We sat atop a cliff overlooking the eastern forest, through which passed one of the largest rivers in Nuia. Illuminated by the moonlight, I could only imagine how beautiful the sight would’ve been once my eyes had healed.

Leaning against the tree with her knees tucked to her chest, I caught Alice gazing in the distance as she found herself lost in thoughts while listening to the crackling campfire.

“Here,” I said, putting a blanket over her shoulders as it was getting colder.

“Thanks,” she whispered, wrapping it tighter around her. “What about you?”

“I’m fine for now,” I reassured her, sitting down on the grass. “Cold doesn’t bother me that much. It’s the heat that I struggle with.”

“Does that mean you love winter?”

“Nah,” I said, plucking a blade of grass before fidgeting it between my fingers. “Still prefer summer. I hate wearing baggy clothes, and while I enjoy the sound of rain and snow, they don’t help when you want to go outside.”

“Well, enjoy it while it lasts. Winter’s coming.” Alice sighed.

“First one in years.” I paused, gazing into the distance. “Well, at least they tend to be short.”

“True.”

We stayed quiet for a while, both just resting our legs after a long day of travel. The tent was already set up, so we could retire to it at any moment, but we enjoyed staying up late, reminding us of the nights we spent together when we first met.

“Hey, Alice,” I called out to her, leaning down on my knee.

“Hmm?” She turned her head, showing me a soft smile.

“I-” Just as I was about to speak my mind, I stopped myself, letting out a sigh. “Never mind.”

“Everything okay?” Her calm voice made me gaze into her eyes as I returned a smile.

“Yeah. I guess I wanted to say thanks for coming with me.”

“Don’t worry about it. How else were you supposed to find it?” She chuckled, stretching her legs out. “Besides, now I have something to hold over you for when we go to the Academy.”

“Hold over me? You think I’ll be carrying your books around?”

“What else did you expect? Since I can’t bring any attendants to school, I guess I’ll have to make a student into one,” she teased, giggling at her own joke. “Don’t worry. You’ll be compensated for it.”

“Oh? May I know what my reward will be?”

“Hmm. . . Let’s think.” She grabbed her chin, glancing up at the sky. “Oh! I know. I’ll let you sit next to me during class and even cheat off my papers. That’s a pretty good deal, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Thrilling,” I said as we both burst into laughter.

“Anyway, are you looking forward to curing your blindness?”

“You know it,” I said, placing my hands behind my head and laying down on the ground, looking up at the sky before glancing back at Alice. “There’s so much I can’t wait to see, and I’ve only been imagining how Thysa truly looks like up to this point.”

“What’s the thing you’re curious about the most?” Alice asked, pulling the blanket over her legs.

“The color of the robes your father wore when we first met,” I said, making her laugh, but the truth was different.

There was no way I could bring myself to tell her just yet that the thing I looked forward to the most was her eyes.

“Trust me. . . you don’t want to see that.”

“Probably,” I said, watching as Alice slowly stood up.

“We should get some rest before tomorrow. It’s getting late.”

Alice walked over, offering me a hand as the blanket dragged across the grass.

“Right,” I mumbled, accepting her help before we retired into the tent for the night.

----------------------------------------

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I asked as we had been looking around aimlessly as far as I could tell.

“Can’t you just trust me? We’re almost there,” she said, pushing through a bush while confidently looking left and right.

“I do trust you, but it’s okay to make a mistake once in a while.” I giggled, following her every step.

“I didn’t make– Ah! See?!” She rushed forward as we saw an opening among the trees. “I told you I knew where I was going.”

“Ha. . . Who would’ve thought,” I joked, but was somewhat surprised she found it. “Now all we have to do is-”

My focus shifted to the sudden appearance of an unknown creature to our right, hidden atop a tree, and in response, I drew my sword and got into a fighting stance. Looking toward the entity, I quickly realized it was a humanoid whose eyes went wide.

“Eek!” It yelled, falling backward and hitting the ground. I watched as it struggled to get back on its feet, covered by an oversized hood and a carved-out staff. “Stop right there!”

Alice and I both stared at what turned out to be a small humanoid man with a goatee that looked what I’d imagine an oversized pixie to look at if it was part gnome.

“Who are you?” I asked, lowering my sword as I felt the man wasn’t threatening.

When his large round eyes finally settled on us, he yelled with a cracking aged voice, “Again here to cause trouble?!”

“Trouble?” Alice chuckled, furrowing her brows in confusion.

“Don’t play coy with me!” He kept yelling, wobbling over with his makeshift staff. “I’ve seen your kind around here before, and now that you left that thing in my garden, I’ve lost Sparky.”

