Chapter 9: The Terrifying Realization

Dusk came. Myrielle came running in the dark woods, wearing a brown loose-hooded cloak to conceal herself from the monsters. She arrived to the havens and met a tall light green-haired woman.

"I've got tons of them here, Marina! You've gotta see them!" Myrielle flashed the brown bag made of cloth she is holding. She put it on a wooden table when the bag protruded what sort of looked like pincers.

Marina blinked twice, looking surprised. "Are those..?"

"Uh-huh!" the young female Elf nodded. "Crabs and lobsters! They were tons of them. I had fun chasing after them~"

"Good thing you made it back here, Myrielle…" Marina said in relief. "You could have been attacked by those monsters out there."

"They were fast asleep, anyway." Myrielle sat on the wooden stool and heaved a sigh. She looked towards the scenery outside that is being obliterated by the darkness. Only the moon gave faint illuminations to some certain areas. "Gee, I have no idea what's going on. Why did they evacuate us from our homes all of a sudden?"

Marina suddenly seemed uncertain as she pried for words.

"Another siege will take place very soon… right here in the Elven Forest." Lire, please be okay. Ryan…

Myrielle jerked at the woman, eyeing her in surprise. "What? A…siege? A raid?!"

"I-I don't know. That's what I've heard." Marina put her glance on the brown bag. "Get those crabs and lobsters ready. I'll prepare the pot."

The young girl's lips formed a pout. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"No… of course not," Marina said while preparing her cookware. "I'm as clueless as everyone."

Myrielle heaved a sigh. "At least Lire is safe. And I like that guy, he's cute and… he's adorable~!" Her lips formed an excited toothy grin as her cheeks flushed when she smirked. "Ohohoho~ which gives me an idea~"

"Myrielle, you're not performing your mischievous shenanigans. You've caused enough trouble since Lire's parents were still alive back then."

"Oh puhleeze, it's only a harmless prank. Just for good laughs. I could use some comic relief to lighten things up~"

She winced at every step she made. The wound on her leg remained soupy, causing light-colored blood to seep down her calf. Since she was told to let it bleed, she had no choice although she wiped off some of the flowing blood with a handkerchief.

"Climb on," Lire 's cheeks flushed when Ryan sat on the ground on one knee, looking over his shoulder and offering her for a piggyback. Lire didn't make any protest as she rode on his back. Ryan slowly stood up, holding under her knees securely while the archer placed her arms around his neck.

She wanted to thank him. From the past events, Ryan showed hospitality especially towards her. Despite some things that he did to her and the words that he said to her, he chose to be with her… she chose to stick with him and he even insisted to accompany her – implying that he is worried about her in spite of what happened back then.

"Ryan, where are we going?" Lire asked.

"Away from here," was the druid's reply. Part of Lire thought that he should have transformed into his nephilim form so it would be less hassle for him to carry her whilst flying in the skies. She opened her mouth to speak but decided not to say anything. Maybe Ryan offered to carry her voluntarily…

"But what about the others? Umm.. Marina? Lian?"

"I'm as worried as you are," Ryan's voice relented as he walked. "We have to get out of here and meet with the Chase as soon as possible."

Lire remained silent and leaned her face on his shoulder. "So we're off to the outskirts, right?"

Ryan nodded. "That's where we'll stay for the time being. Oh.. Lire,"

"Umm.. yes?"

"Since we're going to the village just outside this forest, let's buy some dinner together. How's that?"

Lire's cheeks flushed once more when her lips formed a smile. She leaned on his shoulder to hide her blush as Ryan heard her soft giggles. "Of course, Ryan. And… is it a – "

"Yes, it's a date." He said. "If you're feeling tired, you can fall asleep. We'll be there shortly." He stared towards the night sky where his emerald gaze glistened from the moon's glow. "I ran away from my tribe just for you." Because I want to be with you. I… I want to make it all up to you. "I was supposed to lead them…"

"Ryan…" Lire said softly. "I… I also ran away from my tribe. You know… the Elven Corps? You see, I have an elder brother who looked after me before I was sent to Marina. He didn't like the idea of me joining the Chase because he said it's dangerous. Since then, he's been overprotective and worried about me… even nagging the members of the Elven Corps just to monitor me."

"And who's he?"

"Ladmir. He's an Elven magician and one of the greatest influences in our civilization. He's been like my mother and father ever since our parents died. He's the only family I have…" Lire explained. "And umm… Lian's your sister, right?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad she's not sick today… unlike before. "

Lire frowned. "I'm sorry…" She tightened her hold around his neck, almost pulling him close to her. All she ever wanted was to be with him, to forget about her elder brother who keeps on mothering her, to forget about her past…

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost there. Are you tired?"

"No," the female Elf slowly shook her head. "Ryan, thank you…"

Ryan felt his heart melting just by hearing her soft voice. He wished that they – just the two of them – will be together like this. He wanted to spend more time with her – to progress their relationship. He wanted to hold her close… kiss her…

We would have been happy together… until he came.

The dimension doors just kept on multiplying. The powers of the demons have grown stronger that they have learned spells on their own just to enter Aernas. Dio, the head of a demon clan – The Burning Canyon – whose powers were sealed to keep them under control, sensed the siege which his tribe is about to cause. So he entered Aernas to destroy the dimension doors – to keep the rest of his tribes from entering and send them back to Elyos. However, he can't do this alone.

He needs company. Until he met four humans.

