Waning Winds

Well,the trek over to the next elemental wasn't too far away. That was a lie. It took 3 days to reach here,and when I say here,I mean in the middle of nowhere. We entered an unknown forest absolutely shrouded by an unimaginable amount of trees,and occasionally,we'd run into a random wet patch of grass. It wasn't the ideal place to travel to,to say the least. But after a few hours,we'd reached a somewhat rundown wooden house,with a white haired boy who looked about 12 years old in a baggy,sleeveless white and equally baggy brown pants and sandals. He appeared to be sweeping the floor,cleaning the front of the building. Milda approached the boy,and it seemed like she'd known him personally.

"I don't know what you want from me,Milda,but I don't want to participate. Please,just leave." The boy said to Milda,stopping his sweeping for a short moment.

"Come on,Metri. We've been friends for over 10 years,you know I-"

"Were friends. We stopped being friends after you decided to leave and go work for the royal family over in Rudia."

There's some kind of…intense tension that I can very strongly feel between these two. My guess is that they're fallen out friends,and one left the other,or…something like that. Whatever it is,I pray that it doesn't end our entire mission. Although I wonder…if they were friends,whatever happened between them?

****

10 YEARS AGO

****

"Milda,I want you to meet the man working here. His name is Jakan,he'll be taking care of you from now on."

Mother said to me,dropping me off at the wooden building before leaving in her carriage. I looked at the man,who was significantly larger than me of course,and behind him was a little boy who looked about the same age as me,and he was holding a broom that looked like it was double his size.

"Well,hello,Milda. I'm Jakan,and this is my son. Metri. I hope you'll have a good time here!"

I bowed and introduced myself to them, before quickly getting to work. I'd been sent there to work as a maid and a housekeeper,cleaning the place and making the food. I worked like that everyday,silently,until one day,I bumped into the man's son,Metri. He was being scolded for leaving the house to explore the woods,and ended up getting beat. So as a way to make him feel a little better,I handed him a plate of food to eat.

"Oh…thanks…"

He said to me,nervously. He seemed to be the timid type,without much of a desire to talk to anyone else. I can't blame him though,since I was also like that. Although I wasn't exactly nervous,just not interested in talking to people.

"Your father seems to be very angry at you."

"Y-yeah…I got carried away and left my work…"

"I don't think you're wrong. You were just curious,yes?"

"Yeah…I was never able to leave,so I don't know what outside is like…"

"Perhaps we could go together,sometime. I can show you around."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Do not worry about it. Well,I must get back to work. See you later,Metri."

I told him,standing up from where I was seated,getting back to work. A couple days later,I finally took him out to the forest,and that one event led to another,and before I knew it,we'd become closer and closer friends. We grew up side by side,discovered things together,stuck together ever since. Until one day…

****

PRESENT DAY

****

If they were friends,whatever happened between them? Whatever it was,I wasn't about to ask or say anything. I'll just let Milda do her thing. However,I guess Flynn didn't think the same,because the guy had already lit up his palm and started walking towards the boy.

"Look,you bastard,you're gonna help us,or I'm gonna make you."

"I'm sorry,sir,whoever you are,but I don't-"

"I wasn't asking."

Flynn then charged towards the bot,fireball in hand,but suddenly,The other boy took one hand off his broom,and wind started to blow and rotate,forming into a ball in his palm. He then pushed the ball right into Flynn,blowing him away right into a tree.

"I told you. I don't want anything to do with out there anymore. I'm sorry."

I sighed,walking up to the boy myself. I don't really know him,or understand why he's being so reluctant to come with us, but I had to do whatever I could to make him follow us. So,I decided to tell him the entire story.

"Look,man. If we don't help each other,a literal demon king will emerge and kill everyone you know and love. You need to help us."

He stopped for a moment,before picking up the broom and held it sideways,walking into the wooden building.

"I'm truly sorry."

I gritted my teeth. Out of anger,and also confusion. The guy seemed like he didn't care that the world was a thread away from total annihilation,and he didn't care. I shouted to him,however,just before he shut the door.

"The Grythelean Kingdom! That's where we'll be,if you change your mind. Please. We'll need you on this."

Not giving even a single word reply,he shut the door,walking back inside. I sighed,before turning my back to the building and started walking out of the forest. I gave up. I did all I could to convince him,and it didn't work. There was nothing else anyone could do at this point.

"Where are you going? We need him, don't we?"

Milda asked me,having a confused look on and staring at me.

"Give it up,Milda. He's not coming. We still need to find the last elemental."

I slowly walked out of the forest. Our chances of stopping this global threat had significantly decreased,but there was nothing we could do about it. We had to move on, and find the next elemental. The Earth Elemental.

And pray that they're more compliant than this guy was.

VOLUME 2: END