Chapter 11- What’s To Come

The darkness of the cave is lightly illuminated orange by the fire burning in my hand. Running at full speed with a cold sweet going down my back I scream for Aarushi. “Heyyyy Aarushi, where are you! What happened?” My voice echoes deeper into the cave with no reply. “Aarushi!” As I dive deeper into the cave the smell of death and rotting flesh collides into me.

Seconds later I descend upon the scene. Aarushi shakes in fear, her face as pale the moon in the sky, her arms are across her chest, and her eyes closed tightly as she mutters under her breath over and over. “It’s not real, it’s not real.” Two skeletons holding hands lay against the cave wall forever together in death. The skeletons were most likely children from our clan who decided to flee from the test. Perhaps one of them could be my brother. I shudder silently as the thought passes my mind.

I wrap my arms around Aarushi’s shoulders and embrace her with a hug. “Don’t worry I have you, everything will be alright. The skeletons won’t hurt you.”

Aarushi push me off slightly and looks me in the eyes. “No you don’t understand. I’m not scared of the skeletons” her voice begins to shake. “But the dagger.” I give her a puzzled look but all she does is point behind me at a silver dagger stabbed into the ground at one of the skeleton’s feet.

Turning around I begin to reach for the dagger but before I reach it a screech fills the room. “Hhrrrrreeeeiiiiiaaaaaahhhhh” I turn toward the screech to be disappointed. The monkey has both its arms raised and is hopping around franticly ready to fight.

Lucarus is standing behind the monkey with is usual calm facade. “What happened here? Why did Aarushi scream?” He puts a hand on the monkey and it quickly calms down.

“She said it was because of this dagger.” I reach out and grab it and a freezing chill rushes up my spine as my fingers wrap around the handle. I feel the sensation of pins pricking my hand and strings pulling my arm toward the dagger. Darkness fills my vision and my body goes numb, as if I lost consciousness. Three images flash in my vision.

The first one is of me holding an older version of Aarushi in my arms while sitting on the ground. She is wearing a beautiful white gown with silver Jewels embroiled around the neck and on the chest in a circular design. Red stains covering her body. My face is hidden in my hair as I look down upon her. A dark and sad emotion comes from the image. The second image displays a hooded figure with scythes protruding from the arms of his dark grey cloak. The scythes forcibly hold me in place. One scythe pulling at the inside of my cheek and the other one wrapped around the back of my neck. A glare of death and revenge fill my eyes as I stare at the figure in the grey cloak. The third Image is of an old man with blond-orange hair kneeling in front of two grave stones crying into his hands. The names on the stones are not visible but the thing that catches my eye is an amulet with a phoenix wrapped in glass fire. The amulet is my own.

A woman’s voice more beautiful than a chorus of song birds fills my ears blocking out all other noises and filling me with hope. “Take this dagger and become stronger if you wish to prevent these things from coming.” And then silence. The cave reappears in my vision and I feel as though my body is rejuvenated. Power and strength rush in to me from the dagger. I pull it from the ground and examine it while shuffling it from hand to hand.

The dagger shines in my hands. I can feel unbelievable power emitting from it. The blade is light and sharp. Strange black symbols adorn its silver blade. The sleek blade measures sixteen inches and the handle another eight. A small jagged tip protrudes from the base of the hilt. The handle is embedded with shiny amber colored gemstones. Deadra is carved into the side of the sheath. It almost seems to form to my hand as if it was made for me. It feels as if it’s an extinction of my body.

Still holding the dagger I turn around and ask. “What did you see when you touched the dagger?”

Still shaken Aarushi mutters “I saw your death…”

“Did you see any other images or hear anything?” She shakes her head. Strange we seem to have seen different things then each other.

I turn to Lucarus and instruct him to touch the dagger as well. After touching it he replies “I don’t see or hear anything. I do feel a power radiating from the blade though.”

Putting my hand on her shoulder I say “you should not trust what the blade shows you, but if you do, it said that if we get stronger we can prevent those things from happening.”

