Arthur 4 : The return of the prince

Chapter 13

It had been almost six hours since Selenia left her village to find Eldarion. She made the decision to stop on the road and climbed on a flower to take a lunch break in the third kingdom to consume the few dragonfly eggs she had found on the way. Sitting on the white petal, Selenia was eating the last dragonfly egg at her disposal while scanning the sun as it began to set. She took advantage of this brief moment to recall everything that had happened recently in her village, as well as the valuable advice of Gwidalia. With all that had happened, it was obvious that she had to question herself at all costs if she wanted to retain the support of her family and people.

Half an hour later, she thought she had thought long enough and came down from her flower before starting again. The border between the third and the fourth kingdom was near, and Batilga was not far away.

When Selenia finally reached the fourth kingdom, she began to consult her map in search of the road that led to the ancient city of nyrilorns. However, she was surprised when she arrived that this road was simply absent. Perhaps the passage of time had meant that this road was no longer used by anyone and that over the years, greenery had finally made it disappear. Anyway, it made things difficult for Selenia. How could she find the ruins of Batilga only by her intuition?

As she tried to find any clue, Selenia set foot on a stone resembling a very old rock slab. This slab seemed hidden by greenery. Who knows, perhaps this greenery hid the path that Selenia was looking for? Based on this idea, she drew her sword and slashed the bush. After some time to cut the foliage, her hypothesis was confirmed: in front of her was a stone road that extended beyond a hill. Selenia smiled with satisfaction and was about to follow the stone path when a voice began to call her:

"But...? You’re Princess Selenia? But what are you doing? Where are you going?"

This bewildered voice was that of a Kolomasai who seemed to be passing through the fourth kingdom. The latter was tall and thin, and his red hair styled in rasta was attached to the back of his skull. From his hollow face was an imposing nose.

"Well, I’m looking for one of my... one of my friends, and it looks like he’s headed for the fourth kingdom. Did you have some informations about him?" asked Selenia who seemed hesitant to use the word "friend" to designate Eldarion.

"No, I don’t have any information on that. In fact, if I did, I would have asked you to pay me to get that information, princess or not." replied the Kolomassai with a deceitful air.

Selenia stared disapprovingly at him. She knew very well the nature of the Kolomasai, the latter always seek the slightest opportunity to try to enrich themselves. Nevertheless, she could resume the conversation to her advantage.

"But from your reaction when you saw me about to take this path, it’s that I’m supposed to know something, right? Something that should force me to turn back," she adds.

"Yes indeed. And to try to reason with you, I think I’m offering you this information for free." said the Kolomassaï nervously before resuming his speech:

"This trail leads to a doomed territory which, according to legend, would have been abandoned by the goddess of the forest. It would be the ancient city of the Nyrilorns, a mythical people who would have died since the beginning of the tyrannical era of M the Evil in a terrible battle. It is said that ghosts still haunt the place and would inflict misery and torment on anyone who approaches this city."

Selenia listened attentively to everything that Kolomassai told her. Once the Kolomassai story was over, she correlated the words of her interlocutor with what she already knew about Batilga. Then she came to the conclusion that despite this ghost story, this path led to Batilga.