His Elven Crown (An Aladdin Retelling)

Part 2

The next morning, Adeline woke him up with the sunrise and they headed to his home, because he insisted on seeing his mother before leaving. Adeline introduced herself as a small merchant from the south, who was looking for a young boy to accompany her on her next trip. She promised to pay him a good sum, and offered her a small bag of coins in advance, saying she'll send him back with more.

"That's very generous of you," his mom smiled, "but I need to have a word with him first."

"Of course." Adeline went to stand outside.

Dian's mother put her hand around his shoulder. "Were you messing with travelers again?"

He looked away, "Mother, that doesn't matter right now."

"Dian," she sighed, her gaze moving towards Adeline.

"I'll start working and earn money, and you won't have to worry about that ever again."

She hugged him tight as they exchanged their goodbyes. Then he and Adeline hit the road. They walked for a few hours, only speaking when necessary, before finally stopping by a lake for some water and a snack. Finding an apple tree nearby, Adeline waved a hand in the air, magically pulling an apple down.

"How do you do that?" Dian asked.

She plopped down and took a bite of her apple. "Do what?"

"The.. magic."

She looked amused, ready to tease him about it, but upon seeing the serious look on his face, she said, "Well, there's power in everything around you. You only have to find it, and channel it as you need. I draw on the power inside of me. You can do that too. Some prefer to carry powerful stones and relics to draw power from, but it's never as effective."

Dian turned her words over in his mind, eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't think about it too much, just try." She motioned at the apples up there.

Doubtful as he was, he closed his eyes, then reached up with both hands. He imagined the apple falling into his hands, pulling at the air with his fingertips. He was starting to feel quite dumb. He popped an eye open to look at Adeline, but she was busy eating her apple. He sighed, and thought again about her words. Find the power inside and channel it. He tried once more, eyes fixed up on an apple. It shook ever so slightly. He blinked, surprised. It moved again when he tugged harder. Once more, and it fell down into his hands. He met Adeline's indifferent sideway glance, "Good job."

And so the rest of the journey went, for two days and two nights. They walked almost all day, resting only when they can no longer go on. They slept the nights on the road, under the trees. Dian kept trying to move things with his new magic all the time. Adeline didn't seem to mind, but she wasn't much help either. However, whenever he tried to move anything slightly big, his hands ached and his head felt light. He asked her about it one day.

"Of course it's going to hurt. Power always come at a price," she said, "When you get used to that amount of power, the pain will go away."

On the third day, as they were walking towards a hill covered in trees, he was surprised to hear her say, "Well, we're almost there."

There was a cave at the bottom of the hill, hidden behind trees. Two huge fallen trunks were blocking the entrance. Adeline used her power to lift one trunk up and throw it to the side.

"Can I try?" He asked. She motioned for him to go ahead, mildly annoyed.

He put his hands in front of him, and fixed his eyes on the second trunk. Focus. He'd never attempted with anything this heavy. His hands shook, and then there was a little pang in his chest. Light pain was slowly crawling up his shoulders and down to his arms. Focus. The trunk jerked up. His head was getting light, his arms went numb with pain. The tree had barely moved a few inches before his body gave up. He let go, falling to his knees, dizzy. It took him an effort to lift his head up, to see Adeline staring at him pathetically, as she shoved the trunk away effortlessly.

"Don't worry, you'll get there at some point," she said, emotionless.

He got up. The pain was quickly fading away, but he could still feel the little pang in his chest.

"So, what am I to look for inside?" He asked.

"A black diamond. Don't worry, it should be the only black one. It has tremendous power, I'm sure you'll feel it," Adeline said eagerly. "Bring it to me, and you can have whatever else you want from inside the cave."

Dian nodded, and took a few steps through the entrance. As he got deeper, the light diminished. He stopped at a big door with elven runes at the top. There was a tall statue of an elf, holding a sword in front of him. Dian touched the statue, and tried to push the door, but nothing moved.

He hesitated for a second, before walking back. Adeline was sitting there. She frowned as she saw him.

"I found a door, but it's locked," he told her.

"Then break it," she said, annoyed.

"I couldn't move a tree, and you want me to break a door?"

"Oh, I can teach you that all right," She grabbed his shirt. "Don't think I'll let you back away so easily." She hissed.

Dian pulled himself away, and suddenly, Adeline let go. She lunged again at him, but her hand hung mid-air, as if unable to reach him through a magical barrier. She yelled in frustration, and walked away. She stood there, staring at the setting sun, then shook her head.

"Come out, then. We'll figure it out, tomorrow," she said.

Dian walked out warily. Adeline pulled out a loaf from her bag, broke it in half, and gave him to eat. She finished first, then covered herself with her cloak and went to sleep.

As Dian took his time eating and watching the sunset, he saw something moving in the corner of his eye. He turned his head in time to glimpse a silhouette in front of the cave, pushing through the invisible barrier. However, after a moment's struggle, they got in.