Maedaeria, Ep. 3

I know, I know. Ridiculous! A third post in ONE DAY??? But I'm just in a posting mood, I guess. And apparently a writing mood too. Here is some more of Maedaeria!! I just wrote it. I know I said the next episode would have Bethany and MC, but it turned out they won't be introduced until the next one, maybe even later!! Ahh!!! SORRY GUYS!!!

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The sun was getting lower in the pale blue sky. The air grew chill and a sharp wind began to blow. Adrastius slowly traveled through the King's forest. He would reach the edge of the forest in less then two hours, but the hike was made more difficult and dangerous because of the child in his arms. It had long been believed by the peasants of Maedaeria that this forest, vast and lush, was enchanted. This belief was only strengthened by the fact that though the land of Maederia grew more barren and empty as the years past, this forest continued to grow and flourish.

During King Syncrad's rule, disaster upon disaster had plagued Maedaeria. Syncrad was an ambitious king; it was his wish to expand Maedaeria as far as the Western Sea, passed the land of Linaeria. Linaeria was a peaceful, prosperous country, one which had never been anything but an ally to Maedaeria. When King Syncrad ascended the throne, he almost immediately declared war on the nation. Already, Maedaeria was suffering from plagues, famines, and countless other evils. It was not hard, therefore, to blame affluent, blooming Linaeria for Maedaeria's troubles. Many people, especially the nobility and gentry, agreed with Syncrad and supported the war. Ever since, war had been a constant. Only the closest of Syncrad's supporters were protected from having their children, at the young age of fourteen, drafted into the war.

Ridiculous taxes were laid upon the Maedaerians, making it impossible for almost anyone to prosper, other than the King and his nobility. To make matters worse, in the last year, a famine, worse than any that had befallen Maedaeria before, had set in. The land was parched by endless, boiling sun. Rain refused to fall; cattle dropped like flies; rivers dried up; fields were wastelands. Only in this forest, secretly known by most as Elvaeria, the land of the Elves, did animals prosperous and multiply, plants grow lush and fertile, and rivers flow fast and brimming over with cool, clear water. Yet none were allowed to enter into this forest, and any who were heard to call it anything but the King's Forest could suffer the penalty of death.

The War had now reached its seventh year. It was an ungodly war, in which countless gruesome horrors had taken place. The Maedaerian soldiers were feared more than death in both Linaeria and Maedaeria. They were trained to be merciless, cruel. Stories of the executions of hundreds of innocent Linaerians were whispered of, as were others tales...tales too grisly, too unimaginable, to utter without quavering. The barbarous, inhumane tactics of the Maedarian forces were one of the only things that kept Linaeria from defeating Maedaeria. As it was, the war was caught in a deadlock. Maedaeria was in the midst of a horrible famine, but it was a much larger, much more populous country than Linaeria, more advanced in weapons and war tactics and with a vast army. Linaeria, on the other hand, had no finely trained soldiers, no ingenious military tactics. It had only a handful of unfailingly patriotic men.

Adrastius leaned against a sturdy tree, staring helplessly at the child. It was screaming. He was in a clearing. The tall, brilliantly foliaged trees leaned in, making a canopy above them. The little bit of daylight left to them filtered through the wide, red, orange and golden leaves, speckling the ground with color. Kateri and Emily sat in the branches of one of the lofty trees, hidden.
"Do you think he'll leave the baby here?" Emily whispered, pulling her shimmering, Elven-made cloak around her shoulders.
"I hope so," Kateri replied, peering down at the man holding the child. "If we don't return soon, people shall start to wonder."
Adrastius stiffened. For the hundredth time that day, he thought he heard whispering; felt as though he were being followed. He glanced around him. What if there were soldiers hiding behind the trees. He shivered, thinking of the horror stories he had heard about Syncrad's soldiers. Nonetheless, he straightened up.
"Who goes there?" he called, trying not to sound as fearful as he was. Though no answer came, he was sure someone was there. "If you wish something from me, come out and ask me face to face! I know you're there!" He looked down at the babe, who continued to wail loudly. "Oh, nevermind," he whispered, holding the child closer to him. "If anyone is there, apparently they don't wish me harm, or they would have attacked me by now. I could hardly get more vulnerable, what with only a bow and a few arrows, and a child to carry. Poor thing, you must be starving." He looked around the clearing, thinking how much more the babe could suffer.

