Chapter 2: The Search Begins
"What!?" Galvin yelled in anger at Illoz, "How in the name of Heck could you lose a napping child who was at best fifty meters away from you!? Gah!" Galvin made a futile attempt to recollect himself, instead just focusing his anger towards Zairos. "You, Wind Elf, you caused this by not keeping an eye on my son to begin with!"
"Woah, woah, now, I was just trying to get the blasted tent frames quickly," Zairos defended himself steadfast, "Besides, you're the one who didn't keep an eye out for your own son!"
Illoz refused to let Zairos downplay Galvin though, "Zairos, if you weren't incompetent the first time, you would never have been sent out there with Razen to begin with either, so how about you take responsibility for your actions, for the Avatars' sake!" Illoz's outburst had silenced both of them before any more bickering continued, so it could no longer pester Illoz and fuel his rage. The silence was not broken that night, rather the entire group quietly agreed upon resting and doubling their efforts the next morn.
Upon the fresh light of a new dawn, Galvin and Illoz arose to the sound of the Boveoxen drinking once more from the adjacent pond, causing a small rickety noise due to the clanking of the carriage wagon's wheels. Illoz sluggishly grabbed his spear and tapped Rifroz and Zairos as to awaken them, announcing, "Get up, you twits, we have an expert hunter's son to find, since one of you was incompetent enough to lose him, Zair'." At the last portion of his statement, Illoz gave a harsh glance towards Zairos. "But, I digress," Illoz then stated after sighing, "My rage will not find the poor boy any more so than one's incompetency."
"That's enough, Illoz," Galvin replied, "Zairos should've felt guilt long enough now, let's simply find Razen and not throw blame around."
"What of the wind dragon hunt for their scales? Is that to be delayed?" Illoz posed a good question to Galvin.
"Unfortunately, no, I can't delay this hunt, so Zairos, send word to Zaz' back in Deep Root that Razen is missing and get a search party set up, if you don't mind," Galvin responded, "And Illoz, Rifroz, you two are sticking with me, as I need your back-up for this."
"I would suppose that satisfies all of my questions, and likely the rest of the group's," Illoz spoke in response to Galvin. He let go of his spear and instead took Zairos, who was still asleep despite the noises and attempts at waking him, by the shoulder. Illoz dropped him some feet from the Boveoxen carriage, as to prevent him getting trampled by the unorthodox beasts of burden, who likely couldn't differentiate the recently fallen Wind Elf from anything else. Zairos jolted up, as he was just awoken by the sudden sound of his descent onto the ground by the lightning giant.
Before Zairos even was able to form a response, the Boveoxen began their way towards the Elemental Foothills, with a lone note gliding towards him. Upon the letter these words read, "Zairos, Illoz and Rifroz are more valuable than you currently in a hunt, therefore I have tasked you with going back to Deep Root to give word to Zazaith that Razen has gone missing. You and Zazaith are to arrange a search party and find my son, I expect him to be found by the time of my return, else I will forget about training you, even despite your brother's assistance some years back." Zairos didn't need a signature to tell that the note was written by Galvin.
The Wind Elf sighed and muttered to himself, "I guess that I'll be going back to Deep Root the hard way..."
I awoke in the midst of a jungle, where a Forgah that had been trying to take refuge was being fought off by a Creech, which proved to be an immense oddity to behold so far north on Battleonia. The brown-eyed vines and moss were easily able to fight off the peaceful, hoofed, and red-orange Fire Fields native. The Creech was then even more bizarrely assaulted by a new creature. I thought that it might have been a fabled Grakma. The creature's clunky, red body stood beneath its horned head; its neck curved from the top of its body to the back of the head. The Grakma's gray eyes gave the impression of a saddened person; it is wondered if the Grakma actively kill or are forced to by powers greater than them. Its entirety marked with odd tattoos of unknown meaning. The demon's forearms looked akin to the bones of a human's, but they ended off with vicious three fingers that were tipped by claws. A long, snakelike tongue occasionally slipped out from its maw. Behind its large body, there was a scorpion-like tail that moved up and down. When one looked at its size, they would be surprised that the demon's thin upper legs could actually work.
