Chapter 13: Sidequest Alseid, Part 2 The Sun-Rose
Alseid, Realm of the Elves, 337 Solar Year
A look of relief came over the father and son pair. Even Orro's grandfather smiled slightly. The elf chief then took a small vial off a shelf that was filled with other bottles and jars, which Lazlo had thought was just for decoration. The small light brown vial looked like it was made out of amber and some other strange material Lazlo could not identify.
The chief instructed him that this amber vial would freeze and preserve perfectly any small thing placed inside it be it living or nonliving because of the magical enchantments that had been imbued upon it. This would keep the pedals from the Sun-Rose intact until they returned to Alseid.
Apparently, the chief's wife was also the primary apothecary in the community and had already concocted most of the remedy that Cathinel so badly needed to save her daughter-in-law. The only problem was that the drug needed its' final ingredient before it could work: the pedals of the Sun-Rose.
As they were leaving the old pointy ear leader reminded them, not that it needed to be repeated, but it seemed to be in his nature to restate things, "Remember, you only have an hour window to retrieve the plant. After that you'll have to wait again until tomorrow to try again, but she likely won't survive the night. So, it's today or not at all. Good luck, my son!"
Once outside the protective enchantments of Alseid, Iolis used his Blinking Rune to teleport the same group of 4 near the entrance of some ancient Sindarian ruins. "Yeah, these are Sindarian alright! I've seen ruins like these all over the world. Their architecture is undeniable. What is that strange feeling I am sensing, though? It feels so... other worldly." asked the Island Ambassador.
"That would be the serpent creature. The beast has never been here before. But ever since we started feeling those sinister echoes of power gathering near the southern border of Falena a few months ago, dark abominations such as this have been popping up all around Falena." said Findus as they made their way quietly through the entrance of the ruins.
Iolis added, "We thought since it was on the other side of the country, this darkness would not touch us up here in Alseid with all our protective barriers." In a sort of heartbroken way Ren interjected, "Obviously, we were wrong. For it has reached not only our home, but the most precious among us. Come, the shrine is this way. The flower only grows in the far back area of the ruins near the shrine. It has a huge sky light in the roof that allows the rain and, most importantly, the noon day sun light to enter the holy place, which allows the Sun-Rose flowers to grow there."
With that the four moved quietly, but quickly, through the place. Walking down many winding turns, hallways, and corridors. Lazlo hoped Ren knew where he was going and more importantly knew how to get out.
The four encountered a few small monsters and beasts, but they were able to dispatch them easily enough with arrows, sword strikes, and some low-level magic attacks. This prompted Lazlo to ask a question, "Your father said the creature seemed immune to weapons or rune attacks, how so?"
"Well, when we reached my wife, she was already being strangled. We shot out arrows, but the creature's hide was too thick for any of them to really penetrate and do damage. We drew our blades and made a few cuts. Plus, Iolis managed to use a Lightning Rune on the creature's opened wounds to inflict more pain on it. It was enough for the creature to let Cathinel go. But no sooner had these wounds been made, when they all healed instantly before our eyes." "Some kind of dark and powerful magic, no doubt!" added Iolis.
Lazlo retorted, "Interesting, so you could hurt it, but it just healed very quickly? That doesn't sound like any magical immunity charms I've ever heard of. Oh wait! What if the snake had eaten some of the Sun-Rose flowers? Those things have great regenerative properties. Maybe, that's what healed him so quickly!?"
This realization seemed like a satisfactory explanation to the elves, but it also left a deep unsettling feeling in Ren's stomach. If the snake was eating the plants. Where there now any left? Was this whole trip in vain? Would there be any Sun-Rose pedals to be had once they entered? Was his wife of more than thirty years going to die from something as pointless as all this?
"How are we going to stop the creature if it can heal itself so quickly?" one of them asked. "Simple," replied Lazlo, "By unleashing so powerful a magic attack on it. That the beast is destroyed outright!" Lazlo lifted his left hand indicating the Rune of Punishment.
It had finally dawned on Iolis why they truly had brought Lazlo to begin with. His powerful True Rune was the only thing strong enough the elves knew of to accomplish so great a feat on such a short notice. "Let's go! We're wasting time speculating over this! Master Lazlo, knows what he needs to do. So, let's press on!" ordered Ren.
Once they got to the back and arrived at the doors leading to the shrine. The eerie feeling had reached its zenith. "No doubt about it." Lazlo said, "That serpent is on the other side of this door. But I was thinking you said this creature is a giant snake, right? Most snakes I've seen are cold blooded and like to sleep in the hottest part of the day in the Sun to absorb its warm rays for heat and energy. And most snakes have terrible eye sight and virtually no sense of hearing, right? It's just their sense of smell and their ability to sense extreme air movement changes that make them able to really find their prey."
