Rise of a Legend

by C.L. Mozena

Chapter 50

  Each day slipped into the next, and the rest of the year passed quickly to everyone but Orion. To him, the days dragged on, full of boredom and frustration at his handicap. Orion hardly noticed when the snows came and covered everything in an icy blanket, or when the weather became warm again. He didn’t really care what the weather was like since he stayed inside. He spent most of his free time in the library, reading, studying, and dreaming of other worlds. He didn’t enjoy going outside the way he did before. Being outside reminded him too much of all the outdoor activities that he wasn’t able to do anymore. Once in a while, Orion would go down to the stables to see his foal. He enjoyed seeing his horse grow large, larger than the other horses, but was disappointed when he realized that he may never get to ride his young horse. All through Orion’s grief over his handicap, Tanya stayed by his side, supporting Orion at any chance she got. Orion was sure he would have given up on everything if it wasn’t for her.

  Orion and Joshua’s nineteenth birthday approached quickly. Orion decided to celebrate the same way as the past two years, despite the fact that he was paralyzed. Joshua, excited about having a large, double party again, stayed to celebrate along with Orion. Both Empress Anita and Rick stayed, too, to keep a watchful eye on Orion, and to give moral support. Finally, the day before the party arrived and yielded to a warm, peaceful night. Rick was about to go to bed early when a knock on the door changed his mind.

  “Majesty,” the servant stepped inside, “Prince Orion would like to see you in his rooms right away.”

  Sighing, Rick threw on a bathrobe over his pajamas and followed the servant into the hall. He knew the way, but the servant had insisted on leading him. Once there, the servant knocked, and opened the door after hearing Orion call them in. The servant bowed Rick in and left. Orion was in his wheel chair, even though he preferred the couch. King Frederic and Empress Anita were already there, along with Tanya’s parents, Alex, and Joshua.

  “What’s this all about?” he asked, yawning.

  “That’s what we’d like to know, Orion,” King Frederic commented, a note of irritation in his voice from being interrupted so late.

  “Patience,” Orion said slyly, “Tanya’s not here yet. I’d like to wait for her.” They didn’t have to wait long, though. Less than five minutes later, Tanya and Lee charged in the room, arguing with each other. They both fell silent at the small crowd gathered in Orion’s room.

  “Orion?” Tanya asked, “What’s going on?”

  “You’re all here,” he said, surveying the room, “Good,” he sighed. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve asked you all here so late.” Everyone nodded. Joshua yawned. “Well, as you know, I’ve been undertaking physical therapy with Josh every night for almost a year. While you probably haven’t noticed any progress whatsoever-,”

  “I have, Orion,” King Frederic cut in.

  “You have?” Orion turned to his father, a surprised look on his face. He had tried his best not to show any hint of progress.

  “Yep,” King Frederic nodded, “your mood has changed so much since you woke up in the hospital wing, nearly a year ago.”

  “I see,” Orion hadn’t noticed a change in his own mood over the months, “Anyway, other than my demeanor, you probably haven’t noticed any progress at all.” The others shook their heads and began to whisper to each other. Orion held up his hand for silence. “Well, I have made progress. Lots of progress. I’ve just been keeping it a secret from you until I was sure it was working.” He paused, looking at each of them in turn. His excitement was growing as much as everyone’s curiosity. “Well, I’m sure now.” With that, he placed his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned forward. He put so much pressure on the chair that Joshua, who was standing beside Orion, had to hold it to keep it from rolling backwards. Orion placed one foot on the floor, then the other, and straightened up. Joshua wheeled the chair backwards to show that Orion wasn’t leaning on it in any way. He was standing up, completely on his own.

  Silence, so thick you could have cut it with a knife, pressed in as everybody stared at Orion. Nobody said a word, or even dared to breathe. Everyone stared at Orion openmouthed. Orion gazed at everyone expectantly, but didn’t get the reaction he was looking for.

  “So, what do you think?” he asked, a grin spreading on his face.

  “Oh, sweetie!” Empress Anita sobbed and threw her arms around Orion, causing him to stumble, but not fall.

  “Mom,” Orion said, embarrassed by her behavior, but she just cried harder into his shirt.

  “Wha? How-? Huh?” Rick was completely awake, but had lost his ability to string two words together.

  “Amazing, Orion,” King Frederic whispered. “Truly amazing! So you’re not paralyzed anymore?”

