In Search of Auria (8 page)

“I’m a decent climber,” he answered, “I got
lost down there and decided to go up.”

“Climbing? Ha, is that the only thing your
kind can do?” the fairy mocked while he let his mighty wings rest
down as a cape. “You crawl on the ground and struggle up
heights.”

“It’s not that bad. I get around.”

“You got around the wrong place! We live
here peacefully. We do not need the violence and sadness you bring
from below.”

“Violence?” Erik raised his eyebrows. “It
was a freaking war up here. It was a good thing I was present. I
took care of your big bird problem.”

“Ha, you fought without skill.”

“How would you know? You weren’t there.”

The fairy dashed to him and smacked his
face. He then turned to the crowd, “The Corvus appeared right when
he
appeared. He is a curse and needs to be dealt with. We
live in peace, and I will not let this land kind disrupt our way of
life.”

The fairy’s hand began to shine with
sizzling sparks.

No, not this again
, Erik whined in
his mind. He tried to free himself from the seat, but the vines
wrapping him were on tight. The only thing he could do was watch as
the shining hand came closer to his face. Erik had to close his
eyes since the brightness blinded him. He awaited his impending
doom when suddenly he sensed the light no more. When he opened his
eyes again, Auria was standing between him and the fairy.

“What are you doing?” barked the male
daystar.

“This land dweller does not have to die,
Radian.”

“You speak nonsense. Move away!” He tried to
shove her aside, but she pushed him back.

“You dare disobey my will, Auria?”

“We should be thankful. He disposed of the
Great Corvus.”

“He does not belong here, and much less
return to his kind and tell them about our existence!”

Auria stood her ground, “I will not let
you.”

The wings of Radian, the powerful one,
opened with colossal stature and shined in red crimson. Now both
his hands started to shine.

“If you defend him, you will also meet his
fate.”

Auria refused to move. Radian raised his
arms, but before he stepped forward, Glorio stomped his cane into
the branch. It pounded hard, catching everyone’s attention.

“Stand down, Radian,” he commanded. “Do not
dare to raise your hand against your own.” Radian lowered his arms
and bowed his head to him. He and Auria stepped aside as Glorio
neared Erik.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“My name’s Erik.”

“I must thank you for vanquishing the Great
Corvus, for it had haunted us for many seasons. But, you are not to
return here. I know of the ways of man. When you return, it will be
with many to fight us, to steal from us, and lastly, to kill
us.”

“No,” Erik blurted out, “I will come alone,
I promise. You will bear no harm from me.”

Glorio shook his head, “A promise you will
not keep. Because of your actions, we will spare you. But, you will
not come back.” He turned and nodded to Radian. The fairy grabbed
the vines and broke them apart with a swift pull. He then grabbed
Erik by the shoulder, but Auria push his hand away.

“No, I will take him,” she said. She stood
behind Erik and grabbed him under the shoulders.

“Wait, wait! What are you doing?” Erik
tensed. She then jumped off the branch of the tree and plunged down
to the bottom. Erik kicked and screamed like a little boy, seeing
the branches and leaves blur past them as they fell. It rapidly
became dark, giving notice that they had reached the forest floor.
With a whoosh of the wings, Auria stopped before hitting the
ground. She released Erik by the roots of the tree, and she landed
in front of him. Her vivid wings lit up the surroundings with a
pulsing yellow.

“Auria, thanks for intervening just in time.
If not, that guy would’ve—”

“I told you to stay inside!” Auria erupted,
“Why did you have to go out? Now they all know about you.”

“Stay inside?” Erik argued, “Did you see the
size of those birds? Your people were dying. I just couldn’t sit
idly by.”

“You could have died under their claws.”

“Die? As I recall, I killed the biggest of
them all.
I
took care of business.”

“My people have dealt with the beasts
before,” she stated, walking side to side.

“I know, but—”

“It is something we are used to.”

“Yes, ok—”

“And you running free and wild, exactly as I
told you not to—”

“DAMN IT, AURIA, STOP!” Erik yelled to her.
She paused her walk in shock. He then let his body drop back
against the giant root and took a long breath.

