Merry-Go-Round Second Draft: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine – A Shadow

“Come to think of it… I’ve never met Kaelyn before.” Alexis said to Kairius after the meeting had finished. “What kind of person is she?”

“It’s hard to explain. You won’t expect it, though.” Kairius answered casually.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alexis asked, confused. “Because you made her sound… really… well… Umm… evil… I guess.”

“You’ll see. I just have a hunch that Sieural will meet up with her very soon.”

“Okay…” Alexis shrugged, and walked to the side hallway.

Luna, the youngest member of the group, walked up to Kairius, and asked, “Hey… Kai? When’s Kaelyn coming back?

“Quit whining, kid.” Araschaun said, grabbing Luna’s waist and carrying him into the air. “She’ll be here when she gets here. No point asking.”

“But…” Luna said, teary-eyed.

“Leave him alone!” Shiara shouted, hitting her older brother over the head.

“Hey, fine.” Araschaun said, placing the ten-year-old harshly on the ground.

Shiara ran to the young boy, who was on the verge of tears, and hugged him tightly. Her twin brother scoffed and followed Alexis into the side rooms.

~~~~~

“I don’t get it. How could something so important to the survival of Kereial be kept a secret?” Sieural said to himself, fist clenched.

He was walking down the same mountain slope he had hiked up only a few hours earlier, and the setting sun and icy air chilled him to the bone.

In the southern parts of the continent, namely the southern mountain slope, the snow fell much earlier than in the northern parts. While in the north, the snowy season began near the end of the year, the south’s snowfall season began not long after the warm season ended.

The wind streamed down the mountainside with a frosty whirl, and Sieural, who was wearing no more than a single cotton shirt and short pants, did not take it well. He bent down, and rubbed his legs with his hands, hoping to warm them up.

“This sucks.” Sieural said to himself, sighing. “I should run, huh.”

As soon as he began to jog down the rocky mountain’s surface, his foot got caught on a loose rock, and he tripped and fell.

“Yeah. This sucks.” Sieural said again, standing up and dusting off his clothes.

He once again began running down the unstable ground of the mountain, slowly making his way back towards Kereial.

“Yaaah!” a voice yelled out from the distance.

Sieural looked around, and to his right, in the distance, were a group of shadows seemingly floating.

“The heck is that?” Sieural said to himself, unconsciously walking toward that direction.

He began running, and as he reached the peak of a small hill, he collided with a small boy with golden-yellow hair.

“Ahh!” the boy yelled. His hair was only a few inches longer than Sieural’s own.

“The heck?” Sieural exclaimed, helping the boy to his feet.

“Ummm… ummmm… can you help me?” The boy asked, stuttering.

“With what?” Sieural asked.

Without warning, the shadows he saw earlier, who turned out to be men with dark black cloaks, approached Sieural and the boy. With their steel broadswords and lances ready, Sieural immediately assumed that they were not here to be friendly.

Sieural held the boy’s hand with one hand, and with the other, held his silver-colored sword. Ready for a fight with the group of cloaked men that stood in front of him, he stood his ground.

“What’s with the cloaks? Why do evil people always seem to wear cloaks?” Sieural said under his breath as he readied his sword.

As he had expected, one of his enemies ran toward him, swinging his broadsword. Sieural side-stepped the attack, and slashed his own katana, only to be blocked by a second person. Sieural quickly jumped backwards, out of the range of the others. However, his attackers quickly closed the distance and continued attacking. At this point, with four or five enemies attacking at once, Sieural could do nothing but parry the slashes that came at him from several directions.

“Damn. This really sucks.” He said, panting, as he continued to only defend himself.

The boy suddenly jerked his hand away, and ran a few feet behind Sieural. As he ran by, he said, quietly, so only Sieural could hear, “When I tell you, run towards me.”

The boy placed his hands on the ground. While Sieural held off the group of cloaked attackers, one of the slashes connected with his right arm.

Although only a light wound, Sieural winced in pain. However, he continued fighting off the group, buying time for whatever the young child was doing.

“Now!” The voice came, and Sieural immediately stopped fighting.

As if on command, a huge mudslide caught the group of attackers and swept them further down the mountain. Sieural took this time to grab the boy, and carry him away from the battle and to safety.

After a not so short run, Sieural put the boy down, and said, “Okay, we should be good.”

“Thank you!” The boy exclaimed, grabbing and holding Sieural’s arm only like a small child could.

“Um… so who were they?” Sieural said, looking down the mountain in the direction he had recently fought.

“Bad guys.” The response came quickly, with a bright smile that seemed to illuminate the poorly lit forest they were now walking in.

