“What the hell is that?” Arth asked with his eyes wide open as he stared at the tiny tube, glowing in purple light. Inside the glowing tube was a black fluid.“This …” General Edric said, “is the last drop of Zerelas’ tears … the legendary King of Corruption.”Arth’s lips parted as he remembered his discussion with Elicantris back in the First Encampment. The main objective of the alliance was to weaken or destroy the power source of the Ka’erns. That is the Tree of Exodia. And to do that, they had to obtain the Tears of Zerelas.“One drop of this and it will corrupt everything it touches, and it spreads unstoppably,” Edric explained. “Even demons couldn’t survive the corruption.”Arth leaned closer, observing the tube. “Why is it glowing purple?”“It’s the only magic that can contain the deadly liquid.”“So you will drop this on the Tree of Exodia …” Arth muttered, which made the general storm his eyebrows.“How did you know that?” Edric groaned. “Never mind … I’m afraid, now that the
“Thanks, Greg,” Tristan said as he received his pay.The old man waved his hand as he stared at the dead boar on the wide table. “You’ve given me a little one today.”Tristan scratched his head. “Yeah. I’ve been off my mind while hunting lately.”“Distracted?”“Just thinking about a lot of stuff,” Tristan said, jiggling the three silver coins in his hand.“Well, you give me little and I’ll pay you little … that’s business, lad.”“Right. I gotta go. It’s Seraphine’s naming day today.”Greg waved his hand again.Tristan stepped out of the butchery and looked up towards the orange skies. The sun was setting, and he had to buy dinner … plenty of ingredients. They’re having a little feast. But he must also not forget Sera’s favorite fruit cake.The streets had grown darker along with the skies as he strolled towards the market. His eyes kept on looking back every minute, as something was off today. They had not shown up to ask him again about their offer, which they had kept on doing these
“I see,” Magus Jade said, playing with his fingers on the low table. “Those black vines are capturing only the mages … while the rest are left to be corrupted, am I correct?”“Yes,” Gared replied. “And my plan was to use this ring, where I have compressed all of my alars to track my staff that’s been taken by those vines. We believe it’s in the same place where the mages had been contained.”Kael caught eyes with the old mage as the four of them had been seated on the carpet inside Jade’s tent. “And why have you come in this forest, Sir Kael, when you still have a job of finding the King?”“It’s hard to say this, Magus Jade …” Kael replied, looking at the old man with worried eyes. “But I had to follow the King’s orders. He wanted me to search for his friend who had been kidnapped by a demon. His name is Janshai. And at that moment I had no leads of where I could find him … and so I asked Lucas’ help since he’s the only person in this world who could track the kid.”“That …” Magus Jad
Arth felt bad that Elicantris had to use the rest of her alar to recover his numb arms and legs, but at the same time, he was glad that he could already move for his training today. He and General Edric had stood facing each other at the top of Mornt’s Tower. The dark skies above flashed and thundered. Arth bent his knees as he leveled Frostcalibur beside his head with both hands, pointing it towards the general.Edric cocked his head. “That’s the fighting stance of the Blue Dragon Style Swordsmanship. How many forms have you already mastered?”“Just two,” Arth replied. “I’ve learned the first long before when I was training with Chief Gregor … and Lucas taught me the second.”“That’s a shame,” Edric said, crossing his arms over his chest. “There are five forms of this ancient swordsmanship style. I’ve witnessed your father using each one as we fought together against our enemies … but for the ultimate form, he was the one who taught me. And that’s what I’m going to teach you now.”Art
The clunking sound of spoon and fork filled the silence in the dining hall. It had an immensely wide space, mostly empty. Only the lamps and candles on the long table and the cracked walls had shone on the guests inside. Tristan never touched his food, instead, he filled his stomach with the flagon of wine he kept on pouring into his cup. This was probably the worst meal he had had in his entire life. He would prefer eating those stinky seafood back on the ship to sharing a meal with these … people he had not liked at all.“Aren’t you gonna eat your stew?” Lewis whispered, who had been seated beside him.Tristan shook his head, sighing as he slid the bowl towards the young noble. His eyes went to the people eating in front of him as he sipped on his wine. His father, Silvester, was at the head of the table. His wife had been seated at his left, and Bow on his right. It irritated Tristan to share the same table with these people.“I hate carrots,” Jaerson shouted as he was being fed by
The night was the coldest Kael had ever felt in a while, with the freezing wind blowing stronger than ever. A storm was coming. Being in the forest might have protected them from the powerful gust, but it also made their area much darker since nightfall. The fire that they had built was the only thing that kept him warm, as he crouched closer to it, hugging his knees. Magus Jade and the others had stayed inside the tent. But Kael decided to stay outside alone and run his thoughts.Kael stared at the flames. Wondering how the others were doing had never escaped his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. At the top of his mind was his fear and anxiety that returned as he again imagined where Lucas and Robert could’ve been now. Had they gone out of the forest to look somewhere else? He took a deep breath. He remembered what Luna had told him about trusting Lucas’ bond with Janshai. The man must’ve no other intentions but take Janshai back no matter what. Was it right to think like thi
