Yuliah stopped screaming. With the cloth stuffed in her mouth; it's useless. She swayed back, but Crazy Eye only inched closer. There were too many of them, and they held her firmly against the trunk of the tree.
"Reeest Mother. Ressst."
when he popped out the yellow iris and brought it closer to her.
She head-butted him. Missed and struck him in the mouth instead. His teeth cut into her flesh, and the taste of Yuliah's blood in his mouth threw him back. His eyes rolled deep into their sockets.
Yuliah's face turned a shade of white at the sight of Crazy Eye, who withered on the ground. Soon he stretched a foot longer, and his scrawny arms and legs hardened with muscles.
"Heeheehee." Crazy Eye sprung up. "Mother made me strong."
The other creatures became distracted with Crazy Eye's new body and released her. They touched and caressed Crazy Eye. He sauntered across the floor and flaunted around them proudly.
Yuliah slowly backed away, Good Gods! She exhaled heavily through her nose. What kind of evil was this? How did he change so fast? Blood from the gash on Yuliah's head made its way down and over the corner of her eye. She wiped it onto her arm.
"Noooooooo!" Crazy Eye screamed. "The blood!" He lunged forward and knocked Yuliah onto her back.
Like a starved cat, he lapped at her face hungrily. Their minds were connected somehow and rushed forward to join him.
Yuliah screamed as slimy little tongues slithered across her face. When they licked up every droplet of blood, everyone fell back flat and withered on the ground. Moments later they too sprung up with newly transformed bodies.
Her eyes were wide at the sight of the creatures who pranced around in their new forms. They touched and caressed one another in admiration. Now that they were stronger than before, it took fewer of them to hold her down.
Humiliated and shamed as they violated her face; all she could do was cry when the very last of the creatures licked the blood from her face and transformed. They danced around happily, and by now, dawn broke through the clouds.
Great! Yuliah glared at Crazy Eye. The yellow iris again. When she escaped the first thing she would do is destroy that iris. Yuliah took deep breaths through her nostrils. Her eyes were piercing, ready to strike at him - if she only could.
"Rest mother." He tapped the iris to her forehead and everything went dark.
It must have been hours later when Yuliah awoke to the sound of crickets chirping and trees swaying in the nighttime breeze. She found herself alone, shrouded in darkness on a dirt path. Her wrists and legs were no longer bound. Where did those creatures go? She stood up and peered into the dark beyond. Did they let her go?
In the distance, a single lantern burned brightly down the road. Am I dead? Yuliah's brows furrowed together. I don't feel dead. She pinched her face.
She had always been afraid of the night. Even into adulthood and thoughts of all the things that could be out there lurking in the dark, sent Yuliah racing down the path towards the light, kicking up tiny pebbles behind her.
A single Manor sat alone, bordered by a black forest when she reached the light. She pushed through the front gates and made her way inside. The courtyard. It was familiar, almost like home. She'd been here before, but when?
Yuliah skipped up the steps and pounded on the door - no one answered. Her mouth fell open when she peeked through the windows. "It's not possible."
She now stared directly into the eyes of herself as a child. Her younger self stood in front of the window, with both eyes gazed up at the stars. She must have been six, maybe seven years old. A woman sat in the dining room, chatting with a man. Yuliah pressed her face up to the glass. "Mother!" She screamed, and the woman's head glanced towards the window where both Yuliah's stood. She smiled but turned back to the Man.
Her mother's long black hair looked exactly like hers, except Yuliah had darker facial features. General Wey always told Yuliah she looked more like her mother, but she doubted it now. The Man who sat across from her mother his eyes were dark and deep-set with thicker brows - features that were nearly identical to that of Yuliah's. He spoke and carried himself with much poise and confidence. Yuliah wondered who he was.
The younger Yuliah hummed in front of the window. With no worries, just happy and loved. In her hand, she held a box — a tiny box adorned with jewels.
"The crimson birds!" Yuliah couldn't believe the box also had the same birds on them - it must be her mother's. She watched her younger self pull out a beautiful amethyst ring.
"Mother. Look what I found." She slid the ring onto her pointer finger right when her Mother glanced over.
"YULIAH! STOP!" Her Mother bolted from the seat knocking the glass on the dining table over. It's too late. The ring wrapped onto Yuliah's tiny finger and tightened. Flesh pierced as the ring drained Yuliah's blood and turned the silver band a dark red. She dropped to the ground, screaming.
Yuliah's mother and the man rushed over, as a burst of light exploded from the amethyst diamond. It shot into the air and right through the roof. It drew its power from Yuliah's blood and burned brighter than before. The ring continued to cut into Yuliah's finger, drawing more blood. Rendering her unconscious. It was a power too much for a child to bear. A series of letters and symbols unknown to Yuliah appeared in the night sky.
Then it came. The low sound of a horn, it sounded off loud in the distance. Yuliah knew that sound. It was a war horn.
Trembling, she glanced into the window. Her Mother tore the ring from her finger. "Quickly! Take the children and go." She tossed the ring into the box. "Don't give this to her until she's old enough to understand its use." She shoved the box into his hands.
