A Star of Hope

With the criminals' fortress far away from sight and the fox now awake, I stopped, falling down on my knees and letting myself rest a little on the grass, with the body of Jeffrey laying down just beside me.

The knife and the arrows were still stuck on me, but for the sake of blood loss, they remained there... I was hoping that the nearest city would have a healer for that, but for now, I needed to pay my respects, carefully picking up the body of Jeffrey, removing his shoulder bag, and laying him down so it can rest in peace better.

"It was good while it lasted, Jeffrey...", I said while he remained in his eternal slumber and then proceeded to close his eyelids.

At the moment, I remained silent, placing a hand over his chest while the fox placed its pawn... And so a long minute passed, a long minute of respect for the soul that fought by my side ever since I saved him from the criminals.

"Be sure to not make much exercise... The healing process takes a while, but it will slowly take effect", the healer said to me as we left his shop. As I and the fox walked out, I sighed... I was still thinking about Jeffrey, who we left on the grass, a few minutes ago. He helped me a lot, and he deeply respected me and my love for the princess... Few people I know have this trait... I just hope I can make his efforts not go to waste.

"Let's go... We have a journey to finish, at least", I said to Beech, who anticipated what I was going to say and already grabbed the papers I needed from the shoulder bag. The riddle and map. There was space on the paper for only one more paragraph and soon, as expected, the words appeared like magic...

"Sweat will show the effort you put into this, blood will show the sacrifices you had to make, and tears will show all the suffering you have gone through... But now you can rest at ease, Dagger, knowing just one last test awaits you. Return to the start and the light will guide you through the dark..."

" 'Return to the start'... Sounds like we need to speak with water again, what do you think, Beech?", I asked him and he remained in a thoughtful mood for a moment. When he had an idea, he shook his head, disagreeing... He tried to imitate a human then, with papers in his hand.

"Ah, I see... You think we need to go to who gave me those papers?", I asked for confirmation and he nodded. "Well... We can check there and if it isn't that, we go to the Underground Lake... Now, where does he live... Makes some time since I left that place... Ah, right...", I said and using the map, I started to guide myself to the hideout of the wizard, Gabriel.

We really had gone far through this journey, I didn't think it would take so long to make it here... Even after the days of travel, we still needed an hour to find the well-camouflaged hideout he lives at... I have the slight impression he changed the camouflage, just to make it harder for people to find. With the door open, we just walked inside...

"Last time, you knocked on the door, Dagger", the familiar voice of the old wizard echoed through the room as we entered.

"Ah, sorry, I don't want to sound like an intruder in your house... But you also shouldn't leave your door open like that..."

"You're right... I need to be careful next time... But I had the impression you were coming back to me and since you really did come back, it means that you've made this far through the journey, I am so very proud of you Dagger...", he said, smiling widely. It seemed like the fox suggestion was more accurate than mine.

"Well... What do we do now? I have the bottle and the four elements", I said while the fox got inside the shoulder bag and brought out the bottle in his mouth.

"Oh, you have a little companion with you... How are you little fox? I am sure you were of great help to her as much as she was for you, am I right?", he asked and the fox nodded happily. After a few head pats on Beech, the wizard got the bottle and stared at its contents. "Well... Was it only you two through the whole journey? I am impressed..."

"No... There was someone else... But... He's no longer with us..."

"I see... I... I am sorry for your loss, I am sure you must have grown closer through time..."

"Yes, we did...

"Well, give me a minute and I will craft the key you need with the materials of the four elements"

"Wait... Is it true that the four elements together do not hold any power? I heard someone say that the four elements together give the user nothing...", I asked and he smiled at me.

"Of course they do have power... The problem is that the four elements can't be used to create something powerful, it's to create very specific things only... Like the key you seek, which's very special and unique..."

After that, the procurement started... Without his staff, he made movements with his hands and pulled the four elements out of the bottle, still combined in the form of bright light. then he made circular movements, as if mixing the four elements more than they already were, creating an even brighter light... After minutes of mixing, he started to shape the four elements in the form of an eight spiked six-pointed star.

"There you go, the key you have been searching for so long...", he said, handing it to me without touching it.

"The key... Is very unusually shaped, isn't it?", I asked, curious while touched the star in different places... It was solid, despite looking like it was made just of light.

"It is... By the way, the key is bounded to the first who touches it... Meaning that after you touched it, only you can touch it and see it now. So... You should go now, there's a princess waiting for you, isn't there?", he asked me, smiling widely and I couldn't help but smile back, I was almost there... Almost...

"Yes... There is... Thank you very much, Gabriel... For everything...", I said and then walked out of his hideout with the star in my hands.

When we were out, the star started to float towards a direction, not going too far away from me so I didn't lose it from sight... It was going to guide me to the place the gem is hidden now, and I followed it. Beech was, however, confused.

"Don't worry Beech... Only I can see the star, you can rest on my shoulder in the meantime", I said to it and then continued to follow the star, with fox climbing me up and laying down on my shoulder, sleeping calmly...