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Hopefully none of the italicized words are messed up.
Enjoy.
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The Goddess of Battle
In the spiral staircase walks Xivan with the corpse of Enora’s baby sister and behind him walks Aynthia while she holds Enora in her arms in a rather forcible way as they ascend. They slowly climb the stairs, but no exhausted expressions are showing on the two women as they walk beside each other.
As Xivan sees the dim light in the spiral staircase, he removes his own ball of light which is floating beside the Orb of Energy and the black-mask.
When they come out from the passage that leads down to…that disgusting place, they stand in the chapel, overlooking the windowless walls, the rotten long seats, and on either side of them as they come out are the two statues of Xirina and Xevinna.
Xivan gazes at the statue as he walks by them, no kind expression is showing, only anger and sadness is plaguing him. He goes to the middle of the chapel and lays down Enora’s sister, carefully.
Even if it’s a corpse, one shouldn’t treat it as such, one should treat it with respect as if it’s still a living being.
Enora sees Xivan lay down her sister, and as Aynthia is holding her by her arms, she pushes Aynthia away lightly. Enora starts to walk in rather desperate strides, her hands are over her mouth so it doesn’t show her twitching face of sadness.
No matter how hard she tries to keep her emotions in check, she just can’t, her only remaining family member lies there on the floor of the chapel. Her newly dried eyes starts show tears yet again as she comes up on her precious sister.
She sits down beside her and just looks with crying eyes, her body is void of emotions, only a woman in pain, a woman who has nothing left than that corpse in front of her.
Xivan stands looming beside her, though he’s looking down at her with a calm, yet relaxed expression. He has seen these kinds of happenings before… It has happened so many times that he has become rather immune to these kinds of things.
But he’s angry and sad inside his aching heart because of the things his Elven sisters has done.
Killing people by removing their energy pool is something Xivan had banned in the long lost Elven Imperium. Since people had used it for their own greed, to further their own influence.
With an even bigger energy pool, people could control the hearts of those who has smaller energy pools.
Unnecessary sacrifices had been made to make those greedy Elves powerful, but they weren’t prepared for the backlash of absorbing another’s energy pool.
If a normal Elven person would absorb another Elven person’s energy, they wouldn’t feel anything, only that their energy became stronger.
But as they continued to grow their energy by sacrificing more people, they then felt the backlash of too much power, that power which destroyed them. As they got too much energy than their own energy pool could muster, it shattered and they died meaningless deaths.
It was a fitting end for those who used the lives of their fellow Elves. Though when Xivan knew about those kinds of repulsive acts, he ordered his most loyal followers to capture them and imprisoned them for life. So they would live out their pointless lives in darkness…
Now that Xivan thinks about it clearly, those who he called ‘most loyal’ probably just helped to bring those power hungry Elves down to hide their own sickening acts of power growing.
Xivan turns his gaze towards the two statues while frowning.
Now he is being hunted by those he loves… He had been Left to slumber for an eternity by those he loves… Betrayed by his most trusted… No one to… His eyes turns to Aynthia.
Aynthia just stands there beside the mechanism that would close and open the door into the passage. Her expression is also showing sorrow as she looks at the dead child. She holds onto Enora’s spear and as she sees Xivan look at her, her face turns even more grief-stricken.
Her black-haired ears are almost not visible because they’re showing the sadness of her mind.
Xivan starts to walk to Aynthia as he sees her distraught face. She’s but a child, yet she’s holding on strong.
“Are you okay?” Xivan asked as he comes upon her. She only gives a slight nod while biting her lower lip. His hand went to her head, she didn’t flinch, she held her head high and awaited for the touch of his palm.
He strokes her black-haired head, her cat ears twitches as he touches them. This sudden feeling of being patted on the head surprisingly made her calm. Her eyes are shut, her mouth is slightly opened. She’s in a daze, an enjoyable daze that she hasn’t felt in a long time.
That time when she wanted to commit suicide, only because Xivan rejected the Dual of submission had made her in a similar state. He had stroked her head, but she was in a state of madness at that time, so she didn’t really feel this kind of emotion that she’s feeling right now…
Her mother had stroked her like this when she was sleeping on her lap. That feeling of being cared for…
Xivan removes his hand from Aynthia’s head and she opens her eyes while looking with a rather dissatisfying face by the sudden cease of strokes.
She can be quite vicious, but she can also show these kind of feelings towards other people. I’m glad, Xivan thought. Something terrible must have happened to her mother, killed by someone, perhaps?
Xivan gives her a warm smile and turns his body to the mechanism that’s beside them. That table pillar with the orb on top of it. He places his hand on the orb, then his magic reacts within and the passage that leads down to that sanctuary closes tight shut.
