Chapter 62: The Long Eared Guardian 2

There he galloped along with his steed. Seven feet tall, his warhorse was rather big and muscled. His appearance would be suited to call him a knight in full steel. This man leaves a trail of dirt and snow. The snow falls on top while the cloak of his that has the symbol of the dragon blows in the wind.

This figure stopped for a while and looked at the tracks of the hillback beasts that a group of wanderers uses. These hillback beasts are creatures that have backs that resemble a hill. They have two protruding horns and are second only to horses when it comes to being the most used animal in the continent for pulling wagons or carts.

He stopped to investigate. As he does the sigil of the sun’s crown reflected a glint. This glint of light from the sun’s crown sigil located near his breastplate was the sign of those who work for the Light. He continued galloping along this particular path.

His eyes focused like an eagle’s glare.

...

Inside the long tent, a group of elders gathered around the fire. These elders are wanderers and they are in charge of the well-being of the tribe. They are the ones that negotiate for food and guide the tribe in order for them not to be swallowed by the cruel land. These elders had their heads down in thought. The paper with the sun’s crown appeared and even though they are neutral and only help a bit.

They, answer to the sun’s crown.

The sun’s crown is the sign of the God of Light. It represents the light that the sun brings and they believe that even their God could not ignore the might of the sun. The elders are rather old worshippers of a God that dwell within the land. This God of theirs lived on the road in the guise of a traveler. A traveler that carries a white odd blunt that brings a comfortable sensation to those who smell it while at the same time also leaving a trail of white lines of smoke along the way.

But like what has said this God bows to the Sun’s Crown. So when the Elders saw the Sun’s crown they feared the worst. The first elder opened the letter and saw the words they fear the most. The elder passed the letter to his fellow elders and let them see the contents of the paper. One by one the elders read the letter and one by one their faces turned sour and bitter.

A click of a tongue resounded from one of the elders. Although they are logical men and women who put the people of their tribe first, they cannot helped but get irritated at the letter they have read. Most of the elders have their eyes narrowed while staring at the fire located in the middle. Most of their eyes reflected the flame and in silence, they began to think. The elder with the bark-like skin and long beard that reaches up to his stomach opened his mouth and told the other elders of the tribe what are his thoughts.

...

She spent her time gazing at the camp. Her watchful eyes that guard them could see every corner of the Camp. Among the place she was watching is where most of the young ones are put to. In the tribe, each family has their own tent but for those who are ‘children,’ they are put into the long tent where they are taken care of the mother of the tribe while their mothers or fathers work for them. The mother and fathers of the children put in the long tent will visit them and are allowed to take them. The mother of the tribe take cares of them in the morning while their parents take care of them in the evening. Some parents would leave their children in the long tent while the others would not.

They reason that those who could not survive the winter might as well not survive at all. It is a test whether their child would survive and if they are worthy to be raised. She finds this rather disturbing and she thinks that she will never agree with such way.

To her, the tribe is precious and seeing any member die whether young or old hurts her. Of course, she has shown her distaste for it and because of it, she is known to be a hater for the traditional values of the tribe. She is partly hated for that but being scorned at isn’t new to her.

Race, is particularly important in this time and Age. Most of the people in the world she lives in values race and ethnicity more than anything. Blood and looks prove your alliance. It is the first thing that is looked upon when determining one’s values.

She is half-blood. Having a blood of a Human and Long-Ears makes her able to choose her place. Of course with how it is she chooses the humans for her family is humans. How could she ever choose the side of those people she knew nothing about other than they are humanity’s enemies?

She’d grown up thinking that half of her blood is arrogant, and someone who thinks that they are higher existences than everyone simply because of the blessing they have. She has grown being hammered in the head with the idea that the Elves are people that she should not be. At her first years of being alive in the world, she thought that greatly and hated her own blood.

But as time goes and especially when she realized that her powers have kept the tribe safe from most hard. She gave her other self the benefit of the doubt. As long as she can use her powers for the good of her tribe then she can be happy.

She is happy when her tribe is happy. And seeing them wear their smiles while doing their usual chores also put a smile on her face. It doesn’t matter if they do not accept them for now, but she prayed to the Wandering God that they would accept her in the future.

