Naren - The Well in the Garden
“Sit, Ellorian. It’s time for a story,” his mother said as he entered the nursery. His baby sister was nursing so he went to his mother and sat with her on the sofa.
He cherished this time with his mother. He did not have a lot of time with her now that his baby sister was here. He spent more time with his nanny, a human named Zosa. While Zosa was nice, she wasn’t his mother- a fact he did not hesitate to remind her of when she was watching him.
Every evening, just after supper, he was sent to the nursery for time with his mother. He snuggled up to her on the sofa as she spoke again.
“Have I ever told you the legend about the well in the garden?”
Ellorian shook his head. “You mean the one in our garden?”
“Yes, that’s the one. There’s a story as to why you should never go near it.”
“Father said I shouldn’t go near it so that I don’t fall in because it goes a long way down.”
“There is that, but there is another reason as well.”
“What is that?” His pointed ears twitched with the question. He’d never heard of any other reason before.
“It was a long time ago, back when Elenduil had its own king and queen, before the time we signed treaties with Kingsperch, and much before the fall of Kingsperch resulting in our city-state status.”
Ellorian nodded though he didn’t really understand all the political history yet. He did understand that Kingsperch became Kingsfall and his father became a ruler on his own without having to answer to the king because there was no king. What he didn’t understand was why his father didn’t just become the king, since he was ruling over Elenduil by himself anyway. However, he’d rather hear why he shouldn’t go near the well than have a history lesson, so he continued to listen intently.
“The King and Queen had a son, Prince Gavril. The Prince loved playing in the garden, and one day he decided it would be fun to drop stones in the well to listen to the splash. He made a game of it where he’d count as fast as he could after dropping the stone to see how far he could get before he heard the splash as the stone hit the water at the bottom of the well. He dropped one stone and counted to twelve before hearing the splash. He dropped another and counted to fifteen. Certainly, he could do better than that. He found another stone and dropped it. He counted to twenty, to thirty, to forty. He slowed as he reached fifty and peered over the edge of the well. There was still no splash. He leaned over the edge further to get a better look when he slipped and he fell down, down, down all the way to the bottom where he hit the water with a big splash!”
Ellorian said, “That’s the same reason though. He fell in, and father said-”
“Ellorian, the story isn’t over yet.” She regarded him sternly before continuing. “At the bottom of the well, he found a cave that led off away from the water. It was very dark, but he didn’t see how he was supposed to get back the way he came. However, before he even started to make his way towards the opening, a rock flew out and hit his shoulder before dropping into the water. He peered closely into the darkness watching where the rock came from, and that’s when he saw it. It had large eyes, no nose, an elongated head, and a row of razor-sharp teeth. It was a torukil and it was looking right at him. Its clawed feet clicked on the stone, and Gavril was paralyzed with fear. It was then something hit his other shoulder.”
“Was it another torukil? Zosa says they hunt in caves in groups.”
“Luckily for Gavril, it was not another torukil, but you are right. They do tend to hunt in groups. However, this was a rope. His nanny had seen him fall in and went to get help. Prince Gavril grabbed the rope and was pulled to safety.”
“Do you think the torukil is still down there?”
His mother smiled, “They have short lifespans. That one is long gone, but there could be others. If their caves connect to the well, it could be they go there for water, and that’s the real reason you shouldn’t go near the well in the garden.”
“I won’t, mother,” Ellorian said. He meant it too. He didn’t want to become a meal for a torukil.
“Good. Let’s go get you ready for bed.”
