15 Story of Alathia (Part 1), the goddess of nature

Dawn came quickly. When the first light shone, both of them woke up and started to pack up their belongings for their trip to the nearest town. "Say, do we really have to go to that town? I mean there are other places we can go and get signed as mercenaries! It doesn't have to be that place!" said the dark elf while checking his stuff. Saito stopped what he was doing and looked at him, "come on! I already told you that we will go there because that place is the nearest neutral territory or it's written on the map" he said.

"I know that but.....what is the first thing the humans or other elves would do when they see me?" Herjar asked him as he finished packing up everything. Saito thought for a bit and said, "they will probably kill you or try to capture you as a present for some Noble, either way you will probably be fucked up the first thing when we enter the gate or maybe even before that". Herjar's face blackened as he thought about his to-be life as a boy toy for some noble or a prisoner.

Looking at his face, Saito couldn't help but laugh as he said, "hahaha! Did you really think that I will let something happen to you? Are you that big of an idiot! I already said this and I'm saying this again, no matter who or what! If they want to get you, they go through me!" Saito firmly stated. His words hit the spot as the eyes of the dark elf started to get wet. "Oi, are you crying by any chance!" Saito asked. "No, just some dust I think" he then wiped his tears and came out of the cave and asked teasingly ad he stood bear Saito, "shall we go your highness?". Saito replied with a smirk, "of course your majesty".

Both of them laughed as they made their way towards the town.

.....

In the Shadow Palace of the 7th Hell, Lord of the 7th Hell, Lohar was watching the fog screen before him as Ageil kept him company. "His first companion being a dark elf.... Just what is he thinking? I can't get a read on him! Ageil, any thoughts on our champion?" he turned towards his most trusted companion and asked. Ageil thought for a bit before saying, "In my opinion, I would say he made the right choice". His answer piqued up Lohar's interest as he started to dig for more, "Heh? How so?".

Ageil cleared his throat and said, "For example, let's take humans, they treat their friends as brothers and sisters only to betray them at the end but only some are exceptional. Humans put forth their interest before their relation, but as for the dark elves, they are loyal and treat you with the same courtesy you show them, if you are aggressive towards them, they will in turn be aggressive towards you as the enmity between the dark elves and humans and other elves can serve as a great example" he ended his speech with that.

Lohar gave him an applause and said, "Well observed, what you said is the truth, both humans and other elven races have pure hatred towards dark elves even though they are of the same species, why? The answer is that the dark elves are beings who worship the gods of darkness and evil for others while humans and others beings such as wood elves or high elves worship the gods of light or nature goddess which resulted in the enmity between these races, dark elves, humans and other beings still conduct wars to weaken their enemies and allies". "Allies you say? I don't get that part" said Ageil with his Left eyebrow arched up.

Lohar smiled as he said, "Humans". Ageil was surprised by his answer that he raised both his eye brows and asked, "Humans? How so? Aren't they...." he then suddenly realized what he meant. Lohar smiled knowingly as he said, "Exactly as you think, humans are beings who get easily consumed by greed and get obsessive with power as well know it, having too much power is like a drug, the more you have it, the more you crave for it! It won't stop until it consumes you totally". Ageil nodded his head and said, "Wise words my lord". Lohar didn't reply and just smiled as he looked at the fog screen.

....

In the garden of Heavens, the goddess of nature, Alathia stood before a tree and watched the tree hole mirror as she caressed the head of the deer. Her beautiful face showed a hit of confusion. "I certainly can't understand your way of thinking, just like him.... Why are you being so handful to handle just like your ancestral grandfather? Good thing Nirashi is there to keep an eye on you or I don't know how bad thing could get. Your journey has just begun, so be sure not to end it quickly and it seems that i should really visit little Lohar to have a face to face conversation with him" her face then showed a frown. The creatures near her left her side as all of them could feel her mood was starting to get worse. The trees nearby stood up and changed into humanoid form with spears and shields in their hand, some had more than two hands and they held swords and hammers. They had helmet on their head with a single horn on it and armors covering their bodies. They stood 15 feet tall and some were as tall as 20 feet. These guys are the Ents, elite warriors of the garden of Heaven and most trusted soldiers of Alathia. One Ent warrior is equal to one hundred human soldiers. Within a minute, there were five thousand Ents surrounding her. They all knelt down in unison to pay respect to their beautiful and powerful goddess.

