Part 2 - Back into The City of Northon
In the previous part: The King goes to the city to check on his people one night. He stumbles upon Ai who helps him, driving away some thugs. Ai shows her kind heart to The King and she is called into the castle the next morning where she fights Cuthbert - one of the greatest knights. She wins and joins the warfare meeting where she meets the prince - William. In the first battle, Ai takes control over the archers and wins it. The people celebrate their victory all night and the swordswoman and the prince become closer friends. The next morning, they get attacked by the enemy but Ai uses her magic sword to build a tree wall and saves the day. Astonished yet scared by Ai’s powers, the people in the city start to call her a ‘witch’. Finally, William sneaks into Ai's room to check out the magical sword and is caught off guard. Ai’s trust with the royals breaks and she leaves the castle for good.
At dawn, the streets were surprisingly silent and empty. Only the lights of the tavern in the Black Area were glowing yet there was no music, no laughing. It looked as if the city had become deserted in a matter of hours.
William was in Ai’s room, sitting in silence on the bed with his hands on this mouth. He looked concerned. Trying to anticipate what was going to happen next, his father rushed into the room.
“Have you seen Ai, son? We can’t find her anywhere and this is urgent.” The King said with a breathy voice.
“Oh father, I screwed up so bad.” The prince snapped into despair.
“What did you do this time? Did you say or do something wrong? Which one?” The King asked as he sat next to him.
“Both, and that’s even worse. I sneaked into her room to check out the sword,” William lamented.
“And she caught you off guard. Well, son. You made a mistake, but it’s not such a big deal. I’m sure she’ll forgive you.” The King said with great confidence as he stood up.
“No, father, Because of me, she, she left and I, I lost her.” As these words came out of William’s mouth, The King started to sit slowly back onto the bed with a blank expression.
“What do you mean ‘she left’?” The King asked with a concerned expression.
The prince covered his eyes in great shame and self-disappointment.
“She packed and left.” William replied with a sad tone.
The King took a deep breath in and patted him on the back.
“Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon and I will try to convince her, but first we need to go to see the consultants, it’s urgent!” The King stated and they both got up and left the room.
Back in the dining hall, all staff from the castle were mumbling between themselves. When The King and the Prince entered the hall, the room went silent. The two royals walked through the room to the middle of it. William’s expression didn’t change, he still felt pity for himself.
The King started giving a speech about how strong the city was and what was the current situation. After his speech, everyone clapped and bowed before them. Before they left, Sir Wiscard asked a rather interesting question.
“Your Highness, some witnesses say that the witch, Ai, ran out of the castle into the city. Is she betraying us?
“No sir, she was sent to look for something we need to win this war. She has no reason to run, I can assure you.” The King replied politely.
“I saw her! She had a sword tucked to her waist and the symbols on it were glowing! A woman in the crowd shouted.
The King turned his head to face William. William huffed a laugh as it was not possible to see the symbols glowing through a leather scabbard.
“That’s not possible because her sword was probably in its scabbard and,” William got quickly interjected by the people around.
“Are we in danger?” A man asked.
Quickly the rest of the crowd started asking questions and shouting around. The King quickly looked at the crowd and with his mighty voice he shouted,
“Silence!” In that instant, everyone in the room froze, and didn’t say a word.
The King cleared his throat and continued to speak.
“She is a danger to no one.” exclaimed The King.
Suddenly, Sir Wiscard spoke once more.
“I did see the sword and if I’m not wrong the symbols on it means Excalibur. I’m sure that Prince William can confirm that as he has some knowledge on the witch language.” William had a blank expression and soon he felt angry.
He clenched his fists in secret and looked Sir Wiscard directly in the eyes.
“It’s no witch language, it’s an ancient language that all our ancestors used to use on a daily basis.” He said with a loud and clear voice.
“I can’t lie about this; the sword is believed to be the legendary sword of The Kings.” He stated.
There was a moment of silence, when eventually a man asked,
“The sword is real!? But wasn’t it a legend?” At this point the room was filled with fear and concern. The King tried to calm the situation down.
“Like you heard the prince, we can’t conclude that it’s the forgotten sword. Now, please calm down and leave the room.” - The King said with a serious tone.
When everyone left, The King faced William.
“Tell me now, and tell me honestly, is it, the sword?” The King asked while putting his hands on his son’s shoulders.
“Yes, father.” The prince calmly replied.
“Did you ask her where she got it?” The King asked as his thoughts drifted off.
