Chapter 54: Seledia’s return

Everything is doomed to change sooner or later.

Everyone more or less understood and accepted this idea.

However, some things don’t change easily especially in small towns like Tegralle.

For several weeks after Sillath’s disappearance, an uneasy feeling settled between the inhabitants.

Fear, doubts, anger and sorrow all mixed together. However, without any change in this case, the minds of the inhabitants slowly calmed down and their heavy heart somehow settled.

Slowly, more and more people avoided this subject, as if not talking about it made it less real.

Similar days followed one after another and the situation went back to what it was before this sordid case.

Everyone chose to continue to live their life as if nothing ever happened.

A sober, simple, but comfortable and tranquil life.

Some people could say that it was a boring life but it was this kind of life that Seledia and Millodas wanted for their children.

A peaceful life to protect them from the cruel and harsh reality of the outside world that they both discovered as adventurers.

Even after Sillath’s kidnapping, they tried to give this kind of life to their daughters.

During four years, they watched over them together and made sure that no harm befalls them.

Especially Seledia who simply refused to let them out of her sight for a single moment.

Millodas was nearly the same, but he still had his duties as a guard to fulfill. He also had to regularly go fetch the letters gathering to the Relay town of Shaisal.

It was his only link with Aten and their only hope to find their son.

This routine continued without much change for four years until Millodas brought a letter different from the others.

On his previous trip to the Relay town of Shaisal, gathering the letters of the local small towns, he brought back an official letter.

This letter was a convocation from the Adventurer's guild in the name of the Kingdom.

The kind that only the most powerful mages in the country could receive.

The kind that it wasn’t possible to ignore for too long.

Therefore, even if Seledia hesitated for several days, she had no other choice.

For the first time in four years, she had to leave Tegralle. She wanted to take the girls along with her, but Millodas changed her mind.

For once, she had to let go. He convinced her to use this convocation as an opportunity to forget and free herself from their situation.

To break their forceful routine and to stop her watch just for a couple of days.

Seledia wasn’t especially thrilled by his proposal, but she quickly accepted his words. Because she knew that she had to go to this meeting sooner or later.

She bid goodbye to her family under the cries of her daughters for the first time separated from her.

The trip was eventless and boring, but Seledia still had to agree with her husband.

It was a nice change of pace compared to the years of anxiousness that she accumulated. A good breath of fresh air before returning to her daily anxious watch.

The sky was already turning darker when her Preel set foot in the bustling town of Shaisal.

Her long silver hair gathered some attention from the guards, but after a few curious glances, they quickly turned their heads to look elsewhere.

Seledia ignored them and crossed the town in a dozen minutes.

She sighed a little when she saw the door of the Adventurer guild closed.

As expected, the meeting ordered by the official letter would have to wait until tomorrow.

She left her Preel in a specialized barn and chose to walk around while looking for an inn.

“Nothing changed.” She muttered while looking around her.

The same narrow streets were still crossing this old but bustling town. Numerous stores selling food and all kinds of products could be seen around her.

She often went to this kind of medium sized town. It was far from the activity of the capital or the Port city of Alderal, but it was still much more active and noisy than Tegralle.

It took her a few minutes to adapt to the ambient noise of merchants trying to sell their goods and the footsteps of the numerous people bypassing her.

Some of them turned their heads to curiously look at her silver hair, but none made any remark.

Silver was the hair color of the elves. Everyone knew this but it didn’t really matter as the relationship between the two races was distant but peaceful.

Ignoring the noise and some of the most insistent gazes, Seledia slowly walked through the streets, trying to enjoy this moment of freedom as much as she could.

On her way, she finally found one of the most imposing buildings of the town.

The inn of the Terminal.

This inn wearing this curious name was bigger than most inns found in other small towns.

The reason was simple.

It wasn’t just an inn.

It was also the gathering place for various events, but also the place where it was possible to receive letters.

It was there that Millodas regularly went to gather these letters.

Seledia hesitated for a couple of seconds before entering the large inn by a massive wooden door.

It wasn’t the first time she came but the last time was at least five years ago.

The Terminal was as bustling as in her memories and, except for a few different decorations on the walls, nothing changed.

She crossed the vast hall and waited for her turn in front of the welcoming office.

After a couple of minutes, the waiting line finally ended, allowing Seledia to face a sturdy man in his fifties.

Long unbound dark hair longer than Seledia’s and descending on a sturdy back along with a thick beard still unable to conceal the calm and peaceful expression on his face.

