What We Fight For

“An illusion?” Bewildered, Leyade looked back at the scene.

“Yes. They’re illusion spells: Silent Image and Ghost Sound,” Elindra explained from the flap of Silas’s satchel. “I know both of them.”

Leyade watched the fight again.

“Well, it looked very real.” She lowered her bow and put it away.

“Yes, that’s rather the point,” Silas replied, placing his hands on his hips with an amused smile. “But what intrigues me isn’t that it’s an illusion. It’s...” He paused dramatically before casting Leyade a playful sideways glance. “Why is it here?”

Leyade nodded thoughtfully.

“It is very strange.”

The ranger took out the sheet on which she was mapping their route and picked up her charcoal. After working out how far they had strayed, she traced their path to the image and marked its position.

“Its location doesn’t tell us anything either.” She frowned at the map.

“We should see whether there are more. It would make sense. Nobody would expend the power needed to maintain all this for a single image, would they?” Silas surveyed their surroundings again. “Unfortunately, it’s too dark to make out any other sources of magic.”

With visible effort, Elindra began moving her claws and reciting an incantation until several pale purple lights appeared. They drifted away from her, reaching some forty metres into the darkness and remaining close together in a gentle curve.

“That’s the most I can do to help,” she said, looking at them both.

“Oh, thank you, Elindra.” Leyade affectionately stroked her head before resuming their search.

She raised her eyes towards Silas, then lost her nerve. Seeing him so... exposed made her nervous, so she spoke without looking at him.

“Right, then. Let’s go. You lead the way. You know more about this.”

Silas smiled, excited by the mystery, and started walking.

“These spells aren’t usually very far apart. Besides, I spotted a trail of magic over there.”

He pointed and set off.

They trudged through the sand, weaving between the dunes until, just as Silas had predicted, another image appeared.

This time, the scene was completely different.

A girl and a boy were going to lessons together, playing in the forest, celebrating birthdays, visiting the lake... Snippets of their everyday lives passed before them, but whatever they were doing, they were always together.

The image changed.

Now the boy was at home, looking at a portrait of the girl as he wrote a letter.

The scene shifted again. This time, he was waiting nervously beside the lake. The letter was hidden in his pocket, and he kept glancing around for her.

When she arrived, they sat down to talk. They spent the afternoon there, and as the sun began to set, the boy finally found the courage to give her the letter.

Surprised, the girl took it, unfolded it and began to read. He waited anxiously, watching her eyes move across the words.

When she finished, a smile spread across her face. She threw her arms around him and kissed him.

Leyade and Elindra sighed at the tender scene, while Silas watched thoughtfully.

“How strange... First a battle, now a love story. I don’t see the connection.” He tapped his lips with his fingers, trying to work out what lay behind it.

“Honestly, Silas, you’re so practical,” Leyade said, tilting her head as she looked at him.

“I’m just trying to solve the mystery, darling,” he replied, barely glancing at her.

“Silas isn’t usually honest about his feelings,” Elindra remarked casually, peering round his hip to look at Leyade.

This time, Silas ignored her and continued thinking.

“Well, keeping your feelings bottled up can’t be good for you either,” Leyade said, folding her arms.

“Tell me, Leyade. Do you think the people in these illusions are keeping their feelings bottled up?” Silas asked without looking at her.

“Hm?” Leyade studied the image again. “No. They’re facing them.”

“Then there’s our connection,” Silas said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Don’t you think that, despite being in completely different situations, they’re both doing the same thing?”

Leyade looked at the couple, then back towards the place where they had found the first illusion.

“Yes...” she replied thoughtfully. “They’re both facing their feelings.”

“Exactly,” Silas said. “One keeps fighting despite what he’s up against, and the other dares to say how he feels. I don’t know what it means, but I very much doubt it’s a coincidence.” His eyes shone with curiosity. “There must be something more... Let’s keep looking.”

He turned towards Leyade.

“Let me see your map.”

Curious, she handed it over. The young spellcaster studied it for a few moments.

“If I use the two illusions as reference points...” He traced a finger over the paper. “And find where the lines meet...” he murmured to himself. “It should be there, shouldn’t it?”

He pointed to a particular spot, seeking Leyade’s confirmation.

She checked his calculations, then looked in the direction he indicated, consulting her compass.

“Exactly. That way,” the ranger confirmed with a nod.

Silas straightened excitedly and beckoned them to follow. Intrigued by his discovery, they did so. After walking for a while, they reached the spot he had indicated, but there was nothing there.

“What are we supposed to be looking at?” Leyade asked.

“Silas, I can usually follow your train of thought, but I think you’ve lost me this time,” Elindra admitted, looking around.

“Don’t get worked up. I’m sure there must be something.”

He searched the area, checking that nothing was hidden beneath the sand. Then he tried to determine whether anything was invisible before resorting to the same spell he had used earlier.

