In a large room, four figures sat around a large dark wooden, rectangular table. The room was simple. There were no paintings or any decorations; only a large table with four seats on each side was the only thing placed inside the room. Directly in front of the exit was a large window that stretched horizontally which provided a simple aesthetic. It exhibited a great view of the lush green and colourful garden as it also welcomed rays of light enter the room.
The four figures were wearing black leather armor with bronze-colored plating on their chest and shoulders. On their faces were stoic expressions, as if they were waiting for someone. The only female in the room stood up and started to stretch out her arms, letting out a soft moan. She then sat in her seat.
“When will Zaos come here to report?” the female elf spoke in a slight irritated tone.
“We’re just early, Mylaela. That’s all,” an elf to her right replied. The one spoke, Rhalyf, was right. Everyone in the room had nothing better to do so they meet earlier than usual hoping to get reports about Aesar and Ryfon going after the Orthrus.
After a few more minutes, their eyes showed color. Soon after, a knock could be heard towards the door that was behind the female elf.
“Enter,” a tall elf, 2 meters tall with a large toned body, stood directly across the table from the female elf and stared directly at the person who entered the room. His imposing face gave an overwhelming sense of authority. And his silver hair aired out wisdom.
The person who entered gave a low bow and waited for further instructions.
“Zaos, report,” the imposing figure spoke in a deep booming voice.
“Yes, general Ralnor. They arrived back early in the morning. They were able to slay that Orthrus beast,” Zaos replied with a stern tone. He continued, “When I went to the chief Agis’ manor to wait for them there till they returned from their hunt, I was greeted by Ryfon. Apparently, they left early and had already disposed of the Orthrus and a pack of 30 other hellhounds.”
“30 hellhounds!?” Rhalyf and Mylaela both replied in unison with a dumbfounded expression.
“What are so many hellhounds doing around in the north?” Mylaela questioned then questioned again, “and how were Aesar and Ryfon able to kill 30 and that monstrous creature, the Orthrus?” she continued and said under her breath, “I knew they’re very strong – almost impossibly strong in fact, but…” she trailed off as she contemplated.
At this, Ralnor continued his extraction of information, “I see. I’ll get the finer details later. If you were able to get information from Ryfon so early, than why didn’t you report sooner?”
Ryfon continued his report, “After I got the details of the extermination from Ryfon, I personally went to the scene of where the even took place.” Ryfon then said, “Those are the important details, should I continue the finer ones?”
“If it’s not important, we’ll continue this later,” stated Ralnor.
“Wait, I want to know more,” Mylaela rejected and Rhalyf quickly agreed with her. The other general stayed silent.
At the two elves’ remark, Ralnor said, “I, too, want to know more details, but it can wait till this evening,” he then reasoned, “I need to check up on our military and improvise some things. With 30 hellhounds being discovered and bigger fishes appearing, I’ll need to work on a lot of things; not just in our village, but also in the other villages,” Ralnor then made an even clearer statement than before, “We’ll continue this in the evening.”
***
Inside a large manor that seemed to be made out of white limestone, a female elf, Amara, had a furious yet worried expression on her face. This however, did not negatively affect her beautiful face. In fact, the expression she was making was incredibly charming.
In front the infuriated elf was two depressed figures with their head down, Aesar and Ryfon. Their faces had defeated looks. They had planned to keep their outing a secret from Amara to prevent worrying her, so they left early in the morning hoping not to get caught. But life was not so simple.
Earlier in the day, when Amara decided to check on their usual training early in the morning, she did not see anyone, so she immediately knew something was off. Aesar and Ryfon trained everyday early in the morning after all. After briefly waiting in Aesar and Ryfons’ personal training area outside the village gates, two nervously looking figures approached her. The stares of her eyes could melt iron. But a worried expression soon plastered on her face when Aesar’s entire body came into view. Though he did not have any wounds, Amara knew his ability and what the dark crimson, shredded fabric on his body meant. Her heart gave out at the sight of her son. She could only guess what pain he went through to be in such a state.
