"My dear, it is not your fault," the queen said.
Moyeed fell to her knees and cried. One of the Elves, a mage clad in green, sat on the floor with Moyeed and embraced her.
"Her soul was taken, which means she is still out there somewhere," Ganoless assumed. "If she is with your father then he will keep her safe and make sure that her heart continues to beat until her soul finds its way back to her body."
"You think so?" Eckxio responded, softly.
"I believe so," Ganoless said. "Her soul has not left this world and, as long as a soul lingers in Odealeous, it will seek its body, or something else to attach to. If her soul was taken, then perhaps Willow is trying to find a way back."
"Her soul was trapped in some kind of prison to awaken the Emerald Cosmo Jewel," he said hopelessly.
"If that is true then we need not worry too much," the queen replied with confidence. "Willow was blessed by the emerald jewel after birth. Her soul must be drifting in a safe realm of the earth dragon god. I want you to not worry about her so much and focus on these Specters."
"Are you sure?" Eckxio asked.
"Of course," the queen answered. "I am the one who took Willow to the Emerald Cosmo Jewel after she was born. It sounds to me like these Specters have made a huge mistake using Willow to awaken the cosmo jewel. They are watering the seeds of their own killer plant that will bring their doom and they are not aware of it."
A smile spread on Eckxio's face. He always trusted the word of the queen for her wisdom was of the heart and her intuition had been reliable many times. She had predicted the union of the Elves and the Greamos by foreseeing two creatures of different races bringing them together.
"Again I will ask my dear, what happened to your face?" Ganoless asked.
"Oh this." Eckxio touched his marred cheek and ear, red with cuts. "One of my most reliable weapons exploded on my arm when I fought the masked fiends. It scarred me and I lost my sword and shield."
"Sir Eckxio, come with us to our camp in the south and we will heal your scars," said a mage Elf.
"I don't have time for that," he stated. "My scars can wait. I must find a new weapon and return to my allies."
"Understood," the mage Elf responded.
"What are you four doing here by the way?" he asked.
"We were sent by Sherwood to help the Greamos," the mage Elf answered. "Since we already found a new home so quickly, we wanted to lend a hand to our new friends."
"We figured we did not have to wait for your wedding to truly be united," another Elf added.
"That is beautiful," Eckxio said. He turned to the queen and bowed to her. "My queen, I am sorry that I have to leave you so soon. I see that you are in good hands, therefore I must continue the battle with our enemy." He then looked at Moyeed. She gazed back at him with teary eyes. He wiped her tears and took her hand. "I will do everything in my power, and with the help of my friends, to bring her back. I promise you."
Moyeed gave a weak smile and said, "May all the roses in the forest bloom in your name. I will pray for you, my dear, husband of my daughter."
Eckxio kissed Moyeed's forehead. He bowed to the queen one last time and left the grand tree of Mouah Cross.
He ran back to the forest, back to the portal. As he sprinted over moss and between trees, he saw himself with Willow in his arms. He saw the end of the Specters. He saw them being destroyed by the very cosmo jewels that they had stolen. He saw a new village of the Elves covering many acres of land in the forest. He thought of the Angel Valiarmos and saw himself wielding a new magic sword so pale and holy, clad in white armor. Everything might be in shadows now but I will not rest until I see the sun rise. I haven't lost so much so that I can gain nothing.
When he reached the pentacle in the Ougrain forest, he teleported back to Akielas's sanctum.
When he teleported to the hideout he saw Akielas looking at his crystal ball, sitting in a lotus position.
"Let's go to Kazenolumos," he said. "The Angel Valiarmos will be mine."
Auron
The teleport crystal took him from Akielas's sanctum to Amaranth Island. His body appeared on a pentacle portal just above a hill before a field of red flowers. A smooth breeze soothed his skin and made his scarlet hair sway. He stretched and yawned after being in the sanctum for two days drinking tea with Akielas and eating steamed buttered bread. The sun blazed on his pale skin and irritated his hazel eyes. He gazed at the village beyond the field of flowers then went down the slope.
