Aroura and Her Loyal Lunatic

“Wh-what do you mean?” She looks worried. Maybe she knows me from somewhere? Me… Who is me?

I should ask. “Who am I?”
My head pulses and I step back. “What is-“

I’m rushing around with my pack! We’ve been assigned to hunt these orcs. These lumbering brutes are no match-
Arrows impale my leg! They shouldn’t hurt this much! I go to grab them, but they burn my hand! What is… Silver arrows… Why do orcs have silver!? Klea, my wife tells me to hurry up, but I can’t move! A sharp pain in my chest stops me from answering. A silver spear. Right. Through my… Klea. I’m sorry-

I’m back to the stone floor on my hands and knees. I’m panting. What is this!? The others are shaking me and shouting something, but I can’t hear them. Am I dead? I plead out, “Please help-“

Today is the biggest day of my life. I get to drink the Lord of the Moon’s very own blood and become one of his wolves. I’ve proven to be the best, but I still can’t even begin to compare to his lordship. I won’t even attempt to describe him because no matter what fantastic words I can produce, it will only undermine his greatness. He watches me with his stunningly beautiful eyes. His words caress my ears as he perfectly enunciates each word. “Drink, young elf. Join me on my own personal hunts.”
Without hesitation, I pick up the chalice and gulp the blood-

“Calm down! It’s okay, we’ve got you! Don’t-“

Dal’leish! No! Stay with me! Don’t you dare die on me-
I’m worthless! I’ve failed the Lord of the Moon! I stand on the edge of my balcony and lean off-
I’ve never met a man that could make me this angry but still make me love him! What is wrong-

This hurts! These memories tear at my mind and heart like the claws of ravenous beast! The black-haired woman holds my head in her hands, forcing me to look at her. She calmy asks, “Do you remember me? My name is Aroura. You and I-“

“You and me. We have to take responsibility! -”
She looks at me horrified. But she knows this is who I-
Regret after regret after regret! I can’t do anything-

I can’t take this anymore! I have to get them out! I break out of Arorua’s grasp and begin tearing at my head! “Get them out, get them out!”

Aroura cries out, “Stop him!”

A dwarf and a saurian try to pull my arms away with the chains, but I break their grip and tear the memories out of my head! Two swords slide under my armpits and slash. My arms fall limp-

“Thou art envious of my power, no? Why else would thee side with a human!” The wolves of my chapel lay strewn about o the floor. Their purpose has been served well, but in the end. None can survive a bout between Lords. The traitors stand before me, with a decimated army at their back.

The Lord of Order, the only one who could almost rival my strength speaks first. “Thy wolves have served us well enough, but they’ve grown out of control. Our forests burn because of you, Moon.”

“To maintain order, one must not be just, rather he must be maniacal and manipulative, no? This war only began because of thee.”

The Lord of Order draws his halberd and aims it my way. The surrounding Lords do the same. “As of today, under my order, I judge thee to eternal imprisonment.”

At the very least, ‘twill be a good hunt. I howl-

Aroura is shaking me. “Kar! Stay with me! Your name is Kar’Desh! You’re the hero of Solaris.”

Kar’Desh? I don’t-

Once again, my sword drives through the man’s abdomen and my pang of guilt overcomes me. Why can I feel every drop of blood as it flows out of him and onto my sword? Why can I feel his guts swirling around my sword as his life fades-

He looked at one of his hands in a panic and lost all hope when he saw that his glove was drenched in blood. Then his brown eyes move directly into mine as they pleaded. ‘Please save me.’
His eyes faded. He was gone. This boy. Was my age. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I turned around and puked an entire weeks’ worth of food onto the blood-soaked grass. These aren’t soldiers! These aren’t even men! These are slaves-

I noticed the piles of demi-human bodies. These were all the people who had not survived the assault…
After a moment of silence, I finally said, “I recognize so many of these men. Most of them told me their stories. About their families. About their plans for the future… I lead these men to their deaths.”

