|
|
|
Chapter: 5
“We’ve been walking for an hour. Where are we going?” I complained, looking at my dirty, aching feet.
“I already told you. We need to find a town or city or...or something,” she voiced back. We were both being bitter.
The forest was clearing and tall grass lay ahead. The bright moonlight brightened further, because a third moon rose. Instead of giving off heat like the sun, it made the air feel cool, and pleasant.
Something like crickets chirped in the grass but the sounds were...deeper. You really couldn’t call it chirping. It was more like (for lack of a better word) rusty noises.... Almost like a funky sounding fart. The ‘crickets’ must have been huge. I didn’t like the sounds.
Almost as the Mirror read my thought, it twitched and sent a golden-white pulse of light across the meadow, causing the persistent flatulence noises to end abruptly. Just how I liked it.
Rixia smiled with satisfaction as we reached a clearing. The fresh grass aroma hung in the air, filling our dry nostrils with fresh air. The dew sparkled like diamonds, tempting me to reach out to take one. Suddenly, like a knife, the scent of fire reached us, cutting into our bedazzlement.
“Do you smell that?” Rixia inquired. “Where there’s fire there’s people ”
Rixia sped up, following the odor. Soon we came to another thin section of the woods. We could actually hear somebody talking.
“...I know ma’am, and I will be sure to do that,” The voice sounded like a boy around 14; Rixia’s age. But, he also sounded nervous.
“Rixia wait–“ I exclaimed as she stepped into the woods. I followed her in reaching for her sleeve. Sometimes she could be really hardheaded.
I looked around, and there on a stump sat a boy with a gray top hat,and gray-black hair, humming. A long, black coat with a shimmer of silver on the collar and cuffs was worn tightly around him. A white, ruffled cravat hung around his neck. His boots looked military style and his pants were gray and tattered at the bottoms.
A medium sized fire blazed close to his feet and he held a metal pole, presumably frying something.
Rixia stared at him, her mouth open, right about to say something when he stopped humming and scratched his wild hair. The boy suddenly shot up and held his pole at us like a sword.
“Who are you?” He demanded us, looking over with fierce, onyx eyes.
I was the first one to speak up.
“We....uh, aren’t from here...We’re lost–” I started. He squinted at us suspiciously, but lowered his pole. Rixia flashed a look of confusion at me, though
the boy had a slightly friendlier expression on his face.
“I’m Auxion Tempis, and this is my sister, Rixia Tempis,” I introduced.” We just want to know where the nearest town is,”
At that he looked relived. “Well that’s good. My name is Aayoko Caelum,” Then, like something zapped him, he straightened up again. “How do I know that you’re telling the truth?” He asked. My sister chirped up,
“We’re from America, now, where are we?” She requested. Aayoko scratched his head again.
“Why, you’re in Lun -sei,” He said quickly. I glanced at Rixia, and a pale tint painted her face.
“Rixia, are you ok?” I questioned, quietly. She turned towards me, slowly.
“Lun-Sei, doesn’t exist....” She whimpered. Panic rose in me.
“What? How is that possible?! Does that mean were dead? That just doesn’t make any–“ Something interrupted my babble. A thudding noise came from a tree beside me. Aayoko cocked his head as the tree fell.
A ten year old girl silently stepped from behind it, bearing an axe. She had a face that looked drained and dead, despite her dark skin.
“Shadow child–“ Aayoko cried.
I stumbled to the ground. The girl inched forward with her mouth open, though no sound came out. Rixia shrieked. I looked at her and realized a problem. We were surrounded. Ten of these creepy kids of varying ages stood around quietly. They could have stood there for hours without us noticing. They looked like ghosts.
A haunting voice broke the silence.
“Look what we have here....” The ominous voice said. A boy of probably thirteen years of age strode out of the shadows. He wore all white, yet extremely crisp, clean clothes for someone who looked like a ghost. Something like dark mist was around the boy, but I could only see it from the corner of my eye.
“I am the leader of the Shadowed Ones. My name is Haunt,“ Haunt bowed, his snow colored tuxedo coattails swaying on some imaginary wind.
My legs shook as I scrambled up from the ground, suddenly feeling cold. The mirror glinted warm light, again, as if it read my thoughts.
“I am afraid your time has been cut short,” He stated darkly, stepping forward. I looked into his eyes, which had wisdom in them, far beyond his years. His eyes were also yellow. That’s unnatural, I thought.
“Run ” Aayoko shouted, throwing down the flimsy pole, which really much of a threat, now that I think about it.
We didn’t need an invitation. Rixia took my hand and pushed the axe girl aside with the added effect of her wings. Running, she side-stepped around incoming trees. I dared to look behind just in time to see a pulse of electric blue light illuminate the area, and Aayoko striding out holding a mirror wand. He broke out into a sprint, following close behind, occasionally shooting out light from his wand.
“Hey, there’s a nice, little town further away,” he said, carrying his voice.
We kept on running, then jogging, then power-walking, then walking briskly, then walking, then trudging. Eventually we stopped walking all the way.
“Do... you...think we...lost ‘em...? I asked between gasps of air.
“Probably for a little while,” Aayoko replied.
Rixia and I exchanged nervous looks as we began walking again.
Finally, we arrived at a huge, metal gate, it partially open. A rusty sign hung
from the gate, reading: Welcome to Astrum. We all peered inside of it. We stared,
stunned, at what we saw.
You see, there was one shocking detail that Aayoko left out about this “nice little town”.
 Emperor of shadows · Sat Nov 15, 2008 @ 05:45am · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
