The Ancient Prophecy Ch. 08

"Atrus, do not heed him." Anna's soft voice came. "We have a matter to attend."

The flame subsided and Atrus was returned to normal. He nodded slowly, his eyes still staring piercingly at the prince. "Very well. I'll deal with him later."

Atrus walked toward the caravans, followed by Maya. The slavers had abandoned their camp after their friend's horrible death. Anna approached the dead slaver and worded a silent pray for the dead. Hawk checked the fire-pit and was excited to find six half-roasted rabbits on the fire.

Atrus climbed inside the first caravan. It was a small one, with two mattresses on the wooden floor and several bags. The contents were mostly uninteresting, except for several pouches of gold and silver. Suddenly a squeal was heard, followed by Maya's nervous yell.

"Master! I can use a hand here... Ouch! Get your claws off my ass!!"

Atrus ran toward the other caravan where Maya was inside and found that Anna was already there. But she was just standing in front of the entrance, staring inside with her jaws open.

"Mistress! Don't just stand there... Help me! Master?!"

The caravan was a lot bigger than the other three. It seemed to be the place where they kept the captured slaves. Maya was lying on her stomach, grasping for breath. A young girl sat on Maya's back, pinning her body down. The girl was completely naked, with chains circling her neck, ankles and wrists. She sat facing Maya's lower body. The strange part was that Maya's lower body was stretched upward, with the girl's hand holding Maya's legs. Maya was bent backwards painfully on her back.

"What do you say? Pretty neat, huh?" Anna asked him.

"Yeah... She's strong..." Atrus mumbled.

"Master... help...! She's trying to... dislocate my spine...!" Maya cried helplessly.

"No! I'm talking about her ears!"

Atrus spotted it! She got pointed ears! She's an Elf!

"Amazing... I've heard stories... I've listened to folk tales... But I haven't seen an Elf this close before..." Anna's voice was full with amazement.

"Indeed..." Atrus nodded. "There is something that tales can't describe..."

Atrus was indeed amazed. He had heard many tales from his father about the wonderful beings that inhabit the great forest west of the kingdom, but he had never seen one before. The Elf before her was a young female, with exquisite body and beautiful face. Her naked body dominated her beauty, with two well-shaped breasts and slim hips. Her long light-brown hair crowned her with astounding beauty.

"I heard Elves have melodious voice... Let's see if we can get her to talk..."

Their discussion was interrupted when they heard Maya's fingernails scratching the wooden floor. "Master... I'm going... to die!"

It took sometime for Atrus to return from his amazement, to figure out what Maya was doing down there, and to decide what to do. "Okay, girl... You can let her go now. We're friends."

The Elf stared at Atrus for a while. "You have a slave. You're a slaver. You're one of them."

The voice came like music. The tone in her words shifted beautifully, making it hard for him to decide her mood. "No, I'm not a slaver. We're here to help you."

"That's right..." Anna nodded. "We would appreciate if you can let our friend go."

The Elf stared at them for a while, thinking whether she could trust them or not. Maya was struggling for breath beneath, grasping whenever she could. Finally the Elf relented and let her lower body go, followed by Maya's grasp for air. She slumped on the floor, trying to get her lungs up and running again.

"Thank you." Atrus bowed slightly. "My name is Atrus White Lion, a royal knight of the kingdom of Aragon. This is Adriana Freesland, a priestess and a honorary royal knight of Aragon."

"Please call me Anna." Anna smiled.

"And you have made acquaintance with our friend Maya Murdock, also a honorary knight."

The Elf blinked for a while before smiling widely. "I suppose you're friends after all. Humans' names are hard to memorize. My name is Aurelia. Thank you for saving me!"

Aurelia walked toward Anna. Anna offered a towel to cover her nakedness, but she didn't take it. Instead, she poked Anna's priestess costume.

"This is so cute and pretty!" She exclaimed. "Can you make this dress for me?"

"Eh... yeah... Sure... I guess..."

Then she turned to Atrus. "You're very polite, Sir! I've heard many bad things about royal knights. My uncles used to warn me about knights being so evil that they will someday enslave me and do horrible things to me. But you seem to be a nice guy!"

"Uh... Thank you, Miss Aurelia..."

"Just Aurelia!" She snapped. "Elves have no titles, so call me Aurelia."

"Atrus?" Hawk called from outside. "Is everything okay there?!"

"Yeah! We found a survivor! She's..."