Alathia looked at them all as he cooled down and said, "it's alright now, you guys can go rest and we are not in war or going to one...yet". Her answer made all the Ents a bit excited. They are warriors, but before becoming warriors they were just ordinary Ents who never fought or hurt anyone in their life. One day, everything they experienced in their peaceful life changed. Humans attacked the Ents for their territory and resources. The peaceful Ents experienced violence for the first time in their life. Their fellow kin were cut down till they die. The Ents tried to refute and at that time they understood their own power. The retreating Ents also joined hands and totally crushed the humans army. The Ents were victorious, yet at the same time they lost the battle by letting so many of their own die because they didn't have the gut to fight. The Ents started to close their territory and made their own kingdom.

One day, the king of the Ents, found a girl inside their territory when he was out for a walk. His first thought was to crush her, but he didn't when he saw the injuries she sustained. He carried her to their keep and showed her too all. They were confused at first as to what to do as the girl was human. Then the king of the Ents made a decision. He healed her injuries with his powers and no one said anything, they all accept his decision as he is the first Ent to fight the humans and saved them on that day, so they all made him their king. The girl's injuries all healed up and she opened her eyes. The sight before her made her scream in fear, Ents surrounded her so she won't do anything. She was so scared that her pupils had shrunken and she couldn't speak. The Ents then let their guard down when they confirmed that she wasn't some human assassin sent to kill them.

The king of the Ents went near her and looked straight in her eyes. She didn't know why but she felt like the Ents before her are not like what the stories about how the Ents were. She then spoke in a shaking voice. The king of the Ents smiled and said that she is now fine and told her what happened and how she ended up here. The girl then cried out loud as she said "thank you" over and over again. After crying for five minutes, she then stopped and wiped her tears. The Ent king asked her what happened to her and why was she in their territory and in an injured state.

She told them that she is the third princess of humans. The Ents were shocked at first when they heard it but soon they started to feel pity for her. She told them that she was not a legitimate heir which was why her father didn't care about her or her mother and her sister and brother hated her.

One day her mother died due to sickness or so she was told and they tried to get her married to a Noble who was older than her by 20 years. She refused and escaped the castle with some help from a maid. It was not long she escaped the castle, but the palace guards started to ransack the whole city. She left the city with great difficulty yet she was being chased by some assassins her devilish siblings hired to get rid of her.

They chased her till they could find no trace of her. She escaped them at last but she was injured and exhausted and hungry as well as thirsty. She finally collapsed with her hope of living near a tree where the king of the Ents found her. The Ents were once peaceful race and the loved peace over war, but due to humans they suffered a lot which was the same situation for her. The Ent king then said, "if you want, you can stay with us". His words made her surprised and at the same time so happy at she started to cry again and hugged the Ent king. His body was rough, but she didn't mind. He then asked her name and she replied, "Alathia, my name is Alathia". The Ent king then stood up with her on his shoulder and announced, "My people! From this day onwards, Alathia shall be my adopted daughter! She is one of us!" his words met with cheers from all side. Alathia who was sitting on his shoulder started to cry once again. The Ent king smiled as he wiped her tears. He then said, "Princess of the Ents should not cry, always be happy and smile, that's the way of the Ent" she wiped her tears and smiled brightly.

She then stayed with them and learned a lot about them, even the thing that aren't stored in the books of history. She learned the truth about the war between humans and Ents. She learned about the peaceful of the Ents before the war. She learned the affinity of nature which was high on the Ents. She learned a lot of secrets that even the elves or humans or any other beings don't know about Ents. She started to learn their magic and controlling of nature when she learned that she her affinity towards nature was as high as the Ents. The Ents were also happy to teach her things. She showed them what she learnt when she was in the castle. Fighting techniques, making armours, cultures and knowledge she learnt in the human kingdom.

Her knowledge greatly helped the Ents to become civilized. They refined her unrefined fighting style and at the same time practiced it. They created their own formations and strategies. Soon the Ents started to become stronger than the humans.

They built walls made of stones around the forest and made it look like a fortress. Ents made they own weapons, shields and armours. Many Ents joined the army of Ents and soon their numbers reached ten thousand. This action of Ents alarmed the humans as they thought that the Ents were preparing for war. The Ent king was happy about this unbelievable development of his people. He was very happy that he took her in and adopted her as his daughter. Nine years ago she was just a eleven years old child but now, she is the princess of Ents and commander of their army. She was so beautiful that even the human princess or the elven queen could not be compared to her beauty. Not only can they be incomparable to her beauty but also her skills can make the best warriors and mages from both the empires will have a hard time fighting her.