“Who’s Sparky?” I dared ask, imagining a dog or a cat.

“What thing?” Alice followed up.

“You know what thing I’m talking about. That thing you left in the garden.” He lowered his voice, sounding as if he was a bit out of breath. “You. . . you-”

“I’m not sure how to tell you this, but that wasn’t us,” Alice said, crossing her arms. “Maybe if you told us what happened, we could help you.”

“Help me? Ha! Like I’d trust another elf after what you’ve done.”

“So you caught an elf causing trouble?” I asked, sheathing my sword.

“You’re a human. . . What’s a human doing with an elf?” He leaned forward, glaring at my ears.

“Am I not allowed to be with an elf?” I furrowed my brows.

“Allowed? Do you think I care about stuff like that? I’ll have you know that humans are just as untrustworthy as elves, if not worse.” He kept rambling, and we figured it was best to just let him speak his mind for a bit before we asked further questions. “Blah. . . Why am I even wasting my breath on you.”

Once he finally finished his rant, he took a deep breath and slumped down to the ground.

“I’m sorry for whatever happened, but we truly had nothing to do with it. However, if you tell us what you saw, we could perhaps help solve the issue,” Alice offered again, determined to at least hear him out.

“Just leave this place. That’ll do.”

“Alice, if that’s all he wants, then we should leave him alone and just collect the Astral Moonflower when it’s time.”

“You want to pluck things out of my garden?” His eyes went wide before he gripped his staff. “I knew you were here to mess with me more. I shouldn’t have even bothered talking with you!”

“Calm down,” Alice kept her cool, gesturing for him to take it easy with her hands. “We’re not here to cause you harm and are simply here for the flower so we could cure my friend’s blindness caused by poison.”

“Likely story!”

“It’s true.” I pointed to myself. “She’s talking about me.”

“See! I knew you were lying. You’re clearly looking at me right now.” He huffed, averting his gaze and crossing his arms.

“Why are we entertaining this?” I looked at Alice.

“If elves really sabotaged him somehow, I want to know how and why,” Alice grabbed my hand. “Let’s hear him out, please?”

I stared into her eyes, finding it hard to refuse her innocent request. Besides, it wasn’t as if I didn’t want to help either; however, I wasn’t in the mood to listen to slander either.

“That thing they’ve left behind wouldn’t happen to be some sort of a monster, would it?” I asked, looking at his garden from afar.

“Like you wouldn’t know!” He yelled again, forcing a sigh out of me.

“Look,” Alice turned to him, stubborn as usual about getting what she wanted, and a part of me admired that. “I’m sure what you’re telling us is true, but we really had nothing to do with it and wish to help. I don’t know how to prove it unless you explain what happened.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“That’s the third time you’ve asked him. Face it, he’s not telling us anything,” I turned my back to him, trying to figure out what could be waiting for us.

He muttered to himself, glaring at us bitterly.

“Alex. . . Can’t you tell?” She whispered, making me look her in the eyes as she pointed out the sorrow hidden underneath his bitter tone.

“Fine.” I exhaled, willing to give it one more try, glad that at least my willingness made Alice smile.

She let go of my arm before giving her full attention to the mysterious man again.

“Let’s try this again,” Alice said, placing a hand on her chest. “My name is Alice Kelthyra, Princess of Thysa, and as a member of the Royal Family, I’m responsible for the wrongdoing of my people. However, without your help, I can’t seek the truth. So please consider my offer.”

“Razivolt,” he introduced himself finally, looking between the two of us before dropping his shoulders in defeat. “Fine, but you better listen carefully since I won’t be telling you this a second time.”

“Of course, and with Alex’s help, I’m sure we’ll be able to solve anything. Right, Alex?” She turned to me winsomely.

“Right,” I mumbled, going along with whatever Alice had planned.

“Well, if you must know. . . I kept my distance from you elves my whole life, but you’ve been plucking out of my garden for the past nine years, and it’s becoming infuriating. To make matters worse, you came here three days ago and left some monster in the middle of my garden that ended up taking my sweet Sparky yesterday when I wasn’t looking,” he explained with a brittle voice, turning around and rubbing his eyes.

“I’m sorry about your loss,” Alice said, beating me to it.

“Me too. . .” I genuinely sympathized. “May I ask what Sparky was?”

“What else could he be but a giant boar?” Razivolt took a deep breath, turning back around. “He was my best friend.”

Considering how small he was, barely reaching my waist in terms of height, calling a boar giant wasn’t that surprising. Still, it caught me thinking what an unusual pet to have, but then again, we were in a forest.