The old warrior continued, "If this snake is indeed new here, the only thing foreign he has sensed and smelled is you: elves, I mean. I bet he hasn't encountered a human yet. I bet he won't recognize me as a threat right away. Ren, give me the amber vial. It's got to be noon now. He's probably asleep bathing in the sun's rays from the sky light you talked about. I'll try to sneak in and grab the flower and get out. I think this will be easier and faster than trying to kill the snake, you said was able to regenerate so quickly from your attacks."
"Why don't you just go in there and destroy the demon snake immediately and save us all the trouble? If your True Rune is so powerful!? That seems easier and quicker to me!" exclaimed the bald elf. Before he could respond, Findus spoke up for Lazlo, "If he just goes in there with magic blazing away. Not knowing what he is really aiming at until it's too late. He may accidently destroy the flower making our whole trip in coming here for nothing."
Iolis felt a bit foolish now as it did seem fairly obvious. He could feel a great power emanating from Lazlo. He had, since they first met. Maybe there was part of him that did want to see this great force of energy unleashed first hand, but his brother was right saving his master's wife came first. Iolis acquiesced, "The human. I mean, Sir Lazlo's plan seems like a good one to me, Milord, given the situation."
After a moment to think these things over. Ren could find no real point of disagreement. His primary mission was to save his lover. Not destroy the creature. They could come back and do that later. Right now, their window of opportunity had already started ticking away for surely it was noon by now. The prince of the elves consented to the former prince of Obel and gave him the amber vial.
Lazlo crept into the room careful not to make any great movements or grand gestures of motion that may alert the snake to his presence. He snuck around fallen rocks, broken pillars and a colonnade that ran around the circular room. As he got closer, he saw to the shrine directly under the sky light.
At the base of the shrine, was a large green patch of foliage. Several flower stems, but no red and gold pedals. The creature had been, indeed, eating them. Then, behind some of the headless stems he saw it. One Sun-Rose blossom remained intact for him.
However, he could see the flower had already bloomed from the noon day sun and was starting to wilt a little bit on the edges. Lazlo guessed it had to be a little over half passed noon by now. That meant he only had about 20 minutes or so to get the pedals in the amber vial before it was too late. That is when he heard the heavy breathing.
Lazlo had been so distracted by the flower he had not bothered to look up. There on a knocked over large pillar was the serpent. It was black and looked like a cobra. It had a few red vertical lines going up and down it's body, which had to be about 40 feet long. Sure enough, it was asleep basking in the warmth of the noon day sun.
Using all the stealth and discretion he had trained his nimble body with over his many decades of life; he quietly made his way to the garden area to retrieve the plant. Bending over, he carefully took several of the pedals from the Sun-Rose only leaving a few still on the blossom. He placed them in the amber vial. Feeling a huge sense of relief. He was just about to make his way back the way he had come in, when the light in the room suddenly changed.
It was no longer as bright or warm as it had been a moment ago. Lazlo looked up at the sky light. Sure enough, some clouds had rolled in and were blocking the direct rays from the sun. Not wanting to waste any more time Lazlo tried to moving quickly; a little too quickly, he immediately realized.
Between his sudden movements and the changes in brightness and temperature from the sun being veiled behind the clouds the snake was now awake and didn't seem very pleased to have an interloper encroaching in on his domain.
Despite the serpent's titanic size, it moved with amazing speed. It took Lazlo totally by surprise. Though, indeed, the scent of the human was new to the creature it still viewed him as a threat. It launched itself from a striking stance at the old hero. Thanks once again to his swift reflexes and Gale Rune in his right hand, Lazlo avoided a direct blow. However, the side of the snake's snout made contact with Lazlo's chest. He could feel some of his ribs crack from the force.
In addition, the same blow sent Lazlo flying backwards against a pillar rendering him unconscious upon impact. Concurrently, he had dropped the amber vial, which he was still holding in his hand prior to the knockback.
It fell to the ground and started to bounce a little bit. Next, it began to roll along the ground toward the huge snake. The elves who had been watching with their eyes peeking through cracks in the door. Immediately flung the doors wide open; bows at the ready.
They started releasing volley after volley of arrow at the snake at the same time Lazlo had been thrown against the pillar. Ren's keen elf eyes had not missed him dropping the vial and watching it roll by a small stone stump that was once the foundation for one of the room's pillars that had since crumbled way. Despite their volley of arrows at key vital points of the body, it was clear few were getting through the reptile's thick hide and scales. Just like before when they had rescued Orro's mother.
