Lydia Vym stared up at a target. It was placed at the top of the tallest tree in the village. She turned to her friend, Elbereth Calaelen. “You’re not gonna make that.” As soon as the sentence left her, he leapt up onto a branch before moving too fast for her to see.

“I apologize, but I did not hear what you said. Could you repeat that, please?” Elbereth asked in a teasing voice.

“Hunh?” Lydia looked up at the target and found a small dagger in the centre. She spun around to face her blonde haired friend. “You.. You actually made it?! How does- How did- I mean- You’re so short!” She exclaimed, unable to control her surprise.

Elbereth blinked at Lydia’s sudden outburst. “Just because I’m short for my age, doesn’t mean I can’t jump high enough to reach a simple target.”

“Yes, but- I mean- It’s just.. So unlikely!” Lydia paced around him, holding her forehead in her hand.

“We’re elves. We’re meant to be able to do that! What I can’t believe is how I can do that without much hassle, whereas you always- always get fail. And sometimes you get cut too.” He said, nodding to the bandages on Lydia’s arms. They reached from just below her elbows to her hands. In a way, they sort of looked like fingerless gloves.

“Just because I have bandages on my arms doesn’t mean I’m restricted!”

“Then how about we have a bet. I’ll give you until the end of the day to retrieve my dagger. If you fail to get it, you have to be my assistant.”

“And if I win, you have to be my assistant!” Lydia declared before looking up at the target. “This’ll be a piece of cake!” She leapt up for the target, without thinking anything through.

“That’s what you always say before you-“ Elbereth began to say before he was cut off as Lydia accidentally kicked her foot on a branch and came crashing to the ground. “Crash…” He finished.

 “Just warmin’ up.” Lydia said as she brushed some of her dark crimson hair out of her face. She leapt once more for the target, coming to the same conclusion. “This… This’ll be a nice victory.” She said as she got up.

“Yeah. A nice victory for me.”

Lydia rolled her blue/grey eyes before leaping again. This time, however, she landed on a branch. Elbereth gapped at her, thinking that she’d actually make it. But, as she went to make her second leap, she slipped and crashed on the ground headfirst. “Oww…” She groaned, holding her head.

“You alright?” Elbereth asked, worried that she might have obtained a concussion.

“I’m fine. But what the hell did I slip on?” She looked on the underside of her boot and found a crushed bug of some sort.

“I think that’s a fat worm?”

“Nah, worms don’t have legs. At least… I think those are legs... It kinda looks like.. A caterpillar..?”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Should we bury it?”

“It’d be the best thing to do.”

Lydia nodded and said, “I apologize for accidentally stepping on you and smearing you all over my boot.”

There was a moment of silence before Elbereth looked up. “Should I..?” He asked, letting his question trail off.

“Yeah.” Lydia nodded, knowing what he was going to ask.

Elbereth filled in the hole with some dirt that had piled up from when they dug the hole. “Rest in peace little guy.” He stood up and stretched his arms out. “Well, I should be heading back home now.”

“Meanwhile I try to get that stupid dagger of yours off that unnecessarily tall tree. Don’t I get a thanks for retrieving it for you?”

“If you actually manage to get my dagger down, then I might.”

“Goddamn you…”

Elbereth laughed as he walked away, leaving Lydia to herself.

2: Three Left

“Stupid tree!” Lydia spat. She had been attempting to get Elbereth’s dagger down from the target by leaping, climbing, and even shaking the tree to make the target fall. All of her attempts ended in failure. She unsheathed her dagger and examined it, recalling what her mother had told her about it. “And this is just a piece of junk! It doesn’t have magical capabilities! All it does is cut me! It’s utterly useless!” She threw the dagger at the tree at the word ‘useless’, and did something that Elbereth would’ve called a miracle had he been there.

The handle of Lydia’s dagger hit the blade of Elbereth’s dagger, knocking it out of the target. The two daggers landed on the grass before her.

Lydia stared down at the two daggers in shock. “Wha… W-wha… What!?” She rushed over and picked up the two daggers. “I.. I got the dagger…” She said, letting the situation sink in. “Take that Elbereth!” She hollered into the orange skies. “I gotta show this to him…” She said to herself in realization before running to find her friend’s home.

After about twenty minutes of wandering about, Lydia came to a small, single storey house made of wood with a thatch roof. She came through the front door, and walked around to Elbereth’s room. “Elbereeeeeeeth~… Guess what I got~-“ She cut off her own sentence as she heard people talking. She peered around the corner of Elbereth’s room and found a man with pitch black hair pointing a pistol at Elbereth’s head.

