Chapter 54

Eleanor Leywin's POV

The news of an approaching battle spread like wildfire in a matter of minutes. I knew we'd be fighting a variety of foes, but the scope of the combat eluded me. My mother and father seemed to have little imagination about it.

I inquired several times, but they simply told me that everything would be great. I sincerely hope so, since I'm becoming increasingly terrified of it. Even Uncle Vincent is emptying his pockets just to buy a few products and stack them like rodents.

A few days after the announcement, we received a letter from the royal family. Yes, we received the same letter as Uncle Vincent. Shelters will be created for little noble households with less power than others.

But we weren't nobles. Maybe this is my brother's doing? I'm not sure, but I believe he had tight ties to the royal family. Like Art, Ash had some connections with people from higher levels... Hmph! Art was simply a womanizer!

Remembering Art made me depressed once more; I'm afraid of losing my brothers…

"Your highness, Ma'am. Please don't fret, my liege will take care of everything!" I haven't mentioned my little friend, have I?

The little shadowy figure that manifests close to my head introduced itself as Beru and begged me to not tell my brother anything. I guess, he is very afraid or maybe too loyal to my brother. I knew Ash had special pets, but this one is vastly different. Interesting. Where is my puppy, Dobby?

"Is there anything worrying you, Ma'am?" Beru pursued me more, inquiring if I had something on my mind that bothered me.

"Nothing, but I'm wondering where Dobby is." In an attempt to locate Dobby, I looked around. There was no sign of Dobby.

"Should I bring this ungrateful do- Puppy for you, Ma'am?" The purple-glowing eyes of Beru narrowed dangerously.

"Y-Yes." Beru's aura had changed dramatically, and it now had a black vibe about it. What exactly is going to happen to Dobby?

"Then I shall bring him immediately." I shivered when Beru faded completely from my shadow. It felt like my own shadow was trembling.

After a few seconds of waiting, Beru once again popped next to my head, with a satisfied look in his eyes.

"*Woof!*" Dobby also popped out right next to me.

"Ehh!!" I panicked and leaped away from my perch. Are they ganging up on me? Why are they bullying me?!

I pretended to cry, covering my eyes with my hands while also letting out fake sniffles.

"Did this jerk of a servant upset you, Ma'am? I'll take the punishment!" Hearing Beru's frightened words, I smirked and exposed my wicked eyes. When it noticed that on my face, Beru's shadowy figure slumped down on the ground.

"My lady…why?..." His lovely purple eyes welled up with imaginary tears, making me a little sad in the process too. But I knew Beru was forgiving, so I didn't take it to my heart.

"Anyhow, we have to hurry up. Mom will get mad." I grabbed Dobby and ran inside the manor, embracing him as firmly as I could.

"Ellie!" I heard my mom shout. By now, they had probably finished packing up their luggage. It was time to leave for our new home... or rather, shelter.

"Yeah, I just picked up Dobby!" I responded and accelerated my pace.

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As we drove across the huge regions of the beast glades, the carriage shook severely. Because there were no teleportation gates at our destination, we had to travel by carriage on our own. I was looking out the window at the world outside. This wasn't my first time in the beast glades. My brother brought me here once on my own initiative, and it was not a pleasant experience.

Ew, I still remember that white rabbit with red eyes… a demon.

"Ellie, do you like the landscape?" I shifted my gaze away from the view and turned toward the voice. My father was grinning madly for no apparent reason. I'm sure he'll start bragging about his adventures here.

"Yes." I responded, using Dobby's fluffy head as a pillow. I can't help myself; Dobby's fur is far too soft. Its smoothness is so great that I scarcely notice that I'm touching it.

"But you seem bored. Want me to tell you some amazing stories?" He didn't even wait for my response before telling us about his wonderful experience with Twin Horns. I switched my gaze to his right. Mom, like Vincent, was facepalming, and Tabitha was smiling awkwardly.

I can relate to them because my father is often more childlike than I am.

"Ellie, is there something you want?" Mom stroked my thighs with her warm touch. When I looked up at her, I saw her warm smile, which was always reassuring. Please, Mom, don't start this comforting discourse again…

"You know Ellie, I was keeping very close eyes on you these days. Mom can tell you are very sad and worried, so you can share this burden with us." Mom sat down next to me and hugged me. Sorry, uncle and aunt; you'll have to occupy him for a while.

"Are you worried about your brother, El?"

"...Yes." I wasn't just concerned. I was afraid; both of my brothers were away, and even though Ash assured me that he would locate Arthur, I really can not stop worrying.

"I can see where you're coming from, El, but we have to trust Ash. Has he ever reneged on a promise?"

"He didn't promise much though…" Wait a minute, he did make a promise where he needed to. So, there's that guarantee of my never meeting... That doesn't count since the evil-guys promise is still ongoing, hmph.

The carriage came to a stop after a few minutes. I looked out of the window to check if we had arrived, but there was nothing. There are only vast grassy lands with hills and forest, with no traces of any civilization.

"We've already arrived?" Uncle Vincent knocked on the wall for the driver and asked.

The carriage doors slid open.

"We have arrived at our destination, Master Vincent." The old gentleman bowed politely and motioned for us to exit the carriage.

