Skin Deep

Aaron emerges from the Pool of Purity to find chaos all around him.

10.

Skin Deep

 

 

The sounds of battle accompanied him out of the water.    Wildly, Aaron looked around, dazed and unsure where he was.    A huge Ogre was being attacked by the Hutcaiah soldiers and the brute was roaring and tossing guards aside as quickly as they charged him.

 

He was in the bottom pool, completely naked.    Quickly swimming to the edge of the pool, he was met by the nude forms of a Sylvan Elf and Wood Nymph, who frantically pulled him from the water.

“We’ve got to make a run for it while they’re distracted by the Ogre!”  The Elf told him and they pulled him after them.    Some of the Hutcaiah soldiers saw them flee and yelled in alarm, but at that very moment there came the sounds of trumpets.    Aaron and his companions raced through the underbrush as the horns continued to sound.    Their tune sounded familiar, but for a moment he didn’t recognize it.  

Then he saw, through the trees, a column of cavalry in full plate armor.    At their head was King Eleazar, Queen Aurei, Baron Alvis, Matron Zeatt and Allea and they led the knights at full speed into the surprised Hutcaiah troops who were still battling the Ogre.  

“Wait!”   Aaron called to his companions, pointing through the trees, “Look!   Help has arrived!”

The Elf and Nymph stopped and rushed back to join him.

“King Eleazar!”   The Sylvan Elf exclaimed, “We’re saved!”

 

Aaron looked at the pair, his mind beginning to clear and memory slowly returning, “Wulf-wuf?   Mew?”

They turned to him and both nodded.

“What happened?   The Prince and I fell into the pool.”

“We didn’t see it.”  Mew replied, “We heard a commotion and some of the guards up there were yelling and running around.    Suddenly the water turned green and flowed down into the bottom pool and a moment later out came this huge Ogre.    Then we saw you.”

Aaron looked down at himself, embarrassed at his nudity, “Am I the same?   Do I look like I did?   Am I still a Half-Elf?”

“You are the same.”    Wulf-wuf told him, “But both of your parents were Half-Elves, sir.   Since both of your parents were of the same mixed race, the pool probably considered you a ‘pure Half-Elf’ and so you apparently escaped change.   The Prince did not know about that.”

“But what about the Ogre?   Where did he come from?”

“Lysa, I suspect.”  Wulf-wuf replied solemnly, “She told me that she had Ogre and human in her ancestry.    She must have died in the water and that usually leaves some of the essence behind.    I’d guess that Sefet-Manyue was not pure either, and he absorbed the part of Lysa’s essence that had been left behind in the pool.   So he came out as a pure Ogre, as that was the strongest essence.    He fell in before you did or you could have had that happen to you.   Only the essence of the dead is transferred to the living.”

“How do you know, Wulf-wuf?”   Aaron asked, desperate for hope.

“That is what Helios told us.”

“So Lysa…?”   He felt his blood go cold.

“She is dead, sir.”   Wulf-wuf admitted flatly.

“That’s insane!”   Aaron replied, shaking his head, “Poor Lysa!   She should not be dead!    Why didn’t she come out of the pool in some form?”

“I don’t know sir.”  Wulf-wuf said, patting him on the shoulder, “She should have come out.     Sefet-Manyue was trying to test to see if she would absorb some of his dead wife’s essence from the pool and would emerge as one of those strange Elves.    But it didn’t work, I guess.    I am so sorry, sir.”

Aaron nodded, his soul heavy within him, “We need to clothe ourselves and go assist King Eleazar’s group.     We’ll have time to mourn our lost friends later.”

They both agreed and the three of them cautiously crept through the trees as the sounds of battle drifted through the forest to them.

 

***

By the time they emerged onto the battlefield it was all over.    The sudden appearance of King Eleazar and his cavalry had scattered the Hutcaiah to the four winds.     As his knights chased the troops, the King joined Aurei, Zeatt, Alvis and Allea in battling the Ogre.     It did not take long for them to bring him down and by the time Aaron, Wulf-wuf and Mew were clothed, the fight had ended.

 

Allea ran to him and Aaron, Wulf-wuf and Mew joined her in a hug as they lamented in those who had fallen to the Hutcaiah. 

 

The strange Elves proved to be very skilled at evasion, for only a handful of them were captured by the horsemen.     Aaron and his companions told the King and Queen what had happened and they shared in his grief at the loss of three of the Talminor and Lysa.

 

Of course it had been Allea’s sudden appearance - thanks to the Autocaster Ring- that had alarmed the King to their plight.   They had teleported as close as they could, but had to wait until all of the cavaliers were transported before they could enter the Valley.

Aaron thanked the King and especially Allea over and over, but though he was grateful, he could not help but be nearly overwhelmed with grief over the plight of Lysa.

Allea sensed his pain and comforted him, yet knew that the Orc girl’s loss was a heavy blow to him.

“This pool needs to be destroyed.”   He told King Eleazar later that afternoon after all of the patrols had returned.

“We will see to it.”   Eleazar responded, sympathetically, “For now, let us leave this valley and return to the teleportation point so we can all return to Westmark.    There will be time in days to come to destroy the pool, as well as deal with the Hutcaiah.   We will learn what we can about them from those we captured.    But for now, I am most concerned about you, Aaron.”

