Willow’s healing magic invigorated the Greamos and helped them regain their confidence in their survival.
“Outstanding work, my dear,” said the queen of Greamos. She was at the archway of a trunk, across a bridge where Willow walked. Moyeed, Willow’s mother, helped the queen, holding her arm.
“It is my pleasure to help the people of Mouah Cross,” Willow said.
“You are truly the blessed child of the Emerald Cosmo Jewel,” the queen praised her. “I believe you have the potential to become a goddess. A demigod. Perhaps, one day, Terramus will choose you to be the goddess of the forests.”
Willow blushed, her cheeks turned red, imagining herself as a goddess. She was not sure if such beings existed besides the dragon gods, but she entertained the idea and its possibility.
“I am not that great, my queen. I only wish to return the beauty of Mouah Cross as it was, and bring smiles to the faces of the Greamos.” Her love overshadowed her woe. She embraced the queen and kissed her yellow skin. She held her hands gently, feeling the fragileness of the queen’s age.
“Ganoless, What will happen to Mouah Cross without the Emerald Cosmo Jewel?” Willow asked.
Queen Ganoless coughed. Her eyes seemed weary and sleepy. “I am not sure, my dear, but as you can see, the lake below has already lost its glow. The trees above have lost their lush, and crystals on the walls of Mouah Cross stopped glowing. There is a small chance that the Greamos could die without the Emerald Cosmo Jewel.”
Willow and Moyeed gasped. “But, my queen, how are the lives of the Greamos linked to the cosmo jewel?” Moyeed asked.
“The Greamos evolved from humans millenniums ago and so did the Elves. It was because of the cosmo jewel that our ancestors were able to evolve. They chose to become beings in tune with nature. That is why Greamos are called insect humanoids. The jewel granted them their wish, and ever since then, the existence of the Greamos depended greatly on the jewel. Our ancestors did not want to be far away from the Emerald Cosmo Jewel, so they built Mouah Cross. We never left the forest, and we never left this village. Our people’s existence is somehow linked to the jewel. That is why many of us believe that, if anything happens to the jewel, then our race will cease to exist.”
Willow and Moyeed remained silent for a moment. Willow gently held the queen’s face and stared into her glossy eyes.
“I will find the criminal who took the jewel. I will do everything in my power, Ganoless,” she swore and shed a tear. They embraced each other, and the queen cried in Willow’s arms.
I have Akielas and Eckxio on my side. They will help me find the jewel. Akielas never explained how he would help reclaim the jewels. He was having his own set of troubles, but his problems were now hers as well. His apprentices destroyed the home of the Greamos. Only he knew where and how to find Hertha.
Suddenly, her pendant vibrated. She clutched it and felt Eckxio’s presence. She could feel his maju dimming like a dying fire. She could feel his life in danger and his soul being tugged by the realm of light. Their bond was strong, like angels sharing a pair of wings.
“Eckxio,” she whispered.
“Willow, what is wrong?” her mother asked, seeing despair in Willow’s eyes.
“It is that Elf, Eckxio, her beloved.” The queen foresaw; she had a third eye for reading people. “She can feel his presence. He must be in trouble.”
“I am sorry, my queen, but I must leave. I will return, I promise,” Willow said with haste.
“Don’t worry, my dear. You have done more than we can ask for,” Ganoless replied.
Willow sprinted down the bridge and turned at an intersection of bridges. She ran to the center tree where the queen’s throne was. She had marked the throne room with a pentacle to teleport. She ran past Greamos; they thanked her and bowed. She jumped on the handrails and ran on it, following bridges that led to the mighty tree. It was a long run through a web of bridges, but as soon as she arrived, she stormed up the vine stairs. She stood on the pentacle by the throne; her teleport crystal triggered the blue lights and transported her body to Evee Iris.
Her body felt as if it were moving at an incredible speed, like falling from the sky with the rush of wind moving through her body.
