From Blue to Black
Arrazanal crept quietly over to the dark auras. She was watching them as she silently climbed the tall trees. The tree’s thick branches were almost completely hidden from those below, but she didn’t need her eyes to sense the strangers. Her lithe Ezoni body crept along the branches to take a better view of them. She could hear them whispering to each other in a language like her own. It twigged in her mind; she’d heard that language before – it was the night her father lost his life.
Normally, panic would course through her when fronted with Noszarel, but this time courage and the spirits were on her side. She silently skipped to a thinner branch with a clearer sight of the ground. There were three Noszarel moving slowly among the mounds of the meadow, wearing deep maroon leather suits that covered them from head to toe – their outfits were soft enough for easy movement and thick enough to prevent whip injuries. Arrazanal’s eyes travelled to their chests and waists, each of them carrying a type of bow strapped to them along with a variety of scythe daggers, while she was wearing no armour and unarmed. This slightly unnerved her, but confidence remained in her blood.
She counted two men and one woman that huddled closely together. There didn’t appear to be any more. Even with her limited knowledge of the enemy’s tactics, this was highly irregular for Noszarel. If they sought an ambush, they would be individually separated across the meadow and pick off the unsuspecting Nalashi sentries before assaulting unarmed tribesmen. But the trio appeared to have been moving as one, making tracks and a lot of noise. Excitement rippled through Arrazanal’s body as she watched the intruders, but she quickly suppressed her emotions and thoughts in fear that one of them might detect her presence – and her fears were soon justified.
The woman stopped first, along with the two men. She leaned over to whisper in one of their ears. She had never seen Noszarel so close before. All the stories from her people always told that they appeared like pale demons with razor sharp teeth and cat eyes. However, the sight of them was far from the truth. Noszarel shared many features with Nalashi. Yet, their complexions were fairer and paler than their southern cousins. The woman was strangely beautiful, Arrazanal thought, her eyes were an unusual moon-blue, and her braided hair was of silvery lavender colour. A part of Arrazanal was disappointed that the two peoples were in war, but those thoughts left her as quickly as they came. The three looked around in different directions, perhaps searching for what the woman had sensed, but thankfully, none of them thought to gaze towards the tree canopies.
Arrazanal wanted to slink away from the branch and sprint off to warn someone, but the trio was already in high alert for any movement. Her confidence wavered as they stalked closer to the trunk of the tree she hid in; she could sense they were listening for any sounds. She held her breath, hoping that maybe they would keep moving, but dread pierced her heart as familiar thoughts emanated from the open meadow.
She turned to see Zjelazanal skipping through the lush meadow as she plucked flowers from nearby vines and tightly held them in her healed hand, just like her older sister told her to. She was blissfully unaware of the danger so near.
“I told you we’re not alone,” the woman whispered.
“She isn’t our mission; we need to keep moving.” one man whispered.
“If she sees us, then she is a liability,” said the other male in a low menacing tone.
Arrazanal’s body froze; her sister would be another victim in the war. She had to act. If the potion enhanced her psionics, perhaps they could be used to attack the enemy. She closed her eyes and bundled all her rage, fear and hate into the centre of her chest, moulding those emotions into a mixture of maddening hysteria.
“Just take her with us,” the female said. The other two nodded and began closing in on Zjel. With all her might, Arrazanal reached deep into the intruders’ mind and unleashed a torrent of all her pent-up emotions into their minds. The Noszarel stopped dead in their tracks; their bodies went from panther-like grace motion to rigid movements akin to a panicked elk. The two males quickly turned on each other. Their eyes were wild with rage; their fists flew, and legs kicked as they tumbled onto the roots in a struggle. The female leapt on one of the male’s backs, with an animalistic shriek as she bit deep into the male’s neck. He howled in pain and gripped her braid to rip it off. The other male kicked into the woman’s ribs. Arrazanal heard and sensed a bone crack, but the pain didn’t affect her this time as she channelled more of herself into the trio.
The wet punches and screams caught Zjelazanal’s attention. Arrazanal looked towards her sister’s little face glancing to the fight behind the trees. Her magenta eyes widened as fear froze her body.
“Run, Zjel! Get someone!” Arrazanal shouted.
Zjel dropped her flowers and bolted towards the family’s house screaming for their brother. Thankfully, she vanished out of sight in mere seconds. As Arrazanal turned her attention back to the group, an arrowhead shot past her head, taking a small portion of her hair. The shock loosened her grip on the high thin branch and sent her plummeting onto the thick roots. The side of her eye socket cracked as her head contacted the hardwood. Her vision blurred – yet, she could still see the Noszarel auras.
The female had her bow out and another arrow in her hand. With another shriek, she charged at the barely conscious Arrazanal with the arrow tip pointing directly to Arr’s chest.
