Children of Prophecy

Astra: Chapter 17

Basil had gone off towards Alastar as the rest of us were headed towards Euryele to confront the king and take Belle home. We walked through the forest with Belle chatting with Lynx and Tabitha, the twins and I were walking silently. "So... What is it like in Euryele?" Raphael asked to break the silence. "It is beautiful there!" Belle answered with joy, dropping her conversation with Lynx "There are plenty of farming fields and flower fields, the villagers are also lively and friendly" Raphael then grinned widely in awe of what Belle had said. I have sometimes passed by Euryele and it was as beautiful as Belle described, but I also wonder what Alastar is like. I had never passed by there before.

After a long walk, we had finally arrived at the outskirts of Euryele. You could see farms from afar and fields of flowers with different colours. As we came upon the gate, one of the guards stopped us "Halt, who are you people and what business do you have here?" he asked. "I am Astra, guardian of the 'light' from the Mystical forest and these are my companions" I said as I gestured to the others "We came here to find this little girl's parents and to speak with the king". The guard nodded to the other guard and signalled to let us through. The gate opened and when we walked inside, it was as wonderful as Belle had described.

The villagers greeted each other with smiles and chatted. Raphael gaped in awe as he dragged Spot from shops to small stands to look at the stuff the villagers sold. Lynx, Tabitha and Belle laughed at Raphael's antiques. I merely shook my head with a smile. Raphael looked like a child that received a big present. "Alright, time to find Belle's parents now" Tabitha said and went to drag Raphael away from a shop and was followed by Spot who looked at his twin sighing. "Do you know where your parents might be?" Lynx asked Belle. Belle thought for a moment before snapping her fingers and said "They might be at grandma's house. I'll lead you there".

Belle began walking as we followed her through the streets. We then came upon a quiet street with few people. "Grandma's house is just around the corner of this street" Belle said and ran ahead excited to see her parents. She stopped in front of a brown wooden door and knocked when we caught up to her. An old woman opened the door and looked at Belle holding her hands in front of her mouth. "Belle!" The woman shouted in relief and hugged her. Loud sounds of footsteps followed as two more persons came to sight by the door. It was a man and a woman who had a few bandages showing that they were injured. They crouched down crying as they hugged Belle. "Mom, Dad, these are the people who brought me back to you" Belle said and gestured to us. "Thank you! Thank you so much for bringing our Belle back to us!" Belle's dad said to us. "It was actually a behemoth friend of mine who found her and saved her" I said before crouching down to Belle "Stay safe and feel free to visit when you need something". We bid our goodbyes to Belle and her family before we headed towards the castle.

I looked up to see the castle from where I was standing and it looked beautiful. The castle was white with blue roofs a few gold designs. On the highest tower there was a diamond shaped stone which shined like one as the sun hit it. Small flags on top of the lower towers waved with Euryele's proud symbol. We walked back to the main street and towards the castle. The villagers still kept smiling; I wonder if they know what is happening outside the kingdom. Tabitha dragged Raphael by his ear to get him away from the stands that were distracting him on the way. "We've arrived" Lynx said to get the Raphael and Tabitha's attention. The both of them looked towards what was in front of them and stared in awe at the big entrance to the castle.

I walked towards a guard and said "We need to speak to the king". "I am sorry miss, but I can't let you in without a clarification of you people are" the guard answered. I sighed and introduced ourselves like I did before with the other guards. The guard moved to let us in and another guard lead us to the throne room where we would meet the king. We stood in front of the throne and waited for the king to come. An old man with white hair and beard entered the room and sat down on the throne.

We bowed down to greet the king as he looked at us and asked "You wished to speak to me?" "My king, I have questions about your side of the war" I asked, but before he could answer, big doors of the throne room opened loudly followed by someone who shouted my name. I turned around to see Basil who was then grabbed by guards that tried to drag him out of the throne room. "Let the boy go. It seems that he has something urgent to say" I heard the king order as the guards dropped Basil before leaving. "I have news about Alastar and some stuff I found out on the way here" Basil said with a serious tone as he looked at us. The king examined Basil to see if he recognized him from somewhere and then he asked "Tell me, what is the crown prince of Alastar doing here in Euryele?" Even though Basil was from Alastar, the tone that the king used was not filled with disgust or hate, but was gentle and welcoming. Basil looked slightly taken aback with the king's tone and said again "I have something to share about Alastar and my journey on my way here".

The king nodded and opened his mouth to speak "I did not wish for war to return, but I must defend my kingdom. I want to stop this war and live in peace with Alastar". "My grandfather however has no intention of stopping this war. He has grown far too greedy of his new acquired power and is holding a deep grudge" Basil said before he asked "Does anyone know how the first war was caused?" I thought about what I had heard of, but nothing about how it was caused came up. Lynx seemed to be thinking very hard and then she said "Nothing, I can't think of anything from the Great Library about what caused it". The king stood up and motioned for us to follow him before walking towards a door and opening it. "I shall tell you about the cause of the first war, but I might need help telling the story" the king said as he looked at Basil "It seems that you know more than I know".