The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Thereanbold insisted on Pinti and Daero having a bite to eat before they left. The moment they all took a seat at the table, plates of food and baskets of bread set themselves down and utensils rippled into existence in the exact places they were needed.
"Call me Lazyrrin for using magick for normal things. Now eat, eat, eat," he said, and plates hovered in front of her, filling themselves up with bread of all kinds. As a treat to her, he even had some raw mouse and squirrel ready fresh. How he got it, Pinti didn't care as she breathed in the scent, her mouthwatering.
"Might be a surprise, but I retain love for fresh kill," Daero said and took the fattest mouse that she was eyeing. Pinti pursed her lips and he laughed, putting it on her plate.
"Why, thank you," she said with a smirk and ate half, giving the rest to him. Daero finished it up in one bite and tapped the carcass on his left shoulder—the Kathula way of saying it was a good meal.
"Horrenderriblous! Ooh!" Thereanbold complained. "I can't take the smell of raw food, so I have these." He brandished a clip and pinched his nose with it. When he spoke, his nasally voice was even more nasally.
"Really, Thereanbold?" Daero grimaced. "Is that even necessary?"
Thereanbold ignored him. "Now, I have some cold perilla tea, would you like that?" he said with a small smile.
The nasally voice tickled her and Pinti sniggered behind her paw.
"What? What's funny?" Thereanbold's mustache flapped when he breathed.
"Are you really being serious?" She smirked. Thereanbold winked at her and took another clip out. He released the first one and now put a clip on each nostril.
"Oh yes," He grinned with his mustache, "very much so. Ouch." He scrunched up his face. The laughter bubbled up her throat and Pinti couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing alongside Daero until her stomach hurt.
"Oh, laugh all you want," Thereanbold said between snickers. "I'm very serious right now." He winked. "Ouch. Would you two care to take them off for your old Thereanbold here?"
"Yuck! You won't make us touch your nostrils!" Daero grimaced. He muttered a spell and the clips removed themselves and flew away to the trash.
"Aw, the fun's over." Thereanbold sulked.
Lalina pushed up her glasses. "Update!" she sang. "Sources I trust tell me the Kathula Prince Xohr died after the scepter sweptered it's magick across the world." She grinned. "Heehee, rhyme. And most Rauvuren have escaped, but one close confidant of Xohr was captured."
"Emphrelius den, right?" Daero asked and Lalina nodded. "Hope he serves time well in jail," he growled. "He tampered with my magick!"
"Also, some Edgling carcasses were found and including some Sorcerers, Humans, and some Halfhuman subspecies for various reasons. Those who would tamper with peace, the purely evil, have died, so they say. Conveniently, some police cases in the Second Ring were subsequently solved because of the scepter. The High Collection will be counting bodies as a hobby now."
Thereanbold grimaced, leaning back in his chair. "Horrenderriblous! Less gruesome news, I hear they're going to have a change in representatives, trying to revive the old High Collection made up of the five races and not just inkin' stickin' Humans. That includes," He winked at Pinti, "Kathula."
Kathula as a member of the High Collection had not been possible for decades, maybe more. But who would listen to a 'kitty' after all this time?
"Who knows how the world will change. It's exciting," Thereanbold said with a grin. "Now, who wants some cherry beer?"
Daero shot up his paw. "Pour please. Good with mouse."
* * *
A few hours later, Pinti stood in front of in front of the door that led into the Third Ring. In her arms she held a cloth bundle filled with white clover flowers. Her heart thumped against her chest in anticipation and nervousness as she smelled the fresh nature scents of home through the portal door. She looked at Daero and he gave a nod. Without a word, they entered the Third Ring.
The field grasses seemed a little taller, and the vast, bright blue sky seemed more peaceful and welcoming than she remembered. Tall brown grasses rippled and brushed against her waist as the wind flew over the field. The scents of the forest filled her lungs as she took a deep breath.
"I'll wait here," Daero said.
Pinti nodded and set off into the field. Even after so long, she still remembered the way home. Whiskers stiff, ears up and alert, she hurried through the grass eager to see home even if no one was waiting for her there. When she burst out of grass field, there lay the forest ahead with no gnarly, twisted trees in sight.
