School is over! (waah! Why?) oh well, guess I better move on for the summer. Senior year awaits ;)
Chapter 3: Providence [from books]
The two elves made it to the castle after they've walked for half an hour and the extra time for the beating up monsters situation. They've killed three harpies in a row just they're about to grab them with their sharp talons and devour their flesh…
They stood in front of the doorstep when a blonde-haired woman wearing a knight's armor opened the door for them. Her brown eyes glanced towards them as her lips formed a smile.
"Ah, you've arrived," she said formally. "Just in time for your first mission,"
Lire twitched and tightened the grip of her bow behind her back. Ryan didn't say anything but to stare at her at the corner of his eye.
A red-haired girl with her hair tied into a braided ponytail suddenly appeared chasing a red-haired boy holding a spear on her hands. The red-haired fighter yelled in protest when the girl tackled him on the ground.
"I'm gonna make you regret what you said…" Elesis hissed, pointing the tip of her spear on Jin's face.
"I said it was a joke!" Jin retorted. "Jeez… what's with girls these days?"
The Knight Master sighed. "When will those two get along?" she uttered, staring at the two red-haired warriors bickering behind the two elves.
Jin stood up and dusted himself off. He turned his attention towards them. "Hey, Ryan!" he grinned, approaching the druid. "Glad you and Lire made it!"
"So what's the mission?" Ryan asked.
"Ryan, you will take this quest with Jin," Knight Master handed the sealed scroll to the fighter. "You two will defeat the Giant Drillmon taking over the Gorge of Oath, which appears to be the way across the kingdom of Kanavan," she told them. "Your comrade Ronan departed before you arrived,"
"He told me he'll go to the Gaikoz Castle to continue his quest on defeat the ghost knight Gaikoz," Jin broke in. "So does this mean we'll follow him?"
"No," the Knight Master shook her head. "There are a lot of drillmons inhabiting that gorge. I'll be counting on both of you to restore its peace and freedom,"
The druid and the fighter nodded.
"Ready to go?" Jin asked, holding the scroll on his hand.
Ryan stared towards Lire, her bow placed behind her back and looking down at her shoes. "Guess I'll be leaving you then," he said as the blonde-haired archer gasped softly and nodded slowly.
"Lire will stay here for her training," Knight Master smiled, placing her hand on Lire's shoulder. "You may depart before trouble brews,"
With this, the two left and Elesis, finished from her little distraction, finally left the small garden in front of the castle and proceeded for her training. The Knight Master welcomed Lire inside where she met a purple-haired magician and the girl with pink twirled pigtails sitting on the table and fighting over a book containing all kinds of origami paper works.
The archer remained speechless when the girl with pink twirled pigtails glanced at her direction. "Oh, Lire~" she smiled and grinned. "You're here~"
"What took you so long?" Arme asked, snatching the book away from the dancer's hands.
"Unexpected harpy attacks…" Lire responded. "G-guess I'll better go upstairs,"
"Okay," Arme beamed and Lire went upstairs and found the door of her room. It was the old room she used to stay since last year. This time, the room was clean. The last time she saw it, it was ransacked by orcs and goblins before she and the rest of the Chase evacuated the area and attack the monsters. She smiled at the sight if her tidy room for she wished she wanted to clean some of the rubbish herself. She chuckled at herself and heard Arme and Amy's voices bickering downstairs.
"Wonder how the other guys are doing…"
She found another lane of staircase leading to Mari's laboratory. A green bean bag sat at the corner with a black-haired man lying on it. He had a tiny bubble sprouting out of his nostrils while Mari is working on her latest invention. Sparks can be heard inside the laboratory as Sieghart turned in his sleep.
Sheesh, when will that immortal ever change?
Jin mentioned something that Ronan went to Gaikoz Castle for a certain mission. Lire thought. She realized Arme, Amy, Elesis, Mari and Sieghart – the only boy – are the ones left in the castle with her. Jin and Ryan also left and went to the Gorge of Oath and, if they could, follow Ronan to Gaikoz Castle to help him out. And Elesis said something about Lass going back to Silvercross Town to do some errands.
Lire sighed and went inside her bedroom to rest. She plunged herself on the bed. "My legs are tired from walking…" she uttered when her eyes gazed upon a small shelf filed with old-looking books. "What are Arme's books doing in here?" She leaned towards the book shelf and found the titles engraved on their binds.