Though he doesn’t remove his hand from it, he squeezes it and the orb starts to show cracks upon it. The orb itself is only in the size of a small ball which fits in Xivan’s hand perfectly. He squeezes while more cracks shows upon the orb, *Crack* then it breaks into small shard pieces that thuds on the table pillar.
Xivan blows on his hand which destroyed the orb, as he blows, dust fragments soars through the air. He turns around as he gesturing with his head to Aynthia, for her to follow him, she abides happily.
Xivan and Aynthia goes to Enora who’s sitting there beside her sister, her tears has stopped flowing, only red swollen eyes remains on that emotionless face. She inhales and exhales with shacking breaths. Her eyes are almost sealed, only a slight opening is noticeable so she can see her sister lying there in front of her.
“Enora,” Xivan said to get her to react, but no reaction comes from her, her body remains motionless.
“Losing someone that you love is never easy, I know that all too well. You must stay strong Enora, so the sorrow doesn’t consume you. Mourning someone that is a family member is something no one should experience, but it’s a part of life that cannot be changed.”
She turns her head to look at Xivan with her reddened dry eyes, “What, what am I supposed to do… My life was only for her. I didn’t want her to experience strife and poverty, but through my actions she was taken away. I am at fault for my own sister’s death, my fault, my own fault.”
“No Enora, you were only misguided, led astray by the desperation of your own heart. You wanted to protect your sister, but it wasn’t your fault for her abduction. That fault lies with the so called Goddesses that the people worship,” Xivan said to ease her pain.
“The Goddesses…” Enora weakly said, but got a sudden angry tone. “Why, why would they do this?!”
Enora had been in a grieving shock when she was down by the sanctuary, so she didn’t really listen to anything they had said. But she is starting to remember.
“They harvest the energy pools of Half-Elves and turns it into this thing.” Xivan said with a calm voice as he points at the floating Orb of Energy that’s beside him. His blackened mask is also soaring in the air next to him.
“This Orb can be absorbed into one’s own energy pool. Which could make one’s energy increase several times, but if one takes in too much energy one can die from being exposed to too much power.”
“So it is simply a means to become powerful, yet it only increases one’s influence over people’s minds. There is a similar vile act that can bring out one’s magical pool, but it seems this isn’t one of those sanctuaries,” Xivan explained while frowning.
“How can they be so cruel, so…” Enora couldn’t get out what she wanted to say, but she is one that believes in the Goddesses. And now? She doesn’t know anymore, she is confused beyond words.
She joined to become a priestess only because of the money she would receive, but through the teachings when she was still a lower priestess, she had begun to pray to the shrine of the Goddess that she had chosen to follow.
She likes to protect those in need, so she chose to go into the Battle-Sanctuary to gain the knowledge to fight using weapons, martial arts, and magic abilities. But she couldn’t choose what weapon she wanted, only the silver alloyed spear was given to her.
She trained vigorously in the day while her sister was in school. Enora’s sister had gained access to that school through the money Enora had gotten when she joined the sisterhood of Goddesses. And at the end of the day she would pick her up.
Some people even though that it was Enora’s daughter, but she thought that was ridiculous, though the people who saw them would just say, “A priestess that has a child? What blasphemy is this?” She wasn’t well known, only an initiate, so of course people that looked at them would think: Mother and daughter.
She had spent seven years in that Battle-Sanctuary, she was seventeen when she joined. And now she sits here beside her sister that had been kidnapped and drained of her energy pool, just a lifeless husk of a little girl.
It wasn’t long since she was drained, a day at most? Xivan thought as he looks at the little girl.
He hasn’t examined her yet, but… He kneels down on the other side of Enora’s sister and stares at Enora, then his gaze went to her sister. He places his hands on the right chest and head.
“What are you doing?!” Enora yelled as she sees where he is touching.
“Be quiet,” Xivan said in a rather strict tone, he knows that he’s touching her sister’s right chest, but such foolish thoughts just annoyed him.
He wanted to make sure her sister really got drained of all of her energy, so he searches through Enora’s sister… He closes his eyes and focuses…
“?!”
There it is, such an inkling of energy, it’s so little that her sister is on the verge between life and death.
She is still alive…!! Her sister is still alive…!!
Xivan hastily looks next to him, the Orb of Energy is still floats there. He stretches out his arm while his palm is upwards… The Orb moves in a quick soar onto his palm.
“What, what is going on? Why are you doing this?” Enora asked in confusion.
“Rejoice Enora, your sister will live.”
Hopefully, Xivan thought.
His palm then turns downwards and strikes down with his palm as the Orb floats in front of it. With a big shook, the Orb hit Enora’s little sister’s chest, her lifeless body starts to seizure in a violent manner.
