Aisha handed the purple gem she had created to Orpheus. The crippled knight looked down at it; his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand what he was supposed to do with it.
"It's a physical enhancer," the mage explained. "Leyla told me that maybe I should look into what I learnt before, and I remembered that my grandpa said that we could strengthen the body through magical crystals. So, this is the first successful prototype. Try to use it."
The amber-eyed knight chuckled. "It's a great piece of work, girlie. I can feel the power in it, but—" He handed the crystal back to her. "It doesn't seem to be adapted to my mana circuits all that well."
The mage almost wanted to scream at her failure, but throwing the crystal away was akin to throwing endless hours of effort down the drain. With a heavy sigh, she took it back and put it in her pockets. She clenched her hands into tight fists, gazing down at her latest failure.
It was another temporary setback. She would find other ways to overcome this.
"Well, I ran out of materials… I'm sorry, Orpheus," she grumbled, cursing herself and the stupid, old Lieutenant who extended her sentence even more after her momentary leave with Ciel and the rest. "You'll have to wait for a bit longer."
"Don't bother any longer, girlie," the wheelchair-bound soldier sighed. "I've made my peace with my condition."
Aisha straightened up, her soul stirred with indignation. With venom in her mouth and a fiery glare, she shot back at Orpheus' pessimism. "Well, I haven't! I've waged my pride as a mage on this, and I swear in the name of the Landars that I will find a cure!"
She turned away and rushed out of his room in the medical ward. Aisha closed the door softly when she noticed Leyla, the female knight overseeing her sentence, was in front of her, arms crossed, resting her back on the opposite wall. If Aisha had to guess, she was around her mid-thirties, but her face was still mostly flawlessly young, except for tiny wrinkles around her eyes that appeared whenever Leyla smiled.
"I take it that it didn't work?" Leyla asked. Her long, elaborate earrings chimed when she tilted her head at the mage.
"No," Aisha quietly admitted to the emerald-haired woman. "But I can't give up."
Leyla gave her an approving nod. "That's the spirit. Can I let you in on a little secret?"
The mage tilted her head at her, and the female knight gestured for her to approach. After Aisha did so, Leyla took out a few folded sheets from her uniform's left pocket and handed them to the young Landar.
"This is your ticket to get most of what you need," Leyla whispered. "Got a map, a route, and the requirements for you to get Lowe to approve."
Aisha's eyes widened as she looked at what she had been given. The maps were impeccably made and more recent than those she had taken from her homeland. The route, list of spots of interest and how to claim enough rations for a week's long trip were also included in the papers. The last one was a handwritten request to Lieutenant Lowe. It specified the rules and codes that could allow Aisha to escape the confines of the El Search Party's base, including the approval of at least three high-ranking knights, a dozen knights and five non-combatant members.
"Leyla, you…" Aisha gasped, not knowing what to say or do to thank her and all the others who had left their signatures on the letter as a sign of their approval.
The first thing that came was a short chuckle and a smile she could not wipe off her face. Then, she looked back at all the signatures, which felt extremely heavy in her hands but also…liberating. The Sanderian mage took a deep breath, still trying to reconcile the meaning of what she was holding.
She let out a shaky exhale, and a familiar sting in her eyes made her preemptively wipe the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you," Aisha finally said, her throat tightening. "Thank you so much…"
Leyla only gave her a friendly but far too strong pat on the back, as was her habit. "Thank all of us later with some good Sanderian food for the Harmony Festival."
Aisha nodded.
"Let's go see that cranky old man first. He can't keep refusing now."
The two women left the medical ward side by side and with high hopes.
Lowe barely eyed the letter before tossing it back on his desk. "You're short of one signature. Was that all you wanted to show me?"
Leyla's onyx gaze visibly narrowed, and she clenched her fists so suddenly that Aisha expected her to blow up in front of her superior.
Yet, she only briefly bit her lip, cleared her throat and calmly faced Lowe's dismissive attitude. "Sir, I say this respectfully, but you should perhaps read the letter more carefully. There's—"
"Tell me, soldier," Lowe interjected, his grey gaze fixed on Leyla like a hawk. It was so intense even her anger seemed to flee from her face under his scrutiny. "If I called Wyll Gesson to testify that he supports your initiative, would he come? Is he even an active member of our base?"
