Chapter 3:
Miyo stood perfectly still for about two minutes before the door one story above her opened as three figures stepped out.
The first was cloaked and only a few strands of black hair stood out from the person’s hood. The second was an elegantly dressed woman; her long blond hair was draped loosely over her bare shoulders. The last, and most remarkable, was a gorgeous young man with sweeping black hair. He wore bright red jewels in the gauntlets on his hands and had a pitch-black cloak blowing faintly in the wind behind him. A scar could be seen over his right eye; it started at the hairline and descended down across the eye to just above his upper lip. The man’s bright blue eyes coldly gazed around the courtyard until they landed on Miyo’s emerald eyes. This was no doubt the prince Abel and Alister had spoken of, and he took Miyo’s breath away.
“Abel! What do you bring before me?” the Prince demanded.
The silver haired man stepped forward and dropped to one knee replying calmly, “My Prince, we bring a stranger that was found on your land.”
The prince came up to the balcony and looked deeply at Miyo. As he looked at her she could feel her cheeks reddening against her will, there was something oddly familiar about him.
“Did you ask her where she is from?” the Prince continued.
“Yes sir, she did not respond to that question.” Abel replied.
“Thank you Abel, that is all.” the Prince stated.
Abel bowed his head, rose, and returned to Alister’s side. Miyo knew what it was now, she had heard his voice somewhere before but could not remember where or when.
The prince smiled ever so slightly and called down to her, “What is your name, my dear?”
Miyo’s nerves were buzzing through her as she stammered, “Miyo,” she paused and before she could think of anything she added, “sir.”
The person wearing the cloak shifted slightly and let a smile slip on his lips that no one seemed to notice.
“Miyo…” the prince continued, “enlighten me, where are you from?”
She thought for several minutes before she answered, “I am from a town called Wachales, though I don’t think it’s anywhere near here.”
The woman laughed as she sneered down at Miyo and slipped an arm around the Prince, “There is no such name and there is no such place. You are obviously here on Prince Blake’s brother’s orders to assassinate him.”
Blake, the name ran wild through Miyo’s head, as she answered, “No! I swear to you that I am telling the truth!”
The woman sneered again and shouted, “Lies!”
Miyo did not know what to do, she had no idea where she was and no one would believe what she said for the truth.
Before she could protest again Prince Blake laughed calmly and said, “Now Integra, we have no reason to doubt her,” Miyo breathed a sigh of relief before the prince finished, “but…” his voice suddenly turned harsh and bitter, “we have no reason to believe her either.”
Both Prince Blake and Integra laughed at this, he stopped short and gestured to Abel and Alister.
“Abel, Alister, come up here so you don’t get killed!” he shouted.
They walked past Miyo without a single glance and walked up the stairs to join the others.
Prince Blake wrapped an arm around Integra now as he said, “My lady, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Integra smiled and snapped her fingers four times. Suddenly four grotesque winged beasts were flying around Miyo, each holding long spears.
The prince rose his hand and shouted down at Miyo, “Be grateful Integra’s gargoyles will be the end of you and not I. Please understand that trespassing in my kingdom is punishable by death!”
Death? Miyo thought with horror. They’re going to kill me without even hearing the full story?
The gargoyles stopped flying around Miyo and positioned their spears for attack.
“Do not fear little girl, they will free you from your binds before they kill you.” Integra laughed.
“If you were sent by my brother I suggest you fight back at least a little to give me some enjoyment.” the prince called to Miyo.
Miyo flinched as two of the beasts broke through her chains with their spears. She fell back and stared at them as their wings beat the air around them. Her eyes grew wide as she thought of her situation. She could not do anything; even if she had something to defend herself with she could not take on all four monsters by herself.
One of the gargoyles drove at her and sliced her arm open mere inches where it had been scraped by her fall. Miyo screamed in pain as fresh blood covered the dried blood on her arm and hand. She pulled herself up and made a run to the other side of the courtyard.
“I thought we discussed this Integra, your little pets need to stop playing with their food.” the prince snickered.
“Forgive me, my Prince. They do enjoy their fun though.” she smiled.
Before Miyo could make it to the center of the courtyard a gargoyle swiped her legs out from under her. She screamed again as she hit the hard stone ground, the metal cuffs were still attached to her wrists and now they cut into her flesh even deeper. Miyo rose to her hands and knees as she looked up at her assailants. Tears poured down her face as the prince and others laughed. No, she thought, I’m going to die…I’m going to die!
