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Dream World Mirau by Josephina Mari
Day Twenty Seven of NaNoWriMo

As we traveled towards the heart of Mesa, we all began to think about the reasons we were fighting for. Karou’s reason started with revenge for the Akuen killing his father while he was away in another city. It was almost like his dad was with him one moment and then gone the next and Karou didn’t ever quite recover from it. Karou was close with his father growing up and he idolized him. Back then his father was the village leader, so he had many responsibilities to the villagers to keep them happy, healthy, and most of all safe and comfortable. Karou remembered the days he spent with his family as a child. Claria followed hers and Karou’s mother around like a shadow trying to imitate whatever she happen to be doing at the time like it was some kind of game to pretend to be someone else. Meanwhile Karou began to learn combat abilities at a young age under his father’s supervision. Right before Karou’s father left he was learning a combat style that incorporated kicks with sword slashes to confuse the enemy while giving yourself an advantage of two types of attack to alternate or use in a combination attack. That night after his father left on his journey to the city across the Carson Desert to act as an ambassador and offer aid Karou stayed up trying to learn his father’s favorite ability which he would kick the enemy into the air then slice down at them with his sword sending them to the ground at a high speed. He called the technique “Soul Shatter” since it caused the ground to crack around the impact site and possibly some of the enemy’s bones as well if the move targeted vital organs such as the heart or lungs. Even after training that entire night and many times after, Karou still had not fully mastered the technique’s timing nor could he execute the move with as deadly force as his father did. Karou clutched Nodin’s reins tighter in his hands while his past played over in his mind. Seeing the images of his father were hard even after so much time had passed. Once the visions were gone Karou felt like a hold had opened up in his chest as an empty feeling washed over him. Karou knew he wasn’t alone, but at this point in time he felt like he was. He missed his mother and sister now, but he knew very soon this fight would be over and then he could return back to them.

Meanwhile Baer considered the reasons why he was fighting the Akuen. It’s easy to label people ‘good’ or ‘bad’ based on their actions, but until you truly understand the intentions of the other party you can’t decide what the right thing to do is. Baer believed there was no such thing as a good or bad person and instead there was good and bad deeds done by people. A man who steals food from a vender cart on first impression would be labeled a bad person. If that same man then gave the food to a child, who was dying since he lost his parents in war and was too young to take a job for himself, how would he be viewed then? This is not to say that the Akuen’s actions are justified in any way, shape, or from; but Baer still wanted to find out why they decided to come here and take so many lives. There had to be other ways for them to get what they wanted. If only they would have worked with the people instead of destroying them...Things would have been very different for Mirau if that was the case. Baer had many reasons for fighting, least of them being revenge on the Akuen for destroying so many lives in Aloen including Baer’s family and friends. Buildings can be rebuilt, but as Leonardo said before people’s lives could not. In the beginning of this trip Baer decided to come along as a way of repaying Karou and Mari for saving him from would have been sure death if he had stayed, but now Baer wanted to fight to protect Mirau. Baer tried his best to remember the people of Aloen during happier times when they were always smiling as they went about their way. The memories he had of sadness were caused by the Akuen, and once they were gone Baer could say goodbye to those memories that made him cry while the souls of the people who died could finally rest in peace. Peace for both the souls of the living and dead was what Baer was fighting for.