Lucarus walks to the other side of Aarushi and puts his hand on her other shoulder. “Destiny wanted you to find this dagger. It wants you to prevent this tragedy from happening. This is not something you should be afraid of but something which you should draw strength from.” Lucarus lets go of her shoulder. Aarushi makes a small nod and some blood returns to her face. Lucarus turns around and walks toward the exit. “Deadra, you should keep that dagger, I believe it will be useful.”

Looking at the back of my friend I realize something. He is no longer the child I first met. He is growing older. One day he will become a true man. “You’re right. Let’s all become stronger, let’s go to the town of Twin Trees!”

…

When we arrive within view of the city gates the monkey taps my shoulder. He points at his chest with his forefinger, then with his thumb points at his back. He makes a small house over his head with his hands. I think he is saying he must go back home. I ask “Will we be seeing each other again?” He nods his head with a large grin on his face and then rushes off into the forest. We all wave good bye.

Lucarus, Aarushi and I continue into the village each carrying the bear. Today we will be known as adults and can leave the village, get married, and drink alcohol! Tonight there will be a celebration thrown in our honor. Fifteen years in this world, and now I will be considered an adult.

A large hole dug out near the phoenix tree in the middle of town is filled with burning wood and hot coals. The bear lies inside of the whole roasting in preparation for the feast. I have never had bear meat before but in this world I hear it is sweet and juicy. It is a great delicacy.

Torches set ablaze circle the tree and make paths around the village. The stars in the night sky shine brightly. The two moons in our sky over lap slightly. The smaller and closer moon is a dim orange color with no marks on the surface. The lager one that sits partially behind the first is identical to the moon from my first world. Everyone is gathered around the fire pit playing and laughing. Several people drink including Lucarus, Aarushi and I.

Lucarus holds his glass up at Aarushi and I “Cheers to becoming adults!” The three of us clank our drinks together.

The aroma of cherries floats off the cup. I take a large gulp of the silver liquid in my cup. It tastes similar to sweetened potato vodka but feels dry like a wine. As the liquid trickles down my throat warmth fills my chest. The burn is soothing and smooth. I continue lifting the bottom of the cup further into the air, taking a few more gulps finishing the drink.

Lucarus wipes his mouth with his sleeve. “That’s some gooood stuff right there! But I don’t feel any different yet.”

Aarushi lets out a burp and yells. “I want more!” she walks back to the large barrel of liquor filling her cup.

I turn to Lucarus and ask “Lucarus we are finally Adults! We are free to do anything we want now. Do you have any plans for the future?”

He nods his head “Yes I want to get stronger. To do so I need to travel away from the village. I don’t know where to go yet but I would like it if you would come along.”

I give him a smile and say “Haha that’s perfect. We should go to the town of Twin Trees six moths south of here. They have an arena that we could fight in to become stronger. I’m sure it has lots of other things there also. I was hoping you would want to go with me.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me. Would Aarushi also fit in to these plans?” he points behind me as Aarushi stumbles back over to us drinking more liquor.

“Hey guys I brought you more to drink!” She hands us each a large cup and smiles. I see her cup is equally full. Tonight will be interesting. “What were you talking about?”

Lucarus looks my way. His face asks what to say. I nod giving him the answer to his question. With a smile Lucarus says “We want to go to the town of Twin Trees and become gladiators. We were also wondering if you would like to join us.”

Aarushi puts her finger to her lips and tilts her head toward her shoulder. “Hmmmm” she flips her head to the other shoulder and sighs once more. “My dad says I should travel the world for a few years before coming back and becoming the village priestess. Sooooo yeah!”

I raise my glass once more before saying “To friend ship, becoming adults, and adventure!” Our cups clash together with a clunk as everyone cheers. I slosh a few more gulps into my mouth. “Do you guys want to make things more interesting?”

Lucarus nods his head and says “I was just thinking the same thing, shall we make the usual bet?” he gives a maniacal smile as he says the last bit. The winner of these bets can make the losers do anything they want.