Before Atrus could finish his sentence, the Elf jumped out of the caravan, right in front of Hawk. He gazed at her, studying her face and her pointed ears, and took some time before realizing that she was completely naked.

"YIKES!!!" His knighthood dictated that he turned around before naked women. "S... sorry, Ma'am... I... I didn't mean to..."

"Hey! What's with you?!" Aurelia asked, then ran around him and faced him again. "Look at me when I'm talking!"

"YAAW!!!" Hawk turned around again, his face blushed in red. "S... sorry... I mean..."

Then Roberto came out from one of the caravans and met gaze with Aurelia. He stared at her for a while, and finally blood spurted from his nose.

"M... Miss Anna... You deal with this... I... I'll check the next caravan... Excuse me..." Roberto quickly wiped the blood off and ran toward the adjacent caravan. Aurelia watched him for a while before turning to Anna.

"What's with him? Is he sick?"

Anna gave her a nervous smile. "Uh... He's... Yeah... He's sick... Humans' sickness..."

Maya came limply out of the caravan, her arm around Atrus. Maya and Aurelia exchanged piercing stare for a while, then the Elf suddenly circled her arm around Hawk, who jumped on his feet.
"Look at that couple!" the Elf pointed at Maya and Atrus. "Aren't they romantic?"

Hawk couldn't move, but his entire body was trembling. Cold sweat covered his forehead.

"I know what to do!" the Elf suddenly declared, making Hawk jump on his feet again. "There's a small lake somewhere nearby! It's very beautiful! Come on, it's going to be really romantic!!"

With that Aurelia dragged Hawk along with her. Hawk looked behind, gave the party a pleading please-save-me-or-I-will-die look before disappearing beneath the trees.

"Tell me, Atrus... Will this make our journey easier... or worse?"

"Honestly, I don't know..."

"If you ask me, I don't like her..." Maya grumbled.

"I don't need to ask for your opinion..." Anna grinned. "Let me take a look at your back."

After a short lunch at the camp, they resumed journey through the forest. Atrus had explained their quest and Aurelia had agreed to safely guide them to their queen. Their journey would be easier, for Aurelia knew the forest really well, and she easily dismissed the Elven guards they encountered. The Elves stared at them suspiciously, carefully holding their bows and spears, but the party showed no sign of hostility. Due to the uneasy cease-fire, war might be over, but hostilities between the two races remained.

Aurelia had proven to be quite a friendly Elf, despite Maya's constant grumbling. She took a great pride for herself, refusing to make any attempts of apology for her mischief back at the camp, alhough she thanked Anna for the priestess suit. She looked really cute in the suit, for the satin dress enhanced her long slim legs and well-shaped breasts. She seemed to quickly regard the party as friends despite the cold treatment the Elven guards were giving them. For unknown reason, she seemed to give special attention to Hawk, who had been sweating all the way.

They arrived at a large clearing inside the forest. There were several Elven dwellings, neatly arranged around the clearing. They were mainly made of logs with layers of wide leaves as the roofs. Several Elves were seen doing their chores, and were quickly alarmed by their presence. A group of Elven warriors appeared from the bushes and carefully approached them, their spears and daggers ready in their hands. Due to Aurelia's warning, the party refrained themselves from drawing their weapons, for such action would be the sign of hostility.

Aurelia and the guards were engaged in a discussion in language they could not understand. However, the Elves seemed to pay great respect to her. Then a big Elf approached them, wearing a full magnificent leather armor and holding a long spear with wicked blade. He seemed to be the commander of the Elven warriors. He stared at the humans coldly before turning his attention to the other Elves. Aurelia, on the other hand, quickly jumped on him and hugged him casually. He received the hug halfheartedly.

"Everybody, I want you all to meet Farn, my older brother!" Aurelia declared happily.

"That's Master Hunter Farn." The Elf declared with his thickly accented human language. His low melodic tone slightly justified his bad mood. "I heard that you rescued my sister from human slavers back in the border. I know that humans cannot be trusted!"

"Brother! These people saved me! They are good humans!"

Farn stared at the party for a while, studying their faces. "Nevertheless, you have done a great deed... at least for humans... I greet you, humans, but I do not welcome you. If you expect that you will receive great service from me for bringing my sister back, you are dead wrong!"

Anna bowed slightly and spoke in her best manner. "We greet you back, Master Hunter Farn. My name is Adriana Freesland, these are my associates Ranger Atrus White Lion, his servant Maya Murdock, Captain Hawk, and Prince Roberto, the heir of the throne of Aragon. We come in peace."

