Heart of Darkness

8 - Ogre Problems

Obviously, I cannot sleep with the nervousness that assaults me. I am the first to hear the news from the scout soldier upon his arrival. The news seem to be good: the army is small and has little provisions left, signaling they have probably been on the road for a long time.

I frown upon hearing this. Why would they have come from so far away in such small numbers, only to arrive here weakened. It seems a poor plan for an invasion.

Something is not quite right.

I busy myself with preparing everything for our departure as morning arrives. When Mika appears at the main gate, all the soldiers I have assigned to accompany us are ready and on their horses. I made sure Captain Jack would not be one of them, managing to convince him to stay at the castle in case something happened.

We did have quite a fight when I informed him the princess would come too. Of course, he took the news badly and defied my authority by insulting me more than once. I had to put him in his place by defeating him once again in battle.

I am quite glad for the training I had as a child. Due to such harsh training, I am now one of the best fighters in this kingdom.

He is now looking glumly at us as we leave the castle gates. Mika sits proudly upon her horse, trying to look confident, but I know better. She is nervous and scared.

I approach her in my horse, as we leave the castle gates behind.

“I am right here, my princess” I say to her, making it so no one else but her listens to my words.

She nods ever so slightly to me and actually presents me with a soft smile. I manage to smile back at her and we continue our short journey towards the camp.

When we are leaving the village behind and I know we have crossed the barrier, I cover Mika with a protection spell. It is not much, but it will be sure to keep her away from harm’s way and ensure her safe travel back to the castle.

I am expecting a full army awaiting us, seen that we did no effort to hide our arrival, but am met with a completely surprising view.

No one is expecting us, because they are far too busy already fighting. We watch in surprise for a moment as the small army desperately tries to fight off two large ogres. I frown at this. Ogres are magical creatures, only coming to be if created by a powerful spell; one only strong witches can create. This army has been cursed by a powerful witch.

But then why have they come here?

I have no time to develop my thoughts as our own soldiers urge forward to help them. Mika must have ordered them to do so though I did not hear it in my confusion for the whole situation.

I stay close to Mika as our experienced soldiers join the fight against the ogres. The army is pleasantly surprised, but they do not say a word, silently thanking the help instead.

I take the time to survey their small camp. It is obvious they have not been here for long and they are so much closer to the kingdom than what the blacksmith informed us. A wagon calls my attention as the battle continues. It is not common for a moving army to bring a wagon with them, unless it brings more weapons and supplies or… a monarch or noblemen.

The truth hits me full force. They were not here for an invasion. They were here to escort someone of high ranks, possibly trying to evade the powerful curse.

A womanly scream brings me to my senses and I notice in horror Mika is descending from her horse.

“No! Mika, wait!” I jump from my own horse as Mika runs towards the wagon, completely disregarding the battlefield around her.

I run after her as fast as I can and reach her when she is already at the wagon, trying to open the door. I keep my anger in hold and use my sword to open the door which had been hit by a large rock. Looking inside, we see two girls crying, holding onto each other. One must be around Mika’s age with blonde hair and a modest, but still somewhat royal, dress, and a little girl around the age of 8 with the same features. They are probably sisters, children of the royal family from the Kingdom of Aeria, just east from our own. Their pale skin and light colored hair gives it away.

A rackling noise draws my attention as we gaze inside the wagon. Immediately, I turn drawing my sword, just in time to stop a direct hit from one of the ogres. I manage to cut the palm of its hand but this only seems to infuriate it further.

“RUN! Get the girls and run!” I shout to Mika as the ogre returns for another assault.

I don’t have time to make sure Mika does what I say and the ogre nearly squishes me. I am forced to roll out of the way of its giant fist.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Mika managed to remove the girls from the wagon and is moving away from the battlefield. Unfortunately, so did the ogre, and it is far more interested in them than it is in me.

I jump at it in order to distract it, stabbing my long sword in its shoulder. However, I am unable to keep my position as it shoves and screams in pain, throwing me off to the ground, making me lose my balance.

I am satisfied it is no longer interested in Mika and the girls for it is now giving me its full attention; its full bloodthirst raging attention. I desperately try to stand once more, but the ogre is too fast. I am forced to roll on my back in order to avoid another direct hit from its large fists.

I finally manage to stand, but am faced with another problem: my sword is still buried in the ogre’s neck. I search around in haste, trying to find another weapon, but come back short.

The ogre jumps at me again and this time, it nearly hits me when I jump to the side. I burningly wish I could use my powers right now. I could easily defeat this beast then, but there is too much at stake for me to do that now. I’m not even sure the amount of powers I have now would be enough for me to defeat it.

