Chapter 14 – GUARDIAN OF THE FOREST
1165 Words
ELEAND stared at the faeries minding their own business outside the Golden Palace, and in his hand, he held the book of magic Aserah gave him. He had a lot of things going in his mind, but he made sure that his goals were clear. He had to survive and endure everything to be able to wield strong magic.
He stood few meters away from the main door when he went back to his senses. Some faeries looked at him and mostly didn’t even care. He would always look forward to getting back here.
He promised himself that no matter what happened, he would move forward. His life alone was a blessing that he didn’t die in the accident. Looking at the bright side, he was still lucky that despite being a human, he got a chance to discover that this world of the faeries exists and he had met some wonderful creatures. Even this world was dangerous. They allowed him to learn magic even the outcome was uncertain.
“Are you ready?” asked Winzi behind him. He was caught in awe because of the white fur cape resting on her shoulder.
Eleand figured that she knew what he was thinking. Winzi rolled her eyes and scrutinized him from head to toe.
“What is your problem?” he asked with unconcealed irritation. He just didn’t like the mocking smile plastered on her face.
“How many times do I have to tell you to use your common sense? You know that we’ll go to the Winter Region. Why is your clothing inappropriate?”
“I don’t mind. We can always use your magic,” he said casually. He chose to wear a black jacket, unbuttoned to reveal his muscular chest, paired with black pants and leather boots. He was just confident that Winzi would be in rescue in case he suffered hypothermia.
“Magic has limitations. I am a seer, and I can control the water but not fire. If I were you, I’d wear winter clothing.”
“All right, fine!” he lightly shook his shoulder. He immediately turned back, but Winzi started complaining.
“What a waste of time!” She waved his hand and clicked her fingers, “Refitment magic.”
His body was suddenly covered with glittering light, and in just a blink, his clothes changed.
“What the—” He noticed that he now wore a black tunic with belt and gold buckle and a fur-lined cloak with a brooch on his right shoulder. His golden bow and quiver rested at his back. In fairness, he admired her fashion sense this time. Although he never liked Winzi’s nosy attitude.
“Great, now the glamor is perfect. Nahil is right. You look like a faerie prince,” her eyes beamed with admiration as she looked at him. But she immediately rolled her eyes heavenward.
He exhaled sharply. “You know what? I’m going to make sure I’ll learn a lot of magic. By that time, I will have my privacy, and you wouldn’t dare to disrespect my boundaries.”
She burst into laughter. “We’ll see. That is if you can learn magic.”
“I will, and I would ask you to fight me by then.”
Winzi laughed aloud to the point of catching her breath. “What makes you think you can defeat me? Dream on!”
Eleand smiled confidently. “I always dream high. Remember that.”
“Oh, scary,” Winzi said sarcastically.
“Anyway, I’m ready to go. Shall we?” He offered his hand, and Winzi roughly held it.
Eleand suddenly sensed a swirling motion when a light enveloped them. He swallowed hard because of the dizziness. Until he noticed they were standing amid the forest. He was sure that they were not in the Winter Region yet. The lush greenery around made him conclude that.
He was amazed when an old temple came into view. It was in ruins. There was a lofty stair in the middle of a huge broken door. Large vines were creeping on the wall, and yellow flowers were in bloom. There was a female statue on the right side, covered with moss.
“Don’t tell me this is Fariyah’s temple?” he asked, puzzled. Because it looked different compared to the descriptions, Winzi talked about.
“Of course not. This is the Temple Ruins of Zydith, the priestess governing the wild animals. This temple was torn during the war. This is just the remains.”
He shook his head lightly. Eleand was sure this temple was astounding during its glory years. He felt some loss, but he could still feel the presence of the previous inhabitants because he was feeling uneasy.
“Why did we stop here?” Eleand was still studying the surroundings.
Winzi shrugged. “Nothing special.”
Eleand almost jumped in shock when he heard a roar of a beast. He worriedly looked at Winzi. She seemed calm and smiling as she stared at the broken main door of the temple. He held himself when he saw a creature he had never seen before, even in the Golden Palace.
He was not sure if the beast was a lion or a unicorn, or maybe a crossbreed. Its body was like a lion but green. The mane was red. But there’s a gold horn on its forehead. Its long deadly teeth were terrifying to stare at.
“What creature is that?” He was frightened and amused at the same time. His foot was glued on the ground while the beast moved at a deadly pace going down the wide cracked stairs towards their direction.
“That is Harewyn, guardian of this forest. We are near the mountain boundary of Mirasaen and Velidia. I’ll be using the Vanire more or less four times to conserve my energy. The Winter Region is a bit far if you are going to travel by horse. Maybe it will take you a week.”
“That far?” His eyes broadened. He must learn how to use transportation magic so that traveling in this world would be handy.
Winzi giggled. “You dream about learning the Vanire, but I highly doubt it. Mortal can’t use that kind of power even you can wield magic.”
His words left mid-air when the beast roared again.
“s**t, s**t!” He hurriedly grabbed his bow. If this thing tried to harm him, he would never hesitate to shoot it even this beast was the guardian of the forest.
Winzi wickedly laughed. This witch wanted to feed him in this beast! Did she betray him?
Maybe this was the reason she brought him here. The beast was no joke. She could always tell that he died because of an accident, that they had encountered a deadly beast while on their way to Velidia.
This is not acceptable! Eleand gritted his teeth.
Winzi laughed hard, looking at his distressed face.
- Writer
