Arthur 4 : The return of the prince

Chapter 8

The first rays of the sun began to illuminate Eldarion’s home, which took him out of his night meditation. He was sitting on the floor, wearing only pants, and his body revealed his tattoos on his shoulders, back and chest, or rather his birth marks. These were blue and started in straight lines on his torso before taking circular patterns at his shoulders and continuing on his arms. The magical essence that flowed through his veins made his birthmarks bright, although the light that emanates from it eventually fades away as Eldarion awakens. He got up, then whined faintly with pain during his maneuver. At the level of his right foot was a burn mark, visibly very old. Despite this, the wound remained sharp enough for Eldarion to feel the discomfort. When he wore his armor, he didn’t feel it, but just looking at it is enough for Eldarion to rekindle painful memories. Memories of a war during which he was defeated.

After having done his morning cleansing (with the help of his magic, of course), he hastened to put on his ebony armor enhanced with gold. When he had finished putting on his black cloak over his armor, he went to a small altar in the shape of a shrub accompanied by candles lit by small flames. He knelt down in front of the altar, grabbed a bag with his right hand and put his left hand in it to delicately take out a beautiful little flower whose petals were lavender. He placed the flower on the altar, presumably to make an offering for the attention of the Goddess of the forest.

"Sweet Mother Goddess, please accept this modest offering from your beloved child. But I beg you, make sure my people are safe and well, wherever they are."

A tear fell on his cheek, realizing that the disappearance of his people, especially that of his queen and mother, as well as his tender wife, began to seriously weigh on his morale, which explained his murderous mood of recent days. This had the effect of intensifying tensions between him and Princess Selenia. Indeed, their rivalry and quarrels became more and more frequent, and this worried the King more and more.

It was rare and surprising to see that a Nyrilorn soldier was on the verge of annihilation, as the warriors of this mythical people were at the time known for their determination and resolution. However, we must not forget that, despite their great physical power, their considerable toughness, their magical abilities and other blessings granted by the goddess of the forest, the nyrilorns remained minimoys, with their strengths and weaknesses. Thus, if we could bring down the nyrilorns otherwise than by physical wear and tear, it was by mentally breaking them, harming all the people they love.

But Eldarion had no time to worry about it, for he had to spend another day in Miro’s library in order to continue his studies on the magic of the passage. Just yesterday, he was summoned by the Bogo Matassalaï to see the progress of repairs to the telescope used as a passage. The Bogo Matassalaï, thanks to Archibald and Darkos, had succeeded in refurbishing the entire destroyed part of the telescope, making its structure again uniform. Now, it was the minimoys' turn to continue the work for the moment, and Eldarion had already supervised the research and collection of magical and precious materials in order to reconstruct the magical receptacles of the telescope that ensured the transfer and transformation of the passer-by into a minimoy.

Then someone knocked on his door. On the other side, a voice was heard:

"Brother-autarch? His Majesty the King asks you to the palace." Miro asked.

"Thank you, Miro, I’ll be right there," Eldarion replied, trying not to let his sadness show. Once his answer was heard, he got up, put his hammer on his back and went to the front door before opening it, crossing the threshold and accompanying Miro to the palace.

Once in the palace, Eldarion and Miro arrived in the throne room on which King Sifrat of Matradoy sat. The two newcomers greeted him before he spoke:

"Hello, fellow Eldarion. It’s good to see you again."