“Look, this week has been out of the
ordinary for me. Not only did I almost die
multiple
times,
but I have seen things that no other men have had the privilege to
experience. One of those phenomenal experiences has been meeting
you.” He lowered his sight when he saw Auria mystified.

“When I saw the corvus and what they were
doing,” he continued, “I had to get out and look for you. I was
worried, Auria. I want to continue visiting you, but I can’t do
that if you’re dead.”

Silence took place for the next moments.
Auria crossed her arms and looked to the side, the glow of her
wings changing to a soft green. Erik had his hands on his waist,
pushing his lips together.

Then, Auria spoke, looking directly into his
eyes, “You cannot go to my house anymore.” Erik exhaled in
misery.

“But,” she hinted, “there is a pond close
by.”

“A pond? Yes, I remember seeing a glowing
one the first time I passed through.”

“If you truly want to see me, we can meet
there.”

“Good. So, I’ll see you by the pond
tomorrow?”

Auria spread her wings and floated up. She
gave him a smile and darted up.

“I’ll take that as a yes!” Erik yelled as
she vanished among the leaves.

When she disappeared, he rubbed his forehead
and had a laugh. It had been a crazy day, full of daring and
quarrel. He could not go up to the tree house anymore, but that
didn’t mean he couldn’t see Auria again.

He closed his eyes and grinned, “See you
later, sunflower…”

*

…Yes, that was Auria. I saved her people,
but she saved me. Sitting beside the Devita grave, I stared at it.
I did not want to dig a grave again. I quickly knelt in front of it
and punched my fist to the ground.

“I will rescue my beloved,” I vowed, “I
don’t know what blessing you gifted me, but I’ll surely make use of
it. I’m sorry I could not save you, but I will save my Auria. I
will not dig a grave for another fairy!

“Thank you, and rest in peace.”

I stood up and continued along the path. I
would never forgive myself if Auria had the same fate as the
Devita. I will not let it happen!

“My lord, my lord!” I heard an idiot scream
from the stairwell outside the room, “Orson is dead, he’s
dead!”

I exhaled in misery. This was such a drag!
Enjoying the comforts of the most expensive room at the inn, eating
the best piece of lamb in the country, praising the beautiful
blonde man that looked back from the mirror; me, the magnificent
Vallias, had his bliss disturbed by the ramblings of an inferior
man. He entered the room without knocking and received a fist to
the gut for the insolence. My bodyguards, Dorian and Angus, were my
muscle and took care of the unwanted. One with long, red hair and
the other bald with a full beard, they went everywhere with me.

The soldier knelt in front of my desk and
rubbed his stomach to sooth away the pain.

“My lord, I apologize for my most
inappropriate intrusion. But, I hastily came to tell you that Orson
has been killed by a miaflorian.”

“That is pitiful to hear,” I replied while
looking at the mirror on the desk. I was such a handsome man. My
short hair and sharp features were as stunning as an eagle, and my
strong arms claimed the authority I deserved. Every part of my body
gave the impression of a gentle, but violent man. Oh, I loved
it.

“This miaflorian you speak of,” I continued,
“Where’s his head?”

“I'm sorry, sir?”

“The dead miaflorian's head, you didn’t
bring it?”

"Well, his head is on his shoulders, sir. I
did not kill him.”

His words stung my ears like alcohol to a
wound. They filled me with ire and disappointment. I exploded.

"You mean that there is a miaflorian soldier
wandering freely in Balora because you let him live!"

"Sir, once he killed Orson, I knew he was
too powerful for me. I-I had to escape..."

"You didn't even fight?!"

"S-sir..."

I felt my veins throbbing on my temples, but
I took a deep breath and calmly composed myself behind the desk. I
smiled and nodded to Dorian, my red head guard. He aggressively
took the soldier and dragged him to the window. The glass shattered
as the man screamed to his death, breaking his neck on the top of
the covered cage. A feminine voice shrieked and began to cry as the
body rolled off. The scream and his death eased my anger a
little.

