Cromaria

(light kingdom & Shiki) A fetch quest full of surprises

Author's note: this chapter is gonna focus on Shiki for the most part, but there will be stuff in this chapter that will connect with her and her story. So I hope you will enjoy this chapter like the rest that came before it. Also those who love reading my books would you please leave feedback on things you enjoyed or other things related to the story, it really helps to know people are looking forward to reading this book.

The Forest was quiet, not much could be heard except for some crickets, wolves and running water that flowed over to a Riverbend that was somewhat close by, but still far off. The night was as clear as a warm sunny day with no clouds in sight. The wind was blowing softly, it wasn't too cold of a night, but it was just a bit chilly. Shiki was in the middle of collecting the items needed for Dracwyn's arm reattachment. She had collected enough leaves to tie around an arm, next on the list we're medicinal herbs, which did not grow in a forrest very much, which at the time, we're considered rare by the kingdoms who lived near the forests. Shiki wished that she didn't have to go into one of the 8 kingdoms, but she had no other option considering that she felt that the medicinal herbs were really hard to find. She would have to find a kingdom that had sold the herbs she needed and with luck she would hope to find some purified water as well. Since it was night time Shiki had to go back to Lea the witch's house to rest up, and go back out to find the herbs and purified water, But at least she knew that her quest had an ending point to it. When Shiki got ready to leave, Dracwyn gave her some words of advice and caution; "don't do anything reckless, and come back safely". Shiki nods as she heads off to travel to the kingdoms nearby to find the items she needed. The three kingdoms she had to chose from were the kingdoms of shadow, light and water. She would try her luck with the light kingdom first considering most of the people in the town went to church, and where there was church, there was some holy water, Shiki thought as she made an hour walk over to the kingdom. "People might recognize me as a warlord if I enter like this" Shiki thought looking at her attire. Shiki decided to change the color of her clothes with illusion magic. In mere moments Shiki's attire goes from black and red to blue and gray, she also added a hood to cover her face for better results. With Shiki all disguised she enters the town looking for the 2 items she had been searching for. She had to make sure not to draw attention, because if people get a good look at her she is as good as found out. She walked around town normally and kept a clear eye out for the items she was searching for. As she walked around town she noticed that not many people were out and about. She was puzzled as to why that was, but considering she was sensing a faint surge of holy magic only to realize that it was just the church and Christian crosses. Considering her power was given by a demon, it makes sense that she can't use some of her magic when around them. Knowing that purified water is normally there she had to get it later, considering the situation she was in. She went to a local market that selled medicinal herbs, when she asked how much they were sold for, she didn't have enough money or rather any money to spend. She walked away feeling sad that she couldn't just buy the items so as she felt no other choice but to steal, there was a robbery going on in town that happened out of nowhere. it was a group of bandits who knew only basic lightning and fire magic. (Aka, fire balls and lighting shock, which both were fired directly from the palms)
The bandits rode away carrying 5 bags of money, on a horse carriage. Shiki jumped in front of the carriage and slashed one of the wheels clean off with her scythe, which she had made appear in her hand, but it didn't have a purple color with a black tint to it as it usually does. Instead the scythe was red with a blue tint. The carriage fell over as the horse ran away in fear. The bandits tried to make a run for it but a group of soldiers cutted them off making the arrest. Shiki made her scythe disappear but felt she shouldn't have drawn attention to herself. The soldiers thanked Shiki for her quick help in catching the bandits. She felt like her heart was beating with happiness and was glad to help. But she remembered that she was a warlord of chaos and knew she would never be accepted back into society considering her past. She walked away look down but surprisingly she got a reward of money, it was more than enough to buy 3 medicinal herbs. Shiki felt happy for a brief moment but remembered that she had to get the purified water after paying for the herbs. No matter how she looked at it, the church would negate her magic, especially her disguise if she were exposed for too long. She would have to wait until night fall, before she could get the purified water. So with her left over money she stayed the night at a local inn for one night. The night came slowly, Shiki came to the kingdom during just the end of morning time, so to pass the time, she ate some food rations of bread, fruits and vegetables, she had in her satchel. She also played with a small deck of cards, she was trying to apply her magic to the cards to see if they could be used as a back up weapon, in case of emergencies. By the time night rolled by, Shiki was ready to put her plan into action. She snuck outside, and went straight to the church. She could feel her magic weakening, so she only had enough time to pull off a petty heist for purified water, but it would have to be done within 30 minutes. The second Shiki opened the door, her timer on her magic was already running out, so she made sure corners we're clear before looking for the water.

Shiki checked high and low for the purified water, but couldn't find where it was stored, until she came across a room with many different assortment of bottles, each with different lables. Shiki searched through the bottles and could only find 1 bottle of purified water. She put the bottle in her bag and hurried to the exit to only be stopped by a priest girl. Shiki was discovered and couldn't think of what to do to cover up what she was doing.

Girl: "umm, hello... What brings you here?".
She was a little shy by the way she talked. Shiki came up with an excuse at the last second.
Shiki: "oh, just saying a little prayer before I go back to sleep".
Girl: "in the middle of the night"? "You  must have had a nightmare I take it"?
Shiki: "yes, I sometimes pray for some of the nightmares to go away, once in a while".
Girl: "oh well ok, good night then, hope you have pleasant dreams".
The girl went to the storage room to do a check up on the bottles and do an inspection. Shiki went back to the inn, once she walked into her room and closed the door she took a deep breath fell onto her bed and exhaled. Shiki felt a little stressed at that close encounter, and the fact her disguise wore off for a brief moment. But as she regained her strength and calmed her breathing, she recasted the spell on her disguise so that she could sneak out of the village the next morning. After all that happened she took a nice long rest, and slowly her stress was fading away as she slept.

*Back at the Lea's home*

Dracwyn stands on the porch looking into the stars, almost looking like he is praying but instead of doing just that, he closes his eyes and hopes for Shiki's safe return. "I know you will make it back safe, because you wouldn't die without reaching the goal we set for ourselves" Dracwyn thinks/says (which ever works for you) in his mind. Dracwyn opens his eyes, continuing to look into the sky holding on to his hope for Shiki.

Morning came around leaving the night to fade away. The kingdom of light had been a bit lively as someone had discovered that a theif stole purified water from the storage area in the church. The one issue is who done it, and what will happen to the one who is charged with theft. Shiki's quest was about to become twice as hard as one would not expect it to be.

Shiki awoke to the sound of people in a crowd. They were standing in front of the church confused and upset as to why some one would steal purified water. Shiki planned on skipping town before things got hectic, but since people were being called in for being suspected of theft, Shiki ended up being one of the few people under suspicion, so she was unable to leave because it would raise more suspicion to leave town during the knights investigating. Shiki was trapped in the town until she was allowed to leave, so she had no choice but to wait until it was all over. Fearing the worse, Shiki needed to make sure that the knights never search her satchel. Shiki didn't want to waste time while Dracwyn was without his dominant arm, but she had no choice. Plus with investigation going on, Shiki was not told how long it would last. Shiki tried to remain calm and awaited the day that the investigation will end soon so she can make it back to Dracwyn and help the witch lady with her spell.