"I'm not leaving." The man protested. "I won't let him touch you or our children."
Did he say our children? Yuliah watched her mother reach for his hand.
"We don't have a choice, my King." Her eyes had turned watery. "If he gets all three of us, he'll drain us dry to get to to the Ethereal Spirit." She took off upstairs and within a few moments, returned with a baby wrapped in a bundle. "The Nomen's need their King, or they will fall in line with Aleric."
"My King? Nomens? Our children? Who is this Man?" Yuliah felt uneasy looking at him. Could he be her father? It made sense. It also explained why General Wey treated her coldly and their lack of resemblance.
His eyes were worrisome when he spoke. "We'll split them up. It's too dangerous to keep them together." He scooped up Yuliah's younger self into his arms. "I'll take Yuliah back to the Ethereal Forest. The Nomens can protect her."
"Guards!" Yuliah's mother screamed. Two guards rushed in. "Take him back to Wey Estates and tell General Wey he needs to leave immediately for the Capital. By my orders."
The guards bolted off and not a minute sooner a horn sounded off again, but this time it was closer than before.
The ground shook and rumbled as though something strong headed their way. Yuliah took a glimpse down the path, and fear struck her heart when pebbles hobbled up into the air. What could make that much of a disturbance?
"Go! Now!" Her mother pushed the man ahead. He refused to budge, but younger Yuliah stirred in his arms, and he sprinted towards the stables.
The horn sounded off again this time it came from right outside their gates. Her mother calmly walked to the front door and stepped outside. She bolted the gates shut and waited.
It was the night she died. Yuliah felt a chill down her back. "Leave," she chased after her mother. "You can't stay here! Please," she begged in a panicked voice, but it fell on deaf ears. Her hands could only grasp the air.
The horn sounded off outside the Manor now. A loud bang rang out as their front gate exploded into pieces.
His footsteps were heavy and slow when he came through the broken gates. Yuliah's blood curled at the sight of him. An evil aura surrounded his massive body. He towered above her mother and stood taller than any man she'd seen. Clad in golden armor, he reeked of death. "It will not be easy to kill such beauty," Aleric's eyes swept over her Mother. "This world lacks too little of it already."
"Don't touch her Aleric -"
Yuliah whipped around to see her father striding forward and then shove her mother behind him.
"King Baasa. I'm surprised to see you here with the Geneoshi," Aleric said.
"The Geneoshi is my mate." He kept his eyes on Aleric.
"I can't leave here without the Geneoshi's blood. It's her fate and yours for wedding a cursed woman." Aleric looked disturbed. "If It's of any comfort to you. I'll be quick." His expression changed back to stoic.
An arrow stuck out from King Baasa's sword arm, he clipped it off with his sword and raised it to Aleric. "I won't allow you to kill Sorah."
"You're injured." Aleric looked over. "If you beat one of my generals." He acted mercifully. "I'll let you live, but the Geneoshi is mine."
He whistled and a General came forward. "He was once a Nomen like yourself Baasa, but he embraced the full power of Aleric the God."
King Baasa glared at Aleric. "Is that what you call yourself now? A God?"
Aleric's General lunged at King Baasa, before any more words exchanged.
King Baasa sidestepped and stuck him in the belly. With both hands, he shoved the sword deep into the general's stomach and cut downward.
Yuliah gasped when entrails spilled out over her father's feet.
Aleric laughed. "Very good. As expected from the Great Nomen King. You will live."
"What kind of King trades his life for his Queen?" King Baasa raised his sword to Aleric.
The cries of a baby came through the front gates, and Yuliah's heart sank. They dragged a guard inside. Blood smeared down the side of his face from a gash.
"They surrounded us the moment we stepped outside the Manor." He couldn't bear to make eye contact with the King, or Yuliah's mother.
"I don't enjoy killing children. They are the future, but I'll kill this one if you keep getting in my way Baasa! I'll be generous and let the boy leave with you." Aleric motioned for another general to bring the child forward. He then rested his sword on the child's throat.
"No!" Yuliah's mother released her ethereal spirit and sprung at Aleric. He moved faster than King Baasa had seen, and the King had just enough time to throw himself between his wife and Aleric's sword. It came crashing down on him.
The power from Aleric's sword struck the King over his shoulder, splitting flesh from bone. King Baasa dropped to his knees.
"It's not every day we get to see a King kneel." Aleric pulled his sword from King Baasa's body and knocked him over. "You did this." He pointed to Yuliah's mother. "The boy dies, if you try anything else." He glared at Yuliah's mother then grabbed her by the throat. "I told Baasa I'd give you a quick death. Do not make me go back on my word again tonight."
Yuliah's mother pulled a knife from her sleeve and plunged it into her chest. Aleric cursed and fang's sprouted from his mouth. He quickly sank his teeth into her throat and tore away. Yuliah covered her ears hoping it'd drown out the gulping sounds he made as he drank until her mother's body became still. When he finished, he dropped her to the ground.
"STOP!" Yuliah's knees slammed onto the ground. He just killed her parents and disposed her mother like trash. Her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't do anything to help them but watched in fear. A burst of ethereal energy shot from her body.
