Arionis Embers: Chronicles Of Sylvanora And Veridia

Chapter 10: Rippling Paths Await

The entire team of three now were making their journey to the east of Veridia, towards The Peak Of Peace.
"Umm Violet, I have a query.", asked an interested Natasha.
"Anything, love.", said Violet smiling at her.
"If an entire army couldn't stop the mythics, how do you suppose we will?", she said squeaking.
"That's the beauty of my plan, my dear Natasha. A mythic the size of structures is bound to feel threatened by a herd of elves marching it's way with sharp daggers, but we're three teenagers with harmless and innocent faces. I can guarantee we'll face one at best!" she said smiling, "the mythics are majestics, we're teens. A god isn't bound to waste it's time to conquer the heads of three when it's already busy trying to conquer millions.", she ended.
"Sounds fair to me!", said Anneliese in support of Violet.
"Alright, if you say so. What's the plan from here?", asked a reassured Natasha.
"We're traveling to the extreme east of our kingdom, my love. The plan if simple, we take the path that's adjacent to The Peak Of Peace and we bypass it as we exit Veridia", said Violet opening the map at the back of her mother's book, "we then walk a few miles on a marked path until we meet a large ocean where waters surround us entirely, leaving nothing else to be seen. This vast ocean has a small bridge built by our forefathers, the folk call it "Aquamara Bridge ". We shall use the bridge to travel further east until we reach the lovely island town of Aquanox." she said pointing at said places.
"Aquanox! You'll have me jolly, my Violet! I loved visiting Aquanox as a child, mother often took me there. I would play with giant water bubbles while she was off accompanying my father on his journey.", Anneliese said with a mix of joy and sorrow.
"I'm sorry if I reminded you of horrors, Anna.", said Violet holding Anneliese's hand.
"No, it's ok. My parents died noble. I couldn't be any more proud of them than I already am. My father died putting this very world together at the foothills of Pyrothos, and my mother died with her hand clenched in his. They lived a full life!", she said smiling. Violet hugged her with a strong grip.
"What about you, Natasha? Do you miss your parents?", asked Anneliese.
"Well given as my dad kicked me out of the house for killing our pet on accident using my mist, I'm going to go with a strong no", Natasha said mockingly.
The three kept exchanging thoughts as they reach the end of Veridia, gazing at The Peak Of Peace.
"Here's where our journey began, and here we are again.", said Natasha gazing at the tall mountain.
"Indeed, it truly is a remarkable hill. Alas, we don't have time to admire it, so off we go!", said Anneliese as she followed ahead.
The three passed The Peak Of Peace and were officially outside of Veridia, a first for all three.
"Wow! The world is so much paler outside!", said Natasha with a slight disgust on her face.
"Amen to that. The Peak Of Peace really does a good job preserving Veridia, you know, until recently.", said Anneliese as a pale silence surrounded the air when she realised what she'd said.
"Fuck! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that!", she said as she held Violet's arm.
"It's ok, Anna. That's the reason we're here, after all. Now let's go get this stupid gold.", said Violet as she walked ahead.
"Watch it, dingus!", said Natasha as she elbowed Anneliese.
The three continued their trek off home as they reached a dusty path, which they knew ended in the waters of Oceanus, the greatest of all oceans.
"We've officially made it out Veridia! Let's camp here for the night, tomorrow we cross The Aquamara Bridge.", said Violet as she set up tents.
The three laid inside their tent with a fire in the middle as they exchanged laughs and talked about their lovely childhood together. Night passed as they napped sweet dreams of harmony, once they had collected all the gold they would use Anneliese's magic to slowly send chunks of it back to Veridia, for her magic would be ten folds in the mountain of Pyrothos. They would then return with bags of money for themselves and enjoy a life where they were the saviours of Veridia!
"Wake up, sleepyheads!", came Anneliese's voice as her staff grew bright and lit the tent.
The three were off on foot again, for they had a long and uneventful dusty path to tread to reach the mouth of Oceanus. Three or four hours had gone by afoot until they finally laid eyes on the calm waves in a vast ocean.
