The Legend of Caelestella

When the three of them reached Springfell they were all taken aback by the sight. None of them had expected the wreckage that lay beyond the forest. Charred houses, collapsed roofs, and fabrics were torn and flying askew. Children's toys lay on the ground, ripped, frayed and burnt. 

Milli covered her mouth and looked away from the sight, while Astar stared around, unable to get a word out. Haruki just sighed and shook his head. It seemed as though he'd seen such sights before. The Knights of Kezran. Rumours of their treacherous deeds and names belonging to the dark mages within had spread around The Society. A dark mage group responsible for continent-wide destruction. 

It made him sick, even after such things he'd experienced in The Society he would never even imagine hurting people in such a way. He wondered what would cause those people to act out such twisted morals. He never expected to come home to such a sight. 

His quiet hometown with the kind old grannies and the old men who went on a drunken rant at 2:00 am. He gagged on his breath as he recognised the pattern of a child's blanket caught under a burnt cartwheel. It belonged to Dione Scrull, a young girl from the village's orphanage. She was never seen without her white bunny blanket. He hoped she'd managed to get away. 

'Let's go,' Haruki told them, 'We won't get anywhere if we stand here feeling sorry.' Milli made a sound of agreement and the two of them turned to Astar. They'd found the haystack, now they needed to find the needle. 

'Let's start at my house.' Astar instructed them, 'It's this way.' He began to walk through the destruction, stepping over piles of ash and soot. He accidentally kicked a lump of unrecognisable white matter, well, it was until it turned around to reveal the skull of a cow with clumps of rotten flesh still clinging to the sickly bone. He tore his eyes from the disgusting sight and continued making his way to his house. 

When he finally reached his small cottage home he was surprised to find it completely intact. The surrounding grass was brown and the details of the moulding on the roof had been worn away but besides that, his house was a polished pearl compared to the other homes. The sight of it made him nostalgic, so much so that it brought tears to his eyes. This was his home, the home he had left for seven years, but the desolate streets, decaying buildings and scattered remains of a once quaint town no longer were the home he once knew. (MENTION: HIS MOTHER HAD LOVED SO MUCH THAT SHE HAD LOST HERSELF)

He took a deep breath as he walked up to the door. When he opened the door he wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him. The inside of the house had been torn completely apart. Cushions scattered the ground with their soft feathers laying on the dust-covered floor. The walls had been ripped down. It almost looked as if someone had been looking for something. Perhaps they were looking for the key sword? Had The Knights already taken the needle? That was absurd, Vyltria never would have hidden the key in their house. He began to rummage around the living room, looking for anything that Vyltria might have left behind as a clue. The only problem is Astar had no idea how difficult this clue would be to find, let alone solve. He tried looking under the lounge but was greeted with a face full of fluff and dust, he coughed as he pulled away from the ground. 

They spent the next hour or so searching the house with no luck. The three of them sat down in the living room where they'd begun their search. 

'No luck,' Milli sighed, 'it seems like The Knights took every belonging with them.' 

'Stingy bastards,' Astar whispered. 

'I'm sorry Astar.' Milli said. 

'Huh, why?' He asked. 

'If only I hadn't been so pushy about going on a trip then we wouldn't be in this situation right now,' she explained. Astar shook his head. 

'Please don't say that, no one here is at fault, this is all happening because of The Knights so don't blame yourself.' He reassured her. She quietly nodded and stood up to look around again, then the thought struck him. 'The tree!' He exclaimed. The other two looked at him and exchanged puzzled looks with each other. Astar didn't give them an explanation, he just leapt to his feet and began to scramble to the back of the house. 

He burst out the back door and ran towards a large willow tree near the edge of a forest behind the house. The tree appeared sickly and Astar assumed it was dead. He was heartbroken, this tree had been the place he and his mother used to spend most of their time. Now it was merely the peeling corpse of an ancient willow tree, its branches still twisted around each other and domed the trunk of the tree, but with its mystical teal leaves missing it looked no different from the rest of the dead trees that scattered this dense forest area.

