“Go on now and stop wasting my time, Oh and get me a list of my top assassins please, I will be taking care of this little rodent,” I said.
“Yes my Queen,” He said again. then turned around and walked out of the room.
I looked out the window and stared down at the bloodshed floors of my kingdom, and I laughed pulling out a knife. I spun it between my fingers. “Little Princess Amaryllis thinking she's all brave” I chuckled turning around and I aimed for a photo of the last king. I closed my eyes and threw. I heard the whack of the knife hitting its mark. I Laughed. “Poor Little Princess Amaryllis, if only you knew what you were getting into, you would know you and your Lumine are dead” I spoke to myself, and I walked out of the room walking by the painting glancing at it one.
A smile spread across my face when I saw how the knife stuck right in between the eyes of the kings painting.
I would kill the princess and her little Lumine friend no matter what. The poor girl didn't know what kind of trouble she was getting into.
VI The Snake Bonder
Nate
I walked along the edge of the trees so not to get stuck in the mud like my horse and Amaryllis. I led Amaryllis’ horse behind me with Amaryllis on top.
Some wild creature smaller than a wolf had jumped into the sinking mud and pulled her out then ran away. Her hand was Gnawed on and cut up. Blood mixed with the mud covering her skin.
I had to give her CPR, and a bunch of dirt had come out of her throat, but she still hasn't woken.
Why had an animal tried to save her? How had it succeeded? I had heard the stories of the sinking mud, but they called it sand. They had said that even if one of us had escaped, we would get eaten by the White Fox that had always lurked around our Training center or get sucked up by the sinking sand.
I had always thought they were just stories, because when I escaped no Fox had ever tried to eat me and I didn't get sucked up by sinking sand.
I was running out of food, I had fed Amaryllis some berries I had spotted on the trail, but I still got no response from her. It only worried me a little. If I had to as a last resort, I could eat grass or leaves.
It has been 2 days since Amaryllis got sucked down by the mud now. The mud has thinned, and sand covered the floor, yet I found drinkable water.
The trees disappeared entirely and a tall yellow grass spread out for what it looked like miles. Trees were here and there but none of the kind I had seen in the forest. And they were spread out and shaped weirdly.
I walked into the weird environment. I saw a herd of black animals with white stripes; they kind of looked like Amaryllis’ horse.
I headed over to the animals. There was so many of them grazing on the dry yellow grass.
I walked over to one and reached out. The animal snapped at me. I pulled my hand back in shock. A man came out from the middle of the herd. He had black striped tattoos like the animals, and he was a pale white. His hair was also black and white, He looked strange. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt.
“Who are you?” He asked tilting his head to the side. He looked friendly.
“I am Nate, do you have any help, my traveling partner won't wake up,” I said with the tiniest bit of desperation in my voice. Though I didn't care much about the princess next to me, I knew that her life was in my hands.
The mysterious striped man looked over to the horse holding my mud covered traveling partner. He looked me up and down with a bit of disgust in his eyes.
“I'll help you but you must change those clothes, or someone will have the right mind to attack you,” He said. I realized that my clothes were animal skin, I had always worn these, I had nothing else. This was the kingdom of animals, so I didn't think twice about keeping them.
“Oh yes, I'm sorry about these It's all they gave me to wear,” I said looking down at the animal skin clothing. I felt sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it. I didn't own anything else.
He nodded and only dug into his pack. He tossed me a white shirt and black pants.
“Thanks,” I said, and I quickly got dressed behind a tree. It was a little loose but not too loose.
When I was done, I saw that the striped man sit on one of the weird horse-like animals. “What are those animals?” I asked in curiosity.
“Zebras,” He said petting one's mane, I watched how they flocked around him. “They are my bonding animal,” He said not looking at me only paying attention to the Zebra in front of him. “Hop on.”
I didn't know what a bonding animal was, but I still hopped on. Zinnia was slower than the Zebras because of the long tiring trip, but she still kept a steady pace. The more I spent with the two animals, the more I could tell they were different.
“We will get to Savannah city in an hour,” the man said.
“Alright, what is a bonding animal?” I asked questioningly, halfway trying to start up a conversation.
The man just laughed. “You don't know what a bonding animal is? You’re not from around here are you?” He said the last sentence more like a fact than a question. I felt kind of silly; it wasn't my fault I had been holed up all my life.
“A bonding animal is an animal that connects to you. When you do a bonding ceremony with that animal, you become more like them, like how I have stripes, those appeared after the bonding ceremony. You don't get to choose your bonding animal, your animal chooses you. When I was younger my parents tried to get me to bond with lions and cheetahs and even a giraffe once but one day a baby Zebra came up to me and that's all I did was hang out with it. I could speak to them too. When they bond with you then you all will live the same age, So while zebras live only 25 years if I bond with one then that one will live till however long, I live. But for an animal that lives longer than a human you will live as long as that animal,” He said explaining on and on.
I nodded only understanding the concept a little. I pretended I understood the entire concept.
I sat in silence looking around the strange place that the Zebra bonder called a Savannah.