“Yes, but she never answered the question.” William replied, looking at his father with worry.
The King suddenly went pale and seemed to be lost in thought as if he had seen a ghost. Suddenly he snapped back to reality and looked at his son with great determination.
“Then we must run after her! We must know where that sword came from!” The King exclaimed.
“With all due respect, father, but I don’t think I understand what’s going on. First you tell me that she will come around, and now you wanna chase her just for a bloody sword?” William said, greatly confused by his father’s actions.
From his point of view, The King was going crazy. He has never acted like this before, he usually waited for the person who ran away from him to come back but this time, and this time it was different.
“William, this sword is our future, your future. With it you can conquer the whole world.” The King said with a greedy smile.
“I’m sure that the reason why Ai has the sword it’s because the blade chose Ai as worthy, not you nor me, father.” William replied in an understanding tone.
“You’re right son, I’ve always been so desperate to find that sword that when I finally found it, my greed got the best of me. I’m sorry for my behavior, son.” The King said, looking at the floor and slowly raising his eyes at William’s.
“We must convince her to come, without her we can’t win.” The King exclaimed.
“Yes, but this has nothing to do with the sword, is that clear?” William said with a straight face.
“Yes, that is clear indeed, my son.” He said with a proud face.
William smiled back at him, they took their jackets and left the castle.
After hours of searching, they gave up. Their feet were tired and they were thirsty. They were roaming in the Black Area at the time so they decided to take the risk and sit at the tavern where Ai worked to get to know her daily life a little. As they sat, they ordered two beers. Of course, Favian and Neale had to accost them at their sight.
“Well, I’m surprised that the Old Rat can come back. Never knew a rat could be so brave, not mentioning an old one.” Neale said as he sat down beside them.
“We are looking for Ai. Have you seen her?” William asked before taking a sip of his beer.
“Yeah, came in, left her stuff and left. She looked pretty angry,” Answered Neale with a fake smile. Favian then sat next to William with a smirked face.
“Do you know where she could have gone to?” Asked The King.
“Look, we’re not her babysitter but, she's probably in Eastwood. She always goes there when she feels overwhelmed or, hurt.” Favian replied in a deep, serious voice, suspecting William as the cause of her running away.
“Very well, then we must part our ways.” William said as he stood up. Suddenly Neale grabbed William from his shirt and leaned over.
“If you do anything to her, I will cut you open, do you understand?” Neale said in a scary tone. William didn’t fear him and just replied in a calm tone,“Absolutely.” Neale let go of him and walked away. Both royals started to walk towards Eastwood.
As the two royals walked out of the gates, they met a dog. The dog looked friendly and jumped onto The King with excitement. He started to lick his face and The King giggled. Quickly the dog took off towards Eastwood. It looked as if he was leading them inside, somewhere. William and The King gave each other a long look and decided to follow the stray dog.
In the forest the trees were green, flowers were blooming. Although it was not the first time they stepped foot in this forest, this time it seemed like it was an absolute paradise for their eyes. They both got so hypnotized by the beauty of nature that they lost track of the dog.
“Where is the dog, father?” William asked.
“I have no idea, son, but look at this glory. I’ve never seen such beauty before.” The King replied with a soft voice.
Suddenly they hear a bark from a distance.
“That must be the dog!” William exclaimed.
They quickly followed the sound of the bark. As they went deeper into the forest, it seemed as if the trees were getting more beautiful and brighter. The sun shone brighter than ever, yet it didn’t create much heat to their skin. Finally, they got to a pond and their jaws fell to the ground at the sight of the beauty of nature.
The pond was crystal clear; the voices of birds were a melody to their ears. The wind blew with a sweet scent that William inhaled. Around the pond were deer and other hoofed animals eating grass calmly. In front of the pond there was a vast willow tree and Ai sat by its trunk.
She was surrounded by little animals such as rabbits, birds and mostly rodents. She had this calm and pacific expression on her face as if nothing had happened. William noticed right away that she didn’t have her sword. She was doing something, it looked as if she was making a sort of little house out of hay and sticks. Suddenly a branch of the tree lowered, giving her a flexible stick.
“Thank you” Ai said as she grabbed the stick.
With that final piece she finished the structure she was doing and gave it to the branch. As soon as her hands were free, rabbits sat on her legs, she laughed and started petting them. The branch lifted it up and birds started to fight over the shelter.
“Now, no, we all know for whom that is, right?” She said with a soft and angelic voice.