The ogre regains his stand after the hit and I am forced to slowly retreat backwards as it slowly approaches me, surely readying another punch. I am actually glad these brute creatures never learn how to wield a weapon, instead preferring the use of their hands. I would already be dead if that was not so.

The ogre suddenly shouts a horrible war roar and lunges at me. I only have time to jump as I aim for my sword in its neck. Thankfully, I am able to grab a hold of it, but it is buried too deeply in its flesh; I can’t pull it out. I have no time to try again, as the ogre realizes what I have done and starts lunging at everything it can, trying to get me to fall off its back.

I hold onto my life as I tightly grab my sword and soon enough the ogre slows down, obviously tired from all that lunging. I take the moment to try to pull my sword one more time.

Thankfully, I succeed. As the ogre screams and shouts and lunges again, I pull up my sword with both hands as I keep my balance atop the giant brute, then, with all my might, I push the sword down, aiming for the back of its neck.

The sword pierces through the ogre’s neck coming out of his throat. It still lunges and screams in agony, but soon enough, it falls on his belly, dead.

I take my time to regain my breath as adrenaline still pumps my veins. I can tell the battle is over, as other soldiers gather around me watching in awe at the dead ogre underneath me. I slowly stand up and pull my sword from the giant’s neck, feeling somewhat disgusted at the greenish blood now completely covering my blade.

I take another look around and am relieved to find Mika next to one of the soldiers, safe and sound. The two girls are beside her, the youngest being held by her older sister. Mika carefully approaches me, looking worried.

I look at her as she takes in the sight of the monster I slayed and then looks back at me with a look which makes my heart flutter.

Is she worried?

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

She is worried…

I feel a warmth inside me I have never felt before.

“I am quite fine, my princess. However, we should return to the castle, so we can understand the situation we are now into”

Mika nods softly but still looks at me worriedly. A gasp brings us back to the present and we both look at where the sound came: the young princesses.

“Alice! She’s not breathing!”

Mika immediately rushes to them and quickly assesses the young princess. I take the time to wipe my blade on a nearby cloak and sheath it before I approach them. When I do, Mika already has the young child laying on the ground, taking in her pulse.

Then she does something no one is expecting: she lowers herself to the child and places her mouth upon hers while closing her nose.

Everyone gasps at this, watching them in awe.

I am quite surprised myself. I have never seen any healer do this before.

Is this something she learned from her foster mother?

Mika draws back and assesses the girl again, only to lower herself once more and repeat the flagrant act. All the while, the older princess watches them with a mix of awe, revolt and worry.

Then to everyone’s surprise, the young princess takes a deep breath of her own and starts coughing. Mika has her laying on her side and soon enough the child breathes more easily, though still passed out.

I am truly amazed. Mika has just saved this young girl’s life, with only her knowledge. I have never seen anything like it in my whole life.

“Alice!” The older princess drops to her knees, now crying and pets her sister’s hair. “You’re alright!”

“Her lungs still have a bit of liquid, but she is alright for now” Mika says to her. “How long has she been like this?”

The older princess takes some time to respond as she gathers herself and wipes her tears. “I… I’m not sure. We have been on the road for five days and… We left as soon as the witch put the curse on her” She sobs as she tells her story. “Papa said there was word of a healer here who could help her. But she wasn’t like this when we left. She just started coughing…” She starts crying yet again. “I can’t lose my baby sister! Please, you have to help her”

Mika tries to assure her that she will indeed help her little sister, but the girl simply continues crying and sobbing.

As I look upon them, I analyze in my head what I just heard. So, the royal family of the kingdom next to ours has indeed been cursed by a powerful witch, and the king had sent his daughters away in hopes they would find the healer he had heard about. For what the girl said, he did not even know the healer would turn out to be the very princess of this kingdom.

I had no idea Mika’s abilities as a healer were talked about throughout kingdoms. It is true she is an amazing healer, but I hadn’t really considered she would become famous because of it.

I approach them while the girl continues to sob.

“We must return to the castle now. There are plenty injured and all of them need rest, including us. The princesses can come on our horses. I’m afraid the wagon is far too destroyed”

Mika nods and slowly helps the older princess stand, then she kneels again in order to retrieve the sleeping child at their feet. I stop her.

“I shall take her. Focus on the princess” I say as I easily lower myself to retrieve the young princess in my arms.

Mika leads the older princess to her horse as I carry the youngest to mine, placing her atop so I can climb easily. The remaining soldiers silently take their own horses and help the injured ones climb along with them.

We silently ride back to the castle afterwards. Once passing through the village, everyone comes out of their little lives to look upon us and wonder what has happened. They will have to wait a little while longer to discover what has happened.

