The Aurora Stone: The Orea Chronicles

by Alana Grerig

  “I hope he comes back,” Eve said, worried that they might have just lost Betty’s pride and joy in the woods.

  “Bobby will return to us. Unicorns are loyal, and I have no doubt that he has gone to find a stream to have a drink from,” Jericho assured Eve. Jericho dug about in his bag until he found the apple and pear he had saved from his share of the picnic; he had saved them for Bobby. Hearing Eve laugh, Jericho looked up to see that she was also holding an apple and a small piece of flapjack.

  “Bobby shall be returning to a feast,” she laughed. Sitting down on the grass, Eve set the fruit to one side and looked towards the town rising out of the landscape a few miles ahead of them. Once Bobby had returned and gently taken the fruit and flapjack that were offered to him, he walked back over to the trap and waited to be re-harnessed. It was a marvel to Eve that he was so willing to be used as a common horse, and yet he was so much more.

  Caleb suggested that if they wanted to reach the city by nightfall, that they should make a quick stop in the town ahead to get more food. That way, they could once again eat on the road. Jericho thought this a sensible plan, apart from the fact they had no money with which to purchase food or indeed anything else. Caleb smiled and reached into his bag. A moment later, he was holding onto a small sliver disk with a hole through its centre; the disk was hanging from a piece of leather.

  “I don’t think that will buy us very much, Cal. It’s a nice thought, but...” Eve was cut off by Caleb’s chuckle.

  “I’m not going to try and buy food with this… exactly. Well, I suppose I am, aren’t I?” he replied, smiling at the now two confused faces before him.

  “Now is not the time for games; we have only a few hours of daylight left,” warned Jericho, involuntary flexing his muscles. Still smiling, Caleb placed the disc between his palms and closed his eyes. He heard the collective gasp as he felt his hands slowly begin to move apart. Opening his eyes, he smirked at his two companions. In his hands was a pile of money. Silver slips of paper with purple, pink, and green swirls on them.

  “It’s a money charm; I can produce money of any kind using this,” Caleb boasted, handing each of them a small pile of the notes. Thinking it would be a good idea to get a few other things in the town to aid them in their search for Eli, Eve smiled at Caleb, her eyes dancing with joy and affection.

  “This is wonderful! Let’s be on our way. The town is not far, and we can be in and out in no time!” she exclaimed, turning to Jericho to give her a boost up into the trap. Eve felt that things were falling into place. She just wished that Sapphire were with them. Eve felt lost without their connection. She knew that Caleb and Jericho were able to protect her, but Sapphire understood her like no other. How she hoped it would not be long until they were reunited.

  ***

  The creature slunk along the gloomy corridors of its fortress, its heavy black cloak making a hissing sound as it slid along the marble floors. The copper vault was its destination. For a creature of pure darkness, this room was vastly important. This was not an area of the great fortress the creature often visited, but last night while, watching the damned in the pits below from the windows of its chamber, the creature had felt an emotion that unsettled it to the core…fear. The feeling of being observed in some way, like an unwanted presence had been in the fortress, unnerved him.

  The elf was still alive; Grimmer had not returned. Therefore, his task had not yet been completed. Upon reaching the great copper doors, it reached out one clawed hand and pressed a discoloured talon into one of the engravings. This door must never be discovered by the light carrier; Grimmer must succeed, the creature thought as it checked the doors for signs of weakness. Finding the locking spells still in place, a smile split across the creature’s face, exposing its fangs within its lipless maw, blood still clinging to the corners of its almost non-existent lips. No longer concerned about the copper vault, the Darkness vanished, only to re-appear in its chamber. A yell rang out as the creature fully materialized by its throne. Turning to the sound, its eyes fell on the young witch. He was stripped from the waist up. Large scars covered most of his torso. Clearly, he had been beaten into submission when first brought to this place. One of the gashes was new, and his blood trickled from it, dripping onto the marble floor.

  Smelling the fresh blood acted like a siren’s call. Stalking the witch, the Creature parted its cloak to expose both its clawed hands. The man was now thrashing about the floor. It was a futile act; he was chained to an anchor secured deep within the marble. There was to be no escape. Usually, the Creature did not play with its prey; however, experiencing fear for the first time in millennia had caused it to want to make this witch suffer more than usual and experience extreme pain and fear.