Suddenly the birds flew back to Ai and a colorful bird entered the bird house. It seemed satisfied by Ai’s creation. It was a wonderful view until The King spoke.
“Wow.” He said.
At the sound of his voice and at the sight of William and The King, the birds quickly hid, the rabbits hopped back into their holes and the wind stopped blowing.
Ai looked at them with an annoyed look. The two men approached her calmly.
“What do you want?” She asked, annoyed.
No one responded to her question. The silence got her even more irritated.
“Oh, come on, you came here, disrupted my peace and quiet, AND chased off all the little creatures. So, answer to me, what do you want?” Ai said, peeved.
The two royals gave each other a long look, The King put his hand on his son’s shoulder and looked at Ai.
“I will let you talk.” The King said before making his way towards the pond.
William tried to make eye contact with Ai but she looked at the ground annoyed.
“I wanted to say sorry.” William fretted.
“Hmm” Ai muttered with an irritated tone but still looked down towards the green grass.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that.” Ai said with a calm voice making eye contact with William.
“Why is this so hard?” William whispered as he raised his head up to the sky. The whisper was loud enough for Ai to hear him. Upon hearing his word, a light smile appeared on her face for a slight moment. William slowly started to lower his head, to see Ai looking at him right through the eyes, she was trying to hide her smile.
“Okay. I am deeply sorry for looking through your personal stuff. I just saw the sword and, well, I got intrigued by it.” William said rapidly, slowing down by the end.
Ai raised her eyebrows in astonishment. At the moment she broke eye contact with the Prince, she smiled. Suddenly they heard a voice coming from the pond.
“Hey, I think I made a new friend.” The King grinned at both of them from afar.
Ai and William giggled and The King came to them.
As they all sat on the fresh grass underneath the old willow tree. The moment became serious all of the sudden. Ai looked away and some little creatures started to gather around them. When Ai saw them, she took a deep breath in. Her expression changed rapidly from a serious one to a warm and charming one.
“If you relax and not move around, they might even sit on you.” Ai said with an enchanting voice.
Suddenly a growl was heard. They all looked at each other as the creatures stopped in fear. Ai got surprised at first but soon she gave them a warm smile.
“Oh, I think someone is hungry.” As she said this, a bunch of bunnies came hopping with grapes hanging from their mouths.
Ai took a vine of grapes from one of the bunnies' mouths. William leaned back, trying to avoid the creatures in fear. The bunny in front of him stops and looks at him, inspecting the Prince with its rosy nose.
“C’mon, don’t be afraid, they won’t bite, they promise.” Ai said as she took one of the grapes into her mouth.
After a moment The King took a vine and started eating it. Shortly after that, William did the same, fighting her minimal fear. They all ate grapes for a while until they got up just to sit and rest by the willow's trunk.
“So where did you get the sword in the first place?” The King asked politely.
“Well, I remember I was 15. I was enjoying a warm day just like this one, in the pond near the camp.” Ai replied happily.
“As you can imagine, all the children were swimming and having fun in the water. I was never a water lover, so I didn’t swim that day. Instead, I looked at the beauty of nature surrounding me - the light shone down through the trees, the bees buzzing,”
“It was an extraordinarily good day to connect with nature and its elements. I remember I was on a tree, adoring my surroundings when suddenly something caught my eye. I looked down onto the border of the pond and saw something shiny. I came down from the tree and approached the reflective object. At first, I thought it was a coin or some sort of shiny material, but I was wrong.”
“As I dug it out of the soil, I began to notice that it wasn’t a coin, it was a sword. When I grabbed it and pulled it out of the water, the weapon symbols on it began to shine.”
“That’s when my magic first appeared. After that I couldn’t use another sword but Excalibur. It called to me whenever I tried to take another weapon for battle.” Ai said as a branch from the willow tree lowered, handing her the sword.
“What was that pond called?” Asked William with curiosity.
“Dozmary.” Replied Ai as she took the sword from the tree...
“So, the legends are true!” The King said with his mighty voice, but quickly lowered his voice not to scare the little creatures around.
“I don’t know if the legends are true, but the sword is definitely real as you can see.” Ai approved.
“How do you make it shine on command, though?” William implied.
“I don’t, unless I use my magic.”
“When it comes to spells, I try not to use it as much. The sword might be as harmful for the enemy as for the user.”
“It drains most of my magic. As well, the emotions I might be feeling can trigger the sword.” Ai explained as she took the sword out of its scabbard.
