Fated Destiny

Warning Isha

I hid carefully until the guards walked past, then climbed up through the window, entering Isha's room—just like I used to do before. I sighed at the memory. I had decided to warn Isha, and hopefully get her out of here.

I glanced outside, making sure no one noticed as I pulled my hood closer. Then I looked around her bedroom. Nothing much had changed, except the crossbows on the wall, the different kinds of daggers littered on the table at the corner, and the spears beside her bed, which were definitely new.

I walked towards the bed, picking an old, familiar stuffed animal. I remember making this for her on her eighth birthday. Other parents and kids showered her with lots of gifts, being the chief's daughter and also the golden heart. I remember feeling sad because I was a poor orphan who didn't have anything to give her best friend. So I picked up pieces of rags and sew them together to make a stuffed toy. The looks on the faces of other kids when I presented it was disheartening. But Isha stood there, her once bored expression beaming with smile. She discarded everything and dragged me off to play with the new toy, no matter how ugly it looked. I think that was the first time I fell in love with her.

Suddenly, the door opened, disrupting my reminisce of the past. Isha walked in tiredly, not noticing my presence yet. I stood still, taking in her appearance. From this close, I could see how much she's changed.

Her usual long and flowing hair were now braided. Her round face now had a sharp jawline attached to it. This added to her beauty, making her even more stunning. But strangely enough, I didn't feel the usual flutter I felt in my heart whenever I saw her. She was still beautiful, but nowhere near. . .her.

I froze.

Why was I comparing Isha to Elaine? What is wrong with me? No, it must be the bond. In my eyes, Isha will always look better.

Then as if noticing something off, she looked up and yelped in fright.

"W-who are you?" She asked.

"I—" I parted my lips to explain but she looked down at the stuffed toy in my hand and instantly directed her hands towards the daggers, controlling them. I was momentarily stunned. If she can control metal which is a high concentration of earth, that means she's now somewhere close to blue stage.

I snapped out of my thoughts when a dagger came flying towards me. I moved, dodging it. Then I pulled down my hood immediately.

"Isha, it's me," I said. She froze as soon as she saw my face, dropping her weapons.

"K-Kira?" She called, still in shock. "That's impossible. You. . .died."

"Yes. But she brought me back," I said then mumbled, "even though it was for a rather selfish reason."

"She?" she muttered confusedly, then widened her eyes, "you mean the evil sorceress? The one who killed you in the first place?"

"When you say it like that it does sound bad" I muttered, making her look at me in disbelief.

She let out a dry, angry laugh, "Bad? Need I remind you of the horrors she caused to our village? Do you want to know why we have always detested and dreaded her for decades?"

I stayed silent because a part of me really wanted to know the history between Elaine and Al'mera, the real reason she became their personal villain.

"Fine, I'll tell you," Isha said, "Over five hundred years ago there used to be six kingdoms. Tahalis, Veragon, Cirada, D'arhan, El-horn. . .and Al'mera. Yes, Al'mera used to be a kingdom. And not just any kingdom, the kingdom of light. The sixth kingdom. A prosperous kingdom that produced many powerful golden hearts and was said to be directly favored by the gods. So it became a kingdom of priests.

Until one day, the soul demon back then, killed the golden heart and wiped out the entire Al'mera kingdom so there won't be anymore powerful golden hearts coming again, forcing a handful of survivors to flee into the forests and build a small village. Then the soul demon took over the kingdom, including the royal castle, inhabiting it ever since then." She told.

"Do you want to know who the soul demon was?" She asked, stepping closer, "the evil sorceress, Elaine. She wiped out an entire kingdom unprovoked and took over their castle. And ever since then no one has dared to challenge her, yet."

I furrowed my brows. Could this be true? Is Elaine that heartless to kill that many people just so no one could challenge her? Even if she was provoked, it's still inhuman to wipe out an entire kingdom. It made no sense.

"I don't understand," I said, confused, "that happened five hundred years ago."

She chuckled humorlessly, "You still haven't figured it out? She's immortal. Many soul demons are. And that's part of the reason they're hard to kill. Only the golden heart can."

I looked at her, "You plan to kill her."

"It is one of my plans, yes," she didn't deny.

"You don't know what you're walking into Isha," I warned. She glanced at me then walked further in the room and stared out the window.

"When I'm done, the evil sorceress would wish she never took Al'mera." She vowed.