Aarushi jumps in the air “Yeah! Let’s do it! First one to finish their drink wins!” immediately after saying this she tips the cup to her mouth.

I shout “That’s cheating!” then tilt my own cup backwards.

Moments later Aarushi is declared the winner. She pumps her fist in the air jumping up and down “haha you guys lost! Now you have to do whatever I say!”

Lucarus stares at his cup for a moment before saying “Yeah yeah whatever, what do you want us to do?”

Aarushi puts her finger to her mouth for a moment before answering “Let me think about it for a while. For now let’s grab more to drink!” she raps her arms around Lucarus and I skipping toward the barrel.

Pulling from the memories I had before being reborn I say “We should slow down a bit, it’s a marathon not a race Aarushi.”

Lucarus responds “let’s enjoy the night Deadra. Let’s just have fun and not worry about tomorrow!”

Aarushi continues to drag us toward the barrel when she adds “Yeah let’s go crazy!”

I decide to take their advice and let loose. The smell of the bear wafts into my nose. While rubbing my belly I say “ok fine but let’s go eat I’m starving!” We each fill our cups again then go to a large table of brown rock where the feast is set up at.

After we finish eating and have another glass or two we each climb up into the phoenix tree.

Aarushi sits in the middle everyone swinging her legs. “Do you guys remember how we first met?”

We both nod our heads, Lucarus giggles a little before saying “Haha you fell out of the tree because you forgot to hold onto it.”

She smiles then grabs one of his hands then reaches and grabs mine. “That’s true, Hic, but now I have you guys to catch me. She then leans back forcing us to pull her back up. “hehehe see, you guys won’t let me fall!” she smiles then gives each of us a kiss on the cheek.

Aarushi is beginning to grow up as well. She still acts and jokes around like she did as a child but physically she is growing up. I didn’t realize tell now but she is becoming very beautiful.

With his free hand Lucarus pats his cheek where he was kissed by Aarushi. Blushing slightly he mumbles “Wow, haha you wouldn’t want to do that again now would you?”

Aarushi laughs, “Maybe if you win the next dare!” she winks at him with her tongue sticking out to the side. “Oh that reminds me I still have to give you guys my commands!” She squeezes our hands tighter while she giggles to herself. “Let’s see now what do I want you guys to do? Oh I know, you guys have to spend the night with me under the stars!” She then let’s go of our hands and drops down from the tree. “Let’s go set up by the fire pit! It looks like everyone is gone!”

Lucarus looks over to me. “Oooh, I have never spent the night with a girl before, what do you think might happen?”

I laugh for a moment then shake my head. “Nothing will happen just because we are all spending the night together, in fact we will be doing that a lot on our way to the town of Twin Trees! But if you want things to get interesting we should play truth or dare!” Since were all rather drunk at this point the game should be rather interesting.

We all sit in a circle and begin playing truth and dare. Aarushi announces “Since Deadra brought it up lets have him go first! So Deadra truth or dare?”

I look her in the eyes and say one word “Dare!”

She turns to Lucarus and raises an eyebrow. “So what should we make him do?”

Lucarus thinks for a minute then an idea pops in his head “You have to dive into the river!”

I stand up and clap my hands together “Ok let’s do this!” I drunkenly run toward the river. When I get there I don’t bother taking my clothes off and just dive in head first. The cold water feels refreshing against my skin. I can hear the laughing and cheers of Aarushi and Lucarus behind me as my head pops out of the water. I splash some water at them “You guys want to come in?”

Lucarus shakes his head “Not a chance! But now Aarushi it’s your turn, truth or dare?”

“Since I don’t want to get wet how about truth.” She nods her head with a small smile.

I get out of the water and emit heat from my body to dry the clothes while walking back to the others. “Ok, why don’t we ask her if she likes anyone in the village?”

Lucarus nods “Ok, who do you like in the village?”