The Orb of Energy starts to glow brightly in different colors as it slowly begins to sink into the skin of Enora’s sister.
Her sister has been in a state of death, but she still breathes in and out. Though those breaths were so small that not even her stomach moved, even the air couldn’t be felt coming out of her mouth or nose. Her heart is in a state of stillness, but it still pumps ever so slowly.
Keeping her alive.
“Live…?” Enora said while she sees the sight in front of her, her eyes squints as the brightness attacks to all sides, but droplets starts to form between her eyelids. Aynthia covers her eyes with her hands while peering through the cracks of her fingers.
Xivan though, grits his teeth as he stares with open eyes, trying to focus to the best of his abilities, because he himself has never dabbled in this kind of magic before. This is completely new to him, so he has to give his best.
He could’ve just given Enora’s sister his own energy, but he didn’t want her to be like Alyssa, whose hair and eyes had turned to emerald. And Enora’s energy isn’t even existent to the extent of bringing her sister back from her deathly state.
He holds the Orb with his palm as it slowly disappears into the chest of Enora’s sister, he pushes while he feels the energy go into her pool, but the pool of energy in this little girl is far too small for the power that’s seeping into her.
Air starts to swirl, swirl, and swirl around the Orb as it compresses into the little girl’s pool of energy.
“Dammit,” Xivan said as it isn’t going too well, because her pool won’t contain this much energy. The little girl starts to spasm even more violently, she even starts to open her mouth as she scream out with deathly sounds.
“Aaaahhh!!!”
Xivan’s face turns paler than his already pale face from seeing this little girl in pain, he doesn’t want to see this kind of scene once again. His eyes goes to Enora, he looks saddened and out of options…
“I am truly sorry for what I’m about to do, but I have no other choice.” Xivan said with regret.
“What are y—,” Enora tried to say her words but right after Xivan finished with his sentence, his eyes shines in his emerald color.
And as his eyes lit up, a huge shockwave discharges out in all directions from the Orb which made the old long seats, Enora, and Aynthia fly backwards, but Aynthia strikes down with one of her longswords in a quick fashion towards the wooden floor, and grabs onto the soaring Enora that flies her way.
The chapel itself shakes but it doesn’t collapse down upon them.
Wind blows violently out from the orb, it becomes more and more pressure.
The door to the chapel shot open, it bangs as the air makes it open and close, open and close. The orb just keeps on giving out damaging tempests, but the chapel stands strong in its foundations even after so many years.
Why is this energy acting like magic?! Xivan screamed in his head.
Xivan now stands because of the galling winds, he looms over the little girl as the cyclone attacks him. His clothes flutters violently but he stands unmoving with his arms stretched out and his palms rests downwards over the little girl’s body.
Aynthia’s longsword began to slide on the wooden floor, cracks made them go even further down the chapel, towards the statues. Enora just watches her little sister as she holds tightly onto Aynthia as they start to glide further down the hall, the light had disappeared, though the typhoon of air is even more troublesome.
The little girl starts to float into the air, slowly, she goes upwards towards Xivan’s palms. She is floating on her back while her legs and arms are dangling in the air, her hair starts to also float, it spreads everywhere as if the hair strings themselves have an entities inside of them.
The whole Orb of Energy then vanishes inside of her, but as that last visible Orb fragment went inside, her eyes went wide open and starts to scream in her child voice while her widened eyes starts to lit up in Xivan’s emerald color.
The soaring hair strings too starts to change into Xivan’s hair.
The tempest inside this chapel ceases to exist when the whole Orb went inside of her.
But Xivan keeps on helping this little girl, his fingers moves as if he’s fixing something. He looks at the little girl in front of him with a face of calmness, he’s unmoving, only his pale-gray fingers jerks to all sides.
“Uuuuh,” Xivan breathes out as he continues.
He made the little girls energy pool fit all those rampaging energies, though he had to give his own powers to make her energy pool larger, it is now hundred folds larger than it was before.
But… She’s now bound by his powers, because every time he gives out his own energy or magic into someone else’s pool, they are bonded to him until death, like Alyssa. Though there are different bonding spells that lets the one who cast it remove its use, but he didn’t use that bonding spell, he used his own pools’ powers to bind her to him.
It’s a cruel power, but she’ll live, live out her days in peace… Or in strife. It all depends on what she herself chooses.
She’ll live with an observant eye that watches over her from the shadows.
Xivan grabs ahold of Enora’s floating baby sister, and holds her in his arms. Suddenly a strange feeling struck him in his deepest core of emotions, water starts to form around his eyes, then flows down his face.