“- where is it?!” The man yelled.

Elbereth flinched. “I-I don’t know…”

“Liar!” He sent a warning shot up at the roof with the free pistol. The shot was surprisingly quiet, much like a whisper, and it didn’t seem to shoot a bullet. Instead, it shot a blast of magic. A hole the size of Lydia’s head, possibly bigger, was left in the roof from where the shot passed through. “Tell me where it is and I might just spare you.” He growled.

“I already told you! I don’t know! One day it was there, and the next it just.. Vanished!”

‘The hell..?’ Lydia thought to herself as she watched the scene before her unfold.

“I won’t be lied to!” The man resorted to shouting again.

“What’re you gonna do? You can’t exactly kill the only person that knows where it is!”

“Oh, but you are mistaken. You’re not the last one who knows. There are three others. Killing you wouldn’t be drawback.” A symbol on the man’s gun seemed to glow as it absorbed the magic energy he gave it.

“N-no! Wait!” Elbereth pleaded with his hands raised in surrender, but went unheard as the man pulled the trigger, releasing a burst of magic. The force of the blast knocked Elbereth back, leaving his body limp on the floor.

Lydia hid behind the wall, not wanting to watch on. She heard the man growl something under his breath before everything went silent.

Forcing up some courage, she peered back around the wall. All that she could see was a motionless Elbereth. She crept into the room, her blue eyes darting around the room looking out for the man that was there.

When she was sure that the man was well and truly gone, she jumped over to Elbereth and began lightly shaking his shoulder. “E-Elbereth? Are you alright?” She wondered. “Is.. I-is this some sort of.. J-joke? If it is, it.. It’s not funny..”

There was no response.

“This.. This is a joke right?”

She was again met with silence.

“C-c’mon.. Don’t… You’re not… You can’t be… Dead..?  You.. You’re not dead, are you? You can’t be dead- You’re not dead… Y-you can’t.. Be d-dead… Y-y-you just c-can’t..!” She wailed, pressing her head into Elbereth’s shoulder. Lydia continued to wail into Elbereth’s shoulder, oblivious to the world around her.

A few minutes later, a firm hand gripped her shoulder and forcefully pulled her back. Looking up through blurry sight, she saw a man with the same blonde hair as Elbereth. He knelt down next to him and checked for a pulse. He looked back over at her with a serious look. “What happened?” He asked, sounding stern.

“I-I-I don’t kn-know.. A man… He shot… And he-“ She stuttered, only to be interrupted.

“That’s enough. You’re obviously lying. If he was shot, there’d be blood. There is no such substance anywhere. That narrows it down to the option that you strangled him.”

“I did no such thing! He was shot with magic!” Lydia blurted.

“Preposterous! You strangled him! Why else would you be here?!”

“We- oh forget it…” She stood up and ran out the door. When her parents passed away, the other elves of the village had strongly believed that she had been the one that killed them. They never believed a word she said, unless someone, or some other form of evidence backed her up. Elbereth had witnessed Lydia’s parents’ deaths, but was unable to sway their judgement.

As Lydia ran, she heard Elbereth’s father yell out to her, “You can run all you want, but justice shall find you! Your efforts are futile!”

Lydia paid no attention to him. She just wanted out of the village once and for all.

3: Compass

Lydia was lying on some hay, unable to sleep. Though the villagers practically hated her, they allowed her to stay in an empty stable. She had a chest full of the clothes she owned, and at the bottom of that chest was a box that contained a letter and some items that she held dear. She had never opened the letter, mainly because it was meant for Prince Elya. Why her parents needed to contact him yet give her the letter was completely over her head. But over time, she had forgotten she even had the letter. Which was another reason why she never opened it.

She stared up at a lantern, watching bugs wander around the flickering light. She wanted revenge so badly. She wanted to kill whoever it was that killed Elbereth was.

Sitting up, she dug through her chest and pulled out her box of personal items and stuffed it into her shoulder bag. She looked down at the hay, finding the two daggers lying where she left them. Giving it a quick think, she picked up her dagger and put it into its holster. She placed Elbereth's dagger into her bag.

