LEAVING NYX AND CONTINUING TO NECROS

"These trees, I think, are like endless," complained Kron who was riding a mule with Revan and the others.

"Nyx Forest, Kron," said Revan. "It's bigger than our grand Neferty palace."

"No," said Kron, shaking his head. "Never been this wide before."

"Have you been here before, Master Giant? Your job is only to carve stone in the hall of Lords." Revan spurred his gray mule over to Kron who snorted in disapproval.

"But I read Neferty's books and geographic parchments. I've also heard the courtiers say that this forest, Julius, is only as wide as a Misty Valley, extending slightly into the Civerdell border," he protested.

Grover, who was riding on the mule in the rear, followed them. "The Nyx Forest is indeed vast. The widest, even. But Kron son of Vron was right. Now we are not in the Nyx forest anymore," he explained.

"Is that true?" Kron and Revan spontaneously answered.

"I know exactly the variety that grows in that sacred forest. The big tree, Greenflake, a trembesi hybrid whose branches and leaves represent the prosperity of the goblins, do you still find it here, now?" Grover asked.

Revan and Kron, including Rio who was riding on a Frig spontaneously looked around, then quickly shook their heads after discovering the fact that there were nothing more than towering pine trees surrounding them. Grover laughed again, his straight teeth dazzling. Especially that classy white hair.

"If I'm not mistaken, maybe we're at Claide's border. Twenty kilometers away from the Nxy forest, another eleven to twelve kilometers before reaching the child of the Nyx forest, Nekros."

"Wow, your geographical knowledge is good, Master last elf," Kron flattered. "But if this really is Claide's border, we should have seen the Konodies tribal landmarks since the beginning of leaving Nyx earlier. The forest gnomes like to build high piles of stones."

"Kron is right," added Revan.

"That's what I was thinking, to be honest," Grover responded.

Fate didn't seem to have left them in confusion for too long. Thirty steps traversed the damp humus soil of Claide's border, bringing the armor hunters to a place that forced them to stop the galloping of the riding mules. Revan was the first to get off the mule, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Then Kron followed, then Rio and Grover. They stood facing low huts like mangled mushrooms, uninhabited, also abandoned.

"These mushroom houses ....," said Revan. "The Konodies Settlement, right?"

"There's no mistaking it," Kron replied as he took a step closer, observing what was really going on in the village. "It doesn't look like it was voluntarily abandoned," he said after pointing out the dried blood splattered on people's homes.

Grover checked in too. The young elf stared at the trail of carnage that came to the residence of the forest gnomes. Even though there was a lot of blood, there wasn't a single corpse. Even the tiniest body pieces were nil. Grover knew what creatures were famous for this kind of slaughter. Not only did he know, but he was a witness to his life.

"Elves Devourer." That person's words caught the attention of Revan and the others.

"Grover, really," Kron argued. "Now he's called the Gnomes Devourer too?"

"We have to go." Revan said. "Grover may be right. This forest is not safe. Come on, hurry!" The man moved up his mule again.

"Serious? All right, come on!" Kron also inched.

"Revan, that Elves Devourer, is it really that dangerous?" Rio asked as he boarded Frig.

"After seeing Fenrir two days ago, witnessing how brutally that creature attacks the goblins, in my opinion, Rio, the Elves Devourer are far more dangerous," Revan said.

"This place is quite close to the Nxy forest. I'm afraid that Bayrak and his people will be in danger again," worried Rio. "We don't even know if they survived the Imps or not."

Revan suddenly spurred his mule closer to Rio, accompanying the boy in his own worries. "I've seen black and white animals in your world. Its name is skunk, right?" said the transfiguration wizard.

"Yes." Rio stared back curiously.

"If it's called vrave. Every time Erevna is held, the best goblins will compete to hunt down a vrave. Whoever manages to get the vrave first, defending it until the other competing goblins surrender, then he has the right to eat it and become the Alpha." Revan explained. "Bayrak has been through it all, Rio. He was the strongest goblin at the moment. I'm sure he's still alive and leading the goblin village much better after Fenrir's death."

Rio just took a deep breath. "Hopefully," he said.

They continued to explore the forest further, letting Grover mark some areas with his top-notch geographic knowledge. The Elves Devourer rumors just now evaporated. Either Grover's conjecture was too precise, or just that they were too lazy to talk about it. What was clear, Claide's border was not a place they would be visiting again for the time being.

Some time passed, the group finally arrived at Nekros, a child of the Nyx forest whose ground was covered with dead leaves (even the yellow leaves kept falling like eternal rain). Grover said Nekros was always like this. The dead leaves wither every second because of a spell that was uttered by a powerful survivor in the past. Instead, black magic never again touched this area. Prosperous in a dull and sad dressing.

