The Wonders of Estelia- Aurum’s Shining Dawn Read online

  “Don’t worry, my king. I am not without my own connections. I will make sure that you and I would see Dios with us in a few days time.” The queen walked towards her study and opened a large wooden box. She opened it up and cranked up the dialer. The small radio came to life. The hiss of the steam comforted Queen Raina.

  She turned the frequency into the all feature and spoke through the tiny hammer radio microphone. “To all this is your Queen. I am deeply remorseful because I have failed to complete my promise to keep everyone safe in our realm. But I will do the very best of my abilities to repay the trust you had given me once. Today I wish for you to open your eyes and find a boy lost to us. He has one almond eye and one blue eye.”

  The king gasped when the queen began to describe Dios in the radio. “Raina, stop no!”

  “Dios, my love, Mother is coming for you.” The Queen smashed the radio with all the rage she had kept inside of her. She took out the armor she had custom made using dragon scales. Her son had thought about this genius idea and she asked the smiths to make it happen.

  She was going to find her son if it was the very last she does on Earth.

  Chapter 4: First Day

  Dios and Aurum were nudged awake by someone’s foot kicking them in the stomach. Aurum was about to get up to protect the younger boy when another smaller boy stood in between Aurum and the fiend. “Stop hurting them! Go away!”

  The shorter guy had a loud voice but the larger man smacked him with the back of his hand. Aurum caught the guy before he could fall on the ground. “Get moving, you brats!” After the gruff order, the man left the three teenagers to kick others who were still lying down.

  “Are you okay?” Dios asked the other guy.

  “It’s all good. I just can’t handle seeing bullies get their way.” The guy faced Aurum then said, “Also I didn’t want you to hurt your pretty face.” He winked then finished by saying, “Cullen, by the way.”

  “I’d shake your hand if it wasn’t behind my back.” Aurum was grateful to him.

  Cullen motioned his check towards her. “My checks and your lips are free though.”

  Instead of kissing Cullen’s cheek Aurum hit his forehead with hers. “What did you do that for?”

  “I am grateful but you’re insufferable.” Aurum motioned for Dios to go behind her. “Stay away from us if you’re going to keep doing that.”

  “Sorry. I was just trying to lighten up the mood. If you didn’t notice already, we are in deep trouble.”

  “You’ll make it worse if you two don’t keep quiet.” Someone behind Cullen spoke up. He was as short as Cullen but had a brooding look to him. “I’m not sure if we should be exchanging names but if I die I want to at least have someone remember me. I’m Nase.”

  “I want to join too!” A quirky guy who was smiling despite the mess they were in chimed in. “Stell’Vester. But you all can just call me Vester.”

  “Felip, here.” A dark-skinned boy spoke up from next to Aurum. She had not noticed he was there because he didn’t make any noise before.

  “Oh my gods, you scared me! How long were you there?” Aurum was not used to being with too many young men. She had short hair too because she used to work with her mom in the fields. It was too hot to keep the traditional braided hair in Estelia. Where her mother was from, people were free to have short hair or long hair as they pleased.

  “What is a girl doing with us?” Someone heard an angry soldier ask another. “We were told to bring young men. Why would you idiots bring a young girl here?”

  “Let’s just bring her. Someone has to cook and clean, right?” Aurum was sure they were talking about her. She wanted to tell them that she has never cooked a day in her life and she is a slob. Her mother had tried her best to teach Aurum to be clean but the only place she organized was her workshop area in her father’s work room.

  “You don’t look like a girl so it makes sense that they brought you with us.” Dios said out of the blue. Aurum narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Are you asking for a head butt too?” Aurum threatened him like she would a little brother, it sounded real but she was never going to go through with it. Dios moved his forehead away and tried to appease her.

  “I was just saying that you love like a very handsome girl.”

  “Dios, just stop. You are making matters worse.” Cullen shook his head and Dios listen to him.

  “Does anyone have an idea where we are?” Aurum was great with geography but she didn’t have a compass on her let alone a map.

