The Dead Princess

The Guardian With The Golden Eyes

Lythienne had never imagined her death. She supposed she thought she would grow old and pass the throne to her and Runiz's child when the time came. Now she didn't know anything for certain. Besides the fact she was still covered in her blood, that is. It had an unmistakable pitch-black shade of her royal blood. Wherever she was headed, she couldn't go like this. Her father and brother would hear about it so close to the capital. However, she should have probably focused more on the fact there were only trees in sight and no towns or villages. Not that Lythienne had expected there to be as she was in the middle of the Kingswood, but she hadn't considered the sky was darkening and she had no shelter. Nor could she make a fire, or hunt for food. She also didn't know where the closest town was from where she was trying to find her way out of there without a map.

And she was almost entirely sure Kaaza was a hallucinatory creature from blood loss, no matter the fact Lythienne was no longer bleeding from her wound and the s***h had healed hours before. It was the only thing that made sense with the vision of the women and the appearance of the creature. A small clearing opened up before her just as it became too dark for Lythienne's eyes to see, the light of the moon blocked by the thick treetops. She looked down at the small deer, who seemed to still be a baby or youngling, and shrugged her shoulders.

"I think this is the best we are going to get for tonight, Kaaza," Lythienne spoke softly to avoid frightening her and reached her fingers towards Kaaza slowly. As Kaaza sniffed her hands and licked one, Lythienne spoke again, "What are you? What am I supposed to feed you? What am I supposed to do with you?"

"I am a guardian." A soft voice spoke into the air all around them. Lythienne gasped and looked around quickly searching for the voice and found no one but her and Kaaza. "Here, Princess."

Lythienne's eyes found Kaaza's golden ones and the young creature nodded her head deeply in acknowledgment causing Lythienne's jaw to drop open. "Wh-what?" Lythienne nearly fell off the fallen tree she had sat on in shock.

"I am a guardian, gifted to you by the ancestors of the kingdoms you are meant to save. My name, as you know Princess, is Kaaza. And I do not need to eat like average animals or people but I do enjoy berries from time to time. I am here to help guide you and keep you safe." Kaaza's gentle voice flowed through the space. "You don't have to keep staring at me with your jaw opened like that, you know. It's quite rude."

Lythienne snapped her jaw shut quickly. "Sorry... I've just never talked with an animal before. I didn't know animals even could talk. Although I suppose parrots can. In a way..."

"Please refrain from comparing me to a bird. Guardians are not animals in the way you think. I do not need food, or rest. I have my abilities, like mind speaking the way we are now. I can change the way people see me as well. Although it does not change my physical body, just the image of it." Kaaza's voice was soothing, although a bit offended. Even though Lythienne was even more certain she was a hallucination now than before. She had never heard of a guardian before. At least not in this way. The guardians she knew of were people who took care of children. "You also need not speak aloud, Princess. I can read your thoughts. Guardians such as myself must be summoned from our world and into yours. The women in the cabin summoned me for you. I may only be summoned for someone of royal blood."

Lythienne was definitely hallucinating. This must have been the loss of blood messing with her head. Or maybe she had died in the cabin after all, and she was in the life beyond. Those were the only logical explanations for this. Although she guessed that there were strange things in this world. Magic was uncommon but not nonexistent. Another world with magical creatures could be possible, Lythienne supposed. "So if you're supposed to guide me, why didn't you talk to me earlier when I was stumbling lost through the woods?"

"I will help guide you in situations where you need guidance, Princess. You are already going in the right direction. If I solved all your problems and answered all your questions for you, you would never learn to solve and find the answers for yourself." Kaaza answered lying down and tucking her head close to her body. "You should get some rest. You have a long day tomorrow. I'll keep watch for the night."

Lythienne supposed Kaaza had a point about learning things on her own. But it was nice to know she had at least been heading in the direction out of the woods. No matter if Kaaza could have told her that sooner. "How much further until the nearest town?" Lythienne questioned Kaaza.

"About three days walk. That's why I suggest some sleep. Tomorrow I'll help you gather food." Kaaza replied a bit firmly. With tomorrow's plan figured out, Lythienne lay on the ground and tried to close her eyes. But all she could think of was the feeling of her brother's knife at her neck. Her father and the sound of the pen's metal tip scratching the paper as he wrote the letter. Her crowns gem in the light. Her eyes were on the little girl. The air in Lytheinne's lungs felt like stones in her chest and it became hard to breathe. Despite her sucking more air into her lungs, it felt like they wouldn't expand as her body began to shake. Tears pooled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. A warmth nuzzled into her chest as Kaaza curled into her. "Breathe, Princess. You're going to be okay. They aren't here anymore and with my help, they won't find you until it's time."

Lythienne calmed her breathing and thoughts as she focused on Kaaza's voice and warmth. Sleep started to seem like less of a struggle as Lythienne asked, "What do you mean until it's time, Kaaza?"

"You have to face them someday, Princess. You can't run forever. But I will help you prepare for that day. You won't be alone, I promise you." Kaaza's voice promised as the princess drifted off to sleep.

As dawn began to break through the canopy of treetops Kaaza's voice echoed in Lythienne's head causing her to jolt awake, "Princess, you need to wake up now. There are hounds nearby. We have to move."

