Aragorn and the Phoenix of Caspian (ENGLISH)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Iron swords clack. Aragorn sweats were all over his body. He wanted to breathe hard, but he couldn't . He wanted to stop for a moment, but that would make him look like he’s weak. His eyes were staring deeply on Leo and his following actions. Leo was so good at sword fighting. If this was a true fight, he could’ve died sooner.

“Aragon, is that all?” Leo pressured him.

Aragorn swooshed the sword to Leo’s arms, but it didn’t hit any of Leo's parts. He was frustrated with himself. He’s the future king but he cannot hold or use a sword properly. He had attended an education about swords. But his teacher that time was so kind to him that he wasn’t allowed to participate in the sword fight competition. Back then, he felt lucky for that. Now that he’s facing a fight with Leo, he wished he should’ve joined the competition.

“Can’t you do better, my Prince?” Leo smirked at Aragorn. He wasn’t striking a sword on him. He was teasing him, making him mad, making him furious and hit the sword on him.

Aragorn tried to scrape the sword on Leo’s limbs but that didn’t hit him. He tried once again, lost his defense, and didn't stop trying to hit Leo on the different parts of his body.

Leo got fuzzy. Aragorn was in rage, but hadn’t hitted him yet. Aragorn didn’t stop, they were moving forwards and backwards. He wanted that sword to wound Leo. He wanted to make him feel any pain, to have the might he wanted to have. He forgot to have a defense.

Sun’s striking hard on the two men. One of them wanted to teach the other one. And the other one wished to scrape or hurt the other person. They didn’t mind sunburns, sweats dripping on their whole body, just the fight.

At last, Leo attacked, hitting Aragorn’s face with the sword. Aragorn dropped the sword, Leo put the sword down. Blood came out from the line-like cut of Aragorn’s face. Aragorn touched it, it bleeded more.

“Apologies, Prince Aragorn. We’ve been practicing using weapons and having a cut like that is part of the process. We should rest for now and treat your cut.”

Aragorn slowly grabbed the sword on the ground. He didn’t mind the cut he had, the stinging and colossal pain he’s feeling right now. Every pain is part of improvement. If he’ll rest for everytime he feels pain, what would happen to him, to the future of Caspian.

“Let’s continue the fight.”

“No, Aragorn. We should stop by now and disinfect your wound. The palace used disinfecting spices to disinfect wounds. Luckily, we have that in our hut.

Spices? Aragorn thought. He never liked spices and when he was a child, a chili powder was blown to his eyes. He felt a blinding pain that day and he never thought of holding any spices.

Leo went inside the hut. Aragorn cannot debate more of how he didn’t want spices to treat his cut. If he argued more, things would be more complicated because other disinfectants weren’t available in the palace of Caspian.

Aragorn followed Leo, sat on the wooden chair. He waited for Leo who’s upstairs to fetch spices. Leo came back after a few minutes. Aragorn closed his eyes since the cut is a few inches from them.

“Do you wonder why we have sword fights?” Leo asked.

“To fight? To be strong? To learn how to use a sword,” Aragorn guessed.

Leo didn’t approve of what he answered. “Those were some of the components, but those weren’t the main reasons why. We conduct a sword fight for you to learn how to fight and sacrifice as a leader. If a ruler of the palace doesn’t know how to use any of the weapons, how would they face conflicts in the future? How would they earn the trust of the citizens if they don’t know how to fight and sacrifice for the palace?”

Leo applied a bit of the spices to Aragorn’s cut. Aragorn groaned as if his cut was burning, pinching, and scratching. He wanted to stop what he’s feeling right now. He wanted to remove the pain, the stinging and fogging pain. He gasped when Leo was finished.

“Being a king is knowing how to sacrifice his life, his heart, and his soul, for the citizens of his kingdom. I heard that when I was young, but I don’t know who said that.” Leo chuckled. “I pity you for having a cut on your handsome face. The Queen would be mad at me if she saw that. Just remember, pain is part of the process.” Leo’s bulky lips formed a smile. He messed with Aragorn’s hair before he left him.

Day turned into night. Aragorn was left alone in the hut. He already ate the food that Leo left before he travelled somewhere Aragron didn’t know. He said that it was something important and he’ll come back around midnight.

