VI Secret Room

I went home and locked my bedroom door. The silver chalice that Elgar had given me was still hanging around my waist. I took it out of my pocket and held it up to the window. A ray of light coming in made the chalice glitter. The body of the chalice was filled with carvings like twisting plant tendrils, with the main carving in the shape of a woman. Elgar had only given it to me as a memento and I had no idea where to keep it.

There was a knock on the door. "Jenna, your father wants to see you, I mean us. He said he wanted to show you something." It was Alden.

I quickly put the chalice back in the bag and hid it under the bed. Alden was waiting for me outside.

"Well, it sounds like I've never known that before."

We headed into the big house to father's study. Chaz and my father were waiting there.

"Hi father!"

"Hi honey. Mr. Everscott might have told you. Commander Egerton and I have something to tell you."

"Why just us?" I asked curiously.

"It's about something important that not everyone should know. Of course we're telling you because you're General Goldwine's daughter, and you're Mr. Everscott, you're Miss Jennifer's best friend. I think you need to know about this too." Chaz replied.

"Follow me!"

Chaz and my father opened a small wooden door at the edge of the room. It was a typical study with several cupboards filled with books and documents as well as a small table and four chairs. It looked more like a library. An oil painting of mountains about the height of my body hung on the wall. Unexpectedly, Chaz moved the painting which turned out to be a door to another room.

I had often entered this room and knew everything about it. However, I thought it was just an ordinary painting. Alden looked amazed when the large painting moved. Just like me, it was his first time seeing the secret room inside. My father lit an oil lamp and told us to be careful. Once the room was a little brighter, I could see a circular iron staircase that had begun to rust with age. The stairs squeaked with every step we took. It made me cringe if the iron stairs collapsed at any time.

I looked around the room that almost looked like a storage room. Near the last step of the stairs was a gold statue of an eagle with its wings spread and beak open. Then in some corners of the room there were black lampposts that already looked worn out.

"I've never seen this room before. Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.

"This is a very secret place Jenna. This room holds various kinds of magical objects that were looted from the war decades ago." said my father.

"But why do you keep these things, wouldn't it be better to destroy them?" Alden said.

"It's not easy to get rid of things with magic powers, sometimes they can cause havoc or curses." Chaz replied.

"You're a witch hunter who believes in curses!" I said with an amused laugh.

"But in your heart you can't deny it, right?" Chaz asked back.

I just shrugged my shoulders. I looked around the room, there were so many magical objects in this place. Starting from cauldrons, sticks, hats, brooms, animal statues, to weapons such as swords and arrows. Alden looked curious about the witch's broom leaning against the wall. He reached out his hand, but my father quickly warned him.

"Don't touch anything! You can only look at it." my father said.

"Will this broom fly if I touch it?" he asked curiously.

Chaz approached Alden and held his arms tightly. "We've been kind enough to tell you about this, and in return don't do anything reckless!"

Alden said nothing. He walked towards the right corridor and I followed him. At the end of the corridor was a large wooden table with a golden harp on it. Although it had been left neglected and dusty for a long time, the instrument still looked shiny and I really couldn't bear to touch it. I reached out, but Alden intercepted me. He turned around but it was him who did it.

"Alden!"

"What about Jenna? I touched it and nothing happened." He started touching the strings and seemed interested in plucking them.

"It might be different if you play it." I tried to warn him, but he just smiled and played the harp. The music it produced was so melodious and I had never heard such beautiful music before. Strangely I started to feel more and more sleepy even though my body felt very fit.

"Stop it Alden! The music is making me sleepy."

"Were you sleepy before you came into this room?" he asked.

"Not at all."

"Then this harp has the power to put anyone who hears it to sleep. Except the one playing it."

"It seems so, which is why they forbid us from touching it."

Then my gaze fell on a silver chalice. It was kept in a glass box attached to the wall. Instantly my heart was beating fast like a racehorse. It reminded me of the silver chalice Elgar had given me. I kept looking at it until Alden tapped me on the shoulder.

"Are you amazed by the chalice?" Alden asked.

"Umm...yes. It's very nice." I stammered.

The chalice was very similar to Elgar's gift. However, there was a slight difference in the carving. A large circle was engraved in the center of the chalice, like replacing the carving of the woman on the other chalice.

I asked Chaz about it as he walked up to me.

"What is that thing Chaz? I mean that chalice." I asked cautiously.

"Disappeared somewhere. We captured this chalice during the battle three years ago."

 "Then what is the function of the other chalice?" I continued to dig for answers from Chaz. He looked surprised for a moment.

 "You're so curious, aren't you? "Chaz raised one eyebrow.     

"Of course we're curious. Why don't you ever know about those chalices? Even though we are also Hunters.

 Chaz took a deep breath. "The second chalice has a main carving in the shape of a woman. Anyone who drinks blood from that chalice will return to youth even if they are hundreds of years old. Then..."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "The first chalice is probably still in their hands. Do you know what the consequences will be?" Chaz came closer to me.

