Chapter 470: Lilac
21 years ago… deep in the Rupture Mountains…
The sky was dark and the mountain’s chill air wafted through the small campsite. The smell of smoke and the sound of crackling wood roused Aurelia awake. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up hastily. Pain shot up through her back and she grimaced with a low moan.
“Don’t move too much,” Ivory advised.
Aurelia looked up and saw him sitting across the campfire. “Ivory…? W-What are you doing here? Where are we?”
“You and Vi are safe, that’s all that’s important right now.” He pointed to Virella who was sleeping in a makeshift cot next to her.
“W-What happened…? I… I was…” Aurelia held her head between her hands.
The last thing she remembered was that they were on the peak of Pale-Stone, searching for selevine flowers. She and Virella had found them and then—
Aurelia’s eyes widened in horror. “A behemoth…!” She swallowed hard. “We were attacked, everyone—” She turned to Ivory, worried hope in her eyes.
He shook his head subtly. “I’m sorry. You two were the only survivors.”
His words cut her deeper than any wounds on her body. She clenched her jaw, wrapped her arms around herself, and bowed her head in silent tears. “I was their leader… They trusted me to keep them safe.”
“Mother Sabina entrusted them to keep you safe, it seems they succeeded.”
Aurelia glared up at him, tears streaming down her eyes. “A leader protects her own!” She glanced at the bruised and bandaged Virella, “...not the other way around,” she whispered.
“Perhaps,” he conceded thoughtfully.
“...What even happened? How did you even find us?”
“Last night, Sabina told me of a spirit owl that visited you the day you left Evenfall.”
“Spirit owl?”
“A harbinger of death, I’ll tell you more about it later. The point is, I knew your life was at risk. Since I already knew where you would be, it wasn’t particularly difficult to find you.”
“Wait, you’re telling me you traveled all the way from Evenfall and found us, all in a single day?” she asked skeptically.
He grinned playfully and patted his ordinary-sized legs. “We tall folk are much faster than goblins.”
“You’re an idiot.” Aurelia felt her lips curling up at his words, she didn’t know why this incorrigible man could anger her so easily and yet make her laugh just as quick. She suddenly remembered the colossal beast and a chill ran up her spine just at the thought. “And the behemoth…? How did we escape?”
“Oh… that. Well, it turns out Pale-Stone is the territory of that behemoth. It seems you lot awakened him and he was quite displeased at the intrusion. Fortunately, after I spoke to him and explained that it was all just an accident, he was willing to let us go. I took you and Vi and brought you both to the mountain next over.”
“He let us go, just like that?” she asked in disbelief.
“W-Well, I did make some promises on the Sylvan folk’s behalf about bringing him tributes for the next several decades, but nothing much. Just some food, I’m sure you’ll all manage.”
Aurelia sighed in relief, “I can’t believe we’re alive.”
“Neither am I. I was terrified even talking to a behemoth!” Ivory rubbed his arms and shivered at the thought. “They are the ancient lords of the land. Not even dragons dare cross their path.”
“Your shirt!” Aurelia gasped.
“Hm?”
“You’re bleeding!”
Ivory glanced at the large dark red splotch across his torn shirt. “Oh? That. I must have gotten clipped by a rock when the behemoth attacked your party. It’s nothing really. Healed already, see?”
“...I’m sorry,” she mumbled in shame. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into my problems. I shouldn’t have dragged any of you into my problems.”
“I’m fine, really,” he assured her.
She abruptly jumped up. “Oh my gods, the flowers!”
“Huh?”
“The selevine flowers! We were collecting them right before the attack.” Her eyes welled with fresh tears. “Without the flowers my mom will… I failed her…”
“Hmm, I wouldn’t go that far.” Ivory picked up a knapsack that was behind him.
“Is that…!?” she rushed over to him.
“Uh-huh, the behemoth was gracious enough to share with us some of the flowers from his mountain. There are more than enough flowers in here to brew all the elixirs your mom will need.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He opened the knapsack to reveal hundreds of freshly picked flowers.
“Thank the Mother Moon,” she mumbled softly.
“For someone who's rumored to never shed a tear, you’re crying an awful lot,” he teased.
“Shut up,” she muttered and placed her forehead on his chest. “...Thank you, for everything… thank you.”
“Meh, when it comes to you, how could I do anything less?”
She looked up at him, their faces mere centimeters apart. His pale purple eyes were mesmerizing and she lost herself in his gaze that seemed to see deep into her heart. She slowly leaned forward and they both shared a kiss in the firelight of the quiet evening.
On Pale-Stone, far from Aurelia’s sight, pillars of smoke rose from a large crater where the mountain peak once stood. It was almost as if the mountain had erupted and its flames had suddenly died out. Charred blackened ground was all that remained where trees, flowers, and lush grass had once been. Fragments of ruined massive bones stood half-buried among the ash and melted rock. The broken skull of a behemoth was the only discernible remains.
~~~
3 months later… Mt. Moon Fang… Evenfall…
Aurelia sat at her desk in her room, quill in hand. A bottle of ink and a fresh sheet of parchment sat in front of her. She wasn’t sure where to begin, so she wrote what was on her mind.
To Nalindra Veres, chieftain of the Blood Fang Tribe,
I hope you’re doing well, mom. In the last letter Jahn sent me he said you were finally able to sleep an entire night without waking up in a coughing fit. Ivory’s elixirs are working!