 Astar clung to the husk of the tree and he tried to climb into a large nook in the trunk. It had been a lot easier to climb when he was younger, the tree had been a sturdy structure with fine bark that refused to budge. The strong branches of the tree had been useful handholds, but they were no longer. 

The tree crumbled underfoot and Astar slipped down the trunk. 'Could I get a boost please?' He asked. Haruki nodded and kneeled at the base of the tree allowing Astar to use Haruki's shoulders as if they were steps and grab the lip of the sunken-in trunk. He pushed himself over the edge and tumbled into the trunk. 

He broke through spiderwebs and cringed as a large, venomous sickleback spider crawled over his arm and out of the trunk. He looked around and found mouldy pillows and stuck-up blankets covering the floor of the trunk, reminding him of how he used to hide back here and read books about anything. 

He rummaged around the tree and looked behind the pillows for anything that looked out of place. Besides the spiderwebs that seemed to rebuild themselves every time they were snapped, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That was until Astar noticed a small tear in the base of the smallest pillow. He picked up the pillow and turned it over to take a closer look at the rip. A small piece of paper was wedged between the stiff feather stuffing inside the pillow, he pulled it out and unfolded it. Astar was surprised to find a note with nothing but a date on it. 

3rd March 633. This date held no importance to Astar, why would his mother leave a note that meant nothing to him? Nothing significant had ever happened that day. 

'I found it,' he called out to the others. 

'What's it say?' Haruki asked. 

'3rd March 6330, does that mean anything to you guys?' Astar asked. He popped his head out of the trunk to find Milli and Haruki shaking their heads, looking confused. He pushed himself over the side of the trunk and fell forward onto the ground with a thump. He groaned in pain and rubbed his back, that had been a very ungraceful landing. 

Milli helped him to his feet while Haruki stood a few metres away stifling laughter. 'Thanks,' he told Milli. He brushed off his knees then pulled the piece of paper from his pocket, examining the note. 

No hidden message seemed to be contained within it, all the letters were written the same. He sat down at the base of the tree and rubbed his forehead, this was most puzzling. Haruki walked over and gently took the paper from Astar to examine it for himself. He looked at the note for a few seconds while mumbling something to himself. 

'I think,' he said slowly, 'I might know what this means.' 

'Oh?' Astar asked. Had he missed something? 'What is it?' 

'The houses.' Haruki said. Astar cocked his head at Haruki. Haruki sighed and began to explain. 'While we were walking through town I noticed that your houses aren't numbered in numerical order, instead, they've got a random pattern to them.' Astar nodded, his town had always done things a little, well, differently. 'These dates, the third of the third six thousand three hundred and thrity, they're in a triangle, house thirty-three, house Sixty-three and house thirty form a triangle in the square.' Astar jumped up, how had he missed that? 

'I know where it is!' He shouted. He ran into the house and out the front door with Milli and Haruki close behind. Astar leapt out the front door and took off at a sprint. 

When he reached the town square he fell onto his hands and knees in front of the fountain in the centre of the square. He pressed around, looking for a brick. 

'What are you doing?' Milli asked. 

'There's a secret compartment in here, we used to use it for storing our village's treasures,' Astar explained, 'but I can't remember which stone triggers the mechanism.' He fumbled around, pressing each stone inwards, however, none of them budged. He slammed his closed fist on the top of the fountain edge. 'We might have to test every brick,' he told them. The others nodded and got to work without a word, pressing at all the bricks that made up the fountain. 

'Aha!' Milli squealed. She lifted a small golden key with dozens of tiny details engraved into the sides and the keyring. Astar ran over and picked up the key from Milli's palm. 

Turning the key over, he noticed a sentence engraved into the ring of the key. 'For my dear Star, love V.R.' He crumpled to his knees and began to shed tears as he clutched the key to his chest. 

Milli kneeled next to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. Haruki stood up and walked over, hugging Astar into his chest as he crouched next to him. Astar wiped the tears from his face and sat on the edge of the fountain. 'Should I try it out?' He asked softly. 

Milli nodded, looking eager. He smiled a little and stood up, facing the fountain. He once more imagined his magic swirling in his mana core then shooting out through his veins and out the tips of his fingers into the key. The key began to glow and the ground quaked. 

