Fall of the South Kingdom (1)

"So you are Lucien's…?" Midel quirked his eyebrow as he stared at the three men in black clothes. He crossed his arms across his chest as he waited for the three to answer him.

"Servants, we are Master Hellsworth's servants." The three knelt before Yllana once again.

A red glint flashed across Yllana's eyes. Her keen sense of smell could never be wrong. She knew that smell. She has slain those with the same smell over and over again on the battlefield. "Half-bloods," she whispered as she brandished her sword in the dim light of the cave. Her eyes glowed brightly and her silver sword gleamed in the light of the crystal ball. When the group saw Yllana's actions, they did not tremble as what Yllana was expecting that they'd do or at least defend themselves. They knelt to the ground and even presented their necks. Are these three idiots?

"What are you doing?"

"Master told us to guard and follow the mistress."

Yllana smacked her forehead in exasperation. "Midel," She called out.

"They're ok. They will be useful to you in the future," he confirmed with his hands behind his back. Seeing this, Yllana placed her sword back to her side and unwrapped the package on her hands. She gasped as she saw two bloody eyes. Dragon eyes! And they gave her two!

Larika's eyes lit up seeing the two eyes in Yllana's hands. She forgot that the two eyes were full of blood as she grabbed the edge of the cloth and shrieked excitedly. "This is good! Lucien's henchmen are so great! Now we can just get out of this cave unscathed!"

Midel and Yllana looked at her. Before the three of them turned around, Yllana threw a small bag to the masked men. "I'm starting to dislike that smell. Patch up your wounds and give Lucien my thanks, but tell him there won't be a next time."

She still hasn't forgotten his last line to her, 'You can't always be a hero all the time.' She sighed as they walked out of the cave. That was the quickest adventure she had been into and to top it all, she left with a completely unharmed team. 'That was quick. But, how am I supposed to gather life forces if I let other people do the fighting?'

In short, she wanted to go on the adventures not just for the ingredients of the sight spell but for gathering life forces as well. "What was the next ingredient we have to get?" she asked Larika while cleaning the slimy eyeballs. She carefully placed them inside a jar filled with blessed water to prevent it from rotting.

"The nightfall flower petal or the dewdrop from a spirit grass formed after a rain," Larika answered.

Midel's forehead creased when he thought of the two ingredients. A nightfall flower is rare. And a dewdrop from a spirit grass? Which has to be caught exactly after the rain? That would mean they have to watch the rain stop and collect one tiny dewdrop. His brow creased further and further. Wasn't the heavens playing something dangerous on with their lives again?

"Where could we find a nightfall flower?" Yllana looked up the sky as if asking the heavens directly. But no one echoed back to her. The three men in silver masks came out of the cave. She looked back at them and noticed that they did not apply the medicine balm she just gave them. She frowned.

"We know where we could find one."

~~~~~~~~~~

Fairkeep Falls

Fresh lavender scent and lemon filled the air as the water crashed down to the brook beside the river. There were several translucent figures by the water, giggling and fetching the flowers beside the brook. They hade eyes, ears, and figures of a human being except that their bodies were flowing water-constantly moving and flowing.

Splash!

Another round of dainty laughter of maidens filled the air. There were butterflies and birds flying about and joining the merriment.

"It's not fair! How could those half-nymphs get to go out of here while we were stuck and never to go out?" A small little water girl stomped her watery feet on the large boulder by the waterfall.

"Ameera, watch what you are saying. As water folk, we know that there are also wind folk who may be among us and could hear your words," he spoke with a warning glance among the other figures lingering about the waterfalls. There were at least twenty of them or so, all made of water. Ameera was the only little one they brought along with them. One young water folk is enough to trouble the whole group.

"But…is it really true that the prince went out…there? Is he…is he searching for that human?" huge pleading eyes stared at him. The little one even grasped the hem of his dress.

"Yes," answered a water folk who just came out of the waterfall which unfolded like curtains dividing into two in the middle. Every one of them stood up and bowed their heads when she floated above the brook. There were blue flowers on the top of her head weaved into a beautiful crown. She sadly gazed at the little one and tapped her little head. She lifted her little chin with a finger and touched the tip of her nose. "The prince was born special since his father is not of us. Little one, only he could bring peace to us by killing that human who was destined to destroy the mainland."

"But…why must she die?"

"It's just a simple choice of fate. It is either us or her."

All the other water folk stayed silent. A pair of eyes contained a different kind of animosity once those words were spoken. But it was so brief that it was gone when they all went back inside the waterfall. Silence fell on the brook. The butterflies and birds disappeared along with the water folks' presence leaving an empty and forlorn picture of the waterfalls.

After a few minutes when the water folks left, the silence was broken with a rustling sound of leaves. A black shadow emerged from the forest trees. It stood beside a huge tree and observed the area. An evil glint flashed across its eyes as it stared devilishly at the waterfall. There was a scar running across its left eye and there were numerous small scars on its hands. All over, its eyes and hands were the only recognizable parts that can make out a human figure behind that black overall and silver mask it was wearing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Three beggars strolled down the streets of Dimshade Valley. It was located between two huge mountains and several hills. Due to its location, there was great protection from too much wind and rain making it a good place to plant medicinal herbs. The beggars looked left and right with a lazy look on their faces.

As no one paid any interest on them, they freely went to the sides of the stalls and sometimes tried to beg for gold coins. "No one seems to mind us, but I couldn't find any information yet for 'that' flower. We've been walking for a day and this," one of the woman beggars pointed at her patched dirty clothes, "is itchy." She continued. If anyone would be listening to her, they wouldn't have guessed that she was a beggar and is a noblewoman instead.

"I'm sorry Your Highness, but this is the only way that we could enter such a huge valley with this kind of crowd." Yllana, dressed as the other sorry-looking figure, whispered to the side.

The last one of them chuckled. He even had charcoal and mud on his cheeks. "I can't believe that we really did this. I do not look much like an oracle at all." Midel looked proud of himself sensing that people now do not pay attention to him. They were like three ordinary people with too little in life.

As they wandered through the streets, a galloping horse suddenly weaved through the streets. It had someone on its back. Yllana saw the horse pass through them. When she saw that the person on the horse's back wasn't moving, she ran after it.

The people on the streets saw the beggar running after it and their brows creased.

"Was that a beggar? Why is she after that horse?"

"Someone is unconscious on the horse's back, maybe she knows who it was."

"Young people really are getting more and more reckless these days. That could be a drunk youth who has his consciousness. Tsk, and its even daytime still." The people who loved to gossip shook their heads as they witnessed the scene in front of them. No one cared to stop the two. A beggar and a drunk? Why would anyone want to be acquainted with such people?

After a few minutes, Yllana sensed that the horse was slowing down. She leaped through the side to get ahead of it and eyed the reigns. The rider was holding onto it tightly. 'Good,' she thought to herself. The rider was also thinking of his safety and even wound the reign on his wrist. When Yllana saw a cart blocking the horse's way ahead, she ran faster on the horse's side. 'Just a little more…'

Inch by inch, she got closer. She was holding her breath until her fingertips touched the reign. She grasped it tight! And she jumped at the back of the rider. When they were a few steps away from the cart, she pulled on the reigns to the side and calmed the horse down. When she looked at the rider's orange hair, something within her chest throbbed nervously. She felt a sense of foreboding.

When the two other beggars caught up with her, their eyes widened as they look at the familiar hair. Yllana gently lifted the hair from the rider's face and saw the familiar freckles.