Finally, I saw a strange city made out of the caked sand. People walked around with many animals by their side, they all looked different than normal people. Every new environment put me in wonder.
We got off the Zebras and the Zebra Bonder led me and Amaryllis on her horse to a large hut.
“This is the last of our journey, go inside the hotel and ask the lady at the front desk for Lady Pandie, she will help you with your traveling companion.” The Zebra Bonder said before turning around and heading back the way we came.
I opened the door to the hotel and saw a lady with deep black hair look my way, she had whiskers sprouting from her small plump rounded face, and she had a black cat by her side purring and rubbing its little back against her. She gave me a small smile showing sharp canine teeth. I was a little freaked out. “Welcome, would you like a room?” she said her voice almost a purr.
“No ma’am, I'm looking for Lady Pandie.” Her smile instantly fell, and she looked like she wanted to hiss at me but instead she merely purred “Second room to the left.”
I nodded and said my thanks and headed to the room she told me was Lady Pandie’s. I knocked gently.
“I thought I told you to leave me and my poor babies alone you Katzen” I heard a voice scream.
“Lady Pandie is that you?” I said. I listened to the clicking of locks and then the door swung open. There in my view was an old woman, she was leaning against a sword instead of a cane and had several snakes clinging against her old wrinkly scaly skin.
She reminded me of an old warrior. She looked so weak and thin, though.
A smile lit her old face. “Come in kind,” She said waving me in. I looked around the room seeing snakes everywhere.
“I think I should leave the horse in the hall,” I said.
She looked back at the horse then nodded “If you think that would be wise, Kind” she looked at Amaryllis laying limp on the horse with a wary eye. She left the door open,
and I followed her into the room avoiding stepping on one of her snakes.
“I'm sorry for yelling kind; I thought you were that feline that keeps letting her cat attack my snakes.” She said patting my shoulder.
“Why do you keep calling me Kind?” I said. The people here were so strange.
She laughed. “Just like all of you people around here, you know no German tongue. Kind means child and Kinder means children in German dear.” She laughed petting one of her snakes. “Now time for me to ask questions, Why are you here to see me Kind?” she asked.
I ignored her even though I knew I was not a child. I was 18 now.
“My traveling partner won't wake up, she fell into the sinking sand, and I suppose you're a doctor?” I said.
She laughed “Doctor? No. but I know enough to be the closest thing to a doctor in this town.” She hobbled out of the room and looked over Amaryllis. “I can't take care of her with this much mud caked to her skin, don't you know how to wash, kind?” She asked.
I didn't have time to answer before she picked up Amaryllis like she was as light as a feather from a single common bird. She looked so frail if you hadn't seen her hold a full grown 18-year-old without a struggle. She carried her through the room full of snakes into a new room with only an enormous oval shaped bowl.
She set Amaryllis into the bowl then turned around giving me a little glare, “Shoo Shoo boy, you can't watch me wash the girl in the tub” she shook her bony little finger at me until I backed out of the room.
She slammed the door shut, and I sat on the floor next to the door and waited. When she came out, she held Amaryllis who looked more like herself when I first met her.
Amaryllis looked deathly pale, and she was skinnier them before where her bones showed through her skin. Her hair was not in her natural braid. It was wet and so was her clothes, but she looked fresh and clean. Her hand was torn to shreds, though something I hadn't noticed with the mud caked on it. Her hand was dripping some mysterious green gooey substance that came out of the torn flesh.
Lady Pandie was whispering things in German. She set Amaryllis on a small wool bed and started wandering the room in search of something. She grabbed up a jar full of the strange green substance and yelled something in a German tongue
German was a long lost language, many says it was from a different world. Only 10 people in Grarien knew it. One was a little boy who I fought against a long time ago.
She ran back in the room with what she called a tub and came back with a bucket of clean water. She grabbed a small spoon and scraped some green stuff off of Amaryllis’ skin.
She dropped the spoon in the water, and it sizzled. She put her hand in the water and pulled out what was a spoon but really was just a melted piece of metal. She threw it across the room adding to her pile of mess in the corner and then turned my way and yelled at me in German.
“This is poison” she shouted in English while grabbing Amaryllis’ wrist and flailing her torn up arm around. “This is a poison that cannot be found other than in the venomous teeth of the White Fox. It kills instantly I don't know how she is still alive.” She said her voice full of wonder and worry. Then she said in the quietest whisper that I could barely understand “This is supposed to kill her but instead it's keeping her alive, there is still mud in her body that she would die because of. But because of this strange magical poison, she will live until it wears off and her lungs stop freezing up.” She jumped out of her seat. “Kind, we will take the emergency wagon up to the kingdom, and there is only one person who can save her. Queen Daya herself.”
She picked up Amaryllis and set her gently on the horse waiting in the hall. She went back into the room and pushed me into the corridor saying “Watch Leben” I assumed she meant Amaryllis so I went in the hall and waited near the horse. She came out with around 5 snakes wrapped around her limbs.
She quickly walked out into the waiting room, and I followed only catching part of her conversation with the cat bonder, it was none too friendly.
