A boy born with Serpentblood. An exiled dwarf in pursuit of his destiny. A she-elf guided by a religious prophecy.
Together, they must rise to find the coveted Light of the World, a saviour who promises to tip the scale of waging Spiritual War in t...
"You sound like one," said Kaelam with a smirk. "What are you? Twelve, thirteen?"
"Sixteen," Eliza replied, holding the lantern close to her face. "Are you blind?"
"Do you expect me to see in the dark? I am a human, not a moon elf. What do you want? Come to bore me to death? I would rather die swiftly from a blade than use my sacred breath to argue with you."
"A man doomed to die in darkness holds the key to a kingdom's redemption. Liberate him, and Roxundam's rightful heir will inherit the throne," Eliza spoke, keeping her pronunciations clear while maintaining a hushed tone.
Kaelam tilted his head and sighed. "Wonderful. My final punishment is a poet."
"It is not a poem," said Eliza, "but a prophecy. I believe you are the man I seek."
"How flattering," said Kaelam with a snort, "and you are?"
"Princess Eliza Rendley, rightful heiress of Roxundam."
Kaelam sat up straight. He squinted his eyes and then leaned forward. His movement stiffened the silver chains binding him in place.
"Oh."
Eliza reached under her grey robe and pulled out a small bottle of elixir, the red liquid sparkling under the lantern's glow. "I have come to free you," she said.
"I know," said Kaelam, his voice at ease.
Eliza poured the elixir into the keyhole of the iron cell door and watched it begin to fizz and eat away at the metal. She stiffened at Kaelam's response.
What did he say?
"Know how?" she asked.
"A princess will set you free. Hope will rise, and a broken kingdom shall be reborn by thee. Carmine Foy holds the key to everlasting peace and tranquillity. The light of the world will come, and you will fight a great battle before your life is done."
Creek!
The cell door rolled open, breaking the barrier between Eliza and the stranger before her. She stared at Kaelam with wonder and awe.
"This is not a meeting of chance, Eliza," said Kaelam. "El Olam has intertwined our destinies. The prophecy is true. The light of the world is coming, and it will force the Dragoness to make her final stand. We have been given our roles to play. We must find Carmine Foy."
"Who is she?" Eliza wondered.
"She is me," said a voice from the shadows.
A she-elf materialized at the edge of the lantern's light and walked towards Eliza, who jumped with fright and ran deeper into the cell to find refuge next to Kaelam.
"Stay back!" Eliza warned, reaching under her robes to grab another elixir.
"What are you hiding behind me for?" Kaelam asked. "I am shackled to the ground!"
"You can throw that at me, princess, or listen to what I have to say," Carmine said, slowly approaching the others as she stepped through the cell door.
Eliza eased and dropped her hands to her sides, ignoring her cautious instincts. Tonight's events had been delicately orchestrated by the divine. Three strangers in the same place, entangled by fate.
The prophecy had undoubtedly come to fruition. The light of the world was near, and the Dragoness's reign of evil approached its abrupt end.
Carmine's skin was a soft grey, not pale and lifeless, but infused with a cool blue undertone that only radiated against the pure white hair that fell down her spine. Her eyes glowed in the dark, grey like the moon with a crystalized shimmer. Her deep red robes, with long billowing sleeves, tapered elegantly around her slender frame.
Kaelam gasped. "She is a moon elf, one of the first species of prophetic Oracles who devoted their lives to finding Roxundam's saviour."
"Impossible," said Eliza. "Your kind was exterminated by the Dragoness's serpents two years ago during the Religious Purge. Your city and people scorched and reduced to cinders."
Carmine Foy smiled while maintaining control of her upright posture.
"The Southern Isles hold many secrets protected from the Dragoness's view," she said. "Evil is blinded by powerful ambition, unable to see the emergence of light and hope from a land it already claims to control. It forgets to notice the small details that will converge to conquer its empire. Our triumph is near."
Kaelam shrugged. "Carmine Foy is the key to everlasting peace and tranquillity," he muttered, then looked directly into the moon elf's noble gaze. "What does that mean?"
Carmine clapped her hands together, and the shackles bounding Kaelam snapped free. Eliza helped him to his feet and then watched the she-elf curiously.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Footsteps sounded above from the surface, quickly descending towards them.
"Hurry now, I have horses waiting on the outskirts of town," Carmine said, snuffing out Eliza's lantern light with a cock of her wrist before summoning a white energy sphere of her own. "Unless you want to leave your fate to the serpents."
"Where are we going?" Eliza asked, taking Kaelam by the arm as she led him after Carmine, who quickly retreated out of the cell and down the dungeon corridor deeper into the rock catacombs beneath them.
"We ride south, towards Ethomoore."
"The lost city," Kaelam said, gaining the strength to run on his own. He grabbed Eliza's shoulder, meeting her bewildered eyes. "The moon elves' grave."
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