Burning Star

It was her year day, and Amelia was walking around the temple. Yesterday had gone so fast—the boys were busy with reporting all they could from their journey, and there was no time to sit down and talk at all. It was sad, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Joshua and Eric had responsibilities whether she liked it or not.

Today was different, though. It was still early; the sunset had barely showed its colors across the sky to the east. She wandered from room to room, enjoying the silence when she noticed someone outside. Curiosity took over, and she walked outside. The ground was wet with morning-dew, and she tiptoed until she recognized the silhouette amongst her treasured flowers—it was Eric. Even though she tried to stop herself, she couldn’t help but admire his physique. She longed to run her fingers through Eric’s long hair.

Keeping herself at bay, she cleared her throat to let him know she was there. He glanced back over her shoulder, and she noticed him standing in front of the Star Catcher.

She smiled at him. “Hey,” she said and walked over to him.

He turned around to greet her with a smile. “Hey yourself.”

“What are you up to?”

Eric scratched his head while giving her a skewed smile. “Just thinking…” Gesturing to the yellow flower, he grinned. “The first time I saw a Star Catcher was with Vega.” He averted his eyes to the ground. “She told me about its healing abilities, and I plucked it for no reason. Good thing I did—it ended up saving her life.”

Amelia swallowed the lump in her throat. Seeing him like this, in sorrow and pain over a lost friend, it made her tear up. She walked over to her favorite bench and sat down. After crossing her legs, she patted the seat next to her, and tried to send an encouraging smile. “You’ve told me about that, I think. It was on the Island of Mary—you, Vega and Joshua were supposed to find the two final pieces to open up the portal to the realm of the Black Holes.”

Eric chuckled. “Wow. You’ve been listening to your bedtime stories. Huh?”

As she felt the heat stream to her cheeks, she looked away. “You tell the best stories,” she muttered. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt him take a seat beside her. They were so close now. If she moved her left hand just an inch, it would connect with his thigh. The thought alone made her feel even warmer.

“Amelia?” Eric asked.

“Mmn?” she hummed, still looking away.

“I’m sorry for making you feel embarrassed yesterday in the courtyard.”

His words caught her by surprise. Turning her head, she looked at him with wide eyes. He was apologizing to her. Snapping out of it, she shrugged. “Oh. It’s okay—you were right, anyway. I wasn’t properly dressed to be in public.” Amelia started picking at her own nails. “I was just so excited to see you and Joshua—I’ve missed you.”

Eric nudged her shoulder with his. “I’ve missed you too, silly.”

Oh, Solem. I’ll never get this blush to go away now, Amelia thought. A gentle breeze chilled her heated face, and she smiled to him.

“What have you been up to while I was gone?” Eric asked while running his hand through his hair.

Amelia wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t done anything significant, just studied and waited for them to come home. Her eyes fixed on his tousled hair. Solem, she needed to get her act together. Shaking her head, she snapped out of it and cleared her throat. “Apart from the usual studying and waiting, I’ve tried to become better at drawing.”

Eric widened his eyes. “Drawing?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “When the days get a bit lonely I try to see if I can draw you and Joshua—it keeps me sane.” Feeling embarrassed once more, she averted her eyes to the ground.

Eric’s finger touched her chin, and he guided her face to turn towards him again. He grinned when her eyes met his, and Amelia could have sworn her heart skipped a beat—he was so handsome.

“Once upon a time…” he started. “There was a princess. She was the happiest girl alive. Everybody loved her, and peasants from all over the world would travel for days just to see her smile.”

Amelia rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide the smile etched on her face.

“Suitors from all over the world would try and woo her.” Eric winked. “They believed if they possessed the key to her heart—they’d possess the key to the world.” His hand left her chin, and Amelia couldn’t help but feel naked and cold. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I remember the rest…” Amelia muttered.

“Yeah? You tell it then,” Eric said.

Amelia swallowed and started fumbling with her hands—she felt so on the spot. “Ehm.” She coughed. “The suitors become obsessed with the princess’ beauty, and started to battle amongst themselves. One day, a soldier managed to slip through the royal guards.”

She couldn’t go on; this was just a silly story anyway.

“Please continue,” Eric begged. Amelia glanced to his side and found him leaning on his elbows, his face resting in his hands.

“The soldier singlehanded killed everyone he could come near,” Amelia said. “And the king came in reach, trying to stop him. The soldier slayed the king, causing the princess to mourn the death of her father—after that day, the princess vowed never to smile again. Her final wish on her deathbed was for others to smile in her honor. To smile because she couldn’t.”