Baer’s Master Leonardo had no regrets joining in the fight to save Mirau. It was as much his world as anyone else’s and he did not want this beautiful world to be reduced to waste. Leonardo always strove to make the world a better place for the next generation then it was for him. Leonardo had a very difficult life as a child refugee. He lived from city to city and grew up in one foster home after another. When he was fourteen the city he was staying in had declared war on a neighboring city claiming that the city had been supplying weapons and provisions for the enemy troops coming to invade Metra and in exchange the Akuen would spare them at the expense of the other cities near by. Leonardo was drafted into the civil war which raged on for seven years and during that time he received the best training in magical arts so that he could supply the troops with medical potions. It was also during that time when Leonard received the scar over his left eye. He was sent to the front lines of a skirmish that happened between the two warring cities in a bordering plain that separated the two cities on one side. Leonardo was devastated when he arrived to see the amount of bloodshed on both sides of this senseless war. That is when he decided he would become a medic for anyone who asked no matter where they came from or if they had the funds to pay for treatment or not. While Leonardo was treating one of the soldiers from the opposing city, the soldier pulled out a small knife that was hidden in his chest plate then he struck Leonardo with it across the face. Leonard didn’t show any signs of anger as he raised his hands up again to finish the medial treatment of the soldier as Leonardo’s blood ran down the left side of his face and the blade of the soldier’s battle knife. “We shouldn’t be fighting each other. We did nothing wrong, your informants lied to you...War has made our leader crazy with bloodlust...and our people have just gone crazy.” The soldier said as he dropped the knife while he started to cry. “I know. This world was not always like this, and I know it won’t always be this way either. I am going to fight for a better future of all of us. Do not lose sight of true peace nor the real enemies you should be fighting.” Leonardo said after he finished healing the soldier, who they returned back to his city to convince his leader to stop the war. Leonardo wanted to be like that soldier and put an end to the blood shed so that the next generation could see the bright future Leonardo wanted for them.

I was beginning to feel worried as my companions remained silent. As I looked down towards Karou and Leonardo who were riding Nodin following Baer and me, I noticed bother of them looked like they had a lot on their mind. Maybe they were thinking of some kind of battle strategy for the fight ahead based on the information we gained about the Akuen from fighting the one called Glenn. I began to wonder what exactly I was doing here in Mirau. I felt like an outsider trying to meddle in affairs I shouldn’t be. Now that I have made it this far it felt like I had to see things through to the end no matter what. Karou seemed to believe that Mirau would not survive without the help of me and the warriors I would bring, though I didn’t quite believe him on that. I did understand why I wanted to fight after Glenn and his minions attacked the ship. I could imagine the devastation the Akuen would cause if they attacked a defenseless city of unarmed and untrained civilians like Aloen. Karou told me they also destroyed the city his father was in as well, so the thought of that kind of destruction world wide frightened me. I wanted to fight to prevent that at all costs even if I felt like I had a very minor role in the battle ahead. I wasn’t courageous like Karou, strong like Leonardo, or wise like Baer. I looked at the bracelet around my wrist again and that’s when I saw my friend’s faces in the stones for a few moments. In the red stone I saw Leonardo to represent the courage he had to rise above the hardships he went through. In the green stone I saw Ben to represent his calm and caring nature. The light blue stone I saw Karou, Claria, Angela and the other people of Karou’s hometown to represent the unbreakable bond people share to help them overcome adversity. In the purple stone I saw Baer, not only because purple was the color of his eyes, but also because Baer was loyal to his cause until it was fulfilled. In the last white stone I saw myself reflected in it and then I remembered Claria said that stone represented hope which I felt suited me. I was Mirau’s hope for peace according to the dream Karou had. I just hoped I could help bring about the peaceful world everyone deserved and were praying for.

“Mari get ready. We are crossing into Akuen’s territory now. The city we were in is considered neutral grounds since Mesa and Metra trade essential goods back and forth through there, but we are now far enough away from the city that the neutral borders are ending.” I heard Baer say snapping me out of daydreaming. I looked down at Karou and Leonardo one more time below me and noticed both of them wore a serious expression on their faces now while they focused on the road ahead of us. Suddenly I saw three imp monkeys jump out of the trees near by into Baer and I causing him to lose control of his owl summon. The owl made a slow decent to the ground below then it vanished as soon as it’s feet made contact. I struggled to get two of the imp monkeys off of me then I managed to reach the handle of my sword at my side. I quickly drew out my blade slicking through one of the monkeys causing it to vanish the I pushed the other one off me before I rushed at it slicing through it as well causing it to vanish like the one before. As I turned around to face Baer I heard him scream out in pain as the remaining monkey bit into his arm with two long fangs that extended down from the monkeys upper lip. Baer reflexively held his uninjured arm up and caused a fire spell at point blank range at the imp monkey causing it to become incinerated and then disappear. I noticed Baer then wince again from the pain as he held his hand over the puncture wounds. Baer then tried to summoning up his healing magic to no success. No matter what spell he tired, the magical energy within himself would not activate.

