The sky was shrouded with gray clouds, and the cold morning wind lashed violently through the nearby forest. It was under this harsh weather that Ethan and Ainliss set off toward the city of Loumiron.
Ethan also maintained his typical disheveled manner of dressing, but now he made some sensible alterations. He wore good leather boots securely strapped, a warm, half-length gray cloak to keep off the chill, and a large, sturdy backpack slung against his back.
As for Ainliss, he donned a long, dark-gray cloak, and had pulled his hair closely back with a plain leather band, to display the angularity of his face and his intensity of purpose. He, also, bore a travel pack on his back.
They moved quickly, abandoning Bostgast and Eldweyn , the elderly hag, after an ancient stone path leading across the horizon of the woods to Loumiron.
The space between both of them was quiet. Ainliss immersed himself in nature's beauty, whereas Ethan was immersed in thought—his thoughts overwhelmed by guilt and remorse. His guilt tormented him mercilessly.
In his mind, a secret battle was being waged as the chill wind lashed at his new mantle. Their silence during the journey released a guilt he did not know he bore.
"I bullied 'em all the time. why should I feel guilty now?" He snarled to himself, hardly audibly.
"I didn't do anything wrong. I was merely angry… he provoked me."
Ethan's face was twisted in great distress and confusion. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes stared blankly forward, unfocused.
Ainliss saw how he was and smiled weakly, saying in a quiet, reassuring voice:
"Breathe for a moment and respect what's ahead of you. It might calm your mind."
Ethan answered quickly, a note of indignation creeping into his tone:
"im fine"
Ainliss spoke, his voice having a quiet conviction:
"We elves are capable of feeling whatever other mortals feel… you are not fine. Breathe, and blow away whatever is burdening your soul."
Ethan kept quiet for a moment, then asked nervously:
"Ainliss, may I pose a question?"
"Oh, yes, Ethan," replied Ainliss.
Ethan stared at the ground, as if fearing that his question might unearth a hidden reality.
"What would you do… if your friend killed someone right before your eyes, in a rage?"
Ainliss's eye lifted, his face changing to one of wary astonishment, as he walked alongside him.
"Did it happen in your world?"
Ethan nodded. His face was set in a state of despair; his eyes shuddered with a hurtful memory, and his mouth was set, as if restraining some intolerable truth.
Ainliss answered slowly, choosing each word wisely.
You're saying. an innocent victim? A person who didn't deserve to die?
Ethan's eyes opened widely, as if Ainliss knew what he was thinking.
"Yes."
Ainliss panted deeply. His usual faint smile vanished altogether. His voice had an uncommon sincerity about it.
"I'd do nothing. It would sorrow me too much to see him suffer pangs of conscience… those pangs would be punishment enough for him."
Ethan spoke slowly, reflectively, attempting to find some kind of sense of his friend's tragedy.
And do you think he'd win. that battle?
Ainliss shrugged uncon.
"Who knows? That depends on the strength of his conscience."
At that moment, a stitch of pain stabbed through Ethan's heart, like something way down inside him jerked spasmodically. His inner mind murmured to itself in torment:
"Ah, Fyodor… forgive me, Fyodor."
He grew quiet in thought, and he went ahead to search about the forest purposefully, looking for something to keep himself occupied.
The surrounding trees were magnificent and vibrant, some with deep red leaves, others golden yellow, forming a breathtaking painting beneath the gray sky. He observed them closely with quiet wonder, until that beauty was shattered by a dreadful sight.
Something shifted at the corner of his eye. a flash, like a glint of light off glass in darkness.
He slowly raised his head and there, perched upon an ancient trunk, loomed his nightmare, the Glass Creature.
It remained eerily motionless, as if it were a form chiseled of clear crystal, gazing fixedly into Ethan's face. He went stock-still, hard all the way through.
"Ainliss. something's watching us," Ethan breathed, his voice shaking.
The tone of Ethan's voice caused Ainliss to react by reflex. He pulled a thin blade from its sheath at his left-side flank with swift, practiced ease.
"Show me," he whispered guardedly.
Ethan lifted a shuddering hand towards the tree, but it was gone in an instant. No noise, no footprint. It disolved into thin air, and a shiver of cold lingered.
Ainliss glanced about hastily, and then frowned irritably.
You lost your mind? There's nothing here!
Ethan stuttered, pale and covered by a cold sweat.
"It was here! On that tree....a glass monster!"
Ainliss gradually stepped towards sheathing his sword and sighed, casting Ethan a constrained glance.
"Glass? I've spent more of my life in forests than towns, and never did see anything like it."
Ethan's face flushes with humiliation, as if someone was calling into question his own existence.
Why don't you trust me?" He sounded stunned.
Ainliss smiled weakly, coldly. As he set off walking, his own boots echoed off the wet stones.
"All right. You did see something, eh? Let's be on our guard, it may be a bandit's trick."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Bandsits?! Can they summon glass monsters?"
