Disappearance

"Let's wait for some news before we make our own assumptions then," Yllana whispered to Lucien. When they went looking for the inn, they found the restless Yrah and Theoden pacing about inside the room. Both were shocked seeing Lucien with an ordinary-looking girl and even bringing her to them.

"Where is Yana? She is in danger. We have to get her out of this city as soon as possible. Have you seen the soldiers spreading the news about a girl with red hair and red eyes?" Theoden was so worried that he did not pay attention to the girl beside Lucien.

"But father, isn't Yana here? I smell her scent." Yrah sniffed the air a little more looking like a red bunny with her nose perked up in the air.

"Yllana?" Theoden then turned to the girl beside him. The girl was as tall as Yllana, have a hairstyle same as Yllana's, and wearing the same clothes that Yllana wore before they parted ways.

"Yes father?" she gave him a small smile. "It seems elder sister's sense of smell is getting sharper and sharper." She gave an eye to Yrah who was standing in the middle of the room amused about their father's behavior.

"First, your eyes turned red. Then now, you turn them black and your hair into brown. You look so..." He hadn't finished what he was saying when Prince Devon commented and looked at Yllana up and down. Lucien frowned at the way the prince surveyed Yllana.

"Careful," he said in a dangerously deep tone while releasing a small amount of pressure on the prince.

'What did I do now?' was what the prince wanted to say but he instantly felt his knees go weak and his energy drained by the pressure coming from the cold man.

"Lucien," Yllana just glanced at him and then walked quietly to Theoden's side. "It's me, father. There were soldiers everywhere with my poster so he gave me the fruit of disguise to change my appearance. It only works for a week on me so we need to gather news about the sight spell if there is a trace here."

When Prince Devon felt the pressure lifted, he heard Yllana telling them about the 'sight spell'. It has been lost in ages because of the dangers it could bring into a mage who would learn how to do it. "But wasn't that spell dangerous? The mages never wanted to know how to craft it because it might be used in evil doings. An example would be bringing back the sight of the demons."

Knock knock knock!

All eyes fell on the door. Everybody was tense. Yllana eyed Lucien, giving him a signal. Whatever was behind that door, only Lucien could feel its rank. "High-Honor rank," his gaze fell on the door. Before he could reach it, however, it opened.

"Whether you open this door or not, I could still look for ways to find you," they heard a deep voice smirk followed by a series of footsteps.

The black hair and purple eyes of the man in front of the group made him stand out from the rest of the handsome soldiers behind him. His chiseled face and sharp nose gave off a regal feeling. Is this man from the royal family? The way he walks is so refined that it seems unfit for a soldier. Most soldiers or generals in an army have those rough and crude movements even though they have been trained to be disciplined. He was different.

Then the leader slowly walked towards Yllana. He observed her. From the stance, he could tell that she had undergone some training. She looks educated to be disguised as a demon or a rogue. Legs apart but not too wide to be distracted from any attack. Her body was slightly leaning on one side which can be seen as getting ready to either dodge or attack. His brows knitted as he thought back to Elder Heuruk's words. He had ways to easily find a girl with such description within the kingdom. But with what he can see right now, this girl is weak so how can she be a 'great' visitor?

"Such liberty for mercenaries really, but I don't blame anyone for those laws. As for the red-haired girl, an oracle from the Banished Village sent us news. Whether the foresight will come true or not,"

He stopped walking in front of Yllana, "is up to you."

"By what authority do you have to barge into an invited guest's lodgings?" Theoden asked from the side. "It's our first time to visit your kingdom, and we get such a 'good' welcome from the kingdom's soldiers. Sir, what have we done wrong to anger you so?"

"This is an invitation from the imperial palace." He took out a golden envelope from his sleeve. There was a golden dragon in the seal engraved in the middle of the envelope. Since the man was handing it over to Yllana, she had no choice but to accept it. She looked oddly at her father then handed him the envelope. Since the first invitation to the festival of talents was given to her father, it might also mean that they were trying to invite him to an event inside the imperial city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the South Kingdom's soldiers went away, Theoden opened the letter and read it silently first. His first reaction was to look at Yllana while his hands were trembling. His face drenched in cold sweat before speaking a word, "Tournament,"

"Tournament?" Yllana echoed back. "What are you worried about in a tournament?"

"The grand prize is a book of spells," His eyes then fell on Lucien. He could be the most powerful in their group but this matter does not concern him so Theoden immediately dismissed the idea of inviting him to join it.

Blag!

The door opened and two panting figures stopped in the center of the room. Midel held Theoden's hand tightly, "Why...did...you...accept?" His eyes fell on the crumpled invitation.

"But I still did not accept it. They only gave us an invitation." Theoden answered.

"It's a trap! That is a magical invitation. We saw one merchant being given one and he tried to refuse but then one of his daughters suddenly disappeared along with the invitation! No one can refuse!" Shiiba blurted out in one breath.

"But the invitation is still on my-"

There was a small spoofing sound from a corner and they all looked at the empty hands of Midel. The invitation letter was gone.

"Yllana," Lucien was the first to notice that Yllana disappeared.

"Just what does that emperor want with her?!" Yrah almost roared when she realized the situation they were in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome! Our dearly beloved competitors!"

There was a booming voice over their heads. And a single halo of light was blindingly shining down in the middle. All of the people in the room opened their eyes. There were twenty or so of them, men and women alike. But one thing is for sure, they don't know what is happening. Rubbing their eyes and dusting off their clothes, they all looked at one another trying to recognize any familiar face. None succeeded.

"We all know that you don't know what is going on and why you are here. But know this, it was your hearts that led you to us." That same voice echoed again. There was a huge platform in the middle of the large room.

"What kind of ridiculous game is this?! What did you do?!"

"Where are we? What is this place?"

"I was just with my father when a light flashed from the invitation he was holding and it sucked me in. What is going on?"

All sorts of questions floated one by one. Yllana tried her best to calm herself down. At least she was not alone. But the dark place and sole source of light somewhat reminded her of something. Her sight went black.

"My Yllana," it was a deep cold voice. Just the two words from her memories brought shivers to her spine. She felt her knees shake and an indescribable feeling of hopelessness surfaced in her heart. 'What is this memory?' she asked herself. She tried to think where she heard that voice and why does it sound so creepy and yet familiar as if she has been hearing it regularly.

She blinked back her eyes trying to regain her vision when two red dots appeared from a distance. Since all she could see is black, the two red dots stood out from the darkness. She focused on the two dots and realized that they were growing. 'How odd, can dots grow?' she asked herself.

After a few seconds, she realized the dots were not growing. They were getting near her! 'EYES! His eyes!' she felt her skin crawl. That darkness, that voice, those two eyes all seemed to invoke fear inside her that she had never felt before. She wanted to run away! But her feet won't move. She wanted to cry! But no tears came out of her eyes. 'Am I going to die?!' she screamed in her mind.

Before she knew it, someone was slapping her cheek and her eyes were full of tears. "Wake up!" A girl about her age was standing in front of her and shouting while there were tears in her eyes too. "They are trying to kill us!" with those words, Yllana snapped back to reality, and by instinct, grabbed her silver sword from her waist.

She looked at the girl. "Stay behind me." She ordered. The girl's eyes were wide with fear. Yllana could tell that this girl had never been to a battle or fight by the way she responded to the threat in their lives. She only folded her hands and uttered for the heavens to save them. As a knight, she felt the need to protect innocent lives. But never did she expect that this competition will prove the words of the young oracle. Words that even the powerful and intelligent child emperor never believed would happen.