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
The throne room was lit with hundreds of white candles and the silk curtains were drawn lightly against the setting sun. Three people could be seen in the room, two females standing beside the throne and the prince.
Waz walked down to the throne and whispered something to the prince as Silver motioned for Jase and the others to stay where they were. The prince nodded and smiled and Waz turned back and waved to Silver to bring them to the prince.
The prince rose and announced, “Welcome friends, I am Prince Will. It is so nice to see that you have finally arrived.”
Prince Will had beautiful white hair and crystal blue eyes and his calming voice only added to his beauty. A scar was seen over his left eye starting at his hairline and traveling down across the eye stopping inches above his upper lip.
“Imazo, Inazo, come great our guests.” he continued with a smile.
The woman standing on the right came forward and bowed, she had long silver hair and piercing green eyes.
“Hello, I am Imazo.” she stated.
The woman on the left did the same; she was almost identical to Imazo except her eyes were brown and she was slightly shorter and younger looking.
“I am Inazo.” she said.
Both rose together and stated in unison, “It is very nice to meet you.”
“Since the Seer foresaw your arrival I should imagine you would all like to speak with him.” the prince said.
Chase hesitated for a moment before he answered, “Yes, if it would be possible…sir. We would like to know why we out here and if our friend was brought here as well…sir.”
Will smiled again and replied, “Of course, but please you do not have to be so formal with me. I am quite sure you are not used to this.” The others nodded and smiled as the prince continued, “But I am afraid you will have to wait until the morning.”
Tisha and the others shared a feeling of concern as the prince stated, “You have had a long day and it is all a lot to take in. You will eat and then sleep, tomorrow will be here before you know it.” This sounded like a command more than a statement but no one spoke a word.
Silver caught their concern and was about to speak but the prince continued on, “I know you want to find your friend but the Seer will also need time to prepare for you.”
With Will’s pause Silver took the opportunity to speak, “My Prince, we believe...I mean, forgive me…”
All of Silver’s strength left him as Will’s smile vanished and asked coldly, “Blake?”
Silver could not make eye contact with the prince and he could not make his mouth move.
“Yes, my Prince. Forgive us for not informing you earlier.” Waz said and bowed.
Will’s exterior darkened, no longer was he smiling and joyful. He looked suddenly to Tisha and the others and stated, “I pray that your friend is not with Blake, but the fact still stands that you cannot see the Seer now.”
Jake burst out, “Why? If she is with your brother then we should go and save her!”
Chase slapped his hands in front of Jase’s mouth and stated, “Please, forgive his outburst, but we are very worried about her and would like to know if she is okay.”
Will turned his back on them and looked through the curtains to the mountains in the west. “Blake is no brother of mine.” he stated simply, “We may be related in blood but he is a monster.” He turned and said, “Imazo, Inazo, take our guests to the third floor waiting room and stay with them until I come to get you.”
They both bowed and stated, “Yes sir, please come with us.”
Will turned and started walking out of the room as he called over his shoulder, “Waz, Silver, come with me.”
“Yes sir!” they called and followed closely on his heels.
As Chase and the others followed Imazo and Inazo out the other door and up a set of stairs Tisha asked, “Where are they going?”
“I would imagine they are going to see Namau.” Inazo said.
“Namau?” Tharin questioned.
“Yes, that is the Seer’s name.” Imazo replied.
They made it to the second floor without anyone saying a word. Jase broke the silence by asking, “You two look almost identical, are you sisters or something?”
They all caught the grief in his voice as Imazo answered, “No, we are not sisters, we are cousins.”
“Wow, I didn’t notice before but he’s right, you two do look like sisters.” Tisha remarked.
They were all silent again and it kept until they got to the waiting room. The room was decorated much like the throne room except there were lavish couches and chairs spread all throughout the area and a fierce fire blazing in the fireplace. Imazo and Inazo stood on either side of the door and motioned for them to enter. They did without hesitation as the two women closed the door behind them.
“Price Will and the others won’t be more than a few minutes, but please make yourselves comfortable.” Inazo said with a smile.
Tharin, Tisha, and Chase sat on the couch facing the fireplace as Jase chose a chair off to the side.
“I am sure you will not be able to talk to Namau tonight, but you will all be given a change of clothes and a nice meal.” Imazo stated taking a seat with Inazo next to the others.
They both smiled as Inazo said, “Do not worry, your friend will be fine.”