It was strange to see the forest without the tangleroot barrier corralling it. She grew up with the barrier. Now it seemed exposed and bare. Her whiskers quivered and she caught the scent of a squirrel. She followed the scent into the forest, brushing past undergrowth. Tree branches and bushes snagged her fur, but she didn't stop.
Soon, the arched tree branches appeared up ahead. Makiista was waiting for her. She imagined the broken houses, the muddy ground, the wet wood just the way she left it with the bodies of Kathula scattered around. Her father would be under the house beams and she would caress his head in her paws again.
With a lump in her throat, she came upon the edge of the forest, and stood stunned.
Nothing was left of the memory.
Makiista was overrun with nature. Vines had crawled over fallen houses. Moss blanketed every piece of old wood. Clan grounds where she used to play with her sister or with Kirlan, or walk with her father, were covered in flowers and herbs overgrown from gardens. Pinti bit her lip, almost angry at nature for changing Makiista so much.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew there would barely be anything left. Still, she wandered in search for something of the past, but it was like everything had moved on from the Massacre, taking up a new life.
But memories are never forgotten. She bit her lip and opened her bundle to scatter white clover flowers all around clan grounds.
At last, she went up the hill to her house, imagining Tendri at her heels, imagining her mother greeting her at the top. The house was just a pile of wood with moss and flowers draped over. Where she knew her father was, Pinti could not get to with all the nature grown on top of the entrance.
Father, I'm here. I've returned. She closed her eyes, hoping her father's spirit could hear her. Memories flooded her mind with all those days he played with her, he taught her, he cared for her, and the way his eyes had shone with such pride and determination as he passed down the duty for her to be Shamala. It was the day his marking forever darkened and hers began to glow.
Now again, with a heavy heart, she let her mark glow and lay down some white clover flowers in front of her house.
I'm home, Father. It's over. Kathula will be protected now. She listened to the wind rustling leaves and to the birds singing between branches. A heavy paw rested on her shoulder.
"I believed in you, my daughter," came her father's voice. She whipped her head around with tears in her eyes, but there was no one there.
"Father!" she wailed for him with an aching heart. Tears cascaded down her eyes and moistened her fur. She sobbed into the white clover flowers she just laid. How she wished she could hug her family! How she ached for their warmth now at their absence. She imagined seeing them again. Her father would call her 'Poocha' and her mother would make Keibeck.
Tendri would be surprised how tall I am, she thought with a smile as her tears dried.
Just then, she heard a howl. There stood her former Saboteur at the foot of the hill in his wolf form with thorned wings. Pinti kept her distance as she made her way down.
"So, you're not my Saboteur," she said, bristling, showing she had no intention in making peace with him. "You have a name then?"
"Zar," he said. "If you must call me by name."
She scoffed. "Aurvandil chose you, a murd—"
"He chose us." He met her glare with one of his own.
She crossed her arms. "Heizak. What if I don't believe that?" she said, pursing her lips.
He mirrored her. "Then you are stuck in the past."
Pinti twitched her whiskers. She hated that he was right. It meant she was unwilling to move forward.
Zar opened his mouth. "I am going to join the High Collection as the Shaa representative. That is my path. What is yours'?" He passed her and disappeared into the forest.
"My path?" she wondered out loud. All her life, she had chased after something whether it be her father, Kalis, the Scepter of Tamido, or her want to return home. Having fulfilled them all, what was left for her?
Above was a vivid blue sky, the color of her fur. Barely visible, she spotted the band of light of the Fourth Ring and thought about the Kathula captured by Sorcerers and Kirlan. Did she have a chance at changing his fate? It wouldn't be easy. Then again, life wasn't easy and that was how it was meant to be.
"What's the next task at paw?" she asked herself as a smile spread across her lips. Feeling a new sense of purpose in her veins, she made her Lunar marking glow and the warmth of her Lunality flowed freely through her soul. Saying goodbye to Makiista one last time, she set off through the forest to start her next journey.
T H E E N D
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Note: Thank you for reading the second, and last part of "The Choice of Aurvandil"! :D I hope you enjoyed it :)
Comment below one of your most memorable moments :D
The following chapters are
- A Thank You and Reading Questions
- Character Aesthetics
- Art Gallery (character art, scene art, and object art by me and other people)
- Legalities (legal stuff regarding the book)
- News & Other Books (news regarding The Choice of Aurvandil, and other books by me)