Luna
"Who are you?" I asked again, my voice extremely soft. Whoever could speak to trees and order them around was definitely a force to be reckoned with and to be feared. "Sorry about that. He just would not listen to me. You know what children are like, right?" He continued in his voice which now sounded like the sound of a thousand falling leaves. I looked behind me wondering why Indrik was yet to come out. I regretted it instantly. The hut was gone and in its place were even more trees which were keeping us enclosed. I did a 360 degree turn, yet I could not see anything apart from trees around us. My blood seemed to be turning to lead as I turned back to the man. "Where is Indrik?" I asked, scared to know what his response would be. "The boy? He is just fine." He waved his branch arms and a few leaves fell off, swirling as they made their way to the ground. I wasn't sure I believed him but I didn't think I was left with many other choices. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" I asked for the umpteenth time. He fixed green eyes on me. I blinked, wondering if his eyes had been green all along. I must have missed it in the green of his robe. "So, you really don't remember me." He whispered, his voice almost sounding human. He looked wistful as he searched my eyes. Something tugged at the back of my mind. I had a feeling that I was supposed to know this person but like most of my memories, it stayed just out of my reach. I seemed to remember running around dancing trees though. I shook my head wondering what the memory was all about. "No, I don't. So, could you tell me who you are?" I asked, hoping he could clarify the shadows that were bugging me. He lowered his head and muttered something that I couldn't quite catch. Then raising his head, he turned to me. "If you've forgotten me then, I assume it is for the best. I..." I interrupted, the thought that I was supposed to know this person becoming stronger and stronger. "Just tell me who you are already. Please?" I asked desperately but he merely shook his head, releasing another swirl of leaves. "I am forbidden to interfere. Everyone is. Perhaps, after you pay your debt, you would regain all of your losses." I stumbled back as the weight of his words hit me with the weight of a brick. I knew about the debt. "The meeting you mentioned. You were referring to Indrik?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't shake his head again and say he couldn't answer my question but he shook his head in affirmation. "The fact that you can't remember me has ruined my purpose for coming here but I should tell you to relax. You are welcome here. As a matter of fact, this place was created a long time ago for the two children of the prophecy..." He drifted off. "The prophecy? What prophecy?" I asked, feeling like I was getting very close to a rather important discovery. He shook his head slowly. "I have said too much. I'm afraid I can't stay with you any longer. Just remember that you don't have much time and remember, there is life in death." I stopped to consider the words but none of it seemed to make sense. "Wait? What do you mean..." I started but he was gone, as were the close circle of trees. In their place was the wide circle of trees, the center of which warm moonlight poured into the clearing. I frowned, wondering if I had somehow fallen asleep and had that dream but no, I could still perceive his fragrance of flowers and could hear his voice still ringing in my head. "There is life in death." He had said. I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was supposed to know him. "Hey! When did you get here? I've been looking all over for you." I turned toward Indrik who was hurrying toward me with a frown. "You mean you didn't see the trees?" I asked but the only response I got was an even deeper frown as he stared at the trees that surrounded us like, of course, I see trees. I walked to the nearest tree and placed an arm against it but there was no sign that it could be a living tree. I wondered if it was pretending to be a normal tree or it really was a normal tree and I had been taken elsewhere. I almost started to think it was a dream again until I felt something in my other hand. Opening it, I found a leaf which shouldn't have been strange except that this leaf was exuding a really green glow like it had had an overdose of chlorophyll or had come from the body of the tree master. "Uhm! Luna, are you okay?" Indrik asked, placing an arm on my shoulder. I turned toward him slowly, my brows still furrowed in thought but I nodded. "Yeah!" I drawled, still staring at the leaf. "What is that?" He asked, looking over my shoulder in a attempt to see what I was holding but I close my palm before he could do that. "It is nothing." I waved. "How long was I gone for?" I turned toward him, tucking my other arm behind my back, getting another frown as he gave me a suspicion look. "Not long." He finally declared. "I came after you when you came out but by the time I came out, you were no where to be found. I called for you but you wouldn't reply and then, you were here again. What happened to you?" He asked again. I shook my head. "Come on!"Jamil I glared at the group of men that had surrounded us. I could see and count about six men standing before us looking like they had very hostile intentions. I did a quick scan of the environs trying to see if there were any others lurking around but there seemed to be none. Either that, or they were hiding well out of view. "Well, well, look who we have here." A man moved forward. He wasn't very tall but he had the muscular build of one who could take on ten men of my own size. He completed the look with a full beard which extended to his chest area. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" I snarled, my hand flying to my side only to be reminded that I had no sword. It wasn't exactly one of the most important accessories you thought to pack when you were preparing to go for a run. I groaned inaudibly silently cursing myself for being so careless. With what had been going on in the past couple of days, I should have known better than to leave the palace without my sword. No