“I know it might hurt to talk about it, but could you tell us more about this monster?” Alice asked, grabbing her left elbow as her compassion weighed on her.

“It was some living plant parasite that latched onto Sparky while he was sniffing around and is now controlling his body. He struggled as much as he could, but in the end it defeated him and forced his body to attack me. Luckily, I escaped before he crushed me.”

“And where is that parasite now?” I asked, not noticing anything out of the ordinary from afar.

“It’s hard to tell from this distance, but the monster wrapped its flowery self around him, so he blends in with the surroundings. You could call it an ambush predator.”

The garden looked about the same size if not bigger than the Palace training grounds, but the terrain didn’t favor those that wanted to maneuver around as it was overgrown.

“Can you tell us anything more? Was it fast or strong? Can it use magic?” I wanted to consider everything before deciding on what move we should make.

“Faster than me, that’s for sure. And it uses the vines as a weapon, so be careful where you step.”

“Any weaknesses we could exploit?”

“Fire would do the trick, but we don’t want to accidentally burn everything,” Alice pointed out.

“Do you plan to fight it?” He asked, dropping his gaze to the ground.

“We have to.” Alice approached him, crouching down next to him before putting a hand on his shoulder. Her soft voice could get anyone to listen. “We weren’t lying when we said that we needed that flower to cure his blindness, and if elves were the ones to put it there, then it’s up to me to resolve the issue they’ve caused. I’m just sorry we couldn’t help before the damage was dealt.”

She stood up and slowly walked toward me.

“Wait!” he yelled, gripping the staff with one hand and holding his chest with the other. “I’ll help.”

“You sure?” Alice asked.

“If you’re going to try and defend my garden, then the least I could do is aid you. Defeating that monster is what Sparky would’ve wanted.” He sighed, slamming his staff into the ground as translucent mana gathered from the ground, surrounding Razivolt as if nature itself aided him. “Besides, I know a trick or two.”

“Thank you for trusting us,” she said, showing him a proud smile. “The three of us will beat back the monster and free your garden of its pest.”

“I’m glad we’re all on board, but we’ll need to attack before the sun goes down, or our job becomes significantly harder.”

“Agreed,” they said simultaneously.

----------------------------------------

“Remember, watch out for the vines!” Razivolt warned us as we stepped into his garden. “O’ dear Mother of Gaia, bless us with your strength. Lesser Empowerment!”

Razivolt slammed his staff onto the ground as his mana engulfed all three of us, and based on the explanation, it was supposed to enhance us physically. Honestly, I didn’t feel much of a difference, but when I tried moving around, I noticed I was lighter on my feet.

“Stride,” I chanted, increasing my speed.

“I wonder when it’ll show up,” Alice said as we stood in a field of flowers, surrounded by bushes that we assumed hid the monster.

“Behind us!” I yelled as I sensed movement, but it turned out not to be the monster and instead massive roots bursting out of the ground, aiming to restrain us.

“Blink!” Alice chanted while I simply dodged out of the way using my speed.

“Mother of Gaia, protect me. Earth Wall!” Slamming the staff again caused the ground under him to tremble before it rose to meet the attack, acting like a shield.

“Alex!” Alice yelled, alerting me of the danger my Mana Sense detected moments later.

When he told us about a giant boar being his pet, I never imagined it to be horse-sized and covered in dark vines. It charged while letting out a low grunting noise which quickly turned to high-pitch squealing.

Leaping to the side, I rolled over my shoulder, avoiding its ambush; however, the vines strapped around the boar’s body soon came to life as the tendrils lashed toward me in a flurry.

“Shield!” I blocked, conjuring a shimmering barrier that reflected all of its attacks.

“O’ Mother of Gaia, you who blessed our lands, grant us your strength once more. Earth’s Grasp!”

While his casting was slower due to longer chants, which I didn’t understand the need for, the number of vine-like whips lashing out the ground to restrain the monster greatly surpassed Aymon’s version of the spell. However, he ended up using more mana, leaving me with questions for later.

Alice charged with her sword at the ready, infusing it with mana as she prepared to cast Sword Burst while the boar struggled to resist Razivolt’s spell. Unfortunately, before she reached her target, vines burst out of the ground, forcing her to backstep. Meanwhile, I swooped under its tendril barrage and attempted to stab it with my sword, but the vines around its body gathered like armor, preventing me from cutting into it.

“Blink!” I cast, sensing multiple attacks heading my way from all sides as plants around me began to move. “My attacks are no good!”

“Keep it distracted!” Alice yelled, running around the massive thorny pillar that blocked her path.