All he can think about as he holds this little emerald girl in his arms is…his own daughter.
Before Enora and Aynthia comes rushing back, he makes the tears disintegrate into oblivion. He doesn’t want to return to that sad self, that weak, pitiful, and selfish self. He collects himself as he breathes fresh air that comes in through the opened chapel door.
As Enora and Aynthia comes jogging towards them, Enora slows down in extremely sluggish steps as she sees the emerald girl in his arms. Aynthia just moves beside Xivan with unworried paces as she had seen a similar scenario in Temonar village, Alyssa’s transformation.
Enora jerks her head to look at Xivan, she just stares with a dumbfounded expression, “What, what have you done…?”
“I’m truly sorry, but I had to do this so she could live. I was too careless, and that carelessness made her look like this,” Xivan said with a regretting voice, though his expression seems very calm. “She’s bound to me now, bound by my power, but she’ll live, live as a normal Half-Elf. Though she’ll have an advantage over ever other Half-Elf, she has the power of a true Pure Elf now.”
Enora walks up to her baby sister as she hears those surprisingly comforting words. She doesn’t care about those kinds of things, as long as her sister is alive it doesn’t matter if she’s disabled or powerful. All that matters is that she’s alive…
She is overcome by happiness as she sees her sister breathe in and out normally, “Hahaha! She is alive, she is alive!”
Enora hugs her sister as Xivan holds her in his embrace, it looks as if two parents are happy for their child. But Xivan just stands there smiling as Enora gives kisses onto her sister’s forehead and strokes her newly emerald hair. She is in complete bliss.
“Mm…”
The little girl starts to wake up, her weak arms goes to her closed eyelids and she rubs them to wake up her newly alive emerald eyes. She licks her lips in reflex, then her eyes opens up as the eyelids flicker, she sees her big sister in front of her, “Sistah?”
“Yes, I am here Linnea, I am here,” Enora said with such gladness, her very face irradiates off blissful feelings. She continues to stroke Linnea’s head as she yet again starts to cry. “Everything…is alright baby sister. Everything is…”
She buries her head on Linnea’s small body while Xivan is holding her in princess style.
“Haa!” Linnea gasps as she sees Xivan holding her, his face expresses a kind air about him, while her mouth is open to the fullest, and eyes flickers violently.
“I am glad that you’re awake, Linnea,” Xivan said with his calm looking face as he just got to know her name.
Enora stops burying her face as she hears Xivan speak, her hands goes to his hands and holds them tightly as she bows, “I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!” She just keeps on saying those words of gratitude while Linnea looks at her sister in confusion.
“Relax Enora, no need to start to act like this. Come, let us see if she can stand up normally,” Xivan said as he begins to kneel down with Linnea in his arms.
Linnea just stares in bewilderment, she has never seen someone like this before, what is he? Is he a Half-Elf? Is he her father?! As Linnea never got to know her parents, only fragments of blurred faces, no paintings to show how they looked like, nothing, so she’s thinking up wild imaginings about different things.
As Xivan kneels he looks at Linnea and she looks back, unyieldingly brave.
“Papa?” she uttered out of curiousness.
That word ‘papa’ devastated Xivan from the inside, bringing forth many different feelings yet again, he just looks with a terrified expression at this emerald girl. But he keeps himself from showing any other face than that face of terror.
“Hehe, no, I’m not your father, Linnea,” Xivan said with a falsified mask of self-control.
He sets her down on the floor, feet first, she wobbles around with her arms and tilts to one side, but she steadies herself so she can stand normally. She balances with her arms.
“You silly…” Enora simply said, but she didn’t want to correct her, because reminding her that their parents are dead would just ruin this moment of happiness. But then she suddenly remembers from her newly cleared mind…
Xivan Bithrendil… Why did the High-Priestess call him that? Enora thought. Xivan… Navix… Xivan… Navix… Ah! It’s his name spelled backwards!
Linnea just looks at Xivan with a smile, waiting for praise as she stands without support, but then she notices the black-haired beast behind him. “Ah!” she yelps out as she sees her staring at her with those yellow slit eyes. She fell backwards onto her buttocks. Though she stands up rather quickly and looks at Aynthia with wondering eyes, likewise does Aynthia.
Aynthia stands peering behind Xivan, and he just chuckles slightly.
And in the confusion Enora asks, “Xivan?”
“Hm? What is the matter Eno—,” he cut himself off, but instead of surprise he just laughs with a smile. “Hehe, so you did hear what that vile woman said down there. Well, as you now know, I am sorry for lying, but I can’t fling my name here and there, sadly.”
Enora then remembers the other things that the High-Priestess said, “Xivan, why are you being hunted? Have you…done something wrong to get the ire of the Goddesses?”
