Y'Nfalle: From Beyond Ancient Gates

Chapter 48 - One less loose end


Amara dragged herself through the woods, barely conscious. She was covered in mud head to toe, her body bruised and with burns in places where the armour didn't protect her. Still, Eirlys's last order to her and the desire to survive triumphed over the pain.

The elven scout had no clue how much time had passed since she woke up and began moving, the sun hidden behind thick branches in its entirety. The scent of smoke was still strong, so Amara knew she hadn't made it too far from where the battle took place the previous night.

She could hear the trees behind her being torn apart and destroyed, which only pushed her to try and walk faster, leaning against ancient trunks to support herself. Not knowing it was Aurelia who was causing the destruction she heard, Amara believed the otherworlders had begun a full-on assault against the kingdom of Vatur.

"They must have killed the group from Marbella too…" She thought, quickly dispelling the idea from her mind, as thinking about the loss from the night before and how one-sided the battle was, drained her of what little resolve she had left.

Amara hurried as much as she could, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was going on, as the noise was fast approaching. The clearing where they fought was no more, swallowed up in the chaotic energy of Aurelia's rampage. Entire trees uprooted and tossed high in the air or obliterated into little more than splinters, rained down like shrapnel. As Aurelia's target kept avoiding getting hit by her spell, the spell got closer and closer. Amara braced herself, seeing that she couldn't get out of the way in time. A silhouette appeared in her peripheral vision, just for a second, before it disappeared.

The elven scout saw him, only for a moment. A tall human appeared just a few feet to her right, firing his weapon at something behind Amara and then running deeper into the woods, his armour flickering for a moment before invisibility swallowed him up anew. She had neither strength nor time to react to his sudden appearance, as the ground beneath her feet vanished without warning. She found herself flying through the air along with the trees she had leaned against just a second prior as the High Elf's spell struck that entire row of trees.

"Oh… It's almost breakfast time." A comforting thought ran through her mind as she could finally see the sun, high above the tree tops.

Whole trees and chunks of wood of various sizes came crashing down to the forest floor, and Amara fell back down along with them. The intertwined branches of the Silves Forest embraced the elf, slowing her descent just enough to save her life. She struck one of the branches with her left leg as she was flailing through the air like a bundle of sticks. Pain overwhelmed her, filling her entire being as her leg snapped from the force of the impact.

Amara screamed, only briefly, before hitting the cold ground and getting the air knocked from her lungs. She gasped for air while her vision blurred and consciousness slipped away. The woods seemed to spin around her as her head was ringing. She struggled to lift her head, her body no longer listening to anything but the pain coursing through her.

"General… Eirlys…" Amara whispered, seeing a visage of an elf in High Guard armour approaching from the woods.

***

Aurelia sat in her ornate chair on the palace balcony, rubbing her left ear with her right hand. Both wounds have fully healed as if they were never there, but the blow that was dealt to her sense of self did not seem to fade.

She wore her usual unreadable expression, but unimaginable rage simmered beneath it. The only comfort Aurelia had to quell her fury was the knowledge that her plan was moving along without any hindrances. The mage kept the reins from slipping away from her grasp, even in spite of the unpredictability of the otherworlders.

Aurelia paid the price of her plan with her own blood, something her kin believed more precious than any riches the world had to offer. The very thought of it, the memory of the pain she felt when she got shot, made her jaw clench in silent fury.

"No matter the world, these vermin seem to always gravitate towards one another. It is only a matter of time before the Kingdom of Marbella allies with the outsiders. That future will not come to pass." Aurelia, though, remembering Elisia's face, glaring up at her with defiance even during what both the High Elf and the human knight believed to be Elisia's final moments in life.

She sighed deeply, calming herself down once she realised her grip on the teacup became so intense that cracks began forming on it. Shifting her thoughts towards her successes rather than the few unpredictable bumps in the road, Aurelia looked up at the noon sky. The mage smiled as she recalled Queen Kyara's expression during their last conversation and the rage and disbelief painted on her face.

Her attention was grabbed by the sudden commotion going on in the palace front yard. Soldiers rushed towards the large gates as they unfurled themselves to allow one of the patrols that had been sent to scout out the outer forest circle following the last night's attack.

Aurelia's smile quickly faded at the sight of a familiar elf lying on a stretcher that was dragged by one of the elk that the patrolling soldiers rode on. She didn't need a second glance to recognise the elf in the stretcher. It was the scout who accompanied General Eirlys on her mission.

"Merciful Mother, how sloppy can they be?" The High Elf mumbled, feeling a new wave of anger begin to wash over her.

"First Eirlys survives and now her?" Aurelia growled, somewhat unsure if what Elisia said was true or merely to piss her off. Knights were no strangers to words that would get them the final laugh right before imminent demise.

