The Sun and the Moon

Sometimes I wonder if the seedling knows what it will become. Does it know of the birds that will nest in the bend of its branches? Does it see the comfort it will bring to a family of cubs during a summer storm? There are thousands of trees in this world of ours. Some are riddled with disease and some don’t make it past the emergence of their first bloom. There are some that grow along the face of a mountain and some in the bog of a swamp. There are many that flock to build up a forest and others that bask in the desert sun. 

Perhaps it doesn’t know, or perhaps it doesn’t care. They were trees, and I was a human. My purpose could not be so simple. I picked up the pace and ran through the forest– the mud and woodland moss stained my toes. The Mountain Ash was my shield and its roots the bones of the earth. It masked me from the danger that nipped at my heel. Freyir’s wolves howled in the distance. The air turned cold and my breaths grew ragged as I climbed further and further from the valley of Illia. 

Just a little longer. 

The words became lost to me and all that was left was the fragile image of hope. I stumbled over a raised bed of roots. Pain radiated through my leg and I cried out. 

Not now.  I thought to myself. 

“Astoria,” Freyir called out to me. 

His voice darkened the clouds and quieted the forest. It filled my ears like thunder yet was no louder than a whisper. The silver amulet that hung around my neck began to glow. I dragged myself to the base of a tree and cradled it near my chest. It was the last of the magic of Illia. To lose it would be to lose the very heart of my people. 

“Astoria, I mean you no harm. I only wish to speak with you.” 

“All you ever wanted was the amulet. You betrayed Xerxes. You betrayed me.” I replied. 

I tucked in my knees and stared into the darkness that flooded in around me. Eyes of Freyir’s wolves circled me. 

Freyir cursed under his breath, “I made mistakes. It might have started that way. But I don’t care about the amulet anymore.”

Freyir peered around one of the trees. He brushed away the branches that tapped his shoulders. One of his wolves wagged its tail as he passed. He ruffled the canine's fur and inched slowly towards me. I pushed deeper into the arms of the tree behind me. Its trunk wrapped around me, there was nowhere else for me to hide. It provided shelter but no escape. Illia’s amulet called to me. Freyir knelt before me and leaned slightly around the hole at the base of the tree. 

“Astoria,” he sighed and held out his hand. “I care about you.”

I swatted his hand away. 

“Xerxes does not care for you, nor does he care to protect the amulet. What he seeks is power, and he will use you until there is nothing left.” 

“I will not abandon my people.”

“You will die,” he said. 

“Then let me die so that the amulet may live.” 

Freyir’s jaw clenched; his dark hair fell into his eyes. He turned to look into the forest. There was nothing there, but when his gaze returned to mine I saw urgency, sorrow– fear. Since when did Freyir know fear? I wondered. 

“And become a martyr? For who? A brother that would gladly dig your grave?” He shook his head, “Please. Give me the amulet. We need to leave.”

“You will destroy it.” 

Voices called out behind them. Freyir pushed me deeper into the hole of the tree and covered my mouth. With a whistle, he scattered his wolves and used his magic to mask them from the outside world. My eyes grew wide as I saw Xerxes emerge from the shadows. I wrestled against Freyir’s strength. He pressed a finger against his lips and left me alone. 

I could hear their voices hush as they saw Freyir stand before them. Freyir was an Anima, born of an ancient people long since banished from Illia. The Anima were once protectors of Illia’s magic– Guardians of the Earth is what they were called. But there was one, a man– Legion– who kept the magic for himself. The goddess, Illia, cursed him and his people by turning them into beasts and Legion into a dragon. They would hunt and be hunted by the very magic they once held in the palm of their hands.

The amulet would remain in the heart of the Kingdom. It would be protected by the descendants of the Kings and Queens who slain Legion. I thought that Freyir was different, that he was not the monster that they claimed the Anima to be. But I was wrong, and that mistake would be the demise of this world. I started to leave the trunk of the tree when Xerxes laughed. He and his men mocked Freyir and his wolves. Freyir did not move. He kept himself between me and my brother. His face was cold and his thoughts hidden from us. 

“I should have known you would have tried to come here,” Xerxes said. “Where is my dear sister? Were you unable to control yourself? Did she die well?” Xerxes folded his arms; a smirk spread across his face. He talked over his shoulders so that his men might hear. 

Freyir readied his wolves. They snarled as Xerxes approached. My brother froze. 

