The air under the arcane suddenly stiffened and densified with energy and mana to such an extent that the five people began to lose their breath. In their frantic race, some stumbled and fell.
The last ones who remained standing then raised their eyes before widening them. The arcanum then began to spin rapidly and a slightly transparent white dome quickly formed, enveloping the group and the elf within.
"A cage ... we are in a cage!" they thought, looking at the elf, resigned to die.
Just when they thought they could get out of this nightmare, a suave, soft and masculine voice then echoed across the plain. A voice that sounded so calm but everyone could hear directly in their minds.
- "Good evening, nice to meet you" said the voice inside their heads.
Surprised and shocked, the remaining people still standing including Rebecca and Louis fell, their knees to the ground and stared at the elf, tears streaming down their cheeks.
"Hey? Why are they crying?" Isaac thought when he saw them.
All speechless and unable to speak, it was Rebecca who again broke the silence, trembling in her voice. She lowered her gaze slightly so as not to look directly at Isaac before starting to speak.
- "Guardian of the Forest, Great Precursor of Magic, have mercy on these poor lost souls ... We did not want to disturb you" she stammered, unable to string together two syllables without stammering.
Isaac was silent for a while before he understood. He then began to descend and put his feet on the ground before retracting his aura on himself. All the energy around them then dissipated and came to focus around Isaac and allowing them to breathe normally again.
He watched them for a moment before resuming his speech.
- "I would like to talk to you, could you answer a few questions please?" he simply asked.
Rebecca suddenly slammed her fist on her heart and looked down even more, now looking at the floor in her knees.
- "Of course your Excellency! We would be honored" she replied. Around her, the people on the ground straightened up before bringing their knees to the ground and gazing down like Rebecca.
- "Perfect ..." he said looking at them but ignoring their behavior or even the title they gave him. "Where are we and who are you?" he finally asked.
Without moving, Rebecca cleared her throat slightly before responding, trying to stutter as little as possible to avoid annoying the elf.
- "We are on the great plains of Fray'r separating the Kilguana Kingdom and the Principality of Durvador, Excellency. We are scouts ordained by the village of Cram living in these plains. Our hunters have reported seeing a golden ray appear in the sanctuary before its barrier was broken. We have been sent by the Elders to investigate. "
- "Cram? Are you from Durvador or Kilguana?"
- "Neither of the two, we managed to keep our neutrality and our independence. Thanks to our great distance from the capitals and the few resources present, the two kingdoms saw no interest in conquering these lands."
They were therefore simple inhabitants living nearby. This reassured Isaac slightly, he didn't need to try to silence them. And they seemed cooperative ... scared but cooperative. He nodded.
- "What do you know about this shrine?"
- "We know that it is about an old construction which the Sages believe to have been built by an ancient race now extinct ..."
- "So you don't know who created it."
She nodded negatively. "No, Excellency. We don't know." Rebecca had thought to ask him if he was not the one responsible for its construction, but she held back her curiosity for fear of offending her interlocutor.
Isaac then began to think before looking at them. "I'm starting to get chills with their eyes downcast and knees on the ground." He cleared his throat slightly, coughing.
- "What do you plan to do now?" he finally asked.
Rebecca then lifted her eyes slightly and looked directly into the blue eyes. With her hood over her head, Isaac couldn't see her face, which was beaming with great admiration. "So beautiful…" she thought before quickly lowering her gaze again, hoping the elf wasn't pissed off.
However, nothing happened which reassured her. She then began to think about what to say. Should she tell him the truth or lie to him? She didn't know what would happen if she told him they were going back to report. Was he going to stop them? It was all difficult to manage. A few moments passed before Louis' voice answered.
- "We plan to return to our village and report back, Excellency. If you don't mind, could you let us go?" he asked calmly.
Unlike Rebecca's dubious and hesitant tone, Louis's was clear, limpid, and sure of himself which surprised Isaac slightly, drawing his attention more to the kneeling young man. Isaac smiles slightly.
- "I allow it" he said, making those present smile slightly with joy decorating their faces filled with hope, "but I wish to come too."
The end of the answer given suddenly made them shiver before Louis answered, still as calm and neutral as the first time.
- "I think it would be ... early for you to introduce yourself to our village ... We should first report to the Elders before they decide to do something. Your coming might rush them and they might make hasty decisions. You should understand, they're quite old --... "
Suddenly Louis' voice cut off and his eyes widened as he regretted what he had just said. Everyone present was on edge, most of the people were quite closed when it came to their age. It was common for elves to live for several centuries, Louis quickly deduced that the elf before him with such powerful powers was probably very old.
But he wasn't sure if the latter was touchy and if reminding him of his age would irritate him. Slowly, he then looked up to see if the elf had any reaction to his glowing face and whether he should try to take the hit and keep his friends from paying the price.
Oddly though, the elf in front of him was deep in thought, his expression puzzled. "He's not pissed off…" he thought, sighing lightly before a voice answered him.
- "Good. But I would like to meet them, I would like to know more. I will let you go back to your village" he said with a slight smile on his face.
- "Thank you, Excellency." Louis had a cold sweat on his back, he had never feared for his life so much as he does now. The pressure was unbearable.
A wave of mana then passed through the group, making them shiver. They then looked up at the elf who had his hand pointed at the sky. They then followed their gaze in the direction indicated before seeing the magical arcane suddenly dissipated. The barrier enclosing them then broke before dissipating completely.
- "I will await your return impatiently" said the elf before starting to rise in the sky under the astonished eyes of the scouts. A new arcane appeared, propelling him into the sky before heading back to the shrine.
After several minutes, once the elf was far enough away, everyone then took a deep breath and sat down on the grass. They broke the deep silence with grunts and cries of joy. They had just seen their life pass before their eyes, their hearts were still beating at a thousand miles an hour in their chest, so they decided to take a few moments to rest.
- "I never want to go near the sanctuary again ... Louis, please, I beg you. I almost had a heart attack at the age of 27 !!!" said a man.
- "Me too! I'm too young to die, I still have my family at home!" called out his neighbor.
- "I agree !" launched the last.
No comment came from Rebecca who was looking towards the sanctuary and more precisely the white light that had just arrived there. "He dispelled my spell as if nothing had happened. He just crushed us ... So that's it, an elf? ... It's beautiful."
Once sufficiently rested from the event, they all got to their feet before suddenly resuming their frantic race, this time much faster than at the finish, towards their village.
From the top of the cliff, his eyes peering out over the wild plains, Isaac watched the five small figures disappear into the forest before turning to his floating boulder beyond, a small smile on his face.
"If they were so scared, the Elders should be very eager to meet me ..."