At the moment of touch of the blade with the sweet breeze, it started glowing. William looked at it with intrigue but The King looked at it with astonishment, dropping his jaw to the ground.
“People might think that it’s just a magical sword, but it’s more than that. Sometimes it feels like I’m talking to a person. As crazy as that sounds, it’s true.” Ai added before getting up onto her feet.
“The wall won’t last very long; you should go back and make a decision.” Her warm smile faded away as she took us back to reality.
I know that the 3rd person narrators aren’t supposed to give any personal opinion but, honestly, during the time we were talking by the pond, it felt like she was a completely different person. Free of all weight, peaceful, until the storm came back and brushed that warm-hearted girl away. That soft, happy, calm, free moment will never be forgotten by me nor them. Anyways, back to the story.
When she stood up and spoke, William and The King did the same rapidly.
“What? You’re not coming with us?” William asked sadly.
“I don’t belong in the war, William, I belong with nature, where there is peace and where everything is truthful.” Ai conferred.
“But,” She suddenly said.
The hope in William was lightened again all of the sudden.
“You will die if I don’t help and it would be a pity to lose The Tavern.” Ai stated with a smirk on her face.
She started to walk away from the pond, putting her sword in its scabbard as the two royals stood there surprised.
“Are you coming or not?” Ai asked as she left, tucking the scabbard to her belt.
The two royals brushed off the expression of their faces and followed Ai out of the forest.
Many people thought that the sword was a legend, but as you can see, it's clearly not. This means that everything we know about magic, mystic creatures and supernaturals may not just be stories we read to our children at night. These things might be real. We might be just small ants wandering around in a big garden. Full of mysterious creatures, that might be our allies as well as our enemies.
#
Walking back to the city, people around at the sight of “the witch” started whispering to each other. Of course, Ai made no eye contact nor got distracted in any way by the gossip around. She kept a serious face all the way until they got to the walls. She released a silent sigh but it was loud enough for William to hear. His eyes got instantly filled with pity and worry for Ai. As soon as they got on the city walls they looked into the distance with Cuthbert. After a few seconds, suddenly they saw a dark clouded storm heading their way.
“That doesn’t look good.” The King commented.
William looked at Ai waiting for a response, but she said nothing. Instead, she grasped her sword hanging on her waist and kept looking in front of her. It looked like the sword was talking to her or she was seeing something through it.
After a while she finally spoke.
“The sword senses dark energy coming from that storm.” Ai said as she turned to face the two royals.
They were confused at first as they didn’t understand the term ‘dark energy’.
“Dark, energy?” William said slowly, questioning.
“Black Magic in other words.” Ai responded with a cold tone.
Their eyes widened at the words ‘black magic’ and rapidly looked over the wall in fear.
“I need eyes everywhere! Keep your eyes open, this is magic what we are talking about! Some things may not be what they seem!” Ai yelled towards the surrounding guards and soldiers.
She started to inspect the parameter. It looked as if she was looking for something specifically, an assassin, maybe a soldier? She never said. After a moment of her inspection, she moved towards the castle. There, she went back to her room. The King and the Prince followed her inside but quickly went to the dining hall.
Some hours later, the castle was quiet. The royals were talking in the dining hall, Ai was still in her room, the maids were doing their jobs and the dogs were sleeping in the kitchen. Ai left her room and walked towards the huge doors of the castle where she met Favian, Neale and Gavin. They were arguing with the guard as the soldier wouldn’t let them in. As soon as they saw Ai, Favian stood up straight, Neale put his hands on his hips and Gavin crossed his hands and gave her a boiling face.
“What are you doing here?” Ai asked with an annoyed face as she crossed her arms.
“We are all here for different reasons.” Favian glowered.
“And for the same reasons.” Neale spoke as he crossed his arms, trying to copy the badass that Ai was.
Ai got a little confused yet intrigued by this rare situation.
“I’m going to say this briefly, we want the sword.” Gavin said firmly.
Neale and Favian nodded in agreement.
“I’m not going to give you my sword.” Ai runted.
“It’s not your sword, it belongs to The King, in this case, me!” Gavin raged as he pushed himself through Neale and Favian, leaning over Ai.
She didn’t even budge. She was clearly not afraid of any of them by the way she looked and acted around them.
“Hey, what do you mean by you are the King? I am King!” Favian shouted as he jumped onto Gavin, making them both fall onto the ground.
Later on, Neale tried to break up the fight but got caught up in it. They all started fighting hand to hand. The guards were about to react but Ai stopped them.