Silas focused on the area around the point he had marked. After a few moments, the spell revealed something. The flickering outline of a door appeared before him.

“I knew it!”

He approached and noticed something shining on its spectral wood. Words, perhaps. Narrowing his eyes, he managed to read the Sylvan inscription:

“Words that come from the soul are what allow you to move forwards.”

Leyade tilted her head.

“Is that what it says on the door?”

“Yes. It’s a magical door. It probably needs a command word to open,” Silas suggested, keeping his eyes on it.

“Then perhaps it’s a word connected to the images!” Leyade moved closer, intrigued. “If so, it could be something like...”

Slipping beside Silas, she exclaimed:

“Courage!”

The door did not react.

Silas looked at it, then at Leyade.

“Why that word?”

“Courage lets you face things you never imagined you could,” she explained, confident in her reasoning.

“I’d say it’s ‘determination’,” Elindra offered, looking at Silas. “After all, without determination, you don’t face the things that frighten or worry you, like the people in those images.”

Silas stood thoughtfully before the door.

“Hmm... I think there must be more to it.”

He rested a hand against it.

“Fear.”

The door did not respond.

“Apparently not,” he sighed.

“Why did you choose that, Silas?” Leyade asked.

“It says the words have to come from the soul, doesn’t it? Fear is something we struggle to put into words or accept. It can paralyse us or make us give up, but if we face it, we can achieve great things.”

As he explained, he took off his hat and ran his fingers through his slightly curly hair.

“You’re right, but if it didn’t work, perhaps we’re overlooking something,” Leyade replied. “It’s about facing your feelings. The elders in my village used to say that every elf has to learn that lesson sooner or later if they want to become wise.” She shrugged. “Personally, I think facing them is better than avoiding them. Keeping everything inside can really hurt.”

Elindra and Leyade exchanged a knowing glance.

Silas turned Leyade’s words over in his mind.

‘Face your feelings. Keeping them inside can hurt...’

The two illusions played over and over in his head. The man fighting on despite facing something that seemed impossible to defeat. The boy gathering the courage to hand over his letter and risk discovering how the girl felt.

Then he understood.

It was not about finding a word to describe the images. Nor was it about guessing a password.

Silas sighed and reached towards the door. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about what he himself carried inside.

“Loneliness.”

The door glowed beneath his hand.

Silas opened his eyes in surprise. A new inscription appeared on the spectral wood:

“What you hide within your soul grows heavier the longer you carry it in silence. Facing it is the first step towards moving forwards.”

Silas gazed at the words for a few moments.

“If only it were that easy...” he murmured with a faint smile.

The door gave way, revealing a dark passage in the midst of the dunes.

“You did it!” Amazed, Leyade stared at the path that had appeared. “How did you manage that?”

With his back still to her, Silas drew a deep breath before turning round, his expression changing completely.

“A magician never reveals his tricks, my dear,” he replied with a playful smile and a wink.

He stepped into the passage. On the other side, a chamber filled with murals and lush vegetation opened before them. Small white and yellow lights illuminated it from either side.

Leyade wandered through the room in wonder, carefully picking her way among the little berry bushes around the trees until she reached a rock and set down her backpack.

“Wow, this place is beautiful...” Fascinated, she breathed in the damp scent of the plants, then took out her leaf cloak and put it on now that they were out of the heat. “Look over there!” she exclaimed, pointing to a cluster of flowers. “Those are silk lilies!”

She hurried over to them in excitement.

“How lovely...” The lights Elindra had created slowly faded as she entered. “Leyade, are these berries edible?” the dragon asked, already holding one to her lips.

“Don’t put things in your mouth when you don’t know what they are,” Silas scolded, taking it from her claw.

Leyade came over to check. She looked at the berries, smelt them and examined them before reaching her conclusion.

“Silas was right to stop you. They’re poisonous,” she warned gravely. “Even touching them gives you a rash.”

Elindra froze. Then she began nervously rubbing her claw against the grass, trying to wipe it clean. Leyade burst out laughing.

“I’m joking. They’re harmless. They’re blackberries.” She picked one and popped it into her mouth. “And they’re delicious!”

Elindra stared at her, astonished and offended, then folded her arms. A moment later, she snatched up five berries and ate them all at once while Silas watched with a mocking smile.

Silas surveyed the chamber. Leyade approached one of the murals. It depicted a beautiful forest of fruit trees and flowers, with animals of different kinds gathered around a lake. Among them, a humanoid tree with ears longer than an elf’s sat on a rock, smiling at the scene. Beneath it was an inscription in Sylvan:

“Let us care for the gift that...”

The rest had been lost.

Leyade took out a notebook and began copying the mural until Silas spoke.

“Leyade, we have a problem.”

Having fastened his tunic again, he came to stand beside her. She looked up from where she sat on the floor.

“This room has no doors. I think we’re trapped,” he explained. He seemed puzzled rather than worried.

