The Khunaro desert.

A place ravaged by constant sandstorms and dark foggy nights. Entirely devoid of water, the desert was known as one of the harshest environments in the whole continent. Even then, some creatures perfectly adapted to such an atmosphere. Monsters like the sandworms, sand beetles and sand wyverns easily made it their home. They came to dominate the desert and create a hierarchy ruled entirely by strength. These were large creatures and were instantly classified as calamities if they were seen together in a group. There were smaller monsters as well like the sand ants and sand rabbits but, these were the prey, and got viciously hunted down for food. As the years slowly trickled by, the desert perfectly sustained itself and the desert area kept on expanding.

Its name grew from the very first expeditions that mapped the desert. The harsh environment and the fear of the creatures, created alliances between nations that bordered the desert and many safety measures were put in place. The first expeditions also encountered mysterious things that gave rise to stories whispered in the homes of the people living in the continent. The floating lights that you can only see at night and the whispers of a gigantic feral dragon making it their home. But people hardly ever saw them.

The only visible mysterious thing was the famous Atricia tree. It's a shriveled lifeless tree that grew in the Khunaro desert. Its infamy grew after it was discovered that it contained a strong concentration of dark energy. No one knew how they thrived in that environment, but due to it's predominant use in many magical formulas, the demand for it grew quite high. Many researchers theorized about its origin but eventually they attributed it to the ground beneath the desert. If you ask the tribes that had made the edge of desert their home, you could hear the story of a necromancer that was defeated by a hero. And later his miasma creating the trees, that now spread all over the desert. But researchers dismissed those stories as there was no known records of such an encounter in their history books.

The demand for the trees kept on growing and now, on any given day, you could see many adventurers venturing into the desert to search for these trees.

No nearby countries tried to lay claim to the desert due to its harsh environment, but in spite of being discarded by them, a city still cropped up, at the edge of the desert. Since it created a sort of barrier to the nearby countries, they left it alone, even though there were stories of many atrocities happening in that city.

The City of Krufu was a city of lawlessness, where you could get stabbed for even looking at someone unnaturally. But adventurers and mercenaries alike, flocked to the city to share the bounties of the desert. The lure of easy money from selling the Atricia trees made them journey from all over the continent. Even though the monsters of the desert were tough, adventurers still ventured into the desert to look for the Atricia trees.

Strong adventurers and mercenaries came, and easily defeated those monsters that blocked their way, and their materials began to flood the market. But, these were few and far between. The difficulty of subjugation of those monsters for normal adventurers were quite high so the price of their materials shot up. Strong adventurers grew rich and money began to flow in the city. And naturally, the city of Krufu thrived. A government set up by mercenaries and adventurers eventually took root and now it was ruled by the Reinder clan.

It was a clan of seasoned mercenaries and adventurers who had seen many battles. Once they set their sights on the throne in Krufu, a great war broke out, that almost ripped the city apart. Known for being merciless to their enemies, they killed and massacred the members of the previous clan who ruled the city. After they got a foothold in the city, a complete purge began of the previous clan's families. They didn't differentiate between children, women or elderly and massacred everyone indiscriminately. Even those who were even remotely associated with the previous clan were dragged out of their homes and hanged for everyone to see. Whispers of a vendetta began to circulate in the streets as they established themselves as the iron clad rulers of Krufu.

Now, in such a violent city, a group of elves could be seen navigating the busy streets of the Cisa Market.

They wore long black robes and their faces were carefully hidden beneath their hoods. They seemed to be wary of the slightest sounds but they still made their way unhindered, towards the road that led towards the scorching desert. People and merchants who tried to approach them were frightened away by their sharp eyes and their unfriendly aura.

Ashryn, pursed her lips and looked around. She was among the elves that were travelling through the city of Krufu. The market buzzed with the people screaming the names of their wares and their prices. All of them were materials that had been gathered in the desert. She could even see corpses of monsters hanging outside buildings that looked like butcher shops. She averted her eyes and thought back on her short stay in the city of Astrya. Her only regret was that she wasn't able to say goodbye to Rayce. But, she was frightened out of her wits after learning that the elite assassins of the elves, the Shadow roots were targeting him. She did everything in her power to dissuade them. And according to their wishes, she ended up joining the small group led by the house of Bilenfil, in a mission to the Khunaro desert to explore a ruin.

She was actually elven royalty and was the first daughter of the King of Errieth. But, she was cast out of her homeland after she refused to marry into an Elven noble family. Due to court politics, since childhood, she had been groomed to be married to the Eleven noble family of Bilenfil. But as she grew older, she began to hear many dark rumours about them. When the time came, she broke off her marriage. Many of her retainers took her side but due to the influence of the Bilenfil family, they couldn't put up a fight. Citing the shame brought upon them, they demanded a punishment for her. They insisted that she be disowned and chased out of Sylfaren. The council of elders, heavily influenced by the Bilenfil family ruled against her and reached the conclusion forwarded by the Bilenfil family.

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Her father tried everything he could to save his daughter, but he was unsuccessful and eventually had to accept the verdict made by the council of elders. The king then secretly began to investigate the Bilenfil family and found out that they had ties to many shady organisations and nefarious businesses. Even the rogue elven assassin clan called the Shadow Roots were affiliated to them. He slowly began to gather power, and then a purge began with the help of his loyal retainers. The Bilenfil family and the Shadow roots disappeared from Sylfaren as many of them were targeted and killed. A major restructuring began in the eleven country and any nobles implicated were also put to death. Even the council of elders wasn't spared.

