Journey Ch. 2 Pt. 1

Chapter 2

Part. 1

When she awoke that morning she couldn’t help but feel excited, after all she felt like she was in a dream. She giggled to herself as she turned towards the gleaming light coming from the stone window to her right. She excitedly sat up, her wispy golden hair wrapping around her face and stood up stretching her hands into the air. The weather was cool and perfect with a breeze blowing into the room. She walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room to look at herself. The person in the mirror was almost a stranger. She barely recognized herself, with her blonde hair, blue eyes and delicate features being very different from her image from her past life. This world had magic, magic that she had only heard in the stories of her home. She felt that no matter the time that passed she didn’t know if she would ever get used to this.

Her proficiency with the magic in this world was greater than that of their best casters. After only several months she was able to create illusions that made her have the features she only dreamt of. Glad to have a chance to change her appearance to that of a maiden every man would want to have, she dressed herself in the silk clothing the royal family presented her with. You see she stumbled into this world on accident. While traveling through the forest she found a stone archway and when she walked through it the forest changed. The soundless forest turned to one of chittering animals and singing birds, the air fresh and cool, as she made her way through the beautifully green and lush trees. Most of the trees seemed to be ancient as they were stories tall and thick enough to live in.

As she wandered through the forest she came to a clearing where the heavy patter of horse hooves filled the air. Startled, she stumbled back tripping over her feet as the group of horses approached. They were much larger than the horses that she’s seen before. Standing nearly six feet off the ground they dwarfed the people sitting atop their backs. She looked up at them puzzled as she sat there confused. The men atop the horses were clad in a form of metal and leather armor with an insignia she couldn’t quite make out. The man said something to her in a language she couldn’t understand. He repeated himself and she still couldn’t answer him. He muttered something under his breath and she suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion come over her. Her eyelids became strangely heavy and she blacked out before he could say another word.

When she woke up, she was chained in a dark, musty room and bars were between her and a man wearing a hooded cloak. She couldn’t make out his face but could hear him muttering something under his breath and suddenly her head was hit with immense force nearly throwing her onto the floor. She fell to her knees clutching her head, the pain like needles stimulating her cerebral cortex. After a few minutes of what felt like hours of strenuous torture the pain subsided. She looked up at the man, tears wet on her cheeks, and asked, “What the actual fuck did you just do to me?” Not expecting a reply.

He replied with a nod and walked out of sight. She heard shouting and the robed man was thrown onto the floor just outside her cage. Startled, she backed up against the wall. A man dressed in a similar outfit as the men on the horses stepped out from behind the wall shouting, “Do you even know who this is?”

The man in the robe was considerably smaller than this man. His amor gleamed in the candle light and she could make out the crest on this pauldron. It was a depiction of the initials of their first king Odigia Ven. It was an “O” with a “V” superimposed over it. She then realized that she knew that. “How could I possibly know that?” She thought to herself, while glancing over in shock as the hooded man was still cowering on the floor. The large man was still shouting at him but she couldn’t make out the words as she was still in awe that she could understand him. The armored man turned to her and got on one knee hand in a fist against his heart stating, “I apologize for your rough treatment. We’ve been waiting for your arrival m'lady!” He then proceeded to unlock the gate and motioned for her to exit. She did so.

“My name is Argus, I came as soon as I heard.” He stated to her with his head bowed in respect. She was taken aback by this show of respect. What had she done to deserve this she wondered.

She replied with, “Thank you, but where exactly am I?”

He explained that it would be told to her shortly but she needed to follow him.

She followed him down the hall where he had unlocked several doors barred, waving his hand occasionally before each door with a flourish of sorts. She thought this was odd, but asked nothing. The passage led to a stairway which they took up into the entryway of a beautiful castle. The floors were pearly white, with pillars wrapped in gold embroidery reaching from floor to the arched ceiling. Light flooded in through the stained glass windows giving the hall a beautiful glow to it. To her right she saw a magnificent grand staircase leading to a giant wooden door carved with the same symbol on the knights armor. He led her up the stairs to the doors. With a flick of his hand the doors magically opened unveiling a red carpet, gold embroidery training the edges. Running beside the carpet were more of the pillars embroidered with the same gold designs she saw below. At the end of the carpet there were steps that lead to three grand thrones. Sitting on the middle throne she saw a man. His head adorned with a crown made from a material that seemed to be a golden crystal, almost as if gold was mixed with diamond. They walked up before the king who stood from his throne and Argus took to his knee, so she did the same. The king asked for them to rise and walked down to them. He came uncomfortably close to her, grabbed her hand and smiled, her heart was pounding. She had never come so close to royalty. She knew that this was a great man. Her adjusted memories told her as much. His grip was strong and coarse as he held her hand.

