The Last Line: The Guardians - Book One

Chapter 11

Torches lined the walls along the hallway leading to the main chambers, their lights casting a long shadow across the walls, as if an ominous being itself was moving against the very structure itself.

Devouring every written inscription dating back to the beginning of the first civilization that society had begotten to the world.
As if their very presence indicates a lot more than mere writing on stones could.

"Such priceless artifacts," a voice purred as his shadow passed across the walls, his footsteps echoing against the silence. "Too bad humans does not see the importance they have for their past."

"All the more easier for us to vanquish what remaining essence it has on this world." Another voice spoke with a chuckle. "How about we start on the neighbouring countries along the Middle Kingdom, hmm?"

"What countries specifically?"

"Any of them, should we just randomly pick and see what it does?" the latter asked with a hint of a smirk. "It won't be long now for the them to feel that something isn't right."

The former let out a scoff. "I do not care when and how they know, all I care about is destroying the one thing that had prevented me for all these years."

Parisa silently followed behind Akram as they walked through the forest, her thoughts on the strange little girl she had seen back there awhile ago.

In all her million years, that was the first time that she had encountered a human-a strange human exuding a powerful aura befitting a deity or the place she had come from.

Her hands then curled tightly into fists as she remembered the humiliation her home-former home had brought on her. It was one thing to punish her but to exile her is another thing entirely.

It was just one small offense, not much that could cost her place.

She shook her head, ridding her head free from those thoughts and just focused on the girl she had met-more like came upon crying in the forest.

Green hair with bright green eyes and tan skin, one would assume the girl have such weird taste when it comes to hair color, or how such a young girl could have access to such.

It could also be brought by the strange aura she felt around the younger. There were so many cases of such happening, especially with ones who are born with powerful magic.

But she seemed pretty normal except of course for the aura, but still.

She bit her lip, wondering how such a being could possess such
when abilities are frowned upon by people who does not know how to grasp the truth that there was something underneath the reality that they know.

That the world of make-believe and reality coexist to the point that if a small thing imbalances the latter, it would severely affect the former.

'Whoever she is,' she thought as she turned her head to look back at the direction they had come from, at the small petite girl who was crying, the only company are the birds in the trees and the small animals that have stood still and watched with apt interest as to why a human would as much as shed a tear.

When her kind have been merciless to disseminate thousands of acres of land just to build an array of empires that faded over time and be consumed by the very earth that they themselves felt the want to destroy.

It pains her to think that children at such a young age are already exposed to the horrors of the world, outside of stories told around the bonfire or passed around through rumours that held no ground.

But still...she couldn't help but want to reach out to the young one and assured her that everything would be alright.

Whatever she had seen...was all just a dream....a figment of her imagination.

That she would wake up and find that the world is just as she had remembered it, and just as she had savored the taste of living in a life where you can play around never to think of what would be next.

Unfortunately, the world does not go that way and neither does reality.

What she could only do was hinder the inevitable. That someday, even if one does not will it, the hidden truth will be laid out in the open for everyone to feast on and do with it just as they pleased.

'Whoever she is,' she repeated again, as she stopped in her tracks and turned to face the forest, the leaves rustling in the cold and docile wind, her hair dancing along with the rhythm that nature only knows.

'She have a hard path in front of her.'

Aedre waited patiently at the entrance to the forest as night slowly settles in, praying that wherever her little friend is, nothing had befallen her or Heaven forbid that she wouldn't trust herself to not lose the remaining shred of sanity she had since the day she was attacked in the ocean.

The younger was everything to her-like her very own sister. It wasn't that she owed the girl for saving her life, it was much more than that.

She vowed that she would stay wherever and whenever the younger chooses to go.

But she couldn't help but fret over the idea of what could-

'Stop thinking that!' she chastised herself in her mind. 'Tivona must know this forest like the back of her hand. If she wanted to return later or the next day, I must respect her decision. She needed time to get over this...'

She didn't finish her train thought as she heard footsteps coming from the forest and a smile appeared on her face as she began walking towards the person.

"Tivona!" she breathed out in relief, the smile still on her face. "I was so worried that-" she stopped as she frowned, regarding the person-no the people that came out. "You're not-"

The voice in her throat died as eyes as silver as the light of the moon stared into hers, the long silvery hair flying around the person's head like some sort of halo.

And the aura she felt coming off from the girl...it was something that she couldn't comprehend.

It was heavenly like the sun's rays enveloping you in its embrace after a month long spent under the shadows of the dreary rain.

But...there was something in the girl's eyes.

Something she could clearly attest to but not at the same time. Something that spoke of a million other expressions that could only be deciphered into one image.

Parisa raised one slender eyebrow at the girl who had halted in her steps. Long violet hair in a messy braid, light tan skin, and green-orange eyes.

She could sense something with the girl, the same aura she had felt from the previous one in the forest.

Noticing her companion's tense and rigid stance, she could tell that he also sensed that the girl in front of them was not by any human standards one would be considered ordinary.

But far from the likes of her as a being.

"You do know that it is rude to stare at a person?" she spoke, a small chuckle escaping her throat as she broke the silence between them.

The girl then blinked her eyes rapidly and shook her head. My apologies. I just thought that I might have known you somehow..." she drifted off.

She just raised an eyebrow at the statement and went passed the girl as Akram followed right behind her-their roles now having been reversed.

Making sure they were out of earshot, she turned to him and said in a whisper. "You felt it too, right?" she asked, more like a statement that she needed confirmation.

He nodded then turned his head to look at the girl who just remained standing where they had left her. And frowned as he turned to look at her again. "What is she?"

A small but yet indifferent smile appeared on her lips.

"She's an elemental."