Chapter 2 of The Sword of a Goddess (1)

Chapter 2



The pain, unbearable, coursed throughout his entire body. Where once there were hands now there are paws. He couldn’t breathe. His sight was diminishing. He could see very little as thick hairs sprouted out of his skin, covering his whole body in black fur.

In the distance he could make out a red outline moving towards him. The pain masked how scared he was.

“King Elroy,” a woman’s voice sounded about the room, “You are now mine. If you leave, I will compel you to kill everyone in any village you hide in.”

His eyes, blood red, stared at the red outline. His vision adjusted and he could tell it was her – at least it looked like her. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a snarl. What did she do to me? He wondered.

“I have transformed you into a werewolf,” the woman stated, as if she had read his mind. “My name is Scarlet,” the woman added. She walked towards Elroy.

If her name is Scarlet, then why does she look exactly like Saphira, Elroy wondered.

Scarlet lightly touched the side of Elroy’s wolf face. She seemed to care about him, but Elroy knew she didn’t.

“Now, my pet, follow me.”

Scarlet turned on her heel and walked toward the door on the far side of the room. At the door, Scarlet turned to look at Elroy, who was still across the room. Elroy slowly got up on all fours and wobbled over to where Scarlet stood. Scarlet pointed her head towards the other room. Elroy, ashamed, walked through the doorway. Scarlet followed after him.

In this room there was a big round, wooden table with matching chairs all around it. The room smelt of melting wax from the hundreds of candles lit around the room. Scarlet walked over to the table and sat down on the only chair with a cushion. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the floor beside her chair. Elroy obeyed, his head lower than his shoulder blades.

A door opened on the other side of the room. In walked a tall, but slender man. The light from the candles glittered off of the strange man’s bright red hair. Shortly behind him was a really short man who waddled. His peaked nose pointed up like a selfish man.

Another door opened and more people entered. Everyone sat around the table talking to the people on either side of them. A map of the surrounding kingdoms appeared on the table.

Scarlet held up her hand and the group of advisors fell silent.

“The sword, Vaelia, was last seen here,” Scarlet said as she pointed to where Kohtalo once was. In the map, Kohtalo was only blackness. “We need to find where my sister is hiding and bring her here – alive!” Scarlet added.

“Where should we start looking?” the short man asked in a crackling voice.

“Well I would think she would head south to Maji,” Scarlet answered as she pointed to where Maji was on the map.

Elroy listened to Scarlet and her advisors as they plotted how they were going to capture Saphira and bring her and the sword back to Emalo, the forest of nightmares. Elroy didn’t know how, but he needed to try to warn Saphira.

* * *

Gwilym sat beside the fire and watched as Saphira slept. The light from the flames danced across her face mesmerizingly. Gwilym’s mind flashed back to when they found Kohtalo destroyed. He couldn’t stop thinking about all of the people pinned to the kingdom walls.

Gwilym was flooded with anger and sadness. The people he knew and grew up with were innocent. They didn’t deserve to die, he thought as tears slid down his cheeks.

Saphira stirred in her sleep, which brought Gwilym back to reality.

The horizon was brightening as the sun began to rise – a new day has begun. Gwilym tapped Saphira on the shoulder to wake her. A yawn escaped her mouth and her eyes opened. Saphira looked up at Gwilym, her body was sore from sleeping on the rocky ground. She got up and stretched her body.

“We better start riding. It is a long journey to Emalo,” Saphira stated as she walked over to her horse and got on it. “We will stop for food when we reach Shaylo, if all goes as planned,” Saphira added.

She waited for Gwilym to mount his horse and they started to ride west.

They travelled quickly across the grassy terrain. Cows in a nearby farm looked up for a second as Saphira and Gwilym rode by.

Dark clouds were starting to form above the entire land and the smell of rain was in the air. Saphira slowed her horse so Gwilym could catch up.

“What’s the matter?” Gwilym asked as he stopped his horse beside her.

“We need to reach the riverbank before the storm comes,” she replied.

Gwilym nodded and they both dug their heels into their horses’ ribs. The horses galloped as fast as they could across the deserted terrain.

The trees along the riverbank could be seen in the distance just as Saphira felt a raindrop on her nose.

“Faster!” Saphira yelled back at Gwilym.

Another drop of rain fell and landed on Gwilym’s forearm. It sent chills down his spine. He looked up and gasped. Most of the sky was now covered with pitch black clouds. The clouds were slowly moving toward the sun, which was high in the sky by now.