Shortly following its arrival, the demon butchered the weakened moss creature by besieging the wounded vines with walls of fire and flame. This was quite fitting for a Grakma's status as a greater demon. The outgrowths on the Creech's large hump back ignited first, and the flames quickly reached its bronze-colored teeth. The blazes continued spreading until even the brown ends of its legs were up in flame. With the forest protector drowned in fire, the demon motioned its red hot claws towards me, and this resulted in me fleeing some feet away, in hopes that the Creech would be avenged by nearby brethren.
To my fortune, a nest filled with other Creeches felt the disruption issued by the burning of their sibling and rushed to the scene. They immediately began to rush the greater demon and were able to subdue him by outright overpowering him with sheer numbers. The numerous Creeches' jaws and grimy legs wrapped around the Grakma's legs and arms, eventually chewing through them entirely, leaving the fire and darkness demon helpless to the highly flammable creatures about it. Though, it wasn't long before an Adalon manifested, with these words spoken upon the completion of its embodiment, "Where is the Grakma, my Lords have sent me to locate, subdue, and interrogate the blasphemous creature."
The chilling words and entrance of the Adalon startled and even flash froze the entire flock of Creeches; the cold made the vines and moss of the Creech shrivel in the frost, leaving only me and the screeching remains of the demon to answer the Adalon. The Adalon continued to look about, seeming as though it were blind or simply incapable of being aware of the screaming head of its quarry. I, having just concluded that the torn apart creature must be this Grakma, was able to muster the bravery to approach the light and ice aligned golem. I only now realized the torn status of the majority of my clothing, and I announced to the entity, "Your target is already subdued and at your feet, though, if you would pardon my curiosity, what are you and why were you sent to catch this... thing?"
The yellow-crystal entity blurted, "My apologies, dear human child, but I am afraid that I am unable to satisfy your curiosity. You have my gratitude for the subduing of the Grakma though, therefore I shall ask you for your name and attempt to return the favor later on."
I looked peculiarly at the Adalon as it declared this peculiar proposal, and it wasn't long before I timidly answered, "I am... Razen... Veldrin."
"Razen Veldrin, you say? The name sounds familiar to my elemental golem ears... Bah, I must return to my Lords, but best of luck to you, Veldrin!" With those parting words, the golem grabbed the now whimpering and bleeding beast and dissipated into a cold flash of light.
With the leave of the creature, I was able to think clearly and deduced that I had no idea whatsoever of where I was. With this in mind, I began contemplating and speculating as to possible theories of how I was able to find my way into this unknown copse in my sleep, and the only reasonable conclusion was that the Ribalds and Pancivals from the glade took a joke way too far. Though, this theory had some gaping flaws, such as that Ribalds and Pancivals are only capable of short burst-like teleports and that I was way too far away for that to be plausible. By that logic, I was able to reach the idea that I had no idea of where I was or how I got there, but I did know that more than likely I was too out-of-range to be able to beckon for assistance via verbal means.
I left my pondering aside though, and began to examine my surroundings for a means to try to return to either my father or Deep Root. Surrounding me was a surplus of unknown flora and trees that spanned far beyond my reach, meaning there was no chance for me trying to climb them for a vantage point. This proved to be a massive hit to my morale, as it meant that I would have to wander about for a much greater deal of time prior to being able to obtain a similar viewpoint to gain knowledge of the vicinity about me.
A Bubble Elemental, Zarlath, Adalon, and a small pack of Lectros were at a gathering, the Adalon being the same one that had met Razen prior. The Zarlath had begun the conversation of the sojourn with, "So, Myodei and his seven companions truly escaped from the Planes?" Its four arms lightly waved about as it balanced its bulky upper body on its tail. The two antennae swayed back and forth from the Zarlath's shoulders. Above, between, and below his four arms, the Zarlath had six fins.
"Yes, Veqwei, Myodei, and the others have indeed found their way into Lore once more, to wreak some form of havoc..." The Bubble Elemental answered solemnly. The many bubbles that made her form suggested that it'd be easy for her to pop.
"Can Neso confirm this, I'm not convinced, I mean, weren't those eight under strict watch?" The Zarlath persisted.
"Neso did confirm it, for I am serving as her mouth for this meeting," The Bubble Elemental barked in response.
"I believe it was Iskrema who was assigned to watch over Myodei, an unwise choice if you ask me. I can't imagine why Kyanos would allow such an incompetent decision," The blind Adalon blurted.
