The Oracle

Chapter 17: Where the Special Roam

SORA

We reached the nearest village around lunch time and Shae and Gambit went to question some of the villagers about the runestone and also about the creatures that have been plaguing Elvenowl. The villagers claimed that the runestone should still be hidden deep within the heart of the hub city but that nightmare creatures have tainted the town and most likely the area around the runestone.

The village that we stopped by was called Asura, one of the six villages that surround the hub town. The village itself reminded me of Isabella's village of mostly wooden buildings, aside from all the snow and accommodations for the cold weather. Despite that, Gambit told me that the hub town itself is quite different and is actually considered a popular destination spot, which made me excited to see it. Asura itself though is known for its hot springs, which sounded equally as nice. We didn't have time to stop by, but Gambit promised that we could stop on the way home.

The next village that we're supposed to come by is Glade, which is known for its frozen waterfalls and beautiful cliff-sides perfect for climbers. After Glade passes, we'll reach the hub town, which is labeled after Elvenowl itself.

We had lunch in Asura at a Chinese place before we continued on our journey to Glade.

"Man, I wish I had three more layers than this," Isabella shivers through chattering teeth.

"Everyone's cold. We'll be better once we reach Elvenowl," Akari says.

"I hope so," Isabella sighs. "It's beautiful up here but it's really cold."

"On the bright side, at least we haven't run into any creatures yet," Clea adds.

"That's true," Shae nods in agreement. "We'll need to come across them eventually though. We have to help these people."

"Yeah," Isabella breathes out, a frown and a somewhat far away look forming on her face. "It's terrible to have to watch people wither away to nothing. Nobody should ever have to go through that."

We continue traveling for about forty minutes until we reach Glade, which looks similar to Asura except for the fact that Glade hangs over a cliff-side and has more cliffs off to the left where the frozen waterfalls reside.

"Glade is a common area for ice fishing," Gambit says as we walk through the city. "It's the port town of Elvenowl. It's where letters travel back and forth, shipments come in and out, people come to see the waterfalls and they climb the cliffs, they worship and say prayers in sacred buildings, ice fish, and work on herbal remedies and potions. Most of the newer remedies and alchemy recipes from the North are learned here in Glade. For a small village, it's quite popular— almost as popular as Elvenowl itself."

"It looks like we might have to stop here for the night," Shae frowns as he looks up in the sky to see a snowstorm coming in the distance. "Normally, I'd say we could press on, but that doesn't look good at all."

"Shae's right," Gambit frowns as well as she raises a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes as she looks up in the sky. "There's a blizzard coming. We should find lodging and stay here for the night. We'll head out early in the morning for Elvenowl."

"Excuse me, did you say Elvenowl?" A passerby woman stops in her tracks, her hazel eyes focused on us and her dark brown hair tied into a messy bun to match her white and red kimono and white winter coat, a wooden bowl of groceries resting by her hip while a little brown haired boy with wide brown eyes hides behind her legs. "I'm afraid you can't go there."

"Oh, it's quite alright, Miss," Gambit smiles and holds up her hand to show her badge and ID that she pulled out from the pocket of her shorts. "We're Arias."