“If they pull out their weapons, stop them, if not, let them be.” Ai told the guards as she slipped away from the scene. “What losers.” She thought as she walked towards the square town.
As Ai walked back to the castle she stopped by the entrance to the city. She approached a stand where the shopkeeper sold dead animals, mostly rodents and chickens. He noticed Ai and nervously started talking to her.
“Ooo, hello there Ai. How, how can I help today?” The man said, rubbing both of his hands in excitement.
“Hi, I have a question. Do you hunt these?” Ai asked.
“Ah, yes, yes. Best hunter out there!” He exclaimed.
“And how many do you not sell by the end of the day? Fifteen out of twenty or so?” She asked sarcastically.
“Ai, Ai, Ai, Ai, you know me. I always sell everything I hunt.” The man responded nervously.
“Oh, you mean like last time when you sold only one third of what you hunted?” She asked with narrowed brows.
“Well, uh,” The man froze, unable to reply.
“Anyways, I’m sure you’re aware that other hunters might come after their prey, especially if it’s, already dead.” Ai said with a cold tone.
“Uh,” The man tried to make out some words but still couldn’t.
Suddenly Ai stretched out her left hand and out of completely nowhere an eagle came, landing on her arm and scaring the shopkeeper.
“Ahh!” He shouted in fear.
“So if I were you I would change the way you are selling these creatures or overall change the product you’re selling.” Ai gave him a cold smile.
Suddenly the eagle grasped a dead rat from the stand with its strong beak.
“Nature, am I right?” Ai smiled but suddenly she heard a scream coming from the outskirts of the city.
People were running into the city as a great roar was heard from afar. At the sound of the roar the eagle fled, people were running and screaming. It was a complete chaos. Panic took over the civilians. Suddenly Ai saw a large beast, looking like a wolf but three times bigger than a normal one. Ai took out her sword with one hand, ready to fight the creature. But as the beast got closer to the walls, more people panicked, crashing into others and breaking some stands. This caused someone to bump into Ai’s hand, dropping the sword on the ground.
This made Ai distracted which caused her to lose focus on the beast. As soon as she turned around to check on the beast, the creature jumped on her. Ai tried to push the wolf back but she wasn’t strong enough. In the corner of her eye she noticed her sword laying on the ground. She tried reaching it back but it was too far and she needed to use both of her hands to hold off the beast. Her trying to reach the sword made things worse, the beast started to act more aggressive and attacked with more strength. Ai didn’t give up, she tried to reach once more for the sword. Suddenly a man shouted,
“Someone, pass her the sword!” But he was muted by the screams of the people running around.
At this point it seemed it was a hand-to-hand battle with the beast for Ai. When she was about to get the sword, the wolf bit her forearm with his sharp teeth. At that moment she screamed in agony. There was blood all over the ground and on her clothes. When she thought that she was going to lose an arm for this beast, something saved her.
All of the sudden, out of nowhere a tall, strong deer crashed its horns into the wolf, freeing Ai. Ai crawled away from the fight between the creatures. She reached for her sword. At the touch of her hand with the weapon, the sword began to glow. It seemed to make the deer stronger which led to the deer killing the wolf with its horns. She held her bleeding arm in pain and as soon as the sword stopped glowing, Ai blacked out.
The deer ran off and disappeared between the trees protecting the city. After the beast was killed, it disappeared into thin air, making people gather around its death place. William worried about the gossip around about a beast attacking ‘the witch’ he went to the scene. As he was walking, he noticed Ai on the ground, holding her bloody arm. Suddenly his heart skipped a beat and he ran up to Ai with great worry. He immediately called for help from guards and she was taken immediately to the castle.
A few hours later Ai woke up on her bed with her right arm wrapped in bandages. The sky was still bright which meant that she didn’t rest for too long. It was around noon and everything seemed calm. Next to her, leaned on the wall, was her sword. She looked at it before looking at her arm. She sat up and then William came in.
“Oh, you’re awake.” He remarked with a glint of relief in his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” He asked as he sat down on the bed, facing Ai.
“Good, I guess.” She answered calmly.
She seemed a little confused and surprised. She looked so innocent after that incident, something that William has never seen in her before.
“You sure you’re okay ? You seem a little, shaken up.” William pointed out as he lowered his head a little.
“I’m fine, really.” She responded warmly.
A warm wave crushed against William’s heart, making him smile at her with a warm smile.
“Well, I will leave you to rest then.” He said as he stood up.
