The Keeper of Greenhaven

2. drina

Greenhaven Castle was beautiful. There were many bedrooms to house the Greencloaks, and their ship, the Tellun's Pride, was large and glorious. The armory had every kind of weapon, from knives and daggers to longbows and rapiers. Mustela, the merchant, sold everything, armor, weapons, clothing, even furniture. The training room had intricate courses that taught one everything one needed to know. The room the Greencloaks had given you was at the top of a tower. It had a high roof and stained glass windows depicting the Four Fallen, Jhi, Essix, Briggan, and Uraza. It was decorated and furnished exactly how you liked it. The balcony had a wonderful view of the mountains surrounding Greenhaven Castle. The Great Hall in the center of Greenhaven had an open roof, and the sunlight streamed through. The kitchens were always busy and bustling to support the Greencloaks and their various spirit animals.

Over the past month, you'd been going on quests to fight and defeat various Conquerors all over Erdas and freeing tainted animals. Occasionally, Mustela or Olvan would send you to retrieve items or rescue captured Greencloaks. Sometimes, you'd find abandoned Conqueror stores, which you'd loot to upgrade your own armor and weapons. Sometimes, on your quests, you would be assisted by other Greencloaks. Gavi from Nilo, or sometimes Nico and Emilia, who were brother and sister. He'd been more worried than you'd ever seen him. You also had time to bond with [s/a Name], and those were the best. The two of you would do obstacle courses in the forest, or even curl up together when you fell asleep.

Peaceful times didn't last forever, however. Olvan had sent you on a quest to fight a wildebeest in Nilo. It kept the Greencloaks trapped in their base, not allowing them to get out. After two days travelling overseas on the Tellun's Pride and three days over land on horseback, you left your horse by an inn in the nearest town and started to walk by foot. As you stepped into the sandy desert, you remember what Mustela had told you. "There's word of a monsterous wildebeest running around. Consider this your first major quest, Keeper." You followed a faded path and soon encountered a wildebeest. However, this one was not "raging" or "monsterous" so you simply freed it with a single shot from your bow. You freed a black widow spider the same way. Walking farther along the path, you shot two more spiders and another non-raging wildebeest, although it took longer since your aim wasn't perfect. You prefered to stay at a distance, ensuring that you would get the least amount of injuries as possible.

"Come on, buddy," you whispered to your spirit animal, looking for the passage Olvan had said you should look for. A coyote stepped out onto the path and your spirit animal startled, making a noise, and attacked it. The coyote ran away, and you thought it might've made a whimpering noise. Your [s/a] spotted the passage and made a noise, tilting their head. Your face lit up and you patted [s/a Name]'s head.

You ran up the passage and was shocked when you saw the size of the wildebeest. It was taller than you and the vile smell was stronger than ever. It rammed its horns into your side and you winced, but aimed a cut at its shoulder with your sword. The sharp metal made its mark. However, instead of weakening the beast, it made it angrier. You ran back, trying to come up with a plan, but the wildebeest charged your spirit animal. You cried out, wanting to help, but [s/a Name] was already retaliating. You felt a surge of pride.

You held your sword at the ready, by your side. The wildebeest charged at you, but using the power of your spirit animal, you turned at the last moment, your sword cutting a deep gash on the creature's neck. The wildebeest stumbled to its knees, then onto its side. It was dead. Turning around, you intended to go back, but a tall blond girl with black and ruby clothing stepped in your way.

"You must be the newest Greencloak dupe," she said.

"Oh, yeah? What's it to you? Who are you?" you demanded.

"My name's Drina. I've got a spirit animal too, but I don't hang about with those guys," Drina responded. "Word has it there's a monster in this area, so I came to check it out. But I see you beat me to the punch." You narrowed your eyes. Why was the girl telling you this?

Drina sneered at you. "Watch your back little Greencloak. There are scarier things than this running around." With that, she turned around and left the way she had come.

You went back to town through the passage, turning Drina's words over in your head. Did she work for the Conquerors? You sighed and put your spirit animal in passive form as you reached town. Mustela spotted you and patted your back. "Well, you're back alive! Looks like I lost my bet."

"There's something else. A blond girl, Drina, said to watch my back. She also said that Greencloaks were dupes." Your voice had become slightly defensive as you said that last part.

"A girl named Drina? Why does that sound so familiar?" You shrugged in response. "Ah, right!" Mustela said. "The leader of the Conquerors is a man called the Reptile King. But we know him as the Devourer. If I remember correctly, Drina is the Devourer's niece! I'd be careful around her, Keeper. Drina is very dangerous."

You shuddered and nodded, making sure to stick close to the man as you returned to Greenhaven.

~

mm yes this is prewritten
guys idk how the formatting looks I'm sorry