Burning Star

The interior was a funny place. Amelia had been shown around in the one room place, which apparently took place in a cave. She was far in, and the darkness surrounding her gave her the creeps. She’d gotten a sense of direction to the exit, but she knew that some of Thomas Scar Son’s men would guard it.

Amelia was mostly baffled about the floor. It seemed smooth, which a cave wasn’t supposed to be, and when she’d asked about it, the woman had simply said it was shaped this way because of the water. The statement confused Amelia even more since there was no water in here.

She clutched the pendant around her neck with her right hand. Thomas had been thrilled to place it on her. Apparently, her willingness to bear a treasure older than Astron itself was parallel with her willingness to help them out.

Of course, he’d been polite about it. He didn’t pressure her to make a decision. Instead, he’d gone all out on the friendly side. He’d presented her to the little group: an old man named Benjamin, Thomas’ wife Linda, and a younger girl who seemed to be Amelia’s age, named Beatrice. There were more people around here—Amelia could feel it. But so far, everyone she’d met seemed incredibly friendly.

“What we need you to do is simply try,” Linda said. They were still trying to get her to agree, a task that seemed never-ending on their end. In Amelia’s mind, it had become rather tedious already.

“Will you let me go?” she asked.

“Only after we’ve secured Astron’s future,” Thomas said.

Amelia stared at the little group of people with wide eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that these people must have lost their mind. She gulped and blinked her eyes, trying to convince herself that it was a dream.

“So, what do you say?” Benjamin asked. He was an old man. His toothless smile was frightening but still friendly. Amelia found it to be a strange combination, which seemed the perfect description for this whole group. They scared her out of her wits, but still seemed to be polite in their attempt.

“Let me get this right,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts enough to form one coherent sentence. “You want me to use my ‘powers’ to manifest the Tome of Lyra, and then rewrite it?”

All of them nodded eagerly, causing Amelia to groan in frustration. There was no getting around it, they were convinced she could do it—that she was the only one who could accomplish it. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her, but the conclusion that they were all insane, utterly delusional even, struck her by surprise. She almost felt sorry for thinking it in the first place.

It was a mean thought, she knew that, but there seemed to be no other reasonable solution. She had only been in their company for only a limited time, but they seemed intend to act crazy. It would break their heart, but she couldn’t play along. She couldn’t do what they asked of her.

“I can’t,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do what you ask of me. I’m not in a position to help—you’ve got the wrong person.”

In unison, their hopeful faces dropped, replaced by expressions of despair. Amelia felt horrible for crushing their hope, but she knew there was nothing she could do to help them. Her powers were a silly party trick, not some magical ability to save the universe. She could make a flower appear, and then turn it to crystal—that was it. If she let herself believe these people version of her, then she’d be just as delusional.

“I-I’m sorry,” she said, hoping to bring a bit of understanding into their eyes.

Thomas walked over to her and placed a large hand, thick with callous, on her shoulder. He sighed. “I know that this must be confusing to you. It’s a lot to take in at once, but we’re not fooling you. We need you and your powers. They’re the only way to save Astron’s future.”

“My ‘powers’ are a fraud,” she said, air quoting the word powers. “It’s something to perform on a street corner, to earn a few extra bucks—nothing else.”

“We know what your powers can do, Amelia Star Daughter.”

“How?” Amelia blurted, her voice raising in volume. “How do you know this?”

“That’s—“

She didn’t let him finish speaking. “If you know so much. Why didn’t you go to the guardians with this information? They have the power—and the fate—to save Astron. It is literally their whole job description.”

“The guardians might be the savior of our people, but not the land. They don’t possess the power to save the magic—you do.” Thomas rubbed his unkempt beard.

“The guardians are my friends,” she argued. It offended her that these people would dismiss the sacrifices that Eric and Joshua had to make for Astron. Thomas sounded as if the guardians weren’t worthy of this task, which was ridiculous—Eric and Joshua was more worthy than her when it came down to that.

