The World of Aonzahlia

Chapter 4

“You.” I whispered.

Al was too late. He turned onto my trap as I stabbed through his opened mouth and pinned him against the ship. He struggled to set himself free but he gagged on his own blood. I decided to slash his throat because I never wanted him to suffer by my selfish anger. His head stayed put but his body tumbled down. I wiped the blood off of my face and shook more off of my dagger.

Before I could walk into the ship I moved the bodies and threw them into the bushes. I knew that leaving this beautiful scenery would attract many barbarians. At least it bought me more time to look around and investigate. I started to climb up the ship and broke in through a small window. I hopped in and took a glance. It was dark but the lit candles made it easy to see. I was in a hall with two doors on each side. At the end of the hall there were stairs; one led down and the other led up onto the deck. I listened quietly and heard no one. I was alone. The first door took me to a kitchen, then the second door showed me the diner which was slightly larger than the first, and then the third door was the smallest where the crew left their belongings in.

The final door looked fancier than the rest with red and gold engraved around it. I slowly opened the door and walked into the largest room of the ship. The room was covered with maps, ripped pages from opened books, a bed that wasn’t made and a messy desk stood strongly ahead of me. Jack pot. I quickly scattered throughout the room and tried to find any plans that could help me. However there weren’t much information that I could gather. Whatever Orrek left in here were just information that I already knew about and guessed when I first saw them.

Suddenly I heard two voices that carried out in the hall. Oh fucking great! I started to panic. I heard the door knob slowly being turned. I pushed myself into a closet nearby and closed the door but not entirely. I took a peak at the opening as the old man walked in. He must be Orrek. I swallowed my panic away and listened cautiously.

“Captain Orrek,” A young man questioned. “I think we did hit the mother lode.”

Orrek laughed and took a seat behind his desk. “Oh really now...” He grew quiet for a brief moment but continued. “How so?” His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

I tried to see who the other person was but instead I got his back that faced me. I watched him getting a bit tensed by his leader. His emotions got to me and I felt his panic rushed into me.

The young one laughed. “Just a good gut feeling I suppose.” He turned a chair around and sat down. Great, I knew who he was. It’s that idiot who attacked me earlier!

“My boy,” Orrek took a sip from his drink. “I have a feeling that you know something that I don’t.”

I gulped. What if he does tell Orrek about me?

Elijah brushed his hair back and tried to stay calm. “What are you talking about?”

“You have met one of them. You saw an Aonzahlian.”

Elijah stared at Orrek right in the eye. “No I haven’t and a matter of fact I don’t even know what they are, who they are and how they’re supposed to look like.”

“They are tall and look like angels.” Orrek rolled an apple back and forth on his desk. “Such ugly beings.”

Elijah ignored Orrek’s insult and asked. “Sir, you have not yet told us why we are trying to find them.”

Orrek clenched his fists. “They have something that I need.” Orrek took a big bite off of the juicy apple. “The Black Dahlian Stone.”

A map was pulled out from Orrek’s coat and rolled out on the table. The map showed the entire land. Mountains circled around and covered most of the north. Toward south, the mountains descended to small hills, lakes and flat lands. The center of the map showed the city of Aowlin, Izaoi on the east side and Malus on the west. The Lizoth River separated Aowlin and Olken, the south. Orrek’s eyes shined with greed as he took some black ink and marked an x in one of the mountain’s cave. His laughed was a nightmare to my ears and so did to that idiot.

“Once we have it in our possession we can destroy this repulsive land and gain power. The power to strike, to annihilate, to never die and live forever.” Orrek set eyes at the cave on the map and not even blink once. “This stone can keep any man live a long and healthy life.”

“So you believe that you will find this stone...” It sounded more like a question instead of a fact. Elijah was not an easy believer. Elijah will never believe in something unless he got himself some proof. “I don’t think there is such thing as an Aonzahlian and the black stone dahlian or whatever that is called.”

Orrek got up and walked toward a window to open it. “Don’t push me around Elijah.” Orrek looked at the core of the apple and threw it out. He continued to speak as he walked to Elijah. “You are just a young man, a son of an ex ruler, a man who was exiled.” Orrek took his last step and Elijah got up from his sit as if he was about to blow off Orrek’s head with a fist. “You are just a peasant who was lucky enough to even here.”

Elijah stared at him, he didn’t blink or flinch, he just stood there. A man from outside of the ship was yelling. Orrek ran to his window to learn about a possible intruder at their camp grounds. Orrek took his coat and walked out. Elijah never left his eyes off of him but like Orrek said Elijah followed him out like a peasant. I finally opened my mouth to breathe. I held it for so long I thought I was going to pass out. I peeked through the crack to see if they both left. Coast is clear! I opened the door and got out as quickly as I could. However I felt a presence from behind and my body stopped moving. Oh for goodness sakes there’s nothing behind me. I spun around to not only see something but to see him standing right there. I was caught red handed, again.

“Found what you have been looking for?” He asked.