“I can see that.” Sieural sighed. “Well, then… why are you here?”

“I’m gonna meet with my friends up here. I’m a little late.” The boy replied, still smiling.

“Obviously. Where is this meeting?” Sieural asked.

“Why are you here?” The boy avoided the question.

“Oh, various reasons. If I go home, I’ll probably get attacked too.” Sieural sighed.

The boy seemingly examined Sieural, and then, as if he noticed something, said, “Then, I’ll take you with me where I’m going. I’m sure the people there won’t mind.”

“Whatever. No place better to go. It’s damn cold out here, too.” Sieural noted that the boy was wearing a jacket and long pants that seemed almost like a dress bottom.

“Okay.”

“Actually, let me bandage my arm… What the?” Sieural gasped.

The cut on his arm had totally healed in the short duration of their run.

“What happened? I knew I got cut on the arm…” Sieural felt his arm.

“Oh, that?” The golden-haired boy smiled. “I healed that.”

“You’re a healer too? That’s neat. Control the earth and heal people. Comes in handy.”

The boy nodded enthusiastically, as he began walking. “Yeah… but when I heal people, it makes me really tired. So I can’t really use magic after I heal people.”

“I never knew the drawbacks of healing.” Sieural said, following the boy.

“It’s pretty nice, too. People are really nice to you because you can help save people.”

“I guess there’s that too.”

“Oh… umm… we’re almost there.”

“Really?” Sieural took attention to his surroundings, and found it vaguely similar to where he was before.

“Yeah. It’s… right… There!” The boy exclaimed, point at a small crevasse in the mountainside. It was densely covered by trees that made it hard to see from afar.

Sieural immediately recognized where he was and sighed.

“Hey. What’s your name?” Sieural asked.

“Kaelyn. Why?”

“… Oh. So you’re a girl.” Sieural accidentally said aloud.

“Hey, that’s not nice. You didn’t know that?” Kaelyn pouted, but still held onto Sieural’s arm.

“Couldn’t tell. I’m used to girls having long hair.”

“Well, sorry.” Kaelyn replied.

“Whatever.” Sieural sighed, and followed Kaelyn back into the Coalition’s main meeting room.

“Oh! Sieural! You’re back! And… who’s this?” Alexis immediately asked.

“This?” Sieural laughed, holding Kaelyn’s hand in the air. “Kaelyn.”

“What?!!” Alexis exclaimed, catching the attention of all the members of the Coalition.

“Kaelyn!” Luna exclaimed, running to greet her.

Sieural was surprised at how such a small girl became the founder of this Coalition. But, at least it made sense to him why Luna was here. If a little girl could be the founder, then obviously a little boy could be a member.

By then, the sun had completely set behind the western horizon. As the night time approached, Sieural asked, “So, where exactly does everyone sleep?”

Kaelyn, who was still sticking to Sieural’s arm, said, “Oh! There’s a separate hallway for all our sleeping rooms! Here, let me show you!”

Sieural sighed, but agreed to let Kaelyn drag him around the building. Like a loyal dog, Luna also followed Kaelyn, and consequently, Sieural, around the grounds of the Coalition meetingplace.

“So, this will be your room. Miss Oaklyn slept in this room when she stayed here.” Kaelyn said, smiling.

Sieural, sighing softly, thought to himself, “Now that I think about it, Oaklyn was absent from class for long periods of time. Must be why.”

“Two people will be staying in each room.” Kaelyn continued. “Your roommate is…”

Kaelyn thought for a moment, and as she was about to continue, Luna, the boy following her, called out, “Me!”

Sieural sighed. Under his breath, he muttered, “Another kid I’m taking care of.”

As Sieural sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he’ll forever be entrusted with the watching over of little kids, Luna waved his hand in Sieural’s face.

“You awake?”

“Not really.” Sieural said, attention snapping back to reality.

“Do you know what happened to Miss Oaklyn?” Luna asked, evoking an empty, yet piercing stare from Sieural.

“You don’t know?”

“Kaelyn never told me…”

Sieural stayed speechless, debating within himself whether to tell Luna about Oaklyn’s death, or not.

Compromising, he said, “Well, you’re ten. Hearing it might not be the best for you.”

“But… Kaelyn’s eleven… She’s only one year older.” Luna complained, lying down on his wooden crafted bed.

“What?” Sieural said in surprise.

“Yeah. She’s eleven.” Luna reassured Sieural.

“That’s surprising.” Sieural simply sighed, not willing to sort out his mind. “I’ll never understand how this group thinks.”

Sieural yawned. “But, then again, I’ve never understood much of anything. Especially of the way other people do things.”

He momentarily forgot that he was talking to a child, and not one of his Kereialian friends.

“Does that mean you’re dumb?” Luna said with the naïveté of the child he was.

“Never mind.” Sieural sighed. The reality of his situation seemed to bite him in the leg.

“’Kay.” Luna said.

As the young blonde child yawned and closed his eyes, Sieural continued to lay still in his wooden bed.

“I can’t help but wonder what the others are doing back at home.” Sieural said to himself, as sleepiness overtook his mind.

