《Dark Elf Maria》Truth
Advertisement
“Are you ready?”
After making sure I packed everything I needed, I changed into comfortable clothes and headed to the entrance. Nadya and everyone were already there and, after one last farewell speech from the Mothers, we finally left the elven village. Right now, I am standing next to Nadya a few steps before crossing the barrier.
“Y-yes.”
Clearly nervous, she stumbled to give an answer.
“Did you get everything I told you?”
“Yes, I asked Mother Eva for the materials early in the morning.”
This sure feels like the old days.
“Good, let me go over the route once again. In case we lose each other at some point.”
I started walking while explaining the plan I came up with last night.
“First, we walk straight in this direction until we reach the lake, it should take about five or six hours, it’s the longest path but the road is full of fruit trees and berries. We will take our time and collect everything we need to eat the next three days. Once we reach Lake Gandr, we will camp there for the rest of the day.”
“Why don’t we float above the trees to get there, it should be faster. Also, I think we have enough recovery potions to not worry about food for the next five days.”
“That won’t work, we consume mana faster than we can regenerate it, floating there would leave us exhausted after the first day. Recovery potions only prevent you from passing out and cure your body, you would still feel mentally tired and hungry.”
“You sure know a lot about this.”
That is only because I have made the same mistakes before, but I will keep that to myself for now.
“And there is one more reason to save the potions. Here in the village, we have way too many resources for the small amount of elves that inhabit it, we can literally go outside and grab food if we are hungry. What do you think happens in a massive city like Listeria?”
“Food is not that easy to come by?”
“Exactly, maybe you did not notice it during your trip here, but most human cities should have an economic system. I asked the Hunters once out of curiosity and, whenever they travel, they exchange materials from the sacred forest for whatever currency the human world is using at the moment. Apparently most of the plants here cannot be found anywhere else.”
Advertisement
“I see, these potions must be incredibly expensive then.”
“I hope so.”
I wonder if my relationship with Lada would have ever turned this way. I had forgotten how good it feels to guide and teach someone, like an older sister would.
“That is the plan for the first night. The next day, we will follow the road of Crone Trees uphill from the lake until we reach a big plain where the eichhorns dig their burrows, there we can sleep for the second night. From then on, we will have to figure out the next steps together, as I have never left the sacred forest before.”
However, I did have a plan after we leave the forest. I thought about it a lot last night; as long as we are in the sacred forest, the Mothers can track our every movement and there is no guarantee that they cannot hear us. That, combined with the fact that I do not know how Nadya will react once I tell her the truth, make it very risky to speak with her about it before we cross the forest.
“Once we are outside, we can find the roads leading to Listeria and follow them. Having you here really keeps me from worrying too much.”
Once we leave the grasp of the village, I plan to ask for Nadya’s real identity if I have not discovered it yet, tell her everything and then convince her to return with me to our real world. Depending on how she reacts, we might even have to stay a few days in Listeria so she can clear her mind, but in the best-case scenario, I am prepared to leave right away. Two small bottles of basilisk venom await for that moment inside my purse.
“I do not know why, but it feels like you truly understand me.”
I looked at the fragile figure walking by side and remembered one last thing I thought about last night.
“Is that flower on your dress a solaris?”
“Yes, they grew a lot next to my cabin back in Tagetes.”
“Can I have it?”
Nadya froze and looked at me for a moment, clearly not expecting my question.
“Sure, why not.”
She slowly removed the flower from her shoulder and handed it to me with the upmost care.
Advertisement
“I have been using mana to keep it alive.”
I held it close to my heart for a few minutes and then, using magic, I made the small flower float and disintegrate in the sky. I could not do it yesterday, my final prayer to Lada. I will make sure to carry her memory with me even to the other world.
“What was that?”
“I wanted to say goodbye to someone special. Do you know why they made you participate in the ceremony here?”
“Not exactly, they just told me they did not have enough apprentices in you village.”
“That is technically true. We originally had two apprentices, Lada and me but, when we were nine years old, I forced her into exploring the forest with me out of boredom. That day she was bitten by a basilisk and died in my arms.”
“I am so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Each year I like to bring her a flower, probably I am just trying to ease my guilt.”
“You are so sweet. I never imagined there could be an elf like you.”
“I am nothing special. As Lelyah always said, I just have a crazy mind.”
This is going to be a difficult trip, the feelings of nostalgia and sadness are already overwhelming me and I just want to scream to Nadya that she is not alone. It is probably better if a stay quiet as much as I can.
The following days went by uneventful. I finally put to practice all the things I learned about botany and biology, whenever we encountered a new plant or animal I explained in detail everything I knew about them to Nadya. She was delighted to hear me and, as time went by, she gradually lost her shyness and became talkative and cheerful. Now that I know more about her, I am almost sure she was one of the students with me that day, though it is impossible for me to figure out which one; I was never too close to them to begin with.
The sun is about to rise and I am sitting on the grass watching at the horizon, I could not really sleep last night. We arrived at the eichhorns burrows late and, even though we were already past the sacred forest, I could not find the right opportunity to talk to Nadya.
“Good morning Agafya, you are up early.”
“Yes… good morning.”
“Listeria must be really big if you can see the castle towers from here.”
We were at the highest spot of a small hill, long in the distance a few towers with the royal flag could be seen. Judging from it, it would take us another day to reach the city.