When the blue lights engulfing her cleared, her eyes widened at the sight of the Elfin village. It was no longer the placed she once knew. It was no longer the home of the Elves. Ruins were not the proper word for what she saw. It was cataclysm. An earthquake had struck the village, but Willow knew that it was no natural disaster. She had seen real earthquakes deforming the land. This is was different. Most of the land had sunk in, and some areas seemed as though they had been flipped over. Acres of land were turned to a graveyard.
This is impossible. There is no mage in the world that can cause such destruction. This is a nightmare. Whoever did this…is not human.
The earth had sunk houses and trees. The bridges that connected from tree to tree had fallen. The gate that marked the border of the village once stood nearly fifty feet high, and now it is nothing but pieces of wood rising from the ground. The village was now an alley of mud, rocks, splinters, and dead bodies. Willow fell to her knees; she sobbed, and tears ran down her cheek. She punched the ground until her fist dug a hole then let out a scream of pain. She pulled her hair and screamed so loud that birds flew away and echoed through the Spirituah Forest.
“That masked heartless bitch. Bringing havoc and devastation. I will kill her. I will tear her apart. Oh, great Terramus, give me strength. Give me power.”
A drop of water fell on her nose. She gazed up and more drops fell on her face. It began to rain, and she was soaked, kneeling on the mud, crying.
Another home had been destroyed. Although her mother was a Greamos, she raised Willow in the Spirituah Forest near Evee Iris. The Elves welcomed her and trained her in swordplay and aeromancy. They forged her sword, the Dragontooth. She met Eckxio, her beloved, in this village. She had a sea of wonderful memories here and everlasting love from a magical race. She had not visited the village in seven days, and now it was gone, destroyed, reduced to nothing, to oblivion.
“First Mouah Cross. Now Evee Iris,” she whispered, melancholy. Her pendant vibrated. Her beloved was still alive, clinging to his last breath.
“No. Not you too. Don’t leave me. Please…just a little longer.” She ran into the vestige of Evee Iris. She jumped from boulder to boulder and slide over fallen tree trunks and stood on the rim of a wooden Elfin house. She surveyed the area but saw no life, only dead bodies.
“Eckxio!” she yelled and continued to jump and run over debris.
She continued to yell, “Eckxio!” praying that he would hear her and respond.
“Good Terramus. Oh earth and sky. Please tell me he is still alive.”
She refused to use terramancy in case there were any survivors. With the rain, everything became slippery. She almost slipped off a boulder and nearly fell into a ravine.
“Terras zio sihas.” She pounded a boulder inserting her maju into it, and it levitated off the ground. She manipulated it and browsed over the debris, cruising on the boulder.
Her pendant kept vibrating, and she yelled again, “Eckxio!”
Still no response. Her voice echoed and thunder thudded above. She browsed for an hour through acres of the land. She began to lose hope, and her pendant stopped vibrating. Could he have died? she thought hopelessly. Was I too late? I failed him. I should have convinced him to stay with me, even as selfish as that might have been, at least… At least, he would still be alive.
She fell to her knees, and the boulder she controlled dropped and thudded on top of a broken house. Willow sobbed and curled into a ball, hugging her legs, soaking in the rain. She had never lost so much at once. It was too much to bear and left a scar in her heart. No spell in Odealeous could bring back the dead, not Eckxio, not the Elves, not the Greamos. She felt hollow and lost like in the days of her early youth, before she made friends with the Elves, before s
he met Eckxio. Those lonely days with only her mother, Moyeed, watching over her in the Spirituah Forest.
Her eyes twitched from a light she saw in her peripheral. The rain drops made her view blurry, but she noticed something was shining. She looked over her right shoulder. She had seen that light before. It was like seeing a star of the night, but then she realized…
“Could it be?” She stood up and used her maju to levitate the boulder again. She cruised slowly to the light. It was a light like a white lantern in the night. As she got closer, she recognized what it was. A white sword glowing ever so angelic.
“Eckxio,” she whispered. Her heart pounded her chest with excitement and fear. When she finally saw who held the sword, she gasped and warmness filled her heart.