Leyla remained silent, and Aisha, too, had nothing to say. It was perhaps not a written rule, but it was only fair to ask that all the knights required to support the request be on active duty and present on the premises.
Lowe sighed. "You should be glad that I only question you on that and not how disrespectful it is for you to ask for the signatures of high-ranking knights unrelated to our division. If that's all, please go away now."
"Well, that's not all, sir," Leyla clarified. "If you're adamant about getting hung up on unwritten details of our code, then is it not right to give us a chance to rectify our letter to suit your new standards?"
The grey-eyed Lieutenant briefly narrowed his eyes at her but soon found his usual calm. "Fine. Get me the signature of one knight from Squad Three. That knight must be capable of using rank zero combat spells to accompany you on your journey."
Squad Three. That was Liam's Squad. Getting anyone from that division to approve of anything other than putting her back in a cell was impossible. Aisha looked at Leyla, who only seemed even more determined than ever.
"We'll be right back, sir." Leyla's tone was firm, almost harsh.
The female knight grabbed Aisha's hand and stormed out of the room with such big strides that the young mage had to run lest she be dragged like a piece of furniture.
Once they were mid-way to Squad Three's barracks, Aisha called for her to stop. It was excruciatingly difficult to keep at her pace for longer than a few minutes. Leyla continued for a few paces before finally stopping and letting go of her hand.
"Sorry about this, Aisha," the female knight sighed before putting her hands on her hips. "I thought we had it in the bag. But! Not all is lost."
Leyla turned around and offered her a big smile and a thumbs-up. "I got some friends in Squad Three, y'know? It'll all work out, trust me."
"A-Are you sure?" Aisha stammered. The barracks right ahead already made her feel a pit in her stomach. Though she knew that not everyone had changed their mind about her, most were not openly hostile anymore. That is, most except the knights of squad three. She rubbed her arms, already feeling a shiver run down her spine at the idea of getting any closer to the lion's den.
The green-haired knight gave her a nod. "Yes. Wanna wait for me here while I get their signatures?"
Aisha vigorously nodded. With that, Leyla dashed the rest of the way to the barracks, leaving the Sanderian mage to rub her magic-suppressant bracelets. She had first started by trying to see if she could break free from them, but she kept doing it even after figuring there was no way to bypass their control. It became a habit, something as natural as counting down or taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"What are you doing here? Did you get lost, too?" A boy's voice chimed in from her left.
Aisha turned towards him and saw that it was Elsword, dressed in a long-sleeved red shirt that matched poorly with his white shorts. He carried two trunks, one in each hand, though one was bigger.
The mage furrowed her brow at her question. "I've been here long enough to know where I am at all times, dummy. I'm just waiting for someone."
"Well, excuse me for asking," he shot back. "If you know this base that well, can you tell me where Squad Three's barracks are?"
The mage paused at his question. He was probably the only knight in that Squad who might agree to help her. Then again, he was the only recruit who had become a knight and stayed in the base. The chances he could launch any novice spells were nearly nonexistent.
"Aisha!" Leyla hollered as she dashed back to her. To the mage's chagrin, the female knight was alone.
"Did anyone sign?" Aisha asked, daring to hang onto the last bit of hope. Yet, the green-haired woman shook her head.
"Sign what?" Elsword asked.
Leyla tilted her head at him, "Oh, you're Lord Felford's son, right?"
"Yeah, I am," Elsword said, blushing slightly with a small smile.
Aisha almost stumbled at the reveal. She took a closer look at Elsword. His clothes were no finer than any other villager's, although his luggage was more luxurious than those commoners could afford. Still, Elsword and the Admiral looked nothing alike. She figured that he took more after his mother.
"What Squad are you assigned to, kid?"
"Squad Three," Elsword answered. "I just got—"
"Squad Three?" Leyla almost choked on her words. She grabbed Elsword by the shoulders, and her intense, black gaze lit up with hope. "Hey, do you happen to know grade zero combat spells?"
