Knights of Relana

An Unexpected Guest (Final Chapter//Unfinished)

DING, DING, DING

The sound of loud tower bells, brought me out of my long reminiscent thoughts of the war, my eyes blinking hurriedly from the abruptness I heard. I was breathing hard, my mind reminding me of the that damn night and its fucked up results.. I can vaguely recall what happened after that too.. From what the guys told me though, they said I passed out mid sentence in Shadows arms.. I can remember them talking one minute then, BOOOM, I was out like a candle in the next..

I found myself waking up in the guild that morning, my whole body aching from my little trip to the spirit realm. They took me back as soon as I passed out and placed me down in one of the many boarding rooms they had and left me to rest..

I've been training more and more with the guild though since that day. Morning, noon, and night, I'd be there learning all I could from the guys, their teachings very, very helpful to me. I used my magic in practice battles more too, to prepare myself for the return of the Skeleton Knight and his grotesque minion.. Even the guys were on high alert as well, they trained with me in the guilds courtyard and searched every dungeon in our kingdom, looking for any trace of the Skeleton Knight, all while keeping an eye on me too. I was lucky to have such a badass group of incredibly, talented Knights with me. I'm glad they were helping me with this unfortunate incident I purposefully stumbled into. I dragged them into this and they were willing to pull me out, regardless of whatever might be ahead of us all..

I noticed a few off duty Knights laughing and lounging underneath the huge oak tree, adjacent to the fountain and entrance to the main plaza. Their peculiar armor glinting faintly from the sun that poked through the leaves above them, their weapons all stacked in a neat pile in front of them. A long orange gear-shaped scythe, a gold-trimmed morning star, and a small wooden bo staff laid beside their belongings. They looked like they came back from a dungeon, several marked satchels settled beside them; their contents a mystery to me, yet treasure to them. The owners slept lazily in the warm shade, while their companions ate or tended to each other's minor wounds.

The kingdoms Knights worked hard day and night to protect its fellow subjects, it was nice to see them resting and looking content. Sure, all in all, smiling faces did make the city appear more cheerful, but.. it was all a fucking joke. Well, to the ones who actually knew the true meaning of this war and have actually witnessed its brutality with their own eyes, like I have from it... They.. have noooo idea what they signed up for, but they all find out eventually..

I was one of the few sorceresses of the Kings court, who dabbled in all sorts of magic and anything magic related. My knowledge of witchcraft and light combat heavily needed throughout Wisteria. It was shocking to know that a witch like me with such simple abilities and attributes, would be able to participate in these requests from the King. From those said experiences though, I finally got a true taste of the war and a change of mind, altogether. I used my magical teachings subsequently, to alleviate other people's lives rather than just my own, each and every one of their faces lit with gratitude as I lent them a hand.. I hope they at least did the same thing too..

I sighed softly from reminiscing the fucked up, yet incredible times i had in the kingdom and gazed around. The air around me was filled with a wonderful array of smells and sounds, that made me feel calm and forget those awful events. I continued walking and approached the extravagant fountain now in the central plaza.

It was a beautiful sight to behold up close, the gleaming, peppered marble, now smooth from centuries of weathering. The center was filled with lavish carvings of flowers and small statues of ancient mythical creatures; the water slowly trickling over their worn faces and petals, creating an overall tranquilizing atmosphere. 

I stopped and stared into the translucent water below, the bottom shimmering with a multitude of miscellaneous wishes of all kinds, small fragments of leaves calmly lingered above them on the surface from the light breeze. I reached into my side belt pocket and fished out a small silver piece from inside, the coin glinting faintly in my hand from the suns rays. 

I closed my eyes and tossed the coin into the water. The sound of the impact was drowned out by the sudden sounds of clapping and cheering. I turned around and saw a large crowd start to form near the front of the plaza.

They were all gathering around 2 whimsical street performers who were curtsying to their steadily growing audience, their faces covered in elegant masquerade masks. They stood beside their cart with eager grins on their faces, their posture perfectly in sync with one another. They were about to perform some sort of show for the street goers and had a small stand with them with a medium shaped box perched on top of it. I was super excited now at the the thought that they might have some scrolls or maybe some sort of other amazing witch paraphernalia for sale. I smiled and headed over to the soon-to be show as quickly as I could, my teal cape wafting behind me.

As I approached the large crowd, I shimmied my way towards the front to get a better look. It was a pain in the ass to be this short, but it did have its benefits. When I reached the front, the first thing I saw, was a slender woman, with long auburn hair and gold eyes. She wore a ruby red mask, it's sides decorated with glistening rhinestones and exquisite black feathers of all sizes. Beside her on her left, stood a petite elf woman with short black hair and sky blue eyes. She had the same mask as the other young lady, but instead, hers was a dark shade of purple. They both wore matching sets of magicians clothing as well, their coat tails ending in small silver bells that jingled lightly. The young woman with the red mask then nodded to her partner and walked to the middle of the crowd. She bowed before us, tipping her hat as she spoke.

"Good afternoon, fellow Relana citizens. My name is Tira and this here is my lovely wife, Vayla." Tira excitedly motions towards her spouse, her expression wide and cheery as well, "We are here from the Magic Arts guild, over in Astrantia and we're here to perform a small magic show for you all. The reason why, is because we are a now starting to recruit people from your city to join. Be it gifted or not, we'll teach you the ways of fine magic arts with ease and simplicity."

Tira then starts to moves her hands in swift movements, the sunlights rays that covered them now in the palm of her hand. The glow was bright and iridescent, its gold light now softly wafting to and fro from Vaylas similar hand movements. The crowd clapped lightly as Vayla then pulled out a small flask from her waist pouch. Carefully opening it, Tira moves the orb towards the flask, the remnants inside bubbling. As the orb moved over the top, it exploded upward into atmosphere. They repeated this 2 more times until 3 bubbling gold orbs floated above them.

My stomach started to growl soon after as I started to smell delicious food and I frowned, remembering that I never ate breakfast in the morning and should at least eat something before heading out to guild. I knew the perfect place to go first and I set off from the fountain, the voices fading away behind me.

There was never a dull day here in the plaza, even after the war started and before as well. Everywhere you went, you'd see crowds huddled over the produce stands or in the nearby shops buying whatever it was they needed. People were always yelling for reasonable prices, gambling, or trying to persuade others to join their guilds.. It was your average kingdom, I guess, but ours was a bit more special and played a huge role in the war. I never left the country often either, only to visit family, but since the damn war started, I don't think I'll ever get to go out and see them again. I shook my head at the thought and continued walking down the cobblestone path, in no time I was at my destination.

I stood in front of a medium sized building, the whole place a nice shade of light blue with white trim around it. Chimes and flower pots filled with all sorts of plants graced the small windows ledge decorated with various signs reading, "Welcome All Travelers! :)", "Love, Art, and Peace Here~", "Fresh Coffee and Food Daily"

The windows were decorated with enchanted ruin stained glass; casting small clusters of rainbows through the set of white curtains adorning it's holder.