Ren started making his way to the amber vial. Realizing this, his two servants switch their attack styles. Findus switched to melee drawing forth 2 large knives in each hand from underneath his earthy cloak. He started his charge at the beast to draw its attention away from Ren.
At the same time, Iolis switch to magical attacks. He apparently had had a Flowing Rune embedded in his forehead before they had left Alseid. He knew that reptiles hated cold, and while the Flowing Rune's Breath of Ice magic attack wasn't strong enough to do any real damage to the powerful serpent.
The cold should, he figured, be enough to keep the thing disorientated. Not to his surprise, the bald elf had guest right. The oversize cobra was now completely befuddled by the spell of cold and frozen water from the Flowing Rune.
Not wasting this golden opportunity, the green-haired elf raised his blades and began stabbing at it with the short blades going in and out of the creature as fast as the thing's tough skin would allow. However, as quickly as the new wounds were being made, the old ones were starting to heal. This didn't deter his resolve. As he kept on pressing his attacks in the small hope of buying his prince the time, he needed to recover the amber vial.
When Ren reached the side of the aged broken stone he was horrified at the sight. While the amber vial had not broken from the violent impact. The seal covering, however, had not been placed over it properly. Thus, all the contents had fallen out. Lazlo had been struck by the beast before he had had the chance to close the seal, thus, not allowing the magical properties to perfectly preserve the pedals in their fresh state.
Moreover, the pedals, themselves, seemed dead. They had withered up and wilted rather quickly after having been detached from the stem and their source of life. The color had left Ren's face. He knew that was it! There was no way to save his wife now, as these withered husks wouldn't be able to save her life. She was as good as dead now! The elf prince drew his sword he was going to charge the snake and probably die here, but he didn't care; so great was his despair at this moment.
At the same time, the clouds had finally passed by, as the Sun started showing through the sky light again. The new intensity of light and warmth took Ren by surprise and as his gaze followed the rays of light down from the rafters to the green garden area at the foot of the shrine. He saw it. The flower Lazlo had plucked most of the pedals from. He had not removed them all for Ren could still see 3 or 4 glints of red shapes connected to the golden center.
Hope began to swell up inside the regal elf. However, as he got closer, he saw the brown spots as well. It was now nearly one o'clock he reckoned time was running out. He had only moments to get the pedals before the flower's daily cycle was complete. At that point, those pedals would be completely wilted and beyond usage. Then, his beloved would be gone for sure!
The snake was tired of dealing with the elf brothers. It recoiled itself away from them with great haste.
After regrouping, it took in a deep breath and spit out something green from its' mouth. The elf brothers both managed to move in time as it hit the surface of the wall behind them. The surface wall began to dissolve and boil as smoke started to rise off it. "The venom! It's like an acid," yelled Findus, "Don't let it touch you!" It was too late! The snake had contracted it upper torso and launched another volley of acidic venom at them. Iolis had moved out of the way, but Findus a bit too late.
He did dodge out of the way, but not before some of the acid made contact with his right arm and cloak. The toxin was strong enough to burn through even the magic elvish protections the cloak was imbued with to protect its wearer from some degree of harm.
Iolis using his quick elvish reflexes leaped the ten feet distance to his brother with ease. Drawing his own knife, he slashed the cloak from his brother's back, throwing it to the ground before the chemical had a chance to burn through his leather armor as well and destroy his flesh.
It was clear to him that his brother was still in pain despite the cloak being off him. Then he saw his right arm. It had several burn marks and was starting to turn red complete with blisters and boils. He grabbed his brother and quickly hurdled both of them behind a nearby fallen pillar to avoid a third and final acid venom attack.
Using the healing power of his Flowing Rune, Iolis, healed most of the wound on his brother's arm and eased the pain, but Findus still couldn't move his arm fully yet, as it still seemed semi-paralyzed for the moment.
Seeing that his two targets had retreated and knowing he was out of spit, the large cobra now turned his dim gaze to the only moving target still in range: Ren.
He had reached the flower just as Iolis was cutting the burning cloak from Findus's back. He saw the Sun had nearly passed over the sky light's opening. Ren had less than a minute now. The red coloring in the pedals was clearly starting to fade. He took the remaining four pedals and careful not to damage them he placed them in the vial. Next, he sealed it very tightly. He had made it!
Finally, he placed the amber vial in his pouch and just as he was about to stand up; everything became instantly dark and suffocating. The merciless serpent had wrapped is cold and rough body around the elf-prince who was now clearly beginning to lose consciousness from the relentlessly tight grip the reptile had coiled around his new prey.
Standing up from there smoldering pillar, which had acted as a shield for them. They saw their master about to die. Filled with great fear and anger they charged blindly at the cold-blooded abomination. They no longer cared if they lived or died. They had to save the one whom they swore on a life oath they would protect.