The red-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Flame Geyser, or Triple Geyser, or Unlimited Blade! Hell, even Mega Slash could work," She excitedly enumerated the most common grade zero spells to the boy as she started to shake him a little. "Can you use any of those spells?"
"Uh, well, not Triple Geyser, but—"
Aisha could hardly believe her ears, but before she could join Leyla in her excitement and drag Elsword straight into Lowe's office, the female knight took the boy to leave his belongings in the barracks. At the end of the day, Aisha supposed it was fair to let him settle into his new life before he could help them.
'And maybe talk to him about how his Squad feels about me,' she dejectedly thought as she found herself alone once more.
Aisha took a deep breath, and pain shot through her nostrils. The air got crisper and colder, like winter. Yet, there was a dryness to it that had never been before. It was not smokey like the one from a fire or the desert. The air was oppressing, burning her nostrils and spreading its biting, abnormally cold temperature into her lungs until it seeped into her bones.
The Sanderian mage coughed, worsening her pain instead of ridding her lungs from the discomfort. With nothing else to cover herself from the wind current, she covered her nose and mouth with her sleeves and took as little breaths as she could as she dashed to Squad Three's barracks. Whatever they might say to her would be far less serious than ruining her lungs by staying outside.
The cold breezes usually passed by fast, but this one stayed. Every little breath was painful, like needles digging through her flesh. Aisha almost wanted to curse herself for being so far from safety.
The air carried death; it was not like the smell of corpses but rather the scent she would expect if she had to imagine what agony smelt like. Aisha felt her nose get stuffy, and blood came dripping off it, sullying her clothes. She did not even knock before opening the heavy wooden door to the shock of thirty knights – including Leyla and Elsword – who wordlessly watched her slam the door as fast as she had opened it.
Aisha collapsed onto her knees and coughed. She could not stop coughing and dry heaving from her short ordeal outside. The relatively stale air inside was a blessing compared to what she had just gone through. She heard the knights' confused, perhaps disapproving whispers, but no one dared to move.
That is, except for the son of the Admiral. He pushed an old, rusty bucket her way.
"Here, just in case," Elsword said. His ruby gaze barely lingered on her before he walked away. "I'll go out the back and get some water for—"
"Don't!" Aisha screamed, finally regaining her strength to stand up. "Don't open any doors or windows. Don't go out. Not for now."
"So, are you here to boss us around?" A silver-haired knight asked. His crimson gaze narrowed at her. He looked to be slightly younger than Leyla. "Squad Three can't do their duties until you say so?"
"Have some damn tact, Wayne," Leyla shot back as she put herself between Aisha and the other knights. She looked defiantly at all of them. "And that goes for all of you. Is that clear?"
"You gave up your position in this Squad, Ley," Wayne countered, giving her a dismissive shrug. "You have no say in how we treat that little criminal."
Despite his arrogant gaze, looking around for support, Wayne found only avoidant gazes. Most of the other knights glanced or nudged their heads towards either Leyla or Elsword as if to give a silent explanation for their lack of support. It only made Wayne frown at them and clench his fists so tight his knuckles turned white.
"I outrank you all here," the female knight reminded him. Her tone held a poised authority that seared away any ideas Wayne might have had to lash out at anyone. "Besides, Liam is gone, and none of you have half of what it takes to replace him. Is it not normal for your previous squad leader to take charge until Lowe sorts this matter out?"
The silver-haired knight only clicked his tongue and went away, muttering something under his breath.
When Leyla turned her attention to her, Aisha saw only her gentler side, inviting her to sit down and let her examine her. Leyla had some basic training as a healer, as was required for all sub-lieutenants.
"What happened outside?" The female knight asked her as she hovered mana-covered hands around the mage's head.
"It's the cold wind. It felt like breathing in poison. This isn't your usual weather, is it?"
Elsword gravely shook his head, and so did many other knights.
"Your mana circuits seem to have been shaken up quite a bit," Leyla told her as she stepped away. "But I doubt it caused permanent damage. One small mana potion and some rest should fix it."
