Zenora
7. The War

When the night had come, I had let myself go, falling asleep on the Rhydian’s back. Anna, who was sitting behind me, woke me up a few hours later. She looked really tired since she kept awake all night to keep an eye out for me. Dennis came on his horse riding next to us and urged Anna to sleep now. I nodded in agreement, switched positions with her and gave the blanket to Anna so she could take a few hours of rest now while I kept her from falling off of the creature.

It was early in the morning now and Dennis said it was going to be a long day’s ride to our destination, so I took the moment to ask him why he raised me on Earth instead of on Zenora.

He sighed deeply but knew these questions would come eventually.

“Twenty-two years ago, there was a raging war going on between the Kingdom of Terralon and Agravine. The Orcs had wanted to take more ground to enlarge their empire and plundered more resources, but it was at the cost of the lives of many Zenoran humans.” Dennis started his story, or rather, my history.

“So, the King ordered his army to engage in battle and fought off as many Orcs as possible. We were on the winning side of the war, so for the Orcs to get an advantage they came up with a plan to assassinate our King and Queen. A few months later, the pregnant Queen gave birth to a baby girl and a few months after that on a dark gloomy night, all hell broke loose.” Dennis took a deep breath and continued the story.

“The Orcs had assaulted the castle at the front gates and killed as many guards and humans they could find. But it seemed this attack was just a diversion as rogue assassins broke into the castle on the other side of where the initial Orcs were attacking. And thus were able to get to the Queen, because most of the militia guards were ate the front gate.” Dennis adjusted the horse’s gait and kept on talking. I was starting to feel anxious though, there was something about this story that seemed too close to me for my liking.

“Eventually, they were able to reach their destination, as when they entered the Queen’s chambers, they killed her on sight. The King, notified by one of his attendants, heartbroken, managed to get the baby from the nursery and gave the girl to his most trusted, yet young warrior guard and told him to save her. He...”

I kind of knew where this was going and I didn’t like the story one bit. I started crying, having had enough of all the information I was given this weekend and now hearing this story. My head spun around from all the craziness and the feelings that came with hearing it, so I had to stop Dennis from telling this story.

“Just stop, right now, please!” I yelled and everyone turned around looking at me.

They noticed earlier that Dennis was talking to me and didn’t interrupt him because they knew it was important. But now they turned around surprised because I yelled so loudly. I didn’t care what everyone was thinking though as I was just at a point of exploding, not knowing how to process the information I got. I made the Rhydian stop walking and slid off his back, down the side and easily landed on my feet. I ran a bit into the forest, still crying, but I didn’t want anyone to see it.

Dennis had trained me hard during the weekends, where combat training and using different weapons became a normal routine. I was always the strong girl and always devoted to living a strict life, and up till now I had managed to stay strong... but It was all too much.

Anna woke up from me yelling and followed me into the forest, signalling the rest to stay where they were. I had found a small tree trunk and sat on top of it, crying my eyes out when suddenly I felt two warm arms surround me, hugging me tightly. “It’s alright Mills, I was wondering already when you would break. Just let it go.” She said and even though I wanted to or not, her command happened.

Between my crying and sobbing, I managed to get angry at her as well. “A.. Are you even my fr.. friend? Or just my babysitter?!” I cried angrily. “Yes of course I am your friend! Your best friend even!” And she hugged me even tighter.

We sat there for what looked like half an hour, just to calm me down and come to reason with everything, when suddenly a deep voice gently spoke.

“Are you alright, Emily?” He said while nodding to Anna to walk back to the others, as he sat beside me.

“I know it’s hard to find out that you are the Princess of a kingdom which you don’t know, and above that, your mother was murdered.” He said stoically, surprising me with his roughness.

I was calmed down by the soothing arms of Anna but now my tears came running back just twice as fast. I’m not stupid, I knew by the story that Dennis was telling me, that I was the baby girl he was talking about. But now that Brock said it so clearly - and a bit rude I might add - it just made it real.