Suddenly a maid busted through the door.
“Your Majesty, Ai, you’re needed in the dining hall, immediately!” She yelled and closed the door.
William turned to Ai.
“Or maybe not.” William said jokingly.
He suddenly reached his hand towards Ai to help her up. She looked at it unsurely for a brief moment. Finally, she took his hand and they silently went to the dining hall.
When they entered the room, it was chaotic. The council was screaming at each other, The King was trying to silence them down and the dogs were fighting over a piece of meat they had just found.
“What is going on?” William loudly asked.
At once everyone silenced. Before they could answer, Ai put on a serious face and let go of William’s hand.
“Well, your Highness, that beast is what’s going on!” Sir Wiscard loudly argued.
“Yes, sir, they have burned our crops and slaughtered our animals outside the city’s wall.” Another council wailed.
“It’s a disaster!” Another one commented.
“Indeed, it is, and very clever in fact.” Ai said, holding her chin.
“Very clever?! Woman, do you know that we humans need to eat? Without food we’re nothing, dead, asleep forever!” Sir Wiscard dramatically said.
Ai, completely ignoring what he had just said, continued her thought.
“He did it while I was unconscious, which means that he fears me at some point or something in particular.” Ai finished her thought as she walked towards a window.
She turned to everyone and they were confused.
“You know who our enemy is exactly, don’t you?” The King said.
“Yes, after I saw that beast there is doubt that we are dealing with a magician.” Ai said with a neutral expression.
“How can a beast tell you that we are dealing with a wizard?” Sir Wiscard said rudely.
Ai sighed and sat down on a chair.
“Every magician has an animal spirit. We can say that they are our guardian angels and guides in our journey.” Ai said naturally.
“They’re there when we need them and there when we ask them to be. They define the personality of the magician.” Ai said very calmly.
“The magician we are dealing with is Sir Briceus. He controls Black Magic which in most cases it’s impossible to exceed with other sorts of magic.” She announced.
“All evil wizards have that magic.” Sir Wiscard once more interrupted but this time more calmly.
“Black Magic is normal magic but at an extreme level, usually you are able to use that sort of magic when you learn it or when it’s transferred to you.” Ai remarked.
“His wolf represents cruelty, cunning and his greed. These spirits show themselves when the magicians cast their own spell. Based on the spell and the mind set at the time, a spirit is transformed into a physical being. I have a deer which represents,” Before she could finish the sentence, William bumped into it.
“Mindfulness, innocence, kindness and regeneration.” William said, looking at Ai, beginning to understand her personality a little deeper.
Ai looked at him with confusion. “How did he know that?” She thought. “He’s not a magician, is he?”
“It also represents good luck, for what I know.” One of the counselors said.
Ai came back to her senses quickly.
“I must say, a perfect match for you dear.” The King said.
“Get it?” The King asked, trying to make everyone understand his pun.
Ai smiled at the ground trying to hide it.
“Nice chit-chat about magic, Ai, but we have a city to protect. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how you’re going to help after all, your right hand is injured.” Sir Wiscard bleated.
“Oh that’s no problem, I’m left-handed anyways.” Ai beamed.
Everyone was taken aback and William smiled at her as if he already knew.
“Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go heal my pity arm, you know where to find me. Oh, and keep me informed.” Ai said as she exited the room.
When she left, Sir Wiscard’s expression went from an angry and annoyed one to an evil smirk. He quickly excused himself and left.
Moving fast between the halls through the castle, Sir Wiscard whispered something to himself and laughed mischievously as he moved towards Ai’s room.
Expecting her to be there he knocked but no one answered. He swiftly entered, he closed the door quietly and started scanning the room for the sword. There it was, leaning on the wall next to the bed. He approached the sword and reached his hand down to take it. When he touched the weapon, everything turned black.
His sight was blurred for a mere second but as soon as his vision adjusted, he saw a dead battlefield full of bodies, mostly soldiers but also citizens from the city. The sky was dark and there was thunder but everything was dry. No rain, no wind, only the smell of burned grass and dead corpses were around. Westwood was burning. After looking around he finally saw it, the sword. The weapon was glowing and it was nailed into the ground through The King’s crown. As Sir Wiscard looked at it more and more, he could hear screams coming from it. Suddenly he snapped back to reality.