“Baer are you alright? What happened—“ I began to ask and then I noticed five more imp monkeys emerge from the near by trees. Baer then lifted himself up into a sitting position before he held out his uninjured arm to cast a fire spell at them. Again he felt the magical energy remain still and the spell would not activate. “My magic is not working. Mari can you pour a health restorative over my wound while I drink a magic restorative?” Baer said as he pulled out one of each kind of potion from the shoulder bag he was carrying. I nodded to Baer then I quickly opened the potion bottle before I poured the contents of red liquid over the wound while the imp monkeys were slowly coming towards us. Karou and Leonardo finally caught up to us to find us surrounded by imp monkeys now so both of them quickly went to work dispatching them while I helped Baer heal his wounds. “I think that stupid monkey poisoned me. My magic channels are all erratic now and I can’t seem to tap into my magical energy reserves to cast any spells.” Baer said to me even though half of that sounded like greek to me since I didn’t understand anything about magic at the moment. Karou and Leonardo finished dealing with the imp monkeys before both of them ran over to Baer and me to see what the problem was. Leonardo could tell that Baer’s magical energy reserves were out of sync, but he had not seen an attack or ability that had the power to do something like this in quiet awhile. “I can resync your energy signals Baer, but I will take me some time and I don’t think this is a good place to camp. I don’t hear any birds or animals here. It is too quiet, I can tell something is not right here.” Leonardo said as he looked around the empty grass field with his eyes. After scanning the area with his eyes for a moment Leonardo caught sight of a man wearing black clothes about fifty feet away. He was just standing there for some unknown reason and he didn’t seem to be moving any closer to us. A few long moments passed in silence before a group of eight imp monkeys appeared at the man in black's feet then he held out his hand motioning towards us. All at once the imp monkeys charged towards us relentlessly while the man in black stood unmoving from his position intending to watch the fight from a safe distance to observe what kind of fighters he was up against.

I quickly stood up with my sword in hand ready to defend Baer until his magic returned while Karou stood next to me as then he said “How long do you need to fix Baer's magical whatever so he can fight again?” Leonardo narrowed his eyes for a moment before he replied “First I will need to remove the poison that has entered the blood to disable the magical channels, after that I will need to repair the damaged channels due to the poison, last I will need to resynchronize the magical energy waves inside Baer to his soul so he can tap into his magical energy reserves. A process like that would take weeks for an under skilled magician to accomplish, but luckily for you I’m not one of them. I would need at lease six hours to complete the entire process. Neither Baer or I will be able to move during the healing process so we will leave the monkeys and their playmate to you two.” Leonardo said to Karou and me. “Understood. I’ll by you as much time as I can. Be quick about it though.” Karou said then he rushed forward to engage the imp monkeys before they had the chance to attack Baer or Leonardo. “We are counting on you Leonardo.” I said to him before I ran after Karou to help him eliminate the imp monkeys. As soon as the last one was killed by Karou the man in black across the field held his hand up again summoning another wave of them in a group of twelve this time. The man in black then signaled the monkeys to change again while Karou and I braced ourselves for their attacks. Karou and I easily dispatched the imp monkeys one after another without much difficulty now unless they decided to attack in groups. After we had cut their numbers by half I noticed the man in black disappear across the field.

“Did he retreat? If he can summon the dark beasts he must be a member of the Akuen like Glenn was. If that was the case why would he run?” I thought to myself and then I noticed the man in black reappear causing the remaining imp monkeys to suddenly vanish the he swiftly attacked Karou with a thrust punch which was a technique designed to put a lot of focus behind your strike to allow you to push your opponent back to widen the distance between you and them. While Karou was forced back the man in black was charging up a dark based spell in his left hand. Once the spell was ready, the man in black charged for Karou thrusting the dark energy into Karou’s chest causing him to scream out in pain and then faint. I then charged foolishly at the man in black trying my best to hit him with one of my random sword swings so that I could help Karou as soon as possible, but my efforts were in vain and ultimately I ended up suffering the same fate as Karou. The man in black charged up another darkness based spell then he threw it at me from point blank range giving me no chance to block at all. I hit the ground hard as I felt the air get knocked out of me. I tried to get up, but my body refused to move on command and then I saw the man in black making his way over towards Baer and Leonardo who were in the middle of the healing spell now. I wanted to shout for them to run away, but no words come out of my mouth as I felt a silent empty darkness wash over me.