Mystery of the Cosmos: Episode 4

EPISODE 4

"Aeion! Aeion! Aeion wake up" Myer shook the young boy. Aeion rose gently and stared Myer in the eyes. He wanted to speak but the panic in Myer's eyes shut him up.

Not too far from them was a camp of Drakkens. They were humanoid creatures seen as monsters by every other inhabitant of the continent. The two who had lived in the forest for most of their lives were no exception. 

"What do we do?" Aeion whispered fearfully. 

"We wait till they're gone. We could go around but I see no other route on the map. Hence, we wait it out"

"Okay"

They waited the whole day, eating rations from the bag on their backs. They conserved their energies and waited till the sun went down before they moved.

Sneaking through the trees, they tried to bypass the camp. They almost got away before they heard a low hiss. In front of them was a huge serpent, baring it's fangs. They froze and stared into it's eyes.

"Don't move. That's the Jaded star serpent. It's immune to magix but it cannot see well. It uses echolocation to find it's prey" Myer says in a low voice.

"How do we escape getting eaten?"

"Well, we can't run because it's fast and we can't use magix. We'll have to find a way to kill it to stay alive"

"Are you out of your mind Myer? That thing is massive. There's no way we can kill it"

"We'll have to try. Aim for its eyes"

"Argh! Fine!" Aeion answered in frustration. 

He brings out a pair of enchanted daggers from his bag and drops it. Myer brings out twin swords from his own bag and hides both bags with a spell.

Myer charges the serpent head on while Aeion provided support. It was the largest thing they ever had to hunt. They were both scared and excited. They didn't know when an almost maniacal expression appeared on their faces.

The serpent hissed loudly and started spitting. They two jumped from tree to tree to avoid it. The places the spittle hit melted like it had been hit by acid. 

Something snapped in Aeion and he charged at the serpent with a war cry. Myer cursed and swooped his brother out of the way just in time to avoid him being eaten by the serpent.

Myer didn't have the time nor did he have the energy to scold his brother. He could only defend the attacks of the serpent while protect Aeion. Their situation was getting more hopeless as time went by.

Suddenly, they heard a loud tearing sound and a spear lodged itself in the serpent's side. The owner of the spear, a huge drakken came running out of the forest, shouting. He punched the serpent with his fists, causing a screech to erupt from the serpent. They had to cover their ears for it was too loud.

"You boys were brave enough to land good hits on the serpent. We'll take it from here" a drakken says from beside them. They are too dumbfounded to respond so they just watched as the two drakkens brought the serpent to its knees. 

More Drakkens came out from the trees and together, they disembered the serpent professionally. The two Drakkens that killed the serpent came to where the boys were with their bags.

"This belongs to you, I guess. We're not going to hurt you. We have to thank you actually. This serpent has been avoiding us for the past few days so it's a relief we found it before we left. I'm Uma" the drakken that spoke to them said. He stretched out his scaled hands and gave Myer their bags.

"You're not going to eat us?" Aeion asked from behind Myer's legs.

"No little one. We don't eat humans" Uma replied, crouching to Aeion's height. The Drakkens were naturally taller than humans. Uma's yellow slit eyes scared Aeion but it fascinated him.

"Where are you headed?" The other one asked. Uma punched his leg and whispered something about discretion. 

"Forgive Kil, he's too curious for his own good. You boys must be tired. You can follow us to our camp. We really won't hurt you" Uma offered. Myer didn't budge but Aeion was swaying.

"Let's go Myer. I'm starving and I'm tired" Aeion tugged at Myer's shirt. Myer gave him a glare and he stopped. 

"We swear on Basti we won't allow any harm come to you. Basti's the god of hunters and he's very revered here. If we go back on our oath, we'll die by lightning strike" Uma says.

"Besides, you're injured. There's someone who can treat you in camp. You must know that the jaded star serpent's venom can fell a man in minutes. I commend you for staying this long...." Kil says and Myer falls to the ground immediately after.

