World Of War (Arula: Three)

Chapter 4

Karma watched as the dwarves took off from Shurli heading back to the Dwarf Clan. She sighed and shook her head. Had she done the right thing? Of course, she did! Well, she could only hope. It's not easy making a decision such as this one. You can't decide to go off to war with a simple yes, can you? How could she even be certain that the goblins were even taking the dwarves? You could go and ask the goblin lord, a voice in her head reasoned.

And if it turns out they didn't kidnap the dwarves? Karma asked the voice in her head.

And if it turns out they did kidnap the dwarves? The voice shot back. Karma growled and gritted her teeth. She did not need this voice in her head right now. Rubbing her temples, Karma made her back to her room where she ran her a bath and prepared herself to take a relaxing bath for once. The water felt good on her aching muscles and she allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief. When she was done, she dressed and sat down on the window seat. The day was still young and beautiful. Summer was over and fall was just around the corner. The leaves on the trees were beginning to turn their red, orange, brown, and yellow colors. The air became crisper and colder, but not too cold where you have to wear heavy clothing.

Karma opened the window so that the cool air came in. It felt nice, the air. It allowed Karma to think and clear her mind of things that troubled her. She leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes. Just as Karma thought she was about the fall asleep the sound of purring filled her head. It was strange, she had thought. Why was there the sound of purring in her head? She peeled her eyes opened she spotted the inviso-cat has it appeared before her. It was sitting on the windowsill, purring softly. It stared at Karma with curious eyes.

"I was wandering where you had gone," Karma said, extending her hand out so that the cat could sniff it. The inviso-cat sniff and rubbed against Karma hand, purring so loudly that it nearly echoed throughout her room. It hopped down from its spot on the windowsill and curled up on Karma's lap, still purring. "Well it looks like I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, huh?" Karma asked herself. Which was fine by her. Karma knew she wasn't going to move anytime soon either way.

----

Time passed quickly, because one second Karma was looking outside her window with the inviso-cat on her lap, and the next, it was mid-afternoon, and the cat was gone. I must've fallen asleep, Karma decided and swung her aching legs over the lip of the seat. She stretched and made her way toward the desk. She opened the jar of mint leaves and popped a half one in her mouth. Months ago, Mika given her the mint leaves to hopefully get rid of the aching headaches she's been getting recently. So far, it has been working, but only for a short period of time.

Karma walked out of her room, down the hallways and into the palace courtyard where she saw Hope playing with Angel. The little elven girl chased the long-tailed fox around the courtyard. Every now and then Angel would slow down to let the little girl catch up before speeding ahead once more. When Karma stepped out into the yard, Angel ran straight toward her master, barking with glee. Karma bent down to pet the fox on her head. "It's nice to see you too, girl," Karma said with a laugh as Angel licked her face. "So, this is where you went, mm?"

"I hope you didn't mind," Hope said as she jogged up to Karma and wrapped her tiny arms around Angel's thick neck.

"None at all," Karma said with a smile. "Someone's got to play Angel every once in a while. I can't do it all the time." The little elf giggled. "Where's your father? Do you know?" Hope nodded.

"He's over there using his 'oh and air-oh," she said pointing then tugged at Karma's arm. "I show you!" Karma allowed Hope to pull her along the courtyard to where Omar was using his bow. He stood there in perfect concentration, focusing on the target ahead of him. His breath was steady and even. He breathed in and held it. Slowly his fingers released its hold on the arrow, and it went flying through the air. Thonk! The arrow hit its target dead on. "Papa! Papa!" Hope said, skipping ahead of Karma with Angel at the girl's feet. "Mizz Karma is here to see you!"

Hope ran into her father's long legs and held on. "I see that." Omar said glancing down at his daughter as she clung on to his leg. "And what did I do to deserve such a visit, eh?" He chuckled while Karma rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you're going to be that way, then I should just turn around and walk away, right?" Omar laughed.

"Trust me, I know, but you won't... so what's troubling you." He said as he reloaded his bow.

"How do you know something is troubling me?"

"Because you normally don't leave that room of yours unless one: you're hungry. Two: you want to go down to the sables. Three: to sit out in the gardens to draw in that book of yours. And Four: when you're troubled or need of advice from a dear friend. So, tell me, what's troubling you?" Omar released the arrow and it hit the target right next to the other arrow.

"Fine," Karma said. "I was wondering if what we did was the right thing. Did we do the right thing, Omar?" Omar loaded and released another arrow before answering.

"I can't tell you that, Karma, you know that." He said. "If you believe you did the right thing, then yes, you did, and if didn't, well... that's up to you think about." Karma grunted. She did not like that answer, but knew it was the only one that Omar was going to give her. "Don't worry," he continued and shot another arrow. "Everything that happens, happens. Sometimes for the better, or... for the worse. It's all on how you put in perspective." When he ran out arrows, Omar went over to the target board and gathered his arrows. One by one he put them back in his quiver, inspecting each point making sure that none were severely damaged.

Omar patted Karma on the shoulder as he walked past her. "Come on," he said. "Let's go grab some lunch."