Countless men run for their lives, as my malformed claws rip through their armour, through their flesh. Even the ogre stood no chance! With his power, I can wipe out their entire army! The wizard with the Sun-Moon mask stands before me. He’s preparing spells, but it doesn’t take much to rip through him. Somehow, after losing his legs, he yet lives. Let’s fix that-

My palms slammed against either side of his head as his bloodcurdling screams blessed my ears. “I!”
I jerked his head to one side. “Am!”
Then I jerked to the other side, all the while his crushed hand smacked my arms and his broken leg kicked at the ground. “The King!”
The sound of flesh tearing replaced his screams as his head was ripped off! “Of RATS-“

He looks up at me. “It’s what you’ve always been.”
His head bounces off the wall and flies behind me. His blood pours out of the hole in his neck before the others realize what happened-

I turn her over… Cloudrea’s silver eyes stare at me… Lifeless-

My whole body goes limp. So that’s who I am. A monster. My eyes slowly drift up to Aroura’s. Her normally beautiful jade eyes are bloodshot and flooded with tears, but she manages to smile sweetly at me. “Do you remember?”

“I’m no hero. I’m a monster. I’ve killed so many people. So many innocent people. And… And…” My eyes drift over to where I found her. She’s resting peacefully on someone’s cloak. For the first time since my father died, tears slowly fill my eyes.
“I let her die. I failed. I failed, I failed, I failed. I should’ve sent her back, I should’ve left her with you, I should’ve never left her side!”
For the first time since I can remember, tears flow down my face. “I let her die! I couldn’t save one little girl! How could I ever be considered a hero!”

Aroura’s eyes couldn’t hold them back anymore. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she choked out, “You-you made her happy! You saved her from that village!”

I cry out, “For what!? Just so she could die alone and afraid! She was cry- she was crying when she died! I promised I’d save her! I-I promised that we would leave here together! I couldn’t keep it! I… I’m nothing but a monster… I-I let her die…”

She throws her arms around me and sobs uncontrollably. I can’t help but do that same. For the first time ever, I cried. Aroura barely managed to let out between wails, “Don’t! Don’t s-say that!”

“But it’s true! I lost control! I could’ve saved her! So! Many! Times! But I failed! Over and over! I could have saved her!”

She shakes her head uncontrollable into my shoulder. “Stop! Stop, stop, stop! Please!”

For the first time, I wailed. Uncontrollably, I wept in the arms of someone I only met a week ago. I wailed and wailed and wailed. I cried until I couldn’t anymore. Aroura and I still haven’t left each other’s arms. I’m not sure I want to. What point would there be? Where would I go? What would I do?
So, here we sit. Just holding each other in a sea of endless bones. Eventually she starts to slip and fall. I catch her before she slams her head against the stone floor. She’s asleep.

A scaled hand rests itself on my shoulder. I look up and Wal is looking down on me. “You two should get some rest. The rest of us will handle things from here.”

Naz offered his opinion. “Aye. I can’t imagine… Uhh… Losing someone like that. Ye should get some sleep.”

I doubt I could sleep for the rest of my life. But I nod anyway and carry Aroura over the sea of bones. Wait. There’s something I have to do. I turn around. “I’m sorry. For everything I said. For everything I did.”

Toross rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “Don’t worry too much about that. You uhh. Had some valid points. Just go to sleep and let your court be useful for once.”
He let out a nervous chuckle, which only exemplifies the awkward tension in the room.

I ask another question before I leave. “What will… You do with… Her?”

Maheed hissed from the corner. “I was an undertaker, remember? I’ll take care of it.”

I bow to them. “Thank you. I appreciate this.”
With that, I turn back around and shamble out of the throne room. It’s not too difficult to find the bedrooms. I find the first one and lay Aroura down in the bed. “I’m sorry for everything Aroura. I hope you can at least sleep well.”

I turn to leave, but her hand gently grabs mine. She mumbles just loud enough to be heard. “Please. I don’t wish to be alone tonight.”
I suppose it’s the least I could do, I go to pull a chair from the room-

The night sky is covered in stars. What? I look around and find nothing but stone, dust and craters. When I look up, I see… The Sun? And another object I don’t recognize. This isn’t a memory. Where am I?

A deep feminine voice caresses my ears. “Well. You’re more handsome in person. I knew my visions were deceiving me.”
I turn to face the source of the voice. A large stairway, I’m certain wasn’t there before leads straight to a stone throne. Atop it sits a giant woman. She stands and begins walking down the stair towards me. “Welcome to the Moon, Kar’Desh. You may call me Luna.”