As they entered the shelter of the trees, a bolt of lightning flashed down where they once were. A grumble from within the clouds boomed all around. The thickness of the trees let little light in and shadows were casted everywhere.

Saphira got off of her horse and began to lead it through the forest. The rushing water from the river echoed throughout the trees.

Gwilym followed Saphira, but he kept his distance. He was not familiar with this area. He kept looking over his shoulder at any rustle of leaves or snap of a twig. He was certain that someone was following them.

Halfway through the forest Saphira turned right. They were now walking on a smooth path that followed alongside the river. Gwilym stood still for a moment listening to the storm above. The rain was pouring down and every once in a while the grumbling of thunder could be heard through the trees.

Leaves rustled loudly just off of the path and Gwilym quickly pulled his sword out. He slowly walked over to where he heard the rustling. Saphira looked back and noticed Gwilym had stopped walking. She watched as he moved quietly over to a bush. He readied his sword with one hand and with the other hand he reached into the bush. Gwilym quickly pulled his arm out of the bush and pointed his sword at the tiny man he grasped by the tunic.

“Let me down!” the tiny man yelled as he kicked and threw himself about.

Saphira walked over to Gwilym and gasped, “Lantis!”

The elf turned his head slightly and exclaimed, “Saphira, my darling!”

“You know him?” Gwilym asked Saphira, shockingly.

Saphira nodded. Gwilym put the tiny man down, gently.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Lantis.

“I could say the same to you,” Lantis said. He looked over at Gwilym questioningly.

“It’s my sister. She has gone too far this time,” Saphira explained.

Gwilym looked shocked. This was the first time he was told that Scarlet is Saphira’s sister.

“Now, why are you here?”

“I am on my way to Kohtalo. I have some information for you,” Lantis replied.

The only proof that the storm had subsided was the sunlight filtering through the trees. The air smelled like the wet flowers throughout the forest.

“We should continue walking to the crossing,” Gwilym stated.

Saphira let the horses go and they made their way through the forest, on foot.

The crossing was a big tree that someone had chopped down ages ago and carved to make a safe bridge. The tree looked worn down. Gwilym volunteered to go across first, just to make sure the tree was safe to cross.

He walked slowly across, testing the tree every time he was about to take a step. Once across, he waved Saphira and Lantis across. Saphira went next since they didn’t know if the tree could hold more than one person on it at the same time. She walked across the tree like she usually walks and soon she was across the river. Lantis stepped onto the tree and slowly inched his way across. He stopped in the middle and looked down. The raging white rapids swept down the river below. Lantis was terrified of water, as were all elves of his tribe. Sweat was trickling down the back of his neck. Saphira watched him as he just stood there.

“Lantis!” Saphira called out, trying to get her voice over the sound of the river. “Do not look down. Just keep walking towards me!”

Lantis didn’t seem to hear Saphira calling out to him. He continued to stand there looking down – frozen with fear. Saphira stepped out onto the tree, slowly. She took baby steps towards Lantis and the tree began to creak. Saphira kept moving toward Lantis.

Lantis finally looked up and just as he turned to move toward Saphira the tree began to break away.

“Run!” Gwilym screamed from the riverbank.

Saphira looked over at Gwilym and grabbed Lantis. She ran across the rest of the tree to the riverbank with Lantis in her arms. Just as Saphira’s foot stepped onto the rocky riverbank, the tree broke in half and fell into the raging river. Saphira placed Lantis on the ground and ran into Gwilym’s arms. Sweat trickling down her forehead as she placed her head on his chest. Lantis coughed loudly and Gwilym let her go.

“Shaylo is just inside that valley,” Saphira stated as she pointed to a space in between two mountains where the river disappeared. “We should start moving. It will take the rest of the daylight just to reach the valley,” she added.

They followed alongside the riverbank. Every few steps Lantis would slip on a wet rock. The journey on the rocky riverbank was difficult for him, but for Gwilym and Saphira the journey was easy. Lantis was covered in sweat by the time they reached the grassy meadow. His breathing was heavy; he was jogging just to keep up with Saphira and Gwilym.

* * *

Screeches and howls sounded throughout the forest of Emalo. Scarlet stood on the edge of a clearing. Gusts of wind flowed through the open area as a winged creature descended from the sky. The creature landed with wings wrapped around its body, tightly.

When the creature opened up its wings, Scarlet could see the head and body of a deathly beautiful woman. Scarlet walked towards the creature and looked at her. The beautiful creature’s talons glistened with blood.

