I jumped down from the branch of the blue tree, taking a few light steps. Then I suddenly stood still, feeling my surroundings and listening to the breathing of the forest.
My thoughts were obviously dragged to the present when I felt I wasn’t alone anymore in the Aiglean forest. I could just tell it right away as I could sense another presence. An unfamiliar aura.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier, Xerra, but you were so busy with your own thoughts,” Ponpon pointed out when I took my poniard out of its small scabbard that was securely tied around my left thigh.
I revitalized myself using my own violet aura. My heart rate was then back to normal like I never ran for miles.
I smirked at Ponpon, then I looked around us. That was when I saw him, alone.
He was perhaps a few years older than me, tall, like six feet and six inches; he had broad shoulders with well-built body that anyone would want to ogle on. And yet, he was graceful as a feline—a type of animal on Earth that my father told me about. He was gifted with long reddish brown hair that was in a neat man bun. From this distance, I could see his green eyes well and the way he looked at me, which was smoldering. It affected me by making my heart flutter and my stomach feel giddy.
I’d never seen such a beautiful creature in my life that was of my opposite sex. Hence, I was like a statue in my place, staring at him.
The Aryan stranger was slightly smiling at me, or so I thought. And my heart jumpstarted at that; it was curious. I never felt something like this before. Yes, definitely bizarre. No one had made my heart race like the way he did.
I frowned a little; my beautifully arched brows furrowed. I never saw this Aryan before. Not in this area, that is. I am so certain that he is not from my tribe, the Aigleana, as I could clearly sense the negative energy coming out from his person. My people would emit only positive energy from their auras.
“Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here?” I asked him.
He looked at the poniard in my hand, seemingly fascinated. He slowly walked toward me with his long muscular legs. I couldn’t probe into his thoughts even if I wanted to. As it was, I could only probe other people’s minds when they were at the most four or five paces away from me. And he was farther than that at the moment. Perhaps he knew about my ability? But how? And he looked quite stronger than any other Aryan I met. He indeed gave a different vibe from anyone I met before.
“I’ve been watching you for a while now.” He smiled crookedly, with those pale but sexy lips of his. I noticed some beads of sweat on his forehead like he was running for miles. I also noticed that he revitalized himself using his gray aura. Then, he gained back his strength and breathed normally, gazing into my blue-green eyes with awe and admiration.
I raised an eyebrow. That sounded creepy, normally. And yet, I wasn’t feeling something like that. In fact, I was intrigued and maybe even… fascinated by him. I noted though that the stranger only answered my third question. Why was he watching me for a while now? What did he want from me?
For the moment, I decided he wasn’t a threat and I put back Ponpon into his scabbard. If he were, I would know it from his aura and intent.
“Pick me up now, Xerra! You don’t know this being!” Ponpon protested.
The stranger’s eyes looked at my weapon with amazement. Well, he was not the first one to react like that. All others did.
“Keep silent, Ponpon,” I told him, aplomb, without looking away from the stranger.
“Does that thing just talked?” he asked me. His eyes were transfixed with my poniard.
“Oh, sure. I do. You see, I’m unique, stranger. No other weapon like me in this entire Aryan world can speak as I do,” Ponpon bragged. He rolled his eyes afterward.
I ignored him. “I asked the questions first. You must not be from around here as you don’t know the rules,” I remarked. I crossed my arms under my small breasts.
The stranger chuckled. He stepped closer to me, reducing our distance. “Judging by your almond-shaped eyes, blue-green eyes, positive aura, and long and violet hair… you’re not a pure Aryan. And I heard all about you for a long time now.”
I blinked once, twice. There was something in his tone, which set him apart from an ordinary Aryan. No one had ever spelled out my uniqueness in front of me and so arrogantly or carelessly at that. He wasn’t the only one who could be arrogant here. After all, he was in my territory. He was on the Aiglean land. Even the King himself would have thought twice to step on this land. That was the reason why he only sent his soldiers to our home to send our mother’s remains and be laid to rest. He was smart enough to do that. Otherwise, there could have been a bloodbath.
The King knew that he was never welcome in our land. And by marrying our mother to become his Queen, he thought that Aigleans would welcome and accept him then. But he was wrong. Our people didn’t want to get involved with his being a warmonger. He’d been fighting with the rebels, the Furezos, up north for decades—since he became the Aryan King, which was even before I was born in this world.
“What do you know about me?” I asked the stranger with puzzlement.
He laughed. “About everything. I just told you that… Xerra…” And with that, he hid behind a green tree and was gone.
I cursed in my head. I still had many things to ask him. Like his name, perhaps? Who is he anyway?
I wondered why he approached me like this today. I wondered what his purpose was.
Huh! There are just some weird Aryans here, too.
But I was puzzled by that Aryan stranger.
