Under the moonlit night, the forest came to life. Shadows shifted away from trees and critters livened up the dark surroundings with their chitter. Glowshrooms whirred to life and lit up the undergrowth. Trees swayed to no wind, their branches blooming with red moon flowers.
"You're late." A man in a mask stepped away from the shadows, "I have been waiting."
"Halinor," A voice replied from the shadows, looking at him with a pair of red sparkling eyes, "How fares the book finding?"
"Failure…" The man shook his head in regret.
"Destiny has picked a side. It seems the book has fallen into the hands of that disgusting child and his kin." The voice rasped, sending a wave of putrid odor the man's way.
"Let's kill them." He waved the odor away and covered his nose, "You agree too, don't you, Demon Lord? The children are too dangerous to be kept alive."
"They are Sheila Raffal's last gifts to this world, I cannot harm them. Especially not when those three old monsters are guarding them. Especially not when one of them just happens to be an otherworlder!"
"Otherworlders are even more dangerous." The man took a step back with shock, "Was it Polaris that called that thing here?"
"What do you think?" Said the voice, suspiciously sounding like a teacher teaching a particularly slow student.
The man gulped, "Nothing makes sense anymore, everything seems to have gone downhill, ever since Lenula spoke…"
"Shush." The voice reprimanded, "Go, take command of the armies, Halinor, they are our only hope."
He nodded and disappeared with a lighting flash. A sinister smile appeared under the moonlight filtering from the trees. The glowshrooms shuddered and their light dimmed as the smile warped into one of pleasure, excitement, anticipation and pure derision.
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"Aron, we need to talk." Rene put her hand on his shoulder. It was obvious in the strength of her grip just how serious she was. She pulled him aside and started.
"Are you okay? She didn't do anything funny to you right? Wait until Ophelia and Old Dwarf arrive. We'll get you checked, I promise. If she isn't who she says she is, we'll make her pay, I promise."
Her concerned sisterly voice really calmed him down and helped him relax. He shook his head, "I'm fine, Rene. It's just, the things she's told, they're absolutely insane."
Rene nodded, understandingly. She handed him a transparent ball that seemed to be filled with something smoky. "This is a Tao Ball. Old Dwarf said you could incubate your own magic beast from this and train it."
She patted his head and ended with, "It'll all be alright, I'll always protect you."
Aron let himself be convinced, even though deep down he knew, nothing ever would.
Old Dwarf and Lady Ophelia were at their place in barely ten minutes to arrive and it was evident from their tired but rushed faces that they had hurried to come as soon as possible.
"Triana…Triana, is that really you?" Lady Ophelia stammered.
"How long has it been…" The Old Dwarf appeared lost in his own memories.
They both faced the siblings and said with a tone of finality, "Kids, give us some time alone."
"Guess she was being honest after all." Raven noted for everyone.
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Triana and the other two hugged for a while before they settled around the small table in the cramped house.
"I missed you, I missed you so much." Lady Ophelia wiped away the tears from her eyes.
"Ophelia, D—" The Old Dwarf raised his hand to stop her.
"I abandoned that name long ago. I go simply by Old Dwarf now." He said with the face of a man filled with regret.
Triana nodded before she waved her hand. A set of three teacups and a teapot appeared on the table, giving off the faint scent of lotus scent.
"How times have changed, the brave and strong young dwarf now hiding away from his own past in a small village. A mighty Angelo reduced to a charm maker for humans."
"Truly, Sheila's passing hasn't been kind on anyone." Ophelia sighed, reflecting on the last few years from the perspective of an immortal race.
"But her will survived, and it chose those six. There must be some meaning, Phee. I have an inkling as to what it may be about."
"Triana, Shelia entrusted them to us," Old Dwarf banged his hand on the table, "I will not let harm befall them."
"The harm you speak of, heads this way at this moment. Lenula spoke for the first time in centuries a few weeks ago. Now, all of Turia is in chaos." Triana hesitated, "She prophesied that the Starfolk would return and the world would exact the debt we owe them."
Opehlia raised her hand and sipped her tea. "Triana, what role do the children play in this?"
A deep breath later, Triana spoke in a grim voice, "The will of the ancient Deus shall arise. Debts owed to the moon will be repaid. Creation shall wish creation never was, as ancestral stars shall become meteoric iron, fire shall rain just like back then. Loose all hope, for this is the end."
Triana paused for a second, then ended with the prophecy, "This shall be the last ever prophecy of this Lenula. May salvation come in the form of the seven lights."
"After that, Lenula, the Fae Empress, as old as this continent itself, passes away without announcing a successor." Triana concluded, to gasps of terror and surprise from Ophelia and Old Dwarf.
"And I think, the seven lights are the children. Sheila never did anything without reason, even if she was only reduced to a will without the memories of the real Sheila."