She held the door open for the horse and pulled us quickly through the crowds saying nothing on the way. I followed quietly.
She raised a hand for me to stop then talked to two people at a small shop.
I couldn't read the words on the sign because it was written in a language I didn’t know.
The man walked our way with a boy by his side. “Are you ready for an adventure?” He asked me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. The man looked at the kid, and the boy nodded silently.
The man turned to Lady Pandie and said, “My son will watch your snakes while you're gone” Then the boy turned around and left us.
“Let's get started,” said the man.
VII Travel To The Castle
Nate
We loaded onto a small wagon; it was pulled by four mules. The man helping us was named Brickert; He would get to the castle the quickest way, and had access to talk to the Queen.
Amaryllis was laid on Lady Pandie’s lap, she whispered to her in a soft German voice, and I regularly heard the word Leben spoken. I didn't know what it meant, but it was probably close to what she called me. I would have to ask her sometime.
We sat in silence as requested from Brickert, he said his mules worked best in silence, I wondered if he was a Mule Bonder, he looked average compared to Lady Pandie and the zebra bonder. His eyes moved quickly searching the land that we traveled upon.
It soon grew darker, and he scanned the safari even more.
Lady Pandie stroked Amaryllis’ hair and pet her snakes at the same time. Three days passed a lot like this, in silence, I couldn't stand it. It unnerved me. The last time the world had been this quiet was when I was in that horrible place I used to call home.
On the very beginning of the third day, I finally saw the edges of a jungle. Brickert stopped the cart, and Lady Pandie argued with him in another language I couldn't understand. He looked over towards me and did a quick nod of his head. “Alright, go on with Lady Pandie, she will take you the rest of the way, I will be staying here waiting for further orders.” He said climbing back on the cart.
Lady Pandie waved her goodbye to the old man and wished him a good time in the waiting. She had the five snakes slithering all over her arms, and she still managed to pick up Amaryllis. I wanted to protest about Lady Pandie carrying her, but she silenced me with just one look. We had walked a little while before she sat on a small stump.
“This is the place, this is the last of our journey,” She said refusing to get up.
I watched as she whispered to her snakes in a German tongue and they slithered off.
“You're just going to sit here,” I said astonished and angry. When I saw she was serious, I huffed in defiance.
“Of course I'm going to sit here, if you are patient, we will get to our destination faster, it’s a secret way that involves waiting,” She said.
Thinking she would follow me if I would leave I asked. “What way is it?” Maybe I could outsmart her, if not I didn't need her anyways.
“Go straight East, and you will find your way, but I'm keeping the girl,” She said pointing a bony finger in the right direction. I stomped the way she pointed, murmuring about crazy old ladies who want to stop in the middle of the journey.
I listened but I heard no footsteps following me, fine by me I would just finish my trip by myself.
Soon my legs grew weary of walking over everything, and I thought that maybe a small rest would help. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
I recognized one of Lady Pandie’s snakes slither by me. I kept walking. Finally, I saw lights in the distance through the dark jungle. I saw no buildings. I kept walking and was surprised when one of my feet slipped from under me.
I was tumbling down into a dark hole. When I hit bottom, I saw a few people looking down at me.
“Ello mate,” One of the men said with a smile. “Ya new around ere? You fell down that hole quickly, ain't seen nobody that surprised.”
I hopped up
quickly but soon regretted it when I felt the world spin. “Easy mate, ya be a wee bit tipsy after a fall like that.” He said holding me up. When my vision cleared, I could see him smiling at me. The other people around him looked confused. “There ya go mate, oh don't mind em, none of em speak English, no point in trying. So what's your reason to be in this tunnel?” He was talking quickly with a strange accent.
“I'm looking for the Queen to warn her about important issues,” I said straightening my shirt.
His eyes widened. “The Queen eh, why don't I tag along to show you the way, if I ain't any bother. Plus you ain't gonna find no Queen down here, no she's one with the trees, quite a beautiful lady if I do say so myself.” He said with a smile.
“Sure why not, just lead the quickest way to the Queen,” I said.
He just smiled and climbed up a ladder I didn't see on the side of the hole, the jungle was thick and hard to walk through, but soon we came to a stop.
“We're ere mate, look up into the trees; you will find many wonders there.” He pointed to the sky, and that's when I realized there was a city hanging on the jungle trees, up above, where you wouldn't notice if you just happened by it. You had to be searching for it to find it.
He entered a hollow tree with many lanterns lining the inside; the floor was made of a soft wood and a rope dangled by our side.
“Help me out over ere mate, pull the cord, and we go higher to the sky.” He said pulling the rope, I felt the floor move up slightly, and I did the same, helping him until we were in the city up in the trees.
The people wandered by without noticing us. I recognized the weird shapes of people's faces and other stuff as Animal Bonders. The man showing me the way walked across a bridge made out of a dark wood to another hut, we passed it and had to climb up more ladders, and cross more bridges. I don't know how anyone found their way around here.
Finally, I saw a huge castle dangling in the trees like a giant Chandler; it was surrounded and held up by massive groups of the jungle.
Without Joy Page 4