Now in the manor, the three continued to stay silent. Amara’s silence sent a deep message to the two dishevelled elves.
“Fix yourselves and we will talk after,” Amara’s furious and worried expression soon turned dejected after her words.
While waiting, Amara thought back to the time when she first found Aesar who at the time, looked no older than 10 months old; he had no one with him, only the tree stump next was his company in the forest. Regardless of his situation he just smiled on the tall lush green grass. When she first laid eyes on Aesar, anger and downheartedness filled her soul. To see an abandoned child in a very dangerous place caused her fragile heart to ache in pain and burn in anger.
From that day on, she decided to take him in as her family. Even though she was young in elven standard, she was prepared to do what it took to care for the baby boy. The guards with her warned her of his unknown origin and circumstances and should be careful. Being the elite guards they were, they did lot let anything cloud their judgement and considered everything.
In the village, many elves had raised eyebrows when Amara had adopted an unknown baby. The baby was of unknown origin. Even the elders and well-informed elves did not know what race was the boy. What’s more, the baby boy did not have mana, but had a different form of energy inside him. However, her family and the rest of the village were open about her new baby. Although at first, through misunderstanding, her father, Agis, erupted like a raging volcano. He was out for blood; some of the words said by Amara trying to explain the situation fell into deaf ear. But the situation was soon cleared at the sight of the baby boy. From the sight of the baby boy, he pieced the information together.
Amara’s pink, luscious lips curved up into a smile as she continued to reminisce.
Throughout the years, Amara continued to raise the baby boy who she named, Aesar. Even though Aesar was not her real child, a deep bond between the two formed. She would always carry him around and have him sleep next to her in her bed. She’d teach him, bathe him, love him, and discipline him.
From what Amara noticed, Aesar was incredibly brilliant. He’d always learn and understand thing more quickly than other children his age. At the age of 2 he could already speak in Elven language adeptly and had a good understanding of the Human language. He would read lots of books and listen intently to Ryfon’s adventuring tales. He had the same eyes as her when she was younger, eyes filled with wonder.
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Aesar piqued lots of attention from the villagers as he continued to grow older. When Aesar was of 13 years of age, his display of power when he was training with Ryfon, left only disbelief on everyone’s face. His excellent display of power and skills were comparable to some of the veteran village soldiers. Everyone in the village knew he was brilliant and talented, but not to such an extent. Over the years he continued to grow stronger and he eventually surpassed Ryfon.
Even though everyone in the village knew Aesar was very powerful, Amara’s motherly nature still sheltered him from everything. She would deny any request of the village’s military to recruit her son. The Four Generals were not too happy with it, but being the daughter of the village chief and had the protection Ryfon, they eventually gave up.
However, due to boredom, Aesar and Ryfon would sometime go off to do some of Legion Three’s job. This was not well received by Amara.
Everything from that time when she first met Aesar to their current situation happened in a span of 34 years. To her those 34 years were precious, but she now feared of what may happen in the future. She believed that Aesar would eventually leave the village like Ryfon from that time. Now she knew how her father felt when Ryfon’s characteristics and qualities rub off on her.
After some time had passed, Aesar and Ryfon looked fully refreshed as they gathered to where Amara was. Aesar had put on another dark crimson, long sleeve shirt. Ryfon only took off his dark leather armor, now revealing a white shirt.
No one said a word for a brief moment. Then the silence was broken by Aesar.
“Dear mother—“
Before Aesar could finish, Amara interrupted, “—my dear son, I’ve been with you your whole life. I’ve raised you after all. I know that look you have. It’s the same one Ryfon had when he left 84 years ago,” Amara’s voice became unsteady, “I, also had that same look, until I found you. You’ve grown into a fine strong man. Even though you are still very young, you’ve matured finely. And I am very confident that you are capable of taking care and protecting yourself. It’s just that I hate seeing you get hurt. But I also don’t want to cage you like a bird.”
Ryfon stayed silent. He did not want to get in between the mother and son. He knew just how much Amara’s love was for Aesar. This was between the two of them, and only the two of them.