Once she had slung it over her shoulder, she left the stable. 'That asshole's gonna pay for what he did.' She thought to herself as she walked down the streets of the village. Lanterns suspended on poles flickered, attracting moths and other winged bugs. Houses lined the sides of the road. They were made of wood and had thatch roofs. All in all, it was a rather dull village in Lydia's eyes. The only real excitement she ever got was when a bear came out of the surrounding forest and attacked the village. Of course, she wasn't allowed to help fight it, but she refused to stay inside whilst it was in the village, slashing at random villagers.

Lydia walked down the road until she turned right, walking off the road and heading off into the surrounding forest. She walked through the forest, squeezing through trees that were practically touching each other, and carelessly stepping on twigs and pulling herself through bushes. She stopped as something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She waded through knee high bushes and came to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a lake. Not like the dirty ones you see near parks, but a crystal clear lake that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight with small white flowers tinged blue from the night surrounding it.

Being as careful as she could, Lydia walked through the grass and stepped around the flowers until she got to the edge of the lake. She knelt down and stared into the eyes of her reflection. Her eyes were red and her hair was sticking out everywhere with a couple of leaves and a small twig stuck in it.

As she pulled a leaf out of her hair, another creature's reflection caught her attention. She looked up warily, unsure if what she saw was an illusion.

It wasn't.

Standing before her on the lake, was a Unicorn. It stared down at her, its snow-white coat glistening in the moonlight. It looked down at her levelly. "Young one, why are you crying?" It asked.

"Wh-what?" Not once had Lydia noticed that she had been crying. "I-I just saw my friend get killed."

"And what do you plan to do about that?"

"What else? That guy, whoever he was, is gonna pay. And I just so happen to be the tax collector."

"And what will you do once he has paid for what was done? Revenge won't bring your friend back."

"I… What?" Lydia tilted her head in confusion.

"Killing the one who killed your friend would not prove anything." The Unicorn began.

'I didn't say anything about killing him. Though that might've been the impression I made..' Lydia thought as she listened on.

"Harming him would do nothing too. It would be a complete waste of time." It looked at her dagger, which was exposed to the moonlight. It looked back up at Lydia. "Tell me, child. What did this man look like?"

"I didn't see his face, but I remember that he had black hair, and he a pistol that shot magic." She recalled.

"Did the pistol have an odd marking anywhere on it?"

"Yeah. On the side."

The Unicorn slowly walked off the lake and onto the grass, its head lowered in thought. It looked back at her and said, "Free the one held by love and hate."

Lydia blinked. "Ex.. Cuse me?" She asked slowly.

The Unicorn shook its head. "It is an old legend. Older than I. A friend told me about it, but I thought that it was nothing more than just a story with a hidden moral. Not once did I believe that it was true."

A gust of wind suddenly picked up. Petals swirled around in the air, making it hard to see further than a few meters. The last thing Lydia heard was the Unicorn saying, "Farewell."

Lydia landed face-first into some grass. She pulled herself up, shielding her eyes from the sun. 'Wait… Sun? Wasn't it, like, midnight or something?' She looked across the horizon. A few kilometres away from where she was, stood-

'Tyrin Castle… That means that I was teleported to an entirely different country.' She blinked, then her expression became dumbfounded. "How the hell did that happen?! I can't just be in one country one second, then in a different one the next without the use of magic!"

A bird flew overhead, its shadow creeping over Lydia. She looked up in time for her forehead to meet a small, hard object that the bird was presumably carrying. "Ow! Fffffff…." She yelped as the unknown falling object fell into her lap. She looked down at it. It was a small, black, octagonal box. "…the hell..?" She quietly wondered as picked it up. On one side had two gold hinges, the side opposite that had a lock of some sort.

Ignoring the lock, she attempted to open it. Surprisingly, it opened as though it wasn't locked at all. Lydia blinked. "A compass?" Four letters marked the four directions – north, east, south and west. The needle was pointing south, but it shook slightly and flung around to point north. "I need to go… North?" She looked up. Tyrin Castle was all that was north. Shrugging, she closed the compass and stood up, finding that her bag was teleported with her.

4: Patrol

Elya Tyrin, dressed in his usual white armour, walked down the main road on patrol. Recently, there had been numerous reports of theft, housebreaking and murder. Theft wasn't surprising, he'd dealt with thieves many times before. Housebreaking was a bit odd. There were usually only about three in a year, but the patrols were getting at least ten a month.

But housebreaking and theft had both been done before. No one in the town had ever murdered another citizen. The first report of murder caught them off guard. They had almost fined the client for lying to authorities until more reports came in.

