Fall of the South Kingdom (3)

"When will this nightmare end?" Yllana sat cross-legged on the edge of the life force pool. She was staring at the glowing symbol of the thunder phoenix staff. Last time she checked, it was a plain staff, but now it has a symbol of a blue phoenix on its body, and the black vines coiled around it.

"Master…" Blue was playing with a small silver bird inside the core. It has a long tail and sharp electric blue eyes. What was most attractive to it was its black and silver crown on its head. It commanded attention. The way it flapped its wings as it stared down at Blue is like an emperor looking down on a servant. "Ugh, arrogant bird…" She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

She looked over Yllana who was still sitting by the pool. She saw her dipping her fingers into the pool when the bird suddenly flew towards Yllana with its talons ready to snatch Yllana's hand in the pool. She rushed over, but she was a second too late.

Swish!

Yllana's other hand was already at the neck of the bird gripping it tightly. "Cowardly phoenix…" she muttered. At the corner of Yllana's eyes, two red lines shaping the corner of her eyes appeared. Her eyes flashed a bright red glow and her hair floated in the air.

Blue saw the phoenix's eyes widened and its body trembled. It happened so fast that Blue was still to reach Yllana when everything went back to normal except Yllana's grip on the phoenix. "Master, that is an ancient phoenix in your hands."

"Ancient or not, it tried to harm me. From now on, I will not be using this foolish bird's techniques," she gripped tighter until the phoenix's eyes almost popped out. "You will be in charge of keeping it well-behaved whenever I visit you. At least until you can come out and help me."

Yllana turned around to face Blue and give the bird on her grasp a lashing when she heard Blue gasp and point at her eyes.

"What?" She raised a brow.

"Your eyes…" Blue blinked a few times, trying to see if what she is seeing will disappear. But it didn't. The red corner of Yllana's eyes was still there like makeup that was naturally-drawn. And Blue couldn't help but smile. Her master was always simple. But now…

Yllana threw the large bird to the side and looked at her reflection from the pool. At first, it wasn't clear. But when the water went still, she saw that small detail at the corner of her eyes. "What the-"

"You look pretty, master! Please don't remove it!" Blue hastily waved her hands in front of Yllana's face, trying to convince her not to remove whatever it was. But Yllana just groaned. She tried wiping it using her sleeves. When she looked into the water again, it was still there. She tried a couple more times, and harder, but it still wouldn't go away..

Exasperated, she gave up. It was just a small tinge of red anyway. Would anyone notice it?

~~~~~~~~~~

Larika was all smiles as she stared at Yllana's face during breakfast. Yllana kept telling her to quit it. "Please, Your Highness. Stop staring at it. I don't know how it got there, but your gaze is already making me uncomfortable." They were still eating at the campsite where they pitched their tents as requested by the valley lord.

"You look pretty with makeup, don't remove it please?" Were those stars shining in Larika's eyes?

Midel kept eating while listening to the two women. He noticed the red tinge on Yllana's eyes, but he did not pay special attention to it. Girls come to an age like that when they try to paint their faces with different colors just to 'attract' attention. He shrugged his shoulders. He doesn't really know what is so attractive when those can be removed at the end of the day.

"Is that really makeup? Can I try it too, Yllana?" Mariek woke up to Larika's shriek that morning. She looked better than yesterday when they found her on the raging horse. They were expecting her to be panic-stricken or worried, but she kept a calm face. "When I grow up I want to try that too, but isn't it ok to try it out as early as now too?" she added.

"No no no no!" Yllana was shaking her head furiously and waving her hands at the same time. "It just appeared there when I got angry last night. It wasn't intentional."

Midel looked at Mariek. Something felt odd about her. They already noticed that her eyes were two different colors now. Something must have happened back in their journey, but she couldn't remember anything at all. She was also clueless about how she ended up on a horse when the last time she checked she was walking on foot with her grandma.

"We have to get you back to your grandma." He suddenly declared. Mariek turned to him.

"I was with them near Fairkeep Falls. That was the last place I could remember." She massaged her temples and tried to remember. But nothing came. "I'm sorry." She shook her head and looked at the ground.

"It's alright. We'll take you back to the villagers, right Yllana?" Larika was still smiling as she glanced at Yllana on the opposite side.

"We should." She replied with determination. Yllana remembered the villagers who kept them. The children, the young men, and women, even Grandma who gave them shelter in the Banished Village have been etched in her mind. 'Stay safe everyone.' She looked up the sky and wished on the heavens once more. It was always worth a try.

"Azimuth," she whispered. A black shadow instantly popped out on her side and out came the leader of the trio. The scar on his left eye, which also ran across his silver mask, is already healed. He was a head taller than Yllana, so she must look up whenever she has to talk to him. "Where will your subordinates look for Lucien?"

He did not answer immediately. When Yllana squinted her eyes, he looked from side to side, he avoided looking directly into her eyes. "Master said not to tell you,"

She took a deep breath and sighed. How mysterious can this Lucien be? 'Did he guess that I would be asking his location? What? Am I THAT interested in him now?' she mocked herself for thinking foolishly. "Do you have a way to tell your friends what Mariek just told us?" When he nodded, she informed him of what happened to Mariek and the possible location of the villagers. Azimuth then put it in a small paper and a black smoke poofed it from his hands, disappearing completely.

Yllana was staring at him the whole time. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Yes, mistress." She didn't know why, but she felt that the stony guy just smiled at her like a dog seeing its master. His eyes turned into crescent shapes and there was a…sparkle?

"You just place a message into a paper like this…" he was so eager to teach her that he already produced another small piece of paper from his coat. He rolled it and tied a piece of string, which was hanging out from clothes. "And then you think of the location where you want to send it. The higher your rank, the farther the coverage of the transmission. But if your receiver is in an unknown location, it will not be sent and the life force you will insert will be wasted."

"I see. So, I have to do it just like this?" she managed to duplicate what Azimuth told her to do. She held the small paper on her open palm. "Then what?"

"Think of the location and the person, then say 'Lacus'. A puff of smoke should send it on its way."

"Lacus," she softly whispered. It was ever so gently whispered that Azimuth almost didn't hear it. A puff of black smoke enveloped the piece of paper and swallowed itself along with the letter. Yllana's eyebrows shot up, "That…wasn't expected." She looked at Azimuth.

"It is understandable, mistress. Only demons can do so. Surely you have demon blood flowing in you."

'Demon blood'

'flowing in you'

Mariek, Midel and Larika were about to approach them when they heard Azimuth's words. It wasn't a whisper nor was it a shout. He said it clearly as if he knew it already. There was an innocent look on his face. "Mistress-"

Azimuth saw the three and he leaped back into the shadows. Midel was the first one to recover. He coughed twice before walking to Yllana like he didn't hear anything. He smiled as usual and tapped her shoulder. "There's news about the South Kingdom. The emperor blocked all the exits to it and is now calling for all the other villages under his command to report to him at once."

Mariek and Larika slowly followed. They stopped a few times before going near Yllana and Midel.

"I see," she replied to Midel. "Don't worry…I don't know what just happened. Mariek, we will still bring you back to the villagers, so that means we must cross the other villages. Let's get ready." She turned her back to them.