The Hidden Realm

Chapter 19 – TEST

ELEAND still sensed the loud thump of his heart. His sick stomach turned, and he was about to throw up. He had witnessed an entire army being slaughtered. The Faerie Queen was there again, unleashing hell.

Enkille stood beside him when he opened his eyes.

“You have to master the Protexerium even in your sleep until you breathe with it. If you didn’t do that, those nightmares would haunt you forever.” Enkille looked worried. She scrutinized him with her arms crossed.

“Why I see the Ancient Queen? It seems her power is lurking over me.” He weakly sat down on his bed.

“When did this nightmare starts?”

He pondered. “I guess it was the time I saw the queen in the Golden Palace.”

Eleand could not think of any reason. The pattern of his sleep was good for the past nights before meeting the Ancient Queen. He was sure it had something to do with her threats since she knew he was a mortal living in the Golden Palace. Eleand was aware it was f*******n. Maybe it was the logical explanation why the queen punished him.

“Have you seen the face of the Ancient Queen?” Enkille asked as if something troubled her mind.

“No, just her back. They disappeared before I could get a chance to see her face.”

“That’s better, do not dare to look at her face if you want to live. You cannot withstand her substantial amount of mana with your weak body.”

Eleand deeply breathed out. “I hope I won’t see her again.”

“I wish,” she sounded doubtful. Enkille studied him over, “Go back to sleep. I will join you at breakfast later. I will see if you made your assignments.”

Eleand hardly shook his head. “I don’t think I can sleep again. You can test my improvement in shield magic right now.”

“Okay, get up.”

He got up, scurried to the bathroom to refresh himself, and drank two glasses of water to lighten his mood. Then he observed the pain from his wounds yesterday. It was gone.

“I’m ready,” he walked close to Enkille.

Enkille held his shoulders, and they disappeared. They materialized to the same peak of the waterfall, where he almost died.

“Sit down and close your eyes.”

Before he obeyed, he let his eyes be satisfied in the magical view of the dawn. The horizon was orange and red, flaunting a set of iridescent clouds.

Eleand sat on a thick pile of snow. He just shrugged off the icy temperature, his attention concentrated on the emerging sun and completely oblivious even to the splash of the water below.

Then he gently closed his eyes, meditated, and tried not to be distracted by his bad dream to calm his mind. Until he felt an unwanted presence, forceful and aggressive, trying to intrude on his thoughts.

Enkille tested the shield in his mind. He did his best to wield this new magic properly. However, he could vividly see the ice worms trying to consume his mind.

His body shook involuntarily. He found himself out of breath and looked at Enkille, but she would not let go of his thoughts.

Concentrate. There was no room for panic. If his weakness could easily sway him, he would not survive. He had learned his lesson the hard way during his first sparring with the high priestess.

Eleand hardly closed his eyes. He fought the ice worms from his cognition. Until he finally witnessed them turned to steam. The ice worms evaporated because of black fire.

Bewilderment painted in Enkille’s face. His mind was clear again. But there was another wave of ice worm, again and again. His jaw clenched as he focused on an invisible enemy until all were dispersed because of the black thing shielding his head.

“Spectacular!” Enkille smiled. Her eyes invoked admiration. She sat beside him and tapped his shoulder.

“Did I pass the test?”

Enkille nodded. For a moment, he was proud of himself, and he shouted in joy. He perfectly wielded the Protexerium! His hard works paid off.

“What you did is amazing. You have to do that all the time, to protect yourself. Always remember that nobody is allowed to control you.”

“Of course, I’m happy. I did it!” He could not contain his happiness that he gestured on punching the air. The feeling was very satisfying.

“What to learn next?”

“For now, practice more. Until you can shield your own body and other things around you.”

Their eyes met momentarily, and his lips formed a smile, “I don’t know what to do without you. Someday, I’m going to repay this debt.”

Enkille averted her gaze. “Probably, you will.”

“I will keep on studying the books you gave. But I have brought one book from the Golden Palace. It was weird the first time I scanned the pages. The ancient alphabets moved. Until I could read it in my modern language,” he shook his head, remembering the day it happened.

“I will check on that later on breakfast.”

Eleand deeply inhaled and mildly felt the cold wind touching his skin and put his attention back to the sunrise. He felt fulfilled. And hopefully, his success for other magic would be within his grasp and easy like this. It was too early to celebrate now. What he learned were only the basics.

“What do you think Fariyah will teach me next?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“She will test your innate ability if you can wield the water. That is the first element of magic a mortal must learn. Just like in the old days, your ancestors would learn the magic of water, fire, wind, and earth. If a mortal is strong, he can control one of the elements. But usually, no human being could do that. In your case, I think you are strong enough to wield the four elements.”

“Really?” He wanted to hear her confirmation. Because he knew it would not be easy. “But you think, will it be hard?”

“Better expect the worst. You have seen what Fariyah is capable of.” She let out a sigh and added, “To give you a consolation, I will teach you the Vanire when I got back.”

“The teleportation?” His face beamed, “But I thought a mortal couldn’t do such magic.” That was what Winzi told him before. Only royals could do the transportation magic.

The Faerie smiled. “Always look inside your heart. You can accomplish what you desire. Just focus.” She lightly punched his arms, “I’ll be gone for a couple of days. Do your best on your next sparring.”

“Wait, where are you going?” He was suddenly worried. If Enkille was not around during his fight with the priestess, who would help him if he suffered the same fate?

“I’ll be attending the council meeting in Argia on the High Priestess’ behalf.”

“Yeah, the council meeting, I remember,” he let out a sigh. He overheard about this meeting while he was in the Golden Palace. Aserah and Zanti would attend as well.

“Don’t worry, I’ll notify you about the discussion there,” she giggled.

Their eyes met again when the light of the sun finally covered the place. Eleand suddenly felt uneasy looking at her closely. He could sense there was something about her that he couldn’t point out. It was like a thing lurking inside her eyes, into her soul.

“Your eyes… appear beyond mystifying. It’s different. I can’t explain.”

Her lips curved into a wicked smile. “Out of this world?”

Enkille genuinely laughed at his puzzled expression.

“I have seen so many creatures in this world. Every time I see something new, it terrifies me. But now I have got used to it. Because I had felt all kinds of horror a human could feel.”

“Is that so? Are you ready to see another unique creature then?” her voice challenged him.

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Enkille let out a whistle. The wind began to rustle, followed by a flapping sound of wings.

Eleand was out of words upon seeing this new wonder creature. He stood up and flinched.

“What is that?” He scrutinized the creature several times. It was unique. Its color was white as clouds. Its body was like a horse, while its face and wings were like an eagle. The beast was huge and mighty.

“Meet Arrano, my aerial partner in battle.” She walked near it and gently messed its white feathers.

“Well, hello, Arrano.” He hesitated to come near it. But the creature seemed to understand him, and it arched his head.

“Come, let’s have a ride before we eat our breakfast.”

Arrano knelt and Enkille rode it. She called him again when she noticed he didn’t move.

“Eleand, hurry up!”

“All right.” Maybe he should trust his companion that Arrano would not let him fall and die.

He rode the creature and held Enkille’s waist. This would be another adventure in this realm, and he did not deny that it made him feel excited.