KarisKarhaki hadn't been born when King Skarl had made
Meridell into a thriving kingdom, but he had heard the stories just like every
other young Neopet that grew up in Meridell. Brave Knights had gone forth from
the dying kingdom and sought out a magical orb that restored Meridell to a youthful
and lush vigour. Karis, a red Ixi, had grown up loving the land and the beautiful
kingdom of Meridell, and felt a fierce loyalty to King Skarl, even though he'd
only seen the Skeith a few times. Up until a few months ago he'd lived in the
forests of Meridell in a small band of friendly Ixi that gathered herbs for
medicines. He'd never forget the day that newcomers came to Meridell, some wearing
strange clothing or with items he'd never seen before. He'd even once seen a
flying metal ship zip across the sky, once, in the past few weeks. A lot of
changes came to Meridell, and a lot of people. His herd of Ixi had gone deeper
into the forest, a bit upset at all the newcomers. He, however, had ventured
into the main city around the castle in order to find out what exactly was going
on.
He hadn't really learned much until he'd run
into a small Kougra that had gotten lost. She and her Harris were bumbling through
the back streets, hiccupping and looking very scared. He'd asked her if she
needed help and she'd simply looked at him with big eyes. He turned to leave
but she cried out quietly, "Wait!" and in a few very short sentences, begged
him to help her find her family. A few hours later, he'd helped her find her
family. It turned out she had a human companion named FishstickMuffin (which
Karis thought was a strange name, but figured it was because they were strangers)
and two other pets--an Elephante named ThomasWolfe and a Kau named FluffehCake.
To make it short and sweet, Karis had formed
a quick friendship with the odd four, and soon found himself showing them around
Meridell excitedly. Over the next weeks they'd become like a family to him.
In return, they showed him their world--Tyrannia, Terror Mountain, some islands,
a desert, and even a quick trip to a space station! They'd also taken him to
a strange laboratory--that gave him a faerie's blessing and a lovely purple
shade. He had wings and could fly, and it would take him anywhere in this wide
new world he wanted to go!
Karis lived this happy new life for several weeks
without troubles--his new family had moved to Meridell, and made frequent trips
to Neopia Central. He was the happiest he could even remember--and then he heard
of trouble on the edges of Meridell. He heard of something sinister and evil
throwing its shadow over the land, and he rushed as fast as he could, taking
his new brother ThomasWolfe with him. The two flew to the castle to find out
what was happening, and if the rumours were true--war!
And they were. Karis' curiosity turned to a horrible
and awful shock. War? In his beautiful land? Who would try to destroy Meridell?
The picture was quickly painted by a lavishly-dressed Draik bard, who told the
worried and shocked citizens of Meridell about how the evil Darigan hordes had
come to steal away their precious orb out of jealousy and spite. Karis was horrified
and felt the angriest he'd ever been in his entire life. Furious, even! How
could they dare try and steal the legendary orb that was rightfully Meridell's!?
He'd signed up for the Meridell Army right then
and there, along with a huge number of other people, both native Meridellians
and the newcomer Neopians. He felt proud and triumphant in the next couple of
days, as equipment was handed out and the ranks of the new army was organised.
Before he marched out with the army, he said a temporary goodbye to the rest
of his new family. FishstickMuffin was sad and worried about him going, as were
FluffehCake and NaluKeiki. ThomasWolfe was too--non of them wanted to go to
war. He felt angry with them at first, for not wanting to defend their home...but
he respected their decision. They felt war wasn't the way to settle things.
Still, he marched off to war, still feeling angry and proud to be defending
his country.
After the first few days, the anger was starting
to wear off, and be replaced by stiff legs and a sense of fear. He hadn't seen
battle yet, and he wasn't sure what to expect. An air of dread fell over his
entire company, and the pets and humans spoke in whispers or low voices, even
though there was no order to keep quiet. They traveled almost in silence, fear
getting the best of their voices.
That afternoon, they suddenly came upon a small
camp of Darigan forces! There were mostly Drackonacks and Draconian Moehogs,
but there was one very large Skeith there (he must have been the commander).
The two forces looked at each other in surprise for a moment, then there was
a great yell from both sides and they ran at each other. Karis was at the back
of his company and heard and saw how horrible the fighting was as he ran closer.
His heart trembled, but he lowered his head slightly -his only real weapon was
a spiked helmet--and charged forward, being as brave as he could.
As he was running forward, he almost reached
the front line, and a Drackonack rushed towards him. He suddenly felt a sharp
pain at his shoulder, and he fell to the ground with a groan. The Drackonack
snarled at him and ran past, ignoring him since he was wounded. Karis rolled
his head around and eyed his shoulder--an arrow was sticking out of it. He winced
at both the pain and the sight of it--it looked awful. The battle raged around
him, with the clanging of armour and swords and claws and teeth. The faerie
Ixi looked around in horror as pets on both sides fell.