She became the pride of the Ents. That little girl from nine years ago turned into a goddess of war and wisdom with beauty. Her idea of defense and strategies made the Ents strong as an impenetrable mountain. Once a weak race who were at the lowest place when it came to power and prosper, now stand as one of the strongest nation.

She then decided to see the humans nation one day. The king and other Ents were heavily opposed to that idea but she told them that she wanted to know whether their enemy is preparing to attack them before it was too late to prepare to defend. She finally managed to convince them on two condition. First, she should return within six days and second, she should at least take five of them with her for her safety. She had no choice but to accept it. Five of their best warriors were chosen to accompany her on this mission.

They turned themselves into humans with the help from the nature magic which is also called as the life magic. They were all set and the Ents gave them cloaks to hide their presence of Ents.

The group of six, one human-Ent girl and five Ents went towards the human nation. They had to walk for a day and a half without rest to reach their destination. What greeted them was a massive wall with an enormous gate made of wood. They made their way towards the gate and guards stopped them to check. The guards told them to remove their hood. They did as they were told to avoid trouble, though they can defeat them without breaking a sweat and take over the gate by themselves. When they removed their hood, sounds of awe and gasps came from near them. Even the guards had their mouths hanging that it could even touch the ground. People in the surrounding and the guards were stunned by her beauty and the rest of the team.

Many men eyed her and can't take their eyes of her, some started dripping saliva. In their nation, only their princess was considered unparalleled beauty but the girl in front of them was even more beautiful that the word beautiful would only be a disgrace to such fine artwork. The Ents who were disguised as humans noticed the reaction of the people in the surroundings and they felt a tinge of pride and a valley of anger. She was their little sister who they loved and respected over leaps and bounds! Yet these filthy humans ogled her like she was a showpiece, if they let such crime go unpunished then it will the worst sin they ever committed in their lives!

Edith, an Ent swordsman and one of the best warriors of the Ents, couldn't hold back that he almost drew his sword and if not for Ella, an Ent spearwoman, stopping him then there will be at least a hundred dead bodies laying on the ground in front of the gate. Not only him, but all the five Ent warriors were so angry that they will go crazy on these people if it wasn't for Alathia's wish to visit the human nation.

Alathia then spoke, "We come from Magnesia, we are here to meet someone". Her voice was also on par with her beauty, angelic. The guards then returned to their self. They didn't know what happened to them but they want to stare her for a bit longer but unfortunately they have duty to attend to. One of the guard with a beard and mustache came forward and said, "yes, yes of course you can enter but before you have to tell us your name" his eyes was plastered on her. She smiled gorgeously and said, "My name is Thia and these are my companions, Edith, Ella, Ewwin, Lavender and Trunk". The guards were charmed by her smile that they forgot all the procedure and let them all pass without asking anything.

After they passed through the gate and found a secluded place, Edith and Ewwin burst out, "What the fuck were those garages thinking! Ogling shamelessly at our little Thia in broad daylight! I'll kill those pests! Let me at them!" Edith drew his sword and was about to go kill off everyone at the gate, but he was stopped by Ewwin. "Let it go Edith, we are not here to fight but to see what the humans are planning, did you forget Thia's wish? She wants to be ready for whatever the humans maybe planning and not to wreck havoc in one of their cities! So hold back your anger, even I am burning, enough to turn this city into nothing but rubble" Ewwin looked at him with a cold gaze.

Edith then calmed down and said, "Alright, I'll let go of this for now but they won't have a tomorrow if I get the chance!". Lavender, who looked like a drop dead beauty of a calm sea, looked like a raging storm. She said, "You boys are not the only ones who are mad about the recent event, there are other people who care about her and we don't want to ruin her wish and you two better not or else prepare for what's coming to you" her voice was so cold that it froze the raging fire inside them.

Alathia, who was quite till now spoke, "Sister Lavender is right, we are here to scout them, not fight them! Remember, this is for the Ents, for us, for our people, for our king and for our home! So we better find out what these humans are planning before its too late and they come knocking at our gate with their army" she sounded very serious about this. The rest understood the depth of situation they were facing so they all nodded seriously. "We have four and a half days, so its better to find a place to stay and then look for information" she said. They all agreed with her suggestion and all of them went searching for an Inn.