Matthias was shocked and quickly looked at the direction from where the arrow came from. There, a shadow was standing on the branch of a tree, looking at everyone below. Seeing that the General is already dead, the shadow jumped down and walked towards them, showing its true identity. Behind the shadow that jumped was another person that was wearing a long, silky, green gown. The shadow stepped aside and bowed at the gowned person.
"An elf?" Princess Raya gasped.
A shiny golden long hair, pointy ears, glistening eyes of flora and fauna, the skin of a baby that is as white as creamy snow, or tofu, as Matthias wanted it to be compared to, and a green gown. And basing on her having some things that need not to be mentioned, Matthias immediately deduced that the elf is a girl.
"Greetings, Princess Raya." The gowned elf smiled and bowed at her with etiquette.
"Hmm. I think I have seen you before." Princess Raya scrutinized.
"Yes, perhaps that is correct, Princess Raya." The elf nodded, "We saw each other when Prince Ramun and my father Prince Siraora had a meeting between nations." She smiled.
"I am the daughter of the former Elven Prince Siraora, I am Yuna. The current Princess of the Elven Realm." Yuna bowed ladylike after introducing herself.
"Oh! Princess Yuna! It is a pleasure to see you again, although I would've preferred if it was not in a scenario like this." Princess Raya chirped and bowed to her also.
"What brings you here, Princess Yuna?" Princess Raya asked politely.
When the question was presented, Princess Yuna suddenly turned solemn, "Aqiartha is on the brink of catastrophe, Princess." She stated.
"How exactly?" Princess Raya gasped with shock.
"My treacherous uncle led an army of assassins to an unspecified location. I heard when I was spying on him that he plans to summon The Tyrant. And with this level of chaos, I am afraid that he has succeeded."
"Ichtir has also been reported to run rampantly for weeks already. Just a day ago, some were spotted rushing towards the Princedom of Sarqisi in the south. If their intention is really to attack the human princedom, then I am afraid that they have already fallen at the claws of the Ichtir." Princess Yuna added.
Princess Raya faltered when she heard those words. Sarqisi was a stout loyal ally of the Mystical Spirits. They faced hardships together and went against the Ichtir in the First Age. Now that it was possible that Sarqisi has really fallen, then the allies that they have have now been reduced by one.
Princess Yuna let the Spirit Princess as she knows how grave it is for the powerful human kingdom to fall. She turned to look at Matthias and greeted him, "I guess you are the Han Jianyu that she was talking about. Greetings to you, human." The Elf Princess said.
"!!!" Matthias gasped with shock. He breathed in and asked politely, "Greetings, Princess. How did you know my name?"
"Because of me." In response to his queries, the archer behind walked forward. The voice was that of a woman, so Matthias is sure with her gender. The problem is..
He was familiar with that voice. "Isabelle?"
The archer stopped and removed the hood that was overshadowing her face. Matthias gawked when he saw the european-looking face and the blonde hair that draped down to her shoulders.
Matthias rushed to her and held her shoulder, "What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?" He asked with a whisper.
Isabelle smiled sheepishly and told him the story.
When Matthias was leaving the city of Midas, Isabelle coincidentally saw him when she exited a building. Isabelle called for him but was not answered. Begotten by her curiosity, Isabelle followed behind him. They reached the forest and arrived at the front of the well. Out of a sudden, Matthias jumped down the well and vanished.
Isabelle was shocked and ran towards the well as soon as he vanished. She scrutinized the well properly, looking for any dangerous mechanisms inside.
While looking carefully at the well, she suddenly saw that the pendant on her neck suddenly glowed. The pendant emitted a bright light and the light shot out from it to the inside of the well.
Slowly, a portal materialized inside. After considering it for a while, she grunted and jumped down.
When she opened her eyes, she was welcomed into this world. She explored for a while, looking for where Matthias was. After an hour, she was seen by the elves. They detained her but was released immediately by Princess Yuna.
Princess Yuna told her that suspicious movements from the Ichtir lead to the human Princedom of Sarqisi but she doesn't know anything about it.
Explaining that she was from the Immortal Territories, Princess Yuna went silent and accepted her reason. Seeing that Isabelle wasn't a bad person, Princess Yuna trained her in the ways of the bow, which was the dexterous and stealthy elves' specialty.
Until now, he was training under the Princess' wing. When they reached the south of the battlefield, they heard the battle that was happening and rushed here. When she saw Matthias, she requested the Princess' permission to attack and she nodded. Immediate after that was when she released the string of her bow.
"So, wait. How long have you been here?" Matthias asked. "A week or so." She answered.
"But I was only here for, at most, a day! How did that happen?" He exclaimed.
"Really, then that means the portal is messed up." She thought aloud.
"Let's not dwell much on that." Princess Yuna suddenly butted in. "We need to hurry up and leave. A bigger army is marching here from the south and will arrive at any minute now."
"Yes." Isabelle affirmed. "You heard them! Retreat!" Princess Raya stood up from her grieving and shouted. They quickly packed the important things and ran west, to where the Elven Princedom is.
Minutes later, a huge 5,000-man army arrived with a general in front. Different from the other Spirits whose light is bright, this Spirit has its light gray, dimmer than the others.
"They escaped. Find them!" The general in front shouted. With the order, the army scattered to different directions, looking for the escapees.
The general marched inside the camp that was in ruin. He looked around, "I sense the energy of Takovich. They killed him?" He muttered with an annoyed voice.
He turned around and looked far away, "Lord Kelbrom has succeeded in befalling the human princedom, but I heard that he was injured badly. Will that mean that the conquest is delayed?"
Out of nowhere, a black shadow that looked like the exact opposite of the Spirits appeared. The newly arrived shadow spoke with a deep and raspy voice, "No. The conquest will continue. Although Lord Kelbrom is injured. He will not hold his desire for the subjugation of Aqiartha too long. Aqiartha's light must fall." He emphasized the 'must', showing the urgency of the matter.
"Alright then. We'll make sure that the hope of Aqiartha will fall down just like the domain that she rules." The general responded sinisterly.
With the escaping army, they reached the hill that was separating the forest at the center of Aqiartha and the Forest of Ganae, one of the Elven Territories, and also the center of their race's power.
Before fully crossing over, Princess Raya looked at the palace that was far away, with its shine dimmer than it should be. The palace that was once shining the land with perpetual light, being the second moon of the night, is now covered in the solemnity of darkness.
"I shall return, Hayle." She muttered with determination. She then continued to go past the border, fully entering the Forest of Ganae. For years, they wouldn't be seen by anyone going out.
A little less than a month passed, Princess Sally and her men, seeing the state of the Haylen Capital, rushed back to their home.
They felt a bad omen creeping up on them when they saw the chaos.
Then, they saw the true condition of Sarqisi, and they broke down. They cried as they remembered the anticipation of their loved one to see them go back. They longed for the hugs and kisses of their wives, mothers, children, and the hand of their fathers that messed up their hairs.
Princedom Sally knelt down and closed her eyes as tear ran down her cheeks. "My daughter, you will become the glory of us humans. I know it." She remembered what her father told her before they departed, and realized that he really did know something, and that is that they will perish.
"F-Father.." She whispered in agony.
A/N: How is everyone recently? It has been long since I did a letter like this, so I'm making one. Also, I am informing everyone that a time skip would happen, so this letter could be said to be the transition. Then, what do you think of the current story, tell me here! Although I wouldn't be able to change anything that I have already written because that's tiring, I would still listen and answer your thoughts. I'm waiting!
Follow current novels on (f)reew𝒆bnovel