Chapter Two

It was with a smile and a giggle that Ariya put the finishing touches on her snowman, sticking two rocks into his face for eyes. Coal or some spare buttons would have worked better, but she didn’t have any of either to use this time.

With her creation complete, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. Considering she had made him all by herself, she thought he had turned out pretty good. His jagged, gray stone eyes weren’t as good as something a little rounder, but they got the job done. And his zig-zagging smile made of twigs made it look like he was trying to decide whether to laugh or cry. Okay, maybe he wasn’t that good. At least the larger stick she had used for his nose looked okay. And either way, she was proud of him.

If she did have one real complaint, it was that he was more of a snowboy than a man. Without Papa or Jak to help, she could only make him so big. Papa had said he was tired—Ariya wasn’t sure from what—and Jak never wanted to play with her anymore. He had been a real spoilsport since he had turned ten and decided he was too old for “baby games.”

That was why she was making a snowman to begin with. She would have preferred to play hide-and-seek or tag, but those weren’t games she could play by herself. She knew, she had tried. It was not very fun. She had also tried using imaginary playmates, but they always caught her right away. Cheaters.

Making a snowman wasn’t bad, though. Especially since it would probably be her last chance. According to Mama, the calendar said it was already spring, so there wouldn’t be much more snow falling, if any, until the end of the year. Mean old calendar. Snow was pretty and fun to make stuff with. Why couldn’t they just have it all the time?

She flopped down into the snow and started waving her limbs, carving out a shape within the white sheet that blanketed the forest floor. On Papa, it would have been just over his ankles, but on Ariya it was almost at her knees when standing. More than deep enough to make snow shadows in while she stared up at the sky shrouded in gray clouds. Mama called it gloomy, but Ariya didn’t think it was. It did make her a little sleepy, but that was nothing a little playing couldn’t fix.

Ariya laid there, flailing and laughing, for some time. Eventually, that got boring, so she stood and gave her snowman one more look. Something seemed off about him—other than his ugly face—like she had forgotten a part. She frowned and crossed her arms. What could it be?

“Ah ha!” she exclaimed as realization struck. “You’re naked!” She wagged a finger like Mama did at her. “Naughty snowman.”

Ariya grabbed a few more rocks off the ground and jammed them into his chest, turning it into a shirt. Even with that, he still seemed a little cold. Also, she was realizing that random rocks from the forest floor didn’t look much more like buttons than they did eyes. He looked less like he was wearing a shirt and more like he just had rocks stuck to his chest. So, she gave him her scarf to wear too. She wrapped it snug around his neck, stepped back, and grinned. Now, he was finished, and he would be warm and decent until he melted.

He was also still ugly. She almost felt like she had made him worse with his clothes. But he was still her snowman and she loved him.

“You stay right here,” she said, wagging her finger like Mama did when she was being bossy. “I’m gonna want that scarf back.”

She deepened her voice, trying to imitate Papa. “‘Okay, Ariya. You’re the boss.’”

She laughed to herself, gave the snowman a pat on the head, and skipped off, snow crunching underfoot. Mama would throw a fit if Ariya wasn’t back in time for supper. Besides, they were having Ariya’s favorite soup today.

Despite her good mood, it was not long before she stopped skipping and settled into a walk instead. Skipping was making her tired and the way the sticks snapped when she landed on them made her feel bad. She didn’t know how long she had been out. More than an hour, if she had to guess, but she was bad at that. How Papa, Mama, and even Jak told time so well without looking at a clock was a mystery to her.

She could have cut straight through the woods to get home, but Mama didn’t like her doing that. It was dangerous, she said. Bears or wolves might attack, she said. That was silly. It had never happened the two or three times Ariya had done it before getting scolded. Oh, she had seen both of those, though not very often. It was scary, sure, but they never tried to hurt her. And Mama was the one who always said things were fine if they worked out fine.

Still, it wasn’t worth getting yelled at for and Mama always seemed to know whether or not Ariya had gone through the forest, no matter how hard Ariya tried to hide it. So, Ariya made her way to the path that led to the house first, then started following that toward home. At least, she thought she was following it toward home. It was hard to tell if she was going the right way. She couldn’t see the house from where she had emerged, and the path didn’t have much in the way of landmarks.

On the bright side, she had plenty of time to greet their waking neighbors. If there was one good thing about spring coming, it was all the animals coming back.

“Hi there, Missus Squirrel,” Ariya said. Missus Squirrel ignored her and scurried past. That was fine. It was important to be polite, even if the other person didn’t do the same. She noticed another neighbor sitting on a tree branch and waved. “Hi to you too, Mister Bird.”