"How did this happen?" a girl with purple locks asked, full of hesitation in her voice. This human is a magician. By the looks of it, she seemed exceptionally skilled in magic. Dio observed them one by one. Four of them are males – a red-haired fighter, an albino-haired male who had the skills and abilities of a ninja, an indigo-haired knight who excels in both swordsmanship and magic and the last one is someone whom he finds familiar. His dark locks and black eyes are peculiar. He thought he'd recognized them. But that's one of his strangest memories which he unconsciously erased from his mind.

"I assume that my tribesmen studied magic and their spells to open dimensions succeeded," Dio explained. "The reason I'm here is that I have to destroy those doors so I can send them all back to the demon world."

"But what about those replicas? Those… those copies of Gaikoz!" Arme is exclaiming now. "It's impossible! Kaze'aze couldn't have gone this far!"

"Oh, the Dark Queen," Dio said. "As far as I have heard, she is the cause of the five-year war of the two kingdoms here in Aernas."

Ronan flinched slightly as he frowned. "…yes. And it was the most devastating event, well, in my entire life…"

The purple-haired magician couldn't pull herself together from what she saw. "Why? How can this be? I-I thought we've defeated them already! Why – "

"Arme!" The silver-haired ninja boy put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't over-think stuff. We'll figure this out sooner."

Arme heaved a heavy sigh. "I just don't understand! My magic research is all messed up!"

"We'll find out the culprit behind this if we enter in one of the dimension doors." Dio stated, causing the five humans with him to stare at him wide-eyed along with the female magician gasping in shock.

"Are you insane?" Sieghart growled. "You're going to put us in danger!"

"It's the only way!" Dio retorted.

Jin suddenly cut through. "Hold on. I think Dio should do that alone since he knows about the demon worlds more than us. I don't think humans are welcome there. If any chance should a human enter Elyos, the demons will feel threatened because an outsider has discovered their realm."

Sadly, he was right. A human will be in grave danger upon entering Elyos. Dio cannot just bring them along with him. Jin seemed to be pointing out that Dio will even have liabilities so he decided not to go along with his comrades. Judging the situation in the human world, he can see the reason why.

"I understand," Dio said. "But you still have to help me get rid of these dimension doors."

"We will," Ronan agreed as he glanced at his companions. "Spread out. Miss Edel and Harpe are coming with the Serdin and Kanavan knights. And please inform the Knight Master and the rest of the Chase!"

"Wait, how do you know?" Jin furrowed his eyebrow.

"Arme casted this spell about telepathy that will gain access to mental communication. Jin, your tribe is also included – Silver Knights, correct?"

What the hell? "Yeah?"

"Bermesiah and Silver Land are threatened right at this moment." Also the land of the gods. Kaze'aze must have affiliated with a greater agent. Ronan pondered for a while when he started to be filled with worry. Elesis… where could she be? Suddenly, his thoughts went to something else.

Ryan… Lire! I've forgotten about them! I have to find them!

"Ronan, where do you think you're going?!" Sieghart yelled after him just as when he ran off – away from them.

"To the Elven Forest!" the spell knight cried.

"WHAT?! You're going back there?"

"I have to, alright! I have to find them!"

"Find who? Those two Elves again?" the gladiator suddenly ran after him. "Why are you so obsessed with finding them, Ronan? Don't tell me you're bringing up that again!"

Ronan sighed abruptly, paused on his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "Look, I have to, okay?! It's just… I'm damn worried about them!"

Sieghart furrowed his eyebrow. "Worried about their relationship? Ronan, that is none of your business! They can resolve it on their own. Why don't you just give it a rest and focus on doing your job or find Red!"

Tch. Ronan grimaced and balled his hands into fists, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. There is something that Ryan doesn't want to tell me. He's probably up to something. Two weeks have passed and still no word from him. Something must have happened.

Suddenly, Lass, Arme and Jin caught up with them.

"Where are you going?" Jin cried.

"He's going back to the Elven Forest to disturb the lovey-dovey couple." Sieghart answered.

"Lire!" Arme cried. "She ran away from us! W-Where could she be?"

"If you're going back there, we're coming with you, Ronan!" Lass shot Ronan a leer. "If you're planning to confront Ryan on your own, I won't allow that. He's our brother!"

"Umm… I hate to burst your bubble, guys," Arme chimed in. "Can we stuff our tummies first? I'm terribly hungry. I'd never thought breaking dimension doors will take hours! And Ronan, that Miss Edel and that Harpe you're talking about should have arrived here. What's taking them so long?"

Ronan's indigo irises shrank. Arme's question made him think. What's keeping them from coming? Come to think about it, it's already dusk. They should be here by now assisting them. When he realized the answer, his indigo irises trembled and his mouth hung open.

No. It can't be.

"Ronan!" Lass yelled, getting impatient. Ronan stood there, frozen on his place. He couldn't think properly. He didn't want it to be true. He found himself overwhelmed by the grave situation they're into. A grave situation that could destroy Aernas…

Lass sighed abruptly, shook his head and glanced at Arme. "Let's go. We're wasting our time here."

"But what about Dio – " Arme gasped when she found the demon gone. "He was just behind us! Where did he run off to?"

"Worry about him later. Let's find some food before we go!" the thief took the mage's arm and pulled her along with him.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Jin chased after them until Sieghart rolled his eyes and followed behind. But he looked over his shoulder. "Ronan, c'mon!"

Ronan, too overwhelmed by his thoughts, snapped out of it and followed, sighing in defeat.

UPDATED: 04/19/14

I'll end the chapter here. Just a reminder: The sequel for Serdin University (for those who follow it) will be delayed as I am focused on continuing this story which is the sequel of Broken and Solitary. Please bear with the delays. I'll keep this story alive until it's finished and publish the Serdin University sequel right after.

For extra information regarding this story, view my profile for notifications. Thanks for your consideration and patience, everyone. Please review :3