Oleander & the Ogre

Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a princess Nea and a princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. They just ran into Wahl, an old ogre friend, while helping the dwarfs protect themselves from a windstorm. Wahl was desperate to find out what had happened to his long lost family and had a magic map, that he’d hope would lead him to answers. 

“How many days left until the map changes?” asked Princess Lulu, referring to Wahl’s magic map. 

Wahl’s map revealed the locations of magical landmarks all throughout Atheria if it was opened and put in the moonlight. The last time Wahl had opened it, it gave him the location to Ella’s Well, a well that was rumored to give anyone with a special coin one wish. Princess Lulu wanted to know how many more nights before the location to the well disappeared from the map and another magical location appeared in it’s place.

“We have two more nights.” He said rolling the map back up and putting it in his backpack. 

“So what do you know about your family? Anything?” Nea asked. 

“Not much. I was raised in Traycod. I don’t know if my real parents are still alive or if I have any siblings or even which ogre village I actually come from!”

“Well, Wahl of Traycod, you are always welcome at Sparland Castle.”

As they headed out on their adventure. They had to pass around Mr. Willow. It was a difficult hike but the adventurers were used to it from all the traveling they’d done around Atheria.

As they went, it was so windy [Whooosh] the winds were picking up everywhere getting stronger and stronger. And halfway through the hike it started to rain, and lightening struck around them and thunder boomed in the distance. When they finally made it out of the mountain range, they were at the edge of the Forest of Forevermore. 

To protect themselves they needed to find shelter. They were drenched from all the rain and somewhat miserable by now. As they were searching for branches and leaves to make some covering, they came across a small hut they’d never seen before. 

“Why hello,” said an old elf upon noticing the travelers.

Without another word, the princesses recognized elf. It was Oleander, an old wise nomadic elf. 

[Being a nomad means you move around a lot and don’t just stay in one spot.]

Oleander was known throughout Atheria for his wisdom of magic. It was rumored that long ago he was a warrior elf who rode griffins and fought to protect the Forest of Forevermore from an ogre invasion. 

“Oleander,” Nea said giving a slight courtesy. “What a pleasure it is for us soaking wet travelers to bump into you out here, on the edges of the Forest of Forevermore.”

“Princess Nea & Lulu of Sparland,” the old elf said. “I welcome you to my humble hut. But that one I cannot welcome in. It is not right for an ogre here. I have had enough battles with ogres in my day.” 

“Oleander of the Woods,” Nea said, “This is Wahl of Traycod. We can assure you he is of pure heart and mind. He is not like other ogres. At least not of King Bealock’s kind.”

King Bealock was an ogre king in the south who had made much trouble for the princesses over their adventures. Oleander squinted his eyes and looked Wahl up and down very closely. 

“Hmmmm...” he mumbled. 

He then looked at Nea, then Lulu, then a Wahl and then back at Nea. 

“How can I house a monstrosity like this,” he said, a little frustrated. “He’s huge, just look at him. He’ll never fit in any of my beds. I mean, you princesses I can house, but this big ogre!” 

Wahl took a deep breath, grit his teeth and turned around and waved the elf off with his hand, exposing a small birthmark on his wrist. When Oleander saw it, he realized that Wahl was not like other ogres. 

“You are not a fighter?” he asked.

Wahl looked over his shoulder and shook his head. 

“And where did you say you were from?”

“Traycod.”

“Maybe I have spoken too soon and could find you a place to rest. Come back here and tell me who you are!” 

“I’m Wahl and I don’t know who I am. That’s why I’m here. I was abandoned as a baby and adopted by my parents who were traveling between cities. I’m trying to find out who my birth family is and who I am.” 

“You don’t say. Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned - it’s that sometime you have to make your own family, young ogre.” 

“And what happened to yours?” Wahl said, picking up on Oleander’s reference.

“I lost some of them in the Invasion of Forevermore. Others, well, they changed.” 

Oleander looked down, honoring his lost family. It was me and Talonclaw that were left. 

“Talonclaw?” asked Lulu.

“My griffin. We were close. Like Simon and Scorch. Oleander and Talonclaw. However, Oleander and Talonclaw doesn’t have quite the same ring.”

“You rode a griffin?” asked Wahl unpacking his backpack. 

“I sure did. Talonclaw was the pick of the litter. Elves are taught a young age about griffins. How to raise, how to ride and care for them.”

Wahl looked around the hut and made sure no one else was with them. 

“So would you know what to do with these?”