Out of the blue, I hugged Brock, put my head against his chest and tears fell on his shirt. For a moment he hesitated, but then put his arms around my shoulders to try and comfort me.

Ashamed I pulled myself back, once I was fully aware of what I did and held my breath. I got red cheeks and I tried to look away. I think Brock smiled the moment I tried to look away, but then he picked me up with one arm under my legs and one behind my back. It surprised me that he did it with such ease, and I started to admire his strength and muscles.

Instinctively, I put my arms around his neck and blushed slightly. I don’t know how my mind could so easily switch between sadness and admiration, but this felt so good! His chest felt so warm, that it almost looked like the tears on his chest dried up instantly.

Or was that me getting hot of his great sexy body?? Wow… Wait, hold your horses Mills! Calm down! You can’t be thinking like that right now, right?...

He saw me blushing but didn’t say anything and continued to walk further into the forest to a small stream, which we were able to see from the tree trunk. He sat me down on a big rock and he took a cloth out of one of his pockets. Then he dipped it into the fresh water and wiped the tears from my face and smiled gently. “Are you alright?” He asked me.

I nodded and took the cloth from him to wash my face further with the water from the creek. “Thanks Brock, I’m sorry I ran off like that.”

“It’s alright little one, I anticipated it and had sent Tom and Michael to guard you at first. Then I came to you when you were calm. Well, at least I thought you were calm.” He said with a little smirk on his face. I smacked his shoulder with my fist, for trying to be funny. But my smile gave away that I was okay with it.

“Jerk.” I thought in my mind.

“Is my father still alive? And why did we get attacked by an Orc?” I wanted to know, remembering that I didn’t give Dennis the time to finish the whole story.

“Yes, the King is still alive and waits for your arrival, and why the Orc attacked the truck is something we still have to find out. Once we are in the castle, we can start our investigation.” Brock said which stunned me even further.

All this time I had been on Earth, my father was living on Zenora? I wished to have known him, but by the look of Brock, I knew that there hadn’t been any other way of keeping me safe. Me being taken away by Dennis must have been a hard decision for my father, but I’m glad we are on our way to seeing him again. I was so happy that he was still alive, that I forgot all my tears and wanted to ask Brock some more questions. “Can he control Rhydian’s as well?” I asked feeling stupid as this was my first question, but then chuckled and answered anyway.

He told me that my father, his name is Aron, was a strong man, a warrior in fact. Apparently, I got the hunter part from my mother whose name was Minera. But no one was able to control big creatures as I could. Furthermore, Brock also explained a little more about why I had to stay all these years on Zenora.

It appears that my father was able to win the war after a few more years, but there was still danger in the kingdom. So, he asked Dennis to keep me on earth longer, until I would come of age and I was more able to protect myself. Besides, he didn’t want the enemy to know just yet, that the King had a daughter, making it easier for him to be able to focus on the dangers still roaming in his kingdom.

But clearly, the enemy did know the King had a daughter now, because they had sent a scout our way. The reason the Orcs came to find out, is what has to be investigated, just as Brock said.

Then I thought of Dennis. I figured out now, that Dennis was not my uncle but my father’s guard, but I wasn’t angry anymore. I realized he acted that way to protect me, just like Anna had done and I decided that because I love them to pieces I couldn’t be mad at them anymore.

“But how do we get to Zenora? How did the King, my father, communicate with Dennis then?”

“You will see soon enough.” Brock said with a smile.

After a while, we walked back to the rest and then I saw Tom and Michael walking out of the forest too. They had been hiding well because I didn’t see them earlier in the forest. And when I reached for Dennis and Anna, I gave them a big hug to let them know we were alright and got on the Rhydian so we could continue the trip.

After a few hours of riding, we reached the bottom of a hill where a huge tower was standing on top, pointing to the air.

A/n: Like my story so far? Please let me know! 💛

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