Alicya's heart

chapter 6: through Avasa's eyes (Avasa's point of view)

          My teenage years weren't so graceful. Unlinked the other ancients, I was clumsy, hated gowns and frilly things, but I was born into royalty. In the warm months I tended to sneak away onto the earth realm and spy on the humans to see what they were up to. So when I ran across a human one day wandering a forest on earth I was excited but a bit stand offish and kept myself hidden. I watched her as she ran her fingers through bushes and spun around in the sun's warmth. Light bouncing off her hair almost making it shimmer. She was young, maybe eight or ten, shoulder length black hair and was wearing a pair of what looked like pants made of deer skin. I was about thirteen at the time. I had seen many children wonder the woods and had tried to befriend a few but my attempts always failed. Something about my appearance always threw them off and they'd run away as soon as I started to speak.
      I followed her through the forest being sure to be light on my feet, hiding behind trees and bushes. She traveled quite a ways before I heard who I assumed was her mother call her. "Alicya. Alicya where are you?" The girl stopped where she stood and turned towards the voice. "Over by the creek mom." As she dipped a foot into the water a little giggle escaped then she hurriedly ran towards the foot steps coming towards her. "Now Alicya what have I said about you being this far out?".  " I know, I know mom. It's "dangerous"." She said as she rolled her eyes. "Damn right it is little lady now back to the village with you." She patted the girl on the back and sent her back towards her cabin.

That was the first time I saw Alycia when we were children, I'd had a fascination with her family ever since. I'd watch them cook, I'd watch them hunt, I watched the kids grow into adults and new children be born. Then one day as I was watching something snuck up behind me. I could feel it's breath on my neck and I could hear a low growl escape it's mouth, I turned around and held my breath. It was huge, scaly, with red eyes walked as humans do, and had huge sharp teeth. It was right behind me staring right at me mouth gaped open, I barely had time to react to anything when suddenly Alicya's mother jabbed a knife right into it's heart from the back. The creature fell with a thump and I was face to face with Alicya's mother, and honestly I didn't know which one I was more afraid of. The monster or her?
     She pulled the knife out of the creatures back with no hesitation. She was strong for a human. She had long red hair tied into a messy ponytail, green eyes, and a beautiful slender face. Her figure hid the strength she obviously had. She looked at me with both concern and what looked like anger. "Why have you been spying on my family?" She asked, the knife firmly gripped in her right hand. "I wasn't spying per say, I just like to watch you live your day to day lives. It's given me an escape from my realm and your family and friends are quite interesting. How did you know I was here?" She loosened her grip on the knife and her shoulders relaxed a bit. "I've seen you here and there for years. Peering behind trees and shrubs, but everytime I tried to catch up to you, you'd be gone." She kneeled down to the beast and started examining it. "My husband, nore my daughter, will admit these things are out here to me or the village folk you know. He thinks we can't defend ourselves, he thinks of us weak. I've known they've existed for years, just as I've known you have been around. Nothing escapes me, my father taught me how to be observant, how to survive. I'd never admit it to them but my daughter gets more from me than she knows. The one you've been following around Alicya." I took a deep breath and knelt down beside her running my hand down the scales of the creature. "I've never seen anything like this in the earth realm before. What is it? Has it always been here?" I asked as I look over at her taking in her body language and her features. "I have no idea, they showed up about twelve years ago out of no where, there's more things like them. Wolves, human like creatures, these, they have no names and they have no instinct but to mame and kill." Her brows furrowed and she frowned at the ground below her. "I fear the earth is coming to an end. It's ran it's course and now it's just trying to get rid of us. Can't say I blame it, after everything us humans have put it through. It's due time for its revenge." She gave me a shy smile, stood up, and wiped the knife clean on her dress leaving a blood stain running down it. "So what's your name?" She turned my way with a half cocked smile on her face. "I'm Avasa ma'am and may I ask yours?" She knodded. "I'm Melody, though I go by Winter, my middle name." "It's nice to meet you Winter." I said with a small smile on my face and an out stretched hand, she took it and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you Avasa." She patted the top of my hand and gave a bright smile. "I owe you Winter, I owe you my life for saving me. Anytime you need me take this." I pulled out a smooth glistening stone from my pocket. "Speak my name and I will be there within seconds. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING." She took it and cupped it in her hands. "I'm going to hold you to that."

A year later I heard the call of the stone and I hurried to it. I dropped back into the forest I had been a year before with Winter no where in sight I ran as fast as I could towards her village. A commotion was happening people was surrounding the table I could see a blood trail on the ground and I saw Winter crying and screaming for help, yelling at her husband for letting this happen. Then on the table was Alicya bleeding profusely, barely clinging to life. Everyone looked at me shocked as I embraced Winter in a hug. "Oh Winter I'm so sorry." She let go and motioned towards her daughter. "You have to help her Avasa. You have to, I can't lose her." I stood looking at the strong vibrant woman I had known in those woods torn down to complete misery and I couldn't say no. "I'll do what I can Winter but I can't promise anything even our power can only do so much." She gave me a knowing knod and told everyone to back away from the table. I took Alicya into my arms and called home the beam lifting us both back to my realm and to my home. I carried Alycia all the way to her room warding off anyone who offered to help. This was my job, my responsibility. I quickly prepared the salve and started administering it and the bleeding stopped almost immediately. I sat beside her on the bed brushing her short hair out of her eyes. "Leave the room. I have to get her into new clothes and I don't believe she'd like the idea of men oggling her as I do so." I said to Simon and he quickly left the room. I carefully lifted her shirt above her head and slowly got her arm out being careful to avoid the wounds. I observed the wounds, deeper than I thought, had I caught the bleeding in time, no time to worry about that now the salve has done what it can do. Now we just wait. She grunted in pain as I did so, so I moved slower, gentler. I grabbed a new looser shirt from a drawer in the bedside table and put it on her just as carefully as I took the last one off. I then removed her pants and put on a pair of underwear. She looked so frail at this moment. Nothing like the woman I saw hunting with her father in the forest, fighting off creatures with ease. I was kicking myself for not going back, maybe if I had gone back I could have saved her from this somehow. I'd been studying the Dragarn for a year now, I could have done something, anything. I put my hand on the side of her face and ran my thumb across the scar on her face, I started to hum and her body started to relax, it went less rigid and she drifted into a calmer sleep. Sleep is good, it'll give her time to heal. She's beautiful, and strong and if I had anything to do with it she'd make it through this. Why did I not go back? I could have stopped this. Right?

I hope you enjoyed Avasa's take on events in this chapter I plan on dropping another one by the end of next week. Please vote and share if you feel so inclined and I hope y'all are having a great weekend.