“Illia will never accept your people. So hand her over and we will forget this ever happened. You can go live in your cave and howl at your moon, like the good dog you are.” 

“Xer– 

“She’s gone. I lost track of her.” Freyir cut me off before my words reached my brother’s ears. “But I know where she will go and I will take you there.”

“Just like that? Why? What is it you want?” Xerxes replied. 

Freyir grinned. “The amulet. What else? I am an Anima, after all.” 

Xerxes scoffed. 

“Impossible.”

“You can have your sister. Her life for the amulet.”

I started to move. I would not allow Xerxes to throw away everything we have worked so hard to protect. 

“You think I care for her life?”

The words cut like a knife to my heart and I found myself gripping the amulet tighter. He’s only thinking about what is best for Illia. I said to myself. He was doing what was asked of him as the heir. 

“You would throw away your own sister? For a dying magic?” Freyir said. 

“I would kill the goddess herself if it meant that I could have a single drop of her power,” Xerxes replied. 

The amulet dimmed at his words, hurt by his betrayal. If the light was stripped from them, the earth would die. The trees would decay, the plants would wither, and there would be a famine– slowly, but surely, they would all starve. I crawled out of the hole and pushed past Freyir. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to his side. 

“Astoria,” Xerxes' face fell. “I-I.”

The moment the veil over a child’s eyes was removed was the moment that the world turned gray. I found myself longing for the vibrant colors of the past. But most of all I felt anger. I was angry that I could be fooled so easily. When did my heart become insufficient? When did I no longer trust its judgment? I knew what I had to do. I knew that it was my decision to make and I was tired of running. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Freyir. His hand tightened around mine as he stepped forward. I would not let anyone else die in my stead, and I would not let the lies of others dictate what needed to be done when I had known the truth all along. 

Illia’s magic was not meant to be held. It was derived from the lifeforce of the earth and to the earth it must return. Wars and turmoil would continue to brew. The hunt for Illia’s magic would not cease until it ceased to exist. They were both wrong, Freyir and Xerxes. Freyir wanted to destroy it, and Xerxes wanted to claim it as his own. Both would lead to destruction, both would be the end of us all. I grabbed the knife sheathed at Freyir’s waist. The only way to save our people was to return this magic to whom it belonged. 

“Astoria!” Freyir scrambled to grab me. Xerxes ran towards the amulet. 

I closed my eyes and dragged the knife across my hand. Blood ran around the amulet and the golden glow began to crawl up my arm.

“A life for a life,” I said, allowing Illia’s magic to encase me. 

It would devour my blood, and seep into the earth. The magic would be too much for my body to hold. It would blend with the soil and Illia would find herself free once again. My life for the life of the world seemed such a small trade. Illia’s magic was never meant to be caged, her protection from decay depended on the hope that her people would know when to let her go. But we failed her time and time again. We kept her locked away until her light was all but a tiny fraction of what it once was. We held fast so that we might have a taste of her glory. 

I wished I dared to do it sooner. 

  Freyir caught me. His magic encased us in darkness. Tears stained his cheeks as they fell from his eyes. I could hear the howls of his wolves, the breeze of his wind. I could hear the cries of my brother and the pleas of the soldiers who stood helplessly around them. Freyir would show them no mercy. 

“Stay with me,” he said, trying to slow Illia’s magic. “There’s another way. There has to be another way.”

I reached for his hand. He must let me go or else he will be devoured alongside me.

“Freyir,” I said. “This was always the answer.”

“No,” he shook his head. “No.”

“This was what Illia had always wanted us to do. This was what I was always meant to do.”

The trees billowed in the wind. The grass came to life around us. The forest began to encase us so that Illia would not escape. 

“You must let us go,” I said.

Freyir was a man of shadows and whispers. His magic controlled the forest and the creatures that called it home. He had grown so much from the boy who came seeking vengeance. When I looked into his eyes I saw darkness, yes. But it was not a darkness to be feared. It was the darkness of a night sky filled with the beauty of the galaxy’s light. 

“I am not strong enough,” he replied. 

“Then we will free her together,” I said. 

Freyir closed his eyes. A night sky must be followed by the sun. Without his darkness, I would not have found my light. Our hands wove together and Illia’s magic began to weave around us. In him, I felt the rest and the comfort that a silent night brings, and in his eyes I saw the sun. I saw the hope of a new day fill him and together we would bring peace to this world. We would give each other a new purpose.