Tales of Revenants

Chapter 7 – Gossips

The perilous journey began when they departed just as before the dawn rises.

It took them a few days to arrive at the Truffle Kingdom just by running and of course, there's no way the maiden Luciella could run like Laken so he carries her in his back all the time.

No one could travel just by running from Skyhaven to the Arcanos borderline. It's almost physically impossible, but for a Revenant, who are deprived of their sanity in exchange for detaching the concept of mortal limit to a level beyond magic, they could totally pull it off.

Fortunately, it would take Laken and Luciella to the borders of Jade City a few hours because the Truffle Village is one of the near neighboring villages.

It's evident for Luciella that Laken is faster than any carriage. He's cautious enough to not let her feel groggy after running like a horse miles away.

“Wait, Laken, at this rate the sun will burn my back. Let's take a rest near that tree.” Luciella suggested pointing out towards the tree at the entrance of a forest. They won't go within as their path is up north while the forest's direction is west.

“Alright.” Laken carefully laid her on the grassy terrain. “My back's hurting so much,” Luciella whined. She drank the water without a trace of a single drop as if she's the one who dashed fast.

“Wait here. I know of a certain herb's oil had an effect of sunlight and heat resistance when applied to the skin. I'll get it for you so wait here.” Laken stated. He rummages through his sack to find an empty vial to contain the oil.

He found the empty vial he had in no time so he temporarily left Luciella sprawling on the grassy patch.

Laken entered the forest and searched the ground for the specific herb he wanted to extract the oil with. The herb is called lavarosa herb and it has spikes on its stems. The flowers are bright purple much lighter than a lavender.

“There you are.” On the corner of a sycamore lies the lavarosa herb surrounded by poisonous mushrooms.

It is said the lavarosa absorbs the nutrients of the shrooms and that under intoxication it evolves its own mechanism to survive the poison. The herb had more medicinal uses than to resist heat.

Laken was able to successfully extract the oil in his three vials so he wouldn't go back in the forest again after some time since the ointment can be bought on the merchants.

Since he's also there and he saw a bunch of aloe vera sitting on the ground. He went and extracted the juice as well to refill their water supply. Laken can live without drink and food but Luciella can't. He thinks of her more than himself.

He's about to go back when suddenly he heard the shriek of Luciella from afar. “Laken!” He immediately recognized her.

Without wasting a frame of a second, he came dashing like the gust of the wind to save her from danger just like he promised.

“Luciella!” He thought Luciella was attacked by a group of bandits but what he witnessed is far more bewildering.

There emerged a giant Nightbeast serpent that is supposed to be nocturnal. The monster is chasing Luciella cornering her near the tree.

Laken jumped in to save her. “Severe!” his blade delivered a quick and painless severing technique to detach the head of a serpent. It's too bad the Nightbeast meets its demise in no time.

“Laken!” Luciella called for and cling unto Laken sooner the serpent fell and vanished.

“It's okay now. That thing never bit you or anything right?” Laken worries.

“No. I'm taking a nap and suddenly it appeared in front of me.” She implies while Laken left with a line of eyebrows, still wondering about the Nightbeasts.

“There's no way a Nightbeast could appear in a broad daylight.” Laken sighed. “Just forget it. The more important thing is you're safe.” He felt relieved Luciella is sound and safe.

“I don't want to stay here anymore. It's scary.” Luciella really became accustomed to clinging to his arms.

“Before that, here is the vial containing the oil. Smear just a few drops, the oil is potent enough to sustain until noon.” Laken imply. He gave her the vial for her use.

Luciella needs to remove her mage garments to apply the ointment, but Laken is just standing there staring at her in broad sunlight. He still lacks delicacy, nevertheless, Luciella's fear of seeing another Nightbeast appearing like a mushroom made her applied the ointment in no time.

“Let's go.” Laken carried her and he continued to sprint towards the border of Jade City to their next objective.

Thankfully they entered at Jade City's passage gate without witnessing the arrival of dusk. Luciella's back didn't have any sore or unpleasant pain because of the help of the lavarosa herb's raw oil.

The city's scenery amidst the forest is full of greenery and sycamore trees that are at least a hundred years old. The Arcanos Kingdom commune with the very nature itself so they build even cities in forests to show their love to the mother nature.

“To save time, do you have the Falcon guild crest?” Laken asked.

