The Land Of Warriors

Part 4

Elijah POV
As Aubrey collapsed, our army gained the upper hand and pushed them back. And as soon as the army heard their leader was down, they made a speedy retreat. I looked at Andrea. She looked at me and I realized she had gotten her memory back. Seeing her aunt had reminded her of her past. She rushed to me and threw her arms around me. I wrapped her in a bear hug.

Andrea POV
We reached the Throne Room ten minutes later, manoeuvring between the soldiers stationed there. And as soon as I saw Father and Ma, I rushed to them.

"Ma, Father,” I sobbed as I hugged them. Father stroked a hand down my head.

”We missed you so much,” I heard Ma tell. I was dimly aware that Abigail and Elijah had entered the hug. And I hugged them tight.

Three days later, our parents had arranged a grand ball to welcome my return. In a gown of mahogany, my hair pulled into a bun, with my tiara of silver in front of it, I looked to my right.

Elijah and Gail were standing next to me, the former in a jacket of light brown and cream pants, his hair combed, the latter in a gown that matched my own. Elijah inclined his head, and we turned our heads to see the spectacular fireworks display our parents had arranged.

The next few days were a blur. I had to endure lots of gruelling sessions of workout. All because Aubrey had kidnapped me. Which I thought was highly unfair!

I was still in perfectly good shape to battle,not needing to go theough the basics over and over like I had to when I was 5. And it was exactly what I told to Elijah,who just rolled his eyes and named me a "weakling". Darn it. He knew exactly what would get me up and about without conplaining for another round of sparring.

Abigail was watching all this from under the tree, there not only to support me as Elijah tried to outsmart me in my own game but also to warn him to take care. I was still healing and couldn't exert myself too much. The fight with Aubrey had left me exhausted,enough that I had trudged back up right after the fireworks, announcing that I was going to sleep and that I was not,under any circumstance, to be disturbed. Not unless they wanted me to shift.

Abigail whistled,dragging my attention back to where Elijah was about to get the practice sword onto my open left guard. Her warning was just in time and I parried to Elijah's utter frustration.

I laughed, winking at Abigail. Abigail had been on my side since when she was a little girl. And she made no effort to hide that. I laughed as I stood over Elijah for the 6th time, my practice sword on his throat.

He rolled his eyes. I was perhaps the only person alive who could beat him. Even Father couldn't beat him (not that I had seen them battle much. My Father would never liked to embarrass himself ). And rightly so. He wasn't leading the armies of the Gaisgeach for nothing. Abigail walked over,her eyes going distant.

"Elijah,Andrea, Father is calling you ", she said her face calm yet her eyes turning worried.

I wiped my face with a towel from the towel rack in the training ring. A glass of water in our hands, I asked, "Now? Can it wait until after us cleaning up?"
Now Andrea, I heard my Father's stern voice in my head.

Strange. His voice had been faint,as if he was weary and tired.
I inclined my head towards the long, shaded walkway to the Throne Room." Looks like it can't".

Walking into the Throne room, I gazed up. The misted glass,letting in some sunlight, was crafted in a dome shape. The shiny marble floors and pond in the middle of the room reflected the light back all around the room, the Throne being a stage where the light danced.

And on that throne sat my Father. His expression weary. Although quite young, my father looked beyond his years and had the knowledge of twice that. His face was calm, yet his eyes betrayed the fact that something bad had happened.

We bowed. "What is it Father?", Elijah asked.

Our Father took a deep breath and seeming to calm down a bit opened his mouth.

"Andrea,Elijah and Abigail. The Taigh has been betrayed. Our secret keepers have been found dead in their homes. The God has frowned upon us.I need you to-", he fought to gain control of his voice.

My face drained of colour. Father  never lost control of his composure

Taking another deep breath, he said, "I need you to go to the Volcano. And beg for His forgiveness"

"The Volcano?", I asked, not believing a word.Our secret keepers. Dead. And going to the Volcano...

Elijah and Abigail looked confused.
I looked at them and started explaining.
"The Volcano. Our God and the River, Our Goddess. Long ago, another warrior-king had angered the God. Various disasters had happened and the warrior-king's people had played the price. He had begged and pleaded to have mercy on his people, and The River, being the benevolent mother that she is, had taken pity upon him. She had convinced The Volcano to forgive his people,even if he refused to forgive the warrior-king.

He listened, on one condition. He created the secret keepers. They kept the secrets of the kings for generations to come. No matter how brutal the secret. They were also immortal.They lived on forever.But if they died, it meant that the God was angry. The children of the Taigh had to go beg for His forgiveness. If they were slaughtered though. The River have mercy on those who killed them.", I finished.But they were still confused.

"If it is just begging His forgiveness then why are you worried Father?", Gail asked.

"Because the journey to the Volcano is not an easy one. There are multiple trials that we need to cross. And then beg at the feet of The Fiery One", I replied for him,"They aren't easy tasks. And if the King Of Fire is still upset", I croaked. "One of the king's children may need to be sacrificed. If the Vulcan is not still satisfied,then the River save us.Yet,if he is satisfied and feels empathetic to us...there is a chance that whoever was s-sacrificed may be sent out alive for their bravery"

"Father,are you sure they weren't killed? Abigail's men were left alive weren't they?", asked Elijah,as the magnanimity of what they were supposed to do hit him,his face grew white

"Only me and a few trusted advisers knew where they lived. Nobody in the whole of Talamnh knew of their existence, let alone where they lived. Talamnh believes it is a legend.", He said wearily.

"We shall go check Father. Let us see if the secret keepers were killed by one of Aubrey's people or The Volcano. We request this of you", said Abigail.

His eyes shined. My eyes grew wide. I had never seen Father cry ever in my life.
"Go my heroes. And save us from the wrath. May the River be her benevolent self and guide you", he said and waved us off.