  “Actually,” he said, prying his reluctant mother off of him, “I am still paralyzed.” King Frederic gave him a questioning look, but didn’t say anything, so Orion continued, “You see, it was Tanya’s idea originally.” Now it was Tanya’s turn to show her confusion. “That’s right. She suggested that I levitate myself all the time instead of relying on the chair,” He looked down, “but I was so lost in depression that I didn’t want to hear it.” He looked back up at them. “Lucky for me, Josh did want to hear it. He figured that if I practice levitation every night, I’d get better at it. Maybe good enough not to need the chair anymore.” He beamed at Joshua, who smiled back with an ‘I-told-you-so’ look.

  “So,” Orion continued, “I practiced levitating myself every day, and levitating my legs separately,” He demonstrated by swinging each in turn, “until I got to the point where it looks like I can walk again!” He took a step towards them, and then another step. “See?” He began to pace in front of them. “Of course,” he stopped, “It’ll take a lot more work to be able to fight and become a warrior again,” he looked at his father.

  “Uh, I’m not sure if I want you to be a warrior again, Orion,” King Frederic said, uncertainly. “Your first battle nearly killed you.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Orion said calmly, “You don’t have to make me a warrior.” King Frederic opened his mouth, but no words came out. “I figure that by the time I’m ready to be a warrior again, I’ll be king. And,” Orion paused, a smile spreading across his face, “I will be in charge of who gets to be a warrior and who doesn’t. Which reminds me,” he said to no one, “As king, I can’t have two separate armies who are used to fighting one another. I’ll have to begin a training class for my own warriors, and figure out how to get the telblecs and lunimorves to work together instead of against each other.” He lost himself in thoughts about the future.

  “So, shall we start calling you Irdisae?” Tanya’s mother asked, playfully. Lee rolled his eyes. Tanya giggled.

  “Hm?” Orion asked, abandoning his thoughts.

  “‘Irdisae’ is what the king of the jisbae was called. It traces all the way back in a legend about the very first jisbae,” she replied, surprised that Orion didn’t already know that.

  “What are you talking about?” King Frederic asked.

  “The legend goes that a great war raged over this planet a long time ago,” she paused, “and I’m not talking about the telblec-lunimorf war, either. This war was between the creatures of legend long before telblecs or lunimorves existed, even before the jisbae existed.”

  “Creatures of legend? You mean like dragons and such?” Orion asked, fingering his ring.

  “Yes,” she proceeded to list the creatures, “it was mostly between the dragons, who were few in number, but large and powerful, and the zupzies, who were many, smaller and swifter. Unicorns, too, fought their share of the battles. Anyway, a great war raged between these creatures for many years. Each species was nearly wiped out. Finally, an unknown creature of immense power rose up and brought peace to all the creatures. His name was Irdisae. Some say that he was the very first jisbae, while others believe that th
e jisbae existed as an inferior race, hiding from their powerful neighbors until then,” she paused, allowing everyone to turn what she had said over in their minds. “He came up with a solution that involved moving the remaining zupzies to Lunspae. After that, he sectioned off the dragons’ territory from the unicorns’, and peace followed. To honor him, those three species came together and made a symbol of authority for him. It was a golden ring in the shape of a feather from a unicorn horn and zupzie feather, studded with an emerald gemstone from a dragon’s scale, with an unknown shape inside the emerald. It has an inscription written on the inside, something about how Irdisae brought peace to the planet.”

  “That name sounds familiar,” King Frederic remarked, trying to remember where he had heard it before.

  “So what happened to him?” Joshua asked.

  “No one knows,” Tanya’s mother admitted. “He just disappeared one day. Some say that he will appear again to rule Olhoe and Lunspae. Others say that he died without an heir, and that’s why the war between the telblecs and lunimorves began. Still others say that Irdisae will be back to choose an heir to bring an end to the fighting, just like Irdisae did back then.”

  “Orion figures that Irdisae left a legacy somewhere on the planet, and the one who finds it will be his heir,” Tanya spoke up, “Do you think it might be the ring?”

  “It’s possible,” Tanya’s mother said, “but I think Irdisae himself will show up someday.”

  “How will he show up if he died a long time ago?” Empress Anita asked.

  “Time travel, duh!” Lee said grumpily as he crossed his arms. “Everyone knows that Irdisae could travel through time. He could do anything.”

  “Sounds like someone’s a teensy bit jealous,” Tanya looked sideways at Lee, “Am I right?” Lee just stood there, fuming.

  “And why do you want to call my son by this legendary name?” Empress Anita asked, ignoring Lee’s bad mood. Alex, on the other hand, was preparing to fight Lee if necessary.

