The legend of Aurora

Chapter 2: OLD AND NEW Part 2

– That's the Kitsune from the forest! – He exclaimed.

– That's Ivy! – Exclaimed Stella at the same time.

– Who?

– Who? – Said both at the same time, again.

– I saw that Kitsune in the forest this morning. – Said Howl, confused.

– So that's where you were. – Understood Callie at last.

– Ivy, what were you doing in the forest this morning?? – Asked Stella to the Kitsune.

– I was having my morning stroll, but this time I decided It would be good I payed a visit to Dalia. It's been ages since the last time I saw her. She was less than four years old. Well, I wasn't really there, I was having my morning stroll in another place, I just protected myself so that only those who drank from the fountain of knowledge could see me, and then I found this thing, and it looked lost, so I helped him. He's apparently your friend. – The Kitsune spoke, but her voice was heard in their heads.

– How did you do that?? – Asked Will – It's so creepy, It's so cool!

– We have never met before, strange fox. I think I'd remember – Dalia said, confused.

– You have, but you don't remember, I accidentally wiped your mind, sorry – Mumbled Stella.

– You did whatttttt??? – Shouted Dalia.

– I kinda, maybe, whipped your mind with a spell that went wrong, sorry? – She whispered.

– You did whatttttt??? – Shouted Dalia (Again).

– Gys? We are very far from the topic here! – Exclaimed Ayla – Please listen!

– Silence! – Shouted Kitsune. Everyone immediately stopped talking and froze – I'm just here to offer Stella a choice. A choice between staying alive, or later leaving to die, again.

– What do you mean, leaving later to die? That means that you... you're not alive, are you, Stella? – Realised Howl.

– No, not permanently, anyway. – But then, Ayla couldn't wait anymore, and exploded.

– Are you gonna listen to me!!!!!! We are far off topic!!!!! – Everyone shut up.

– And... What is the topic, exactly? – Asked Will.

– Well, Stella is back, why? And anyway, what did she mean when she said

« What was always meant to, and what has been forgotten for centuries » – Explained Ayla.

– Yes, could you explain? – Asked the Majutsu-shi queen. Stella sighed. She suddenly appeared older. No one really knew how old she was, not even Dalia, but they never thought she was as old as she proved when she spoke.

– You all know now that I'm the famous Juglaress. Well, I'm going to tell you a story.

« Years ago, before the kings, before the Dawn of Darkness, there was magic in the world. This world was bursting with life, and there was magic everywhere you looked. Every race had its own magic, its own sparkle. They venerated and prayed to their own God, the one who created them, and to their own Baransu. The one who gave them their world, and their magic. Everything was perfect then. Every race was united, and there was no evil. No wars, no suffering. Just happiness. We call this, the era of Peace. People from all around the other cosmos came to visit them. This was the happiest world of all. I remember travelling around the cosmos, and other ones, telling the story of the World of Music, as this was the old name of this world. I would tell cosmos travellers about this world, about the legend of the fountain of knowledge, and they would ask the location of this place. I would tell them: Where the stars are singing. Because the magic of this world was singing. Músic. Everyone sang songs, played their instruments, that is why the walls glowed when we sang, when Dalia played the flute, that is why. You were born to sing. The song I sang was the first song invented.

« But then, the Shurekku appeared. Driven by madness, their only purpose was to destroy all the Realms, and suk up all the magic. They eventually reached The Immortal Realm, and there, arrived at Aurora, the land of the Baransu of Balance, Masters of all magic. They caused great Chaos, because they had found the only thing capable of killing the immortals, and they were willing to use it. The Elixir of Death, extracted from the stone of runes Hugo, stolen by them from Baransu God Hugo, Master God of Life. It's curious how a stone of life could cause so much suffering. As this stone trembled the Realms, every Guardian and Baransu, including the Baransu God Hugo, fell. All except one lesser being Guardian that survived, and one Baransu. The Guardian did her job to protect the last Baransu and took her far away. The Baransu didn't want to leave her brothers and sisters, and neither did the Guardian, but she understood that she couldn't do anything for them. And, anyway, she knew that their spirits would be revived. The Shurekku had already done their purpose, kill the Baransu and Guardians, and fell into a deep sleep. We call this, the Dawn of Darkness. It was the Gods who created them, thinking that it would make them more powerful, but in the end, they understood that what they had done hade consequences. Big ones. Without the Baransu, magic disappeared from this world. Only powerful Majutsu-shi remembered how to use it. They called them Witches. The ones who knew the secret of magic. They were mainly minstrels, but with time, they disappeared. The most powerful Witches were the Sorceress, who knew the secret of the magic of this world, and from others. Cosmos travels were impossible, because magic disappeared, and the only way to cross from one cosmos to another were the teleportation portals, provided by the Efrimai people, who also lost their magic. In the end, all the cosmos of the Mortal Realm became isolated from each other. Also Sorceress became extinct. I'm the last one. And I'm also the last Guardian remaining from the Dawn of Darkness. As for the Baransu I saved all those millennia ago, she escaped, and freed the Shurekku, hoping to destroy me, and become more powerful, stealing the world's magic. She wants to destroy all the new Baransu, and over all, me. You are the heroes of this world. You are the Baransu of Balance of this world. Dalia, Will, Ayla, Callie and Howl. Baransu revived spirits Diana, Williant, Astany, Castroll and Howlering. She is the one who freed the Shurekku into this world during this era. I'm here to tell you that this world isn't safe with you here, and that you have to leave immediately. When I revived this world, on the day you call Reborning day, this world changed, and the era of Chaos ended. Now we enter the era of Balance with the reawakening of magic.

– No one said anything. Then Will broke the silence.

– We are Baransu? – He asked – Like the Baransu, Baransu?

– Yes – Answered simply Stella.

– And we have to leave this world – Finished Ayla – But then, where do we go?

– You have to go to Aurora, the land of the Baransu. It was destroyed when the Dawn of Darkness, but with time it has regenerated, and now it's currently inhabited by the other Baransu, from other worlds, that I have brought back. You'll like Aurora, it's a peaceful place, and it's way up in the sky, just above the Northern Lights. Legend says that in the middle of a healing circle, in a full Moon, if the night is clear, you can see The great mountain. You can access Aurora through your Tree of Magic.

– Our what? – Asked Callie.

– Your Tree of Magic. It's the biggest tree in the forest, just beside a fountain of knowledge. My guess is that we have about an hour until I have to leave, so we have to go fast. Follow me – Ayla and her phoenix Yanlunnis, Will and his horse Rigo, Callie and her cat Natt, Howl, and Dalia follow Stella to the temple's door, preparing for the journey of their lives, and which they maybe will never come back.