The Rise of a Hero & The Garnet Nightshade (Book 1)

Chapter X: Return to Faus'Latia

Three months Later

Outskirts to Faus'Latia

After a long journey through the northern mountains and through the highlands of Garnet Nightshade, we arrived at the outskirts of Faus'Latia, my home. As Mira had mentioned years ago, it was winter. As the three of us walked through a village that had at one point been a trading post of sorts. The buildings were destroyed and covered in snow from the constant bad weather. As we continued our way through we saw stalls that had been once used for any number of things and eventually found the plaza.

Feeling a sense of nostalgia, I stop and hold my hands out and begin an incantation: "Blessed by the gods, I beseech thee, grant me insight as to the energy that lies dormant, Mana Catalyst!"

Unlike the time before, I saw the events of this village destroyed as if I was there. The invasion force was more than my people thought. I watched the images play as I looked around. My people had laid their lives down so my parents and I could escape. But to watch it was more than I could bear. Tears formed and steadily spilled from my eyes as I saw men, women, and children get slaughtered. Feeling a comforting hand I look over to see Mira and our daughter looking at me with a look of grief as well.

Mira says to me: "Elise, it's alright, we're right here with you."

Alyssa runs up to me and says: "Momma, It's gonna be okay."

I kneel down and hug my daughter tightly and whisper: "I know."

After several minutes I let go of Alyssa and held her hand as we continued. The spell I had cast shows me the events of each area we go through, and the scenes I see only get worse as we draw closer to the castle that once was my birthplace.

Mira says quietly: "I can't believe Raine would do this to such a place. I can't imagine the horror that followed."

"You wouldn't want to see. The things I've been seeing would make you hate her more than you ever hated anything else in your life."

Mira stops and says: "Elise, I want to see everything."

I stop mid-stride and say: "You won't like what you see."

Holding out her hand, Mira says: "I know, but, Elise, you're not alone. You don't have to face this pain alone."

I take Mira's hand and say: "I beseech to thee, thy sight."

Within seconds after I say the words Mira's eyes go wide as she sees the things I had been watching since the plaza. Her eyes glass over as tears begin to swell and begin to spill from them. She now understood the meaning of my words and I felt guilty for allowing her to talk me into this. I knew if she came then she'd face the pain with me and I couldn't bring myself to leave scars that would never be able to heal, no matter how much time passed.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and finally, we reached what was once the capital. The walls that once surrounded the Faus'Latia Castle were now in ruins. As we passed one such thing, there was a banner just barely hanging on to the pole. Before I could speak, Mira clears her throat.

"While you were on your mission I was summoned to a royal assembly. During that time I had been asked as to why I had a Demi-Human living in my domain. Before I answered their question I told them the story of how and when I found you. Some of the nobles and lords in attendance gave word on your behalf. Lady Raine wasn't pleased with it, but Lord Aaron and Lady Alicia gave me the approval to continue. I told them that I had taken you in as a retainer so that one day you would serve under me.

During the meeting, I had also learned everything about your past. I had learned that within the last one hundred and fifty years there has only been one confirmed demi-human in existence, and that was your great, great, great grandfather. The second in recorded history is you. From what I was able to find, Demi-Humans hardly ever change into their true forms, and the two cases prove a long-standing theory. And that theory is that the emotions that are held in due to some unknown reason cause a reaction within the gene itself and during the third lunar eclipse those genes become active.

One of Lady Raine's subjects was killed by a suspected Demi-Human, and since there was a lingering hatred towards them they felt it was just to invade your home and kill every last one. The person in question wasn't proven to be one, but the people didn't care. Word of the invasion had reached my domain, but at the time my mother was ill and my father was preparing me to take her place. Your domain and mine have had a lasting relationship since my great grandfather. By the time we were able to come help, it was already too late. Your mother and father were never found, as well as their daughter; you Elise.

Several years later we got news of a family being murdered on the outskirts. As weak as my father was at the time, he went to see who the man and women were that had been killed. To his surprise, it was your mother and father. He knew they had a daughter, but you couldn't be found, so he thought that you had been killed elsewhere. Sometime after that, my father died and I became the ruler. Leaving more than enough for me to do, I had no time to look into the matter further.

Before I knew it, ten years had passed by. On one fateful day, I got news of human traffickers in the outskirts of my domain and they had been attacked. That's the day I met you. The monster that had attacked was killed by none other than you, but you had suffered a grievous wound that nearly cost you your life. I had prayed to the gods you'd live, and you did. When I felt your pulse slowly begin to weaken I was afraid for the first time in my life. At the time I didn't know how much you would mean to me, but when I heard your voice for the first time, it meant the world to me."

I stand there dumbfounded as I hear this revelation. Mira had known about me since my birth and had waited all that time to meet me. Now I understood the words the robed man had said. Our parents had planned from the beginning to get us together, but that plan had fallen apart due to my domain being burned to the ground. Plus, with our sudden disappearance and then their death, it never happened. But somehow, fate brought us together again.

Mira stands in front of me and asks: "Elise, can you close your eyes and hold out your hands?"

I turn towards Mira and do as she asks.

Mira rakes something from her pocket and gently places it in my hands saying: "You can open your eyes now."

I slowly open my eyes to see a pendant lying in the palm of my hands. I flip the pendant over to find two family crests engraved in it. One of them is the Lis'ra family crest and the other suddenly dawns on me. It was the Saura'Latia family crest. I opened the locket to see the inscription: "To our loving daughter Elise Saura'Latia." It was the locket my father had earned money to buy for me when I was just a child. It was the same locket I had received the day my parents died.

"My father had found that near your mother's body. He had me hold onto it for safekeeping until the day I found you. Sorry it took so long."

With fresh tears running down my cheeks, I whisper: "Thank you, Mira."