He laid her down on a rock so she could sit on the bush for a while. Both of them can't go and act too rashly once they are inside the city that's why Laken is making sure to plan things out.

“Yes, here it is.” Luciella showed her an emblem with the mark of a falcon. No doubt about it that's the emblem to certify you're a member of the guild to be eligible on doing quests and missions.

“Go ask the elf denizens about mysterious events around the border then show them that emblem. That would give us a clue about where my friend is. I'll scout the area for the meantime.” Laken tasked her.

He gave her a pocket knife just in case she isn't allowed to use magic when the time comes she got caught in a dangerous situation.

“Got it. Be safe.” Luciella agreed to the plan. “You too.” Laken reciprocated.

Without wasting seconds, they went to commence the plan. Laken went to scout the vicinity while Luciella entered the Jade City donning her hood to at least conceal her half-elf property.

This is Luciella's first and real quest alone because she only used to join a beginner's training party where a senior member of the guild usher them during their adventures.

But most of the time they never get to feel the experience of adventure so the beginner's training would just end up the senior finish the work.

Hours went by and Luciella never talked to anyone let alone finish the task. She's just sitting on a wooden bench gloomily waiting for herself to have more confidence to talk even if it's just a single person.

After all, Luciella is a meek and sheltered princess who went to be an adventurer mage on a whim without knowing the basics of adventuring itself.

Luciella was about to lose hope when a man who's concealed in black cloak sat next to her.

“Wha!” She startled and didn't see him sitting beside her but the man tapped her back three times.

“It's me, Laken.” He said. It turns out he concealed himself on an edgy reaper-like getup to hide his identity.

“I almost had a heart attack Laken! Don't scare me like that.” Luciella complains. She's mad repeatedly hitting his armored chest; she only stopped when her fists became sore.

“I'm sorry Luciella. This cape of mine could change the color to black whenever I'd conceal myself.” Laken described. “Huh... Pretty handy for you.” Luciella huffed. Feeling relieved right after.

“Seems you didn't finish the task. We'll take a break in the meantime.” There's nothing he could do but rather, Laken was dumb enough to task a princess who never usually converse with anyone to ask the denizen of a city they just arrived with.

They were about to leave and find an inn to stay for the night when they both heard a traveling merchant and a customer have a conversation. Laken and Luciella went back to the bench to eavesdrop the thing they are talking about.

“Thanks for buying potatoes! By the way, have you heard the gossips around here?” The merchant asked.

“You mean the dead bodies near the borders?” The customer confirmed.

“That's news to me! Tell me more about it.” Merchant expressed elated for some reason. They both told the stories to each other.

“They said the victim's dead body was seen in the eastern border and they all had one thing in common: their heart was missing. It was a hunch of mine but I think it's because of a Nightbeast who eats the heart of us elves.” The gossip made the conversation spooky enough for Luciella to shiver.

“Oh! Speaking of Nightbeast; these monsters appeared after the Dark Wars ended, and these creatures were all nocturnal. But they said Nightbeast started appearing in a broad daylight too! Isn't that crazy?!” The merchant exclaimed with gestures to make the story more convincing.

“I don't want to have a nightmare so I'll go back to my wife now, she's waiting for me.” Said the customer and the conversation waved back to normal.

“Alright! Just tell me whenever you need more supplies!” And they went back to their daily lives.

“Laken, you heard that? What are we waiting for?” Luciella seems enthusiastic but also afraid of Nightbeasts.

“Yeah. It's like hitting two birds with no stone. Let's check at the inn first and we'll start searching later night.” Laken was grinning but he covered his mouth so that Luciella won't see him.

That's what happens whenever he feels lucky and he tends to scare others. On the other hand, Luciella sees him charming. She couldn't help herself to be happy to see Laken that way.

They went out to buy baked corns since Luciella insisted on him before arriving at the inn.

With a new task at hand, Laken is still bothered by the fact that Nightbeast started appearing during day time. It's revolutionary for a Nightbeast to live under the sunlight without getting burned.

The Nightbeast is the manifestation of a dark essence and an animal or spirit. They are seen after the Dark Wars concluded, but it seems it doesn't affect humans, elves, and other races.

Laken knew the appearance of these atrocious monsters during daytime is just the beginning, and his long-awaited task is to finish what he failed to achieve amidst light and oblivion.