"Where's he going?" Kateri wondered aloud, as the man left the clearing. "This is the perfect place to leave him!"
"He heard us," said Emily, her chin in her hands.
"But how? How can a mere human hear us? We're elves!"
"He doesn't seem so bad, you know," Emily said. "He's really gentle with the baby."
"Yeah, except for the fact that he's planning on leaving him to starve to death somewhere in this forest."


The trees were becoming farther apart, the pathway wider and wider. Surely he was reaching the end of the forest. The baby's relentless screeching made Adrastius' head pound, and his stomach ached from hunger.
"Almost there now, little one," he said softly, smiling at the baby.
"I don't think he's going to leave the baby at all!" Kateri cried.
"I think you're right," Emily sighed happily. "So we don't have to worry about taking the baby to a loving home after all."
"Well, I think we should stay for a bid longer...just to make sure," Kateri said, "After all, he could simply be planning on giving the child a swift death, rather than a drawn out one."
"Ooh, do you think so?" Emily cried, staring at the young man.
"No, I don't. But better safe than sorry. Come on."

The two followed closely behind Adrastius, until at last he reached the very edge of the forest.
"Home is not far from here, little one," he said to the baby, gently caressing his soft head.
"We can't go with him to his house," Kateri said, disappointed.
"Oh, but why?" Emily exclaimed.
"You know what would happen if we were seen, Emily. It would be dreadful. We're never supposed to leave the Elvaeria. Don't worry, I don't think anything will happen to the baby. He's in safe hands now."

It was a short hike from the forest to Adrastius' hut. The baby cried pitifully. Adrastius had little doubt that he had eaten nothing for many, many hours. He hurried as quickly as was humanly possible. At last, he reach the door of the hut, out of breath. He dashed in.

"Audrina!" he called as soon as he entered the small hut. A faint cry reached his ears. "Audrina?" Fear washed over him, a greater fear than any he had experienced that day. He rushed to the tiny cubicle which was the bedroom. A young girl lay on a stack of hay covered with a threadbare blanket. Her face was streaked with tears, and in her arms she held a newborn.
"Adrastius," she sobbed.
"My love, why...our son?" he breathed, looking down at the still baby. But something was wrong. The baby did not stir, nor even seem to breath.

The child in his arms was wailing loudly, and Audrina stared wide eyed, bewildered, at him.
"Where did you find that child?" She cried, trying vainly to sit up. "How...?"
"Audrina, our son..."
Tears shone in Audrina's eyes.
"Stillborn," she whispered.
Adrastius didn't move. He barely breathed. Stillborn?
"Adrastius, the baby...Who's is he? Here....give him to me."
Adrastius, as though in a daze, passed the tiny child to his wife. She quickly began to nurse him. Immediately the babe stopped wailing. Into his own arms Adrastius took the silent, still, white form of his son. How cold he was, how pale. Yet, he was beautiful, perfect.


"Adrastius, this child is at death's door." Audrina's quiet, pain-filled voice brought Adrastius back to life. His wife, delicate, pale, looked beseechingly at him. Her eyes. Never had he seen anything to match her eyes. They seemed to take up her whole face, golden, encircled in long, dark lashes. Some though them grotesque. To Adrastius, there was nothing as beautiful. "Where did he come from?"
"I found him. No... He was given to me."
"Where?" Audrina's large eyes grew still larger.
"I -- I know you don't like me to go into the forest, Audrina...But...I had to, I had to get something for us to eat. I went hunting in Elvaeria. I was caught, and the man, he was no soldier, but a nobleman, threatened to have me hung. Instead, he gave me this child, and told me to leave him in the forest to starve. He said if I didn't, the penalty would be severe."
Audrina looked down at the child.
"You can't. We can't do that, Adrastius."
"No, I know that. But he expects proof... He will be back in three days to see the child's body."
Audrina's golden eyes shimmered.
"These clothes are finely made," she said, fingering the newborn's beautiful, silken dress, and his lovely blanket. "Surely the dress of a nobleman's child. Why would they wish him killed? He is beautiful, strong. He is protected, by someone, something...How else could he have stayed alive, with no mother, no food for nearly a whole day? He is meant to live, Adrastius."
Adrastius did not reply. He was staring at his own son.
"I know what we can do," he said.