Burning Star

Eric wasn’t ready to wake up yet. The land of dreams was so comfortable compared to reality. He wanted to stay with the beautiful scenery, and the magical feeling of protection. Rolling over, he realized that something was stopping him from moving.

His eyes shot open, and he stared down at his chest. Brown hair was spread out across her abdomen, and a feminine arm held him in place. It took him several moments of confusion before he realized it was Amelia.

The strangest thing was his own reaction. As he watched her shoulder rise steadily with every breath, he was overthrown with the desire to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to protect her from all harm, and a part of him wanted never to let her go.

He didn’t particular understand the new feelings. The overall desire to keep her safe wasn’t new to him, but the need for her to be in his arms seemed irrational. Eric fought against his own wishes, but at last, he caved. His right arm moved to cover her abdomen, and he smiled when she let out a small sigh.

The sun hadn’t risen yet. He could feel his uniform slightly moist from the pre-dawn dew around him, and the soft wind rustled Amelia’s hair. The darkness wasn’t as severe this time of the year, and he could see that the sun was starting to light up the horizon. A small whimper from Amelia caught his attention, and he looked at her.

Yesterday, he’d called her sweetie. It had surprised him as much as it had surprised her. He liked it. There was nothing else to it. He liked holding her, calling her sweet things, and he liked to make her laugh.

Of course, Eric didn’t know what all of that meant for him, so he had to figure it out as soon as possible. Amelia moved, and he held his breath. She snuggled closer to him, causing his heart to skip a beat. His hand was still on her shoulder, and he found himself unable to stop his thumbs from moving in circles on her skin.

Eric released all the air in his lungs. What was he doing? Amelia was still a child; he couldn’t be fooled by her mature appearances. His internal scolding helped a bit, and his fingers stopped moving.

Solem, she looks so peaceful, he thought.

A sound came from his right, and he jerked his head around to find Joshua playing with his Star scope. Eric breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t seem as if Joshua had noticed him.

‘I’ve noticed you,’ Joshua said inside his head. ‘Surprise.’

Eric cursed. He wanted to scream, but remembered the sleeping girl. Carefully, he untangled himself from her arms, making sure her head was safely placed on his jacket. He skidded over to Joshua, contemplating whether to hit him on the shoulder or not.

“No need for violence, Eric,” Joshua muttered, keeping his eyes on the Star scope. “It’s your own fault. I told you several times to practice shielding your thoughts. They’re literally screaming at me, man.”

Eric didn’t know how to answer. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to practice. It just seemed to be collide with his desire to keep on moving. Sitting with his legs crossed, humming with closed eyes—it wasn’t really his thing.

“Have you found out anything?” he asked.

“Actually…” Joshua glanced back at the sleeping Amelia. “I’ve discovered quite some things.”

“Well?” Eric urged.

“This is not the best place to speak.” Joshua kept his eyes on the stars.

‘Then talk here?’ Eric suggested.

Once again, Joshua glanced at Amelia. ‘It won’t work. Just be patient.’

Eric frowned. Why was Joshua acting so strange? Sure, the guy had been experiencing a lot of stress lately, but the suspicious behavior towards Amelia was downright idiotic.

Amelia stirred, and Eric turned to her. “You okay?” he asked.

She smiled and nodded in response. “I’m fine.” She stretched her limbs. “A bit sore, maybe. But that’s it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Joshua said, his voice sounding slightly off-key. “Amelia, why don’t you take some time to wake up? I need to speak to Eric for a while.”

Eric was sure that Amelia would see through Joshua’s odd facial expression, but she didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she shrugged and started massaging her neck. “Just hurry back,” she said. “I’m starving.”

Joshua bobbed his head towards a small lining of trees. Eric recognized it as the spot where he and Amelia had talked the day before, and the thought made heat rush to his cheeks. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts of Amelia, and then walked after Joshua.

Once they were out of hearing range, Joshua turned towards him with a grim look on his face.

“Whoa.” Eric held up his hands. “What’s gotten into you?”

“We have a problem,” Joshua said. “It’s Amelia…”

“Yeah, I know.” Eric scratched his chin. He needed to shave soon. “We have to send her back to the temple. Just a shame that all the soldiers seem to have disappeared, I guess we have to escort her.”

