Splash!
The sound of Craig falling into the water caught Glowmyth's attention causing her eyes to snap open. As soon as she noticed that Craig was nowhere to be seen she flew up and looked around. Then she looked into the water as the ripples settled. She then primarily assumed that he had dove in, in order to better gather the lotus flowers or that he had seen something underneath the water.
However, she soon rejected that Notion when she looked around and saw a figure at the lake's edge with a glowing bow in hand.
"Spirit Archery?" She involuntarily cried out before casting her gaze back to the water's surface. That was when she noticed the red colour that was diffusing in the water. "Blood! Don't tell me!" She immediately panicked. She had grown to like Craig a little after getting to know him a bit. At first she actually harmed him with her biases towards humanity but now she felt that he was a genuinely decent person.
She didn't even hesitate and immediately dove into the water. It was like a drop of rain falling into the sea.
Plop!
Her tiny figure vanished.
Ashore, an elf stood with a glowing bow in hand looking at the small wooden boat at the center of the lake. He had a sharp face and also sharp focused eyes but his nose was very small and barely visible giving him an odd look. His long blue hair swayed in the night breeze, intermittently landing on his back and shoulders.
"A human snuck all the way in here? How is that even possible?" He murmured to himself as he rubbed his chin with his free hand. "Trying to steal from underneath our noses, ha!" He chuckled scornfully before launching a ball of light into the sky.
Whoosh!
A few moments later multiple elves converged on his location and gathered around him. They were all alert and scanning their surroundings, trying to figure out what happened.
"What's going on?"
"Are there intruders."
"Who cast the signal?"
"Lhiss was the first one here when I Came."
Everyone started asking questions, wondering why an alert signal was launched into the air.
Lhiss, who was the odd looking elf who cast the signal, raised his hand, signalling for everyone to quiet down. "There was a human intruder on the lake attempting to steal our precious lotuses. I'm not sure how many there are so we need to scout the vicinity as there may be more than one. Half of you return and spread the word and begin a search. Leave no ant untrampled. The rest of you fan out and surround the lake. Although I aimed for his heart he may still be alive, without his body there will be no rest."
Without uttering a word the group of elves looked at each other and separated into two groups. One group rushed back into the ruins whilst Majority of the other headed towards the lake surrounding it.
"Are you certain it was a human?" One of four remaining elves asked, looking at Lhiss Sceptically. He wore his hood over his head leaving only a portion of his face visible. If one looked closely it seemed there was some deformity to his facial features.
Lhiss nodded. "I picked up a vague aura earlier and decided to track it down only to end up here. When I arrived, I saw an empty boat headed to the center of the lake. Haha, I was speechless and apprehensive, wondering who or what it could possibly be but it turned out to be a human with a bit of cloaking ability."
The elf that asked the question spat to the side. "A despicable human dared to infiltrate into our territory, what gall. It seems the knowledge of our lotus pond is becoming more widespread."
"But how did he get all the way down here?" Another elf voiced his confusion.
"Does it matter much how he got here?" Another remarked. "Since he's here he's as good as dead anyway." He sounded certain that would be the result of whoever trespassed into their forbidden territory.
"Use your brain for once York, of course it matters. How else would we tighten our security measures." The elf from before remarked.
"York, Zurich, now isn't the time for your usual bickering. Join the others and find that human's body."
The duo, York and Zurich obediently dashed off and got to work.
Lhiss, along with the the remaining two elves stood in place and kept a watchful eye over the entire surroundings.
Soon, multiple orbs of light were launched into the sky above the pond, completely illuminating it. The elves began combing through the water in search of Craig's body.
***
Craig was completely surrounded by water and felt wet and cold but his feeling was slowly fading away along with his consciousness. He wasn't breathing due to his lung collapsing as if he had automatically held his breath. He slowly sank deeper into the water as the dim surface drew further away from him.
'I'm going to die here huh. This isn't so bad I guess. The guilt I've been carrying can finally be washed away like this.' As he thought of this, memories flooded his mind.
The memories that were too painful for him to reminisce on. The memories of the times he spent with the bandit brigade and their bond of brotherhood. The group of righteous friends that wanted nothing more than a better world for everyone. A world where everyone was treated fairly and at the very least barely anyone suffered.
But that... Those dreams and idealogies were snatched away by the empire. They were labeled criminals and after so many years of struggling when they were finally having an impact on the people, it was all taken away due to Craig and his mission to rescue his father. In one fell swoop they were all killed after that mission because their hideout was discovered. Every single one of them was dead, the only survivor being, Craig himself.