Lythienne stumbled up from her spot on the ground and began to move as distant barking reached her ears. Kaaza led the way forward toward the town as a sleepy Lythienne struggled to keep up with her guardian's small agile body. As Lythienne's mind and body became increasingly focused and awake she began to consider what would happen if her brother and father's hounds caught her. They had already slit her throat. What would they do to her if they found out she wasn't in fact dead like they believed? Lythienne pushed her body harder, dodging trees and roots until she and Kaaza reached a small river.

"Can you swim?" Lythienne asked Kaaza, worried about the guardian's small body in the current. Kaaza shook her fuzzy head regretfully. Lythienne didn't wait for a moment before hoisting Kaaza onto her shoulders and plunging into the river's freezing water. The temperature shocked Lythienne's body sending her brain into overdrive, her mind telling her body to get away as fast as she possibly could. The sounds of the hounds got closer and Lythienne pushed her body to swim faster.

"You're almost there. Just reach those trees and keep running. The water will wash away your scent and we'll lose them." Kaaza encouraged.

Lythiene reached the other side of the river and pulled herself out onto the dirt, mixing mud with the black blood-stained, and crusted her dress. Her teeth clacked together as she forced her body forward to keep her feet moving. All she really wanted to do was curl up in her room by the fire, bundled under her warmest blankets. But that wasn't an option anymore. Her hair clung to her cheeks and neck, and Lythienne couldn't decide what she hated more. The feeling of the blood drying or her wet hair clinging to her skin. She knew that was ridiculous given her current situation but the feeling of disgust followed her as she kept running.

"You can stop now, Princess. They called in the hounds." Kaaza spoke softly to Lythienne. The princess slowed gradually before coming to a stop.

"How do you know?" Lythienne inquired.

"I can smell them. My kind is very sensitive to your world's scents." Kaaza answered as Lythienne felt the warmth from running leaving her body. "We need to make a fire, at this rate you catch ill."

Blush set into Lythienne's cheeks, "I, um, don't know how."

"I'll teach you. As well as teaching something less... common. I am to teach you the magic of Alchemy and Metamorphosis. But all magic comes at a cost, so you must use what I teach you wisely. Do you understand?" Kaaza questioned seriously. Lythienne nodded, not at all understanding what either of the two magic types were or how she was going to learn them. "Good. Gather some logs and rocks, Princess. Let's get this fire started, shall we?"

Lythienne didn't even want to think about the embarrassing two hours it took her to gather enough wood for the fire and learn how to even get it sparked. She also didn't want to think about the struggles she had relighting it after she had smothered the flames with too much wood. While Kaaza had kept her word about teaching her how to make the fire pit and get it started, she did not tell Lythienne that the amount of wood she put into it would smother the flames until after it went out. Another lesson Lythienne had to learn on her own apparently. Finally, when the fire was what Kaaza approved as good enough to last the night, the delicate guardian started her lessons in Alchemy.

"Take off your necklace and pick up some rocks," Kaaza instructed. Confused, Lythienne did as she was told, scooping up a palm full of rocks and holding her gold necklace in the other hand. "Now we need some of your blood, this will hurt for a second." Kaaza continued before biting Lythienne's finger, one of the fangs sinking into her flesh.

"Ow!" Lythienne cried as she dropped the rocks.

"It doesn't work without the blood. Put some on the necklace and the rocks." Kaaza urged her. "Now focus on the gold. Focus on the feeling, the weight, and imagine it in your mind. Now focus on the rocks, the same things."

Lythienne thought about both in her hands, the way they pressed into and felt in her palms. The absence of those feelings on the rest of her hands. Then, something changed. Lythienne blinked before letting out a short yelp, her hand suddenly heavier. It was trapped in a giant golden nugget, her fist still wrapped around the rocks she was trying to change, and her necklace gone.

"Kaaza! What do I do? What did I do?" Lythienne shrieked. Laughter bounced off the space as Kaaza's deer body shook. Lythienne didn't even know deer could laugh. Although Kaaza wasn't anywhere near a normal anything she had ever seen. "This isn't funny, Kaaza! How do I get it to go away?"

"Alright, alright just take some deep breaths. You need more blood." Kaaza said trying to breathe.

"Fine," Lythienne replied. She took her fingernail and dug it into the bite that had clotted, causing it to bleed again. She let it drip onto the gold covering her hand. "What else do I put it on? What do I focus on?"

"Your blood is already touching the air around it, focus on that. The breeze. Alchemy magic has two rules. One, it always has a cost, and two, nothing can be created from nothing, nor can anything become nothing. Everything in existence will always become something else, the wood in the fire will become ash, and the gold will become air again. Do you understand?"

"But isn't air... just nothing?" Lythienne questioned.

"No, even the air is made of something. We just aren't able to see it." Kaaza answered. While the answer drove Lythienne to want to jump down a rabbit hole of questions, she focused on the air like Kaaza had instructed. Something shifted in the air, Lythienne's hand became lighter again and the rocks feeling changed in her palm. They had turned into gold nuggets.

"What now? Was that it?" Lythienne asked holding up one of the nuggets between her thumb and index fingers studying what she had done.

"For now, Princess. These will get you supplies without questions in the village and passage onto a ship to Druica, where Vinlyx rules. Once on the ship, we have a long month at sea. Which will give you time to learn, and train." Kaaza informed her.

"Train? Train for what exactly?" The puzzled princess inquired.

"To survive and to use magic."