Cat and the Hunter 3/3

Montis - a large mountain town situated at the foot of the Nives, the highest peak of the Windward Mountains. Thanks to the numerous mineral resources of the region, the mineral trade flourished in Montis: salt, amethyst, quartz, and iron. The gold, silver, and gemstone mines were some of the largest in the entire Nine Kingdoms, not counting those of the dwarves far to the east. Thanks to the access to excellent quality raw material, craftsmen were drawn to the city in great numbers: jewellers, smiths, watchmakers, alchemists, and even such rare professions as gunsmiths among the immigrant gnomes and pyrotechnicians among the black elves.

She slowly poured the contents of the bottle into the elf's mouth. After a moment, Stella's body seemed to brighten and, still unconscious a moment ago, she blinked her eyes, sat up, and stretched like a kitten. "Uuu! ah! Have I missed much?" She asked glancing at the girl then at the boy.

"Stella! You could have been more careful! You knew he had an enchanted sword!" Mel scolded the elf.

"I know, I know, believe me, I'm not going to repeat such stupid mistakes again. I have already cursed myself several times for what happened, unfortunately, I got too carried away in the heat of battle. Forgive me, this is the first and last time," The elf declared.

Melanie looked at her friend for a moment more with the stern look of a teacher pointing out the same mistake to his pupil for the hundredth time, then sighed and lighted up in an instant. "How good to see you!" She said embracing Stella in a friendly hug. "It's been a year since you enrolled in research studies. We haven't seen each other for so long!" Where did you even come from?

"It's quite a long story. I'll tell you everything, of course, but first, it would be appropriate to settle everything..." The elven girl looked at the boy. "Thank you for your help, if it wasn't for you something much worse could have happened to us, and I would certainly still be lying on this uncomfortable floor. Aqua Dryadalis belonged to you I believe," The female elf stated.

The boy nodded

"Well then..." The girl reached into her pouch and was already about to take out a bulging pouch of Sol's crowns, but he stopped her with a gesture.

"I would like there to be no misunderstandings between us, so I would like to introduce myself first. My name is Daniel and I am a bounty hunter, I had a certain assignment here to capture that unpleasant man over there," He pointed at the sleeping half-elf. "I'd like to thank you in some way so maybe you'd like to share some of the reward?" He asked.

"No, I don't think that's necessary," said Mel and looked at her friend, who nodded affirmatively.

"Somehow, though, I have to repay you," He pondered for a moment scratching his temple. "I have an idea!" He called out, raising his index finger. "Are you heading for Elementis?"

The boy deduced this from the fact that anyone passing along the Eastern Wind Trail must have just been heading towards the largest human city. The girls looked at Daniel, then looked at each other, as if to communicate wordlessly, and turned their gaze to the boy again.

"If you were travelling to Elementis I could help you," he took up, seeing their uncertain faces, "I know a shortcut through the mountains, it is a bit dangerous, but you will get there much faster."

Melanie thought for a moment. She did indeed have to get to Elementis, but the reason for this journey was known only to her, Stella, and her teacher Alfred. She briefly beat with her thoughts about whether to accept the offer from the bounty hunter she had just met. She wasn't reckless, she didn't entirely trust Daniel, but he seemed sincere, and she needed to get to Elementis as soon as possible, so she was willing to take the risk.

"Suppose She wants to get there, what's the shortcut through the mountains like?"

The boy smiled slightly lifting the corners of his mouth. "The road goes through a rocky gorge to the northeast of here, then there's a valley we'll have to cross.'" From his satchel, he pulled out a scrap of parchment with the described area outlined on it and began to show them the way. "The valley is crossed by a fairly wide river, but in one place it's very shallow, so this way you can easily cross to the other side, and there's also a cave - quite a large underground complex, you can easily..." He paused for a moment and an indecipherable grimace ran across his face as if he suddenly remembered something sad and dramatic, he blinked quickly a few times shook himself off and a slight smile dawned on his face again. "It's easy to get lost, but there's no danger of that, I know the tunnel system very well, plus there are signs in the tunnel showing the way." He finished in a slightly hushed voice.

Mel noticed, Stella probably did too, but they didn't ask, but was there any point? This was about someone else's business, Mel wasn't used to brooding about such things without a clear need. They didn't ask, they didn't know him enough to ask that kind of question.

"When we go through the caves we will come straight out onto the Plain of Air," Daniel concluded.

Elementis was surrounded on four sides by great plains leading in four different directions. The Plain of Fire led southwards and territories belonging to orcs and black elves. The Plain of Earth is eastwards towards the high mountains and dense forests of the dwarven lands. The Plains of Air and Water led successively westwards towards the Elven Kingdom, which is separated from the plain by a wide range of mountains, and northwards to the Great Northern Ocean, on the shores of which the beautiful Nyriadic cities were built. Among the gems of the Maritime Port District of the Kingdom of Nyriad, the most beautiful is the port of Neró, where the largest and most beautiful ships of the Nyriad fleet call. It is also where you will find the Maritime Academy, which trains the best naval officers, and the seat of government, the Seaside Palace.

"How long will it take to get there via this shortcut of yours?" Mel asked distrustfully.

The boy mused for a moment while holding his chin, "If we impose a fast walking pace and set off early tomorrow morning... we should be 23 Serenum in Elementis."

Melanie's pupils narrowed. "That's the exact day of the — "

"The Meeting of the Nine!" said a visibly excited Stella, smiling broadly, but after a moment, she blushed, "After all, it is one of the most important events in the entire Nine Kingdoms. A political event, a historical event..." The elven girl began to list excitedly.