"So this is where your foster uncle lives?" Revan confirmed.

"Right. It has an artificial world near the heart of the forest. Hidden and silent. I've been there twice. Trust me, the atmosphere is not as gloomy as this forest."

"Okay. I think it's better to hurry," said Revan. "Twilight is almost here."

"Keep straight. Come on!" Grover drives.

The mules' legs swayed again, treading the piles of dead leaves, most of which were rotten and slippery. Frig who wasn't used to this kind of terrain repeatedly broke down, so Rio needed to rub the winter griffin's head to calm down and move his legs. It's not easy. Kron even had a chance to protest because many fallen leaves were tucked in the braid of his long hair.

As he entered the forest area deeper, the rain of dead leaves began to decrease. The big, dense trees that had often showered them with yellow leaves were now being replaced one by one with cypress trunks with small leaves. Finally Kron could breathe a sigh of relief as he picked up the annoying dirt from his blonde hair. The frig seems more comfortable too. The creature often squawked cheerfully, making Rio even more excited to stroke his fur.

Their journey stopped in front of a pair of twisted cypress trees. The trunks twisted together, as if to form a gate that could fit a human being. Grover hurried down from the mule, glanced for a moment at the darkened twilight sky, then at the crooked tree. The young elf intertwined his ten fingers, starting to chant ancient spells. Rio was instantly enthusiastic when a thin blue membrane burst out in the middle of the two crooked trees. Now it did look like there was a gate there.

"This is the road to Fort-End, the residence of my foster uncle and his wife," he said.

"Good. What are you waiting for? Come on in!" Kron preceded the others entering the gate.

As soon as it touched its magical membrane, the giant felt like it was breaking through a soft bubble. Not too thick, or too thin. It doesn't react badly to the skin either, but it's quite surprising when the pine forest where he was busy doing his hair suddenly turns into a large yard around the house planted with various kinds of ornamental flowers.

"Red tulips, dahlias, petunias, chocolate cosmos." Kron attended to the beautiful flowers that caught his eye. "Not bad. This guy has a good taste in plants."

Not long after, Revan and Rio followed in. They were as impressed as Kron. Revan smiled happily, very happy. He later revealed that it was the first time after so many years of expulsion of the anti-tarnath wizard from Nepheel that Lord Aaron's aide had been able to see the beautiful grounds of the house.

"In the past, almost all the yards in Nepheel were like this. Fresh and colorful," he commented.

"What flower is this?" Rio approached a pink flower whose petals were small and piled up like sunflowers. Only, more beautiful.

"Gerbera Civerdell. Do you like it, Rio?" asked Revan.

"Yeah. I've never seen anything so beautiful at my place."

"Do you know?" Raven's smile grew wider. "You have the same taste as Lord Aaron. He also likes Gerbera Civerdell. A beautiful flower that only grows in blessed land."

He was so infatuated with the charm of the pink flower, Rio's fingers unconsciously wanted to pick one. However, before the surface of his skin touched, a chorus of hoarse screams crashed into the silence at that moment. It came from the window of a minimalist wooden house painted in purple. It looked like the only house there, covered with riddle grass and oak trees.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FLOWER, YOU DIRTY INTRUDERS!" he shouted furiously.

Rio spontaneously away from the flower. He was a little worried, and scared. Breaking into someone's residence is bad, let alone withdrawing the interest without permission. This young man just wanted to apologize, all promised not to do it again.

"Forgive us," said Revan. "Your gardens are beautiful, Sir. We were amazed to see them. Just as beautiful as Nepheel's gardens."

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Regardless, the owner of the hoarse scream turned to another topic.

"Oh, right. We are wizards—ah! Travelers, I mean. The reason we came here is...." Before Revan could finish his introduction session, Grover who was crossing the membrane immediately shouted loudly.

"Uncle Dolores, is that you?"

"Grover!" said the hoarse voice. "You with these people? Who want to destroy my garden!"

"Uh! Yes, and no." The elf became a bit confused. "Yes I was with these people. And no, they didn't mean to destroy your garden, Uncle."

Revan, who had been listening to their conversation all this time, was tickled by one word (or rather the name). Dolores, he remembered a lot about that name. Full of royal memories, especially about Nepheel's heyday before the war broke out. There were many people who bore the name Dolores, but there was only one gnome who had that name.

"Dolores," he repeated. "Dolores the Great?" Revan is loud.

Someone from behind the barred box window brought his head closer. At first glance there is a long nose like the goblins, bald head, pale white skin (wrinkled), and big ears like mango seeds with some curves. Kron, who initially thought that Revan knew him well, actually gasped. He forgot Dolores' name, but remembered the stern, angry look on his face.

