When they finished praying, they said their goodbyes and prepared to return to The Forest of Ganae. Suddenly, Guin ran to them and asked, "Can I join you?"
Matthias thought about it and nodded, "Sure, you can."
Guin beamed and thanked him. Isabelle looked at her with slight jealousy. Although Matthias and her hadn't really professed their love to one another, or it could also be said that they are not even sure if they have feelings for one another, she still had an offspring for him. So, the instinct of a mother and wife kicked in, causing her to feel like so.
General Tuwa and Tatec didn't know why, but they were comfortable with Guin, so they didn't have any problems with her tagging with them.
General Lanros, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. It cannot be helped as she just appeared all of a sudden and suddenly wanted to join them. So, he kept his guard.
As help, Princess Sally handed them horses to reach the forest faster. She also gave Matthias the details about the two refuges. They thanked her and went to ride the horses, going back to the Forest of Ganae to report.
As they were already near the Forest of Ganae, they reached the forest in no time. When they arrived, two elves spotted them and bowed towards them, "Greetings!"
"Mhmm. Bring us to the Princesses." Matthias ordered. The elves, knowing the authority of this human that Princess Raya was teaching, nodded and led the way.
When they entered, they saw the magnificence of the Elves' Central Power once more.
The towering white palace that was casted onto a small mountain. The gushing of fresh water from the sides of the palace crashed down the ponds that were created by the elves, branching its way to the gardens and farmlands.
Elvish houses of all different heights and sizes were neatly arranged in all the different areas inside the forest, and a white wide road that leads directly to the palace was still as clean as ever.
Elves lived their life in harmony and peace, even though everyone knows that that could be destroyed anytime, so they cherished every second of it.
Lined up at the sides of the main road, green banners with a white phoenix symbol at their center fluttered with the wind.
They then walked towards the palace. Going there, they were met with patrolling soldiers and other civilians from other races that were rescued by Matthias and the others. They went past the ponds and reached the bifurcated stairway leading to a double curved staircase that surrounds the bottom of the highest palace tower and ascended.
When they reached the palace door, they continued to enter the palace and were greeted by two guards standing at the door. They then walked to another bifurcated stairs that leads to the second level of the palace and towards the Throne Room and were welcomed by the elven soldiers but of course, Guin was stopped from entering further. "Why?" General Tuwa asked with bafflement.
"Isn't it obvious?" General Lanros spoke and stepped forward, siding with the palace guards. "This woman named Guin is someone that we only met shortly. We still don't know who she is. Letting her enter the palace's lobby is already the limit. I only let her enter because of Matthias' face." He replied indifferently.
"But–" Tuwa stilo wanted to counter but Tatec stopped her. "Tuwa, General Lanros is right. Our situation right now is too precarious to be even letting someone unfamiliar to us enter the grounds of the territory's central power. Although I also found it a pity, I'm speaking from a general's point of view. There's nothing wrong with General Lanros' decision." He said.
"I didn't expect for you two to already be close to Guin that fast." Matthias butted in.
Suddenly, from the stairs, Princess Yuna's voice suddenly sounded out, "You've returned?" She said. They looked in her direction and saw Princess Yuna with Princess Sally beside her walking down towards them. Behind the two princesses, General Tarsus and another Elven General walked while also looking at them.
Matthias and the others then knelt towards them, "Greetings, Princesses!"
Above, Princess Raya looked at her newly arrived friends happily and stopped at the unfamiliar woman that was with them. She felt strange about her, but she just thought that that was because she doesn't know her.
When the princesses and the generals reached them, Princess Yuna was the first one to speak, "So, what has happened in your visit to Garendor?" She asked.
The group was silent. Because of that calming encounter, they forgot how hateful the dwarves had been. Yuna noticed the peculiarity and inquired, "What happened."
Suddenly, Lanros kowtowed down to her and shouted, "This general is sorry, Your Majesty!"