My father narrowed his eyes suspiciously and exited the carriage first; in the meantime, my mother forbade me from following him. She tightly grabbed onto my shoulder, not intending to let me go.

I realized what was happening, subsequently after I felt fluctuations of mana in my father. How could I not consider this while we were stranded in a foreign area with no means of protection? There might be bandits or even enemies from another continent hiding nearby.

"Dad?" I prepared to immediately take out my bow from the storage ring. Just a word from my father would be enough and I would let go of Dobby. However, it ended peacefully.

"It's alright, nothing strange around." Relieved sighs escaped our mouths.

"But there isn't anything, you sure this is the right place?" Father faced the driver, still unsure if we were in the right place.

"Yes, Mr. Reynolds, this is the right place. I was instructed to drive right at this place." Yet, the driver stayed on his own.

"But it's clear. There is nothing here." When we turned back, we saw nothing but forest and tall hills blocking our view any farther.

The driver simply shrugged his shoulders. What am I supposed to make of this at this point? Surely there isn't anything noteworthy; perhaps they simply built a refuge underground?

Wait, I saw someone emerge from the woods.

"Dad, there is someone coming out of the forest." Everyone, including my father, turned their gaze to the location where I was pointing.

"Hm?" The person coming out of the forest was a man, quite tall with long black hair. He seemed oddly familiar, I'm sure of meeting him before.

"Wait, that's Kaspian Bladeheart." Vincent spoke forward as if he recognized the individual.

"What is Kaspian doing here?" Others appeared to be familiar with the individual as well. Is it just me who didn't recognize him?

By this time, the man had closed the space between us and showed no signs of animosity. As a result, I felt confident that he was a good person.

"Greetings. Haven't seen you since Ellie's birthday party, Vincent." I suddenly remembered where I had seen this individual. On that particular day, he was conversing with Ash and acting as though they were previously acquainted.

"Ah yes, I haven't seen you since that day. I presume we have arrived in the right place." Uncle Vincent adjusted his glasses and asked.

"Yep, you have arrived right on spot. Actually, I'm surprised that your driver heeded instructions so well." Kaspian gave a driver a thumbs-up, while the driver just responded with a nod.

"Okay, as much as I'd like to continue chit-chatting, we need to get into the bunker."

"Bunker?" My father was confused as I was, a bunker for the people in the middle of…

"Well, it's a little far away from here and it's also underground. Please, follow me." We followed the long-haired man as he walked away.

I'd be completely freaked out if my parents weren't here. This forest had such a dismal aura that the imaginary creatures you see before sleep are nothing compared to it. No, seriously, this forest gives me the chills while also suffocating me and giving off a horrible atmosphere. Just like when you can't regulate your temperature under the blanket, and you're afraid to take that one leg out of the blanket in fear of getting eaten.

"Scared little Ellie?" I looked at Kaspian. Damn, why is this man so tall compared to me?

"Well, not really." I lied through my teeth. Was it so obvious on my face?

"It's natural, even mindless beasts are afraid of being in this place. This is why we created a bunker in this place." Hm, then wouldn't that be the most obvious place for our enemies to attack first?

But what is the reason?

"Whenever I see this, I'm still amazed." We exited the forest and saw the enormous, godly castle, which couldn't be described by words. We were quite far away from it, but the largeness of this ginormous construct gave the illusion that we were close to it.

"What the… Kaspian, the council definitely couldn't build a castle this big and that couldn't possibly be a hidden bunker!" Uncle Vincent's outburst was justified, but this castle doesn't appear to be underground.

"Oh, the castle is majestic. I agree, but I'm talking about this." Kaspian tapped his foot on the ground a few times before it began to shake violently and split in half in front of him. How did he do that?

The ground gradually opened up, revealing a series of gloomy staircases. Kaspian, despite the environment being scary, confidently stepped down the staircase and continued walking down. We strolled after him and also faded into the shadows.

It's funny how Dobby faded nearly completely into the darkness, leaving only its purple eyes visible.

Anyway, when it became increasingly difficult to go down nearly invisible steps, we were fortunate enough to reach a spot where magical torches were used.

"Welcome guys to the Colony of Dicathen!" Kaspian announced, his voice tinged with apprehension... Did I just hear the word colony?

"Colony?!" We all exclaimed together. Were they going to turn us into slaves here?

"Oh, no! (It's broken) You misunderstood me, it's just the name!" You nearly caused us all heart attacks with that strange name for a bunker.

"Kaspian, don't make such jokes next time please."

"No seriously, this is just a name. The place where we built a shelter really resembled an ant colony, so we called it as such."

"Kek." The tunnel's walls echoed with an eerie laugh.

"What was that?" That laugh seemed eerily similar to someone else's.

"It was Dobby!" I stated unequivocally.

"Alright, let's get in…"

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Hello guys. First of all, happy birthday to me and whoever celebrated today. Wish you success and happy life with your closest ones <3

I'm very sorry for this inactivity of mine... at least for this fic. I'm just really into writing my OG Novel you see.

Anyway, thank you, guys.

I'll probably see you again very very soon.

Cya.

For whoever is interested in appearances of Caera Denoir and Seris Vritra. (For those who still haven't seen official art. Here it is.)