"We'll rest here." Lucas points to a cave and the pegasus spiraled down. They landed one by one and tucked their wings in. The one carrying Kliene and Auriana laid down so Auriana could get off. She hopped down and petted the pegasus. Auriana then hugs its neck, then runs over to me. I smiled and ruffled her hair.
Kliene was still asleep on the pegasus. I walked over to Duke and Duke stood up, shifted and Kliene fell to the ground. The prince sat up and looked around wild eyed. He spluttered and touched the cave floor. He pointed at the sky then to the ground, and did it again in confusion.
"Uh…" Kliene was disoriented.
I opened my menu and summoned a carrot. I shoved it into Kliene's mouth, "shh." I said simply, "give this to your poor pegasus, your Highness." I summoned in more carrots and went to the other Pegasi.
Kliene followed me chewing on a piece of carrot. I fed one to Lucas's pegasus with one hand and mine with the other.
"What was that for?" Kliene looked at me. He held up his half eaten carrot to Duke who ate it gratuitously.
"No particular reason, your Highness." I looked at him.
Kliene shrugs, "okay. So I just wont get an answer for the force feeding by my own guard. No biggy. No biggy at all."
"Some questions are best left unanswered." I went to Ryan's pegasus. Kliene followed.
"Forcefeeding is kind of mothering. You're like a mom."
"Mom?!" I spun and held out the carrot behind me to Ryan's pegasus. "Mothering?!"
"Ouch. You took that rough. Would you rather have me call you Darling, dearest, or hon?"
"Neither! I don't get why you call me any of those in the first place!" I wiped my hands off and Kliene folds his arms.
"Some questions are best left unanswered." He echoes my words.
I frowned and opened my menu.
Kliene walks over and grabs my screen and pushes it down. He was directly in my face. Wow.
"You're quite moody." Kliene grabbed my window and tossed it aside. It hits Ryan in the head.
"Ow!" Ryan yelled, "Your Highness!"
Kliene winked, I shoved his face aside and walked toward the fire Ryan built. Kliene follows. I sat down and Kliene had to sit ungodly close to me. Ryan raised his eyebrows at me and then looked at Kliene.
"Did you two just have a fight?" Ryan asks.
"No." We both said together.
"Ahuh." Ryan said unconvinced. He picked at the fire and flicked my menu back to me. I stared at the screen and Kliene closed out of it. I looked at him and he was smiling with his eyes and mouth. He was sparkling… again.
"I found rabbits and that's about it." Lucas came back and threw two rabbits onto the ground. They hopped around in confusion. Auriana inched forward and they looked at her. She smiled gently and they ran out the cave.
Auriana sat and sighed, drooping. "Oh well…" She said and got up. Auriana walked over to me and sat in my lap. "It's like the animals can sense that I'm death."
"Perhaps." I said and leaned back onto my hands.
Lucas sat down and looked at her, "don't take it to heart Auriana."
Auriana slumps, "it's hard. Barely anyone comes around me. They're afraid of me. I wish I didn't have this power, I don't deserve it. Momma better suits it."
I frowned a bit then pulled her ear, "I do not. You have it for a reason." I said softly.
"But what for? I kill stuff." Auriana looked at her hands, "it's a curse."
I sighed, "look at it from another angle, maybe there is some good in it."
"Good in what? Killing? I don't want to kill momma." She sniffled.
"There has to be good in your powers Auriana. Look at Kinnarus. She's life and she's tormenting people. Even life has evil attached to it."
"Alright." Auriana put her hands up to her cheeks and slumps even more.
"So… food?" Kliene blurts.
I smiled and opened my menu, "I'll order some food in from the Royal kitchen." I looked at them all, "orders?"
After we ate we decided on rotations for night watch. Ryan, Lucas, and myself tried splitting it into equal portions, but Kliene was butting in, insisting that he too will do night watch. Ryan and I yelled at him but Kliene started fuming.
"I may be the Prince, but that doesn't mean I should be the only adult sleeping soundly through the night!" Kliene puts his hand to his chest.
"Y-your Highnesss, please." I stammered. Kliene's aura was blazing in vibrant red.
Kliene stomps his foot down and a crack appears, stemming from under his foot. It went up the cave wall. "It's Kliene gods dammit!" He yelled and the cave shook.
Lucas whistled, "let the man do night watch, sheesh." He walked up to Kliene and pats his back. "It couldn't hurt to have more sleep for all of us."
Auriana nods, "I can help too."
"No!" We all debunked her.
"Oh… I tried." Auriana sighed and lifted her demonic fox up. "It's okay Foxy, we'll sleep together."
The fox looked up at her, "yeah! We don't need them anyways!"
I frowned at it. I don't know how I feel about the Fox. It seemed like a bad influence. I reached out and grabbed it by its scruff. The fox meeps and flails in my hand.
'Ack! Noooo! I don't want to die! Great one! Have mercy!' The fox yelled. Crocodile tears start running down its face. 'I'm going to be minced fox…' it droops.
I stared at it. Auriana was paying no attention to it whatsoever. I mean, it's hella dramatic.
'HELP! HELLLLP!' Its legs start moving.
I let go and it flew up and vanished quickly into thin air.
Auriana blinked and sighed, 'he does that.'