“And you’re that calm about it?” Leyade asked, raising an eyebrow.

“All the more fun.” Silas shrugged with a smile.

Leyade rolled her eyes and showed him the mural.

“I found this inscription,” she said, pointing.

He studied it for a moment.

“It seems to refer to a gift.”

“Yes. It looks like the story of Selvida, doesn’t it?” Leyade glanced at him.

“It does.”

“But who are these tree people?” She studied the mural thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure.”

Silas examined it alongside her. Elindra joined them, intrigued, but she knew nothing about the creatures either.

“Let’s look at the other murals. Perhaps they’ll tell us more.”

Silas followed the wall with his eyes until another mural caught his attention. It showed a beautiful dawn in the mountains. Sunlight slowly flooded the land, reaching every corner: cities, villages, forests... Everything seemed to receive its light. Like the first mural, it bore an inscription:

“The hope of a new day.”

Across the room, Leyade examined another. The moon shone high in the sky, casting a mysterious pale glow over a vast forest dotted with civilisations gazing up from below. A phrase crowned the night sky:

“The dream of generations shall remain in the earth.”

Eager to help, Elindra chose another. It depicted a woman with sky-blue eyes and long golden hair, wearing a flowing white gown and smiling before a tree. Three figures knelt in front of her.

The first was an elf with hair as yellow as the sun, dressed in forest green and wearing a cloak much like Leyade’s. Beside him knelt another elf with hair as black as night and a dark blue cloak. The last was another of the humanoid trees with very long ears, wearing a clay-coloured robe marked with the image of a tree.

Each held one hand over their heart and rested the other on the tree’s roots. This inscription read:

“Never forget how deep the roots reach.”

Leyade carefully sketched everything they found.

“It seems to show Selvida bestowing her gift,” she said thoughtfully. “The moon and sun seem to represent the two elven territories...” She looked questioningly at Silas.

“You’re right, but who are they?” Elindra asked, pointing to the tree-like figures.

“I think we agree they’re the same creatures we saw earlier, only in happier times,” Silas said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, but who are they?” Leyade looked at the mural again, confused. “And what does any of this have to do with getting out?”

Frustrated, she leaned against a vine.

“Now that I think about it...” murmured Elindra, who had climbed a tree. “If you look closely, all the scenes point in the same direction.”

She indicated one with a little claw.

Silas and Leyade came over to see for themselves.

The sun’s rays, the moonlight, the branch-like arm, the elves’ hands... All pointed towards the same moss-covered stone.

Leyade approached and pulled away some of the moss.

“It’s a statue!” she exclaimed. “Come here! Quickly! Let’s uncover it!”

Together, they cleared it, revealing beautiful but weathered white marble. The statue depicted a woman with long hair that seemed to float around her, two enormous angelic wings and a flowing gown stirred by the wind. She appeared to be leaning forwards to offer something.

“What a shame...” Leyade murmured. “It’s broken.”

She pointed to the missing fingers.

“It’s Selvida, isn’t it?” she asked Silas.

He nodded.

“What was she holding?”

Silas studied the statue thoughtfully. Elindra tried to squeeze into the space between its hands but could not fit.

“Well, we know it wasn’t a faerie dragon,” she joked before going in search of things to try. “Let’s experiment. We’re bound to find something that fits and gives us a clue.”

Silas tried a round stone, but it did not fit. Leyade tried flowers, but they did not seem right. Elindra placed a twig in the hands, only for it to fall straight through.

All three searched their surroundings for something that might help.

Then Leyade looked back at the murals and realised something was missing. She approached a curtain of vines and drew it aside, revealing another mural beneath.

It showed a magnificent tree divided into two halves. One side bloomed with flowers as pure and white as clouds, a warm golden glow flowing through it. It brimmed with life. The other half showed the same tree burning, blackened and almost consumed. Its radiance had become smoke, its flowers nothing but ash.

Leyade quickly searched for the accompanying inscription, but only one almost illegible word remained:

“Hope?”

At that, she reached for Kalindra. The sword felt warm and seemed to fill her with calm.

She turned towards the statue and approached with a firm step. With the greatest care, she laid Kalindra in its hands.

Silas and Elindra watched expectantly.

The sword glowed.

Its light travelled through the statue, from the hands to the wings, then down towards the base. It trickled across the floor like morning dew. Leyade watched it spread.

Then the light flashed, and the mural of the divided tree began sliding aside.

“Quickly! Go through!” Leyade pointed urgently towards the passage. Seeing Silas about to protest, she added, “I’ll follow as soon as I’ve got Kalindra!”

She grabbed her backpack as they hurried away.

Silas and Elindra ran through the opening and vanished beyond it. Once Leyade was certain both were through, she snatched up Kalindra and sprinted towards the gap, which had begun closing as soon as she removed the sword.

“Leyade!” Elindra cried from the other side.