The kind said, “Welcome, we have been waiting for you. What are you called?” His voice was almost angelic, deep but soft and kind.

She couldn’t help but answer him, “My name is Arelia,” bowing her head out of instinct.

He let go of her hand and she felt his large hands grip her shoulders. “Never bow your head to me, you’re too important,” he assured her.

“But you're a king, Your Highness. What do you mean that I’m too important?” She replied.

He let go and turned towards his throne taking only a few steps. With his back still turned he said, “My grandfather, King Odigia first of his name, foretold of a woman of brown hair and eyes that would come through the gateway from another world that would bring with her the knowledge of her home to help us in our time of need. These stories were passed down in my family for generations, which I thought were just tall tales. Yet here you are, exactly as the stories described.” As he finished his thought, he turned facing her with open arms. “You see, he had a unique, mystic ability to see the upcoming in his dreams. This led to the creation of a kingdom of which our country had never seen. Only a select few knew of this ability and using it they were able to save many lives and win the Great War between the Sidions and the Wandering People. When the war was over what was left of the Sidions fled past the mountains to the edge of the world. Thus, the creation of Vendon, our great kingdom.” He paused and Arelia stood in awe as memories not her own filled her mind, a knowledge that she should not have of the war.

“But the peace,” the king continued, “lasted for a time until creatures started appearing across our lands killing the farmers and citizens of our kingdom. The first king had foreseen that a woman of extraordinary power would come to put a stop to the creatures that threaten us and erected a stone archway imbued with the power of the mystic to help her come aid us when she arrived, and that woman is you.” He finished as he motioned to her.

She stood there astonished that he believed that she could be this person which he speaks of. “How do you know that I’m the person you speak of?” She asked.

“I know it’s you because of your hair, there has never been a woman born of brown hair. Let me prove it to you.” He walked over to her and grabbed her hands. “Close your eyes.” She did so. “Picture anything you wish before you, anything from your home.”

Skeptical, she thought of an apple. The picture, clearer than if it was actually there in front of her. Through the darkness of her closed eyes a slight glow appeared before her and she opened her eyes and sure enough an apple appeared in her hands. Shocked she retreated away and the apple fell for a second and disappeared into thin air. The king let out a loud bellow. He had a great smile on his face, while her face had confusion written all over it. “So your mystic is illusion, is it? That’s quite something.” The king said after he finished laughing.

“Argus, show Arelia to her room. She must be tired.” The king said as he turned around, heading back to his throne.

Argus stood up and showed her out. They walked out the grand doorway and headed left to a door that when opened showed a staircase going up higher into the castle. As they ascended the stairs she could see out the windows to a vast land of beauty. The trees lush and green, rivers winding around hills and mountains, towns spread throughout. Her only thought was how beautiful the kingdom was.

At the top of the stairs Argus opened yet another door to a great hallway that led them past a massive library in which contained the knowledge of the kingdom's past and its entire collection of the philosophy of mystic arts, at least that’s what he had explained to her. Shortly after that doorway, he stopped and opened the door. Inside was a beautiful room, there was an ornate table with a chair near the large window, a beautiful fireplace with a red rug as well as a lounge chair in front of it and a staircase that led up to a loft bedroom with a canopy bed, dresser and a small table with a mirror. It was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. The red mixed beautifully with the ornate white walls.

Argus explained that she would start her studies about the history of mystic and the kingdom in the morning and left the room with a bow. She walked over to the window and looked out to see the lushness of a world untouched by the technology of hers. Winding rivers and birds soaring. They must be atop a mountain because the view was expansive. She could see miles out towards a range of mountains that were topped with snow guarding the horizon. The small villages in the distance were the only thing breaking the forest, appearing like islands in a vast ocean of green. The sprawling rivers disappeared and reappeared around the trees and hills with intertwining roads paved in a grey stone. The view was breathtaking, she could stare for hours and find new things wherever she looked. She turned around to see the hooded man she met in the dungeon standing just by her door. Startled, she backed up to the window.