“I’ll be alright, Your Majesty.”  He replied.

“After a time, you shall.    But you need time to grieve.”

“I’m experienced at that.”   Aaron told him, thinking to the recent loss of his parents.   He felt so terribly alone right then, though Allea was standing close by.   She seemed to understand his pain and his conflicting emotions toward her.   With a sad half-smile, she left him to talk to the King and Queen. 

“Aaron, you can’t blame yourself for Lysa’s death.”   Queen Aurei told him, patting his shoulder.

“I shouldn’t have come here without more men.”   He looked at his feet, “Then maybe she wouldn’t have died.    We lost Grunt and Bear too, though Hiz probably would have died even if we had not come here.    But we didn’t have much choice!    The Talminor were dying before our eyes!   Lysa was right, we had to help them.    At least we saved Mew and Wulf-wuf.     She would have been thrilled at that.”  

He thought of the last time he had seen her, all broken and bruised, yet still respectful of him as her Lord.   Tears welled up in his eyes, but he successfully kept them under control.

Yet Queen Aurei saw it and without a word, she hugged him.    She had been his mother’s best friend and at that moment she reminded him so much of his mom that he lost his composure and briefly wept on her shoulder.    He felt so ashamed, yet both the Queen and King Eleazar stood there batting tears of sympathy from their eyes.   

“It’s alright, child.”   Aurei whispered to him in a motherly voice, “You have people that love you, Aaron.    Don’t be afraid, you are not alone.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”   He whispered to her.

“Shh, it’s Aurei, child.   We can be royalty some other day.   Today we are your family.”

“Thank you.”   He repeated, finding comfort in their love.

 

***

The procession leaving the valley was solemn and Aaron kept his thoughts to himself as he rode beside Allea at the front of the group.    The fading sun of early evening shone peacefully, but seemed to do little to relieve Aaron’s mood.    Finally Allea broke the silence.

“Aaron, I’m sorry about Lysa.    You really cared for her, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” He admitted gravely, “Maybe I just saw the goodness of her heart, Allea.    I don’t really know what I feel right now, but I can’t get out of my mind the vision of her all broken and bruised.   All because she merely was an Orc and was a loyal squire.    Yet I was completely helpless!   I am some Paladin, Allea!”

“You were outnumbered, Aaron, and if you had fought them, they would have killed everyone.”

“It is not a Paladin’s place to submit to an enemy.”   He told her bitterly, “It is not right.    Had it not been for your Autocaster ring, you too would have died… because of me!”

“Aaron, how is this your fault?   We were travelling there to get help for the Talminor.”

“Yes, and two of them died at the hands of those ruthless Elves.   They died defending the Elven watchtower.”

“That’s true - I was one they died to defend, Aaron.    But the evil of those invaders was not due to any failure of yours.    You acted in a way to save us.    You saved me and perhaps Wulf-wuf and Mew by allowing me to be taken back to Westmark by the action of the Autocaster Ring.   Then you sacrificed your life to stop that cruel Prince.”

“I just knocked him into the Faerie Pool, Allea.   It wasn’t brave at all.   He came out an Ogre, absorbing some of Lysa’s essence, Wulf-wuf tells me.   But Lysa is gone.”

“Aaron, I care for you, but I worry that our relationship is more of a burden to you right now with what you have gone through.    Do you want me to back off?”

He looked at her, “Allea, to be honest with you, I think I may have used you after my parents’ death.   We’ve been friends our whole lives and I count you as one of my closest friends.   We’ve seen a lot of crazy things.    When my parents died, I fear that I leaned on you too heavily because you were like family to me.”

The girl nodded sadly, but seemed far from heartbroken, “I felt that way too, I guess.    You’ve been more like a brother or a close cousin to me all of my life and then we try to reform our relationship into a romantic one.   It never really felt right, did it?   I think we both were holding back because it just didn’t feel like we were meant for each other.”

“Allea, that does not mean that I don’t love you.   I do… just as I love your parents and King Eleazar and Queen Aurei.    We are very lucky that we have an extended family of very close friends.”

Allea smiled, “Yes, we do.    But sometimes those roles can’t be altered.   We tried to do that and failed.   I found myself growing so very jealous of you and Lysa, and even prejudiced toward her.    That was completely unlike me, Aaron.   I am ashamed.    I don’t think it is right that we try to date - our hearts are not into it.    Thankfully, we were not so serious that it should be too awkward for us to resume our former friendship… is it?”

Aaron smiled warmly, “Allea, no matter what happened between us - good or bad- you will always be part of my extended family.    Honestly, I think this… what do we call it?   Breaking up?   Well then, I think this ‘breaking up’ will actually improve our relationship as we won’t have any expectations for each other.”

She nodded, “I think you are right.   Really, I am quite busy studying magic with Aunt Alleania, so right now I don’t have much time for a boyfriend.”

“So are we still friends?”   Aaron asked, and she leaned across her horse in reply and hugged him.

“Of course we are.    Are you going to be okay once we get back to Westmark?”

“I’ll survive, I guess.”

“Well, if you need to talk, please don’t hesitate to come to me.”

“I won’t.   Thank you, Allea; you are very understanding and wise.”

She grinned, “Hey, I’m a sorceress, remember, it goes with the job!”