Scarlet smiled and ordered in the harpy’s language, “Take some of your sisters and search for Saphira. Report back to me with her whereabouts.”

With that said the harpy let out an ear-piercing screech and extended her wings. She circled around the clearing, inching her way up to the sky. Scarlet looked up and she could make out the shapes of about a dozen harpies flying away.

* * *

Saphira, Gwilym and Lantis were sprinting across the grassy meadow. Moments ago, Lantis spotted dark, flying creatures heading their way. They needed to reach the safety of the only tree on the meadow. The great oak tree stood halfway between the travellers and the valley.

Lantis was struggling to breathe. His little elven legs could not keep up with Saphira and Gwilym. He had to stop and the dark outlines of the creatures were coming closer. Lantis was bent over in a coughing fit. His lungs were old and filled with dust from his books.

Gwilym looked behind and noticed that Lantis had stopped. He turned around and bolted for Lantis. He scooped Lantis up with one fluid motion and ran as fast as he could towards the tree.

Saphira was almost there, unaware of what Lantis and Gwilym were doing. She was focused on the protective branches of the giant oak tree – everything else was a blur.

Gwilym, carrying Lantis over his shoulders, caught up with Saphira just as she reached the tree. The branches were thick and close together which protected them from immediate sight when the creatures, which Lantis assumed were Scarlet’s spies, flew overhead. The group sat and waited. Lantis could just barely hear the spies’ wings flapping, but they all heard the deafening screech the creatures let out. The creatures had passed and were now little black specks in the horizon.

Gwilym asked, “What were those?”

“Harpies,” Lantis replied.

“They were once extremely gorgeous women who used men. One day they used the wrong man, who was the God of Darkness. He turned their perfectly soft hands into razor, sharp talons. The God of Darkness wanted to use them for his own gain, so he gave them black wings. The one thing he could not completely destroy was their beauty, so instead he gave the women poisonous lips and an allure that will attract any mortal,” Lantis explained.

Gwilym gulped with fear.

Saphira turned and smiled at him. “It’s okay. Scarlet probably sent them to find where I am.” Her comforting words didn’t seem to ease him.

“W-w-wait! If the King of…” Gwilym started.

“God,” Lantis corrected.

“Ok, the God of Darkness created those…Harpies, then how come your sister…I mean Scarlet, order them to find you?” Gwilym asked, looking into Saphira’s eyes.

“Well, Scarlet is kind of in a relationship with Anjeliko, the God of Darkness,” Saphira added.

Gwilym didn’t seem too thrilled by the sudden overflow of news. He placed his head in his hands and sighed softly.

The leaves of the great oak tree rustled loudly, breaking the dead silence.

“Do you think they will come back?” Gwilym asked, his voice muffled by his hands.

Saphira placed a hand on his shoulder and replied, “I don’t know. We should probably stay the night here, where it is safest.”

“We won’t be able to have a fire tonight, so we will have to find other means of keeping warm,” Lantis stated as he stood up.

He began looking around the tree, trying to find some fallen leaves or a piece of bark that was peeling off. All Lantis could find were three leaves, but that worked for him. He could enlarge the leaves with a simple spell.

Saphira and Gwilym sat and watched the old elf turn three small leaves into blanket-sized leaves. Gwilym’s abdomen began to make noises. Saphira looked over at Gwilym and remembered that they both haven’t eaten anything all day.

The sun had turned the sky pink as it slowly fell behind the horizon. Lantis had finally completed their covers for the night. He looked over at Saphira and Gwilym’s hunger-struck faces. “I have just what you need,” Lantis said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out three little seeds.

“We’re supposed to eat seeds?” Gwilym questioned with a small, pitiful laugh.

“Not just any seeds,” Lantis stated and he buried each seed in the ground.

He sat in front of the buried seeds and waved his hands over them while saying an incantation. Within minutes, out of the ground sprouted berry bushes that was full of delicious ripe berries.

“Eat,” Lantis ordered nicely.

Both Saphira and Gwilym stuffed their faces with the sweet berries.

Gwilym and Saphira ate every single berry on their bushes. Lantis was eating his berries slowly while he watched Gwilym closely. He worried about Gwilym because he doesn’t have any magical abilities.

In order to bring peace to the world, he is going to go through so much pain and Saphira will have to teach him how to use plants to make concoctions that will help them both, Lantis thought as the dark of night covered the land.

“Who will take first watch?” Lantis asked as a yawn overcame him.

“I will,” Saphira answered. She moved to the edge of their protective shelter and got comfortable.

