The Quest For Hope

Dragon's Gate: Chapter Two

"Ughhh, what is this stuff?" Princess Elsa asked, wrinkling her nose at the steaming concoction that Pabbie placed in her hands.

Pabbie smiled. "The stuff that smells the worst is always the best for you. Drink it up, and we'll see if that helps you remember any more."

"Again?" Princess Elsa plugged her nose, sipping cautiously, then raised a hand to her temple. Closing her eye, lines of concentration appeared on her forehead. She tried desperately to focus on the dream that eluded her. Throwing her arm down, she let out a deep breath and looked up at her friend.

"It's no use. No matter how hard I try, that dream is gone. All I see when I close my eyes is silvery-white fog." She pursed her lips and shrugged.

Over the past few months of studying with Pabbie, when she wasn't mesmerised by his lessons of magic, interpretation, and divination, she had focused on learning more about the elder troll. After months of careful observation, she learned the small nuances of his emotions. Today she watched his frustration and regretful acceptance flickered over his face.

His eyes left her and drifted over the room, scouring the shelves and cabinets, looking for another alternative. They settled on the bookshelves above the cabinet of cylinders and pots.

A shower of dust shook out from the worn pages as he grabbed the first of several leather=bounded books. The creased binding had darkened spiral markings and symbols. He opened the book and began tracing the ancient script inside. Pabbie's eyes lit up.

"Pabbie!" She queried, espying the script. "What's in those books?"

He flittered back and forth between the shelves and the table, grabbing and stacking books.

"These are special," he said with a smile, picking up the closest one and blowing off the top layer of dust. "I thought these were lost. These are the books that we trained with. They hold the wisdom of past trolls and wizards, the history of our kingdom, and the treasure of my youth." Pabbie leaned against the edge of the table and sighed. " And now, they can help you," he said with his back-to-business voice.

Elsa rolled her eyes at his tone, recognising it as a favourite of her other tutor, Professor Milo, but ignored its implications.

"It doesn't like you to lose things," she said, walking over to see the covers in more detail. Her fingers traced the golden spirals, feeling a tingle at the hint of magic held within.

"Well, it wasn't entirely up to me. During the exile, we had to leave with very little notice. There just wasn't room to take everything, and these must have been forgotten, When we didn't find them in our caves, I assumed they had been destroyed." Pabbie stiffened at the mention of the exile, a misunderstanding that had earned the trolls and wizards banishment for over a decade.

"Why would they be destroyed? Surely you don't think my father would have done something like that," she asked.

"Sometimes our hearts act more quickly than our minds," he said, giving her a knowing wink. "That seems to be a trait in your family."

She gave him a sharp look, but his warm smile remeasured her.

"That's not always a bad thing. The heart can lead us to do more than we think possible. Now, let's see if there is anything in here that might help." He turned back to the pages, flipping through the fragile parchments.

Elsa leaned back against the long wooden table and waited, twisting her long platinum hair around her fingers. As a princess, certain traits and duties had been drilled into her from an early age. Although the training in poise and manners stuck, her stubborn streak prevailed in the form of impatience. When her hair had been twirled enough, her fingers moved to her gown, fidgeting with the velvet trim, relishing the softness as her eyes scanned the room.