Faith and Sword

We Need Heroes These Days

As morning came, the Golden Sun pierced the fray, breaking through the trees and illuminating the forest once again. Everyone was slow to rise on that morning. After being out in the middle of the night, and having to travel all day, the party was tired, and took their time to get ready. Cielo awoke first, and lit the campfire, hoping to gather some warmth in the brisk, cold morning. After some time, he took a walk around the woods, hoping to warm up some of his stiff muscles. When he returned, he found Ellis and Emilia awake, tending to the camp fire, and talking about last night.

"Are you actually immortal?" Emilia asks.

"Yes, I am," Ellis whispers. She seemed to be a little shy, Cielo thought to himself.

"So, you can't die?"

"Correct."

"That's kinda weird, man."

"I know." She smiled at Emilia, before glancing back into the flames of the campfire. She was very pale, with long, pitch black hair and deep, blue eyes that resembled sapphire, and a small, but gentle smile, accompanied with a quiet voice. She had a black dress on that fell into a skirt that went past her thighs. Both looked towards Cielo as he approached the camp.

"Mornin' bro," Emilia said.

"Good morning," he replied.

"Last night was pretty damn crazy, right?"

"Not the craziest thing that's happened, but it was eventful, that's for sure." He looked over towards Ellis.

"Morning, Ellis."

"Hi, good morning," she shyly replied. "I hope I'm not a bother."

"No, you're most certainly not, nothing to worry about!" he reassured her.

The rest of the group slowly began to get up, each pitching in to the conversation, greeting Ellis and making her feel welcome within their group. With Elena being the last to wake up, they headed out, continuing their journey down the narrow road lined with flowers. The trees, in their many colors, blew in the breeze, as the Sun peaked through the branches. For three days, they would continue their travels, stopping at mid day, continuing on, and resting at night. On the fifth day, however, as the group neared the edge of the forest, Ellis and Elena began to act odd. They were shaking violently, and sweat dripped from their brows. Cielo held onto Elena while Wyatt held Ellis, as they tried to figure out what was occurring.

"What's happening?!?!" asked Miles. Ellis then put her hands over her ears, as she started to scream.

"THE VOICES, I CAN HEAR THEM... THEY'RE SPEAKING IN MY HEAD," Ellis cried. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT." She began to rock back and forth, while Wyatt tried to calm her down. Sawyer scouted around, looking to see if anybody was nearby, but nobody was. Miles ran out into the woods on his own, hoping to see what was causing this disturbance. Emilia turned to Cielo, who was trying to help Elena stay calm.

"Why these two? Why isn't it affecting any of the rest of us?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure..." he replied. "Elena, what's happening...?" he pleaded. After a few moments, she began to speak coherently, but it wasn't in the common tongue; she was speaking in Elvish; almost chanting the words that came out of her mouth.

"I think it's Elvish, does anybody else here know what she's saying???" Nobody knew, as everyone else shook their head. Miles returned quickly, panting after a long sprint.

"There's... There's something over here... You guys need to see this.." 

He turned around, trying to run on his scratched leg back into the woods. Slowly but surely, the party would follow, with Cielo carrying the chanting Elena in his arms, and Wyatt and Emilia carrying the twitching Ellis. Miles led them to a strange clearing, which radiated with golden light that didn't originate from the Sun; the energy here was noticeably odd. In the middle of the clearing sat a little hill, on top of which sat a strange, square stone that looked as if it was centuries old. But no moss covered it; instead within the rock, sat a sword that was pierced into the stone itself. It was golden, and had two gems socketed into the guard and one in the pommel; one was green, one was red, and one was blue. It was long, and had a grip that looked as if it were a two handed blade, but most of the sword resided in the stone it was lodged into.