"I know that you have much esteem in Kyanos' wisdom, Kydoz, but you must realize that the Elemental Avatars are not infallible," The Zarlath responded wisely.
"Indeed, Xalvyk, but it is sad to admit that one's embodiment of their god is capable of such error, if not heretical," Kydoz replied.
The Lectros then decided to, in a wave of clashed voices, declare that, " Haeos supports any motion to recapture Myodei and his subordinates, their insubordination can prove most hazardous, especially if Iskrema is intending on joining them." The numerous blue spheres floated with their arms swaying about. All Lectros' arms ended with claws that had two fingers.
"That...was surprisingly astute and complex, I would've imagined that I had said it myself, rather than a small mob of Lectros," Xalvyk blurted the words from his mouth, in a condescending mannerism. His four arms were in a relaxed gesture, as their three fingers and sole thumbs were interlocked into one another. His six back fins drooped, and his two antennae that spurted from his shoulders stood tall. Its tail supported its body, and went behind him some odd number of feet.
"Well, wasn't the last group that proved to banish Myodei and company back to the Elemental Planes led by a Veldrin?" Kydoz queried.
"If I recall correctly, I believe so, though, why is this relevant, Kydoz?" The Bubble Elemental answered this time, and posed her own question. Her expression was indiscernible, due to the crude structure of her body and face. Bubbles made a rough estimate to the upper body of a person and her lower body matched more to a bubbly slime. She had only three fingers to each of her hands and no thumb.
"Well, Hyzela, I happened to actually come across a Veldrin earlier today whenever I was sent to abduct a Grakma for interrogation," Kydoz stated with his typical cold voice.
"Really now? This is...intriguing," Xalvyk retorted, "Though, was it the hunter, Galvin, or one of his sons?"
"One of his sons, I would presume, he had said his name was Razen Veldrin, after all."
I had finally come across a sapient creature, after witnessing the blonde, green-robed, and winged Waldgeist fight off the remnants of the Grakma and its victims. The entity in question was one of the Pancivals that had been at the glade, I could tell as it had a rare segmentation in its horns, in that they were striped with black and light gray; that was nigh impossible to occur in another during the same generation. The Pancival was amazingly not in a playful mood, rather the opposite. In fact, it seemed frightened and terrified, like it had been threatened by a Behemoth riding a Hunting Roc mounted on a Hydra, or in laymen's terms, was in way over his head.
The Pancival panicked and cackled in terror when he saw me. "You! You were...You were supposed to be dead! Ooh, the speaking willow will have my head for this! No, no, he will never see this Pancival again!" With that, the Pancival began hopping about frantically, in some distorted form of flight. He was simply running circles, tiring himself unknowingly. Eventually, I found the nerve to tell the crazy thing, "Stop, your terror isn't getting you anywhere!"
"So misled you are, little boy, the speaking willow could actually be any tree." The Pancival began speaking in rhythm for a response, "Therefore, I know not a place to hide, so I run in circles of thought for my mind!"
"Well, would you mind answering three things for poor, little me then?" I beckoned the Pancival stuck in rhythm, "These questions being, how did you get me here, where are we, and what is this speaking willow?"
"The speaking willow says he is the wisdom and patience of stone and the anonymity of nature, though he feels different than any nature spirit that I've met prior!" The Pancival began, "As to why you're here, it beckoned me to dispose of you, and so here we are in this jungle-inclined mountain valley to the east of the Maguswood Forest. It's quite grimy, and to be honest, my first response to seeing you still alive is blimey! I would've thought that terrible Grakma would've blazed you up, considering how close you were to its claws and burning cinders."
"You sent that demonic thing at me!?" I blurted in an outrage at the highly plausible chance that I could've died due to this frantic prankster's tricks.
"No, I happened upon it and lured it out here in hopes that it'd try for some human flesh, it is no lie! Now, I must go, bye, bye!" The Pancival immediately jumped up and kicked me, changing his flight to what might have been the Neverglades, since we were relatively proximate to them. Now, once more left with only myself as company, I began to ponder if it'd be faster to try to hike to either Oaklore Keep or try for Willowshire to the north, since I found it doubtful that my father or Zazaith would venture into the depths of the mountain vales north of the Kingdom of Sek-Duat III. I would rarely, if ever, be willing go on such a path, especially with a lack of evidence to support that I'd even been there after the amount of effort necessary to delve deep into these valleys.