  Stell’Vester closed his eyes and listened to something in the wind. “We are in Godsgrave. It’s the renegade county of Estelia.”

  “How did you do that?” Felip asked, “Do you have eagle eye?” Eagle eye is a magical ability that allows someone to see a location from above one’s head.

  “Nope. I don’t.” Vester shook his head.

  “How do you know we are in Godsgrave then?” Nase asked Vester.

  “The birds told me.” The rest of them wore disbelieving look on their faces. “I can hear sounds very well. Animals make sounds, right?”

  “Right…so the birds spoke to you?” Aurum never met an animagus before. If Vester could talk to animals, he can turn into one too. He could become a rat and he could bite off the ropes that were keeping them prisoner.

  “It’s not like that. I heard it before so I know that we are in Godsgrave because this bird is supposed to only live in that place.” Vester explained to them.

  “Great, we have a bird maniac, a head-butting girl, a girly boy, a short lover boy and you,” he pointed at Nase. “We are screwed.”

  “Hey!” the rest of them snarled at Felip that the guards came back to shush them.

  “Make one more sound and see what I’d do. You can still work without tongues, you know.” That ended their introductions and the tense air around them before even gloomier.

  The room that they were ushered in knocked them off their stupor. Their hands were now free from the ropes. But there were small bands on them that no one could take off. One teenager ran for it when the ropes were removed and the bands were put on him. But he was not able to move past a certain area. He started jolting violently as if he was being electrocuted. That’s when Aurum though that the whole camp they were in was surrounded by invisible electrical fences.

  “It would have been impressive if we weren’t on this side of the fence.” She had looked at it carefully, trying to find the source of the electric fence.”

  The room they were in was fit for seven people. Aurum had never roomed with boys and it was a bit shocking. They started taking off their clothes and changed into the new ones there. “Aren’t you going to take a bath?”

  “Do you know where the shower is?” a new kid was added to their group. She was in the same room as Cullen, Dios, Felip, Vester, and Nase.

  “I don’t know.” She told the new guy.

  “Then change your clothes and stop complaining.” He still hasn’t introduced himself to the rest of them and Aurum wondered why.

  “Who are you to tell me to stop complaining?” Aurum said to him.

  “Clearly, you don’t know how to keep your status. I am highborn. I don’t have to tell you lowborns who I am.” The guy stuck his nose up so high in the air that it made Aurum laugh.

  “I am Prince Dios of the House of Duena and Estelia, first of my name, heir apparent to the royal house of Estelia, descendant of the goddess and rightful owner of the Nevernight islands.” Dios spoke with confidence for the very first time. “Do you still think I am beneath you to deprive me with your name, nobleman?”

  Aurum wanted to high-five Dios right at that moment. But she simple raised an eyebrow at the new guy while standing beside Dios.

  “I am Renmar of the house of Zakim.” He bowed so deep that Aurum and Dios actually had to hold back their laughter. The rest of the guys looked at Renmar with jovial smirks.

  “We are all the same here, prince and nobleman. We are all screwed the
moment that we were taken by those men.” Vester said matter-of-factly.

  “Which bird told you that?” Felip asked Vester.

  “Well, I heard the guards talk about it earlier. They mean to make us into soldiers or slaves.” Vester was not smiling this time.

  Aurum walked towards Vester who was on the brink of tears. “You can cry. No one here would fault you if you cry.”

  “I would make fun of him.” Felip raised his hand and smiled teasingly.

  Aurum gave him the stink eyes. “Sorry, princess. That doesn’t work on me. If Fester starts crying, I will laugh at him.”

  Everyone went to bed but not a single bed was dry, they all began crying as soon as their heads hit their pillows. Each one thought of home and the people they left behind. Not a single one of them could be sure that their loved ones were okay or if they were looking for them. The unknown just made things matters worse.

