Haze of Dusk (A trilogy) (18 page)

“Yes, I do. What about it?”

“Do you know people eat from it?” His calm expression swiftly changes. He grimaces. “That’s impossible. Nature’s magic law does not allow anything that’s created by magic to be consumed.”

“Exactly my point.
I thought that maybe it was you who did it. But…now, I’m very confused. I don’t understand why…”

“
Perhaps that tree was a coconut tree before, and we mended it. Elf magic can repair nature. It would not be strange if we can do that together.” I shake my head.

“
No-no, that tree was an acorn tree not a palm tree, which reproduces coconut. Coconut trees aren’t found in the northern lands. They come from tropical lands in which are extinct due to our climate. Srogeri says it’s strange and very suspicious. The elves see it as a sign from the gods. It’s odd…very odd.” I say sounding like a smart ass. I can tell he doesn't appreciate the conversation.  “Whatsoever. It is foolish. I am going to sleep.” He lays his head to the trunk, and closes his eyes.

“Aren’t you curious
, Khysso? A tree we created still produces delectable coconuts. Isn’t it strange? It’s not you and it’s not me…then, why can it be consumed?” He completely ignores me. I gasp. “Wait…what if together we can break nature’s magic law. We did conjoin our magic when we produced the tree, and we are magically compatible, very rare.” As absurd as it sounds, the puzzle matches greatly. He snorts, mocking my conclusion. He opens his eyes.

“Nature’s magic law cannot be broken.  It’s the law of the universe
, and not even a million of wizards, elves, sorcerers, or witches together can reach to break it.  Yet, they have learned to accept nature’s magic law, wherein, signifies you cannot generate what's not there, excluding elemental conjuring, without fading in hours—minutes or seconds of an hourglass, depending on the greatness of the power—you CANNOT consume anything created by magic.  That’s the way it is. Thus, your theory is preposterous.” I grind my teeth. I dislike his smart-ass tone. “Now please, let me rest,” he lays his head again, this time he moves his body away from my sight.

I lay down on the solid ground. Khysso lent me his
coat to use as a pillow, but his fresh scent is disturbing as it only reminds me of him. I can’t find comfort so I whirl back and forth. The howling of the night breaks my doze every few seconds
,
but the ground is also too uncomfortable hurting my spine. A louder growl interrupts my catnap. I rise and stressfully exhale. I throw Khysso’s hood near him. The way he sleeps surprises me.  He sits with his hands across his chest. The insects on the tree possibly are crawling on his body, yet he does not move a muscle.  I gawk at him; even as he sleeps his fairness is superb. A flash of our past enters my mind, when we played on the lake, with no nuisances. He laughed that day, and smiled beautifully. I can’t believe that boy is this man.

  I’m in need to release all the water that I drank earlier, so I purpose
myself to go for a walk— a place far away from his sight so he won’t see me urinate. I go to a corner by a wall and release my needs, but nearby growl stirs me back up. “What the bloody-hell is that sound?”  I gaze around. There are two paths; one to return and another
escalates further into the mountain. I bite my lips. I get an urge— I want to go up that peak and without questioning, it’s what I do.  I speed walk, and reach the top of the mountain, which it’s not too far from our resting area.  There's nothing in the top but edges to the downhill world—an amazing orangey motion that gently converts into day.  The view is chillingly beautiful. It takes my breath away.  I hear indistinct growls that appear to come from below the mountain. I walk to the narrow edge, and carefully, I gape down. I wheeze for air. I'm outraged by what my eyes captured. Thousands of arclaws are clutched like ants, howling. They wave their hands high above their heads, as if dancing to the sunrise. “Holy crap…so many,” I whisper. For the first time ever, I have encountered an arclaw. I watch carefully that they don't notice me, for the span is not too lengthy.

I intently
watch under. I’m stupefied by how they resemble humans.  They walk among one another. I see mothers with their children, husbands with their wives, but they aren’t humans. The women are easier to identify, with their long leathery wings.
Their skin colors differs from a light bronze, to a pale gold, their heads wild with hair, some dark, others as bright as the sun. Their fangs on top and bottom burst out of their mouths. Their forehead has three lines of deep wrinkles, the ears long but thicker than an elf, and the eyes lifted like a reptile. 