A single glance was enough for Seledia to recognize this man.

“Hi Rob, it’s been awhile.” Greeted Seledia with a small smile.

The peaceful expression of the man immediately underwent a drastic change when he heard her words and recognized its owner.

“Seledia? Is that really you?” He asked dumbfounded.

“Of course it’s me big dumbass! Do I really look like that much older to you?” She asked with a harsh and reproachful tone contrasting with her widening smile.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I swear it!” He answered a little panicked.

His rushed explanation only brought a giggle from Seledia.

Nostalgic emotions of a past life briefly made their way into her heart.

Rob was one of their companions when she was still adventurer with Millodas. He was one of her dearest friends.

The kind that everyone would want to support you in a difficult time, but also the kind belonging to the past, belonging to another life.

When she got pregnant and chose to retire along with Millodas, Rob chose to follow their example.

He found a calm town and became the owner of the largest inn of this town with the money he accumulated during his life as an adventurer.

He was one of the oldest adventurers when he finally chose to retire. His long journey ended in this small town and this inn became his Terminal.

Her small laughter without any trace of anger finally reminded him of her old habit of playing with him and immediately helped him to calm down.

He took a deep breath while examining the young woman in front of him for the first time in five years.

She was still as beautiful as ever. Her pretty pale face, beautiful sky blue eyes along with her silver hair gave her a mysterious charm. The kind of charm that no makeup in the world could imitate.

However, her eyes were less lively than in his memories. The bags under her eyes were easily visible, giving her a tired look as if it had been a long time since she last enjoyed a comfortable night of sleep. She also seemed thinner than he could remember.

Even if it had been five years since their last meeting, Rob was well aware of her situation. He regularly saw Millodas in his inn to fetch his letters.

Rob was also using the relations that he created along his numerous years as an adventurer to help them find their son.

However, even after four years, he still didn’t have any clue to offer to his dear friends.

After a few seconds of silent contemplation, Rob finally opened his mouth with his usual calm and grave voice.

“You’re as beautiful as ever Seledia. It’s just that it has been so long since I've seen you.”

“I know.” She briefly answered while losing the small smile that she rediscovered too rarely.

Seeing her nostalgic face, Rob chose to change the subject.

“So, why are you here? You just wanted to see me or did you want one of my famous rooms?”

“Famous isn’t the word that I would use” She lightly snorted with another small smile.

“...”

“Don’t worry, I’m kidding. In fact, I have an appointment tomorrow in the adventurer guild so I would like to take one of those famous rooms.”

“As you wish.” He answered in a professional voice that didn’t match his muscular and robust appearance.

A couple of minutes were more than necessary to complete the meager administrative work.

After receiving her key, a sudden thought crossed Seledia’s mind.

“By the way, did you receive new letters for me?”

“New letters? Usually, it’s Millodas who comes to get them but you’re right, it has already been more than a week since I last saw him.”

Rob called one of his workers to check.

After a couple of minutes, the man didn’t come back empty-handed.

A small black box and a tattered letter were in his hands.

“What is this?” Asked Rob intrigued by the unusual small black box.

Millodas regularly came to fetch the letters sent by Aten but until now, none had a package with them.

“I don’t know, but the letter with the package is addressed to Millodas and Seledia Zadir.” He answered professionally.

“When did we receive it?”

“Around five days ago. By the way, I want to ask you something, boss.” Answered the worker before continuing with his own unrelated question.

Seledia watched the conversation between Rob and his employee in silence. Even if she never went to Shaisal personally to fetch the numerous letters sent by Aten, she still read all of them. After four years, her expectations for any positive news were already almost completely gone but the strange package sent along the letter still attracted her attention.

Not wanting Rob to waste any more time, she bent forward above the counter before taking the letter and the dark box from his hands.

Surprised, Rob stopped talking before apologizing for the delay.

However, Seledia didn’t hear his apologies.

She was too concentrated on the letter. She couldn’t recognize the writing, but the letters on it were poorly made and the paper badly damaged by the travel.

Not knowing what to expect, she opened it.

Her pale face became redder and her beautiful blue eyes slowly gathered tears inside of them after only a few seconds of reading.

Rob watched dumbfounded Seledia’s face slowly crumbling along with her reading until large drops of tears began to slide down her red cheeks.

“What is it, Seledia?” Unskillfully asked Rob.

