Indigo Elf

Ch. 23

Ch. 23

Arlen

I knew this encounter would happen, but I was hoping to avoid meeting with Gabriel for as long as I possibly could. Sadly, I now sat in a chair on the other side of his desk in his office. He stared at me intently while I shyly tugged on the threads from one of my many bandages. I was angry with him and wanted nothing more than to yell at him and give him a piece of my mind, but as small as he was, he was still extremely intimidating. His red eyes were like ice as they ran over every inch of me. I felt like his gaze alone would freeze me to death.

"Well," he started. I had to hide my shock at how deep his voice was.

"I called you in here because I wanted to formally welcome you to the guild and to apologize for putting you through so much. I was in a bad mood, and I wanted to take that out on you. There's no excuse for my behavior. I hope you can forgive me."

I wanted to huff in irritation. I wanted to be angry at Gabriel, but his sincere apology was making that difficult for me. I sighed softly and shrugged. I had made it out alive and achieved something great. Although he was wrong for making me go through something so dangerous, I was also grateful because had I not gone into that place, I wouldn't have raised my level or have created my own spell.

"It's okay," I muttered, "I'm healthy and alive, sore, but alive. There's no need for holding grudges."

He nodded at me, "Thank you. The second reason I asked you to meet me here is because I wanted to get you up to speed on our next mission."

I sat up straighter in my chair. I had been here for a short time, so I wasn't really expecting that I'd be taking any part in any of their recent mission requests. I was a bit surprised.

"An order from the Royal Family came in some time ago. We have been tasked with traveling to the Land of Dragons and seeing what's got them spooked. As of late, the dragons have been attacking indiscriminately, and as you can probably assume, it's causing problems. The last thing anyone wants is a full on war with the dragons, so we will be traveling to the Land of the Dragons, and you will be coming with us."

I frowned at the news. I had thought my encounter with the female dragon was the only dragon related incident, but it was clear that wasn't the case. More and more people were being attacked by dragons, which meant that something had obviously set them off, not to mention that they were leaving their home.

"Okay," I sighed, "When do we leave?"

"Next week," he swiftly replied.

Nodding, I stood up a he turned towards the window in his chair. I quickly made my way out of his office and towards my room. Since my body wasn't as sore as before, I decided that now would be a good time to explore. The Shadow Realm's place was more of a gigantic resort. Each member had their own living space and there were a few places where some members of the guild would congregate. Apart from Link, I still hadn't met any of the other guild members. I was a bit shy when it came to introducing myself, especially when it came to complete strangers. I took a deep breath as my heart sped up at the thought of it. If I'm going to be in a guild and work with these people, I'm going to have to get to know them.

I took another deep breath before retreating into my bedroom. I hadn't taken a good look at it since arriving, but now that I wasn't so sore and tired, I took my time looking around. The room was more of a mini apartment; the only thing that kept it from being a true apartment was the lack of kitchen. There were a total of three rooms that made up my quarters. The room I was standing in now was the living area. The room wasn't terribly big, but it wasn't small either. It had a long couch that wrapped around most of the room. It was filled with black and gray pillows, colors that matched perfectly with the room. In the center of the couch was a glass table. There was also a shelf filled with book, and most surprisingly, something that resembled a television. I was quite sure that there wasn't such thing as televisions here when I first arrived, but I guess I was wrong. Next to this room was my bedroom. Other than my very large bed, two nightstands and my wardrobe, my bedroom was sort of plain. It was also black and grey.

Perhaps Gabriel likes dark colors.

The other room was my bathroom. Much like the tub in Helen's apartment, my tub was made of stone and was very deep. It was more like a pool. Again, it was also quite plain. A tub, a toilet, a cabinet containing hygiene products, and a sink were the only things the bathroom had. I wonder if the other guild members have rooms that are as plain as mine.

I slowly made my way out of the living room, through the bedroom and to my bathroom. Since Link said I was still healing and was covered head to toe in bandages, I had been unable to bathe for two days, and I was starting to feel dirty. Hopefully, he'll forgive me, but I desperately wanted a bath.

After slowly removing my clothes, I slowly took off the bandages. Picking up the pile of rancid cloth, I threw it in my trash bin and took a long and much-needed shower. Afterward, I made a bath where I sat and simply soaked. I was well into my soak when I suddenly saw a green head poke out of the water. Dark green eyes stared curiously at me for a few seconds before I lost my shit.

I screamed loudly as I released a shot out a large ball of energy. The explosion shook the building and sent water everywhere. I scrambled out of the tub and ran out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Summoning my chair, I morphed it into a mini wall and covered my naked body. With my staff in my hands, I readied another attack as I waited patiently for the intruder to show himself.

"Shit!" I heard a voice say. My eyes widened as the sound of footsteps slowly made their way out the bathroom. I gulped in fear as what I could only describe as a green behemoth emerged from the bathroom. He quickly scanned the room before his eyes met my frightened was.

A bright, sharp tooth smile broke out across his face as he faced me.

"Well hello there, I'm Emry!"

_Gieo_