"!!!" The two princesses were shocked by what he did. Matthias and the others looked at him with sadness. They knew the amount of loyalty that Lanros has for the Forest and its well-being. Failing to achieve what was ordered upon him was definitely a huge shame for him.
"What happened, Matthias?" Knowing that she wouldn't be able to extract any information from Lanros at the moment, Princess Yuna turned to Matthias for answers.
Matthias stood up and started to talk. "Princess Yuna, the assembling of the alliance between Ganae and Garendor has failed. The dwarves wouldn't join the war because of the ridiculous reason of keeping neutral." He revealed.
"What?!"
"Impossible!" The Princesses and the generals were bewildered by the sudden information. Knowing the state of the realm, they know that Garendor's decision of not joining the war placed them in an even more dangerous situation.
"Is that really the case, Matthias?" Princess Raya asked worriedly. Matthias faced her and sighed, "Unfortunately, it really is."
"But, forget those cowards!" Suddenly, Isabelle butted in, causing everyone to look at her. General Tarsus 'clicked' his tongue and said, "Unfortunately, Isabelle, we cannot just forget their existence and the help that they could've given us. With them not joining, that means we'll face the Tyrant Lord and his Ichtir alone."
"But we're not alone." General Tatec argued. The four higher-ups perked up and the elven general behind Princess Yuna stepped forward and asked, "What do you mean, General Tatec?"
General Tatec looked at the still kowtowing general beside them and nudged him with his foot, "Lanros, I guess you should be the one to tell them this." He whispered.
Lanros slowly lifted his head up and looked gratefully at Tatec, "Thank you." He mouthed.
He stood up and delivered the news, "Commanding General Father Lauerio, we have recently discovered that there are three hidden refuges near us that are numbered enough to join the war against the Tyrant, one of them is the Ciandor Refuge led by Princess Sally of the Fallen Human Princedom of Sarqisi."
"Refuges?!" They gasped.
While shocked, Princess Yuna suddenly noticed something with his information and asked, "Wait, did you just say Ciandor, General Lanros? Is it the Ciandor Abode?" Her eyes shone with hope.
"Yes, Your Excellency." General Lanros nodded. "The Ciandor Abode opened for Princess Sally and her men almost a decade ago. They have been managing themselves since then, rescuing survivors and establishing contact with other refuges and have grown to a powerful degree."
He also added, which made the Princesses and Generals joyful, "The Treants have also awakened and are helping them. They are expected to join the war against the Ichtir as well."
"Great God of Fate! Thank you!" Princess Raya clasped her hand and chirped with absolute relief.
"Then, did the Ciandor Refuge ask anything for us to help them?" Princess Yuna inquired.
"They asked for us to contact the two other refuge." Matthias replied. "I would be the one to handle that. What we need now is to prepare for the imminent battle."
"Yes. We will do that, of course." They nodded. "Let's go to the Throne Room. We will do the planning there." Princess Yuna said and turned around to go up.
The others also followed but Princess Raya suddenly stopped and looked at Guin, the unfamiliar woman. "Who is she?" She asked.
They all looked at Guin. Princess Yuna and the two generals then noticed her. They narrowed their eyes at her while General Tarsus visibly lost the hostility on his face.
Matthias, noticing their suspicion at her, stabilized the situation, "This is Guin, a woman that we met and saved in a battle at Ciandor Refuge."
"A battle? There's a battle going on there?!" The generals grimaced.
Matthias nodded, "Apparently, they have been facing assaults from Ichtir for a while now. That battle was just one of the many battles that they fought to defend the abode from the enemies."
"Then, we need to be quick. If the Abode is discovered by the Tyrant, he would do all that it takes to annihilate it." General Lauerio, Lanros' father, reminded them. "One of the major reasons why he failed to conquer Aqiartha before was because of the Abode and The Triant King's existence. He would surely wipe them out if ever given the opportunity."
Remembering that, they felt the urgency to move. "Let's continue the meeting upstairs." Princess Yuna said and continued to go up.
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