Thomas didn’t say anything else, which further antagonized Amelia. She could feel the frustration soaring through her veins. “Why me?” she demanded to know.

“Because,” a small voice chirped from the darkness, “I told them to reach out to you, not the guardians.”

Amelia couldn’t see discern who was talking. A sense of dread filled her inside, and she started backing away from the group until her back hit a wall of stone. “Who’s there?” she called.

The group of people became silent, and their expression seemed to portray a sense of worry. She gulped, thinking that now would be a terrific time to run away.

They all made way for a small form to break through from the shadows. It was a tiny person, seemingly a child, dressed all in white. Her skin was pale, and her hair silver—it was as if she were a spirit, gliding over the floor.

Amelia’s eyes widened at the small form. The thing that rendered Amelia speechless wasn’t the girl’s spirit-like appearance—it was her eyes. Completely white, with no hint of pupils or even an eye color, they fixated on a point beside Amelia.

What is she? Amelia thought, feeling slightly dizzy from surprise.

“The guardians are not of Astronia origin,” she said. “They haven’t been exposed to the magic of our land like you.”

“W-who are you?” Amelia stuttered.

“My name is Orianna,” the girl answered. “In this company, people call me the Oracle. I’ve insisted they stop, but there’s no reasoning with these people. They’re intent on treating me differently.”

“Orianna? O-oracle?” Amelia’s thoughts didn’t cooperate to make sense of the situation. Why was this little girl talking as and Elder? Amelia started to blink rapidly, trying to wake up from this horrendous dream.

“Don’t be afraid,” Orianna said. “I can’t harm you, even if I wanted you to. And Thomas would never lay a hand on you.”

Even though Amelia couldn’t explain why, her tension started to ease by the words. She glanced at the other people, her eyes begging for answers, but no explanation was offered. The small group of people had respectfully bowed their heads to the girl, and there was no getting them to stop.

“I saw you once, you know,” Orianna said. “I saw you with the star—Vega—and the guardians. I saw you meet them, the only person who could see them in that entire realm.”

“Ho—“

Amelia didn’t get to finish her thought because the Oracle continued, “I watched as you made the decision to interfere with fate.”

That had never been her intention, and Amelia wasn’t sure what the girl was talking about—she never made a conscious decision to change anything.

“I can feel your confusion,” Orianna said. “Maybe you’d like me to refresh your memory?”

“What do you mean?” Amelia frowned.

“I saw you beneath the bed, hiding inside an abandoned house in the realm of the Black Holes. I saw you clutch the pillow, believing it would protect you…”

Amelia closed her eyes and remembered the episode. She’d been afraid, the three people were nice to her, and she didn’t want to be alone any longer—she was tired of feeling alone. On her tiny legs, she’d rushed over to her past home. The blue portal in the middle of her mother’s sewing room.

She’d known that it wasn’t her real mother, but she hadn’t minded at the time. Amelia was tired of being afraid, and the woman had claimed Amelia as her daughter. But the woman was dead, and only the two boys and a girl had shown her any kindness. She stepped into the portal and into a scene where people fought with swords. The screams still haunted her nightmares, and the images in her mind were forever carved in her memory.

“Ah, you remember, I see,” Orianna said, shaking Amelia from her thoughts. She cleared her throat, and continued, “In the past, you decided to disobey a Star’s direct order. It was needed for the world to continue. Vega is the brightest star in our constellation, but she was confused. Her mortal body needed guidance. She couldn’t figure out what to do, bedazzled by the blond guardian.”

“Do you mean Joshua?” Amelia knew that he had some sort of past with Vega, but he never spoke of it.

Orianna shrugged. “I don’t know his name.” She turned around slowly, walking over to a small mattress. “Please, sit with me. My legs can’t bear to stand.”

