The silence was almost tangible as the four elves stared at the dark elf and the spirit. In the background were the sounds of the wind and rushing water from the river
'child of old?' Alice thought confusedly
Spirits seldom appear of their own volition onto this plane of existence let alone one as ancient as the great forest spirit. and even rarer was it that an elf did not turn to wood from mere contact with them. For it was said and repeated so many times that a great spirit's magic was so strong they would unknowingly turn anything they touch into their element.
Which was why Alice's heart almost leaped out of her chest in fear when Willem approached the spirit and held out his hand
She told herself that the spirit would know better than to touch an elf or any other living creature
she panicked again when the spirit extended its own hand to Willem's kneeling form
Spirits though far older than any elf or dark elf posses keen memories and even the ability to sense and use magic. In fact, they were the one's who taught the elves they're magic in exchange for protection
And roughly the normal elf body could only handle about a tenth of the power of an ancient spirit.
Which was literally just being in their presence.
Alice's mind was suddenly brought back to the ancestral home of the elven village and the ancient pillars that stood in the center of it all
Carvings depicting elves kneeling to the spirits with their hand to their foreheads in fine depiction in marble.
Every line was carved with the purpose of immortalizing the elven traditions, though the fading of the carvings have degraded with time and the teachings have been forgotten the carvings have yet to lose their beauty.
Alice did not know how.
Or why
But as Willem put the hand of the spirit to his forehead she knew he had done something seldom elves have in the pas millennia alone.
"you spoke of a threat" Willem reminded snapping Alice out of her reverie and back to the two figures facing each other
"yes young one, it is one which concerns your kind and those behind you and the humans beyond their castle of stone," the spirit said gravely the air around them going cold "she who rules Desolan has made a move that upset the balance of magic and darkness sending it to an uncertain state where if pushed could mean the end of the races"
Alice gasped.
The fields of Desolan and its ruler had been one of a many taboo to be spoke of in public
for it is said that merely saying it would cause its shadowy ruler to turn her merciless eyes on them and drag them down to the depths of Deasom the demon realm
"who is she?" the dark elf asked seemingly unfazed by the ominosity of the words being spoken to him and remained kneeling, his face set into an emotionless sculpture.
"she has many a title," the ancient forest spirit started "the queen of the black throne, the bringer sorrow, the vengeful watcher but the elves called her Lalindra the demon general"
sharp gasps were heard from the younger elves who were always taught never to even mention the name for fear of her ire
"what of her? what does this demon general have to do with the likes of us?" Willem asked his ever so patient tone matching even the spirit's
Alice almost found it amazing that the dark elf could be so calm in a situation like this.
She chalked it up to him being older than the rest of them and him having seen things they haven't. After all, they only knew him for a day, they didn't know that much about him
"the true descendant of the old blood" he pointed at Willem
than at Alice "the one born of two worlds"
Going back to the three youngest members "the fledglings who follow"
"what does it mean?" Willem asked the Question racing through Alice's mind
"There are four known heroes of the human kingdom" the spirit stated factually "then the elves and the eldritch creatures have their chosen few as well"
"us?" Alice managed to ask through the feeling of being in the presence of the great forest spirit "heroes?" she had said in disbelief
"right you are, child of two worlds, even if it might not seem so at the moment there will come a moment that you will understand, there will come a moment when one of you must die. but for now, you must train." she said suddenly staggering
Willem supported the older woman.
"My power grows weak as my brethren spend more time trying to return the balance and my time with you shortens by the second," she said by way of explanation
"what must we do to help?" Alice asked, her worry overtaking her social anxiety at the moment
The spirit smiled warmly.
"it is good to see one so young yet so eager to serve the forest" she noted and Alice flushed at the praise "you must go west, off to the elven village and to their ancestral home where we greater spirits could tell you more"
As she was saying this so her body was beginning to once more turn into motes of light as the background became less hazy
"i trust your instincts child of old," she noded to Willem as her top half was almost gone "follow him, he is older than he looks. No elf who hasn't seen war has ever had eyes like those…" and as if it never happened all was back to normal
Silence
The group had stayed where they were.
Trying to process the wise spirit's words and give them proper meaning.
"did she…" Siris started "just called Master old?"
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Willem danced among the glade in swift steps bounding over obstacles and diving off trees in order to reach the fastest pace he could manage in an attempt to clear his head of questions he was better off ignoring
He felt like his inner feelings empowered him. Like he was burning away the surprize and the frustration he felt and turning it into energy used in running through the forests
Yet still, questions plagued his mind.
Why did she know the traditions of Willem's old world?
Why did she call him 'child of old'?
What did being one of these 'chosen few of the eldritch creatures' mean?
"will ya slow down!?" an angry voice snapped him out of his reverie
He halted. his feet and remained perched upon a tree halfway through the motions of jumping off it and rebounding off the face of a nearby mountain and looked back to the ground
"finally… Ha…ha…" Lucius panted next to Alice who was much in the same state "you're kinda leaving us in the dust here you idiot" he insulted through a couple deep breaths
"We tried calling you but you wouldn't answer" Alice added in a huff
"my apologies, i needed to clear my mind a bit" he apologized weakly scratching at his head
"apology my ass!!! You nearly killed me trying to keep up with your near suicidal leaps" the blonde fumed as he crashed onto the earth in exhaustion next to Alice
"Are you alright Alice?" Willem asked concernedly at the dark-haired elf who looked as if she was gonna kick the bucket at any time
"i'm…ha…fine" she answered through an intake of breath "I haven't had to run that fast ever since the winter solstice race," she said to herself
"well at least we managed to cover at least a hundred meters in a short time" Willem offered sheepishly scratching his cheek
The two stared at him, dumbfounded.
"what?"
"65" Alice deadpanned a hint of annoyance on her face
Willem was still confused
"you made us catch up to you in a sprint and not even including the tree jumping that took you 65 kilometers in at least an hour!" Lucius exclaimed
Had he always been that fast?
"for what it's worth… sorry?" willem tried to amend himself
"if I wasn't so tired I would've stabbed you" the blonde snapped back
"well I guess we should rest for now"
"Great idea, " Lucius said laying in the grass unmoving
"wait a second…" Willem's eyes widened "where are Annie and Siris?!"