Yarro didn’t know how long he had been water skating. It must’ve been over an hour for sure. The sun was low in the sky, but had not yet begun to set. He was exhausted, his splitting headache had only gotten worse, and without a bandage on his head, his tunic was stained and he was sure he had a red streak down his back. Yarro had slowed down considerably after about 30 minutes of consistent high speed water skating. Finally people began to appear as the river curved towards the capital. Once he finally did reach the outer walls, he collapsed on the river bank. Hopefully the town had escaped by now.
When Yarro slowly came to, it took him a moment to recognize the ceiling. A glance around confirmed that he was inside the guard barracks, in one of the beds. Why was he here? He jumped up, but the pounding headache made its return once again, and with a groan, forced him to lay down. Yarro clutched his head, internally begging for it to stop. It seemed someone bandaged it while he slept, at least.
Sorochin and Neila were playing cards in the same room. When they heard him groan their eyes turned to him. “You’re awake! I’ll get Guard Captain Lisa,” Sorochin said and darted out the room before Yarro had a chance to protest. He needed the army, not his boss. But, maybe his boss can help him get the army? Neila also got up and began to prepare a chair next to the bed for her. She kept glancing at him with a twinge of concern as she tidied up, but said nothing.
Guard Captain Lisa came in a few moments later, followed closely behind by Sorochin. She took the seat and looked over him. Her locs were loosely tied behind her head today, and she was in her uniform. A breastplate and pauldrons with the Peacekeeper crest on them over a plain tunic, and blue and yellow striped pants tucked into leather knee high boots. She must have been on duty. “What happened? You’ve been out for almost an entire day.”
Yarro’s heart dropped. He was too late now. So much stuff could have happened in a day. The Master Earth Elemental likely caught up to whoever escaped by now. They could all be dead. It was all his fault. He failed them. Why did he have to pass out? If only—
“Yarro?” She broke his thoughts.
“Guard Captain Lisa,” Yarro exhaled. “There’s a Master Earth Elemental in Dawic. It came from the mines.” Guard Captain Lisa crossed her arms. She must not have believed him. Who would believe that a Master Elemental appeared? They were creatures of myth. Yarro then went on to recount the events of what happened, and described the Master Elemental as best as he could. All the while Guard Captain Lisa went from disbelief, to concern. “I barely made it out alive and the thing might’ve migrated elsewhere once it was done with the town. Me and Governor Erica can’t take it out by ourselves.”
She looked him over. Once she decided to believe him, she sighed deeply. It was only now that he saw how deep her eye bags carved into her face. He couldn’t help but worry over her. Was she getting enough sleep? Did she have too much work? “...How am I supposed to tell this to Calindra?” she mumbled.
“You can’t tell my mother what happened! She’d have a fit!”
“The only reason you went to Dawic was because she thought you’d be safer there. Now a divine creation pops up out of the mines. Just what are we supposed to make of that? My guards won’t do much either in this fight. We’ll need help from the army.” Yarro sighed in relief and nodded. At last she was shifting back into Guard Captain mode and getting on track. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. He knew she could help. She stood up. “I will petition the Lord Chancellor. You’ll stay here.”
“Wait!” Yarro struggled to get out of bed, and Sorochin and Neila jumped in to help him up. “You need me there. I can describe the attack.”
Lisa looked at him in slight worry, only masked by her disgust. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince him, and she knew his first hand report of the experience would help convince whoever need to be convinced to send out the army. “Fine. Lean on me if you must.”
Lisa walked slower for his sake, thankfully. Yarro knew he wouldn’t be able to go full speed with his aching headache. His whole body ached as well, double on the legs. Just how long did he water skate to ache like this?
“So, why are we petitioning the Lord Chancellor?” Yarro asked.
“To deploy the army, Army General Calina needs permission from either the Queen, or the Lord Chancellor. And since we’re unlikely to see the Queen on such short notice, we’re going to the Lord Chancellor.” As Guard Captain of the entire capital, Lisa had the authority to request a meeting on such short notice with either of them, however it seemed the Queen was less likely to agree such a request than the Lord Chancellor.
Yarro nodded. “Makes sense.” They both made the rest of their way to the castle in silence.
Eventually the two came upon the Deity statues that guarded the entrance to the royal castle. Two on each side of the entrance, each an abstract representation of their seasonal appearance and corresponding animal, made with their corresponding element. On the left, Spring with their deer and made of stone, and Summer with their phoenix on their shoulder and hair made of fire. On the right, Autumn made of tree branches eternally swaying in the wind with their rabbit on the ground and Winter made of ice with their octopus clinging to their leg.
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Yarro had seen them plenty of times abut only now stopped to think why they made such catastrophic Master Elementals. The guards posted at the door let them pass, on account of Guard Captain Lisa’s commanding posture and terrifying face. Once inside they turned to the right, and down the hall. One of those rooms was the Lord Chancellor’s office. At least his boss knew where she was going.
Guard Captain Lisa knocked, and after a moment they heard, “Come in.” Inside, Lord Chancellor Quince sat at their desk, busy scribbling away on various papers and books. “Sit,” they said.
