4 Back to Wild Wood

Phyllada and Elyre did not really tell each other much on the way back. They both felt a certain lack of direction. What should they do now? It would be difficult to bring sad news home... Moreover, as Phyllada's coronation was the next day, people could think it was a bad omen.

Phyllada was not worried about that. But she was concerned that without digeniche, the condition of the forest would continue to worsen.

Perhaps the sylvan dwellers had expected such a result -- after all, they had had many protests against digeniche gathering before. But still it would be painful to take away their hopes.

"We'd better focus on your coronation now," Elyre said as she could sense Phyllada was worried about the forest. As long as the maginopia sickness continued to spread around the forest, there would be no peace.

The truth was Elyre was frustrated as well. She wanted to go find the Queen and convince her. But she knew her sister must have given her best when she spoke with Her Majesty.

The next day -- the day of the coronation -- in the Sun Manor, their home, they had just woken up and Phyllada was brushing her long, long wood-nymph hair. No body was too excited for the ceremony because the condition of the forest was already too bad and there were special patrols trying to maintain the good health of the trees and plants... But they could only cure the symptoms and not the actual reason for the sickness.

A little kitten circled around Phyllada's feet and helped her feel a bit better because it was so cute.

"Elyre, can you go buy some cat food from our neighbors?" she said. "I forgot to do it yesterday."

"Sure!" Elyre was out of the room before she'd answered. She was calmly crossing the backyard and about to turn around the corner when she heard voices~~

She couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, of course. We will assist in digeniche gathering."

This voice. She couldn't believe.

She took a peek around the corner just to make sure that this was indeed Thyberia, the Queen of the Wood-Nymphs. She was speaking with a certain mage. Elyre couldn't see him clearly as he'd turned his back on her. She couldn't believe such words could come out of Thyberia's mouth.

"We will see who's going to assist!" Elyre frowned. She looked around and saw a rusty old sword that was hanging on the wall of the manor. She took it and immediately threw it on the ground in their direction.

She didn't want to hurt anyone, just to express her opinion -- no, not everyone was going to assist.

The sword glided over the ground and landed next to the mage's feet, accompanied by a sharp metallic sound.

As much as Elyre wished to see their reactions, she knew she had to leave. She could transform into a tiny twinkle and fly away, but she thought the mage may sense the use of magic. So instead, she used a nearby ladder to climb onto the slanted roof. It hid her from view.

The mage stared at her direction. There weren't many mages in Wild Wood and Elyre did not know that mages could feel not only magic but also the presence of any of the Allyrian races nearby -- because all of them had certain magical abilities.

Yet, he felt nothing. How could that be? The person who threw the sword could not possibly have escaped so quickly without magic. He should have been able to sense either traces of magic used, or the presence of a person. He also couldn't feel any protective spells activated...

"Must be some children or young wood-nymphs fooling around, Your Highness," Thyberia said.

"I see wood-nymphs have a sense of humor," he declared coldly. "I do, too."

Meanwhile, Elyre, still on the roof, decided to move away from them. She moved farther and farther away, careful to remain unnoticed. She wanted to escape from the other side of the manor. But suddenly... Bump!

She heard a noise. It all happened so quickly she had no time to react. She just saw her knife falling down the roof. What a nightmare, now they would find her! But a moment later, she was still alone. She just rushed towards the other edge of the roof, where she could jump down and run away. She was in such a hurry as if the building would collapse in an instant.

The mage looked at her direction once again. Still, he couldn't sense anyone there. Once his conversation with Thyberia was over, he went closer to the manor and found a knife in the grass. It was beautifully and richly ornamented. He must have heard this knife falling down a while ago. Why hadn't he felt anyone's presence nearby?...

He was about to leave when he heard a young girl's voice,

"Elyre?!... What takes you so long... Are you here?!"

It was a wood-nymph who came out of the manor -- Phyllada, looking for her sister. She was surprised to see an unknown person near the Sun Manor and said,

"Oh, excuse me."

Next to the mage, there was a beautiful black stallion. It attracted Phyllada's attention because she loved horses very much. It was a purebred Arabian horse! Her favorite were the Friesians but the Arabians were the oldest and purest breed. They were very smart. And usually gentle, though this one didn't seem to be. Its color was like black velvet and it had a white star on its forehead. It had big, serious, expressive eyes, deep, wide nostrils and long, gracious neck, hidden under a thick black mane. She would like to give it a pat and would almost ask to do it, but she changed her mind at the last minute – who knew how the mage might react to such a request?

She wondered what the horse's name might be. She truly was a horse expert. One of the few people in Allyria who could explain the difference between a white horse and a white unicorn – except the horn, of course. Most white horses were born black and lightened while growing up, and unicorns were born white and never changed color.

When Elyre returned at the Sun Manor, Thyberia was already waiting for her.

"Elyre, what do you think you are doing?" she asked solemnly. "I know you threw that sword."

"The question is 'what are you doing,' mother?" Elyre couldn't believe, "I heard what you said. How can you promise that we are going to help with digeniche gathering?! When you know about the Queen's refusal from yesterday? The forest is going to die, and you say we're going to help?!"

"Elyre, this mage could destroy the whole forest in an instant if he wished so. Of course I would say whatever he wanted to hear. Understand that in the circumstances given, there is no point in trying to confront him."

"So we should help him destroy the forest then?" Elyre shrugged. "That's why I threw the sword, to let him know it's not going to happen. Why are you scolding me?"

"You deserve to be scolded. With this behavior of yours, you cannot help the forest. You should learn to respect leaders."

Elyre couldn't understand. Had she been disrespectful?! What was the meaning of respect, to follow orders blindly? She went to her room. She wanted to go out to a meadow full of unicorns, who always made her feel better. But she had to prepare herself for Phyllada's coronation.

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