I’m sending two freshly made elixirs with this letter. Jahn says now that you’ll need to start drinking twice the dosage for the next two months. After that, you can go back to the regular dosage for the last month, and then… Then you’ll be free of this damned sickness, mom.
I know you don’t want me to worry, but I do. In any case, I hope bed-ridden life doesn’t bore you too much. Soon, you’ll be able to walk again and be back to your old self. I miss you, mom, more than you could ever know.
I miss dad too—
Aurelia stopped herself and blotted out the last line about her father with a fresh blotch of ink. Her mom had enough to deal with as it was, she didn’t need to hear about her daughter’s worries too. Which reminded her…
Oh, yeah. In the last letter you sent me, you told me you wanted to know more about Ivory. He is the most carefree person I’ve ever met, but he’s quite charming when you get to know him. He doesn’t care about trying to impress others or trying to uphold his honor. He just— lives. Ivory puts all his attention into whatever fascinates him until he figures it out and he never lets anything frustrate him, no matter how difficult it seems.
A knock sounded on her door.
“Auri?” Ivory called out.
“Come in,” she replied.
He opened the door and walked in with a bright smile. “Hey, I finished brewing the elixirs. Vi and I were going to drink this new tea recipe she’s been working on. You coming?”
Normally, she would have said no to such frivolous things, but after Ivory had fallen into her life and shared his discovery of a cure for her mom, such things didn’t seem so bad anymore.
Aurelia smiled warmly, “Yeah, I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Oh, is that a letter?” He leaned over for a look. “Who is it for? Your brother?”
“It’s for my mom, and stop peeking,” she slapped his arm. “Go on and drink some spiked tea, I’ll see you two idiots in a bit.”
“Alright, alright,” he said with a light-hearted tone and kissed her on the lips. “But I’m warning you, Vi and I will bust back in here if you take too long.”
“Just go already.” She watched him leave with a smile and went back to writing her letter.
I take it back about him being charming. He can be quite stubborn about the dumbest things and yet… Okay, maybe he is somewhat charming. Sometimes. I don’t know why, but everyone seems to like him, except Mother Sabina. She’s never liked him and I don’t think she ever will.
As to what he looks like? Well, your guess was right in your last letter. He isn’t a goblin. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I thought you wouldn’t take the elixir if you knew. But he’s not like the other outsiders. And you now know the elixirs are working. So hopefully, you can learn to trust him as I have. I’m sorry I lied, I really am.
As for what he is, I don’t know per se. He’s from the Scarlet Realm, but he isn’t an orc. He is quite pale, like a vampire, but he has no fangs. His hair is as dark as most goblins, but unlike us his pupils are round. His eyes look kind of like grandma’s did. Except grandma’s were much darker, his are a pale shade of purple, like lavender or lilac. Anyways, I think you would like him. I hope you can meet him one day when you’re feeling better.
I love you,
Your loyal daughter always, Aurelia Veres.
~~~
Vulture Woods… Blood Fang Village…
“He’s from the Realm, but he isn’t an orc. He is quite pale, like a vampire, but— Okay, I think I’ve had enough of listening about Auri’s crush,” Jahn chuckled. He lowered the letter and glanced at his mother with a smile. “Auri seems happy for once, at least. I think. You can never really tell with her, you know? Mom? Mom…?”
Nalindra lay on a large bed, wrapped in a large animal pelt. Her usual teal skin was a sickly pallid blue. Her long white hair was tied in a single braid that rested on her pillow. Her son sat at her bedside watching her worriedly.
“Mom? Are you alright?” he whispered.
Nalindra glanced at him, her yellow eyes weary. “Sorry, can you repeat the letter’s last line?”
“If you’re tired we can just continue later.”
She coughed and shook her head. “Nonsense, I’m feeling better than I have in almost two years.”
“I know, but still, you need to rest.”
“I’ve lived almost 300 years, a little lack of sleep isn’t going to kill me now.” She patted his hand reassuringly. “I’m fine, really. I’ll rest after I hear my daughter’s words. Now, keep reading.”
“Right. Ahem, where was I…? Ah. He is quite pale, like a vampire, but he has no fangs. His hair is as dark as most goblins, but unlike us his pupils are round. They look kind of like grandma’s did. Except grandma’s were much darker, his are a pale shade of purple, like lavender or—”
“—Lilac,” Nalindra finished with a whisper.
“Huh, yeah.” Jahn scratched his head, “How did you know—? Mom! What are you doing!?”
Nalindra rolled off the bed and fell to the floor on all fours. “My sword, hand me my sword!” She grabbed the bed for leverage and struggled to her feet.
Jahn rushed over in a panic and helped steady her. “Mom, what are you doing?! You can barely walk, you need to rest—”
“My sword, Jahn! NOW!” she snapped.
He stiffened at her voice and hurriedly went and fetched her sword from the corner of the room. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“Gather the greatest hunters in the tribe and tell them we head out to Evenfall at once.”
“But the sun is already beginning to set, surely we should wait until morning—”
“No, we leave now!”
“Mom, I don’t—”
Nalindra spun around and grabbed Jahn’s shoulders tightly. “Look at me! We cannot waste a single moment. Your sister is in mortal danger.”