“We survived the hardest part of the trip, from now on we can advance at our own pace.”
“It was all because of you Agafya. I wanted to say this when we arrived at the city but, do you mind if we keep traveling together? I know I would only be slowing you down, but I will try my best to become more dependable in the future.”
“Nadya…”
“To be honest, I am still not sure about what I want to do for the next ten years. The idea of returning to the village is too scary for me right now, but if I become stronger like you, I think I would be able to face that decision with confidence in no time.”
It would be too evil of me if I do not tell her the truth right now.
“There is something I must tell you first.”
I looked directly into her eyes, hopping that she would see how serious I was.
“I know who you are. I know you were in Saint Mary, that you were in that accident twenty years ago, that you woke up in this world keeping all your past memories. I might not be able to explain exactly why that happened, but I know it did. I know your pain, I know what you have lived surrounded by elves up until now. I know that too well, because it happened to me too.”
Advertisement
Cultivator vs. System
To hang out, join my Discord server! Book 1, The First Step is on Kindle, KU, and Audible! Book 2 follows on July 26th. Book 3 is currently on my Patreon and will migrate to Amazon eventually. If you'd like to read my newest free work, check out Good Guy Necromancer on Royal Road. Screw your System. I just want to cultivate. Long Fang is stranded in a foreign world where proper cultivation has been replaced by annoying blue screens. He is confused and alone, but not for Long. He completely ignores the System. He makes friends. He forms his own, wholesome sect, and spreads cultivation across the wild world. But blue screens do not take kindly to rejection, and Long Fang’s stubbornness soon finds him pitted against the forces that be. To overcome the System tribulations, he must quickly grow stronger and wiser… But first, he needs to get past that one annoying town guard. This is a fun, light-hearted read, not a deep one. Chapter updates are M-W-F, and constructive feedback is more than welcome. Thank you for reading!
8 136Royal Guard (Complete)
I was an ordinary worker ant of the Kingdom, one of the millions populating a spread of land ten kilometers long. I had an ordinary life: I dug, I ate, and I slept; and a dream that was shared by all workers who wanted to live a life of adventure. I was on the last day of my mandatory community service, a day from becoming one of the harvesters --the crown jewel of our society-- when fate played its sick joke on me. I broke my mandible, lost my dream, and was almost forced into slavery as a result. That’s when she came into my life, a princess. She had no wings on her back, but the wings inside her were wider than the fairies that roamed the sky. She took me under her wing and populated my life with adventures and mysteries unreserved for a mere harvester. Life was good until we found termites sneaking into our territory. That’s when the adventures ended. She was mocked for calling the termites a threat. However, she remained determined to protect her kingdom, and I, to protect her. No matter the difficulties I remained by her side. Because we were a pair: a princess and her Royal Guard.
8 171Evolution of the Twin Xenomorphs
This story starts off with the double suicide of two twins who wanted to escape the life they lived. The death they thought to be the end, was only the beginning of a much longer and adventurous life. Follow the twins as they travel to various worlds within the vast multi-verse, carving a unique path of Evolution, reaching beyond the 'perfect specimen' and achieving something greater. 1-4 daily releases.
8 133Cornucopia of Hope
The graduating class of Hope's Peak Academy has been kidnapped sometime after their graduation ceremony. They wake up in a beautiful, plush mansion with no idea where they could be other than the name Our Mansion of Plenty. The physical barriers of steel plates and locked doors might not be enough to cage them, if it weren't for the malicious mechanical fairy calling itself The Fey and ruling their new lives with an iron--albeit tiny--fist. While being kidnapped is bad enough, the fact that this fairy brat is telling them to kill each other is definitely worse. Apparently, murdering one of your fellow victims is the only way to get out of this luxurious mansion. But nobody would do that...right? Cornucopia of Hope is a non-canon killing game completely alienated from the the canon universe of the Danganronpa games. The things borrowed from the games are as followed: Hope's Peak Academy, and the structure of 16ish hyper-skilled teenagers trapped in an enclosed space and being subjected to a motive, a murder, an investigation, a trial, and an execution of the presumed killer. There are no spoilers, tie ins, or previous knowledge required of the series to read this story!
8 169A New Kind of Freak (A dragon evolution story)
For dragons, those who dominate the food chain, growth is always a troublesome time. Left to fend for oneself with only a library of memories passed down as their inheritance, no fate is worse than being a failure before birth. What can a small mutated hatchling do in such snowy outskirts? With few options besides magic, the Nexus provides a quick source of power, but that does not mean his enemies were without strength. Levels and stats are available to all in this dragon eat dragon wor- "So... am I really made of Ice-cream?" * * * This is a Progression fantasy where the main concept is about the growing protagonist actually focusing on their own growth without passing through constant hoops for the sake of it. He stays out of trouble, albeit not always successfully, and only cares about evolving enough that he can hold his own weight in the world. Showing that being made of ice-cream isn't a weakness, but a strength when nurtered properly. Also it doesn't end in a protagonist who becomes/kills god, because that just doesn't fit the theme.
8 3257Return of the Sith.
Y/n Rose was the first born of the roses but was abused by everyone all because he wasn't a girl like his parents wanted him and soon he ran into the forest at night and was found by the emperor of the galactic empire and was trained by him and after the training was complete y/n returned to remnant with his armada to bring it under his masters rule.I own nothing but the cover art.
8 83