CHAPTER 15 – RETREAT TO THE MOUNTAINS

A few days had passed since the funeral. Each night Mitakahn had trouble getting to sleep. Throbbing headaches would come to him in the late afternoon and last until nightfall. There were some nights that the headaches kept him from getting any sleep at all. He was growing more and more restless, and by far the most irritable of the mourning family. After his sermon at the funeral, Mitakahn had all but stopped talking.

King Avalahn along with the princesses returned to Metuchen, but Jericho, Anilithyìstad and his sons, Anilithion, and Mortikahn stayed behind. All of Zepathorum went back to its daily routines. It seemed that Queen Adyána, Axion, and Mitakahn were the only three still stuck in the wake of their king.

Mitakahn had, at last, dropped his brave front. He would sit in the Citadel, lost in his thoughts, trying to make sense of all these new feelings. Never before had he felt such pure hatred and blanketing dullness. The resentment covered his aura. Something was growing inside him… a new energy, a brandished feeling. His entire concept of life and meaning was shattered, broken; unhinged.

He felt divided, his spirit… lost among the fray of his identity; shredded personas mixing inside his mind. He was not himself anymore. But the schism brought on by his father’s death and the introduction of darkness to his heart changed him irrevocably. Mitakahn was losing his grip on reality. Above all the confusion, although he would never admit it, he was scared. Scared of what this life would mean for him. He sat in the shadowed corners of the Citadel alone and watched the sun rise and set.

All the fuss of the funeral was over, and the royal family was expected to pick up where they left off. Queen Adyána tried to sit in on council meetings but could not bear to hear her husband’s name being said so many times in one sitting. Soon she became paranoid that they only did it to drive her out. Part of the queen wanted to pack up and return to her home kingdom of Metuchen. But she knew she could not. She was a mother of the Lion Kingdom, and she had to protect her family and nation. Axion could barely look at the throne without getting upset.

Each member of the royal family was falling into deep depression. They needed to get away for a while and recollect themselves. That is when Anilithyìstad decided to send them to a retreat in the mountains. He knew of a small town where they would be safe in solitude. Upon concocting these plans, Anilithyìstad sent Jericho and Mortikahn out ahead with a patrol of the Royal Guard to make sure that the path was clear.

Mitakahn entered the Queen’s chambers and let her know that the carriages were waiting for them out front. He helped bring his mother’s bags to the carriages in the courtyard. Axion came down and together the three of them, along with their servants and personal guard climbed into the horse-drawn carriages and set off on their trip to a small village in the northwestern slopes of the Burning Mountains.

The family could not stay in the capital, they had to get away and gather their thoughts so they could return level-headed and with proper priorities on their mind. The ambassadors and councilmen would temporarily run the nation until Axion was ready to take the throne. Mitakahn was very wary of this decision but did not want to cause conflict between himself and his mother and brother so early after the king’s death. So, Mitakahn talked to his uncle privately and together they came to the conclusion that Anilithyìstad would stay to make sure the best interests of the royal family were kept in mind.

The trip to the Burning Mountains was short. The Burning Mountains were named after their peculiar mountain peaks and ranges which make it look like a long line of giant brown flames. It was not until the second age of MagnaThora when the mountains actually started to emit smoke from its vents that the name came into literal meaning. As the legends have it Lord Patronalus wrestled the great dragon god Dracobra down to the deepest caverns of the mountains and imprisoned the beast there. The immortal dragon was rumored to be there until this day lighting the fires from within. But in the reality of the modern age the fire, wherever it may be, was going out. Oldstone experts could all tell you the mountain smoke slowly diminished. Many religious fanatics saw it as a heed to the end of days. But life goes on.

There were many small towns along the mountainside. They prayed to the ancient gods of the phoenix tribe, a kingdom unlike the Pride. They had no houses or liege lords, no standing army or vast cities. It was just these small towns and Mount Fire itself, a place unreachable by common man. Anilithyìstad and the Pride council chose the relatively young settlement of Ashtown for the royal family’s retreat; known enough to them, just the right distance away from their kingdom, and most important of all devoid of any threat, truly innocent.

The royal family did not talk on their trip. They just sat in the caravan. Their looks rivaled stone; short breaths, sullen expressions. They passed time. And so, time passed, day turned to night, and they arrived at the end of their trail.

They went right to bed, getting through another day without any more disaster. Mitakahn was the last to turn in, lying wide-eyed in his bed. He could not sleep. There was no comfort in it. He feared his dreams. Instead, Mitakahn wandered outside in the night.

The moon and stars brightened the dark sky. Mitakahn stared up at the moon… one pure light in the darkness surrounded by stars: a window to the heavens. Mitakahn got up and opened the window, but before he could go through it he was shaken awake. He unknowingly fell asleep out on the grass.