~~~~~

“There’s no class today, huh.” Soriana said to her younger sisters.

Ariana simply shook her head.

An air of gloominess seemed to hang over the three sisters.

“I wonder where Sieural is.” Soriana said, looking out the window.

Ariana stood next to her, on her tip-toes also looking out the window. They both looked towards the mountains to the north, where the gray and brown mountain peaks stood out from the rest of the blue afternoon sky.

“Who cares about that idiot?” Shiriana shouted, standing up.

Her two sisters remained quiet. As a response, she scowled and walked out of the house. As she shut the front door rather loudly, Deshael and Yukishi approached the house from the dirt path.

As she walked out, Deshael asked, “Where’s Sieural?”

Shiriana shrugged. “Don’t know. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Damn.” Deshael sighed. “Any clue where he might be?”

“Ask Sory.” Shiriana replied harshly, walking away from the two.

Deshael looked toward Shiriana, following her for a few steps, wondering what had her so annoyed. However, he shrugged, and walked into Soriana’s house.

“Hi, Deshael.” Soriana said, seeing him walk into her house with Yukishi.

“Hey. You know where Sieural is?”

“I don’t, sorry. He didn’t attend class either.” Soriana replied, concerned.

“Yeah. I know. What about Alexis?” Deshael continued.

“Oh, I think she told me that she was returning to Elleani today.”

“What? Alexis is gone?” Ariana replied, frowning.

“Yeah. Sorry, Ari.”

“Then where could Sieural be?”

“Followed.” Yukishi suddenly commented in her normal cryptic fashion.

“What?” Soriana asked, confused.

“That makes sense… Sieural must have gone with Alexis to Elleani. Besides, I’ve heard rumors that Elleani is close to declaring war on Kereial.”

With that statement, even the emotionless Yukishi cringed. Concern warped both Ariana and Soriana’s faces.

“It’s just a rumor…” Deshael retorted, noting their worries.

“But… Why are Alexis and Sayu-Sayu going to Elleani then?” Ariana asked.

“No clue here.” Deshael sighed.

“But Sieural left all his stuff here. What is he going to do?”

“Like I said, no clue.”

Soriana looked out the window to the north, where Sieural and Alexis were now headed.

“Maybe we should go after them…” She suggested.

“We’d better wait until the end of classes for the winter. That way we won’t have much to worry about other than that.”

“How much longer do we have… do you know?” Soriana asked.