Another silence was her only answer.

Her teary eyes gradually changed with her reading. Her cheeks full of tears dried too fast for it to be normal.

All the people in the hall of the inn suddenly felt the temperature abruptly rising at an alarming pace.

Rob, who was the closest to Seledia, had to bear with the most violent temperature change. The hot air flow rushing toward his face made this strong adventurer and mage take a couple of steps back while putting one hand in front of his eyes.

He struggled to raise his head and looked at Seledia who was still reading the mysterious letter.

However, no more tears could be seen in her eyes anymore.

Only violent anger replaced it, threatening to burn everything around her.

“Seledia, don’t!” Suddenly screamed Rob who was too familiar with what was going to happen.

However, he didn’t have the time to plead for her to calm down.

*Boom*

A sudden violent rush of a burning airflow projected him backward. He wasn’t the only one in this situation as all the closest customers and furniture were sent flying while the most distant people had to take several steps back.

The inn was deadly silent while looking at the woman responsible for this sudden attack. Her eyes were still glued on the letter in her shaking hands while she seemed totally oblivious to the situation she just created.

“SELEDIA!” Screamed Rob after fixing his posture.

As if waking up from a nightmare, the young woman carefully folded the letter and put it to safety with the small black box inside her inner clothing near her heart as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Then, she slowly turned her eyes with lingering tears in them toward him.

Her beautiful and calm blue eyes were now full of anger but also anxiousness.

“Sorry, Rob.” She quietly muttered before bending her knees.

The expression on Rob’s face suddenly changed, but before he could react, Seledia suddenly moved.

Her bent knees propelled her toward the massive ceiling at an alarming pace. This monstrous jump, that couldn’t be called that way anymore, scared many of the people around.

Most of them didn’t even have the time to wonder how something like that was possible when Seledia reached the ceiling.

However, instead of crashing against it, the massive ceiling of the largest inn of the town easily broke letting the young woman pass right through it by a human-sized hole.

The whole inn was dumbfounded to see the woman easily escaping the attraction of the ground and flying away into the dark night.

Some of them saw a couple or mages able to fly but none with her speed. However, what frightened the most experienced mages wasn’t the sudden and powerful flight but how she did to destroy the ceiling.

Most of the people present couldn't follow her movements and only thought that she passed through it with sheer strength, but some of them noticed that she never touched the massive wood of the ceiling.

It seemed like it simply disintegrated when she came close enough.

“What a frightening mage!” Exclaimed some of those who saw this disturbing detail.

The entire inn immediately erupted in an intense chatter to discuss what just happened. Only Rob was quietly staring at the human-shape hole in his roof.

He knew Seledia and her fiery temper like the back of his hand, so he understood that the letter should contain some frightening news to make her react in this way.

After some time of thinking, Rob finally sighed while muttering to himself.

“You could have gotten out first instead of ruining my inn…”

His silent complaint was not what worried him the most. It had been a long time since he last saw her in this state, but just remembering what happened that day made this battle-hardened adventurer shake in his boots.

People in front of the inn only heard a terrifying explosion before seeing a bright red flash cutting the dark night like a blade.

It was already impossible for them to see the figure of the beautiful young woman anymore.

Like a passing dream, she disappeared into the darkness of the night.

--------------------------------------

Seledia flew across the dark night as fast as she could. She didn’t take her mount back or even wasted a second to get out of the inn before flying away with her magic.

She wasn’t calm enough to do something like that.

She could feel the letter and small dark box protected inside her clothes near her heart. Despite her impressive speed of flight, her clothes barely moved. It was as if the wind wasn’t able to impact it in any way.

Seledia’s magic allowed her to cross the sky much faster than any mount on the ground. Even so, she couldn’t relax.

It took her the entire day to reach Shaisal and, even with her speed, she knew that it would take her at least several hours to reach her destination.

She waited four years in fear of this day, but with this letter in hand, she realized that for the first time she was out of time.

Her determined blue eyes flickered with a strange light and, after a few seconds, the flow of magic power inside her body started to rise along with her efforts to accelerate. Her speed continued to steadily grow until she seemed to reach her limit.

However, she still continued to gather and concentrate her magic power. Along with an angry scream, her elegant long silver hair fluttering behind her began to change under the influence of her growing mana.

Their silver color quickly faded like snow under the sun replaced by a deep red. Her lonely red strand of hair quickly became impossible to distinguish between the rest of her new fiery red hair.

