Burning Star

“J-Joshua?” Amelia stuttered. She was face to face with the Black Lion, its dark eyes staring at her, watching her every move. A sense of dread came over her, and she couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering in sheer fear.

“Just stay back,” he said. “We got this.”

She obliged, trying to find something else to catch her focus. Glancing from left to right, her eyes marched between the tree lines, hoping to find a way out of this mess. She knew it was her fault. This whole situation was her fault, and she couldn’t do a darned thing about it. She had failed to rewrite the Tome of Lyra. It had been in her hands, and she’d let it be taken away.

The lion roared, and Amelia held her breath, keeping behind Joshua and Eric. Could they slay the beast? She didn’t know. Actually, she didn’t know many things. She didn’t know how to sew, or whether or not Astron was safe. Two entirely opposite things, but together they proved her overall ignorance.

“On the count of tree,” Joshua said, interrupting her thoughts. “It’s of Black Hole material, our sword should kill it.”

Amelia widened her eyes. “Should?” she screeched. “What do you mean—“

“Not now, Amelia,” Eric barked. “We’re kinda trying to avoid death right now. Technicalities can wait.”

Not if the technicalities are the ones to kill you, she thought, but she didn’t speak. Besides, what was there to say? She’d already confirmed that she didn’t know anything. There was no reason to prove it to the guys.

It’s honestly not fair. I’m supposed to be this super special girl, and I don’t know how.

Amelia couldn’t hide the pout on her lips. And she noticed Joshua cocking an eyebrow at her—he’d seen her pout. Solem, that was going to be hard to explain later on when they were evaluating the events. Amelia crossed her arms. She was the daughter of Rigel. That particular information was one of the things she did know, and it also happened to be one of the few things that Eric and Joshua was blissfully ignorant to, as well.

She stared at the scene played out in front of her. Joshua and Eric were crouched down in front of her, preparing to attack the enemy lion. Amelia found it hard to believe that this creature could exist. It was an abomination, a disgrace to the values of a Star lion.

Star lions… Maybe they’d come to aid them. She’d loved the tales of the majestic creatures coming to help. Joshua had said a Star Lion had saved him several times. Not to mention all the times they’d protected Vega. Of course, Amelia didn’t know everything. But she knew enough to know they wouldn’t like a Black lion to invade their land. The thought gave her strength.

“Now!” Joshua yelled.

Amelia hadn’t been paying much attention to her friends. But now, she saw them dash towards the dark creature, with their star blessed swords raised. Horrified she saw the abomination open its massive jaws, and roar loudly. The sight was peculiar and terrifying at the same time—everything from the teeth, to what would have been a tongue was black like coal.

This… Creature… wasn’t supposed to exist. Amelia’s nails tore into her palms, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene. As the lion roared, Joshua stumbled and pulled Eric down with him. The beast didn’t hesitate. In an instant, it was over them, its growl muting her friends’ scream.

I have to do something, she thought. Her eyes found an okay sized rock, and she threw it. When it didn’t help, she tried to manifest a weapon. Something in her movements caught the lion’s attention, and she realized too late that it was focusing on her.

“Solem!” she screamed. Her heart was pounding, and she sought Eric’s eyes for help. What had she been thinking? She couldn’t fight a Black Hole, let alone one designed to kill a Star Lion. Her own fear amplified, and she started to tremble as her eyes scoured over the beast. She couldn’t move.

“Amelia, run,” Eric screamed.

She hesitated. Where could she go? The lion tilted its head and leaped towards her. Eric had told her to move, and even though she knew, it would be pointless—there was no way she could run from a lion—she still heard something in the voice that gave her the strength to go on. She tore herself free from the iron grip of fear, and started to move in the opposite direction.

A scream echoed between the trees, and she prayed for something—anything—to come and rescue her.

Father, please aid me, she begged. Tears flowed from her eyes as she ran for her life.

“Hey! Big Black Lion!” Eric yelled. “Over here.”

If Amelia hadn’t been running for her life, she would have chastised Eric for the lame outburst. Chances were that the lion wasn’t an intelligent life form. So yelling insults—badly ones at that—wouldn’t help her one bit.

She knew it wouldn’t help. Eric was trying to divert the beast’s attention, and if she lived through this, she might just hug him for it. However, the feeling of despair that only came when exposed to the Black Holes magic wouldn’t go away. He hadn’t succeeded, unfortunately.

Changing plans, she ran towards the forest, making sure to take a complicated path in between large trees. She hoped that a branch would smack the lion hard enough to slow it down.

Her heart racing, she thought of her last moment with the book. If only she could remember something—anything really—that could help her. The book had contained all of the precious knowledge of the elders. Everything that had ever been, everything that would ever be, and she’d skimmed through it. Something must be useful to her.

“Come on…” she begged. “Anything.” Panic started to spread throughout her, and she wanted to glance back to see how many seconds she’d have to live.

“Amelia. Duck!” Joshua’s voice shouted.

She reacted instantly and dropped to the ground. Something large travelled over her, and she tried to remain as still as possible.

Shaking with fear, she screamed when something touched her leg. Kicking, punching and screaming at the culprit, she tried to defend herself.

“Amelia. Shush—be quiet!” Eric said.

She opened her eyes to find him hovering over her. In his eyes, she found relief, and something else. He was worried, but she didn’t know why.

