21: Between Life and Death

(Princess Ashti)

I feel warm and heavy. The whisper of the wind covers my ears. I feel like floating. As far as I can remember, that Mishublahblah attacked us. She's the worse kid I've ever met. She almost dragged me to death! I found myself leaning on the rock behind me. My wounds are healed, and my clothe, the only missing is me in the city that alms like a beggar.

They are both leaning on me that's why I feel heavy. Haris on my shoulder and Maruwie on my thighs. I scream like frightened to wake them up, and my plan is failed against Haris. Such a deep-sleeper. Only Maruwie woke up, gnashing her teeth for thinking that there are enemies around. I laugh at her.

"Maruwie! I'm just kidding!"

And there she calm herself.

"If there are enemies around you don't have to scream, I can feel them, you know?" and I thought he's still sleeping. I stood swiftly and let him fell

"I just wanna stretch my body!" I said while warming up and finally got to recognize the place we're at. A field covered by different races of flowers. Such a jaw dropping view. I walk onward looking at the flowers as I step. I've never seen this kind of unique flowers before! They made the whole place colorful. And with great luck, I saw the group of blue roses.

It totally caught my attention, I don't care if I pull Haris everywhere. I knelt to touch those, I know it's thorny and I keep that in mind. All the colors of roses can be seen here, I even saw violet roses.

"What's so fascinating about those?" he asked. I guess that's not a complain but I answer in a different way

"Thank you." His eyebrows meet on the other hand I keep my smile. "Isn't it obvious? I love seeing unique and gorgeous things like this. And I started seeing these things when I travel with you! Well I guess, traveling gives me so much fun—"

"You shouldn't." I simply replied a flustered face. "That Mishuzyñel is hunting me, which means as long as you're traveling with me you're in trouble. What's fun about that?" I stand to face him.

"I don't mind, I may be a burden but I know I'm safe with you. You just saved me yesterday, right?"

"You called that saving you?!"

"Fine, then say it's part of your mission out of your will but I'm alive today because you saved me," he look away.

"Haris... is something bothering you?" something reminded me, about the tragedy I saw.

"Haris, are you the child..." I don't know how to start, but he knew what I meant. He removed his right glove and show me the tattoo on his palm.

"Meet Elaiyh. Mr. Holland gave me this mark or mostly they called seal. They say this is the only way to defeat the Queen who invented the current chaos. Just calling upon its name it'll give me the power I desire. But I can't use it often for it will cause me death because this seal came from the power of god. And I'm just an innocent mortal.

This is the reason why they hunt me, or let's just say the Queen is hunting me. She only uses her power of hypnotism to command her victims, one of them is Mishuzyñel. About the prophesy, this kind of melancholy will spread around the world. But a certain child will stop it by killing the Queen. And yes, that was me."

Those times, the Queen destroyed his kingdom knowing that the child is there. Him. I keep my mouth shout for knowing that His home became a home of ghost because of him. Yet he survived.

"You saw the tragedy, aren't you?" a sudden question from him. I stammer, afraid to confess what I witnessed.

"Y-Yesss..." I can't look at him. He knelt down to pick some roses and hid it inside his coat.

"Why are you doing that?"

"A simple gift for someone I esteem." I assume that he changed topic for feeling my tremor. Or he doesn't want to talk about it.

"Haris, if you're that child of the prophecy, then it means you're destined to save everyone! That's relieving enough to stay with this chain. Also, about yesterday, that was our very first and awesome partnership we made, right?!" And now I'm grinning. I feel delighted that I made him smile and did a high-five.

However, the blend of his emotion changed to hostile. He look at the sky and show me 'E'. Another enemy approaching?! He changed the direction of his glare at beside us in fleet. And I wonder how and when did it got here. A non-human thing but shaped like a human, its body is covered by gold armor and spear as a weapon. It's standing and looking at Haris.

"Nello, what brings you here?"

"Greetings to Princess Ashti and also to you Haris, a message and mission was given to me by Princess Jexica."

They knew each other. Shaking hands is part of their greet, yet it's taking them too long having hand and eye contact. Are they communicating through telepathy? The sunlight was blocked, a shadow surrounds us. I look above and there's something falling exactly to our location.

Haris is busy, is everything depending on me?! This monster seems familiar. Maruwie turned to a dragon same size as the monster falling at us. Whenever Maruwie change shape, she covers her body with fire and vanished when the transformation is done. Maruwie protected us, and this two doesn't even care much?! They're both like dinosaurs having duel. And because of their insane size, every step of them causes ground shaking.

After their contact, Haris nodded.

"Leave everything to me," that Nello said. Nello smashes the ground with his spear and it even worsen the shaking. I kneel down instead of waiting for me to lose balance. And with my big surprise, the ground behind Nello is rising, yet it's not just a soil with flower and rocks, it forms a monster 5 times bigger than Maruwie right now. Its teeth are bigger than a giant tree.

Compare to human size, I'm smaller than ant size.