Last time he was here, he sought to know how to awaken the Crimson Cosmo Jewel. Ember had proven his theory correct when she used the Golden Sun to awaken the jewel's power. Now he wanted to use the Valiarmos himself. I believe my ancestors will know what to do, he thought. If it has a fire nature then they will be able to speak with the spirit of the Valiarmos.
After he jogged down the rocky slope he walked on a path through the field of red flowers. The aroma of the flowers was spicy and sweet. Smelling them always gave him a headache but the scent restored his maju gradually. When he reached the gate there were three Amaranth men with bows. The gate was forty feet high and lush with red Amaranth plants and other scarlet flowers.
"It is I, Auron Fox, Amaranth brothers!" he shouted.
The archers waved, saluting Auron. A thump echoed behind the wooden gate made of logs. It opened inwardly, revealing the village of the tribe.
Auron rushed in, running towards the orange meadows. Children danced on the dirt streets and summoned animals woven of flames. The tribesmen had dark red hair which they considered their greatest gift. Red was their color and it represented their nature. The elders had pink hair but they were still as lively as their youths. The men were topless, only wearing leather trousers and tattoos covering their torsos. The lived in tepees and wooden houses with thatched roofs. They built bridges from tree to tree where the children played and ran around with four-armed apes.
Auron ran through the village square where a statue of Pyramus, the dragon god of fire, towered over the village. Here the villagers strolled around with vermillion foxes, tamed animals that they kept as pets without leashes. Some foxes growled at Auron when he ran by but he gave them no mind. I will have time to sit and enjoy the village much later, he told himself.
After he passed the square he continued through another row of homes. He turned left when he came to a hill and ran past more houses and tepees until he saw the orange meadows. The sages were already there and he could see the statues aligned along the horizon.
When Auron arrived at the orange meadows he saw the sages gathering around the statue of an old king.
"What is so special about this one?" He asked as he approached the wise men.
They all wore red robes with headbands bedecked with rubies and other gems. They stared at the statue where he last stood before he left the island four days ago. The statue was of a king with dreadlocks, holding a spear vertically. On the forehead of the statue was a round metal piece, the same piece that all the statues had, except this one was...glowing.
"What is happening here?" Auron asked as he stared at the statue.
"One of our ancestors is trying to tell us something," a sage said.
"I was once told that the sages here can speak with the spirits inside the statues," Auron said. "Perhaps you should try talking to it."
"We need the crimson jewel to do so." A sweet voice came from behind Auron. He spun around and saw his mother, Blossom. "We have lost the ability to speak with our ancestors," she said. "It was only with the crimson jewel that the statues responded."
"Mother," Auron said, surprised. He went in for an embrace and lifted her. She was shorter than him with pink hair, hazel eyes and bronzed skin. She wore a one piece dress of autumn colors.
"Mother, my enemy has successfully taken my fragment of the jewel," Auron informed her with a frown.
She gasped, speechless. Auron could see her hopeless look so immediately he said, "But I believe that I can get it back, with t
his." He pulled out the Golden Sun from within his chest plate and showed it to her. It shimmered in the sunlight and caught the attention of the sages. The elders swarmed around him to get a good look at the Valiarmos medallion he held in his hand. "This here is the Golden Sun."
"Ah, the compressed sunlight forged by those three outsiders of legend," a sage commented.
"My grandfather once told me of the Golden Sun," another sage added, speaking with a shaky voice. "So it does exist. We had given up searching for it centuries ago. Where did you get it from?"
"A prince from the desert kingdom inherited it," Auron explained. "After his death the medallion was entrusted to me by his father, but I don't know how to use it."
"Such a marvelous item," one of the sages said. This one had a big red beard. "Is it true that it's magic cloaks its master in gold and flames?"
"Not sure about the flame part but it is a golden armor," Auron answered. "I was hoping you wise men would know how to awaken its power. It does not respond to me like it did with the prince of the desert."
"We could try a few things, but I am afraid of damaging it," the bearded sage replied.
