You see, only a few hours ago - before Kaldar (my father’s most trusted adviser) broke into my bedroom, kidnapped me, and brought me over to Kier Inias Uaea Beiht’ Kiana in a boat sent by Ascevos himself - I’d been reading a book on Elandrean weaponry, and discovered that in the eight hundred years since the birth of Queen Iona and King Gardohil’s Avadorae children, there has been no knowledge to date of any weapon able to kill them having been made. This fact was revealed following a failed murder attempt on my ancestor King Erodis, who had been asleep beside his wife Queen Arodella, an elf, when a servant of whom they had been suspicious for some time woke them with a loud cry and had plunged a thin but sharp dagger into Erodis’ stomach – only to find, that the Avadorae king didn’t die and instead found to his horror, that his own shirt was covered in blood before collapsing to the ground. Dead.
While pondering Ascevos’ reaction when instead of me, his executioner dropped to the ground, I also thought about Harry and Aiolos, Kenton, Jaron, and my parents and whether they’d discovered I was gone yet, considering it was now very early in the morning. If they had, how would they find Ascevos’ kingdom? None of the island’s kingdoms are marked on any Elandrean map - old, or newly drawn up - and be able to fight off all the guards positioned in front of the large, pointed metal gate?
My train of thought was suddenly cut off by the sound of a key being turned in the lock of my cell, and I looked up to see a burly guard with a wart at the end of his nose like the witches in children’s storybooks come over, swiftly yanking me to my feet and unlocking the chain attached to my right ankle – only to bind my wrists tightly together with a rope made of a rough material I didn’t recognise. He pulled me out of the dungeons into a torch-lit tunnel that eventually led out into a wide cave, filled with ugly Uaea Kiana who all looked like Ascevos – but not nearly as ugly. The guard soon stopped in front of a tall thin pole and unbound my wrists, only to rebind them at the back of the pole, even tighter than before.
‘Enjoy your last few moments, Your Highness’ he sneered, and walked off to join his comrades as Ascevos sauntered out of the tunnel, flanked by two bear-like Beiht I don’t remember seeing in the journal my parents sent with me into the human world. They had shaggy black fur, thick twisted green horns and the typical bear snout, a long, curved tusk on either side of their mouths, and eyes the colour of volcanic lava that seemed to eye me hungrily as they followed behind their master, until Ascevos stopped in front of me and waved them away.
‘You seem to have caught the attention of my bodyguards, Princess’ he sneered, grinning nastily at me.
I didn’t dignify his snide remark with a verbal response, and simply glared icily at him until he turned to address the crowd gathered in a circle around us.
‘Loyal soldiers, and friends. Today, we end the life of Princess Oraelia. Today, we stop what has been foretold, from coming true!’ he yelled.
Ha, that’s what you think, I thought, as an ugly cheer arose from his followers.
‘Although I would love to stay, and enjoy the princess’s execution with you, I must attend a meeting of our island’s leaders to discuss the actions we will take once Ledoran and its allies retaliate. Take as long as you like killing her, play with her a little’ he told them, the disappointment in his voice at having to miss my “execution” unmistakable. As he turned to head into the tunnel, he called over his shoulder, ‘Neliki, I’m leaving you in charge’ before striding back into the darkness of the tunnel, flanked again by his bear-like Beiht bodyguards (I’m going to have to read up on them when I get back home).
The burly guard who had retrieved me from my cell stepped forward, an arrogant grin plastered across his pale ugly face.
‘This is going to be fun, deciding how to kill you.’ He giggled nastily , turning around to address the crowd, ‘won’t it boys?’
The rest of the gathered party cackled and nodded, sharing Neliki’s grin of arrogant confidence.
‘Right then, how should I start?’
‘Why wait?’ I asked, keeping my head down as I spoke.
‘What?’
‘Why don’t you just kill me? I’ve nothing left to live for anyway. My parents replaced me with a human brother while I was gone, and the boy I love has fallen for one of the palace maids. Please, put me out of my misery.’