Joshua shook his head. “No, that’s not it.” He hesitated. “I have reason to believe that Amelia hasn’t been honest with us.”

This time Eric widened his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Joshua started. “I read the stars. And they kept pointing to Amelia no matter what I asked.”

“So? Couldn’t that just mean that she’s in the way of your readings?”

“No.” Joshua sighed. “If she had been in the way, I wouldn’t have been able to get a reading at all.”

Eric didn’t know how to react. “So, what’s the secret then?”

“I think she’s a star.” Joshua sat down on the grass, a lost expression on his face.

“I’m really not following.”

Eric watched as Joshua rubbed his face with his palms. The signs of a sleepless night were evident on his face, but Eric knew that something had to be bothering his friend. No matter how stressful their mission had proven to be, Joshua had always managed to keep it together.

“What if it’s Vega?” Joshua asked.

Eric had to stop himself from laughing. “Amelia? She can’t be.”

Joshua jerked around, staring at him. “And why’s that? We know nothing of Amelia. She appeared right as Vega died. And I’m pretty sure Amelia died alongside me back in the realm. What makes you think she couldn’t have transferred her life to Amelia? She did it when Annabell and Miriam became one.”

As much as he wanted to, Eric couldn’t dismiss the idea entirely. He knew, deep inside that Amelia wasn’t Vega, and while he wanted to explain why, he couldn’t. For some reason, he didn’t think that it would help to explain that his proof was his feelings towards Amelia. Joshua was still, five years later, heartbroken over Vega, and if he believed that the love of his life was inside Amelia, then Eric would be rewarded nothing else than a punch in the face for his feelings.

“Joshua,” he said. “What exactly did the stars say?”

“It was all so weird.” Joshua started to fiddle with his hands. “It kept pointing to her, and the word ‘star’.”

“Did it say anything else?”

“Somewhere there was a daughter, I believe.” Joshua shrugged.

Eric thought it over. That didn’t prove anything for certain. “But, Joshua. The Stars know Vega’s name. If she was inside Amelia, wouldn’t she have been ment—“

“Solem!” Joshua shouted. “Oh, dear Solem, no.”

Hesitantly, Eric took a step back. Joshua seemed to be on the verge of an explosion. He watched, carefully as Joshua jumped up and started to walk back and forth in front of Eric, muttering things to himself.

“Eh, Joshua?” Eric said. “What’s happening?”

“Do you remember—“Joshua stopped his pacing, and turned to Eric—“the night before our big battle?”

Eric smirked. “Sure, when you and Vega… ehm…” He waggled his eyebrows.”

“Don’t be crude,” Joshua said, scrunching his nose up.

“I remember… what about it?”

“What if…” Joshua hesitated. “What if Amelia is our daughter? My daughter… and … Vega’s daughter.”

“That wouldn’t make any sense, we met Amelia with Vega, remember?”

“But what if?” Joshua panicked. “I’m not ready to be a father. Oh. Solem. I have to keep her safe, and she needs to be better disciplined. Just look at her clothes,” he rambled on, and then turned to Eric, pointing a finger at him. “And you. You better keep your dirty hands away from her. She’s a precious girl and deserved—“

“Whoa, there!” Eric held out a hand to stop him. “First of all. Amelia existed years before you and Vega even met. Second, what the heck is that last part supposed to mean?” He frowned. “You don’t consider me to be a decent guy?”

Joshua stopped talking, his eyes wide while his mouth opened and closed.

Eric nodded. “Great to know I have your support, man.” He turned away. “I’m going to go back to Amelia now. Have fun working out those issues of yours.”

He couldn’t believe it. What was he? Some sort of predator who would hurt women? Sure, Eric knew he had some problems with his anger at times, but he’d never hurt Amelia. He’d never take advantage of her, or abuse her. So what was Joshua’s problem anyway?

Never mind the fact, that Amelia wasn’t his daughter, so why should he even interfere? Eric kicked a rock and pouted.

‘Eric, help!’ Joshua screamed inside his mind.

He stopped and looked around. Joshua hadn’t followed him, which in retrospect, probably made sense, but was incredibly dumb. He couldn’t spot anyone or anything around, and without thinking, he started to run back towards Joshua.

