The Guide of Argos

Chapter 16

Falcon POV:

Falcon woke up at the brink of dawn, clearly exhausted and sleep deprived from the rings around his eyes. He gave a yawn before facing the disturbance. A giant orange colored octopus with yellow spots appeared in the sandy shores right outside Falcon's hastily made tent, shooting three consecutive droplets of water at a high velocity towards him. He drew his Eternalite blade slashing across the droplets and shattering them, attacking the beast's tentacles with a subsequent slash. To his shock, however, the beast remained unaffected, as though its tentacles were cut off, they were quickly replaced with newer, more deadlier tentacles infused with poison and the Eternalite that broke off from Falcon's sword. As he blocked the octopus' next attack with his silver shield that he bought from a merchant in Antersdam,  he checked his surroundings. It didn't look like the beast had been possessed by Argos as there is an absence of purple eyes, so he quickly dashed  at the beast and sent a fireball forward, moving quickly towards the octopus. The giant octopus staggered back, overwhelmed from all of the pain and cried out in distress, as it retreated back. Falcon thought that was the end of it all, however, the octopus suddenly burst out of the water, revealing it to be Ral, the protector of the lake. Ral started blowing up a bubble to surround the brown haired teen, trapping him inside. Falcon panicked as he looked all around for a way to get out, using the rest of his Eternalite blade to try to pierce his way out of the bubble. Surprisingly, it worked, as though his Eternalite blade shattered into a stump, it magically came together again. Knowing this, Falcon stabbed the octopus in the eye, which though it should've blinded it enough so that it should retreat, instead just infuriated the one eyed octopus, who summoned it's minions, as a variety of aquatic creatures came under Ral's control and it fired a large geyser filled with burning hot water, which is so grave that the soil beside the lake started quickly dissolving into the lake, trapping  Falcon on a lone island near the quickly expanding lake. As Falcon is surrounded, he fires several fireballs at some frogs and fish that are approaching him, vaporizing them instantly. He gasped for breath as he realized how hard breathing is due to the rising humidity of the lake. As he got a good look at his opponent, Falcon rushed at Ral, thinking that if he was going down, he might as well die trying to take the giant octopus down. To his surprise, his Eternalite blade glowed with a distinct shade of yellow as he moved with incredible precision, slashing and stabbing whenever he got a chance to. He then realized that the beast has been weakened somehow and looked to the side, to see a young blondette extending her hand out to assist him

 He had no hesitation as he accepted her help as she cast some vines down to distract the beast, so Falcon charged at Ral once more while the beast is distracted trying to repel the sharp vines, concentrating his energy in one fell swoop as he swung at the one eyed octopus with all his might, as several flashes of light shined through, destroying the once mighty protector of Lake Aeos once and for all. Falcon turned to the girl and briefly smiled before asking "Hey, Thanks for the support. What's your name? I'm Falcon."

 The girl's eyes lit up for a second in surprise and Falcon couldn't help but notice something familiar about her...it's like as if he's met her before or something. He pants for his breath before getting back up to his feet. As he looked up at the sky, she sighed and replied

" It's getting late. You should come with me to my house for the night. I'm Cecilia, by the way. " With no other plans for the night, he decided to follow her along. As they walked along the trees towards Cecilia's hometown. As Falcon walked along the rough gravel path leading to her house, he looked up at the stars, shining above the sky like diamonds embedded into a dark blue cloth. As Cecilia looked towards his direction he smiled "The stars are pretty tonight." The young mage sighed as she sat next to him, watching the constellations shine brightly in the indigo sky. Cecilia rested her head on his shoulders before asking him" If you don't mind me asking... why did you come here in the first place? "The brown-haired boy sighed before replying "I'm a wanted criminal. I'm looking for the UNER. An associate of mine promised safety if I find them." Cecilia opened her mouth in shock before looking Falcon flat in the face and told him bluntly" You can't go there." She said as she brushed her golden blonde hair aside. "Have you not heard the rumors? The UNER want to exterminate every other race until only the Elves remain. If you don't believe me, ask anyone here." She stood up after she told him this and said" My house is nearby. Come on!" Cecilia rushed to her house, located on the edge of a small town by the shore of Lake Aeos called Mallardville, named for the ducks that fill the area during the summer, or so Cecilia told him. Looking at the city however, one could hardly notice as the chilling winds filled the area, so ferocious in fact, that Falcon thought he had gotten frostbite. 

When they arrived at her stone brick, green roofed house, the blondette inserted a small, round key into the keyhole of the oak door and they entered, the inside being nothing Falcon expected as he found a well kempt house with simple furniture spread orderly throughout the house, as he saw a spruce dinner table with cedar chairs right beside them, with soft pillows as cushioning  all above a crystal chandelier, which illuminated the room with it's 15 candles giving off a mysterious white flame. "Well, we're here." Cecilia gleamed, "Your room is right beside the dining room. I will be upstairs if you need me." 

"Why did you help me?" 

"I sensed that you just needed help. If you want my advice, go to Ch'ara first. The Elf King is a man of his word. He will protect you as long as you prove your strength. Besides, if Antersdam is persecuting you, Ch'ara may be the only force that could protect you." 

Falcon started walking to his room, unaware of Cecilia's real motives as she gave a small smirk before running upstairs.