  Chapter 5: Nevernight Earthen Order

  The next day was a series of bad things getting worse for Aurum. First of all, they had to bathe together. She was with the other captives from the camp and she was the only girl there. The soldier assigned to them was shocked to see her body when he inspected her. “Are you a eunuch?” He asked out of the blue. Eunuchs used to serve a mad king of Estelia but now the process was removed by Queen Raina.

  Aurum contemplated saying yes to that but she thought that she might have no way of explaining other female bodily processes if she lied now. “I am a woman.”

  “You are no woman. You are flat everywhere. You are just missing a dick.” The soldier didn’t want to believe her. The man next to him whispered to his ear and the soldier started to blush after realizing that Aurum was telling the truth.

  “Where the heck is she going to take a bath? The others might maul her if they found out!” This soldier still had a heart then, Aurum thought. At least he knows that I can’t bathe with the rest.

  “She can take a bath in the stall then. We can put a shower there.” The helpful soldier smiled at Aurum who bowed slightly to thank him.

  “Fine, you do it. Just take her out of my sight.” Aurum still heard him muttering as she went. “Flat-chested bitch! Why couldn’t get one that had actual tits?”

  Aurum was already seventeen and had often wondered why her body was not growing the same as her friends. Estelian women are gifted, so to speak, in that department. She looked down where those gifts were supposed to be and sighed. “No wonder those soldiers thought I was a guy.”

  A large room was prepared for them and all of the freshly-bathe captives were asked to sit on the shiny wooden floor. A man walked up to the podium and began to speak. “The Estelia that you have heard about is a lie.”

  The words boomed across the room even though there were no magic being used. The man was holding something that was helping transmit his voice across the room. Vester pointed at the loud boxes that were spewing out the words the man was saying. They could all hear them even without Vester’s ability. The poor guy was covering his ears from the pain the sound was causing him.

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t know you had that ability. The man gestured to someone and Vester was given ear covers. “Can you hear me well, young man?”

  Vester nodded, impressed at how someone who seems to be very important was paying attention to his needs. Aurum shook her head. “This guy is good.” She had a feeling that the speaker was on a charm offensive. But she was around her father when he had to negotiate for materials and labor costs. Her father could make any rich guy pay more than they normally would. She could tell that this man was trying to convince the rest to keep quiet and follow his lead.

  “That is not true!” Dios stood up and everyone looked at him. “I am Prince Dios of the House of Duena and Estelia, first of my name, heir apparent to the royal house of Estelia, descendant of the goddess and rightful owner of the Nevernight islands. You captured us and are keeping here against our will. Now you want to poison our minds! Release us then tell us this so-called truth about Estelia.”

  “Ah, our dear prince, you are mistaken. I am not your captor. I am your teacher. This is not prison. It’s mandatory military training.” The man started emitting vibrations that made everyone feel calmer. Dios however, doubled over in pain.

  “Stop it, what are you doing?” Aurum snapped out of the charm spell and tried to help Dios.

  “The prince is an empathic. I did not know this about you.” The man stopped the charm and the rest of the captives looked like they woke up from a dream. Dios passed out and Aurum was able to go to his side.

  “The prince is understandably confused. He is a part of a dark heritage of conquerors who wrote their version of history. They claim to be the descendents of a goddess and claimed this land for their own. They took Nevernight Islands as their own as if they were the first ones there.”

  “Nevernight had dwellers. The Earthen tribe was the strongest and largest of them all. The smaller tribes looked up to the Earthen tribe to rule as chieftain. But when the Estelian king wanted more land, they took over other areas around their kingdom. When they found out that Nevernight had a lay line, a very powerful one, they moved their capital to the place they now call Estelia. We the descendants of the Earthen know it as Nevernight. The whole of Estelia was once called Nevernight. The shining dawn has come to us with the Amazon queen’s reckoning. We will find the shining dawn and destroy the conquerors. We would claim back our heritage, our birthright. You dear prince of the conquerors, you do not hold status in Nevernight. You are just another boy here. This is Godsgrave, the true center of the lay line. Here we will awaken the shining dawn that would bring forth the end of our line.”

