Chapter 22: At Last

*ALTEA*

We had to wait a few hours for the dust and earth to stop falling before Dorian and I could set off to find a way down and search for our children. It took us a bit longer to descend. We searched everywhere in the forest, but after a day, we found nothing. "It's true, if they're not here, maybe they went to Shira as Therius said," Dorian told me after we found no trace of them. The river was almost blocked by the heap of earth and rocks, so we couldn't see which direction the current was flowing.

Taking his suggestion, we moved quickly and reached Shira in just under four hours. "Altea, Dorian, what happened? Why are you like this?" Dominic and Sonia noticed us when we arrived at their house in the village. "The children, the children, are they here?" I urgently asked Dominic. He looked at me with concern.

"No, what are you talking about? Why would they be here?" Sonia asked. We explained everything that had happened and how we were on the mountain when the landslide occurred.

They both looked at us with terror for their children. "Dorian, we need to go back. If they're not here, they might have fallen into the water," I said. "What? No, you can't go back in your state; you won't be able to do much," Dominic replied. "No, they might still be somewhere. Therius told me he would protect them and that they would come here, but his body was hit several times by rocks, and his leg was injured. In that state, he wouldn't be able to move," Dorian responded to Dominic. "Alright, alright, I'll help you search for them, no matter how long it takes," said Dominic. "I'll help too," said Sonia. A group of other villagers approached us, saying they would help as well.

As soon as everyone agreed, the men of the village and a few women came with us while those who couldn't fight against the forest and mountain monsters stayed behind to look after everyone's children.

For two consecutive days, we searched and fought the monsters around. Finally, we gave up, seeing there was no other place to search. At that moment, we saw two people passing by on horseback.

Dorian quickly realized they were guild scouts and stopped them. "Wait, over here!" Dorian shouted. "Where are you from?" he asked. "We are from the LEVIATHAN guild. We're a few kilometers from here, looking for a route to enter Shira village," they responded. We quickly told them that we were from there and that we were part of the guild.

We bid farewell to the group that helped us and went with the scouts, telling them about the blocked paths due to the mountain landslide. When we arrived at the site, we saw Atheria with the others. They asked what had happened, and I could only say, "The children, the children," before fainting from exhaustion.

I woke up to hear Atheria explaining that a wave of monsters was approaching and might be heading towards Shira village. A scout said he was going to warn them about the wave, but I stopped him. "Go to our house and fetch our things. Look for Sonia and Dominic; they will know where they are," I told the scout. He left, and Otto, Sara, Valentina, and Fredic helped us search the forest and then the great mountains where another village stood in the wave's path.

We slept, and the next morning, the scout arrived with our things. We took them and prepared to continue searching for the children. Atheria said we needed to go around all the mountains to reach the village where the wave would strike, telling us that somewhere in the mountains was a bridge that would connect us to the village, ensuring we all stayed together.

It took us another day to search the forest in the direction of the mountains and then another day to find a different path around the landslide. We found the bridge, and it took us two hours to reach the village. As soon as we crossed the bridge, we ran towards the village. After 10, 15, 25, 30, and 50 minutes, we saw a group of people running towards us in the distance, women with children, some men carrying the elderly on their backs.

"Dorian, Dorian, look there, a group of people is coming towards us," I said. After seeing the people were from the village, something lit up inside me when I saw a man carrying a girl with the same hair color as Dorian. The girl was crying in the man's arms. She turned, and I saw her. My God, it was Elowen. I ran towards her. Dorian was surprised to see me running towards the group. 

"Elowen, Elowen!" I shouted the girl's name. She turned sharply. "Mom, Mom, is that you?" Elowen cried out and hugged me tightly, and I did the same. "Mom, I can finally see you. I was scared when I fell into the water with Therius," she said, crying. I felt Dorian running towards us to embrace us.

A woman spoke to us, "Excuse me, ma'am, are you the girl's mother?" she asked with tears in her eyes. "Yes, I'm her mother," I said while still holding Elowen in my arms. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you found each other," she said, crying. "I'm Lora, and I've been taking care of her. The man holding her is Damian. He and another man named Gregor found her and the boy in the river a few days ago," she said. Then Dorian spoke, "Boy? Where is he? He is Aetherius. Where is he? I don't see him anywhere," Dorian asked with concern. "I'm sorry," she said.

My face went pale, and my stomach sank. "The boy was in bad shape when we found him," Damian said. "Yes, but I didn't ask that. Where is he?" Dorian shouted. Otto calmed him down. "Sorry, as I was saying, the boy is fine. His body was full of bruises, his left leg was badly injured, and his right arm was broken," Damian said.

Another man spoke, "The boy had a severe head injury, but after a day, we were able to save him. When they first arrived, the girl woke up but fell asleep again for another day and a half."

"The boy, on the other hand, woke up, saw his sister asleep, and lost consciousness again. He stayed in bed sleeping for two days." Hearing the whole explanation, I cried again, and Dorian hugged the two men in gratitude for everything.

"And where is he then?" Dorian asked again. "I'm sorry again. The boy recovered, but his arm is still bad. He came with us while caring for the girl, but he decided to go back and fight the wave already attacking our village," Lora replied. My head spun when I heard he had gone back. Dorian grabbed me.

He was furious, though I didn't know if it was because they let him go or because he returned and left Elowen with them.

"I'm glad you reunited, but you must hurry if you're leaving or going there. A superior Fenrir was leading the wave," Lora said. When I heard that, I spoke to Lora, "Please take care of Elowen a bit longer. We need to help. The eight of us and a guild came to help with the wave," we explained to the people.

"Mom, Dad, you must hurry. My brother could be in danger. I will stay with Mr. Damian and Miss Lora," Elowen told us. "Of course, dear, that's why we're here," I replied to Elowen. Her father kissed her forehead, and we quickly started running towards the village.