“We will not be stopped!” she screamed to Arrazanal. Just before the female reached her, a long black whip slapped the side of her face – sending her to the floor. The other two men stopped their fight, and a moment later, two arrowheads were shot penetrating their chests. Their young faces expressed shock and confusion as they died on the meadow’s grass.
As Arrazanal’s world turned black, several figures appeared from behind the trees and ran towards the scene. She remembers one person gripping her arms and lifting her from the roots before her world fell away into darkness.
~
The starry night sky was swallowed by an amber glow behind the tree lines. The hot fires ravaged the land, and dozens of screams echoed across the dark forest. Arrazanal heard the call of her father; her strong fourteen-year-old legs darted to him but were met with an invisible barrier that separated the two. She slammed her fists against the wall, calling out to him that she was right there, but her shouts were drowned out by all the other villagers. Had she travelled to the past to save him and her mother? She wondered; she hoped.
“Arr come back, I can’t do it on my own!” she heard her then eight-year-old brother’s pleas.
“I’m coming, Dath, stay where you are!” Arr said as she sprinted off to the edge of the forest to find another path.
Her legs carried her swiftly through the dark green foliage; she watched the tall grass part the way for her – almost as if the wilds wanted her to go. The heat from the inferno bathed her skin, but it didn’t sting. She didn’t shy away once. This was her time to right the wrongs.
She bounded past the thicket only to find a red fire blazing before her. Its flames leapt up to her, trying to burn her, but Arrazanal dodged every attack. It wasn’t going to hurt her; the blaze was weaker than her. She found her footing and charged through its centre. The fire was ripped in half and quickly dispersed into the charred soil. She leapt over high rising roots, bushes, even small trees and yet her legs still felt powerful –with each hurdle. A clearing of the burning village appeared before her. She was so close. With another even greater leap, Arrazanal propelled herself over the last smouldering clump of foliage. Just before her feet contacted the town road, a green vine wrapped itself around her ankle in blinding speed.
Her momentum was lost, and she plummeted to the earth, with her face planting into the dead grass. She turned to slash at the moving vine with her long nails. Instead it crawled up to her shins and tightened its grasp.
“No! I must save them, it’s not my time to go,” she said breathlessly.
The vine started to pull her into the bush as she tried kicking it off. She dug her nails into the dirt trying to pull herself out of its powerful hold. Instead, she left a trail of claw marks in the soil before she was sucked through the earth beneath the foliage. The vine kept dragging her down past the roots of the trees and bushes. Her hands reached out trying to grab anything, but all slithered out of her grasp.
Down, down, down the damp soil Arrazanal travelled as she watched the amber light vanish behind the roots. Was this her death? Was she dying from her head injuries? She wondered.
With the last tug from the vines, she felt herself drop into a narrow hallway beneath the ground. The hall was held together by roots and carved stone, though she had never known anything of a structure built beneath her village. As she crouched down, avoiding the low ceiling from striking her head again, she came to an elegantly crafted wooden door. It depicted small figures, perhaps Ezoni, dancing with Wild Spirits above them. She scanned around the doorframe to find glowing water leaking from the top of the frame and down to the sides into two fountains beside it.
Arrazanal bit her lip and gently stretched her arm out to touch the door. To her surprise, the door was damp but strangely warm. As her fingers caressed around the carved shapes of the figures, she heard a low sorrowful moan from behind. The door vibrated beneath her skin and creaked open to reveal a dark circular room. She peered inside to see a blue light emanating from the ceiling down into the centre. The light reflected off the ankle-high water’s surface in the chamber and a strange figure crouched beneath it. She stepped through the door and into the warm water; she found that the ceiling was high enough to stretch up straight.
The door slammed shut behind her as more moans came from the crouched figure. On closer inspection, Arrazanal realised it was a female, but unlike any she had ever seen. As Arrazanal inched closer, the female’s cries grew louder. Her long platinum white hair was soaked, her skin was the colour of fallen leaves, and her blue one-piece suit was dark from absorbing so much water. Her face was covered by her elegant hands. Arrazanal wanted to pry them from her face to see who this stranger was, but an eerie familiarity washed over her – stopping her from going through with touching the female.
Arrazanal’s heart hammered in her chest; the female’s wails grew louder until the sound ricocheted off the chamber’s circular walls. A sense of dread washed over her, this perhaps could be her afterlife. Ezoni had beliefs about life beyond, but the Nalashi druids had taught the children that in afterlife, Ezoni were to be reunited with loved ones and exist in a place above the world with the Wild Ones. Arrazanal looked down to the female in disbelief, she had no idea whom this person was and where this blissful place was.
A frightening thought crept into her mind. This was against the druid’s teachings. However, they have been wrong about things before and are just people with their own flaws.
“Nai, this cannot be my death. There’s nothing here but horror and torment!” Arrazanal shouted. The water rippled around her ankles as it slightly rose. A sudden throb of pain shot from her eye socket, she placed her hand over her eye to massage her temple, but to no avail.
