"Don't blame Sally and the others, they weren't cleared to know anything about the status of your homeland. They would pester me every time, they were worried about your family's well-being, I couldn't break the rules then, not yet at least. The council was keen on keeping anything about your homeland under wraps.
At first, we had a good grasp on the matters there, we had even started an investigation on what happened since you left, even started to take steps on helping the natives get a handle on the chaos infestation festering there. It all changed about four years ago when the attacks on the rest of the strongholds suddenly intensified, the council had voted to temporarily retreat from the continent and pool our resources in defending the strongholds, but as you know, from last years attack, nothing had changed, everything went from bad to worse to worst, situations all over the strongholds had become almost unbearable. And we, as the representative of the races, couldn't let them just suffer in the hands of chaos."
"I apologize, boy, I had done what I could, I didn't want to lie to you. I hope that after this ordeal you can still trust me. In time we will meet again, that, I am certain of. We will surely fight against chaos, side by side, in the future. Farewell."
Curtis stared at the parchment he was holding. He couldn't believe what he was reading, it was unbelievable, he hoped it was a joke, a prank that Hjilmar had played on him. But he knew, the giant wasn't a type to joke around, he felt betrayed.
Whatever happened between them, he could feel the rage building up inside him. He didn't like being lied to, being deceived. He could feel his heart cracking, the trust he had built up for them was slowly falling apart.
He couldn't help but want to understand Hjilmar's position, he was but one person in the council, yes he had a lot of influence, yes he could have disobeyed the rules and told him, but that would jeopardize his position and in times of war, that was impractical. He would probably do as his mentor had.
And if his feeling of everything being too perfect in Candelabra was true, if even a hint of chaos had seeped in, in that perfect city. It was natural that the giant was right to be cautious.
But with the attacks ramping up to the point that they were pulling people from every place they can to defend, in a situation where the logic was that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. He could still respect their decision.
The Origin continent could become their last refuge, Curtis could be the spearhead in that plan. He could build up the defenses there so that when they had nowhere else to go, they could return to the first land.
It was a noble idea.
But one that he could only throw to the back of his mind. What mattered now was how different home would be.
Putting down the letter, he picked up the notebook attached to it, it was the report of what had happened in his homeland, the official scouting parties had returned, but that didn't prevent Hjilmar from sending his other, personal troops to keep an eye on what was happening. Something Curtis is infinitely grateful for.
They were names that Curtis was familiar with. Rook was assigned as their leader, as Edna was indisposed at the moment, he was tasked with keeping up with the news from the Continent. He led the efforts in trying to finish what the elite corps had started. Finishing any remnants of Chaos that had started to spring up.
With Rook was Masha, assigned as his lieutenant, she broke off from the main group to gather information about the affairs of the land. Reporting any matter that stank of chaos, and bringing down the hammer that would squash any problem that would come. Currently, their team was stationed in a town west of the continent, when Chaos came in full gear, they had directly risen up and defended the town they were in, and in time became its protectors.
Their last point of communication was 6 months ago. They were supposed to send a report every month. Curtis marked it as one of the objectives he would have to check on, see if they were alright and if possible recruit them to help him.
His homeland was just a blip in the cosmos. From what he had gathered from reading the documents, the portal to the Origin Continent had only opened in the last 20 years and even then, it wasn't stable, it could close randomly, it happened 17 times in a decade, and then randomly open to another location in the continent, as, for the other bubbles of land scattered across the world, they had been interconnected for the last thousands of years.
It was a mystery how the portals even came to be. For as far as the records of history, there were no mentions of how, where, or when they even came to be. It was at a point where it was taken for granted that the portals had existed.
Of course, some had tried to research the portals, throughout the history of the world, hundreds of names had been mentioned, most of which were criticized as fools for coming up with nothing, they had slaved away trying to figure out its secrets, but in the end, they had failed.
Candelabra had only known of the opening of the portal in the last decade chaos could have been able to infiltrate the continent much earlier. In the first days of when Candelabra had sent its first scouting party, they had found the familiar land, a land only found in their history books, it was the Origin Continent, the land where it all started.
It was said that the races of the world first emerged there. Born from its earth, fed through its greens, and bathed in its blue. After the races had expanded, they could not bear to share the land with others and so they left, traveled the world in search of other lands where they could live.
Centuries had passed and the races had tried to come back to their starting point, but it had vanished. Their birthplace had disappeared, the races had combed the world trying to return. It was only now that they had found their previous home, but alas, in times of war, it was not the time to reminisce.
Their scouting ship, the Weeping Bride was originally sent to map the lay of the land and confirm their suspicions, but a certain prophecy had landed in their backyard, and so their mission had to be adjusted.
From there, after he left the continent, multiple scouting parties had been sent, and all returned to confirm two things, it was their home from the history books, but, Chaos had seeped into this holy land. And so, a crusade was started, specialized covert elite teams had been deployed to cleanse the continent from its influence. Hundreds had been killed, cities, towns, ports, and bridges had been burned to stop the spread of chaos. Believes of chaos were burned
The beasts that were reeking of chaos were killed
Anything that had even a hint of chaos was purged.
It was a bloody battle but, they had won.
But was it enough?
The order for retreat had come and it had prevented the hammer from setting the last nail in the coffin for Chaos.
Sure Chaos was wiped out, but the seeds they had sown could still blossom in the end.
They had hoped that it was enough. But they were wrong.
With the order for retreat, the teams had pulled out from the continent, and with a few short years, Chaos had come back in force, routing the people to hole up in mountains, like moles they dug deep, running deep into the earth to survive.
But with the disappearance of the elites of Candelabra, a new brand of heroes had emerged, more people with abilities had popped out of nowhere, the natives had led the remaining population and established safe-havens.
But with the increasing influence of chaos in the continent, who knew how long they would be able to hold on, the hope of victory was small, it was there, but the way to grasp it was incredibly hard.
Curtis had thought that with the state of his homeland now, would it still be possible to reunite with his family.
Passing through the portal, what entered his sight was a land of dread and suffering.
It was not stars that lit up his path home.
It was fire.
Flames danced across the horizon.
Screams of pain rang out through the sky, carried far by the wind.
The smell of burning bodies wafted through the air. A scent Curtis was all too familiar with.
Before leaving Candelabra, Curtis had thought that he would be welcomed home at least. After leaving the city and reading the letters and reports, he had thought that he would need to lay low, gather information before acting.
What welcomed him was a fight.
A fight that he welcomes.
Donning his armour slowly as his boat drifts to shore. He remembers the question that Hjilmar had always asked him.
Will you welcome the kiss of death when she comes?