"We're finally here! Ah, the air smells of pure water!", Violet said taking a strong whiff.
"It does smell good. It's surprising that water is salty, for it smells like nectar.", said Anneliese, joining Violet at the shore of the ocean.
"How do we plan on locating the bridge now? It's blue as far as the eye can see." said Natasha, she didn't quite understand the map.
"Darling, you're holding it upside down.", said Violet as she erected the map Natasha was holding.
"Ahh! That makes a lot more sense. So we go north-east for another three to five miles and bingo!", she said as she rolled the map into Violet's bag.
"Precisely. Let's have some food and let loose for the bridge.", Violet said unpacking a few ham sandwiches she'd made.
"Mmm! Ham truly is just fucking delicious!" said Natasha as she stuffed her face with bread and ham.
The three ate plateful as they resumed their journey back to the bridge. They travelled for hours on but all they saw were blue waters crashing against the shore. It was a beautiful ocean, gleaming Arionis' light ever so brightly, but a sight for miles without change can get frustrating. Another hour or so passed until they finally saw a small black path from a large distance.
"That must be it! Let's get there quickly and we'll be amazed, I guarantee!", said Violet sprinting
The two followed and they ran the rest of the distance, anticipation often drives them crazy. Quick work they made of the last mile on their strong feet as they stood at the start of the greatest bridge in all of Arionis. It was a long path starting from the shore that continued as far as the eye could see. It remained unaffected from the tides of the surrounding water credit the enchantment that had been put on it centuries ago.
"Holy crap! That's absolutely marvelous!", said Anneliese as her jaw dropped to her chest.
The sight truly was unbelievable, a path that was a mile thick streched long in middle of an ocean where the waters mysteriously remained calm. Truly marvelous it was.
"The Aquamara Bridge! What a piece of creation it is!", said Violet as wind gusted her hair back.
The three set their first foot on the opening of the bridge, they felt as if they were walking through the water itself with ease. East and West were both covered with rocky streams, waters and waters as far as the eye could see, but straight ran the path as it cut through the streams of the ocean.
"This is the most godlike I've ever felt! It's almost as if we're just walking in the middle of the ocean, no strain!", Natasha said clapping her hands.
"Amen! This is the happiest I've been outside Veridia!", said Violet as she looked around the bridge.
The three travelled for miles again, but this time the journey was a marvelous sight rather than a treacherous walk. The mystery and delight of walking on a century old bridge formed by their forefathers far outweighed the strain on their feet.
"I could walk on this for days! The wind is so refreshing!", said Anneliese as she took a whiff of the enchanted air. She could feel the waves in her blood, she was an elemental after all.
"This must be joyful for you, my dear.", said Violet as she held Anneliese's hand.
"It truly is! I can hear the gossip of the fish, I can feel the water in my body, and ever since I used the elemental spell I'm connecting to nature much more now!", she said overjoyed.
"That's great! The stronger you are, the more easily we can send the wealth back to Veridia! I'm so happy for you!", Violet said kissing her cheek.
"It's amazing how strong that blast was despite the fact that the staff didn't even respond!", Anneliese said mockingly.
"It didn't?", asked a confused Violet.
"No. It just helped me concentrate my magic using the orb, but it never actually talked back to me. If it did the Griffin would be feathery ash right now!", Anneliese replied waving her staff.
"Guys, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the view, but when exactly do we reach Aquanox?", said Natasha as she dipped her hand on the waters at the sides.
"It'll be a day, my dear. We shall try to cover half the journey by dusk and call it a day, the rest we can easily cover tomorrow.", Violet said smiling.
"I hear the people of Aquanox are very generous! There are no elementals left, ofcourse, but Aquanox is now the only element base not barren to the bone.", said Anneliese as she was reminded of her time there.
"Do you know all the tales of the three bases, my love?", asked a curious Natasha.
"Ofcourse! Father often talked about their creation. Plus, word of the mouth gets out and you pick up a thing or two.", Anneliese said gazing at the waters.
"Pray tell!", jumped Natasha.