"
Angus
," I ordered my bearded guard,
"Prepare the men. We will continue our trip through the night." He
obeyed and with Dorian went out the door. I walked to the broken
window and looked down to the cage.
It
was still sobbing.

“Shriek and cry all you want, my precious
cargo. Your anguish has its purpose. Because of you, my dream shall
become a reality.”

My bodyguards prepared the men and tossed
the corpse of the soldier in the alley beside the inn. I gazed at
the stars and pondered about this new problem.

"What is a single miaflorian doing in
balorian soil? Bah, no matter. He does not know of my plan. No one
knows, not even the king. Soon, I will take the throne and rule
Balora. I will conquer and rule Miaflore. I will rise and rule the
people.”

I Will Rule!

After the burial of the Devita at the
Riverways, it turned into and awkwardly peaceful afternoon. Walking
up the path, I didn’t see any houses, wagons or people. It was a
very lonely and serene area. But when night came, that’s when I had
it hard. I didn’t find any shelter to rest. I had hoped to stumble
onto a barn or some type of building, but to no avail. I hiked into
the forest to hide myself from the path and sat under the low
branches of a stout tree. I put my sword and shield at my side and
prayed for a night without rain. I took out my small, black cotton
sheet from my bag and covered my body. Quickly enough, I fell
asleep.

#

The following day was
bright and sunny. Surprisingly, I didn’t dream of the memories I’ve
been having. My body wasn’t up to par; I didn’t rest in the best of
positions and woke up with a sore back. I felt there was a piece of
bark pricking me right in the middle of the spine. I touched around
the ground to gather my things, but there was nothing. It was one
of my greatest fears: my sword and shield were gone! I searched all
around the tree, but they had disappeared.
Even the dagger on my waist was missing.
I was so deep in sleep I was robbed blind.
I was so angry, I punched the tree and left the
mark of my knuckles embedded on it
. With
this type of anger I could’ve hacked down the nearest tree to bits.
But since it was my sword that had been stolen, it was a damn
irony.

I finally cooled off and continued down the
trail, swearing to find whoever was responsible. I was alert,
staring into the flora attentively. And it was then that I saw a
young child picking berries from a bush. He wore old farming
clothes with a round brown hat. I had nothing to eat for breakfast,
so I went to him to ask for some fruit.

“Hello, child.”

The boy hopped scared when he heard me. I
didn’t mean to surprise him, but he quickly took out a dagger. I
stepped back and raised my hands.

“Hey, kid, calm down. I didn’t mean to scare
you, I just want some berries. I’m hungry.”

“Stay back, greasy grown up!” he yelled like
if I were his lifelong nemesis.

I started to have the most weird of
feelings; me, a soldier that had defeated countless enemies and
survived against the most ruthless villains, being assaulted by a
knife wielding youngster. I almost cracked a smile. My brothers in
arms would have gotten a good laugh if they could see this.

The kid stayed still, just
lifting the dagger towards me. I shook my head as I giggled
internally. I couldn’t believe the situations I got myself in. But
after useless wonder, I focused on the dagger. The design and
patterns on the blade were quite familiar. Then it hit me; it
was
my
dagger!

“Hey, kid. That’s mine!”

He hopped scared again and turned to run. I
grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to me. I twisted his
arm behind his back and secured the dagger.

“First of all, I’m not
greasy,” I snarled into his ear. “Second, this here is
my
dagger. Tell me where
are the rest of my weapons?”

“What weapons?” he mouthed off.

“Listen, kid, I know you robbed me, so just
tell me where they are?”

“No, no. I didn’t rob you, I swear it.
Please, let me go. You’re hurting my arm.”

I tightened my grip and
gave him a stern instruction, “I will release you, but you will
have to tell me where you obtained the dagger. You understand me?”
The boy hastily nodded and I released. Once freed, he meticulously
rubbed his arm. I might have twisted it a bit too hard, but as my
father once told me when I was young:
You
deserve what you deserve
.