He froze in fear as a Draconian Moehog suddenly
thudded to the ground next to him. The creature had a huge cut in its side--he surely wouldn't live. The Moehog looked sadly at Karis.
"Why did you have to steal the orb?" he whispered
hoarsely at Karis. "Why?" Karis looked at him with genuine confusion in his
mind. The horror of the war and creatures dying all around him had sharpened
Karis' ears to something he wouldn't have listened to a few days before.
"Steal? Steal the orb?" Karis asked incredulously,
eyes wide. But the Moehog didn't answer. Karis' throbbing shoulder didn't make
the thought any easier for him to take in. He needed to talk to somebody about
this--and find out if it was true. King Skarl...and his knights...they STOLE
the orb from somebody else!? Karis felt his heart break slowly as he lay there
on the battlefield.
Several hours later, there were few creatures
alive. Those that remained were the Darigan forces. Karis was terribly afraid
as the tired and tattered Drackonacks and moehogs--and a few non-evil looking
Neopets, he noted--came back over the battlefield to look for survivors and
prisoners. The arrow was still sticking out of his shoulder, which was now painfully
swollen.
"Hey, we've got a live Meridell over here," a
Moehog called to his companions tiredly as he spotted Karis. He walked over
and eyed the faerie Ixi suspiciously. "You can either surrender, and we'll give
you medical treatment, or you can just stay here and take your chances," the
Darigan solider said. "But most of your company that made it are prisoners now.
Or...lying around..." The Moehog looked sadly around, and especially next to
Karis, where the Darigan Moehog had passed away earlier.
"I'll surrender," Karis answered in a voice that
was raspy from pain and fear.
The Darigan army was surprisingly nice and gentle
with him once he surrendered. Karis felt surprised by their kind behaviour,
and reminded himself that scary faces and red eyes didn't necessarily mean that
they were not nice. That thought also brought back to his mind what the dying
Moehog had said earlier. While his shoulder was being treated, Karis tried to
get his mind of the pain by asking a question to a solider that was assisting
the field surgeon.
"Uhm...why have you attacked us?" he asked timidly.
The assisting Drackonack eyed him sharply as he handed the doctor a clean bandage.
"Why do you think? You stole our orb." Karis
bit his lower lip for a moment in silence.
"I...I didn't know that it used to be yours,"
he tried again, still afraid and feeling pretty stupid by admitting it. "I had
heard...on the battlefield...something like that, but...I didn't know what it
meant. Would you...mind telling me...what happened? I mean, your side?" The
Drackonack and the doctor (a Scorchio) exchanged confused looks.
"Yes, I'll tell you," the solider began as the
doctor bandaged Karis' shoulder gently. "The orb -as I'm sure you know--is a
great and magical thing that was in our beautiful kingdom for a many, many years.
I'm not really sure how we knew, but we did know that the orb kept our lands
lush and our people healthy. Then, several years ago, some knights from here--Meridell--came and stole the orb away from us right in front of the eyes of
our leader. Our land immediately changed. It went dry and barren, and disease
ran rampant through our people. Many died or starved. Those that were left were
mutated and scarred, like you see us today. And..." He stopped for a moment
as Karis' bandage was finished up. "...And we want the orb back. We want our
children and land to be healthy again."
Karis nodded to him and said thank you, but kept
quiet after that. The soldier helped him to where the other prisoners were being
kept. A lot of them were angry and wanted to fight back or escape. Karis just
felt sad, and wasn't sure what to believe. He loved Meridell and his family.
He didn't want his own home to become dry and barren, or he and his friends
to become sick or go hungry. But stealing was wrong...and the story made sense.
Where else would King Skarl's knights have gotten an orb of power? An orb of
power that just happened to keep another land safe and healthy?
The faerie Ixi stayed awake all night in the
enclosure for the prisoners. They were given food and water and were only lightly
guarded. The next day they were to leave with the remaining Darigan forces and
be exchanged for Darigan prisoners somewhere else. Karis thought long and hard
that night...about so many different things. His heart was torn in two.
In the morning, he felt sad but determined. When
the doctor came to check his wound, he said, "I'm going to join your army,"
he said quietly. The doctor looked up at him in slightly surprise.
"Oh?" the Scorchio said simply.
"Yes," Karis said. "I can't...I can't agree with
what my country has done to yours. The orb is rightfully yours. I...well, I
can't fight now, obviously, with my shoulder, but if I could travel with you...until
my shoulder was better enough...and then I could fight with you..."
The doctor looked at him searchingly, and then
motioned for him to stay put. The Scorchio went and talked to the Skeith commander
for many long moments, then came back to Karis. As the doctor spoke to him,
he became aware that the Skeith commander was eyeing him curiously.
"The commander says you may," the Scorchio said.
"But if you try anything funny..."
"I won't," Karis said quickly, feeling both sad
and determined once again. "Thank you." Now I can do the right thing, even if
it means my own home might suffer, he thought to himself silently.
The End | 