Eric clapped. “That was beautiful—you should work on your storytelling someday.” He smiled before ruffling her hair with a laugh. “Gosh. You’ve grown so much.”

“Stop,” she whined and scowled at him for messing up her hair. “That’s not nice.”

He simply laughed harder, but he did stop ruining her hairdo. He leaned back on the bench and sighed. “So, tell me what kind of art you’ve been working on,” he said.

That question was exactly what she’d hoped he’d ask. She grinned at him and learned over to him. “I’ve been practicing magic,” she whispered.

Eric cocked an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Eagerly, she nodded—she’d been practicing simple art based magic, and she wanted to show him what she could do. She rose from the bench and moved to stand in front of him. Focusing, she proceeded to slow down her breathing. It wouldn’t do any good to swoon over Eric now—this demanded her full attention. “Are you ready?”

He nodded briefly, and crossed his legs before gesturing for her to proceed.

Without hesitating, Amelie raised her right hand. She saw his eyes widen when she extended her fingers, and made a small bubble in the air. Garnet had shown the same confusion when she’d shown him, but she knew what she was doing.

Amelia outlined an orchid. For every movement she made, she could see the beautiful flower clearer. It was real to her. She was certain that her fingers could caress the delicate petals, and she sniffed to smell the beautiful fragrance. It was alive for her already, and in just a few moments, it’d be live for Eric, as well.

Her final addition was the stem, she moved her finger downwards, then turned her palm upwards when the flower manifested from thin air. She held it out to him with a big grin. “Tadaa.”

Eric didn’t say anything at first. He simply stared at the flower in her hands.

Worry started to rise inside Amelia. “Don’t you like it?”

“Amelia, t-that’s…” He reached out to take the flower. “It’s astonishing and—“

“Wait!” she screamed as she tried to prevent him from taking the flower. To no avail, his finger touched the flower and turned to crystal. He stared at the flower-shaped rock in his hand, and Amelia bit her lip.

“It doesn’t stay in its form when other people touch it,” she muttered. “I’m sorry.”

Eric frowned. “Why are you apologizing? That was amazing.”

“You really think so?” she asked.

“Yeah. You made something out of nothing—that’s pretty extreme.” Eric rose and hugged her. “How’d you learn to do that?”

Despite her racing heart, Amelia shrugged. “I’ve spent a lot of time alone, just outlining things. One day it started coming forth.” She laughed. “You took it much nicer than I did. I freaked out the first time it happened to me.”

“I can understand why.” Eric stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded to the temple. “Want to go inside again?”

Oh, Solem—Yes! She’d been waiting for him to ask. Even though she enjoyed spending time with him alone—it was still her year day. If she followed Garnet’s calculations, she should now have aged the seven years she lost when she was with the Black Holes.

She realized that Eric was waiting for an answer. Eagerly, she started to nod. “Yes. Let’s go inside—I planned to show my magic trick to Joshua, as well.”

He grimaced at that. “I’d really wish you wouldn’t do that,” he said.

Confused, Amelia looked at Eric. “Why?”

Eric started kicking carefully to some dirt on the ground, and he pulled up his shoulder. “Joshua is … fragile, when it comes to magic—ever since we lost Vega he’d been sketchy about everything even remotely similar to magic. I think it’d be best if you didn’t show him.”

The memory of Vega, Joshua’s girlfriend who sacrificed herself to free Amelia from the Black Holes grip, came to mind. Amelia had loved her for the brief period of time they’d been together. Even though it was five years ago, the nightmares of that place still haunted Amelia. So she understood Joshua’s pain. He lost a friend—a lover. Just like she had lost her family and her youth. It wasn’t fair.

Deep in thought, Amelia started walking inside. Her mind worked to switch the topic inside her head. She shouldn’t be thinking of the sad past—it was her year day. She wondered what plans Eric and Joshua had made. Maybe they’d surprise her once inside. Amelia hoped so. Her year day party was her favorite day of the year. It wasn’t because it was held in celebration of her, but because Joshua and Eric always made sure to spend it with her.

Her thoughts went to the day before. Something had bothered Eric—she’d noticed the large bags beneath his eyes. Joshua said it was because they avoided sleeping so they could be home faster, but Amelia had a feeling it was something else. She just didn’t know what it could be. A tiny part of her wanted to ask Eric what was bothering him. Another part insisted that it wasn’t her business, and she was keen on letting it win—she was really too afraid of the answer.