"The witches will can't be burned by fire! The first chalice is a fire-proof chalice. If that happens, we won't be able to kill them by burning them." Chaz looked away and turned around. I could see that he was worried. Of course, all the Hunters would panic hearing it.

If so, why did Elgar give it to me? Is it because I am a Hunters that the chalice is safe from the witch's reach? but how did such a dangerous chalice end up in his hands?

My mind is raging. Thousands of questions swirled in my head. Now I'm not sure if Elgar can be trusted. It all seemed so confusing now.

Meanwhile, Alden fell silent and took a few steps back. His face looked pale. I don't know what his problem is. It seemed like he was holding something back.

"Alden, we should go back." I pulled his hand towards the metal stairs.

I see father has returned first and is waiting in his study. Chaz catches up with us and slides the painting back to cover the entire door.

Now the painting looks ordinary as if there's just a wall behind it. Father's room is quite secret and not just anyone can enter it. This storage room, however, was really hidden in a clever way.

The small room inside also served as a library. Two large wooden shelves were placed on each side of the wall facing the center of the room. There were large leather-bound books, most of which looked shabby due to dust or old age.

An old gold-bound book with foliage ornaments was located on the topmost bookshelf. It looked the thickest of all the books there. I was curious and looked at the contents. This book explains everything about witches, from rituals to how to fight with them. It was probably written by our predecessors.

But some of the pages at the back talked about potions from plants as well as treatment steps using magic spells. I guess it's more similar to the rituals of white witches.

I closed it and put it back on the shelf. Then I heard 

Alden asking about the hunt yesterday.

"General Goldwine, what should we do next for our hunt yesterday?"

"Commander Egerton and I have agreed to stop it for the time being. Considering how many hunters were injured and how much of our weaponry was damaged. Even into the night the fighting is still going on and it's quite dangerous for us." Father replied.

"Is it that bad?" I was quite surprised by his answer.

"You know it too Jenna, you're with them right?"

I just nodded. Of course I didn't know that the battle lasted into the night and caused a lot of damage. I had disappeared during the day only a few hours after the deployment. After that I was wounded, unconscious, and spent some time in the village of Cornwall. Having fun with Kathleen and Elgar. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

"It reminded me of the battle three years ago. Mother died in that battle and we were devastated. As for me, I wouldn't be alive today if Alden hadn't saved me!" I said, and my eyes started to tear up. It was devastating for us.

"I remember the battle three years ago. Mom died in that battle and we were devastated. As for me, I wouldn't be alive today if Alden hadn't saved me!" I said, and my eyes began to tear up. It was devastating for us.

"I know Jenna, your mom did her best. I promise it won't happen again. We have to be more careful and most importantly we have to be able to crack their secrets."

"So what do we do now?" Alden shrugged.

"In the meantime, prepare yourselves and repair the damaged weapons. We'll figure it out soon." Chaz quickly walked out of the study.

We walked out of father's room and into the courtyard.

"Jenna, no matter what happens I'll always be by your side." Alden grips my hand tightly.

"You have never and will never leave me." I rested my head on his shoulder. Alden was my best friend since childhood. We were inseparable, we went through everything together and I felt very lonely when I was away from him.

Alden was tall and well-built. At only nineteen years old he was almost 183 centimeters tall, making me look small when walking next to him, even though at 175 centimeters I was quite tall among the women in Glaze.

Her brown hair fell below her ears. Her face looked as cute as a sixteen-year-old, even though her height said otherwise.

"Jenna, I just remembered that you were helped by someone yesterday. I honestly wonder who it was." Alden said as he sat down on the grass.

"His name is Elgar. He helped me when I woke up after falling off the cliff. At first I wanted to run away, but I was really weak at the time. So I just accepted his help."

"Is he nice?"

"Very nice. He and his sister, Kathleen, accepted me into the house as if we were already familiar. Elgar also gave me..."

"Gave you what?" asked Alden curiously.

"Mint-flavored tea I've never tasted before, food, clothes, and he also treated my wounds." I almost told him about the silver chalice.

"So you got hurt? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You don't have to worry! It's just a minor injury." I raised my sleeve to look at my wound from yesterday. Unbelievably, it had dried up and there was only a slight blackened mark.

"Thank goodness the wound has healed." Alden looked relieved.

"Alden!" I looked at him and stopped talking for a moment, then I continued "I can't believe it's healing this fast. I think the base of the tree scratched my skin pretty deeply, and my arm is bleeding a lot!"

"Maybe the wound isn't as bad as it looks. Blood can't guarantee how bad your wound is Jenna."

Okay, I tried to think positively. Maybe I was already a bit immune to these kinds of wounds. Especially if I remember the incident three years ago, it's unimaginable how my condition was at that time. However, I can't seem to remember when the wound dried up and suddenly there were only scars left.

"Kathleen seems to be very talented with medicine. I think it would be great if they joined Glaze." I said.

"You mean as a nurse?"

"Of course. I'll come back to Cornwall sometime. You can come along if you like."

Alden put his arm around my shoulders. "I'll always follow you wherever you go." he said with sincerity. We were truly inseparable.