King of Wands

The Fool's Journey: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

"Save him! Save him please!"

A pregnant woman begs as she is giving birth. She is holding a knife in her hands laying on the sand of the steaming hot desert that she found herself in. Her name is Aries, a goddess from the fire element. She fell in love with Neuse who is half human and half beast; a Prince of the Sagittarius nation. He is now being punished and killed by his own people for betraying their nation with a God. You see? The Sagittarians are Centaurs who have inhabited this island for a long time now. They have managed to became a nation without the gods as their masters' and thus made it a law to never deal with gods from then on.

Now, Neuse sent Hamre his oldest son with goddess Aries to flee to the human world to find refuge, because Aries is now pregnant and being hunted by the centaurs. Her water broke on the way and they had to prepare to give birth. Hamre, a 12 year old boy who is also half horse and half human kneels crying on the sand refusing to help with the birth . "Save him please…" Aries cries. She lays on the golden sand of the desert near the village that they are fleeing from. It's beaming hot outside, the sun was big and bright in the horizon. Aries demanded to be cut open to save her child but Hamre continued to refuse, crying, and covered with her blood. She then suddenly takes it upon herself and cuts herself open without hesitation! The howl of a wolf is heard and the wind becomes stronger over the bonfire. The baby cries the minute he was taken out by the young boy, whose face was full of dirt that had gotten wet by his tears. Aries asks for her baby boy and smiles as she looks into his eyes.

"Look! Hamre your next king has been born…." She kisses the baby's forehead and continue to say, "…You must promise me you will protect him!" She kisses Hamre's forehead emotionally, as she also loved the boy as her own.

"But how?" he asks. His face looks troubled as he tries to sound brave.

"Take him to the red sea up into the volcano as we planned."

"Yes, except that we were not supposed to be hunted by our own people!" Hamre blurted out. Aries coughs blood.

"Look…" she says , to Hamre "…this body isn't going to hold me much longer, I need you to keep him safe and when you leave, leave him with this…" She passes him a wand and a crown . It is my father's, he wanted him to have it." She kisses the baby one more time passing him to Hamre to hold, and just as the wind blows out the fire, at the same moment, the women's soul becomes a flame.

Hamre grabs the baby boy and the crown along with the wand and flees into the village. He can now hear the loud screams of the village wishing death upon Neuse. Hamre runs, but from afar he can see Neuse, his father, hanging on a cross made of wood. His body is full of blood and whip marks . Neuse's eyes grow wider when he notices Hamre holding a baby. He immediately screams so loud that the earth cracks open . Nothing hurts more than losing the love of his life. He becomes in rage and rips his arm from one end of the cross and buries his claws in his chest as he yells…

"HAMRE, RUN NOW!"

Hamre runs and runs day and night without stopping. He reaches to the top of the mountain until he can see the smoke of the fire burning his fathers body. He continues to climb to the top of the volcano and notices how the moonlight shines with the water just as his father and Aries had told him. "The red sea..." he says. Suddenly, it begins to rain with thunderstorms and lightings. He smiles at the lightings because he knew it was his father watching him from above. He jumps into the volcano holding the baby tightly in his arms, falling into the ocean's abyss . He emerges out of the water with the baby boy in his arms. He struggles to come out the water as his half horse.

His body feels heavy over the sand . The baby begins to cry. A group of boys smoking under a bridge near by hears the baby crying and immediately runs towards the sound. To their surprise they see the baby wrapped in leaves with a crown over his small body and hove-prints printed on the sand.

The Lost Prince

"He must be from a far away kingdom." one of them said. In no time the baby's face was all over the land as "the lost prince" but no one ever claimed him. He grew up at an orphanage with other orphans. He was named "King", short for his story.

He knows that he is different. His ability to read what others are thinking is a no brainer. He can understand any animal and they are loyal to him. He would get in trouble quite often for his behavior and his way of communication, but nothing bothered him as he was full of charisma and sarcasm. People loved him, although some couldn't stand him. Nothing is more precious than his crown though, and he guards it like his most precious prize. The first time someone intended to take his crown he broke his finger in seconds.

