No second chances: The beginning of the end

Chapter 12: The trial.

500 hundred years ago, humanity was in a constant fight with their own creation as it turned against them. At the same time, beings from unexplored parts of the world appeared and managed to show humans how they developed their own cultures. The feature which impacted the world the most was the manipulation of the primal elements on the earth, also known as magic.

Magic is an art that derives from absolute commands to imitate and accelerate natural events; however, with advanced knowledge in the matter, these events could be altered and even cancelled to provide the desired outcome within the boundaries of what nature accepts.

Elves are the race that understands these commands and use their concept to break down the structure of elements in order to manipulate them. Elves use magic on a daily basis, to provide themselves with a better and comfortable lifestyle in harmony with nature.

However, Humans and Elves united to defend against the repercussions of the TDW-A01, this pact was sealed by the acknowledgement of both sides seeing each other as equals, sharing cultures and technologies, as well as knowledge and religions, but understanding their differences respectfully. All this was explained by Archival to Chronos as they simply walked through the forest.

“Now that I think about it, the origin of TDW was another desperate attempt to get rid of the Dragons, we Elves and humans performed several rites and investigations to find a gap within the dragons' biology” –Archival explained as he sat on a tree root. Chronos remained in silence looking up towards the treetops as flashbacks of someone else’s memories sprung inside his mind; he kept calm, assimilating both the flashbacks and what the old elf had told him so far.

Archival looked up towards Chronos and let a small humming out as he was waiting for Chronos to say something. This snapped Chronos out of his thoughts and he turned to see Archival. “Archival, who are you exactly?” –Asked Chronos while looking down towards him.

“I am the chosen by Pandora, the only elf that she got involved with, and her apprentice in the ways of magic, because even I, an elf, wouldn’t be a match to one of the Prophets themselves” –Archival said while laughing. After a couple of minutes in silence, Chronos began to wonder about what magic was able to do and if he was able to use it. A sudden flashback from Doc dying invaded Chronos mind and he remembered Doc using magic to control some gems he owned. Archival looked towards Chronos and assumed he would ask about magic, so before Chronos spoke Archival stood up and knocked the ground twice with his staff, opening an entrance to a cave. “Before you ask about learning magic, follow me Chronos, there is something you need to see as a guardian” –Archival said while walking towards the cave entrance. Chronos followed Archival sceptically. This doesn’t seem like a trap, but every time I am about to say something he seems to already know it before I mention it; have others come here to ask for his training? Is that why he also knew about me understanding them? Maybe his experience is greater than I imagined –Chronos thought methodically while silent, not knowing what to expect in the underground.

The cave leads towards a path illuminated by glowing blue crystals; the atmosphere inside the cave seemed lighter than the forest, also many vines and roots were accommodated on the sides of the cave, creating a very concave and hollow structure under the forest, almost as if the forest was held only by the roots of every tree on it. Archival kept walking in silence as the roots and earth were moving in accordance with creating the path in front of them until the roots connected to the next tunnel which was glowing red. Suddenly, a pulsing noise was overwhelming the cave as if a massive living being was hiding within the depths. “Chronos, I believe you are already familiar with my friend here, the living monolith, a dragon that has an affinity with the earth and which saved you a while ago under my command” –Archival said while looking towards the great opening of a cave with a sleeping beast that resembled a mountain.

“How…?” –was all Chronos could say while being pressured by the overwhelming presence of this giant.

Archival laughed in return to his expression. “You seem to be more surprised than I expected, Chronos. The reason you are here, in this very forest, is because of Pandora, you happened to walk through the wasteland but not randomly, since this forest subliminally guided you towards itself, you are here because we brought you here” –Archival explained as he walked closer to the dragon. “Human beings created something beyond their imagination, truly massive forces of nature; however, they never knew these would be the most primal of animals, rulers blessed by science and evolution, or at least that is what Pandora used to think” –Archival said while patting the dragon as it was sleeping.

Chronos couldn’t believe his eyes, it was the very same beast that easily destroyed one of the strongest weapons created by humanity as if it was a toy, and Archival was just patting its side as it was just a pet. “So you sent the dragon to save us? For the sake of me being the bridge of humans and dragons?” –Chronos asked, trying to understand the situation.

“I’m afraid you don’t understand, Chronos. I want you to be the one capable of carrying out the wish of Pandora, the death of the current rulers, the ones that hunted down the original Prophets” –Archival answered while looking at Chronos with a glimpse of hatred in his eyes.

“I’m aware I’m an outsider myself, however, isn’t taking down the ones who oversee the continents harmful for the society?” –Chronos replied while keeping his thoughts organized.

“Humans are advanced enough to overcome the need of relying on them, so society won’t fall in debris if they just disappear” –Archival countered, walking away from the dragon.