He looked at her and chirped. She chirped back. She didn’t speak bird, but if she copied him, it would be fine, right? He chirped again, pecked at the branch he was perched on, and flew away. She was going to assume that meant he was happy.

Ariya continued on her way but slowed when she noticed someone on the side of the road up ahead. They looked up as she approached, and Ariya got a glimpse of long white hair under the hood of the long brown cloak they wore. Ariya thought it was a woman, but the cloak made it hard to tell and she didn’t want to assume.

Once, there had been a hunter who visited the house. Their long black hair had been so silky, soft, and shiny, Ariya had thought it could have been a princess’s and had said as much. The hunter had turned out to be a man. He had taken it in good humor and everyone had had a laugh about it, but it had still been an embarrassing mistake, so Ariya was careful about jumping to conclusions now.

The person moved into the road in front of Ariya. She could have gone around, but it seemed like they wanted to talk to her, and she didn’t want to be rude, so she stopped, close enough that she could make out more details despite the cloak.

It was a lady for sure, and a good-looking one. The hair aside, the face and figure definitely looked like one. She was a lot younger than Mama, but Ariya wasn’t sure how old exactly. Her hair was white, but it didn’t have that dry and stringy old person hair look to it. It looked like young, healthy hair that happened to be white. Pretty hair, in fact. It went well with her skin, which was also quite fair.

The lady lowered her hood, revealing pointed ears beneath. Ariya gasped. Was the lady a reltus? That was so cool! Ariya had never met a real, live reltus before, but it did explain the hair. She had heard they could have a bunch of weird hair colors, including white. Maybe the lady was a thousand years old with super powerful magic and here on a sacred quest, like the wise reltus sages in her stories. So cool!

The lady opened her mouth to say something, but Ariya was faster.

“Hi, my name’s Ariya!” she said. She knew it was rude to interrupt, but she couldn’t help herself. “I’m seven.” She held up seven fingers to show she knew her numbers. Papa said she was good at counting for her age. “What’s your name? How old are you? Are you a reltus? Papa says reltuses never come down here. I heard you can live to be a million years old. Is that true?”

The lady blinked and cocked her head a bit. Her eyes were so pretty. They were red like roses. “My name is Lusya. I am only nineteen, though relti only live to be about three hundred years old to begin with.”

“That’s still amazing. What are you doing here?” Ariya blushed, realizing how rude that sounded. She decided to imitate Mama when they got visitors. It was good practice. Someday Ariya would be a wife and a mama and need to play host too. “I mean, what brings you to our ham…humble home?”

“I am here for you,” Lusya said. “You have been chosen for a great purpose. It is very important, but also very dangerous. As such, I will take you under my care and safeguard you until your duty is done.”

Ariya scowled and tilted her head. Lusya used some hard words, but Ariya thought she got the idea.

“So, I have some kind of job, and you’re going to help me with it?” she asked.

Lusya nodded. “That is correct. I will need to escort you to the northwest of the continent to complete the task. Time is of the essence, so we must leave now.”

Ariya squealed in excitement, jumping from one foot to the other with energy that refused to be contained. This was sounding like a proper adventure, the kind Ariya had always dreamed of. People always said the times between Demon Kings were a “respite.” She didn’t know that word, but as far as she could tell, it meant they were boring. All the cool stories of courage and adventure came from when there was a Demon King around. But the twenty-first had been beaten by the Hero less than a year ago and here Ariya was, being offered an adventure a Sacred Knight would be jealous of.

Lusya stared with blank expression as Ariya worked out her passion. She finished her dance with a twirl, but her fervor started to fade as her thoughts turned to Papa and Mama. And Jak too. They would be mad if she left without telling them. They might be mad anyway.

The northwest of the continent was far. Ariya wasn’t sure how far, but she knew it was the opposite side. Papa had shown her a map once, and they lived in the southeast. Ariya had never been farther from home than the closest village. That was so close that, when she asked Father to show her where it was on the map, he pointed to the same place, even though it took over two hours to walk there.

Ariya frowned and looked up at Lusya. “How long will we be gone?”

“I cannot say for sure,” Lusya said. The way she talked was weird. She didn’t sound sad, mad, happy, or anything, really. Her face was the same way, no expression. “You may never return home. However, I am sure you will see your family again someday.”

This adventure was sounding better and worse by the second. She would miss her family. And this house. She wasn’t sure what Lusya meant by not coming back to it. Maybe they would give her a castle when she was done? She gasped, a broad smile blossoming once more. Maybe she would even get her own country. Mama said that kind of thing happened sometimes. It showed up in the stories Ariya liked too.

Still, she couldn’t pass up a chance like this. She could just see Jak giving his jealous little pout. He wanted to learn the sword and be a Sacred Knight, but that was actually harder now that the Demon King was gone. There wouldn’t be another for at least a hundred years, probably more. The other demons would be weaker for a while too. That meant they didn’t need as many Knights, so they were pickier.