"Well... Pyrothos, Aquanox and Floriana were made by our forefathers to hold themselves in easy time of need. Floriana was prefered by those elementals who had a loving for nature, for its the brightest forest the world has ever seen; Aquanox was built by those who favoured water, from it they built The Aquamara Bridge that ran both sides of Aquanox, one side joined Veridia and the other met Pyrothos, the great mountain; Pyrothos was made perhaps by the strongest of the three, truly remarkable it used to be, the sky glew a bright red and the heat was not suffocation rather enchanting. Ofcourse now the magic is mostly lost, the mythics, when they turned against us, attacked these bases first, killing many elementals. The mountains of Pyrothos were conquered by the last of the Dragons, the waters of Aquanox were taken by multiple water mythics and the gardens of Floriana were dominated by weird grass snakes, lizards, chameleons and what not. All of them, the size of fucking buildings rained down on us, and we were helpless.", she said as her staff glowed a bright angry red.
"Oh, god. I can only help but imagine the sting of betrayal the forefathers must've felt. What mythics do you say we can encounter in the waters of Aquanox?", asked Natasha, she too was a little angry.
"Well, I'm not familiar with them all, but I do hear they're one with the waters and that they can be solid and fluid at will.", she said recalling her mother's stories.
"How do you suppose we fight them then, Violet?", asked Natasha trembling.
"Don't worry, love, we'll tackle that hurdle when we get to it. In the event of a confrontation we must rely on our wits, if you'd like we could discuss multiple spells tonight!", said Violet reassuring Natasha.
"I'd like that, thank you.", she said leaning against Violet.
"Hey, Natasha, if you don't mind me asking, do you ever think about going back to your home?", asked Anneliese as she looked into Natasha's eyes.
"I can honestly say, no. I don't want to go back to a house where a man drinks fermented beverages everyday only to take his wrath out on us. My mom left him ages ago, it was bound to happen with me as well.", she said as mist filled their surroundings.
"Hey, calm down. It's ok, you don't need him, you have us!", said Anneliese hugging her.
"That, I do.", she said calming down as she kissed her forehead.
The team of three managed to get themselves miles across The Aquamara Bridge, they halted their steps once they felt great strain. They hoisted a camp in the middle of the bridge, there was no sight but of waters and no sounds but of waves.
"This is going to be a good sleep! I hope I don't catch a cold.", said Violet yawning.
The team then fell asleep in their tents, and were about to resume their journey at earliest dawn.
"Alright, off the Aquanox!", said Anneliese excitedly as she shook the two awake.
The team now walked the lesser half of The Aquamara Bridge on foot, for where the bridge would lead them would be a majestic view, both for their eyes and for their soul. Walking for another half of a day, they begun to see a small structure stand out far far away.
"Look! That must be a house of some sort! I reckon we're very close to Aquanox!", said Natasha as she clapped jumping.
"Remember, everyone, Aquanox has a very lovely and jolly folk, so we must be respectful in return. Also, once we've tread past their lands, everything will be barren. Aquanox is the last of civilization in these parts, after that it's just the smaller strech of the bridge leading to The Narrow Arc.", said Anneliese opening Ruby's book.
They walked together for the lesser half of the bridge as they grew closer and closer to the structure they'd seen. The house was larger than they expected, a four story build that sat in the middle of The Aquamara Bridge. They lay foot at the base of the building.
"This used to be a watchtower.", said Anneliese pressing her hand against the building. "Mother told me this was build to control traffic, for many people would love to visit Aquanox.", she ended.
"Anyone in there?!", yelled Natasha from below. They waited a reply but none came.
"I reckon this too was left barren." said Violet as she walked around the tower, "It makes sense, you know? What would the people of Aquanox even keep watch for? No-one visits anymore, and they have problems with mythics in their own waters as it is.", she said as she started walking ahead of the tower.
Natasha and Anneliese then joined in as well, they knew she was right. The team was again back on their feet, they walked and walked for a few more miles until they saw a swarm of lights at the end of the bridge.
