Here you go guys, another chapter!!
You should thank my friend for this, she has been bothering me to upload everyday for the past week, and got sooo annoying that I had to write :P
Tell me if the italics and bold parts of this work! :D
Oh, and in this one you learn a little more about Kamen ;)
Enjoy!
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Chapter 22 - Torn
There really is nothing like flying. Though I had been enchanted by the beauty of the countryside as we had passed through it, I had to admit that I had missed the exhilarating feeling of the wind flowing through my wings. No matter where I was in this world, no matter who I was with; this is where I belonged. Looking around at the faces of the others as we flew in the endless blue sky, I could tell that they felt the same way. We were Aerians, and this was our home.
Of course, flying had other benefits as well. For one thing, it was much faster than riding had been; we could cover roughly twice the distance in half the time. This was definitely a good thing, because we had to go back the way we had come and then some; the mountains that were our destination were on the complete opposite side of the kingdom.
After some lengthy discussions and some attempts to further decipher the prophecy, we had decided to start searching in the mountains. It was the first place that the prophecy mentioned, so it seemed like the best place to begin. I had never been to the mountains, but I could see their majestic beauty from my bedroom window in the castle. They bordered the north-western part of our kingdom, a protection we hadn’t needed since Midoria had risen to the heavens. According to the stories, they used to guard our ancestors from human bandits that came to raid the small villages near there. Now, most people thought that they were simply for show; myself included, until a few hours ago. Apparently, they now guarded something far more important - one of the three artifacts that would lead us to the Heart.
I still wasn’t sure what to think of the prophecy. In a way, it was terrifying; knowing that we were right and the kingdom was threatened by Kamen’s return. On the other hand, the prophecy brought with it a sense of relief; at least we knew that there was a way to protect the kingdom, to save it from being destroyed. But how could a sword, a staff and a key help us find the heart? That was the problem with prophecies; as helpful as they were in their foresight, they were almost always in riddles – meant to be solved by the brave, the wise and the pure of heart; those who would in turn be the saviors of kingdoms. But could any of our group really size up to that standard? Were we good enough to be considered those chosen to save our kingdom?
Asking questions like these seemed pointless. Regardless of whether we were this prophecy’s chosen heroes or not, we were the kingdom’s only hope. One thing I was sure of, at least, was that we would never stop fighting for our people.
So we traveled as fast as we could; time was of the essence, and the journey would be at least two days by wing. The skies were mainly clear and we were making good pace until the late evening, when Lisimi pointed out a massive cloud formation looming ahead of us in the sky. The air had become humid and it tingled with electricity; a clear warning that a storm was approaching, and fast.
Reluctantly we dropped low in the sky, searching for shelter from the storm. The sky darkened and rain began to fall from the sky; a loud crash of thunder after a flash of lighting I had not seen made my chest rumble, and I blinked the water out of my eyes, hoping to see anything that could provide safety from the storm. Suddenly I spotted what looked like a castle ahead of us. Signaling to the others, we changed our course, heading toward the building. When we got closer I saw that I was right, to some extent. It had been a castle once, but now was a decrepit, abandoned old structure that looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The doors were ancient, made of some heavy type of wood, the hinges rusted and cracked; yet it still took both Daniel and Jay leaning against the door to push it open. We entered slowly; cautiously, and found ourselves in a massive entrance hall. A flash of lightning lit up the hall briefly, giving me a good look at it. The directly in front of us was a double staircase leading up to the second floor that jutted out slightly on a balcony with an ornate railing. Beneath the balcony was an entranceway that looked as though it led to a ballroom. To the side there were other doors, one was ajar and opened to pitch-blackness. The place was dark and gloomy after years of abandonment, cobwebs covering old paintings and a thick layer of dust on the floor. Still, it looked like it had been beautiful once; a splendid palace fit for royalty.