With their reckless and violent motions, the king-sized cobra knew precisely where they were. Thus, with one swipe of its mighty tail that was still free to move about, the duo got sent flying backwards toward the doors and out into the hallway.
The snake had not forgotten its' trapped dinner. Turning its' gaze back to the elf who had by this point stopped struggling to free himself. Ren could feel the blackout coming on soon. The snake's hot breath and wet forked-tongue were inching closer toward the blue-haired prince. His vision was so blurry now he couldn't make it out clearly, but he could hear and feel it on his skin.
This was it! The creature was now opening its mouth wide to take a bite and swallow the elf whole. "Orro, Cathinel, I have failed you. I am sorry! Forgive me!" he murmured to himself as he could feel the muscles in the mouth of the serpent begin to contract and the grip around his body loosened as it was about to devour him whole. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Where was the end? Why am I still alive? Is he toying with me, thought the elf. With the snake loosening its grip, a small amount, he could breathe slightly.
He summoned all the energy left in his exhausted body to do the herculean task of opening his heavy eyelids. Without warning, he heard something like a thud and then... a splash? Was that right? A sloppy splash? Getting his eyes to open a minuscule amount and then waiting for them to focus to the dim amount of light, which burned his eyes and made him want to close them again. In spite of this, he forced them into focus and what he saw next, if it were real, left him in complete awe.
There was Lazlo! He had hurled his own body into the snake's wide opened and expanded mouth. But he had placed his one sword up into the creature's upper jaw and the other blade onto the forked tongue so the creature couldn't swat nor swallow this man with its tongue without seriously injuring or killing itself.
Or at least, Lazlo was hoping the monster realized this. The snake began to hiss and twirl, doing everything it could think of to make this man release him. It tried to cough up more of its deadly acidic venom, but it was totally out still. His outside skin was durable, but in its mouth, the creature was as vulnerable as any common beast.
It was now trying to dislodge Lazlo by shaking its head violently; making Lazlo dizzy. So, he pushed his blade tips a little harder into the fleshy areas to show it that he wasn't backing down either. The giant red stripped cobra stopped shaking its head. Uncoiling its body around Ren, it was now focused entirely on Lazlo.
Ren couldn't stand up or barely move. His whole body ached. The elf was still very dizzy and out of breath. He began crawling on the ground toward what he hoped was the doorway. Using the rest of his strength in his arms to pull his injured body forward. Inch-by-inch he advanced closer to the door. Turning his gaze back only once to see Lazlo still wrestling with the creature's will to live or destroy its' foe. He swore that his pointed ears had heard the former knight of Gaien yell at him to keep going, which is what he was trying to do.
The two elf brothers came stumbling back into the room barely on their feet and clutching the parts of their bodies that hurt the most. They, likewise, were amazed at what they saw as Lazlo and the Cobra were now engaged in the ultimate stalemate. Seeing the future chief crawling toward them. As quickly as their nearly broken bodies would allow, they grabbed him and help raise him to his feet.
Iolis knew he had only enough magic left for 2 more spells. One of those would have to be to teleport them out. He couldn't use his magic to help Lazlo then. So, he did the next best thing. He used the primary healing spell from the Flowing Rune, Kindness Rain, to help restore his comrades as best he could.
After the rejuvenating effects of the spell had worked their magic on the non-human trio, they were a least able to stand without having to lean on a wall for support. But, still there was nothing they could do for Lazlo.
Lazlo out of the corner of his eye saw the trio were standing up finally and were now perplexed at how to help him. He supposed this wasn't the most well-thought-out plan, he had ever had. The foul stench coming from the creature's mouth was revolting. Between that and the motion sickness from being twirled around. He thought he was going to be sick. The warrior could see the snake was trying to summon forth more green spit and looking at what it had done to that wall he just saw, that would surely kill even him.
Moreover, it was starting to succeed. As Lazlo reckoned the odor that he smelled was more spit being made. Knowing his time was short. It was now or never. His feet which he had had pressed up against the monster's lower set of teeth seemed to be his best chance.
So, he raised his left foot and kick the back of the teeth as hard as he could. As the snake hissed in pain. Lazlo started to use the Rune of Punishment to put energy in his hands. Lazlo then thrusted his swords into the creature's upper jaw and fork tongue. But, before it could bring its' jaw down to snap him into pieces, Lazlo used the Rune's energy to propel himself forward by purposely directing the blast at point blank range down the creature's throat.
The force from the concentrated blast sent Lazlo flying back as he fell to the ground. He had, in essence, turned himself into a human rune cannon. The elves made their way toward the ageless warrior he seemed to be light-headed and bruised, but okay. Findus pulled some Mega-Medicine from his pouch and poured it down Lazlo's throat. With that, the Island hero came too, pretty quickly. He stood up, regained his bearings and awareness.