Farn walked casually around the still party and studied them one by one. He stopped before Roberto and gave an evil smile. "Well... We have the heir of the throne right here, far from his puny army's protection... Quite brave you are... Or perhaps foolish..."

"Watch it..." Roberto tried to answer as silent as possible, but quickly found that all eyes were now staring at him. He just turned away.

Farn turned to Maya, who didn't even dare to stare at him in the eye. "Look at this... A slave... the pride of human civilization... I will certainly enjoy the submissiveness in your eyes when we crush your pathetic kingdom! Perhaps we'll allow you to be our slaves... so you may feel proud..."

"We come in peace, and is this the way you treat us?!"

Farn quickly turned toward the voice and found Atrus staring at him. "Well... the son of Captain White Lion... Don't ever think that having a famous father would make you special..."

"I don't think that way!" Atrus boldly met his gaze. "But I do think that your behavior will spell doom to all beings in this realm, including the Elves!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The demon's invasion is growing near, and the realm is at stake! If you still keep that sentiment inside of you, we'll never be able to defeat them! Then Elom would fall as well as Aragon!"

"HOW DARE YOU!!!" The Elf raised his spear, but a magical force bound his arm in place, freezing him. The party drew their weapons, but Atrus' raised arm stopped them. A female Elf appeared behind Farn. She was older than the rest of the Elves and wore more gracious clothing, with numerous colorful beads hanging on it. Her exquisite dress and elegant crown on her head only meant that she was an important person in the land.

Atrus bowed before her. "We greet you, my lady. Thank you for saving my life."

The Elf smiled. "You know that I'm behind the crowd when you're talking to my son. Captain White Lion has taught you well."

"You know my father?"

"Of course. Nobody in Elom doesn't know him." She continued. "My name is Falencia. I'm the queen and the ruler of the land of Elom. I, in the name of the High Elves, greet you and welcome you."

The party was just as shock as Atrus. The queen approached Atrus despite the shouts from the warriors around her. "Silence you all!" She declared. "If they had wanted to kill me, they would have laughed over my carcass by now!"

"Mother! They killed father!" Farn cried.

"What change does that make?!" The queen asked. "Your father is gone, and he will stay that way! Killing the entire humans will not bring him back! You just want kill the living and blame the dead, and therefor you have disappointed him!"

The queen's remark effectively silenced Farn. The rest of the Elves were also petrified. The queen turned back to the party. "Forgive my son, loyal servants of Aragon. I know that his attitude should be fixed anytime soon. Now that everything is straight, we can speak now..."

"Forgive me, queen..." Hawk spoke up nervously. "If... If Farn is your son... and... and Aurelia is his sister... then... uh..."

"That's right!" Aurelia grinned. "I'm her daughter! I'm also the heir to the throne of Elom!"

Hawk's face quickly turned white. He had met the future queen of the Elves, and he had seen her naked! The queen noticed that, but she just smiled. "If my daughter bothered you in any way, I beg you to forgive her. After all, she's just sixty..."

"WHAT?!!!" Hawk's jaws dropped open. "S... sixty years o... old?!!!"

"Elves die when they're 300 years old." The queen explained. "So in human's equivalence, Aurelia is just eighteen years old. So she's just a little girl right now."

"Mom, I'm old enough already!" Aurelia protested.

"Anyway, humans, I know why you're here. The Oracle of Elom told me everything." The queen's tone got serious. "So Edward wants an alliance with our kingdom. Tell him that we are interested."

"Really?" Anna's face grew brighter. "That will be wonderful! I suppose we can win this war after all!"

"The war between Humans and Elves has wasted both lives and resources." Queen Falencia nodded. "I wish to end the war right now. This might be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. However, there is something the Oracle mentioned."

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"He mentioned about the prophets of the Guardian. Are they among you?"

"Anna, Maya, and I were sent by the Guardian to rally all beings of the land to fight the demons." Atrus bowed.

"It is unlikely that the son of Captain White Lion lies to us, but we have an obligation to test you." The queen continued. "You have to prove that you are worthy to lead us."

"Of course." Anna nodded. "What do you wish us to do?"

"Tell me, young lady. What do you know about Agar the dragon?"

"A little." Anna confessed. "It's a childhood tale about the giant gold dragon and his fellow dragons who battle the evil in the land."