Neliki appeared completely taken aback by my plea for death, but then he shrugged and turned back to the on-lookers.
‘I guess I had better do as Her Highness asks’ he shouted. I heard him draw his sword, and within seconds his feet appeared in front of my eyes.
Although he didn’t say anything I knew he was biding his time, savouring the moment before his blade pierced my flesh.
There was a flash of silver, and the tip of his sword entered my stomach.
Another Gift
I didn’t grunt, or wince, for I felt no pain.
The sword had passed harmlessly through me, and there was no blood for anyone to see when Neliki pulled it out of me.
Neliki was at a loss for words, his eyes fixed on the clean sword as I raised my head, a smile of triumph on my face. He looked down as a reddish-purple stain slowly spread over his own stomach; crumpling dead at my feet without making a sound.
Sweeping my eyes over the faces of the remaining Uaea Kiana, who were staring in surprise and horror at Neliki’s corpse I laughed loudly, my voice laced with amusement at their lack of weaponry knowledge, despite many of them carrying more than one at their hip.
‘You guys must either be illiterate, or just damn stupid,’ I told them with a laugh, eliciting a few angry glares and confused expressions as I carried on. ‘Because there is no known knowledge of a weapon capable of killing one of my kind ever being made, in any of the books on Elandrean weaponry, and I doubt there ever will be, because you’ll all be dead – including your leader.’
‘How are you going to kill us all, tied to a pole?’ a gruff voiced Ki behind me asked after a short time.
I barely heard him however, for at that precise moment I felt an odd sensation run through me. A fiery anger pent up inside me at being kidnapped, and chained to the wall of a dungeon, and then tied to a pole so tightly that I thought my wrists would break, mixed with the feeling of something awakening inside me, all bubbling up to the surface of my mind and then…
Crackle. Snap.
The pressure on my wrists and arms suddenly disappeared, and I stepped away from the pole. Walking around to see how my bindings had come loose, I discovered that the ends where the ropes had snapped were scorched black, as if they’d been lit by a match.
Fire. That was my second gift – but there was no time to contemplate how I would be able to harness this, without needing anger to do it. I had to get back home and warn my father of what was to come…only, to do that I’d have to know what Ascevos and his allies were planning first. Yes, the first thing I need to do, is find out where the meeting of the island’s kingdom leaders is and eavesdrop on their conversation.
‘You!’ I yelled, jabbing a finger at a Ki with short, stumpy legs. ‘Where are the kingdom leaders meeting?’
He scoffed, as if I’d just asked him the most ridiculous question in the world. ‘Do you really think I’m going to tell you?’
Clenching my jaw and both fists to keep myself from burning him to ash where he stood, I stalked over to him, swooping my hand down as I passed Neliki’s body and ripping the sword from his grip, and got right up in his face – which was a little hard to do because he was at least a foot shorter than me, and pressed the tip of the sword into the soft pale flesh of his throat.
‘Tell me where they’re meeting now, before I slit your throat and spill your blood everywhere’ I growled, surprised by the ferocity in my own voice.
He remained silent, setting his jaw defiantly.
‘Last chance, filth’ I growled. Nothing.
I sighed, drew the tip of the sword away from his throat, and let it fall to the ground, reaching up and pulling the pin my
mother had given me that also doubled as a very small but sharp dagger, from my hair and swiped it across his neck as my hair fell across my shoulders. His red-purple blood splattered the chest plates of the soldiers either side of him as he fell.
Flicking the horrible, foul smelling blood off my mini-dagger and cleaning it some more on an unmarked piece of his tunic I swiftly pinned my hair back into place and willed my wings to come out, as the Kiana that were left began to close in on me. Seconds later they unfurled from between my shoulders. Although I’d yet to take my first flight, my wings wafted strongly back and forth, lifting me ten meters into the air in less than five beats and then, grinning and waving at the enraged Kiana I leant forwards until I lay on the air below me on my stomach, and headed in the direction my gut told me to go.
