Crystal Chronicles- Frozen Myrah- Chapter One.
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“She’s your daughter then?” asked the caravan leader bending down to the level of the small girl whose eyes glowed a deep fierce green.

Andy Taralia nodded a stern expression on his face. “Her names Gela,” he explained slowly.

“hmmm…” said the leader in thought stroking his dark brown beard that was beginning to show flecs of grey and white. “She’s got good eyes. They are like a myrah tree.  They glow with a deep power.” He paused again. “How old are you girl?” he asked looking the tiny Clavat named Gela in the eyes.

“Six,” she said defiantly, a curious look in her eyes as she gazed expectantly at the old caravaner.

“Is that too young?” spluttered her father quickly.

“No… ¬There was a boy once who started younger …” replied the man, something flickering behind his grey eyes. He paused only once again, “I’ll take her.” He said.

“Are you sure…” whispered girl’s father, a slight worry in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t be worried Andy. She’s your daughter. Caravanning’s in her blood,” explained the leader getting to his feet. “There’s fire in her eyes…And I know you see it too…A warrior she was born to be and a warrior we’ll raise her as. This girl has an interesting aura about her. hum,hmm..” Without a word the leader of the caravan took something from his pocket and placed it in the girls hands. “Here child, I have a present for you. I think you will like it.” chortled the man patting the girl on the head. The child looked down to find a simple golden locket with a strange greenish sheen to it that rippled in the light. The symbol of the crystal was engraved in the top.

“It’s so beautiful! You’re going to let me keep it?!? Thankyou, thankyou so much!” spluttered the little girl bowing gratefully like a bobbing dog till the leader of the caravan laughed.

“It’s a pretty thing isn’t it Gela,” laughed the leader patting her on the head, “this locket will guide your destiny though Gela. So I don’t want you to ever, ever lose it.”

“Why will it guide my destiny? Am I really a fairy! Or a princess! I don’t want to be a PRINCESS! I want to fight like dad!” exclaimed the little girl punching at the air. At this both the village elder and the girl’s father burst into laughter.

“No, no Gela!” laughed the caravan leader, “it is but a trinket, a good luck charm that will help protect you from harm and the powers of evil.”

“Is it magic?” enquired Gela.

“It might be, what do you think?” chuckled the village elder knowingly.  Gela nodded vigorously and looked once again at the beautiful golden locket.  

Gela found her eyes glued to the symbol of the crystal as the gold  rippled and shone. Suddenly though the crystal flashed blindingly in the sunlight and sound and pain whip lashed across her brain sending her too her knees.  The young girl cried out her hands flinging to her ears. The two men rushed to her side. “What’s wrong???” they exclaimed in unison.

“Screaming! I heard screaming!” she whimpered tears running down her cheeks, “three boys screaming!”

The leader of the caravan slowly got to his feet and gazed into the distance. “So ends the chapter of three young caravaners. And so begins the chapter of Gela of Meba…
Maybe it will be the final chapter to end a long old story …”

“The story of the crystal chronicles.”


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Gela awoke with a start. One word rattled through her ears: “shit.” She’d fallen back to sleep after her mother’s call to get up. Dare she find out what time it was? She rolled over and peaked out her window at the sun. “OH NO!!!!” she screeched leaping out of bed and flinging the duvet from her. Gela felt her heart thumping hard in her ears as she hurtled down the stairs towards the door. She hopped on the landing desperately trying to pull on a black shoe. “I have really done it this time!” she murmured to herself as she flung on her pack and fumbled with her shoe laces, “I’m supposed to be the leader of this caravan, and I’m the last to arrive! Laya is gonna remind me of this all year!” Gela gave a quick glance at the sun. She yelped with surprise realizing just how late she was, leapt to her feet and grabbing her sword and shield and tumbled out of the house.
“Hey! Gela! You said you’d put the washing out to dry before you went!” her father called after her.
“Sorry! I forgot! I’ve got to go!” she shouted back, and before he could argue she was off down the road, “Love you! Bye! See you in a couple of weeks!”
“Keep away from the boys Gela! They’re dangerous remember!” reminded her father. Gela rolled her eyes and giggled.

