Legends of Heretrua: Children of Light

Chapter Six

Genne wiggled herself under Aldyth's arm. "Aldyth," she whispered. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"Well..." Aldyth thought about how to respond honestly without scaring Genne too much. The truth was, all any of them could do was assume things. "You know that both kingdoms have been waiting for someone from another world to show up, right?"

Genne nodded. "And she did show up. Yesterday."

"That's right. And both kingdoms want her to pick the flower for them so that they gain ultimate power."

"How does picking a flower do that anyway?"

Aldyth shrugged. "It's magic."

"Prophecy says that when it is picked, the side it is picked from will win control of the land and the other side will be completely wiped out," Rosalie filled in.

"Right. And if either kingdom harms the other, barriers will go up to prevent them from doing any more damage, to make the choice for the picker fair."

"So that's what these circle shield things are?" Genne asked.

"I don't see what else they could be."

"Does that mean Scaolust hurt somebody from the castle?"

"I think," Aldyth said slowly, choosing her words carefully, "that it means Scaolust hurt whoever they had to in order to get the girl back to their side. And it must have worked, since the king, prince, and princess are all going to the flower."

"And if they have her now, then she's stuck over there. No one is getting through those barriers," Rosalie whispered sadly. Aldyth met her sister's eyes over the top of Genne's head.

A loud sound made all three jump to their feet. The people who had gotten bored and left came rushing back as light and color filled the air by the flower. "They're trying to break through!" Someone shouted.

That did indeed appear to be what the siblings were doing. All of them had combined their magic and were directing it into a single spot on the wall keep them from Scaolust. "Come on guys," Rosalie muttered.

Dismayed sounds rose from the crowd as black magic appeared from Scaolust, overpowering the efforts of the Heretrua royalty. Then all the magic stopped at once.

"What's happening?"

"Are they giving up?"

"I think someone got hurt."

"It's the king." Durwin appeared at Aldyth's side, a pair of binoculars in his hands. He handed them to Aldyth. "You can see. He's on the ground."

Aldyth held them up and peered through. "Oh no."

"Let me see." Rosalie took them from Aldyth and gasped at what she saw.

"Hey, you kids." A man approached them. "What's happening?"

"Ren's been hurt," Aldyth told him.

"What do you mean, he's hurt? What happened to him?"

"Let me see," Durwin asked Rosalie. She handed his binoculars back to him and he looked through. The crowd had started to gather around them, anxiously waiting to know what had happened. "It looks like it's his leg." He pulled them away from his eyes suddenly as magic filled the air again. "That's bright."

Everyone turned their eyes back to the wall. "They've made a hole in the barrier!" Rosalie shouted.

"Look through those things again," the man demanded Durwin.

"They do have a hole," he said. "But Ren isn't using his magic."

"What? Why not?" Aldyth asked.

White light blinded them all. They covered their eyes and tried to peer at the scene.

"Now he's using it," Genne spoke what they were all thinking.

The light disappeared for just a second and then a shock wave rushed over the village. Some people lost their footing and fell to the ground. Aldyth clung to Durwin, and Genne and Rosalie clung to her. When the shock had passed, everyone was at last able to see what was happening again. A simultaneous cheer went up from the crowd and everyone went wild. Some were hugging each other, some were jumping up and down, people were running all over the place. Aldyth's mother came back out of the house. "I take it something interesting has happened?"

"Yes!" Aldyth sighed in relief. "We won."

The group watched a wave of light wash over Scaolust, turning everything dark it touched into beautiful green scenery. It rushed right up to the castle doorstep.

And then it stopped.

"I thought it was supposed to get rid of all of Scaolust," Genne said, disappointed.

"Me, too." said Aldyth.

"I wonder what could have went wrong," Durwin wondered out loud for them all.