Arth stared at the vast red plains as he leaned on the ledge of the tower. Then he sighed. He had never thought it would still trouble him that much, even until now. A series of memories …dark memories had prevented him from unlocking the Path of Glacian Origin. When would he ever accept all of those mistakes that he had made in the past? No … he couldn’t. He’d never believe in change … as he had never been a born leader. He didn’t have the skills … the talent of becoming one. Even a small mistake could cause huge damage to his team.“How was it?” Elicantris’ voice came from behind.Arth shook his head. “It didn’t end up well. The general returned to his chamber so I can recover myself.”“I see,” Eli said. “Do you want my—”“No … please don’t do that,” Arth cut off, “You need to replenish your alar, Eli. But I appreciate it.”Elicantris waved a hand. “If that’s what you want … by the way, have you seen Ruby?”A strong gust of wind interrupted their conversation, blowing against their c
Tristan stood at the head of the ship, his eyes locked forward on the blue horizon, as he couldn’t wait to see the islands in his view. The sound of wood creaking, wind blowing, and the ocean singing, along with the salty smell of the air, all gave his stomach a turn. But Tristan had learned how to endure and control his body after weeks of being in the sea. And he had to endure. He’d been dying to see dragons in reality.Looking back, the crews had been keeping themselves busy on the deck, preparing their weapons and traps. Two enormous metal machines that looked like a giant crossbow stood in the middle, with huge long bolts gathered between them. Seeing the bolt throwers had put worry in Tristan’s chest. Those hunters would definitely go for the kill. And he had to do something about it to protect the dragons.Tristan lowered his eyes. The word had echoed in his mind once again … protect. Knowing how powerless and incapable he had been of protecting people, gave him doubts that he c
A huge explosion shook the area of the Ashenvale forest.“What is this power?” Maester David was staying in the big tree watching General Kael and his student, Arth battle.He could see Arth at a disadvantage after taking many hits and blows by the mighty sword of the General. Every attack of the general and every block of Arth was slowly draining his strength.General Kael was still holding his sword one hand while Arth was already panting and wounded.“Just yield, Arth. You can’t defeat me.” The general said.“Even with my last breath, I will never yield.” Arth replied catching his breath. His brown cloak was already shed with blood and his lower ankle injured. Soil and dust are already on his face and his yellow hair.“Then I’ll force that out of your mouth.” The general quickly touched the ground with his hand and looked at Arth narrowly. “You’ll regret this.”The ground began to shake suddenly. Huge root vines came out from the ground and extended towards Arth with speed.Arth he
The plan changed. Because of the chase, I was led to east from Casterfall Kingdom. Arth thought while riding his horse in a snow plain. I guess the best route for me is Frostwood village. I want to see Chief again. He passed through big stones covered with snow. From there, snow began to fall lightly.I wonder how Grand Master Tera is doing. The knights from Ice Crown Glacier are really scary. Arth saw a hawk flying over the big stones. But the one who saved me… who is he? I heard the Grand Knight call him Grand Magus. His magic is purely immense. I want to learn those skills someday. The hawk landed over the other big stone in his left side. Arth noticed that the hawk was wearing a black scarf collar on its neck.“What in the world…” Arth felt something strange about the hawk. Then, the hawk began to cry out suddenly.Wait a sec… Arth realized that it was not a wild bird. “It’s calling someone!”He whipped the rope of his horse to run fast. Then, he began to hear running footsteps
The village bell rang in the cold and windy mountain top. The noise of the women and men calling and shouting filled the whole atmosphere with intensity and fear. After a few moments, the doors and windows of the houses were closed and locked tightly. The men which appeared to be hunters gathered towards the center village.The village was located on top of the mountains and built above the stones on the sides. Stones on the mountains have been formed to make stairs/roads from the base to the village on top. It was almost the end of afternoon and the skies are getting dark.“Sir Kael! They already reached the southern gate in the base of the hills.” One hunter wearing black jacket approached Kael who was walking towards the scout tower. Kael walked towards the wooden stairs up to the scouts. He went to see what’s below the mountains. He could clearly see hundreds of blue caped knights standing on the base of the mountains.“Quick, tell the people to pack and go all the way towards the
