There's No Joy

The Burnt Forest

Brandon's Pov
The trees were covered in thick smoke as I stood outside the tent sipping my tea. The two lion men stood on either side of me I could see the landscape around the land was quite barren. It looks like signs of a royal raid had happened 3 days ago. With the way some of the trees had half the tops messily destroyed. And it was almost if the forest trees that remained mourned loudly causing the ground to grumble and groan in response. There was very little food in this forest and the only water these people had was from the wells of the village households who actually cared about keeping the peace. I knew that the King Erendor was keeping secrets nicknaming this the Haunting Ghost forest but I didn't know until Noeline mentioned it that his greatest fear that someone would make him kill his own family Samara and Sky. And that  was a very big secret and a threat that could possibly happen (if you read what the Queen of Napitta had planned in earlier chapters for Sky). I'm only 9 years old and will turn ten mid September of this year. This was the first time my Mom hadn't messed with my perfectly combed brown hair and my hazel brown eyes were filled with the same tears my prince had.

"Jonnie Thomas." A young human girl yells from the middle of the camp. She was panting and stammering to speak the lionmen's names. "Yerodin Le Roux!"

"Calm down Elandri Roux, second daughter." spoke the lion man with the black man that hung like a second coat. "What is it?"

"Leandri and Mienke Roux they're stuck on cracking ground in the geysers Captain Roux. They need help and fast by the look of it.

"I'll go with her." I spoke confidently. She was a girl with blonde hair and red highlights in it.

"I can't leave my post." Jonnie replies. "You should go Roux it's your twin daughters and your children at stake after all and Kai should go with you it would be good training for him and a great way to test the squire of Eraklyon's moralities."

"Husband, I'm here to help." Another lioness women appears out of the second tent seeable in their vicinity.

"Rachela please stay behind it's safer here for you."

"No no one can calm my daughters down better than I can; they're my children too, Yerodin my love." She didn't kiss him she licked him the lion's kissing version.

"So did your adoptive parents have triplets what happened to the oldest Elandri Roux?"

"My oldest step sister they say her name was Kalshara and she disappeared years before they took me away from a bad home. I'm assuming you met Noeline the adopted daughter of the Lionwoods family. She is now my best friend. We have found not a single trace of her. My new Dad believes she is not dead though."

We were met with another lion man only this time his mane that folded down his neck like one of Sky's dress shirts and it was red like in (one of the Disney movies about lions) the shades of a shades apple on an apple tree We walked through the forest. Elandri barely spoke. She hadn't even asked for my name. Her eyes were consistently wandering looking at each path.

"Are you okay?" I inquired.

"Bounty hunters steal from us on the King's behalf however there was one who is our friend and promised to never lay a single hand on our people and said he could do it because he wasn't from the realm and that meant he didn't have to abide by any of the rules so placed on Eraklyon for he didn't swear to them for he wasn't born here and he never lived here."

"Where was he from?" I inquired.

"He said he was from Music City on Melody Realm." said Elandri. "His armor though it was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life it was so silver and so durable."

"Do you know his name?" I curious about this man in the so called Armor she mentioned.

"Nope, but they call him in Title Mystery Apprentice or M. A or M. R. stands for Mysterious Rescuer. All I remember is his green eyes and sandy brown hair." She informs me. "He did say he had a brother and that his name was Alcwin just a year younger than you."