Meeting Apollo
Flying east through the morning sky blanketed by a beautiful sunrise, I noticed something not too far below me.
An image from my Greek Mythology books flashed through my mind as my eyes took it in. It was a winged stallion, white in colour - Pegasus, but…it couldn’t be . Yet there he was, his great wings wafting softly up and down, someone sat astride his strong back.
It was Apollo, known by most as the Sun god, and the god of music and prophecy (or oracles), but what was a god doing so far from Olympus?
Tilting my body to the left, I soared down so that I was alongside them, but not so close that my wings would knock against Pegasus.
‘Apollo?’
Upon hearing my voice he glanced sideways and smiled, ‘Princess Oraelia, I’ve been waiting to meet you for a while.’
Apollo’s dark blue eyes gazed into mine, as if seeing into my soul, until Pegasus nickered and snorted. ‘Oh, and so has Pegasus.’
I smiled ‘please, call me Oraelia…or Ellie as I was known as in the–’
He gently cut me off, ‘in the human world, I know.’
‘How did you – oh yes, god of prophecy. You would have seen me coming.’
He laughed and grinned at me ‘that’s right, which is why I am here right now. You search for the meeting place of Kier inis kingdom leaders, do you not?’
I nodded vigorously, knowing that I didn’t need to explain why.
He nodded ‘you’re almost there; continue on in this direction and you’ll soon see a large square building with two torches of red flame at each of its four corners.’
I nodded ‘right. Thanks Apollo.’
He smiled softly ‘no thanks needed Oraelia, the pleasure is all mine…by the way, do not fret about you romance with young Harry. It will last a long time, trust me I know’ he told me with a wink, and then Pegasus increased his speed and the two of them were soon nothing more than a speck in the distance.
It wasn’t long after Apollo and Pegasus’ departure that I caught sight of the red flame lit building where the Uafá Ki kingdom leaders were meeting and, landing lightly on the roof where I’d noticed a skylight on one side, and carefully sat down and began to listen.
***
A half hour later I had discovered thanks to my keen sense of hearing, that a decision had been made. Before the three Avadorae kingdoms could retaliate after they learnt that their daughter and niece was dead – through a scroll secured to the shaft of an arrow shot from the cliff edge of Kier Inias’ eastern side – each leader would send their armies across the ocean to the mainland in the dead of night. They would then have them split off into three groups to kill off all the villagers, while they themselves murdered each kingdom’s royal family.
I had just flown past Kier Inias’ eastern cliff jutting out over the Dracorian Ocean when I glanced back, and saw Kaldar stood at the edge as a fast flying object hit me in the stomach; the force of the impact flinging me backwards and into a tumble, plummeting towards the ocean below.
An Aquatic Saviour
Retracting my wings as I fell, I curled into a tight ball and braced myself for the sharp sting as I hit the water – but it never came. Slowly, I opened my eyes and realised that I wasn’t falling anymore, but twenty meters above sea level.
Looking down, my eyes widened in momentary surprise, which quickly turned into wonder as my eyes took in the reason; I was riding on the head of a Dracor (that’s the singular of dracoria). I don’t know if my eyes were deceiving me, but it looked like the turquoise, gentle sea beast was carrying me towards the shore of the mainland. The next moment, he or she had reached the sandy beach, and lay down at the edge of the surf, and then lay his head down to the ground to let me off.
‘Thank you kind creature,’ I murmured and, taking a few steps forward, kissed the gentle beast’s snout and touched it with my forehead ‘for saving me.’
I could not let a daughter of Gardohil, First King of Elves, King of Teralien and Father of the Avadorae fall from such a height, Your Highness.
I jumped and stepped back in surprise, looking up into the aquatic reptile’s bright blue eyes as he gazed down at me.
‘You-you can talk?’ I stammered.
Of course, child. Gardohil created the dracoria with the ability to talk – although few can hear, and speak, with us.
The deep voice replied.
‘King Gardohil created you? I didn’t know he had such a power.’
A deep chuckle resonated in my mind, and then he answered.