“So, the Arth that you’ve talked about with Chief Gregor is the rightful heir to the frozen throne?” Tristan said with a loud voice. “Keep it down. Someone might hear us.” Maester David replied as they jumped from their horses and walked towards the entrance to the dark woods. They stopped and the maester pointed at the woods, “We have to reach the city as soon as possible. And this is the fastest way for us.”Tristan looked at the dark entrance and he could hear the echoes of the sound from the deep woods. “I can definitely sense many things here.” He said as he narrowed his eyes. Snow was falling from the white sky and a slight cold wind breezed through the two.“These woods are lived by wild beasts. I can sense them too.” Maester David replied. “No, it’s not only the beasts. I can feel something else. A group of people, I guess?” Tristan told the maester. Then he shook his head, “Never mind. Let’s go now, maester.”They began walking on the snowy path towards the entrance. “Stay al
After the tricky escape of Arth and Robert, they arrived in the secret tunnel of Casterfall kingdom in which Grand Master Tera told them before. I’m back here, again. Arth thought. The last time Arth was there was when he ran away and chased by the knights. The two entered the tunnel and it was pitch-black. They could hear the water running through the tunnel as they walked on the side. Robert casted an Illumination in a lesser energy to light up the tunnel way. “How was the academy you got into with Bran?” Arth suddenly asked while looking down in the stone way as he walked.“It was great. There are lots of things that I learned there.” Robert replied. “But Bran was still the same. He never learns.”Arth smiled as he shook his head. “I envy you. You got to learn a lot. It must be so fun.”“Why? What about your private trainings with Grand Master Tera?” Robert turned to him while walking.“We only did some training to build my stamina. And he only taught me one skill.” Arth replied.“
Now that I got these knights away from my village, I better think about my escape now. Kael told himself as he was sitting on a horse behind Grand Knight Bryle with his hands chained. He realized that there were also eight knights in a formation with them. One in front was a banner man carrying the flag of the Ice Crown. Kael and the grand knight were in the center and the other seven knights surrounded them as they travelled on their horses. I can’t fight them but I just need to distract them only if I have my sword with me. Using just magic is not enough to distract them. Kael thought as he looked at the pine trees covered in snow they pass through. He turned to the Grand Knight’s back and looked down to his elegant sword. An enchanted sword, huh? There’s clearly no chance of fighting them. “So, you’re Kael? The son of king Kaelas?” Grand Knight Bryle said smiling. “I never thought you’re alive.” Kael remained quiet after what the knight said.“I once served him. To be honest, I h
Tristan quickly walked passed through two small houses towards the big white tent ahead. There were wooden benches outside the tent which are for the people accompanying their sick or injured patient. The chief directly saw maester David wearing blue cloak sitting in the bench on the right side impatiently waiting. He approached the maester quickly.“Maester David?” Tristan called while he was walking towards him. The maester turned and was relieved to see him. Maester David stood and shook hands with the chief.“Tristan, it’s been how many years.” The maester said.“15 years actually,” the chief replied. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Ice Crown right? And what’s with the elf?” He asked with his eyebrows meeting.“I’ve got bad news. There’s a war coming.” The maester said worriedly as he sat down.“A war? What are you talking about?” the chief replied.“King Muradin will declare war with the elves if they don’t give what he asks. He sent me there to negotiate but t
“What happened to the kid?” Lord Nicholas was standing in the tiled path towards the entrance to the high garden. He was in his white sleeved clothing and brown pants. Grand Master Tera was there in the entrance of the garden looking at the fountains. The sky was cloudy but there was no snow falling. The snow that covered the grounds and plants made it seem that snow just fell earlier.Grand Master Tera looked above and saw the high towers of the castle. He sighed instead of turning to Lord Nicholas. “He’s gone.”“To where? The knights from Ice Crown Glacier became frustrated that they didn’t found the boy. You said he was there in his room?” The lord said.The Grand master turned to the lord, “I already said it, my lord. He’s gone. I don’t know how or why.”“And you were gone also by the time the knights searched his room. Is there something you’re not telling me, master Tera?” Lord Nicholas looked him in the eye as he walked towards him.“I was in my office, my lord. I just continu
The green woods and mountains of Ashenvale have spread throughout its entire region. The scent of the husky woods and the sound of the birds made the entire environment a natural and peaceful to be in.Maester Kael, wearing a blue cloak and carrying his valyrian sword, have gone through the green woods. The soft soil of the earth gave the maester a comfortable travel on it.The place seemed to be so magical. A strong spiritual energy can be felt by the maester in to the woods.The wisps have always protected their forest and brought life in it. Maester Kael thought as he walked in the pathway through the forest.He saw different friendly animals on his way through the woods. He encountered stags, birds, monkeys, and a hippo. Such beauty the forest holds. I have to get to the Guardian of the Forest as soon as possible. The maester thought.He crossed a shallow river ahead and jumped on the small rocks. After reaching on the other side, he saw a yellow butterfly flying towards him. The