The Clavatian women charged along the streets of Meba. Gela had long flowing brown hair that she tied back in a loose plait. The sun played on her hair giving it a slight gold tint. Her eyes shone bright green like the forest or grass covered fields. But if you looked closely you could see the fiery glint of a young warrior in those eyes. Every caravaner had it. From they day of their birth their eyes shone with the fire burning deep inside them. That was how the caravaners were selected. She was an adventurer born and bred. It was in her blood to be a Caravaner and her destiny as well. People often underestimated Gela, after all, who ever heard of a girl leading a caravan? But this was one Clavat not to be messed with. The last boy who called her a girly girl couldn’t walk for a few weeks after she dealt to him a side kick and then a vicious hip throw into a bog. Who ever tried to get in her way to a Myra tree was in trouble, serious trouble. She had rather a fiery temper but seemed to have a soft spot for those in trouble. The golden locket bounced on her throat as she ran, flashing in the sunlight. She had worn it ever since she had been given it years ago by the village elder. He had told her it would guide her destiny. Even now, a twenty two year old Clavatian warrior and the leader of her caravan, she still kind of believed it.

“I’m here!” yelled Gela as she flung her pack up into the caravan ready for another year of collecting Myra.

“You made it then? I was starting to think you weren’t coming!” cried the voice of Koroki as he emerged from behind the caravan. He was the only male in the caravan… and loved it. Koroki was a clavat like Gela. He had short sticking up blonde hair that spiked up from his smiling face. He was the ‘alpha male’ type, or believed he was. Vain, hot tempered and a little over protective. Well even with all his bad points Koroki was a crucial part of the team. He was the, get in there hack things to pieces type. Fearless, unpredictable and just a little foolish.

“Ha, ha, very funny!” mocked Gela as she leapt gracefully up onto the back of the caravan, slapping away Koroki’s flirtatious hand which had tried to grab her rear end. Her father’s warnings were not in vain. Koroki had been sent squealing from Gela’s household with a bolt from a cross bow in his ass ,because Gela’s father had caught him peeking, many times.

It was a fairly large caravan and housed a fairly large party. There was of course Gela, then there was Koroki, along with them was a fierce young one called Boblind. Boblind was a completely insane little lilty. As the youngest member of the caravan it would be expected she would be the least aggressive, but with this child it was different. She was pure lilty, and one of those lilties who still think they rule the world. She demanded respect. She was a playful little bundle of happiness when in a good mood but when she was angry no one dared even go near her. She also had a rather strange obsession with odd bodily smells.
No one understood this obsession except for Laya, Gela’s younger sister.  Who shared it. She was nearly as mad as Boblind and so they were best of friends. The two were just about inseparable. They shared a bedroom, their money and sometimes even their socks. (Yuk!) Though Laya was the crazy double act with Boblind, she seemed to think about things a little more than the Lilty and was a little more sensitive, but hey, that’s not going to stop her going on a kitchen raid for Gourd Potatoes.

There was also Yala. An adventurous Yuke who originally came from Shella, she was completely absorbed in the world of science. Her experiments never seemed to end. Her saying was, “learn one truth and two mysteries appear.” Though she was incredibly smart her medical knowledge had holes in it in places, often causing her remedies to be worse than the thing they were attempting to cure… or cause ‘interesting’ side effects. Her experiments seemed to take up all her free time. (Though her mad schemes often blew up in her face she kept at it.)

Lisa was a rather self absorbed selkie. Though she always put herself first she cared about her friends and got on particularly well with the younger children who she tutored in the ways of animals. In battle she was the coin snatcher, any cash was as good as Lisa’s. Her power of acquiring things in battle was a useful skill out in the wide world where the caravan needed anything they could get. She was also obsessed with animal rights. Lisa was the almighty queen of the animal kingdom, and no one said otherwise.

Finally there was Narala. Narala was also a selkie. Known to have a bit of temper, Narala was one of those caravaners you don’t annoy. Though she got angry when crossed she loved her friends and if you were a friend of hers you knew she was a friend that would stay by you. This was a rare quality for selkies.  This quality made her Gela’s best friend and closest ally. Narala tried her very best not to follow the Selkie ways, despite her relatives constant harassment to stop with the ‘mystical caravanning crap and care about the damn gil! And the MEN!’ Though due to her Selkie background she had an obsession with gil, she cared a little more about food and filling her stomach rather than her pockets. She was also the caravans mystic: Tarot, rune stones, crystal balls, star signs: you name it she did it. She was also known as the caravans ‘hotty’ as everywhere they went there seemed to be at least one male stalking her, much to the jealousy other the other girls. In particular Gela, who had never had a boyfriend. (Which she insisted was not a result of her slapping any boy that came near her because her father insisted she kept well away from any boys that stared at her for too long.)