One morning he wakes up by the alarm and sighs at the thought that the nuns will have him throwing out the trash every morning this week. He looks to his right and there sits his crown untouched. He grabs it and walks to the mirror with pride and ego to see his reflection as he puts on the crown over his head. He looks out his window looking at the girl next door who smiles at him as she opens her bedroom window .

"Good morning King, trash duty again?" she says sarcastically.

"Ha! So funny Luna." He walks back to the mirror looking masculine and strong. His only thirteen years old, but his body is built like a strong young adult. Suddenly, he notices a shadow through the walls and at once his instincts kick in and he follows it bare footed , without a shirt, and with his crown still over his head. He notices a lion's shadow in the sunrise.

"Come my boy." the lion said. His voice sounding strong and firm in the horizon. King fearlessly and slowly creeps his way towards the lion.

"Are you talking to me?" King says looking through the tall grass around him. He steps on a branch making a sound. The lion turns towards the sound looking for him. The sunlight is bright and the morning looks beautiful. King creeps his way closer and closer as he continues to listen to the lion speak to him.

"They say I'm a lost prince is that true? King says with his long honey brown hair blowing and dancing with the tall grass around him. He walks until he's face to face with the lion and gently touches his fur.

"You are a King indeed." The lion says with so much compassion towards King. "I must take you to where you belong my son. The 3 rings have fallen and destiny calls upon you." The lion adjusts king's crown. King gently grabs onto the lion's fur and they both ride away into the sunset.

Later that night, King, feeling amazing and full of wonder that he couldn't wait to tell his best friend Luna about the dream he had. King walks up to his window and begins to throw rocks at her balcony window like he did every evening after eight.

Be careful king," Luna whispers, her brown eyes sparkled at the glance of the light that comes from the moon. She smiles as King climbs the tree that lead to her balcony.

"I made it, but your dog almost saw me." he chuckled as Luna moves his hair gently off his face. "I spoke with a lion today." he bursts out feeling a sense of relief telling Luna these things because she always seemed to listen .

"You did?" Luna can't believe what she hears as king continues to tell her everything. She listens to his story fascinated, it's hard to tell who was more exited from these two.

"I want to go Luna," he says. His eyes becoming bigger and full of dreams. "I want to meet my actual people. I want to experience more..." he grabs hold of her hands and says, "...come with me Luna."

"No, don't leave." Luna says concerned.

"C'mon Luna you know you're special too." King continues to convince her to go with him into this unknown world. "You're special too, don't hide it from me. I've seen you. We can finally find out who we are and where we come from together. We'll get to use our abilities without hiding. We'll be together forever and I'll protect you with my strength."

"What are you talking about?" Luna questions.

"That day at school, it was you who caused the blackout when your adopted mother died. Or that time when you were eight and we went hunting behind the nun's back, remember?

"Yeah, you're right..i do remember that, it was dead and when i touched the eagle.."

"You brang it back to life Luna."

They look at each other's eyes. Luna takes a deep breath and sighs. "I'll go with you King...I just have a bad feeling about this."

King brushes off the concern that Luna had, thanking her and throwing himself with excitement assuring her that he owes her one.

The Devil's Pact

They planned to leave in three days which felt like years to King who couldn't sleep of excitement. While Luna goes to bed that night imagining how life would be like to live with King for the rest of her life, she smiles and drifts off to sleep.

Finally, the day has come. King and Luna are sneaking past the gate of the orphanage that held so many memories that once was. And as they continued to run through the grass, Luna stops and looks up. She visualizes a strange face which appeared to be warning her,

"Luna.. Luna, go back. Go back."

"Are you sure about this? she yells out to King who is holding her by the hand running like a happy fool. They soon arrive at a small cottage under a big oak tree. Kings dries the sweat off his forehead. It is sunrise now.

"This is it. I can feel it." he says letting go of Luna's hands.

She walks towards the swing hanging on the tree and swings gently as she listens to king sing.

Meanwhile, Luna begins to shiver as she feels the presence of something approaching her. She is stiff of shock feeling the energy.

The lion growls becoming defensive as he pounces at Luna. King immediately jumps in front of her saving her from the sudden attack!

"Stay away from her son!" the lion yells in rage. His face, in full anger mode as he intends to protect King from Luna who's screaming in the back,

"King what's going on? Who is that?!" she asks.

"She's my friend and she is coming with me!" King yells, pinning the lion on the ground with one fist.