He opened up his bag and pulled out a small crate. Inside the crate were three large eggs, eggs that were beige with dark brown speckles. 

“Where did you find those?” Asked Oleander, clearly astonished.

“I rescued them from some trolls. Their mom didn’t make it so I’ve been holding on to them, not quite sure what to do. I couldn’t leave them with the trolls. Are they still alive?”

Oleander reached into the crate and felt the eggs. 

“Yes, yes they are. You’ve done a great job, keeping them warm. But they are bound to hatch soon. What then do you plan to do with three griffins then? They will need much care and feeding. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to raise these young beaklings.”

Without missing a beat, Oleander took the three eggs to the back of his hut and assembled a small nest for them. 

“You would do that?” asked Wahl. “Want to raise them, I mean?”

“Well, quite honestly, I can’t think of a safer place for these young ones for now. It’s no Griffin Keep. Once they hatch, though, you’ll have your work cut out for you. I won’t care for these forever.”

Oleander looked Wahl directly in the eyes.

“Are you ready to be a father?”

Wahl choked. “A father?”

Nea and Lulu both chuckled at the thought. 

“Don’t worry, Wahl, we’ll figure something out.” Nea replied. 

Oleander agreed to watch over the griffin eggs while the adventurers continued on the their journey, but on one condition, that he would be able to gift one to his grandchild. Wahl agreed, thinking there could probably be nothing better for the griffin.

***

The next morning, the travelers left the hut amid the growing wind outside. Everywhere they went bushes were being blown over and trees were bending in the wind. Everyone’s hair was getting so out of the control they all had to cover their heads or wrap their hair somehow. 

As they were traveling through the fields they started to hear a noise, not just any noise but instruments playing. The music sounded familiar so they took a detour to go explore. 

As they got closer, Nea and Lulu were astonished to see Prince William off in the distance camped out with a handful of other travelers.

“Prince William of Cedar Landing!” shouted Nea. 

William looked up from his guitar and gave the two princesses a wave to come over.

“Nea, Lulu! So good to see you.” He said, then looked at Wahl. “I see you’ve met yet another ogre friend.”

“Prince William of Cedar Landing, this is Wahl of Traycod.” 

“Well, Wahl of Traycod I hope you are as noble of character as these two.”

Wahl just half nodded, not quite sure what to make of Prince William’s comment. 

“Prince Clef!?” Lulu said, pointing to another member of William’s party. 

Clef set down his lyre and walked over and greeted the princesses. Then turned to Wahl.

“I’ll be honest, we don’t get many ogres up in Skyrabia, Wahl of Traycod. If you are part of this adventure we’re on to save Atheria, you should come visit some time.” And he extended his hand for a handshake.

“Up in the sky?” Wahl asked. Ogres in general did not talk much about the land of Skyrabia above the sky or of Tortura under the sea. Ogres were generally a tribal species that stuck together. But the idea of traveling to sky or under the sea intrigued him. 

“Yes, you must,” insisted Clef, “Now let’s catch up on our adventures over some food. It sounds like you’ve been on a special mission from Tuck and Ryla as well.”

The two parties sat down and began sharing their stories. Clef shared how he had seen the shattering from the Glass Castle in the sky and remembered some of the old legends his parents had told him. After documenting the shattering and building a map, he went to go find the green crystal with a friend, only to meet up with Ryla. Ryla quickly told him (as she did William) that they needed to start training. They needed to prepare, said Tuck, for an upcoming battle. They needed to protect Atheria. So they have been training all across Atheria, Tortura and even Skyrabia for some time. 

William’s story was similar, shortly after heading off with Paul & O’Lah, Ryla had found him as well to begin training as a protector. The group here were taking a break from practicing hand-to-hand combat at the edges of the forest. 

Now as the group started to eat, Wahl opened up his backpack to find a small, heavy purse in it. He noticed that it wasn’t one of his own. It must have been placed there by Oleander before they left. When he opened the pouch, he found a note on top of a small pile of gold coins. He picked up the note and read it. 

“My fellow adventurer, please take this as a small token of my thanks and error last night. I have been told that you will need it as you continue on your path. It was not by chance that you came upon my door and I sense this will come in handy for you and your party.”

Wahl looked in the bag and noticed that there was a small pile of regular Atherian gold coins and there was one larger one that was definitely something else. Possibly a special elven currency? 

As they camped that night with William and Clef’s party, Wahl dreamt of what he could do with those coins. He had never been one with extra money so the thought of having some excited him. He did not however, know just how valuable one of those coins would be. 

The end.