CHAPTER THREE: FAMILIAR FACES

  Having stumbled through the uneven, leafy floors and carefully bypassing the hazardous chasms for the better part of a day, SEB and Karma were now deep into the Noble Forest. Any sort of inkling, even the faintest whisper, of the hustles and bustles of human or animal life dwindled into quiet solitude, until it was just them and the trees. They hadn’t spoken as much as a syllable all day. Seb followed Karma wherever she went, at every sudden turn, yet he still hadn’t the slightest idea where they could possibly be heading. This was far deeper than he had ever ventured into this ancient forest, and he was now in the realm of fantasies and children’s tales: ‘You mustn’t go too far, Seb, otherwise the forest will eat you up!’ – hardly an imaginative warning, but enough to deter any courageous young hopefuls wishing to explore the unknown.

  Seb was sure they were in uncharted territory now. The Zarkonians claimed the Noble Forest straight away when war first broke out, but this region of the forest was clearly uninhabited – at least, that’s what he hoped.

  Karma’s silence frustrated him to no end. With each passing step into the forest, he was filled with a sense of unshakable doubt.

  Who’s to say she won’t just betray me, or leave me to the creatures of the forest in one final act of spite?

  Seb looked at his guide up ahead, confidently crunching through the twigs and dried leaves on the ground as she bounded forwards. He couldn’t take much more of this damning silence. He would have to press her for some information if he was to continue.

  “Karma … can we take a break?” he asked.

  “Aw, c’mon Hotshot. There's only a couple miles left … I think.” She covered her eyes and looked up to the sky. “If ya need, ya can open the floodgates behind a tree. Promise I won’t peek.”

  “No!” Seb exclaimed, blushing. “It’s not that. Can we just stop to talk for a second, about everything that’s happened? You’ve barely said a word to me since the farm. I want to know what I’m getting into!”

  Karma sighed, loudly and clearly. She rested her pink plasma rifle up against a tree trunk, before leaning against the same tree, arms crossed.

  “Fire away. But make it quick – we ain’t got all day.”

  “U-Uh, okay,” he stuttered. “First of all, what the hell was with that hidden bunker in your shack? It was filled with … what? Butterflies? All the butterflies I’ve ever seen have been pretty unremarkable, so why were you making such an effort to breed them?”

  She chuckled to herself softly, her reminiscent eyes locked to the ground.

  “Ya saw it, right? Those bandits attacked me and I had to defend my farm. Ya must’ve seen it – your heart may be busted, but your eyes sure as hell still work.”

  “Yeah, I saw it. When you fought back, you freed all of those butterflies. But, but then … they all died! They all withered and crumpled to the ground! I wasn’t just imagining it, was I? What did you do to them?”

  Karma stopped smirking. Her face wore a dash of melancholy.

  “I didn’t want that to happen, but I had no choice. I was penned in. Cornered. I needed all the firepower I could get.”

  “So, those butterflies … they helped you?” he asked, “Made your powers stronger?”

  “Yeah. Poor creatures gave everythin’ to protect me. They did all they could, bless their little souls … Even if it took a hundred of ‘em to make a difference. Does that clear it up for ya?”

  “Well … No, not really. I had a vision from that day when you saved my life, remember? I saw when you rescued me – a butterfly helped you then, too. It was exactly the same. Same colour, same size … But there was just one! And you completely obliterated those guys! Why was it different back on the farm? Why didn’t you just need the one butterfly to help you?”

  “Ah … Ya saw that too, huh?” She sighed. “You’re right. On that day, when I saw ya fightin’ for your life, I wasn’t sure if I could help. A saw a guy down and out for the count … and yet he still kept fightin’. I admired that. Still do, even now. Reminded me of myself, a little, when I was young and stupid and gettin’ into all sorts of trouble. It was too much of a risk, though. If I had opened fire on those men, with my rifle or otherwise, I would’ve had to give up my quiet life on the farm. I couldn’t risk havin’ one straggler survive and get away, tellin’ the others about me. I just couldn’t …”

  Seb nodded. I think I’m starting to understand what happened all those months ago, why Karma risked her life to save mine.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “But something happened, didn’t it? You saw that red butterfly and your whole expression changed.”

  “Yeah.” She chuckled. “It was a gift from the Gods themselves. D’ya have any idea how lucky ya were, that a pure red butterfly just so happened to find me that day? Ya can breed all the butterflies ya like and send them into battle with ya – believe me, I’ve seen it attempted for myself – but nothin’ will compare to the power a pure, wild butterfly gives ya. It’s like divine intervention when it happens, and it’s turned the tides of many a battle I’ve seen. When a pure red butterfly appeared that day … I knew I could save ya. I knew there would be no survivors, and that I could get away with it.”