Gwilym looked worried for a second then stated, “I will relieve you from your watch duty halfway through the night.”

Saphira nodded and turned her back to the men while they found comfort on the ground – their leaf blankets covering their bodies. Saphira sat on the warm ground and looked up at the stars. They gleamed high in the cloudless night sky.

Saphira’s eyes felt heavy with drowsiness. She let her eyes close for a second and then shook herself awake even though she was exhausted.

Saphira closed her sore eyes, again. Her mind wandered and her breathing became slow. Saphira was drifting into a blissful sleep when she woke up suddenly with a little cry of pain.

Something had poked her ankle. Saphira looked down to see what had poked her, but instead of a what, it was who. A small woman, the size of Saphira’s index finger, stood beside Saphira with a small knife-like object in her tiny hands.

“You fell asleep,” the tiny woman squeaked.

“Who are you?!” Saphira exclaimed.

The tiny woman pulled slightly at her dress, which was made out of flower petals. “My name is Chloe,” she answered with a curtsey. “And who are you?” Chloe asked.

“My name is Saphira,” she replied.

She extended her pinkie out so she could shake Chloe’s small hand.

Saphira looked over at her fellow travellers and added, “The tall muscular guy, over there, is Gwilym and the small elf is Lantis.”

Chloe smiled at Saphira’s sleeping friends. “They look so peaceful,” Chloe commented.

Saphira nodded with a smile. “Tell me about yourself, Chloe. It might help me stay awake.”

Chloe kicked some loose dirt nervously before beginning her story, “Well, I come from a lineage of wingless fairies. When I was brought to this realm there were hundreds of fairies just like me, but darkness covered our home. My guides, who you call parents, hid me in a flower. All I could hear were my people screaming in pain. Days went on and I was frozen with fear. I didn’t move a muscle until a ray of light found its way into my sanctuary. I haltingly climbed out of the flower and what I saw was a nightmare. Every single fairy was cut open and their insides pulled out.”

Saphira had tears flowing down her cheeks.

Chloe choked back her tears and continued, “Since then, I have been searching for the person who did that to my…family. I have also been hoping to find another survivor so that we may recreate our race, but so far I have found no one. Maybe destiny has brought us together so you can help me and I can help you.”

Gwilym yawned; he arose for his half of the night shift. “Who were you talking to?” he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

“This is Chloe,” Saphira introduced.

Chloe stepped into the moonlight so Gwilym could see her. Her skin looked so pale in the moonlight.

A little shocked, Gwilym said, “Nice to meet you, Chloe.” Gwilym pushed the leaf off of him, got on his knees and shook Chloe’s hand with his pinkie finger.

Chloe blushed like a child with a puppy crush and squeeked, “The pleasure is all mine, Gwilym.”

“Well now that you two are acquainted, I am going to get some rest before sunrise.”

“Goodnight,” Chloe and Gwilym said in unison

Saphira took comfort in a spot by the trunk of the tree, her leaf blanket pulled up to her chin.

Gwilym moved to sit where Saphira once sat, watching the night sky. “So, how did you come across us?” Gwilym asked, breaking the silence.

“Well, I have been living in this tree for a while. I keep trying to leave, but I always find myself staying and now I know why,” Chloe replied.

She waited for a bit then added, “I was meant to help you and your friends. Also, I hope you will help me.”

“Help you do what?”

Chloe went on to tell him what happened to her kindred and how she was searching for revenge. She left out the part about trying to find another fairy of her kind to help her recreate her near extinct race. They both talked on and on until the bright orange, from the sun, peaked over the horizon.

Lantis and Saphira stirred a little before sitting up and yawning their sleepiness away. The smell of early morning dew wafted through the leaves of the great tree.

“Good morning, you must be Lantis,” a small voice energetically said.

Lantis looked all over, wondering who said that. Lastly, Lantis looked down and there stood Chloe.

He gave a smile and said, “Tanpa Sayap, wingless fairy. It is my pleasure to meet you. What is your name, my dear?”

Chloe stood as tall as she could and answered, “I am Chloe, the last known survivor of the Tanpa Sayap tribe.”

Lantis gasped.

“I know you would like to know what happened, Lantis, but maybe tonight would be a better time. She has already told me and Gwilym what happened and I do not think it would be considerate if we ask her to tell it again. Besides, we need to start moving. I would like to be in Shaylo before mid-day,” Saphira explained.

Quietly, everyone made the ground look untouched and gathered what little belongings they had brought. Soon they will set out for a long walk to Shaylo.









(Continue to Part 2)

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