Yes. King Gardohil combined several strands of DNA from his dragon, whom he’d saved as an egg, with those of a reptilian water spirit that hadn’t been able to have any offspring of its own, and thus the first seven dracoria were born.
‘I see’ I replied, fascinated by his story, and was about to ask him to tell me more when I heard a familiar voice behind me, and turned to see Harry stumbling down the rocky path towards me, his face deathly pale and his eyes red...as if he’d been crying, or had barely slept. Reaching me within seconds he flung his arms around me with such vigour, that he knocked me backwards onto the sand before the sea dragon could thrust out his head to catch me on his snout.
Harry’s voice trembled as though he was about to cry.
‘Oraelia, thank the gods! I’ve been going out of my mind with worry that you’d been killed by Ascevos – or Kaldar’ he murmured, wrapping his arms tighter around my neck as I sat on the sand in silent shock before wrapping my own arms around him and squeezing him back as his shoulders began to shake.
‘Ascevos didn’t try to kill me. He left my execution to who I presume was his second-in-command, Neliki, and I even spurred him on by saying I had nothing left to live for’ I replied after a short time.
Harry jerked back, letting my neck go in shock, ‘why on Earth would you do that?!’
I smiled, ‘because I knew he wouldn’t be able to kill me. It turns out, that the children of Iona and Gardohil are totally immortal. I discovered in a book that a suspicious servant of King Erodis had tried to stab him in the stomach and kill him - but died himself. I let Neliki run me through with his sword, all the while knowing that I wouldn’t feel a thing, and that he would die.’
Harry’s eyes glistened as they gazed into mine, a look of awe visible on his face before he surprised me with a gentle kiss on the mouth ‘you are possibly the smartest yet reckless young woman I’ve ever known’ he murmured, smiling.
I smiled back at him, leant in for another kiss and then pushed lightly against his chest. Taking the hint Harry got off me, pulling me up by both hands as Jaron, Kenton, Aiolos and my parents suddenly appeared, coming down the same path as he had done. All five of them were tripping over their feet as they made their way down the rocky slope.
‘Oh my brave, darling girl’ my father sighed, giving me a big hug and kissing the top of my head as he stroked my hair.
‘You okay sweetheart?’ my mother asked as she and Aiolos came over to us.
‘Yes, I’m fine – but I can’t say the same for the two soldiers I killed’ I replied simply, wondering at the back of my mind how Harry would react, and then added ‘well, the one soldier. Neliki died when he ran me through
with his sword.’
My parents’ eyes flickered with what I though was surprise. A moment later however, I realised they were looking at me with pride and a small smile tugged at my lips.
‘You knew about our total immortality.’
‘Yes, every descendant of Erodis and his brothers, as well as their partners in life knows about it. It’s part of our history’ my father replied. He wrapped an arm around me and my mother and pulled us in close to him, and then held out his arm to Aiolos, despite the fact he didn’t share our history by blood.
Now that it was quiet and no one else looked as though they were going to say anything, I took a deep breath and told them what Ascevos and his allies were planning.
‘We must be ready for them’ I finished off, six pairs of eyes widening in front of me.
My father sprang into action, ‘it looks like we’re going to have to postpone the village visits again. Everyone, get back to the palace, we’ve got a battle plan to draw up.’
Battle Plans
Following an hour-long battle strategy meeting over the large Elandrean map spread out on the table in front of us, my father spoke. ‘We’re all in agreement then? Me and Aiolos will tail the group that heads to Rendor with thirty men after I’ve taken down the magic barrier, Kenton and his men will follow the one heading to Idanei, and Jaron and the Ledoran Guard will lie in wait in the vacated houses of our people, after evacuating and bringing them to our underground safe tunnels with some of my guards for the group heading our way.’
Everyone nodded simultaneously, and Father turned to me; ‘you my dear, will wait for Ascevos to show himself on the path up from the city, and take him out.’
I blinked at him, eyes wide, ‘you- you’re trusting me to take care of him by myself?’
Descendants of Erodis Page 10