Kingdom of Arzialla by Marilyn Arias (story reading txt) 📕

in trial to just show our memory to make it simple and quick. Well, after a couple years ago, I realized it's not because everyone was stupid and they didn't think of that. It's because, like I said, when one is marked as a criminal it suspends them from all magic, including revealing their memory. That's really the only benefit the criminal would have the entire time.
After watching Byrne's memory, I realized how shady I was and how my eyes were bright red. It revealed Anna's face for a second but it was all a blur. The only thing you could see was her wearing my cape over her head. After a moment, the memory ended with me dismissing Byrne and walking away.
The king turned to me. "Why was she wearing your cape?"
I shrugged, acting like I don't find that suspicious. "She was freezing. I found her almost dead in the snow."
"Why was she in the snow outside the kingdom?"
I would continue acting stupid and say that she could've come from another country after having her town torn down by Gavrils since so many Gavrils were attacking fellow villages but, like I said, I mentioned to the Colonel that I killed a human. I just remained quiet.
He understood my intentions and changed the subject. "Well, let's ask what Colonel Kazmir and his men found in your office, shall we?"
Kazmir entered the room and two of his men followed behind them, each of them holding something. Including the knife that Anna held.
"Good morning, your majesty," Kazmir said to the king.
"’Morning. Found anything that would bring this case closer to an end?" Zysman asked the colonel.
"Well, yes. We have," he said, taking the knife from one man. "A knife covered in blood. Callaghan showed me it and told me that there was indeed a human in his headquarters but that he killed her. May we say that we have proof that this is statement is false?"
"And how can you prove that?" I asked him calmly.
"Well, General, I'm not sure if you are aware of this but we have this potion in which would tell us which part of the body the spilled blood originated," he said as he started taking steps toward me. "If it was from a major organ, the potion would begin to bubble. And every body part has its own unique colors. But in this case, it didn't indicate anything of you slitting her throat, or stabbing her in the stomach, heart, head, etc., or do anything as such. Can you guess what we found, Zelimir?"
I didn't respond but he raised his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Her hand. It was her hand that was cut. Nothing that could’ve necessarily killed her."
The room began to fill with whispers but Kazmir continued speaking. "On top of that, we went through more research and tested her DNA."
He revealed his memory to the audience of him looking at three pictures. I recognized one of them as the DNA of an elf while the other two were unfamiliarily similar to each other.
"The first image is, as we all know, an elf's DNA. The second image is the DNA of the last human that visited us ages ago. And the third DNA was of the little girl that we are trying to find. I'm sure we can all see for ourselves what this means."
Damn...
As the crowd broke back into whispers, the colonel went up to another one of his men who was carrying a small, clear bag of sand with a dull green hue to it. It was what I used to heal Anna's hand....
"This... Well, we all know what this is. We found this scattered around the general's office floor, mostly around where the knife was found. It appears that it has been used to heal a wound and was carelessly left on the floor. So..." he turned to me," explain to us why you had Syveria's sand all over your floor."
It was told that wherever Syveria's feet stepped on, the sand turned magical, making any wound heal almost instantly when touched, even by a single grain. Of course, the almighty goddess was never alive to begin with, but she was never considered dead since myths say that she has physically walked this world and helped the weak before disappearing without a trace.
I kept my mouth shut. After all, I have nothing to say to defend myself anymore.
Kazmir saw that I wasn't going to reply and continued on. "So Callaghan, please explain how you disappeared the human? We looked every inch of the village for her and we could not find her, dead or alive."
"Let's just say..." I said before pausing to think of what to say. "We should think she is dead to us."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I just shrugged.
"Is the girl dead or alive, General?" Zysman asked.
There was no point anymore in trying to defend myself. All the evidence that's needed to lose my head has been revealed. "She's alive."
The crowd went nuts. I could hear people shout "what is wrong with you?", "why did you let her go?", and "where is she then?".
"But!" I said loudly, loud enough for my voice to echo and silence the audience. "But... You'll never see her again. I'm sure she doesn't even want to come back."
"Even though you do not see the point in this case, I'm going to ask you this anyways: Why would you say that?" the king questioned.
"Because... She was terrified. Being in a strange world full of people who want her dead for an unknown reason must’ve been too much for her. She didn't even trust me, the one who lied for her, protected her, and saved her."
"Hmm..." the king thought. "I'd end this case, but we have one more guest that I'm sure can say more to it. Right, Kehlia?"
I knew he’d sense her…
Kehlia flew out of my shirt and, in mid-air, she bowed to the king. "Good morning, King Zysman."
"Good morning," he replied with suspicious eyes. "Would you explain to us why you were hiding behind General Callaghan."
"Why do you think I was hiding? I just wanted the best seat in the house," she said with a smart-aleck smile.
Zysman gave her a look that said "don't lie to me."
"What?" she continued to play dumb.
The king stared at her with narrow eyes for a few seconds before muttering, “Seize her.” The guards got into action and started trying to capture her, which looked ridiculous, really. A pixie with a fast agility and small size as her is pretty much impossible to catch. There were no windows and all the doors were shut, but she managed to fly through a key hole of a door and flee away.
“Find her. She knows something about this case!” the king ordered. He sighed, and looked back at me. “I’m not sure if you’re innocent or guilty, but at the moment, it’s looking bad for you. If it is true that you freed a human, you will meet death’s face. But for now, if you do not confess within the next forty-eight hours, you will be imprisoned in eternal sleep.” I Have Nothing Left To Lose- Anna

I WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the woods, running aimlessly. I wasn’t sure why, but I was exhausted with a few burns in my arms and left leg. Sweat dripped down my face, drenching my blonde hair and making it stick to my forehead. Wait… Blonde? Last time I checked, my hair is reddish blonde and unraveled in curly waves. But for some unknown reason, I couldn’t control my body and make myself stop to actually take a piece of hair and check to see that I wasn’t seeing myself wearing straight, pale golden locks. It’s like someone else was moving my body. I just continued running. Running anywhere. My mind was focused in getting away. Away from whatever I’m trying to get away from…
All of a sudden, I heard a screeching roar echo through the trees. It wasn’t as if whatever made the growl was far away and wandering around. It was very close to the point where I could hear trees behind me crunch and where I could feel the ground shake with every step it takes. I looked behind me and saw large shadows in between the trees and I could hear their snarls.
Abruptly, when I took a step, the ground was lower than expected and I started tumbling down a big hill into a muddy ground. Unfortunately, I fell on my wounds so my arm began to hurt. I got up on my knees and found a river not even twenty feet away from me. I glanced back up the hill and then back to the river, making the decision to either keep running or to risk my life in escaping and jump into the fast pacing river. I have nothing left to lose, I thought for some odd reason. I quickly got up and ran toward the watercourse and leapt into it without any hesitation. The icy water spun me and turned me in circles, enabling me to not know where the surface was and making me disoriented. After a moment, I found the surface and took a big gasp of air. I watched giant creatures submerge from the top of the hill and looking around in search for me.

I didn’t mind the beasts anymore and was now focused in trying to survive. I splashed around, trying to swim but the current was too strong for me to fight. Waves sneaked through my mouth and into my throat, drowning me. Slowly but surely, I could not support myself up at the surface anymore and passed out in exhaustion in the middle of the river…

I woke up coughing water and lying on the ground as a woman sat over me. I couldn’t see her face all that well but I could tell her skin was extremely pale with a blue hue and her vibrant, red hair draped her shoulders, back, and chest.
“That was a close one,” she said with a giggle. “Found you flowing lifeless down the stream and I got worried.”
I wanted to ask who she was but I couldn’t find the strength and voice to do so. She carried me into her arms like I was as light as a feather and began walking. I drifted in and out of sleep before she took me into a cave with a blazing fire and small cauldron over it. She set me down, wrapped me in a blanket and left me to rest.

Follow my trail in which will heal your body and soul. You will find mercy and peace at the end…

I woke up feeling like the woman who said those words said them about two minutes ago. However, when I opened my eyes, I found her gone. All she left behind was the cauldron still steaming hot with stew along with a cup of water and