Aleric lifted his head and looked right at her. His eyes were menacing and cold. Yuliah cowered when Aleric stalked towards her.
A hand shot up around Aleric's ankle. It was her mother. A burst of ethereal energy shot right at Aleric. He deflected the hit with a blast of his own energy. Then stepped over her broken body.
"What is it my Lord?" His general asked.
"Another voice." He looked around. "A woman's voice…"
"It could be a trick. The Geneoshi woman is a gifted ethereal user."
"No. It's not the Geneoshi… It came from over there, but I don't see anyone." Aleric's gaze hardened.
Yuliah froze, and another horn sounded off in the distance.
"The Geneoshi," Aleric's General said. "Should we stay and fight?"
"No, I can't bind to this body completely. It's time to leave." Aleric glanced around one last time.
"What about the King's son and his guard?"
Take them with us." Aleric motioned.
Yuliah sat like a statue on the ground, even after they left, unable to get up. Her parents laid dead in front of her, and she was too weak to move. Tears spilled from her eyes.
"Sorah... I couldn't protect you," her father breathed. "I failed our children and my people." He gasped. "Aleric has our son and my life is slipping away."
He's still alive. Yuliah slows crawled her way over. "F-f-father." She kept her eyes only on his face, avoiding the open gash across his chest.
King Baasa's eyes searched her face and then he spoke. "You... My sweet girl." He lifted his hand. Yuliah grabbed it and pressed it to her face. A father's touch, a warmth she had never known. She couldn't even remember a time where General Wey offered her a consoling hug and burst out crying. Calloused fingers brushed against her cheek. "Don't cry my sweet girl."
"I... don't want you die..." Yuliah cried harder knowing her words were empty hopes.
"Death comes for us all Yuliah. Do not be afraid of it. Live your life, and when it calls for you, they'll be no contrition weighing down your heart."
"Where is your mother?"
Yuliah could only cry and shake her head. She knew her mother was dead.
"I want to see her face one last time." What looked like tears came down her father's face. "Where is she?"
"Over there." Yuliah pointed behind her.
I have not failed you." He breathed.
Yuliah took in every detail she could of his face, from his black hair to strong jaw, deep voice, and dark set eyes. This man, she would have wanted him as a father.
"Yuliah," he spoke again, but this time he touched her right arm. A burning sensation followed. "The mark of the Nomens, take it."
Symbols Yuliah could not read formed than vanished - leaving only an indent in the shape of a crescent moon behind. He turned his head towards her mother. "Sorah."
"Father…" But he did not answer, only the air that passed through his lips did. With one last rise and fall of his chest, the King's eyes closed. Yuliah looked down at him. She wished to have known him. He gave his life for her, as a father does. Yuliah traced the shape of his face with both hands, then held his hand one last time. "I did not know you, but my heart already loved you."
"Yuliah…" a voice called from behind.
"You can see me now?" She scrambled over and cradled her mother in both arms.
"My beautiful girl." Her mother took slow breaths that cut between every word. "You found your way into the Ethereal Flow and then here." She smiled. "You are such a strong girl."
Yuliah cried louder. "Is he my father?"
"Yes. He is. Remember his face and strength." Tears slipped down her mother's bloodstained cheeks. "How have you been my sweet girl?" She placed a hand on Yuliah's face. "Does General Wey treat you well?"
He treated her as well as he could, but life had not been good. She spent most of it alone, tortured by Liang, starved for love. She lied though because she didn't want to worry her mother to think they died for nothing. "He does, and I am doing well." Yuliah cried louder. She was so lonely, living to live, with no place that felt like home or safe, and knowing no genuine love.
"Those are not the tears of a girl who is doing well."
The warmth of her mother's hand across Yuliah's cheek brought more tears out. This must be how a mother's touch feels like, and she clasped a hand to her mothers.
"I'm sorry I could not protect you from the pain you've hidden away in your heart. I can see it in your eyes." Yuliah's mother breathed harder.
They both cried, and Yuliah shook her head. "No, I'm fine." she lied again, but the endless tears that poured out both eyes gave her away. She half wiped and half cried. Not wanting to miss a moment of her mother's face. "Please don't leave me. I'm so alone." She tasted a few salty drops as they slid inside her mouth.
"Be brave, my sweet girl." Her mother's breaths slowed down more than before. "Your brother. Aleric will corrupt him. Find him."
"How? I'm not strong enough." Aleric scared her more than anyone. She felt nothing but evil and her blood curled when he came through the gates.
"You have the blood of the most courageous men within you." she placed a hand on Yuliah's heart. "Trust in that and the flow of the Ethereal Spirit." She could barely get out.
Yuliah's head tilted back, and she screamed. The knot in her chest twisted.
"Find me in the flow of the Ethereal Spirit." She took one last look at Yuliah. "Live and love my sweet girl."
"Nooo... Don't go." She clutched her mother's limp hand against a cheek. Within a matter of minutes the warmth Yuliah felt earlier disappeared, and only two cold eyes stared back. "Rest mother," she whispered and closed the lids over her mother's empty eyes.