"Genuinely, thank you so much!", cried Ann as she hugged Emma. "You've reduced so much of walk time!"
"Again, a happy accident.", she replied smiling at her.
The eight were through the hole that carved itself in the heart of the mountain and were now facing their second mountain, and their first trek.
"It's really not that large of a peak, a day or so should suffice.", said Anneliese as she eyed the peak, she'd seen larger mountains before.
"That's true, we need about two days to make it through the mountains, hopefully mythic-free.", Trent said as he read from his book.
"Last time we hoped for a peaceful path, a rock monster blocked our way.", said Natasha sighing.
"While that may be, right now we're past The Narrow Arc and only a few miles from the foothills of Pyrothos, these lands are mostly barren.", Trent answered, reassuring her.
"You have mighty confidence in that book of yours, don't you?", asked Violet taking a peak.
"That, I do. It was in my mom's closet, she was one of the mighty knights that gave her life for Arionis.", Trent replied.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to spark old memories.", Violet said gripping his arm, "Nevertheless, I have a book which also belongs to my mum."
"What's that you say?", Trent replied looking into her eyes.
"It's this.", she said pulling out the book. "Mum gave it to me before we left Veridia. It's a book of all her spells with a map at the end."
"Truly amazing!", Trent said as he borrowed the book and examined it. "Ah! The symbol of Pyrothos is on the cover! That's how you must've tracked your way here, eh?"
"Absolutely right.", she replied smiling.
"We haven't been introduced properly, I'm Trent, son of the great knights of Sylvanora and a genius with no battle skill.", Trent said shaking her hand.
"Violet, I'm the daughter of Ruby and I have a sick blade made of pure gold.", she replied.
"Your father?", Trent asked.
"A brave elf he was, my mother told me. She never informed me about his whereabouts, but by now I know enough to understand that he died in our attempt to reconquer Pyrothos.", Violet replied.
"That's why you're here?", he asked again.
"Well, that's partly why, it may be my drive but my reason is purely to help rebuild Veridia.", she replied.
"Umm if you guys are done talking, can we start heading up the hill?", asked Stephen annoyed.
"You're truly annoying, aren't you?", Violet replied as her eyes narrowed.
"He's got a point. We'll have many opportunities to get to know each other in the nights when we camp, for now lets make haste when light is still out.", Trent replied as he walked ahead.
"Speak of things in the night, I'm always available.", said Stephen winking at Violet.
"Not in a million years.", she replied as she pushed him out of her path and followed the rest.
The eight were off as they treaded the roads that lead to the base of the second hill. The roads were simple, a dusty path peppered with rocks and cracks that begun to incline as the foot of the hill was seen.
"Let's begin the journey!", Emma said as she stepped upon on the incline and begun treking upwards, the others followed. The eight begun treking the slopes as the light begun to fade out and dawn settled in.
"It will be dark soon, and with the altitude we're at, it will be pitch black, we're better off setting a camp here itself.", said Anneliese as she gazed into the stars.
"Amen to that. We've got eight tents, let's each set up our own?", asked Ann.
"Or how about we all stay in one tent and get to know each other?", Trent said looking at Violet.
"Fine by me.", Violet replied smiling.
"It's going to be very congested, just sayin'.", Ann replied.
"Oh that's quite alright. We'll anyway need our communal body heats to counter the cold.", Trent replied as his cheeks turned slightly pink.
"We've got two elemental mages, dude.", Stephen said nudging Trent.
"For god's sake, stop! Lets just do what Trent says, I don't want to stay half awake keeping you guys warm all night!", Emma replied jokingly.
"Wow! Some friend.", Stephen said as he picked up their largest tent and laid it upon the ground.
The eight begun assembling the tent as the light faded and dawn was upon them. They headed inside and lit a few lanterns as they sat together in a circle and chatted.
"So, you guys from Veridia, eh? Any hot chicks there?", asked Stephen slyly.
"Not just beautiful people, the kingdom too is fabulous! It truly is remarkable! Coming here has made us all appreciate Veridia for what it truly is, a kingdom shielded from all the troubles.", replied Violet.
"I hear its located behind The Peak Of Peace.", said Emma to Violet.
"Yes, it is. It's shielded from the world by the mountain and it's allowed us to remain calm and composed in our safe spaces.", Violet replied.
"So you all have travelled up and below the mountain?", asked Gavin.
"Oh, no! The mountain is much too large for that, we had to walk around it.", replied Violet.
"Where did you head to after that?", asked Trent.
"We were at The Aquamara Bridge! It took us right to Aquanox.", replied Anneliese clapping her hands.
"I love Aquanox! Is it still the same city as it was before the redemption?", asked Emma to Anneliese.
"It looks about the same, other than the great tower ofcourse. It is very less populated nowadays, though.", Anneliese replied sighing.
"That's become the case with all relics. They've been taken over by mythics, or left barren.", Trent said.