We enter through the castle gates shortly after and almost immediately nearly all of the castle workers come out to help. It would seem nothing else needs to be done in the castle.

All of the soldiers are taken in for proper mending and to rest. Jenna comes to collect Mika, but she simply tells her to take care of the older princess in her stead while she cares for the youngest.

Captain Jack actually has the nerve to come to the princess.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

Mika gives him no attention as she descends from her horse and comes to me to try to remove the small child from my horse. I stop her, as I descend and gather the young princess in my own arms. The child feels warm, probably having a fever.

“Where do you want her?” I ask her. She silently thanks me with her eyes and quickly instructs me to take her to her room.

When we are about to enter the castle, Mika quickly turns back to Jack.

“I’m sorry, Jack. I’ll explain everything to you once she’s doing better” She says and then immediately rushes after me.

I smirk at her disregard of him, but then focus on the matter at hand. Once we reach Mika’s room, I place the small child on her place as instructed and then simply watch as Mika does everything she can to help her get comfortable. 

Then she manages to completely surprise me when she takes my hand and looks at me with a determined look on her face.

“I need help to gather the herbs and brew the tea for her. Can you help me?”

I find my voice fails me so I simply nod. She smiles and then manages to drag me after her as she rushes through the many corridors and down the stairs.

“Go to the kitchen and tell them to start boiling the water. I’ll go ahead and gather the herbs I need”

And then she is gone, leaving me with my heart in my throat and my hand tingling.

When did I start feeling this way, I wonder?

Quickly, I do what she asked of me and then go to where she has her herbs planted. Sure enough, she is there waiting for me. She hastily signals me to come closer and dispatches a whole bunch of grass and herbs I do not know into my hands. I look at her, silently inquiring her on what I should do next.

“Take those back to the kitchen so they can be boiled. The remaining ones need to be squashed. I shall do that” She commands me. “As soon as you have the tea ready, take it to my room. I will be there with the rest in a second”

I manage to nod before I am dispatched again, glad all she orders me to do is to carry things to other places. I would not be able to do anything else in this situation. However, I am quite glad she has asked me for help, instead of any other maid.

I am truly going insane.

In any other situation, I would absolutely refuse to do this kind of thing, but now here I am actually glad I am doing it.

Once the tea is done, I take it to Mika’s room as she requested and put it down on her bedside table, looking upon the young princess. She is breathing easily now, but it is clear to me the spell she is under is quite strong. I’m afraid even Mika’s best efforts will not be able to save this little girl.

I wonder what led such powerful witch to cast such a spell upon a child this small. She must really hate the royal family.

Mika returns shortly after and I simply watch as she cares for the small girl, having her drink the tea and rubbing a weird substance on the girl’s chest. I have to look away during this procedure. It would seem Mika forgot I was there or she would have asked me to leave.

When it seems she is done, she looks at me with sad eyes. I guess she has understood the girl’s situation is dire. She slowly gets up and I have to grab her by the arm when she is swung by dizziness. She has worked herself too much today. She needs rest.

“Come. You can rest on my room tonight” I offer but she refuses.

“I’ll be alright here. I don’t mind sleeping on the ground and also…” She looks at the little girl on her bed again. “That way I can keep an eye on her”

I frown at her, but know better than to push any further. She has proven herself to be quite stubborn.

“I shall ask Jenna to grab some more blankets then” I say and she thanks me. I am about to leave, but something keeps me right next to her. Maybe it is her sad look.

I cannot leave her when she looks so sad.

“There is nothing more we can do now, I’m afraid”

“I know… I just… I don’t understand why would someone do something like this to a child” Tears gather in her eyes.

“Unfortunately, there are many evil wizards and witches who desire nothing more than to cause harm to whoever stands in their way”

Unfortunately, I was once one of them.

Was?

“How can someone be this evil?” She looks at me with tear stained eyes. A look I cannot bear to have on her face.

Slowly, I pull her to my embrace, holding her closely to my chest, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. I feel her returning my embrace as she wraps her arms around me.

“Unfortunately, this is how the world is. There is good and there is evil. One cannot be without the other”

I can feel her slightly nod and I slowly push her away to kiss her forehead. In my mind, I wish this moment could last forever.

Too soon, I have to pull away from her. I allow myself to look at her face. She is no longer crying, though her cheeks are still tear stained. I raise my hand to wipe her tears away and find myself keeping it there. She looks up at me with those beautiful and piercing brown eyes, and I want nothing more than to just-

A cough brings us back to reality. Immediately, Mika turns to the small child and I am once again left with my heart fluttering.

“W-Who are you?...” The child mumbles.