“Woah…” Lisimi breathed softly. Jay walked over to the wall near us and raised his hand, removing cobwebs from a torch and holder before setting fire to it. The light further illuminated the hall, and we could now make out a crest adorned on the wall directly above the balcony. I looked at it in surprise; it was similar to the coat of arms of my family, but slightly altered. There was an elaborate crown above two crossed, gilded swords, with wings jutting out to either side.
So this was the castle of the previous royal family; the one into which Kamen had been born. Wati… that had been their name. It meant ‘righteous rebel,’ because our legends said that we were descended from angels who were cast out of heaven wrongly. To prove their true, good nature to the Gods, they had become righteous warriors, fighting for any who were oppressed. They had redeemed themselves, and were permitted to return to their home, but not before several had mated with ancient, magic practicing humans, creating a new, powerful race of winged beings. That was the story of our creation.
However, one angel had not redeemed himself; he had seen himself as a god among mortals, and so had terrorized the mortals, instead of helping them. As his punishment, the Gods had stripped him of his body, leaving him as nothing more than a dark, twisted evil presence that grew in strength until it became known as “the Darkness.”
The name Wati had been lost when Kamen rose to power and was defeated. Midoria’s family name, Animus, had taken its place as the revered name of the royal family. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what it meant. My grandmother had told me it had something to do with courage and love, but I had been little and not paying attention.
My eyes traveled from the crest to a picture on the wall beside us; a large portrait of the royal family. The paint was aged and difficult to see well, but Kamen’s face stood out. He was young, in his early teens I’d guess, but his dark eyes were piercing. He was not what I would have expected, not even close. Handsome, even in his youth, his eyes had gentle laugh lines around the edges. The hint of a smirk played on his lips; as though he knew a secret that he wasn’t going to tell you.
He was standing proudly behind a chair with a beautiful lady sitting on it. Something about her seemed strange. Unlike Kamen and his father, who were both well depicted, she looked… wrong. Too happy and joy-filled to match the king’s world-weary and saddened eyes. Too young to compare to Kamen’s age; if this was truly his mother, she must have given birth to him before she was even a teenager.
“Did you know that the Queen died in childbirth?” Lisimi asked from slightly behind me, looking at the picture as well. I turned to her, confused. “I read it in Midoria’s book of days, one I found from before Kamen’s rise. Queen Serena must have been painted in this picture from another portrait. She died just after Kamen was born; he never knew her.” I turned back to the painting, looking more closely at Serena and her son; he had her dark, beautiful eyes. There was a small plaque below the painting, engraved with the words:
“His Royal Majesty King Maddox; King of Aeria,
His Royal Highness Prince Kamen
and Her Royal Majesty, the Late Queen Serena.”
There was a date below the words, but I couldn’t make it out in the flickering shadows.
“Are you guys just going to stand there looking at pictures all night?” Jay asked, his voice echoing around the entrance hall. “Why don’t we go exploring? We’re probably stuck here for the night anyway, with this storm,” he added, nodding towards the window just as a flash of lightning lit up the sky, and the hall.
“Good idea,” I said. I wanted to learn more about this place, and the family that had once called it home. I needed to learn more about Kamen, and what could have made him turn to the Darkness.
Lisimi and Daniel had wandered off together, leaving me alone with Jay. He turned to me, raising one eyebrow, a cocky grin on his face. “Shall we?” he asked pompously. I chuckled despite myself and walked over to him, taking the arm he offered me as we ambled up the stairs, through a door and into the darkness that lay waiting beyond.
~♥~
The castle was huge and amazingly beautiful, despite its aged outward appearance. I couldn’t picture Kamen living here in this place; it seemed too much like a home, not a place that could have produced a sadistic, cruel man that would go on to destroy his own kingdom. Each room was immaculately decorated and furnished, the walls covered with beautiful tapestries, the furniture luxurious and elegant.
