Two days have passed since Lance Arthur Leywin had faced and defeated the enemy leader. Thus, the war between the two continents was declared over.
News of the end of the war spread quickly and the troops of the opposing faction began to withdraw.
Tessia, the former princess of the elves and childhood friend of Arthur, received a message from her grandfather and commander of the continent Dicathen who resisted to the end.
She then went to Mayburn, a city that had been retaken in one of the largest battles in the entire war and was considered the last outpost for humans, elves and dwarves on Dicathen.
The journey was short due to the many teleportation portals connected to all the major cities on the continent
When Tessia arrived in the city, she immediately noticed the relief of the people who learned about the end of the war. She could see almost exclusively happy and relieved faces, even if many people were hungry and in poor condition. She felt slightly pity for them before she realized that she looked no better than any of them.
She then immediately went to the castle.
The castle was still protected by many guards, unimaginable before the war. When Tessia arrived in front of the gate, she was approached by a guard. Even though relief was evident among the civilians, the tension on the guards' faces was unmistakable.
"This is Mayburn Castle, you can't get in here right now without a direct invitation. If you don't have an invitation, get out now."
Tessia, who had fought in the war for many years and probably would have reacted irritably before her time on the battlefield could understand the man's tone. She noticed that, but did not know if it was good or bad.
"My name is Tessia Eralith, I am here on the direct orders of Virion Eldarith," Tessia said calmly. She also presented the guard an emblem that identified her as a member of the former royal family.
"Oh, I apologize princess, things are still very tense here and we have to be careful."
The guard's behavior was understandable for Tessia, but what she couldn't stand was that after all these years of war she was still addressed as princess.
"I'm not a princess anymore," she replied, slightly annoyed, and headed through the gate without waiting for a reaction from the guard.
In contrast to the city, where relief was evident, the mood in the castle was still serious. No one was smiling or resting. The war was officially over, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be any more assaults by the remaining enemy forces.
She had been in this castle before, after it was taken, so she knew the way to the officers' quarters where her grandfather was supposed to be. The castle must have been a nice place before the war. Even if the corridors were dirty and dusty, the carpets worn and broken, you could still see the paintings on the walls, the chandeliers on the ceiling and the former beauty of the castle.
After a few minutes, she arrived at a large wooden door. In front of the door stood two guards who, unlike the guards at the entrance to the castle, had an aura that only people with many years of combat experience had.
Only after she introduced herself and showed her emblem was she wordlessly allowed to enter. "That's how it works.", she could not suppress a slight smile.
In the room she entered, unlike the rest of the castle, there was silence. This was not only because there was no one in the room except her grandfather, and lots of paperwork, but also because of the magical sound barriers that blocked any outside sounds and at the same time ensured that no one could listen to the conversations in the room.
The war did not leave Virion unscathed, even if he did not participate directly in battles, the exhaustion showed clearly. Virion was already over 200 years old and yet Tessia could not remember the old man before the war. It was not the wrinkles on his face, but his eyes, which had been lively before and now looked old and exhausted, Tessia thought.
When Virion noticed Tessia, however, relief showed on his face.
In recent years, Virion had been the commander for Tessia, not her grandfather whom she had cherished.
"Comma-" Tess began to speak but Virion interrupted her.
"Tess, the war is over, even if there is still much to do we should be able to afford to be grandfather and granddaughter again," Virion smiled at Tessia.
A sigh of relief fell from Tessia's tense lips. She had held her breath without even knowing. She had become so accustomed to being a soldier, having lost her parents and home, that she had forgotten she was still young.
Tears formed in Tessia's eyes and she sobbed.
Virion walked up to her and took her in his arms. "Tess, we have done it. The war is over. Soon we will be able to return to our old lives. I didn't invite you here today to talk about the war, but to tell you that Arthur is here in Mayburn."
Tessia's eyes widened, "What? How? I thought..." she swallowed her surprise. "Where?"
Contrary to her expectations, Arthur was no longer on the enemy continent where he defeated the leader, but already back on Dicathen. Her childhood friend whom she had not seen for so long.
"Tess, when he arrived he was unconscious and I don't know how he is doing now, his family and two other people are with him right now. So I thought you would be happy to visit him as soon as possible."
"Thanks, for telling me," Tess replied in a low voice. She knew that his grandpa had more work to do than it was possible to deal with, yet he still took his time to call for her.
Virion explained to her in which chambers she was and immediately set off.
"Should I have warned her?", Virion had to grin.
Tessia ran to the room where Arthur was supposed to be.
Out of breath, she rushed toward a soldier guarding a door.