Eckxio was under the debris. A tree trunk was on top of him. Blood and dirt was smeared on his face. His maju was so low, Willow thought he would die. She used her magic to remove all objects that buried him. She pushed wood and rocks aside, took his sword, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up. He was heavy for an Elf. His silver chest plate was cracked and his pauldrons broken. Willow cradled his head and kissed him. He smiled but would not open his eyes.
“My…little…canary…” he muttered, voice weary. Willow’s lips quivered hearing him speak then widened into a smile.
“I almost lost you,” she said and kissed his forehead. She sheathed his sword into the scabbard and lifted his shield. His ankle had twisted, and he flinched whenever she touched it.
Her boulder cruised back to the broken gates. She dismounted and tossed the boulder aside. She took Eckxio under a kapok tree and rested. Using herbomancy, she healed his body and relocated his ankle. The rain began to ease, and Eckxio slowly regained his strength. He told her everything that had happened. How fiends attacked his village. How Hertha used the grimoire to cast a spell that caused havoc and levitated the land skywards.
“I knew you would come,” he said.
“How did you survive?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Last thing I remember was pieces of land falling down to the forest then a rock hit me on the head. I woke up, and I was stuck under debris, and a tree trunk was on top of me. I couldn’t move and felt very weak. Later, when it started to rain, I heard your voice calling me, so I used my sword, hoping that the light would help you find me.”
They remained silent, watching the rain, holding hands. Eckxio rested his head on Willow’s lap. They were not sure of what to do next, but all they wanted was a moment of serenity and solitude.
After the rain ended, they paced through the forest. Willow helped Eckxio walk, his ankle still ached, and putting weight on it brought more pain. She picked berries for him and star-shaped peaches. She was happy to have him by her side again. She didn’t care about the wedding anymore; they had already made a vow to each other. Angelic beings sharing a pair of wings, as Eckxio would say.
Walking through the forest put them at ease. Nature was a natural healer; both raced in the forest, able to feel the green maju and its guiding force. Willow often said that she could hear the forest speak. Something conscious in the life of the forest whispered to her. It was how she was able to communicate with animals and absorb maju all around.
As they strolled, they came across a campsite of Elves. Many sat by a campfire and rested in tents. The wounded were nursed. Limbs and other body parts were covered in crimsoned bandages and eye patches. There were hundreds of them. Many women and children but few men. Light returned to Eckxio’s eyes seeing his people again.
“The survivors,” Eckxio said. They walked to the campsite, and the Elves embraced them. Everyone thought that Eckxio had died after the devastation of the village. They cried and gathered around him like bees to their hive. His father, Sherwood, was by the campfire. They sat with him and drank tea. Eckxio’s young squires, Nezz and Latwie, comforted him and fed him. Latwie kept his paploo fairy safe. Nana hid in the back of her hair and surprised Eckxio glowing white, this time, with transparent wings. Willow saw how much Eckxio loved his pet; he treated it like a newborn child. Then she remembered, I haven’t told him yet.
The Elves also loved Willow. She carried the children and healed those that were wounded.
There were still thousands of Elves. Thousands of lives to carry on the Elfin legacy. Some Elves had run away into other parts of the forest, but Eckxio was confident that they would find them soon. There was still life, and the faith of the Elves was strong.
They all gathered together to pray and sing a song for the fallen:
“Oh love the tree, the verdant home of Terramus. Oh spirit green, farewell to thee. Oh spirit green, may you rest in peace. In the next life, may thee shine bright, may thee fly high. Shall we meet in the forest. Shall we meet in the mountain. Shall we meet by the river. Take this memory and the best of me to infinity. Oh spirit green, where shall we meet?”
The song eased their pain and sorrow.
Willow saw that there were still many Elves wounded. There weren’t many mages with healing magic. She thought of one spell that she had not used in so long. She was always hesitant about it. Using it would decrease her lifespan by a few years, but she learned the spell for a reason. She knew the day would come when she would have to use it. However, simultaneously, she was worried about her child that was on the way. How would it affect the child after birth? Forgive me, my son, she thought.