“This sounds really cool, Miss Lusya,” Ariya said.

“Call me Lusya. It is good that this pleases you. You must come regardless, but this will make things simpler.”

Ariya wasn’t sure what that last part meant, but she didn’t care. She was happy and Lusya was happy, so it was fine. “What kind of job am I doing? Am I saving the world?”

“Perhaps,” Lusya said. “You are a…special existence, which could be used to revive the Demon King, or to ensure he stays dead. For that reason, I must take you to the place of his birth so you may use your talents.”

Ariya didn’t understand all of that, but she managed to get that it was awesome and so was she. It almost sounded like she was a second Hero of Balance. Well, technically, she would have been like twentieth or something. There was almost always one when there was a Demon King. But that didn’t make it any less exciting. She had thought it was sad she would never get to meet one, since Mama and Papa told her he was dead after fighting the Demon King, and for some reason that meant he couldn’t see people anymore. But getting to be a Hero of Balance was so much better.

“That sounds great!” Ariya exclaimed. “Do I get a cool sword or a Sacred Blade?”

Even lesser heroes always got a special weapon in the stories. Ariya figured that even if she wasn’t an actual Hero of Balance, she still qualified.

Lusya cocked her head, more than before, and gave two quick blinks. “I cannot grant you a Blade. That is entirely dependent on you. We shall see about the sword, though I doubt we will be able to find one suitable to you.”

That wasn’t the answer Ariya had hoped for, but it sounded like there was a chance for both, so it was good enough. “I can’t wait! When do we go?”

“Immediately,” Lusya said. “We have no time to waste.”

“Okay! Let me just go tell everyone I’m going!” Ariya started to move around Lusya, but Lusya grabbed Ariya’s arm in a firm grip. It was strong, but not painful. Ariya tried to pull out of it, but she couldn’t make Lusya’s fingers so much as twitch. It was like being in chains. Well, it was like what Ariya imagined being in chains was like. “What’s the matter?”

“You cannot return to your family,” Lusya said. “The time it would take you is too great. Every second spent here is a second my opposition may draw near.”

Ariya pouted and pointed toward her house with her free hand, insistent. “But I can’t just leave without telling anybody. Mama will be mad at me.”

“I have already informed them,” Lusya said, her gaze boring into Ariya’s. “Returning would only make the situation more dangerous.”

“You told them about all this?”

Lusya nodded.

Ariya rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? I guess it’s fine, then, as long as they know.”

Lusya released her arm. “Good. I am pleased that you understand.”

“I’m a big kid, I understand lots of things,” Ariya said. She snickered. “I bet Jak was jealous, wasn’t he?”

Lusya blinked. “Jak is your brother?”

“Yeah. He thinks he’s so great because he’s a little older and taller than me,” Ariya said, miming about an inch above her head. Which was maybe a little less than the real difference in her and Jak’s heights. “This’ll show him. So, was he mad?”

“He was unhappy, but I calmed him down.”

“Wow, you must be really good,” Ariya said. “Even Mama can’t always calm Jak down when he’s grouchy.”

Which was all the time, more or less. Ariya could have counted the occasions in the past year that Jak hadn’t been grumpy on her fingers.

“I see,” Lusya said. She started walking down the trail, away from the house, beckoning for Ariya to follow. “Now that introductions are out of the way, we must leave with haste.”

Ariya jogged to catch up, then settled into a walk beside Lusya. It was still a quick walk. Lusya took longer steps and was moving fast too.

Ariya glanced back over her shoulder, toward her home. She felt a sudden pang in her chest and her stomach roiled with unease. She might never see that house, the home she had been born and spent her whole life in, again. Who knew how long until she saw her family again? If she had known, she would have made more of a point to say goodbye. When she had left to play, it had been with a casual shout and a whine to Mama and Papa that, yes, she had remembered her winter shoes this time and of course she would be back in time for dinner. She hadn’t even said anything to Jak on her way out.

She looked forward and smiled. Even if she would miss them, it sounded like she was going to have a lot of fun, and a lot of stories to tell them. Hopefully she could remember them all.

She looked up at Lusya and held a hand up, toward the older girl.

Lusya looked down with that same unreadable expression. She did the head-tilt and two blinks thing again. “What are you doing?”

“Can you hold my hand?” Ariya asked, waving it for emphasis. “Mama always holds my hand when we go into town or when I’m nervous.”

“That is unnecessary,” Lusya said as she turned her attention forward again. “It would only hinder my ability to respond to a crisis.”

Ariya frowned and lowered her hand. “Okay…” She could have used the reassurance, but she was a big girl. She could handle it.