"For humans, it might be just a tale." The queen nodded. "But for us, it's a part of our heritage. The tale has been passed for many generations in our heritage. Aurelia, you tell them."

Aurelia nodded, and continued the story. "Many centuries ago, when the earth was created, the Gods argued about their power and authority in this realm. They feared that one day their creations would turn back and fight them. Because they can't kill their own creations, they agreed to create a creature so strong that no beings could match him. They created a giant black dragon and named him Kastor. Kastor's task is to destroy the entire realm on behalf of the Gods, but can only emerge when the beings betrayed their Gods. To restrain the creature, the Gods gave Kastor to Agamesh, one of the greatest angels in Heaven, hoping that he could control the dangerous creature.

"However, drunk with power, Agamesh rebelled against the Gods and used Kastor to destroy Paradise. The Gods defeated him and banished him to the Underworld, where he became the Lord of Darkness. Kastor has been buried inside the earth crust and has been sleeping for many centuries, waiting to be invoked by his old master. Realizing the danger, Lord Guardian, the supreme ruler of the Gods, locked the dragon inside a containment spell and gave the key to the Fairies in Heaven. However, the danger remained. So Lord Guardian created another creature as Kastor's adversary. He created a gold dragon and named him Agar, the Guardian of Earth."

The queen continued. "Agar has a dominion of lesser dragons under his control. With this force, Lord Guardian hoped that Agar could contain Kastor's mischief should Agamesh succeed in freeing him. To avoid making the same mistake, Lord Guardian gave Agar to the beings in the realm. He appeared before our High Elven ancestors and gave us an artifact. It was the Golden Statue of Agar, which can be used to invoke Agar from Heaven to destroy enemies that threaten the realm, including Kastor. We all vowed to use the artifact only when it's absolutely necessary."

"Then something went wrong?" Anna asked.

"That's true." The queen answered with mellow sorrowful voice. "We have failed our vows. A small group of renegade Elves who called themselves the Dark Elves raided our land a few weeks ago, stealing the statue. Without the statue, we can't invoke Agar to assist us."

"And you want us to retrieve it?"

"Yes!" The queen nodded. "The Dark Elves have maintained a stronghold at Mount Karigor, about a day west from here. The land surrounding the mountain is completely barren and cursed. The mountain itself contains many caves, in which the Dark Elves dwelled. We believe the statue is somewhere inside the stronghold. We've sent many warriors to get it back, but no one has returned alive. We hope for the best, but fear the worst..."

"The Dark Elves are able warriors and excellent magic users." Farn suddenly added. "My warriors were easily defeated and only few returned. It seems they're more interested in taking a huge number of prisoners. I have no idea what they do to them."

"Sir White Lion, your task is to retrieve the lost artifact of Agar." Queen Falencia declared. "If you can, rescue as many captured Elves as you can. If you succeed, we will grant you our trust and devote ourselves in the alliance."

"Thank you, Queen, but there I something I would like to ask." Atrus said.

"What is it?"

"Under order of the Guardian, I'm supposed to find five warriors from five races of the land. One of them must be from the Elves. The warrior has to have a weird dream about the fabled Champion of the Guardian. I will bring the warrior along in my journey to meet with the Champion of the Guardian."

"I know who that warrior is!" Aurelia suddenly declared. "It's me!"

Suddenly all eyes were staring at her.

"I'm serious! Mother, remember when I told you about my weird nightmare one day?"

"Tell them your dream, Aurelia." Her mother ordered.

Aurelia turned to Atrus. "It's weird... Like every time you dream and you wake up, the dream seems to vanish instantly, but this time it's very clear and real. I dreamt of a cursed land, where there were beautiful houses, but nobody lived inside, where there were vast forests with rotten trees, but no animals lived around, where there were a horde of people coming from south, but no soul lived in their eyes. It seemed so dead... so lifeless... I swear I could smell the thick scent of rotten meat everywhere..."

Atrus fell silent for a while, trying to think of the dream. Suddenly something struck in his mind. "Oh no..."

"That's right..." Anna also understood. "It's the prophecy of the undead army! Remember that Baron Stoke warned us about that danger? It's real, and it's going to come..."

"You mean the demons are going to spread the undead plague across the land?" Farn asked.

"If it's true, we're in grave danger." Queen Falencia said slowly.

The crowd was silent for a while, not knowing what to say. Suddenly Aurelia spoke up. "Mother, let me go with them! I'm the warrior Lord Guardian mentioned!"