Willow went to a spacious glade. She clapped her hands together, fused earth, and water maju and mandaraks glowed, floating over her hands. Two magic circles, like a painting coming alive from its canvas. One blue and one green, both shining behind Willow. All the Elves in the campsite watched as she performed a mastery summoning spell. The two circles merged and expanded as high as an oak tree. Swirls and floral patterns on the mandarak with the faces of her Eedahlans that she was calling from the limbo, Entos and Flora.
“Natubos Entos Nie Flora,” she chanted. The mandarak released a green beam that jolted Willow’s soul, and she shuddered then fell to her knees. The Eedahlans took their toll, tugging at her very life. They could not enter the human world without a fragment of their summoner’s soul. Willow already felt her life shortening and her body aging.
Green glitter-like fairy dust poured from the mandarak. Two arms stretched from the magic circle then two faces, and finally, two green entities holding hands, reigning twenty feet tall. They emanated through the mandarak with a sound like shattering glass. A female and a male. Their skin green, their hair was colorful like streaming rainbows and massive butterfly wings on their backs with swirling patterns. They wore leaves to cover their private parts.
The two Eedahlans fluttered their butterfly wings and flew, encircling the campsite. The Elves gazed at them with awe and began to feel the healing magic of the summon spirits. Willow could see the relief in their eyes.
Entos and Flora poured their magic, and the sick and injured healed faster than they did with Willow’s magic. Wounds closed, broken bones reattached, ailments vanished, the blind could see once again, the crippled could walk again, and those that were near death healed enigmatically.
Willow had summoned a miracle. Eckxio walked towards her, he grabbed her, and kissed her as if he wanted to take her. “You are so amazing,” he whispered in her ear.
“I have something to tell you,” she said softly and swallowed nervously. “You are going to be a father.”
Eckxio stared at her with a blank expression as if her words had paused his clock. She noticed that he had stopped breathing at that moment.
“Aren’t you happy?” She became worried. Perhaps, I chose the wrong time to tell him. But then he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her deeply, and they fell into a long passionate kiss then pulled away and gazed into each other’s eyes.
“I love you,” he said.
“You are going to be a father, my love,” she repeated.
“My little canary. You are going to have my son,” he replied and lifted her with joy.
They sat on the grass watching Entos and Flora pouring their healing magic glittering green on the campsite. At that moment, Willow remembered why she chose Entos and Flora as her Eedahlan, despite the effect on her lifespan. It was because of Eckxio; his love inspired her to make a pact with the green beings. The two Eedahlans were a couple, just like Willow and Eckxio.
Akielas
The symbol of Lovamus, the divine dragon god, glowed tattooed on the back of his left hand. He had felt Hertha’s maju and the heaviness of the spell she used. When he closed his eyes, he could see where she was and shed tears as his third eye showed him the desolation of Evee Iris. As he gazed at the desert on a balcony of the king’s palace in Oba Oasis, he clenched his fist and pounded the parapet. The sun was beginning to set, painting the skies with a gradient of reds, orange, and purples.
So much had happened in the past two days in three countries. Akielas could not catch up to them. He wished he could be in more than one place at a time. His apprentices brought havoc wherever they went. They are constantly moving, he pondered. Fighting all four at once is not an option, nor a good idea. I have to catch one of them alone and take them down with Auron, Eckxio, and Willow. If I can capture one, then I can lure the other three. Unless they are heartless enough to betray each other; it wouldn’t surprise me.
There was a deeper problem that Akielas was facing. Something he was running away from. He once had an opportunity to rid the world of the destruction of his apprentice. He could have killed them when he found their whereabouts but decided not to. In a way, it is my fault. I couldn’t get myself to kill my own children. I was weak. Instead, I branded them with the symbol of the divine. Now, all I am doing is having visions of them destroying and using their fiends to find rare steel. I am going to have to kill them. I will have to end the lives of my apprentices. I have failed as a father, but I will not fail the world. Hear me, Lovamus.
Sin of Mages_An Epic Fantasy Series Page 15