"Auron, my dear, use the Golden Sun on the statue and see if it responds," Blossom suggested.
Auron nodded and turned to the statue. He stepped forward looking up at it. The sages whispered behind him, eager to see what would happen.
"I am sure our ancestor will know something about the Golden Sun," his mother said.
"If I can awaken the Golden Sun, then I will be able to retrieve the crimson jewel from those masked fiends," Auron responded, clutching the medallion.
Auron raised the Golden Sun, pointing it at the statue. The round metallic piece began to shine as well as the medallion. He felt a jolt run through his mind and suddenly everything around him turned to black. The orange meadows, the sky, his mother and the sages, the Amaranth village, vanished into a world pitch black, darker than night.
A flame kindled in front of Auron, hovering in blackness like the flames of a campfire, and the only light in the dark world he floated in. He felt as if he was dreaming, as if he had just fallen asleep and his mind sunk into an empty abyss.
"I have been expecting you." A voice echoed.
A cold chill ran up Auron's spine in surprise and gave him goosebumps.
"Who is there? Show yourself," Auron replied and his voice echoed as well.
"Fear not for I am here to guide you," the voice responded.
The image of a man appeared. Auron looked at him and knew that he was of the Amaranth tribe. Red dreadlocks, bronzed skin, wielding a spear and covered by a brown cloak of animal fur.
"You are the spirit of the statue?" Auron asked.
"My name is Eituzen," the man answered. "Although the Amaranth tribe no longer remembers my name, I linger in the hearts of their fathers and their father's father who descended from our early days on the island."
"I have so many questions," Auron did not know where to start. "Was it me you were calling when the sages saw the metal piece glowing on the statue?"
"Precisely," Eituzen answered. He sat in a lotus position with his spear resting on his lap. "I felt that you were in need. You are what the Amaranth tribe call the black blood."
"Please, don't remind me," Auron grumbled.
"I was also labeled the black blood in my days," Eituzen said.
"What? Really?" Auron asked in shock.
"Yes, and despite everyone's hatred towards me, in the end, they chose me as their chief," Eituzen answered. "Auron, I called you here today because I know that the Crimson Cosmo Jewel is missing and you are the only one who can return it to the tribe. I called you because, although you were an outcast of the village, they need you more than ever. You have been chosen as one of the few beings in Odealeous that will bring about the age of twilight during the tri-eclipse. After the transition has been made, when the double moons align with the sun, many changes will happen in the Amaranth tribe, and you will become their new leader."
Auron was speechless, yet not surprised. He had heard the same speech before from the Specter in the dwelling of Dwarves in Burnahdujf. He had trouble understanding what it really meant.
"The tri-eclipse," Auron repeated, "I heard about it from the Specters. I don't really care what it means. All I want to know is how to awaken the Golden Sun. I don't want to be lectured. Odealeous is about to experience great catastrophe and I need all the power I can get if you want me to find the Crimson Cosmo Jewel."
Eituzen laughed. Not a laugh of mockery, but one of grace and realization.
"Ah! Now I see why it chose you," Eituzen said and laughed some more. "We have more in common than I thought. I once wore the Golden Sun before Hettakus Kollos hid it in the eastern deserts."
"But how?" Auron questioned. "I thought it had been passed down in the dynasty of the eastern desert king."
"Let me take you back in time," Eituzen said. "I will help you awaken the Golden Sun, but you must let go and be willing to communicate with your inner eternity."
"Inner what?" Auron asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Your inner eternity meaning your soul, or spirit," Eituzen explained.
Suddenly Auron got a dull taste in his mouth. That word, "spirit," there was something about it that he didn't like. I was never a spiritual or religious man, he thought. I am a realist. I don't like to waste time on spiritual woo woo stuff. I hope he doesn't waste my time with silly lectures about the soul, tales of yore and monks. By the dragon gods, give me some real world Odealian ideas that I can work with.
"Fine then, I won't tell you but I will show you," Eituzen said.