“E-eric?” she said. “Is it over?”

The silence was nerve wrecking. Where had the Black lion disappeared to? She couldn’t tell, but one thing she knew: Something seemed fishy. Where was Joshua? Eric took her into his arms and clenched once for comfort. It felt lovely.

“Amelia?” he whispered and pulled away. “You need to listen extremely carefully now. I’m going to need you to—“

He didn’t get to finish. Amelia felt a blow of a wind, and saw Eric be whipped away. She jerked up, supporting her body on the palm of her hands. In front of her, she saw the lion, and its giant tail swinging from side to side. It was circling Eric, who was standing without his swords, his arms outstretched.

“Where’s Joshua?” she asked. Then she cursed herself for distracting him. She bit her bottom lip, and tried to scout for Joshua. When she couldn’t spot him, she panicked. Mixed with Eric’s lack of response—even though he was justified—made her feel even more fearful than she would have thought to be possible.

Eric was still dancing with the lion. She didn’t know why it didn’t attack, but she wasn’t going to complain. He bared his teeth in a growl, an expression that Amelia found ridiculous. The lion wasn’t going to be afraid of human teeth—it had canines the size of her fingers.

“Joshua?” she called, not taking her eyes away from the beast. It directed its head towards her and roared again, pacing back and forth. What was it waiting for? “Joshua. If you’re out there, please answer me,” she called.

Eric cursed. ”Solem, Amelia… Will you just—“he spun around to face her—“Stay calm, please. Can you do that for me?” He glanced at the lion. “Sweetie, can you do that?”

The term of endearment confused her. Eric had seriously the worst case of time, she’d ever experience. “What do you—“

Something bright flying above her cut off the rest of her sentence. Apparently, all Eric had needed was for her to be baffled enough to shut up for just a moment. She pushed the realization and the embarrassment that followed along, away from her mind, and glanced towards the lion. She recognized the mighty creature fighting the black lion—a star lion.

It was a magnificent sight. Black and white whirled around, battling for dominance over the other. Amelia started to walk backwards, her eyes never leaving the lion. Something caught her attention, and she jerked towards the small black form.

There he was—Joshua. With his sword raised, he waited until the Star lion had withered down its enemy. He was passive, ready to strike any minute now.

The Star lion roared and pulled back. Joshua dashed forward, making sure to strike the enemy lion right in the heart. The form dissolved, and just like the humans from before, Amelia watched as the black mist cleared up—a black hole had been exterminated.

Amelia couldn’t explain it. But as soon as the danger was over, she could feel the exhaustion. Sinking to her knees, she panted. Eric rushed over and took her in his arms.

Joshua tended to the Star lion in the distance, and Amelia managed to muster a weak smile. “Is it over now?” she asked. She hoped so. This had been too much excitement for one day.

Eric interrupted her train of thoughts by scooping her up into his arms. He carried her over to Joshua, who greeted them with a small nod.

“How’s he?” Eric asked. He was talking about the Star lion. Amelia looked at the shimmering white fur, noticing black spots covering its right side. The Star lion’s heavy breathing was strained, and its whimper tore through Amelia’s heart.

“Will he be alright?” she asked.

Joshua shrugged. “There’s no telling. The other lion was obviously much stronger than he.”

“How’d you get it to come here?” That part confused Amelia.

“By praying, mostly.” Eric placed her on the ground. “We don’t know exactly why, but apparently he was following along. I noticed him in my peripheral vision earlier.”

“Lucky…” Amelia smiled. “But you killed the other lion, right? So we’re safe…”

Joshua cursed. “Damn, Amelia…”

“What?” She widened her eyes. How rude…

“You can be so gullible sometimes,” Eric said.

Amelia stared at him. “What?” Surely, he must be kidding. Gullible? Her?

“Guys, don’t fight.” Joshua sighed. “We need to find out what happened inside that cave.”

“Well.” Amelia crossed her arms. “I would have saved the Tome of Lyra if it hadn’t been for you guys.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “How do you know? That white girl could have you all fooled.”

“Who stole the Tome?” Amelia asked. “Why is it not in my hands any longer?”

She was frustrated. What had they accomplished? Save for making sure there was nothing she could do any longer.

“What are you hinting at?” Eric asked with narrowed eyes.

She balled her hands into fists. “You know darned well what I’m hinting at. Who led the bad rogues to us? Who trusted the wrong people?” She pointed at him. “You did.”

He exploded in rage. “We wouldn’t have had to if you didn’t run away like a spoiled little girl,” Eric said, gesturing wildly. “You don’t know the dangers of these forests. Yet you still decided to crash the party. This is your entire fault.”

Amelia’s jaw dropped, and he stared at for a moment longer before turning on his heels, stomping away from her. She crossed her arms. How dare he?

“You know he didn’t mean it like that,” Joshua said.

She held up her hands to stop him. “Don’t. Don’t try to defend him. He said the words and he repeated them.” Amelia glanced at his back. “He made it clear that I’m only a nuisance to him.”

Trying to hold in her feelings, she turned away from Joshua who was rubbing his forehead. Walking over to a tree, she sat down and leaned against the trunk.

Yeah. She knew what Eric thought of her, and she couldn’t change his opinion. Her only option now was to wait and hope there was a soldier who could escort her home.