He was shaking at first and trying to process his vision. Quickly he left and ran as fast as he could to the dining hall. When he got to the dining hall, he started to babble to everyone about the vision that he saw or at least what he wanted to see. The King didn’t believe him and left the room to have some rest. William followed his father’s choice and went to rest himself. The council stayed in the dining hall and started whispering to each other.
Ai was in the garden, meditating, connecting with nature. Not knowing her very well, many people believed she was an associate to the enemy as she had magic. Instead, she was the only piece of hope left in this city, and no one could risk losing her nor the nature surrounding her.
#
As Ai meditated, she started to feel a rather similar feeling. A feeling of determination but within it, hatred and negative emotions. She could relate to this easily as she lived in the shadows most of her life. She decided to follow the feeling. In her mind she was in Eastwood but everything was dark and gloomy. Then suddenly she met Sir Briceus, he had a dark fur cape and long dark hair. He looked like an angry Viking.
“Hello, Ai.” He slowly said.
Ai didn’t respond, she stayed silent.
“Not even a ‘hello’ to your enemy, guess you never changed.” Sir Briceus continued as Ai said still nothing.
“Why am I here?” Ai seriously questioned.
“Just wanted to wish you good luck.” He said calmly yet with a dark tone.
“I don’t need luck.”
“Oh, right you have the sword, something that belongs to me.” He mumbled.
“And I'm going to get my hands on it.” He stated as his expression changed creepily dark.
“I’m going to win, no matter what.” She said with determination and Briceus’s smile dropped back to his serious face.
“Oh please, why do you wanna help them so badly?”
Ai looked at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with him.
“Oh, do I see feelings? Haha, I can’t believe you actually think of them as your friends!” He mocked.
“Especially the Prince. Are you expecting him to be your knight in shining armor?” Sir Briceus yelled with even more mockery in his dark eyes.
Ai’s seriousness dropped at the sound of his mockery. So suddenly she was hit with a wave of sadness but it was quickly brushed off. Her face soon got bitter with anger.
“You know nothing, Briceus!” She yelled in frustration.
“Sooner or later, they will break you and put all the weight of the world on your shoulders. What will you do then? Run away?” He said as he circled around her.
She was looking at the ground but the straight face turned once more long.
“Pathetic.” Sir Briceus commented.
“If you don’t run now, by the time you change your mind, it will be too late.” He whispered into her ear.
Ai held her breath as she could feel the warm breath of Sir Briceus. Ai quickly turned around to face him but he vanished into the forest. Ai tried to locate him, but it was no use, he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly a feeling of revenge flowed within her veins.
“It doesn’t matter! I will make you pay for what you did to my village and then,” Ai yelled but was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Briceus.
“You will run away, like you always do.” He said calmly. This made Ai speechless. She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly her eyes opened. She found herself once more in the castle’s garden.
William approached her and sat next to her casually with a book and a pen in his hands. He was so concentrated in the book; he didn’t even notice Ai was looking at him. Ai leaned into the book.
“What are you writing?” Ai asked.
William jumped up a little in fear. He looked at Ai and realised that she was sitting next to him. He came back to his senses and answered the question.
“Well, a book.”
“I can see that, but what exactly?” She asks again.
William huffs a laugh at her being straightforward.
“It’s a surprise but it’s taking me forever, though.”
“Well, you know there are spells that can make your writing easier.” Ai said, taking William aback.
She reached her hand towards the book.
“May I?” William nodded, curious by what she was going to do.
She touched his forehead and later the page of the book. His heart skipped a beat all of the sudden and looked at Ai with wide eyes.
“Was that supposed to do something?” William asked after not feeling any change, still holding his wide eyes.
Ai lightly giggled at his expression and pointed at the blank page which she opened.
“Well, now you can write your book with your mind. Try to think of a sentence or word you want to put in your mysterious book.” Ai said underlining the word ‘mysterious.
William’s thoughts begin to go crazy, not about the spell but about Ai. Suddenly the words “She’s beautiful” appeared on the blank page. At the sight of those words, Ai parted her lips in surprise and William widened his eyes in fear.
He quickly closed the book and tried to make no eye contact with the warrior next to him. Ai’s expression settled and changed the topic swiftly.
“If you thought that magic had some kind of glow and shine then you were wrong. But don’t worry everybody gets it wrong.” Ai said, trying to comfort him somehow.
Although William didn’t even think of that, he found that fact quite interesting.
“Thank you, I’m sure this is going to make this easier.” He said looking at her with a fake smile, trying to cover his embarrassment.
Ai only smiled at him and said nothing.
Still feeling weird he decided to change the topic completely.