  “It was a joke,” Tanya’s mother replied. “See, both the telblecs and the lunimorves descended from similar jisbae ancestry.” Orion remembered Kelia’s story of how the jisbae’s war created the telblecs and lunimorves. “So if the two kingdoms are joined under one king, that king would be the king of the jisbae, or the Irdisae. And the fact that Orion’s ascension to both of the thrones in a year, ending the war, only adds to he idea of him being the same as Irdisae.”

  “But he’d need a ring to be the Irdisae,” Lee commented nastily. “You can’t be the Irdisae without a ring, Prince Orion. Sorry.”

  “I already have one,” Orion said, missing the joke and holding his ring up to Lee’s face, “See? Father gave this to me a long time ago.”

  “Yea, right, great,” Lee said, pushing Orion’s hand away. “Ow! Why’d you do that?” Lee gripped his wrist and glared at Orion.

  “Do what?” Orion asked, bewildered, “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yes, you did. You electrified me when I touched your hand. I felt it!” Lee stepped closer to Orion.

  “I did not, Lee! You probably just touched my ring when you swatted my hand away,” Orion crossed his arms.

  “What are you two talking about?” Rick asked, looking from one to the other, slightly amused by their childish behavior. Lee just scowled at Orion.

  “Listen, Lee,” Orion calmed down and tried to explain, “I don’t know why, but anytime someone else touches my ring, they get a small electric shock. It happened to all of my friends during training. I’ve had to take my ring off during sparring practice because of that.”

  “So why doesn’t it hurt you to wear it?” Lee argued back, “Did you put some kind of spell on it or something?”

  “No,” King Frederic answered, “The ring is magic of some sort. Even I can’t touch it. I found it in the bowels of the palace many years ago, in a secret room that almost nobody knows about. I gave it to Orion on his fifth birthday, when I found out that he could touch it without getting electrified.”

  “Do you think that this ring could be Irdisae’s legacy?” Joshua asked, staring at Orion’s ring.

  “Oh, give me a break,” Lee threw up his hands, “Irdisae will come back and pick his own heir.”

  “But how will he come back if he’s dead?” Empress Anita asked. Lee was about to explain that Irdisae wasn’t dead, just time traveling, but he didn’t get the chance as Empress Anita continued, “Besides, it seems that this ring has picked Orion, since Orion is the only one who can touch it. And we had already decided that Orion will be king of both Olhoe and Lunspae.”

  “Oh, I give up,” Lee said, shaking his head and leaning against a wall, “You guys believe what you want. I don’t care if Orion is king of both or not. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m waiting for the real Irdisae’s return.”

  “Oh, stop it, Lee. They’re only playing. I’m not the Irdisae. I don’t even know if I believe that legend or not. Anyways,” Orion changed the subject, “I was going to tell the rest of the kingdom tomorrow at dinner.”

  “Tell them what?” Rick glanced at Orion.

  “Uh, that I can walk again?” Orion said sarcastically. “Did you forget?”

  “Oh, right,” Rick blushed, “I guess with all the talk about you being the Irdisae, I kinda forgot you were standing.”

  “Hello! I’m right beside you, Ricky,” Orion said, exasperated, “I’ve been stuck in a chair for almost a year, and now I’m standing beside you! How could you forget?”

  “Sorry,” Rick muttered. He yawned, “I’m tired. I think I’ll turn in. ‘Night, everybody.”

  “Good idea,” King Frederic said, glancing at the clock, “It’s almost midnight. I think we all should go to bed.” With that, he and Empress Anita bid Orion good night and left. Tanya’s parents did the same. Lee gave Orion a final scowl before he left.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, bro,” Joshua said as he left. Alex nodded and left. Orion knew Alex was going to scout around Orion’s rooms. Tanya remained with Orion. For a while, neither of them spoke. They just stood there, staring at each other.

  “Well,” Orion said, uncomfortably, “uh, good night, Tanya.”

  “Orion,” Tanya said shyly, “I was wondering if I could, you know, stay here.”

  “Huh?” he asked, “Why? I’m going to bed.”

  “Yea, that’s my point. I was hoping that I could stay with you.” She paused, “Overnight.”

  “Oh,” Orion, finally understanding, “um, well,” he had been wanting to spend the night with Tanya for a long time, but now that she wanted to spend the night with him, he was nervous. “Uh, I-I guess so.”

  “If you’d rather be alone-,” Tanya began.

  “No!” Orion took her hand, “I’d love to spend the night with you, Tanya.” He pulled her close and kissed her quickly, blushing. He was about to pull away when she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, and pressed her mouth against his. He closed his eyes and returned the kiss, enveloping her in his warmth. Looking into her eyes, he didn’t see her as another person, but as another part of himself. So, he thought to himself, this is what love is.