The Elemental Song

Chapter 9 Aura

They continued on their journey. Eryk turned around to make sure she was alright and suddenly rushed to catch her. She's gotten so weak and lost so much weight from malnutrition. Ziff whimpered in concern and Eryk quickly poured water on her face to wake her up. She woke up quickly and coughed a few times. "Princess! Please eat! You nearly died from hunger!" "Eryk?" "Yes, it's me." Eryk quickly grabbed some fruit and gave it to Skyrah and watched while she ate quietly. "Sorry Eryk." Eryk jumped surprised to hear her speak. "What for princess?" "You've been doing your best to take care of me and for that I am very grateful but, I haven't helped you at all. You even go injured because of my foolishness. I need to get a hold of myself and help you." Eryk gave her a sad smile. "It's okay. This must be a lot to take in after all. Plus you're only sixteen. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." At that the princess gave a small smile. "Where are we going?" "We are going to Aura, my home town in the trees."

"We are almost there. Cover yourself with a cloak. The people don't know what you look like but it would be best if they saw you as little as possible. Even if they don't know that the king's heir is a female your features will definitely give you away and the people will catch on. Your name will be Kindra and Ziff also needs to lay low as well." Skyrah nodded and they approached the forest. Immediately he heard yelling as soon as they entered the forest. "General Eryk is back!" Soon he, Ziff, and 'Kindra' were surrounded by people. Then, she suddenly dropped.

Skyrah opened her eyes. Where am I? she thought. "Hello miss!" Skyrah turned towards the voice. There at a small table sat a young boy. "Um, hello. Where am I?" "You are in Kuki Castle. I'm Imri!" "Imri! Is she up?" another voice called. "Yeah. She just woke up." Footsteps came closer then there in the doorway stood Eryk. "Rise and shine Kindra!" Suddenly, everything came rushing back to her. I remember, we had just entered the forest and lots of people came to greet us. I must have passed out. Eryk entered the room placed a bowl of soup in front of her. "Eat up. You fainted, again." "Where is Ziff?" Hearing his name Ziff let out a bark from the corner where he had been playing. "Miss, is that really your wolf?" Skyrah assessed the small boy. "No. He isn't my wolf. He is his own wolf. Ziff chose to stay with me and I decided to take care of him." Imri's eyes brightened with insight. "Ohh, I see. So you are just like best friends and you stick together!" "I suppose so Imri." "Kindra, you need to finish eating. I have to go talk with some people. I will return later, meanwhile you rest and eat." "Okay Eryk." When Eryk left Imri brought more food for her. "I hope you get better miss. I'll be back later when you are done resting." "Farewell Imri."

Skyrah wasn't allowed out of the room for two days. When she was allowed to go out she walked with Imri and Ziff around the city. While they were walking around Skyrah noticed a group of kids playing in a fenced in platform. I guess that would make sense since the city is up in the trees. The fence is good so that the kids and the toys won't fall out easily and the platform is very sturdy. Skyrah kept thinking to herself and realized that the whole city pretty much had fences around it. Skyrah thought back to the kids and asked, "Imri, why don't you play with the other kids?" "Cause I can't push myself too hard because I have a health problem." "Oh. I'm sorry." "It's fine. I get to spend lots of time with you, Eryk, and Ziff!" Ziff barked happily from in between them. "Speaking of Ziff, how did he get up here?" "General Eryk has unnaturally strong elemental powers. Stronger than usual so he just used his powers and conjured up a strong wind to carry him up. He carried you himself though." Imri smirked and Skyrah blushed at the last latter comment and thought of Eryk's powers. They were very strong, not as strong as hers but stronger than any other lords powers. It was pretty amazing that both his powers, body, and he himself were unnaturally strong, especially for his age. Skyrah admired him for that amongst other things. Imri introduced her to many people in the city and she made many friends very quickly. They were all wary of Ziff at first but they grew attached to him rather quickly.

Soon they had to go back because they had been walking so much and Imri needed to rest. When they got closer to the castle Skyrah realized that Imri never once showed her where the entrance was and she never was able to see one. She also thought that the Air Tribe's architecture and camouflage skills were amazing. They were able to build houses in trees and cliffs without them being detected and their dazzling, gorgeous aquamarine castle was hidden amongst the mountains and trees without being seen too. Even though Skyrah was never allowed out of the castle before she turned sixteen, she was very knowledgeable about the outside world and different regions. Kuki Castle was surrounded in mountains and the higher part of the castle was amongst the trees with the city. You could access the castle both from the ground and the trees. However the arrangement and design of the whole place was perfect so that it was perfectly hidden and had perfect scenery and location.

Once they stepped through the doorway Imri's breathing suddenly became labored. "Imri? Are you alright?" When Imri didn't respond Skyrah started to panic. "Eryk!" "What is it?" "It's Imri. His breathing seems to be labored. Come quick!" Ziff whimpered by her and nudged Imri in concern. Eryk rushed into the room with a bottle. "It's medicine. Imri has severe asthma." A few minutes after Imri took the medicine his breathing returned to normal. "Thank goodness. Imri, I'm so glad your alright!" "It's okay Kindra. It happens all the time," Imri responded a little shyly. Eryk spoke up, "we're almost out of medicine. I need to go talk to gramps about supplies. Stay here and watch Imri for me Kindra." "Uh, okay." Eryk got up and left.

"Dyllan! Where is gramps?" "I think he's by the river." "Okay. Come on, I need you too." "Uh, okay." The two climbed down the entrance trees and raced to the river. When they reached the river they were astonished. "Gramps! What happened to the water?!" General Gideon looked up from the dried up river. "Someone blocked the river somewhere farther down." "I'll go check it out," a new voice chimed in. "Ryker! Did you follow us?" "Of course I did Dyllan! I'm important too you know. I am, after all, the fastest person in the city." "You shouldn't rush over to find the source of the blockage. You never know what might be waiting." "Don't worry Eryk. I'll be fine and I'll be right back." With that said Ryker ran off down the riverbank. "That boy is going to get himself killed one day," Eryk mumbled.

"Hey gramps, I wanted to know what happened after I disappeared." General Gideon grunted. "Oh that's what you ran all the way here for? Well lets just say, all the generals and lords were woken up from their beauty sleep. We quickly got called into an emergency meeting and were told that King Ryan had been assassinated by the "Thunder Beast" and that he kidnapped the princess. I, however, knew better than to believe such a bold faced lie. Apparently Lord Zhenya was going to meet with the king but when he walked in he saw you kill King Ryan while Princess Skyrah was in the room, then flee the castle taking the princess with you. Zhenya then proceeded to call over the guards but by the time they arrived the king had already passed. When Zhenya finished his story he said that King Ryan's last wish was for him to be the next king. The generals considered this then all gave their consent but me. I said that I would only give him my blessing if he married Princess Skyrah and became king through marriage. That was the end of it. After the meeting I packed my things and rode home."

"So you think this may be sabotage to pressure you to consent to Lord Zhenya's proposal of becoming the next king?" "Of course. What other reason would they do this? I do want to know what really happened the night of King Ryan's murder." It was now Eryk's turn for story time. So Eryk launched into his account of that night. When he finished General Gideon was silent as if pondering the situation for a moment. "So Zhenya killed the king?" General Gideon had a look of sadness pass over his face for a moment. "Zhenya is traitor but he got other people to join his side. The poor princess, her whole world fell apart within one night, on her birthday no less! Don't worry Eryk, we, the people of the Air Tribe, will always be on your side and Vidal will always be with you." "Thanks gramps."