  Reaching one clawed hand out, it peeled a slither of skin from the man’s chest. The captive’s blood-curdling scream echoed around the chamber. The creature shivered in glee as it deposited the ribbon of flesh into its jaws.

  “You are going to suffer, witch, for my pleasure.” The creature cackled as once again it peeled another ribbon of flesh from the prisoner's chest. Panting through the pain, the witch looked up into the face of pure evil and defilement.

  “You will lose, Nimayaorin. No amount of torture is going to change this. Kill me if you wish; rip my body apart. The truth is, you are going to be defeated,” the witch declared, all the while looking with defiant eyes into the horrifying countenance that belonged to the creature he called Nimayaorin. Not many knew of the creature’s name, and those that did never uttered it. Seeing as he was going to die, the witch used this knowledge to taunt the monster before him.

  “You dare to speak my name, you mewling meat sack!” Nimayaorin screeched, enraged that his name was known within the pits. His eyes shining crimson, he removed the hood of his cloak. “Look upon the face of the darkness. It will be the last thing you ever see in this life and will haunt you in your next!”

  The witch looked up into the face that had been ravaged for a millennium by hatred, dark magic, and evil. “You used to be one of us; how far you strayed from the path,” he whispered. This was too much for Nimayaorin. Moving lightning fast, he dug his claws into the witch’s bleeding chest, all thoughts of torture forgotten. Closing his claws around his prey’s beating heart, Nimayaorin smiled as he ripped the organ from the chest cavity. Holding the still-beating organ before the witch, he allowing him to watch it beat his life force onto the floor.

  “You see, witch, your words mean little. For whom will you tell?”

  With his last breath, the witch answered his murderer. “I know what you are, and others will soon know your name. Evil is only feared when it has no name. Think on that, because someday soon you will be no more than a memory. That is what matters, and I wish you to know… my name is Thomas. I guarantee you will never forget…it”

  Chapter Twelve

  The stop in the town of Hemlock had been short but memorable. They had never seen such an eccentric place in all their lives. Brightly-coloured houses with windows of different shapes and sizes lined the streets; no two were the same. The shops were just as colourful, and so was the produce on offer. Eve would have loved to have stayed and explored, but it was imperative that they reach the city that day. After collecting enough food for themselves and a glut of apples for Bobby, they headed out of Hemlock. Eve thought of Eli as the trap bumped gently along the road, opening her locket she looked at each image, in turn. Pausing at the one of Eli, his adorable smiling face looked out at her. It was bitter-sweet gazing at this picture. How much she wished they had had the childhood their parents had planned for them. The rush of love and hope she felt was so strong knowing he was close by. Eve really believed they would find him here in Gloria. It was like a sixth sense pulling her onwards towards her twin.

  The next image was of her mother Gwen. How she missed her! It was heart-breaking knowing how hard it had been for her to reveal the information about Eve’s parentage, and then to discover she was destined to fulfi
l a prophecy. It must have been so awful for her to feel she had lost her daughter twice in a few days. Of course, she would never truly lose Eve, and she hoped with all of her being that Gwen knew this.

  Caleb came over to see what was causing the pensive look on Eve’s face. The thought of her being in any kind of pain caused him anxiety. It was becoming abundantly clear now that he was falling deeply in love with her; even Jericho had been winking at him the last few days. Caleb realised he was going to have to declare his feelings at some point, along with the knowledge he held. He was not at all sure that either was going to get him a favourable response. However, it had to be done. I will talk to her once we are free of Gloria and hopefully, have Eli, he decided.

  “You miss your mother very much; I can see the pain in your eyes,” Caleb said as he put his arm around Eve’s shoulders and looked at the tiny image in her hand. Sighing, she closed the locket and returned it to her neck.

