Pick Your Path: Book 1

71

" Come on, (Y/n)." Ellie tugs your hand as Pearl turns away to leave, " Don't even bother. Pearl will never let anyone, other than Abby, join her in any searching parties." she lead you towards a entrance in the wall. " We'll start in the den area. Cassie and Will have been close to the Half-Breed Kingdom before, so maybe they know?" she trots inside with you following close behind. She crosses the first room and through a entrance way that opened up to a large cavern with high ceilings. " Will, Cassie?" Ellie called, her voice echoing off the walls and ceiling. After a couple moments of silent a sound, a mix between a roar and a squawk, answered.  A flurry of golden brown feathers and fur swooped down from a ledge and skidding to a halt, with a flash of golden light, in front of you and Ellie. 

" Hey, Ellie." he greeted, his feathered lion tail swaying behind him. " Cassie over there." he points to a eagle perched on a neat on the wall, on the opposite side of the cavern, preening her wing feathers. " Cassie, Ellie's back, say hi."

" Hi." a second voice parroted as the the eagle looked up from her preening. The eagle spread her wings and glided over to you and the others, taking her human form with a brown flurry of feathers. Her yellow eyes glowed as she gazed at you with slight interest, " Do you need something, Ellie"

" You and Will have been close to the Half-Breed Kingdom before, right?" Ellie asked.

" Sure."

" Yep, how does that relate?" Cassie asked.

" You see, Ben got attacked by a black and dark grey half-breed during the raid. He's displaying an abrupt and high fever that was dramatically reduced when he was moved to the sunlight. Are there any half-breeds that you've met that can cause that?" Ellie's ear twitched as she spoke, her silver eyes glowed faintly.

" Hmm.. No, sorry I don't." Cassie shook her head.

" There is a famous half-breed that I think could be her." Will commented, " Hold on, I'll go get the book."he raced off to a loft area with a flash of gold. After a couple of moments of things being thrown around, he returned with a book in his hands. " Let me just find the page.. Here." he held the book up to show you and Ellie the page.

" Lilac?" Ellie asked, reading the page, " What does she have to do with the fever?" you read over the page as well.

.. As a feared assassin of the half-breeds, most of her victims have never been found. Some say she is actually a half-breed spirit in disguise since once she makes the kill, she vanishes without a trace. She is also known to be wearing a lilac colored mask. Many assume she's a female and a half-breed because of her color choice and kill choice, but her actual gender and species is unknown as of now. Some even speculate she is a former associate of the White Queen, who got rejected or turned away as soon as she was discovered to be a half-breed. Legend has it, those who are killed by this fearsome assassin are forever stuck in her shadowy nightmare world as a spirit. They become slaves against their own will and assist her in her kills. Some humans and half-breeds have attempted to try and encounter Lilac, however they either came back empty handed or never came back at all. Many believe Lilac has the ability of controlling shadow and darkness as one of her elements. The other element is constantly debated over, some say wind, while others say illusions. Nonetheless all can agree that Lilac is a dangerous killer with unknown intentions and is shrouded by mystery and the darkness of night...

" Oh, that's why." Ellie said, breaking your concentration. " Okay, Lilac could be a possibility."

" But, Ben never faced her during the battle." you reasoned, " Lilac only kills at night, none of the victims she's targeted made it out alive."

" Good point, (Y/n)" Ellie admitted, " What if she was at the attack, just disguised as a regular guard or half-breed?"

" Why would she do that?" you argued, " She has no reason to." Ellie went silent.

" Look, all I'm saying is that she could be a possibility and you can try to find her." Will interjected, his feathered tail swaying behind him.

" That's worth a shot, I guess." Ellie sighed, " Though the chances are slim of finding her." she lead you outside and out of camp. The sky was streaked with multiple colors as the sun began to set. " Now's our best chance to try and find her."

" How do you know she won't try and kill us?" you ask, nervously glancing around, " I mean she is an assassin, a trained killer, she could kill us with no problems."

" Most of the people she's targeted are human, not half-breeds." Ellie responded, " So there's a chance she won't kill her own kind. And besides, I have a plan."

" Huh?"

" There's someone I know that might be able to help us find Lilac." Ellie replied confidently, " In fact, I think she knows her." she leads you deeper into rogue territory. The moon was pretty high up in the sky as you approach a large, crystal clear, lake. You spot several flashes of lilac and another color of light coming from the other side of the lake as metal scraped against metal. Ellie headed towards the light, her silver eyes lighting up from the flashes. You follow, more slowly and nervously.  A single person stood on the grass. He had a shield in his hand that seemed like it was glowing. His green eyes glowed faintly as he looked your way.

" Hi." Ellie immediately greeted the person. " You wouldn't have seen a black and dark grey half-breed around here, have you?"

" I did.." he responded after a moment's of hesitation. " She left a couple moments ago to go complete a task."

" Oh.." Ellie sighed, disappointed. " I see."

" Is there anything I can help with?" the human asked, " I'm Fredrick by the way."

" Um.." Ellie didn't respond so you stepped in.

" Would you happen to know anything about Lilac?"

" Lilac?" his greed eyes flickered with a hint of surprise, " All I know is that she's a fierce assassin who had unknown intentions and lots of mystery surrounds her."

" Is there any-"

" (Y/n), I don't think this is helping." Ellie interrupted, " Thanks for the information, Fredrick." she begins to drag you away by the hand.

" What are you doing?!" you yell once Ellie stops dragging you and you were a fair distance away from the lake.

" He's not going to have the information we need on Lilac. he only knows what everyone else knows." Ellie growled. " Let's get back to camp before Pearl yells at us for leaving camp at night." she walks away with you following closely behind. A faint glimmer of lilac catches your attention as you walk through the forest. " Is there something our there, (Y/n)?" Ellie asks as she sees you stop. She doesn't seem to notice the glimmer of lilac. The lilac glimmered again as something in the shadows moved. It's..

... Lilac? Sprint to page 106

.. Probably nothing. Continue to page 107