Auron was flabbergasted. He felt naked before Eituzen. "Did you just read my mind?"
"You are in my realm, therefore no thoughts are hidden from me," the Amaranth said. "I was just like you in my days. Stubborn and reluctant. Selfish, only thinking about what's in it for me. The Golden Sun chose you, Auron, after your friend's death but, if you want its power, then you must melt your own ego."
Auron clenched his teeth behind his lips. He closed his eyes to hide his anger and frustration. He knew he was stubborn and, sure, he had been selfish before, in his mercenary days. He remembered when Akielas was raising him in Burnahdujf. Akielas taught him how to meditate and, even as a child, Auron resisted. He never liked the spiritual and religious things about life and always avoided them, but it always found a way back into his life. Auron was always grounded in reality. Akielas would tell him that he was too rough and sometimes lacked compassion. Akielas told him that one day he will have to let go of his ego if he is to become stronger and conquer his weakness, fire magic. It could not have been a coincidence that he was the only one in the Amaranth tribe unable to use pyromancy, and yet the Golden Sun chose him. Akielas, that day has come, he thought. Fine then. So be it. I will do whatever it takes to become stronger and rid the world of the Specters.
He opened his eyes and said, "I submit."
"Great choice, my good Amaranth." Eituzen congratulated. "Part of conquering the fire element is to be able to control your ego. Use your own fire to melt the ego within and you will open a gate to greater power."
"I understand," Auron said and nodded.
"Now let's begin," Eituzen said. He took his spear and waved the blade over the fire. He then spun it creating a wheel of flames, spreading fire that surrounded himself and Auron. The flames did not burn, instead it changed the darkness around them and they now floated over the shores of the Amaranth Island. Auron could feel the wind rush through his skin and the sun blazing above. Waves crashed on the shore and foamed on the sands. It felt so real he began to doubt that he was dreaming.
"We are still on the island?" Auron asked.
He looked down at the shore. There were three men in strange robes that seemed to be of western fashion. The three men talked with a large group of Amaranths.
"Those three men you see there are the pioneers of magic," Eituzen educated. "They were th
e first outsiders to ever set foot on Amaranth Island. The man in the middle is Prodigus Kollos, the one on the left is Hettakus Kollos, his brother, and on the right, the dark skinned fellow is Bracka Mahamuth. They came to our island from the country now called Alexandria. We welcomed them with open arms and then granted them the gift of fire. Perhaps it was a mistake to share our magic, our long kept secret from the world, but it was bound to happen eventually. The three outsiders took the gift of fire back to their land and shared it."
Eituzen spun his spear, once more creating a wheel of fire. The setting changed from the Amaranth shores to the early days of the village, before they had built the great statue of Pyramus. Auron saw a small army of men all with white hair, lush with beautifully forged jeweled armor. They wielded white steel much like Eckxio's Tharos sword.
"You see the ivory warriors attacking our village," Eituzen said and pointed downward at the battle below. "Those are the Alexanders. Many years after the three outsiders revealed our location, these pale humans from the north came to take the Crimson Cosmo Jewel. Fortunately Hettakus and Bracka were on our side. We were grateful for their help but we wondered where Prodigus was. Hettakus fought with a silver armor or...what is now called, the Silver Moon Valiarmos. During that time Hettakus had not used the Golden Sun yet and so he lent it to me. The Golden Sun responded to me and I wore its golden armor. While Hettakus's Silver Moon Valiarmos was of lunar maju, the Golden Sun was of solar maju. Together we defeated the Alexanders and the ivory army never returned. The Alexanders have great fear of the Amaranth tribe."
Auron could see the event happening below as Eituzen told the story. He saw how a small number of Alexandrian soldiers massacred so many Amaranths. He saw Hettakus Kollos clad in silver with a sword and shield. He saw young Eituzen of those days clad in golden armor with a spear and shield. He saw them fight and unleash solar and lunar beams that wiped out the ivory army of the north. Auron saw the past of the first men who pioneered the magic that was used today by mages all over the world.
Spirit of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 2) Page 13