After this strange physical change, Seledia’s speed once again rise.

With a deafening noise, she crossed the sky with the fastest speed she ever managed to reach.

The words in the letter echoed inside her head and gave her the strength to break past her limit.

Emotions couldn’t help you learn new magic but it could unleash your entire potential. Some people said that it was the key to become a Master mage while others thought it was ridiculous.

Seledia didn’t know the answer to this question. No matter how angry or desperate she became during her most dangerous fights, she was only able to raise her strength for a short amount of time under the influence of her emotions but could never become a Master mage.

However, these questions didn’t even cross her mind in this instant.

She couldn’t help but recall what was written in the letter.

Sillath was alive.

He was alive but alone inside an Advanced town of the wilderness. Despite the initial glee of getting news about her missing son after all these years, fear soon followed.

The letter only said that Arthur Waldemar was dead but didn’t explain what happened. Moreover, even if the first lines were meant to reassure her saying that he wasn’t in any danger and that farmers took care of him inside the town, the end of the letter was different.

It was a warning.

It confirmed the fears and suspicion of Seledia and Millodas.

Arthur Waldemar intended to kidnap her daughters and it wasn’t just a distant project according to Sillath.

Unknowingly after all these years, she and Millodas started to relax their watch while telling themselves that only Sillath mattered to Arthur Waldemar. She probably would have been more vigilant if her daughters had shown the same talent for magic as Sillath, but they were too young.

It was still way too soon to know that.

They didn’t even pass the elementary test of their mana pool. It was impossible to know if they had the aptitude to become a real mage.

However, according to Sillath’s letter, Arthur Waldemar didn’t care about their aptitude in magic. Contrary to their expectations, he never intended to wait several more years to make his move.

Recalling the sudden summons of the guild, she realized that it might have been a way to get her away from her house.

They were in danger.

With fear and anger mixed together, she cut through the dark sky toward her home hoping to reach her destination in time.

-------------------------------------------

Several hours later, Seledia was still flying but her speed sharply dropped.

Her burst of anger calmed down replaced by worry and fear. Even though her hair remained red, their deep hue, which seemed to embody Seledia's anger, weakened considerably.

Beads of sweat ran down her forehead while her face turned paler than ever.

Even with all her determination, this flying magic couldn’t be maintained for this long without an enormous cost of mana that she had troubles handling.

However, she didn’t give up.

She didn’t stop.

She continued to move forward when the first rays of the sun shined on her tired face.

Forward.

Always forward.

She was almost there.

She could already see the forest near Tegralle.

Praying that nothing happened, she prepared to adjust her trajectory to directly rejoin Tegralle when something caught her attention.

A violent roar echoed inside the forest followed by a bright blue light overshadowing the brilliance of the newly awakened sun for a brief instant.

The light quickly disappeared just like a fleeting dream, an illusion belonging to another world, but the mysterious roar continued to resonate inside her head.

A wave of strong foreign feelings threatened to overcome her.

Despair, anger but above all a desire to live.

This cry echoing within the deepest part of her soul was drawing her toward it.

It only took her an instant to understand what happened.

It was one of the deepest and most complex concepts of the wind element, but she didn’t have the time to wonder who used it.

A bright flame burst from under her feet and propelled her forward at an incredible speed toward the origin of the blue light.

She reached her destination in just a few seconds, just in time to see a robust man ready to use his giant axe against a small girl crouching in front of him.

Another flame exploded once more behind her.

She flew toward the huge man from behind, under the mysterious and calm eyes of Gaya who was directly looking at her as if she was expecting her arrival.

Recognizing her little pale face covered in blood and her daughters crying next to her made Seledia immediately exploded in fury. She used her speed to reach the huge man in an instant and kicked him with her entire strength with the intention of breaking his neck.

However, contrary to her expectation, the man was fast enough to react. He slightly turned his head and used his massive left arm to defend against her kick.

*Boom*

The man was sent flying but his arm didn’t break and his course stopped sooner than she expected.

Seeing the tall man with his giant axe standing up with only a slight bloody wound on his arm despite her attack made her immediately realize who was in front of her.

Vated, the nefarious mercenary under the order of Arthur Waldemar.

Millodas told her about his strength and cruelty.

However, she wasn’t afraid of him.

He should be afraid of her.

“How… how can you be here...” Muttered Vated before raising his voice in anger and incomprehension.

“ ... SELEDIA !?!”