  “Is that why you took him? To kill off his family? Are you crazy? He has other relatives! They could still be king. Even without Dios, the royal family of Estelia wouldn’t die out.”

  “You don’t understand anything about the royal family, do you peasant girl?” The pompous man spoke said sarcastically. “I am Pina Tuvo. I am Nevernight’s last true leader. My ancestors ruled as chieftains. In the island, we continued the ways of our ancestors. We have the true claim on this land. Estelian kings are the same. They regard the purity of blood as something very important. The fact that you exist is an abomination to your bloodline. A half-prince you are.” Pina laughed but Dios was so insulted he forgot to keep his cool.

  “Draka!” Dios pointed his open palm at Pina and the young prince threw a blue flame at the big man.

  Pina looked peevish when he moved his fingers and flicked it. The blue flame was swallowed by a dark mist. “Your dragon fire has no weight in Godsgrave. Nevernight’s talent is to consume all things that bring warmth and light. You are weak here.”

  Pina started to emit the same vibrations from earlier. Dios was back on his knees in pain. Aurum was also down on her knees in pain. “If you do not follow our orders to the letter, your days will be dark and cold. If you learn the true ways of Nevernight, we will grant you your freedom.” He lifted his hands and everyone’s arms were raised whether they wanted to or not. The metal bracelets were not just used to electrocute them. Pina Tuvo could also control them.

  “You are an elemental alchemist.” Aurum heard from her mother that there were gifted men in her hometown who could control everything that was from nature.

  “You are a learned child, I see. It would be a pleasure to awaken your inner Nevernight warrior. What is your name?” Pina Tuvo pressed Aurum’s mind to yield.

  “My name is Aurum, daughter of Matias and Awa. I am Estelian not an Earthen. So you have no dominion on me.” She pushed him out of her mind with all the willpower that she had. She was exhausted from the effort and fainted.

  She didn’t see the look of shock that registered on Pina Tuvo’s face.

  “The shinning dawn is here,” his whisper was both of fear and wonder. He could not let Aurum know who she was, not until she was willing to join their cause. He needed to make sure that she would forget that she was a s
o-called Estelian. She as an Earthen, or so help Pina Tuvo, he was going to make her one.

  Chapter 6: Days in NEOYC

  Aurum remembered the story that her mother told her, it was a bedtime story she could barely understand. It made her less afraid of the dark though. She didn’t realize until Pina Tuvo talked to them about Nevernight that the story was about the history of Estelia.

  “The world was once very cold and full of darkness. Then the sun, who wanted to rule over the darkness, came to free the land from it. The darkness resisted but as the sun grew stronger; the darkness had to find a place to hide. It was waiting for a chance to come out when the sun was not the strongest. But years and years passed. The darkness could only stay in the corner, watching the sun make everything in the land grow. The darkness could only grow rotten things that lived off others. So the sun told everyone who basked in its warmth that the darkness was evil. But the truth was light cannot exist without darkness. Both are needed in the world in order to bring balance. The darkness, in its loneliness could not reach out to the sun. The sun was too high up to see that the darkness just need to be acknowledged, to be felt by the land. It didn’t want all of it, but just for a little time. So the darkness steals the day every day to try to convince the sun that it meant no harm. But the sun always breaks the dawn with its brilliance, too arrogant to accept the darkness even in the land where darkness once reigned.

  The first few days in the NEO youth camp was filled with meditation training. For Dios, Nase, Cullen, and Aurum they all felt like torture.

  “This is the first time that I felt like being a seer’s child is a horrible thing.” Cullen had the ability but since he wasn’t eighteen yet, he hasn’t had proper training for it. “It feels like there are crawling out my eyes from the inside.”

  “That’s better than having pins and hammers in your head.” Nase had telekinesis. He was a natural so he had more control than Cullen had with his ability. But the pain was too much for Nase who often fainted during the meditation training.