Because Elya's father wanted Elya to change his attitude, so he passed his place on the throne to Elya's uncle, Markis, when Elya was the human equivalent to eight years of age. Elya's father died when he was the human equivalent to 15, leaving Markis to the throne. The next year, was when the reports started pouring in. Markis became convinced that there was some form of disturbance caused by magic, so a group of knights was sent to find the source of the 'disturbance', Elya was not part of that group. He, instead, was told to stay and protect the town and prevent further theft and murders. Elya was not pleased with that decision. However, Markis was the king, and he was to obey the king, despite being the heir to the throne should his attitude change.

It had been decades since the knights had departed, and there hadn't been any word from them since. This worried Markis, and the townsfolk soon caught on. Elya had tried asking Markis to allow him to lead a search party to check on the group, but Markis turned him down. Markis had said that he didn't want his brother's son dying before he even had a chance at getting the throne.

"Yoo-hoo~! Elya~!" Called a familiar voice.

Elya paused and turned to look at who was calling out to him. Behind a fence in her onion patch, Mrs Ylda waved to Elya in a pleasant greeting. "Hello, Mrs Ylda." He called back, returning the wave. He continued down the main road of the town, keeping an eye out for any troublemakers on the way. He stopped to watch over the stalls that sold food and other goods. That was where most crimes were committed. He watched as a girl with dark crimson hair and a tear-streaked walked by. He caught her by the shoulder before she could pass him. "Did you walk through Mrs Ylda's onion patch?" He asked jokingly.

"Who?" She asked in reply.

"Mrs Ylda." He looked at her suspiciously. "You do know who Mrs Ylda is, right?"

The girl shook her head.

"Are you from here?"

She shook her head a second time.

"Where are you from?"

"From the Bortan village."

"But that's.. That's in another country! You couldn't have travelled that far, could you?"

She nodded.

Elya blinked at her. "..how?"

"Please don't make me explain..." She groaned.

"Uh.. Okay..?" He said, slightly puzzled. He then looked at her levelly and asked, "Do you know why you're here?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but paused to think. After a moment, she replied, "No. I don't know."

Elya sighed. "Tell me you at least know who you are…" He said pleadingly.

"I know who I am. Why wouldn't I know who I am?"

"I don't know." Elya said shrugging, feeling like he was slowly being backed into a corner. Before he could say anything else, though, someone called out to him.

" 'Ey! Elya! Stop flirtin' with the citizens! Yer s'pposed ta be on patrol!"

'Carl…' He thought, recognizing the voice. He turned around to yell back. "I'm not flirting I'm- oh forget it." He gave up on explaining what he was doing before he even started.

The girl eyed him warily and said, "Well, I should be on my way.. Wherever that is…"

"Huh?" Elya looked back at her in time to see her start to walk past him again. He caught her by her arm again. "Wait, do you even have anywhere to go? Any relatives, or friends, or something?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Not that I know of."

5: The Knights

Lydia walked through an open meadow. It was a sunny day. Where was she again? She turned around. The tall tree from her village loomed over her, the target hanging from a branch. 'Didn't that hang from a nail?' She thought, but dismissed it as something she probably hadn't noticed before. A light breeze rushed by, rustling the leaves as it passed. "Lydia." A hushed voice beckoned. She turned around once more to find the silhouette of someone she knew. At least, she thought she knew him. She tried taking a step toward him, but something held her shoulder, preventing her from progressing. The man in front of her lifted something level with her head-

"Lydia!"

Lydia sat bolt upright, her forehead smacking into something hard. She dropped back down holding her probably-bruised-head with her hand.

"Ow! Calm down! Jeesh!" Elya snapped, rubbing his jaw.

"Hunh? Oh. Sorry." Lydia said as the sunlight made itself visible. Because of the recent outbreak in murders, some of the town's children became orphaned, and the town lacked any orphanages. The King had been organizing to build one, but while that was being organized, the orphans were allowed to stay in the castle if they had nowhere else to go, and because of this, Lydia was once again in a stable.

Lydia sat up once more. She hadn't had a dream that vivid since she was a child. Since then, all she had been having were blurry dreams that she was lucky to remember. If they weren't nightmares, that is.

'Would that count as a nightmare? Or a just a dream?' She thought to herself.

"Hey! Are you listening?"

"Huh?"

"I was explaining the test."