Amelia hadn’t noticed they’d reached the main hall until she started descending the stairs to the conference hall. A loud argument was going on, and she glanced briefly at Eric before she ran to see what was happening.

The sight before her made her speechless. Never before had she seen so many adult men yelling for no reason. All of the Elders were there,something she’d only seen on rare occasions before.

Kurhah, the chocolate colored Elder, stood in the corner watching the rest of them argue with wild gestures. She hid a smile from seeing his bored expression, and turned her attention on the argument. Seeing them again was almost surreal; she’d been alone with Garnet for so long.

The Elder with hair that resembled a lion’s mane jumped up. Amelia recognized him as Alderamin. He waved a hand around point a finger at Garnet. “This is your fault.”

Garnet held up both his hand, trying to calm him down. “Please just—“

Alfirk, the baldheaded Elder, stepped forth and shouted, “You haven’t been protecting the Deportaire—that must be the only reason this could happen. Somebody is using it.” He raised his head with a face filled with disgust. “This wouldn’t have happened if one of us were in charge.”

Anger seethed inside Amelia, and she was about to charge over there, but Eric held her back. “Don’t get into this,” he whispered, before addressing Kurhah. “Surely you can’t let them believe this nonsense.”

Kurhah’s dark-skinned face turned to glance over Eric with emotionless eyes. He gave a small shrug. “If my colleagues want to act like children, I’m not going to stop them—I’m and elder, not a babysitter.”

Amelia couldn’t believe her own ears. She was about to scream for attention when a loud tune filled the room. The Elder’s stopped their squabbles and turned to the new arrival.

Joshua marched in, wearing full armor and a firm jawline. He stopped in front of the Elders, and Amelia had to admire his courage—he stared them straight in the eye. Focusing on Alderamin, he stood still until the man bowed to him. The Elders knew that they had to respect the star appointed guardians—even if they didn’t like it.

And boy, they didn’t like it. Even though Amelia was standing a few feet away from them, the tension was so thick she could poke at it with a butter-knife.

“What happened?” Eric broke the silence. Nobody rushed to answer, and it wasn’t until Kurhah sighed audibly and waved a hand in some sort of design. A large book came forth from thin air, and he held them out for Eric to see.

Amelia sneaked a peek—she didn’t recognize the book. It was similar to Garnet’s book, but the swirls on the outside were flickering, almost running dry of light. It wasn’t any less beautiful, though. She wanted to caress the leather binding so much that she took a step forth.

Kurhah shook his head. “Don’t.” He pulled the book back and showed it to Eric and Joshua who was watching with wide eyes. “The magic is dying out.”

“This can’t be…” Garnet muttered. He ran a hand through his white hair and stepped away. He waved his hand in a swift moment, and another book materialized. Amelia looked between the two of them and saw the similarities.

“What does this mean?” Eric asked.

Garnet sighed. “This is the elders’ replicas of the Lyra Tome. We have them with us to consult the past, and share knowledge amongst us. They feed on magic and the flickering lights—“he pointed to the binding—“means that something is hindering the magic from coming through. Without these, Elders have no power.”

“The audacity!” Alderamin shouted. “Do not spew lies from that mouth of yours.”

Amelia had to stifle a giggle—Alderamin wouldn’t appreciate that she laughed at him. She looked between all of them. Kurhah seemed indifferent, bored even while Alfirk and Alderamin seemed furious.

Averting her eyes to her own friends, she saw Garnet, Joshua and Eric groan in unison. The three elders turned to Joshua, demanding answers.

“You were to protect the country,” Alfirk screamed. “You have failed.”

“Oh, please.” Eric snorted. “Joshua and I have done more for Astron in the past six years, than you’ve done in over twenty years on your own.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t underestimate us—you know our blessing.”

Amelia watched with wide eyes; she’d never seen Eric disrespect the elder’s like that. He was usually the first to bow down before them. Nevertheless, his words helped muting Alfirk and Alderamin.

Joshua was the next to speak. “What could be the cause of this?”

Alderamin’s upper lip coiled back in a hideous sneer. “It must be the imposter, of course.”

“Imposter?” Joshua frowned.

“Errai—that devious bastard. He must have stolen the book from its shelter,” Alderamin replied. “Who else could it be?”

“How would he have done that?” Garnet asked. “The book is sheltered with pure Star essence—Errai wouldn’t be able to get close to it.”

Amelia almost burst out laughing when she saw Alfirk make an expression that resembled a pout. She stopped herself just in time, though.

