The Secret Plains

13

Kay's POV

Greta is already hiding something from me, and I barely know her. What in the entire freaking universe is Il'Homan and its connection with Tal'Homan?

It's obvious Il'Homan is a place that Greta has visited, and it's not like she took any notes about it, she just drew a cave, labeled it, and moved on. Tal'Homan is a curse, that part is easy to figure out, but I could barely find anything on Il'Homan.

Well, time to go to my favorite encyclopedia and Velvimr tour guide.

"Kesi? I have a question." I turn to her.

"Yeah? What do you need?" She asked.

I go to her bed and sit beside her, showing her the picture of Il'Homan, "What's Il'Homan?"

She immediately freezes, "Why do you want to know?"

"I just saw it in Greta's journal and associated it with Tal'Homan, but I can find information on Tal'Homan anywhere. There's barely anything on Il'Homan, so I wondered if you knew something."

Ilkesi sighed, then turned to me, "I don't know much about Il'Homan."

"I don't know anything about Il'Homan." I counter.

"Fine then. Il'Homan is the place where Tal'Homan originated from. People say that witches used to do very evil spells there, and anyone who came into the cave would be cursed with Tal'Homan. People now don't go near that cave, but it's less because of the curse, and more of something else."

"What is the other thing? How is anything more scary than a curse that drives you mad slowly?" I inquire.

"I don't know! Very little information is known about that place, it's out of bounds for velai. If you want to know, you'll have to ask the closest species to Il'Homan."

"Which are?"

"Goblins and Elves. No one knows where exactly it is, but it's around Elvia and Kobolde."

"But is it really dangerous? Greta refused to tell me-"

"Of course it's dangerous!" She exclaims, then turns away from me, "Think about it, Kay, if we were supposed to know these things, there would be hundreds of records about it! There's a reason there is very little information about Il'Homan, and it is highly classified." She calms down a bit, "Just, go study something else. Il'Homan is not something I want to explore anytime soon."

I stand up from her bed, "Thanks anyway." I begrudgingly go back to my bed and sit down, then pick up another journal.

If no one is going to tell me what Il'Homan is, I'll just have to find out for myself.

Narrator's POV

"She's investigating Il'Homan? You have to stop her. Please tell me you got rid of any information."

"Yes, I did. Any other information is in the Middle Land, with the Council, and it's highly classified."

"That Council. Always prodding their long noses in someone's business."

A blast was heard before the sound of a body hitting the floor echoed through the smooth stone walls.

"That was the last one of them, right?"

"Yes, that was the last elf. They're all gone."

"Good," The person stands up. "Now, we have certain witnesses to dispose of. Mithnar, follow me. You," he turns to another person standing in the corner, "get rid of this mess." He kicks the dead goblin.

The two people walk out of the room as the dead elf's body is dragged away.

"Okay, keep your arm straight and focus on your target." Greta held Kay's arm to guide it. "Fold your arm in," she folded the arm in. "Now, push out with utmost cocentration on your target." She stepped back.

Kay was sweating internally and externally, her fingers fiddling with the hilt of the dagger. Why didn't Ilkesi pick a course that was only one skill for her, like magic-casting? At least, that was only learning spell learning and execution. Exploring encompassed journaling, site recognition, animal and plant recognition, medicine, healing, potion making, spells, hunting and weapon training, language learning—well, she was only learning medicine, healing, some spells, and weapon training—and they all tired her.

She took a deep breath in and swiftly threw the dagger at the target, and silently hoped that it would get at least a little bit near the bullseye.

She missed the target itself by a long shot, and the dagger embedded itself in a tree. She could hear Ilkesi let out a chuckle and she turned to her, throwing her a glare. Lucas had also come for her lessons because he had "nothing better to do". He threw her a smirk, which she shot back with an eye roll.

Greta got the knife back, "It's your first try, I don't blame you. But we can't move on unless you hit the target. Not even a bullseye, just the target itself." She hands Kay the dagger. "Next time, don't turn your wrist at all, let go of the dagger as soon as your arm is facing the target. Again."

Kay repeated her previous actions, this time taking note of Greta's corrections. She took a breath and threw.

The dagger hit the target, and Kay felt an enormous weight lift off her chest. It wasn't close to the bullseye –at all– but she felt immensely proud of herself anyway. She heard clapping and turned. Ilkesi and Lucas were clapping, smiling.

She smiled at them, before feeling a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her side and saw Greta looking down at her, smiling slightly.

"Not bad," she commended, "Now, we're going to add a step forward. Are you more comfortable with your left or right leg?"

"Right," she replied.

"Okay, so you're going to step out with your right leg and throw the dagger. I am left-handed, so I'll demonstrate with my left." She went to the target with her dagger, and in a flurry of motion, she quickly stepped out with her left leg and threw the dagger with amazing speed. One blink and the dagger was embedded into the target, a direct bullseye. Lucas and Ilkesi's mouths hung open, while Kay was struggling to find complete words.

"You-you just–but how–that fast–" 

Greta chuckled, "Once you get the hang of it, you'll be just as fast." She goes to the target and gets the two daggers, then hands one to her. "Give it a shot."

I take the dagger and repeat what she did, and the dagger flew, sticking to the second ring. It's not at the bullseye, but it's closer than my first attempt.

Greta nods, "That was good. A little more practice, and don't slouch your shoulders so much, it'll throw off your aim."

For the rest of the day, we practice the dagger throwing until I had learned 3 different techniques and almost impaled Lucas (totally an accident)

I start to pack my stuff near sunset. Greta and Ilkesi were already ahead while Lucas stayed behind.

"Those were some good shots, you're a natural," he said.

"Oh, thanks, I guess. You guys learned that in Level 2, right?"

"Started in Level 1, but yeah." He helped me up. "You should catch up with Greta and Ilkesi, it's getting late."

"What about you?"

"I'll head back to Lythanroe, besides, I'm a werewolf, the night is my element," he smirked and walked away. I rolled my eyes and started to walk behind Greta and Ilkesi when a faint breeze blew past my ears,

"Go to Il'Homan."