Legend of the Magibird

The Hunt

We rode for a few hours before reaching a crossroads, where a vendor stood beside a small light wooden wheelbarrow, filled with pots, pans and cutlery. He was a large, burly man wearing a beaver hat and a light red buttoned shirt and sporting a black mustache. He waved at us, but we ignored him.

"Hey, do you want some trinkets?" he yelled.

I stopped cold, and so did my brother. A faint image formed in my mind...

A man with fierce green eyes, long gray hair and a beard, wearing a small silver tiara and a navy-blue cloak with the white symbol of a wolf at its center. He was my father. He pointed at me and gave me a command.

"I want you to find my lost trinket!"

...I was snapped back to reality by the neighing of my steed. Me and my brother rode back to the forest and stopped at a thick tree.

"Brother, I think I remember a bit of what happened. Our father, Lord Vlad, wants us to find one of his lost trinkets. But I cannot recall what it is. Can you?"

"Neither do I, sorry."

I dismounted my horse. The I gasped and put both of my hands on my forehead. I took a few quick breaths. I was lost, I was an idiot for allowing myself and my brother to be distracted all those days in the inn.

Perhaps that is why they called it the Iris Inn. You get hypnotized, captured by all the colours of the building's drinks, the games, the tapestries. The building was always full of the addicted who never left.

"We're screwed! Our father will not forgive us for failing to find his ornament. Whatever it is, it is very valuable to him!" I yelled.

I grabbed a fist sized rock and threw it a few metres.

"Wait, we could give him the golden feather! It might be just as good if not better" I replied.

Boyan turned to me.

"You're right! But I would like to find this bird. I cannot resist!"

"No brother, I have no idea where to find it, and we need to bring our father something. If we can't bring him his trinket, perhaps the feather will make for a good alternative."

"Who cares about him or his trinket? Do you not want to see that bird again? Be honest with yourself!"

Suddenly, I remembered the bird, shining with all its colours and looking at me with its innocent pink eyes. Then I sympathized with my brother.

"You're right. Come on!"

We continued to ride through the trunks and stones of the birch forest. While wandering around, I surveyed the tops of the trees and kept my ears alert.

I heard many chirps and cries from songbirds, but they were not those of the bird. A blue mockingbird sat on the branches of one of the birches. A little distance away I caught a thrush flying over me. I rode forward and caught a magpie on the top of one of the trees, partially hidden by the orange leaves.

"This is nice, brother, but not what we're looking for" I said.

We kept going and the forest became less thick, making it easier for me to navigate my steed between the trees. The rocks also ceased dotting the grassy ground.

Eventually, I noticed a red glow inside my backpack. I opened it, and found that the glow came from my feather.

A loud bird's call sounded from above, cute, innocent, and shrill but at the same time piercing. My eyes were immediately drawn up to the bird soaring above me. Its many colours were amplified by the sun, so directly looking at it burned my eyes and I had to look down for a few seconds. But as the bird passed, I could see the colours shine below it like a kaleidoscope.