The lion laying on the ground out of breath answers, "I wont let her see me King, she doesn't belong with us trust me." The lion jumps over King and on Luna's defenseless body pinning her to the ground. King runs towards lion and pushes him off Luna with his strength.

Luna, terrified, notices how King fights with an invisible force. She frightens at the impact of roots and branches from different trees launching towards her, grabbing her by the legs as if she was a bowling ball. King immediately runs and rips every branch touching Luna. She starts running fast, away from the branches that are trying to kick her out in rage. The grass pulls Luna in direction to the end of the island where an enormous giant tree who had a carving of a older face stands. He is the tallest tree in the land.

He uses his longest branch to grab Luna by the throat as she hangs by the edge of the cliff. Imagine her small body defenseless, must have been terrifying coming into a place where she thought would be a dream and it actually turn" into a nightmare. King, feeling confused and honestly shock at how quickl'y things escalated without a warning.

He yells "No!" which echoed 8 times! Everything pauses putting all eyes on him. Luna cries desperately and out of breath holding onto the branch that held her neck .

"How dare you bring this to my home!" the tree exclaimed. King cries as he throws his body to the floor in tears begging for her life.

"Kill it!" the villagers in the background chanted. Even the lion is looking at Luna in rage growling at her pacing back and forth.

"STOP!" King screams out with all of his strength. "You trees are crazy!! What ever you want, ask and I'll do it! Just don't kill her!" he cries.

"YOUR LIFE, FOR HERS!" the tree proclaims instigating the crowd as they chant louder for her death. King slowly stands up feeling a sense of hope now that he has their attention.

"No." the lion walks up to King and stands in front of him. King looks defeated on the ground. Lion felt sorry for him, for he has deep love for the boy. He looks at Luna who looks lifeless hanging by the branch as King continues to beg for her life in agony. Lion gently bows down to King.

"Forgive me my King, I have realize now that I have committed treason by going against your will. Let me give my life in return for your forgiveness and your peace." The Tree looks at the lion bowing down to King, feeling disrespected and betrayed he throws Luna on the ground in anger. King immediately runs towards her falling on her chest that is full of blood and scrapes. "Luna!" He cries as he calls on her name, "...if you can hear me, I'm here, I'm sorry..." he weeps on her chest as if she was already dead.

"We will take the boy, then you can have the girl." the tree says in anger.

"I'll replace the boys life." Lion replies.

King lifts his head up slowly and takes a deep breath as he carries Luna's body up from the ground. "Can I take her home?" he asks. All he cares about is Luna's safety.

"Tonight, we must do the sacrifice before the sunrise. Only then, must you leave." the Tree responded, "Take them to the cottage under the oak tree where they will spend the rest of the day until tonight."

"Why can't you tell me why you all acted like that towards her?" King angrily bursts out to the lion. The lion stays quiet and calm. "I did this to her. She was innocent" King continues as he cried, blaming himself for Luna's death.

"She is not innocent boy, she has trapped you under her spell." the lion scoffs as he paces back and forth.

"She would never do that. She is my friend." says King upset.

The lion projects his voice in anger, "She is not your friend, son!"

"Don't call me your son ever again! After tonight I will never speak to you."

King felt betrayed for he couldn't understand how they could hurt Luna the way they did. Her body lays on the bed completely covered in bruises and blood from all the scrapes on her skin. Then, out of nowhere, Luna groans and immediately King runs to her and grabs her hands gently. She opens her eyes and hugs King tightly in tears and pain. She finally notices the lion and jumps in fear remembering what they just did to her. She tries to run away, but King hugs her and asks her to calm down assuring her that the lion wouldn't hurt her again.

"They are here." Lion says.

King's heart begins to beat fast and he moves Luna behind him. His face turns firm and emotionless. He looks at Luna who shivers in fear as she breathes fast. Then, all of a sudden, they hear footsteps coming.

"Kill me please," she begs king as tears fall down her face.

"I won't let them hurt you again! I promise."

Just then, a man covered in leaves comes in breaking down the door at once. The chanting of the villagers behind him gets louder and louder as they get closer. Luna, short of breath grabs King's hand tightly and whispers his name as he assures her that everything will be ok. The angry man notices Luna and immediately starts rushing towards her yelling, intending to kill her with a stake. King runs even faster towards him grabbing the man's head and twisting it off his body instantly.

