The Elder Eyes: Earthbound
By Nipaporn Baldwin
Published by Geppetto Garten/Nipaporn Baldwin at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 by Nipaporn Baldwin
e-book edition (smashwords edition)
11/19/11 © 2011 licensed CC-BY-NC
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The Elder Eyes: Earthbound
From the wastes of the Unforgiving,
A woman was born anew
The sun had forged life into her
While the moon untangled her spirit’s misfortunes
This new life was taken from the wastes
And carried off, by a Dragon, to the desperate planet of Earthbound
She fell from the sky and hit the roof of the cottage belonging to a married couple
They saved her from the on-coming forty-year winter
This woman said, “I have no name.”
So the couple named her Afrearth
Which was half the name of the forsaken planet she dropped to
And inside they stayed, always finding things to do, staying together
But when the husband went out to the city and never returned,
Afrearth decided to set out in an expedition to find him
She followed his path using the pangs she got in her chest whenever she went off-trail
She went through the blistering cold mountains
And trekked through the forests of Tind, which were filled with dragons that sang in the trees
The city was a marvel itself, but she could not gaze long at its beauty
After searching through the village, Afrearth found the husband
His body was on a spike and his eyeballs had been cut out
He had been dead for days
And the crows were feasting off his rotting flesh
Demanding answers, she marched to the Castle at the center of the city
The King was not a pleasant one to be around
On her knees, she asked why the husband had been killed in such a horrid way
“Well well, a brown child from Terra dares to question me? You have no say in our methods of execution! Begone, impure brat, or we’ll feed your head to the Alien Dragons.”
Afrearth’s anger was boiling and the planet boiled with it
From the sky of Earthbound came a thundering rainstorm unlike any the inhabitants have seen
One of the young jesters spoke out, “No! She has the Elder Eyes!”
The King jolted from his throne, “What? No! The body of the elders was lost in the interstellar space long ago!”
Afrearth had already knew of the elder Eyes, but she did not know she had possessed it
She stood and ran to the King with unimaginable speed, and instincts started taking over
“Who gave you the order to execute my husband?”
The King knew the man didn’t belong to her, but fearing her anger, he stammered, “The Empress of Xenesia…the Empress of Xenesia…she lives on the cliff by the dragon ruins.”
Afrerth had heard of the cruel empire, Xeresia
They were notorious for silencing innocents that knew of their Empress’s secrets
They would also kill innocents for fun, and sometimes their own
“Give me a map!”
With the King’s map of Earthbound’s Capolin continent, Afrearth set her next destination point to the city of Xeresia
The journey there was more dangerous than she expected
The trees of the forests were dead and had been inhabited by spider webs from itty-bitty spiders
The ruins were no pick-me-up either
Sharknowls, Wolves and Garigo Dragons were the inhabitants and made sure Afrearth’s passage through there would not be an easy feat
Finally she arrived at the Crystal city of Xeresia by midnight
And the seemingly endless fog did not help in discovering the city’s base
It was eerily silent and the crystals glowed whenever she passed by
She knew the Empress would use the crystals and the fog to her advantage
Afrearth knew she could take whatever the Empress had
Arrows were thrown at her, beastly creatures were unleashed to maul her, and even a few dragons from the Ruins were called to the Empress’s aid
But whatever the danger, Afrearth eventually overcame it
She used the power of the thunderstorm to break open the crystal castle’s gates
And there she met the Empress of Xeresia, waiting patiently for her
The Empress, with open arms, spoke kindly, “I see my space child has come at last! Welcome home, Afrearth!”
“Why do you talk such foolishness?” Afrearth asked
“You do not know? I dropped you in the wastes of the Unforgiving, and the serpent’s kiss made you into what you are today.”
Afreath shook her head, “No. I’m from the bloodline of the Elders!”
The Empress tensed, “so…I see you’ve met your Father.”
“No, no I haven’t.”
“How do you know of the Elder Eyes?”
“I researched it…I was born from the Unforgiving and was delivered here by a Dragon.”
The Empress withdrew her sword, “enough of your silly stories, young child. Why have you come to my domain.”
Afrearth, with authority in her tone, said, “I have come to avenge my father and all the innocents you’ve killed.”
The Empress had the first move, which was a rather blindly stupid one
She lunged toward Afrearth with an intent to slice her leg, but the girl stabbed her sword deep into the Empress’s stomach
“Why would you make such a stupid move?” Afrearth asked.
The Empress smiled, “the last one to kill me will be cursed by the blood of Xeresians. I’ve waited too long to see your misery.”
Afrearth, realizing her naïveté heart had turned to burning revenge, started to remember all of the old legends
The one with the eyes of the Elders will be exploited by love
And said love will falsify itself into her very soul
Her eyes will be deceived and she will wrongingly fall for the curse of the Ancients
And her Eyes will be a portal for the demon-aliens to pass through
Thus bringing the Age of the Beasts
Only the blade of the Entroiss can erase the demons
But the Elder Eyes alone can quell the hunger of Xeresegnar
“You’re…you…you baited me.”
Afrearth dropped the sword
And her green eyes turned gray
“No, child,” the Empress chuckled, “I only awakened you.”
Afrearth, now feeling discouraged, picked up the sword and left the crystal palace
In the sky, the clouds formed in a circle, and from this hole the aliens started coming through
Afrearth’s journey home was a quiet one
The dangerous creatures of the forests watched her, not caring to attack
And the Dragons of the Tind forest didn’t sing like they had before
The forty-year winter had ended when she returned to the cottage
And the fifty year summer was beginning
The heat was stifling and the humidity was high
She was afraid of entering the cottage, but knew she had to sooner or later
When she opened the door she saw the wife sitting in a rocking chair with the smallest child
“Yonda?” she called.
The wife looked u, her smile expressing her happiness at seeing Afrearth
Afrearth closed the door, “I have something dreadful to tell you.”