King Corbett perceived that life is the only thing which can never be replaced when lost yet he was leading his only child to her death in the quest to know Kadura's identity. Oh, Adriana, a poor innocent girl who sort nothing but freedom, peace of mind and true love, but all this she could not grasp at her finger tips because her fate has been decided by tradition and culture of her kingdom. Now, her father, the king, was about to watch her die. How does it feel to see a dying child? One does not feel at all for there is nothing in the mind to make sense of it. Nothing, but one's own death. Therefore, you only know the feelings when you're close to your own death.
Nevertheless, Cliff of Ora is a mass of rock that rises very high and is almost vertical, or straight up-and-down. It is found in high mountains, at the walls of canyons and valleys. No human that falls from it stands up alive. The wind above the cliff blew around Adriana's garment like the battle flag of Ukra. King Corbett and Nero could be seen beside the young beautiful princess, seeming so protective. She glanced down the cliff and asked, "Father, what exactly are we doing up here?"
King Corbett stopped, amusingly, staring at his daughter as the wind of the mountain had their hair dancing on their heads. "Cliff of Ora remind me of Elena, your mother. It's where we had our first kiss."
Adriana smiled. "How was it like, father?" she asked.
"You mean the kiss?"
"First kiss" she kept smiling broadly. "I heard first kiss are always special." she added.
Just before the man responded to that, a rattling sound came from a nearby vegetation. All directed their eyes to the evergreen leaves, the next sound was Nero's sword out of its shelf. Suddenly, Ivo came out from the rattling leaves with his staff and long white beards.
"You wizard!" The king drew his own sword too.
Ivo stood firm. At the stretch of his staff, invisible power left the tip of it and flung Adriana backward. She subdued the force of gravity and began to fall from the cliff. She screamed on her way down.....
On the other hand, at the base of the cliff, Julius ran out from Cyrus, ignoring his advice never to save the princess. His shoes grasped the rocky ground while his breath accelerated. His eyes could see Adriana falling from the cliff while his ears ascertained her screaming voice. The distance between him and the falling arena was nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, he stumbled and fell on a rock while Cyrus watched from afar to see what happens next.
At the edge of the cliff, Ivo had joined the king and Nero to watch what happens next too. Obviously, it was their plan to have the girl fall intentionally.
A few metres remaining for the princess to hit the ground. Her white garment reflected on Julius' eyes. All hope had lost. From the ground, Julius felt a power within him, he stretched forth his hand and Adriana slowed down in the air. Gradually and surprisingly, she landed on her fit like a descending angel, breathing hastily and wondering the cause of her safe landing. Quickly, she turned to rattling grasses a few meters away; that was Cyrus briskly taking Julius away from the arena without anyone's knowledge. Adriana saw the grasses shaking but didn't see the force that rattled them.
However, Nero and the king had arrived to see the young girl shivering confusingly.
"Adriana, my child?" The king embraced her while Nero looked around. "You have no scratch on your body. Did anybody save you?" the king became inquisitive, staring into his daughter's eyes.
"I think someone used a magic to safe me, father." Adriana replied.
"Did you see who?"
Adriana turned to the direction where the grasses rattled and shook her head negatively. "Can you take me home, father?" she requested.
"Nero will do that. I must find the wizard who tried to kill you." He drew his sword and headed away.
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Inside Cyrus' book cave, Julius' mouth never stopped parading around as both headed to the interior part of the cave. ".. it was like a magic. I felt it! I saved the princess, not you, Cyrus. I felt the power within me and when i stretched my hand, i also felt it leaving through the tip of my fingers. How and why do I have a magical power? You should have let princess know that I was the one that saved her life... like I don't even know who I am again. What's going on?"
All this while Julius had been ranting, Cyrus remained focused, walking with his staff until he got to the book chamber where he sat down beside the rocky center table, staring at Julius at the opposite end.
"You're not saying anything, Cyrus." The young boy placed his two hands on the table, returning the stare. "Don't even tell me that you're the one that saved the princess because I know what I did." he added.
"I never saved the princess, you did, Julius." Cyrus' voice was like a holy water that calmed Julius' nerves. "Even the first time she was saved, you did, not me." he added.
"Why? Does that mean I have some kind of power?"
Cyrus remained mute, sliding his beards.
"I know you know something, Cyrus. Tell me the truth; who am I?" Julius curiously asked.
"It is not for me to say, it's for you to know." he replied.
"How do I know if you do not say?"
Cyrus brought out his bone marrow, lit it and smoke of marijuana saturated the chamber. He began to cough while Julius gazed at him. He suddenly stopped coughing and said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." he stood up.
"You've been speaking with the language of the wise. I do not understand." Julius straightened up from the table.
"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."
"Will I die if I know the truth?"
Cyrus turned. He came back to the table and glared at the young boy, "You'll not die if you know the truth, but you'll die if you hear the truth except it comes from a sacred mouth."
Julius thought for a while, he understood the last statement; that the only person who can say the truth is the great lion in the basement of the royal castle. So he looked up at the old smoky man, "Do i have the right to enter into the lion's den? I thought only the king...."
"Try and see." Cyrus interrupted him. Quickly, Julius began to run out of the cave, but the old man called him saying, "Whatever you do, Julius, keep it from the king. That's why I came to you at Ora today. King Corbett must not know anything about you and your new found power. Nobody must!"