“My father is dying, and I cannot save him, my mother will die from a broken heart, and my brother will resent me until the end of time! This isn’t bliss; this is hell!” Arrazanal kicked the warm water, creating large waves on its surface.
“I don’t want this to be the end,” she said under her breath as she rubbed her eye sockets. She felt a hard stone lodged into her skin and she pulled it out from her temple. A hot sticky substance leaked onto her fingers. Arrazanal looked to find blood dripping down her wrists, and a dark pebble lay in her palm. She dropped it into the water, causing a greater ripple in the surface and in doing so, causing the liquid to climb higher to her shins. The female stopped crying and remained silent. Arrazanal watched in anticipation as the female lifted her head from her hands and turned to face her. Her gorgeous golden eyes looked deep into her soul.
“It wasn’t my time to go, either,” she said.
Arrazanal’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Nai, please, I will do better next time,” she said.
“We don’t make those choices, they are made for us - us failures,” the female said.
“I won’t fail, I’ll do better. I want to go home!” Arr said.
The female floated to her feet, her height towering over Arrazanal. “You will fail again and again like you have done so many times before. What makes you think you will do better?” she said. Arrazanal could feel the water climbing higher and faster; she looked down to see it was nearly at her hips.
“Because you need to know how to fail before you know how to succeed,” Arr said. Sounds of wood creaked loudly above their heads. Arrazanal looked up to see one the roots breaking and unleashing a waterfall. Another thick root broke to unleash, another broke and another. Water quickly rose in the chamber, but the strange female didn’t seem bothered. Instead, her long and toned arm reached out and slapped Arrazanal across her cheek.
Bewildered and in pain, Arrazanal tumbled into the rising water. She held her breath as the female came in and grabbed her around the shoulders. She hoped that the female would pull her up to air. Instead, she held the her down. Arrazanal tried shoving the female off, but the female’s strength was overpowering. Her chest started to ache; her lungs needed air. The female wavered in her grip, and Arrazanal took that opportunity to wriggle herself free from her grasp. For good measure, she kicked the female in the face with her agile legs before propelling herself up into the remaining air in the chamber.
When reaching the surface, Arrazanal sucked in as much air as her lungs would allow. She could no longer feel the surface of the floor and gripped the roots above her head keeping herself afloat. The female floated up to the roots as well, mimicking Arrazanal’s gripping of the wood. Her strong arms tried grabbing at Arrazanal’s arm, but she was too fast for this strange non-Ezoni woman. She dodged and evaded every attempt of the female’s grasp. The female lunged at Arrazanal in bear-hug formation; Arr gulped a last bit of air and pushed herself down into the water. She opened her eyes and looked to the wooden door on the other side of the chamber. Her legs kicked as she made her way through the water, not giving a second to turn and see how far away the female was.
Arrazanal gripped the doorframe, trying to push her fingers between the opening of the wood and frame. Fortunately, her fingers were slender enough to create a small opening. With all her remaining strength, she pried the door from its frame and started to see water escaping through the crack. Her victory was short lived as the female slammed her hand against the wood, forcing it to shut. Arrazanal looked up to see the female’s arm latch onto her shoulder and reel her closer. Her lungs felt like they were ready to burst. She could no longer resist the stranger and the fight for air.
As the female pulled her closer, Arrazanal looked upon her mocha-skinned face and saw her thick luscious lips curve into a loving smile. The female opened her mouth, but no air bubbles escaped, and she spoke under the water.
“Let go and allow the water in,” she said.
Arrazanal shook her head, her cheeks full of used air felt as if they were ready to rip from her gums.
“Go and succeed, Arrazanal. For both of us.” The female said as she pressed Arr’s cheeks together releasing all her air. Water rushed into her mouth. She didn’t resist as it pushed its way into her empty lungs. Her body jerked for a moment until a sense of calm washed over her. Arrazanal felt the female let go of her body before shutting her eyes.
She felt her body rise, higher and higher. Light peaked through her eyelids, yet she didn’t dare open them yet. She felt her heart beating faster and blood pumping through her neck. She felt aromatic air rushing through her nose and fill her lungs. In the distance, she heard two voices speaking. Carefully, her eyelids rolled back to see she was laying on a soft mattress and sunlight was shining through transparent silk curtains. She felt wet hands rub her scalp and her head in a silver bowl of warm water. A woman’s head popped into view, her eyes widened, and her jaw fell.
“A’laar! You’re awake. Quick, get the healer!” she said looking to another beyond Arrazanal’s field of vision.
A dry cloth was draped around her head while the other woman hurried out of the white room.
“Can you hear me, Arrazanal?” said the first woman.
She hardly mouthed a ‘yes’, as her throat was too weak to crack a sound.
“By the wilds, it’s good to see you amongst the living again,” she said.