Abil hesitated then replied, “do you know Venti?’.
Seras had taken a seat beside Abil,
“Yes, but it been about four hundred years since I saw him. We do exchange letter, I received one yesterday”.
This casual demeanor of Seras shocked Ephini even more. Seras continued, “we had a fight and he left, did not want to admit it but I was in the wrong”.
“Grandma!”
Seras turned to Ephini, “yes, my little one”.
This made Ephini bow her head in embarrassment, only her mother had ever called her that.
“Did you avenge mom?”
A genial smile appeared on Seras' face.
“Even if I wanted to, I can’t because of my position”.
She was disappointed but she knew clearly the law of the world.
“Then do you know who killed her?”.
Seras turned to Abil patting her on the shoulder, “you will find out soon”. Now Abil opened up as a string of thought resounded in her mind
“That bastard.”
Mizin had also caught on to what she thought. The only clueless person in the room was Ephini.
Harzil was the culprit of all that had happened to the Elven community including Elim’s ascension to the throne. But without proof there was nothing they could do either way it was more or less like chasing the wind.
“Don’t give too much thought, time will come for revenge. As for your master you will find out where he is soon”.
They had a lively chat and Seras returned to her room at the second floor of the library. Since Ephini was now chief she would have to manage it herself from then on, though she created it in the first place. Gilly for the next few days moved around the town a lot, feeling better after talking to Mizin who was her mother’s old friend. Her memories had not recovered so she made due with what she was told.
The preparation for the council was around the corner. Aroalan had already arrived and Gilly was happy to see another dark elf outside Ai-lyn they had spared throughout the stay. Roger the crimson destruction also arrived taking over guard duty, responsible for protecting Festa and Kasim, giving Hilary a chance to finally return to Loran.
Four days passed and the council members were decided. Abil had returned to her domain in the demon continent in preparation for the upcoming demons game which was always followed by the Demon Lord’s council. Gilly, Valmor, Mizin and Ephini made their way through the forest. Zin had shared his opinion on coming but his master made a deal and he lost a duel to her making him look weak.
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Reaching the top of a slope, they followed the river upstream before reaching a tree outpost. This was the entrance to Bue province. Reaching the city, they met Graham, a forest elf with dark green hair. He had a swordsman with him as a body guard. They all went along to the next province with them chattering and catching up on old times. A similar outpost was located at the entrance to Nue province.
They were greeted by an elder Ponu who was one of the oldest elf in Elador, it is said that only Seras could guess his age. He was accompanied by his children, a pair of twins: Elu, a man with bulky build and Umi a woman with a crescent moon on her head. They were both water elves. Nue was known for its supply of fish since it had a water elf clan as majority.
The all made their way towards the next province which was where the teleportation array was. Unlike Bue and Nue, Sen had more diversity in terms of Elven tribes but the majority were still mountain elves who had brown hair. They were led up to a mountain village which was at the top of Barren mountains. They were welcomed by the chief of the Village Goru. They were all part of a faction that was led by Ilyn and Snow who opposed the queen.
The factions included the Snow province, Ia province, Bue and Nue province, Sen province, Fu province, Venti province, Evergreen province and Elnor. The leader of this group had history relating to the first Elven King so they did not support the queen who had caused a divide in the dynasty.
But even if they chatted like old friends, there was an odd one in the group which everyone cast curious glances at. Wearing a cloak and a fox mask, her aura was concealed so no one knew what was behind the disguise. They did not ask since they trusted the battle goddess so they kept on chatting.
They were led into a cave which had stone pillars and a marble floor. Inscriptions and patterns were on the floor and pillars, clear liquids could be seen in the gorges of the inscription giving off a faint glow of light. The party walked up to the platform and all the leaders raised their hands. A voice rang in Gilly’s head.
+ “Unique Skill Language beatification is now active’
She was awe stricken as she could now read the various symbols and text.
"We will now proceed”.
Graham said and ray of light shot up from the marble, leaving a blinding light and a sweet fragrance. When it all calmed down, the marble stand was now empty and no one could be seen.
At the shore where the salamander had been slain, stood seven ships made of wood and other materials. Out of them stood one with a dragon’s head carving at the front painted in gold color and adorned with precious stones, this was the Dragon’s carriage. Fleet of Wonders, as it was called, was led by Kasim who was the highest rank sea captain in kingdom of Rathul.
Kasim stood on the beach with men going in and out of it bringing materials majorly for construction. Festa stood beside him with Roger standing behind him.
“Festa, when will they arrive, even though we delayed we still got here first”.
He sounded worried thinking about the consequences if no progress was made before Mizin returned or if the Cargo was lost at sea to one of the great sea Kings.
To lighten up the mood, Festa posed an intriguing question, “Have you ever been to the north or south continent?”
Normally, it meant either the demon continent Noir or Estam but for a sailor like him it meant the great unknown or the great beyond. He shivered hearing this comment, “If you know what is there, you would not ask”.
Roger was playing with a lizard and payed no mind to their discussion.
“I lost three ships just trying to map out the southern sea. I got a beating when I came back so I can’t try it again”. Mizin was stern and did not like unnecessary risk. Roger got up and pointed to the sea. A large vessel bigger than the dragon’s carriage was approaching.
Kasim smiled seeing a familiar face on board, it was Scarlet, his first mate. She jumped up from the ship and landed in front of Kasim, causing a dust clouds and wind to blow. Kasim was unmoved but Festa was frightened.
“Scarlet Frost, reporting to captain."
She saluted then waved at Festa.
“Great, now we can work”.
She was great asset to his team, coming from a family of workers who specialized in ports and vessel building.