Aarushi raises her hands. In a sweeping motion she brings them down while announcing “I like everyone in the village, I am going to be the priestess after all!” She squeezes her cheeks together and winks.

Lucarus shakes his head “No not like that! I meant who do you like like. I’m talking about the way Cecelia liked Deadra!”

She giggles and covers her mouth. “Well… that would be one of you!” She faces away from us and puts her arms behind her back. “Now Lucarus truth or dare?”

Lucarus waves his arms in front of him. “Hey no that’s not fair. You didn’t specify who you liked!”

I interrupt saying “Don’t worry about it so much, she will tell us when she is ready.” I didn’t know she liked one of us. This could be bad for the relationship of the group. I can already tell Lucarus likes Aarushi, if they start dating I would become a third wheel. If she likes me it wouldn’t be any better. But at the time I am not thinking about any of this because I’m drunk.

Spinning back toward us Aarushi adds “hehe, who do you Like Lucarus?”

Lucarus wraps his arms across his chest. “I pick dare, I ain’t telling you until you tell me who you like!”

I declare “Ok I dare you to smack Aarushi’s butt!”

Aarushi turns to me and throws her arms to her sides. She squeals “No he can’t do that! I… I don’t want my butt touched.” Blood rushes to her face. I try to stifle my laughter with a large grin. Aarushi slouches a little before saying “Well I mean… I guess if you really reeeaally want to I don’t mind…”

Lucarus looks over at me and smiles. I give him a quick wink. Trying to act cool he says “Alright I guess If I have to.” Shrugging his shoulders he walks over to Aarushi and takes a large gulp. He raises his hand then a few seconds later he lowers it again. “ugh I… I can’t do it…”

I burst out laughing “Hahaha I knew you would chicken out!”

Lucarus retorts “I would like to see you do it then!”

I run over to Aarushi and do the dirty dead. As my hand makes impact Aarushi makes a loud squeak. She starts hitting my softly with her hands while screaming. “ Ouch that hurt! I can’t believe you did that! You jerk I hate you!” her hand glows a mix of red and yellow, more yellow then red. I guess she isn’t to mad. “Now you have to kiss me to make it better!”

“Haha I’m not going to kiss your ass!” I start trying to grab her hands to make her stop hitting me.

She grabs my hands back and looks me in the eyes. “I never said you had to kiss my butt!” she stares at me with her green doughy eyes “You just ummm” Her eyes look at my lips. She starts leaning in closer to my face.

I know exactly what she wants, and the liquor inside of me urges me to kiss her. I have memories from a past life of kissing and I know how to do it, and I know her so well so this should be easy, but, it’s not. My heart pounds against my chest threatening to break out from my ribs. Why am I so nervous to kiss Aarushi? I decide I should do it and find out my true feelings. I close my eyes and lean in.

The smell of honey emits from her. Her hands are ruff but warm inside mine. I can feel her face inching toward me. Our noses lightly brush before I tilt my head.

“Hey guys what about me!” Lucarus interrupts Aarushi and I before our lips make contact. The moment is ruined.

Aarushi drops my hands and turns around “This is what you get!” she then runs over and tackles him to the ground, I hop on top of both of them and we wrestle around. The three of us end up in a big mess all our legs and arms are intertwined.

After a few minutes we separate and lay on the ground looking up at the stars. Sounds of rushing water fill the air. The forest scent fills my nostrils as I take a deep breath. It’s a peaceful night. Aarushi on my left takes my hand. In return I squeeze her hand softly. I grab on to Lucarus’s hand to my right. “Looks like we will be sleeping like this for the next few months. I can’t wait to go to the town Twin Trees”

Lucarus Replies while dozing off “I can’t wait either, it’s an adventure I have always waited for.”

Aarushi asks “Are we going to leave in the morning?” I nod my head silently then close my eyes. Aarushi Yawns and roles closer to me. “I’m excited too, Yaaaawwwwn, I love you guys.” Her grip on my hand loosens as she drifts off.