'Is this normal?!' Astar cried. Haruki put his hand on Astar's shoulder. 

'The key is recognising a new owner, give it a second.' He said quietly. Milli covered her eyes with her hands to stop the dust from flying into them, and the pale pink skirt of her dress fluttered. The already destroyed houses shivered and shook before a few of them began to cave in even more. 

Finally, everything went silent as the key glowed a soft yellow, the same colour as Astar's magic. The glow became brighter until all three of them were unable to keep their eyes on the key. Suddenly a new weight tugged on Astar's hand and he fell forward a little before catching himself. In his hands was a giant key-like sword with the once simple ridges and teeth now transformed into graceful sword points with leaf details curling around the ridges. 

The gold key had turned a pale gold and the ring had become more like a golden leafy wreath. Astar walked over to a dead tree on the brink of the town square and delicately swung the sword towards the base of the trunk, slicing right through it. The tree fell downwards and crashed through a decaying barn. He stood back and nodded his head approvingly. 

He let go of his mana grip on the key and it lit up and turned back into the small golden key with his mother's initials engraved into it. 

He opened a thin twine necklace he'd been wearing and slipped one end through the head of the key and tied it up once more. The cold metal hit his neck and the key fell into his shirt, leaving a comforting weight sitting over his heart. He turned around to the others and smiled brightly. 

'Let's go home!' He called. 

#

The three of them trekked the forest trail through the Boisgus Woods, it had been a lot easier on their way to the town, but now as they walked uphill through the scattered gravel path which wound around twisted trunks and creeping vines Astar found himself starting to sweat. He lagged behind the other two, partly from exhaustion and also because he kept stopping to examine the key which gently tapped his chest each time he took a step. 

Tap, Tap, Tap. He picked up the key, reading the engraving for what must have been the one-hundredth time. He couldn't help but wonder if this had been the only thing his mother had left behind for him. 

He became so distracted by his thoughts and so mesmerised by the key that he didn't notice a thick tree limb that had fallen to the ground, he ran straight into it, tripping and falling into the gravel, getting a mouth full of dirt and pebbles to boot. He coughed frantically and spat out the dirt in his mouth, he could still feel the grainy texture of it stuck between his teeth. Astar had ripped his jeans, they were now frayed at the knees and beneath them was stained a bright, angry red. He felt some drops of blood running down his shin and his palms began to sting, he slumped back onto his butt with an ungraceful thud and assessed the damage he'd done to himself. His knees were bleeding a lot, so much so that he could barely see the deep scrapes beneath the thick blood that seeped from them. His palms weren't as bad but they were red and raw with white scratch marks snagging through the crevices on his hands. 

'Haruki?'

There was no answer. Astar looked up from his hands. Milli and Haruki had disappeared. Astar scrambled to his feet, wincing as his torn jeans caught in the bloodied torn flesh of his knees. He spun around in a circle, but neither of them was to be seen. Something wasn't right about this, Astar realised. Now that he had stilled he could hear what was wrong. The wind had gone, the trees were deathly still and not even the grass swayed lightly over their rooted prisons. A large male atlas beetle had launched itself off of a nearby durian tree, but now it was stuck in the air as an invisible hand had caught it and was holding it captive with its delicate wings held open. Astar reached out for the beetle and gave it a gentle nudge causing it to float away slowly. 

Now that he looked around, the leaves on the trees seemed to be moving, but only just. Time had slowed around him, but still, even if it had, he should have been able to see his friends. Astar walked quickly up the hill and broke into a jog, running up and over until he reached the clearing where they had landed the mantis, but where the large man-made structure had been was now a small little creek flowing through the open clearing, a young napu and it's mother stood over the creek. 

If Astar wasn't already panicked, he sure was now, he backed up slowly and bolted through the woods, hopefully going back the way he had come. He circled the spot where he had tripped, each direction looked the same. He ran his hands through his hair and anxiously pulled at the loose strands. 