Amelia wasn’t surprised. The girl seemed frail and thin as paper—almost halfway to the land of the dead. She obeyed the girl and sat down on the dirty mattress. The group of people disappeared out of sight, but Amelia knew that didn’t mean much. She didn’t know how they could make light focus on one place only, but there was a lot to be hidden in the shadows—that much she knew.

Orianna stumbled over a rock, and Amelia reached out to catch her. When their skin collided, a loud gasp erupted from the darkness, proving her suspicion. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“The rogues are afraid of touching me,” Orianna explained. “My skin once hurt them. They take care of me with as little physical contact as humanly possible.”

“That’s cruel. Any person needs contact.”

“Ah, yes.” Orianna held up a finger. “But you need to see the person as human for that to apply.”

Amelia wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded confusing. Tilting her head, she looked at the girl: the white eyes weren’t the only odd thing about her. Orianna’s hair was almost silver, and her skin pale as spirit. If there’d been more light, Amelia thought she’d be able to spot the veins running beneath the skin.

“Why me?” Amelia asked.

“Because you’re the only one who can do it. The Star touched you, she brought you back to life for a purpose—this is the purpose.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen it happen.” A smile appeared on Orianna’s lips.

“What does that even mean?”

“That’s my secret. People all want to know how, or why. But all you actually need to know is that I speak the truth.”

That made no sense, and at the same time, Amelia understood. She didn’t get why it had to be her, and she honestly couldn’t justify going along with this when she knew that she wasn’t the right person.

“I’ll try, but I’m telling you, I will let you down, most likely.”

Orianna grinned. “I doubt that, but all we ask for is that you try.”

“Great, what do I have to do then?”

Orianna raised a hand, and the woman came over with a stack of papers. She handed them to Amelia, who took them with a confused expression.

“This—“Orianna placed a hand on the stack—“is different shapes that you need to memorize. Practice the movements and when you can successfully make all of them, I’ll help you set them together to manifest the Tome.”

Amelia nodded and stared at the papers. They seemed old and withered. Scribbled on them were thin lines, which made up a part of the Tome. Amelia recognized some of the patterns from the book in Kurhah’s hand. She sucked air into her cheeks, and let it slowly out while flipping through the papers. She’d better get started here.

The night had fallen across the land, and Eric was staring at the sky through the treetops, waiting for Joshua to speak. It was agonizing to wait for the Stars to answer their prayers, but mostly he couldn’t think of anything else than Amelia. His thoughts kept coming back to the nightmares. He was starting to believe that they weren’t a dream, but a premonition. He cursed. If only he’d insisted on chasing after Amelia, then things would have been better all around—he was sure of it.

“Anything yet?” he asked Joshua.

“Patience…” Joshua answered and changed some settings on his miniature Star scope.

Eric didn’t know how it worked, but he found it fascinating. To have infinite knowledge of the world just by using a little logic, and a device that resembled some sort of binocular. It was truly astonishing to think of it like that, but of course, magic didn’t work that way.

His teeth found his bottom lip, and he started gnawing on it while pacing back and forth beside Joshua. Amelia had been missing for hours now, and the meeting with Tom hadn’t helped calm Eric’s nerves.

The man mourned the loss of his brother in a strange way. He’d been silent and without any facial expressions to show his feelings, but Eric figured that each person had their own way to deal with sorrow—he wasn’t one to judge.

“Eric!” Joshua yelled. “For Solem’s sake, your pacing is distracting. I can’t hear myself think with you so close. Please go lie down or something.”

The outburst made Eric stop in his tracks. He stared at Joshua, wide-eyes and speechless, trying to make sense of his own thoughts. Was he serious? Joshua knew darned well that if Eric went to sleep, it wouldn’t be peaceful, and it certainly wouldn’t help their situation at all.

“Please?” Joshua begged. “I need to find the answers. Just go talk to the soldiers or something. Find out if they have any new information.”

Eric bowed his head. “As you wish, sir.”

He knew it was a low blow; Joshua hated his title as a guardian. Not because of the job, but because of the judgments from soldiers—they saw guardians as superiors, and not humans.

