The Chronicles of Kyle

Chapter 7

Kyle gazed around his surroundings as a small smile crept onto his face. He was finally getting used to the peaceful atmosphere of Katolis. The sun hardly ceased to shine, so far there had been no terrifying battles, and he even got his own room! Glancing up to the window across the courtyard, Kyle remembered waking up there for the first time and feeling utterly disoriented in such a calm environment. But now the life that Kyle could've only dreamt of a week ago was becoming a reality. He felt safe here. Sarai and Amaya were in fact not associated with the Horde. Actually, no one even seemed to know what the Horde was. Or the Princess Alliance, or She-Ra, or even Etheria itself! Kyle had spent countless hours telling and re-telling his story to Amaya, Sarai, the high mage, and even the king, but no one could seem to make any sense of it. As far as Kyle knew, the Horde didn't exist here, and that was perfectly fine with him. 

He absentmindedly swung his legs back and forth under the wooden bench he was sitting on as the sounds of children playing filled his ears. His gaze dropped to a small, reflective puddle on the ground. He saw a face staring back at him, but it took him a moment to recognize it as his own. He looked and felt more well-rested than he ever had in his life. The purple, stress-induced bags under his eyes were almost completely gone, and there was a certain liveliness in his eyes that Kyle couldn't remember ever seeing before. Despite how glad he was to be here, he couldn't help but wonder how it had happened. One moment he was dying on a battlefield and the next he was waking up in Katolis. The only event bridging the gap was Kyle falling through an endless void and seeing cryptic visions. He winced as he remembered Amaya being violently thrown to the ground by a giant fiery beast. He'd tried to decipher this odd memory with Amaya and several others, but it baffled them as much as everything else he had told them. No one could come up with any plausible ideas for what had happened, so they eventually dropped it. But the memory still made Kyle uneasy.

Kyle was torn away from his thoughts as a pair of tiny feet scampered through the puddle and splashed water onto his legs. A little boy darted past him in hot pursuit of the other child. He charged with a wooden sword held threateningly ahead of him as he let loose a ferocious battle cry. The girl he was chasing was giggling uncontrollably as her short black hair flew every which way in the wind. Just as the boy was about to catch her, the girl swiftly ducked under a tree branch causing her pursuer to slam directly into it and fall to the ground. Kyle smirked as the girl's laughter echoed through the courtyard. In his week of living in the castle, he'd begun to learn people's names. He knew that these mischievous kids, Soren and Claudia, belonged to the intimidating mage he had talked to. 

"That's cheating!" Soren wailed as he rubbed a hand against his forehead where it had collided with the tree.

Claudia's only response was to continue cackling as if her brother's misfortune was the funniest thing she had ever witnessed.

"Claudia," the soft but stern voice of the queen scolded, "Soren could've gotten hurt! Apologize to your brother." 

After a few seconds of stifled giggles, Claudia managed to compose herself long enough to force out an obviously insincere "sorry, Soren!" before she ran over to Callum who was engrossed in his sketchbook to tell him about her devious actions.

Sarai smiled as she shook her head in exasperation. She walked over to Soren and helped him up with one hand while holding a small, sleeping baby in the other. She stooped down to examine his forehead and brushed his unruly blond hair out of the way.

"I think you'll live," she said, "but you might want to watch out for your sister. She's pretty clever sometimes!"

The queen stood up and readjusted baby Ezran's swaddle as Soren charged towards Claudia to get his revenge. His unsuspecting victim was carefully placing a flower in her hair that Callum had timidly given to her. Shrieks of outrage indicated that Soren had reached his target and began another war.

Kyle grinned as he watched the children's antics, but he couldn't help but feel a little twinge of sadness. He'd never experienced any of the things he'd just seen. Well, expect for getting tricked into hurting himself. But the way the children played together, how Sarai had made sure Soren was okay after he ran into a tree, and the affection in her eyes as she looked at her sons... Kyle couldn't imagine what it would be like growing up in an environment like that. 

The sound of footsteps drew Kyle's attention to his left. Amaya was walking towards him holding 2 wooden swords differing only in size to the one Soren was playing with. A prickle of dread went down Kyle's spine. He'd agreed to take sword fighting lessons even though he knew he wouldn't be good at it. But Amaya, who had become something of a mentor to Kyle, insisted he learn how to defend himself in case someone tried to kill him again. 

"Ready?" Amaya signed to him as she halted beside the bench he was sitting on.

All the time he spent with Amaya helped him to start picking up a bit of sign language. He was definitely not ready, but he smiled and nodded. At least he'd be training with someone who actually cared about him instead of the awful people at the Horde that would set him up to fail at any chance they got.

Amaya tossed him a wooden sword, and much to Kyle's surprise, he was able to catch it. Maybe traveling to another planet or whatever happened to him had made him a better fighter! He stood up and held his sword somewhat awkwardly. He wondered if Amaya would instruct him first or just start sparring and correct him once he inevitably failed. Since he couldn't understand half of the things she signed, he figured he'd be learning on the job. 

Amaya looked him up and down before expertly swinging her sword towards his and disarming him. Kyle flinched as his sword clattered to the ground. He heard the kids start to laugh, and a wave of embarrassment flooded his body. Years of battle training, and he couldn't even hold a sword for more than 3 seconds. 

"Sorry..." Kyle mumbled as he looked at the ground. He braced himself for the inevitable reprimands and jeering critiques of all his shortcomings. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. He looked at Amaya tentatively.

"Sorry?" she signed while raising an eyebrow, "for what?"

Kyle stared at her in confusion. The children continued giggling in the background, and Kyle reluctantly looked in their direction. They were all huddled around Sarai and laughing uncontrollably as the baby in her arms practically inhaled a jelly tart. Kyle's eyes widened as he realized that they hadn't even been looking at him. He glanced around the courtyard. No one was paying any attention to him. No one was pointing fingers and laughing at his incompetence. Amaya wasn't even looking at him with a disappointed scowl. In fact, she was smiling at him! She picked up his sword and put it back in his hand. She adjusted his stance and showed him how to get a better grip on his sword before raising her own again. Kyle smiled. This place was definitely better than the Horde.