FULL NOVELXO Chapter 2 that was my head
Elden had remained quiet in his cell, disappointing Valeena. She had hoped he would become the beast and somehow escape. They were at ground level with the edge of the island, the ocean visible from the cell. He could easily have taken out the guard and fled up the stairs as he said.
The strong man from the night before returned, sneering at Valeena as he entered. He was not wearing a shirt this time, showing off his muscles. Several guards flanked his side, each one holding a sword a the ready. He grabbed the keys off the hook and approached Elden’s cell first, unlocking it.
One of the guards entered and grabbed his arms, tying them behind his back and shoving his roughly out of the cell. They did the same thing to Valeena, laughing as she glared at them.
She was forced to move forward as the handle of the sword was slammed into her back. Valeena followed behind Elden, keeping her eyes downcast. She knew that everyone in the castle would be watching, and she was not about to give them a show.
They were led to large the room that once contained the mighty airship Tiamat, and jerked roughly to go through a door directly to their left. The executioner barely fit in the narrow hall as he walked down the polished white floors. At the end of the hall, there was a second door that was being held open by a soldier who had an expression on his face that suggested he felt extremely important. He was standing far too tall, his neck looked tight, as though he were forcing it to seem longer.
Valeena cast her eyes aside as she passed him for fear she might laugh at how ridiculous he appeared. She glanced up as the floor transitioned to dirt, spying the stables in the distance. Valeena peered over her shoulder and found the balcony that belonged to her old room. The door was still wide open as they had never been shut from the last time she was there.
Valeena turned away, not wanting those memories to be her last as she saw a makeshift wall that had been constructed. Several soldiers armed with bows stood in a row in front of the wall. Each one was wearing a mask over their face so only their eyes were visible.
Valeena glanced at Akari wondering when her time leaf event was supposed to occur. But she was shaking, her eyes darting around as tears streamed down her cheeks. ‘Perhaps the fates had changed,’ Valeena thought as she was grabbed by the shoulders and spun around, her back inches from the wall.
Valeena peered upwards as hot tears brimmed her eyes, squinting as a dark figure appeared on the roof of the castle. They were too far away for Valeena to see them clearly and seemed to step back away from her view.
Valeena could see the damage from the battle two weeks ago, as several people attempted to repair the building. Debris littered the ground in random piles. Even the great wall had a huge hole in it, the ocean splashing in with each wave.
Valeena sighed. There was no one left to save her anymore. Her friends were being lined up one by one to her right as the archers were handed a single arrow for their bows. Valeena wished that King Caspian could help, even if he was hiding. But, then again, his aid had proven useless as he had done nothing to cease the war.
A thin, older man stepped forward and unrolled a scroll. “You have been found guilty of murdering the great Queen Maylee Star. You are also charged with destroying the once beautiful castle. On this day, Midas the eighth, you shall be executed for your crimes.”
The shirtless man stepped forward, his face firm and strong. He stood between them and the archers, a sour expression on his round face. He had a double ended ax, in case the archers failed.
Valeena felt a tingling sensation briefly brush itself against her arms. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as the feeling reached her soul. She caught a glimpse of a light rippling through the air, like lightning that had struck in an arc.
Small beads of rain began to cry out of the clouds above, pooling on the ground. The archers had ready their bows and held the string back, each one aiming for one of the heads of the team. Valeena closed her eyes as a wave of fear crashed upon her, she would not watch the arrow find its way to her.
“That was my head!” Nyles shouted, forcing Valeena’s blue eyes to jolt open. The executioner lay dead before them, five arrows stuck out of his back and head. Valeena glanced around bewilder, seeing Nyles removing the arrowhead from his stone forehead. The row of archers walked in a trance-like state to the hole in the wall, and straight into the waters.
A lovely lavender Pegasus streaked through the air, landing near the archers who were standing as still as stone. Princess Aurory dismounted off of the back of the beautiful creature, her face set in her usual sneer.The Princess seemed older to Valeena as she watched her remove a dagger from her cloak, the hood falling back as a gust of wind made its way through the castle grounds.
Even though the Princess was only eleven, she seemed far older somehow. Princess Aurory’s face had thinned out quite a bit giving her a more mature appearance and less of a child’s. Her hair was longer now, tied back in with a simple red ribbon. She had not grown much taller, but her body was thinner as well.
The Princess approached Valeena and roughly grabbed her arm, slicing through the restraints with the blade of the dagger. She stepped back as Valeena rubber her wrist from where the rope had cut into them.
“Thank you,” Valeena said, lowering her eyebrows as a look of annoyance flashed on Princess Aurory’s face. She heard the girl scoff before saying, “I did not do this for you!”
Rowan and Nyles had easily snapped through the rope using only their strength and were in the process of freeing Aira and Akari. They were doing their best to act as though they were not listening to Valeena’s conversation.
“I did this for me.” The Princess continued as she replaced her dagger in her belt and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked sideways at Valeena as the rain continued, the drops turning to mist.
“Thanos framed me for poisoning my mother. He said I was putting it in her tea.” Princess Aurory laughed and shook her head as she replaced the hood of her cloak. “I never once made my mother a cup of tea. I do not even know how.” Her voice cracked and her words came out in a soft wheeze. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears that stung her eyes.
“I fled the castle that day, hiding near Diamond Springs. I don’t even know if they buried her in the royal cemetery!” Princess Aurory sniffed hard, jerking her hand upwards to wipe the tears from her cheeks. She turned her head to the side, not wanting Valeena to see her sorrow.
“Thanos is not at the castle that much, as he seems to live elsewhere. He was using my mother. ” The Princess continued removing a leather bound book from the inner pocket of her cloak. The book had a golden dragon on the cover that seemed to shimmer in the light. Valeena watched as the child flipped it open, discovering it was a journal. She saw images of childish drawings beside sharp, angry writing.
The Princess licked her finger and flipped more pages, the writing becoming less barbaric and more refined. “Here it is,” She said, turning the book around so Valeena could get a proper view of the page.
The words were written in a neat, flowing script and sat beside two images. The first was of Evil Forest and the second was the Forbidden Lands.
“I have narrowed the location of the door to Nihonal to these two locations.” The Princess informed Valeena as the others peered over her shoulder to see the book as well. Even Aira did not try to hide the fact that she was curious as she craned her neck to see.
“The Evil Forest is a possible location as there is dark magic there, and it makes its presence known. I have not found any signs of the Night Demon and really feel its just a scare tactic to protect whatever is there.” She said, glancing in the direction of the trees as she spoke. Valeena was a bit taken back by how much thought the Princess had put into this. She had never known the girl to care about anything except food and making Valeena’s life Hell.
“And there is not much information available on the Forbidden Lands. I tried to fly there on Olympus, but she refuses to get close. Animals can sense danger far better than we can.” She peered at Elden as she said this, narrowing her eyes.
“Why are you helping me? Two weeks ago you hated me.” Valeena said, hoping to finally form some type of sisterly bond with the girl. But she laughed, throwing her head back dramatically.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am not doing this to help you. No, I learned something this past week and, well, I think it’ll be more fun for you to discover that secret out on your own. Now go, get your items and don’t ever set foot in the Star Kingdom again.” Princess Aurory said, her eyes scanning the sky as a loud roar echoed above. Valeena peered upwards and saw the faint, dark dragon flying through the clouds.
“Hurry, before Thanos finds out you are still alive!” Princess Aurory demanded as she mounted the back of Olympus and flew towards Evil Forest. Valeena could not help but feel like that she was watching her sister for the last time.