In the seconds it took him to get back, he concluded that Joshua was a jerk, but nobody should mess with him other than Eric. He stopped, panting while scouting the area for any movement. Joshua was nowhere in sight.

‘Joshua where are you?’ he thought, hoping for an answer.

The morning sun left the area in a deep shadow, which left his nerves on an edge. Anything could hide in those shadows, and he didn’t want to be surprised. There was no reply in Eric’s mind, and a sinking feeling settled in his gut. Something was wrong.

“Joshua?” he shouted aloud. “Give me a sign of where you are!”

Eric stood still while he waited for some sort of signal. Finally, a bush rustled to his right, and he spun around to face his enemies.

“Eric!” a female shouted. He recognized it as Amelia, and fear replaced his courage. She had to get out of here.

“Amelia, run away.” He gestured wildly. “Hide!”

She must have followed him when he screamed. Solem couldn’t that girl act passively just for once. He reached for his sword, only to discover it was still back at the tree. This wasn’t good. He glanced around, seeing that Amelia had disappeared.

Hoping that it meant she’d followed his orders and hidden, he focused on the task at hand. Should he run back to get his sword? If he did, he might be too late to save Joshua. But if he didn’t, he couldn’t defend of help.

The whole situation was a mess, and Eric couldn’t decide on what he should do. Instead, he sneaked closer to the bush, hoping it was only a single man. Joshua and he would be able to take them out pretty fast—even without their swords.

He reached out his foot, removing part of the shrubbery so he could see in. When he saw a small white rabbit, he breathed in relief. Maybe Joshua was just messing with him.

When he turned around again, his face exploded in pain, and everything went dark.

Amelia shivered from fear. She’d seen Eric start to run back, and in a spontaneous moment, she decided to follow. Even if she tried, she couldn’t rationalize her behavior. Now, she didn’t know whether to consider herself lucky or not. She was hiding behind a large tree, and the aftermaths of what she’d seen still rendered her speechless and unable to move.

It was an ambush. When he was focusing on the shrubbery, a group of men had cornered him from behind. She’d wanted to yell at him to look out, but she couldn’t risk exposing her hiding place. He’d told her to stay hidden.

Her heart was breaking as the image of Eric being sucker punched in the face replayed in her mind. She wanted to help him, but it was too late now. She couldn’t actually do anything at all.

Everything inside her hurt, the tears pressured against her eyelids, and Amelia chose to hug her knees. Sitting in the forest ground, she couldn’t do much else than rock back and forth. Her fingers started moving on their own, and she didn’t pay any attention to them.

Vega would have known what to do. Amelia might be the daughter of a star, but she didn’t have any extraordinary powers at all. She wasn’t like Vega. Amelia was nothing but a failure.

Finally, she allowed the tears to fall. Amelia was alone, and these rogues had taken Eric and Joshua while she sat idle by doing nothing.

“I’m so sorry,” she muttered, and continued letting her finger move.

There was no point in trying to stop them—she didn’t have the strength. Conflicted emotions flared inside her, and she was too weak to try to make any sense of them. Instead, she focused on Vega.

It had been years since Amelia had seen her face, but it was still abundantly clear in her memory. The way she smiled, and the way she laughed. Vega had saved her, and Amelia couldn’t find any way to thank her for that.

Solem, Amelia couldn’t even help protect her friends. She sighed and stared ahead of her. She had to do someth—

Her fingers caught her attention, and when she looked at the outline, her mouth dropped open. The lines were glowing a faint blue color, and she recognized the face staring back at her. Her teeth gnawed at her bottom lip as she finished the simplistic drawing. It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

A bright light erupted from her outline, and Amelia had to cover her eyes with her arm. She clenched her eyes shut, while heat flared in the air. Once it settled down again, she dared to take a peek between her fingers.

Amelia was speechless. Right in front of her, a girl with fiery red hair and brown eyes was standing with her arms firmly placed on her hips. Amelia gawked, trying to find words to express her confusion. This didn’t make any sense.

“Took you long enough to figure that one out, Amelia,” Vega said. “Now, where are the boys?”