By boredom, Aragorn counted the food stocks, they were a lot and fine for a few more weeks. His mother was really thoughtful and caring. This is the only activity he can think of right now.

Aragorn left the room where all of their food stocks were. He went outside, took a deep sigh of the misty air. The air in the forest was fresher than what he inhaled in the palace.

I haven’t been in the forest at night, Aragorn thought, but now he’s standing here, in the middle of it, alone. Ravens and crows were flying tree by tree. Aragorn forwarded to the deeper part of the forest. He heard frogs, birds, and other animals in the forest.

Surroundings become darker. Luckily, there’s a swarm of fireflies flying nearby Aragorn. His mouth opened, with shock, with gratefulness that he saw how the fireflies flew along with the peaceful wind. He stared at the fireflies until they disappeared, leaving him having a difficulty in identifying things in the forest.

Only the moon, that reflects light from the sun, was his light source. Only shrubs, tall trees, and birds flying above him were the things he could see. He knew he could lose himself in the middle of the forest. If he did, it would be difficult for him to go back, at his rate of darkness.

Aragorn turned around, to look for the lighter part of the forest. He knew he could make it back. Instead of the right path, he saw a human-sized glazing light in the distance behind the bushes and trees.

It must be someone who can help him, someone who carries a torch and will help him go back to the hut. He sauntered and followed the burning light. He removed the bushes and grasses that cover the person. His jaw dropped, eyes extended, feets became weak.

A girl with fiery and burning hair. He can’t see her full figure, only her hair and back. He stopped in the bushes, observing the girl. He didn’t know that paranormal elements still exist, and he didn’t know who his girl was. He could’ve helped if the girl’s hair was really burning, but the girl’s standing calm while looking at the trees and bushes. She didn’t look like she’s burning at all.

Aragorn took a step back when the girl looked in his direction. His butt quickly faced the rough ground. His cut in his face became itchy as grasses scraped it. He crawled backwards, avoiding the fear that the burning woman saw him.

He saw a glance of her face. As far as he knew, her eyes were also blazing, her lips were a surface of a lava. Who is she? What is she?

When the forest felt silent, Aragorn stood up slowly, but got back on the ground when the woman appeared in front of her.

“WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE FOREST?” she screamed and fired in her eyes and hair became wild animals who wanted to kill and chase someone.

Aragorn didn’t answer. He stared at the woman with glinting and raging eyes, perfectly curved face, she’s attractive yet she’s dangerous.

“Answer me!” the woman repeated and strode nearer to Aragorn. “Or I’ll kill you.”

In a count of one and a half, Aragorn dashed away from the woman. He ran and ran away, never looking back. He didn’t know where to go, where to escape, where to feel safe. He peeked at his back, saw no woman was chasing him, but a giant bird, filled fire everywhere. The same bird in Leo’s hut, he remembered. The Phoenix of Caspian.

The Phoenix blew fire near Aragorn, but he jumped and avoided it. Aragorn got tripped with a big stone and his face hitted the ground hard. His legs felt weak, and face was painful.

The phoenix stopped meters away from Aragorn’s limbs. She walked to Aragorn, balling her hands.

“You’re actually planning to kill me? I won’t let you be the one to make you suffer.”

The woman was nearer to him. His limbs were heated by the fire surrounding the woman’s hair. He wanted to run away or fight her, but he couldn't. He didn’t have the power to do so. The woman ignited her fists, and Aragorn closed his eyes.

“I think I saw the phoenix land nearby,” said one guy.

“I also saw some kind of flame in the sky.”

Aragorn opened his eyes. The flames ignited in the fists of the woman disappeared. Her flames became low and almost invisible.

“Someone saw me,” The phoenix said to herself, but Aragorn heard it. The phoenix moved her eyes around and saw a torch in the distance. She was uneasy, didn't know what to do, she couldn't kill the guy, she must hide herself first.

The phoenix was about to run away when Aragorn pulled her towards him. Their faces were a few inches from each other and the woman was still in a state of shock. She observed the royal features of the guy, perfect jaw, hawk-like eyes, and his irresistible charisma.

Everything stopped at that moment. The moment when the phoenix and the prince first met.