"Oh. Right. That's today, right?"

"Yes. It's today."

"Right." Lydia looked to the space beside her. Some worn out armour lay in heap next to her. She had been told that, although the she was only doing a test, the armour was still compulsory to wear, otherwise, 'the poor fellows who are knights will have no clue what you're doing in the castle for', as the King had put it. She looked back up at Elya. "Get out." She said.

"Pardon?" Elya asked, a look of innocence across his face.

"Out. Now."

"Why?"

"As if I'm going to get changed with you in here! Out, out, out!" Lydia began pushing him out, ignoring his confused shouts. Once he was gone, she looked back to the armour. She didn't really know what size would work for her, so she had picked the armour that looked big enough. But it still looked rather uncomfortable.

About a minute later, Lydia came out, tugging at the armour uncomfortably. Elya raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" Lydia snapped.

"Nothing." Elya replied. "Well, time for you to get to the test. Don't want to be late now, do you?" He continued, leading Lydia to the location of the test.

6: The Test

When they had said that she would be taking a test, Lydia didn't know what she was in for. Slaying an evil witch elf? That was a rather common test. Going into dangerous lands on her own with only one weapon and little supplies? That was one another common one, too. But an actual hand-written, paper test? Tyrin Castle is probably the only place that does it. Either that, or she had really been missing out.

The test had questions like, 'In full detail, what do you do when a woman is caught stealing from a baker, and how would you approach?'. Cripple her? Was that reasonable? She had read a lot about knights, but not enough to do a paper test on them.

'When you and one other knight are on patrol, what do you do when someone severely injures the other knight? A) Run after the perpetrator. B) Rush the wounded knight to the hospital.' Well, that was obvious, wasn't it? You'd run after the guy that did it. Surely some innocent bystander would have been watching. They would've rushed the injured guy to the hospital, right?

'What weapon would you use against a man on a horse armed with a rifle?' Either a bow or a throwing knife. Right? Any other weapon would probably be too loud, and the horses are specially bred to have enhanced hearing. So you couldn't exactly sneak up on them.

Lydia finished the test in about an hour, her fingers throbbing from holding the pen. The supervising guard opened the door to allow her to leave. She walked out into a hallway that held no suits of armour – which was a relief to Lydia – and benches next to every doorway. Sitting in the bench next to the doorway Lydia just came out of, was Elya who was talking to a knight that sat next to him.

"So yer sayin' that the wolf just ran away?" The knight asked.

"Yep. Ran right away with its tail between its legs. But then… A bear came.." Elya replied.

"So ye didn't scare it off, the bear did?"

"Apparently so. But! When the bear started running towards us, it just…" He trailed off, looking for the right word to describe what happened.

"It just what?"

"It.. Disappeared. Vanished."

The guard remained silent as he stared at Elya in pure disbelief. Eventually, though, he spoke up. "It vanished."

"Yes! Into thin air, I say! My father and uncle were there at the time too, they saw it happen!"

"But.. ye were just a wee lad! 'Ow can ye be sure that somethin' like that actually 'appened?"

"Listen, Carl. I know what I saw, and I saw a bear disappear in front of me."

"Yes, I know what ye say boy, but-" He began to say until he looked up and noticed Lydia watching them. "Well hello there, young lass. Didn't notice ya standin' there."

Elya turned around. "Ah, Lydia. You finished the test?" He asked.

Lydia gave a wordless nod.

"Great!"

" 'Nother one joining the knights, eh? Better 'ope ye did well on that test. Some'a those questions 'ave really strange answers. Ye need at least sixty five percen’ on the test ta get through." Carl said nonchalantly.

Lydia felt her hopes drop as Carl told her what score was needed to get in.

Elya cleared his throat to clear the silence that had fell upon them. "Well, we should be going now." He said.

"Wha'? Withou' intr'ducin' us?" Carl asked incredulously.

"There'll be time for that later. In the meantime, I'll introduce her to the kids in the castle." Elya replied.

"Ah, sweet li'le angels, they are."

Elya snorted in laughter. "Sweet? Angels?! Ha! What a joke!"

"Th-they aren't that bad, are they?" Lydia asked with caution, hoping that they were trying to freak her out because she was new.

"Bad? Try worse. They stole the keys to my chambers just last week. And they still haven't returned them!"

"Oh they'll give 'em back once ya've asked them nicely. Ye know, withou' threa'enin' ta put 'em in the stocks." Carl chided. "An' I can promise you they're good kids. Not li'le devils. They jus' need to learn to control their energy."