"No one touches her!" he says to himself as he walks out the door holding onto Luna's hand with one hand and the other, holding the decapitated head. Without notice, some villagers run towards King with the intention to kill Luna.

Lion roars as he jumps in front of King separating the villagers from him. He roars so loud that everyone listened and stood in silence. "My King has said that no one is to touch her and no one will".

Hahahaha!

A man comes out from within the crowd, "Your life is meaningless, 'leo'," The powerful man mocks belittling Lion. "You are useless in this deal. He loves her and you don't. Giving your life for her would be pointless for the lesson of today." The crowd laughs.

"Now who..." the men projects his voice louder as his chest puffs up with ego from the crowd's chants in union. He yells, "Who brought this to my land?!"

King takes a step forward towards the crowd, still grabbing onto Luna's hand and the head on the other. "I brought her here because… "

"Nah uh uh," the man interrupts. "I'm not interested in your reasons and your whys. Now again, who is responsible for this little monster!" the man yells even louder.

"I did!" King continues.

"Who are you boy?" the man asks as he walks closer and closer towards him.

"I am King, the boy from the lost kingdom." Everyone laughs hysterically at the sound of his shaky voice. "I was abandoned with this crown near the ocean and I am here to find out who I am, and she's coming with me. So, I assure you," King turns around and looks into the crowd, "...that with all disrespect, if Luna get hurt again I will kill you and all your men with my bare hands." The man in anger charges at King but lion jumps in front trembling the ground with his roar.

"The boy belongs to me. You hurt him, you will respond to the lord of Fire, Prime Jupiter." Lion said.

The man turns to Luna who's wrapped around King's waist, her face on his chest in fear. " I warned you to never come back here again, and yet, you take me as a joke as if this boy will protect you from me?"

"What is he talking about?" King whispers to Luna who is still shivering and begging him to not let go.

"Your life for hers. Take it, or I'll take both."

King throws the head on the ground and wraps his arms over Luna's head as she buries her face in his chest. "Take my life only after I take her home safe."

"I did not ask for your suggestions on this deal little boy." The man approaches abruptly and quickly grabs Luna by her arm yanking her strongly. Still, King does not let go of her arm grabbing her tightly by one arm and pulling her in the opposite direction.

"Take ME!" He yells as Luna screams in pain.

"I think I have to let go Luna, your hurting!" he screams.

"No please don't let go, I'd rather die holding onto you then to die without touching you."

But King can see that she can be physically damaged. As she passes out and comes back screaming in pain and fear, he understands that the man could care less if she is ripped apart in front of everyone. He closes his eyes and a tear falls down his face as he lets go of her hands in slow motion. Luna's eyes widen up in fear as she realizes that King let her go. Her body flies into the branch of the huge Tree.

"So we meet again." the Tree laughs while grabbing her by the neck once again but this time snapping her neck instantly to her death. Her body gradually becomes hard as stone and black as the night as she takes her last breath into the moonlight. The sky becomes dark as if there has never been light and everyone starts to scream and run in different directions. King becomes full of anger and regrets, he closes his fist and opens his eyes and immediately become literal fire burning anyone that come his way. But his focus is on the men dresses in leaves, he charges at him once, and in a blink of eye he twists his head decapitating and burning him in seconds. He kneels and rises his eyes at Luna who lays on the ground lifeless.

"NOOOOOO!!!" He screams as his voice echoes to the horizon. His body is full of blood and he carries her and mourns in sorrow.

"Forgive me!" he cries desperately with her on his arms. Lion paces back and forth as the villagers approach them with spears and stakes.

"You must get out of here now! They are coming back and this time they wont even leave you or I alive."

"How about you?" King sobs.

"I'll be just fine son. You don't have much time go my son. You must take her to her land and give her a proper burial. Then, go North and you will find your way. Tell them who you are, and tell them Leo has fallen." Lion said.

King hears the chanting of more villagers coming back with weapons in fury. He carries Luna's body and begins to run, running as fast as he could. The villagers chase him all the way to the edge of the land where King comes to a cliff. And to no surprise, without any hesitation, jumps and hits a thick invisible layer passing through it into a whole different world.

………….