Crown

Mandia Eladora-Cousin Eladora

It had begun to rain but nevertheless, the group continued along the winding path until the came upon a fork in the road. Even though they had long since passed the warrior ruins, they continued to see ancient totems and carvings on various pillars and structures scattered throughout the forest. On this particular road, one path was marked by two large, animalistic looking structures on both ends. The top of one of the structures was destroyed but the other was still fine. Judging from the sharp protruding beak, it looked to be some kind of bird. The other path in the fork had no such distinction.

"This way looks important, I vote we go this direction." Sin pointed to the path marked by the statues.

"Don't be stupid. We should check the map first," said Avarice.

"Looks like Sin's getting his wish. The path to our left heads towards the ocean. Illya's notes say there's nothing there but crabs and rocks. Not exactly where I'd imagine someone would go to restock on supplies." Tekina said, putting the map away.

"Alright then let's keep going. Sin, you ride ahead," said Sora.

Sin turned around to stick his tongue out at Avarice but as it got darker, it was becoming harder for Avarice to see. Tekina and Nikiro were also following more closely as sight became an issue. Sin was able to see just fine in the darkness, which let him lead on without an issue. Despite his rambunctiousness, he trod on carefully so as to not lead his four blind followers into any danger. Sin breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the stable. The path towards it was tricky to get everyone across as it was on the side of a canyon. It was a little difficult trying to keep everyone in single file as they were mostly going off of sound at this point.

When they arrived at the stable, they were relieved to see that it was somewhat lit up. They got off their horses and brought them food and water to let them rest. Inside, they got themselves some beds and were all too happy to jump inside them for a good nights rest.

"This lady better be on the road when we get out there tomorrow!" Avarice huffed as he cleaned the mud off his boots.

"There's only one direction she could go from here and straying from the path could prove detrimental given the geography of this place and the threat of monsters finding her. I mean think of just how many we avoided on our way here! They've overrun the place!" Sin said, cleaning himself up and getting into bed.

Nikiro nodded in agreement."He's right. Everyone says Illya purged the place but this place isn't like the plains we've been riding through, I'm sure it's much harder to get rid of the monsters here. Especially considering the sheer number of them."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Let's get some rest. I'm sure we'll find her tomorrow!" Tekina said as she too found her way under the covers of her bed.

Morning arrived all too quickly. They were glad to see that the rain had subsided. As they stepped outside the realized that the dreary stable had just one other tenant. He was leisurely walking around in front of the stable with his hands behind his back.

"Hey! You folks got a map?" A good called out.

Tekina nodded. "Yes, would you like to use it."

"Yes please!" He chimed.

He looked over the map, playing with his mustache as he did so. A shaky finger pointed towards a mountain at the beginning of the Omphalos region.

"You see these Dueling Peaks? Legend had is that it used to be one single mountain in the past, but a dragon god split the mountain in half to forge a way through and that's how it went from one to two mountains. My home is in these mountains but after my wife died I decided to go on a little pilgrimage to the homeland."

Tekina lit up. "You're Kishan?"

The old man laughed. "That's right. I see you and you're boy are too."

She nodded. "Yes, we are!"

The old man tilted his head, squinting to get a better look at them. "But you don't look like the Kishan's from here."

"We're not from Aruma An." Said Tekina.

The man laughed again. "Oh dear, everyone is from Aruma An in one way or another. After all, this place was the beginning of life, the beginning of the world as we know it...at least that's what the legends say...then again, legends are often truth in these lands."

"We came here to find someone. Illya needs her help." Sora interjected.

The man stood silent for a moment before he broke into a smile and his eyes start to water.

"The Princess? Why I haven't seen her since she was a young lady running from end to end, exploring Aruma An! How is she?"

"She's doing quite well sir." Sora patted Avarice and Sin's back. "These two here are your proof. Including these two, we have six of them." He joked, patting Avarice and Sin on the back.

The old man wiped away a tear that slid down his cheek.

"That's good, that's very good! Who is the princess looking for?" He asked.

"A gypsy who comes from lands outside of Aruma An. We were told she often travels around here and sells her wares." Explained Sora.

"Ah yes! She did pass by here not too long ago. She crossed Lurensia bridge over there. As far as I know, there's only one road that goes down that way but I'm not quite sure what's down there. It's easy to get lost the further you go. It's safer to leave your horses here since it'll be easier to traverse the tricky terrain that way."

The group looked beside the stable, where a big lake with at least ten different waterfalls and through it was a bridge. It was truly a sight to behold.

Avarice piped up."Well, what are we waiting for! If she's down there let's go and get her already!"

Avarice impatiently spun around and began walking towards the bridge. He didn't even make it to the bridge when a strong gust of wind forced him to get low to avoid being knocked over. He turned around to make sure he wasn't going crazy. Sure enough, everyone else had grounded themselves and were trying to shield themselves against the gale. When the wind lessened Avarice turned back to the bridge to see the blinding light of a beast flying overhead.

It's body radiated sparks of electricity and from its head sprouted a single large horn. Its thin body was extremely long and it had no wings yet it flew. It's four legs had visibly sharp claws and they moved in away that seemingly propelled the beast forward. It dove into the lake and emerge again only to fly away. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the beast as it slowly ducked under the bridge and flew up to disappear above the waterfalls in the distance.

"W-What was that?" Stuttered Avarice.

"Oh her? That's Eladora. She's the daughter of one of our founding Goddesses, Tegon. This land is part of Eladora's domain. She's like a guardian spirit. Sometimes she likes to come and take baths here haha!" The man laughed like it was nothing.

"What...exactly is she?" Asked Tekina.

"A dragon!" The man stated simply.

Sin gaped at him. He turned around and said goodbye to his horse before getting ready to go. "Even the dragons here look different!" He mumbled to himself.

Tekina silently cursed herself for not getting a picture of it when she had the chance. When everyone was set to go, they thanked the old man and set off across the bridge, determined to find their target today.