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“Goddesses huh… Being awake would be my guess of their ire. I did a rather foolish thing, I revealed myself to them and now they’re after me, unfortunately,” Xivan said as he sighs, then his hand goes to Linnea’s head and gives a slight pat. “Enora, what will you do now? Your sister is full of energy it seems.”
Linnea smiles as he strokes her emerald-haired head.
It seems that she doesn’t remember her ordeal… Xivan thought as he switches his gaze to Linnea. Compulsion perhaps? To make them obedient? Anyhow, it’s for the better that she doesn’t remember. That section of the sanctuary was full of rotting corpses, and she does smell a bit off.
“I, I don’t know what I’ll do now. I’ve been gone for two whole months, and our house must have been taken from us by the Inquisitors. Because I just disappeared out of nowhere. But I took everything that is out of value, so I should be able to make do…” Enora said with a very troubled look.
Inquisitors? Xivan thought.
“Ah! I forgot my backpack outside, wait here I’ll go and get it,” Enora said as she goes towards the chapel’s door. “Linnea, I’ll be back in a minute or so, okay darling?”
“Un” Linnea nods as she waves her hand to her big sister. She then stares at Aynthia whose still behind Xivan with glittering eyes.
Is Aynthia shy? Xivan though as he chuckles, but then he said to himself in his own mind: Xivan she’s but a child, a child, only two years older than Linnea.
Xivan takes two quick steps to the side so Aynthia becomes fully visible, and she herself gives a surprised expression because she didn’t expect that kind of sudden movement from him. She just stands there frozen, not knowing what to do next.
Linnea stands two meters in front of her and she smiles.
Aynthia looks at Xivan with a pleading expression, but he just stands unmoving with his hands behind his back, legs spread, and head held high, not giving in to her shy behavior.
Just as Linnea is about to speak, Aynthia dashes out the chapel’s door because she doesn’t like children, she’s scared of them… They’re small and fragile, so she doesn’t want to do something she would regret.
“Oh,” Xivan does a face-palm as he sees her run out of the chapel.
He kneels down and looks at Linnea, he scratches his emerald-haired head and his face shows disbelief. He didn’t think that she would run away suddenly, but he knows that she’s right outside the chapel’s door, because of her brand that he had put on her, it shows her exact location, a rune-locator.
He’ll know where she is, always. No hiding can keep her hidden from him. It’s rather similar to the energy neckless that’s around Enora’s neck. But without the energy.
“Thia, why are you outside?”
He hears Enora’s voice outside of the closed chapel’s door.
Linnea just stands obediently there beside him and awaited her big sister to return. Only now does she notice her own emerald hair that hangs down her back and chest. She has taken ahold of some of her own hair. She stares at it while tilting her head back and forth wonderingly.
“Linnea, I did that to you. I changed your hair, and as you have the same hair as mine. You’ll grow up to be someone that will shake this world,” Xivan said to encourage her that his features isn’t a curse. “But, it’s up to you, yourself. I can see inside that you love your big sister, keep that love for as long as possible, because you’ll regret it when you lose it.”
Linnea’s mouth is open and her eyes are flickering by the sudden unexpected words. She mouth moves but she doesn’t get out what she wanted, only a stare of a ten year old girl displays in front of Xivan.
The chapel’s door opens and Enora walks in, but no Aynthia is following her, she’s still waiting outside.
“Did something happen?” Enora asks as she looks at Xivan with wondering eyes. “Thia was acting strange outside. She looked saddened by something.”
“I don’t really know why. But she’s rather shy, if you haven’t noticed,” Xivan said with a chuckle. “Also her name is Aynthia, Thia is just her last four letters of her name.”
“Oh, Okay,” She goes up to them with heavy thuds on the wooden floor, her backpack is rather large.
*Crash* her backpack hit the old floor.
The chapel’s middle part is like a big circle, because of the shockwave that had sent everything backwards, but she pulls over an old long seat to sit upon, it creaks as her buttocks touches the long wooden plank.
Linnea too goes over to sit beside her.
“Xivan… I don’t know what I’ll do, I have thought about it, but nothing is coming to mind. And with her hair like that she’ll stand out greatly among people. Ah! Don’t get me wrong, I am eternally grateful for your aid in helping me find and, you know the rest,” Enora said as she looks at her little sister that’s sitting next to her. She can’t reveal too much, because she also noticed that her sister didn’t show any memories from this horrible experience.
“Hmm,” Xivan thought of something, “Well I do know of a place that would welcome you with open arms.”
“Wh-What kind of place?” she asked.
