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Author's Note: Wow. I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever. I couldn't get into my account. Come to find out, I spelled my password wrong when I made my account. And then break ended and school happened. The Stress is eating my soul. I wish I was kidding.
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The Next Morning
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Elia had freed herself long ago, and had already found a safe haven in which she would stay for a while. Elia had followed the land in a steady slope downhill, until she had found a river, and had followed it through the night. She only stopped once to collect berries from a black berry bush that had been illuminated by the moon, and ate them, before she had continued her trip up river.
By morning, she had came to a water fall, and she had poked around until she found a small path leading to a large cavern behind the waterfall. This would be her new home until she found a purpose. Elia wasn't sure how long that would take, but she was sure she'd figure it out eventually.
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Two years later, on the same day Sirius and Edward arrived at the Solaria Pyramid
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Elia fixed the raggedy blind fold that she had used for a headband to keep her wild auburn hair out of her face. Then she snatched up her handmade bow and quiver of arrows and shrugged them onto her shoulder. She also picked up her stone knife, and placed it in the crude sheathe she had fashioned into her right boot. On her way out, she grabbed her hide bag. She was going hunting today.
Two years living in this area, and she had learned it well. The forest was large, and it covered so much land, that it was a day's walk to the closest exit, which was where she had originally entered the forest from. Or, perhaps a better description would be led into the forest, and ditched.
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After several hours, she had tracked down a doe, and now sat, perched in a tree. She balanced herself on a large branch, and leaned on a tree. Elia peered at the doe in the foliage below. With slow, careful movements, she shrugged off her bow, and pulled an arrow from the quiver.
She took a deep breath in, pulling the arrow back to her jaw. She aimed right behind the front shoulder.
"That doe is huge. Do you even eat all that meat?" An amused male voice echoed throughout the silence of the forest, and scaring Elia. It startled her so much, that she accidentally released the arrow as she lost her balance. She grasped at the air, trying to regain her balance in vain, before actually falling out of the tree. A scream erupted from her throat, before she hit the ground. The last thing she remembered was the exhilarating sensation of falling.
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She was on something moving, being waved around slowly. She opened her eyes, and saw the ground moving below her, her arms swaying with the motion. Her hair slung over her face, tickling her nose and cheeks. Then she saw two large, long legs, belonging to what she assumed was a man. He had her slung over her shoulder. Who was this? Where was he taking her? How did he find her? What was he doing out here?
Questions attacked her thoughts relentlessly, but she made no move to hint that she was conscious as the stranger carried her further into woods. She didn't know what she wanted more. Did she want to figure out what was going on, or try to get away and run back to the safe haven of her cave? Perhaps both could be possible, if she could get to the stone knife concealed in her boot. She took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally, before she lifted her leg, and just as quickly rammed her knee into his torso.
He yelped, whether in surprise, or if she'd actually hurt him, she wasn't sure, but he had quickly threw her off him. She landed on her back, the metal taking most of the blow. It still hurt a bit, considering her whole back side hurt from falling out of a tree. Elia didn't waste any time in pulling her knife from it's hidden sheathe however, and getting to her feet. She quickly shook her hair out of her face and pushed up her hair band.
The man before her was huge, and was a little darker toned than Elia. He held his hands up in a defensive position. She saw that he had dropped her bag, which had her bow and quiver inside, when she had fought to get away.
"Who are you, and where were you taking me?" Elia cut straight to the point, flexing her fingers around the hide-wrapped handle of her knife.
"I mean no harm, I swear. You can put the knife away. I'm Jostein." Elia eyed him for a moment, and he appeared as truthful as anyone else would be. She slowly sheathed the knife, and stood up to her full height.
"And where were you taking me," she repeated, as forcefully as the first time she asked.
"To my village. I heard your scream while I was out hunting, and figured you were hurt. I was simply trying to be nice." Elia never took her eyes off of him, to be sure he didn't make any funny moves as she went to grab her bag.
"It's appreciated. Were you the one I heard before I fell out of the tree?" Who ever that was, that had made that particularly snippy comment, had a voice rather different than Jostein's. It seemed more light-hearted, yet older than Jostein's. However, Elia was asking, simply to be sure. Who ever had spoken to her, had better hope she never found them. She intended to give them way more than a piece of her mind.
"No. But who ever it was, they're long gone by now, I'm sure," he responded. And again, Elia determined he was being truthful. She blew a piece of hair out of her face. Something shiny caught her eye from his collarbone. She saw a small piece of metal poking into his collarbone, that appeared to be a part of his skin. It was a bright silver, and reflected the light.
"You're cursed," Elia realized aloud. Jostein seemed more amused that she noticed than surprised or startled. He pulled the collar of his vest down, to show a patch of metal that appeared to expand even farther than what he could reveal for the moment.
"You are too, unless I'm hallucinating." She had a rather tight lace-up top that was sleeveless she'd made herself out of hide. It must have rode up her back some when he picked her up. That seemed to be the only logical explanation.
"And you said you had a village? Have you not been exiled?"
He released the collar of his vest, and smoothed it back into place. "I belong to a village of exiles. I was taking you to our Medicine woman, but seeing as you're perfectly fine, I'll instead extend an invitation to you. You'd be welcome there."
Edward yelled out. "I got it!" He quickly went to wake up Sirius, and now they stood before the entrance.
"What does it say?" Sirius asked, and ignited his hand, using his blessing to do so. The flame was harmless, only summoned forth for more light.
Edward cleared his throat, and read from his notes. "Only enter with a heart of gold. Do not be so bold." As the last syllable left his mouth, the door opened. The two brothers looked in awe down the dark corridor that slowly revealed itself to them.
"A heart of gold...We're not bad people, are we, Edward?" Sirius looked over at his brother, worried.
"I reckon we're not. I would write it off as balderdash, but it opened upon a command, which suggests influence of magic or the Gods. So, I would do some deep soul-searching, because I wouldn't want to cross whoever created this place," Edward advised, not returning his brother's gaze. Instead, he kept staring straight forward.
"Well, nobody has a heart of gold. But some can get close, hmm?"
Edward shrugged, and gestured for Sirius to go ahead, since he was the one lighting the way into the unknown.
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Author's Note: I feel like it's slightly longer. Maybe it's just more action packed...Shrug. It would've definitely been a ton longer if I added their experience in the pyramid, but I'm going to save that for the next chapter so the next chapter has action too! c: Again, sorry for not updating in forever in a day. Blame my Spanish class. The teacher is cool, but the class is designed to make innocent high-school students want to curl up into tiny little balls of hate and stress and cry.
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