The caravan bumped slowly along the cobbled road of Meba. Gela watched as her parents waved their faces beaming with pride. She smiled and waved a warm bubbling feeling in her chest. “See you!” she cried standing up on the top of the caravan. She carried on waving till her family’s smiling faces were out of view. But she stood with a heavy heart till Meba drifted into the distance for another year. Narala leapt out of the small window in the caravan wall and clambered up onto the roof to sit down next to Gela.

“Want some?” asked Narala wafting a bunch of rainbow grapes in front of her nose.

“Na, it’s ok,” replied Gela staring off into the horizon.

“What’s the matter? It’s gotta be bad if you don’t want these!”

“Really, I’m fine. Just not hungry.” said Gela turning a grin plastered onto her face, “I was just thinking.”

“What now. You think far too much!” exclaimed Narala rolling her eyes.

“Oh, nothing, it doesn’t matter anyway,” sighed Gela, “I think we have a storm coming though.”

“Oh, come off it! It’s really sunny!”

“Exactly, it is too perfect. It is going to be a big one. We have about five hours before the storm.”

“You don’t think anything is perfect without a bad reason!”

“We don’t live in a perfect world Narala. And you know how I’m cursed with bad luck!” Sighed Gela her heart dropping as she swung through the window into the caravan.

An hour later the caravan passed a group of Yukes sitting and talking by a large oak tree. Yala leaned out of the window recognising them as Amiditty and the caravan from Shella. “Hail caravaners! What news of Shella!” yelled Yala waving to them her helmet still covered with dirt from her last experiment.

“Hail!” cried Amiditty advancing towards the caravan, “Yala my best student what have you been discovering!” he laughed noticing the soot on his old students face.

“Oh, just experimenting with the elements again.. and rather unsuccessfully I might add,” Laughed Yala wiping her face and smiling in a friendly way. Though Amiditty and Yala were of very similar ages the male Yuke from Shella was her scientific mentor and had taught her everything she knew.

“Ah, how is the Myra collecting going.”

“We only just set out”

“Ah, well if I were you I’d head North and fast.”

“What do you mean; there are plenty of Myra trees in this area.”

“For reasons we don’t know the trees round here haven’t produced any Myra this year.” The whole caravan gasped. “The only trees we think might still be yielding dew will be in the north.”

“But no one ever goes north, its suicide!” cried Narala, “only those mad selkies who set up the town of Ficala live there.”

“Yes but if our villages are to survive it is what we must do.” Explained Amiditty a hint of worry in his voice, “head north caravaners, through the swamps and storms and into the snowy cold arctic.”

The caravan was still for a second. Finally Gela turned to Koroki. “Turn North” said Gela.

“But Gela!” protested Koroki.

“We can’t let our village die.”

Narala groaned and gave everyone a pained look, “I’m going to see what the rune stones have to say about this….”

“Good luck friends,” said Amiditty as their caravans parted at the cross roads.

Laya sat mindlessly fiddling with a piece of string and occasionally turning it into a cats cradle between her fingers. Gela was lying next to her in the sunlight writing a letter. “Um… Gela?” she murmured.

“Yeh, what?” asked Gela looking up from the piece of paper.

“Is… Is it….Um, really that dangerous in the North” whispered the little girl shivering.

“Don’t worry we’ll be fine. Narala is just trying to scare you,” said Gela not too sure about it herself, but there was no point in worrying the little girl.

“I’m going to go play with Boblind!” shouted Laya excitedly as she jumped down from her bed and ran to the window scrabbling like an over excited puppy as she clambered onto the roof.  Gela sighed. She knew something was going to happen, she wasn’t sure if it would be good or bad, all she knew was that this year would be different, she had a weird feeling in her gut about heading north. She took her locket in her left hand and gazed at the strange rippling gold- green colour. “Something tells me I’ll need your luck this year,” she sighed.

She lay down and put her hand over her eyes to block out the sunlight and fell asleep.