...

He was eating what he poached a while ago when the lady with blue hair appeared again. This time she was asking him to leave for the tribe of hers was having a hunting practice for the kids of the tribe. While talking a person of the tribe saw them. This person immediately drew his bow and pointed it at him.

Luckily Arden was able to somehow plead that he is not hostile and that he is just a lost wanderer. The person with the bow was glaring but Arden manages to make the person calm down. He didn’t know if the person was a man or woman but he insisted that he is no threat and that he doesn’t dare when someone like her, who he still doesn’t know the name is guarding them.

After the talk, the person left while warning Arden that he must stay out. The person then told the long eared guardian of them to make sure that Arden won’t go near the camp. He felt that the person was strict and had a glare when speaking to her.

Once that was over the person with long ears and blue hair then told Arden to vacate the area. Arden didn’t want to give them trouble so he took his fur bundle and started walking. But as walks, a thought popped into his head. He stopped and asked the long eared woman her name.

“What’s your name?”

He asked. The woman with long ears slightly tilts her head to the left when he did. At first, she was silent and only when the wind accompanied with snow blew from the east that she spoke her name softly.

“Lafiel, my name is Lafiel, and you are?”

“I am Arden, Arden of Mesh.”

“I see, so that is your name.”

Arden felt like she was happy knowing his name. He too was happy to know her name and seeing her leave with a skip made him smile. Arden then vacated the area as promised and hid near a hollowed tree. The tree was about a tower tall and one of the tallest tree. In this tree, Arden observed the hunters doing their own thing. He saw them running around while at the same time he can feel the flowers and trees looking at them.

The power of Lafiel was rather shocking. Even he could feel her mana raging on in the area. There are beasts around the area but sensing her power they all turned away in fear. The Mana of a half blood seems to be on the same level that is of elves.

He always wondered why the elves could hold the fort against the Knights, Ascended and the Paladins but seeing the amount of mana Lafiel had. He understood how fearsome they can be. She doesn’t have the green glow of the mother tree but still the lake-like amount of Mana she had made her for a fearsome foe.

In the Academy he learned that in order to deal with the Elves they have to draw them away from places filled with vegetation and trees. Preferably fighting them in areas devoid of any green would put them at a disadvantage. A knight and ascended knight, and a Paladin is much fiercer in open fields when the sun’s aurora can bless them. While the Knight and Ascended Knight get their powers from their double crest and the imprints of the soul they have. A paladin is a rank that many of the Ascended Knights can hope to achieve. Once a Paladin they would be able to harness the power of the sun and fight the Elves to a standstill.

Of course, it depends on each situation and the location.

So for Arden who saw a half blood like her possessing no green at all yet being able to amass a huge quantity of Mana. He began to think how humanity could ever compete with such foes. Arden had his own ways to deal with the Elves if it comes to it but that would require turning himself into a monster worse than the demons of Seven Hells.

The ‘Peacemaker’ Iron Egg that his foster father had left him is one of the dangerous items that his foster father hopes that he will never use. Arden could remember that the peacemaker is the pinnacle weapon of humankind and it could change the world forever or doom it at the same time.

Arden has an idea what the Peacemaker is but nonetheless, he doubts that he will ever use it. Not even a dragon will move him to use it for it is too dangerous. And certainly, he won’t use it on the elves no matter how dangerous they are. But that is just him speaking at the moment. He doesn’t know the future or what it gives so he can only pray to the right Gods that the peacemaker won’t ever be used.

Arden went back to observing the kids running around in the snow with bows in their hand. He was clinging to the top of the hollow tree with a telescope he constructed and he could see with detail how the kids are sneaking around the big deer’s roaming around the field.

But as Arden expects the scene he saw a rather slimy figure with scales in the distance with its tongue hissing. At first, Arden thought that it was a mere giant snake but as it emerges three more heads popped and he could see their humanoid bodies appearing. Their bodies were gray and scaled. Their hands hold three shoulder length spears that could bore a hole through a normal human’s stomach.

Seeing this, Arden could not help but feel worried about the kids. The ‘guardian’ of the kids probably notice and went in to kill the werelizards folks.