"Mr. Knudlac, do you think it's okay for me to take part in this event? I think it was more appropriate if Alexander ... I drove him mad and I think I ruined our friendship."
"My dear, if anyone ever ceases to be your friend, it means you've never been a friend of his. In life you'll meet many people ... but only a few are true friends."
The girl thought a little of Mr. Knudlac's wise words, then she continued:
"But, my participation ..."
"You were chosen for your magic power that's amazing even for the oldest wizards. They saw hope in you. So everything is as it should be. You'll be a great wizard."
"Is it true that only the most powerful wizards participated in this contest?"
"No, but it's true that everyone who won this contest became very powerful wizards."
"For example?"
"For example Vladimir Dragoesti. Before winning this contest he was one of the weakest. Everyone made jokes about him and laughed at him before taking part in this contest. And now…"
"But he's a bad man. He killed ..."
The girl stopped. That thought even after all this time gave her goosebumps and filled her heart with anger against that man.
"Yeah, he's a bad wizard. But that doesn't mean he isn't one of the most powerful wizards. He was misguided. He believes that if he kills other wizards he'll become stronger, taking their powers."
"Is that true?"
"Sometimes, under specific conditions, a wizard killing another wizard can learn secrets of one or more of the victim's spells. That spell can be powerful. More powerful spells on the same wizard means power."
"Power is ... It's good to have power."
"It's not bad to be strong. Still, we must consider how we use power and for what purpose. Vladimir chose his path. I chose my path. And you'll have to choose your path. I just hope you make good choices. And never forget that our choices build the path we chose to follow. They build us."
The girl looked at the professor and smiled back to him.
"You won this contest too, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"Was it hard?"
"Yes, especially when I had a test like you in the Ancient Forest."
Mr. Knudlac's voice was slightly shaky. He probably had his reason. Because the jury and the competitors were now in the most dangerous area in which a man ever set foot ... The Ancient Forest.
Yes, it's the same forest, called by almost everyone the Black Forest where someone was about to die because of that ogre. The forest where so many wizards were lost.
"Why was this place chosen for the last test?"
"That's how it was meant to be. As always, the location for the event was chosen by those who organize this contest. The Magic Consulate inspired by ... magic."
Mr. Knudlac turned the magic wand and showed the girl how the locations for the three events were chosen. The first image showed how in a playful top hat magic letters and words were mixed, thrown there by three members of the Magic Consulate. Then each of the three, using their wand, took out some letters and words from that top hat and blew them away.
When everyone finished doing this, the letters and words were ordered by themselves writing the text:
Where there is no heat,
And they hate the sunshine treat,
Water does not flow but flies,
First time in cold winds, blue skies ...
"That's how I came to Nakutsck's land," Knudlac said.
The second text also appeared:
After all the cold and ice,
Fate has pleased us, it was nice.
In the sun and sky so clear,
Barefoot on fine sand, oh dear.
Back again, here's the team,
From warm sand to ... happy swim.
"Purple oasis ... And the last test will take place in the Ancient Forest."
"It seems to be the most dangerous location. Given that problem with the ogre," said Elizabeth fearfully.
"Don't worry, my dear. I took this into account and asked a few friends to supplement the staff responsible for protecting you."
Knudlac gestured questioningly at a stone elf, who appeared to be Rujnoiu ... or if it wasn't him, he had a twin brother, for sure, because he looked like him. He smiled at the professor, sign that everything was ready. The stone elf pointed to several directions where other stone elves could be seen who stayed alert to everything that was going on around them.
Competitors Fahria, Jiao Long and Elizabeth Catherine Edwards were ready for the contest, all of them visibly nervous.
"I know this Forest seems a little scary. But I took care personally to eliminate any danger. And the number of wizards charged with your protection doubled, thanks to the stone elves' help, Mr. Knudlac's friends."
The words spoken belonged to Princess Eowyn, also having the desired effect. The three competitors when they learned about how much their safety was valued, were happy. Nothing can be calmer than realizing that someone watches over you, just as a mother comforts you when you have nightmares. As for the rumours about Ancient Forest, surely many who went through it had nightmares for a long time if they survived.