All four had their eyes on the serpent. It was struggling in futility to recover from the powerful magical blow. The snake stopped thrashing around now. Its' breathing was shallow and slowing down. The creature at last dropped to the ground motionless.
Lazlo looked up at the sky light and suddenly realized and cried out, "Oh, No! The amber vial. I lost it! When I... Oh, no! I am so sorry!" Ren smiling, reached into his pouch and pulled out the vial it was still intact. Despite him being nearly squeezed to death and it had the 4 remaining pedals perfectly preserved inside.
"Don't worry, I got it here! I am just glad you didn't take all the pedals and had left a few. Now we can save Cathinel!" Iolis look toward his brother now, "How is your arm, Findus?" The others looked to his right arm seeing the damage for the first time.
The elf prince and Islander showed faces of concern. "Don't worry," he retorted, "it's nothing that a good stiff drink of Alseidan Ale won't be able to fix." They all started laughing, even Lazlo, though he was not sure why, but he had a feeling this was something that the mild and calmly measured green-haired elf would probably never have said under normal circumstances.
After a few small silent moments none of the guys had to say a word to each other as they started heading for the door. Lazlo looked at the creature's mouth as a puzzled look came over his face. Ren turned to him and said, "Don't worry about them. I'll send some of my attendants back here in a few days to retrieve your weapons. Or I'll just give you new ones." As much as Lazlo loved his twin swords. He couldn't refuse the guy, who now wanted to get back home in order to save his love's life.
As they got to the doorway, they heard a thud and clatter of metal hitting stone and a second later the same sound again, thud, and the banging of steel off of stone. They turned around and there was the serpent.
It had managed to free its tongue from the first blade and then using that appendage to withdraw the second blade lodged in the top of its' mouth. Moreover, the whole in the back of its throat seemed nearly healed by this point as well. "By the stars! How can this be? It's still alive even after a blast like that?" "I've had enough of this unholy demon!" yelled Ren. "Your Highness, I couldn't agree with you more!" exclaimed the bearer of the True Rune.
The human gestured for them to stand back. He said nothing, but walked forward a little with great purpose in his eyes. He raised his left hand in the air to its fullest height and cried out in a loud voice, "Rune of Punishment, Unleash Your Wrath Upon This Foe!" The True Rune acted though it longed and yearned to hear those words come out of Lazlo. Instead of using one of his normal four magical attacks, he did something different.
Even, Everlasting Mercy, may not be enough to fully dispatch this creature in just one attack. No, he knew he needed to unleash a level of power that he had not used since the Island Liberation War. The kind of power, which he had used to destroy whole fleets of Kooluk ships in mere moments. Like those ships that had attacked Obel, this beast needed to be completely and utterly annihilated in a single blow. And the Rune of Punishment seemed all too eager to help oblige this request of its' master.
His left arm out stretched into the air, crimson-colored rays of light began to pour out from Lazlo's hand, as the crest of the Rune of Punishment also appeared above his head in all its ominous glory. A strange pale reddish cloud now surrounded Lazlo. Moreover, these rays of blood red and pale crimson lights seemed to now mix together into one beam of raw, pure, and deadly energy that shot straight up into the air.
Near the top of the ceiling the energy was gathering now into a crimson color sphere of extreme force. which was feeding off the energy being shot up into the air by Lazlo's left hand. Suddenly, the roof and the ancient ruins around the shrine started to shake and rumble. Pieces of the ceiling started to fall to the ground.
The runic energy was now so great in the shrine that even the air seemed to be filled with a static charge. The elves and human all could feel the hairs on their body start to stand up on end. The crimson ball of energy started to develop rings of the same-colored energy around it.
Spirals and arcs of pure energy started to fly off the red sphere, which was now like a nucleus of pure power. The beam of light extending from Lazlo's left hand ceased. Then, all the magical power, which had been collecting in the crimson sphere was floating around wildly. All of a sudden, however, that great power started to come together at a fix point.
Just as the rays of energy had made a single beam that fed the crimson sphere that had formed in the air. Now the sphere was making its own single beam of light and concentrating all its dark and devastating power at one target: the giant cobra-like serpent.
The creature had been so fixed and dumbfounded by the spectacular light show it had not bothered to run anywhere or try to hide. The full force of the beam of power rapidly enveloped the snake's whole being. Every fiber and every cell in his body was instantly turned to ash. The spell had done its job as it utterly and totally wrecked the creature in a single powerful glorious display of True Rune power.