She snapped her fingers, disappearing from the balcony and reappearing in the front yard just as the palace doors opened.

Prince Lymlok rushed outside, followed by four servants who carried the chair Princess Claudia sat in.

"What is going on here?" The elven prince asked, walking over to the stretcher as the crowd parted to let him pass. Claudia's servant huffed quietly as they picked up the pace to keep up with him.

Amara seemed barely conscious, staring up at the branches with glossy eyes. Her ears were ringing, her head pulsing, the chatter and commotion around her all mixing into unintelligible noise. She mumbled the message she was supposed to deliver over and over again, clinging to the memory of Eirlys and her final words with everything she had left.

"Get the royal healer, quickly!" Lymlok shouted, and several elves immediately ran up the stairs and into the palace. "Everyone, shut up! She's trying to say something."

Amara's words were barely above a whisper, making it hard to hear what she was saying even as the crowd went silent. "General… fell… Silver woods… forsaken us… retreated…"

Aurelia's jaw clenched at the mention of the Silver Forest. She took a deep breath before abruptly turning around and walking away from the scene, frustrated with yet another loose end she will now have to deal with.

A group of healers, dressed in white robes, with a particularly bulky blonde elf whose long hair was tied in a bun at the helm, came rushing out of the palace. The group around Amara quickly moved to make way for them, Prince Lymlok included, knowing full well that Igrelt did not care who he had to bulldoze to the side when rushing to a medical emergency.

In seconds, and with incredible finesse and skill, Amara's stretcher was detached from the elk and carried inside. Lymlok walked over to Claudia with a worried expression on his face. "You heard what she said?"

"I did." The Princess replied, watching as the palace doors closed behind the group of healers.

***

Claudia sat in silence in the war room. The shock of Eirlys's death was the only thing keeping the grief at bay. She was still reasoning with herself, thinking how perhaps Amara was too delirious from her wounds to be certain of the General's death.

"Perhaps she somehow survived. Perhaps she was taken captive. Perhaps she was still there, too wounded to move." The elven princess clung to hope like a woman drowning. If Amara could somehow survive, surely someone as skilled and capable as Eirlys could too.

Claudia was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even acknowledge Lymlok's nervous pacing around the room. The prince was consumed by different thoughts entirely. Guilt and anger played tug of war within his mind. He was the one who organised the mission, the one who sent Eirlys and the others to their deaths. But what bothered him most of all was that the otherworlders again struck first. Once more, they robbed the Vatur kingdom of an important figure and left the elves playing catch-up.

Unlike Claudia, Lymlok held little love for Eirlys. In fact, he barely knew the woman, despite knowing her for decades. The General was always buzzing around Claudia ever since they were young girls, long before she began her military career. Lymlok avoided looking in Claudia's direction as he paced the room, fearing that in her grief, she would blame him for the loss of a close friend.

Knocking on the heavy door pulled both of them from dark thoughts. "Your Highnesses, the report from the scouting party is complete."

"Enter," Claudia said, her voice strained and hoarse.

The door opened slowly, and one of the scouting team leaders walked in, bowed and handed Claudia a scroll which contained the report from the group that stayed behind to search the battlefield of the previous night, or what was left of it. With another bow and without another word, the scout left the room.

Lymlok stood like a statue, watching his sister open the scroll and read through it. With each line, her knuckles turned whiter, gripping the paper as if she were about to rip it in half. Claudia trembled in her chair, trying to keep herself from sobbing.

"Sister… what does it say?" Lymlok asked, walking slowly towards her, fearful of her reaction.

Claudia extended her left arm, holding the paper that already had tear stains on it for him to take. Once the prince took the report from her, the princess's dam finally broke under the weight of it all. Her sobs, no longer quiet, filled the room as her face sank into her hands.

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Lymlok swallowed a lump and looked down at the paper. "Entire area torn, trees uprooted and burned… Corpses scattered everywhere, too burned to be recognised…"

His heart skipped a beat as his eyes fell on the last line, which described the state Eirlys was found in. Burned beyond recognition by the blaze, identified only by her helmet and armour decorations, which were torn from her armour and strewn across the ground near her body.

"What animals…" He said aloud, folding the paper with shaky hands and tossing it on the table, which he leaned against a moment later.

Claudia tried regaining composure several times while Lymlok read through the report, but each time a new wave of emotion would overwhelm her. Unbeknownst to either of them, Aurelia stood on the other side of the door. The High Elf chose to give the siblings a chance to process everything, and for fresh hate towards the otherworlders to take root inside them.

As Claudia's sobs grew quiet, the High Elf mage decided they had been given enough time, opening the door slowly and stepping inside before the siblings could get a chance to discuss the report and Amara's words between themselves. Like iron from a furnace, they were both burning with emotions and ideally malleable.