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
“No!” Miyo screamed. In an instant a pitch-black pulse knocked into the four gargoyles, the sheer force destroying each of them. The laughter stopped dead as their eyes, along with Miyo’s, widened in disbelief.
“Sir, what was that just now?” Abel asked.
To himself Blake stated, “It cannot be, that’s impossible…that girl couldn’t possibly be…”
Integra’s expression hardened as she called to Miyo, “So you can fight after all, let’s see you handle this!”
She snapped her fingers twice more and seven lines of demonic looking warriors appeared before Miyo. She quickly rose to her feet and took several steps away from them. Integra laughed once more and commanded her warriors to attack with a wave of her hand. They slowly started towards Miyo who desperately looked for a place to run to.
“Prince Blake, maybe we should study this girl to see what other powers she holds. Perhaps she could prove to be a valuable asset.” Alister stated.
Blake shook his head and replied, “No, this will be all the study we need. If she is who she’s supposed to be she will be killed, however...” before he finished the warriors attacked.
Miyo was no longer afraid for her life; instead rage filled her every being. They did not even know her yet they were sentencing her to death. Why? She did not do anything to any of them. Why?! Blake and the others saw Miyo’s green eyes turn a fierce crimson and a black aura surrounded her.
Abel and Alister stepped away from the edge as Integra stammered, “What is she?”
Miyo swiped her arm out in front of her and two of the lines of warriors disintegrated with a huge black mass of energy. Her red eyes fell on the remaining demons as her feet left the ground and she began levitating in the air. She screamed in fury as she brought her hands up over her head.
The wounds on her knee and arm were now healing at a rapid pace and the cuffs on her wrists shattered with the intensity of the black aura. The now free Miyo brought her hands down fiercely and a huge black orb slammed into the remaining warriors. Like the ones before them they too disintegrated.
“She destroyed seventy demon warriors with only two attacks?!” Abel said in horror.
The prince’s face darkened as he said, “She could have done it with one if she knew what she was doing.”
Without a second thought the prince jumped from the balcony and landed with grace on the stone. The aura around Miyo grew stronger as the wounds on her wrists began to heal and her eyes deepened in color. She turned her attention to the prince as she came back down to the ground.
Blake looked at her for a moment then stated calmly, “It is okay now, we won’t try to hurt you anymore but you must calm down.”
Miyo did not answer him as she sent another wave of blackness strait for the prince. Before anyone could act he jumped out of its way and it slammed against the courtyard wall. An enormous gash was left by the blast. Blake’s eyes grew wide, the girl before him was not even using her power to its full strength, yet she cut that deep of a gash in the wall.
The prince knew now that he had to be cautious if he was going to engage her in battle. He could not kill her now that he knew what kind of power she had but he had to put up some sort of a fight or he might get himself killed.
“Okay.” he said and pulled out a shining silver sword with a black hilt. “I swear I will not kill you, but don’t make me hurt you more than I have to.” he continued as he charged at her.
Miyo narrowed her eyes as the prince drew near. She fired another blast at him but this time he hit the attack away with his sword. The force traveled down the blade and made his muscular arms numb almost causing him to loose his grip. He yelled and slashed at Miyo’s chest, she countered and stopped his swing with her left hand.
“What?!” the prince yelled in astonishment as Miyo’s right hand came up to blast him away.
Blake flew back and almost crashed against the wall but he stopped himself several inches from the stones. He used a free hand to skid to a stop as he sent a dark ball, similar but smaller than Miyo’s, straight to her. It hit at full force and made her fall to her knees.
The prince cursed himself for lack of restraint as the aura around Miyo grew smaller and she stammered, “What…what’s happening to me?”
She looked up to the prince as he answered her, “Listen to me, you have to calm down or the darkness is going to consume you.”
Miyo got to her feet slowly and replied, “But I…I don’t want this. I don’t know what this is.”
Prince Blake called up to the others, “Heed me all of you! No matter what happens I command that you do not move from that spot, any of you!”
He started walking towards Miyo, sheathing his sword and holding out his hands. His blue eyes meeting Miyo’s for the first time and a few black strands of silk hung in his face.
“Please, stay away from me.” Miyo pleaded as her entire spirit began to be drawn in by the prince.
She wanted to stop but she could not control her body, and even thought he ordered her death she did not want to hurt the prince. She could not think of a reason why but a small part of her thought they were alike.
Tears started forming in her eyes once again as she said, “No, please.”
The prince drew closer to her and she could feel herself tensing up, he was not going to stop. Did her not fear her and this horrid power?