The explosive wave had consumed the reptile instantly like a single piece of paper being tossed into a raging hot bonfire. There was also a blood curdling and unholy scream that seemed to echo and reverberate all around the circular room. Two of the elves thought it had been the creature making the noise a mere moment before its' destruction, but the third pointed up to the sphere of molten crimson energy. Showing them that no, the eerie and terrible scream was coming from there.
Then in a blink of an eye, the whole light show was over. A strong and unnatural silence now filled the Sindarian Shrine. Lazlo let out some heavy breathing now obviously physically exhausted by the spell. He walked over to wear the creature had just been. A smoldering heap of ash in the form of the snake's silhouette was all that remained. Lazlo bent over and picked up his twin swords only to be deeply sadden.
Some of the venomous acid had managed to burn through several areas of his steal blades. The hilts were intact, but the blades were full of holes. And the one sword, which had probably been the one in his tongue, was broken at the tip. Disappointed he picked up what was left of his weapons and placed them back in their sheathes.
"Don't worry, Master Lazlo, I know a great elvish blacksmith who will have them fixed up in no time." said of all people, it was Iolis. "I think that is probably the first kind thing you said to me all day. Haha." retorted the aged rune master. Lazlo was not able to finish his laugh because he had passed out. Iolis caught him commenting that "I guess he over did it a little."
The sight of the great human loather, Iolis, now catching one, and willing by his own choice offering to carry the now sleeping human out of the Sindarian Ruins by draping him over his shoulder would prove to be a source of great mirth to Findus in the years to come. Once they got out of the ruins, they took hands, and Iolis used the rest of his magical power to teleport them back to the outskirts of Alseid.
In Lazlo's next moment of awareness, he was in a strange room. He heard what sounded like children whispering near his bed. He turned his gaze to the left and sure enough there was Orro and his red-headed female companion, Terra, watching him. Both with smiles on their faces. "Spying on me again, are you?" asked the still groggy warrior. The kids started giggling.
He added, "You better not fall into any rivers this time either. I doubt I have the strength to save you again, Orro." With this little jest, Lazlo fell asleep once more.
When he woke again, he heard the same child's voice running out of the room, yelling, "Dad, Dad, Mom, Mom. Hey, he's awake! He's awake!" Lazlo sat up in bed. His brown jacket and chestguard had been removed, though his shorts were still on. His chest and ribs had been all wrapped up while he was sleeping, he assumed.
He got up out of bed. He looked into a mirror made of extremely polished silver. With his chest bandaged up like this, he thought he looked like Reinhold, the Dauntless's dojo master and friend of Mitsuba.
Lazlo turned back around and there was the butler Lazlo had first met, when he had entered the chief's mansion. The old elvish servant came in and handed Lazlo a bag saying, "When you've dressed. Please meet, my Lord and Lady downstairs. They wish to speak with you." Then he left. Shutting the door behind him. Lazlo thought to himself about the old elf's words of my lady and how happy the two children had been earlier. She must be okay now. The pedals were enough and the elixir of Sun-Rose must have done the trick.
The knight opened the bag he had been given. Inside was the top half of his garb. The brown jacket had been washed and all the holes that had been inflicted by the years of many battles seemed to have been sown back together. The whole thing looked utterly brand new.
His undershirt also looked cleaned and new as well. However, his chestguard was still missing as were his weapons. His broken weapons. Now he wondered how much it was going to cost to have them repaired and re-tempered. He didn't bring much Potch with him and knew it would be expensive to reforge them.
He began to wonder if Flare would not mind covering the cost for him with some of the Federation's funding. He removed his bandages around his chest as he felt as though his ribs were now healed. Elvish healing magic he reasoned. Then, as he got dressed the thought of Flare arguing with the Council over whether sword repairs should count as legitimate business expenses for an ambassador, made Lazlo laugh to himself as he got dressed and headed down stairs.
Before he left the room though he looked out a nearby window and noticed the morning Sun. Wow, he had been asleep for nearly a whole day. No wonder he felt so hungry, he thought.
When he got downstairs the butler directed him to another room. Inside was what looked like a living room complete with couches and chairs and paintings on the wall.
Yet, most importantly, a whole group of elves were on their feet waiting for him. They all had smiles on their faces. A smile filled his face to at the sight of Ren, Findus, and Iolis, who all seemed to be fine now. Ren looked back to his old normal regal self, complete with the circlet holding his long blue hair back and golden necklace with its small diamond encrusted upon it.
His father the village chief was there too, looking a little less judgmental of Lazlo than he had been yesterday. There was an older she elf standing beside him whom Lazlo assumed was his wife. The one who had the skills as an apothecary and who had devised the anti-venom from the Sun-Rose pedals. He, also, saw the elf kids Terra and Orro, who looked like his old mischievous self.