"Let me see," said Dolores through the window. "You must be Julius Ordich, the royal aide. That big long hair, I can't remember, but it must be Kron the son of Vron. I've seen your sculpting show long ago. What the Nepheel peoples were doing in my yard, with my nephews?"

"I'm one of them, Uncle." Grover answered. "We have come, I, to deliver a message. The eastern Fos Temple has been destroyed, under attack by Elves Devourer. We have something to talk about."

In that instant, the milky white resin door opened. They could peek at the warm and tidy atmosphere from inside. A living room that deserves guests. Dolores shuffled away from the window, leaving his gaze full of suspicion. Before he was out of sight, he said hoarsely.

"It's not good to pluck people's flowers without permission. But ignoring guests is much worse. Please come in!"

Gone is the happiness of those people. They had escaped the obsolescence of Nekros, were greeted by dazzling flowers, and now, Dolores the Great had opened the door. A gesture of goodwill for a group of people he dubbed the "Dirty Intruders."

Grover led his flock into the warm and cozy house. As far as Rio remembered, the walls were far different from the walls of the orphanage he lived in. Not dull at all, just white with a charming light brown accent. There is a large collection of porcelain items in the glass cabinets (teapots, cups, decorative plates, small figurines and many more).

Perhaps—according to Kron's estimation—there were five rooms in the house. The living room, the large kitchen, the two bedrooms, and the room where Dolores was nagging them from inside (which Kron suspected was her study, or it could be a room to spy on everything outside).

Dolores was nowhere to be seen, but pretty teapots and cups were flying around, filling each other up to entertain guests who rarely came to Fort-End. Rio was so mesmerized, a stark contrast to the others. Of course because for them this is normal, like the sun rising from the east or the deer being chased by a tiger.

"I'm just providing tea. I hope my guests don't mind," someone said. From his voice it must be Dolores.

"Tea is not a special treat for the Nepheel people. But tea from Dolores, I'm sure there is nothing more special than this." Revan responded happily.

"Now, while the tea isn't ready, please tell me what kind of thing brought Lord's servants back together?" Dolores asked, still behind the wall.

"With all due respect, I, Julius Ordich, Lord Aaron's personal aide that the reign of the Lords of the Nefertyland is still not over. Lord Aaron's soul has been reincarnated and is ready to return to rule this land. It is for this reason that we, the Anti-Tarnath wizards, unite to make this happen"

"I haven't heard this rumor in a long time," commented Dolores. "Rumor that make fools go crazy thinking about it. How stupid."

"W-what do you mean? It's not a rumor anymore. It's all true," said Revan. "We did succeed in doing Dianom. Lord Aaron's soul did reincarnate. It's just..."

"Just what?" said Dolores.

"His soul wasn't whole. It was broken into four pieces, which means that there are currently four Kings who will rule the Nefertyland."

The teacups that were almost neatly laid out on the table suddenly stopped, making Revan and the others wonder. The look on Dolores' face behind the wall, after hearing the answer just now, was the biggest question mark.

"This is the first time since fifteen years ago I've been to Fort-End, stupid jokes are ringing in my ears again. Maybe you'd be better off as a comedian, Mr. Ordich." After saying that, the teas were running again.

Revan looked offended, Kron knew exactly. The dapper man would normally correct a bow tie when it's slanted or doesn't fit, but now it's still neat and he fixes it time and time again.

"I didn't believe it either, at first," said Kron. "But that's how it is. There are four Kings, and two of them are in your house."

"Who?" continued Dolores poignantly. "You and that skinny kid in the last seat, Kron? Oh, really!"

"This kid's name is Rio, from the non-magical world, and it's true he's the reincarnation of the King's heart. Then, the other one isn't me, but your own adopted nephew, Grover." Kron explained. "Aren't you suspicious because he really looks like our Lord? Grover is the King's physical heir."

"Coincidence can take any shape, including the resemblance of our faces to famous figures. What's the point of being suspicious? I'll only believe your bullshit if—"

"If like this, right?" Revan immediately lowered his backpack, reached into something, then took out a smoky green cube. "Rio! Grover! Touch the armor!"

Rio and Grover spontaneously touched the cube. In less than a split second, the cube transforms into a beautiful and charming Kholoros. A majestic gleam spread with boldness, filling the rooms of Dolores's house, which was a bit dark at the time.

The light of holy armor had come to Fort-End, the residence of the stubborn gnome. Even though she was hiding behind a wall, Dolores' eyes were still glaring. For a moment the light was gone, all that was left was the shock of the host's eyes.

"For the sake of the Great Lords' horses, you have brought something serious into my house!"

(To be continued)