Serdin: Kingdom of Magic and its History – she read. She ran her eyes on the book titles.
Kaze'aze: Queen of the Darkness and traces of her existence
Monsters in Serdin: Where to Find them
Queens of Serdin and Kanavan
Serdin and Kanavan: Two Kingdoms, One Power
The Existence and Extinction of Elves
Lire's eyes widened at the last book. "The extinctions of my beings…" she gasped. She pulled the book from the small pile and flipped through its pages. There are stolen images taken from certain forests – mostly – and pictures of elf corpses revealed at the side of the text. She can see the images of the survivors and an article regarding the invasion of the Queen two years ago…
The Queen Strikes: Kaze'aze, known as the Queen of the Darkness, is an evil woman who caused the five-year war between the kingdoms of Serdin and Kanavan. Many heroes fell from the war and the Queen of Serdin sacrificed her life to end the war. On this unexpected condition, she presents her unexpected appearances on the Elven Forest to destroy the druids and elves inhabiting the area. Druids and heroes charged toward the Queen when she burns the alive. Faint figures of skeletons can be found on the heart of the forest with the traces of ruins the Queen left. She escapes and now, she is nowhere to be found… (2328-2329)
What's with the humans these days? She thought, skimming through the certain articles that would give her clues regarding the traces of Kaze'aze.
The Elven Corps: The Elven Corps is an organization to prevent conflict between elves and humans. They are consisted of heroes and druids from the Elven Forest. The Goddess of Life Gaia gave them her essence to guide them on their journeys. During the violent and the bloody wars in history, druids fell, mostly from the Elven Corps. The organization would recruit young and trained ones and serve their own race as well. They would rarely accept female warriors as their comrade. One female elf is miraculously a member of this organization. They never told the humans the name of this noble elf as years have passed. The forest landlord Clovis is the leader of the Elven Corps and sends in his troops to train the young druids in order to help them battle with the enemies of Nature.
"The humans never knew me…" Lire told herself, reading the rest of the article written. She found another article on the next page. Images of wolves larger than an ordinary canine, and they also included the epic images of Nephilim and… black wolves that would appear under the full moon. She knew them as druids possessing extraordinary powers. But one article caught her eyes when an image of a boy appeared at the side of the text.
Curse Transformation: Now a gift: Every curse from Kaze'aze is a curse. Every death caused by the Queen is disaster. But this shocking story of this boy brought surprises to every elf in the forests. According to so-called "witch doctors", this boy (name unknown) drank water from the Trial Forest mixed with the Queen's blood, poisoning him in the process. When the full moon arrived, he transformed into a creature elves have never seen before in their entire lives. It was identified as a wolf with an aggressive attribute. It destroys anything in its path and it was heard it killed forest species without knowing what he's doing. Fellow witch doctors provided him pure tree trunks after some druids found him in his elven form sprawled on the forest grounds. They asked for the goddess of life Gaia's essence and guidance as the beautiful goddess appeared before them and lifted the curse inside the boy. His malevolent aggression has been wiped out and miraculously he has recovered. With this, Gaia gave him the gift of transforming into a certain forest creature like the wolf. He was trained by the druids until he became part of the clan of the heroes.
"Wow…" Lire said in awe. "They featured Ryan in this story…"
She again flipped through the pages as the images of different druids and monsters appeared on every page. She hated monsters, especially the ugly ones. They reminded her of the orcs invading the Grand Chase castle and the harpies flying in the skies to search for prey. A highlighted topic caught her eyes.
Forests as Habitats of Elves: Trial Forest, Elven Forest, Forest of Life, Grove of the Ancients…
The last title made Lire react. "I've never heard about elves living in Silver Land,"
(n/a: Grove of the Ancients is the first dungeon on Silver Land. That's how we call it here in the Philippines Server. Sorry about the interruptions guys)
Monsters in the Elven Forest: The Elven Forest is the forest located in the Bermesiah continent. Druids, elves, maidens and the Elven Corps (see page 35) inhabited this forest for centuries. Even though it is a peaceful and nature-friendly kingdom, it is also invaded by monsters of all kinds.
Harpy: A monster with a head of a woman and a bird's body. Its sharp talons grab its prey and tear off the flesh. It would usually feed on helpless little elven children and take them away from their parents. They would eat the internal organs of its prey like the heart. They'll feed on the corpse and leave the skeleton of their prey. Harpies are also known as the vultures of the Elven Forest.