Due to Ashryn being far away, she didn't know about the changes happening in the Errieth forest. She still believed that the Bilenfil family were the great nobles they once were when she left her homeland. So, she was easily persuaded to join them in their ruin exploration. All they had to do was threaten the lives of the acquaintances she had made in Astrya.

During the journey, she came to know that an artifact resided in the ruins that preceded the power of the elven king, and that the Bilenfil family were trying to get their hands on it. Even after knowing that, she couldn't do anything, as a threat to Rayce's life was always hinted at by the rogue elves. They were all 7th circles mages and sword masters, so naturally she feared that they would easily be able to overpower Rayce and kill him. She contemplated a long time and eventually gave in to their demands, and that's how she reluctantly joined the expedition and disappeared from Astrya.

The group had been assembled by the Bilenfil family and was being led by Volir Bilenfil, the eldest son and her former fiance. After she left, his streaks of cruelty to women shook the entire forest of Errieth. Without knowing about it, she still believed him to be the same person she had broken the engagement with and blamed his family. She thought he was just a victim. But she was harshly reminded of reality when he saw the hate in his eyes and his cruel manners when dealing with her. Then, she knew in her heart that he wasn't the same person as before.

When she joined up with them, she noticed that the group, led by Volir, contained much better warriors and mages in their ranks so she didn't know why she was asked to join them, until one night she heard that to open the passage to the ruins, the blood of royalty was needed. She was shocked at first but eventually she came to accept her new reality. The thought of Rayce being safe in the city gave her strength.

As they made their way through the harsh desert, monsters she had never seen before appeared one after another, but the elven warriors leading the team were easily able to dispatch them. The powers of elven warriors who trained for hundreds of years were in full display. And, their journey continued, unhindered.

"Are you comfortable, princess?" Elmer asked, with a sneer. He had slowly detached himself from the main party and was now walking beside her.

He was an assassin of the Shadow Roots clan that worked with the Bilenfil family. He was a 7th circle mage and was famous in her homeland for being ruthless.

"I'm fine," Ashryn replied.

"You know, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Master Volir. You should be grateful. If it was up to me, I'd have killed you a long time ago," he said, his eyes showing the malice he carried for her.

"Hey, get in formation," Rivera said from behind her, cutting in the conversation.

"Yes, I'm going. Better watch where you walk, princess," he threatened, and walked off.

"I'm sorry, princess," Rivera came near her and apologized.

"It's alright. It's not your fault," Ashryn smiled and replied to Rivera.

This was a daily occurrence in the journey. If not Elmer, another elf would come to sneer at her and shame her. But due to Rivera, the instances became less frequent.

Rivera was also a 7th circle mage and an elven mercenary that had been contracted for the expedition. They soon became friends and she began to shield Ashryn from unnecessary attention. She couldn't voice her thoughts too much due to her contract but, she did what she could. Elven royalty was like a deity for the elves and many revered them except for the Bilenfil family that were trying to cast them aside. Rivera was aware of that and she began to find reasons to be near Ashryn and protect her. She was also one of the people that were cast out of Sylfaren, but for very different reasons. Being with Ashryn reminded her of home and she held onto that feeling.

Soon, the group reached a large Atricia tree, whose withered and deformed branches pointed to the sky. The group began to slow down and then completely stopped. Ashryn looked around but the area looked the same to her, filled with sand dunes. And the Atricia tree didn't seem that special, having passed dozens of them by now. She tried to see what was happening in the front and she could see Volir Bilenfil, the one leading the expedition, staring at a tool he held in his hands.

He signaled to the people in front of him, and they began to gather in a circle around the area close to the tree, and began to chant. The chant reverberated in the empty desert with the scorching sun above making the scene seem cult like.

'O, earthen memories of ancestors, show us the way to the heart of the elves. Open the path we must take to rest in your bosom. Free us from the earthly shackles.'

It was spoken with the ancient language of the elves and as the chant began to reach a higher pitch, something began to change inside the circle.

A sandstorm began to form, gradually growing larger. It grew taller and intense gusts of wind began to blow in the surrounding area, rotating and gathering all the sand. Then, it rose up and moved further away, losing momentum and spewing the sand it had accumulated back into another part of the desert. As Ashryn's eyes slowly adjusted to the dust covered area, she saw a large stone platform embedded into the earth. Now, in place of the mounds of sand lay a large trapdoor, adorned by elven letters.

'Royalty shall endure, Royalty will persist, Royalty shall remain.'

Those words were carved onto the door in ancient elven language. As she was staring at the letters, she heard a voice coming from the front.

"Bring her here," Volir commanded one of his people.

Two elves appeared and Ashryn was led towards the door by them. Rivera followed, close behind her.

"Show me your hands," Volir said, without any emotion.

She did as she was told and Volir took out a silver knife made of Aether and cut her palms horizontally. Blood began to pour out. A crooked smile formed on his lips as he watched her. He held down her hand on top of the trapdoor and eventually a red line began to form above the trapdoor. It began to glow along with the letters and the door completely disappeared, showing a passage underneath and revealing a flight of stairs that beckoned the explorers to ascend to the darkness below.

"Alright, we can go on ahead," Volir said, turning his head away from her and commanding the elven warriors.

Everyone gathered and slowly began to descend below.