"We did meet a great wizard there.", Natasha said jumping in.
"A wizard?! We met one too!", jumped Stephen.
"Fabulous! We met Thea, Wizard Of The West, you?", asked Natasha.
"Sara, Wizard Of The North.", replied Stephen chuckling.
"Did the wizard lend you something?", asked Violet raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yes. We were given an orb that is supposed to carry great deals of magic.", replied Emma.
"We have one too, it's a fire orb.", Violet replied smiling.
"That's amazing! You know, we have a lot to offer if we present a united front! Amazing weapons, two elemental mages and two gifts from mythics.", said Trent.
"I couldn't agree more.", said Violet smiling at him.
"Uhh, is something going on between these two?", whispered Ann to Anneliese.
"Not sure, but they're both all tomato.", said Anneliese rolling her eyes.
"Anyways, where are you guys from?", asked Natasha.
"We came from Sylvanora, from the east. Truly remarkable it is, a kingdom of many wonders!", Emma replied.
"Ah, yes, that's where the spear was mined from. Where did you journey from?", asked Natasha again.
"Well, we went into something called Wispwood, a dense and annoying forest, then we ventured through Floriana and finally got chased out by a weird lizard.", replied Ann.
"I've been to Floriana! Truly beautiful it is! Anyone from the village you met?", asked Anneliese clapping her hands.
"No. Sara told us that all the wars faught in the jungles were terribly lost. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think there were any survivors.", said Emma sorrowfully.
"That's awful.", said Anneliese frowning.
"So you say you faught a lizard?", asked Natasha to break the tension.
"Hell yeah! We kicked it's ass!", said Stephen standing up boldly.
"Kicked it's ass? We nearly got ours kicked!", replied Ann elbowing Stephen.
"Why must you say that?", asked Violet chuckling.
"Well, you see, the thing is called a Lushwshisper. It was one of the mythics built to help shape the forest, we faught it and were all knocked out other than me and Stephen. I too shortly was dazed, leaving Stephen to fight that thing alone, which he did barely. The fight ended in Stephen nearly burning the Lushwshisper, but it was about to reach upon him with it's little strength, until Sara knocked it out. We were saved by a hair.", Trent replied sighing.
"That's terrifying! Stephen, you managed to fight a mythic by yourself?!", asked Anneliese in awe.
"What can I say, that's just who I am.", he replied brushing his shoulders.
"Which reminds me, you never told us what you saw that day! You said 'tonight', it is tonight, now spill!", Emma said as she nudged him.
"Alright! Alright! It's just a little embarassing.", Stephen said looking at the ground.
"We're all friends here, feel free to share.", Violet said patting his arm and smiling. Stephen took a deep breath as he recollected the things he'd seen, the things he'd heard and the things he'd felt.
"It showed me a dream, a world where you all took the gold back to Sylvanora and returned without me. Everyone was happy, jolly and seemed much better off without me. Then all of your characters started telling me I wasn't good enough, that I didn't matter and that you never needed me.", he ended as tears left control of his eyes.
"Oh, my god! That's terrible!", Ann said as she strongly hugged him.
"Stephen, you should've told us this before. You know we love you and will do anything to make you feel better.", Emma said as she too hugged him to her chest.
"No-one tells my Stephen he's not good enough!", Gavin cried as he Troll hugged him.
"If I'm being honest, Trent was the reason I gathered the courage to fight it. He's the one who told me that all of us feel inadequate sometimes, and that's okay.", Stephen said as he wiped his tears.
"You're welcome, mate, but I really just told you what's true. You already had that potential, Steve, I just gave it a little push.", Trent said as he too hugged him.
"Aww you guys!", Anneliese yelled hugging them all.
"I love hugs!", cried Natasha as her and Violet joined the group. The eight hugged each other in their warm embrace as the cold became paler and the fire to their hearts was fueld ever more.
"Well, that's enough about us. What about you guys? You fight any cool things on your way?", asked Stephen as he wiped his tears again.
"Why, yes. We faught this weird giant water snake that nearly killed us all. I was knocked out alongside Natasha in like a dozen minutes, but Anneliese took care of the rest. She smashed it back into the waters with her staff and faught it in its own turf, making it one with the oceans!", cried Violet.
"Holy shit! How the hell did you do that?!", Ann yelled.
"Well, this staff belonged to my father who gave it to me on his deathbed. He was a great elemental, and one of the firsts who built Arionis, giving his life in the process. He gave it to me, but the staff never truly accepted me for I wasn't as skilled as my father, but eventually I realised that the staff is nothing but a tool to release my power, I defined it and not the other way around. That's when it spoke to me, it responded as it looked into me and helped me become one with my powers.", Anneliese replied.
"That's amazing, Anneliese! I'm really sorry I mocked your staff earlier.", Emma said gripping her arm.