“I’m sorry I worried you, dear mother. But you don’t need to worry, you know full well what I’m capable of and uncle Ryfon is with me.”
The mother and son continued to exchange a few more words. It had been some time since they last had a similar talk. But this time, it was different – Amara was different. She, in no way, scolded him. She only expressed her worry and love.
After the talk, Agis returned to the manor after visiting Casaluna. Soon after, in the afternoon, a guest came to the manor, questioning two individuals.
***
It was evening and everyone in the manor, Ryfon, Amara, Agis and Aesar, were sitting in front of a large dining table. In front of them was a plethora of food, presumed to be too much for the four individuals to eat.
Everyone was dining rather normally when suddenly Aesar had a shift of mood. From this, the atmosphere drastically changed.
Ryfon was the first to notice Aesar’s change. He knew the unrivalled sensing abilities Aesar had and immediately knew something was wrong, judging from his serious expression.
“Aesar, what is it?” Ryfon asked with a worried expression.
“Somewhere north of the forest, something’s there, or rather something is happening there.”
After Aesar’s reply, every elite soldier in the village soon sensed the disturbance. It was a strange sensation. They could feel energy gathering north of the forest. It was unfamiliar to them, almost similar to the energy Aesar possessed, but its form and sensations was different.
Ryfon and Aesar looked at each other. They both came to a conclusion. Perhaps this had something to do with the large amount of hellhounds appearing.
Agis and Amara have nervous looks. They knew of the strange circumstances in the north and probably had something to do with more creatures appearing there.
As if knowing what would happen next, Amara said, “Let Legion Three handle this.”
She was worried. This was the first time something like this had happened for her. The strange anomaly was unnerving, even Agis who have lived in the village for centuries had uncertainty.
They were right to feel unnerved. No one in the village, including Aesar and Ryfon has ever gone to deep, north of the forest, for it was too dangerous. Something was happening, something that has never happened before.
“Dear sister, Let us go. If Legion Three can handle it, then me and Aesar can, and if they can’t, then we’re the only ones that can. There is a gathering of mana, if such a large amount were to be used who knows what would happen,” Ryfon rebutted.
Great urgency was coming from Aesar and Ryfon.
Amara did not say a word and turned her head towards her father, only to see his defeated posture.
At this, Aesar and Ryfon left the table, leaving Agis and a dejected elven girl.
Just when Aesar was about to exit the dining room, he looked behind him and faced his mother. Aesar wanted to say he loved her, but refrained from doing so. Saying something heavy during a time of urgency would only burned her.
Aesar and Ryfon exited the manor now fully equipped. Just when they were about to launch themselves towards the anomaly, a group of elves wearing black leather armor with some silver plating greeted them with faces of urgency. One particular elf had bronze-colored plating – he was Rhalyf, the general for Legion 3. His long golden hair, tied into a ponytail swayed back and for the as he walked hurriedly towards the two individuals.
“You got here quickly Rhalyf, but I don’t have time to talk right now,” as Ryfon said hurriedly, few more elven soldiers arrived to where they were.
“I’m coming with you guys as well as all of Legion Three. I figured you’d be acting fast, so I came here as quickly as I could.”
As Ryfon and Rhalyf conversed, they quickly widen their eyes at what they sensed. Hordes of creatures were coming towards their direction, seemingly as if they were running away from the source of the anomaly.
“Move!” with a single word form Rhalyf, most of the elven soldiers with them darted towards the walls. The ones that stayed behind were presumably elites.
Aesar and Ryfon were getting impatient.
“Tell all the legions to protect the village, and I want elites, and you to protect my father and sister. Don’t think about refuting me. Aesar and I will handle this.”
Rhalyf couldn’t deny that the two of them were the most capable out of them all. For peace of mind, he said, “Fine, but take some of my elites with you.”
With that, the two impatient individuals blurred as they jumped towards the anomaly leaving craters behind where they just stood. Behind them were several elves following as they glided over the trees.