“There’s also the fact that Errai decided to flee when Vega fought him—we haven’t seen, or heard, from him in five years,” Eric noted.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not waiting to strike back at us,” Joshua muttered.

Amelia looked at her friend. Joshua had a pained expression and her heart tore apart watching him like that. He was hurt, and nothing could help him.

“Besides, whom other could it be than him?” Alfirk tapped his fingers on a marble pillar. “You are the guardians. It’s your job to serve and protect Astron—I suggest you better get started.”

Amelia’s anger rose again. Jerk. He had no right to talk to them like that. She waited to see if Eric would launch another sassy remark at him, but her hero simply ignore Alfirk. This didn’t do anything besides fueling her hatred for the Elder’s even more. She’d never been a fan of them. They were stuck-up, arrogant and incompetent. In her opinion, they weren’t fit to rule Astron, and the fact that they tore at her friends didn’t help. Only Garnet seemed to give them the respect they deserved.

Well if the boys won’t speak up—I will, she thought, then prepared to walk over to Alfirk and give him a piece of her mind. She didn’t get a chance, though. Kurhah cleared his throat and diverted the attention to him.

“All we know,” he started, “is that either someone has removed the real tome, or they’re shielding the hiding spot somehow.”

“Where was the place?” Eric asked.

“In the old country.” Kurhah started to pace back and forth. “Our ancestors sealed it off so it wouldn’t fall into wrong hands. It hasn’t been an issue until now. The tome and our world’s magic were protected.”

Eric held up a finger to silence him, and then ran over to get a map. “Do you know the place? We might know how to get there.”

Nobody said anything. Kurhah stopped his pacing and opened his book. Flipping through a bunch of pages, he finally found the one he was looking for. Clearing his throat, he spoke, “Directly hidden beneath Orion, the tome of magic rests, only guarded by a lion, where others may find tests.”

Another silence spread throughout the room. Everybody was waiting for someone to explain the rhyme.

“That makes absolutely no sense,” Joshua blurted.

“Joshua…” Eric warned.

“No, seriously. These poets of the older times—“he gestured wildly around the air—“where do they find those horrible rhymes. I’m so fed up with them.”

Amelia was watching the men talk with large interest. Normally, Garnet wouldn’t let her anywhere near the business of an Elder, and it was fascinating finally being included in not only politics, but potential doom of Astron, as well.

As she watched Joshua make a huge deal about the horrible rhyme, something clicked inside her head. It had been a long time since she’d last thought about her past. Before the temple, there was mostly darkness in her life—except for one memory.

Her mother always walked with her every evening. They lived in the city of Orion—a city named after the massive statue of a soldier with a lion at his feet. In her youth, she’d been amazed at the sheer size of the carved rock. Time after time, she’d passed that darned spot, wondering what secrets it must have witnessed.

She’d forgotten all about it until she heard that rhyme. She tuned back into the conversation, and stared at Joshua who was arguing with Alderamin. She tried to speak, but no one would listen.

“I think—“

“Not now, Amelia!” Eric interrupted. “Please go wait in your room or something. We have bigger things to do right now.”

Amelia closed her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. She saw him curse and reach out to her.

“Amelia I—“

She didn’t want to listen. Instead, she turned on her heel and ran down to her room. If they didn’t want her help, then she wasn’t going to give it to them free of charge. She ran through the wide halls, and didn’t stop to breathe before she was safely inside her room. Her heart raced as she threw herself on the bed, fighting the tears.

This wasn’t fair—it was her year day. Not only did they seem to forget everything about that, but they also raised their voices. Never before had she felt so humiliated.

Amelia sniffled, trying to stop the few tears that already started spilling. Angry, she wiped the moistness from her cheeks. She’d be damned before she allowed herself to sit idle by while they made her cry. No, she’d had enough of emotional torture. This was the last draw.

If they didn’t want her help, then she just needed to take matters into her own hands. It didn’t matter how handsome Eric was with his tousled hair, and muscular form—

Getting a bit off track there, Amelia, she thought. Shaking her head, she rose from the bed. She needed a plan. Moreover, it would be so marvelous and sneaky that the boys wouldn’t know what hit them.

Her room was quiet, but her mind screamed at her—she could do this. All she need was her traveler boots, and the will to refrain from giving in and talking to any of her friends. If she allowed them to speak, they would convince her not to go. However, she’d already decided—she was going to find the Tome of Lyra, and then she’d save Astron on her own.