Chapter 5

            It is a Sunday afternoon when my vision suddenly turns black and white. I hadn’t travel for two days. This means I’m going to spend two days or more in the past. Gabriella and the band are in the playing room, trying out our new song.

            “Sorry, guys. I have to go,” I tell them.

            “Go, Anthony! Save your princess!” Zack says.

            I glare at him, wanting to punch him in the arm. Sadly, I have no time to do so. I sprint for my room, where my small leather bag lays on the bed. As soon as I leave the playing room, I hear a soft ‘Ouch!’ knowing Gabriella punch Zack in my behalf. That’s what best friend does.

            My sight fades away as I grab my bag just in time. It isn’t long until I’m in the woods. That was so close. If I hadn’t grab my bag in time, I’m going to have to steal clothes and the Johnson’s suspicious of my change in clothing. I change into the clothes I wore before I left and make my way to the Johnson’s where the children are chatting happily.

            Little Nicholas runs to me with my sword. He hands me the sword. I pat his shoulder. “Thank you, Nicholas,” I praise.

            He puffs his chest confidently. “You’re welcome, Uncle Anthony.”

            I clap my hands to gain the children’s attention. All of their heads snap towards my direction. The children quickly form a circle and sit.

            “So shall we continue our story? Who wants to tell their tale?” I say, looking at every one of them.

            All of them raise their arms. I chuckle as I point at Linda. She stands up and starts telling a story of a princess locked in her own tower by a witch who is jealous of the princess’ beauty. A prince from another kingdom vow to save her and defeat the witch. In the end, he succeeds and marries the prince. When Linda ends her story, the children and I clap in applause.

            When I look up, the sun is at the middle of the day, indicating noon.

            “Sir Anthony!” someone calls out my name from a distance. I turn to see Thomas, the assistant of Lord Alistair. He always comes up to me for help whenever Lord Alistair is too much of a coward to face the problem himself.

            I stand up while brushing dust from my pants. He is panting so hard that he looks like he is going to faint.

            “Sir,” he gasps.

            “Take a breath, Thomas,” I advise.

            He takes a few deep breaths before speaking. “There are newcomers from Kyria.”

            Kyria is a small country that acts as a border between Elopura and Visis. It is once said that the people living there are influenced by folklore and myth which is why neither Elopura nor Visis wants to rule that country.

            “Why can’t Lord Alistair greet them then?” I snap at Thomas. He takes a step back at my angry tone.

            “They said that they are dragon slayers. My Lord refuses to speak as well as meet his eyes with them. He says that they are possessed by evil. Please, Sir,” Thomas begs.

            I sigh. What kind of Lord is he? He always believes in all this nonsense. These dragon slayers must have lost their marbles. There is no such thing as dragons! It is no mystery that every Elopurian stays away from the people of Kyria.

            “I will do it, Thomas. This is the only time I will do so!” I tell him.

            He bows many times at me. “Thank you, Sir.”

            “Where are the Kyrian guests?” I ask.

            “They are at my Lord’s house, Sir. I lead them to my Lord’s house to introduce them to my Lord. When I told my Lord that they are Kyrians, he immediately ran into his chambers and locked himself in. No matter how much I pleaded with him, my Lord refused to leave his chambers,” Thomas explains sadly.

            I feel bad for Thomas. He has one of the worst Lords I have ever known. Then again, he’s not the worst.

            “Head to Lord Alistair’s residence, Thomas. I have to announce my departure to my family first,” I instruct.

            He bows before leaving.

            The children’s huge round eyes watch the scene. I sigh.

            “I’m sorry, children. I have to go. Before I leave, I want a hug from all of you!

            Before I know it, I’m attacked with hugs once again. I chuckle and walk to the cruck house with a few children still hugging my legs. Sue and Bree giggle at the sight.

            “Children, leave your uncle alone,” Lila says, giggling along with Sue and Bree.

            The children quickly let go of me and run out of the house to play. They are afraid of Lila whenever she is crossed.

            I smile gratefully at Lila. “I have to go. I’ll see you in a few days time,” I tell them.

            Sue and Bree walk up to me and give me a hug. I scrunch my face at them. To them, I was hugged by them a few hours ago. To me, it felt like a few days ago. They laugh at my expression. Lila hugs me as soon as Sue and Bree let go of me. I feel someone patting my back and turn to see Dominic, smiling down at me.

            “I shall accompany you to your horse, Anthony,” Dominic announces when Lila goes back to making dinner.

            I nod, knowing that he wants to talk to me about the gold coins I gave a few days ago.

            “You don’t have to give us the coins when we are in trouble, son. We can manage it for ourselves . . .”

            I cut him of by saying, “Father, I did it because you are my family. You saved me in the woods seven years ago. I can never repay that debt.”

