Lunar Crystal

"How can I help you, Your Majesty?"

Han Zhong took out the crystal from his pocket. He noticed Naya who looked down and studied the crystal as well.

"Actually, where did you get this from?" asked Han Zhong without reproach.

The girl looked a little hesitant to answer. "Sorry, but I can't tell you that."

For a moment, Han Zhong frowned. He looked at the old woman who looked embarrassed. Naya's mother seems to have looked a little healthy.

"Is this the crystal from the Folix Hole?"

Naya immediately looked up at him. The girl was silent for a moment with her shocked expression.

"No, sir. This… actually this is a sacred crystal that my father gave me when I was three years old. This crystal is the only thing I have to live with. I've never met Folix before, how can you say it's from the Folix Hole?"

Han Zhong sighed. He had guessed that in fact these crystals were just similar. From the color alone is different, but the shape is exactly. It was as if the Folix had taken this from the Elves and plundered it by providing new energy against the Dragon Palace's Shield of Light.

"Sorry for being presumptuous." Han Zhong lowered the crystal and then turned around.

"Does this have something to do with the Folix attacking your castle?" asked Naya slowly.

"Yes," said Han Zhong as he lamented the blue crystal in his hand.

Naya was silent for a moment, she straightened her back before replying, "So is this the reason you came to Celena Woodlands?"

Han Zhong stared at the girl for a moment. "Yes. When me and my guards—Jing Lung defeated Folix who managed to enter the human village in the valley of the Dragon Palace, I discovered that Folix used some kind of crystal that could fuse our Shield of Light."

"Those terrible Folixes..." Naya's mother muttered then finally coughed. Naya immediately approached her and gave her Yera's soup back.

"I didn't mean to interrupt, Your Majesty, but… if you remember about the Folix who burned down part of the Bluelit forest a few years ago, they are known to be quite vicious."

Suddenly Han Zhong was reminded of the incident. Doesn't it make sense if this crystal looks like the crystals of the Folix? What if the crystal… was indeed a Lunar crystal which was then filled with new energy to break the energy in the Shield of Light?

Naya stood up and approached Han Zhong who was pensive to himself. "Did you tell anyone else about the crystal?" she asked.

Han Zhong blinked in realization. He glanced at the crystal in his hand and then immediately remembered Penya. The middle-aged Elf in the scented tavern he had just met earlier.

"I'm only telling this to the Elf who is in the Lune Temple's tavern. She said she had a friend who could help me."

"Helping you for what?" asked Naya directly. Remembering Jing Lung's suspicious words of Naya made Han Zhong a little cautious. But why would he be careful if with Penya—who is actually just a stranger—he could just reveal his plans to the Folix Hole just like that but not to Naya who gave him the crystal? Isn't that the same?

So, slightly irritated at feeling that he had wrongly brought up the matter to Penya, Han Zhong said, "What do you think?"

Naya's brow furrowed. "How do I know? You are a dragon child who has more power than the crystal itself. And if you know what you're doing, you should be able to master the crystal energy yourself, right? And you can tell the difference between the crystal energy and the energy in the crystal the Folix are holding?"

It was Han Zhong's turn to be a little amazed by Naya's knowledge.

"Wow, you know a lot about dragon power, don't you?"

"I used to learn it all from my father."

Han Zhong was silent for a moment. He looked into Naya's blue eyes which were as deep as the moon. The eyeballs gleamed like smooth porcelain in the light of the fire.

"And actually, you shouldn't talk about the crystal to the other Elf."

Naya turned to the stove. She filled the glass with something in the furnace and handed it to Han Zhong.

The aroma of the food was very fresh but also pungent.

"Why it can not?"

Naya sighed. "This is all my fault. It was a Lunar Crystal that could only be obtained in the Celena Forest. A secluded forest in the corner of the Bluelit Forest. It is located a bit north of the Lune Temple. The crystal was a sacred item that the crafty Elf had been looking for. And actually the crystal is not only to determine someone who is lost but can make one's wish come true after ten days of praying in the Celena Forest."

"Why didn't you tell me from the start?" said Han Zhong sounding worried.

"I didn't know you were on an important mission and used the crystal for a hint. I didn't know… you helped me and were so kind that I gave the crystal to you."

In the silence between them, Han Zhong suddenly felt awkward. He saw Naya from behind her hair in a ponytail. The silver hair was very long and beautiful. She wears a tiara from a black tree branch. The cloth wrapped around Naya's body practically only covered her chest and hips. While the girl was wearing shoes made of brown leaves.

"Actually, what kind of help do the Elf offer at the tavern?" Naya asked as she turned around and looked back at Han Zhong who was taller than her.

"Since I have to go into the Folix Hole to destroy the crystal I saw back then, then I must know how to get out of there. Jing Lung—my bodyguard is looking into the Old Elf who lives in the South of the Bluelit forest. It was said that the old Elf had entered the Folix Hole and survived. But because I was worried that I might get the directions I was hoping for, I asked Penya—the tavern owner to help me through her friend."

"Has she seen your crystal?"

Han Zhong was silent for a moment, unsure. "I do not think so."

For a moment, Naya looked thoughtful. Han Zhong didn't know what she was planning in mind but about this Lunar Crystal—there should be another mystery that Naya didn't reveal directly.

"I may not be able to help you much. But hearing that the mission was tough—for kids like you, I think I can give you a little hint."

"Hey, you look like a kid too," said Han Zhong, pursing his lips. There was a faint laugh from Naya's mother on the bed.

"He's right, Naya. You're also eight years old."

"Look? You're even the same age as me."

Naya just sighed lazily. She moved to the corner of the hut and grabbed the cloth bag she had slung over his shoulder.

"Do you want to come with me?"

"Where to?" asked Han Zhong.

"To this place where my father practiced all my knowledge. To Celena's Forest."

***