Ainliss replied evenly:
"I don't know. But some cast spells to create subservient Constructs. They are weak, though, an Aelthersea knight would defeat ten or even dozens of those wizards."
Ethan scow.
"WHO ARE THE AELTHERCIAN KNIGHTS ?"
Pride welled up in Ainliss's.
"They are fighters favored by the might of Aieltheris tree and Every kingdom produces a handful, and their ranks within the army are high."
The wind hit Ethan's face, carrying the aroma of rotting leaves and dampened ground.
This is harder than physics." he muttered.
Ainliss smiled grac.
"Wait until you see the city of Elonia...your mind will freeze from the complexity."
Why?" inquired Ethan, and interest renewed itself.
Ainliss's eyes gleamed for a moment.
It's the best city in Arthera I ever seen. A city ahead of its time by time. a relic untouched by a human hand.
Hope sprouted like a spark in Ethan's heart.
"We'll go there then! I imagine my answers are waiting for me, in that city!"
Ainliss laughed dryly, pulling him back to reality.
"DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF. You've got to see Arenwald first."
Ethan's excitement faded instantly at the name.
"I'm. a little afraid of him , he's that elderly lady's son."
Ainliss smirked.
"Come on, He and I have been investigating all over Bostgast. "
Ethan stopped abruptly.
"Wait! Your past, you never mentioned it to me."
Ainliss gazed off into space, his face becoming far away.
"I work for Elgarth's Royal Investigation Division. a detective."
A touch of fear passed across Ethan's face.
"Then where's your gun?" asked he, staring at him intently.
Ainliss also grinned broadly this time.
"I don't own one. I'm merely an assistant. I don't need a gun."
Ethan waves his hand as if he's holding a gun and shows it how it works, using sound effects.
" Boom...boom"
Ainliss's head jerked in a motion of half-humored.
"I mentioned it before that i don't want it. Stop flutter your hands like a chicken."
Their feet stepped in even cadence along the earth path, the crunch of dead leaves covering the quiet between them. Ethan looked at Ainliss and, at last, asked, not being able to keep it inside a moment longer:
" Ainliss… are there individuals at the moment you are pursuing? A major case?"
Ainliss's face shifted in an instant. The lingering humor disappeared, and a profound shadow took its place. He quit walking, his voice subdued and heavy with real fear.
"Yes… a monster. A killer, yes, a nightmare that takes souls out of this world. His modus operandi… terrifying. Precise. Every killing carries a mark of unbearable torture. 56 souls… men and women… each of them lost in a manner that breaks your heart. It wasn't death, it was a soundless scream. Every victim left a vacancy that cannot be repaired."
He felt a cold shiver run through his heart. He also stopped, stuttering:
"FIFFTYYYY SIXXXX...!? Why do you not arrest him?
Ainliss sighed, weariness flashing for the first time. "he might carries aTrunk of Power and We requested aid by the Aelthercian Knights, but still no reply."
Ethan hastened to keep pace, his head reeling with unfamiliar words.
"It doesn't make sense. what is Trunks of Power? And who are they the Aelthercian Knights?"
Ainliss sighed we:
"It's a pretty long story, Ethan…"
Just tell me," Ethan coaxed, a thread of desperation entering his voice. "You and Eldweyn talked about it for hours. I want to know."
. He paused under a mighty oak tree, stroking its gnarled bark. His tone changed, bearing gravity of myth and grief.
"Having survived through the Battle of the Black Flame, its outcome proved disastrous. Monsters ravaged across world , and our powers weakened. That's when Lanjoniean's handed us a sacred mission. to defend Arthira and maintain the Light of Aieltheris. And it's been our sacred way of mastering power ever since."
Ethan interrupted eagerly,
"What was the Battle of the Black Flame?"
Ainliss cast a quick glance at him.
"Don't interrupt me. The point is, to gain power, one must merge with one of the two Great Trees. They grant you a Trunk of Power that resonates with your soul. There are many kinds, but the rarest among them is the Trunk of Nature."
Ethan's eyes lit up with interest.
"What is it? How does it work?"
He pointed to the tree next to him.
"Imagine the trunk to be the seat of power. It has immeasurable branches, and each of its branches carries distinct leaves or fruit. Take, for instance, the Fire Branch which carries different types of flames orange, green, blue, and so forth."
Ethan's eyes sprang wide, recalling warm, soothing fire on his injuries.
"The nurse. She cured me with a green flame!"
Ainliss nodded.
"Yes... We might utilise such flames by rituals, by experiments, but we cannot utilise them not like a flame shaper."
Ethan looked down at his empty hands, then at Ainliss, his voice shuddering with desperate hope.
"How can I get power "
Ainliss smiled kindly, a sorrowful warmth in his tone when he set off walking again.
"You already have it Ethan you just have to get to know it"
Those words struck him like a blade of light—something deep within him stirred awake, as if it had been waiting all this time for that single sentence.