It takes a minute for me to figure out what she said. Even when it hits me, I don’t react much. “I’m on the Moon? And you’re the Goddess Luna?”

She nods. “That loss really took a toll on you, didn’t it?”
Instead of answering, I take the opportunity to look at her. She’s not a human, or elf, or any other mortal race. She has smooth ashen grey skin with… Scales? No. like loosely placed scales, dark grey stones cover the outer parts of her body, like her shoulders and the outsides of her legs. She has one, tow, three, four- nine thin tails, that each have dark stone scales jutting out of the top. On her back, are four large bat-like wings.
She has all sorts of curled horns adorning her head. At least four pairs, with a little white flame on the end of each. In between her horns is a beautiful head of long, wavey, black hair. Her alluring purple eyes fit perfectly on her inhuman face.
She wore a thin dress, seeming made of dust, which seems to extenuate her overly large bust and wide hips. Her hands hold five fingers and two thumbs on either side. On the end of her fingers lies ornate metallic claws.

She’s much taller than I am. If I were standing on the top of Naz’s head, I would reach her height. She bends over and gives me a wide seductive smile. “Are you quite finished ogling me? I understand mortals often never see us, but honestly.”
Her arm props up her chest, while the other hand gently caresses her face. “It’s embarrassing.”

I bow slightly. “Ah, I apologize. I didn’t realize someone who dresses so provocatively would get embarrassed so easily.”

She cooed at that. “You noticed. How sweet.”

“Right. Well, this is truly an amazing sight, you’ve shown me, but I have someone I should return to.”

She let out a disappointed breath. “Hmm… I suppose, I don’t dislike this aspect of you. Very well. Sit.”
A chair appeared behind me. Convenient. She sat across from me with her legs crossed. “What if I told you, I could return Cloudrea to you?”

I glare at her. “Please don’t jest. I’m in no mood for jokes.”

She giddily cooed. “If you’re not careful, I might just fall for you. No. I do not jest. I could return your daughter to you. Unfortunately, her original body will not be her new vessel. It is quite impossible to reattach a spirit to a body.”

I bow in my chair. “Please, tell me what I must do.”

One of her tails reached around the chair and gently lifted my head to stare into her purple eyes. Her smile widened ever so slowly. “Entertain me.”

“What must I do?”

“So eager! What did you name my son? Desh? Did he tell you of the job I assign him?”
Desh did this to. Answers questions with more questions. I’ll put up with it for now.

“He said something about protecting the world you made?”

She leans into her hand. “Hmm… Yes, but ‘tis merely a half truth. He sure did love his half-truths. The other Gods and I assigned him and the other Lords to protect against our world. We come from a different world, you see? One of much more violent creatures.”
She squealed with delight, and her tails and wings stretched out into every direction. “I’ve spoken much too far already! Allow me to make this brief! I want you to take up the mantle of Lord of the Moon. Your task is to defend my creation from demon invaders!”

“And that’ll entertain you?”

She leaned in closer, making sure to show off her breast. “If you go about it correct. Yes! Only one Lord remains, and you’ve just become the second! You’ve assumed the Lordship as… A mortal!”
She smiled deeper and placed her forward-most horns on my forehead. “Such a feat has never happened. You are truly special. That is all I will say for now. When you properly entertain me, I’ll summon you for another audience and answer some questions. No tricks. No gimmicks or half-truths. Any question you have, I’ll shall answer. Doesn’t that sound delightful?”

I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “How can I entertain you correctly?”

She places one of her clawed fingers on my lips. “If I tell you. It won’t be as entertaining, will it? A story is never as good when you can predict what’ll happen next.”
She stands up and holds her hands behind her back.

I stand and grin at her. “I’ll show you the story of a lifetime. Thank you Luna. You’ve given me hope!”

She cooed again. “Such bravado.”
Her hand swings around and she flicks her finger. I start to levitate up to her eye level. “Do make sure to come back sometime soon. It’s been so long since I’ve had company. Maybe next time, you can enjoy the beauty of the moon? Farewell Lord Kar.”
She waves happily as I soar back towards the strange colourful sphere. That’s Earth? It’s… Round? But if it’s round…
I can think about that later!

My next step lands on the carpet of a bedroom. I turn to Aroura with newfound life. I can barely keep my words from shouting. “We can save Cloudrea.”