City of Jormun

We can’t go on like this.

Kali’s tapping her finger on her knee, a slow rhythm, she usually never does this unless she has no idea what to do.

This is getting troublesome, enemies on all fronts and Shin’s all alone.

Kali shook her head for a bit before biting her lips.

We must act, swiftly too…

“Aria.”

She spoke after having cleared her mind.

Aria didn’t reply but raise her head and glance at Kali. She raised her eyebrows, wanting to know why Kali wants from her.

“You know that we have to do something, we’re wasting time here.”

Kali said softly, she knew that Aria wasn’t in the best mood.

Aria nodded and glanced at Peutoa.

“Anything new?”

Her voice was hoarse, but it held force in it.

After a few seconds, Peutoa opened her eyes. For once, Peutoa’s eyes were wide open and held a tinge of excitement.

“Yes!”

Just with this one word rely, everyone straightened their backs and started at Peutoa.

“The Guardians is planning to move Shin.”

Peutoa breathed to calm herself down before explaining.

“His body is under a lot of pressure, therefore they are going to direct him towards somewhere he can rest.”

“Rest… Where?”

Kali asked after thinking for a few seconds.

“The Elder Tree.”

Peutoa replied without thinking twice.

Kali’s eyes twitched for a moment.

“What the hell is that? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“I don’t know either.”

Aria shook her head, but she was slightly interested in that Elder Tree.

“The Guardian; Malika said that it is placed in his territory. He did also say that humans would usually not be allowed to stay in his territory, but Shin could get in because of Malika’s presence.”

Aria nodded, she turned and glanced at Kali.

“We need to act too.”

“Yes.”

Kali replied with a single word.

The two, Aria and Kali didn’t say anything, but they watched the others’ eyes. After half a minute, they sighed and nodded.

“I will move towards the location Ulrike told us about.”

Aria was the first one to speak, she slowly glanced at the others and spoke.

“Anaj and Eline, you two are coming with me.”

Anaj didn’t mind and nodded, he knew that it wouldn’t be good for him to refuse.

Eline on the other hand wanted to refuse, she would have liked to find Shin.

“I’ll move around the continent. Hoping that I can find Shin, or news about Muir and the Gods.”

Kali said softly, but her voice turned slightly cold on the last part of the sentence. She then turned her head and glanced at Azane and asked.

“Will you come with me?”

Azane nodded, she was determined to find Shin and murder his enemies.

Aria and Kali both turned towards Peutoa, Aria was the one to ask.

“Who will you follow?”

Peutoa raised her one eyebrow, a little surprised that she could choose for herself.

Kali could see her surprise and confusion; therefore she opened her mouth and spoke plainly.

“Your power as a Guardian is something out of mine and Aria’s plans, we can’t decide what would be the best for you.”

Peutoa nodded and thought a little for herself, after half a minute, Peutoa glanced at Kali and spoke.

“I will follow you.”

“I can get clues from the Guardians, it might be helpful in finding Shin or information about the enemies we are facing.”

Aria nodded and said with a smile.

“Great, it seems like we have our groups planned.”

Afterwards, Aria glanced at Eline and Anaj, speaking with a calm voice.

“We will leave in the morning, do prepare yourselves.”

Aria turned around and headed off towards the white tent, but before she could enter it, she heard a question coming her way.

“Aria, how can you calmly decide these things right now? Are you not nervous about Shin’s safety?”

Kali asked Aria, it was true that staying calm would be for the best, but it was also this that confused Kali. Kali herself was barely managing to keep her calm and she found it difficult for Aria to do the same, therefore she wanted to ask this question.

Aria stopped but didn’t turn around. A bitter smile appeared on her face as she softly said.

“No matter what I try, Shin has always been one step away from my reach.”

She shook her head a bit before opening her mouth again.

“I can’t run blindly around any longer. For me to support Shin to the fullest of my ability, I must stay calm.”

After Aria finished speaking, she started walking again.

Kali went into deep thought for a moment before she shook her head. She glanced at Azane and Peutoa before speaking.

“We will leave shortly, there are a lot of things to do.”

Azane didn’t say anything, but her facial expression changed. A smirk appeared on her face and her eyes shined brightly, she didn’t want to wait that much longer.

Peutoa nodded calmly and watched the horizon in a daze without any expression.

“Why do we have to stop looking for Shin…?”

Eline was in a bad mood, but she wasn’t in a position to refute Aria. Not long after, Eline shook her head and thought about the situation from the beginning.

“No wonder.”

If…

Eline clenched her teeth for a moment as she was thinking.

Yes, everything has gone sideways since the start. As the Purple Witch Kali said; it is getting troublesome. Aria did mention that she had to stay calm because she understood that acting hot-headed won’t give results.

Then, what if I can support Shin with what I’m best at, wouldn’t that help him?

After Eline calmed herself down and thought about the situation, she started sensing cold sweat running down her back.

How dangerous, I was starting to derail from my usual mentality.

“Humph…”

“Now that I can see things clearly, I won’t make mistakes anymore.”

Eline was annoyed that she couldn’t keep her calm when Shin’s trying to overcome everything by himself.

Kali snickered a smile when she heard Eline’s mutter.

Good, seems like we’re starting to get back on our tracks again.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

What’s my route?

Kali frowned slightly, but her mouth curved upwards as she was thinking.

The Thirteen Rulers, Malika of the Woods.

If I remember correctly, he should be a High-Elf.

Hihi, his territory should be self-explanatory, hihi…

An eerie smile appeared on Kali’s face, but she was overjoyed.

“hihihih…”

Kali stood up and laughed in a low voice, she then turned her body towards the West.

“Azane, Peutoa, ready yet?”

She asked in a deep voice, Kali’s eyes turned golden and shined brightly.

“Of course.”

Azane hummed and snickered. She stood up and placed her halberd on her back.

Peutoa didn’t reply, she only turned her body and walked towards Kali and Azane.

Kali didn’t say anything and tapped the ground lightly, sending her flying towards the heavens.

Peutoa and Azane was a step behind her, they didn’t know why Kali had already picked a direction, but they would just follow for now.

The three left without saying farewell, that was because they knew they would meet again at a later time.

Besides, Anaj, Eline and Aria sensed that they left.

In an unknown location

“Lord, we got information saying that the Child is headed towards the Elder Tree with the help of the Queen of Spiders; Zura.”

An elderly servant bowed as he was reporting to the male sitting on the throne who was shrouded in a white light.

“Zura…”

The male muttered for a while before he said with some interest.

“Wasn’t she a ruler in the Ancient Era?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The servant confirmed it and continued speaking.

“You were asleep when that happened, but twelve of the rulers went against Muir. The reason was; they wanted to protect the Child.”

“Humph…”

The male squinted his eyes slightly.

“That makes sense, no way that Muir would have been able to keep them in a leash.”

“What shall we do, my Lord?”

The servant asked humbly for orders.

The male on the throne tapped the armrest with a finger slowly and quietly, thinking for a moment before ordering the servant with a deep voice.

“For starters, sent someone to keep track of that human; Laura.”

Afterwards, he spoke with a creepy tone.

“And send Zilva to kill that Child…!”

The elderly servant widened his eyes, but he didn’t speak a single word. He only bowed deeper before turning around to leave.

The male on the throne snickered after the elderly servant left before laughing out loudly.

“Hahahahaha…”

The elderly servant who was leaving the throne room, felt shivers and cold sweat running down his back when he heard the loud laughter.