Then, stepping out from behind her husband a very slender and medium size female-elf stepped forth. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. She also wore a circlet in her hair and had the same type of gold necklace with a jewel hanging off it.
Only her gem was not a diamond like her husband's, but rather it was a blue one like a topaz or amethyst gem. She was wearing a simple satin blue dress to match the jewel hanging around her neck. Lazlo, also, noticed the bandaged right shoulder where no doubt that terrible snake creature had nearly ended her life.
She walked over to Lazlo and began to hug him with all the frail strength her recovering body had. She then whispered in his ear, "Thank you so much for saving both my son and my husband's life. You've giving me my life back as well." She then kissed him on the cheek and walked back to her husband's side as Lazlo started to blush a little as he felt a small lone tear run down the side of his face. The tear had been left there accidently by the blonde elf.
After a moment of odd silence, Findus and Iolis spoke up, saying they had something for him. One handed him his chestguard and the other his twin swords. The chestguard looked brand new as well and polished to a fine shine. Upon closer inspection, Lazlo noticed little shimmering specs in the piece of armor, but also noticed it felt even lighter.
In fact, he had to look down to make sure he was still holding it, since it felt as light as a t-shirt and not the 15 pound chestguard he had gotten use to wearing these many years. Findus spoke up, "Our father is a blacksmith. He not only re-tempered your chest plate with a stronger form of elvish steel, which is nearly indestructible. And unlike human armor this will not rust or wear out in durability so easily with time. In addition, he added an old elvish potion that makes your armor much lighter in its weight. So now you should be able to dodge and react even faster in battle."
While he was saying this, Lazlo had set the chestguard down and had drawn out one of the swords. Now it was Iolis' turn to talk, "Father, couldn't repair the blades as they were. Which made him quite upset. He said he was deeply impressed by their design. He had no idea humans could craft so elegant works of art as your blades. However, they were both just too badly damaged by the acid. So, he salvaged what steel, he could from your swords and melted them down and added the same kind of elvish steel and imbued them with the same magical properties as the armor. After he reforged you these new hybrid blades, he used your old hilts thinking you be comfortable with that."
Lazlo held the short sword out, his arm extended. The balance felt perfect like they had been made exclusively for him. It felt even more natural than his old ones had felt. He made slashing motions in the air and every one of his strikes seem to sing in total harmony.
He pulled out the second one and did the same thing. Each cut in the air felt crisp and clean as though his weapons would now never miss their target. When they saw how pleased Lazlo was with the new and improved swords, both brothers smiled a grin of satisfaction.
The bald elf wanting to further make the point about how great their father's craftsmanship was instructed Lazlo to hold out the blade with one of the edges facing upwards. He then pulled out a piece of narrow, but long, like a ribbon, fabric and let it fall over the sword's razor-sharp edge splitting it instantly in two halves.
"Our father has one of the strongest hammers in the whole world, a level 16, as I think you humans call it. Both have now been raised to that level. Also, because of the elvish enchantments we placed over them, just like your armor piece, they're nearly unbreakable. Likewise, they will never rust or corrode from the elements. Also, instead of losing their sharpness in months like your old ones would do; with our father's talents these should hold their amazing sharpness for years." concluded Iolis. But, Findus added, "That is assuming you don't go around shoving them in the mouths of dangerous giant snakes every day."
To which Lazlo retorted, "I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises!" The room filled with a little jovial laughter. Then, Lazlo bowed to them and thank them both very much for their great gift and ask them to also thank their father for all his hard work.
Now the village chief spoke up in his normal cranky and judging tone, "You, True Rune Bearer, are the first human to be allowed to enter our domain in over 300 winters. Whether or not more humans will ever be allowed to enter, I don't know. Whether or not we can ever again trust the world of men, I, also, do not know. But what I do know is that I can trust you, human, called Lazlo. I hereby decree that you and you alone are the only human allowed to enter our sacred realm for as long as you live. Which I suppose for you could be a very long time." "Thank you, sir! This is indeed truly a great honor you have shown me this day!" responded the Master of the Rune of Punishment.
At last Ren spoke up, "Master Lazlo let me explain to you one of our oldest and most sacred elvish traditions. When one freely risks his own life to save the life of an elf a great debt is created in the heavens. Yesterday, I owed one of these debts, when you saved my son from drowning. Today, I owe you two more. One for saving my life and as well as helping to save my wife's life. My whole family, including myself, is here right now alive because of you and the heroic actions you have demonstrated. So, now not once, not twice, but thrice, I am indebted to owe you Thus, whatever is in my power to grant you. As the next ruler of Alseid, I shall grant it to you. Name your price! What do you wish of me?"