Orc: These are small monsters with light green bodies covered in strange tattoos. They use thick wooden sticks as weapons. They are easy targets, making them easy to kill.
Stone Orc: Some say it is the first evolution stage of the orc. Its light green body transform into darker green and they will grow larger fangs. They wear protective armor and use hammers as weapons. They would throw them towards their target until knocked out cold.
Orc Warrior: It is stronger than the Stone Orc. It has the same skin color and armor. But this stage is more aggressive than the last one. It uses stone mallets as weapons that can kill one victim when hit, especially on the head.
Troll: This monster is the deadliest creature the elves have encountered. It is terribly enormous that it can smash trees and havens. Its large fists can shake the ground violently. It has killed many young elves and injured druids. Lord Clovis, the forest landlord, killed a troll invading the forest before he was proclaimed as the landlord.
"I'm sure there are more of them…" Lire whispered, reading some of the articles.
Just then, she heard footsteps approaching as she slammed the book shut. She placed the book back on the shelf when the door opened. Arme appeared on the door.
"Hi," she smiled. "I prepared some fresh and hot congee for you,"
The blonde-haired archer hopped out of her bed. "Oh uhh… thanks, Arme," she beamed. She walked past the mage as the door closed behind them. "By the way, what are your books doing in my room?" she asked.
Arme chuckled. "Relax, Lire, I placed them in your shelf just in case you get bored or something. Have you read the book about the existence and the extinction of elves?"
"I was just reading it before you came,"
"Sorry about earlier," the mage grinned sheepishly. "Amy's been fussing over the origami book so I could teach her how to make one," She sighed. "I wish Lass will be back soon… he forgot to eat his breakfast before he left,"
Lire beamed. "I sure hope Ryan will come back alive along with Jin… those Drillmons could have attacked them any second now,"
The moment they headed downstairs to eat, Elesis sat on one of the chairs and ate a bar of chocolate. Amy feasted on her bowl of crab soup. Mari and Sieghart are still in the laboratory.
"Grazing again, huh…" Arme glanced towards the red-haired knight.
"What?" Elesis asked. "Amy didn't want to give me some of her crab soup!"
"Hey, you ate all of the chocolate cake Arme baked for all of us a week ago!" the dancer retorted. "You only saved the last slices for your precious Ronan," she emphasized the word 'precious'
Elesis' cheeks turned red when she mentioned the Royal Guard Master's name. "He was hungry so I gave him some of my slices!"
Lire giggled from the knight's unusual flattery.
"Do you want to eat?" Arme asked. The archer nodded and sat beside the mage.
"Hey, Lire~" Amy called out to her. "Since you came here with Ryan, did you two have a date or something?"
Lire's cheeks flushed. "Err… no I – "
"Ignore her," Arme cut her off. "She just likes teasing people,"
Lire beamed again and proceeded to eat her congee.
"Like what your mom said, you are destined to stay with me…"
"Gaia lifted the curse and his transformation to a wolf became his gift and ability,"
"Your haven is just right next to Ryan's."
"You may do anything you want, Kaze'aze but not to destroy innocent lives!"
"Kill me, Kaze'aze, I'll sacrifice my life over my only daughter…"
"Mommy… please don't leave me… I… I love you!"
"I'll be expecting you and Ryan to be together someday…"
The words from the people she knew flashed from her head. The last thought of her expected partnership with Ryan will soon… come true, if it will…
"Lire?"
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw three pairs of eyes looking at her.
"Are you okay?" the mage asked.
"You've been acting weird ever since you arrived," Elesis told her.
"Maybe they did go on a date," Amy whispered.
"Shut up, Amy," Arme glared at the dancer before glancing back at Lire. "Is there something bothering you lately?"
"N-no… I'm alright," Lire replied nervously. "I got tired from walking that's all~"
There was a long silence before Mari appeared followed by the cranky Sieghart.
"There is plenty of food left," Arme smiled. "Hurry before they get cold,"
"Finally," Sieghart yawned. "Geez, I wouldn't be hanging with a bunch of dames…"
Elesis grumbled. "Whatever, my so-called grandpa, just sit down and eat…"
"Well, he looks not like an old man…" Amy said. "Come to think of it, he looks cute~"
Sieghart rolled his eyes. "Girls these days…"