“It’s a seven hour walk from here. There’s a village that I recently helped, and well… It turns out that they were much more grateful than I thought they would be. So I gave them a little more power so they could stand up for themselves. There is a woman in that village that’s similar to your sister, she’s bonded to me as Linnea is.”
“She would most likely greet you with bliss, because she is on the verge of starting something new, a new faith of some kind.” Xivan sighs as he finishes, he has done so much in these few days… It hasn’t even turned to the third day yet. He has given out powers here and there, two rune enchants, two new bonded people, and a new sect of worshipers?
What if he do get captured by his Elven sisters? He doesn’t know their current power, he only knows what he has seen. What if they have gained the knowledge of extracting magical pools, and then absorbing them so they could grow even further in power…?
They have done so with the energy pools, so why would they even dare to stop there? Divine power is in their grasping hands at this moment, they’re seen as Goddesses.
How they gained those titles is something he doesn’t know.
He can gain all the knowledge if he only had time with someone who’s knowledgeable in these kinds of things… Like that High-priestess. But no, he won’t, he’ll face them head on if they want to capture him.
He had even tried to connect to Xerina, to gain knowledge through her as he and Aynthia had journeyed here to this haunted village. Though the connection never reached her, it was as if something interrupted him from getting through.
They must have put her somewhere, where he can’t get to her. She’s the Goddess of Nature…
Xivan sighs as he looks at Enora, “I would gladly have you join me in my journey, but wherever I go, will certainly lead to tragedy to those around me. So the village of Temonar is your best hope, if you just want to take care of your sister.”
“Yes, yes I’ll do that. If it is what you say, that the woman will take us in, I’ll gladly go there. Because I’m not even worthy enough to protect Linnea.” Enora said as she looks at Linnea who’s sitting beside her, she hugs her and Linnea hugs her back while she ponders at why her big sister is looking sad.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself. You should blame that twisted religion of yours. Goddesses? Hah! They’re nothing but Elves, like me, but yet still not like me. I don’t know how they rose up to their Goddess like titles, but I do know some of them.”
“These two statues are women I hold dear,” Xivan said as he points at the two statues. “You call them The Goddess of death, and The Goddess of Life. Lofty titles they are… Heh. Xirina and Xevinna is their names, is that also correct in the Human tongue?”
“Who, who are you, really?” Enora asks as she’s becoming more interested in this Elven man in front of her. She interrupted his question, but she really wants to know the origin of this man of emerald.
“Enora, I am simply a young Elven man that has been awakened to these new Goddesses. I do deeply care for them, but feelings can only take one so far. They’re sacrificing people for their own powers.”
“You heard one of the Goddesses speak through the High-Priestess, yes? That only shows that they have gone too far this time, it proves that they’re aware of killing innocents. They wish to capture me and lock me away? Maybe that is so, maybe it isn’t. I can’t know for sure.”
“But, I’ll go with the flow of time, I can’t save everyone. No matter how hard one tries to rid the world of evil, there will always be those who only cares for themselves, those who’re greedy, arrogant, and selfish,” Xivan gives out a long sigh. “I’ve been one of those people back in the day.”
“But I’ve only learned that nothing well comes from being an overlord, one that controls everyone around him. It feeds the hatred of people, if one does a simple mistake.”
“Sigh, I’ve rambled too much, forgive me,” Xivan said as he forms an upwards curve on his mouth, he looks at Linnea who’s just staring at him while she hugs her big sister. Enora too hugs Linnea as she listened to Xivan talk.
“I see, you know the Goddesses… But I agree, there are some things that can be forgiven and some things that can’t be forgiven. Though do you think the Goddess of Battle is like that?” Enora asked because she do like the Goddess of Battle, she is her role model. She had joined the Battle-Sanctuary only to worship her. She had to choose between all of the Goddesses and she chose her.
“Goddess of battle? What other name does she go by?” Xivan asked curiously.
“Oh, you don’t know? She is the daughter of their dead God, Eronia the Crimson. She’s the second most powerful of the Goddesses.” Enora said.
Eronia…? Why does that name sound so familiar…? Eronia the Crimson? Xivan though while pondering. Daughter of their dead God? No, it can’t be my own daughter, but… Eronia…
“?!”
Xeronia! Xivan yells inside his head as he remembers his adoptive daughter. So you have also been led to become a Goddess, my dear daughter. Though I’m to blame for just disappearing like that into my Eternal Slumber, but did you have a hand in my delayed awakening?
Xirina, was this planned by your mind? No one else has as much power as you have. Did you grown even stronger from the lives of those you have sacrificed? Did you leach my own adoptive daughter to your will? No, you couldn’t even make her do anything, even if you wanted to.