“How’s your healing going, by the way? Has your arm already healed?” He asked with worry in his face.
“I still need some time but I’m getting there. Slowly but yeah.” Ai responded as the long face came back again.
“Hey, you’re gonna be alright.” William assured Ai.
Suddenly that made an idea pop up in her mind. Her eyes widened with a glint of light in them. He could see that she was coming up with something.
“I know that face, you got an idea?” He smiled at Ai.
Suddenly a smirk appears on her face.
“You know me so well, don’t you?” She said, holding the smirk.
The Prince froze in the moment but as Ai quickly stood up, she took William's hand.
“Come on, no time to waste!” She said as she pulled William from the ground.
Although William was confused by her actions, he completely trusted her. They ran fast to the dining hall.
They both busted into the hall to find only The King there. They stopped to catch their breath and soon after Ai started to tell them her plan to defeat the enemy she had just come up with. It was fairly simple, keep the city quiet just to lure them in and ambush the enemy from inside by the command of William. Later Cuthbert and his son were going to attack from the forests surrounding the enemy. Meanwhile Ai will exit the Eastern tower to get to the foreground. And by the end Ai was going to use the sword to catch Sir Briceus and block his magic from flowing. After she finished, she went up to the window and whistled. Out of nowhere an eagle, perhaps the one from earlier, came and sat on Ai's left arm.
“Tell them to hide and not come out until it’s safe, okay? Can you do that for me?” Ai said to the eagle gently.
Everyone was surprised as they’ve never seen anyone talk to an animal let alone an eagle! The eagle opened his wings and flapped them to show his understanding. Ai lowered her arm and made a gentle movement upwards, releasing the eagle outside again. The King made a quick movement with his arm to rush everyone out of the hall. She turned to the two impressed royals.
“I know that your ‘profession’ of magic is nature, but it gets me every time.” The King said with a warm smile.
She smiled back and approached them.
“My ‘profession’ is called being a Natural. Naturals are magicians like me who have a special connection to nature itself.” Ai explained.
“Anyways, we should get ready.” She quickly changed the topic calmly.
The King turned to a nearby maid.
“Yes, maid, please.” The King said, waving his hand towards the maid passing by. She approached him and bowed his head before him.
“Please bring the outfits for my son and the warrior.” The King said politely and the maid rushed out of the room. She quickly came back with two sets of different outfits for the Prince and Ai.
“Before you go,” The King said while reaching for the outfits.
“I got you some outfits.” The King denoted.
He handed the outfits to the two young people with a grand smile.
“Thank you, old man.” Ai said, looking at the outfit with a smile.
“They’re made of the best materials!” The King exclaimed.
“Now go get dressed, there’s no time to waste!” The King said with a mighty voice. William and Ai looked at each other and ran off to their rooms to get ready.
A while later they both exited their rooms and went back to the dining hall.
When they entered, everyone was waiting there for them. Everyone raised their eyebrows in shock at their sight. Their outfits were pretty modern for those times. William was wearing a brown leather jerkin with a black shirt underneath. On top of that he had a dark brown belt around his waist. He wore brown high boots. With black breeches the outfit was complete and honestly, he looked very handsome.
Although Ai is a woman, she had pretty much the same outfit. She had a dark green long-sleeved shirt underneath a black tight, leather jerkin. Just like the Prince, she had a belt holding everything together. On the belt she had tucked in her sword - Excalibur. On her forearms she had bracers. On her legs she had black, tight breeches too. Her hair was tied up in a braid, after all she does have beautiful long brown hair. They both looked outstanding but Ai looked magnificent.
Everyone had a positive mindset. Everyone was sure the plan was going to work. The two royals, Ai, Cuthbert and his son, and the consultants, all gathered by the table to revise the plan one final time. Everyone was all ears as Ai explained everything slowly and precisely once more. After the quick meeting Ai realized that Sir Wiscard was nowhere to be found in the room. She started to suspect something but didn’t think much about it at the moment. Soon after, the preparations finally began.
In the Sun’s golden hour, everyone hid in an underground bunker while The King and his army prepared for battle. The Archers hid between the roofs and high points of the city, soldiers in houses and the rest were simply out of sight. As everyone was moving to their position, the tension rose. At last, Ai hid in a pile of hay by the wall, William hid in a wooden barrel next to the black smith and The King went to the bunker as he was too old to fight. When the shadow army approached, they raised the gate and let them pass through.
To be continued,
Leire Orella