’s the one who challenges, which in this case is Lourel.

«Leave him alone!» Raymonda frowned. «Everyone knows that fighting against you is suicide. Are you so unhappy that I am back that you want to greet me with bloodshed?»