Some female arclaws are nearly nude, demonstrating their tops
, as others wear animal fur covering their privates. The male arclaws are heavier, with muscles bursting out. They wear small bottoms, their faces similar to the female breed but masculine, and with facial hair. Their ears are shorter, and their height varies from six feet to eight feet tall.  Arclaws have claws on their hands and feet, instead of nails. If it isn't because of their need for flesh, and gory wars, they can be part of us.

The
echo of the growling shifts into a sad, gloomy wail. The disgust I feel perishes, and for a moment, I don’t see them as the enemy, but as beings with emotions. “Judyala…” his voice impacts me so strongly my foot slips on the edge, and I fall behind. Khysso dashes to me. He grasps my hand and roughly pulls me to him.  My chest thrusts against his body. I'm breathless. “You seriously have a death wish…” He breathes fast. His heart races, he too panicked.

“You scared me,” I
wheeze in a small voice. I gulp. If I were to fall, I’ll be their breakfast. “Thanks,” I whisper looking into his green quivering eyes. Our closeness is acute, one of his hands on my hips. His breath prickles my face. I blush, and jerk away from him.

“How did you find me?” I avoid
looking into his captivating eyes. He chuckles.

“Wherever there’s danger
is Judyala. Easy recognition,” he derides. I roll my eyes at him and go back to the rim. “It’s my first time seeing one. I was curious.” I concede. He sighs harshly, and stands next to me. “I wonder why they are dancing.” I murmur. He shakes his head. “They’re not dancing. They long for the second sun. The sun is their strength, their god. They can easily resist heat. We never attack them during the day, for the suns makes them strong— I think they’re praying to it, asking for wishes…” he says oddly. “Wishing what?” He shakes his head in dismay,

“I'm not sure, might be their world or food. I once heard the arclaws are from a world where the weather is always hot. A place with many
oceans, and where the vertebrates; reptilians…insects are all outsized.”

“Outsized?”

“Yes, just picture lizards, frogs, rabbits, but two hundred times greater than a human. Imagine flying bats, eagles…all larger than what we have. That’s the world they belong in…so I heard.” He says softly looking down at them. That’s a world I don’t want to be part of.
Huge frogs… nasty.

“You think they cry because they’re hungry?”

“I don’t know really, perhaps. They reside in this mountain. They can’t survive by eating raw-food like us. They need meat and here there are no animals. Not even lizards. This is why they are so emaciated.” In Duolic, we have nothing to eat but grains and seed pods.  It's strange to find meat as only the wealthy can afford it, but somehow, Morgan always found a way to bring steak, or white meat four times a week. “Yeah, I don’t blame them for eating humans.” I say to myself. Khysso's eyes move to me. By his wily stare, I can tell that he didn’t like my words. I nervously laugh. “I should head back.” I turn away.

“Wait!”
he calls. I somewhat tilt my head to him. He lazily looks at me.

“Want to try it?”

“Try what?”

“Want to see…if we can break nature’s magic law?” My eyes widen. I’m astounded by his proposal. I thought he was in denial. He said it was unattainable. I want to repeat his words, simply to annoy him. But my curiosity helps me overlook my pride. “What do you have in mind?” He glances down, then right back at me.

“Give me your hand,” he reaches out a hand. I bite my lips. I timidly give him my hand. He slowly drags me to him, easily provoking redness in me. “I’m th
inking of summoning mammals, vertebrates. Simply go with my energy. If we can break the rule, then they can consume the animals. If not, then—"

“Wait!
” I yank my hand away.  “You want to bring cute fuzzy animals, so they can consume it. That’s sick!”

“Then think of
ugly-fuzzy-animals, you five year old girl,” he taunts me. I gasp. “You want to do this or not!” he snaps.  His way of thinking disturbs me. I’m thwarted by his response. But I’m also curious to know if united our powers can reach the impossible, break nature’s magic law.  We are magical, but we don’t have the power to create materials or provide nourishment from our creations. We can’t become wealthy. The formation of gold is unattainable. We can’t create a being, or make a person love another. Changing objects is sometimes forgiven but hard to accomplish. These are the magic rules. The things the nature of magic will never allow us to do.