A rustling sound emerged from the trees to his right and Astar whirled around, placing himself in the defensive stance he'd been taught. If something was moving that fast in this time stop then he wasn't the only one caught in it, that meant whoever was moving in here was most likely an enemy. Astar reached down for the daggers in his boots. He gripped them tightly as if they would disappear if he even thought of letting go. What kind of creature could slow or reverse time? He tried to rack his memory. He could rule out normal creatures, so this had to be a magia beast. A creature who has access to race-specific powers inherited from their ancestors who were gifted by the heroes. Charmadines were fast. Very fast. But they had no control over time. There was no possible way it was a dragon or he would be dead, Leowari can shapeshift, their original forms are unknown. Bakne can turn living things to stone, and Neklid can change their size. A Drune. Drunes were large birds, twice the size of a crocodile. Their wingspan could reach up to ten metres and they had four large, clawed talons. Their enormous beaks were large enough to swallow Astar whole. 

His first instinct was to find a way out of this time stop, but he couldn't. The only way to get out of something like this would be to defeat the caster or tear a hole in space-time itself. If he were to run it would do him no good. He would be trapped in this space and time for all of eternity.

Branches snapped and trees groaned as a gigantic, prehistoric-looking bird stepped out into the clearing. It stood on the other side, but its body nearly took up half of the clearing. It was three times the size of Astar. There was no way Astar could fight something like this. It let out a ferocious, ear-splitting shriek and launched forward at Astar. He tumbled to the side, narrowly missing its beak which impaled the coarse ground as if it were mud. The gravel sprayed up against his legs as he skidded to a stop.

The drune raised its head and open its wings, looming over Astar as he shivered inside its shadow. The world had grown even more still, time was slowing more. 

'Stop!' 

The drune grew closer, stalking Astar from across the clearing. It clattered its beak and let out a low guttural hiss from the back of its throat. He backed up a little further until his back hit the soft bark of a young tree. The enormous pale pink drune raised its head to the side, inspecting Astar with an eye as big as his fist. Its jaws snapped open and it launched once more as it let out a cracked squark. Astar leapt behind the tree for cover and shut his eyes firmly. He had not expected to die from a fat bird. The blow never came though. He opened his eyes and gasped in horror. The beak of the Drune was stuck around the tree. He heard the tree start to splinter as the young tree fought for its life. Astar could feel the sharp beak begin to press into his arms, leaving red marks as the beak slipped downwards slightly.

Death. By a bird? How ridiculous. 

The air near him began to swirl, sending the leaves of the trees flying off their branches. A hiss. Astar was suddenly reminded of the Leviathan. The ground shook as a deep growl set out through the earth, and slowly, a figure began to appear, an enormous figure. It seemed to filter into reality out of thin air. It's oaky scales and wild yellow eyes stared past Astar and at the drune. It was crouched low to the ground so to not run into any trees, although it's spiralling grey horns still caught on the lower hanging branches.

A dragon. This was a dragon, a real-life dragon, and it stood before Astar. As it moved, a few of its scales shifted colours rapidly. It slowly stalked its way around the tree, coming face to face with the drune who was in a vulnerable position, its head tilted to the side leaving its neck wide open for attack. The drune furiously tried to tear its beak from the tree but had gotten it stuck now that it had carved so far into the trunk. The dragon raised a talon to the air and struck with such velocity that Astar had to grip the tree for support. The drune went silent and its body slumped to the ground with an earth-shuddering thud, its beak was still caught in the tree. Astar turned in fear to look at the dragon, but it simply stared at him with wild curiosity, not like how a predator looks at its prey. The world began to flicker and the trees returned to their usual fluttering as the wind reappeared through the canopy. Sensing the time shift, the dragon turned its long, elegant body and lifted off the ground in the clearing. The dragon gave Astar one last peek before it flew away to the west.

'Astar!' A shout came from over the hill. Haruki.

'I'm here!'

Haruki and Milli came running over the hill, Haruki looked dishevelled. His hair was flying askew and his shirt was untucked and torn at the bottom.

'What happened, are you alright?!'

'The dru-' Astar began, only to cut himself off as he found the body of the drune nowhere to be found. He turned back around, perplexed. 