"The parchment is hidden in the Forest in an area protected by a very strong field," continued Princess Eowyn. "A magic known only to my peers ..."
The elf princess smiled. She gave power to the competitors, turning their fear into courage.
"The test will be as follows: each of you will spend at most three days, when you have to cross a distance of about twenty miles, until near the top of Arthpati Mountain. And when you get to the top, you have to fight a magic creature. But the fight will not be straight ... physical. It will be rather a fight of attention, insight and wisdom. A swamp prince, which you will easily recognize as he looks like a huge male frog, will have a riddle for you."
The princess stopped explaining, shook the three children's hands and smiled.
"Don't worry, there is no condition to prevent you from crossing this distance together. Still, once at the end of the road you have to solve individually some riddles whose answer is known only by the swamp prince. Also, an army of wizards will be responsible for your protection. They'll save you from any danger even if you're eliminated from the competition.
Indeed, more wizards than Johnny could ever count, were behind the three competitors.
The wizard-guardians left gradually, one by one, then three, four or even more at the same time, heading resolutely to the places entrusted to them.
"Everything is ready for the last test to begin!" concluded Princess Eowyn.
In the cheers of the crowd gathered there, but with far fewer spectators compared to the previous tests, Fahria, Jiao Long, and Elizabeth advanced farther into that vastness of trees, called the Ancient Forest.
The competitors finally had to fight for the last parchment. The most valuable, much more valuable than the other two won on the occasion of the first two events, as some called it, the Divine Parchment. A parchment for which many competitors fought each other, as the three now had to do when they were to reach Mount Arthpati.
Jiao Long chose to run to cross that 20-mile distance. By the way he ran, by the strength and the speed that characterized him, he would surely manage to cross that distance in less than two days.
Fahria moved a little slower than the boy who passed among the trees like a wolf chasing his prey, but only because she ... moved not among the trees but on their branches.
The elf girl moved on those branches of the trees as if she walked on a path, so easily she flew from one branch to another. The truth is that the trees were huge in the Ancient Forest. The branches on which Fahria moved were as thick as a path. And the branches of such a huge tree met a branch of another tree and so on, making that path for Fahria uninterrupted.
But even so, it would be impossible for many to run along these wooden paths, as these forest elves did.
Elizabeth also ran among the trees, on the ground, just as Jiao Long did, except for the speed. She could barely keep up with the elf flight among the branches.
Elizabeth was lucky. The elf girl felt pity for Elizabeth. When she saw Elizabeth was a little behind, she slowed down too.
The forest was frightening because of the stories heard about it since they hadn't seen any terrible creature yet. It was clear that the organizers of this event made sure there was no danger on the way. Moreover, from time to time a professor came to encourage the competitors, because they were still children even if one of them was several hundred years old...
…
It's been evening for more than a few hours. The sky with a great deal of stars looked wonderful through the tree branches in the Ancient Forest. Everything was so brilliant and magic as if they were in fairies' forest.
But ... even that magic sky trembled at a creepy scream of who knows what creature in this time immemorial forest.
Elizabeth and Fahria sat by a small fire blowing up hot fireflies. The little stars meeting real fireflies in the air went off like long-lost stars.
Jiao Long was near them too. He could be much further than them, but that's what he wanted, to be close to the girls. Maybe he felt safer near the two girls.
"I think I'll try to sleep. I'm really tired," Elizabeth told Fahria.
"Yes, it's better to have a rest," said the elf girl.
"What about you…?"
"We sleep less than you, humans do," said the girl, smiling.
Elizabeth, who wasn't used to exerting herself as she did today, fell fast asleep.
Fahria smiled at Jiao Long good night. When he was seen looking at them, he hid like a puppy who made a mistake in front of his master and realized that.
The elf girl continued to admire the stars and the fireflies around her. Both those coming out of the flames and those who flew everywhere, illuminating that forest, like stars that decided to descend from the sky to have a rest near the Earth.