  “Here, let me.” Caleb offered, seeing Eve struggle with her russet mane and the tiny clasp on the silk. Turning her back to him, she accepted, enjoying the touch of his warm fingertips on her skin. The quickening of her heart whenever he touched her was not exactly unwelcome. She just didn’t know what to do with it. One thing Eve was sure of: there was no time for love, not while her brother and the prophecy still lay ahead of her.

  The three companions ate on the road, stopping only to offer Bobby some refreshment and the chance to be free from the trap. He took the apples but declined the offer of a rest. Jericho held much respect for the unicorn, knowing that, even as a magical creature, it would still be tiring to pull a trap with three adults aboard.

  As the white-blue of the afternoon skies began to darken and the horizon to the west turned a magnificent amber, ribbons of fuchsia and hints of red reached up to capture more of the blue, transforming it into celestial fire. It was a truly striking sight to behold.

  “Not far now. We will reach the city within the hour,” Jericho stated, and Bobby nodded in agreement. The road gently ascended, so they didn’t get their first proper view of the Royal city until reaching the top. It was huge. Large glass buildings glowed in the last of the sunlight, their unusual shapes making the cityscape seem alive with movement and light. Quite out of place, but beautiful in its own right, was the castle that sat on the hill. It seemed to be at the far side of the city. The moment Eve saw it, she knew that was where they needed to go.

  “That’s the Royal residence, I should think. It would make sense for us to ask for an audience with the King and Queen,” Caleb commented as they approached the towering arch that welcomed them to Nemea, Capital City of Gloria.

  Once through the arch, the city spread out before them in a breath-taking expanse of silver roads and glass structures. Everything seemed to shine. Though the buildings were glass, they were mirrored in places to allow the occupants some privacy. Other sections they were able to see through, and the sights they saw were extraordinary. There were whole rooms filled with puppies and comfortable sofas, groups of Fae seemed to gather there just to play with the puppies. There was another building with a room that had a stream running through it and a grass floor. This was clearly some kind of workspace, as there seemed to be tables and chairs with writing equipment on them. Nothing had prepared them for the level of eccentricity that was now before them.

  “If these are just the workplaces, I wonder how outrageous the living quarters are, or the castle is for that matter!” exclaimed Caleb, his eyes wide as he took in the scene before him. Many of the Fae wandering the streets stopped and admired Bobby as he passed, waving and pointing at the beautiful unicorn.

  With the light fading fast, Bobby headed towards the large oval park with ivy-covered gates in the centre of the city, where a sign proclaimed that it was permanently open. From her seat, Eve could see that there was a lake with small boats moored at a jetty, and beautiful trees, which had been artfully trimmed onto woodland creatures dotting the banks. To her, it looked like a truly magical place.

  The full moon was now visible in the twilight, cutting a silver path across the surface of the lake. Jericho thought it looked like a highway to the stars and shared his musings with the others. Caleb then told them a story about the Goddess of nature and how her lover lived on the moon. Eve thought it was very romantic and listened as the trap rolled gently along the damp loam paths.

  The gates at the end of the park came into view, along with the Royal residence. Everyone was tired and hoping for a warm bed for the night; even Bobby seemed to have slowed his pace a little. Eve was snuggled into Caleb, listening to his steady heartbeat, when, suddenly, a Fae girl came screaming from the woods, her clothes torn and blood dripping from cuts on her arms. Bobby stopped as the girl ran blindly into his path.

  “Hey, what happened? Stop! We can help you!” Jericho called, as he vaulted from the driving platform and chased after the girl, who had stumbled and then fallen down the slope towards the lake. Jericho reached her moments before she fell into the water. “I have you. Nothing will harm you now,” he soothed. The maiden was hysterical, jabbering about a demon in the summerhouse and how it had tried to eat her. This concerned the Miscurt. He was sure that the girl had indeed been attacked by something. He really hoped it wasn’t a demon, since that would mean…no, he would not think of that. First, he had to get everyone to the safety of the castle.

  Jericho scooped the girl into his arms and began running back towards the trap. A scream that he knew to be Eve’s pierced the night air, making his blood run cold. He practically flew the last few meters up the rise and back to the trap. What he saw was nothing short of horrific. Bobby was loose from his harness. Large gashes ran across his rump, his silver blood running down his legs. Behind him on the floor, also bleeding, was Caleb. From what Jericho summarised in the few seconds he took to analyse the situation, it seemed that Caleb had freed Bobby in the hope of Eve getting away on him. But where was she? Jericho glanced about; he couldn’t see Eve anywhere! Panic began to descend over him.