A pink-haired recruit, a golden-eyed man in his late twenties, or perhaps slightly past thirty, gravely shook his head. "Leyla, call me crazy if you must, but I think something's up with the Cap. Something real bad."
"Well, shouldn't that be obvious?" Elsword bluntly said. "He resigned but never returned to pack his bags or say goodbye."
Leyla chuckled at his comment. "Of course, rookie. But, see, when Robert is—"
"Wrong twin, ma'am."
"Oh, right!" Leyla gasped before shamefully putting her hand over her face. "Darn it! I'm so sorry, Darren. I've grown used to seeing your brother around more in Squad Ten…"
Darren shrugged. "It's alright, ma'am. It's good to see you again and with a less foul mouth, too."
Leyla smirked at him. "Don't ruin your squad leader's image to the Admiral's son like that. I wanna get promoted one day, y'know?"
They gave a joking look to Elsword, who only seemed to step back in response to suddenly being the centre of attention.
"I, uh, if you train hard, you should qualify for promotions anyway, ma'am," he said, giving the green-haired woman a hesitant yet earnest smile and double thumbs-up.
Aisha rolled her eyes at how the joke had gone over his head. Not only that, but his answer was insulting. The knights paused for a moment before Leyla let out a hearty laugh; some other knights followed.
"Ah, so the Admiral wouldn't mind my lack of etiquette as long as I keep getting better with my lance?" she asked him, giving him a strong tap on the shoulder that did not put him too off-balance. "That's a way better attitude compared to our Lieutenant."
'The perks of being a muscle-head, I suppose…'
Steps rushed from further down the hall, and Wayne erupted back into the room, his eyes wide with fear and with a nosebleed.
Leyla looked sternly at him. "Did you go outside to prove her wrong, Wayne?"
"No," the knight answered. "I only contacted the men Lowe put to guard the northern entrance. They're not answering. Neither are those from Squad One on the southern gate."
The female knight furrowed her brow, "So, did you inform Lowe?"
Wayne shook his head. "Just connecting through the orb was exhausting. I got like this after failing to activate the orb once."
He took out a flask of mana. The silver-haired knight pulled the cork with his teeth and chugged the contents in one shot. Then, he continued, "I only managed to activate it after holding a piece of processed El in my hands. I doubt it's safe to use any spells with this winter breeze going around. It's here to stay, in all likelihood."
Darren clicked his tongue. "Winter sure is coming early and violently, isn't it? I can't believe we have to go along with that bullshit."
"I've always thought he was only kept on a leash by the Captain," Leyla spat out, "But that hardly matters now. We need to act before winter kills the entire village."
"Wait, Leyla," Aisha finally interjected. "What do you mean before winter kills the entire village? I get the weather isn't normal, but—"
"Remember the area you discovered? The one with the blood mages and their ritual?" The female knight asked her.
The Sanderian mage nodded, and the woman continued, "Well, if you've read your history, you should know what these winter breezes actually are, no?"
Aisha furrowed her brow. The legends spoke of deadly winters where all life withered away in areas where the El Energy had fully collapsed. The forest had been colder around the area where Lu and Ain went to investigate, but if they had grown closer to the epicentre…
Her eyes widened. She almost wanted to slap herself for spending so much time neck-deep in research that she had blindly accepted Lowe's asinine explanation of the massive collapse of El Energy.
The barracks were probably insulated from the effects of the collapse due to the pieces of processed El in the lamps and old equipment stored or hung all around. As far as she knew, the outposts around the gates had no such protection.
'But if the El Energy collapses in such a big area, that can only mean one thing…'
The mage immediately shook her head when she realised what it was. "No. Nobody would be that stupid. Everyone knows that all life depends on the El staying where it is!"
"Maybe the demons did it," Elsword offered.
"If you're right, rookie," Leyla sternly replied, "Then may the goddess save us all. Without El Energy, we can't use magic against them."
Darren gravely nodded, "And if that girl's state is any indication, we might not even last long outside. I think it's safer to assume that those on guard duty are no longer with us."