“Help!” yelled Razivolt as a vine wrapped around his leg, lifting him in the air upside down.

“Blink.” Alice immediately reacted, but she wasn’t close enough to reach him in one go. “Jump.”

Leaping into the air, she sliced through the vine near his ankle where it was thinnest, causing Razivolt to freefall.

“O’ Mother-” Razivolt tried casting, but he didn’t have enough time before they’d hit the ground.

“Feather Fall,” Alice intervened as mana surrounded them, causing their bodies to glide safely to the ground. “You alright?”

“Yeah. . .” He mumbled, glancing up at her.

Meanwhile, the boar managed to break away from the spell’s grasp, allowing it to charge at me again with its tusks. To conserve mana, I relied on dodging instead of using Blink every chance I had, but it proved to be a grueling job that didn’t help resolve the issue of having to get through its armor.

“That’s it! I’m angry now,” Razivolt said before letting go of his staff and slamming fists onto the ground.

While it looked like a tantrum thrown by a child, his body started transforming as fur appeared all over his skin, and his body gradually grew in size.

The boar prepared to charge at me again but was intercepted by a roaring grizzly bear that clawed away at its body. The two then engaged in a contest of strength as tendrils switched from attacking me to defending the boar from shape-changed Razivolt.

Alice tried joining the fray, but the vines relentlessly kept her back as she was forced to cut them down before she could reach us. However, that gave me enough time to analyze the situation.

The parasite appeared stuck on the back of the boar’s neck, covered by a vine cocoon connected to the armor protecting the body. My sword likely wasn’t strong enough to deal fatal damage, and the living armor didn’t help either which altered its shape to fit the need.

“Alice! See that thing on the back of its neck?” I yelled, watching the monster wrestle against an entangled bear that matched its size.

“Make me an opening!” Without saying anything, she understood what I wanted from her, a clear sign of our teamwork improving. “Blink.”

Alice appeared next to me and with a single glance exchanged, we both charged side by side.

Vines burst from the ground, forcing us apart, but that wasn’t enough to slow us down. Knowing I was faster with Stride active, I slid underneath it and despite us not planning together, Razivolt did a perfect job keeping the boar in place with his claws.

He endured a great deal of pain as the parasite relentlessly whipped his back and strangled him by the neck, but the change he gave us proved invaluable as I thrust my sword toward its chest, which the vines gathered around managed to block with ease.

“Jump.” Alice leaped into the air, giving me time to create an opening before her sword reached the target.

The tendrils on its back switched focus from the bear to Alice, who was falling toward its core, but before they could reach her, I grabbed the vines that entangled my sword with my free hand and grinned. “Draining Touch.”

Necrotic energy surged through my hand and into the living armor, causing the moisture within it to drain as blight swept across its entire body. The tendrils withered away, allowing Alice to land unopposed on its back. In spite of its chaotic movement, her balance was impeccable.

She drove the sword into the cocoon, forcing mana to gush out of it. “Sword Burst!”

The parasite on its back exploded to the sound of thunder as the boar’s body wobbled, ready to fall lifelessly.

“Blink!” I tried casting, realizing it was going to collapse on top of me, but I soon realized I miscalculated how much mana I had left due to not feeling my core. “Shit!”

Thinking it was over for me as a beast weighing roughly a few tons was about to fall on me, I felt something tugging on my shirt, helping me avoid its collapse. Razivolt sent me tumbling backward as his jaw ripped through the fabric, a small price to pay for avoiding a potentially fatal moment.

“Alex!” Alice yelled, jumping off the boar to help me up. “You okay?”

“Yeah. . .” I mumbled, looking over at Razivolt as he slowly transformed back into himself.

My shirt was ruined, but at least we defeated the parasite.

When I got back up on my feet, Alice and I walked over to Sparky as Razivolt stood next to him, looking sad but at the same time relieved that he freed his friend from suffering.

“He was such a kind soul,” Razivolt mumbled, trying to hold back his tears. “At least now. . . Now he has peace, right?”

Alice placed her hand on his shoulder, saying “I’m su-”

“Amm, guys?” I interrupted Alice. “He’s breathing. . .”

“What?” Razivolt looked up, noticing me pointing to his chest.

“It’s faint, but I can sense movement,” I told him, confident that the parasite was dead.

“O’ Mother of Gaia, help us in our dark times. Lesser Heal!”

He immediately chanted a spell, pouring his mana and tears into it as rejuvenating energy swept over Sparky’s body. A low grunting noise came from Sparky as he showed us signs of life. Alice smilingly stood by my side, leaning on my shoulder as we watched the boar and his weird friend be reunited in tears.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.