"I think it's more of the fact that someone gives them too much sugar." Elya countered.

"What?! Well, tell me once ye've found the culprit! Too much sugar leads to an upse' stomach and bad be'aviour." Carl said, shocked.

"Oh, I bet I know who does it. And I'm staring at him." Elya replied, giving a pointed stare at Carl.

"Me?! I assure you Elya, I'd do no such thing!"

"Right." Elya sighed, rolling his eyes.

"If yer goin' ta go, then get goin'! Best not leave a lady waitin'!" Carl snapped.

7: Demon in a Tavern

A large oak wood building stood strong against the heavy blast of wind the threatened to tear the trees out of the ground, roots and all. A sign swung in the wind, barely holding on to its post. The whole town had been in a blizzard since the Great War. Only once every ten years would the blizzard die down into a peaceful snowy day.

It'd been years, maybe decades, since he'd been here. He never really knew why though. Taverns were the last place he'd ever want to be, but the first place he'd go to when he needed to unwind. A part of him, a part that, after many years, he cast into the back of his mind, was protesting to what he planned to do. It was something that he was used to. But that didn't mean it wasn't irritating. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to argue with himself and give away his location.

He stepped into the tavern, ignoring the many protests he mentally received.

The tavern still had that smell of different kinds of alcohol. There were many people inside, all talking to someone and getting drunk. Most of them were familiar, others weren't. However, there was only one person he wanted to talk to. He wasn't about to let some drunk fools get in his-

" 'Ey! Guys! Is Pitch!" One man called out, slurring his words horribly. Many of the other men cheered, some holding their glasses up, while others just looked to the entrance to see who they were talking about.

Pitch.

He couldn't recall how long ago it was since he was last called that. But he knew one thing - he wasn't Pitch. Not anymore, at least. Pitch was who used to be in control. But he slipped up, and it cost him a lot more than one would think. All that he is now is a ghost in the shell of what he used to be. But, for the sake of making Pitch's life even more hellish, he continued to use his name.

Putting on a fake smile and using Pitch's voice, he said, "Hello, old acquaintances. As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I am in a bit of a hurry. I am looking for a Binovu Elkore."

A man of average height carefully made his way up to the doorway. He had shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes. "I am Binovu. Is there something you wished to talk about?" He asked once he was standing before Pitch. Everyone else had gone back to talking among themselves.

"I came to ask you about the location of the Arca." He replied, his voice distorting into a demonic growl.

Binovu stared at him with wide, terrified eyes, unable to even squeak.

"Nothing from you either? You're as useless as that mangy little brat." Pitch spat. He calmly looked around the room. There was no way that anyone else would know about the Arca's whereabouts. But with only three people remaining, things were getting sticky. He turned back to Binovu. "I will not kill you, but if you continue to refuse to tell me, I will have no other options left."

Binovu looked around the tavern before looking back at Pitch. He pointed at him and screamed, "Demon!"

Everyone in the bar, even those in their drunken states, jumped to their feet and rushed outside. During the stampede, Pitch was knocked to the floor. He slowly got up to his feet after everyone was gone to find that Binovu had left with them.

He cursed under his breath. Three left and they were getting more difficult to keep in one place. They knew of the danger they were in, and they made it all too clear that they would not be staying in one place. And now one of them knew who he was, and he would undoubtedly tell the other two. The Arca could wait. For now, his first priority was paying a little visit to Binovu's family. He was certain that they would die of happiness at their relative's friend. If he didn't shoot them first, that is.

8: Beehive

“So, who do you agree with? Me, or Carl?” Elya asked over the yelling and shouting in the background.

The two of them had entered the main room that the children used, and the second they shut the door behind them, they were tackled by unnecessarily hyper kids. The room smelled rather odd, and there were bed sheets, pillows, and an assortment of stuffed toys and animals strewn about, some of them having lost some, most, or all of their stuffing.

“I’m not a bee, I’m an elf!” Lydia yelled back in response, mishearing Elya.

“You’re on a beehive?! Who brought a beehive in here?!” Elya asked Lydia, before bellowing at the kids.

The kids, in response, laughed and screamed as they flooded out of the room, feathers and fluff flying about as they ran.

Once the room was empty, the two sat up to continue their conversation. “What’s a pea-knife?” Lydia asked, massaging her side which had been kicked by one of the children. “And where’s the beehive?”