Chronos stood in silence for a moment. It is true that I didn’t have a clear objective after mother died; I was simply left in charge of taking care of her offspring. All I planned was to become a wanderer, hoping that the world would somehow keep me busy so I didn’t have any ambition other than raising the dragon… If getting rid of the rulers guarantee the survival of the dragon then I’ll have to accept –Chronos reflected. “Archival, I need to learn magic if you want me to go against beings almost as strong as the prophets” –He concluded.

Archival smiled and walked towards the entrance of the cave. “Very well, then follow me, Chronos. I will teach you everything you need to know to understand it” –The old elf said while opening the path back to the surface. It didn’t take long before the two of them were on the surface and found themselves surrounded by the rest of the tribe.

“Was he baptized then? Can we start it now? It’s been a while since we last had fun with one of the baptized subjects” –Said one of the older elves preparing one of his weapons as the rest readied their bows towards Chronos.

Archival started to laugh and patted Chronos back. “Ah yes, I forgot. There were other baptised ones before you, but to know they would be able to carry on with the will of Pandora, we tested them with a trial to see if they were up to the task. None of them has survived so far” –Archival explained with a grim smile. “If you survive for a week while we hunt you down, I will teach you magic, if not, well… The forest will claim your nutrients” –He added while walking back to the huts on the treetops.

Right after Archival left the place, every elf surrounding Chronos almost instantly shoot their arrows. Without thinking, Chronos suddenly jumped and avoided the immediate arrows but the elves got their bows ready to shoot again in no time, suddenly a voice on Chronos head whispered to him: these arrows won’t kill you, protect your legs. Chronos at first didn’t understand but there was no time for hesitation. Right after getting struck in the right shoulder and arm, Chronos hurried to leave the zone, and all elves present in that moment dispersed to start chasing him down in the forest. Luckily for Chronos, his legs were very well trained and the adrenaline of the moment pushed him to move even faster. However, the elves knew the forest better and managed to block his path many times, so Chronos had to make a move and deviate. They are trying to corner me; my arm is bleeding and I being chased down, so it is going to be hard to recover –Chronos thought while running between trees. The elves were moving in synchrony with each other in order to surround Chronos once again; some of them were shooting arrows to force him to a specific side, while others were stationary in the spot Chronos was being lured in. Suddenly, Chronos saw his own movements slower, as well as everything surrounding him. The voice whispered to him once again: follow the roots. Immediately Chronos gazed down and the overgrown roots of a tree were subtly poking out of the ground towards a certain direction within the trees. Once again, trusting his fate to the voice that whispered him, he ran as fast as he could; following the trail of roots, getting out of the visual field of the elves, and managing to hide inside the trunk of a tree that seemed to be just like any other.

With gritted teeth, Chronos sat down on the ground and tried to pull the arrows stuck on his arm and shoulder; to stop the bleeding he tried to break his shirt and wrapped the broken cloth around his arm and armpit. This is a very dangerous situation, if it wasn’t for that sudden voice I would be either dead or in an even direr situation. For now, I think I could not be able to rest as they would be searching for me. –He thought while sighing.

Chronos lived most of his life in the wild with DD, slowly building up his survival instincts and forging his capabilities when a life-and-death situation presented itself before him. He knew he needed some sort of nourishment to avoid an anaemic state due to his blood loss. Chronos attempted to focus and tried to listen if the elves were still around. It doesn’t seem like they are immediately around this tree, so it would be safe to check what I can work with on the outside –He thought while slowly peeking his head out of the trunk. To his surprise there were none of the elves around, so he tried to slowly walk out of his hiding spot in order to search for something to eat.

Since killing animals could alert the elves from his location, Chronos attempted to harvest fruits and general plants to eat, to his luck there were edible roots the elves enjoyed eating while he was still in the treetops with them. Chronos gathered as many pieces of root as he could and carried them back to the tree trunk while eating a couple of them. The fleshy texture of the roots and the rich sap gave a very enjoyable moment of peace to Chronos. He knew he couldn’t hide in the same spot forever, so he had to think about a way to escape in case he was found. Sleeping wouldn’t be an option since elves would keep patrols shifting day and night, making it even harder to properly rest and settle his thoughts.

As Chronos was trying to survive, Archival was walking towards the hut with Chronos’ belongings, trying to inspect the egg with the successor of the death dragon, noticing it moved and cracked again. “It seems like you are soon to see the world, little one. I just wonder if your guardian will be able to last enough to see you” –He said to the egg while the tree on which the hut was built, started to move and reshape its inside, creating a sort of shrine that held the egg in the middle of the room.

On the other side of Delcyt, close to the border with the neighbouring kingdom called Falladis, Gree, Phill and Nat were driving towards what seemed to be a roadblock specifically placed by the government and guarded by a couple of heroes sent by the guild to arrest the group in case of being spotted.