Lazlo was speechless a moment then said, "I don't know what to say. I just helped because I wanted too. It was the right thing to do, you know? Helping those in need and all that. I mean you fixed my weapons. I am pretty happy with that. There really isn't anything I need or want right now."
Ren smiled as though he was expecting Lazlo to say something like this. Then replied, "My friend you and I are much alike, despite our outward differences. We both have been around for many decades and will probably live to see many, many more. I am sure at some point in the near future or even in the distant future you will need help. If it will be in my power to help you, I shall."
"Thank you that would be terrific," responded Lazlo, "but how will I contact you? Will I need to come back here to see you?" Again, the same smile of certainty came over Ren's face, as though he was waiting for Lazlo to ask this question. He then held out a necklace similar to ones worn by him and his wife only this one had a silver chain, instead of gold. And there was a small object like a locket that hung from it instead of a jewel.
He gave the man instructions, "Take this. And if you figure you ever need my help speak the incantation written in Elvish on the back and open the locket and it will open a portal of communication between your necklace and this mirror." He gestured to the silver mirror behind him where it appeared a small corner of the mirror was missing. A piece small enough that it looked to Lazlo as though it would fit in the locket.
The Islander then looked on the back of the locket and read the Elvish and asked about its translation into the words of men, "Friend?! The incantation is the word: friend, really?" The next Chief of Alseid nodded his head, and said merely, "Yes, we are friends!" With that human and elf shook hands as good friends often do.
A little later that day, after a good meal and many good-byes, Lazlo was walking back through the bazaar once more only this time to leave and he was now alone. The elves on the street were still staring at him with great curiosity and whispering amongst each other.
Only now the looks of hatred were mostly gone. The rumors and stories of how he not only saved the next chief's life, but also his beloved, Cathinel. In addition, the life of the future clan chief after him, little Orro. Also, the tale of how he had slain the great snake that had inhabited the Sindarian ruins was already being cheered and toasted in pubs across town.
There were still a few elves that seem to still distrust him simply because he was a human. But he was okay with that. After all, no race is perfect, not elves, not humans. Still not bad for a day's work to change the hearts and minds of so many he told himself in a lighthearted way. He next wondered what those few stubborn elves would say when they learned that he, a barbarous human, was now allowed to enter Alseid whenever he wanted.
At the bottom of the rope ladder was Iolis and Findus waiting for him to guide him beyond the protective barrier of the mist that shrouds Alseid in safety. The green-haired elf spoke up, "Lord Ren has instructed us to escort you back to the human realm. From there Iolis will teleport you wherever in Falena you'd like to go be it back to Lunas or somewhere else."
Lazlo thought a moment and said, "Can you take me to East Palace?" Confused by the name, he gave a little more information. "You know the area where the Dawn Rune is held?" he added. Now they understood where he wanted to go.
Iolis added, "Also, Master Ren, forgot to mention, but if you want to come back here, but don't have an elf escort, he said as long as you are wearing the silver necklace you should be able to see through the mist and arrive at Alseid safely by yourself.
As the three guys made their way through the mist, the bald elf started talking about runes, which as a decent rune user himself; the topic fascinated him greatly. He was still in awe of how powerful Lazlo's True Rune was. He nearly fell over when he learned that what he saw in the Shrine was not even close to the full power of the Rune, which had killed the snake.
Lazlo said that he had to hold much energy back, so that it did not allow the whole ancient room to cave in around them, trapping them, or worse killing them under tons of falling rocks and debris. Once outside the fog, the intense colors Lazlo's eyes had finally gotten use to returned to normal. Well, normal for the human world, which now seemed dull by comparison.
Taking hands once more the three vanished in a flash of yellow light.
The next thing Lazlo knew he was standing by the lake that surrounded the East Palace. His two allies, both nodded their heads as though to say non-verbally until we meet again and then vanished in the same glimmer and flash of yellow light. Lazlo heard two female voices yelling in the distance.
He recognized both of them instantly. It was Tanya, his fellow ambassador from the Island Nations, and the other gentle voice belonged to Princess Olinda. Both embraced Lazlo immediately as though they had not seen him in a long time. Even though it had hardly been more than a few days. Then he looked more closely at Tanya's face.
There was a gladness there to see him again, but there was something else in it that was bothering her as well. "What is the matter, Tanya?" he asked her. "Lazlo, I am afraid we have a problem." she answered.
He now looked to Olinda for some kind of confirmation, but now her too previous smile upon first seeing him had turned into a frown as she nodded her head in affirmation of Tanya's words. "It appears we have more enemies than we thought!" another strange voice called out. A voice Lazlo had never heard before, but one that suddenly sent a chill running up his spine.