Mel looked at her friend with a smile and began to ponder. The Meeting of the Nine...

This celebration, although essentially very merry and boisterous, nevertheless has a rather grim origin...

For a long time, the Black Elf race was considered an inferior race by their kin (the Elves - Sun Nation). The mockery and oppression of the Black Elves by the "Luminous" caused conflicts that became more and more serious. The two races got into a serious war, with all races joining in by choosing a side in the conflict. Eventually, the entire continent was engulfed in a war conflagration, and the war came to be known as the Great War of the Sun and the Moon. But the increasingly bloody casualties on both sides opened the eyes of the rulers of the time - they unanimously declared - This war must be brought to an end. Representatives of each race that had a stake in the war went to Elementis, a hitherto neutral city, to negotiate. A non-aggression pact was signed and it was agreed that every citizen of a kingdom, regardless of race, position, or wealth, was equal before the law and should be treated with dignity. In the end, it was also decided to hold the Meeting of the Nine every year, i.e. a great parliament where the authorities of all kingdoms come together - they read the annual reports, exchange draft laws, and debate matters between the kingdoms. In a short space of time, the Sessions of the Nine became a great celebration to which hundreds of thousands of people were drawn. The whole of Elementis is dressed up in white and gold for the occasion, (the colour of the black elves is, despite appearances to the contrary, not black, but white - the colour of the moon) a huge market is opened where hundreds of different goods from hundreds of different cities are sold, there are also special souvenir stalls, and special chocolate cakes layered with cream are baked in bakeries, with the sun on one side and the sickle-shaped moon on the other. There is revelry and celebration for a fortnight, at the start of the third week the meeting ends and the capital slowly returns to its normal rhythm.

" — And the biscuits! I absolutely have to try these biscuits! Did you know that every bakery in Elementis has a different recipe for them! So many sweets to try!" said delighted the Elf slowly drifting off into a fantasy land probably full of creamy biscuits.

Mel snapped out of her own contemplation and momentarily burst out laughing.

"Oi, what's your problem?" Stella looked at her friend reproachfully. Then she turned to Daniel looking for support, but he could barely restrain himself from bursting out laughing as well. "Stop both of you!" Shouted an exasperated elf.

When Melanie and Daniel had finally calmed down and Stella had stopped sulking about their stupid behaviour, the girls made a verbal agreement with the bounty hunter that he would be their guide all the way to the city of Elementis. Daniel, along with Mel's and a few villagers' help, delivered the still stone-sleeping thugs to the local ruler's stronghold, luckily they met with the commission broker, with whom they settled the formalities at the stronghold watchtower. Meanwhile, despite the late hour, Stella managed to buy the supplies she needed for the journey and began to arrange them - food, water, travel essentials, and several sets of small crystals of all sorts. When the bounty had been cashed in and all the bags filled to the brim, they all returned to the inn again and ordered roast chicken, roast pork in mushroom sauce with noodles, and a mass of garlic bread. They also took a jug of mulled wine and a regional mountain soup spiced with spicy goat's cheese. While eating, Daniel couldn't marvel at Stella's appetite.

"Where do you fit all this!" asked the astonished boy.

The girl looked up from her food for a moment. "What? I just have a fast metabolism..."

Daniel and Mel exchanged unanimous glances.

"We have known each other for almost five hours and you already understand each other without words, that's great..." snorted the elf.

After dinner, they ordered hot chocolate spiced with vanilla, whipped cream, and candied Sun Fruit peel and asked for another candle, as the ones on the table were already starting to burn out. As they all silently took a good sip of the warming drink, Stella sighed and, turning to Melanie, said "You would probably like to know why I am here and not at the Academy?"

Daniel began to fidget nervously directing both girls' attention to himself. " I don't want to disturb you, but perhaps I should leave you alone. I'm sure you have a lot to tell each other, and I — "

"No need," replied Stella. "After all, you're probably curious about the story too. We hardly know each other and we have a long way to go. Maybe next time you will reciprocate and tell us something about yourself?" She suggested with a broad smile.

Daniel looked frightened for a moment, but then smiled again and nodded.

"OK then. Melanie knows that I belong to the Academy Research Corps."

"Yes, but you're only a novice, they don't give you assignments before you finish your novitiate," Mel stated

"It's true, until a week ago I was just a novice, but everything changed two days after you left"

"You mean to say that you were promoted! After only a year!"

Novitiate in the Academy Research Corps usually lasts four years. The novice prepares for fieldwork, practises the use of research spells, and the production of magical reports. The researcher's main task is to discover and study new lands, creatures, magical spells, communities, cultures, technologies and find magical sources. Cataloguing and mapping are usually done by novices and senior researchers who can no longer work in the field.

"You could say that..., but one step at a time, it all started as I said two days after you left, I know when exactly from Alfred himself."

"Alfred is Her mentor," Melanie declared, seeing the questioning expression on Daniel's face, who was afraid to speak in order not to interrupt the story, "They assigned him to Her when She was still a small child... She never really got to know Her parents," she struggled to say. "To be honest, She couldn't have found a better place." Mel smiled slightly again. "It was thanks to him that She was educated, learned about the world, and trained in skills useful in every situation. Even though he was a strict teacher you could always confide in him about the simplest concerns, he always had time..."

"From what you say he must be a really great person... and a teacher." Daniel smiled warmly, and Mel shyly reciprocated the smile.

"So..." Stella looked at both of them. "The next day, just after practical classes, a messenger appeared with a message —, " the girl made a dramatic pause, with an extremely serious expression on her face, "With the seal of the Academy dean's office!

***