The Phoenix's Maiden

The Order

Amber is in front of the kings’ chancellery and she is feeling so much pressure right now and her hand is centimeters away from the door knob. It’s like the door knob is covered in protective barrier that prevents her from reaching the knob. It’s like she is frozen right now.

“Hey girl, calm down,” Kamandag whispered to her ear but Amber felt the tingling feeling crawling all over her body. She was paralyzed for a moment because her focus was destroyed with her friend’s whisper. For her it’s like a loud bang that suddenly came out of nowhere. “Chill,” the striped snaked whispered to her ear again. “Take a deep breath,” Kamandag added.

“Okay,” she replied cheaply and she proceeds to take deep breaths to keep herself calm. She isn’t totally used to this feeling. Then calmly, she tried to grab the door knob again and this time she successfully grabbed it. She slowly turned it to open the door.

“Oh, dear finally,” Ashura greeted and sounded assured that Amber is the one who opened the door. “She’s here” he told his brother busy reading a text on the scroll. He has a book besides him encrypted with the meaning of every letter written on the scroll. It’s a foreign script to their kingdom so they don’t fully understand it but Azura has his hands-on valuable books from across the land in Mystic Realm, but Amber didn’t go inside quickly. “Why dear?” Ashura asks the maiden, he thought that something might be bothering her. She peeked from the door, only to see Ashura smiling at her and Azura who is busy reading, still looking intimidating as ever.

“Nothing,” she shyly answered and completely goes inside before carefully closing the door behind her.

“Take a seat,” Ashura offered Amber one of their wooden chairs that has luster on it that makes it look so much expensive. Amber took the chair and sits on it, she stares at Azura reading the text while Ashura has pinned his eyes on Amber shivering like a lost child in this realm, which she really is for this moment. That moment took a while.

“We have something to talk about,” Azura said while rolling the scroll after he finishes reading it. “You are informed by the servant that we sent to you right?” he asked and Amber nodded. “That’s good to know,” he said and put the scroll back on its jade container.  “I know this is too soon but we are sending you to the land of the blazing souls where the Santelmos lives,” he goes straight right to the point.

“Santelmo (St. Elmo’s fire) (Apoy ni San Elmo) – It’s a blazing creature in Philippine mythology and is believe to be a soul of a man who has died near a body of water such as lake, river, or ocean, and dying during on a heavy rainfall count.

It is believed that these souls are seeking revenge to the people whose done them wrong in their living days and some believed that these souls are just seeking peace. To sailors it is believed to be a heavenly intervention. They can be seen on swamps and fields, as it bounces and rolls along their way. They are also believed to transform into beasts that has blazing fire on its mouth. In recent versions Santelmos are believed to be the souls of unbaptized children.”

“Woah,” Kamandag exclaimed as she knows how dangerous those creatures are and she quickly got the attention of the twin.

“Who was that?” Ashura asked Amber, and she was shocked that they heard the snake’s voice.

“It was me!” she exclaimed trying to cover the presence of her partner. “Woah,” she tried her best to mimic the tone of Kamandag. “Ahhmm I t- I think going to that place is too much early for me,” she quickly shifted the topic of conversation. “I know it too well that they are revenge-seeking spirits that burns everyone on their path- well not all of them,” she explained. “I thing I cannot prove to you two that I am ready to face those scary creatures,” she added and emphasizing the word scary.

“That’s what you are doing right now dear,” Ashura replied to cut off Amber. “Your knowledge about us will help you to deal with these creatures and Arthur will accompany you to assure your safety,” Ashura added and Amber’s jaw dropped as her own excuses betrays her. She doesn’t want this to happen. She cannot deny that she is feeling a little bit of excitement in this journey but the recent events made her feel scared for no reason.

“I agree brother,” Azura cuts in. “There lives a god named Amaterasu who is taking refugee in this Kingdom,” he added and giving her another reason to go there since they know how enthusiastic this girl is towards gods. “We want you to meet her, as she is the long advisor of your clan when it comes to training your abilities, as stated in our deal per se, in exchange of her refugee,” he added that gives off mystery for Amber to solve but she stayed speechless.

“Amaterasu- a Japanese goddess knows as the great and glorious goddess of the sun. Amaterasu is also known as Japan itself as it is the embodiment of the rising sun. In the Japanese mythology, she is the ruler of the universe and the queen of heaven. In this position, she not only serves as the literal rising sun that illuminates all things, but also provides nourishment to all living creatures and marks the orderly movement of day into night.”

“Our time is running out and Cain’s plans on conquering this land is coming near,” Ashura added which doesn’t fails to give pressure on Amber, so she will take this journey seriously. They are not completely sure if this mission will be a success or not but they have to take their chances before it is too late. All they can do right now is to put their trust on Arthur to protect the maiden that will save them from the evil hands of Cain. They told Arthur beforehand and as this moment he is preparing himself for the long journey that will last for months. Also, it is been so long since they last saw Amaterasu on the land of the blazing souls, and they are not certain if she is still there living there for her own reasons that they can’t tell to others, because they are completely aware how big this issue is.

“I- I- I d- don’t even k- know who I am,” she stuttered. “I am clearly n- not r- ready for this and y- you are well aware of that,” she added and her tears begins to build up in her eyes and the twin just stares at her. They thought that this emotional outburst of Amber is good as she can ready her mental state for the long upcoming journey towards the danger. “I’ll be frank for once to you two and I do not mean to go against your orders or to defy you both, but since the prophecy thing that you have told me earlier. I can’t stop thinking about the well-being of this whole kingdom because you forcefully shove it into my hands, where it already carries a giant boulder that I don’t how long I can endure the pain,” she ranted to them. “I never wanted this, what I want is peace of mind. Well, in the first place I wasn’t given a choice but a role in this society that I never thought that really existed, yes I dreamt of being in THIS PLACE but I never dreamed to be in this place LIKE THIS,” she paused wiping her tears that streamed down to her cheeks.

“I-,” Ashura was cut off when Azura puts one of his hands to his shoulder and when he looks at his brother, he shakes his head telling him that it’s no use. He felt guilty, because they don’t have any idea that is how she feels, well they both do feel guilty.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I shouldn’t have said this to you, I just can’t help it to express what I feel,” she explained on her sudden outburst.

-The Phoenix's Maiden-