Forest Guardians || Straykids ff

t w e n t y

yeona

"Evil witch? Is that the same witch that was involved with the disappearance of the Forest Guardians?" He looked at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"So, grandma told me one time that an evil witch was the reason why the Guardians disappeared. She had a huge hatred towards them." I explained to him as he nodded.

"I'm not sure if they were the same, but the evil witch that attacked our kingdom was defeated by your grandmother." Unconsciously, I clapped my hands in amusement, which made him chuckle.

"Then, were there like a bunch of evil witches out there?" I asked, and he nodded confirming what I said. "Yes, and some might be from your bloodline." I laughed at him. "That's impossible."

"I don't think so, Ms. Yeona. You never knew until you saw one." I kept silent and smiled at him. He might be right, or not.

We became silent for a few minutes. It wasn't an awkward silence, but rather a calming one. I looked at the insects that kept flying near me, like they were observing an unusual creature that they saw for the first time. I raised my hand up towards them to see if they will land on it, and it worked. One by one, they landed on my hand until there was no room for others to land onto.

Einar must have seen what I did as I heard him chuckled. I slowly looked at him to be greeted with his cheerful smiling face. I smiled back at him and showed him my hand that was full of insects.

"It was the first time I saw them being like that. They usually avoid every person who will enter the garden, but today, they seem to like you." He said as he carefully watched every insect in my hand, but then they suddenly flew out of my hand.

I watched them scattered all around the garden, then Einar stood up. "Come with me, I'll show you something." He offered his hand, being a gentleman he was and guided me outside the garden, then a few minutes of walking, we came into a cave.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, and he smiled at me. "You'll see." I nodded my head and followed him inside.

At the ceiling of the cave, there was a blue light that seemed to be from a water's reflection. We followed the light and arrived at a clear, blue pool. Beside the pool was a teenage elf boy, his feet were submerged in the water.

"Hakon, you're here again?" Einar asked as soon as we arrived at the pond. The kid, Hakon, quickly stood up to greet the king.

"But Dad, you know that this is the only quiet place in our kingdom." Hakon said as soon as he finished bowing at his father.

Einar brushed his palm at his face and sighed. "This will be the last time I'm seeing you here, okay?" He calmly spoke and Hakon immediately bowed. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'll take my leave now." Hakon bowed again before leaving the cave in a hurry.

I looked at Einar who seemed stressed out. "You okay?" I asked him, trying to make him feel better. He looked at me, like he remembered that I was there beside him.

"I'm sorry if you have to witness that." I shook my head at him. "It's fine, you don't have to apologize." I said and he smiled at me.

"Okay, so this is the Moonlit Oasis. It was believed that the 4th sibling of the Forest Guardians loves to go here to have his alone time. And during the 20th day of the 3rd month, the water from this pool will have healing effects that can cure diseases." Einar explained as we walked beside the pool.

"Wow, I never knew that such a pool existed." I said. He was going to walk further but then a loud siren rang inside the cave. Einar looked at me for a second before rushing outside the cave. "We have to go back!!"

"Einar! Wait!!" I called him but he didn't stop. We managed to run back to the throne room where everyone was panicking. "STOP!" Einar yelled as soon as we went in. His people listened to him and made everyone calm down.

"Okay, so I know nobody was expecting this, but do what you have trained. We've been preparing for this for 4 decades. Now, go!" He spoke before people left the throne room. I looked at him, waiting for answers. And as soon as he turned to me, he greeted me with a stressed expression. "Ms. Yeona, help us win, please."

I looked at him, more confused than before. "What do you mean? I don't get what's happening." He sighed. "That siren we heard earlier was a warning sign that someone uninvited infiltrated our kingdom." I nodded at him as I understood the situation.

"Do you think it was another witch?" I asked him as I pulled my wand out of my ring. He shook his head. "We'll know once they show themselves." I nodded my head at him and quickly went to the ballroom where the little ones were. As soon as I opened the door, the little girls greeted me, with only Minho and Jisung both in their arms. I quickly ran up to them.

I looked around first before confirming about the others. But when I saw no signs of them, I hurriedly asked them. "Hello girls, have you seen the others?" I whispered at them, trying not to make any loud noise so we wouldn't attract any attention.

As soon as I saw them shake their heads, my heart sank. "They quickly ran off as soon as the siren rang. We're sorry, Ms. Yeona." Freya said and quickly bowed her head, apologizing on what happened. I waved my hand in front of her, stopping her bowing, but she still did it. Greta did the same, then gave me Minho from her arms. Freya put Jisung down and he quickly ran to me.

I looked at the girls and smiled. "You girls stay here. It's dangerous outside. Bad guys might get you if they saw you." I warned the princesses and lightly patted their heads. Then I looked at the little ones.

"C'mon guys, let's find the others." I carried both of them and went out of the ballroom. "The Eldertree!" I suddenly heard a voice inside my head. Looking at the two I was holding, Minho was staring straight at me. "You said that, didn't you?" I asked him, but he just stared at me, his tiny nose was twitching.

"Okay, so first off, where did you learn about this Eldertree? And second, are there any Eldertree around here?" I asked myself, but someone somehow heard me.

"Yes, there is an Eldertree here. It is actually at the center of the Kingdom." A voice spoke beside me which startled me. I looked at that person and saw an elf smiling at me. "Do I know you?" I asked him, and he shook his head. "I don't know, do you?" Then he left. What a weird guy.

I looked around for signs of Einar, but I couldn't find him. He must have gone somewhere.

Carrying the two, I started to panic about the others. I wondered if they were alright, if they were together protecting each other. I hurriedly looked around for the Eldertree, but I couldn't find the way there. I started asking for directions and somehow arrived there.

There was a huge tree in the middle of a plaza-like place. Its roots and branches were as huge as an old normal tree. Its leaves were glowing like stars in the night sky. And a lot of its branches were spread throughout the kingdom, like the tree was the source of life inside this kingdom.

Below the tree, there were a lot of elves fighting against some people wearing black robes. Elves were good at magic and possessed elemental powers enough to protect their kingdom. With proper training, they could be in the level of adventurers in a guild.

"Look who's here, another witch is trying to steal the Seed of Eternal Youth." I looked around for the source of that creepy voice. And up in the air, a witch floating up in a broomstick was looking straight down at me with an evil smile.

Her aura was dark as black, which only means she's that intruder. An evil witch.