REDEMPTION

17. BETRAYED.

“That’s impossible!” Young Millim exclaimed. 

She must have heard wrong. A shadow of a wolf like creature appeared before her. It’s features were a bit hazy for a few seconds before they became refine. Before her stood a wolf that was not ordinary. With its height, it looked right into young Millim’s eyes while it sat on the ground. Audrey imagined its height while it stood and shivered. 

Audrey threw that thought away and focused on what was going on. The wolf had black fur that glistened in the dark sky. It had white fur that formed a star shape on its forehead. Audrey approached carefully, frightened that it would pick up her scent like that thing in the dark had sensed her presence. Even after getting too close to the wolf, she did not receive a reaction. She then proved it, only that thing could sense her. 

She stood right behind young Millim and looked right into the wolf’s eyes. However, no matter how many times she looked into the two beady whirlpools, she could not remember what color they were. All she knew was that they were big, puppy – looking and mysterious. Was this a skill that the wolf had? And was it even a wolf to begin with? Her curiosity was answered almost immediately. 

The wolf spoke making her jump backward. The wolf’s lips moved, and it was not forced or animated. It spoke! The wolf’s voice was deep and husky and it engulfed Audrey in its charm for a moment. She tried recalling what it had said but she was too distracted to remember. From its voice, Audrey could tell that the wolf was male. She decided to take in the wolf’s features. It’s tail wagged from left to right occasionally. His front paws had white fur on them as well as his neck and chest. Audrey was sad that its fur was getting soiled. 

The wolf called out a name, one she had not heard before, `Achlysa’. Was that her name? Then who was Audrey? And who was Millim? The situation at hand did not let her think further. The wolf spoke again. He seemed distressed and angry about something. Whatever he said could not be made out. Something was interfering with their communication. 

What Audrey picked out from the little that she had heard was that the Eunuch’s had gone back on their word. They had attacked trigger territory and even though some had managed to escape into hiding, there were still many casualties. Those that were taken alive were burnt at the city square of every nation for the world to see. Those that pretended to be dead managed to survive somehow although they were gravely injured meaning their survival was not guaranteed. 

The white part of the wolf’s fur began to turn into an ugly red color. He winced in pain but still continued like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He submitted a full report on the situation after Achlysa had left her kingdom to attend to a mission the eunuch’s had given her. Yet after she left, they attacked, tortured and even killed her people. Those who were innocent supporters were not left out either. 

Achlysa’s anger could be seen as dark and light energy was emitted from her body as it intertwined angrily outside her body. A rock that broke off from the cliff and was heading right toward her was smashed to dust by this energy. Audrey could no longer tell the colors of Achlysa’s eyes. They switched from red to blue to green to white to gold to purple to amber to black. 

The emotions that welled up inside her could not be explained. She stood there and pondered before signaling the wolf to continue. He nodded and stated that they were heading for her. To make sure she did not escape from the land she had been assigned to. The wolf tried to warn her about something but he could not say. He shook his head and the red on his fur began getting darker. 

Audrey finally caught on, it wasn’t that the white on his fur was changing color, he was bleeding. Out of concern she moved and tried to touch the wolf’s head to stop the bleeding but her hand went right through him. She looked back at older Millim to find that she was gone. She looked around and called out to her. Nothing. 

Just then, the wall that shielded them from the dangerous dark emptiness paved way and revealed what was behind it. While this happened, the path she had come in with sealed itself. Achlysa did not notice or she did not care. She stood there and stretched her hand toward the wolf. A silver glow came from her hand and the wolf seemed to become more alert as she did this. 

“Midnight, this is my decree, protect till such a time I will come back. Hide till my reign is nigh. Find me at such a time and I will take over once more.” The wolf’s ears stood, his eyes seemed hurt. Achlysa never called him by his name but by one that she had given him Tempest. It meant storm. Since her name meant darkness, she once told him that the dark could not exist without a storm to clear a path for dusk. She had also named her generals related to this and they all loved their given names. 

Tempest, however, knew that she did this to grab his attention. He bowed his head slightly and replied in an assured tone. “Your highness.” 

With that, Midnight vanished into nothingness. Achlysa sat down and meditated for a while. As she did this a magical circle drew itself beneath her. Audrey heard her mumble some words. She opened her eyes and looked at the circle. She sighed but still sat there. She felt stupid for exposing her people to such cruelty. Just because she wanted to get along with the rest. She had been too naïve and trusting. Now her kingdom was in ruins. Her people were most likely cursing her right this very minute. And the people she had formed an alliance with, wanted her blood. She knew for sometime that they only used her and wanted her alive for her power. But, she had not expected her use to run out this soon. 

However, she was prepared if something like this ever happened. Her only regret was that her people had to suffer the same fate as she did. If only… if only she had been smarter. 

Sighing, she stood and dusted her clothes. Achlysa had already picked up the dark aura lurking behind the stone wall. She waved her hand and the wall come back to its original position. She turned and waved her hand again, this time, the wall paved way for her. Her eyes screamed death as she walked 3back the path she had come from. 

As she reached the end, she was not surprised when she met army of men. The eunuchs were leading them. All of them had armor on, sword, bow, spear or blade in hand. She herself was unarmed but she did not seem to care. Achlysa scanned around as she counted the men before her. A wicked laughter erupted from her lungs. She counted again. Five thousand. `They only sent five thousand,’ She thought herself. 

In a lazy tone she told them that only one of them would survive. The men sneered and told her that they were prepared for death. However, they were somehow sure that they would survive. 

“Then let me show you what my name Achlysa means.” 

With that the battle began. 

It is said that she did indeed leave only one survivor. A survivor who came back with a girl. He claimed that the girl was the trigger king but she was clueless, harmless and useless. Her eyes had no hint of red but only green and blue. The land in which they fought became the dead realm. The souls of the four hundred and ninety nine men were trapped there. Their bodies did not rot nor did their souls leave their bodies. They walked seeking the unknown. They were unable to speak so no one knew what they really wanted. 

The death realm was the sealed off from the other realm and rumors were spread to keep people away from it. This young survivor was given the highest post and the girl he brought back was welcomed I to his home after he married.