“Miyo.” he said calmly.
Her breath caught in her throat, something about his voice in that instant sounded so very familiar to her, but she had certainly never met the prince before that much she was sure.
The aura around Miyo grew stronger once again as she shouted, “No!”
The prince snapped into action and ran the rest of the way to her and called, “Miyo!” as he tried to grab her.
She backed away and the aura sliced through the prince’s outstretched arm. He flinched as a drop of blood hit the ground, it did not hurt as bad as he made it seem but he was hoping it would calm her down.
The sound of blood hitting stone echoed through Miyo’s head as she stared down at it. She had hurt the prince, he was trying to help her and she had made him spill blood for it. The black aura vanished as quickly as it had appeared and her eyes began changing back to their natural green.
Another drop fell before the prince’s wound healed itself but the damage was done. Miyo looked up at him and caught his eye.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Miyo said, “I’m…sorry.”
Her legs buckled under her and she thought she was going to hit the ground but warm, strong arms caught her. Blake had caught her, had saved her from hitting the stones. He turned her around so that his arms were supporting her back and head.
Miyo looked up at him and said again, “I’m sorry.”
He did not get the chance to reply as she fell unconscious in his arms.
“Abel, Alister, I want you to go and prepare a second room for her.” he stated as he began to walk out of the courtyard with her.
Abel and Alister bowed and walked silently into the castle. Integra scowled and she too walked in. The person wearing the cloak stepped forward and watched the prince carry Miyo away.
He smiled and said, “Intriguing, this situation is getting more and more delightful.”
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Prince Will, Silver, and Waz walked with haste down the main set of stairs to the basement. They walked a few feet to an aged wooden door and stopped.
Before Will got the chance to knock a deep voice called from behind the door, “Come, my prince.”
Silver shuddered and stated, “I hate it when the Seer does that.”
The prince turned the golden handle quickly and he and the others stepped in. The Seer’s room was lit with hundreds of candles in a variety of sizes and colors. The Seer was sitting motionless with his eyes closed surrounded by black and purple candles.
“You wish to know about Miyo Richards’ whereabouts, yes?” he asked calmly without opening his eyes.
“Yes.” the prince replied with slight hesitation.
The Seer nodded and sat quietly for several minutes before he answered, his eyes opening to reveal pure red irises, “She is, indeed, with Prince Blake.”
Waz tensed and said, “No…sir we have to go and save her.”
The Seer shook his head and stated calmly, “You must not go to her aid, and she does not require assistance at this time.”
The prince and others shared a look of concern before Waz asked, “My we see her, or can you give us any details about the situation?”
The Seer closed his eyes once more and stated, “No, I will not say or show you anything tonight. I must prepare for seeing Tisha, Tharin, Jase, and Chase in the morning.”
The prince, although frustrated, replied, “Understood, I thank you for your help Seer.”
As they each bowed in turn and went to leave the room the Seer opened his eyes again and said, “Wait, I do have something else to say to you, Prince Will.”
Waz and Silver bowed once more and the Seer nodded once to them as they left, closing the door silently behind them. Prince Will walked over and sat across from the Seer when he motioned to sit.
“Prince Will,” the Seer said, his intense red eyes staring directly into Will’s calm blue eyes, “you must listen to me carefully.”
The prince nodded and replied, “Yes, Namau, anything you wish.”
The Seer slowly closed his eyes and began, “You must let Miyo Richards follow the path she has been given. If you or anyone else tamper with her destiny it will spell certain death for us all.” Will shifted nervously as he continued, “I give you my word that Prince Blake will not harm her in any way. Caitlin is on her way back from his castle as we speak. She will give you information about Miyo’s situation, but I request to speak to her first.”
Will looked down and nodded, “Of course, once she returns I will have her sent down to you.”
“No one must talk to her before I do, Waz will understand this best so put him in charge of it.” the Seer said.
“Yes.” the prince said simply.
The Seer nodded and stated, “That is all, you may go.” As Will got to his feet the Seer added, “And what I said about Prince Blake, it will hold true but his advisors will try to foil Miyo’s destiny, I suspect. I will work tonight on how to combat this.”
Will had turned his back to him and without turning asked, “When shall I bring the others to you tomorrow?”
“When the sun peaks in the sky, I still need time to prepare for them.” he replied.
Will turned his head and questioned, “Namau, Miyo…she is the one, the lost one?”
The Seer opened his eyes and answered, “Yes.”
