10 Destiny

But when Elyre came back to Wild Wood, something strange was happening.

She and Lyssandria overheard the conversation between two soldiers complaining how they were ordered to catch Fierce Wind no matter what, but not allowed to spread "wanted" posters.

"I can't believe we're not allowed to spread posters," one of the soldiers said.

"It must be because Mage Ademon hopes he can hide his failure and Fierce Wind's escape," the other said.

"Mage Ademon is not the one to blame. Really, how could Fierce Wind escape twelve magi guards? She must be some kind of a witch. Anyway, posters shouldn't be prohibited. This makes our task of catching her even more difficult."

"On the other hand, they're perhaps unnecessary in a way. Since the criminal ended up to be the second miss of the Svetlidaris family. They are very well respected here. And I doubt that anyone would turn her in, with or without posters."

"With our immediate reaction, it's a miracle she still manages to lurk in the shadows and avoid traps."

"She will soon be caught. Mage Ademon was furious and definitely won't stop until he has her behind bars."

Was it possible? She'd just escaped and they had come to look for her immediately? But... in the age of modern technology, Elyre guessed such news could not remain hidden for long.

While listening, Elyre remembered the ambush she'd organized and the digeniche caravans. She was not the best in magic. In Wild Wood there weren't many mages, so it was difficult to find a teacher, even if you wanted to improve your abilities. So, she usually depended on a firine's best attribute - speed. Firines were the fastest Allyrian race. This meant she was mostly running away and serving as a distraction while other sylvan dwellers were trying to collect digeniche from the caravans. Storm Eye had also helped her.

There was a small village, Mahhini, near the wood-nymph city of Mediona, and all people there had dressed up in clothes similar to Elyre's in order to confuse her pursuers. Everything had seemed to go according to plan, but then... she'd bumped into an Allyrian general and a small number of soldiers. They weren't from the group that was chasing her, but they suspected something was going on so they caught her. It was bad luck. Then she had been brought to Mage Ademon. She was trying to analyse the situation to see if she could have escaped somehow.

Lyssandria was listening too, and she realized Elyre was Fierce Wind and she was also the second miss of the Svetlidaris family.

"The Svetlidaris?" Surprise was written all over her face, "Are you the Princess of the Wood-nymphs?" She whispered as they were hidden not very far away from the soldiers.

"No. My sister is the Princess of the Wood-nymphs." Elyre replied. After the escape, she figured that Lyssandria was a long-time prisoner and probably had nowhere to go. So she'd brought her to Wild Wood.

But now... She gave up on the idea of returning home to the Sun Manor. She decided to visit her friend Bayan's house instead. Perhaps Lyssandria could stay there. Anyway, it wouldn't be a good idea to bring her back to the Sun Manor immediately because the Queen of the Wood-nymphs was a little bit conservative and Elyre had to prepare her...

Little did Elyre know that, since Mage Ademon had so much exaggerated Fierce Wind's importance, he would give anything to catch her because his reputation was at stake.

If they were indeed looking for her, perhaps she would have to leave the forest for some time.~~

Her friend, Bayan Caelestis, was the type of person who effortlessly made new friends thanks to his easy disposition. In his free time, he would help storm-cleaners (who prevented storms) or attend plant-speaking classes just for fun. Or climb a tree simply to see the view from the top. He had an unusual hobby or two, which he very much enjoyed. Perhaps, the greatest part of the pleasure was the fact that everyone else would consider these hobbies "crazy". At the moment, he was fixing his pocket telescope. He loved to invent and repair "useful gadgets", the usefulness of which would be questionable to the average person. He was always open to new people and Elyre knew he wouldn't mind the fact that Lyssandria was a vampire.

...You could say that perhaps this was destiny -- to have to leave Wild Wood at this particular time. But... how much exactly was "destiny" influenced by certain people?...

Elyre did not think too much about her decision to leave because she knew she would be back as soon as possible.

The forest was beautiful without a doubt. However, some of the trees appeared strange, especially those far from the city of the wood-nymphs. Their leaves withered, curled up from both sides. And they had peculiar mutations on their surfaces. These were clear symptoms of maginopia. The leaves weren't yellow, yet the spirit of autumn seemed to reign around, and it brought a certain feeling of tragedy. Not all of the plants were ill. Maginopia developed slowly and still hadn't had too visible consequences for the forest. But the sylvan dwellers knew it was an insidious disease.

Elyre found a map of Allyria and had a good look at it.

She could perhaps use her leaving the forest to kill two birds with one stone.

She had heard of Vahara Arta, the city of cities, a place where there was a medicine for every illness, or so the rumours claimed… Maybe they had a cure for maginopia too?

Maginopia was thought to be incurable. But, being interested in legends, Elyre had heard a story about an ancient princess of the wood-nymphs who had cured a disease with suspiciously similar symptoms. If a remedy did exist, the knowledge of it was lost in Wild Wood, but there might be some information behind the thick walls of the library in Vahara Arta.