Jay and I wandered the halls, occasionally going in some rooms, but mostly just walking through and talking. Some time later, though, we came upon a door that made me stop. I have no idea why, but there was something about it… like with Midoria’s room in the tower, it seemed to call to me. I tried the handle, only to find it disappointingly locked.
“Jay… I have to go in there.” I told him seriously. He tilted his head, regarding me for a moment, before nodding and pulling a set of lock picks out of his pocket. He knelt down and examined the lock on the door, before gently applying the first lock pick. He mumbled softly to himself as he concentrated and a moment later, the lock clicked open. Jay smiled at me triumphantly, and I just stared.
“Where did you learn to do that?” I asked. He shrugged.
“My uncle taught me. Are you going in there or not?” he asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded, turning the now unlocked door handle and entering the room. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but it definitely was not a bedroom.
The room was neat and organized but not as decorated as the others, leading me to believe that it was a boy – or man’s – room. Further investigation only added to my point; there weren’t many clothes in the wardrobe, but those few that there were were definitely male. There were a few books stacked on a small desk that looked out the window. Walking over, I examined them. Almost all of them were practical books; one about magic and spells, two about sword fighting, weapons and fighting in general, and one that was unmarked.
Pulling it from the stack, I looked at it more closely. It was a sketchbook, and as I flipped through it, I was amazed by the detail, dedication and passion put into the work. Whoever it belonged to was talented.
Toward the end of the book, I noticed a recurring theme in his drawings; they were all of a girl about my age, with long, light coloured hair and laughing eyes. There were drawings of her everywhere; riding on horseback, flying, sitting under some trees, at a table in a library with her head bent over the book. Then, later, there were pictures of her up close; of her face, her lips and the curve of her body.
With a start, I realized that these pictures were of Midoria, and so the artist must be Kamen. Again, he had surprised me, and I was taken aback by how much he seemed to love her; the quality and beauty of his work indicated nothing less. So he really had loved her…
Again, I was overwhelmed by the burning desire to know what had happened. Why would someone who appeared to love another so much turn evil? Why would he attack them, try to destroy them?
Jay looked over my shoulder, his blue eyes somber as he examined the pictures. Apparently he had come to the same conclusion as I had, for he said, “It’s so sad, how they were driven apart… I wonder what happened.”
“How could he have betrayed her like that? If he loved her so much, why would he be so cruel and twisted?”
Turning his gaze out the window, Jay spoke pensively with a melancholy tone to his words, “People can be easily influenced by the Darkness. It has a talent for working at them; eating away all that makes them good inside. And we don’t know that he didn’t still love her when he was evil. Sometimes, even when people do bad things, they can love other people; especially ones who do good things.” These last words were said while he looked directly into my eyes, a strange expression in his.
He leaned toward me slowly, warning me with his eyes of his intentions. I didn’t move, but closed my eyes slightly as his lips touched mine. He kissed me softly, tenderly, wrapping his strong arms around me as he pulled me closer to him. My arms came up and I ran my hands through his hair before settling them behind his neck.
“Adelle…” he breathed, “I-”
But I pulled away, torn between wanting to hear the words he was about to say, and wanting to run away as far and as fast as I could. I was so confused; I didn’t know what to do. I cared so deeply for Jay, and when I was with him, I was happy; I felt safe, and everything was so right. But I couldn’t get over the fact that I felt like I was betraying Daniel, because I loved him too. I didn’t understand how I could love two completely different people so much, be so utterly hopeless when it came to choosing between them. I didn’t want to hear Jay tell me he loved me, because if I did, I couldn’t trust myself to act rationally.
“Jay, stop… I can’t. I just- I just need to think about this, please,” I stammered, begging him to understand with my eyes. His softened slightly, and a look that both hurt and understanding crossed his face. He opened his mouth, but I didn’t wait to hear what he was going to say, instead turning on my heel and running away from the room, and from one of the boys I loved.
~♥~
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Poor Adelle... it would suck to be in love with two amazing guys and not be able to choose between them. But anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!!
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