 “I thought you were sitting on it?” Elya replied honestly.

Lydia shot up and stared at the where she had previously been sitting. There wasn’t a beehive there, nor any bees. She looked at back at Elya and asked, “What made you think I was sitting on a beehive?”

“You said you were sitting on one. Didn’t you?” He asked, tilting his head.

“What? No, I-“

A loud knocking interrupted them, followed by, “Sir, the children are running amok in the castle. Should we round them up?”

Standing up, Elya replied, “Just tell Carl his ‘little angles’ are on the loose again.”

“Yes sir.” The sound of footsteps faded into silence as the guard left.

Elya looked back at Lydia. “So, do you think they’re little angels? Or tiny devils?” He asked.

“Why are you-“

“KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDS!”

Elya quickly grabbed Lydia’s wrist and wrenched the door open, hauling her outside with him. Very soon, the same lot of children that ran out, were dashing back in the room. Elya poked his head in the doorway once they had all gotten in. “While you’re all here, can I ask for the keys to my chambers?” He asked.

In response, they threw a pillow at his face, which exploded into feathers upon impact.

Elya pulled away from the doorway with feathers stuck in his hair and in the front of his shirt. “Your test results should be back right about now.” He said, seeming to be ignoring the feathers that he was covered in.

Lydia blinked. “Really? That’s quick.”

9: Stall

The town was rather busy with people buying things from the local shops and travelling merchants. Children ran around whilst their mothers chased after them, and pets that weren’t on a leash were running around, learning all the scents of the local townsfolk, shop owners, and the travelling merchants. The busyness of the main road drew attention away from the fact that their Prince was walking among them. The air was filled with different aromas of the foods and other goods that were being sold along the main road. The sounds of the main road prevented Elya and Lydia conversing, leaving Lydia to find her way around herself, occasionally getting tugged in a different direction so she wouldn’t get lost in the sea of people.

 After walking about for about a minute or so, Elya tugged on Lydia’s arm, indicating that they were turning left, into a narrow street that lead to another large road. It was a lot less crowded, but the everyday bustle in the main road was still clearly heard. Smaller stalls sold charms and special elixirs for high prices. The shop owners were constantly insisting that the people wandering by purchase one of their valuable artefacts.

Through the quieter sounds of the busy town, Elya finally spoke up. “Well, where we just came out of was the main road. This is the road where people sell mystical artefacts and trinkets.” He explained. He looked down the road at some of the stalls. “These guys can be very shady. You don’t know if what they’re selling you is bad. Like that guy, down there.” He pointed to a faded red stall with a man who looked as though he lacked sleep was selling potions. Elya paused, looking closely at the bottles. “Shit.” He cursed, before turning back to Lydia. “Stay here, and don’t talk to anyone!” He yelled as he ran down to the stall.

“Um, okay.” Lydia said as she watched him sprint to the suspicious stall.

“Oh, my word Madam. However did you end up in there?” A man with a girly voice asked.

Lydia turned around to find a man in his mid-forties holding her dagger looking into the opal. His hair was completely white with no bald patches, violet eyes behind a pair of glasses, and was dressed in a simple grey robe. In his left hand, he held a wooden staff with an orb that glowed teal. “H-hey! What are you doing with my dagger?!” She yelled.

The man looked up at her as though he were awoken from a daze. “Oh, heavens! This is yours? I recognized it as a friend’s.” He looked back into the opal before looking back up at Lydia with a serious expression. “How did you come to possess this?”

“Possess what?”

“The opal! I thought it was in… Oh dear… Someone moved it without our knowledge… Now I know of its location… Three left…” He began to say, but began muttering to himself. He turned to his staff, and it’s colour turned to green, before returning to its teal colour. “Yes, yes, okay.” He turned back to Lydia once more. “Meet me back here tomorrow. There is something you need to know about this.” He explained, returning the dagger.

“Why not now?” Lydia asked, taking her dagger.

Without a word, he motioned behind her.

She turned around and found Elya jogging up to her, behind him, two other knights were beating up the shop owner as three others took the stall apart. Once he was in front of her, he asked, “Who were you talking to?”

Lydia focused her attention back on Elya. “Oh, I was…” She turned around only to find the man was no longer standing behind her. She stared at the empty space for a while until Elya tapped on her shoulder.

“You were what?”

“Nothing.” Lydia said, dropping the subject completely.