Guard Captain Lisa thanked them as she sat in the chair in front of the desk. There were two chairs, but Yarro did not have the status to sit with them. He decided to stand a foot behind his captain, and crossed his arms behind him. Lisa was silent, waiting for the Lord Chancellor to finish writing and to give her permission to speak. It was a long 5 minutes, Yarro felt. But they did put down the ink and finally looked up.
Yarro had never seen the Lord Chancellor up close before. They were quite androgynous, with rosy cheeks and long blond hair split down the middle that reached their shoulders. For such an important and high ranking position, they seemed a bit young. He couldn’t spot any wrinkles on their face. For a moment his mind wandered as he thought of how someone could get this position at a young age.
“What seems to be the problem?” Lord Chancellor Quince didn’t look up from their paperwork. “It must be particularly troublesome to come to me on such short notice.”
“Yesterday, a Master Earth Elemental demolished the village of Dawic. It’s escaped by now and is probably ransacking the countryside. I need help from the army to help defeat it. Peacekeeper Yarro was stationed in Dawic when it emerged from the mines, and can elaborate on the situation when he left,” Lisa said, and motioned to him right behind her.
Lord Chancellor Quince flipped some pages and wrote a bit. “I’ve plenty of work to do, I don’t need fantastical stories of divine creations wrecking havoc in the countryside. I didn’t expect you, Lisa, of all people, to waste my time.” Yarro couldn’t help but deflate a little. Of course it would be hard to believe, but it shouldn’t be too hard to even look up and see all his injuries.
His boss glanced back at him, a worried look in her eyes, and then turned back. Her body tensed up and she tilted her head down. A show of respect, a way to bow while sitting down. “With all due respect, Lord Chancellor, this is real. My guard here, Peacekeeper Yarro, will happily relay the situation if you would just look at him.”
With the heave of a heavy sigh, Lord Chancellor Quince finally looked up. They were immediately startled as their eyes honed in on his bandaged head, and drifted down to see all his bruises. “Fine then. How big would you say this so-called Master Earth Elemental is?”
Yarro nodded and began to describe what he saw. His heart ached as his mind flashed his final memories of Dawic to recount the event. “I would say it’s at least as big as the Deity Statues. Me and Governor Erica tried to defeat it, but it wasn’t possible. My water wasn’t cutting it, and it seemed that the rocks the earth miners were throwing didn’t have any effect on it. Governor Erica demanded that I get help, though I fear it’s too late. It’s already been over 24 hours and it smashed through those houses like it was glass.” He continued to describe all the mayhem the Master Earth Elemental caused, how strong it was, how it burst through a mountainside mine like nothing.
Lord Chancellor Quince clasped their hands as Yarro described the situation. Everyone was silent while they thought it over. Eventually, they took out a new sheet of paper and started writing again. “I’m still not convinced it’s a Master Earth Elemental, but it’s dangerous at the least. Very well. I’ll send Army General Calina an order to draft a company to dispatch it, and you,” they pointed towards Yarro, “will go with them.”
Lisa looked alarmed, her body subconsciously leaned forward a bit. “But he’s still injured. He had a concussion when we found him, woke up barely 20 minutes ago, and needed help walking.” His boss was stern most of the time, and deep down he understood it was out of duty and love for her subordinates that she was so harsh. But even so, it surprised him to see her bat for him like that. He almost felt touched.
However, the Lord Chancellor ruined the moment and ignored all protests. They rolled up the paper, poured hot wax over it and sealed it with the official Lord Chancellor Stamp. “Follow me,” they said as they stood up.
Guard Captain Lisa stood up, and she and Yarro followed them out the hall, through the back of the main chamber and down a number of hallways further into the castle that Yarro couldn’t keep track of. He wasn’t sure if it was the concussion or his lack of direction that prevented him from memorizing the way. “I know for certain that Queen Illa would want to hear this, so don’t worry about interrupting her with this.”
Yarro looked over at Lisa and she seemed even more perplexed. If the Lord Chancellor could give the order, why not do so? Though she wasn’t going to say it out loud and doing so would be seen as rude and out of turn. The two of them kept silent as they knocked on the door and entered not a moment later.
The door closed behind them and the two of them awkwardly stood out in the hallway. The guards stationed in front of the door glanced at them but did not move otherwise. They heard no whispers or words exchanged. The walls and doors must have been sound proof. A few moments of silence later and the door swung open with the Lord Chancellor in view. They handed the sealed parchment to Yarro. “Take this to Army General Calina. Tell her I said it’s urgent, and they are to leave immediately.”
Yarro hesitantly took it. Guard Captain Lisa was confused and distressed after she saw this exchange. Her eyes flitted between the parchment, him, and the Lord Chancellor. They both had obviously expected her to receive the document. “Lord Chancellor, am I’m not going?”
Lord Chancellor Quince shook their head, standing arrogantly tall. “Your duty is to Rylin, not Dawic.” They turned to one of the guards. “Escort the two out.” Quince didn’t wait for a reply and the door slammed closed once again. Were they always in such a rush?
The Guard on the right stepped forward. “This way” he said, and led them back out the way they came. Occasionally Yarro would look back to Lisa who had fallen behind, but she was deep in thought, slightly angry, and didn’t pay him any attention. It would have been tantamount to suicide if he were to interrupt her now, and his recent brush with death made him realize how agonizingly painful it would be to die.