"We'll do what we can with all the processed El we can find," Leyla solemnly announced. "Wayne, Darren. Get some pieces of El and come with me. We'll look for our comrades at the gates and report to Lowe."
"I don't think he'll listen, Ley. We can just stay here and—"
The female knight glared at him. "I will not let that man lead us any longer if he chooses to ignore the gravity of this situation. And you shouldn't either."
Wayne blinked. "You're not suggesting that we…"
Leyla remained silent, but the fire in her eyes was enough of an answer. Darren got up and acknowledged her order, making Wayne more nervous.
"You guys can't be serious! Mutiny? Seriously? Do you even know what that's gonna look like on our records?"
Darren stopped and turned to look at his comrade. "I don't expect a Hamelian to understand what honour is, but I hope you're not callous enough to ignore that every second that passes, there are villagers that could be dying."
"Darren, don't put it like that," Leyla immediately corrected him before turning towards the silver-haired knight. "It doesn't matter where Wayne was born or what his morals are. He knows he's my subordinate. And I know he'll do what I ask because his job is following his superior's orders. You'll do your job, right, Wayne?"
Wayne pursed his lips for a moment but finally acknowledged Leyla's orders and followed Darren down the corridor.
The three outsiders were guided into an ample, almost regal room made of granite where vines gracefully grew as if to decorate its pillars and the edges of the ceiling. There were no windows, but the light of an El shard filtered from above, giving the room a warm, green light that spread like the blooms of a tree. Sigils and runes were carved on the walls, but their power dwarfed compared to the one emanating from the people sitting around a massive, round wooden table.
The table was nothing more than a giant, crystalised tree stump from where eight chairs made from vines almost seemed to sprout from the stump's roots. Four chairs were filled with elves, including Elder Branwen. There were two men to her left, likely Druids, judging from their hooded cloaks and the spirit tattoos that marked their faces. The other two were winged elven women with bright green dresses adapted for combat. One carried a bow and the other a sword. Neither of them were Lime; they looked older, and their battle scars testified to their combat experience.
This gathering was unusual, but there was nothing to do but sit and listen to whatever the Elder needed to tell them.
Ainchase sat in front of Elder Branwen. Luciela chose the chair to his left, and Ciel took the one to his right. The vines on the chairs moved to bring them closer to the table, where the full force of the elves' power could be felt in full. This display of power would have been insignificant in his true form, but now he could feel pins and needles in his hands, and a shiver ran down his spine. Though the two demons tensed at the feeling, the Celestial showed no discomfort. This sensation was expected when the most powerful elves in any elven village gathered in the same place.
In fact, the only thing that was bothering him was the timing of this meeting. They were only minutes away from leaving, as was expected of them. So far, the demoness and her slave had kept their mouths shut, and they sat appropriately for so-called tamed demons.
"May I know why you have delayed our departure, mortal?" Ainchase asked, leaning back on his chair.
"It's not safe for you to leave unprepared. The human realm has become very hazardous," Branwen calmly explained. "Our Rangers barely came back alive to tell us some horrible news."
Ainchase immediately furrowed his brow. There was only one possible explanation for a situation that dire. Only one thing could kill elves in the forests, be it those in their realm or those in the realm of men.
The Elder gravely nodded, "I see you understand what I'm referring to. I called you here not to delay your journey but to illuminate it. I must tell you something we have shamefully kept to ourselves. May the goddess forgive us."
"The goddess knows all transgressions from every mortal soul," Ainchase politely reassured her. "And she forgives those who exalt her."
Branwen shook her head, "No, she doesn't know of this. The God of Darkness has a scion here. He has hidden her presence from everyone, forcing our people to silence until his scion awoke again. We have many reasons to believe they are the reason behind this disaster. We've seen it happen before."
Ainchase clenched his fists. "Mortal, if you speak true, then I suggest you keep your explanations brief and to the point," his eyes narrowed at her. "There is no time to waste dealing with a scion of Henir."
The blonde elf sighed, her gaze sinking for a moment under the mighty burden of her guilt. "This is by no means a short or an easy story to tell. The scion used to be one of us…"