He walked away before seeing the feeling of hurt painted on Joshua’s face. Their group had split up into small camps, the soldiers commanded to find the Tome on their own while Joshua and Eric stayed back, looking for Amelia. She was a priority, and Eric would gladly sacrifice magic to save her. He knew that he couldn’t say that aloud, but it was how he felt.

Tom was sitting by the fireplace alone, and Eric decided to join him. He could hear the three soldiers, who stayed with them, chatter in the distance, and found the noise oddly comforting.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, and pointed to the place across from Tom. Several logs were spread out to offer some seating around the fire. Tom shook his head, and Eric sat down, keeping silent.

“It’s funny,” Tom started, “I knew we weren’t the only ones in the forest. Plenty of rogues has grouped together to try to form their own little society—much like David and me. I should have seen this coming.”

Eric glanced at the man. “So you weren’t alone in here?”

“No,” Tom said and hooked a thumb behind him. “We’re several small groups, who tend to stick together when we meet, but otherwise keep to our own.”

Eric acknowledged the answer with a slow nod. He needed to be careful to voice his next question. If there were other rogues in the forest, there would be a high chance that his dreams became visions instead. He cleared his throat and stared into the flames. “Have there been other attacks throughout the forest?” he asked.

Tom rubbed his jaw, thinking it over. “No, actually. It’s always been quiet. The only attacks that ever happen around here are for survival.”

“Survival?” Eric frowned.

“Yeah, you know.” Tom waved a hand around. “When a wagon with plenty of money passes by and taunts with their riches. David and me, we stayed clear off the paths. If we ever want to return to society, it’s no good to have a bounty on our head. But others can’t stop themselves.”

“Who might these rogues be? Do you know them personally?”

“Not really. We only greet in passing, and never more than a slight wave for good luck. I do know that they often travel with a little girl.”

“A girl?” This seemed unlikely. Why would rogues travel with a child?

Tom shrugged. “They call her an oracle or something. In my opinion, they’re blasphemous, but what do I know, right?”

“Do you know if they have a hideout near this area?”

Tom snorted. “You think we’re buddies or something? No one reveals his or her hideouts around here. It’s like a code for us. We need to protect our closest from harms, and it’s not like we have an outstanding reputation of being friendly neighbors.”

For a moment, Eric didn’t react, choosing to remain silent and simply stare at the man. He tried to figure out if the man were lying to him. There was no way to explain it, but Eric felt that something was off with this man. He just couldn’t place his finger on what it could be.

Right before the silence became too awkward; Tom spoke again, “I can’t say I haven’t tried to find out, though. Always a smart idea to stay ahead of ‘em, ya’ know? It’s better to find out, and be prepared, instead of waiting for ’em to attack us.”

“Does this mean you know something?” Eric asked.

Tom shrugged. “I can’t say that I know much. I know an area where they usually operate.”

“That might work. We’re six people—investigating a smaller area can be possible.” Eric met Tom’s eyes. “I’m taking it that you’d like to help?”

The man nodded. “Anything to avenge my brother.”

Eric didn’t know why, but the tone of Tom’s voice made him shiver. There was something not right here, but Tom was their only lead so far. Amelia needed him, and Eric knew that he had to get his act together if he wanted any chance of saving her.

“Great,” he said and rose from the log. “We’ll leave at the rise of Solem tomorrow then. Please be prepared.”

He walked away from Tom, and without thinking, his hand went to a small pouch hanging by his side. He stuck his hand inside and clutched the blue ribbon tight. Realizing he was alone, he stared at the Stars through a little peephole in between the three crowns. Involuntarily, he sunk to his knees and bowed his head in a prayer.

Eric would do anything to be able to turn back time. He wouldn’t have yelled at her, and he would have made sure to give her the gift. He wished he could do it all over, instead of being a jerk to her. But most of all, he wished that she was safe.