"Alright! That's Aquanox!", said Anneliese, her excitement knew no bounds!
The team ran on foot as fast as they knew how, for they had seen civilization after days of travel. They sprinted at their best as they finally begun to see the entrance, it was a sign made of flowing water that read, "Welcome".
"Welcome we truly are!", said Violet as she crossed the sign and went into the town, the two followed.
They ran past the sign and entered the enchanting lands of Aquanox. The land begun to grow wider and wider as the mouth of an island became more clear. Another minutes' travel and there they were at the foot of Aquanox.
"What a majestic island!", said Natasha, she couldn't believe this paradise between waters.
"What it must've looked beforehand! I can only imagine it's beauty earlier!", said Violet, dazed as well.
"It truly was! I remember it to be a little different, but I'm glad most of the structures were decently rebuilt.", said Anneliese as she recalled her times in the island.
The island was gorgeous, a tall build was situated right in the heart of the island from where the people of Aquanox would keep an eye out at their doors. This peak was a little chipped at the top, it would seem it was still being rebuilt after The Redemption War. The rest of Aquanox was a watery island, multiple mages and elves who had grown fond of nature's water could be seen inside from the mouth of the city. The mouth led into a path that opened in a cave, the cave ran for a few feet and opened its other end into a city where there was more water than people. The three walked into the cave and came out the other end. Eyes filled with surprise were gazing at the three.
"Uhh they're not harmful, right?", asked a scared Natasha, she was frightened by the number of elves who were staring at her.
"Don't worry, I got this." said Anneliese as she stepped up, "People of Aquanox, we come in peace and seek shelter for a few days. I am Anneliese, daughter of our great forefathers, I request your hospitality today.", she said laying her staff on the floor.
A person dressed in a cloth from top to bottom walked towards the three.
"Our hospitality? We haven't seen visitors since The Redemption War. I know you're not here to enjoy our half broken structures, what is the true purpose of your visit.", asked the voice, it was cold and calm.
"If we had to be honest with you, my friend, we come because we plan on going all the way to Pyrothos.", said Violet stepping up.
"Pyrothos?! Those lands lay barren for years! What joy do you seek going to such a hostile environment?!", asked the cloaked person.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but we let loose a Griffin on our kingdom which caused a great deal of destruction. We managed to slay it, yet we must find gold to help rebuild Veridia.", said Violet.
"You slayed a Griffin?! The strongest mythics after the dark Dragons?!", asked the voice as it grew more and more shocked.
"Yes. With the help of our kingdom, but yes.", answered Violet.
"Your face, it's very similar to me.", said the cloaked person approaching Violet. "Are you Ruby's daughter?", the voice asked.
"Why yes! How must you know her?", asked a confused Violet.
The voice laughed, "Come child, let me explain everything.", said the person as they begun walking away.
"Should we follow?", asked Natasha who was just as confused as everyone.
"I guess.", said Anneliese as she begun tracing the person's steps.
The two followed. All eyes were on them as they walked through the roads of Aquanox and finally reach a small house situated a little away from the tallest building.
"Is this where you live?", asked Violet.
"Since The Great War, yes.", said the person as the three were escorted inside the house.
The house was as generic as it gets, the interior was wooden, probably oak. The house had a fireplace on the left and a centre table made of birch. There were books on a long bookshelf to their right, thousands they might have been.
"You're interested in reading I see.", said Natasha as she gazed at the giant bookshelf.
The person pulled out three chairs and arranged them neatly adjacent the table as she escorted the three to have a seat.
"You had a few questions, I suppose.", asked the voice.
"Yes, but firstly, who are you?", asked Violet trying to peak into the cloak.
The person got up, removed the cloak as she tossed it aside.
"My name is Thea.", she said boldly.
You already know about Thea, she was a great wizard who aided the men and women in their quest against the mythics, a quest that left her with a defeat in Aquanox, where she resides to date.
"The wizard?! Holy shit!", said Natasha standing up.
"Yes, I'm a wizard. I see Ruby hadn't spared a detail about me.", she said smiling.