The guilt in Craig's now bleeding heart deepened as he wallowed in regret. Just like this he sank deeper, and as he did more guilt ridden memories flooded his mind. All of the good times he had with his hunting squad after escaping from the Slaughter of the bandit brigade and rebuilding a life.
He had thought those days would last a lifetime. All of the hunting, all the adventure and all the thrill of a hunter's life. Not to mention the romance he had with his then love of his life; Ianna. She was so perfect, in every way. To him at least, there was no one who could replace her.
Their group of ten had gathered together over the course of a few years and had become a small family who were inseparable. They did everything together and never backed down from any challenge. Which sadly, was what led to them agreeing to Craig's suggestion to hunt a Red-fang Slaughter Wolf.
At the time, he was obsessed with the Red-fang Slaughter Wolf after encountering one and surviving with a narrow escape. He had figured that, with all ten of them they at least had an eighty percent chance of successfully hunting down and killing one. He couldn't have been more wrong and would probably never again be as wrong as he was at that time.
The results... were catastrophic. Images of that day flashed through Craig's mind repeatedly, displaying the horrific scenes of his friends, his family, being torn to shreds one after another. By the time the wolf was dead he was the only one left standing.
He remembered standing at the bottom of the cliff next to the wolf's dead body. It had attacked him near the cliff's edge and they both fell together but fortunately the wolf had hit the ground first, with him on top. Due to its many injuries from the long battle it had instantly died from the fall.
Without ever figuring out how, Craig had climbed back up the cliff that barely had anything to grab on to. After making it to the top he walked like a zombie through the trail of blood and body parts of his friends. With tears in his eyes and a trembling body he retraced the entire journey, looking at the corpses of his friends. A scene that would turn ones stomach and induce years of constant vomiting. It was truly gruesome.
He walked all the way back to the first person who had died, his lover, Ianna. He was void of any presence of sanity at the time and with hollow eyes he knelt next to her incomplete corpse took her into his arms, crying till he cried blood.
That incident changed him, and for the years following he was a broken man. It took him a long time to recover mentally but he still hadn't completely recovered. The guilt in his heart specifically had never decreased to the point where all he could do was distract his mind with recklessness.
He began messing around with the orcs on a day to day basis as a way to vent his emotions. He eventually began stealing from them, as well as humans.
In fact, all these years he had been living in the way that would bring the most danger to his life, in hopes that one day his suffering would end. As much as he wanted to live, he also wanted to die, but couldn't bring himself to commit suicide. His best option turned out to be letting fate take its course.
Now that he was truly on the verge of death, and knew there was no going back he had yet, another regret. The fact that he was going to die without saving A'ina's life.
'Maeli... Little fairy... I hope that somehow, the two of you can save her. Andre... Father... I'm sorry... for all the trouble.' These were his last thoughts as he felt his consciousness fading away.
The cold embrace of the water and the impending darkness gave him a comfortable sensation of peace and tranquillity. It was as if death was singing him a sweet melody of freedom and promising him the release he so longed for.
The dim glow from the surface of the lake slowly brightened and turned his vision completely white. He thought that he was seeing the fabled light one would see before death but who would have thought that light would condense into an indescribably beautiful woman in a white, flowing dress.
She was as white as snow and looked like a work of polished jade. Her long black hair spread out in the water above her head giving off an ethereal look. Her white dress was stuck to her body perfectly revealing her nation toppling figure.
Craig was mesmerised and surprised to see that it was the very same woman from his vision. The same woman that had led him to this area in a trance.
She slowly descended till she was floating just above him and placed her hand onto the hole in his chest. In this way, the two of them sank and landed at the bottom of the lake. With her light emerald green eyes, she looked into Craig's eyes as if she was reading his soul. A simple elegant smile brought even more charm to her beautiful face.
Craig, with his last bits of strength tried to mouth out a question. "Who... ar..." But was interrupted with a finger to his lips. He was surprised to discover that although his entire body was numb and his consciousness hazy, he had actually felt her fingertip with great clarity.
The woman kept her gaze locked with Craig's own gaze for while longer. The hand which was placed on his chest started to radiate with bright white light and a surge of warm energy entered his body through the wound.
That was when she leaned close to his ears and whispered to him, "Divine Lotus."