"It's completely fine! The Staff Of Arcane can take mockery!", Anneliese replied chuckling.
"What you faught, my ladies, was a Hydrofang.", said Trent jumping in as he flipped through the pages of his book. "A creature made to control the waves in some parts of Oceanus, it can switch between states and project all forms of water from its mouth."
"Does that book have information on every mythic ever?", asked Violet as she gazed into the pictures the book held.
"Yes. My mother wrote it in her journeys across Arionis. It has descriptions and weaknesses of mythics she faught, my dad faught and even her companions.", he said closing the book.
"The Chronicles Of Sylvanora ", Violet read the cover of the book, "Cool name!", she ended smiling at Trent.
"Speaking of water stuff, we faught a water mythic too.", said Ann jumping in.
"Pray tell!", Natasha replied in a shock.
"We faught an Aquillith. A monster that looks like a giant disgusting fish, but can dissolve into millions of tiny fishes with razor sharp teeth.", Stephen said as chills ran across his spine.
"How did you defeat such a thing?", asked Anneliese.
"Well, we lost at first, I blacked out and Stephen summoned the shield that kept it from eating us, Trent then shot the thing in its eye from inside the shield and gave us a strong advantage, for when it was injured badly it couldn't dissolve effectively. We then sent Gavin inside with a bracelet that Trent made which countered the force of water and allowed Gavin to punch the thing into the air, me and Stephen together caught the thing and brought it to the ground as we constantly pierced it with our arrows as it tried to wiggle back into the waters. Finally Gavin stood in front of the fish and stopped it by jumping into it's mouth and smashing it's throat with his sledgehammer.", Emma replied recollecting.
"Brilliant! Gavin truly is one tough Troll! Trent, how did you manage to shoot it in the eye?", asked Violet looking Trent in the eye.
"Well, I threw a sword in the air, used it as a mirror and shot a pellet as it showed me the fish's eye.", he replied smugly.
"That's incredible!", Violet replied gripping his arm. Trent blushed as he didn't say anything, he just sat there and looked at Violet's hand which was upon his own.
"Ahem Ahem. Why did you fight the Aquillith anyway?", asked Natasha rolling her eyes at Trent and Violet.
"We were sent there by our king. Apparently there were sightings of people going missing near The Great River, the king sent us in because he didn't want to lose any more of his men.", Emma replied.
"Wonderful! We too faught alongside our kingdom. We helped Veridia slay a Griffin.", said Anneliese to Emma.
"A Griffin?! You'll have me startled! Pray tell!", Trent yelled jumping in, he'd heard old tales of Griffins from his parents.
"Well, we accidentally set it loose on Veridia, then Violet made an amazing plan that drew it into the castle, where she struck her golden blade into it's throat and killed it.", Anneliese replied.
"Truly brave of you!", Trent said looking at her. Violet did nothing but smile back at him.
"What was the plan, if I can ask.", asked a curious Emma.
"Well, I thought it would be wise to use the Griffin's arrogance against itself, so we forced the Griffin to smash again and again into a shield that surrounded our kingdom until it finally broke in. We then tied it with some chains on every part but it's beak, it finally broke through with great strength as it crashed into our kingdom doors, thinking it had won. Yet, the chains were a decoy, when it came inside we again bound it with stronger chains, on both it's wings and it's beak. I knew if I would've wound it's beak early on, it could've just snapped them, so I decided to let it tire first. Eventually I managed to cling on the thing, enchant my blade and shove it down!", explained Violet.
"Amazing! Truly you are one of a kind!", Trent exclaimed as his eyes disobeyed his body and gazed deeply into Violet's pure soul. A silence hit the room as the two exchanged glances, their faces reddened and they were lost in awe. Trent couldn't believe the sight that lay in front of him, an elf so pretty she belittled the brightest jewels. Trent stared at her heart shaped lips as he saw a moist breath escape them, as Violet too was gazing upon him in disbelief. While Trent wasn't a handsome lad, his mind had taken over Violet's. She was left in awe at the brilliance of his mind while Trent was lost in her beauty and her courage. Violet was much prettier than he was, yet somehow she considered them equals.
"Alright, it's getting pretty late now, we better sleep now for we need ample rest.", said Natasha, again rolling her eyes.
"Agreed. We need our energy for tomorrow.", Emma said as she got up and laid walked to her bed.
"I'm going to sleep as well!", said Ann as she laid down, pulling Trent with her and laying him to her side. These two would often stick together, for Ann would never let go of Trent.
Violet, Anneliese, Natasha, Gavin and Stephen as well set their beds and fell asleep in a large and warm tent as the breeze grew colder and the stars shone brighter. Tomorrow they would embark on a trek that would get them to the foothills of Pyrothos, a land of blazing battle, an ember impossible to extinguish. Yet in these embers, they'd find solace in each other's embrace, and find fires of love within themselves.