Jamil After a quick search through the woods that yielded no results, we headed back to the palace with the hearty news. So much for trying to get everyone in a better mood. "Who do you think they were? You think they..." I stopped mid-sentence but the way Ulo looked at me informed me that he had gotten my message. "I don't know." He replied brusquely. I nodded. I wasn't in a very good mood myself. Good work universe. You have successfully ruined a perfectly good mood. Getting back to the palace, we elected to go see the Beta immediately. Sure, it was the dead of night but that kind of threat could not be dismissed easily. For one, the man seemed to have known a lot about us which was unfair considering that we didn't really know all that much about him. He had not only known about Beta Green but he had also known about his son. He hadn't mentioned my name but I had a feeling that he knew exactly who I was. Blaire too. Another suspicion that I had was that he had known we wou
Luna I woke up to see Indrik staring down at me. I blinked, trying to recall how and when I had ended up here. I pulled a blank unable to recall anything after the tree man. I shivered as I recalled the memory which sleep had done little to dampen. "What?" I scowled up at him when he continued to stare at me even with my eyes wide open. That, and the fact that the way he was laying so close to me was causing some un-Luna like reactions in my belly. He smiled down at me in a way that warned that he was about to say something that was pretty silly. "Don't say it." I warned but of course, he was not going to listen. "You haven't even heard what I had to say." He grumbled. "I don't need to hear it before knowing what you are going to say." I scoffed, slapping his arm which was smoothing my hair away. "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. So, I woke up this morning and the sun was beaming on your face." He pointed an opening in the branches above the bed which I was certain had
Jamil Morning broke with me still asleep which was rather unusual for me. Usually, I was out of bed before the crack of dawn. But today, I probably would have continued sleeping till noon if a knock had not woken me up. I groaned lazily as I stretched my limbs. The knock came again, forcing me out of bed. I stumbled over to the door in nothing other than a black trouser. Opening the door, I was surprised to find Blaire standing there and even more so to find that she looked more of a mess than I probably did, but then again, I couldn't see myself through a second set of eyes. Her chocolate brown hair had become all tangled and messy making me feel sorry for her as I imagined her trying to tackle that forest. Her face did not look much better with red looking eyes and eye bags. Her nose was running and her mouth looked like one of her lip paints had gone rogue and traipsed aimlessly all over her mouth instead of her lips. Her blue gown looked she had wrested it from a couple of deer
UloSometimes, I wondered if my temperament was a curse. Growing up, I had always been the most quiet of my friends, even more quiet than Indrik who had the most right to be quiet amongst all of us. Not so comfortable with people, I found it more comfortable to be in the company of books and weapons. Those did not seem so complicated. With books, I could easily travel into worlds where I had a measure of control. With weapons, I could focus on my weaknesses and home them into strengths. As long as I trained hard and well enough, I was certain to be good enough some day. This was not the same with humans. I could spend an entire year studying humans only to fall flat again as they brought up a side of them that I never knew existed. Books had their own twists and turns as well but at least, those had a resolution. Humans never did. They always seemed to manufacture a thousand more problems for every single one that you manufactured. Hearing Blaire's voice at Jamil's door, I had jumped
Ulo I daubed at my eyes, hoping that no one would be able to see the height of my humiliation. Crying? Seriously? I wished I could punch the living daylights out of my own body. "Yo, bud. You're okay?" Jamil came rushing over. "I'm fine." I snapped not feeling up to the task of dealing with Mr perfect at the moment. "Let's go." I continued, still daubing at my eyes and hoping it would be gone before we reached the palace. It would be really embarrassing to appear before the council looking all weepy. The entire way to the palace, I kept thinking of all the ways in which I could start up a conversation with Blaire and clear the air within us but it all ended up starting and ending within me. Then there was Jamil too who was only trying to help while I kept shutting him down. All of these were really starting to give me a headache so I was relieved when we appeared before the council and were asked to give our reports. We reported what we had seen and then watched as the counci
Luna There is a place for being a good teacher and there is a place for having good equipment and a perfect training ground. I had no idea who the children of prophecy were but I promised myself to say a very big thank you to them when we finally met them. My initial plan had been to train with Indrik for a short while but the process had gone so smoothly with trees set in place to match the exact thing that we needed. Indrik found it strange but I knew that the trees were helping us. When he needed to pull himself up, there was a branch just perfect for that. When he needed obstacle courses, there were just enough low hanging branches between trees to allow for that. Whatever we needed, the trees provided. Even the staff with which I had whacked his behind a couple of times now. By the time we decided to rest, the day had been far spent and we both collapsed, exhausted, to the patch of green grass that definitely did not appear out of nowhere to the middle of our training field.
IndrikI just had the best day of my life! That was something I knew without a doubt. Sure, I was super hungry, and every single muscle in my body ached but within my sternum, my heart raced with the enough euphoria to equal that of a man who had just finished a whole barrel of good beer. No, don't ask me if I drink. I don't. I gave up after drinking one glass once and waking up at the edge of the river and my pants might have been wet as well. Some of us are just too pure to be found drinking such unseemly things, I guess. No! I'm not trying to make my weakness seem like a virtue. What am I saying? It isn't a weakness. You know what? Forget I mentioned it. I was finally fulfilling my lifelong dream and nothing could stop me. It could be my imagination but I could already feel myself growing stronger by the day. Despite all of these, I still needed to eat though if I did not want to pass out with exhaustion which was why I was glad when Luna made a beeline for the kitchen as soon as w