That night when Xivan’s two lovers died, he had slaughtered that family who plotted against him. And that’s where he found Xeronia, a newborn… He had killed her mother and father because he was in complete madness at that time. He had given no quarter to that esteemed family, children saw their parents die in front of them, they got traumatized by that emerald monster, but he didn’t slay them, he let the children live.
He took it upon himself to raise Xeronia as his own daughter, together with his real offspring. But Xivan put a rune inside of Xeronia, a rune which makes her obedient, and can’t hurt Xivan or those he holds dear. Though Xeronia doesn’t know about that rune, nobody knows of that hidden rune inside of her, only Xivan does.
He had told no one about it. Because she came from that Family… Those who made his lover kill his daughter’s mother…
“Xivan? Xivan!?” Enora shouted because Xivan just looks with blank eyes, as if he’s in a very deep trance of thoughts.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I just… Never mind,” Xivan replied while having a troubled look. “So have you decided to go to Temonar village?”
“Yes, we’ll go there and see how we’ll be treated. After that, I don’t know,” Enora said while she still hugs her baby sister.
“That settles it then,” Xivan said with a smile.
Xivan looks at the spear that’s on the ground, Aynthia had dropped it before, and now it lies there.
Oh well, I better give Enora something also, so she can defend herself better, Xivan thought as he rolls his eyes.
He goes over and picks up the spear, he does the same runes that Alyssa’s spear has. If she activates the runes, she could get to the village in an hour or so.
“What are you doing now?” Enora asked as she sees her spear shine in an emerald color.
“Here, this is my farewell gift,” Xivan said with a smile as he stretches out his hand while forwarding the spear to her.
She stops hugging her sister and stands up, she goes over to Xivan while taking ahold of the spear. She looks at the writing on the handle, it’s inscribed in a circle around the shaft of the spear. It illuminates in that emerald color.
“I guess you know Elven words?” he asked to make sure. But as a Half-Elf she should know incantations of different spells that are in Elvish.
“Yes it says, strength and speed,” Enora said with an excited voice. “Arethilith, Verthilith.”
She feels that surge of power, it enhances her. She holds the spear and as she moves it slightly to the left, and as the tip is on her right side, it attacks Xivan in a slashing move. His eyes goes wide open as he sees that lightning fast spear. But before it hits him, it hits some kind of force field that stops the spear from going any further.
“I, I am so sorry!” Enora yelled as she sees her spear just a couple of inches away from Xivan’s left side.
“Hehe, you better be careful. This spear will be hard to handle, but you’ll manage. Though do try not to swing it around near Linnea,” Xivan said with a chuckle. “It seems this is where we’ll say our goodbyes. But we’ll most certainly meet again. Goodbye.”
Xivan turns towards the door, but running footsteps is coming from behind him, “Noo! I dun’ want you to leave!” Linnea went inside Xivan’s black-cloak and clings to his leg while making her own legs only slightly visible.
“Oh?” Xivan just smiles as he feels that clinginess of a child.
“Linnea! Come out from there!” Enora shouted with a troubled voice.
“No!” Linnea yelled with a muffled sound as she’s hidden away under the cloak.
Enora goes up to Xivan and kneels down and lifts up his cloak, she forcibly pulls Linnea off of him.
“Let…go…of…him, Linnea! …Ah!”
As Linnea can’t hold onto Xivan any longer from the pulling of her sister, she lets go, and Enora falls backwards while she holds Linnea. A big thud on the wooden floor resounds as Enora’s buttocks hits the floor.
If she still had her spear on her—which she had laid down before she began pulling her sister—it would have turned ugly.
But now they sit there together on the floor, while Linnea squirms around in Enora’s embrace. She’s rather unwilling to settle down.
“Is she usually like this?” Xivan asked, for he is worried that it might be his influential powers that made her like that.
“Yes… She can be a bit over the top… So… I’m sorry for showing you… This kind of—, Linnea stop moving!” She yelled as her sister is being way too rebellious.
Xivan lets out a sigh of relief as he heard those words.
“Now then, as you have control of her, I’ll make my escape,” Xivan said humorously as he turns around.
“Ah! Wait!” Enora yelled out as she sees him leave. “Linnea stay put or I’ll become very angry at you.”
Linnea finally calms down as she hears those words, she pouts but she gives in to her sister’s demands. Enora stands up with her sister and goes over to Xivan. She gestures with her hands for him to lean down. His left eyebrow raises itself wonderingly, but he leans to Enora, because it looks like she wants to tell him something.
As he stands leaning towards Enora, she too leans a bit forwards to whisper something in his ear.