I walked back toward my house after I gathered the bark juice for Shahrae. She loved it since we were little. She was never fond of fruit wine ever since she had a taste of it. Maybe because another reason was that she just blacked out after she had a glass of it. I could only chuckle when I remembered that instance. It was on her sixteenth birthday at the time. Poor Shahrae.From where I was, right in front of the forest, I could see the houses in pyramid style that lined up perfectly. Maybe there were a couple of hundred meters away from each other. The sun was already up high and the land was full of busy, bustling people doing their respective jobs.Flying public transportations could be seen on the horizon in all four directions. Their centermost of destination was somewhere near the Aryan palace, where the King lives. The transportations were mainly oval in shape, with the average dimension of twenty meters in length by ten meters in width and by ten meters in heig
The forest was quiet when I got there. I suddenly felt danger coming. I twisted my body sideways and saw a knife hit a green tree. It vibrated when it connected there. I looked in the north side when lasers followed to assault me.“Yetti!” I cursed in Aryan language while I dodged and rolled over to take cover. My back was pressed against the blue tree. I looked up when the tree creaked and groaned. It broke and I rolled to the next one to not get hit when it fell.I peered at the direction the lasers came from. ‘Who are these Aryans? Why are they attacking me?’ I ground my teeth as I took Ponpon out.“This is not good,” he said.“You’re just telling me that now?” I hissed. He was quiet this entire time.“Those are definitely not Aigleans,” he observed. His red eyes were rolling in alert mode. “Your east!” he screamed.I just barely glanced and I dove and rolled towards south, evading the white laser that was going to incinerate me. My heart was a
I dressed up just like my sister wanted me to. It was a simple lavender gown with embedded stones and jewels that could only be found in the Aiglean land. My high-heeled shoes shined because of the jewels that were embedded on them as well. They glittered whenever the light touched them. I did look good for a change, compared to my usual attire.My sister, on the other hand, looked like a princess in her gown tonight. Her hair was caught in a high bun, with curly strands that were left hanging, which framed her beautiful face. It was even more pronounced by the dark makeup she had on, which she did on her own. She was pretty adept on that department, unlike me. She made every Aryan turn his or her head in her direction just to admire her beauty as we walked on. We trudged side by side and were greeted by our fellow guests. There were already the familiar and unfamiliar faces present there. But it was noticeable that there were more unfamiliar faces that stared at us, es
“Oh, who’s there? Who’s there?” Ponpon asked but I didn’t answer. I could feel though that his head wriggled at the handle of my poniard.It was that stranger from the forest alright. My sister seemed to be right with her foresight lately, I supposed. I acted calm and normal, trying not to think what he had done to me in the forest early this morning. I turned my head to look in front of me and nonchalantly drank the fruit wine that was in the glass I held in one hand. It was a gesture that I was ignoring him—if he got what I mean. I did not want to linger or analyze why I feel something whenever he is around. I did not want to read something between the lines… er… in his eyes, rather. I did not want to feel anything at all, especially for this strange Aryan.But it didn’t seem to get what I wanted to relay to him. He sauntered closer to me, and he sat down just beside me on the bench, looking up at the lights above us. I stole a glance at him. There was a
Daraton was following fast on his heels, trying to say something with urgency in a low tone, which I couldn’t hear.I looked down at my lap and took the flower with my free hand. The beautiful and rare flower looked like jelly but it was as hard as plastic. I only heard some things about this rare flower from my fellow Aigleans. It was the first time thought that I got to touch it and peruse it in person. The flower was indeed a wonder.I smelled its sweet scent with a smile, thinking about the stranger.Oh, why, oh, why? Why couldn’t I shake him off my thought? We only met twice but he left me such a deep impression, which was entirely bugging me.‘He knows me. But I don’t know him.’Aside from being the only half-breed on this planet, who everybody must have known me by reputation and name, he seemed to really know me. Personally. That was odd. Who could have told him about me if he was from the north?“Oh, you got yourself an admirer, I see.” O
I went back home after my early morning excursion and found my yawning sister at the kitchen. I placed down the jar of bark juice on the table carefully.“It was quite a long night. It was so nice!” she said dreamily. Her smile was from ear to ear. It was kind of different, which I immediately noticed.“Right. You came in late,” I pointed out to her gently. She told me to go ahead because she wanted to stay longer at the wedding party, so I let her. I was exhausted, that’s why. Well, not physically but more on mentally speaking.‘It was because of that stranger who gave me a guabula!’“Yes, you were so rude. You left me at Oleifa’s!” She turned round to face me, with accusation in her beautiful green eyes. She wasn’t at all dismayed but rather enjoyed her freedom.I rolled my eyes upward. “You said I can go ahead, so I left!” I sat down in the chair and crossed one foot over the other. I put down Ponpon on the table and rested my elbows on the armchair.
Today, just like any ordinary day, I would help the farmers plant or harvest. So, I walked toward the farm, passing by our neighbors and our supply areas. The supply areas were where the food and drinks were stocked for the whole tribe. Whoever ran out of stocks at home, they could just get them from here. Everything was free to get anything they needed. Some may hoard some food and drinks, but it was not a crime, since we had everything we need and everything was abundant. Anyway, everyone helped out to make some food and drinks for everyone, so it was like we all earned everything we got from the supply areas.I nodded at some neighbors I met and passed by. They were nice beings. I was glad I was born to this tribe since they embraced me like their own, even though I was only half-breed.I looked up at the beautiful sky. The temperature was great. The sun wouldn’t usually burn our skin. It was always good for us and the plants and everything. Nonetheless, rain was rare
The man who answered was unknown to me. He was dressed in an elite warrior suit of black and blue. His long sword was hanging on his side. I didn’t let down my guard though. I was still holding Ponpon, ready to pounce just in case. Even though he was no threat, I could not just let my guard down. What if the King sent him to kill me after he killed my mother? Well, I know that I only suspected the King for my mother’s demise. However, I could not just put it to rest that he did not let her children know she was ill at the time. We could have done something. Or we could have been beside her when she was suffering, made her at least comfortable. I had no idea if he did everything he could for our mother then. That is why I so hate the King to the point that I suspect him for killing my mother.“Oh, Luick! What are you doing there?” I heard Zelian’s deep voice behind me. I whirled around to look at him. He knew this elite warrior?“Luick?” I echoed and