A Curse of the First

•«CHAPTER TWO»• •«KNOWLEDGE•»

Fir hustled up the stairs and leaned against the wall as he neared the last few steps. He sighed and pulled himself up the last few stairs.

His mind was spinning, maybe because there was still sap oozing from his wrist and he felt kinda lightheaded. Fir sighed and rubbed his head.

He walked towards his room, dragging his feet. Fir opened the door clumsily and moved over to the opposite side of his room, where a bookcase was placed.

He pulled out a light violet book and looked into the bookshelf. There was a small door carved into the wall and Fir opened it carefully. Inside there were bandages stuffed to the brim.

He pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped some around his bleeding wrist. When there was no sap leaking through the bandage he tore it off and secured it.

Fir shoved the left over bandage into the small space and closed the door. He lifted the book to put it back in its place when he saw the title was The History of Phobiae and Maomd.

He opened it, holding his hands steady, and looked at the first page. The first species on Phobiae and Maomd were not Phobiaeos and Maomdeds. The first species in Phobiae and Maomd were actually humans.

Fir stopped. He had never really heard of humans. He put the book back quickly, confused. He took in a deep breath of air and turned away from the bookcase.

He walked over to his bed and flopped onto it. His feather filled pillow kept his head from slamming into his mattress and his cotton bed sheets were everywhere.

Fir let out a small joyful laugh like a child and sat up. He brushed the hair away from his face and smiled—a true smile.

He looked around his room, the bookshelf, the closet, the painting on the wall. The painting was a dull blue with a bright sunset in the background.

The ground was blueish purple and there were two small Maomdeds holding hands. In the corner there was the word "Brelt" written in dark, shimmering navy blue.

Fir had stared at that painting for many hours but he could never figure out what "Brelt" meant.

He knew his father's name was Bracken and the Maomded from the other painting was Melt. But Fir couldn't bring himself to believe Bracken and Melt had been in love. If they had Fir would have heard stories of Melt but he only knew her from paintings.

He sighed and decided to stop thinking about it. Fir reached under his bed and grabbed his favorite book: The Adventures of the Dead.

He heard a loud knock on his door and put his book up. Fir hoisted himself out of bed.

"Come in." He called, straightening up his covers quickly.

Birch opened the door and entered the room. "Wow. Your room is a mess." She breathed, looking around. "I was going to ask if we could hang out but it seems I need to help you clean." Fir loved Birch's sense of humor—the way you could only understand it if you listened closely.

"Sorry." He muttered. Birch rolled her eyes, a look of disappointment on her face from Fir being so dim-witted.

"It was a joke." She said, walking over to him. "I can't believe you're gonna be king." Birch joked, a smile on her face.

"Then you can be my advisor." He replied. Birch laughed.

"Maomd will need me if it wants to survive when you're king." She joked.

Fir smiled at her and she noticed his wrist. "What happened?" Birch asked, a slight cry to her voice.

"My father did a test where I had to barely cut my wrist to see if I had sap for blood, it didn't hurt." He explained. Birch grabbed his wrist and examined it.

"Do you?" She asked sternly.

"Yeah." Fir replied with a nod.

She nodded, her expression blank. "Want to hang out?" Birch asked, letting go of his hand. "Sure. What do you want to do?" Fir asked. "Practice fighting!" She exclaimed, straightening her posture.

"You're already a guard. Why do you want to be a soldier?" He asked. "Being a guard is boring!" She said, rolling her eyes. "I want to help Maomd!" She exclaimed. "Well then let's go." Fir said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the stairs.

Chapter two is out! I showed the blood/sap scene in chapter one to two people in school today and they liked it! Thank you IlovetoreadNoor for making Brelt.