Artemis and Caspian: The Awakening

Chapter Thirteen

Leia ran as fast as she could, her robes blowing behind her in the wind that howled into her ears. Her body burned with exhaustion but she forced herself to keep going. Locks of her fawn brown hair began to cling to her face as sweat poured down her forehead and stung her eyes. Blinking her blurry vision away, Leia kept running. Low-hanging branches slid across her exposed arms, drawing cuts. Leia ignored the stinging sensation pulsating through them. Finally, she barreled into a dimly lit cave where she was greeted by thousands of wary eyes. A general dressed in all black made his way out of the shadows. His tall, lanky figure towered over Leia and she noted that his armor made his shoulders look broader than they actually were.

He turned back towards the cave and shouted "It's alright everyone, it's just Leia." before assessing her with an expectant look painted across his face. The whole cave went quiet, desperate to hear the news the shaman brought. Leia, winded could do nothing but shake her head no. The general got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he asked her to continue.

"She's been captured," Leia reported breathlessly. "Our Lady has been captured by Lord Cerberus." A collective gasp of horror rippled through the cave as Celestian citizens began to mourn the beginning of the end of their beloved realm. The general's eyes went dark and he bowed his head in defeat. Leia had slowed her breathing and stood up taller, looking around as people began to emerge from the cave with hope draining from their eyes. She swallowed before addressing the general again.

"Lord Cerberus said we have a fortnight to surrender or he'll kill her." This caused the general to stagger back and a chorus of cries to erupt from the growing crowd. A woman in the front began to wail as her husband did his best to comfort her. Many other people began to join her cries and soon the entire cave was filled with the mournful sobs of an entire realm already grieving the loss of their Lady. Leia looked around horrified at people beginning to panic.

"What will we do?" cried a hysterical bystander.

"How long will it be before Lord Cerberus finds us and kills us all?" another angrily yelled.

"Enough!" Leia shouted above the growing noise but no one seemed to take notice. The general had turned his attention away from her and was trying to fight the mass hysteria spreading like wildfire through the crowd of terrified citizens.

"I said that's enough!" Leia ordered grabbing a nearby shaman's staff and banging it against the ground. She could feel the presence of the moon goddess as the blunt end of the staff struck the ground, the force creating supernatural ripples that shook the forest floor.

The crowd instantly fell dead silent. Leia prepared to address them. She softly thanked the moon goddess for her strength.

"Listen to yourselves," she scolded, stone cold. "You're abandoning hope at the first sign of trouble. This is not what we were taught to stand for. This is not what Lady Azura would want us to do." A few unsure murmurs rippled through the attentive crowd.

"I saw our Lady before Lord Cerberus took her away and do you want to know what she said? She told me to rally her people because she believes we can set her free. The gods created Celestia to be the land of the clever. It is our duty to our Lady and to our realm that we use that cleverness to take back our home," A few people shouted their approval which spurred Leia to keep going.

"I believe that we are stronger than any invader, stronger than any arrow or sword they can point at us. I can feel the moon goddess's presence, she is on our side. Our Lady is still alive and depending on us to rid our land of this curse. Yes, we have been through a lot but look around you, Lord Cerberus's army hasn't wiped us out yet." The crowd began to bustle with excitement as Leia raised her staff in the air.

"If we fight, some of us will die. But if we die, we die with honor and pride. We die knowing that our efforts helped set our Lady free. Let Lord Cerberus come at us with all he has, we'll show him how strong Celestia really is." A spirited roar came from the people of Celestia. Wounded warriors once again picked up their weapons and raised them in the air. The general gave out a fierce war cry and others began to join in until the whole cave was alive with the spirits of hopeful, resilient people. Leia finished by bellowing as loudly as she could.

"Cower before us Guilamount because we will fight and we will win!"

...

Lady Azura once again sat in a pit of utter darkness, her mind racing a million miles an hour. She thought about Leia and the terrified expression on her face as that soldier drew blood. The thought of surrendering scared her, but the thought of losing the only family she had left scared her more.

Lady Azura thought back to that horrific accident so many years ago. A freak forest fire had orphaned the girls when Azura was only thirteen. Leia was eleven. Lady Azura took in a shaky breath as the memory replayed itself over in her head. She could still hear the swell of screams as people ran away from the flames, burning alive. The Lady opened her eyes and sharply inhaled as the image of her father's face appeared in her mind telling her to run, letting go of her hand. That image continued to haunt her every day. It was the last she ever saw of him.

After their deaths, she was forced to grow up fast and take on the role as Lady of Celestia even faster. Leia overcome by grief had abandoned her Ladyship title and devoted the rest of her life to the gods, serving them as a shaman. Without her sister's constant guidance and support, Azura would be lost.

She sank down the wall and put her head in her hands. She felt like such a fool. By recognizing Leia she'd put her in danger. Now that Lord Cerberus knew they had a connection, he would use Leia's safety as leverage over her. She could only hope that Leia had assembled the generals  then fled as far away from Celestia as she could. If anything happened to her, Lady Azura would never forgive herself.