“7 days.” Yukishi replied curtly.

“One week, huh?” Deshael replied, turning to his light-blue haired friend.

“Yes. One week.”

“So, we’ll go to Elleani after that, right?” Ariana asked.

“Ehh? You’re coming too, Ari?” Soriana exclaimed.

“I have to!!” The response came quick as lightning.

Ariana frowned, and Soriana sighed. “Fine. We’ll have to ask Shiri too, then.”

~~~~~

“No.”

“What? Why not?” Soriana asked.

“No reason. He’ll be back soon.”

“Do you really think that?” Soriana asked, frowning.

“Yes. Besides, he doesn’t need us to follow him.”

“I guess…”

“Either way, Shiri, we’re all going to Elleani after this class semester ends.” Deshael said, indicating him and the three girls around him. “So, if you don’t go, then you’ll be in Kereial alone.”

“Shiri…” Ariana whined.

“Fine. I’ll go.” Shiriana conceded. “Class ends in 7 days, right?”

“Yep. We’ll find some way to get there after class.” Deshael grinned.

“Umm… Shiri… why’d you walk here, though?” Soriana asked, looking around.

She was at the same field of pink-flowered trees that Sieural would always rest under.

“Oh… I’ve just always thought that this was the best place to… well… rest and think.” Shiriana replied, still lying down, staring at the pink-tinted sky.

“Did you know that Sieural always used to come here?” Soriana asked.

“Really?” Both Ariana and Shiriana asked in unison.

“Yeah. He’d lie here every day when his house was burned down for the first time.”

The group’s faces cringed at the mention of the event in the past.

“I don’t know when he stopped coming here, though.” Soriana continued. “But, it is pretty, isn’t it.”

“I’ve heard that this is the only field like this in the whole continent. It’s something that only Kereial has.” Shiriana commented.

“How do you learn these things, Shiri?” Deshael asked.

“I read.” Shiriana grinned. “Unlike you.”

“Hey, shush. At least I can fight. Unlike you.” Deshael grinned back.

“Actually, Deshael… she’s one of the magician-knight students…” Soriana replied.

Shiriana laughed, and hit Deshael over the head.

“She’s following in Alexis’ footsteps.” Deshael replied, laughing while rubbing his head.

“Yeah. I wanted to be like Alexis…” Shiriana blushed.

Deshael laughed harder. “That’s so adorable, Shiri!”

Shiriana blushed a deeper red, and yelled, “Shut up!”

She stood up in a rush, and chased after the white haired boy.

~~~~~

Yawning, Sieural rose from the bed he slept on. No longer needing to attend school, for obvious reasons, Sieural woke up much later than most the other members of the Coalition. Sitting up in his bed, he looked around. Within his dimly lit room, his younger roommate, Luna, had long awaken.

The blonde haired child was pacing back and forth inside the room, near the hallway that connected each of the members’ rooms.

“Ahh! Sieural! You’re finally awake!” Luna exclaimed, running to Sieural and grabbing his arm.

With force surprising for his small stature, he dragged Sieural out of the bed.

“Calm down… What’s going on?” Sieural asked, blinking.

“There’s a meeting.” Luna said, pulling Sieural out to the main chamber of the structure.

Each member of the Coalition had long been awake, and ready for the meeting. In fact, Kairius had almost finished addressing the entirety of the information.

Sieural noted that the personalities of the members were much less outgoing than what they were normally. Each member paid their utmost attention to the words that came from Kairius’ mouth.

“Alexis, Riania, and I will be leaving for Elleani shortly.” Kairius said, both as a final statement of the meeting, and as an introductory statement for Sieural.

With that, the mentioned members, Kairius, Riania, and Alexis immediately began preparations for their diplomatic mission to Elleani. The three walked into the side room, most likely for their preparations.

“So, what now, exactly?” Araschaun asked, sitting down on one of the wooden benches in the room.

The light-blue haired man, walked out of the room, into his room. As he left he said, “Just enjoy it. I’ll bet that in a few days, we’ll all be fighting for our lives on this mountain.”