'Are you alright?' Haruki asked again.

'Yeah… What happened to you two though?' He asked.

'We got targeted by a drune attack.' Haruki said. 'The drune never showed though and we ended up having to fight these weird prehistoric-looking bugs'

'They were huge!' Milli exclaimed. 'Armoured and everything! Like warrior bugs.' Haruki gave her an 'are you serious' look before returning to Astar.

'I got attacked by the drune.' Astar told them. Haruki stood before him silently.

'Are you sure it was a drune?' He asked.

'Yes. Giant prehistoric bird with a huge beak and four talons… it was pink? I know what a drune is, Haru." Haruki walked up to him, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. Haruki didn't believe him. 'Let me guess; you think I can't defeat a drune alone?' He asked with an eye roll.

'What, no, well-' Haruki paused '-yeah.'

'You'd be right then. Something else saved me.' Astar explained.

'What do you mean?' Haruki asked. Astar shrugged. He didn't know how to explain what had happened. It would have sounded fake. He got attacked by a drune and had no way of defending himself, only to make it out alive with the help of an unknown accomplice who managed to tear its way through space and time. Yeah, great story. No wonder Milli was giving him a funny look.

'I wish I could explain it,' he finally said. Milli furrowed her brow and shifted her weight from hip to hip.

'Let's just go back home. We're all really tired by now.' Milli said. 

'Sounds like a plan.' Haruki.

Milli led their march up and over the hill, walking faster than even Haruki; she seemed irritated by something.

'Did something happen?' Astar asked Haruki.

'She gets moody when she uses too much mana too quickly,' Haruki explained. 'It's kind of funny, she scares even Phyre when she's back from a tough mission.' The thought of the friendly Milli scaring even the tough Phyre made Astar giggle, but it was also terrifying when he thought about it more.

When they reached the clearing, Astar was relieved to find the mantis where they had left it, perched delicately on top of a rock. Milli had already begun to climb the ladder, and it swung side to side as she muscled her way upwards and through the doorway. Astar grappled with the lower rungs as he struggled up the ladder with his worn-out arms. His palms burned as his skin caught on the splintered wooden rungs. Eventually, he reached the top of the ladder and slumped down in the middle of the floor. All the climbing had reopened the wounds on his knees, and he felt fresh, warm blood begin to seep through the cracking, dried blood. He sighed, took a first aid kit from a hook near the door, and propped himself against a wall. He rolled his pants over his knees and grabbed a globby long-toed frog spit vial. He looked disgusted as it slowly fell out of the vial onto a cloth in his hand. He didn't think he could ever get used to that stuff. It stung his open wound as he cleaned up the blood, the cloth was becoming stained bright red, and it looked like he'd killed someone. Haruki came through the door and groaned when he saw Astar on the floor.

'Again?' He asked.

'Not like you can talk this time. What's that on your side?' Beneath Haruki's torn shirt, he noticed a shallow but large cut that ran along his side. Haruki laughed nervously. He'd been caught.

'One of those silly bugs got me with its spiky ass leg'

Astar laughed at the way Haruki casually brushed it off like it was no big deal and like it happened every day. When Astar had finished wrapping his legs, Haruki helped him to his feet.

'Since Milli has gone into hibernation, it looks like I will be guiding us back. Best avoid that ever storm we flew straight into last time.'

'That sounds great, Haru. No leviathans either this time, please.'

'Hah, no promises,' he joked, or, at least, Astar hoped he was joking. 'You ready for the meeting with Empress Marilyn the day after tomorrow?' 

'Uh, no. Not really.' Astar admitted.

'Something bothering you?' Haruki asked.

'Yeah, but I'm not quite sure what.'

'Come sit.' Haruki said, patting the co-pilot seat. Astar shifted his weight into the seat and started to swing his feet absently. Haruki didn't say anything, he just shifted the positioning of Astar's seat closer to him as he piloted the mantis off the ground and into the air. Astar watched out of the rounded window in the front of the mantis as the trees became less distinct, and more of a large clump of green. The Empress, huh? Astar wondered what she was like.