The Exiled Princess (sequel to Esther)

Chapter 4

"Where does the cave lead to?" Andrew asked Sheila the next morning after breakfast. "Giant's Keep." She replied. We stopped walking and looked back the way we came. Someone or something was running towards us.

It was a cheetah. She transformed into a human. "Yera!" I exclaimed. She came over and we all changed except for Sheila, Meral, Ruby and King. "Wait. How did you get in?" Brandon asked. "Well, the prince deer dude let me in and told me where to find you. I traveled all day and night." She replied. Wow.

"What's the news?" Andrew asked her. "We already talked to King Eman and he gave us assignments. Quests to do in order to stop Awry." She started. "Ashley and Brandon have to go to Bane. We, Esther, Brandon and I, have to recruit giants to help us. Altri and Amia will stay in Heraina to plan. Isis, Jenia, and Ibis will go back to Ibis' island and protect the place that will be our fortress or headquarters."

"Are we having war?" Andrew asked clearly astonished. "Well, King Eman said that defeating Awry wouldn't be easy. It would be hard to save the humans and defeat her without war. So, we have to ask the giants to help us smuggle all the humans in Cordial to the Giant's Keep. Ashley and Brandon have to help prepare the humans in Bane. Awry's home land. They aren't well known, so they wouldn't be in much danger. We should get going." She explained.

"Who will lead us to Bane?" Ashley asked. "I suppose Sheila could. Can you?" She asked turning to Sheila. Sheila nodded. "Then it's settled. I know these lands, so don't worry Esther and Andrew. Sheila? You'd better get going. You still have to cross the sea. It'll be a five day journey to a week. Come on." Yera motioned.

We ran and ran till we reached the cave hours later. We were all panting by the time we reached the cave. Thankfully, it wasn't at the top of the mountain. If it was, we'd have an even harder time to breath.

I hugged Ashley and Brandon. "Safe trip guys. Be careful. Stay alert. I'll miss you. We'll see you soon." I said to them. "We'll be careful, Es. You and Andrew better stay safe too. See ya!" Ashley said with a wave and she, Brandon and Sheila ran off in the other direction.

Andrew and I followed Yera in climbing down the mountain. "Umm, Yera?" I asked. "Yeah?" She looked back at me with a questioning glance. "Why do you have purple streaks in your hair?" I asked noticing that she had purple streaks in her black hair.

"Well, umm, you see, people here get streaks to show who they believe in and whose side they stand for. Even animals get them." She said. "Why? I mean, what sides are they?" I asked still confused. "Esther, Isis and Jenia didn't teach you this lesson?" Andrew asked me. I shook my head still walking behind Yera.

"Okay, then. You see, when Cordial was still new, King Eman was the only king over all Cordial. He had a powerful man as his right hand. His name is Haman. Now Haman wanted to be ruler. He wanted a kingdom of his own. He complained to King Eman and King Eman decided that it was wise to put rulers in each kingdom. But Haman wasn't a ruler or king of any place." Andrew explained as we sat down for a break.

"So?" I asked prompting them to tell me more. "Well, Haman was pretty upset, as you might guess. He betrayed the king. While the king was asleep, Haman dragged him to the balcony where his followers had gathered the whole town. He addressed the town and stabbed the king in the chest. It was a night never to be forgotten. Haman was triumphant and built a castle in Bane. Where he would rule."

"Wait. Why didn't King Eman stop him?" I asked. "King Eman didn't want to hurt him. But he did want Haman to be gone. And what Haman didn't know, was that King Eman lives for eternity and nothing can defeat him or kill him. So King Eman was alive again after three days. He sent an army to meet up with Haman's and defeated the evil. He cast a spell on Haman causing him to be in deep sleep. He couldn't move or go anywhere, but he could communicate to people using his mind." He added.

I just stared at them. No way. Yera nodded and picked up the story. "King Eman appointed a king and queen to Cordialis, Bane, Giant's Keep, and Atro. Now people are given a choice. Follow Haman, or believe and follow King Eman. People who truly believe and follow King Eman get purple streaks in their hair. Those who truly follow Haman get red streaks in their hair. My mother has one. I knew I couldn't be like her. Following the one who supposedly killed the king who blessed us all with powers? I don't think so. So, I followed King Eman." She said. I nodded understanding.

"Do you have purple streaks?" I asked Andrew. His hair was a bit long but when he brushed his hand through his hair, I saw the purple streaks. "Cool." I said. We started walking again.

"So how did giants come to be?" I asked as we looked over a beautiful valley. "Witches created them. As experiments. But then they turned out to be giants. Don't worry. The giants were created by good witches. Not the kind like my mother. Anyway, just to add some more info, giants turn into a human sized being during the day time. From dawn to dusk. Afterwards, the giants turn into giants. Just sharing some info." Yera said shrugging.