            “That’s seven years ago, Anthony. I think we can let that go,” he argues.

            I softly add, “Family sticks together no matter what. All of you are my family.”

            “You grow up to be a good man, son. I’m so proud of you!” With that, he starts to cry and hug me. I pat his back in comfort. He starts to mumble about how some children don’t appreciate what their parents give them unlike me.

            “I have to go, Father. I have to take over Lord Alistair’s duty again,” I tell him. It takes same time for Dominic to finally release me. He attempts to smile at me after blowing his nose with a handkerchief. He unties Rider and hands me the rope.

            I mount Rider and wave farewell as I ride to Lord Alistair’s house in the West side of Tigris. There are four fancy-looking horses outside of the house. Thomas runs out to me as soon as I get off Rider. Thomas ties up the horse for me and I walk in to greet the Kyrians.

            Three huge men and a small sized lady are sitting on the couch, talking among each other. The men wear the same purple tabards with a picture of a red sword. The lady wears a beautiful purple dress. Two of the man has a sword and a man has a crossbow.  The men rise on their feet to bow at me as the lady curtsy.

            I bow back at them.

            “Welcome to Elopura, lady and gentlemen,” I greet them.

            “Thank you, Sir,” the biggest man with thick mustache says. “My name is Yaris. These are my siblings, Harris, Kerris and Aria.”

            Each of them nods at their own names. I smile warmly at them.

            “I am Sir Anthony Johnson,” I introduce myself, looking at them, observing their reaction as well as movement. The men look normal. The lady is the one who looks surprised. I raise my eyebrow slightly at her.

            “I have heard that you are dragon slayers,” I say, sounding interested.

            The men look excited as the lady look bored. It looks like I’m not the only one who thinks they have lost their minds.

            “We are. We have heard that a dragon is found wandering around here,” a boy, which I recalled the name Kerris, says proudly. He looks like his older brother, only he has a short mustache.

            “And where have you heard this from; may I ask?” I ask.

            “From our sister, Aria,” Harris, the youngest and the one who owns the crossbow, says. The three men look at their sister for confirmation. She nods encouragingly.

            So the sister is also related to all this nonsense. Kyrians are crazy people, even in my time.

            “Have you ever considered whether dragons never exist?” I tell them.

            Yaris grins at me. “Sir Anthony, I’m afraid that you have been blinded by all this nonsense. We used to think of it, until Aria receives visions of this. She is haunted by these dreams. As brothers, we are determined to stop this in order to keep our sister from evil. In her dreams, there is always a black dragon, wandering in the woods surrounding Tigris. How do we know it’s in Elopura? What animal do you have on your tabard, Sir Anthony?”

            I look down to, indeed, see a black dragon on my tabard. I observe the Kyrians again. Yaris looks like he is telling the truth in what he believes. The three bothers look protective over their sisters. Aria looks at me curiously.

            I shrug. “As long as you don’t cause any trouble in Tigris or side Visis in the upcoming war, I can assure you that you can live here as long as you wish unless our king or princess orders you to exile.”

            The men shake hand with me. I kiss Aria’s back of the hand like any other gentlemen in this time does. She observes my every movement with round owlish eyes.

            “Shall we leave? Let me show you where you shall stay for the mean time,” I announce, walking out of Lord Alistair’s house.

            We ride our horses to an empty house in the West side of Tigris. There are a few vacant houses built by the king for guests from other kingdoms. The newcomers look around their new home. Only Aria stays next to me, watching the men.

            “I hope you like your new home,” I tell them.

            “It is lovely. Thank you, Sir Anthony,” Aria says. I realize that this is the first time I hear her speak directly to me.

            I smile at her and leave them alone.

It is early evening when I reach the castle. Lia is waiting for me in the dining area. She throws me an apple and I caught it expertly.

            “Thank you, Lia,” I tell her, then munch into the red juicy fruit.

            “Don’t mention it. What took you so long?” she asks, walking next to me on our way to my chambers.

            “There are a few Kyrian newcomers. Lord Alistair refuses to greet them so Thomas got to me,” I explain, sighing in the end.

            Lia sighs along with me. She also knows that Alistair is a coward. We sit on my bed in silence. I finally finish with the apple.

            “You know what the crazy thing is?” I ask Lia, breaking the silence.

            She glances at me, waiting for me to continue.

            “They said that they are dragon slayers,” I say, chuckling and shaking my head at their stupidity. Instead of laughing along with me, Lia pales. I immediately stop laughing.

            “What’s wrong?” I ask, concern.

            “Dragon slayers?” she repeats in a soft voice.

            Confused, I hold her hands. She takes her hands away from mine as if my touch is poisonous to her. I feel hurt at her actions.