“Thank you,” she whispers in a seducing way, but instead of leaning back, she gives him a kiss on the lips, without any fear for the repercussions. All of her appreciation is summoned to that very kiss, and Xivan just looks wide-eyed by the sudden daring embrace of one another’s mouths.
She then forcibly pushes Xivan away after she finishes, she looks beyond embarrassed, her whole face is bright red, and her eyes can’t even gaze at him, her hands fiddles nervously over her bosoms.
Xivan though, has returned to his calm atmospheric appearance. He smiles with a kind expression. Then he says something that makes her heart jump further, “We’ll meet again, Enora.”
He makes a sudden turn of his body, then goes out the chapel’s door, leaving the scarlet faced Enora and the wondering Linnea behind.
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As the chapel’s door closes shut, Xivan stands overlooking the scenery in front of him, Aynthia sits on a rock gazing at him. Rather in dazing eyes, as if she’s thinking of something. Her eyes becomes wide when she snaps out of her daydreaming. She stands up and runs over to him.
“Do you want to say goodbye before we leave?” Xivan asked as he looks at her, but she just shakes her head left and right. “I see… The let us move towards our destination, east.”
Before they start to move, he checks if they got everything. Mask floating beside him, backpack on his back and on her back; her two longswords, her black shawl that’s hanging around her neck, her black cloak, and that little bag that Aynthia has dangling on her side.
They’re very heavily encumbered, but they can move with ease.
“Let us go,” Xivan said, and Aynthia nodded happily, for they’ll just be the two of them again, on the journey to Wantur City.
Xivan starts to walk towards the east gate of this old haunted village, while Aynthia walks closely beside him.
Their journey then began once again.
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A beautiful room that has crimson drapes that hangs down from the whitened roof; the white walls that is riddling with exquisite paintings of an Elven man, heads of different creatures, both big and small; the white floor that has carpets of different slain animals and monsters; one large curtain of red that hangs in the back of the room which shows that something is behind it.
The magic induced torches are lighting up this extraordinary chamber.
A vast square bed is stationed in the middle of the room, a bed of complete redness. Four red wooden pillars stands on every corner of the square formation; thick red drapes hangs down from the square frame that is above the bed, it makes it so nothing of the content inside shows.
Many different furniture are by the walls of this chamber, a mirror, racks of different weapons, and a wooden sculpture of a women where one would place one’s armor upon.
*Rattle*
The double-doors of this room opens up, and through the entrance to this chamber comes a ruby-haired woman in gleaming crimson battle-armor, and with a silver alloyed spear in her hand.
The woman stares at her chamber suspiciously with her crimson eyes, she has a frown on her face, and she doesn’t let go of that sour look, it’s imbedded into her very face. Her appearance is very terrifying, that skin tone of dark gray, that hair and eyes of blood-red, that battle-armor of plated reddened materials.
She walks towards the wooden sculpture. As she comes upon it, she places her spear in the hand of the sculpture, and starts to take off her armor, one piece at the time. When the sculpture is now the one wearing the armor, she stretches her limbs to rid herself of her aching body.
Her beautiful well-trained body displays, she reaches with her hand to a red silken dress that is on a stand beside the wooden sculpture. She puts the dress on, it is in a very thin material, so everything still shows, her breasts.
Her…everything.
Then her gaze goes over to the large red curtain that illuminates a male appearance behind it. The man stands motionless, and as she stares at it, she starts to walk towards the curtains.
She suddenly gains a smile on her frowning face.
As she stands in front of the curtain, a rope is hanging down beside her, which would open the large curtains. She pulls the on the rope so they moves to the sides, showing the Elven male that’s in front of her…
The Elven male has long hair that’s reaching down to his chest; he has the most perfect face she could think of; he is standing two meters high, and has a stance of warmth. His arms are stretched out to welcome a hug, and she does hug him…
“Father…” the woman said in a trance of emotions.
The Elven man isn’t a man, it’s a statue. A statue of Xivan, a perfect replica of him.
She then let’s go and steps back a few meters, while she is still having her new beaming expression.
The statue itself is of an emerald material that has been carved to its utter perfection. It is definitely a statue of Xivan and the woman in front of the statue is Xeronia, his adoptive daughter…
“Just wait for me father, I’ll come and find you…soon.” she said in a sudden dark voice as she shows a sinister smile.
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Hello Reader!
As I said in the previous chapter, it'll be hard to pump out larger ones, because of school. So I'll start to go with 5k-7k words per chapter, maybe less. :D But it'll makes things easier, so one doesn't need to sit for to long on one chapter.
Dunno about the names, never been good at naming stuff. :P
Anyhow. There hasn't been any major flashbacks in a while, but I'm just waiting for the right time to put them out, storywise.
Voice your thoughts if you want to comment! :D
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