Arcanum

Chapter 12: Aiyana

I smiled as I watched my brother who was currently getting our soldiers to practice their hand to hand combat. Anca had always been a good leader. I'm surprised he wasn't chosen to lead, instead of me. I guess my parents saw something in me, that led them to believe I was a true leader. Or, maybe it was just because I was older. Only by two years though. Anca turned around, and shot me a grin as he sat on the stone steps beside me.

"Their getting pretty good, hey?" I nodded,

"Yeah, can't say I'm surprised though. We've always been strong people." I smiled, and my brother bumped my shoulder with his face, and I gave him a hurt face.

"Sorry sis." He laughed, and I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, how's your wounds healing?"

"Well, they could be better, but they're healing." My brother suddenly grinned,

"Okay, that's freaky." I backed up, and he kept grinning,

"Sis! I just remembered something! Remember that hot spring mom took us too when you were twelve?" Memories suddenly came flying in.

"Yes! The one that heals! You are a genius!" I leaped to my feet,

"I know I am." I couldn't help but laugh and roll my eyes at my brother, who was pretending to look like a genius. I waved to my brother, and then took off toward my house. When I arrived, I went straight to my room, and got dressed into my hunting clothes. Then, I picked up my machetes, and slipped them into my bag, making sure to bring a towel with me on the way out.

After retrieving everything, I rushed to the stables, and held out an apple for the chestnut gelding. The horse whinnied at me, and grabbed the apple with his teeth. I giggled and scratched the horse's forehead.

"Hey, Princess Aiyana." I looked behind me to see a black haired guy with wolf ears and a wolf tail. He looked similar to the general, except with shorter hair and navy blue eyes.

"Hello." I gave him a kind smile,

"I'm Kenji." He introduced himself, and patted my horse on the back, "out for a ride, I see?" He continued, and I nodded,

"Yeah, I'm leaving in a few minutes. Headed to a hot spring around here, although I can't really remember where it is." I admitted, and Kenji smiled,

"Ah, Silverwaters? I can show you exactly where that is." He suggested, and I agreed,

"Sounds great, thank you." A white haired guy came up behind Kenji, and I noticed the two had strikingly similar appearances. Despite the other guy's longer white hair, and matching ears and tail. Although, they both had the same navy blue eyes.

"This is my twin brother, Akira." Kenji introduced the guy, who grasped my hand and gently kissed it,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Aiyana." I chuckled softly,

"Nice to meet you too. Akira."

"I heard you two are headed to Silverwaters, would I be able to accompany you, my princess?" He gave me a charming smile,

"Of course." I smiled at him. Akira nodded great fully, and the twins climbed onto their horses. As I looked at them, I noticed they only looked to be a year older than me.

"Let's head out." Kenji said, and the three of us rode out of the village into the vast jungle.

---

We headed through the jungle, and I noticed that there was a small mountain approaching. It was more like a giant hill, really. Above it, I noticed a stone temple was standing above.

"That's it." Kenji grinned, and I nodded, "think you can make it up?"

"Are you joking?" I chuckled,

"Yeah, she's a princess. I'm sure that's nothing for her." Akira cut in,

"Thank you." I said to the boy. Kenji kicked his horse into a canter, and we followed close behind her. We arrived at the bottom of the mountain, and our tough horses easily scaled up to the top. I gazed around and realized how beautiful it was up here. Despite it being quite cloudy and windy up here, it was beautiful. I then looked over at the temple, and smiled noticing how ancient but amazing it was. I climbed off my horse, and walked across the grass, and Kenji and Akira came up in front of me. They both stopped at a large spring surrounded by a few trees, and my jaw almost dropped. Just like the name said, the waters glowed silver. It was ethereal and very relaxing to say the least. Even the sight of it almost made me immediately forget all my worries. Kenji and Akira looked at me,

"We should leave you in peace then, princess." They smiled, and I watched as they walked back to their horses and rode them back into the jungle. As soon as they left, I peeled out of my clothes, and stepped into the warm and relaxing water. At first it burned my cuts and bruises, but after sitting for a few minutes, the pain was gone. I felt so relaxed, and headed to the waterfall part of the spring, where the water streamed down my body. The warm water relaxed my joints, and instantly began to heal my wounds. I smiled, and closed my eyes, running my hands through my soaked hair as the shower of water poured down on me. The peace was suddenly interrupted when I heard something in the bushes behind me. I turned and saw none other than the General.