“I’m Mika” I do not look at her, but I know she is smiling. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Alice…”

“Alright, Alice. I am going to get you better, but you have to be strong for me and your sister, alright?”

“Mia is here?”

“Yes, I will call her here later on. Would you like that?”

The child nods softly and Mika pats her head.

Before I can lose control again, I reach for the door.

“I shall go call Jenna” I simply say. “Rest well, my princess”

I leave before she can reply and walk through the corridors, still unknowing of what I wish to do. My responsibilities seem to be the only thing I have left now, so I go downstairs intent on speaking with the foreign soldiers and discover what is going on. Then I shall speak with the princess herself.

Diving into my work, I manage to push the thoughts of Mika away and the fact that for a moment there, I almost lost myself and kissed her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

A week passes by after the incident. We have come to confirm the princesses we now have in our protection are Princess Amelia and Princess Alice of the kingdom of Aeria, sole daughters of King Patricius. I have sent a letter to the King, to inform him his daughters are safe with us.

Upon much inquiry, Princess Amelia has told us about her father’s mistake and what caused them to be in this situation. Many years ago, King Patricius accepted to marry a witch in order to save his life when he was drowning at a lake. However, when the witch returned years later to collect his part of the agreement, he refused to marry her.

After his refusal, everything started to crumble. The crops started to die, ogres started to terrorize the people and most recently, a deathly curse was set upon his youngest daughter.

Considering the young princess, it is a miracle she is alive and well. A miracle Mika managed to create. After a week of intense treatment, teas and ointments, Princess Alice is now able to walk around the room, breathe easily and eat with appetite.

I know now Mika’s abilities as a healer are so much more than ordinary. Surely it has something to do with her being a pure of heart.

Today, I have received the King’s response to my letter. He is eternally grateful that we saved his daughters, thanking us more than twice throughout the entirety of his letter. He explains thoroughly what we already know about his curse and in the end thanks us again, saying he will sent a few more soldiers so that his daughters can return safely to his country once Princess Alice is doing well.

In my letter to him, I did not refer that the healer who saved his daughter’s life is the princess herself. I thought it best is that would remain a secret for now.

I go to inform the three princesses of the letter and they are all met with happiness.

“We can go home” Princess Amelia says in glee.

“We can see papa!” Alice squeals in joy.

Mika simply smiles at them, having grown fond of these two girls. I am glad she managed to make new friends outside the ones from the village.

It dawns on me all this experience is perfect to forge an alliance between our two kingdoms. We are travelling towards stability at long last.

“How about we escort you ourselves?” Mika suddenly suggests and I look at her in shock.

Here she goes again with her rash decisions.

“That would be wonderful!” Amelia exclaims.

“Yes! Yes!” Alice squeals, feeling much better today. “Mika, come with us! I will get to show you my room and my toys! And my puppy!”

Mika chuckles and softly forces her to settle down. “All in good time. You have to get better first”

“But I am better!”

“I know, but you need to get even better so you can go back home”

“Alright”

I am amazed how much the child has improved in only a short week.

“So, we are going to escort you back to your kingdom as soon as Princess Alice is doing well. I shall send a letter to inform your father” I conclude and am about to leave the room when Mika comes after me.

She actually closes the door behind us so we can’t be seen by the princesses. I look at her and gulp, not really knowing what she wants.

“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have just offered our escort just like that”

Oh…

So, this is what she wants to speak with me and doesn’t want the princesses to hear. Of course, it would be strange for a princess to ask for my permission, when I am merely a counselor. I do not know why I was expecting anything else.

“I suppose you have already proven me your rash decisions can get to be the right thing to do” I smile at her. “And besides…” I allow myself the brash movement of caressing her cheek. “If anything happens, I shall always be there to protect you”

She blushes when my hand touches her cheek ever so slightly, and then smiles at me and I swear my heart skips a beat.

“I know you will” She presents me with the brightest of smiles and it takes all of my strength not to takes her in my arms and kiss her right there.

Instead, I just smile and remove my hand from dangerous grounds.

“I shall see everything is prepared for our journey”

When I am about to leave her presence, I halt in my steps and turn back at her. She is still standing there and looks at me, expectantly.

“Considering we have this chance. Would you like to have a tour around the entirety of your kingdom? After we leave the princesses in the safety of their kingdom, of course”

She takes a moment to react and then grants me the reaction I was expecting of her: she squeals in joy and hugs me tightly.

“Yes! Yes, I’d love to! Thank you!” She smiles brightly at me. “I have to tell the girls!”

And with that, she leaves back into the room. I smile to myself.

All of this is worth it if only to see her smile.

I would go to the end of the earth if it meant I could keep that smile on your face forever.