  Silence hung in the heavy air. Seb took a moment to process the incredible story.

  Just who is this strange woman, this peculiar Karma Daybreak who saved my life? How many other people has she killed? She doesn’t look a day over twenty … How many battles and wars has she endured in her young life?

  “You said you’ve seen the butterflies change the tides of battle … Does that mean you’ve fought in the war?” Seb asked, nervous of the answer. “Between the Azulons and the Zarkonians?”

  Karma scoffed. “Nah, not that one. I’m talkin’ about a much bigger war – one that’s been destroyin’ the Continent for centuries. A magical war. A conflict that makes this Zarkonian-Azulon spat look like a harmless bar scuffle. Both sides fightin’ in honour of the Gods, and both sides payin’ the price in blood. Ya wouldn’t believe the horrors I’ve seen, Seb. Death on a scale ya wouldn’t even begin to comprehend. It was a bitter, dark time for the whole Continent. It’s a war my people are still fightin’ as we speak.”

  “A magical war? Why have I never heard about it?”

  “That’s ‘cause there ain’t many of us still alive to tell the tale,” she revealed, frowning. “Both sides were annihilated, and half the Continent as well. I started off as a field medic, patchin’ up those of us on the front lines … but it became too much. We had too many people dyin’ and not enough medics to save ‘em. After a while, the medics had to join the front lines as well.” She shook her head. “Ya don’t understand, Seb. This ain’t nothin’ like that pathetic Zarkonian-Azulon war goin’ on right now. My war – my people’s war – was the only life I ever knew growin’ up. As a kid, it was my only nightmare.”

  Karma’s hand was turning purple as she clenched the shaft of her rifle, unaware she was squeezing the life out of it. When she realised what she was doing, she released her old weapon and let it topple to the ground with a tiny thump.

  “I … I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Seb could hardly find the right words to say. “If you’re the only one left, who are we going to right now?”

  “I never said I was the only one, just that most of us didn’t survive. I wasn’t around to see the end of the war – the final battle that wiped most of us out. I had a little … disagreement with one of the Elders and ended up leavin’ beforehand, so I guess ya could say I got off easy.”

  Karma’s face became stone, on high alert. She reached for her fallen rifle but paused upon seeing something in the distance.

  “What? What is it?” Seb asked, growing nervous.

  “I shoulda known.” She untensed. “Keep still and don’t say a word.”

  Poking through the trees, carrying an illustrious yet enigmatic energy, fluttered a small, purple butterfly. It was by its lonesome and drifted through the air at a snail’s pace. Karma held out her finger; the purple butterfly set itself down, relaxing its wings. For a moment, she stared at the butterfly intently, wordlessly.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Karma Daybreak. In the flesh,” she suddenly said to the butterfly. It gave her no reply – how could it?

  Seb almost vocalised his confusion, but remained silent. This was a magical butterfly. It had to be. If the red ones granted Karma the power of fire, what power did a purple one have? And by itself, no less?

  “Yeah, I know where it is,” Karma said after a pause. “I’ll be there before sundown. Save me a space at the table.”

  The butterfly flapped its wings again, taking off from its perch and disappearing through the trees once more, in the direction they were walking towards. Seb waited half a minute before risking a sentence.

  “So … are you gonna tell me what that was all about? You can speak to butterflies – is that it?”

  Karma smiled. “They found me again … S’what I get for comin’ out of hidin’, I suppose. Those who survived set up a new base deep in the Noble Forest. That’s where I’m takin’ ya.”

  “What, to your old allies? The ones you fought with? But I thought you just said you left them right before the most important battle! Wouldn’t they be … y’know … pissed?”

  “Yeah. That should make it interestin’!” she chuckled.

  “So … does that mean you brought me along to learn from your old magical masters? I’ll get to be a soddin’ Mage?” Seb punched the air in rabid excitement. “That’s awesome! I won’t let you down, Karma. I promise I’ll study real hard and–”

  “Hang on a sec – let’s make sure they let us in first. The Arbiters don’t exactly warm to outsiders like yourself … But I think I have a plan on how to get ya in. C’mon, we need to get goin’ before nightfall. They might shoot us down if we surprise ‘em in the middle of the night.”

  She picked up her rifle from the ground and headed off into the forest once more, leaving a dumbfounded Seb behind.

  “Hey, wait!” he barked, “Did you say they’ll shoot at us? Wait for me!”

  Seb ran off to catch up with her, intrigue and anxiety making his crystal heart pulse furiously.