"I'm honoured to meet you!", said Violet holding her arm.
The wizard was dressed in bright blue with gold stitchings on her robe. She held a Staff and wore a golden tiara.
"Ruby was right, you truly are gorgeous.", said Anneliese, infatuated in her beauty.
Nudging Anneliese's stomach with her elbow Natasha said,
"Ahem. Ahem. We come here for rest, so that we may resume our journey tomorrow."
"Ah, yes, the journey. Children, tell me, why must you want to go to those lands once habited by Dragons?", Thea asked slyly.
"We need gold, Thea. A lot of it. We want to give back Arionis it's wealth!", said Violet boldly.
"And what makes you think you can do that all on your own? You faced a Griffin with the help of a kingdom and barely won. What makes you think you can take on other mythics on your own?", asked Thea raising her eyebrow.
"I don't mean to disrespect you, you're a mythic yourself afterall, but we've already had this conversation with our mother and I don't like repeating myself. Nothing you say can stop us from going to Pyrothos, if we get killed, then so be it.", Violet said as a gleam ran across her eyes.
"I'm not trying to stop you in your endeavours, child. I simply want to know if your cause is noble.", Thea said standing up.
"I can't be the judge of my own cause, Thea. What I can tell you is that I don't want the money for myself, I want it for my kingdom. A kingdom sent into flames because of me! I've seen women, men and children burn infront of my eyes, I've seen that horrible creature crush the backs of the king's battalion while all I could do was watch! So, if you don't want to give us any shelter, I don't care, but we have important things to catch on so please don't rob us of the little time we have.", she said slamming the table with her fist. The battle of Veridia had really taken a toll on her body, her eyes sparkled ever bright as a beam of determination shot across them. What Thea saw she couldn't believe, the same fire she had seen beneath Ruby's soul burnt stronger in Violet's eyes.
"You're a brave girl, young one. Alas, you'll need more than bravery to make it to Pyrothos safely.", said Thea as she walked towards the fireplace and laid her land on it.
"What are you doing?!", said Anneliese panicking.
"Calm down." said Thea as the fire surrounded her hand and became an orb.
"Here, take this with you.", she said as she passed on the orb to Violet.
"What must this be?", asked Violet gazing at it.
"It's a sphere encompassing a burst of flames. You're bound to face another mythic on your way to Pyrothos, this will give you an upper edge. I've laid my finest spell on it, and I trust you will use it when the time is right.", she said smiling at Violet.
"Thank you for this, Thea. You've given my mom something similar, haven't you?", asked Violet laughing.
"Why yes, my child. I gave her an orb of transportation. I thought she would use it during the war but she kept it to herself." said Thea.
"Now that you trust us, is it too much to ask for you to join us? It would be a delight to have a good mythic on our side for once.", asked a humble Natasha.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, my dear. Anywhere I go I shall be sensed by the mythics, if you plan on attracting as few as possible having me around will not help. Additionally, I'm needed here, with the people of Aquanox, to help rebuild this place slowly with my magic. I may have resisted the Dragon's temptation but it took a toll on my ability as a mage.", she said sitting back down. "I'm not as strong as I used to be. Regardless, any other help, I shall be at your service.", she said smiling at the three.
"Shelter and a larger map is all we can really ask for. Also, any chance you know a few shortcuts to Pyrothos?", asked Violet chuckling.
"My dear, this bridge is the path you seek. It opens at its end directly to The Narrow Arc, the easiest way to access the mountain of Pyrothos.", she replied.
"Alright, then. I think we shall rest here today, refill our rations and resume our journey tomorrow. I shall use the fire sphere wisely, Thea.", Violet said as she escorted herself to one of the rooms in the wizard's house.
"You're all welcome to stay as long as you like. As for rations, I can talk you in with the elves and their compact food.", said Thea, as she too went to sleep.
The team napped a reassured sleep that day, they had met the wizard they'd only heard of in tales and travelled far away to beautiful lands. However, what often seems to be a smooth journey can get interrupted by multiple thorns that block their way, or as so they were about to find out.