            “Lia, what’s wrong? You don’t have to worry. They are Kyrians after all. They think of crazy things. In addition, they probably won’t stay here for long,” I console her. She stares into my eyes as I stare into hers.

            She breaks our eye contact to look out through the windows. I follow her eyes to see that it is getting dark soon.

            Lia stands up and says, “I have to go. See you in the morning, Anthony.”

            Before I can reply, she flees out of my chambers. Skipping dinner, I fall asleep without second thoughts.

            “Rise and shine, sleepy head!” someone exclaim into my ears. I grumble in annoyance as I swat the talking insect.

            “The castle is under attack!” the same voice screams.

            My eyes open instantly as I jolt awake, not caring about anything else except to protect Lia. I look around my chambers to see that nothing is danger. Lia looks at amusingly. I glare at her.

            “Lia! Have you lost your sanity? Don’t you ever dare to do that to me again!” I scold her, combing my messy hair with my fingers.

            “You wouldn’t wake up. I had to do something or else boredom might actually kill me,” Lia explains with a grin.

            I roll my eyes at her. “And you’re expecting me to save you?”

            She throws her arms in the air, dramatically may I add. “I am the princess after all. It is your duty to save me.”

            I sigh and strap my small bag, just in case I’ll travel back to my time. “Let’s go and cure your boredom then.”

            “Let’s go!” Lia says happily, dragging me out of my chambers. I chuckle at her. I still can’t believe that Lia is the future queen of Elopura whenever she acts like childishly.

            I can’t help but wonder what upset Lia yesterday? Is it what I said? Or is she afraid of the Kyrian newcomers? They claim that they are dragon slayers, which I find it ridiculous. The only thing unusual in this century is me, the time traveler. Unless if the king really does own a dragon as a pet. 

            I shake my head at my weird theory. Now I sound like those Kyrian dragon slayers. Maybe that’s why Lord Alistair didn’t want to interact with them. They mess my mind.

            “I want to practice a new song on the harpsichord. Do you mind, Anthony?” Lia asks without glancing at me. She knows that I’ll agree to anything she proposes.

            As soon as we enter the playing room, she takes a seat and starts to play. I sit at the corner of the room, with a book in my hands. I am not a fan of books in this century. The words are difficult to read. Most stories written by famous authors in the 15th century bore me to death.

            Lia seems to enjoy playing the harpsichord. Maybe I should try it someday . . .

            My thoughts are broken off when I hear a cry, “We’re under attack!” Not long after the cry, the bells are chiming loudly. The bells are used to alert the kingdom of enemy’s arrival. Without wasting anymore time, I throw the book at one side and drag Lia out of the playing room.

            While sprinting out of the castle, I think, there is not supposed to be attacked. I read the history of Elopura countless times. I know every war in which year. The castle is supposed to be attacked until the 18th century. Not now! There are only two reasons why I didn’t know of this attack: no one recorded this attack or the past changed to form a new future. This can also mean that my time will change.

            It isn’t long until Lia and I are in the woods. I hope that I won’t travel back today or else I can’t accompany her until the castle is safe again. The feeling of insecurity from this morning kicks in. This time, the attack is real.

            We stop by a tree. Both of us are panting hard. Lia looks afraid and worried. I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

            “My father is back in the castle. We have to go back and save him,” Lia starts to sob. I pull her into a hug, soothing her. I am worried for the Johnson’s, praying that all of them are alive.  

            “Anthony, we have to go back!” she screeches at me. I keep my hold on her, not letting her go. She tries to hit me but I keep a steady grip even though my chest hurts. She keeps fighting me until she grows tired. Once again, she cries for her father and her people.

            I finally let her go. She drops to her knees in exhaustion, tears flowing down her cheeks. I drop next to her, holding her face up for her to look at me.

            “Your father will be fine,” I tell her.

            “You don’t know that, Anthony,” she says in a hoarse voice.

            “You’re right. I don’t know that. What I do know is that we have to go and ask for help. Think of your father. What if you’re taken for captivity? How worried he will be of you like you are with him now? Think of your people. Our country won’t have another ruler. Visis may even take over Elopura and make our people suffer,” I tell her, making her realize of the consequences.

            She wipes her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. “You’re right, Anthony. I’m sorry for hitting you.”

            I smile. “Apology accepted. We should get going.”

            I stand up and holding a hand out to her. She takes it as I pull her up.

            “Now, where are we heading?” I ask Lia, looking around the woods. I have absolutely no clue of where enforcement might be.

            I look at Lia to see that the queen in her has taken over. She looks at me, saying, “We should head north. Father did mention that Sir Riddick’s men are camping there.”

            I dig into my head, trying to remember when the king said it. She is right. It amazes me that she can actually remember it.

            “Shall we head north, your highness?” I ask with a bow

            Lia grins at me. “We shall, Sir Anthony.”