The first few days were long. And they were finding it hard to adjust to the stiff mountain air and the people’s slow lifestyle. Each day just crawled by as they tried to re-appreciate life in its most basic and wholesome form, but it was no use. They sought asylum in this young town where there was no law, no politics, just community, just the promise of a future. It was still too small to stir up deviants or criminals, the perfect town, naïve to mischief and misery, free of evil.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

One morning Axion walked through the town, curious but distant. He wandered around aimlessly looking for something, just anything, anything he could wrap his mind around to forget about what haunted him. How could he become king? How could he take his father’s place? The answer was simple. He could never take his father’s place. So, what was the point? He considered remaining here in this modest town forever in seclusion, away from his responsibilities and torments. Axion wandered aimlessly both inside his mind and around town. He found himself lying on a table outside of a market staring up, high into the sky.

“You look lost.”

He heard a humble voice from above him. ‘Funny you should say that’ he thought.

The prince opened his eyes to find a beautiful maiden of the fair town. She looked different from the rest of them though. The townsfolk were small people, frumpy with pasty white skin, pale and stout figures. She was not of their kind. She was a lengthy, curvaceous, and well-toned girl. Her reddish tanned skin complimented her fiery eyes. She stood out amongst every other member of the village. But they loved and treated her as one of their own.

“I am Euphrati.”

The prince heard her soft and intriguing voice once again and wondered, ‘what appeal do I serve over any other lad around this afternoon?’ and then it bit him, he had not responded to this girl at all. And with that he jumped up, nearly colliding with her.

“I am sorry for my lack of courtesy, my name is Axion, and I don’t know a single person in this town. This place is new to me.”

Euphrati laughed and the two began to talk, affection sprouted immediately. Euphrati was known throughout the town as an orphan with a very unique story…

LEGEND OF THE MAN FROM DARK CLOUD

One day many years ago, there was a loud thunder in the sky and a black cloud stretched over the village. All of the townsfolk came out of their houses to see the thunder that brought no rain. The slow rolling cloud moved across the entire span of the sky. It came from the east. The blackness was more like a thick smoke than a cloud. It barely looked natural, but it moved in union with the high winds. The current was slow, as the darkness consumed the atmosphere. Further down the range at the highest peak the mountain breaks and the screams of hundreds are muffled in the smoke of its exhaust.

One voice escaped the treacherous event. A man fell from the sky, plummeting towards the floor. He pulled the black smog with him. With a mighty crash his impact broke the ground. The villagers all hurried to the crash site to find the man. When they dug him out they found a baby in his arms. Even more miraculously, the baby was still alive. The father was gone, so the town took in this child and would raise it as their own.

● ● ●

Now she was a young woman who worked and lived on her own. Euphrati was a special child, and the villagers all knew that. Her spirit was pure, and her soul was strong, eternally protected by her father’s love. Euphrati told Axion, she always knew she didn’t belong here, but she had nowhere else to go. Axion did not return to his cabin that night, instead he would begin spending all his time with Euphrati. They did everything together. Days would pass without Axion even noticing. He had found his something.

For Mitakahn it would not be so easy. He would spend his time during the day in the darkness of his bedroom, trying to solve his own problems. With his father gone it was only a matter of time before the royal family lost control. Each would fall before relinquishing rule over the Pride. If Axion and Queen Adyána did not have what it took to replace Theomitus, how could Mitakahn? He was the prince of no purpose, the second son. And he could see the approaching disaster coming. It was draining him. He was overtired. Mitakahn developed dark rings under his eyes. If only he could relent and get a good night’s rest.

After a couple of days in the mountains, although the royal family did not want to, they had to start thinking about returning to their beloved kingdom. There were a lot of people that depended on their leadership and guidance, and they had to reunite with their duties. Thinking and discussing were two very different tasks, the latter being much more difficult. For Axion, talking came very easy to him with the introduction of Euphrati to his life, but for Queen Adyána and Mitakahn they were still keeping to themselves and avoiding any chance of conversation or interaction.

Axion was sitting with Euphrati on the same bench where they met in the middle of town when a villager gleefully approached them.

“Will you two be coming to the Festival tonight?”

“Festival?” repeated Axion.

“Of course, we will,” answered Euphrati as she turned to explain to Axion, “This is an annual tradition here to celebrate the completion of the summer harvest. There will be food, games, and music. Don’t worry! It will be a lot of fun. Do you think your mother and brother would like to come?”

“I doubt it, but I will go ask them,” said Axion as he left the bench and walked over to his family’s tent.

The tent was noticeably regal. It was not an ordinary tent, but looked more like a cluster of tents; equipped with three bedrooms, a common room, and attached to the front was a deck with a fire pit and rotisserie spike built right in. As Axion approached the tent, Mitakahn walked out.

“Mitakahn! I was looking for you…”

Mitakahn looked up with no verbal response.

“…I…Euphrati was telling me about this festival that the town is having tonight, I was wondering if you and mother wanted to go,” suggested Axion.

“I just want to be left alone,” mumbled Mitakahn.

“Fair enough,” Axion said bluntly.

The brothers departed without another word, each heading in the opposite direction.