THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS

The Gathoms

Chapter VIII

 While humming the song of her past love, The Elven Queen playfully strumming the unconscious  warrior’s hair to fill her drained heart after longing for him for many years. The curtains that shelters them from the capacious area of the room unceasingly dancing with the wind from the wide arch window that reveals the outside view of the castle.

 Lamon gained his consciousness in the hand of a beautiful mystical woman.Fair and white. Almost as white as her brilliant silk frock 

“where am I?” said he, thinking that the bandits must have killed him and that everything he sees is the afterlife. For the room is remarkably hewn with golden sheets and silver plates, and with urns in every corner. The aroma of the nature is soothing his breath, and there are glittering specks everywhere, roaming around the room. 

The sensation brought by the air made him think they are on the top of a huge castle. “Oh Arman” the woman suddenly embraced him right after he pulled himself up to sit down “who are you? Where am I?” Lamon moved back as the queen bemused by her Arman’s reactions 

“what do you mean who am I” she began to lose her composure, but straitened herself to what she just heard “I am-----I am Qarhalain” the woman said oddly distraught “I don’t know who you are”-- “No way! I confessed my love for you years ago and you have somewhat implied your love as well” while Lamon is trying to balance his perplexing situation, the woman took her hands off from Lamon to weep. But then quickly recovered when she realized something “Oh I see, you probably lost your memory. You engaged yourself in so many battles, I must not be surprised if you have forgotten me. or perhaps, Shuixron is behind this” Lamon cleared his throat “wha--hat?” the woman grab his face towards her  and whispered close to him “but I haven’t forgotten” Lamon felt anxious and awkward at the same time. After what the woman did he confused himself on how to respond. He tried to gather all his memories to realize where he might be.

A while ago he was talking to his sister about the prince of Shuixron; He went to the river to catch more fish to eat and was attacked by some random bandits; was shot by an arrow and lost his consciousness and now… he is sitting in a beautiful room full of glitters and golden urns with a delicate scent from the outside, and a beautiful woman claiming to be his lover? He couldn’t perceive any other explanation for this instances other than death and assentation to after life. Where some random goddess suddenly just fall in love with him, or, He’s just dreaming and he has to wake up

 “I don’t understand!” Lamon wobbled his head to wake himself and go back to reality but, It seems that the reality he is looking for is just right in  front of him “what are you doing?” said Qarhalain “I---am—not sure!” the woman giggled and stood up  to rest her thoughts to the view of the imposing waterfall from the wide arch window that is impressed with the colorful shrubberies on the ground. 

Lamon followed her to examine everything about this new world he is into “So where exactly am I?” the woman giggled again but this time she faced him naturally “I really don’t know what happened to you but, you are here in Adelfa”    

“Adelfa?”  

 “Yes, this is where we live now Arman” Lamon is baffled by how the woman addresses him so comfortably, and she keeps on calling him his father’s name “twenty years ago, we found each other in the forest of Asca, a territory of King Sih Theodoro of Shuixron” as Lamon heard the name of his kingdom. his attention varied towards her. The woman then began reviewing her past

It was during the era where the scroll of the Gathoms was being hunt. Arman grew up under the care of the Li-gayun tribe. He was raised by the founder Ligayun himself. He was young yet he’s already outstanding in so many ways, and have gained the full trust of their Markham and the entire tribe. 

He was sent on his first mission to the kingdom of Kamuary, to retrieve their people that was captured. On his way to Kamuary with Ephollo— a colleague from the tribe—they stumbled upon a female elf lying on the bushes. Seemingly unconscious. She was all beaten up and her clothes were in ruin. Arman decided to take her and helped her recover. The elf was so grateful to them. She joined them on their journey to help them accomplish their mission.

 However, Arman wondered how the elf ended up in such an awful situation. Along their way the elf explained to Arman what happened. She was about to see the head of Ascans as promised, but she was treated ill and was accused for something she knew she’s innocent 

“what about that?” Arman asked 

“I don’t know, they said my people did that to them. The king doesn’t know about it either. Ascans are independent to Shuixron” Qarhalain explained. Since she couldn’t really tell what’s going on that time. She was only told that her people has been k********g the Ascans to e*****e them. The Elves sees them as the biggest threat since they have the power to manipulate the scroll. But they were simple minded, and peace is what they only wanted. Yet that peace they treasured for so many years after the death of the King they feared shattered. When the Elves came and attacked them. If they weren’t so defiant to their main kingdom, the King could’ve help them on their times of need.

 The Ascans are purely magical creatures. They are smaller than the actual dwarfs but uses charms and magical staffs to defend themselves. The Ascans originated the scroll hundred years ago. They gave it to a village of humans to protect them from the king ‘Ostheo’. They called them gathoms. After the war the gathoms left them for their own glory, and then years later when they heard this gathoms were burned into crisp by the evil elves who allied to the Ghouls to defeat them. But it was a mere story. The Gathoms came back after few years. Gathoms who are stronger and bigger than the ones created by the Ascans.  The elves planned to steal the scroll which was brought back to the Ascans. And the ghouls aimed to possess the scroll as well. Such rivalry commenced the war between ghouls and Elves. And these Gathoms joined the war, but, as for the Elves, those are no Gathoms. They belong to another race. A race superior than Gathoms. But their Identity remained a mystery to them. However, for the rest of the clans and kingdoms, they are the Gathoms who returned to avenge their brothers.

Queen Qarhalain paused. The Gathom ‘Arman’ is struck with astonishment. In her eyes she could see the thoughts perceive by this curious daring man “the thing about Gathoms are kept from the rest of the Elves. Only the previous king and his Royal subjects knew. And of course, as a queen. I ought to know” the queen continued “only his men encountered the returning Gathoms, but they weren’t returning at all, they somewhat came to find someone, they are more prominent and powerful and they are accompanied with some peculiar animals each one of them, only my father survived. He left his men during the battle. He escaped for the kingdom’s sake” the queen speak with her gaze back into the sky “my father told me that this Gathoms will return, they were looking for someone, it must be you”  

 “I don’t know, maybe n-not”                                                                                                                  

“But you are a Gathom, stolen away from your people”                                                               

 “Yes?..”                                                                                                                                             

 “They will come back to get you, in that I am sure”

Her presumptions might be right, but it must be wrong. For if they truly are looking for Arman, those Gathoms failed their mission many years ago. Arman is long dead, the man she is talking to is Lamon, his human son, and he is horrified that the Elven Queen is blinded from it.