Chapter 22 - Post Breakout

Faint figures of two men standing with large enthusiastic grins on their faces appeared in the dreams of Sticky. Especially the figure he saw to the left, after all he eerily looked familiar to Aldir

The other figure was a blonde male with few strands of white hair, and he wore very flashy white armor with a longsword strapped to the left side of his waist.

Whatever they were speaking about was unheard by Sticky for he could barely understand what language they were speaking in. It wasn't the Common Augustinian that most humans would use in today's era, but it was Ancient Augustinian.

The reason it was named Augustinian was due to the first King of Volantis now arisen to godhood. Willford I Augustian known by his deity name as Victorian.

Not understanding anything the two figures slowly vanish, and with that Sticky woke up to seeing themselves resting on top Yuni's head.

The group was traveling through a forest with many bright flowers giving the place a mythical presence. A scent of lilac followed the group making cautious, and it was eeriely silent except for one sound.

Whispering, whispers of what seemed to be children echoed around the forest, and feeling the branches beneath them be more wet caused everyone to stop moving.

"They're here." said Volhcard, his hand tightly gripping the staff.

The whispers grew louder, and the moment Yuni took out her daggers a gust of wind punched her in stomach which caused Sticky to jump on Theo's head.

Another quickly knocked Jae, and when the winds got stronger a female figure walked out of the dense fog that enveloped the forest.

"A fae?" Theo muttered underneath his breath.

Raising her right hand a yellow ball of lightning formed which had a noisy whirring sound of whispers. The woman had blue hair that trailed across the ground, her eyes were magenta in color mixed with pink, her beautiful serene black cloak with red, purple, and blue patterns swayed in the wind.

Feeling the imminent danger that was about to happen, Idol dashed towards the woman transforming their left hand into a hammer which they aimed at her face.

The moment he struck the woman she vanished into small particles of pink light before reappearing behind the machine. 

She trailed her fingers around the machine's neck before using her index finger and stabbing a circuit which made Idol fall on to their knees shutting down.

"Theo, whe-" before Volhcard could continue whispering to Theo, the atmosphere around them grew dark.

Looking up the sky they both saw a storm hovering over them, and with one word everything went bright.

"Fall." her voiced echoed throughout the forest the all the bolts of lightning collided with each other and slam down on to Theo, Sticky, Volhcard, Yuni, and Jae.

His eyes fluttered before he fully opened them, and sitting up, Volhcard saw himself in a bright room with beautiful flowers with a blue hue, while the walls and floors were covered in mushrooms of various types. 

"Follower of the Glorious Life what brings you and your group of unsightly friends to the Forest of Wisps?" 

The same woman that had attacked them just hours before was sitting on a wooden chair with a book in her hand.

Faint fiery blue mana flowed behind her following the fae's wings which it sooner absorbed.

Standing up she burned the book in her hand before tossing the ashes on to Volhcard's lap.

"We're onl-" before even finishing his sentence just for a split second he saw blurry images.

Seeing the worried look of Volhcard made a small smile form on the fae's face. She took a step forward placing both her hands on his shoulders before whispering in his ears.

"4 days from now you will be in our dear Ocean Goddess' arms, and only 1 day after that a great calamity will befall Vyolmir."

Bang!

She was now pinned to the wall by Volhcard who held both her hands above her head. His face aching with hints of frustration, but also sadness. 

Slowly a tear formed on his left eye which the fae wiped away before pushing him off and picking him she placed him back on the bed.

"Will you be able to handle it? All those 'sins', and that sacrifice." 

Volhcard slowly raised his head glaring at the fae while balling his hands into fists tightly clenching them.

"Is this our fate? Is this what is supposed to happen in the future?!" he lashed out punching the fae leaving a small bruise on her left cheek.

Yet the fae simply chuckled and walked back to her chair and summoned another book to her hands.

"Why must we have to go to such lengths just to reach Volantis?! I know that there are no shortcuts but why must innocent people have to suffer?!" 

The sounds of Volhcard's frustrated question was drowned out as the fae closed her eyes seeing a faint figure laying on the ground clutching on to the hand of another figure.

She opened her eyes once more to see Volhcard fighting his tears from coming out. Standing up she leaned down to his level and placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Such a pure heart for a dwarf, even for a priest your heart has no sign of corroding from corruption nor sin."

Then the vision of Volhcard started to blur which was followed by a sharp pain entering his chest.

Thud! He fell on to the wooden floor all while the fae opened a silver bottle that was transparent revealing 5 floating balls of sparks in different colors: dark purple, sunny yellow, bronze, red, white, and light blue.

She walked out of the cabin, and the moment she opened the door Alfis stood in front of her.

"How are they doing, Faltina?"

His fingers spinning two silver coins while he looked around the fae's cabin and the surroundings. Ethereal trees with branches stretched out like fingers crawling to the sky.

A sparkling fog surrounded the forest including the cabin allowing no one to find or sense them. 

"The dwarf is probably my favorite among them, however that doesn't mean the others are not interesting as well."

Alfis narrowed his eyes before flipping both the coins into the air. The moment they touched the ground he, and the coins vanished into thin air.

"You ask me for a favor, and don't even stay longer... How rude."

Looking up she sees the cool blue sky turned into a darker blue signifying that the Ocean Goddess is slowly awakening from slumber.

She took out a dagger with tunes etched on to the sides with a fiery blue glow on the tip. She plunged deep into the soil causing the blue flames to spread throughout the forest.

The sparks inside the jar from the cabin started shaking frantically which caused the jar to slowly crack. When the blue flames collided with an invisible barrier that blocked off a cave that was when the jar shattered allowing the five sparks to break free.

Confused and lost the sparks rushed out of the cabin and into the cave. While all this happen, Faltina simply dusted her before walking back to her cabin.

"Wake up!" she slapped Volhcard awake.

In a panic Volhcard sat up to be met with a scroll to his face.

"Your friends have wondered into the cave that borders Altissa and the Forest of Wisps."

Volhcard still in a dazed slowly stood up before walking to the door. But the door wouldn't open even with the strength of a dwarf.

"Why won't you let me go yet?" he looked back at Faltina who held his staff.

"Well I can't have you forgetting this." 

She tossed the staff at him, and the moment he caught it the door opened allowing him to exit the cabin. A gust of eerie winds strike Volhcard's body disrupting the flow of his mana.

He shook his staff before slamming it down only for nothing to come out. Then, the started twirling the staff only for nothing to come out.

"Right, I'm in a fae's domain."

He started walking to the cave feeling cold, and paranoid from the many whispers around him.

The entrance of the cave was in the shape of a mouth, and the edges shaped like jagged teeth with small droplets of water colored red.

"That's not creepy at all..."