"I apologise for not being able to give you more time to yourselves." The High Elf spoke, looking at the pair with sympathy in her eyes.

Gone was the loftiness and a cold, stern tone. Aurelia approached them slowly, softly, as one does when tending to a wounded animal. She did not sit down; instead, she leaned on the table like Lymlok did, positioning herself between the siblings.

"My condolences, Princess Claudia." The High Elf said after a moment of silence. "I know she meant the world to you."

Claudia raised her head after wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, only to find Aurelia's eyes already waiting to meet hers. The princess could see the anger behind the soft expression on Aurelia's face, but knew it was directed not at her, but at Eirlys's killers.

The High Elf mage channelled her frustrations, her anger at having been wounded by those so far beneath her, into what the royal siblings at that moment believed to be solidarity. Her rage seemed genuine and honest, for it truly was, so words born from that anger must be genuine as well.

"They've taken from us more than our kind has ever allowed anyone to take. This Kingdom has given less to orcs and other filth than we have to these… subhuman creatures. Black blooded demons, hiding behind the faces and voices of men." Aurelia spoke, each word laced with venom which the siblings clung to fiercely, seeking a direction in which to guide emotions that ate at them from within.

"Vatur is the kingdom of peace, one which hasn't seen war in seven centuries. Yet we must not allow ourselves to be seen as weak merely because we do not reach for the war drum at the first sign of disagreement or crisis. I abhor bloodshed and senseless violence in which mankind seems to thrive. But I will not allow my ideals to become my ineptitude. Forgive me, both of you, for being such poor counsel. I've clung to the hope that this could be resolved peacefully. My eyes have been opened."

Claudia and Lymlok remained silent, soaking up every word that came from Aurelia's lips. It was bitter comfort for Claudia to know that she was not alone in her grief, for Lymlok to know that this failure was not his fault alone.

"Her words trouble me," Claudia spoke up. "She said the silver forest forsook them. That it retreated."

Aurelia turned her head towards the princess, patiently waiting to hear what she had to say.

"It could be that whoever summoned it ran out of mana," Lymlok suggested.

"Once summoned, the Silver Forest does not retreat until all threats have either been destroyed or driven out of the forest, regardless of whether the summoner ran out of mana or not," Claudia explained dryly.

Lymlok lowered his gaze, feeling embarrassed by his lack of knowledge. He felt Aurelia's hand gently brush his left shoulder, a silent reminder that he had her support. The young prince stiffened at the touch, quickly finding his voice again. "So, you are suggesting that the otherworlders had a way to silence the Silver Forest? Somehow lull it back to sleep."

"Perhaps, but I doubt it. For all their technology and machines, they still have no way of using mana. I fear more that they had help from a mage. One incredibly powerful and knowledgeable." The princess replied.

Aurelia frowned for a second, taking her hand off of Lymlok's shoulder. Even while stricken with the freshest grief, Claudia's mind stayed sharp and clear, a trait that the High Elf would find very commendable if it didn't pose a risk to her plans. "Are four words enough for us to draw such worrisome conclusions?"

"No, Lady Aurelia. You are right, that possibility is a bit of a leap. Doesn't mean we should dismiss it entirely, however." The princess responded. "Considering the state in which the area was, it is safe to assume that the murder apes have deployed a weapon that we have not previously seen."

"I think it is best that we wait for Amara to wake up and tell us everything herself," Lymlok added, which both women agreed to with a nod. "Speaking of which, any news on how she is doing? The sun is already starting to set."

"No. Igrelt is personally tending to her wounds, so at least we know she is in good hands." Aurelia replied, pushing herself off the table gently, grabbing the report and heading for the door. "You two should get some rest. There is much that burdens you, and a sleepless night will only weigh you down further. Should anything change regarding Amara's state, you will be the first to know."

She watched, hand already on the door, as the siblings gave a small bow before she left the room.

It did not take long for Lymlok to excuse himself as well, leaving Claudia alone with her thoughts in the war room. Try as she might, the princess could not dispel the gnawing feeling of suspicion that nested in her mind. She knew the otherworlders possessed weapons and technology unseen by the world, but even they weren't capable of everything. The Silver Forest was alive, with a mind of its own, not something that could be easily subdued.

***

The late hours of the night ticked away slowly, each minute feeling like an hour to those still awake. Igrelt, the royal healer of the Vatur family, watched over Amara with diligence, as if death itself was lurking just outside the window to her room, waiting for the moment he slips up so that it could take her.

He tended many wounds and ailments during his long career as a healer, seeing bodies and spirits broken. Yet Amara fascinated him. She clung to life fiercely, despite the state she was in. She was burned by fire and broken as if thrown from a great height, yet somehow remained alive. As if she knew that her mission was not yet complete, that she must recover enough to deliver whatever message she had been entrusted with.