It took me a second to realize that she was talking about the fox. Her eyes began to droop. I stood up and touched her head. Auriana got up and followed me. I laid down onto my mat and she rolled into me. I pulled a blanket over us and pulled her closer.
"I wish… Kliene could sleep with us." Auriana mumbled, "he could act like my dad for one night." She began to doze off. I sighed and bit my lip. I should… maybe start looking for someone. For Auriana's sake. I slowly fell asleep.
"Seth!" My mother yelled, "stop fiddling with Magic! If people see that you have Halosis powers already, they'll take you away." She waved her hands through the air to clear the mist I created and pushed me inside the house.
I sighed. Being ten isn't fair… I moved to the chair at the kitchen counter and my sister looked at me. She held out a rose and I took it. I could feel Unda coursing through it.
"Can you preserve this one too?" She asked.
I nodded and held it out. I withdrew my hands and the rose floated in the air. I drew moisture from the air and encased the flower in a sphere of water. It solidified like glass and went to pick it out of the air, but I heard my mom yell from outside.
I ran to the door and opened it a bit. My mom was on the ground and two guards from the Royal Palace were towering over her.
"Where is your husband?!" One shouted.
"I-I don't know!" My mother stammered.
They kicked her. I yelled and my mother looked at me quickly.
"Stay inside!" She shouted.
The guards looked at me and then back at my mother. "You have a son, Mariah? You don't have this filed."
"Don't touch him!" My mother stood up.
One of the other guards started towards me.
"I said, don't touch him!" My mom ran in front of the guard.
The guard coming towards me kicked her aside. I backed up and grabbed the knife from inside the door. They got closer and I ran at the guard.
"Pfft!" He laughed. The guard tried grabbing me but I jumped up and drilled the knife into his chest. "What?!"
The other guard moved away from my mom and went after me. I turned and threw my knife at him, but not before tapping into my gifts and layered the blade with Unda. It met its mark and lodged itself into the guard's chest and knocked him over. I heard yelling from the other people and I saw a young boy about my age with burgundy hair looking at me. He had a butler with him as well.
I woke up for my night watch and removed myself from Auriana. She sighed and rolled over crushing her fox. It meeped and squeaked. I walked away after covering her back up with my blanket. Kliene looked at me once before walking over to his mat to lay down. I moved to the edge of the cave and sat down. I looked up at the sky and pulled my legs into my chest. The wind blew gently and I heard whispers in my ears again. I squeezed my eyes shut. Not now… I tried blocking them out but they kept talking.
'The fate of this world…'
'It's all a lie.'
'Defend Astoria at all costs!'
'We will never bow down to you!'
They kept chattering and then silence.
'You seem to be in pain.' Martel's voice sounded. I looked up and then around. 'Right here. To your right.'
My eyes land on him and he materializes a bit, still faded like a ghost. He walked over to me and sat down.
'The closer you get to me, the more they will talk. I'm sorry that I can't do anything about it. It comes at a price due to your unusual gifts.' He moved my hair out of my face. 'You have a lot of questions for me. Though I can't provide answers to it all. Here, I can't show you, but when you arrive at my realm, I'll be able to show you more.' He held his hand out and the wind blew stronger. 'Kinnarus is on the move. She knows you are here. Tread carefully as she may try to intervene with your plans.' He vanished and I buried my face into my knees.
"Morning." Kliene said he looked down at me and smiled.
"Morning, your Highness." I sat up and noticed that everyone was already up. They were seated around the fire that Ryan made last night. I walked over and Kliene offered me a bowl of oatmeal. I took the bowl and he smiled again. I brushed my hair out of my face as I sat down and Auriana scooted over to me.
"So… what is even our plan? We've not thought this through." Ryan said.
"We really haven't." Lucas agreed.
Kliene looked up, "kill the false god."
"No really, your Highness." Ryan falsepalmed.
"I don't know, Ryan Allen!" Kliene sat back on his hands, "it's a god! That dragon didn't even kill it!"
Lucas held his finger up, "that dragon did, however, severely injure Kinnarus."
"Why didn't it take it out?" I asked.
Lucas shrugs, "I didn't see it myself since I was, you know, possessed by Maetel, but, from the reports I saw, it seemed heavily fixated on the church more than anything."
"No where about either of the said dragon?" Ryan asked.
Kliene and Lucas both shook their heads.
"There is no way that that big of a creature could have just vanished." Ryan folded his arms.
I ate my oatmeal calmly and then looked at him after no responses came, "it's a god Ryan, I'm sure they have multiple forms."
Ryan narrowed his eyes at me and then looked away. I sighed and Kliene flopped back onto the floor. For a Prince, he's very…
"We could help the original god fight the false one." Kliene blurted out.
"Can a dying god even recover?" Ryan frowned.
Lucas nodded, "gods live off of faith, people remembering them, and offerings. It's even a miracle that the original god still lives. After the whole memory wipe, you would've thought they would have just vanished."
I have many questions for them, I just hope we make it in time. I set my bowl aside and Auriana moved into my lap. Her pet fox appeared with a mouse in its mouth. I gagged. The fox looked at me and tipped its head.
'What? It's my own breakfast. Can't a fox eat? Sheesh, humans these days.' It spoke and disappeared.