"Is he in there?" she asked in an exhausted and agitated voice.
The guard immediately recognized who was addressing him and ignored the explicit order not to let anyone into the room. He opened the large door for the former princess.
In the room there were five people and a bear that Tessia recognized immediately. Boo, the bond of Ellie, Arthur's sister who was asleep on a couch. On a large bed lay a man with blond hair. A younger woman with midnight blue, almost navy hair sat with her back to the bed. When she saw Tessia, she averted her eyes again. Another woman standing at the edge of the room, whose face Tessia could not recognize because she wore a hood, also looked up only briefly. Yet she seemed strangely familiar to Tessia. A woman Tessia recognized immediately was sitting next to the bed with reddened eyes. Her name was Alice, Arthur's mother and a woman who befriended Tessia.
"Alice, how is he?" asked Tessia, her voice still excited but gentle.
Alice didn't answer immediately, Tessia could see the exhaustion not only on her face, but on her whole body. Tessia suspected that, for the last two days, she had not moved from the bed for a minute.
Surprisingly, the mysterious woman answered, still with a hood on her face which stood leaning against the wall
"Physically he is doing well again, he should be over the worst. However, he still hasn't woken up and hasn't moved in 2 days. Whether it's due to exhaustion or something else we don't know."
The question of a doctor was unnecessary, Tessia knew that Alice herself had spent a lot of time on the battlefield as a doctor and healer. If she didn't know the reason why Arthur was still unconscious, then no one did.
When Tessia regained her breath, she slowly approached the bed.
Standing in front of the bed, she began to look more closely at Arthur, who only slightly lifted his chest to breathe.
Even though there were no more wounds on the rune-covered body, Tessia could guess the extent of his injuries from the bed sheets. The blanket seemed to have been changed but dried blood could be seen around the edges of the bed. All over.
"Alice...", Tess looked at Alice.
Alice did not avert her gaze from Arthur, but began to speak. "Tess, my dear," Alice spoke softly, close to tears, "I have seen thousands of wounded on the battlefield, but never anything like Arthur, his body was completely torn apart, it is a miracle that he is still alive. I tried to heal him but his body already has incredible regeneration. I don't even know if I helped him." Alice sobbed, barely able to speak. Barely able to shed another tear.
"Alice, I'm sure you helped him. Even by sitting on his side all this time. Thank you."
"He fought Agrona, the leader of the Vritra," said the young woman who was also sitting by the bed. Tess didn't know who she was, and she couldn't see her face though only the back of her head, small horns growing above her forehead. She had seen these horns many times during the war. They were the horns of the Vritra, the enemy faction.
Without thinking, her soldier experience kicked in and she was on guard. The young woman noticed this, but did not move. She knew where this reaction came from and couldn't blame her. It was her race who was responsible for so many deaths.
Again, the voice from the edge of the room spoke up. "We are not enemies. We were allies and we fought together against Agrona."
The mysterious woman then pulled her hood from her face.
This woman had obsidian-colored horns that glowed like precious stones, contrasting with her pearl-colored hair that flowed back over her narrow shoulders.
"My name is Seris, Seris Vritra. I was a Scythe," she said in a calm voice.
Tess knew very well who the Scythes were. The leaders of the enemy.
As if by reflex, unable to think, Tess pulled her sword from her dimensional ring and defended herself.
"Tess!", Alice raised her voice, "they are friends. It was them who brought Arthur here."
Tessia, still confused and undecided as to what was happening, her sword still raised, asked in a confused voice. "How? Why?" Unable to form a proper sentence.
Now, for the first time, the person who was also sitting by the bed spoke. Her exhausted voice was low and calm. "Grey was a comrade. We fought together against Agrona and his people. Agrona also enslaved our people and we freed ourselves from his tyranny.
I probably owe you some answers and I would like to talk to you later. Grey has spoken a lot about you, Tessia Eralith. However, for now you just need to know that we brought Grey here and we are on your side."
Tess lowered her sword, the person's voice strangely soothing to her. Still not in her right mind, she stammered. "Grey?"
The woman smirked after a moment's confusion. "That's the name he used on our continent."
Tess looked at Alice, who averted her gaze from Arthur for the first time and smiled at her with red eyes and nodded. She was now calm again.
The young woman also turned her gaze to Tessia.
She had red eyes and midnight blue eyes. Now she could also see her horns, the trademark of the Vritra. The first thought that went through Tessia's mind was that she was beautiful.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Caera, Caera Denoir."
"Nice to meet you too, my name is Tess.... Tessia, Tessia Eralith."