“Fine… but I
’m doing reptiles and amphibian.” I give in. He partly smiles. He slides a hand to mine, our fingers interlocking. I blush, hoping my redness isn’t too obvious. His touch is different from any man I’ve encountered. It brings a fire in me, creating a heavy burden on my emotions. It’s like falling from a never ending hollow, and there is no landing as long as I stay with him, but if he leaves me, I’ll hit ground. It’s an uncomfortable feeling, and I desire for it to fade.

“Ready,” he whispers
. We look below and breathe in, and in a gentle puff we let out air. We shut our eyes, and let the energies of the universe conceal our bodies. The warm energy he sends to my body is relaxing. It creates in me something so beautiful it’s indescribable. I concentrate on what I want, reptiles and amphibians, but his idea penetrates mine. He seeks outsized creatures. Not able to fight him, it’s exactly what we summon. We open our eyes, and gaze beneath. Two enormous amphibians and one outsized lizard crawls the land.

“
Pray it works, for it does not, we are dead. Arclaws hate misleads.” Khysso murmurs. I gasp and glare at him, “what!” I growl. “Now you say this!” he laughs, mocking my fear. I glance down, now crossing my fingers.
Please don't fade, please don't fade.
And as I fret, he stares seriously, as if he knows the outcome. The arclaws scream fanatically, attacking the outsized creatures in group, and terribly devouring it. They’re main point, the creature’s intestines.
“T-they…are…eating it.” I whisper amazed. I can’t believe it. This means…together, Khysso and I are capable of the impossible. We can break nature’s magic law.

The
suns-set in a soft exquisite manner. The flaring heat-waves diminishes from our sights, consuming us with a bit of novelty. Our draghorns arrive on time, ready to take us back to the castle.

“You can’t tell anyone…about us…” he
says as he pats the draghorn’s head. He has broken the strange silence that has taken over us for quite some time. “Why can we do that? I don’t understand.” I say in a trance, preparing Hendra. He harshly sighs.“I…I do not know either but…what I do know is that this is prohibited, the leaders would kill us or at least one of us. They don’t like people who are more powerful than them.  This is dangerous. We cannot let anyone know. That tree, I have to destroy it…”

“Why?”
I gust out a breath.

“It has our initials.
If a word falls to their knowledge, they will find us. We cannot risk it.”

“Would they really hurt us? I mean, this is
remarkable. We can change the world. Make lakes than won’t vaporize. Create seasons. Maybe even get rid of the second sun. We can do a lot of things to help this world.” I say excited, the ecstasy gives me butterflies in my stomach; but Khysso doesn’t seem joyful at all, but terrified. “You don’t know Zorganther Srovio, do you?” I shake my head.

“He seeks a world under his control. Our gift to him
will be a threat, a fatal conspiracy. Fear him…for he is
truly
evil.” His words give me chills. Is that man so fearful than even powerful Khysso is afraid of him?

The return to Doomsvell was quick. We made it on time for the great decision. We get down from our
draghorns, leaving them in the front of the castle, and in union, Khysso and I stroll inside. He drags the dragon’s head for there is no way in hell I'm touching it. The great hall is filled with apprentices, walking in the room silence takes over. Everyone’s attention is now on us. Suddenly, stillness ends and the apprentices begin to cheer.  I'm touch by their contentment. It mends my heart they’re overjoyed by my survival. Waiting on the center of the great hall— counting the hours before naming my quest a failure is the headmistress, and her companions.

I courageously stand near them.
I heave away the shawl from the dragon’s head, startling the people in the room. Sandrine smiles pleasurably, slightly cunning. 

“The sword,” she requests
. I frown, and present her the sword. She lays it in her hands. An image flashes out. It's me striking down the sword through the dragon’s head. I scoff. I discreetly peep at Khysso. Now I understand why he said I needed to face it on my own. The headmistress shouts for Ragumus, the lower position leader, to announce my future. 
Is she too good for me that she can't notify the verdict?