  “EVE!” He yelled into the ever-growing darkness. Even the moon had gone into hiding, as if not wishing to bear witness to the horror that had taken place below. Running towards the trap, Jericho put the girl down by one of the large wheels. “Stay here, girl, and do not move. If anything comes back this way, I want you to shout for me. My name is Jericho,” he instructed the petrified Fae before he turned and ran towards the tree line.

  “EVE!” he shouted again. Once engulfed by greenery, his cries seemed muted by the closeness of the trees, and it was even darker under the leafy canopy. He ran for a few minutes searching for clues as to which direction she may have been taken, and that’s when he saw the blood. Whatever had Eve had hurt her. The situation had become desperate; Jericho was now convinced that what the Fae girl had said was true. There was a demon in this park, and it was after Eve. Picking up his pace, Jericho ran through the trees, following the spatters of blood like a trail of gruesome breadcrumbs, hoping he would reach her in time.

  Grimmer smiled as he ran through the trees, the elfin maid unconscious over his shoulder. He knew he could simply transport them both back to the summerhouse, but where was the fun in that? Grimmer wanted to be chased. He knew that by the time her would-be rescuer found them, it would be too late.

  The summerhouse came into sight as the trees thinned. Soon, he thought, soon the elf will be dead. His original plan had been to wait for her to find Eli so that he could torture them both. However, the fairy maiden had wandered by, and he was so hungry that he had attacked her without thinking.

  Knowing that his master would not allow him to live if he failed in this mission, Grimmer had had to think quickly. It was fortuitous that he had consulted his orb of revelation and found that the traveling party he was waiting for were mercifully close. It had been so easy to take her. The witch was too slow in his efforts to save her and had been slashed across the chest for his trouble. He would be dead soon. The thought made Grimmer smile.

/>   The unicorn could have been a problem, but as luck would have it, the foolish Elf had launched herself at him dagger drawn. It had been easy to disarm and render her unconscious in moments. The cut on her arm was not fatal, and though her bleeding gave him pleasure, the smell of the dormant magic within her blood was making him feel nauseous.

  Entering the summerhouse, he dropped Eve onto the floor. There was no time to lose. The shouts of the Miscurt were becoming louder; he would be here soon. Taking the vial from his pouch, Grimmer walked back to Eve and forced her mouth open. Pouring the contents into her mouth, he forced her head back until she involuntary swallowed the poison that would grant his master victory.

  The effects were almost instant. Eve began to convulse. The force was enough to move her around the floor. Blood began to trickle from her closed eyelids. Grimmer watched her wither in agony and laughed. He had completed his mission. The witch would die from his wound, so there had been no need to waste the poison on him. It had all gone into this meddlesome elf maiden who, had she lived, would have been the end of his existence.

  ***

  Jericho broke through the tree line and saw the summerhouse. His acute hearing picked up the sound of boots hitting the floor. This both gave him hope and worried him. He had found her, but the sound was too fast and erratic.

  Flinging the door open, he was just in time to see the demon, his scared face grinning at him manically. Jericho launched himself at Grimmer only to find himself grabbing at thin air. The demon had vanished. A moaning from behind a sofa drew his attention. Eve was behind it on the floor, blood running down her cheeks; her body was convulsing violently. Having no time to check for further danger, Jericho ran to her. Scooping Eve up, he held her in a vice grip against his chest. Exiting the summerhouse, he immediately began running towards the gates that led to the Castle. Eve’s only hope now was a healer. Looking down at her, he could see that she was already a deathly white. The skin around her mouth and eyes seemed to be drying out. As he watched, a flake of skin came away from Eve’s chin and disappeared into the encroaching night. Jericho knew Eve simply could not die. The prophecy must be fulfilled. Even as he ran, Jericho wondered if he was going to be in time to save her. Pushing the thought from his mind, he ran.