Igrelt believed there truly was no end to the cruelty of the otherworlders when he saved Claudia's life. She, who lost her brother and her legs that night, remained unbroken in spirit. In his eyes, the elf that lay before him was very much the same.

The healer spent hours carefully casting spells, first to stabilise her, then to keep her body strong enough while the healing spells slowly pulled her from the edge of the abyss. The toll it took on him was great, and in the silent hours, Igrelt could feel exhaustion creeping up on him. But there were very few whom he could entrust to watch over Amara while he rested, even if she was stable.

"Your devotion is truly inspiring." A voice, as beautiful as a divine melody, tore him away from his grapple with exhaustion.

"Ah, Lady Aurelia. What are you doing up so late?" Igrelt asked, surprised by the sight of the High Elf standing at the door, the nail of her raised index finger glowing like a candlelight. What surprised him more was that he never heard her opening the door, but perhaps he was just too tired to notice.

"This is a restless night for us all." She replied, the light she produced dimming as she walked over to where he sat. "How is she?"

"Stable, for now. But there is much to heal. She is strong, but strength alone often proves lacking."

"You must be exhausted." She spoke softly, barely above a whisper, as she sat on the floor beside the chair, lowering herself to his level.

Igrelt was stunned by the action, before he realised he was still sitting the entire time. He quickly began to stand up. "Forgive me. Late hours must have stolen my manners."

"Nothing to forgive. Sit. You've more than earned it." She waved him off.

The healer slowly sat back down, unsure of what to say next. Panic quickly washed over him as he suddenly thought that he might have already fallen asleep, and this was all a dream. He smacked his face a few times, but Aurelia remained where she sat.

The High Elf chuckled. "Worried I might be an apparition? A spectre in the cold night?"

"No, I… Apologies."

"May I make a request?"

"Certainly."

Aurelia paused, shifting her gaze from Igrelt to Amara. The healer noticed her hesitation, how she seemed to mull her words over as if whatever request she had, he would dare deny. Her eyes met his again, and Igrelt felt his heart clench.

He was sitting in a chair, looking down at her sitting on the floor. Her eyes bore into his soul, the vulnerability in them tugging at his heartstrings before she even uttered a word. Igrelt did not see a divine being demanding worship. He saw a woman, worried and riddled with guilt, desperate to quell the feelings that robbed her of sleep.

Aurelia reached up, placing her hand on his. "Allow me to watch over her. Just for a little while, just until dawn breaks."

His heart raced faster, his tired eyes opening wider. He wanted to; if it were any other request, he would've, in a heartbeat. But his devotion to watching over Amara and making sure his patient pulled through stopped him. "I cannot. She is stable now, but I don't trust-."

"You do not trust that I can watch over her as well as you do." Aurelia finished his sentence for him. Much to his surprise, there was no contempt in her voice. She smiled, almost as if teasing. "I understand."

"No, no. I simply meant one such as yourself should not be bothered with such a task. Especially not this late at night." Igrelt replied.

"There is no task as noble as this one. But you need strength for it." Her thumb softly rubbed his hand. "You fear you will fall asleep and then no one will watch over her. I only wish to help."

Igrelt was entranced; he could not find the strength to look away. She looked at him with pleading eyes, her grip on his hand tightening ever so slightly. "I would not dare encroach on a healer's sacred duty. But I can't bear to remain idle. It was through my lack of foresight that this happened. Please, allow me to at least watch over her while you rest. Just until the first rays of dawn. Help soothe my guilty heart, if only for a while."

As much as he felt hesitant, the healer knew she was right. If he fell asleep, no one would watch over Amara. He needed to recover his strength, should the wounded scout need it if her condition worsens. "Very well. But please, should anything change, for better or worse, call for me immediately."

Aurelia stood up, smiling as she nodded. "I will, you have my promise."

Igrelt rose from his chair and bowed deeply before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Aurelia sat in his chair, looking down at the broken body of the elven scout, illuminated only by a single candle on the nightstand.

The Queen of Marbella was readying for war, rallying fodder to throw at the otherworlders. A fresh dose of hatred was instilled in the Prince and Princess of Vatur. Eirlys, if not dead, was most likely captured, a fate that Aurelia believed might even be worse than death. Fear and desire for revenge now plagued both kingdoms, their efforts unified and focused on a single enemy. All that remains is to make sure that both kingdoms continue to believe what they were made to believe.

Aurelia leaned closer to Amara, slowly sliding her right hand down the scout's nightgown until it rested between her breasts. She looked at her, almost with admiration for the grit that the scout demonstrated while feeling the beat of Amara's heart against her palm.

The mage pressed her hand tighter against the scout, uttering no words as she cast a spell, discharging electricity from her palm directly into Amara's chest, stopping her heart.

"Sleep now, Amara. No more loose ends."

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