"So... thes-these is.... Jexica's gift..." I heard is bass groan like a lion ready for battle.

"We have to leave," Haris said.

"No! Wait..." I was thinking about Maruwie. She's trying hard to fight the monster, and now that I remembered, that monster is the scariest thing I've seen before, the mother of Callions. The being Nello summoned grip the mother by its creepy giant hand with claws. Maruwie changed to a baby dragon again and falling towards me.

I stretch my arms to catch her and when I did I almost fell. She's wounded and unconscious.

"Haris! Maruwie is not well—!"

"She'll be fine." He gave me a magician hat.

"But she's—!"

"You touch her so she'll be fine!" I pause. Does it mean that he trust my healing gift? He wants me to hide Maruwie inside the hat, he took off his hood and wear it like empty. That hat looks better on him. The mother screams with a very high tone that raises my hairs, I'm afraid my ears will bleed later. We're both distracted when another enemy attacked us, this time it came from the ground.

Green Panda. It bite Haris' right arm where the seal is. And of course I was pulled up until it landed. I can hear his yell of pain.

"Haris!!" what happened on his gift?! I saw Green Panda's teeth pierced through Haris' shoulder and waist. And it looks like Green Panda is pulling Haris' right arm out from his body but his rigid body is working. Now I'm confuse! He can't move because I'm weighing his left hand down. I hold on the chain and step on Green ugly Panda's tummy.

"Haris, pull me up!" he grabbed the chain and sway me up, it looks like he over did it but still succeed. I kick Green Panda's face and push him down to the ground. It's still biting Haris so I smash its teeth, "Let go of him!!" I exclaim. I pull Haris away, we fell and roll around, he can't stand from extreme ache.

"Haris!!" He's fatally lying, I touch his wounds when I felt Green Panda's attempt to smash me. I block his attack with my arms. Flowers around me dances as I use the power of my anger.

"Now show me your wide smile!" It mocked Green Panda, it grabbed my hair and pulling it out. More like trying to pull my head out! Before that happened, Haris cut my hair by his sword, as he spin it with haste and turn to a cane and push Green Panda away from me. I knelt down and tremble. That Panda! Too much desperation to kill anyone!

I know it was sealed inside a huge whale's stomach, how is it that it's here?! There could be something wrong happened with Aishmalen. Haris stamp the cane's bottom to the ground twice and a chubby and killer-looking clown pop out and hug Green Panda with intense grip.

"Elaiyh, seal it," Haris said with a dying voice. He pointed his palm to it and suddenly explodes too much smoke. We both fell down, everything around us is covered with smoke. I heard another vibrating scream of the mother, Nello is having a big trouble out there too. It stopped when I saw Green Panda's fist only a step away from my helpless magician.

"Not too fast!" I knock it first away, instead of spinning like a red carpet, it uses both of its hands to break his slide and open its mouth widely. I'm waiting for what will be the next pain I'll incurred however I should be thinking to elude. I can't think wisely! Maybe because of my fear right now.

What Green Panda's attempt attack is blow me a lava. Haris stood up to cover but still I got scorched on both of my thighs. I gnash my teeth to endure the pain

"Tsk! You gave me no choice!!" he mumbled. He stamped the cane and we fell in the air instead to the ground. It's cold, foggy and a storm of snows are spine-chilling! We're falling down to a snowy mountain, forest. Haris is pushing his self too much, I have to do something!!

"Elaiyh..." he face his palm down we float and landed safe and sound. We both fell exhausted but I can still move unlike Haris.

"Haris...!" I don't know how many times I called his name. I lost my borrowed gift, without Sdeing's strength I can't carry Haris around. Specially my legs are injured. I lost the hair tie when Haris cut my hair, now I have short hair until shoulder. I found a cave just a few steps in front of us, we can stay there until we recover and the storm stops.

I round his arm on my shoulder to carry him. Just a few steps ahead and it took us maybe half of the half hour. I just let myself tumble when we got here under the cave. Haris lean on the wall, panting. I touch his wound again, simply listening to his frustrated breathing kills me.

"Haris... don't worry you can do it! Just... just wait- Haris!" I wish I could heal faster. But my personal gift is weak. I'm crying while waiting for his response. "Haris don't... don't... don't leave me..."

"Sh-shut up... idiot..." I hug him tight, still a crying like a child.

"Just rest for now."

"How can I rest with you hugging me...?"

"Fine..." I let go and wipe my tears with my fingers. He lay and fell on the fluffy white fur, I thought it was snow all this time, or he use another magic for that. He covered his mouth with the seal and whisper something. I touch my burned skin, just a little contact hurts so much, but I have to touch it. I wonder how many layers of my skin were scorched.

"Ashti, hold my hand..." I look at him, the seal on his right hand is wide open. I lay beside him and hold it, since I held it, I feel warm from this shivering storm. He commanded Elaiyh to warm us. I wish I have that kind of gift. I lay facing him while holding his hand. He's asleep.