Kil hoists him on his shoulder and Uma offers Aeion his hands. The worried young boy accepts it and together, they head to the drakken camp.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The coldlands were exactly as they sounded. Excruciating winter all year round. How creatures managed to survive there baffled many but no one knew who lived in the coldlands. No one except for the monarchs of Quitri continent.

The Atol were creatures similar to Krolls and Elves. They had white fur, blue eyes and golden hair. They were beautiful creatures the world hadn't seen for a long time ever since the bloody campaign of Muni. They hid themselves so deep even they had forgotten how the outside world looked like.

The Monarch of the Atol, King of Biefa, Aairon, perused the letter that was delivered to him by his scout. When he was done, he looked at his scout with an unreadable expression.

"Where did you say you saw this letter?"

"At the border of the capital your majesty"

"This letter came from the outside world. How could they have reached the border of the capital?"

"I don't know your majesty. I just picked it up and came as fast as I could"

"Thank you for your service. The King would call you if he needs you" A feminine voice says from the door post. The scout gave a salute and left the throne room.

"Xetri, how many times have I told you not to interfere with these kinds of meeting?"

"Well, as commander, it is my duty to ensure you don't kill citizens unnecessarily, your majesty"

"I wasn't thinking of killing the scout, commander" the king gritted out. The Commander stauntered up the huge throne with a smirk.

"Your muscles are coiled up and your leg is apparently faster than your brain. Your claws and fangs are out.....oh, you're also a bad liar" she stated with a self appraised smirk. Aairon bared his teeth and deflated in his seat with a sigh.

"Tell me what's wrong. Let me help you"

"Here. Read the letter" he said glumly, passing her the letter. She raised an eyebrow as she collected it and read through it.

"A summons letter from the Queen of Ataliya. There's nothing wrong with this. Are you reluctant to go because she handed your ass to you?"

"Don't push it Xetri. Kohra's a dangerous woman"

"More reason why you should accept her sunmons. You know what she's capable of. There's an obvious threat in this letter"

"I can see that Xetri! I really want to do this but no Atol has left the coldlands in a millennia!" He snapped at her.

"Except you, Aairon. Look, whatever you saw out there is terrifying but Kohra isn't one to joke around like this. There's a threat looming in the horizon and it is obvious we're all involved with this. You need to go"

"Fine. I'll go"

"And I with you"

"No!" Aairon said, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to his chest. He hugged her and inhaled her scent. It relaxed him.

"This is a very compromising position your majesty......"

"Shhh, don't ruin it"

"Your wife is coming....." Xetri whispered in his ears and he let go immediately.

"I will go with you, that's final. I'm the best fighter in all of the Kingdom and I'm the best fit for protecting you"

"I object...."

"What's going on here?" A female Atol asks as she walks in.

"Your majesty...."

"Ira....." 

Xetri and Aairon say respectively.

Queen Ira walked up to their midst and planted a kiss on her husband's cheek.

"I think it's better if the king tells you" Xetri says, removing all the responsibility from herself. Aairon glares at her from the corner of his eyes, causing a tiny smile to blossom on her lips.

"I was summoned to a war council in Ataliya"

"They're restarting the war after over a million years? Are they forcing you to pick sides?"

"No Ira. Queen Kohra says it's a bigger threat. I have to leave. Commander Xetri offered to follow me"

"Hmm, is that so?" She says, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I refused her but she wouldn't take no for an answer" 

"Commander?" Ira asked with a pointed look.

"It is my duty to protect the king. Of course if you think there's someone more qualified, your majesty, I'll gladly step down" Xetri answered with discomfort.

"No no commander. There is no one more qualified than you in all the kingdom. Guard the king with your life. Remember, he's worth more"

"Yes, your majesty" Xetri gave a salute and left as quickly as she could.

Ira gave Aairon a smile that ran shivers down his spine. It was a warning. One that he knew he had to abide to, very much religiously.