The boy nodded and sped out, galloping with his horse to the city kingdom. He ran up to the royal castle, to the palace precisely. He stopped at the centre, staring at the iron throne of the King. He looked around; nobody was there except burning candles at different corners. Briskly, he located the narrow path to the lion's den and entered with a stick of fire....
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On the other hand, the king and Ivo argued in Ivo's chamber. Both could be seen beside the pool of water, analysing what happened at the cliff of Ora.
"We watched my daughter land with her feet without a scratch on her body!" The king yelled.
"Kadura saved her!" Ivo shrieked.
"There was no person there!"
"Then how do you explain the power that slowed her down in the air and landed her safely on the ground? Someone was there and it would be no other person but your cup bearer, Julius son of Bruce".
King Corbett took a few steps around the pool. "I still find it difficult to believe you. If what you're saying is true, that means Julius has some kind of power as Kadura."
"He will always be drawn to her. Ask your daughter very well, she must have noticed something at the cliff."
Both remained silent. The king thought critically for some moments and said, "I believe that Kadura is saving my daughter, but I do not believe it's Julius son of Bruce." he began to walk out of the diabolic chamber.
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Julius entered into the lion's den. It was always dark. He waved the stick of fire across his face to see the great lion lying in a cage. He swallowed hard when the lion's might resurrected goosebumps from his skin.
"Hello!" his voice echoed in the basement.
Hearing it, the great lion stood on his limbs and walked closer to the iron cage where he took a good look at Julie's face. He groaned. "Only the king is meant to be here."
"I'm sorry, my name is Julius..."
"I know who you are, young man, and your name is not Julius, it's Aliento" The lion interrupted him, walking to the corner of the cage.
Julius remained mute for a while before saying as an afterthought, "I came for an answer. Why am I drawn to the princess?" he asked.
"Love!" The lion replied.
"Love?" Julius twisted his face. "I do not love her! I know who I love!" he added.
"Hohohohoho.." the lion laughed. "Aliento, love is not about who you love, it's about who you're meant to love."
"I was taught that You don't love someone because of their looks or their clothes. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand. Certainly, lady Adriana isn't singing that song. So tell me the main reason I am always drawn to save her?" He changed the stick of fire to another hand.
"Adriana may not sing the song only your heart understands, but she hold the key to your destiny, and destiny is always coated by love. It is not for us to decide who to love, it is for us to love who is decided for us to love. Only those who we are meant to love are the keyholder of our true destiny. What is meant to be will always find its way."
His words sent Julius to oblivion, so he swallowed hard and continued, "The princess' destiny is with Kadura not me."
"Hohohoho..." the lion's ribs cracked once more. "There was this competition where the contestants had to hold 'something'. At the end of the event, the winner was a person who was physically disabled; he had no hands and no feet! What was that 'something' he had to hold?"
"I do not know! How does the riddle relate to my question?"
"Go now and find the answer, the answer to the riddle will tell you whose destiny is with the princess'" the lion laid down again why Julius hurried out of the basement, back to the cave. The speed in which he met Cyrus in his chamber got the old man wondering what was after him.
"Julius, take it easy, what's the problem?" Cyrus asked him gently.
"I just talked to the lion. What is the answer to this riddle: There was this competition where the contestants had to hold 'something'. At the end of the event, the winner was a person who was physically disabled; he had no hands and no feet! What was that 'something' he had to hold?"
Cyrus smiled as he began to smoke again. "The great lion is wise. The answer is 'Breath'. The winner of the contest has to hold his breath because that is the only thing he can hold since he has no hands and feet." He clarified.
"Breath?" Julius thought for some moments. "It makes no sense!" he shriaked.
"Calm down, lad. Tell me what he said." Cyrus stared at him as the young boy paced around the chamber restlessly.
"He told me the answer to the riddle will tell me why I'm destined to be with the princess instead of Kadura. He also called me the name... uhmm.." he looked at the rocky ceiling. "Yes, he called me Aliento."
Cyrus widened his eyes. "He did?" he asked.
"Yes, what is it?" Julius returned the question.
Quickly, Cyrus brought out a book, as he was flipping to several pages, Julius walked up to him and stood beside him in a way he saw the pages of the book clearly. Suddenly, the old man stopped and read thus: ".....In the old religion, his presence was always breath-taking that was why he was also called Aliento..." he glanced at Julius.
"Who was also called Aliento?" he asked him.
"Julius, 'Aliento' and 'Breath' are the same thing. Aliento is the Spanish name for Breath. According to the book, the presence of Kadura is breath-taking that's why he was also called Aliento. So if the answer to the riddle is 'Breath' and Aliento means 'Breath' and the lion called you Aliento then you're...."
"Kadura." Julius completed the sentence with a low voice. Silence creeped in between them as he began to walk backward because he couldn't believe it. As he kept walking, tears ran down from his eyes.
"Julius?" Cyrus called on him calmly.
"Albat..." Was the last thing from his mouth as his voice broke down in tears. Just then, they heard a footstep, coming into the cage. Both directed their eyes to the entrance, lo and behold, King Corbett, walking inside the cave....